ti-dingz Blog - the Jews

The Jewish People – My Brother, My Sister

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 consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: you do not support the root, but the root supports you.  (Rom. 11:17–18, NIV)

When we don’t fully comprehend something, we don’t always have the capacity to be grateful for it. This is why Paul provided the church in Rome with a detailed analogy, using an olive tree to describe the role of the Jews and Gentiles in God’s kingdom. The purpose of the analogy was to rebuke the Roman believers for their arrogance towards the Jewish people.

It is good to be reminded of the significant role the Jewish people played in our salvation. Before God revealed Himself to humanity, through His Son, Jesus, it was the Jews who had the greatest revelation of the nature of God, and it was the Jews, (although rebellious, exiled, repented, and restored) who expressed faith and commitment to God.[1]     

The Jewish people hold a place of honour among the nations

The Israelites did not separate the sacred from the secular; for them the worship of God was deeply entrenched in their psyche and permeated every function of life – He created the earth, produced the harvest, provided their daily needs, was their shelter, and it was God who went into battle against their enemy.

The Hebrews understood Yahweh to be the God who saves. It was the basic and ‘proper function of God himself’.[2] God as their saviour was cemented in the minds of the Jews from the time of their exodus from Egypt when Yahweh proved Himself to be their deliverer. His fame was celebrated and retold in the form of song, story, and re-enactment (Ps. 66:1–7; Deut. 6:20-24; Ex. 13:3–16).[3]

God’s election and preparation of the Israelites saw them fulfil several roles in God’s saving work. Consider some of the following, which we can take for granted:

  • The Israelites were God’s prophetic voice, foreshadowing all that was to come.
  • They were taught the ways of God and passed that knowledge down from one generation to the next in the form of logion (plural), the sayings of God.[4]
  • They were given the knowledge of how God and man’s relationship works. This included an understanding of the fall of man and the state of humanity.
  • They were taught about God’s holiness and righteousness and set apart from the influence of false gods, idol worship, and sorcery.
  • The Jews would be a people God would live among and He would enter into covenant with them.
  • It was the Jews God gave everlasting promises to [5].
  • God’s laws and commandments were given to the Jews to show God’s moral standard and humanities inability to meet that stand.
  • It was the Jews who learnt that sin must be paid for through atoning sacrifices.
  • God sent His Son, born a Jew, to be the ultimate sacrifice to take away the sins of the world.

In total the Jewish people were taught the ‘theology of how God works’.[6]

The Jewish people paved the way for our salvation

The Jews were chosen by God to essentially prepared the world for the entry of His Son into humanity (Deut. 7:6, Ps. 34:9; Rom. 11:15). In doing so the Jews paved the way for our salvation.

Let’s not forget what the Jewish people have done for us. They are the original branches, and we have been grafted in with them. We are supported and nourished by the same root (Rom. 11:17–18). Christ said He was both the Root and the Offspring of David (Rev. 22:16). We are of the one tree.

Let’s pave the way for them

The Jewish people are not a perfect people, and neither are we. They are, however, our brothers and sisters, who will be saved at the appointed time (Rom. 11:25–28). They are loved by God and His election, and calling of them is irrevocable (Rom. 11:29).

They have paved the way for us; let’s now pave the way for them by upholding the Jewish people through prayer, practical support and sharing the good news that Jesus Christ was the final sacrifice.

Ready to share the Good News in print? Find our latest gospel tracts to distribute here.

Blessings Deb

Founder of ti-dingz gospel tracts Australia

(tidingz, tidings)

[1] Shoeman, RH 2003, Salvation is from the Jews, Ignatius, San Francisco, CA, 15.

[2] Green EMB 1965, The Meaning of Salvation, Westminster, Philadelphia, PA, 13.

[3] Walters G & BA Milne 1999, ‘Salvation’ in The New Bible Dictionary 3rd edn, eds. RW Wood, IH Marshall, AR Millard, JI Packer & DJ Wiseman, Inter-Varsity Press, IL USA, 1047.

[4] Goodrick, EW & JR Kohlenberger 1999, The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 1568 (Greek, G/K 3359).

[5] Ibid, 15–21.

[6] Shoeman, RH 2003, Salvation is from the Jews, Ignatius, San Francisco, CA, 16.

Tagged , , ,