As far as the gospel is concerned; they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable – Rom 11:28-29.
The Jewish people, the nation of Israel, has an irrevocable calling. I have written about this calling in my book, The Irrevocable Calling. Israel’s preservation and return to the Land of Israel is a great testimony to the faithfulness of God and His ultimate Lordship over history.
Israel’s testimony memorializes God’s action in the history of the nation and points to the end days and the Age to come. For example, the Sabbath is a testimony to the fact that God created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh. It is a foreshadowing of the Age to Come, when all will enter into a total Sabbath rest in Him.
Passover leads to the Exodus from Egypt, and foreshadows all nations coming into their destiny in the Age to Come.
Shavuot (Pentecost), the first large harvest, was the time of the outpouring of the Spirit in the first century. It foreshadows all the earth being filled with the Spirit; the knowledge of God will cover the earth (Isaiah 11:9).
Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets (Shofarot), announces the judgments of God and the coming of the Messiah to rule and reign. It includes the re-gathering of Israel (Isaiah 27) and the resurrection of the dead (I Thessalonians 4:16-17).
On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the High Priest made atonement for the people. Yeshua, our High Priest, entered into the Most Holy Place of the Heavenly Tabernacle with His own blood of (Hebrews 9). This atonement is yet to be applied nationally to Israel and the nations, (Zechariah 12:10, Rev. 22:2).
The great Feast of Harvest, of Tabernacles, looks forward to that Day of the Kingdom of God in which Israel and all the nations will be one under the Messiah. (Zech. 14:9)
Jewish followers of Yeshua are part of their people; Paul showed that he was obedient to Torah and demonstrated his continued part in the nation of Israel (Acts 21). Messianic Jewish congregations are a key way for Jewish followers of Yeshua to maintain their part both in Israel and the “church”. These congregations include Gentiles who enjoy identifying with the Jewish people and worshipping in a Jewish rooted context. Jewish life is communal and is hard to maintain individually. We affirm Jewish culture where it is good and beautiful, and we seek to live within this cultural context. Jewish disciples of Yeshua are both the saved remnant of Israel and the Jewish members of the Body of the Messiah, the Jewish part of the One New Man. They join Israel and the Church together in an unseen corporate connection. Someday all Israel will be part of the Body of the Messiah, grafted back into their own Olive Tree leading to life from the dead. (Romans 11:15)
All believers are to affirm that Israel is still chosen, has not been replaced, and that Jewish believers are still a part of this important calling. God’s goal is that Israel and the nations will be one under the rule of the Messiah.
