Romans 9:4-5 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised. Amen.

This chapter gets largely ignored, because chapter 8 is so loaded with justly famous verses. That may be one reason why antisemitism manages to remain in some Christian circles, even. These two verses should blow antisemitism completely out of the water! Christianity rests on the foundation of the faith of Abraham, and Christians must never forget it. The past 2000 years have held a lot of sad history, but that is not the end of God’s plan. Today, Jews are recognizing that Jesus is indeed their Messiah in unprecedented numbers, and it’s exciting. There are channels on YouTube dedicated to such testimonies, and the current tensions are only accelerating that trend. It is unusual to say the least that Dennis Prager, a devout, religious Jew, is as prominent as he is in the Conservative movement in America. I continue to pray for him to have a revelation of Jesus as the Messiah, and I feel sure that is coming, but even now he is greatly used by God. (I could say the same for Benjamin Netanyahu.) Romans as a whole, the absolute bulwark of Protestant theology at the very least, is very clear that God hasn’t discarded the Jews, and won’t. Those that bless them are blessed by Him! In recent years America has wavered from her previously strong support of the modern nation of Israel, and I think that is very dangerous, at least as much so for America as for Israel. Humans are very prone to retreat into I-my-me-mine, with a misguided interpretation of what those pronouns mean, but God has no such tendency. Every believer needs to strive for God’s perspective on the world and events, and offer themselves to Him to further His purposes.

For as long as I can remember I have been proud that I was born in the same year as the modern nation of Israel. One of the many music books in the house when I was growing up was The Fireside Book of Folksongs, and I delighted to sing the Jewish ones. By God’s amazing grace we were adopted into the Messianic fellowship when I was in seminary, and some of them were amazed that I knew those songs better than they did! I rejoice to listen to the testimonies of “completed” Jews, and how Isaiah 53 has opened the eyes of so many. There are very few Jews in Japan, to say the least, but there are an amazing number of parallels between Jews and Japanese, and I have been involved in some Messianic outreaches to Japan. It is an honor! In daily terms, all I can do is pray, but I do pray, not only for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6) but also for the eyes of Jews around the world to be opened to Jesus, who is their Messiah as much as He is mine.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all You are doing in the world, and for Your plans that will not be shaken. I pray for their fulfillment on Your schedule, bringing in the maximum number of souls, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Hallelujah!