One For Israel

Dr. Erez Soref: Why then? Why not me? This is the cry of human jealousy. Envy and covetousness are as old as mankind. And when we refer to Israel as a chosen people, some people immediately recoil. Either they feel left out or that those chosen ones think they're better than everyone else.

Today, we will see how sinful envy and pride have distorted our view of God and His Word, but how God uses holy jealousy to turn hearts back to Him as we continue to ask the question: why Israel?

I'm Dr. Erez Soref. I was born and raised in the heart of Israel, but I never heard the Gospel message until on a journey abroad, my eyes were opened to the Jewish Messiah. From that point, my life has been dedicated to bringing this Gospel back to my people, Israel, equipping them to reach Israel and the world. Together, as Jews and Gentiles, we are one in Messiah, one for Israel.

Early in His ministry, Yeshua spoke at a synagogue in Nazareth, reading Isaiah 61. As He spoke, people were amazed, but they also began to grumble. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" Yeshua zeroed in on their rejection of Him. He compared it to the days of Elijah and Elisha, which were not times of great revival, but dark ages of Israel.

Times when the vast majority rejected God and the prophets. In those days, God acted to draw the attention of His people back to Himself. How did He do it? By revealing Himself in miraculous ways to Gentiles from hostile enemy nations.

Yeshua stated there were many widows in Israel, but Elijah was sent to the widow in Zarephath, a Sidonian. And Elisha healed the leprosy of Naaman. Not only was he a Syrian, Israel's sworn enemy, but a general in their army. Yeshua was pointing out that God worked among the Gentiles to get the attention of Israel.

But this idea was an offense. Yeshua's audience responded by trying to throw Him off a cliff. The Apostle Paul would face similar hostility when he suggested that God sent him among the Gentiles. He faced a heartbreaking reality as a Jewish believer in Messiah. Even though this faith had started in Jerusalem as a predominantly Jewish movement with thousands of Jews coming to faith, towards the end of Paul's life, many synagogues were outlawing this movement.

Earlier we see the leaders of the synagogues where Paul first preached of the Jewish Messiah start off with open ears, but then become envious of Paul, outraged when they heard about the massive response of the Gentiles to Paul's teaching. As time progressed, Paul saw that the very people through whom God brought salvation to the world would largely reject that salvation.

He wrote with a broken heart, "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Messiah for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel."

This wasn't just theological confusion for Paul. It was personal agony. These were his people, his family. As Jewish believers, we feel the same pressure every day. And that's what fuels our ministry. Our heart's desire is just like Paul's heart. We're broken for our family members, and we're longing for our people to know the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua.

Paul in his epistle gives us hope. This isn't the end of the story. He declared with absolute certainty, all Israel will be saved. He saw an entire national revival among my people, something we at One For Israel believe is at our doorstep. But how will this miraculous reversal happen? How does my nation's "no" turn to a "yes"? Paul gave us a surprising answer: jealousy.

This wasn't just one of Paul's ideas. He was looking to the promise of the Torah. Moses foresaw that Israel, God's bride, would eventually fall away to unfaithfulness. And he said at that time, God would make Israel jealous by those who are not a people, the Gentiles. God would use jealousy to bring Israel to repentance so that Israel and Gentiles could rejoice together.

"Rejoice, you nations, with His people. He will take vengeance on His enemies and make atonement for His land and people." But sadly, the church of the nations hasn't always made my people jealous for God. Paul saw this prophetically in Acts 20. He said, "I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number, men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard."

God revealed that this new movement of faith would be hit hard by insecure false teachers who would attempt to corrupt God's plan. Church history has sometimes felt destitute of the Gospel light. There were times when Satan's influence exchanged genuine faith for politics and power.

The pogroms and persecution that the Jewish people endured in the name of Christ pushed my people away from Messiah instead of drawing us closer. I'm sure true believers who lived in those times felt like Elijah did after running away from Jezebel. He complained to God that all hope was lost and he was the only one left.

But God's response was that 7,000 in Israel had remained faithful. Now, 7,000 in a scope of millions was hardly a drop in the bucket. But God's message to us is that even in the dark ages of history, there has always been a faithful remnant. And today, many believers are now waking up to the call to truly make Israel jealous for her God.

I want to make a distinction. Jealousy and envy aren't the same. Context is key. There is a sinful, insecure envy that covets and wants what others have. Like when King Saul heard the praises of David, he envied the accolades and success. But there is also a righteous jealousy, a burning desire to protect my wife and my children. This is a jealousy for what's truly mine. And that's exactly the case with Israel, as Paul says in Romans.

