Author: admin

By Martin Sitefane
Shepherds’ Seminary Graduate
Johannesburg
November 2023

 

The Bible defines what constitutes a church, a biblical ekklesia. Every gathering that classifies itself as a “church” must be tested against the grid of Scripture to determine whether it is truly what it puts itself out to be. This is a key question because of the identity, the role and the power that Scripture ascribes to the church. The church’s significance spans not only in this lifetime, but carries eternal consequences for those who attend it and are part of it.

Grace Bible Church is one of the biggest churches in Soweto, reportedly with over than 70 branches in various provinces in South Africa. As someone who grew up in a township, and is serving there currently, testing the biblical veracity of this large, influential “church” is an important issue given their prevalence in Soweto, and the influence in the broader South African township context.

In this paper, I briefly exegete three select texts from which I derive three marks of a truly biblical Ekklesia. Following which I use the three marks to as fairly as possible critically evaluate Grace Bible Church.

 Admittedly, an article of a mere 6 pages cannot do full justice to this topic. Only a PhD thesis involving some field work (interview of members etc.), listening to tons of sermons, and evaluating all the New Testament (NT) marks of a church would do full justice. However, I believe the selected three marks carry sufficient weight from which I can arrive at a non- biased, biblical, and conclusive judgement of Grace Bible church’s standing against God’s blueprint. To this end then the paper will first provide a high-level exegesis of three NT passages about the marks of the church. This will be followed by an evaluation of Grace Bible Church against these marks. I close off with a brief conclusion that summarises my position based on the data analysed.

BACKGROUND AND THE FOUNDER OF GRACE BIBLE CHURCH

 Grace Bible Church was founded by Senior Pastor, Musa Sono (known to many as Bishop “Musa Sono”). Sono is considered by many as being influential and missional. As such, he presently serves as president, board member, and executive in more than five church organisations. The organisations include the Federation of Charismatic and Pentecostal churches (IFCC), the South African Council of Churches National Council of the Leaders forum, and Soweto Ministries Fraternal. He is considered missional for famously declaring that he aims to establish 1000 church branches in his lifetime.

From a distance, Grace Bible Church looks rather impressive. Grace Bible Church has a relatively established history. It was constituted in in the 1980’s, meaning that its doors have been open for just over 40 years.   Over this 40-year span, it has opened over 70 branches, in four provinces in South Africa, namely Gauteng, Western Cape, Limpopo, and Free State. It is well-known for its outreach ministries which serve various poor communities with food, clothing etc.

If one considers Grace Bible’s church credentials from a distance, one might be tempted to conclude that Grace Bible Church is an excellent example of successful church planting in the townships. However, since God’s definition of successful church planting and ministering in any setting for that matter is not purely gauged by impressive external statistics, it is critical that one evaluates Grace Bible church soberly, using scripture as the grid for truly assessing its ways. Using the Word of God sets all personal opinions and preferences aside, and instead elevates God’s standard as preeminent.

The grid of Scripture must determine the nature of Grace Bible Church as whether it is indeed a blueprint of township ministry, or whether it is one of the many false, unbiblical churches that are wreaking havoc all over our nation.

MARKS OF A BIBLICAL CHURCH ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD

 The New Testament has a plethora of texts that provide insight on the question, “What constitutes a biblical Ekklesia?” Instead of tackling them all, I’ll focus on three: 2 Tim. 4:1-2, Matt. 18:15-20, and 1 Tim. 3:1-13. From these I’ve derived three marks of a biblical Ekklesia.

(1) The first mark is found in Paul’s famous letter to his beloved son in the faith and Minister at the Ephesian church, Timothy. 2 Tim. 4:1-2 reads, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

In these mere two verses we learn much about what should take place in a local church. First, Timothy is called to preach. Preaching is the act. Second, Paul not only defines the act, but also lays out the content that must be preached. Paul says Timothy, preach not your opinion, or stories that tickle itching ears. No! Preach “the word”. Paul then goes further to show that preaching the word should not be driven by culture or convenience. We see this at end of 2 Tim. 4:1-2 when Paul says, “be ready in season and out of season”. Timothy as a preacher at the church of Ephesus was to preach the word whether in season (that’s favourable times), and out of season (that’s unfavourable times). Unlike the grace-filled, ‘You have great potential’, non-offensive preachings of many preachers, Timothy’s spectrum of messages was to involve the whole spectrum of “reprove, rebuke, and exhortation”; with “complete patience and teaching”.

If these were Paul’s words to Timothy in what was probably his last words in 2 Timothy, then surely, he (and indeed his master Christ) expects the same from any church today? Faithfulness to the mandate of preaching the word, in season and out of season, is a distinguishing mark of true biblical ekklesia.

(2) A second mark of a biblical church is derived from Jesus’s own words in Matthew 18:15-20. In this passage, Jesus described a crucial process of how a local body should lovingly deal with sin in its midst. The ideal situation is if the transgressor acknowledges their sin and repents, thus terminating the church discipline process in step 1. However, in the unfortunate event of the transgressor’s refusal to repent, even after being confronted by the church, the church is left with no other option but to excommunicate the member. The hope is still that now that they’ve been pronounced as an unbeliever, they’ll eventually repent and be restored to the assembly. Church discipline then can be rightly described as an exercise of uncomfortable Christ-honouring love. It is uncomfortable because the process involves a confronting sin. It is Christ-honouring love because in obedience to Christ, its chief aim is restoration and maintaining the purity of the body.

