Bild. iStockphoto – Sergio Yoneda
Whether Jews turn away from their sins and convert to their God also has to do with people who preach and live reconciliation with God and between peoples. Do you want to be there? By Waldemar Laufersweiler
I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes; he will provoke the hearts of the fathers the sons and turn the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse! (Malachi 3:23-24)
These two verses form the keystone of the Old Testament. They act as a bridge between the fathers of the Old Testament and the sons of the New Testament Christian community. The passage suggests that a deep alienation has developed between these two groups – a dispute, perhaps even enmity. But before the terrible day of the LORD – the return of Jesus – dawns, God promises the coming of a special mediator: the prophet Elijah. His task is to heal the broken relationships and reconcile the two groups.
Can you understand both sides?
To act as a mediator, one must be able to understand and act with both sides. Just as Jesus was able to meet all people, regardless of their social or spiritual background, so too will Elijah be familiar with both the fathers and the sons and mediate between them. His role is crucial, because the conclusion of the verses emphasizes the importance of this work of reconciliation: if it fails, there will be serious consequences.
The alienation between fathers and sons seems to be profound, a rift that does not please God. What exactly happened to make such an urgent reconciliation necessary?
Jews founded early Christian community
After Jesus’ ascension, his disciples began to establish the first Christian communities. These communities were made up of believing Jews who had recognized Jesus as their Messiah. The Acts of the Apostles tells us of a large number of Jewish people who confessed their faith in Jesus and became part of the growing community.
Therefore, the often generalized claim that the Jews unanimously rejected or rejected Jesus is simply false. Rather, it was Jewish believers who laid the foundation of the early church and brought faith in the Messiah to the world.
reactions of individual Jews
Acts 11,19; 13,43; 14,1:2-16,1; 17,1; 4.10:11-18,4-19,10; 20,21; 28,24
mass conversions of Jews
Acts 2,41.47; 4,4; 5,14; 6,1.7; 9,42; 12,24; 13,43; 14,1; 17,11:12-21,20
How did hatred of Jews arise?
The young Christian community fulfilled its mission to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. The apostle Paul in particular is described as a zealous and successful missionary who led many people outside of Judaism to faith. Over time, more and more non-Jews joined the community, bringing their cultural peculiarities with them. Gradually, the Gentile Christians outnumbered the Jewish Christians and assumed increasingly influential positions. This led to tensions between the two groups – the “fathers” (the Jewish believers) and the “sons” (the Gentile Christian converts).
The situation was further exacerbated by the political tensions of the time: the Roman Empire persecuted the Jews because of their efforts to gain independence. Many Christians therefore tried to clearly distance themselves from Judaism in all areas in order not to be associated with them. These efforts sometimes took on openly anti-Semitic traits.
Influential theologians, spiritual leaders and rulers began to write anti-Jewish texts that shaped the public image of the Jews. In doing so, they created a theological basis for later anti-Judaism, the consequences of which would ripple through the centuries. The distancing that once began out of fear of persecution thus developed into a deep-rooted hostility.
List of anti-Jewish theologians and rulers
Justin the Martyr (around 100–165)
Melito of Sardis (died around 180)
Clement of Alexandria (around 150–215 AD)
Tertullian (150-220)
Origen (185-253)
Constantine the Great (around 280–337)
Ambrose of Milan (339-397)
Theodosius I (347-395)
John Chrysostom (349-407)
Augustine of Hippo (354-430)
Thedosius II (401-450)
Justinian I (ca. 527–565)
Break between Judaism and Christianity – a tragic development
The extra-biblical Epistle of Barnabas (probably written between 70 and 132 AD) is considered one of the earliest documents calling for a radical departure from Judaism and its traditions, including the rejection of the Sabbath. The Constantinian Sunday Law of 321 sealed this rejection, leading to the final devaluation of the Torah by Christians. This marked the beginning of separate worship services, the rise of Christianity to a state church, and the systematic persecution of non-Christian Jews. During this period, religious anti-Semitism took shape: Christians distanced themselves from Judaism and raised accusations of deicide against the Jews.
The first great Christian council, convened by Emperor Constantine in 325 in Nicaea, finally separated church and synagogue. The separation was enforced so rigorously that violations of the laws of this separation were even punishable by death. At the same time, sun-worshipping, pagan elements such as holidays, festivals, symbols and icons were integrated into Christian worship. These changes further repelled the remaining Jewish Christians, so that their numbers had almost completely disappeared by the end of the 4th century.
The following centuries brought with them numerous tragedies: Crusades, pogroms, anti-Semitism and finally the catastrophe of the Holocaust. This long history of persecution led many Jews to see Christianity as the root of all evil.
This raises the painful question: What could have motivated Jews to love Christianity?
Jews become open to the Gospel
Biblical prophecy promises us that something fundamental will change:
For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, my brothers, lest you, thinking of your own wisdom, fall into the trap of thinking that a hardening of the will has come upon some of the Israelites. up to at the time when the full number of the Gentiles will have entered (into the church of God). (Romans 11,25)
The small word “until” points to a future turning point. We also encounter a similar promise in the Gospel of Luke:
Jews return to Jerusalem
… and they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the nations, up to the times of the Gentiles have expired. (Luke 21,24)
This theme is further developed in the second letter to the Corinthians:
Jews receive enlightenment
To this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. Sobald But when Israel returns to the Lord, the veil will be taken away. (2 Corinthians 3,15:16)
What will happen then?