"After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree."

The calling of God to Israel stands today, and God's strategy will be to use this kind of holy jealousy to awaken my people. In Scripture, God said that He would use Gentiles to drive Israel to jealousy and awaken her to call on her God and recognize her Messiah. A beautiful story that illustrates how He does this is found in Second Samuel.

David had become king of Israel, making Jerusalem his capital city, and he wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant, the seat of the presence of God on earth, to this holy city so the Tabernacle could be with him in Jerusalem. Unfortunately, David didn't consult the Torah's directions that demanded that the Ark be carried on the shoulders of the Levites.

Instead, David, following an earlier example of the Philistines, used a new cart pulled by oxen. He began to wheel the Ark to Jerusalem the Philistine way. When the Ark began to tip, a man named Uzzah tried to steady it with his hand and he was struck down. Second Samuel reads, "David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, 'How can the Ark of the Lord ever come to me?' He was not willing to take the Ark of the Lord to be with him in the city of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. The Ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household."

Now, Obed-Edom was a Gittite, a man from Gath. Gath was the same city that Goliath was from. Modern scholarship believes that Obed-Edom was in fact a Philistine and a Gentile. The presence of God on earth, Heaven's earthly throne, came to dwell in the house of this Gentile Philistine for three months. And it wasn't like other times when Philistines stole the Ark and there were outbreaks of tumors and rat infestations.

God's blessing actually fell on Obed-Edom's whole household. But the Ark wasn't at home in his house. It rightfully belonged in Jerusalem to the house of David, to the people of Israel. After three months of David seeing blessing poured out on Obed-Edom, David became jealous for what truly belonged to him and his people: the presence of God.

He had been afraid to accept the Ark, but he saw something that he was missing that Obed-Edom had. Jealousy for what was his overcame his fear. He finally came with the Levites and brought the Ark to Jerusalem, dancing with all his might. We're talking with our friend, archaeologist Danny Herman, about the history and archaeological evidence of the Ark of the Covenant and why it was so important to Israel.

Danny Herman: I always get excited coming back here. So my name is Danny, but everyone calls me Danny the Digger as I'm an archaeologist by education. And here we are at Tel Beth-Shemesh, halfway between the coastal plain, Philistine land in biblical times, and the mountains of Jerusalem, Kiryat-Jearim, Jerusalem up there.

This is one of the greatest stories of the book of Samuel where the Ark of the Covenant, that legendary box that contained the Ten Commandments and made the water of the Jordan River stop so the Israelites could enter the Promised Land, was later placed in a site called Shiloh.

But at some point, nearly 400 years later, it's taken to a battle as the Israelites are defeated by the Philistines and they are convinced if the Ark will be sent there, we will triumph. But Eli, the high priest, has two sons that are sinners and perhaps that is the reason why the Ark actually failed to perform.

The Israelites again were defeated even when the Ark was brought, and worse, the Ark was captured by the Philistines. And the Ark was placed in Ashdod, was placed in Gath, was placed in Ekron. First, it causes the image of the god, Dagon, the god of the Philistines to fall aside and crack, and in all of those places, it caused a plague to the degree that the Philistines decided, "Thanks, but no thanks. Here, you can have it back."

The Bible tells us that from Ekron or from the fields of Ekron, the Philistines have prepared a cart and cows that drew it up to the borders between Philistine land and Israelites. And then the cows continued along that path. "Messila" is the biblical word, and it's amazing to note that to this day in this valley, there is a "Messila", a path that is even used by a train today.

In the fields of Beth-Shemesh, when all of a sudden they see something coming from the west, they raise their heads. It's the Ark! The Ark is heading our way! And they all get super excited. They bring it into the city. They put it on a big stone. They sacrifice the cows and they all rejoice. This is so important. Just two big flat stones. This one even has a groove to clear the liquids of something.

When this was found, I told the archaeologists, "Hey, maybe this can be related to the sacrifice of the cows who brought back the Ark." So all of this is one unit. In the back of the two flat stones with the grooves, we have here another big flat stone, except this one is rectangular. And it's not a column that fell. It was deliberately placed like this like a big table.

And the text tells us that the Ark was placed on a big stone. And the Ark size is a cubit and a half and two cubits and a half. This is a cubit. Watch. A cubit and a half on one, two, almost three cubits, meaning it's a bit bigger than the dimensions of the Ark. One cannot rule out the possibility the Ark of the Covenant actually rested here and the cows that brought it were sacrificed here.