Some churches, thinking they know better than the Master, refuse to practice church discipline. Contrary to Christ, they consider it unloving, harsh, and merciless. The reality though is that since church discipline was Christ’s and not man’s idea. Any church that fails to exercise church discipline in the so-called name of grace and love, is disobeying the word of God. To disobey God’s word is to reject Christ’s authority over the church. Faithful churches have always been obedient churches, especially in crucial issues.

(3) A third and final mark of a biblical church is taken from 1 Tim. 3:1-13. In this passage the apostle Paul gives a long list of essential characteristics of the two office bearers of the church, the elder and the Paul makes it clear in verse fifteen of chapter three that these are not mere recommendations or some good to have characteristics. These characteristics are none negotiables for every church. Any truly biblical church should be exemplified by a commitment to appoint leaders who meet the characteristics set out in this passage. Failure to do so is unfaithful, unbiblical and is not a true mark of a biblical church.

In summary, from the passages surveyed we have established three marks of a biblical church. Admittedly these are not all the marks, others could be added, for example those in Mark Dever book, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church – marks such as a biblical understanding of conversion, good news, church membership, evangelism amongst others. However, these three mark are weighty enough as biblical essentials in the assessment of whether Grace Bible Church is a biblical church. To summarise, the three marks are:

– A biblical church is marked by faithful preaching of the Word
– A biblical church is marked by faithful practicing of church discipline
– A biblical church is marked by faithful placement of church officers

IN LIGHT OF THE SCRIPTURES, IS GRACE BIBLE CHURCH A BIBLICAL EKKLESIA?

 Having established the three marks of a biblical church, the question that remains to be answered is how does Grace Bible Church match up to these marks? Grace Bible church will be evaluated against each mark below.

(1) Mark 1, a biblical church faithfully proclaims God’s word: Admittedly, no church is perfect – only heaven will reveal how we might have erred on tertiary, and even some secondary convictions that we held on strongly. Nevertheless, the true test of faithfulness to scripture is whether churches are especially faithful in upholding the clear, non-ambiguous, non- negotiable, primary, and orthodox doctrines of the Grace Bible church is evaluated using this category. Their statement of faith is a good starting place.

With the exception of the obvious endorsement of the charismatic gifts, Grace Bible church statement of faith is pretty orthodox. Some statements are undoubtedly a little uncomfortable e.g., when they say “we strive to be relevant to our generation”, but even these are balanced out by the next phrase “whilst remaining scripturally pure”. At face value none of their doctrinal affirmations are heretical and I’d be at ease to adopt a large percentage of these in any church.

But as is often the case, the statement of faith is a dusty, forgotten or neglected piece of paper. The true statement of faith is observed in practice. When one interrogates the preaching, as I have done, a completely different picture emerges. I’ll use three different excepts from recent sermons at the church’s headquarters to demonstrate the underlying theology and teachings of the church:

Example 1

– Last month, on Sunday 15 October (2023) in a sermon on three main texts 1 17:33-36, Songs of Solomon 3:6, and Numb. 13:27 the speaker by the name of Bishop Bernard Nwaka, amongst other bizarre statements, said the following: “God has called you to silence every voice that has told you that you cannot do it. Nations are awaiting you”.

Example 2

– Another example from last month (8 October 2023) another pastor, known as Dr. Elijah Maswanganyi, preached a sermon titled, “The Hindrances that Challenge us from Beholding New Things”. He listed seven obstacles. The list of hindrances included historical factors such as apartheid and slavery; fear of change; denominational factors which he said are a form of racism and tribalism; and perhaps most shocking, he said ‘Hermeneutical Bible Interpretation’. In other words, following the old age application of what protestant consider as sound Hermeneutical Bible interpretation is a hindrance that challenges Christians to behold new things. Given their openness to new revelation, it makes sense why an orthodox application of hermeneutics would be seen as a hindrance for beholding new things. No wonder why then their preaching embraces eisegesis not exegesis.

Example 3

– A third example is from a visiting preacher, Don Philips, who was preaching recently from Ezekiel 37:1-4. This is what he concluded from the text. I quote, “God is taking us through a dry valley and he is asking us “will these bones live?”. We need to speak to the dead dry bones in our nation. Let us declare to the dry bones in this nation; hear the word of God. South Africa will emerge as a mighty army, this is our season and time to arise. The season for the church is here”.

– How bold? How self-assured? How awfully unbiblical? This is the weekly diet of members at Grace Bible church and no-one can dare challenge this because as one of the speakers by the name of Reverent Thandanani Savhasa said at a recent event, “We need to understand that utterances that are said during this week don’t come from Bishop Sono or any of the speakers, but from the oracles of the Lord. The great I AM Who remains faithful”. That is an unashamed claim of divine revelation emanating from Sono and others leaders.

