Video Transcript
God desires the gospel to go everywhere, but especially to His people, to the Jew first and then to the Gentile.
At the Center for Israel, we talk to many pastors and leaders across the country about God’s love for Israel and the Jewish people, how God has established an eternal covenant with them, and how we’ve been graciously allowed to partake in the covenant as wild olive shoots mentioned in Romans 11:17. We talk a lot about the biblical principle of priority, a priority to the Jewish people found in Romans 1:16, which says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is power to salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. Now, this word first could literally be translated, especially. To the Jew especially, and then to the Gentile. We see Jesus tell His disciples in Mark 10:6 – but go especially to the sheep that have been lost out of the house of Israel.
This priority is not favoritism. Peter says in Acts 10:34, I understand that God shows no favoritism. But the priority that we refer to, to the Jew first, is a principle throughout scripture. We just read in Romans 1:16, in Mark 10, but even in the book of Acts, the apostle Paul, who is the apostle to the Gentiles, even though his mission is to the Gentiles, he always starts by going to the synagogue, to the Jew first. Nine times in the Book of Acts, you see him go to the synagogue first. Now, you might ask, what does that practically look like? Well, at Gateway Church, we demonstrate this principle of to the Jew first in many ways. There’s practical things like we financially set aside the first 10% of our missions budget, and we bless Israel and the Jewish people. The first service of the month at Gateway is a Shabbat service for many of our Jewish members. We also prioritize Jewish identity. This means that we prioritize Jewish identity as an ongoing God-given distinction.
Now, you might be asking, well, what can I do? I love Israel. I love the Jewish people, but what should I do first? Where do I start? Well, many people, they want to start by blessing Israel financially, or starting a service in their church, and those are great things. But really the first step is concern and prayer. A good question to ask yourself is, are you concerned with the Jewish people? Are you concerned with the growing antisemitism in the world? Because if you know anything about Israel and the continual conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, the rising tide of antisemitism. The FBI has just declared that there’s been a 300% increase in antisemitism in America, and it’s even worse in other countries. So the bottom line is, are you concerned about the Jewish people? Because the thing is, you pray for what you’re concerned about. If you’re concerned about your finances, you most likely will pray for it. If you’re concerned about your kids, you’ll pray for them. And if you’re concerned about the Jewish people, then you’ll begin to pray for them.
Not to mention that God commands us to pray for them. Psalm 122:6 says, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May those who love you be at peace. And throughout the Bible, God establishes that He will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel – Genesis 27:29, Numbers 24:9, Genesis 12:3. God has given every reason for us to pray for Israel and the Jewish people because in Zechariah 2:8, it says, “For thus says the Lord of hosts after His glory sent me to the nations who plundered you [Israel] for he who touches you, touches the apple of God’s eye.” The funny thing about this verse is you can put anything in those two spaces. Whoever touches Israel touches the apple of God’s eye. Whoever hurts Israel hurts the apple of God’s eye, and whoever blesses Israel blesses the apple of God’s eye. And I don’t know about you, but I want to bless the apple of God’s eye. So I encourage you to begin praying for Israel and be obedient as God leads you to love His people, the apple of His eye.