That is amazing. However, these are simple people. These are not priests, which may be the reason why it causes a plague also among the people of Beth-Shemesh. So a delegation of priests comes from their residence in Kiryat-Jearim up in those mountains and takes it there to safety. And when it's kept in Kiryat-Jearim for 20 years, it doesn't kill anyone.

And then when David is king, he finally takes it to its last station, Jerusalem. The magic of biblical archaeology is the Bible. And if you read the Bible, you read so many amazing stories. But what are the chances of finding the sites and finding evidence that relate to those stories? And this is one of those cases.

The Old Testament is a timeframe of 3,000 to 2,600 years ago. It's before the Greeks, before the Romans, before the Middle Ages, the crusaders. What are the chances that we'll find anything from those times? And the more I studied, the more I got excited. There are actually significant finds that are found in places like Megiddo, Hazor, Jerusalem that are at the very low level, but they do connect to the Old Testament.

And I remember how already in 2012, they started finding what looked like a cultic area. But in 2019, just the last season before COVID, the last season of excavations here, that's when they found this big rectangular stone about the size of the Ark in the timeframe in the 11th century layer of the site. And you cannot rule out the possibility the Ark of the Covenant actually rested there. The evidence is just overwhelming. I think that the Ark is a representation of God. And if you want to be blessed by God, you should handle the Ark properly.

Dr. Erez Soref: God's promises, the Scripture, the Messiah, the good news, the presence of God resting on humans, all these things natively belong to my people Israel. But we are in a time where the Ark is sitting in the house of the Gentiles, as was God's plan, to bring mercy and blessing to all families of the earth.

But soon, we will see God's blessing drive my people to jealousy. They will shake off the fear and reservation like David did. They will claim the Messiah that rightfully belongs to them. Yeshua will sit down on the throne in Jerusalem, and as David danced, on that day, my people will rejoice with unspeakable joy.

The body of believers in Yeshua, God's olive tree, His bride, is today comprised mainly of Gentile believers. My people Israel, the Jewish world, for the most part, rejects Yeshua. Paul in his letter to the Romans says that they have cut themselves off. But he asks the question: did they stumble that they might fall? In other words, was it God's plan all along to eventually reject Israel and replace them with a church? Did God just abandon David and set up His temple with Obed-Edom?

No, absolutely not. God always knows what's going to happen, every outcome. And knowing our nature and tendency towards unbelief, He used this to make a plan to bring a blessing to the nations and all people. Paul lays this out this way. He says, "Rather through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles so as to make Israel jealous."

Did you catch that? Israel's temporary rejection of the Messiah wasn't the end of God's plan. It was part of His plan to bring salvation to the Gentiles. And in the same way, the Gentiles' salvation is part of His plan to bring Israel back. This is the mystery Paul spoke of. A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

And in this way, all Israel will be saved. Just like the fullness of the blessing fell on Obed-Edom and made David jealous for what was his, the salvation of the Gentiles will make Israel jealous for what is natively Jewish: Yeshua. And just like Obed-Edom continued to be included among the people of Israel, continuing to take part in the blessing of God's presence, Gentile believers will always be included as one in Messiah.

That was always God's plan, to include Jew and Gentile as one new humanity, the Israel of God. But think to yourself, if Gentile believers are supposed to make Israel jealous, is your life making anyone jealous? Do you have something that outsiders desire? Peace, joy, the evidence of the Spirit? What is it that will make Israel jealous for their Messiah? We're sitting with Dr. Dina Aweida to discuss just what Gentiles can do to make Israel and the Jewish people jealous for our Messiah.

Hi, Dina. Thank you for coming to talk to me today. It was wonderful to chat in the previous episode and your unique background I think is a great encouragement. So you shared that your dad's a pastor, he's an Israeli Arab, and your mom is Norwegian. And Dad has been pastoring one of the largest congregations in the country with Jewish believers and Arab believers. What does it mean to cause the Jewish people to jealousy?

Dr. Dina Aweida: Mostly I grew up in schools where most people are Jewish as they are in this country, Hebrew-speaking schools. I went to university here. So I've always been surrounded by Jewish friends. Israelis are very diverse with their background. Some are religious, some are super secular. I studied at the Technion, which is sort of like MIT in the states.

People are very into science and engineering and you don't talk the same way with each person you meet. As all believers should be, I think we're an example in our actions, in how we speak, how we treat other people. I think people assume here that, the religious Jews, they know the Bible.