From these excerpts and other sermon notes that I evaluated, my summation of Grace Bible church’s preaching is that their preaching is man-centred, unfaithful to the text, flawed with positive confession, often vague and confusing, a perfect example of eisegesis, equivalent to motivational speaking and the teaching does not centre on Christ and him crucified for depraved sinners. This is a far cry from Paul’s commission to Timothy to, “preach the word rebuke, reproof, and exhort with all patience”. In all earnestness, the sermons sound more like those emanating from the false puffed-up teachers of Jude, than the faithful lovingly confrontational preachings of Paul, Peter, and James.

(2) Mark 2 deals with church discipline. My summation is that a truly biblical church is committed to the faithful practice of church discipline. Here, I rely on secondary information from former members of Grace Bible church. According to these sources church discipline is not practiced, let alone known to exist in the church. Sources report of how sin among the youth, and even the highly esteemed leaders is often brushed aside with no formal disciplinary steps taken. In fact, from at least one couple and a former youth leader in the church, one of the abhorrent things that finally pushed them away from the church was just how loose the church’s grip was on dealing with sin. They report how Youth leaders would often be engaged in drunkenness and fornication the one weekend, and then continue to lead, so-called ushering people to God’s presence in song and bible teaching the next Sunday.

It is no-wonder why many unbelievers whose lives are no different to the non-churchgoers feel absolutely comfortable in the church. It is no wonder why someone as scandalous as South Africa’s Deputy President Paul Mashatile feels at home in the church, and was even classified as one of the VIPs at a recent church event.

(3) The final mark explored is that a truly biblical church protects the office of elder and deacons by only appointing qualified candidates, and sharply dealing with disqualified office. Here I find two faults with Grace Bible church. First, the NT makes allowance for only men to serve as elders. This is clearly taught in 1 Tim. 3 and Titus 1.

Grace Bible church clearly and quite proudly violates this clear NT teaching by having various women serving as elders throughout their branches. In fact, Mosa Sono’s wife, Gene Sono, is herself a Pastor of the main Grace Bible church branch in Pimville. She bears several elder titles such as ‘Ma Bishop’, ‘Pastor Sono’, ‘Overseer’ which the church unashamedly highlights on the church’s website. This is not the only issue in terms of protecting the office of an elder.

Another issue, again highlighted by former members is that the appointment of elders and deacons is not always according to the clear criteria set out in the 1 Tim. 3 and Titus 1. According to former member, there have been many instances where elders are selected based on their giving ability, influence, giftedness, celebrity profile, charisma, and popularity. Some disqualified men are still today serving as elders even though they have been divorced several times or have displayed a love of money, or have failed in managing their household.

CONCLUSION

 This brief paper has sought to biblically evaluate Grace Bible church credential as a true Ekklesia. I have done so by looking at three NT marks of a truly biblical church. Having evaluated the marks, namely, that a biblical church is faithful to the word, faithful to church discipline, and faithful to upholding church discipline, I conclude that based on these criteria, Grace Bible church is not a biblical Ekklesia. As such, I will endeavour where appropriate to warn in my preaching and in personal communication to warn people of its ills. I pray that many people will take heed, and avoid the poison of churches that in their efforts of being relevant to this generation forsake preaching the word, fail to apply church discipline, and appoint elders and deacons based on man and not God’s standard.

 

SOURCES:
https://gracebiblechurch.org.za/
Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, by Mark Dever
Personal communication with former members of Grace Bible Church, Soweto

By the Faculty of Shepherds’ Seminary
16 November 2023
Johannesburg, South Africa

 

Given both the perennial conflict in the Middle East, and the church’s relationship to biblical Israel, we believe the following statement is urgently needed for theological clarity, correct moral judgment, and Christian discernment of current affairs so that the body of Christ is unified in the truth and in gospel witness before a watching world.[1] We would appeal to all evangelical believers to stand with us around convictions 1-10 in light of biblical ethics, human rights and the facts of history. In addition, we offer affirmations 11-13 for those who share our dispensational theology.

1. The modern state of Israel was created by victorious powers in a just war, and has every right to exist and to survive. As a sovereign nation, it has the right for self-determination and self-protection.[2] The creation of the modern state was lawful, and since it is a lawful state, it has every right to make its own laws, defend itself, make treaties and alliances, and do what is necessary to ensure the protection of its citizens. According to Just War theory, this includes waging wars, whether defensive or pre-emptive, to protect its citizens.[3] The Golden Rule also applies at a national level, treating other nations “as we want to be treated” (Matt. 7:12).

2. The modern state of Israel, as a legitimate government, is appointed to promote justice and protect life (Rom. 13:1-6; 1 Pet. 2:13-14). To the degree it supports the human freedoms of religion, private property, lawful assembly, free speech, it represents the common grace of God, and is a bulwark against the anarchical forces of sin, tyranny, and evil (Ps. 145:9; Matt. 5:44-45; Acts 14:17; 17:28).

