May 15, 2025 · 9:00 AM

Bearing Fruit Amid Conflict

Shalom in His peace. I leave for Israel in a couple of weeks to encourage the staff, share the gospel with Israelis, and lead a tour culminating in the dedication of our new Tel Aviv Messianic Center.  

This has been a long time coming, and frankly, it has not been easy building out a new facility during a war! It has been a challenge to continue our regular ministries of evangelism and discipleship as well. War takes its toll on adults and children, and it is still difficult for Israelis to live in the shadow of October 7, 2023. The loss of lives, sense of security, and trust in the government, as well as the negative response of so many in the West to Israel’s defensive actions in Gaza and southern Lebanon, have caused a sense of hopelessness and fear to fall upon most Israelis.

I am personally thankful for the many Christians who have stood up and supported Israel and opposed growing global antisemitism. This causes me to be so grateful for my brothers and sisters in the Lord!

We are seeing the hearts of many in Israel more open to the Lord than before. When humanity disappoints, we tend to look to heaven for help and power to live a fruitful life, which is what is happening in Israel at this moment in history!

Jesus is the Prince of Peace, yet He was no stranger to conflict from the time of His birth onward, with a band of enemies committed to destroying Him. From the Sanhedrin to the Roman leaders of first-century Israel, Jesus faced controversy after controversy and conflict after conflict.  

Yet, Jesus did not waver in His divine purpose. He said to His disciples that He was ready to face what He knew would be certain death as it was the will of His Father and predicted in Old Testament passages like Isaiah 53. Matthew describes Jesus’s telling His disciples about that suffering, “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day” (Matthew 16:21).

Jesus was more than willing to face danger and potential harm in order to fulfill the divine plan, which called upon Him to suffer for the sins of humanity. 

He was born to die!

Isaiah predicted the Messiah’s humiliating death when he wrote, 

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4–5)

Jesus did not deserve this predicted punishment but embraced His calling, bearing our shame and enduring the very judgment for sin that we deserved. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

The justice we deserved, He received, and all He earned through His perfect obedience, we received!  

He did not flinch but faced His fate with a deep sense of purpose, knowing He was ordained before the creation of the earth to be our perfect sacrifice. He is our example of how to face the dark moments of life with grace, grit, and determination.  

I see these Jesus-like traits evident in the lives of our Israel staff. For the last 600 days, they have continued in their ministries, raising their children, and bearing the loss of friends and family, and God has blessed their efforts with wonderful fruit.  

Our Israel staff have flourished spiritually post-October 7, 2023, and throughout the ensuing defensive war. The Lord is moving powerfully through them, and there is a hunger for the gospel among Israelis that goes far beyond what we see in times of peace.

We are now finishing the construction of our new Tel Aviv Messianic Center, which is two-and-a-half times the size of our current rental space. We will now have room to grow our ministries to both adults and children, which previously had limitations because of a lack of space. 

AN EXPANDED MINISTRY IN ISRAEL

Concerts

We will continue to have monthly concerts at our new center, but now we will be able to hold more than one hundred people and provide programs for the children while the adults are enjoying the worship. We regularly have Jewish seekers attend these concerts, which also support the growing Messianic music movement within Israel.

Sabbath Dinners

Our Sabbath dinners are evangelistic hubs where believers can bring their not-yet-believing friends and relatives to a warm, friendly, and delicious Sabbath meal. Many young people, including believers serving in the army, have been coming to these dinners. We usually have a speaker, testimonies, and music at these dinners as well. In the new center, we will be able to double the number of people at our Sabbath events.

Bible Studies

We have weekly Bible studies for a general group as well as studies for men and women separately. One of our past hardships was that we were not able to adequately provide a variety of levels of children’s programs, which we will now have the capacity to organize. We are so delighted about this as Israel has a young population—there are a lot of children to serve in the name of Jesus.

Public Lectures

We will now be able to offer gospel-centered topics for both believers and unbelievers in our new space. We now have room for well over one hundred individuals to come and learn about engaging topics from personal finance to child-rearing. We will also be able to provide tools to handle war-related post-traumatic stress. 

We base our public lectures on Scripture, and the topics are so relevant that many people from the community want to attend. 

Youth and Children’s Ministries

We are a family-oriented ministry, and parents enjoy bringing their children to our events. We will have room for graded children’s programs while the adults are involved in other activities at the new center. The Center enables us to expand our ministry among children and helps us better serve their parents. We have the teachers and materials, but we have not had the room—until now.

