How Should Christians View Jews?
In the same way, your opinion and my opinion about the Jewish people don't matter from a biblical perspective. Yes, there are different ways that people interpret Scripture, but if we aren't reading it from the perspective of the Bible's Author, our interpretation will be flawed with opinions. The distorted lens of our opinions will distort the truth that we have been invited to understand. Yet people may wonder if it's possible to understand Scripture from God's perspective? But isn't there a consistency to the way the Bible is written despite the many different human instruments that God used to write His Word? In fact, 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that all Scripture is God-breathed.
It is not a new phenomenon that people would understand God's Word differently. The Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus' day had contradictory interpretations of Scripture. The Sadducees were theologically progressive, and the Pharisees were strict in their adherence to the Mosaic law. Yet as far apart as they were, both were misled by the half-truths they understood, and they failed to see or understand Who Jesus was and what He had come to do. Despite this, there was a third group that was closer in understanding the prophets and perceived that the Messiah would come first as a Priest and second as a King. This group, the Essenes, included the Zadokian priests who, over a hundred years before Jesus' birth, were replaced in the Sanhedrin by Antiochus Epiphanes, who removed the authentic priests with Hellenistic jews loyal to him. The Essenes were culturally known as a radical sect in their time. They believed in a literal interpretation of the Scriptures and diligently sought to understand the prophecies in Scripture, many believing that the Messiah would have a second coming. It is because of the Essenes that we have the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Why is the above relevant to the title question? Because it lays a foundation for who the Jewish people of today really are according to Scripture. Although many Old Testament prophecies foretold Jesus as well as future historic events, no prophecy has been more accurate than Daniel 9:24-27. Some progressive theologians of today have claimed that the prophecy could only be so accurate because it inserted after Jesus' death, but the Dead Sea Scrolls prove otherwise. Written before Jesus' birth yet discovered in the mid-20th century, they demonstrate that these verses could not have been inserted after Jesus. These and similar prophecies were provided by God as irrefutable evidence to the authority and authenticity of Scripture. As Jesus said: "I’m telling you this now before it happens. When it does happen, you will believe." (John 14:29)
So even if we can't trust our opinion of how Christians should view the Jewish people, we can believe what the Bible says if we interpret the Bible as God's Holy and inspired truth. Remember 2 Timothy 3:16 above tells us that ALL Scripture is God-breathed. We know from the Bible that Jesus was Jewish, both from the Old Testament prophecies about Him, but also as reinforced by New Testament writings. False or misled Teachers may say that Jesus may have started His ministry as a Jew, but that He created a new covenant, breaking ties with the old covenants that Yahweh had made with the Jewish people through Moses, Abraham and David. But that is not what Jesus said. He told us in Matthew 5:17 that He did not come to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them. Paul reinforces that the Gospel is for the Jew first, then the gentile (Romans 1:16), and reinforces in Romans 11 that God has not rejected His people, Israel. He goes on to say:
In this way Israel as a whole will be saved, as Scripture says,“The Savior will come from Zion.He will remove godlessness from Jacob [Israel].My promise to them will be fulfilledwhen I take away their sins.”The Good News made the Jewish people enemies because of you. But by God’s choice they are loved because of their ancestors. God never changes his mind when he gives gifts or when he calls someone.
Can it be made more clear? While there are certainly those in Israel who are not believers, God is bringing them back to Him, and He has never changed His mind about His calling upon Israel to bear witness to Him. God loves the Jewish people even in their disobedience just as He loves us when we are unfaithful, and He has never stopped loving them or forsaken His covenants with them. God will still bless those that bless Israel and curse those who curse them.
Can we love an unborn baby? I loved my children long before I saw them. So if our Jewish brethren have not yet been born again, we know that God has a plan for them, a plan to prosper and not destroy them. How can we not love those whom God loves? How can we call forsaken those who God will never forsake? We don't need to agree with everything they do or say, but a true Christian will love both our spiritual roots in Judaism and our future fellowship with those who He is about to redeem.
There is a lie, a growing cancer, that says God has rejected Israel because the Christian Church has inherited the promises of Israel, but God says otherwise in His Word. He reveals that He has never let go of His plan for Israel, from Daniel 9 to Romans 11. Read all of Romans 11 prayerfully. The Jewish people are our brothers, just as a sibling who has not yet accepted Christ is our brother. If there is one people group that every Christian should have a passion to see saved, it is the Jewish people... saved not as a personal project, but as someone we love and desire to see in eternity. And it is right for us to seek their protection and well-being.
We should be peace-makers, sowing love and goodwill across all people groups. Yet if a group of people are devoted to the destruction of our family members and it is within our power to protect them, we are obligated to do so. (Proverb 3:27) Just as I would protect my brother in any moral fight and persuade them back to what is right if pursuing an unjust cause, so too should Christians seek to protect their Jewish brethren and persuade them to do what is right.
But even so, I am convinced of this: If Israel were to completely disarm, their enemies would implement the "one solution" or "final solution", a genocide of the Jewish people. In contrast, if Israel's enemies were to completely disarm, there would be no conflict in the middle-east. We would have peace.
copyright ©2026 Mitchell Malloy (http://mitchellmalloyblogspot.com/)