3. The modern state of Israel is like every other nation ruled and populated by sinners: it is not faultless. Not every choice or policy by modern Israel deserves to be defended. Every nation commits evil deeds, and no earthly political body deserves a Christian’s unqualified, uncritical support (Matt. 28:18; Jn. 18:36; Eph. 1:21).

4. Modern Israel is not identical to biblical Israel, yet there is overlap. Israel is the legitimate homeland for many millions of Jews, and Christians should be wary of anti-Zionist sentiment. Much of this is old-fashioned antisemitism, smuggled in under the guise of a political battle for land. Many anti-Zionist groups are not in pursuit of justice for Palestinians; they are in pursuit of the destruction of Israel and the eradication of the Jewish people (Ps. 83).

5. We are not required, in the name of impartiality, to assert some superficial symmetry of sympathy between Israel and other nations (a kind of ‘both-side-ism’, the myth of moral equivalence). Israel stands as a rare example of democracy in a region dominated by authoritarian regimes. If Israel’s neighbours or enemies assert that their aim is the eradication of Israel, the murder of Jews, or the destruction of the modern state of Israel, this does not deserve Christian sympathy, toleration or defence.[4] Christians should always condemn murder, tyranny and oppression, whatever the political motivation (Exod. 20:13; Prov. 8:13; Amos 5:15; Ps. 26:5; 139:21-22).  We dare not join in with a godless world that wants to justify massacre and redefine genocide and apartheid, calling good ‘evil’ and evil ‘good’ (Isa. 5:20; Prov. 17:15; Rom. 12:2; Col. 2:8).

6. Jews, Arabs, and all the inhabitants of Middle Eastern countries are God’s image-bearers, needing love, compassion and the Christian gospel (1 Cor. 9:16). We recognize the dignity and personhood of all persons and affirm God’s love for them as well as His offer of salvation through Jesus Christ to all people (Jn. 3:16-17; Rom. 1:16-17). Though we are not required to view Israel and its neighbours with an artificial equality of political support, we are required to reject racial or ethnic partiality (Gen. 1:26-27; 9:6; Jam. 2:1; 3:9).

7. We should recognise, however, that Christians have a unique relationship to the Jewish people, not paralleled with any other ethnic group (Jn. 4:22; Rom. 1:16). The Jewish people are the ethnic descendants of those who gave us our Bible and our Messiah (Rom. 3:1-2; 9:1-5). A relationship of respect, appreciation, and love should prevail, even when we recognise that many of them stand in opposition to the Gospel.

8. Even when God judged Israel using other nations, He still held those other nations accountable (Isa. 12-24; Jer. 46-51; Ezek. 25-32; Obadiah; Zech. 9,14). Nations that persecuted Israel were judged; nations that blessed them were blessed. It is always in the interest of a Gentile nation to treat Jewish people with respect and provide protection for them if they are attacked. It should be extended to the Jewish population of South Africa and in other countries today. It certainly should be extended to the state of Israel, with its primarily Jewish population.

9. We also recognize the difficult ministry of Jewish and Palestinian believers who labour for the gospel. We pray for their protection and for God’s blessing on their gospel ministry (Matt. 9:36-38; Eph. 6:18-20).

10. We must distinguish between the modern state of Israel and biblical Israel:  National Israel in Scripture is an ethnic people-group, descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Modern Israel is a secular state composed of a number of religious and ethnic groups. Biblical Israel was a theocracy; modern Israel is parliamentary democracy. Biblical Israel was a covenant nation that contained a remnant of true believers; modern Israel is a secular nation, with relatively few believers.

In light of our dispensational distinctives (futuristic premillennialism), we further affirm:

11. The land promises are given as an eternal inheritance to Abraham’s seed (Gen. 13:15). The ethnic descendants of Abraham are given the land as an eternal inheritance. Jews can justly claim the land of Israel as their inheritance. However, possession is not the same as inheritance. Possession of the land was dependent on Israel’s obedience; disobedience would mean expulsion from the land (Deut. 30:15-18). The promised regathering and re-possession of the land is prophesied to take place when Israel is regathered, and granted new hearts – with the complete fulfilment of the New Covenant. With those new hearts, they will obey God’s eternal law, and possess their inheritance (Jer. 31; Ezek. 36).

12. Therefore, at this time, unbelieving Jewish people stand in an ambiguous relationship to the land. As descendants of Abraham, the land is theirs by inheritance; but if they keep rejecting Messiah Jesus, they cannot possess it, on biblical grounds (Lev. 26; Deut. 28-29; 2 Kings 17). As citizens of modern Israel, the land is theirs to inherit and possess by the international laws of statecraft, war, and legal agreement.

13. According to Romans 11, the non-remnant (unsaved) Jewish people (national, ethnic Israel) are both “enemies” of the Gospel, but still “loved” by God as “His people” (Rom. 11:1-2, 28). They are temporarily under judgement, but God cares about His ancient people as the “apple of His eye”, and He cares about how others treat them (Zech. 2:8). How the world treats the Jews in Israel matters immensely (Gen. 12:2-3; 27:29; Num. 24:9; Psalm 122:6; Rev. 12).

