Jesus, the Jewish People, and Eschatology

Since the last newsletter, Iran has threatened to manufacture an atomic weapon and North Korea has actually tested one. We live in a world that is nervous, on edge, and ready for the next catastrophe ... and perhaps with very good reason.

Since the last newsletter, a plethora of religious articles have been written, Christian videos have been produced, and sermons have been preached touting that the signs are ripe for the return of Messiah Jesus. And who knows, perhaps all of these predictions and suppositions are correct.

However, and what is of greatest concern, is that many of these predictions and assumptions focus on the role of the Jewish people simply as it relates to the return of Jesus.

Please do not read the last paragraph and assume that I am downplaying their significant role in prophecy. The Jewish people are intricately tied to the second coming prophecies of Messiah Jesus. But the Jewish people should not be considered as some talisman or tool of instigation to "force" the return of Jesus. And sometimes this is what I believe we do as it relates to the Jewish people.

We should be focusing on reaching God's Chosen People with the Gospel message and leave the return of Jesus up to God himself (Matt. 24:36; Mark 13:32). This is His job and He does it so much better than we possibly can.

Again, please do not read this article as some flippant diatribe. Nothing could be further from the truth. However, it is important to understand the mindset of the Jewish people - how they view us as it relates to Jesus, the Jewish people, and eschatology. Many Jewish leaders and people are wary of Christian support for Israel and the Jewish people. Some believe, and rightly so, it is because of our desire to reach them with the truth of the Jesus' Messiahship. Others believe that our love and support is based solely on our desire to hasten the Day of the Lord. Unfortunately, the latter supposition may be true as well.

Therefore, the admonition of this article is to avoid the tendency to look up for the return of Jesus (Acts 1:8ff.) and rather to look out to the fields that are ripe unto harvest. Let's focus on the work of Jewish evangelism and allow Gabriel to warm up the trumpet under God's direction, and not in our response to human desires. We will reach far more Jewish and Gentile people if we put predictions to the side and focus on the work of evangelism. Shalom and God bless. Acts 20:24.