As a Messianic Jewish ministry, our hearts’ desire and prayer to God is to see the salvation of all Israel. We yearn for that glorious day when God’s chosen people embrace their Messiah. Yet despite any strides which have been made toward this goal, most Jews remain cut off in their unbelief (Rom. 11:20), and the day of Israel’s salvation is nowhere in sight. What are we missing?

“‘Did [Israel] stumble so that they might fall?’ Let it not be! But by their misstep, the salvation is come to the Goyim [Gentiles] to arouse Yis’rael to jealousy…. [H]ardness in part has happened to Yis’rael until the fullness of the Goyim comes in; and so all Yis’rael will be saved….” (Ro. 11:11, 25-26, mjlt)

According to Paul, the key to Israel’s salvation is Gentile believers. If you are a Gentile believer in Messiah, God has given you the responsibility to help save the Jewish people—a responsibility which can only be achieved by “arous[ing] Yis’rael to jealousy.”

Before you can make Israel jealous, however, you first need to identify and avoid certain things which may hinder a Jewish person from hearing the Good News. One doctrine which has historically repelled many Jews is replacement theology—the belief that God has temporarily replaced or permanently rejected Israel, leaving the Church to take their place as His people. If you proclaim a God who has set Israel aside, most Jews will not see Him as the one true God—the God of Israel—and will reject any possibility that His Son could be the promised Messiah of the Hebrew Scriptures. More than that, Jeremiah 33:24 teaches that anyone who claims God rejected Israel has “despised” God’s people. Stated bluntly, replacement theology is an anti-Semitic belief, and Jewish people will recognize it. No Jew will be jealous of someone they perceive to be anti-Semitic.

Seeing that replacement theology pushes Jews away, some Gentiles may be tempted to go to the opposite extreme, trying to become closer to the Jewish people by emulating them. In their zeal, some might appropriate rabbinic traditions and adopt Jewish culture—perhaps even going so far as to identify themselves as a Jew. Yet while this approach may seem preferable to replacement theology, it will bring you no closer to saving Israel. Imitating Jewish people will not make them jealous of you—on the contrary, it suggests that you are jealous of them. Though the Scriptures do affirm that Jews are special and dear to God (Rom. 3:1-2, 11:28), this does not make them any better than Gentiles (Rom. 3:9). Far from it! As a believer, you are in an infinitely better position than any Jew who has not accepted Yeshua. When you share Messiah’s salvation with Jewish people, remember that you are offering something which they are lacking, not the other way around. Trying to become Jewish will not benefit you, but will instead distract and impede you from fulfilling your unique role as a Gentile messenger of Messiah’s salvation.

So how can you, as a Gentile believer, effectively make Jewish people jealous? By showing them—in humility, compassion and love, and while standing firmly in your Gentile identity—that you are closer to the God of Israel than they are. You—a Gentile—follow the Son of David, the Prophet like Moses, the Lion of Judah, whereas the Jews reject Him. You—a Gentile—found the Jewish Messiah and see Him clearly (Rom. 10:20), whereas the Jews remain blind to Him despite Scripture telling them who He would be.

“But I say, ‘Did Yis’rael not understand?’ First, [Moses] says, ‘I will provoke you to jealousy by that which is not a people; by an uncomprehending Goy [Gentile] I will anger you….’” (Romans 10:19, mjlt)

To a Jew, the idea of “an uncomprehending Goy” teaching him about his own Messiah may be infuriating. But this is exactly how God will use Gentiles—to provoke and anger Jews in a way that stirs them to jealousy. When you share Yeshua with Jewish people, don’t be afraid if they get angry! Rather, be confident, knowing that you—a Gentile—can pierce their hearts in a way that no one else can, and that God can use their jealous anger to save them.

For nearly their entire history, the people of Israel have failed to fulfill their God-given mission to be a light of salvation to the Gentiles (Isa. 49:3&6). And Israel will continue to fail indefinitely, unless Gentile believers fulfill their God-given mission to provoke Israel to jealousy.

“How, then, may [Israel] call upon him in whom they did not believe? and how may they believe on him of whom they did not hear? and how may they hear apart from one proclaiming? and how may they proclaim, if they are not sent?… Indeed, as you Goyim once did not believe in God…, so also these Y’hudiym now do not believe, so that in the loving-kindness given to you, they may also now find loving-kindness.” (Romans 10:14-15, 11:30-31, mjlt)

As Gentile followers of Messiah, you are the ones who can help bring about the salvation of all Israel. God has sent you. Now proclaim His loving-kindness to the Jewish people, so that they may hear of, believe in, and call upon the name of Israel’s savior—Yeshua.

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