The prophet Hosea describes it like this:
Jews convert to their God and his Messiah
For the children of Israel shall be many days without a king, without a prince, without sacrifice, without a pillar, without an ephod, and without teraphim. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David, their king. And they will trembling turn to the LORD and to his goodness at the end of days. (Hosea 3,4:5)
At the end of days, in a time of great distress, the Jews will confess their faith in Jesus. “David” here symbolizes Jesus, the Messiah. They will tremble – an expression of deep awe, but also great fear in view of their plight.
The prophet Zechariah gives us a moving picture of this conversion:
Jews recognize Jesus as their Savior and turn away from sin
Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication for mercy, they will look upon the one they have pierced, and mourn for him as one mourns for an only son, and grieve bitterly for him as one mourns for the death of a firstborn. (Zechariah 12,10)
On that day, for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a source to be open against sin and against defilement. (Zechariah 13,1)
Israel will turn to the One they once crucified – Jesus, the source of cleansing from sin and defilement. In this profound encounter they will recognize and accept Him as their Savior.
The 70 weeks prophesy dispersion and gathering
The following passage shows that there was a time when the divine focus turned away from the Jews. But it also reveals that the Jewish people will once again play a significant role in biblical prophecy shortly before the end of world history.
Seventy weeks are over from people and over find holy city … I have come to make you understand what when Volk at the end of days will happen; for the vision is still for days far off … (Daniel 9,24:10,14)
Apostle Paul takes action against a preconceived error
So I ask: Has God rejected his people? no way! I am also an Israelite, of Abraham’s seed, of the tribe of Benjamin. No, God has not rejected his foreknew people. (Romans 11,1:2)
Messianic Jews and the Question of Preparation for Jesus’ Return
There is a growing number of Messianic Jews who consciously live their faith in accordance with Jewish traditions: They celebrate the Sabbath and the biblical festivals, keep kosher dietary laws, reject the sign of the cross and images of Jesus. Instead of Christian hymns, they sing Hebrew Bible songs to Jewish melodies and harmonies, recite traditional prayers and blessings, and immigrate to Israel.
But an important question remains – for them as well as for us: Are we aware that there is a heavenly court in which our character will be tested? Are we reconciled with God and our fellow human beings?
Are they “fathers” and we “sons” ready to meet Jesus? When Jesus returns, he will take those who have a character and a faith that can stand before him. This preparation is not just a question of external forms, but also of an inner attitude of love, humility, reconciliation, but also of fidelity to the light that God has given us. Are we really ready to meet him?
Ellen White’s statements about the Jews
Ellen White, a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who is credited with the gift of the spirit of prophecy, did not view the Jews as rejected by God. Rather, she saw them as a people who continued to be under His special care.
Although Israel rejected the Son of God, God did not abandon them … As Nation Israel had lost its connection with God through its unbelief and rejection of the purpose of life provided by heaven. – The Acts of the Apostles, 372 and 374 (rev.)
The 70 weeks or 490 years specifically for the Jews expired, as we have seen, in the year 34 AD. At that time the Jewish nation by the decision of the Sanhedrin, the rejection of the Gospel by stoning Stephen and persecuting the followers of Christ. Then the gospel of salvation was proclaimed to the world, which no longer the chosen people limited. – The Great Struggle, p. 331
The state of Israel at that time was also the church of God with a missionary mandate. But since the majority of leaders and rulers rejected Jesus as their Messiah, Israel as a nation lost its special status as a spiritual church. But we read nothing about the Jews being rejected.
In the last days of this earth’s history, God’s covenant with his commandment-keeping people will be renewed. (quoted Hosea 2,20:25-211) – Prophets and Kings
The work of which the prophet Zechariah writes (in chapter 8,13:15-42) is a type of the spiritual restoration that is to take place for Israel before the end of time. – Letter 1912, 1, Manuscript Release 315
Many Jews will be converted, and these converts will help to prepare the way of the Lord … Converted Jews are to play an important part in the great preparations for the future reception of our Lord Christ. – Manuscript 75, 1905, Evangelism, 579
There are many among the Jews who will come to the light and proclaim with miraculous power the immutability of the law of God. – Manuscript 87, 1907
When the proclamation of the gospel is to be completed at the end of days, God expects that work will be carried out primarily for those people who have been neglected until then, and that his messengers will then take special care of the Jews in all parts of the earth. – The Work of the Apostles, 377
The work for the Jews, as described in the eleventh chapter of Romans, is a work that must be carried out with special wisdom. It is a task that must not be neglected.—Letter 96, 1910
Special efforts should be made to enlighten the Jews. – Manuscript 87, 1907
I saw literature being circulated among the Jews everywhere, and when it has done its work, God will move his messengers to bring in a bountiful harvest. – Reported by SA Kaplan in “Report of the Jewish Work.”
We are expressly told not to despise the Jews (Romans chapter 11), for among them the Lord has mighty men who will proclaim the truth with power. – Manuscript 87, 1907, Manuscript Release 6, 325
Conclusion
So, as regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake, but as regards election, they are beloved of God for the sake of the fathers. The gifts of grace and the calling of God are irrevocable. For as you were once disobedient to God but now have obtained mercy through their disobedience, so they in turn have now become disobedient so that through your mercy you may also obtain mercy. For God has shut them all up in disobedience, that he may show mercy to all. (Romans 11:27-32)
But to you Gentile Christians I say: … Do not boast against them … Do not be arrogant, but be on your guard! (Romans 11,13:18)
Now how can they call on him in whom they have not learned to believe? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear of him without one who preaches? And how can anyone preach to them unless he is sent? (Romans 10,14:15)
We are called to repair what has been profoundly destroyed – in the spirit of Elijah, a spirit of reconciliation.