MORE AND MORE FRUIT!

I am reminded of the words of Jesus our Messiah, our master teacher, who often used everyday illustrations when talking to Jewish people in the first century. The Messiah spoke about vines, vineyards, and fruit, and in John 15, He used these well-known images to explain what it means to walk with God and have an empowered, productive, and joyful relationship with the Lord. 

He said to His disciples,

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. (John 15:1–2)

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4–5)

He told His disciples to focus on what is inside. The circumstances of life, both on a national and international scale, as well as in our home and family life, deeply impact us, but Jesus encourages the disciples to abide in Him to bear fruit. 

Think with me for a moment about all that Your Mission has endured in the past 131 years of service among the Jewish people. Yet today, we are more fruitful than ever! We battled through the Great Depression, two world wars, the Holocaust, the wars surrounding the establishment of the modern State of Israel, pandemics and plagues, October 7, and a myriad of terrorist attacks on Israel.  

By the grace of God, we still stand. We are reaching more Israelis and Jewish people across the globe than ever before through our evangelistic efforts, hosting networks, digital media campaigns, and one-on-one, heart-to-heart Bible studies and evangelistic conversations. 

God is good, and He will continue to bless as He promised, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (John 15:8).

Thank you for your prayers, love, and generous support as we bring the gospel to Jewish people in the United States, Israel, and in 20 other countries around the world!

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May 1, 2025 · 10:00 AM

Reaching Jewish Students on College Campuses: A Call to Stand and Serve

College campuses are some of the most spiritually open places in our society. It is no exaggeration to say that many young people, including Jewish students, make life-altering decisions during these formative years. 

A STRATEGIC AND TIMELY OPPORTUNITY

The Jewish student population in the United States exceeds 400,000. New York University (NYU) alone has over 6,000 Jewish undergraduates, making it one of the largest concentrations of Jewish students outside of Israel. Columbia and Barnard College (its affiliated women’s college) are not far behind. Together, they represent a vital mission field. 

THE CRISIS ON CAMPUS: THE GROWTH OF ANTISEMITISM

In recent months, the surge in antisemitic rhetoric and incidents on college campuses has been unprecedented. In the 2023–2024 school year, the Anti-Defamation League recorded over 1,400 antisemitic events linked to higher education institutions—a fivefold increase over the previous year.1 At Columbia, Jewish students have been labeled “Zionist aggressors,” with their photos and names posted publicly. Others have found their dorm room doors vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti. One Columbia student told the press, “I’m scared to wear a Jewish star here.”2 Protesters have stormed campus buildings shouting slogans like “From the river to the sea,” which many Jewish people understand as a call for the eradication of Israel. 

At NYU, students wearing Jewish symbols have been verbally harassed, and one Jewish student was assaulted during a protest. In November, Students for Justice in Palestine organized a rally outside the Stern School of Business that blocked entrances and featured chants praising “resistance” in the name of Gaza. Some students reported being spat on. In another case, flyers were distributed accusing specific students of supporting “genocide” because they expressed pro-Israel views. These incidents have created a climate where many Jewish students feel isolated or afraid to speak. 

Despite national media attention, administrative responses have often lagged and incidents ignored, leaving Jewish students feeling abandoned. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has launched investigations into both NYU and Columbia. 

THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO JEWISH MINISTRY ON CAMPUS

For many years we have conducted a more traditional approach to Jewish ministry on campus and continue to do so, setting up book tables and trying to start spiritual conversations. God has used these efforts to impact students on campus—especially in the current environment where so many students are exhibiting antisemitic behavior. 

For example, a staff member in Boston gives the following testimony, 

In response to the rise of antisemitism on college campuses, especially in Boston, I felt called to stand with Jewish students. In response to the rise of antisemitism on college campuses, especially in Boston, my team and I set up book tables at Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston University, Northeastern, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (UMASS-Amherst).

At UMASS, we set up our book table right outside of the student union, and immediately the Lord opened many conversations with Jewish students. At one time I had five Jewish students standing around my table. One student was a regular at the Hillel House [a Jewish student group with chapters nationwide], another girl was more secular, then a young Jewish kid came to join us from Long Island, NY, and finally two more Jewish students joined in — one being from Israel and the other coming from a traditional Jewish home. Each took an evangelistic pamphlet, and two left with a copy of the New Testament, which I always carry with me. 

