Called to be a Blessing

When I entered theological seminary, one subject I was not particularly looking forward to was Old Testament studies. Books like Chronicles, Kings, Ezra, and so many others had little to no appeal for me. All that ancient history appeared boring and, in addition, there was the Hebrew language I would be required to learn. Have you seen Hebrew? How could anyone ever learn to read that scribble?

Anyway, I dutifully enrolled in the Old Testament class with less than an eager attitude. The first day I walked into the lecture room skepticism filled my thoughts. I was convinced I would hate it and looked for any little excuse to criticize. Fifty minutes later, when the bell rang and ended the period, my opinion had changed. I wasn’t hooked, but I was intrigued.

The teacher had presented a wide, sweeping history of the Ancient Near Eastern world and how the people of Israel had arrived on the world stage. He spoke of great civilizations that had existed thousands of years before the nation of Israel came into existence. He spoke of law codes that predated the Ten Commandments by hundreds of years. The class gave me a tiny glimpse of a world I knew little about. I was fascinated.

Three years later, after I had graduated with the Master’s degree, I started work in the Ph.D. program, specifically concentrating in Hebrew studies. Jewish history, religion, and culture had captured my imagination. The Old Testament, instead of a dry as dust, boring tome, as I once had thought, had revealed itself as a theologically rich and complicated story of Israel’s experience and maturing understanding of God.

Wall relief on arch of titus depicting Menorah taken from temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD - Israel history, Jewish war

Why did God choose these people from all the nations of the earth? Israel’s early history is largely unknown. Bits and pieces of historical fragments, especially the Amarna letters (Letters from an Assyrian merchant colony in Asia) mention a people, the Habiru, as a nomadic people from the desert regions of Mesopotamia. Many scholars believe that this fragment is the earliest reference we have of the Hebrew people. Respected Old Testament scholar John Bright notes: “The Hebrews were latecomers on history’s stage. All across the Bible lands, cultures and civilizations had come to birth, assumed classical form, and run their course for hundreds and even thousands of years before Abraham was born.”

Israel’s ancestors were a mixture of many different tribal bloodlines. Again, Bright: “Theologically all were descendants of one man Abraham; physically they came from many different strains.” The Bible verifies this amalgam of races by connecting Israel’s bloodline to the peoples of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Median (Gen. 19:30-38; 25:1-5; 36).

There is nothing really noteworthy about these wandering desert tribes. They were poor, undistinguished nomads, and worshipped a variety of gods. The Bible supports the archeological and historical evidence that God selected a lowly nation to be his priestly people. Israel’s story begins in earnest in Genesis 12, when Abraham or Abram felt God’s call to move his family to the land of Canaan, what is today Israel, and serve God alone.

Abraham Journeying into the Land of Canaan - Picture from The Holy Scriptures, Old and New Testaments books collection published in 1885, Stuttgart-Germany. Drawings by Gustave Dore.

The people of Israel were chosen by God to be a priestly people, that is, bridge-builders between God and the world. Their selection entailed privilege for sure, but also awesome responsibility. They were not chosen because they were superior to other nations or because God loved them more than others. In fact, God chose the lowliest of peoples to be his messengers to show that their selection was not merited but was rather an act of grace. Their mission, as Genesis clearly states, was to be a blessing to all nations, to reveal God’s love and grace to all peoples.

Israel had a difficult time maintaining balance between privilege and responsibility. The prophet Amos, among others, condemned Israel when they celebrated their special status as God’s people but forfeited their responsibility to be a blessing to the world (Amos 3:2). After all, the word “to choose” or “elect” in Hebrew implies responsibility. In other words, Israel had been chosen to be God’s instrument to bring good news to all nations.

Unfortunately, too often Israel took her privilege seriously, but not her responsibility. Israel failed to live up to God’s law and mission throughout her history. In light of Israel’s chronic disobedience, Bright has called Israel’s history “a history of failure.” The prophetic books of the Old Testament continually call for Israel to change direction and return to God, to fulfill its covenant obligations, and to be a living example of how God desires his children to live. The tragic story is that Israel did not listen, as the prophetic books remind us.

Jesus came into the world partly to complete the mission that Israel had failed to do, to reveal the “enfleshed” love of God. What Israel had not achieved, Jesus achieved on the cross. In Jesus, God’s love is made manifest to all peoples and nations. The history of Israel, on the other hand, shows a people who struggled with their calling and more times than not failed to fulfill God’s purpose for them.

The point of this incredibly brief history, of course, is to raise a flag of caution when support for Israel is given unequivocally. As has been so often the case, Israel’s faithfulness to God is checkered at best. To blindly support Israel, especially when Israel’s actions are contrary to God’s values, equates to becoming co-conspirators against God. The prophetic books of the Old Testament are examples of when the prophets condemned their own nation for having abandoned the ways of God. The great 8th century prophets, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah thundered against Israel for behavior antithetical to God’s ethical and moral norms.

When so much of Israel’s history reflects rebellion against God, is it wise to give carte blanche support to Israel? To embrace Israel’s sacred calling honors God; to favor Israel with unqualified support dishonors that sacred calling.

When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, I believed Israel had the right to respond and go after the terrorists. Israel didn’t have a choice. They either had to eliminate Hamas or risk losing their homeland. What Hamas did was unconscionable. The world was horrified and Israel had sympathetic support from nations everywhere.

Israel’s response in recent weeks, however, has been disproportionate. The military strikes have been too broad, with not nearly enough attention given to innocent civilians caught in harm’s way. Israel, in their attacks on Hamas, has lost the moral high ground with the indiscriminate killing of civilians.

While the recent events in Gaza are chaotic and confusing, one thing stands out: Israeli soldiers fired their weapons into a crowd of unarmed people who were desperate for vital aid. Israeli actions are contrary to all that we know about the God revealed in Jesus. Like the courageous prophets of old who went against popular public sentiment in their day by holding Israel accountable, now is the time for those who believe in Israel’s sacred destiny to remind them of who they are.