"The Miracle of the People of Israel-t"

by Desmond Ford

Every great mystery has a truth hidden in it. The People of Israel are one of the great mysteries of history.The Chosen People of God have no modern deliverance, no modern prophet. They do not recognize the

Greatest Jew-Jesus-and are alienated from Christians with whom they share God's law. Why?

Every great mystery has a great truth embedded in it.I want to think with you about one of the greatest

mysteries of history which also reveals one of the great-est truths. You know the answer to this mystery already, butI want you to think some more about it. I want you to seesome heights and depths in this mystery that you may neverhave perceived before.

It's a tough world. But the richest person in the world,and the strongest person in the world, and the most fruitfulperson in the world, is the person who believes that Godloves him. And that's the conclusion we want you to draw aswe look together at a mystery from history.

The Bible and IsraelFrederick the Great of Prussia [1712-86] was an unbeliever.He was a friend of Voltaire, the French philosophical skeptic.

One of Frederick's generals was a Christian. Frederickasked him, "Tell me, in one word, why you believe theBible?"

"Israel," was the answer. That is, the Jews.This series of articles contains much about Israel. Not

one syllable will be anti-Semitic.

The Amazing JewsThe Jews are the chosen race, the purchase of the blood ofChrist, his property as surely as any gentile. Their virtuesand vices are no different from the virtues and vices of allthe Australians I know. Including the one I know best. So Iintend not one syllable of anti-Semitism. But the Israelite, orJew, is one of the great mysteries of history.

Here's what Mark Twain said:If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but onepercent of the human race. [That was then. Now it'smuch less.] It suggests the nebulous, dim puff of stardustlost in the blaze of the Milky Way.Properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he isheard of, is always heard of. He's as prominent on thisplanet as any other people. And his commercial impor-tance is extravagant and out of all proportion to thesmallness of his bulk.His contributions to the world's list of great names in lit-erature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and

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abstruse learning are out of all proportion to the small-ness of his numbers. He's made a marvelous fight in thisworld and in all the ages. He's done it with his handstied behind him.The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose,filled the planet with sound and splendor, and thenfaded to dream-stuff and passed away. The Greek andRoman followed and made a vast noise, and they aregone. Other peoples have sprung up and held theirtorches high for a time, but they burnt out. They sit intwilight now or have vanished.

The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what healways was: exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities ofage, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his ener-gies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. Allthings are mortal but the Jew. All other forces pass, buthe remains. What is the secret of his immortality?

Mistaken Views of IsraelThe answers given to the mystery of the Jews today aremainly wrong.

Many millions of fundamentalist Christians believe thatBible prophecies teach the following: That the Jewish templeis to be restored, that a Jewish Antichrist will appear, thatthere will be a great battle of Armageddon in the MiddleEast, and that 144,000 Jews sealed with the Holy Spirit willdo more to win the world than the Christian church hasdone in twenty centuries.

None of that is biblical. Not any of it.There is not one sentence in the New Testament that

says that the Jewish temple is ever to be built again, eventhough that is a popular view.

There are other things in people's thinking about theJews that are also not correct. Most people take for grantedthat Jews believe in the Old Testament. Most Jews don't. Themajority of Jews in this country are atheists or agnostics. Lessthan 20 percent of the Jews in this countryattend synagogue. (Probably at leasthalf of those who do attend synagogueattend for reasons other than religious.They attend for ethical, social, orfinancial reasons.) That's less than onein five. And remember, this country hasmore Jews than any other.

(Throughout most of the history of Zionism,there have been more Jews in New York than everwere in Palestine-Israel.)

There are many things thought about the Jewsand the Jewish mystery that are not correct.

Why No Deliverance Now?Some things we do know for a certainty.

We know we owe much to the Jewish people. Everywriter in the Bible was a Jew-except for the author of Lukeand the Book of Acts.

The Messiah was a Jew.Jesus said: "Salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22 KJV).Like all human beings, they were prone to stray from

God, and God delivered them again and again. Read theBook of Judges sometime. See the seven declensions, theseven repentances, the seven deliverances.

But why has there been no deliverance in the last twentycenturies? God spoke through the Hebrew prophets centuryafter century. Why have there not been any in the last twomillenniums? How do we explain what this great race hasbeen taught by many of its leaders? That is, to despise andsometimes hate the only Jew who ever lived that kept all thelaw of Moses! Isn't that a mystery? Why should they repelJesus, the one Jew, the only Jew, the sale Jew, who has beenfaithful fully to the Old Covenant?

Jews and ChristiansWhy is it that the Jews feel alienated from the one people onearth-Christians-who have done at least as well as theyhave done in spreading the Old Testament? How is it thatthey confuse their persecutors with the followers of Christ?

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Those people who, century after century, have murdered,massacred, defrauded, cheated, robbed, and tortured theJews-were never true Christians. They may have claimed tobe Christians, but they never were.

It's the same old story. Sleeping in a garage won't makeme into an automobile. Going to church won't make meinto a Christian. Not everyone who goes to church is aChristian. By their works you will know them (see Matthew7:20). The only true Christian is the one who is a lover, asGod is a Lover, as Christ is, as all the saints have alwaysbeen. That is, lovers without partiality, kind to the unthank-ful, and the selfish.

Those who have persecuted the Jews in all centuries mayhave claimed to be Christians, but they were not.

How is it then that the Jewish people have not seen thedifference between the true and the false? Why have theynot recognized that Christians deserve some of their respect?After all, Christians are the one people who have joinedthem in circulating the law of Moses. Christians have doneas much as, or more, than anyone else in circulating the lawof Moses. Instead, there has been alienation.

The Mystery of the People of IsraelSo here is our mystery:

• The chosen race, delivered again and again andagain in sacred history, has not been delivered from suffer-ing for the last twenty centuries.

• The chosen race, sent prophet after prophet afterprophet for over a millennium and a half, now receives onlyprophetic silence for twenty centuries.

• The chosen race that has always honored God'sways has never recognized the one Jew-Jesus- who alonekept all God's law.

• The chosen race that has spread the law of Mosesaround the world in the Diaspora feels alienated from the

one people-Christians-that have joined them in thisgreat task.

There's the mystery. ~§