State of Israel and cannot easily appreciate the struggles of the
modern State of Israel, the wars fought or the terrorism endured,
from the Munich massacre of Israeli athletes to the Ma’alot
debacle in May 1974 when twenty-five innocent Israelis were
murdered by Palestinian terrorists.
From 1948 until the late 1970s, most Christians, and
even most Americans, viewed the modern State of Israel as
the underdog and became deeply concerned for the future of
the nation. During these years, most evangelical Christians
also viewed the formation of the modern State of Israel as the
fulfillment of biblical prophecy. I am happy to report that
80 percent of those surveyed believe that God’s promises to
Abraham continue to this day and include the preservation of
the Jewish people and divine deed to the land of Israel!
However, during the last couple of decades, there seems
to be a revival of Replacement Theology or what theologians
traditionally call Supersessionism. Simply put, this theological
perspective envisions Israel as permanently set aside by God,
replaced by the Church, and the promises of God to Abraham
spiritualized and transferred from Israel to the Church. This
viewpoint views the land promises as non-literal and removes
any biblical and theological significance from the Jewish people.
Recently, Chosen People
Ministries has helped form
a new group called the
Alliance for the Peace
of Jerusalem, which affirms
God’s ongoing plan for the
Jewish people. This broader community of theologians, pastors,
and lay leaders affirms the biblical connection with the modern
State of Israel and plans to encourage Christians to pray for
the peace of Jerusalem, to love both Jews and Arabs, and to
remain committed to bringing the gospel to all the peoples of
the Middle East —“To the Jew first and also to the Gentile”
(Romans 1:16). The Alliance is planning
to produce materials and hold conferences
designed to help Christians gain a better
understanding of what God is doing in the
Middle East, especially in Israel. The Alliance
issued a statement that you might want to
read and sign—you can find it on the website
www.allianceforthepeaceofjerusalem.com.
APRIL 2018 / THE CHOSEN PEOPLE - 3
We also produced a new book entitled
Israel, the Church and the Middle East: A
Biblical Response to the Current Conflict.
It is published by Kregel Publications and is
now available! I know you will find this book
very helpful in understanding the Middle East crisis in light
of God’s unfolding plan for Israel and the nations throughout
Scripture. You can order the book through our online bookstore
(chosenpeople.com/store) or with the enclosed card. Read more
about it on the last page of this newsletter!
We also surveyed evangelical Christian attitudes about
Jewish evangelism and found that 86 percent of evangelical
Christians believe sharing the gospel with the Jewish people is
important. This is a very encouraging number. However the
survey also indicated that 60 percent of the Christians surveyed
have not shared the gospel with a Jewish friend in the last year.
That is a number that I am especially concerned about. Also,
only 35 percent of Christians with Jewish friends have recently
prayed for the salvation of their Jewish loved ones.
We released the results of the survey at a press conference
held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on
December 4, 2017. At this event, Joel Rosenberg made the
following statement pointing out our concerns for the ways
some younger evangelicals view Israel:
Millennials are sending the Church a sobering
message. At the moment, they’re not against Israel. Not at
all. But the survey makes it clear that many of them really
don’t understand Israel’s place in the biblical narrative.
Thus, their support for Israel is nearly twenty points less
than their parents and grandparents. Now, extrapolate that
going forward. Unless the Church gives younger believers a
healthy, balanced, solidly biblical understanding of God’s
love and plan for Israel, overall evangelical support for the
Jewish State could very well plummet over the next decade
as millennials represent an ever-larger percentage of the
overall Church body. That said, I’m cautiously optimistic.
I’ve agreed to be part of the founding leadership council of
“Alliance for the Peace of Jerusalem” because I see a real
need to educate the Church—and particularly younger
evangelicals—about God’s love and plan for both Israel
and her Arab and Persian neighbors and to mobilize them
to seek peace, pray for peace, and be peacemakers in a dark
and troubled region.
Finally and to our great delight and surprise, the survey
pointed out that 2 percent of the evangelicals surveyed claim
Jewish ethnicity through a Jewish parent or grandparent.
Assuming there are between 50 and 70 million evangelicals in
the United States, this would mean there are between 800,000
and one million evangelicals
with Jewish ethnicity in
the U.S. We decided to base
our projection on the lower
number of evangelicals.
This is a far higher number
than we ever thought.
I am sure you will enjoy
reading this small portion of
the survey results. The full
survey is printed in the new
book and is available online.
Enjoy the newsletter and remember to pray for the peace of
Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6).
Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support
on behalf of our efforts to reach Jewish people with the gospel
message.
In Him,
Mitch
hoyasmeg
/www.allianceforthepeaceofjerusalem.com
/store)