 

 

[1] Partially adapted with much gratitude from here:  https://erlc.com/resource-library/statements/israel/

[2] Modern Israel is not an illegitimate nation, some trophy of war, or an arbitrary border drawn in the sand by one aggressive power. The Ottoman empire had been defeated in a just war, and the area was carved out of one decaying section, to provide a homeland for the displaced and decimated Jewish people, after the awfulness of the Holocaust. Many had lost home, wealth, and had lived in refugee camps. Israel provided a genuine homeland for the Jews. The original provision of the U. N. Partition plan were accepted by the Jewish people and rejected by the Arab powers.

[3] See good summary here: https://www.gotquestions.org/just-war-theory.html

[4] The charter of Hamas states: “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it….The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them.”

By David De Bruyn

(excerpts from his sermon at New Covenant Baptist on Sunday, 15 October 2023)

The Middle East is always a tinder box, but what happened last week is unique in my lifetime. The murder of 1300 Jewish Israelis is the greatest slaughter of Jewish people since the Holocaust. The loss of Arab life also numbers 1400, and is surely set to rise as the War progresses. In our own history, we have nothing to compare with it. Sharpeville was a massacre of 63 people, the 76 Soweto riots 176, Boipatong was 45, Marikana was 47. This is an event of the magnitude of a 9/11.

And the casualness of the media, especially the South African media, towards this event is a story in itself. Silence speaks louder than words. In fact, the attitude of many Christians, that this is just some faraway political event shows how well certain kinds of propaganda have worked on the general population.

I think there are two important reasons why this is important enough to address from God’s Word today. The first is that Christians have a special relationship with the Jewish people, and derivatively, the homeland of the Jewish people, Israel. The Jewish people introduced us to the true and living God. The Jewish people gave us our Bible, both Old and New testament. …The Jewish people gave us our Messiah, Yeshua. We have a relationship, and a debt to the Jewish people that is unique among all the people-groups of the world. We should care very deeply about what happens to these people, how they are treated, and how they are portrayed.

The second reason has to do with an evil attitude that Christians should shun. There is a definite shift in the world’s attitude toward the Jewish people. The atrocities that were committed in the last week are unspeakable in their evil. And yet a spokesperson for the ruling party in our country said in a statement “that the actions of Hamas are unsurprising”. In other words, the Jews brought this on themselves. The Jews earned this. That’s exactly the kind of things that were said in the 1930s when the Jews began to be persecuted by the Germans. There is a wind blowing in the direction of a second Holocaust, condemning everything Israel does, and condoning anything done to Israel.

Christians need to be aware that this attitude is not simply a political opinion, like deciding where you stand on global warming or your position on immigration. This has deep spiritual roots. Revelation 12 shows the deep hatred Satan has for the woman who bore the Messiah, and that is not a reference to Mary, but to Israel. He has always despised the people of the Book and the people of the Christ.

Where we line up on the topic of the Jewish people and their homeland Israel has profound implications for our sanctification, for our loyalty to God. I believe God’s Word has passages that teach our relationship to Israel is a matter of obedience to the Father, not a mere political preference.

For our church, as a church planted in the Jewish areas, dedicated to spreading the hope of Israel to the people of Israel, this matters to us. It should matter to all Christians, but we would be remiss if we do not cement our position in a time like this. As a pastor, I would be remiss to fail to point out the dangers, and to call for obedience.

…During the coming Tribulation period, the kinds of things we are seeing now will intensify. Hatred and persecution of Israel and the Jews will increase tenfold. In that time, who will shelter them? What kinds of people will hide them in special rooms like the Ten Boom family? Who will shelter them like the Schindlers? What kinds of people will protect them from the new Gestapos, the AI-equipped Nazis.

The answer is, the people who feel a debt of love, who remember that these people, whether in belief or unbelief, gave us our Bible and our Messiah. People who remember their history, and know what happened in centuries before. People who know their Bibles and know that God promised to bless them that bless Abraham’s descendants, and will curse those that curse them (Gen. 12:3). Or to put it very simply: people who love those whom God loves. Romans 11:28 says of the Jewish people: “Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. (Romans 11:28)

They are “beloved”. What sort of person hates what God loves? Not the righteous. Not the sheep. To despise, destroy, hate and neglect the people chosen to bear the Messiah and carry God’s Word is to place yourself on the wrong side of coming judgement.  …this is no side-issue. This is not merely a political position. Christians do not hate the Jews, or support the rhetoric of those who do. One of the outward signs of inward salvation is how you treat the ancestors of our faith, the physical brethren of our Saviour (Matt. 25).

Paul’s grief for his Jewish countrymen is expressed in his desire for their salvation. He knows that is their deepest need. That’s why he begins Romans 10 this way: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.” (v. 1) Our deepest desire for the Jewish people is that they may find their Messiah. He is the only hope for Israel, He is their ultimate rescuer, He is the only one who can ultimately solve the political situation

Loving Israel doesn’t mean we think of them as having a separate way of salvation. It doesn’t mean we think of them as a kind of parallel people of God, able to get to Heaven by works. No, we know, as Paul says “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:12–13) But this doesn’t mean we abandon or despise them if they don’t accept the gospel, like Martin Luther did. We keep seeking to provoke them to jealousy and live out Messiah before them (Rom. 11).

