THE GOSPEL MANDATE: TO THE JEW FIRST by Fiona Sorbala

THE GOSPEL MANDATE: TO THE JEW FIRST by Fiona Sorbala

The Jewish story reads like a tragedy with anti-Semitism and the holocaust in recent memory, and the Inquisition and the wars over who owned Jerusalem, the Turks or the Christians –

I don’t know about you, but as soon as I get a new book to read, I can’t help but take a sneak peek at the ending – mainly because I don’t like unhappy endings! And I am tempted not to read the book if I know that it doesn’t turn out well!

If the OT is the story of the Jewish people, how does the New Testament, which we think is the story of Jesus and the Church, tell us about the outcome of the story of the Jewish people? It is not what we see in politics or the newspapers because if we rely on them alone, we will have a viewpoint that misses out on what God has to say.

If you’d like a sneak preview at the end of their story, we could look at God’s promise in Rom 11, but we won’t. Let’s start at the beginning! We all know, and most of us accept, that the Jewish people are called the chosen people, but it might be helpful to find out why.

DOES GOD HAVE A PLAN FOR THE  JEWISH PEOPLE?

Let’s start at the beginning, as all good stories do – The story of the Jewish people begins with one man and a promise, an incredible promise: the promise to bless the nations of the earth through Abraham’s family.

Gen 12:2-3  And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Abraham is the man God chose – he was a man who heard and obeyed. We read in Gen 15:6 … he believed in the LORD, and God counted it to him for righteousness. He was the man to whom a great promise was made that his offspring would become a nation that would bless the earth.

Abraham was God’s choice; it is a picture of who God wanted the Children of Israel to become. Abraham’s life was marked by his obedience and his ability to believe God when he heard God speak.

Gen 12:2-3 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless you and curse him that curses thee: and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.

I want to share another verse, and when we put them together, we will have a clearer picture of why God called the Jewish people!

Isa 42:6 I the LORD have called you in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep you, and give you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.                        

WHAT IS THE CALLING THAT GOD GAVE TO ISRAEL?

God’s people blessed humanity by bringing forth a Messiah who redeemed all mankind. When we read the calling of Israel to be a light to the nations, they foreshadow the ministry and calling of Jesus, who came as the true light of the world and who promises that all who follow him will not walk in darkness but have the light of life and like Israel, the followers of Messiah must shine for Him. This is because He tells us in Matthew’s Gospel that we must reflect His light in this dark world in which we live.

Matt 4:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bushel l. Instead, they put it on its stand, giving light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

At this point, it’s always wise to emphasise that God made it clear to Israel why they were chosen:

Deu 7:6: “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

God makes it clear that it was an act of God, an act of LOVE, and an act of grace. It had everything to do with who God is and nothing to do with who Abraham was or who his descendants would be. They were not chosen because they were special, numerous, or powerful. As God tells us, He uses the weak to confound the mighty and the foolish to confound the wise (1 Cor 1:27). His Choice of Abraham and his descendants, the Jewish people, was His demonstration of mercy to a fallen world that would lead us all to Messiah Jesus. He chose a small nation, the least of all that might show His mighty love.

WHY DO THE JEWS FIRST?

The simple answer is that God’s Word says so. Understanding why will help us understand God’s heart; when we know God’s heart, we begin to want to do things God wants—the challenge we face as believers is how to love what God loves and hate what God hates.

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Isa 54:10 For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Let’s follow the logic of  Romans 1:16. The Greek word used by Paul, which is translated as first’is protos. It implies a priority rather than just a sequential order of events. It is written in the present tense. Therefore, if the Gospel is still the power of God “for” salvation and is still for “all who believe,” then the Gospel is still “to the Jew first.”

This means that the Gospel Mandate to reach the whole world with the Good News must include preaching the Gospel to the Jewish People. But why does God have Paul teach us that the Gospel should be preached to the Jewish people first? To answer this, we must consider how God describes his relationship with the Jewish people.

Nehemiah 9:7-8 says, “God... chose Abram, and brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees.” You found his heart faithful before you and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

Deuteronomy 14:2: “The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”

Amos 3:2: “You only have I chosen among all the families of the earth.”

Isaiah 49:16  Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands

God’s love for Israel is love for all humanity! His choosing of Israel is how he chooses each one of us.

WHAT ABOUT THEIR FUTURE?

Paul makes it clear that the Jewish people are a part of God’s plan for the salvation of the nations

Rom 11:25-26  … I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: 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, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.”

For the Apostle Paul, preaching the Gospel was as essential as breathing. While God called Paul to be the apostle to the Gentiles, his call in no way diminished his commitment to share the Gospel with his people. So, wherever he went, he went to them first. He left us with the cry of God’s heart mirrored in his own as he shared his burden with us.

Rom 10:1  Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.

The book of Acts records the apostle Paul’s missionary journeys, and wherever and whenever he could, he sought out his people to present them with the Gospel. Paul was the man who practised what he preached. The need for the Jewish people to be saved was also a source of grief for Paul. This was because he understood both the mandate to preach the Gospel to the ‘Jew first’ and the hardening of their hearts. Jewish people got saved then and are getting saved now. Paul set an example for us to follow.

1Co 11:1  Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Now, I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.

Php 3:17  Brothers, join in imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

Paul is the older brother to be imitated. What will we do to imitate his concern for the Jewish people? We can’t all go; we may not know any Jewish people, but we can all pray, and we can give!

by Fiona Sorbala