Category: Theology

Some years ago, I was asked to review two books that have a very negative slant on the modern State of Israel. I wrote a lengthy letter to one of the authors and have had extensive dialogue with the brother who recommended one of the books. Both books emphasize in detail Israel’s sins against the Palestinian Arabs (as if this should change our understanding of what Scripture says?).  There is plenty of factual material for both Israelis and Palestinians to make a one sided case against the other. However, the most alarming assertion in these books was that because the New Testament does not explicitly emphasize the promise of the Land to the Jewish people, this must not be a continuing promise. In addition, both authors held that the New Testament re-interprets the Old Testament and universalized the idea of the Promised Land as a place for all God’s people. “The meek shall inherit the earth.”

The Concept of Re-interpretation

Another book by a very prominent Catholic also used the idea of the New Testament as re-interpreting the Old. The Roman Catholic Church has repudiated replacement theology; the idea that the Church has replaced Israel or is the superceding ongoing meaning of Israel. However, this book described the Church as forming a new universal Israel with greater transcendent significance. It argues that the New Testament teaches that the Church, to a significant degree, is the fulfillment of the promises to Israel. The choosing of 12 disciples is given as further evidence. In this viewpoint, old Israel is not rejected (which is contrary to official Catholic doctrine) but is certainly diminished.

Is the Land Promised to Israel?

Let’s look at the easier matter first – the claim that the New Testament does not affirm the promise of the Land to Israel, but universalizes this promise as meaning the future inheritance of all believers.  The New Testament Scriptures write to the specific situations at hand and do not present a systematic theology. There was no need to re-state what was clearly stated in the Hebrew Scriptures, the only Bible at that time. The Gospels were written to preserve the record of the ministry of Yeshua when the original Apostolic Company was dying out. The Epistles were written to respond to specific challenges in the Gentile congregations. Of course, these writings have applications for all believers in all times.

However, when Paul specifically writes concerning the issue of Israel, because of the arrogance amongst Gentiles in Rome, he is as explicit as we could ever desire. Romans 9-11 is very clear. When he states “Theirs are the covenants” (Romans 9:4), such covenants obviously include the content of the promises within them. When Paul states that “the gifts and call of God (to Israel) are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29) the gift of the Land is again obviously one of those gifts. In addition, why would this issue of Land be addressed in the first century? The Land at that time was populated by Jews. Yes, there was Roman occupation and government.  However, no one doubted that this was the Jewish land. It simply was not an issue!

Does the New Testament Have to Repeat the Content of the Hebrew Bible?

The viewpoint that the New Testament must directly speak about all important issues, even if clearly asserted in the Hebrew Scriptures, is a foolish one.  The New Testament does not deal with some of the issues of economic justice, but the Hebrew Bible does when it enjoins the cancellation of debt on Sabbatical and Jubilee years. It does not describe how courts should operate, but this is a crucial issue. Are we to then conclude that just courts are now abandoned because this is not addressed? New Covenant Scriptures do not define what constitutes incest. Leviticus gives us the list of forbidden relationships. Are we to ignore this because it is not repeated in the New Covenant scriptures?

This approach smacks of the very arrogance against which Paul speaks. If the New Testament re-interprets the Old so that Israel is now the Church and the Land is the earth, we have a huge problem. This approach does not allow the texts of the Hebrew Bible to speak on their own terms with the integrity of their straightforward meaning; the result is they can be made to say something other than what the author intended. That is the core problem with the whole concept of re-interpretation. For this reason, Messianic Jews do not like to use the terms Old Testament and New Testament, but instead use non-prejudiced terms like the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Covenant Scriptures.

Scripture after Scripture in context states that the Jewish people will never cease to be a people before God and that they will ultimately inherit the Land, never again to be uprooted (Jeremiah 23:5-8; 31:35-37; Ezekiel 36:24-28).  This is sufficient for our teaching. With integrity, this cannot be re-interpreted as fulfilled by “the Church as the ongoing meaning of Israel,” or by “the Church which is preserved and will inherit the earth.”

The Church and Prophetic Analogy

The New Covenant Scriptures do speak of the New Covenant People of God, the Body of the Messiah, in terms that are analogous to what is said about ethnic Israel. It uses the very language of the Hebrew Bible to make such statements. Believers are called a royal priesthood reminiscent of Exodus 19 (I Peter 2:9, 10). They are called the Bride of Yeshua as Israel is called the Wife of God. What is going on here? This is not a matter of re-interpretation so that the original meaning of the text is now changed.  Rather, the Spirit speaks new revelation by prophetic analogies to what was promised to ancient Israel. This new revelation tells us that the Body of Believers, rooted in Israel and called the commonwealth of Israel in Ephesians 2, has parallel promises to Israel. In Messiah, Gentile believers become children of Abraham. Hence, they are blessed with promises that apply to Abraham’s descendants. Indeed, they will inherit the Earth, for in the Age to Come, the whole Earth becomes Promised Land. Thus there are many new applications for the promises. However this is the Age where the Jewish people come into their inheritance in the central Promised Land that is allotted to them. The meaning of the Passover-exodus will be applied to all nations. The whole earth will experience the prosperity promised to ancient Israel as a reward for faithfulness in their Land. This was anticipated in the prophets, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord (Isaiah 11:9).  I call this theology “addition theology.”

Addition theology has many benefits. It recognizes that the New Covenant made with Israel includes Gentiles. It recognizes that the meaning of covenant relationship and priesthood has been expanded to include all who come to faith through Yeshua. It recognizes a bridal position for the Body of Believers that is no less than the position of the priesthood of the Jewish people. It embraces the universal fellowship that is the new reality brought into being by Yeshua. At the same time, it reaffirms the promises made to the Ancient Nation of Israel which should be taken in a straightforward manner.  God does not speak in a fast and loose way so that His words can mean something so apart from what would have comforted the original listeners.  Imagine saying to the ancient Israelites that the promise of never being again plucked up from their Land means that people from all nations would be called of God and would inherit the earth. These would have hardly been considered as adequate, comforting words of assurance directed to them as an ethnic people. The Jewish people understood these words rightly in their obvious sense.

