JFJ Forums

“How odd of God to choose the Jew,
But not so odd as those who choose
The Jewish God but hate the Jew.”

A lot has been said recently here about anti-semitism by denominational, non-denominational Christians and Roman Catholics.

Considering anti-Semitism, the first thing that fixes itself in my thinking is the fact that Christ was a Jew. When we open the New Testament to Matthew 1:1, we find the very first claim made concerning Christ is that he sprang from Abraham and was a descendant of David. The Bible does not say that Jesus just happened to be a Jew, but the Word of God  emphasizes over and over again that he was a Jew.

As we examine the history of two thousand years, we find God constantly reaffirming the promise of the coming Messiah to the Jews, so that not only was the promise made to Abraham but to Isaac and Jacob, and then it was narrowed down to the tribe of Judah, and then to the royal family—the family of David. As the years passed by it was also promised that He should be born in Bethlehem, that He should be a suffering Messiah, but also that He should rule in Palestine on behalf of His people, the Jews.

We cannot expect the Gentile, who merely uses the term “Christian” to designate the difference between Gentile and Jew, to love the Jew, but we who are truly Christians indeed, in that we have been saved through faith in Christ, should love His ancient people. Above all things in this regard we should keep constantly in our minds that our Lord Himself was a Jew—born a Jew, lived a Jew, died a Jew. Also, the great majority of those heroes of the faith I personally long to see when I go to be with that Lord are Jews. I want to see Abraham; and he is a Jew. And I want to see Isaac; he is a Jew. I want to see Jacob; and he is a Jew. I want to see Joseph; and he is a Jew. I want to see Moses; and he is a Jew. I want to see Joshua; and he is a Jew. I want to see Gideon and the other judges; and they are Jews. I want to see the prophets—Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha, and all the rest; and they are Jews. I want to see Daniel and Ezra and Nehemiah; they are Jews. I want to see John; and he is a Jew. I want to see James; and he is a Jew. I want to see Peter; and he is a Jew. I want to see Paul; and he is a Jew. These are only some of those I long to meet who bear the name of Jew. How could I hate the Jew?

DavidJ

Very valid point. Also, I keep hearing this stuff about the Church being Israel. Since when? Was the tree the Church, or were Gentiles grafted into the tree with the veteran and regrafted branches?

P.S. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see a lot of Baptists or Roman Catholics helping the Jewish people. For example, if Baptists can't drink, doesn't Jesus taking the cup of wine and the other three cups at Passover become worthless to Baptists? Why would an Orthodox or Conservative Messianic Jewish person want to go where they can't have a symbol of Passover recognized? As for the Roman Catholics, Mariner is the posterchild of self-hating Jewish Vaticanism.

Was a Jew?
He still is a Jew. Always will be. You can know an apostate by their anti-semitism, that rotting fruit of replacement theology.

Daniel