A RESIDENTIAL MINISTRY TO JEWISH STUDENTS: THE HOUSE OF LIVING WATERS

Hostility toward Jewish students and Israel makes our ministry of on-campus presence more important than ever. The idea is simple but powerful: young adults live in community near a major campus, host regular outreach events, and form deep, personal relationships with Jewish students. In contrast to pop-up evangelism, the House of Living Waters creates stability and trust. The model has proven effective, as the following testimonies from some of the program leaders indicate! 

Henry 

House of Living Waters in the past months has seen extraordinary growth in what can only be understood as the Lord ’s provision. We had an event on the NYU campus, an interfaith Purim party, and students were engaged and desiring more events from our team. We continue to have our Sabbath dinners and Bible study, which has built up a community of believers and not-yet-believers who are excited to see the community provided through the program. We are partnering with many student groups to continue reaching the campus, engaging with students, and building a lasting community within these campuses. 

Sergey 

“So, what is House of Living Waters doing?” This was the question that two rabbis asked me at Rutgers University while we hosted a Purim event on campus. I had an amazing conversation with them about who we are and what we do on campuses, and I told them that we would love to connect in the future and maybe do something together. Please keep praying for our work in Columbia while we establish the ministry there and specifically for our upcoming events with both Jewish and non-Jewish students. 

Charlene 

House of Living Waters has seen incredible growth this school year. We are hopeful about the connections we are building at NYU, and as we launch at Columbia and even Rutgers. It has been an encouragement to see Jewish and non-Jewish students engage with us at our weekly Sabbath dinners and events. At NYU, one student leader said they were happy to partner with us given all the antisemitism and unrest that has been taking place on university campuses. As a result, Christian students are excited about connecting their Jewish friends with us, and Jewish students have shown an interest in our effort to create a community for Jewish-Christian dialogue. 

NYU, COLUMBIA, BARNARD. . . AND TO THE UTTERMOST CAMPUSES!

NYU is not only in the heart of a Jewish population center, but it also houses over twenty active Jewish student organizations. These groups represent not only strategic access points for Jewish engagement but also spiritual battlegrounds where Jewish students are searching for truth. 

Christian groups are present and active as well. At NYU, InterVarsity, CRU, Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), and others have welcomed partnership with our House of Living Waters team. We are working to strengthen collaboration with these groups so they can more confidently reach out to their Jewish friends and classmates. We hope to begin a House of Living Waters program at Columbia in the fall. 

A SNAPSHOT OF OUR OUTREACH

Evangelism: The men at our current House of Living Waters program based at NYU engage students in dorms, coffee shops, and at public events. Through partnerships with CRU, InterVarsity, RUF, and others, our staff are invited into conversations with Christian students who long to reach their Jewish friends. 

Sabbath Dinners: These are the heartbeat of the program. Every week, students come for a home-cooked meal, warm conversation, and spiritual reflection. These Friday evening meals and Bible studies often lead to further questions about the Messiah and what it means to be Jewish and believe in Jesus. 

Discipleship: Those who serve as part of the House of Living Waters are often recent college graduates themselves, so this wonderful outreach program also serves as a powerful tool of training and discipleship for this next-generation team of dedicated, Jesus-focused young adults. The team members are trained in apologetics, theology, and pastoral care, with ongoing personal mentorship by more experienced Chosen People Ministries staff. 

FUTURE PLANS AND THE CALL TO MULTIPLY

We believe God is calling us to replicate the House of Living Waters in other strategic university cities: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and Toronto—to name a few. Each city has a dense Jewish population and major university presence. With the success we have seen at NYU and growing relationships at Columbia and Rutgers, we are eager to build. Each participant receives a stipend each month and free housing in exchange for a year-long commitment to outreach and discipleship. Their week includes a Friday night Sabbath dinner, Bible studies, Jewish holiday celebrations, and strategic evangelism. 

Thanks for caring and for building the future of Jewish evangelism on campus together with Your Mission to the Jewish People.