Deriving our Theology from the Integrity of Each Text

This becomes very important to how we are to do theology. Wherever possible, we are to take every text in context as it was intended by the author and as it would have been understood. The meaning of each Bible text and each book is to be organized and harmonized with the assertions from other texts and books, but never by doing violence to the text. What do we mean by doing violence to a text? It is to re-interpret a text so as to forgo its intended meaning.

The weight of the texts of the Hebrew Bible concerning the preservation of the Jewish people, their return to the Land and their inheritance in the Land are very clear and plentiful. This will be the natural conclusion of any open minded (unbiased) reader of the Hebrew Bible, unless one has been indoctrinated against a straightforward reading of the texts. So let us take heart and not be shaken! Those who work for the return of the Jews to their ancient Land and are part of the effort to bring the Jewish people to the knowledge of Yeshua are living out the truth of the Word of God.

The famous rabbinical maxim to “build a fence around the law” was originally published in the Talmudic tract, Pirque Avot (Ethics of the Fathers). The basic thinking is as follows: We do not want to violate the Torah. If we create extra laws to protect the Torah, and we obey those extra laws, then we will not come close to disobeying the Torah. Numerous Rabbinical requirements can be understood as attempts to protect the Torah in this way.

The most common example of protecting the Torah is the laws of Kashrut (Jewish dietary laws), especially the laws concerning milk and meat. The Torah exhorts us to not boil a kid (a baby goat) in its mother’s milk. This command is in the context of pagan Canaanite practice. It is also an obvious humanitarian deference to animal life. To protect this law, the rabbis decided that eating milk and meat together, even if not from the same animal, should be avoided. Once this was accepted, they determined that we needed to have hours of separation between meat meals and milk meals so that milk and meat will not be cooked together in our digestive system. Once this was accepted, we were required to have separate dishes for milk and meat since there is a possibility that particles of meat or milk may be left on the plate and get mixed and eaten. In the case of Kashrut, a new fence is made for each new rabbinic law!

Other Rabbinic Law Developments

This is one side of rabbinic legalism, the multiplying of laws to protect the Torah. However, the Rabbis are not without mercy. Sometimes when a Biblical law was seen as too harsh, rabbinic enactments were made to mitigate the strictness of the law. For example, monetary fines take the place of cutting off a hand or putting out an eye.

In Israel, there is a great ongoing controversy between Orthodox authorities. It concerns the Sabbatical year and the Bible commands that fields be left fallow. Some follow the rabbinic teaching that allows crops to be planted on the Sabbatical year by selling the land to a Gentile for one year. Other rabbis reject this way of getting around the law.

Rabbinic Jewish law has developed in three directions: First, are the creative applications of the law to new circumstances, which all legal systems in all societies must accomplish. Second, is the unnecessary multiplication of laws. And third, are ways to get around the law. Yeshua addressed these tendencies in the New Covenant when He accused the Pharisees of making void the Word of God by their traditions (Matthew 15:3).

Development in All Legal Systems

Lest we be overly critical of the rabbis, we should take note that all civil legal systems in all developed societies do the same thing as Rabbinic Judaism. We should remember that Rabbinic Judaism is both a civil legal system and a religious legal system in one. As laws multiply, we find ourselves in a situation where the intent of basic law has been undermined.  Legislation is then required to bring reform and return the law to its more basic intent to serve true justice. This is perhaps best seen in the development of legislation to protect the rights of the accused. As legislatures and courts have applied the law, they have made it more and more difficult for the victim of crime to obtain justice. The intent is good; to avoid punishing an innocent person. At times this concern is over emphasized in the law. For example, there may be absolute certainty that a person committed a crime, but because the accused was not rightly read his legal rights, he will be allowed to go free. The victim will have no justice. This infuriates people. Sometimes the victim takes justice into his own hands.  There are even situations where the victim has killed the criminal.

Instead of letting the criminal go free, the court should punish the official who violated the law, but not free the certainly guilty criminal. This results in guilty rapists, murderers, and thieves roaming among us. We also have guilty murderers going through an average 13 year appeal process before the death penalty is enacted. All through this time, those who lost loved ones must suffer through this agonizingly drawn out process and cannot experience closure.

Reapplications Are Needed

On the other hand, when circumstances change, additional laws are sometimes necessary to preserve the intent of the original law. At times laws need to be qualified so that unnecessary harshness and injustice do not result. Some development in law is necessary. Though in general, Western legislatures pass too many laws, some of these new laws are beneficial and important.

Religious Laws

In religious life, we are also tempted to multiply laws to preclude violating holiness. The Bible commands us to not get drunk. The fence mentality enjoins us to not use wine at all. This way one will never get drunk. The Bible says that we are to avoid all appearance of evil. This same mentality prohibits playing pocket billiards because billiard halls are bad places. This is also applied as a prohibition against all movies – even good films because it associates the attendee with Hollywood, which is generally regarded as evil.  Yet, persons who truly want to do the will of God are not constrained by such a legal system; instead they should allow their conscience to be guided by the Holy Spirit and in this dynamic way avoid evil behavior.

The Problem with Legalism

Legalism undercuts justice, spiritual life and joy. My own view is that Believers need to keep God’s commandments through the power of Yeshua. We should also honor worthy and beautiful traditions and applications, but not make them into law. In addition, we should always be seeking legal reform in our society to return our system of law to simpler justice. The Sermon on the Mount is very clear. Yeshua in all His divine authority restores Torah to its heart intent and sweeps away illegitimate and excessive accumulations of man-made laws. We now live in a New Covenant Order where the spirit of the Torah is paramount. This is not a means of circumventing the Torah, but is the way to fulfill its true meaning.

The Inability to Enforce Standards in Western Society

Certainly one of the primary characteristics of Western society is an inability to enforce standards. We see this across the board in every institution and every sector of society.  The only exception seems to be those businesses that excel because they are subject to the stiff competition of the market.

