Are Modern Jews Really Israelites? (Pt. 1)

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In February of this year, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel was interviewed by Tucker Carlson, a longtime conservative commentator and former host of a top-ranked cable news program. When Ambassador Huckabee expressed his belief that the Jewish people have a covenantal and historical claim to their ancestral homeland of Israel, Carlson showed hostility, arguing, “The only thing we know about them is they lived in Latvia or Poland—they’re Eastern European…. By what definition [are they Jewish]? How do we know they have any connection to the Jews of the Bible?”1

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What Is Passover Really About?

Passover is at the heart of Jewish identity. For thousands of years, this holiday has been an annual opportunity to teach the next generation about our roots as a nation—how we suffered as slaves in Egypt, until God heard our cries and delivered us to be His people. Yet in all the tradition and ritual of this special occasion, somehow the very heart of the Passover story has been overlooked and lost. This night is meant to commemorate a very specific event, one which is key to understanding not only how God redeemed our ancestors, but also the path to deliverance for every one of us.
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Not Because of Righteousness

Since the beginning of Christianity, anti-Jewish sentiments have been pervasive among large segments of its adherents. Even while a growing number of believers are choosing to stand with Israel, antisemitic influences remain embedded in certain ideologies that target the Jewish people with accusations of wickedness (whether those claims are rooted in reality, or not). But these allegations are not merely an end in themselves. Their strategy is to assert that Israel’s sins have annulled their position as God’s people. But is this really so? Does Israel’s status as the chosen nation depend upon whether they are righteous or wicked? Not at all, and in Deuteronomy 9, we find Moses clearly demonstrating the contrary: that God’s choosing of the Jewish people is not dependent upon their righteousness, but is instead based on the promises He made to their fathers, as well as on His own reputation which He tied to those promises.
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Is the Oral Law Biblical?

One of the major obstacles to Jews believing in Yeshua is their belief that the religion of Judaism is incompatible with the Messianic faith. And, in fact, it is… just not for the reasons they think. Among religious Jews, some have asserted that the incompatibility lies partly in believers’ rejection of the Oral Law—that this rejection is evidence of Yeshua-followers’ misunderstanding of the Scriptures, and that if not for such misunderstanding, they would reject Yeshua instead. The truth of this allegation therefore hinges upon one simple question: does the Oral Law carry the authority that Judaism asserts it has? Put another way, in order to determine whether or not the Oral Law should be accepted and adhered to, we first need to determine if it actually comes from God—if the Oral Law is actually biblical.
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Joseph, Israel’s Despised Deliverer

When we don’t understand the reason for the troubles we’re facing, there is great comfort in the story of Joseph. For many of us, his unwavering devotion to God through unjust persecution is a source of inspiration, and our trust in God is renewed by seeing the good He brought out of Joseph’s suffering. Even more, Joseph is ingrained in the history and identity of Israel for his role in saving his family so they could become the great nation God had promised they would be. But what if there is still more to glean from Joseph? As a savior of Israel, could he serve as a pattern and parallel of the Messiah Yeshua Himself? Let’s take a moment to recount Joseph’s story, and afterwards, we’ll compare it to Yeshua’s life. The patterns we discover will help us draw out a truth which both stories share: that God can work despite and even through Israel’s hatred of their God-given savior, and will eventually reconcile them to their deliverer.
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Should Christians Care About Israel?

Among American Christians, a positive view of the modern State of Israel has never been a hundred percent. Yet among today’s younger generations, it has been dropping precipitously. A Lifeway survey conducted just after the October 7 massacre (lttl.pw/israel-survey) showed that while 22% of Christians over age 65 have a negative perception of Israel, that number has risen to 42% among Christians aged 18-29. Less than half (48%) of Christians in this age group even believe the fact that Hamas attacked and killed 1,400 people that day. And a solid majority (59%) believe that “armed rebellion of Palestinians against Israel is a natural response of people who have been mistreated by the state of Israel.” In short, Christian support for the State of Israel is deteriorating… fast.
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Messiah, King of Glory

The people of Israel stood before Adonai’s appointed judge, the prophet Samuel. Four hundred years had passed since Israel left Egypt, and throughout that time Adonai had faithfully led His people. With the giving of His Torah through Moses, the God of Israel had become their King (Deu. 33:2-5), and by the hands of His judges, He had delivered them from all their enemies. But now they assembled before Samuel and announced their arrogant request: “Give us a king to judge us,” they cried, “that we also may be like all the nations” (1Sa. 8:6&20, esv).
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Does God Have a Son, Pt. 3

The idea that God can have a son is not only biblical, but was well-understood by the ancients. As we explored earlier, the concept is found most clearly in the kingship of David and the expectation for the sonship of his endless line upon Israel’s throne. But someone being called God’s son is not quite the same as someone being the Son of God. Yeshua, then, needed to further narrow the definition of God’s “son.” He would not only be Israel’s messianic, priestly king, but also the means of blessing all the families of the earth through His sacrifice, atonement, and offer of salvation and eternal life. Yeshua had to be something more than those who came before… something that many of the people of Israel weren’t yet ready to receive. Read more

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Does God Have a Son, Pt. 2

As we previously learned from the Hebrew Scriptures, there is nothing bizarre or outrageous about God having a son. It does not imply or necessitate any kind of natural childbirth or other-worldly conception, but instead speaks to the characteristics of a special relationship with God. Israel’s sonship, for example, is defined by being called God’s firstborn and heir of His promises and purposes—God’s instrument for blessing all the nations. God also declared both David and David’s heir to be His son, as He brought forth a line of kings that He promised would reign in Israel forever. Israel and David, then, are God’s sons in the sense that He is the progenitor of a people through whom He would disseminate and propagate His message and glory to the world.
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Does God Have a Son, Pt. 1

The “New Testament” claims that Yeshua is the Son of God—an inconceivable and offensive claim in the eyes of Judaism. How could the holy, eternal Creator of the universe have a human son? Did He defile Himself to procreate with humans? Did He father biological offspring as in Greek myths and pagan religions? Yet despite such cynical ad hominems and red herrings—and regardless of whether one is prepared to believe that Yeshua is indeed that very Son—the concept of God having a son is actually not so unbelievable. It is, in fact, deeply rooted in the history of Israel and in the Hebrew Scriptures. Read more

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