For some reason, some Christians get really bothered when we talk about praying for Israel, or recognising Israel has a special role to play. They think it is some kind of ethnocentrism, or racism, or partiality, or mere political Zionism, or taking away from Christ’s centrality. It’s quite striking. You say, “We should pray for Israel” and like a knee-jerk reaction, they respond “Well, we should also pray for the Palestinians!” And the response is, “Yes, we should. But why respond like that?” If I said, “We should pray for the children”, would you answer “We should pray for the adults, too!” No, I doubt it.

It is fine to recognise that different people have different callings, and we can accept that as God’s arrangement. Israel has a special calling among the nations of the world. They were the nation selected to bring God’s revelation to the world, and to bring the Messiah to the world. That special calling has brought them great pain and persecution. And that special calling is not over.Israel has a future role to play among the nations. There is no other nation named in God’s Word that is set apart for a future role to the nations (Zech. 14, etc.). It is not a symmetrical situation between Israel and every other nation. When we accept this special status, we are not being partial, or racist, or undermining the fact that the church is one people where ethnic status doesn’t matter. All of that remains true, and Israel still has a special role to play among the nations.

In fact, Christians, who have experienced God’s electing the church to salvation, should be the last people with a problem with God electing Israel to service. We should know God arranges His world as the Potter makes clay, calling and gifting as He chooses. Accepting another’s status or role or gifting is part of humility, submitting to God’s will and arrangement of His world (Paul’s whole point in Romans 9-11).

Proverbs 24 states:  “Deliver those who are drawn toward death, And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, ‘Surely we did not know this,’ does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?” (vv. 11–12)

And to keep silent, to turn a blind eye, to look the other way while this kind of satanic hatred grows, is neither neighbourly nor Christlike. Christians defend people from evil malice. We have always done that. We defend the unborn. We defend the orphan. We defend the slave. We defend the abused. And so when we see this kind of satanic, mindless malice directed at the Jewish people, we would do well to defend them, to stand up for them.

The Hobbit was published in 1937 while the winds of Nazism were blowing strongly. A publisher in Berlin wrote to Tolkien, expressing interest in a German edition. In the few years before, that publisher, Rütten & Loening had been owned by German Jews, who were forced to sell in 1936 to “Aryan” Germans, according to the Nuremberg laws. The new owner, Albert Hachfeld, fired all the Jewish staff and dropped all Jewish writers. He then wrote to Tolkien, explaining that before they could begin work on a German version of “The Hobbit”, they needed to make sure of Tolkien’s Aryan descent, and to make sure he had no Jewish ancestry.

This is how Tolkien replied, “Thank you for your letter. I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by arisch. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.”

Whether it is slander, false witness, lies in speech, there is a time for us to speak up. Whether it is actual violence or targeted persecution, we should do what we can.

1 Chronicles 12:32 says, “the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do”.  The men of Issachar understood the times so they knew how to respond. Do you understand the times, what is occurring around us? The world is polarising. There is a drift of opinion that is side-lining Christians, conservatives and the nation Israel. You can follow the goat pack because right now it is considered fashionable, enlightened, tolerant. I want my family, and I would want everyone in my church to land up on Jesus’ right and not on His left at this judgement (Matt. 25). Let us love what Christ loves.

by David de Bruyn
“Originally delivered to a Jewish audience that invited David to address them recently”

 Perhaps one of the most famous authors to have been born on our shores was J.R.R Tolkien, the author of the famous Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit and many other works. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, before moving to the United Kingdom early in life. The Hobbit was published in 1937 while the winds of Nazism were blowing strongly. A publisher in Berlin wrote to Tolkien, expressing interest in a German edition.

In the few years before, that publisher, Rütten & Loening had been owned by German Jews, who were forced to sell in 1936 to “Aryan” Germans, according to the Nuremberg laws. The new owner, Albert Hachfeld, fired all the Jewish staff and dropped all Jewish writers. He then wrote to Tolkien, explaining that before they could begin work on a German version of “The Hobbit”, they needed to make sure of Tolkien’s Aryan descent, and to make sure he had no Jewish ancestry.

This is how Tolkien replied, “Thank you for your letter. I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by arisch. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.”

The Hobbit was not published while the Nazis, were in power; it took until 1957 before it came out in what was then West Germany.

Tolkien was an outspoken adherent of Roman Catholicism, and though his form of Christianity is not the one I espouse, his attitude towards the Jewish people is the one I heartily support. I am a Christian, who, like Tolkien, am very thankful for the Jewish people. I believe all Christians should be thankful to the Jewish nation.

But at the outset of this talk, I acknowledge that I do not speak for all who call themselves Christian. I cannot claim that mine is the “official” position, or even the majority position. Sadly, those who call themselves Christian have committed some of the worst atrocities against the Jewish people. The history of Christian-Jewish relations is mostly an ugly one and painful to read.

Supposedly in the name of Jesus, untold horrors have been committed against the Jewish people. Sadly, some of this ugliness persists even today in various strains of Christianity. So I wouldn’t blame any Jewish person for being sceptical of the claim that Christians are thankful to the Jewish nation.