Here are some egregious examples.

Some years ago, CNN reported that at least 22,000 illegal aliens crossed the border into the United States through normal check points.  The guards did not check for visas or for any kind of identification. The illegals were just waived through. This is in an age where we worry about terrorism! The guards simply did not have the will to enforce standards. As of yet there have been no serious consequences for the guards.

Speaking of illegal aliens in the United States, we can solve the problem of illegal Mexican immigration and enforce the law with regard to our borders. If we need Mexican labor and it is inhumane to prevent Mexican immigration, we can expand legal immigration or have a legal guest workers program where potential alien workers are checked with regard to any criminal problems. We do not do this because illegal workers are cheaper for businesses. Corruption and money are the root of not enforcing standards.

Many of our public schools do not enforce academic and disciplinary standards.  This is in spite of the No Child Left Behind legislation. This hurts students who most desperately need an education to escape poverty. We are no longer clear on what children and young people should learn!

We know how to fight crime and to greatly lower rates of serious crime. New York City is our prime example. Mayor Rudy Giuliani attained success that few would have thought possible. New York went from being one of the most unsafe cities in the world, to one of the safest. This was accomplished in spite of the challenges of great ethnic diversity and organized crime. No doubt the prayers of believers were an influence. The success was due to a rare commitment to enforce standards for all kinds of crime, both major and minor. It entailed putting more police officers on the street. Other cities did not follow the New York pattern. So, for example, in Baltimore and Philadelphia, the crime rates still soar. They do not have the spine to enforce standards.

We add to our list environmental protection enforcement, food safety inspection and so much more.

In our local town in Israel on any given day in our shopping center, scores of cars park illegally even when many spaces are available. Here again is lax enforcement. The illegal parking makes it difficult for people to pull into legal spaces. The people who have been given the Law, and who are to be a light to the world, break the law and are in fact a lawless society. Laws do not mean much unless they are enforced.

In America, government agents test our airport screening system. The screeners fail again and again. They are not trained adequately to enforce the standards. Those who train them do not show high standards themselves!

In hospitals, many patients die because nurses and aids simply refuse to follow directions for washing their hands. The hospitals are not able to enforce hygienic standards.

We have laws on the books against pornography. They are not enforced. We no longer even have standards against homosexual behavior and other aberrant sexual deviancies. Rap music demeans women and calls for violence, but there is no enforcing of any standards of decency. This is due to today’s interpretation of free speech. We had free speech for the first 200 years in America and yet we were able to preclude such rot.

The Root of our Problem

What is the root of all this? This is the fruit of two generations of adherence to the doctrine of relativism. Relativism tells us that there is no objective standard of truth or right and wrong. When a society is no longer unified by belief in God and His standards of right and wrong (which includes some fear of His judgment), enforcing standards is difficult indeed. We produce a spineless people who have little motivation to enforce anything.

The Condition of Western Churches

The saddest and most alarming trend is in the western churches. Society has so influenced us that Yeshua’s exhortation to not have a condemning attitude (judge not that you be not judged) has been taken to mean that we are not to enforce standards of righteousness in the Body of Believers. This is contrary to the history of Christian interpretation and was not the view in the Protestant Churches before the end of the 20th century.

This is so very contrary to the Bible’s teaching on enforcing standards in the community.  In the prophets, Israel’s leaders were severely judged for not enforcing standards of justice and morality. Isaiah 59 is especially poignant. Revelation 2 and 3 strongly warn congregations that they will be judged if they do not enforce standards.

The indulgent orientation of modern western Christianity also contradicts Paul’s teaching in I Corinthians 5 and 6. Here we read that the community of faith is to discontinue fellowship with the sexually immoral members. Then we read that the community is to have a judiciary to settle serious disputes between members. In many of today’s western churches, the pastor can leave his wife and marry another with no biblical discipline. Independent churches provide no court of appeal to deal with serious miscarriages of justice.  Mercy and grace are perverted to allow license. Then the press reported another scandal at a large church, this time in Atlanta. Didn’t we already know that the leader was sexually perverted? Yet the people continued to follow their corrupt bishop, and there was no process to remove him. The Church is being taught that we are all sinners so who can judge? But Paul said, such were some of you. He commanded us to judge those inside the Church (I Corinthians 4: 5). We do not understand that grace is a transforming power that leads to righteousness through identifying with Yeshua’s death and resurrection. We have no excuse for continuing to practice sin.

A few years ago I wrote a book called Due Process, a Plea for Biblical Justice Among God’s People (the new edition is now available on our web page).  The enforcing of standards is at a low point in the life of the western Church.  Only if churches enforce standards of righteousness will they have the power to positively influence society.

The Israeli Body of Believers

I have a dream and even have faith that God will turn this around before Yeshua returns. I think often about the Body of Believers in Israel. I have friendships with many leaders who believe in enforcing standards. Could God build such a quality of community life amongst believers in this Land that the community of believers here will bring change to the churches of the West? In some way, will the Torah go forth from Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem … even before the Messiah Yeshua returns? It is my fond hope. It is certainly possible, since much of the world and many of the churches of the world have a focus on what is happening here. I am challenged and privileged to be a part of those working toward this end in Israel. May God pour out a spirit of repentance and revival for us all.

A dear friend works in a church connected to an apostolic leader who has published a book that argues for replacement theology. As most teachers who hold to this very wrong theology, he does not like to call his theology “replacement” but “fulfillment.”

According to this view, the church is the ongoing meaning of Israel. It is the fulfillment, and ethnic Israel is no longer the elect nation of God. My friend asked me to help him respond. In reflecting on this I thought it worthwhile to write something new on this for all of you. I hope it aids your understanding for both your teaching and your prayers.