  1. “Anti-Israel Activism on U.S. Campuses, 2023-2024,” ADL, updated February 7, 2025, https://www.adl.org/re-sources/report/anti-israel-activism-us-campuses-2023-2024.
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  2. Ali Bauman and Christina Fan, “Columbia University Protesters Taken into Custody after Day of Unrest on Campus,” CBS News, updated on April 18, 2024, https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/columbia-university-pro-palestinian-pro-israeli-protests/. ↩︎

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April 15, 2025 · 9:00 AM

The Resurrection of Jesus in the Hebrew Scriptures

Shalom and Happy Resurrection Day!

I still remember the day when, as a young, nineteen-year-old Jewish man, I realized that Jesus was the Messiah and that He died for my sins and rose from the dead. Boy, was I surprised! 

I had a somewhat secular upbringing with elements of Modern Orthodox Jewish tradition. I knew what I should believe and observe, but my mom and dad did not believe or follow it all, and neither did I. Yet, for some reason, my parents wanted me to have a traditional bar mitzvah (coming-of-age ceremony) at the age of thirteen. 

To this day, I am grateful they made that choice because the preparation gave me a much stronger education in Jewish life and faith than most of my friends. As a Jewish believer in Jesus, having this background has been a great blessing throughout my decades of walking with the Lord. 

Before accepting Jesus as my Messiah, I was growing more and more secular every day as my peers had tremendous influence over me! I do not remember ever thinking seriously about the Jewish belief in resurrection—aside from a vague understanding that, when the Messiah comes, He would raise the dead. 

My two best friends had come to faith in Jesus and challenged me to believe as well. I began reading the Hebrew Scriptures, but only to challenge their new-found faith. I considered belief in Jesus to be quite unkosher, but I found that “my Bible” spoke to my heart, so I asked God to show me the truth. Most importantly, I asked God, “How do I get to You? Show me the way.” 

That evening, the Lord gave me exactly what I needed. By God’s grace, I found a New Testament in the most extraordinary way—in a phone booth in the middle of the redwood forest in Northern California, where I was working as a camp counselor for an outdoor education program. I read through the Gospels and discovered a Jewish Jesus who fulfilled the Old Testament Messianic prophecies and hope of the Jewish people—and a big part of that involved His resurrection. I believed the gospel—that Jesus died for my sins and rose from the dead, conquering death. 

Further, since Jesus rose, I will, one day, rise as well! It is a glorious hope, and if we need anything today in this world, it is hope. My hope is built upon His rising from the dead, and it endures the most difficult circumstances. I cannot wait to see Him face to face! 

As Paul so eloquently wrote in his introduction to his epistle to the Romans: 

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 1:1–4, emphasis added) 

I fervently pray that my Jewish family and community will recognize that resurrection is a very Jewish belief, and it should not be strange for a Jewish person to believe the Messiah would rise from the dead. 

There is a group of Jewish people called the Lubavitch Hasidim who believe their rebbe, who died decades ago, will, one day, rise from the grave. They even base this view on Isaiah 53! Though I know this is a minority position, it still gives me hope that my Jewish people can be persuaded of the magnificent truth of the resurrection.

RESURRECTION IN SCRIPTURE

Let us briefly walk through Scripture, and maybe you will have the opportunity to share these passages with a Jewish friend during this wonderful resurrection season. 

First, we learn from the apostle Paul’s chapter on the resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15, that Jesus’ resurrection was predicted in the Hebrew Scriptures: 

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:1–4, emphasis added) 

We might ask where the resurrection of the Messiah was predicted in the Hebrew Scriptures, as Paul proclaims. We can turn to one of the most well-known prophecies about the Messiah in Isaiah 53: 

By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth. (Isaiah 53:8–9, emphasis added) 

This passage is important, as the Servant of the Lord must have died to rise, of course! Isaiah’s words in the final verse of this chapter speak clearly of the Messiah’s death for our sins: “Because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12). 

Old Testament prophecy predicted Messiah’s suffering and death for the sins of the Jewish people and the nations, as well as His resurrection. Isaiah wrote: 

But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. (Isaiah 53:10) 

We also see the hope of the resurrection predicted in the Psalms, where King David spoke prophetically. In Psalm 16, David referred to the afterlife: 

For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever. (Psalm 16:10–11) 

This passage refers to someone greater than King David. The Jewish apostle Peter confirmed that David was speaking about the risen Messiah: 

Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. (Acts 2:29–31, emphasis added)

Immediately after quoting from Psalm 16, Peter proclaimed the promise of the resurrection once again through the mouth of King David by quoting another of his psalms, “The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet’” (Psalm 110:1). 

