People have been talking a lot about Israel.  For obvious reasons they have been in the news, and opinions swirl.  And everyone is ready with an opinion.  But as a pastor, I find that Christians seem to be the most easily roped into extreme opinions when it comes to the nation of Israel.  Some will stake their spiritual life on a pro-Israel stance.  While others (and it seems to be to be frequently younger Christians), have a very unfavorable opinion about Israel.

I just finished reading the book of Jeremiah.  Jeremiah was beaten because he spoke an unpopular word.  Jeremiah was arrested because he told Israel they were going to be defeated by Babylon.  Jeremiah was thrown down a well and left for dead because he spoke against his king and told him that God was going to exile Israel for their sinful rejection of God.  Jeremiah refused to give in to the narrative of his day that said that the only appropriate way to talk was to speak of Israeli success.

I want to be clear that Jeremiah was speaking the prophetic words given to him by Almighty God.  He knew Israel would be defeated by the army of Babylon that had laid siege to Jerusalem because God was speaking that truth to him.

I am not at all writing Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry into our current era as if I or anyone can know for certain the outcome of current events!  And that is precisely my point.  Nobody should pretend to know where things are going right now.

Israel was exiled in Jeremiah’s time.  They were defeated for their faithlessness.  And Jeremiah was there warning and calling them to come back to their God, even as he was telling them to lay down their weapons because Babylon was sent by God for their judgment.

If Israel could be defeated by Babylon as a judgment from God, would it be possible for God to judge Israel once again?  I contend that an honest humility requires a “yes”.

And yet to balance this, I must equally say that NOTHING can justify the hatred of an entire group of people.  There can be no room in the heart of a Christian for the anti-Semitism that arises every time that Israel is involved in a military campaign.

While we don’t have to agree with everything Israel does, we also cannot HATE them.

I mentioned in a sermon recently that I truly believe that the hatred of the Jewish people down through the ages points to a supernatural origin.  The absolute animosity that has been focused on one tiny group of people is astonishing.  And when that is coupled with the fact that the Messiah came through that one tiny group of people, it makes sense that Satan desires for them to be opposed.

The balanced and Biblically informed Christian cannot give a tacit and unqualified endorsement of Israel.  (Even Jeremiah and the other Jewish prophets couldn’t do that!) Neither can the balanced and Biblically informed Christian hate the Jewish people.

If you find yourself in one of these two extremes,  I would humbly invite you to a Biblical perspective on the one hand (and I’d recommend that you read some of the often overlooked prophetic books of the Old Testament), and I would invite you to a heart of love for the lost on the other.  Most all of the residents of the nation-state of Israel reject their Messiah.  And many of them reject YHWH altogether.  Hatred is never the answer for the Christian.  But love and prayers are always a great response!