A Brief History Of Replacement Theology

The Apostle Paul anticipated replacement theology when writing to the Roman Christians. There were already attitudes towards the Jews that could lead to this false teaching. Paul notes in the strongest terms that the covenants and the promisesstill belong to Israel (Romans 9:1).  He even asserts that Israel, which has not embraced Yeshua, is the elect andbeloved for the sake of the Patriarchs. Paul concludes the argument with this ringing affirmation: “The gifts and call of God (to Israel) are irrevocable” (Romans 11:28, 29).One wonders how Paul could have been clearer, as well as how one can still support replacement theology in the light of these verses.

The Church Fathers

The Church Fathers saw the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple as the ultimate proof that God had once and for all rejected Israel as the elect nation.  Even though some taught that at the end of this age the Jews would believe, they still held to the belief that the Jews were never again to be the elect nation or to return to their land. An allegorical method of interpretation developed in order to maintain this view. Christians were taught that the promises concerning Israel that had not yet been fulfilled should be allegorically applied to the church. This did violence to the text because it rejected the natural reading of the scripture in context. The meaning was “spiritually” divorced from the intention of the author and the understanding of the intended audience.

Text after text about Israel’s ultimate re-gathering to the Land and the ultimate glory that would be received were twisted to mean something else.  The justification was that the New Testament speaks of the Church in terms that were used for ethnic Israel in the Hebrew Bible. However, these texts do not speak of Israel’s replacement but rather that the Church by analogy, has parallel meaning to Israel.

The Reformation And The Puritans

The Reformation gave us interpreters who interpreted scripture in context; in a natural and straightforward manner.  This led to the Puritan interpreters writing many books and articles asserting a positive future for ethnic Israel as God’s elect people.  Increase Mather of Harvard wrote a book on Romans 9-11, and interpreters like Elnathan Parr and Samuel Rutherford made strong pleas for the Jewish people. Some even predicted a return to the Land. This was the case with the great poet-theologian, John Milton, in Paradise Regained.

The classic apologetic textbook written by Joseph Butler in 1732, The Analogy of Religion, argued for the Jewish return to the land of Israel. The preservation of the Jews and their return to the Land was one of his arguments proving the truth of the Bible. Lutheran Pietists, Anglicans, Moravians, Methodists and Baptists made this view the consensus of the British Church of the early 19th century. John Nelson Darby in the mid 19th century, founder of Dispensational theology, developed his theology in this context. He agreed that Israel was elect and had a positive future but also added some strange distinctions in defining dispensations or ways of God’s working in different ages. Many replacement teachers in the Evangelical world today claim that those who believe in the election of ethnic Israel are Dispensationalists; this is a very wrong claim.

While we can point to the above positive historical trends, both Catholic thought and classical Calvinist thought maintained its replacement orientation, the latter having left Puritan interpretation. However, the Evangelical world in America largely went Dispensational and saw the theology of Israel in the context of Darby’s theology. This weakened their argument with replacement teachers.

The Post Holocaust Re-evaluation

After the Holocaust there was a very strong re-evaluation. The positive influence of Karl Barth, who in his Church Dogmatics wrote passionately on the continued election of Israel, influenced the mainline Protestant re-evaluation. Though replacement theology was not seen as logically anti-Semitic, it was perceived as a factor in allowing anti-Semitism to exist. Denomination after denomination rejected replacement theology in official documents and claimed that the Jewish people were elect. This led to a very positive feeling for Israel. Finally during the Vatican II Church Council, the Roman Catholic Church became the largest Church body to officially repudiate replacement theology and give ringing affirmation to the continued election of the Jewish people as distinctly chosen from all nations. This is now enshrined in the “New Catholic Catechism” and many other documents.

Replacement Theology is Re-asserted

Unfortunately, replacement theology is again rearing its ugly head. The mainline denominations have turned from Barth and his followers who gave us Neo-Orthodoxy and a higher regard for the biblical texts, though not an Evangelical high view of scriptural inspiration. With greater relativism taking hold, they were now subject to Arab propaganda. Palestinian mainline Christians, advocates for replacement theology, have brought mainline denominations to a point where they still hold to some tepid level of election for the Jewish people while turning against Israel and rejecting the present return to the Land. There has been unnecessary Palestinian suffering, but the relentless propaganda goes beyond any justification and has now produced an anti-Israel bias in these denominations.

In addition, in the Charismatic and Evangelical worlds, we find a new replacement theology growing up. Some professors at Wheaton College, the bastion of Evangelical education, are affirming replacement theology. This is of great concern to me. Yet, the bulk of the Evangelical world maintains a strong place for ethnic Israel in its theology, both from Dispensationalists and non-Dispensationalists like me.

Replacement Theology in Judaism and in Secular Jewish Thinking

Startling as it may be, there is a kind of Jewish replacement theology in Reform Judaism and secular Judaism.  The former no longer holds that the Jews are uniquely elect but that all peoples are equally chosen. If so, the universal election of all people replaces the view of the Jewish people as uniquely elect. All cultures have value and Judaism simply is said to be our culture. Secular Judaism has its own replacement view since no one is elect! These are very dangerous views and undercut the survival of our people. They undercut our courage and the reason to strive to survive as a people.

How Can People Be So Blind?

In a day when God is amazingly fulfilling prophecy and bringing our people back to the Land according to Ezekiel 36:24 and preparing them to receive the New Covenant, this replacement teaching is terribly unfortunate.  It robs the Church of its glorious role in making Israel jealous. It steals our rejoicing in the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. In a day when the saved remnant of Israel is growing steadily in numbers and quality, how can there be such blindness? May replacement theology die! We hope that the Church will see the truth and will show support in prayer and finances for the great move of God among our people.

A Surprising Controversy

Some years ago, a surprising controversy was covered by the Israeli press. The debate concerned plans of Israelis and Christian Zionists organizing joint events to support the State of Israel. One of the most important sponsoring organizations is the Christian Allies Caucus of the Israeli Knesset.  Amazingly, a woman on the Jerusalem City Council, Mina Fenton, succeeded in gaining a high level rabbinic ruling against these events. The rabbis declared it a violation of Halakhah (Jewish Law) for Jews to participate in these events. This decision was reviewed by the Chief Rabbis of Israel.