The Lord of King David is, of course, Jesus—the Messiah and the greater Son of David! 

There is another prophecy of Messiah’s resurrection that is more of a prophetic picture of a future event than an explicit prophecy. In the Passover story, the smeared blood of the perfect lamb during the first Passover in Egypt points to a greater “Lamb of God” and a more powerful redemption from the bondage of sin: “ For Christ our Passover [lamb] also has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). 

Paul also envisioned a prophetic picture of Messiah’s resurrection embedded in the Festival of First Fruits. 

Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, “When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.” (Leviticus 23:10–11) 

Paul linked the waving of the sheaf of grain (the first fruit) from this festival mentioned in Leviticus, which takes place on the day after the Sabbath—Sunday. Therefore, this picture of the Festival of First Fruits alludes to the Passion, when Jesus died as the Lamb of God and rose as the first fruits of the coming resurrection. He was the first to rise, and all those who accept Him as their Savior will follow. 

Paul, a well-trained first-century Pharisee, understood these parallels and pointed them out under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, especially to his Jewish readers. 

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming. (1 Corinthians 15:20–23, emphasis added) 

If Jesus died on a Friday and rose on a Sunday, then the resurrection may well have happened on the Festival of First Fruits. 

With so much written in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Jewish people should have been expecting the atoning death and resurrection of the Messiah. We have the joy of reminding our Jewish friends and family of the Jewishness of the resurrection and that Jesus perfectly fulfills these predictions. 

May the Lord fill you with His power and hope, and please pray for the Jewish people during this Passover and Easter season. The Jewish people desperately need hope in this post-October 7 environment. 

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April 1, 2025 · 9:00 AM

Passover: Holding On to Hope

There is just something about Passover that brings hope to the Jewish soul. Maybe it is because the entire Passover service looks forward to a greater day of redemption.

Throughout the Passover Seder (ritual meal), we are reminded of that dramatic moment when God, through Moses, commanded each Israelite family in Egypt to take an unblemished lamb, slaughter the animal, and apply its blood to the doorpost of their home. According to Exodus 12:1–13, those who obeyed the Lord and smeared the blood on their doorposts would be spared from the Lord slaying their firstborn sons.

The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:13)

During today’s Passover meal, we raise the shank bone of a lamb as a symbol of the slain lamb. Jewish people throughout the ages acknowledge this historic act of redemption and look forward to an even greater day and more robust culmination of this prophetic pattern.

Passover is a celebration of hope in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who will never allow His chosen people to be destroyed. The Passover points us forward and annually reminds us of the God who parted the sea and led the Jewish people through forty years of wilderness wanderings.

Today, we also reflect upon a modern miracle—that this same God, after centuries of dispersion, has been bringing the children of Israel back to the Promised Land. He will not allow His chosen people to remain separated from the Land of Israel (Genesis 15:18–21) as He is a promise-keeping God who spoke through the prophet Jeremiah:

Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The Lord of hosts is His name: “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 31:35–36)

The Jewish people have hope for the future because of the faithfulness of God!

“HATIKVAH”: THE ANTHEM OF HOPE

The hope of the Jewish people is reflected in the lyrics of Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah”:

As long as deep in the heart,
The soul of a Jew yearns,
And forward to the east.
To Zion, an eye looks
Our hope will not be lost.
The hope of two thousand years
To be a free nation in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem

“Hatikvah” began its life as a nine-stanza Hebrew poem entitled “Tikvatenu” (“Our Hope”). Its author was a nineteenth-century Hebrew poet, Naftali Herz Imber (1856–1909), who was from eastern Europe. Inspired by the early Zionist movement, Imber wrote the poem in 1878 while still living in Europe.

Imber settled in Israel in 1882 when it was part of the Ottoman Empire. He worked as personal secretary and Hebrew tutor to Sir Laurence Oliphant (1829–1888), a British author, politician, world traveler, and Christian Zionist. Oliphant even launched various efforts to encourage Jewish resettlement in the historical Land of Israel.

Imber dedicated “Tikvatenu” to Oliphant. The poem became a song and was embraced by many early Jewish pioneers to Israel before the start of the modern Zionist movement in 1897.1

The anthem reminds us that hope has always been central to the Jewish story.

WHAT IS HOPE?

