Christians and Israel are one family.
There are only two families from two fathers.
Devil’s family
John 8:44 “ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies”. these are red letters from Jesus Christ. He told people in those days that your father is determined by what desire you fulfill. it is clear that Jesus was not talking about the father who gave them birth in the physical but the one whom they will end up spending eternity with if they do not repent.
God’s family
John 1:12 “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” Believing in the name of Jesus and being a born-again person grants you access back to the family whose father is God. Before believing in Jesus Christ one is an enemy of God not having neither a covenant with Him nor rights to things of God’s kingdom. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13). in the Bible, you can find many scriptures assuring that believers are part of God’s family. At the same time we have to be mindful that the family of God on earth did not start with Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross but rather started thousands of years back when God visited the father of all believers the man called Abraham. It started with a nation called Israel, back then they were the only God’s family even in those days people from other nations who learned from Israel to fear God and obey His ways were counted as God’s people, the example of the man called Job of whom we read in the book of Job, he was from the land of Uz. In this dispensation of grace, we live in, everyone who believes in Jesus Christ is brought into the family of God.
There have been ignorant and arrogant thoughts among the Christians thinking that Israel as a nation is no longer God’s chosen people because they rejected Christ, but this is a lie from the devil, satan knows better that God’s word is established forever. God clearly says in His words that His covenant with Abraham concerning Israel is an everlasting covenant which means no circumstance will ever change that. Christ Himself warned us to discard anything from the law and the prophets. and if you read through the bible from Genesis to Revelation you realize that God has never forgotten Israel as part of His family. So, we are one God’s family.
Israel and Christians, one family
When you read the word of God from Genesis up to revelation, you start to have an understanding of the purpose of God creating the nation of Israel on the covenant made between God and Abraham. for God wanted to have a nation of His own He can call His family on earth, for God said He will be their God and they will be His people. (to reference a few verses Genesis 17:7, Jeremiah 30:22). the bigger picture of the purpose of creating the nation of Israel is found in Genesis 12:2-3. in this passage of scripture, we find 3 main reasons:
- To make God known among all other nations on earth through Israel, that He is the God almighty, and glorious, and that He takes good care of His people. this is expressed in how God said He would make the nation of Israel great and bless them.
- To cause all other nations to want to come back to Him through Israel His people. God said all nations will be blessed through Israel. God loves everybody too much to the point He will never violate man’s will. but because He always wants us to make our own decisions to do good and live right. that’s why He could only count on nations to realize that they need Him through the lifestyle of the nation of Israel, through what they see happening in Israel they would want the same for their nations, thus coming back to God.
- To express His love towards mankind. after the fall of man, God could not live with sin, so, His Spirit could not dwell among sinful men any longer but God did not want to abandon His man because He loves us so much. and because of that love he established a plan for us to get back to Him and it started by establishing the nation of Israel.
Now that we have been born again, the apostle Paul wrote to Ephesians reminding them of the most important thing and yet overlooked in Christian circles today. Ephesians 2: 12-13 “Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” for an average Christian who has been taught only about our rights through Christ does not understand this. Christ Himself said: do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfill them. Anything you see happening in the New Testament fulfills what has already been set in the Old Testament by law and prophets. Israel means God’s chosen, God’s people. God made a covenant with Abraham to create a holy nation, that’s why we (us believers) are called Abraham’s descendants not ones by the flesh but by the faith in Jesus Christ. Both physical and spiritual Israel are part of the same family, the family of God. The nation of Israel is God’s people, born-again believers are God’s people. That’s why Paul said at once we were excluded from citizenship in Israel (or excluded from the commonwealth of Israel) and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, but now we have been brought near citizenship in Israel through Jesus Christ. meaning that we have been made Israelis through faith = God’s people through faith. Israelis both by covenant and by faith are one family. Paul understood this very well, and that’s why he could pray like this: “For this cause, I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in Heaven and earth is named” Ephesians 3:14-15).
We ought to treat the Israelis as we would treat ourselves and the nation of Israel as we would treat our nation because we are one family. Standing with them in the moment of sorrow, and defending them as we would if it was our own family and nation at stake.
Shalom, Shalom.