Fenton was a fierce opponent of Christian Zionists. This is foolish beyond belief because Christian Zionists are the backbone of support for the State of Israel in the United States and several other countries. Yet, she has one fear that cannot be challenged: that good relationships on a profound level between Christians and Jews will lead to a greater possibility of Jews being more open to the person of Yeshua. This is hardly a good reason to reject Israel’s friends, but one can understand her reasoning.

The Christian Zionist Mindset

Christian Zionist organizations are of two minds on the idea of relating to Messianic Jews.  Most profess that they do not support missionary activities.  However, some are supportive of Messianic Jews in a quiet background way and do not consider our own witness to our people to be missionary activity.  Others will not have any friendship with Messianic Jews and keep them at arms length at best. For some in the Jewish community, Christian Zionists will not be accepted as friends of Israel unless they condemn Messianic Jews. So far, none have been willing to do this.

Are there Common Jewish and Christian Values?

One of the rabbis opposing the then upcoming conferences shunned the sponsors for declaring that there is a common Judeo-Christian heritage of values. He stated that there is no such thing. I think it is worthwhile to respond to this statement. Do we have common values for which we should fight? I believe we do.

What are common Judeo-Christian values? One may argue that the values we hold in common are simply Jewish values, since they were embraced by Jews before Christianity existed. However, there are values that have developed in Western civilization through the influence of Christian leaders and are now strongly held among Jewish people. There are also distinctly New Covenant values that are not as clearly affirmed by Judaism. For example, the love of one’s enemy to the extent called for in the New Covenant is more pervasive in Christianity, though this is foreshadowed in traditional Jewish teaching.

Common Judeo-Christian Values which are Jewish Based

The Bible provides us with the Jewish and Christian belief that every human being is created in the image of God. Therefore every human being is of sacred worth and to be treated as an end and not as a means.  The Genesis 9 decree establishing the death penalty for anyone who takes innocent human life provides a clear example. Capital crimes are often based on the violation of human dignity. The values of marriage, exclusive sexual expression as part of marriage, the value of the pre-born child (though in Judaism not as a fully declared person), justice and fairness in the courts, integrity in government and so much more, are common values. Further, acknowledging God as sovereign over all, life after death (resurrection), and rewards and punishment after death according to the judgment of God, all form common beliefs and values. Dennis Praeger and Daniel Lapin are two famous rabbis who have pointed out these traditional commonalities. Sadly, we live in a time where secular relativistic agnosticism has eroded the commitment in the larger Jewish community to these values. This is also generally the case within societies in the West.

The Christian Addition to Common Values

I recommend Rodney Stark’s excellent book “The Victory of Reason.” He proves that the development of Christian values in the West had an enormous effect in developing political freedom, prosperity and social justice.  Though it took many centuries, the primary battle for freedom of conscience
was a Christian development.

Baptist Roger Williams in Rhode Island established the first state where genuine religious liberty was practiced, including the freedom to persuade another of one’s beliefs. This was in the 17th century. In addition, Christians led the battle to see all human beings treated equally.

The modern “Amazing Grace” gives us the wonderful story of the Evangelical-Anglican, William Wilberforce’s battle in Parliament to eliminate slavery in the British Empire. The main battle against slavery in America was also led by Evangelical abolitionists.

Today Jewish people have made such biblically based human values a major focus of Jewish conscience. For example Rabbi Joshua Abraham Heschel’s battle for civil rights and his stand with Martin Luther King. The recent claim from some British writers that religion has only produced evil in societies, especially with regard to Judaism and Christianity, is unfounded.

The Erosion of our Common Values

Today, we are seeing the erosion of common values due to the influence of secular relativism in the West. This is a terribly dangerous development that will lead to the coarsening of human life and much devastating pain.  The destruction of marriage and family are the greatest and most alarming trends. Our liberty within the law has been redefined as unrestrained license. This will eventually lead back to slavery. As John Adams, the second U.S. President, rightly argued; only self governing and moral people are truly free. The laws of a good society are supportive of our historic moral consensus.

Where Do We Go From Here?

As we face a false absolutism of radical Islam, it is crucial that we recover this common heritage of Judeo-Christian values. Israel and biblical Christians will have to stand against radical Islam and against the secular relativism of the West. The very existence of Israel is a testimony that God exists and His Law is absolute. This binds Christians to Israel. Societies dominated by secular relativism will appease Islam and will abandon Israel to do so. Secular relativists have no backbone.

In this regard, we need to pray that Israel and her Christian friends will foster a continued and growing cooperative effort.  We have said enough in the past to note that this does not mean supporting a radical right wing agenda for Israel, but rather a basic support of the just cause for a Jewish state.  We should pray that the attempts to destroy cooperation by such folks as Mina Fenton will be defeated.  We can also rejoice that Christian love for Israel and the Jewish people does indirectly have great effect in opening hearts to Yeshua.

I recently returned from a wonderful week in Norway.  I was invited to preach and teach in Bergen and Oslo.  The Lord graced us with unusual spring like weather for this time in Norway. For several years now, Oyvind Fumes has served as a wonderful bridge to our connected ministries in Israel.  This connection began after I sent one of our emissaries to Norway years ago to connect to Christ Church and Raidar Paulson. Then Oyvind came to be part of the Baruch HaBa Tour sponsored by the joint ministries connected to Tikkun here.  In 2005 we had a wonderful opportunity to teach in Norway through Oyvind Fumes and Terjei Gilje, a businessman leader in the Church in Bergen.  My daughter also had opportunity to teach shortly after finishing Army in Israel.  The center for this connection is Christ Church which was under Raidar Paulson in Bergen.  Raidar has been a cutting edge leader in Bergen and brought renewal and five-fold ministry understanding to Bergen as well as a commitment to Israel and Messianic Jewish ministry.  That was a long time ago.  We continued to connect to our friends through their visits to us in Israel.  They have continued to support ministries here. 

