Dear friend in the Messiah,
Shalom in His grace. I am still reflecting on my recent trip to Israel and remain in constant contact with our forty-plus staff members serving the Lord in the Holy Land. The impact of the war and security challenges for Israel continue, but this is not the only problem Jewish people and lovers of Israel face today.
I am sure you have also noticed the increased antisemitism around the world and in our country, much of it occurring on our college campuses. It was encouraging how many in the global community, saved and unsaved, were supportive of Israel at first after the atrocities of October 7, 2023. But with the advancement of the ground war to neutralize the lethal threats Hamas and Hezbollah pose against the Holy Land, we now find Israel, unfortunately, cast in a negative light among the nations of the world.
Current circumstances remind me of the words of the prophet Zechariah, who wrote, “It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it” (Zechariah 12:3).
We already see Jerusalem, all of Israel, and Jewish people once again becoming a heavy stone the nations of the world are trying to lift with dire consequences. Many countries like Iran and their proxies in Gaza, southern Lebanon, and Yemen are gathering against Israel, determined to destroy her.
When one looks at the span of world history and the millennia of persecution Jewish people have endured, we gain a deeper understanding of what is happening today. The attacks against Israel by Iran and her proxies and the rising global vitriol foisted upon Jewish people are a new expression of an older antisemitism masquerading as noble politics and compassion for the Palestinian cause.
Why Does the World Seem to Hate Jewish People?
During a recent conversation with one of our Jewish staff members in Israel, she recounted how her young son asked the piercing question, “Mom, why does the world hate us so much?” Little boys and girls have asked this very question for many years!
We can also ask this “why” question about other events in Jewish history. Please allow me to expand the question: “What did the Jewish people do to deserve the Crusades, the Holocaust, the pogroms in Russia, or the attacks of October 7?”
I hope to answer these questions as I think many of us might be wondering the same. From what I can see, the whole world does not hate Jewish people. Those who love the God of Israel usually love the people of Israel, both those living in the land of Israel and those in the Diaspora. There is no better friend of Jewish people than non-Jews who cherish the same Bible (at least the first half) and identify with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The spiritual connections between Jewish people and true Christians are powerful. Most Christians I know love Jewish people, recognize the Bible is a Jewish book, understand Jesus is Jewish, and believe God chose Jewish people for a special purpose. I wish my own family could meet many of you reading this letter and sense your love for Jewish people because of these truths.
Jewish people today are often surprised to discover there are non-Jews who love Jewish people. I myself was stunned to discover the love for Jewish people and loyalty to Israel, which unites many true Christians. Numerous Jewish people, especially in our current antisemitic environment, ask me why Christians seem to love Jewish people with such passion. In contrast, many other non-Jews seem to express the opposite.
Those who express hate for the State of Israel and the Jewish people are not familiar with the promises of God to Israel and are inspired by demonic plans to wipe out Jewish people. My reading through the Scriptures leads me to believe the underlying reason Israel is so hated is because the devil knows God’s plan for the people of Israel and the triumph of Messiah’s kingdom. Is it any wonder our adversary is trying to get all the help he can to put an end to God’s plans?
Stand Up for Jesus and for Jewish People
How should followers of Jesus respond to the devil’s diabolical efforts to derail the plan of God?
We cannot sit idly by while the devil uses nations to annihilate Israel and Jewish people. He will never be successful, but he can deceive and cause great harm. What, then, can we do?
The Bible tells us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and promises blessing to those who love Jewish people (Psalm 122:6).
The Scriptures tell us to bless and not curse Jewish people, who, in turn, will bless all the families of the world (Genesis 12:1–3).
Some Christians may have objections to supporting the modern State of Israel. However, God wants non-Jews to support Jewish people, which might mean standing with the State of Israel even if you do not believe the modern state is the fulfillment of prophecy or has a biblical right to the Land.
Blessing Israel includes the modern state and Jewish people more broadly. Since the majority of Jewish people live in Israel (7.5 of 14.5 million), in order to bless Jewish people, we need to extend love, mercy, grace, and understanding to Jewish people within the Land of Israel and worldwide.
God wants Gentile believers to bless Israel so she can, in turn, bring blessings to the world. Therefore, we must help Israel survive and fulfill her divine destiny. Jewish people need our support, for when Israel is left on her own, she is far more vulnerable to the efforts of her enemies—and the evil one—to destroy her.