Hope, or tikvah in Hebrew, is more than a mere wish; it is a confident expectation tied to the promises of God, similar to its description in the New Testament (Hebrews 6:18–19). Tikvah carries rich meanings, including expectation, longing, and trust. Hope is more than a feeling; it is a lifeline. It is derived from a root word meaning “to bind together,” much like a rope that connects us to something secure.2

The same word appears in Joshua 2:18, where the scarlet rope (tikvah) hanging from Rahab’s window symbolized the hope of deliverance. Just as that rope represented salvation for Rahab and her family, hope connects us to God’s promises and secures our future.

Imagine that rope—God holds one end, and we hold the other. Life may pull us into pits of despair or storms of uncertainty, but this rope keeps us tethered to God’s faithfulness. We need to hold on to hope and remain fastened to God’s fidelity and His promises to the Jewish people.

OUR GLORIOUS HOPE

The prophet Isaiah describes this hope for a peace-filled world in chapter two of his prophetic book: 

And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war. Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. (Isaiah 2:4b–5)

Our hopes for peace and a world without war and pain is anchored to this glorious promise—a future where peace and justice reign under God’s rule through the greater Son of David, Jesus the Messiah (1 John 3:2–3).

HOPE FOR TOMORROW IN ISRAEL TODAY

This cherished hope was yet again tested for the Jewish people on October 7, 2023, and continues to today.

It is heartbreaking to see Israeli families suffering from a lack of hope. Even if peace is somehow made with Hamas, Hezbollah, and other jihadist groups—and even if the threat from Iran is tempered—it is still a great challenge for families to enjoy any sense of normalcy after going through what Israel has endured for the past eighteen months.

Yet, we do see some sparkles of light through the ministry of Your Mission to the Jewish People in Israel today.

A couple of months ago, I met three new Israeli believers who came to faith within the last nine months, and we have an ongoing discipleship ministry to each of them. I met them at our Friday night monthly Sabbath outreach dinner at our current rented center in Tel Aviv!

We also launched a Facebook campaign called Psalms of Hope that has led to more than 4,000 Israelis downloading our modern Hebrew version of the Psalms. It has been exciting to see God working in this way.

More than 150,000 new immigrants entered Israel these last few years. Many of them speak either Russian or Ukrainian as their first language, and we continue to have the opportunity to present the good news to nearly 1,000 of these precious and hurting new Israelis. We provide practical and spiritual help, assist them in buying needed appliances, and other essentials for their new homes. We accompany them to state and medical institutions as many of our staff speak both Russian and Hebrew. In general, we play a crucial role in their integration into Israeli society. We organize Sabbath meals and Jewish holiday celebrations, family retreats, kids’ classes, practical seminars, Bible studies, and more.

We blessed more than 2,000 soldiers around Israel by providing personal hygiene products, flashlights, chargers, and other items. We organized barbecues with concerts on military bases for hundreds of soldiers. These are excellent opportunities to share our faith and demonstrate our commitment to supporting all members of Israeli society, including our brave soldiers. We work closely with the believing soldiers as well.

We also continue to assist evacuated families and Holocaust survivors from the north and south of Israel—especially in towns near the borders with Gaza and southern Lebanon—by providing practical and spiritual help and by organizing concerts and events.  

God’s work in Israel today gives us hope for tomorrow.

HOLDING ON TO HOPE

Hope is our lifeline, securing us to the promises of God. Like the scarlet rope in Rahab’s window, it signifies deliverance and a future filled with peace and joy. As we cling to this hope, we find comfort, direction, and the strength to live godly lives. Let us hold firmly to the rope of hope, knowing that God is faithful to fulfill every promise.

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

  1. Erin Parfet, “Hatikvah,” Shalom Learning Center, May 31, 2024, https://shalomlc.org/dance-and-song/hatikvah. ↩︎
  2. William Lee Holladay and Ludwig Köhler, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament: Based upon the Lexical Work of Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, (Leiden: Brill, 2000), 394. ↩︎

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March 14, 2025 · 9:00 AM

How Then Should We Pray

Shalom in the wonderful name of our Messiah, Jesus! May I share some of my recent experiences in Israel? These days are dark and difficult for Israelis, and they need your prayers. 