However, Oyvind began to believe that it was time to have deeper teaching on the issues of Israel, the Church, the Messianic Jews and the Last Days.  As such he became the coordinator for a conference in Bergen as well as a time of teaching at Christ Church.  This also included teaching the better part of a day at a combined meeting of several Bible Schools. This is so very important because we are impacting the younger generation of future leaders.  My son also was with me on this trip and had opportunity to teach at the Bible school day.  The conference on Saturday was given to more in-depth teaching than had been presented in our previous trip years ago.  There was an enthusiastic response from the students and faculty. On both Saturday and Sunday, it was very special to see Raidar Paulsen who is now 82 years old.  The new leader of Christ Church, (Krist Kirken) was also very supportive. I expect that he will carry on Raidar’s orientation.  I am excited to have a young leader furthering the vision. 

We had time on Friday to travel to a resident Bible school, and my son and I were able to teach the whole student Body.  In this case, the Bible school leader was quite on board with the teaching and very enthused that we came and taught.   The final time of teaching was in Oslo with 300 young adults who came every week for Bible teaching.  It was amazing.  The leader, Joakim Magnjs, is a YWAM leader in the Oslo area and somehow has developed this amazing weekly school!  

These kind of trips are crucial in preparing the churches for alignment and joining with the Messianic Jews and Israel in preparation for the revival, last harvest and the return of Yeshua.  

Some of my readers know that I have roots in Norway.   My mother was Norwegian and my Father Jewish.  Some years ago, I connected to our cousins in Norway. They are descendants of a family that had a deep commitment to Israel and its salvation which commitment goes back to the 18^th century Lutheran Pietists who discovered the truth of Israel and its role in the return of the Lord.  For my son and grandson who was brought for a pre-bar mitzvah trip, connecting to the cousins was very special.  For me, ministry in Norway closes a circle and brings a fulfillment that is very deep. 

Those who make a covenant for Israel’s salvation express that covenant in prayer and giving to Jewish ministry.  We seek covenant partners on this basic, who will covenant with us as a practical concrete connection.  Praying for us and supporting this ministry in giving on a regular basis truly enables us to carry on and indeed, makes this ministry possible.  Do consider signing up on our mailing list and becoming a covenant partner. 

Ezekiel 37 was written in the time of the destruction of the First Commonwealth of Israel in the Promised Land. This was concluded with the last Babylonian deportation and the destruction of Israel in 586 B.C.  However, the situation of Israel after the “Shoah”, the destruction of European Jewry (1940-1945), more precisely fits the description in Ezekiel.  The terrible circumstance of Israel the scene describes is only temporary.  What follows is the redemption of Israel and the nations.

Note the contrast; Israel says of her condition: “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone. We are cut off” (Ezekiel 37:11).

But God says through the prophet: “Oh my people, I will open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel … I will make a covenant of peace with them, it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them. I will be their God and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I make Israel Holy” (Ezekiel 37:12, 26-28).

This is in the context of chapter 36 where God promises the Holy Spirit to Israel. It is a parallel passage to Jeremiah 31 where God promises to make a New Covenant with Israel and to write His Law upon their hearts. God promises that Israel will never again be removed from their land. The Jewish return after Babylon never attained what is promised here; for the greatest number was in the Diaspora from 586 B. C. until today. It is only now that we see the time approaching where the majority of Jews by Jewish community reckoning may soon be in Israel. Our Ezekiel passage promises both a great return to the Land and spiritual revival.

Is this Passage about the Episcopal Church?

Many Christians have used this passage in a replacement theology way as if it spoke of the renewal of their church body. In May, Canon Brian Cox, of the Christ the King Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara, California, gave a marvelous talk in Kenya. He emphasized that he had often preached this passage in his longing for the renewal of his denomination. Then the Lord opened his eyes to see that the prophet was not speaking about the Church, but Israel, the Jewish people. Yes, God may use this passage to speak about renewal in the Church, but this is not its contextual meaning. It is about the restoration of national-ethnic Israel!

Stages in Israel’s Restoration

Many have pointed out that this passage leads us to see Israel going through stages of dry bones being scattered, then connected together by sinews and tendons, then having flesh placed upon these bones, and finally being filled with the Spirit. The Spirit is first giving sufficient life to bring the bones together, but then at last fills the corporate army that is brought into being. This exactly fits the situation in Israel today. She is not yet a nation filled with the Spirit, but is in the process of having flesh placed upon her bones. Also in Zechariah 12:10, after Israel is mightily delivered, she “looks upon Me” whom she has pierced and “mourns for Him.” The great repentance takes place at the end of the process.

An Analogy for the Messianic Jewish Community in Israel

Patty and I have now been living in Israel long enough to have some sense of the condition of the Messianic Jewish community in Israel. A few days before writing this article, I was preparing a message. I sensed the Spirit speaking to me. I understood that Ezekiel 37 also provides us with an analogy of the situation of the Messianic Jewish community in Israel. I do not claim this as the contextual interpretation, but a fruitful prophetic analogy from the Spirit. In many ways the Messianic community in Israel is going through a similar pattern of development as described in Ezekiel 37.

My heart has been very warmed by the leaders of congregations in Israel.  Most are leaders of real courage. To have survived the pressures of modern Israel, to have stood for Yeshua, and to have gathered a significant community of Jewish believers is an awesome accomplishment. I have been impressed by the quality of Israel’s Messianic Jewish leaders in integrity, grit, and personal discipline.

Separated Bones and a Corporate Body

Yet the condition of the Body reflects the limits of understanding at the present stage of development. Many hold to an independent ecclesiology or doctrine of congregational government where each gathering is completely autonomous. Linkage for mutual accountability, joint strategy, and even a joint recognized leadership is the exception. The bones now have life from the Spirit in them, but they have not yet come together, taken on flesh, and risen up to form one corporate Body. When we are asked by Church leaders to “Take us to your leaders in Israel,” we cannot respond. This is far different than the organic leadership that Yeshua provided by tying his Israeli believers together under the Apostles and the joint eldership of Jerusalem.

