The Time Is Short, The Time Is Now

Today (July 12, 2006) has been an interesting day on the world's stage. As the news of "wars and rumors of war" have increased in the Gaza Strip, we awoke to the news that Hezbollah mimicked the work of Hamas and has kidnapped two Israeli soldiers after first crossing into Israeli territory and killing three or four Jewish soldiers.

If we only watched the news, today's world could be a time of fear as the actions in Lebanon, Syria, the Palestinian territory, and especially Iran seem to indicate that WAR is just around the corner. However, we, as believers in Jesus, have the comfort of knowing that our safety does not depend upon the evening news but instead on a sovereign God and His holy word!

We can look at the Bible passages which describe the end of days and realize that regardless of the circumstances - God is in control. He knew before time even began the circumstances we would find ourselves in on July 12, 2006, as well as the day in which you read this article. Nothing captures Yahweh Elohim by surprise. He is Lord and will protect those who have received Jesus as Messiah.
This protection, however, does not mean that life will be easy, that people will not die, or that nothing bad will ever happen to us. Believers have suffered throughout the centuries since Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee. This reality of martyrdom will not change; but we have the promise that He watches over those who believe in Him.

Consequently, we must acknowledge that "time is short." How short? We do not know; but we can recognize that the time we have to share the Gospel with God's Chosen People is drawing to a close. We then have either one of two choices - we can get busy with the work of evangelism or we can look towards the sky and try to guess the time and date for Jesus' return. Tzedakah Ministries chooses to be proactive in the work of Jewish missions and leave the future to God (Mark 13:31-32).

Books, conferences, and movies about the end of days are popular and we might very well be in the final moments of this world. However, the end is not the point of our mission on earth. Evangelism, in particular sharing the Good News of the Messiah with the Jewish people, is our sole and primary purpose as Christians. Let God take care of the future because He already has done so, and let us devote ourselves to the work of evangelism, "to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile." Shalom and God bless. Acts 20:24.

Holocaust and Theology - Can the Two Co-Exist?

The Holocaust creates an ocean of questions but very few answers. When one tries to explain the Holocaust, one is confronted with answering the unanswerable. How can one answer or explain the deaths of 6,000,000 souls, including 1.5 million children under the age of fourteen? It is beyond difficult; it is impossible.

The Holocaust is especially difficult for Christians. There were many "Righteous Gentiles" such as Corrie ten Boom who protected, defended, and even suffered for their actions of protecting European Jews during World War II. However, there were many more "Christians" who were at best apathetic and at worst collaborators with the Nazis, who were bent on Jewish genocide.

As difficult as the reality of the Holocaust is for Christian theologians to answer, imagine the emotional, spiritual and psychological angst Jewish scholars and theologians go through in attempting to find resolution to the death of their families and friends. Daniel Cohn-Sherbok in 1989 attempted to find some answers to this question in his book, Holocaust Theology. He examined the views of eight Jewish scholars who speculated on a wide variety of answers to the Shoah and the death of six million European Jews.

The views of these scholars range from blaming the Jews of Europe for their lack of religious observance (i.e., punishment of God) to Richard Rubinstein's declaration that the idea of a Holy God is to believe in nothing more than "Holy Nothingness." The most interesting view illustrated by Cohn-Sherbok's book was the idea that the victims of the Holocaust represented the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53.

Therefore, if Jewish scholars cannot agree on a meaning for the Holocaust, can Christians even hope to find answers to this unimaginable but very real horror of the 20th century? On one level, probably not. On another level, however, this does not excuse believers in Jesus from not only finding answers but also attempting to offer hope in the midst of darkness.

Many Christians try to reconcile the Holocaust by ignoring the spiritual need of the Jewish people. They prefer to live in a world which states that there are two ways to God - one for the Jewish people and one for the rest of the world. This route allows Christians to ease their conscience regarding the Holocaust; however, it does not answer the reality of John 14:6 and Acts 4:12 that proclaim there is no other way to God and heaven except through the blood of Messiah Jesus.

The aberrant theology of dual covenantalism is not the answer to the Holocaust. The only answer is to affirm the theology that a loving God sent His only son (Jesus) for the sins of the whole world. Through this theological understanding, we all can realize that while the Holocaust is a blight which can never be erased. It does not, however, have to overwhelm the world into new apathy. Christians must instead be even more motivated to tell those for whom the Gospel was first intended that God is more powerful than the horrors of the Shoah.

Cultural or Secular Judaism - What Is It and What Does It Mean?

One of the most common misconceptions among Christians is that all Jewish people are religious. In fact, less than 10% of the American Jewish population attend synagogue on a regular basis. Most American Jews attend synagogue, at the most, only once or twice a year.

As depressing as this reality might be, one should be aware that there is a growing group of Jewish people who have no faith, in anything, whatsoever. This group of non-believers is known by many names - atheist, agnostic, secular, humanist, cultural, or Reconstructionist. However, and regardless, of what you call them, the truth is that they believe in and hope in nothing at all.
Secular or cultural Jews react strongly to charges that they have abandoned their Jewishness. They consider themselves as Jewish as the most Hasidic of rebbes living in Israel. They love being Jewish. They simply do not practice Judaism or believe in a supernatural or sovereign God.

Are you surprised to discover this growing group of Jewish people who do not believe in God? Before you consider this to be a negative situation, look at the possibilities for evangelism. We as believers in Jesus can offer hope and someone in whom to believe. The secular Jewish community's lack of faith is not because they have no desire to believe but because they see only regulations and little hope in Judaism. Jesus is the answer for hope and eternity. Let's be busy in sharing this reality with those who live in doubt and unbelief.