“And all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26). I am fascinated by the history of the Jewish people. Living only twenty miles away from a former Nazi concentration camp (Neuengamme) on the outskirts of Hamburg, I am so grateful that the United Nations in 1947 allowed the creation of the state of Israel, which was founded the following year. The Jewish people were finally able to return to their historic homeland after almost two thousand years of exile, which concluded with the nightmare of the Holocaust. The Israelites/Hebrews/Jews have had a physical presence in that region ever since God led Abraham to Canaan some four thousand years ago. But history is complex and often bloody and troubling: God commands the Israelites to cleanse the land of the native demon worshippers (that is, the Canaanites). Two thousand five hundred years later, the Crusaders—for largely political reasons—attempt to force out the Muslims occupying the Holy Land, but who themselves had overrun Christians who had lived there peacefully for six centuries. And we haven’t even touched on the interaction between Arabs and Jews… *** In addition to bringing Christ in Word and Sacrament to Persian refugees in Hamburg, I teach seminary students at an online seminary, Riga Luther Academy. We have eighteen men in our freshman class: six from Europe and twelve from Africa (see image, with not everyone fitting on the screen). We recently reviewed the Book of Joshua and the above questions and many more bubbled up. Even though the meaning of the word “Israel” has changed many times over the millennia, we take great comfort that “all Israel will be saved”—a statement that rises above our messy world. Everyone—whether of Jewish or Gentile heritage—who believes that Jesus Christ is the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, will spend eternity with Him in the New Jerusalem (heaven). What a wonderful promise, to which we, God’s chosen people, look forward!
The Tiews in Germany 