There is presently little understanding of five fold leadership and how apostles and prophets can provide linkage. There is little understanding of how functional unity can release people to greater effectiveness and need not stifle the creativity of each gathering under legitimate leadership. The question of government has not been studied with adequate seriousness. In addition, there is confusion about how to respond to the traditional Jewish heritage with some reacting with disdain and others becoming overly enamored. This will take maturing.

I do not know if there was any other choice for beginning the movement of Messianic Jews in Israel.  Such were the circumstances in which men found themselves who were called to leadership. This was not a movement that was planned by human agency. We now find ourselves part of new significant gatherings for mutual up-building and prayer. Some leaders are beginning to ask, “Is there something more for us together?” What does John 17 and Yeshua’s prayer for unity mean for us in the Land?

What the Future Holds

I believe that the Lord is preparing to bring many of us together. He will join us together into a practical cooperative unity and mutual accountability under a five fold leadership. In addition, not only will we have His breath upon our bones, but the bones will come together, will become one corporate man, and will be filled with the Spirit in a mighty revival. As happy as we are to see growth in numbers of Messianic Jews in Israel, when God’s unity and his great outpouring comes, we will see a harvest that few can imagine. We will experience the reality of God’s dwelling in our midst and His amazing love and power in a way that will foreshadow the nation as a whole coming into the reality of his Spirit.

The title is a quote from a great old Christian hymn, written in 1825 by John Bowring, an English linguist, parliamentarian and diplomat. I have chosen this title after careful reflection. Let me explain my reasons for doing so.

The Messianic Jewish Movement faces many challenges. There are many foundational emphases which must be constantly maintained: The emphasis on the call to Jewish life, the place of Torah in the New Covenant, proper critical and biblical evaluation of Rabbinic Judaism through the absolute authority of scripture, the importance of the power of the Spirit in winning our people to the Messiah, raising up young leaders for the next generation and more. However, I believe the greatest and most important foundational challenge of our movement is maintaining the central place of Yeshua and his death and resurrection in our worship and preaching.

Why is it Difficult to Maintain a Yeshua Centered Emphasis?

The Messianic Jewish movement usually seeks to identify with those aspects of the Jewish heritage that are good. There is much that is biblical in the Jewish heritage. This heritage emerges from the Hebrew Scriptures, of course, and not the New Covenant Scriptures. One can so emphasize the Jewish heritage that the central emphases of the New Covenant are lost in our worship and preaching.  In addition, Messianic Judaism has not yet developed a tradition of worship material with a depth of content that expresses New Covenant realities. We need such a tradition, expressed in a Jewish way.

In addition, there is tremendous opposition in the Jewish religious community to our central New Covenant convictions. For the sake of compatibility with Judaism and to assuage the potential Jewish visitor, New Covenant emphases are sometimes downplayed (even unconsciously) because they are perceived to be a turn off to Jewish people who do not know the Messiah.  This produces a service I would call “Yeshua-lite“. I believe this is a huge mistake.

The Centrality of Yeshua and His Death and Resurrection in the Writings of Paul and the Gospels

In Philippians 3:10, Paul reflects on his own history of zeal for Judaism and concludes: I want to know Messiah and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

This became Paul’s central life focus. The centrality of Yeshua’s death and resurrection is the pervasive emphasis in the New Covenant Scriptures and the fullest revelation of God’s love, a suffering love that is beyond anything that we could have before conceived. All the Gospels emphasize the passion accounts more than any other aspect of the life and ministry of Yeshua. It is in our embrace of the crucified Lord that we find the forgiveness of sin and the transformation of the inner man. Pauline theology is quite clear that transforming power and victory over sin is only found in identification with our crucified Lord.  This is an ongoing point of contact for our faith.

Contrary to the view of some, a concentration on the power of the crucifixion is not morbid. Those who have deeply experienced the tragedies and sufferings that this life can bring know that only this focus in the power of the Spirit brings adequate comfort. However, without the resurrection, we would not know the meaning of the cross and its victory.  We are resurrected to new life. Entrance into Kingdom life is through the cross and resurrection. We are crucified together with Him (Galalatians 2:20) and raised together with Him into new life (Romans 6:11).

This reality is so awesome that the death and resurrection of Yeshua redefines the Passover-Exodus as a redemption paradigm. It does not, however, replace it; we still celebrate the Passover and our deliverance from Egypt but the center is Yeshua.

Power for Effectiveness

Our power and effectiveness is dependent on Yeshua’s death and resurrection. In John 5, Yeshua explains that the Father is pleased that we honor the Son as we honor the Father. This is astonishing and so very important. Some streams of Christian piety have done a wonderful job of emphasizing this reality: The great liturgy of communion in the historic churches, the great hymnology of the Reformation, the Moravian movement’s emphasis on the crucified Yeshua as the basis for our love and devotion, and lastly the hymnology of Charles Wesley. These all show a depth and understanding that is wonderful for our reflection. The effectiveness of these movements is in part to be attributed to this emphasis.

Yet, in many Messianic Jewish services (and might I add much contemporary Christian worship too) there is little of this depth. Our contemporary worship is largely made up of choruses that mention little of what Yeshua did. We may sing, “I love you Yeshua”, but do not well tell the story of what He did and why we love Him. His suffering love is not the emphasis of much of today’s contemporary worship in general. I do believe that without this emphasis in our preaching and worship, we will see less transformation in our people, less devotion, and less of the presence and power of the Spirit. In addition, our outreach to our people will suffer. The power of God’s anointing is more important than not giving offense to our people. We make room for God’s anointing (individually and corporately) when we give top priority to Yeshua’s death and resurrection (Philippians 3:10).

