Overcoming the Hostility Between Israel and the Nations
God’s act of electing Israel precipitates an enduring hostility between Israel and the nations. Outside (and, tragically, all too often inside) the community of Messiah, this hostility fiercely endures into our own day.
God’s act of electing Israel precipitates an enduring hostility between Israel and the nations. Biblically, this hostility manifests itself in the nations repeatedly dragging Israel away from proper worship of her God, fighting with Israel over her promised land, and warring against her very existence. It is worth noting that, outside (and, tragically, all too often inside) the community of Messiah, this hostility fiercely endures into our own day.1 On Israel’s part, we also see the repeated tendency to turn inward, disregarding the fact that Israel’s election is ultimately also in service of the nations.
That the nations worship false gods makes them a particular threat to Israel’s covenantal calling. Here arises the biblical concern with intermarriage. So, for example, Deuteronomy 7:3-4: “Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.”
Part and parcel of Israel’s vocation is an ordained sense of separateness from the nations, and the contours of Israel’s divine election repeatedly prove intolerable to the nations. Israel’s revelation of God to the world unveils the counterfeit nature of all other gods, and yet the exclusivity of Israel’s election makes this one true God seemingly (and quite often actually) a threat to the nations.
Worship of Israel’s God is at the core—it is the crux of the hostility between Israel and the nations, but also the draw of the nations to Israel. We see this draw happening throughout the Old Testament (as a counter-narrative to the dynamic of hostility) and as a pointing forward toward the ultimate destiny of the nations. We see that intermarriage, then, is not always a threat to Israel. For example, Moses’ marriage to Zipporah the Midianite and Boaz’s marriage to Ruth the Moabite were central in Israel’s story and God’s redemptive purposes.
The prophetic books demonstrate an unmistakable pattern whereby the nations will be judged to the extent that they entice Israel away from proper worship and war against her, but their own redemption is also repeatedly foretold.2
Here we see an abiding tension. The nations consistently pose a threat to Israel’s proper worship of her God, and yet certain Gentiles or nations turn out to be instrumental in the ongoing covenantal life of Israel. The hostility of the nations is a continual threat to Israel’s covenantal fidelity, and yet their redemption is also repeatedly prophesied.
This ambivalence of Gentile identity and posture throughout the Old Testament illustrates that while the nations war against Israel, Israel’s election is ultimately also in service of those very nations. In other words, the narrative continually points forward toward Gentile inclusion, whereby the nations become part of God’s covenant people. Gentiles, then, are not relegated to outer darkness but are instead destined for covenantal inclusion. This covenantal inclusion is borne out through the work of Christ, who “came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near” (Ephesians 2:17).
Dr. Jen Rosner is a Jewish believer in Jesus and guest contributor. She is the author of many books on the subjects of Israel & Christianity, and is an associate professor and adjunct at numerous institutions. Read more and connect with her on her website.
- While incidents of antisemitism have been steadily increasing, negative sentiment toward the Jewish people and the state of Israel have ballooned since October 7, 2023. According to the Anti-Defamation League’s Center for Antisemitism Research, “in the months since the October 7
th, 2023, terrorist attack in Israel, the global Jewish community has witnessed an increase in antisemitic activity, unprecedented in recent years. For many in and around Jewish communities, this period has felt inherently different, a sentiment that has raised several critical questions about the current scope, nature, and implications of antisemitism” (https://www.adl.org/resources/report/antisemitic-attitudes-america-2024). ↩︎ - See, for example, Micah 4:1-2, 11-12; Joel 2:28, 2:32, 3:1-2; Amos 9:11-12. ↩︎