But I can make the case that gratitude towards Jews should be normal for Christians, that anti- Semitism is really anti-Christian, that the many evils of hatred directed towards the Jews may have been done in the name of Jesus Christ, but illegitimately so. In saying this, I am not denying the historicity of the heinous acts committed by those calling themselves Christian. What I am denying is that those acts were Christian acts in the true sense of the term.

Because despite being misrepresented, Jesus Himself was a faithful Jewish man, who kept Torah, attended the synagogue and loved the Jewish nation. His teaching was almost entirely to the nation of Israel, and ministry to non-Jews was more the exception than the rule. He said that his ministry was to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. When accused of violating Torah, he said, “I didn’t come to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them”. He looked upon Jerusalem and wept over her, foreseeing her future trauma. And very importantly, he prohibited spreading his message through violence or force.

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Judean leaders; but now My kingdom is not from here.” (Jn. 18:36)

So when a person claiming to be a Christian persecutes the Jewish nation, or uses force or violence upon them, they are acting completely unlike Jesus himself. There is nothing Christian about anti- semitism.

But why should I, as a Christian, be thankful to the Jewish nation? Of course, outside of religion, I have plenty of reasons to be thankful for my neighbours and fellow citizens who were Jews.

Growing up, as I did in Berea, Hillbrow and Parktown, all kinds of kindnesses were done to me by my Jewish neighbours. I was brought into this world by a Jewish doctor at the Park Lane Clinic, cared for Jewish GPs and dentists. Several of my teachers at Roseneath Primary School and Parktown Boy’s were Jewish, and our next door neighbours were pleasant, if occasionally outspoken, Jewish neighbours.

But I am not today talking about why anyone could be thankful for good fellow citizens. I want to make the case that Christians, as Christians, can and should be thankful to the Jewish Nation. In that respect, there are three compelling reasons why Christians as Christians, should be thankful to the Jewish nation.

 

1) The Bible Christians use was written by Jewish people.

 Of course, Christians and observant Jews both regard the Tanakh or Old Testament as Scripture. The first five books of Moses, the Torah, the Neviim or prophets, and the Ketuvim, or writings are the same books of Moses, David, the prophets. It is a remarkable truth, and one too little reflected upon, that of all the nations and ethnicities in the world, God chose to focus the bulk of His special revelation on that small nomadic people, Israel. Paul answering the question of the distinguishing privilege of being Jewish says this: “Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.” (Romans 3:2 )

Christians owe a debt of gratitude to the Jewish people for writing, recording and preserving the Scriptures which we share as the Word of God. Were it not for the carefulness and fastidiousness of the scribes, the veneration with which the synagogues protected the scrolls, the skill of the Masoretes, we might not have the Scriptures today. Today, at a Christian seminary worth its salt, a large portion of study is the study of Hebrew grammar, Hebrew syntax so as to rightly understand the Hebrew Scriptures.

And this might surprise you, but the New Testament was entirely Jewish as well. Were we to use the Hebrew names of the authors, we’d soon hear that almost the entire New Testament (or B’rit Chadashah) was written by Jews: Mattiyahu (Matthew), Yochanan Marcus (John Mark), Yochanan ben Zebedee (John), Sha’ul (Paul), Yaacov (James), Shimon Petra (Peter), and Yehudah (Jude).

Some scholars are even debating whether Luke was a proselyte or perhaps a natural born Jew. The Bible is, without question, a Jewish book, a book of Israeli authorship.

As a Christian, the Bible is to me the Word of God. When I hold the Bible in my hands, I hold a Hebrew book. The Bible was mediated to me through Jewish authors, and therefore I can only be grateful and thankful to the Jewish nation.

 

2) The God Christians worship was revealed through the Jewish people.

Living as we do in a time when monotheism is practiced by over 4 billion people, it is easy to forget that there was a time when most people lived in the superstition and darkness of paganism. Certainly my ancestors in Europe worshipped nature and the many gods and goddesses of pagan Europe. If you know anything about the practices of Roman pagans, of the Vikings and Norsemen, you know it was brutal, bloody and beastly.

But when Israel’s God was presented to the people’s of Europe, it transformed them. For the next 1000 years, the teachings of Israel, Old and New Testament seeped into the thinking of people across Europe. It changed the way they thought about law and ethics and morality. It seeped into the thinking of vicious and pagan Vikings who delighted in being bloodthirsty and wicked. It changed attitudes towards the weak, the orphans, women. It changed the ideas of impartial law, about the rights of an individual, about fair trials, about punishments fitting the crime.

Monogamy in families, chivalry toward women, laws against infanticide, hospitals for the sick, orphanages for children began. It changed marriage and family, and soon it changed government, from absolute chiefs to kings with limited power to democracies and republics. It changed the way way people thought about nature and creation and it sparked what we call science and invention. Industrial and scientific and medical revolutions began and continued to this day. It created the most beautiful architecture, painting, music, literature, and poetry the world has ever seen. It even created the freedom to criticise itself and question itself.

