Writing about the Jewish people and Christian theology - 2 (Used by God)

In my first posting on Christian Theology, the Jewish people and Israel, I stated that there is a Reformed theology that while insisting on the all sufficiently of Jesus Christ does not deny that the Jews are God’s chosen people. And this is not some recent phenomenon.

The Scottish pastor, Samuel Rutherford, (1600? – 1661), pays the Jews some honor with a bit of quaint exegesis when he writes of them as the older sister, “When they [the Jews] were in their Lord’s house, at their Father’s elbow, they were longing for the incoming of their little sister, the kirk of the Gentiles. They said to the Lord, ‘We have a little sister and she hath no breasts; what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?’ [Cant 8, 8 Editor]” (Letters of Samuel Rutherford)

He goes on to exhort the recipient of his letter to pray for the elder sister that she might now have breasts and be seated with the Gentiles at the Lord’s Table. But to be clearer, the person who has given Reformed understanding its most important theological systematization, John Calvin, writes this about the Jewish people:

"For they [the Jews] are, as it were, the first born in the family of God. The honor due, on this account, must therefore be paid them, until they have rejected the offer, and by their ingratitude, caused it to be transferred to the Gentiles. Nor, however great the contumacy with which they persist in warring against the gospel, are we therefore to despise them. We must consider that in respect of the promise, the blessing of God still resides among them; and, as the apostle testifies, will never entirely depart from them, seeing that 'the gifts and calling of God are without repentance' (Rom xi 29)” (Institutes, book IV., Chapter XVI, 14)

So using the writing of Reformed Pastor David Torrance, brother of theologians James and Thomas Torrance, I will look at the ways God has used the Jews to confront all others, as they continue to be God’s people among the nations.[1]

The first thought in Torrance’s list has to do with “their remarkable preservation through history.” This preservation can point only to the hand of God. I once took a class on Jewish history from an excellent teacher. But I, even as a Christian, was troubled by her constant search for why the Jewish people had survived through their many persecutions and exiles. She never proffered the idea that God was at least a part of that reason.

I believe the Scripture that Torrance points the reader to is the answer.

“’If this fixed order departs from before me,’ declares the Lord, then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before me forever.’” (Jeremiah 31:36)

The second way God is using the Jewish people is that in their presence among the nations we are reminded of all that God has done in their midst. They lend to us a living witness of Scriptures.

The third way has to do with Israel’s presence once again in the Holy Land. They remind us of God’s power to work his will. As Torrance puts it, “their presence back in the promised land-reminds us that we and the nations have to reckon with a living, personal God. He is a God who acts in space and time, a God of judgment as well as mercy.”

Going further, concerning their return to their land, the fourth way God uses the Jewish people is to show the peoples of the world that their destiny is not in their own hands. Governments do not bring about the destiny of nations, but God is truly in charge. His actions are a call to obedience.

Finally, Torrance states that in Israel’s “modern history” the nations may perceive that God is “over-ruling the continued sin of the world.” He is moving us toward a time when all nations will give a complete account of their actions. Looking at the formation of Israel in their ancient homeland after the attempt of Hitler and his henchmen to totally destroy them one perceives ahead of time God’s judgment and power. As Torrance puts it God is the Lord of history.

From a Reformed point of view God continues to use the Jewish people. They are chosen by him. Through them the Lord continues to both bless and remind the nations of his power and sovereignty. In my next posting on this subject I will look at the use Christians have made and must make of the Hebrew Bible in regards to the Jewish people.


[1] “The Mission of Christians and Jews,” James Torrance, A Passion for Christ: The Vision that Ignites Ministry, Thomas F. Torrance, James B. Torrance, David W. Torrance. (Handsel Press, PLC Publications, 1999)