Evangelicals: Stand Up for Jews! – Part 4

Jewish Timeline Becomes Interesting 
Following the seemingly miraculous re-founding of the land of Israel in 1948, the Jewish people have been in the process of returning to their land. The Aliyah (homecoming) is still underway, to be fully completed after “Jacob’s trouble.” 

Crucially, in this regard, for the first time in over 2,600 years, more “core” Jews (individuals that identify themselves as Jewish) are now living in Israel than in any other nation. Think of the significance of this for a moment. 

This would be celebratory news, were it not for the reasons why “core” Jews are such a small group. Adding those that qualify as being eligible under Israel’s Law of Return (which can include non-Jewish household members), raises total world Jewry from 16.5 million to  25.5 million. Of these, 51% live in the United States and 30% in Israel (including the West Bank). 

While the country of Israel is experiencing healthy natural population growth (now numbering 5.4 million Jews), Diaspora Jewry is declining; not for reasons of Aliyah, but more because of secularization and outmarriage (Jews marrying people who are not Jewish). According to one study, whereas outmarriage rates were generally below 5% for the majority of Diaspora populations in 1930, today, it is in excess of 45%.1 In America, fewer Jews report having two parents of Jewish origin. Less than 40% of the 18–34-year age group who identify themselves as Jewish today, have two Jewish parents. In fact, a current major point of debate is the very definition of Jewish identity.

For this and other reasons, the Jew is becoming ever less numerous in the world. While the Jewish people represented 7.5 out of every 1000 people in the world in 1938, today this figure is less than half—only 3.1 per 1000.

This declining trend will continue to worsen, according to some researchers. Others talk of the Hansen’s Principle phenomenon … the apparently observed trend that “what the son wishes to forget, the grandson wishes to remember.” But such a renaissance of Jewish culture in America seems unlikely, given that evidence indicates extremely high rates of unmarried cohabitation with non-Jewish partners. If that is the case, the assimilation of the North American Jew will rapidly continue.

But would it seem likely that more than one-half of “core” Jews in the world will remain outside of Israel? According to Scripture, it is certain that the Aliyah is not yet complete; this occurs only after the Tribulation. Could it be that American Jews will simply assimilate and eventually wither away? That seems doubtful. If history is any guide to the future, it has always been true that specifically in those countries where the largest population of Jews reached prominence and contributed to a Golden Age, they eventually were persecuted and displaced.

Hopefully, the Messiah will come first and America will never be the handmaiden to another such atrocity and therefore suffer being uprooted. Time will tell. Of one thing we can be sure: When the Jew leaves America, it will be the harbinger of the downfall of the USA. For, to repeat, “I will bless those who bless you,” said Lord Jehovah (Genesis 12:3a).

The Coming Protocols of God
Ultimately, once the Jews repent and recognize their Messiah, they will be forgiven as well. “‘In those days, at that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare’” (Jeremiah 50:20).

The next uppermost fact to realize is that the times of the Gentiles will end. In the not-too-distant future, the tables will be turned: The Israelites will reign on earth. Jesus Christ Himself will be in the seat of David, and justice and law will go out from Jerusalem.

In this seat of God-given power and wealth, will Israel be forgiving and non-retaliatory to the nations that have persecuted its people through the ages? Scripture is clear about the fate that will befall the nations. “This is what the LORD says: ‘As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them. But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to his own inheritance and his own country … But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,’ declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 12:14, 17).

At the end of the Tribulation, the Jews indeed will recognize their Messiah. Then will begin the Millennium—the seventh, final, and greatest period where Israel would again flourish unmolested and free of international interference in its own land.

Once the tribes of Jacob are restored, says the Lord, “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6b). “Once again he will choose Israel” (Isaiah 14:1).

Thoughts to Ponder
As Christians, we do not need to be apologists for the Jews, nor condone every action of the modern State of Israel. However, there are several things we must do: First, “If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you” (Romans 11:17-18).

Next, “Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either” (vv. 20b-21).

While a judgment and restoration has been set for the Jews, the Gentile best remember that judgment awaits  them also. For the Christian, the Bema seat (and persecution) still lies ahead for us. Thanks to the Jew—Jesus Christ, in the flesh—we are spared eternal damnation (and so also the House of Jacob), but we do not escape judgment. That trembling time still lies ahead. Oh, may the severity that God has showed the Jew pass over us! Think of the countless times we have been disobedient, as were Israel and Judah, yet Jesus Christ has been faithful to forgive us.

According to the Prophet Hosea, this restoration surely draws near. Hosea was inspired to say, “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence” (6:2). As a “day is … as a thousand years” (2 Peter 3:8; cf. Psalm 90:4), it is now well into the second half of the third day for the Jews. 

As God’s plan decrees, one day there will be a Jewish global confederacy. It will be the Millennium … and not as the result of the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” or any other contrived conspiracy theory. Gentiles will then be thankful that Jews are not the evil they are often made out to be. “In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you’” (Zechariah 8:23).

God will restore the Jews for the sake of His promises to the patriarchs (Romans 11:28). This is such wonderful news for Jew and Christian alike. For if God is willing to go to such lengths to keep His promise for “David’s sake,” how much more so on behalf of Jesus Christ, His own Son? 

This is part of a re-edited, four-part excerpt from the 2009 book, Preserving True Riches in an Age of Deception and Trouble (secondary title). 

ENDNOTE
1 Serigo Della Pergola, “Jewish Out-Marriage: A Global Perspective,” International Roundtable on Intermarriage, Brandeis University, December 18, 2003, Table 1.

Midnight Call - 06/2024