Now all of this came because people were exposed to the one God of Israel. Winston Churchill once said “We owe to the Jews in the Christian revelation a system of ethics which, even if it were entirely separated from the supernatural, would be incomparably the most precious possession of mankind, worth in fact the fruits of all other wisdom and learning put together. On that system and by that faith there has been built out of the wreck of the Roman Empire the whole of our existing civilization.”

Yes, indeed, Christians and Jews differ on whether the one God of Abraham exists with plurality within Himself or not. But Christians are adamant that we have been exposed to, and included in, the ancient faith of Israel. We can wholeheartedly say, “Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad.” Indeed, one of the first teachers of the church, Paul, or Sha’ul as he would have been known, warned his Gentile readers not to act boastfully towards Jewish people, but to understand that they had been grafted in to the olive tree of Israel. The God I worship is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and I can only be thankful to the Jewish nation for being God’s servant to bring His knowledge to me.

 

3) The Messiah Christians trust in is a Jewish Messiah.

Of course, because of the terrible antisemitism, inflicted on Jewish people by professing Christians, many Jews regard the name of Jesus as a great curse. As I’ve pointed out, hostility to Jewish people or forced conversions was not what Jesus Himself taught, nor what He endorsed. Indeed, Jesus was not the blonde, blue-eyed figure in many pictures. He was Yeshua, son of Miryam, brother of Yaacov and Yehudah. He lived in Natzaret, kept Torah, faithfully went up to Yerushalayim every year. He made extraordinary claims, and did extraordinary things. But one thing is for sure, he was Jewish. He was nursed and nourished in the Jewish nation, loved it, and sought its welfare.

Now this is obviously a point of disagreement between Jews and Christians: over who Jesus was. But no one can deny the heritage and ethnicity of Jesus. Nothing could be stranger than for Christians to act with hostility and disdain toward the people from whom Jesus came.

During the Second Crusade, anti-Semitic attacks broke out in Rhineland. A Christian cleric by the name of Bernard of Clairvaux rode to the Rhine valley and declared, “Anyone who attacks a Jew and tries to kill him it is as though he attacks Jesus himself.”

Now what is a Christian apart from the Bible he reads, from the God he worships, and from the Saviour he trusts? And yet these three fundamental aspects of Christianity came from, or through, or by the Jewish people. There is nothing in Christianity which Gentiles can claim originated apart from Israel. It is one of the saddest twists of history that Christians have forgotten the root of their faith.

So I, as a Christian am indebted to the Jewish nation, Yes, indeed to ancient Israel, but equally to her living descendants today. One of the ways we show respect and honour for people is how we treat their children, and my gratitude is not to people in the past whom I will never meet. My gratitude is living and present-tense.

How does my gratitude manifest?

First, I want for my Jewish neighbours the same freedoms and tolerance I want for myself. When the United States of America was in its infancy, George Washington wrote a reply to Moses Sexias of the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island:

“All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support…May the children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.” My gratitude towards the Jewish nation means I desire freedom and liberty of conscience for my Jewish neighbour.

Second, I support the right of Jewish people to live in the land of Israel, for Israel’s right to exist as a sovereign nation and to be safe from their enemies. And I do not think Jewish people should be safe only in Israel, they should be safe in any land they live in. For me and my church, that means that we would feel the obligation to protect and shelter Jewish people, should waves of anti- semitism break out. We would do that without pre-conditions, without requiring Jewish people to convert, but simply as those to whom we feel a debt of gratitude. My gratitude towards the Jewish nation means I would protect and shelter those who have given me the Word of God.

Third, I want for my Jewish neighbours to know and celebrate the Scriptures that we share, the Tanakh, or Old Testament as most Christians call it. The situation between Jews and Christians is not parallel to the situation between us and Hindus or Moslems. The Koran is an entirely different set of Scriptures. The Bhagavad Gita is an entirely separate set of writings. But Christians and Jews share 24 books in the Tanakh, though Christians split some of those longer books into two, and so count them as 39 books. But they are the same. Sadly, many Christians and many Jews fail to read their own Scriptures. A treasure-trove of wisdom, law, history and prophecy sits on their shelves.

My gratitude towards the Jewish people means I want us to drink from the same well, and enjoy our shared inheritance of the Hebrew Scriptures, now translated for us all.

Fourth, I want my Jewish neighbours to continue a friendly dialogue on the areas where we disagree. Who is the Messiah? Who was Jesus? Is the Talmud the oral law given to Moses? How do we gain atonement for sins without the Temple? Yes, these have been contentious issues, but our mutual respect and gratitude means the discussion can be held without threats, fear, or intimidation. We would even agree with Voltaire, “I may disagree with what you are saying, but I will fight to the death for you to be able to say it.” In a truly free society, our children and grandchildren play in the same parks, we shop in the same malls, we attend the same community meetings, while having the freedom to openly discuss and openly disagree on ultimate truths.

So, today, I stand with Tolkien. If someone were to ask me if I have Jewish ancestors, I might say, “I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.” But I would add, but I am so thankful that my ancestors were blessed by theirs, and so I am and remain thankful, as a Christian to the Jewish nation today.