I spent some days on the ground recently and still remember standing shoulder to shoulder with thousands of Israelis in Hostage Square, listening to ambassadors, military leaders, and the parents of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas. The event was deeply painful. I recall one mother who began speaking calmly about her beautiful daughter held captive by Hamas terrorists. As she spoke to the crowd, her grief and rage overtook her, and she began screaming, leading the crowd in a desperate chant: “Bring them home. . . bring them home. . . bring them home NOW!” 

I tried to grasp their suffering, imagining how I would feel if my own children were taken by a group of violent, cruel, and apocalyptic murderers with no respect for human life, who abuse, torture, and use the hostages as pawns. My dear Christian friend, the thought alone is unbearable. Many of those taken hostage were so young, barely in their twenties, and all they did was attend a music festival or visit their parents at one of the Gaza border towns. When I think about the hostage deal, I think about these parents and the young people who did not deserve to be treated with such agonizing cruelty. 

The singular redeeming feature of this hostage deal is that some families have been or will be reunited with their loved ones. But the cost is staggering. The ratio of convicted mass murderers and criminals released from Israeli prisons to the few Israeli hostages freed is grossly unbalanced. In a sense, Israel was forced to mortgage her future for the sake of the present. Now, the future looks even darker as convicted terrorists will once again roam free and be able to strike again someday. How can we possibly weigh the life of a freed hostage against the lives that may be lost in the future at the hands of those released? 

The consequences of these impossible decisions will be felt for years to come. Every Israeli remembers that Yahya Sinwar was once just another prisoner like those who were released in this deal. Years ago, he was freed in a similar exchange—one that secured the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza. No one at the time could have foreseen that Sinwar would go on to mastermind the atrocities of October 7, 2023. Was the deal worth it? There is no consensus. For Shalit’s parents and family, the answer is clear—he came home. But if Israel had known then what it knows now, would its government have made the same decision? These are impossible choices.

A MORAL DILEMMA ROOTED IN JEWISH VALUES

This hostage deal, in many ways, reflects deep Jewish values. There is nothing more precious to a Jewish person than the life of a family member. Their safety and well-being are paramount. But it is impossible to fully judge the morality of these choices. We know our enemies are seizing control of the narrative and manipulating these events for their own purposes. Every Israeli now lives with an even more uncertain and dangerous future. Whether this deal was worth it will ultimately be determined by those who welcomed their sons and daughters home—and by those who, in the days to come, may lose their loved ones to future violence. Fairness and justice will remain elusive until the One True Judge rules among His chosen people.

PRAYING FOR ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE

Very few Israelis are turning to Jesus—the One who sees their suffering, who knows their pain more intimately than anyone. Jesus is not a stranger to betrayal, injustice, and grief. He weeps with His people. Let us pray that both secular and religious Israelis recognize the One who says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Pray especially for the families who live with the daily agony of loss. Pray for the children who have been scarred by what they have seen, for the soldiers who risk their lives every day, and for the leaders who make impossible decisions. Above all, pray that they come to know the One who gives life, who restores the brokenhearted, and who alone can bring the kind of peace that the world cannot offer. The world searches for political, military, and diplomatic solutions, but true peace is found only in the Messiah of Israel (Isaiah 9:6–7).

We must stand in the gap, interceding on their behalf so that, in their pain and searching, they may encounter the only One who can bring healing, comfort, and eternal hope.

Let us also remember those released from captivity in recent months. The first ones freed after being held by Hamas for more than 470 days were four young Israeli female soldiers. Now reunited with their families, they face the long journey of healing from the physical and psychological scars of their ordeal. We must also keep in our hearts and prayers any who remain in captivity by the time you receive this newsletter.

As we lift these precious individuals and their families in prayer, we must ask the Lord to comfort those mourning the loss of loved ones and provide strength for those awaiting the return of their family members. May they come to know the One who offers true peace and rest for their souls.

TAKE ACTION AGAINST ANTISEMITISM

Besides praying for those Israelis suffering such pain and loss, we must also mobilize to oppose antisemitism. We cannot simply stand by. Let us take action. We will continue to hold rallies, speak to our government officials, and raise the banner of concern about antisemitism. 

Our new division of Chosen People Ministries, the Coalition Against Antisemitism (opposeantisemitism.com), is directly addressing the growth of global antisemitism by producing teachings, videos, and various resources you can use to better understand and counter antisemitism when you witness it, which is a Christian duty as I see it. After all, God said to Abram, “And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). 

