Paul Golden spoke during chapel about Israel and why Christians should support it. He lists ten reasons and explains them briefly. Golden explains that God does love Israel, that Jesus was Jewish, and that Israel has a bright future.

Scripture Texts

Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 17:1-8; Deuteronomy 7:6-8; Jeremiah 31:35-36; Psalm 122:6-9; Zechariah 2:8; 8:23

Main Points or Ideas

• We are indebted to Israel - The Jewish people gave the world both the Savior and the Scriptures. Nearly every book of the Bible was written by Jewish authors who meticulously preserved God's Word for every generation.
• The Jewish people are God's chosen people - Not chosen because of their size or merit, but purely because of God's love and his covenant oath to their fathers (Deuteronomy 7:6-8). God set them apart to point the world to the one true God.
• We have been blessed through them - Disproportionate to their size — just 0.1% of the global population — Jewish people have contributed twenty-three percent of all Nobel Prizes, co-invented major medical advances (the polio vaccine), and driven technology including cell phones and Intel chips.
• Jesus himself was Jewish - Circumcised on the eighth day, celebrating Jewish festivals, teaching in synagogues, and identifying with his Jewish brothers. He was born, died, and rose as a Jew. To truly love Jesus is to love the Jewish people.
• God blesses those who bless Israel - Genesis 12:3 is an everlasting, unilateral covenant commitment: "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you." Golden applies this by encouraging prayer for Jerusalem (Psalm 122) and tangible support for Israel's physical and spiritual needs.
• God loves Israel - His love is unconditional and not based on performance. Jeremiah 31:35-36 declares that God will no sooner stop loving Israel than the sun, moon, and sea will cease to exist. Christians are called to love whom God loves.
• Israel is a testament to God's faithfulness - From the miraculous birth of Isaac to deliverance from Egypt, from the survival of Esther's day to the re-establishment of the modern state in 1948, Israel's ongoing existence despite relentless persecution is evidence that God keeps his promises to his people — and therefore to us.
• God gave the land to the Jewish people - Genesis 17:8 and over one hundred and thirty other passages reiterate the everlasting, God-given title to the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. The modern battle over who owns the land is ultimately a conflict with God's own covenant.
• Anti-Semitism is evil - Hostility toward Jewish people is a spiritual problem rooted in Satan's ongoing attempt to thwart God's redemptive plan. Whoever touches God's people touches the apple of his eye (Zechariah 2:8). To hate the Jewish people is to raise a fist against God.
• Israel has a bright future - Deuteronomy 30 and Zechariah 8 describe a coming day when God will regather his people, give them hearts that recognize Jesus as Messiah, and lift them to a place of honor among all nations. This future hope motivates present support.

Conclusion

Golden closes by reminding students of the bottomless debt every believer owes the Jewish people and urging them to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, support Israel's physical and spiritual needs, and stand with God's chosen people in both good times and bad.