BARRIERS BROKEN

After an evangelical newspaper apologises for its treatment of Jews, it seems that Jew and Gentile really could be on the road to reconciliation

By Charles Gardner

Barriers are being broken down between Jew and Gentile.

Against the backdrop of a darkening world, we are witnessing the increasing acceptance of Jesus by Jews on the one hand, alongside a growing understanding of Israel’s place in God’s purposes by Gentile Christians on the other.

Joseph Steinberg, a Messianic Jew and chief executive of the International Mission  to Jewish People, has issued a direct challenge to the Church through the auspices of Evangelicals Now.

Steinberg was reviewing a TV film called ‘Jews Don’t Count’, fronted by Jewish comedian David Baddiel. His undeniable point was that Jews seem to be the exception to the long list of minorities whose interests are constantly promoted by the liberal left.

“Our hearts go out to all Jewish people who have been so wounded by some who carry the name of Christ” – Evangelicals Now

Joseph Steinberg naturally sympathises with David’s provocative challenge, originally made in a book of the same title, but then turns on the Church which, he says, is as prejudiced against Jewish people as the world while also failing to take antisemitism seriously.

He adds: “I find it painful to read the Apostle Paul’s words, admonishing the Gentile Church to always make sure to share Jesus with Jewish people. Because, to be honest, I see very little care or concern given over to that responsibility by most churches.”

He further challenges: “It would seem Baddiel is right – Jews don’t count when we think about racism. And, unfortunately, in the Church the same can be said – especially when it comes to Jewish evangelism.”

However, great credit must go to Evangelicals Now for publishing, in its January issue, both this review and several other major features highlighting the Church’s failure in this regard and promising to put things right.

In an extraordinary spirit of contrition, the paper’s editorial concludes: “We recognise that we ourselves have sometimes fallen short in previous years in this area,” adding: “Our hearts go out to all Jewish people who have been so wounded by some who carry the name of Christ…We are sorry where we ourselves have not got things right in this area, and we are resolved to learn and to do better.”

So, in this and many other ways, Christians are waking up to the truth of their vital link with Israel.

Back in the land of the Bible, meanwhile, the new Israeli government is placing renewed emphasis on teaching Scripture in schools. And a recent report told of leading rabbis afraid to leave the country lest they miss Messiah’s coming!

Like many in the Christian world, they recognise the end-time signs. And it was in the approach to Christmas some years ago that a group of more than 25 prominent Orthodox rabbis issued a statement calling for a renewed look at Jesus, Christianity and the New Testament.

Paul’s famous statement about the barrier being broken at the Cross was, after all, made in the context of Gentiles who were formerly excluded from citizenship with Israel (Ephesians 2:12) but who had now become “one new man” (verse 15) with God’s people.

Is our Lord now perhaps knocking, not so much on the door of the ‘Laodicean’ Church (complacent and self-seeking – see Revelation 3:20), but also on the portals of the synagogue?

A growing number of Jews are already finding that Jesus is the answer to their problems. An Orthodox Jew who travelled to South America after serving in the army found himself challenging God’s existence while on a hike.

He had such a powerful encounter with God as a result that the only way he could explain it to his friend was to write the word ‘Yeshua’ (in Hebrew). And yet he didn’t know what it meant – until he clicked on a Facebook video and discovered that Yeshua was the promised Messiah. He is now an evangelist for Jews for Jesus.

Leading rabbis are afraid to leave the country lest they miss Messiah’s coming!

As another new disciple put it, “I was challenged to read the New Testament Scriptures and now I believe that Jesus is Messiah.” Yet another “almost cried” when he was given the New Testament. Jews for Jesus evangelist Julia Pascoe reveals that “there isn’t the same hostility from our people” as there was until quite recently.

As Jews begin to recognise “the one they have pierced” (Zechariah 12:10), Gentiles are being urged: “Look to the rock from which you were hewn.” (Isaiah 51:1).

God is working his purpose out. Jesus came for both Jew and Gentile

THE KING AND I

BY ANNE FRANK’S SISTER

King Charles celebrated the Jewish festival of Hanukkah in December by dancing with the step-sister of Anne Frank, the young diarist who recorded her thoughts while in hiding from the Nazis. After her family’s hiding place was betrayed, Anne was deported to Auschwitz and perished there while still a teenager.

His Majesty was visiting the JW3 community centre in north London and met Anne’s sister, 93-year-old Eva Schloss, who spent decades promoting peace after surviving concentration camps.