The text in Jeremiah and many others make it clear: no one can utterly wipe out Jewish people because God made an indestructible covenant with Israel’s patriarchs. On this subject, Paul wrote, “From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:28–29).
We are not suggesting the government of Israel is God’s government, nor are we claiming disagreement with the policies of Israel is unchristian. Sinful people lead governments and are subject to human frailty, sin, and bad decisions.
What we saw transpire on October 7, 2023, in Israel was not simply one nation rising up against another but rather an all-out effort to destroy Jewish people. It was genocide! I believe followers of Jesus should love what God loves and hate what God hates, which means nothing less than loving Jewish people and working toward the benefit and against the destruction of the Jewish community.
So, to return to the simple question of a small child to his mother, “Why do they hate us?” Sometimes, simple questions have complex answers. But sometimes, they do not. Those whom Satan influences will hate Jewish people. Those who belong to the God of Israel—Jewish and non-Jewish—must be steadfast in their love for Jewish people. Moses wrote about this love:
The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 7:7–8)
Let us imitate God’s love for His Jewish people. This is why your generous support, along with your prayers, is so important TODAY. Have you considered this . . . one of the most effective ways to show your love for God and Jewish people is to share the good news of the gospel with His chosen people? Thanks for caring.
Yours for the salvation of Israel, the Jewish Messiah, and the peace of Jerusalem,
Your brother,
Mitch
P.S. Please take another look at the statement we wrote in support of Jewish people in light of the Israel-Hamas war and the global rise in antisemitism—and please sign it! Go to chosenpeople.com/affirmationoxfisrael. Also, pray with us as construction on our new Tel Aviv center is moving along—praise God!
Joseph Hoffman Cohn (1886–1953), the son of Chosen People Ministries’ founder, Rabbi Leopold Cohn, served as the Mission’s president from the death of his father in 1937 to his own death in 1953. Cohn faithfully led this ministry through some of the most tumultuous times in modern Jewish history, the rise of the Third Reich and World War II.
His writings from the dark days of the Holocaust and his commitment to oppose antisemitism, bring practical aid to Jewish refugees, and proclaim the gospel still inspire us today in the context of the October 7th massacre, and the growth of antisemitism around the world.
“What consternation strikes our souls as we gaze upon the world today! What havoc, what confusion, what perplexity, and what pitiful hopelessness. Once more, Satan’s hand is raised in the most desperate effort of fully a thousand years to destroy the Jews from the face of the earth. Disenfranchisement and savage cruelties in Germany, banishment in Poland, extermination in Roumania [sic], massacres, beatings, shameful abuses, these are the things which the Jew is today facing under whatever sky he happens to be. Again the heart of the Jew cries out, ‘How long O Lord, how long?’”
(December, The Shepherd of Israel, 1939)
Joseph Hoffman Cohn lamented the surge of antisemitism he witnessed in his time. He understood this hate to be demonic and the latest in Satan’s ongoing attempts to undermine God’s plan.
“It was only logical. Ever since we embarked upon the program of Christ[ian] ministry to the destitute refugee Jews in Europe, we have been traveling down a one way street. And that street has led us with an ever increasing intensity to widen and then widen again, our every effort to bring relief to hungry stomachs as well as to hungry hearts. And in God’s mercy we have been allowed to do both.”
(January, The Chosen People, 1940)
Cohn worked with Christians in places like Vienna and Paris to bring aid to Jewish refugees from Germany. Of course, it was not long before the Nazis invaded those places as well.
“No sooner shall the first trumpet of peace reach our ears than we hope in God’s good mercy to hasten across the water, taking even a Clipper [a small plane from the era] if need be; we want to be among the first to go to those poor bedeviled creatures who will be living in conditions almost unthinkable, and say to them, ‘Here is money that true Christians from America have allowed us to bring to you, because they love the Lord Jesus Christ and want to help you in your hour of need’”
(May, The Chosen People, 1943)
Well before the war ended, Cohn began raising money and making plans to help the survivors. He was prepared to get aid into Europe as soon as possible. Post-war relief would testify to the love true Christians should show to Jewish people on behalf of the Jewish Messiah.
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