Dr. Erez Soref: Which is not true, by the way, we'll talk about it.

Dr. Dina Aweida: Exactly, it's not always true. So how do you, who's not a religious Jew, why do you know Bible verses? Why do you know the stories? Why do you talk about a Messiah, about Israel?

Dr. Erez Soref: Well, I think I told you that I first heard the Gospel, the first time I heard the Gospel was from Gentiles. And part of what really intrigued me, I could not understand it, is that they knew particularly the Hebrew Bible better than I did. I did final examinations in high school, I knew the big stories, and I was just shocked. I said, "How come you know our Bible? I mean, I understand you guys have a New Testament, whatever that may be, I've never seen it, but isn't that what you're supposed to know and the Hebrew Bible is ours?" And I think many of our viewers that may have Jewish friends or neighbors or co-workers and they want to share the hope they have in their heart with them, they don't know how. As a Christian, you know the Hebrew Bible. It's shocking to Jewish people. It's absolutely shocking. And so that's a positive jealousy, I think.

Dr. Dina Aweida: Yes, and I think we also have a role in representing the faith in Yeshua the right way because Jewish people sometimes have a bit of a distorted view of what the New Testament says, of who Yeshua was. I've heard it before, "Yeshua was all about love, so everything is okay, everything is fine." But no, Yeshua came to fulfill the Torah. And our belief is based on all Scripture. God is the God of Israel, so it's one full story. And I think it's important for us to show that we know the whole story. And there's a reason why Yeshua came, knowing the Bible and also knowing the place of Israel in the Bible stands out.

Dr. Erez Soref: I've been talking to some friends who live outside of Israel, Gentile Christians, and they ask me, "How can we encourage our Jewish friends?" And I tell them look, probably any time, but especially these last two years, Jewish people feel as a persecuted minority. They feel that they are threatened, that they need to conceal the fact that they're Jewish or something bad's going to happen to them.

And as a Christian, as a follower of Jesus, this is a great time to go and encourage, not to get anything, but really just to stand there if you understand the place of Israel in God's plan and in the Bible, just stand with your Jewish friends at this time.

So one example that a friend of mine told me, he's a pastor of a Christian church in a large city in the United States, a city with a large Jewish population as well. When antisemitism and negative expressions towards Jewish people started to rise up in the United States, he contacted some rabbi friends of synagogues in his city.

They discussed doing some sort of a solidarity evening together. They called up quite a few pastors and rabbis and some accepted, some didn't. At the end, the rabbi asked my friend, "Well, thank you so much for doing this. It's been very encouraging, but why are you doing it? Why did you do it?"

He says, "What do you mean? We love you guys. We want to encourage you. We want to show our love to you, much as we show our love to everybody else as well." My friend told him, "Surely other people come to you." And he says, "No, actually, you guys are the only ones that came to stand with us." As a follower of Christ to encourage, to pray for, to ask your friend, "How can I pray for you?" can go a long, long way.

Dr. Dina Aweida: And we can't love the God of Israel without loving the people of Israel that He chose. And I think that's a big statement that we should be holding onto as Gentile believers. And as you said, especially in times like these when Jews feel persecuted and we see the rise in antisemitism around the world.

Dr. Erez Soref: Dina, thank you so much. It's been so encouraging, and I really appreciate your time. Thank you. Envy is poison. But there is also a righteous jealousy that comes from God. God Himself is jealous for His bride. He wants her to have no one else before Him and no others beside Him.

He's jealous for mankind. He wants His creation, His beloved made in His image to belong to no one else. And as more and more of my people see the light of the Gospel that's missing in their lives, that holy jealousy will awaken in them. And as Paul puts it, they will be grafted back into the place they belong.

My people will return home. Not only physically, but spiritually. Let's give my people something to be jealous about. One way you can do your part is to pray strategically into what God is doing in Israel. We offer a 31-day prayer guide that will help you pray relevant prayers and shake heaven for what God is doing on the earth. Visit oneforisrael.org/pray to claim your free copy.

Throughout history, God has preserved Israel through impossible circumstances. Exile, persecution, attempts at total destruction. Yet here we are, back in our land, speaking our ancient language, fulfilling prophecies written thousands of years ago.

This preservation isn't just about survival. It's about preparation. Preparation for the return of the King. Next time, we'll explore the final chapter of this epic love story when the bridegroom comes back for his bride and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. Why Israel? Because through Israel, God is calling the whole world to a wedding. And the invitation is still open.