PROBE LAUNCHED INTO BBC COVERAGE OF ISRAEL

A cross-party group of MPs and peers has launched an investigation into the BBC’s coverage of Jews and Israel. It follows a Jewish Chronicle petition signed by over 10,000 people and comes in the wake of news that the BBC is reforming its beleaguered Arabic service, much criticised for its bias.

The announcement of an inquiry follows media watchdog Ofcom’s ruling that the BBC failed to observe its own editorial guidelines when reporting an anti-Semitic attack on Oxford Street during Hanukkah in 2021.

Rishi to visit Israel

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will visit Israel for the Jewish state’s landmark 75th birthday this year. Speaking at a Conservative Friends of Israel reception, he said the Jewish state was now at the forefront of “remarkable achievements” in technology which their detractors would do away with.

DRIVING OUT THE DARKNESS

Bible-believing lawmakers are making their voices heard in Israel’s new government. “We have come to drive out the darkness,” one of them (Avi Maoz) sang as he took the Knesset (parliament) podium, citing a popular Hanukkah song commemorating the defeat of Greek influence there in 164 BC.

BEATLE’S SON BACKS JEWS

Singer-songwriter Sean Ono Lennon, the son of Beatle John Lennon and artist Yoko Ono, has unequivocally condemned the massive spike in hate crimes directed at the Jewish community.

Swimming against the tide of celebrity culture, Sean posted FBI statistics showing the extent to which Jews are disproportionately targeted by hate crimes in the US. He wrote:

“A surprising number of people don’t even know that more hate crimes are committed against Jews than any other minority group. Racism in all forms is abhorrent and must be condemned. I don’t know if Ye truly understands how dangerous and evil his words were.”The last sentence is an apparent reference to rapper Kanye West, who recently expressed deep admiration for the Nazis.

ISRAEL A ‘DREAM’ – IMAM

A French imam praised Israel’s atmosphere of religious plurality, tolerance and co-existence during a recent visit to Jerusalem, saying the rest of Europe should be inspired by the Jewish state’s example.

“Just in this small room… you hear people talking in Arabic and in Hebrew, talking of peace – salaam, shalom – and it’s a dream,” Tunisian-born Hassen Chalghoumi told The Media Line during an interview.

LIBEL PAY-OUT

Veteran TV journalist John Ware has won £90,000 libel damages against a website editor who accused him of “dirty tricks” in presenting a BBC Panorama episode exposing anti-Semitism within the Labour Party.

PUPILS PLEDGE LOYALTY TO THE MAHDI

An Iranian-linked school in London is teaching its students a popular song about the Muslim apocalypse, when all Jews must die, a Jewish Chronicle investigation has revealed. The British paper was given access to a video showing dozens of children aged 8-15 from the Islamic Republic of Iran School (IRIS) in London, standing in rows and mouthing lyrics pledging an “oath of loyalty as a warrior and servant” to the Mahdi (Islamic messiah).

ADVICE ON ANTI-SEMITISM

In the wake of record incidents of anti-semitism, UK schools should teach about the issue as part of a wider drive to tackle anti-Jewish hatred, government adviser Lord John Mann has said.

PROTESTERS LOCKED UP

Four protesters are understood to have spent Christmas behind bars after they were accused of causing £500,000 worth of damage to an American-owned factory in Wales which supplies the Israeli army with weapons.

WOMAN, 97, CONVICTED OF NAZI HORRORS

A 97-year-old woman who worked as a secretary for a Nazi concentration camp commander, has been convicted of complicity in the murders of more than 10,000 people. Irmgard Furchner was given a two-year suspended jail term for her part in the deaths of some 65,000 prisoners at Stutthof.

SIZER JUDGEMENT

Anglican priest Stephen Sizer engaged in conduct which “provoked and offended the Jewish community” and in one “serious allegation” was found to have “engaged in antisemitic activity”, a church disciplinary hearing concluded in a lengthy judgement. Rev Sizer was a vicar in Virginia Water, Surrey, from 1997-2017, during which time he became notorious in Christian Zionist circles for his anti-Israel pronouncements.

The late Rev David Pawson, whose Baptist church in Guildford was in the same county as Rev Sizer’s parish, even wrote a book, ‘Defending Christian Zionism’ to counter Sizer’s teaching and also that of the more distinguished John Stott, former rector of London’s evangelical Anglican church, All Souls, Langham Place.