The Solution

The solution is at hand. New Covenant Scriptures contain a number of liturgical or worship passages. For example, Philippians 2:6-11, Hebrews 1:5-13, Paul’s creedal confession in I Corinthians 15:3-5 and several passages in the book of Revelation. When the Sh’ma is sung (“Here O Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is One”) we need to recognize that this is a basic confession of faith. We cannot be new covenantal unless we also add our confession of what we believe about Yeshua. New Covenant material should be part of standardized liturgy for those who have such liturgy.

The New Covenant can be the basis of writing many Messianic Jewish hymns concerning Yeshua, what He has done, and our victory in him. Passage after passage can be a basis for songwriting.

We cannot be an authentic New Covenant movement unless our worship and teaching have this crucial note of focus on the crucified and risen Lord.  I am sure that some of our readers in the larger Church world will also find that this truth has much relevance to them. May God so lead us to glory in the cross of the Messiah.

The radical left proponents of identity politics and the promoters of victim status, are presenting a most incoherent view, called  intersectionality.   Intersectionality teaches a linkage between the oppressed groups in the world who have been oppressed by the privileged groups.  All oppressed groups are linked and related.  If you are the privileged you had better grovel and act ashamed.  So who are the inter=sectionally connected oppressed.  They are black people, Hispanic immigrants and especially illegal immigrants, Native Americans, women and Palestinians.  Just how these are all linked is hard to defend and basically incoherent.  Who are the oppressors?   White men.  White male hatred is pervasive.  So the real link is some connection somewhere to white men and their injustices. This is in part due to the fact that white Europeans were the colonial powers whose nations were led by white men.  The products of white males is to be despised.  In the liberal arts, the question is asked in literature and philosophy why it should be required to study the works of dead white men?  Plato, Aristotle, and Thomas Aquinas were all white males.  So also Shakespeare, Tennyson, and Cervantes!  One of the interesting aspects of this movement is that though the Jews have been the most persecuted group in history, in intersectionality they are part of the white privileged class because they are successful, and are doubly evil because they are the colonial European imposition on the indigenous colored Palestinian people.

The identity politics people have a point.  It is that much oppression from colonialism, slavery, and indifference to the plight of the needy came from white men.  However, so has the greatest advances in science, medicine, political theory (re: constitutional democratic government) social progress and so much more came from white men.  The end of slavery was due to the work of dead white men.  So also great literary achievements came from white men and I would add white women. However, judging people on the basis of their color and dividing people on DNA is foolish indeed.  Let’s look just a little deeper and see the foolishness of all of this.  Despising white people means despising all European nations, and despising Russians and Ukrainians as well.  In addition, only some European nations became colonial powers.  But the selective choice of who is the oppressor  is amazing.  What of the oppression in North Korea, past Japanese domination, Chinese persecution of its Muslims and Tibetans, or Russia dominating Ukraine?  What of the oppression from the privileged Indians to the lower class Indians and the caste system.  The issue of the oppression of women and Christians in Muslim countries is left out.  We forget that many Hispanics are not people of color but quite white and descended from Spanish Europeans.  It is hard not to conclude that the lumping together is arbitrary and subjective.  

We can go on and on.  When a people gain power, it is too often the case that they exercise that power to the detriment of those who do not have power, whether within a nation or between nations.   This is so in world history, not just European history The answer is not to dismiss Western cultural gains from which much of our freedom comes, but to have a consensus on applying the values of freedom to benefit all.  The Bible teaches that we are to give ourselves to lift the marginalized.  This is an absolute value in the Bible.  If the marginalized are more concentrated in one ethnic group over another, they should get the disproportionate investment of time, energy and resources to lift them, but not by dividing society along ethnic lines.  White poor in Appalachia for example have been in as great need.  As an Israeli, I do have concern for the treatment of Palestinians, but to think of Israel as a white colonial imposition in this land is so far afield it is hard to know where to begin to respond.   If Israel was embraced by the Palestinians, they would bring prosperity to the Palestinians.  This is the case with Israeli Arabs already who are far more prosperous than other many other Arab people in other nations.   The intersectionality left is a destructive force indeed. 

By George Byron Koch

22 January 2023

Dear Mom,

Gosh, can you believe it’s 2023 already? I’m still writing “22” on nearly everything. Seems like just yesterday I was sitting in first grade celebrating the century change!

I know we haven’t chatted since Christmas. Sorry. Anyway, I have a few things to tell you and I really didn’t want to call and talk face-to-face.

Ted’s had a promotion, and I should be up for a hefty raise this year if I keep putting in those crazy hours. You know how I work at it. Yes, we’re still really struggling with the bills. You were right about overbuying on the house, but it IS nice.

Timmy’s been “okay” at kindergarten although he’s still not happy about going. But then he wasn’t happy about daycare either, so what can you do?

He’s become a real problem, Mom. He’s a good kid, but quite honestly he’s an unfair burden at this time in our lives. Ted and I have talked this through and through and finally made a choice. Plenty of other families have made it and are much better off.

I don’t expect you to “understand,” but you need to be sensitive to our circumstances. I can’t afford years of parenting with Timothy and have any sort of career, much less any time with my husband. Do you know how long its been since we just went out together?

Our pastor is supportive and says hard decisions sometimes are necessary. The family is a “system” and the demands of one member shouldn’t be allowed to ruin the whole. He told us to be prayerful, consider ALL the factors, and do what is right to make the family work. He says that even though he probably wouldn’t do it himself, the decision really is ours. He referred us to a children’s clinic near here, so at least that part’s easy.

I’m not an uncaring mother. I do feel sorry for the little guy. I think he overheard Ted and me talking about “it” the other night. I turned around and saw him standing on the bottom step in his pj’s with the little bear you gave him under his arm and his eyes sort of welling up. The way he looked at me just about broke my heart. But I honestly believe this is better for Timothy too. It’s not fair to force him to live in a family where there isn’t enough money or room.

Please don’t give me the kind of grief Grandma gave you over your abortions. It’s the same thing, you know. Anyway, they say the termination procedure is painless.

I guess it’s just as well you haven’t seen that much of him. Love to Dad.

-Jane