“I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? ‘Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE.’ But what is the divine response to him? ‘I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL'” (Rom 11:1-4).
The doctrine of the remnant, though not particularly appreciated in Israel and not very well-known in the church, is nonetheless an essential doctrine in the Bible. This doctrine teaches that no matter how far Israel wanders from the truth, there will always be a few who know the LORD. This is the reason Paul used his own Jewish identity as proof to the believers in Rome that God had not rejected Israel and that all his promises were still valid. As it was back then, so it is now: the church needs Jewish believers in their midst!
Three Reasons
Thinking about this doctrine the other day, however, I was also reminded of three reasons why the Messianic Jewish community is also vitally important to the modern state of Israel! First, the growing Messianic Jewish community in Israel is proof to the world that, far from being an apartheid state, Israel is a genuine democracy. In Israel, there is not only freedom of religion but freedom to change one’s religious views, even if these views go against deeply held religious convictions. This is clearly not the case for any other country in the Middle East. The second reason Israel needs Messianic Jews is because we are a voice from within the church that antisemitism is contrary to the New Testament and that love for Israel ought to be the norm for every Christian. The third and final reason Messianic Jews are essential to Israel is that we are able to represent the needs of our people to lovers of Israel from all around the world and to mobilize God’s people to pray and to give in one of our most significant times of need.
Paul used his own Jewish identity as proof to the believers in Rome that God had not rejected Israel and that all his promises were still valid. As it was back then, so it is now: the church needs Jewish believers in their midst!
While I do not expect the Messianic Jewish community to win a popularity contest here in Israel any time soon, I know my people desperately need us. And I am truly encouraged to see how God is using us within his church and also among our people in the land of Israel. And because there is a thriving remnant of Jewish believers in the land of Israel today, I can say with the same certainty as Paul: God has not rejected his people!
“In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice” (Rom 11:5).
