Most Christians believe that Christians and Jews worship the same God and have the same revealed Word of God. But this is not true. Christians worship a triune God, one God in three persons, and the revealed Word of God to the Christian is the Old and New Testaments combined. Jews worship a God who is one person, and the revealed Word of God to the Jew is the Old Testament alone.
Though their gods are the same, they recognize God differently. One, the Christian, worships a God who is one essence but exists in three persons. The other, the Jew, worships a God who is one essence and one person. Consequently, they recognize God differently and thus worship different gods.
Their history, however, is similar. The Old Testament, the text that is recognized as a Jewish Bible, is a foreshadowing of the New Testament, and Christians worship the revealed word of God in both as their Bible. The Jews, on the other hand, recognize only the text of the Old Testament as their Bible. So, the Bible for the Christian and the Jew is the same as the Old Testament, but for the Christian, the text of the New Testament is added.
THE JEWISH REMNANT
Remnant is known in English as a small or still remaining part of the whole. In the Bible, it is often spoken of as a small portion of the Israelites who will stay true to believing in the Messiah, Christ. They have the same beliefs as the elect, and all are, in fact, part of the elect.
We spoke earlier of the Old Testament foreshadowing the New Testament. In Isaiah 10:20ff, a remnant of the “house of Jacob” is discussed. This is a foreshadowing of the remnant of the Jews spoken of in Romans 11:5ff, where Paul says that by God’s grace, not by the works of the individual Jew, a small portion of the Jewish race will remain faithful to the Messiah of the Christian faith and be saved with the rest of the elect.
Thus, the Jews that the Christians should be interested in are the remnant of the Jews that believe in the Messiah. This is not referred to as National Israel today or in the past. National Israel is a civil, secular invention. It is not the remnant of the Jews that Christians should be concerned about.
NATIONAL ISRAEL
According to the Bible, God formed the nation of Israel from the natural descendants of Abraham. The Jewish people, or Hebrews, were the citizens of National Israel. God removed them from Egyptian captivity, and after wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, he introduced them to the promised land, which was generally the area possessed by the State of Israel today.
The current State of Israel occupies an area east of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a multiparty state with a population of about 9 ½ million. It is the only modern Jewish state; however, it does not have an official religion.
Since its inception, the State of Israel has been an ally of the United States of America. In President Donald Trump’s first term, the United States embassy was finally moved to Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Israel.
Among other things, the United States gives and sells military equipment to the State of Israel. Therefore, civilly and secularly, the State of Israel is a national ally of the United States of America.
In biblical times, God ended His special relationship with the nation of Israel because its leaders participated in the destruction of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. God saved elect human beings, including a remnant of the nation of Israel, the believers of the Messiah, to eternal life by grace, not by the works of individual human beings.
There is no special relationship between God and the nation of Israel today, but God and Christians are interested in the remnant of the Jews and their belief in the Messiah.
Pastor John Hagee founded Christians United for Israel (CUFI) in 2006. It is the largest pro–Israel organization in the United States. With over 10 million members, CUFI is the foremost Christian organization educating and empowering millions of Americans to speak and act with one voice in defense of Israel and the Jewish people.[1]
Dr. John MacArthur, a well-known nondenominational pastor and seminary president, on the other hand, does not support National Israel biblically but does support the Jewish people from a biblical perspective.[2] He also says that there is a remnant in the church itself.[3] Only genuine Christians, not just church members, will go to heaven.
CONCLUSION
No Christian pastor or member of the Christian faith should support National Israel using the Bible. The only thing that should be supported is a remnant of the Jewish people that will believe in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and receive salvation by grace.
All citizens of the United States should support National Israel as an ally of the United States of America, but not from a biblical perspective. This should be done only from a civil perspective and only because National Israel is an ally of the United States of America.
[1] https://cufi.org/about/mission
[2] https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/70-57/bible-questions-and-answers-part-80.
[3] MacArthur, bible-questions-and-answers-part-80.
