On 14 May 1948 prophecy was fulfilled and the children of Israel became a nation again, rooted in their ancient land.

Over the near 2,000 years of Israel being scattered across the nations prior to this, there has always been a small remnant of Christians who understood that the return to the Land would occur - in God’s time. Largely, however, the Christian Church has been anti-Semitic and blind to the reality of prophecy – up to and including our day.

Since 1948 there has been considerable growth in the number of Jews coming to faith in Yeshua HaMashiach. There has also been significant growth in the number of Christians whose blindness to God’s plan for Israel is being removed.

Coinciding with this is the growing desire among Christian groups to restore the biblical foundations of the faith to reflect the fact that Christianity began more as an offshoot of Judaism than a separate work of God built on different foundations. But there is a long way to go.

The World of Judaism

Whenever it is my turn to write Thought for the Week, I glance at the Messianic Jewish calendar to see what is going on in the world of Judaism that week. How different the annual cycle of feasts and festivals reads on the Jewish calendar compared with the parallel universe of Christianity!

This week we are in the middle of the Feast of Esther (Purim) or in the middle of Lent, depending on our focus. While the Jews move towards Passover, most Christians will be preparing for Easter, so there is much that can be discussed from both a biblical perspective and from the perspective of religious tradition in the coming weeks.

Many of us have already been involved in these discussions for a number of years, desiring to celebrate the yearly cycle in a truly biblical way, freed from dry tradition.

I have personally been involved in teaching about Passover, considering what Christians can learn from the rich Jewish traditions. This, however, is a distance from actually celebrating a biblical festival. Over the last couple of years, therefore, in our home we have sought to consider the scriptures afresh, move on from a traditional Jewish Seder, and seek to find a fresh celebration of the Feast in the light of Messiah. There is a freedom in this, but I would say there is still some way to go.

Provoking the Jews to Jealousy

There is a teaching in Romans 11 that should spur us all on to seize the prophetic moment. In verse 11 Paul asserts that Gentiles came to faith to provoke Jews to jealousy. When the Christian Church, through its yearly cycle, seems to be a completely different religion, most Jews are not provoked to jealousy. We have failed on that front.

Neither, however, will they be provoked to jealousy by Christians trying to graft themselves into sects of Judaism. So what we are seeking is to move towards a celebration of the Feasts that is clear fulfilment of the scriptures in the light of Yeshua.

On this year’s run up to Passover (whose date coincides precisely with Christian Easter), therefore, would it be good to prayerfully consider what the Lord might be saying about times and seasons in this extraordinary era of prophetic fulfilment? There’s my challenge for this week – and also in the coming weeks and years.

Author: Clifford Denton