(a question much too complex for a bulletin article cover)

No other people are as uniquely related to God as the Jews. He specifically called Abraham to create through him a nation that would bring his son and therefore eternal life to the entire world.

The message of John 3:16 makes it succinctly clear that God’s eternal focus was never on one nation, but on the coming of his Son for the world. According to God’s plan, however, he needed a people to prepare for Jesus’ arrival, and so he created and preserved a people of his own through Abraham.

Even the apostles seemed to think that Jesus’ coming was to restore the nation of Israel to prominence and power (Acts 1:6). Instead, he came to build his church as he had declared it to them in Matthew 16:18.

This is what Isaiah spoke of (2:1-4) regarding how the “mountain of the house of the Lord” would be established for all nations. Dreams interpreted by Daniel in chapters 2 & 7 were of a kingdom given to Jesus (7:13-14) and that all nations would serve him.

The letter to the Hebrews (12:18-29) explains that the church is that unshakeable kingdom. The Hebrews (Israelites) to which the letter is addressed, have come into this “New Covenant” mediated by Jesus and ratified by his “sprinkled blood” (see Isaiah 52:13-15). As Peter said in Acts 4:12, “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved”.

Furthermore, Jesus’ apostle told the Galatian churches, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise”, 3:28-29. There it is! Abraham’s offspring then are not of the flesh, but of the spirit of faith.

That the Jewish people continue to flourish in spite of being the most persecuted group of people on earth seems to me a testament to God’s faithfulness. So many other peoples have passed into history, yet the children of Israel are sprinkled, salted, if you will, throughout the world and the communities in which they dwell are blessed by them.

For this reason, I believe God’s original promise regarding Abraham’s children still stands, “And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse”, Genesis 1:3.