The apostle Paul, himself a Jewish believer in Jesus, wrote to the Roman Christians expressing God’s heart of concern for His chosen people:

For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things. (Romans 15:26–27; emphasis added) 

What could be more critical today than caring for the physical, material, and spiritual well-being of the Jewish people? Your Mission to the Jewish People is doing all these things to serve the Jewish people worldwide, especially in Israel.

OUR NEW OUTREACH CENTER

We are also opening our new Tel Aviv center this month in time for the celebration of Passover when we will honor the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. I am thankful for the generosity of our prayer partners and supporters, who enabled us to move into the new Center without any debt. Praise be to God for His provision. We are excited and believe the Lord will use this larger space powerfully for our outreach events. We are teaching Bible studies, holding concerts, comforting the grieving, and doing everything we can to bring the love of Jesus to Israel. Thank you for your prayers, your support, and for standing with us as we bring the message of Jesus the Messiah—the Prince of Peace—to Israelis and Jewish people around the globe.

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February 28, 2025 · 9:00 AM

Israel is Fighting for Her Life

My quick trip to Israel in January broke my heart. What I heard and saw moved me so much I can not help but try to explain what I saw and heard so that you can pray more effectively.

Pain and Loss

First, let me tell you I love my people, the Jewish people. I was raised in a Jewish home that was not particularly religious, but I still celebrated all the holidays. Jewish life and my Jewish people are very dear to me and always will be.

I grew up with pictures of relatives lost in the Holocaust lining the walls of my Eastern European immigrant grandparents’ Brooklyn home. I never fully understood the scope of the atrocities, and my grandparents never talked about it! Today I recognize there are dozens, if not hundreds, of my relatives on both sides of the family whom I will never meet because of the evil and satanic Nazi efforts to exterminate my people.

I will never get over the horrors of the Holocaust. For me it is a reminder of the depth of evil we face in our world and the capacity for humankind to be hateful and cruel. This drives me into the arms of our good, glorious, and worthy Savior. He loves His own people—the Jewish people—and all nations. Unlike those who take lives, He gave His life so we might live forever. Can the gospel be more beautiful than this? The prophet Isaiah expressed what Messiah did for all of us:

He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (Isaiah 53:3–4)

The suffering of the Jewish people did not stop with the Holocaust. Israelis are fragile because of this terrible war that resulted from Hamas’ attacks on October 7, 2023, as well as the subsequent Hezbollah, Iranian, and Houthi missile barrages into Israeli territory. Israeli soldiers are dying every day—as are noncombatants in Gaza and other places where terror groups put their own people in harm’s way. So many in our world today do not remember how this gruesome conflict started, forgetting the atrocities Hamas unleashed on Israel on October 7. More than a thousand terrorists stormed the Gaza/Israel border to kill, rape, kidnap, and torture Israelis. Remembering this keeps what we read and watch about the conflict in perspective.

Israel is fighting for her very life!

My time in Israel was very emotional. I spent a late night in what is known as “Hostage Square” in Tel Aviv. So many hostages are dead, and even though some returned alive, we still grieve over the hundreds of innocent Israelis and foreigners living in Israel who died at the hands of Hamas terrorists.

In Hostage Square, Israeli families—moms and dads, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts—were beside themselves with grief and rage, as they held up posters with pictures of their loved ones who either died or are still in captivity. You could sense the emotions and ongoing anger, which was about as raw and heartfelt as you could ever imagine. I listened to the agony and screams of one mother, who had just seen a video from Hamas of her daughter’s “proof of life,” hoping to see her daughter released. 

I stood in the vast crowd of Israelis with my heart broken because of the despair and mourning of my people, Israel. It reminded me of the passage in Jeremiah (who was also known as the weeping prophet), which was quoted by Matthew in the New Testament in the context of Herod’s efforts to murder the Messiah (Matthew 2:13–18).

Thus says the Lord, “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” Thus says the Lord, “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears; for your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord, “and they will return from the land of the enemy.” (Jeremiah 31:15–16)

I identify with the anguish of the prophet who reflected upon the captivity of his own people in Babylon and cried out to God for the return and release of his fellow Jewish people. I cannot tell you how much and how hard I pray for the return of today’s captive and for a true and lasting peace—which is different than a fragile truce.

Hope

And yet Jeremiah also speaks about hope as he called upon the people of Israel to trust in their God who had promised them a glorious future in the land of Israel. He also knew that our promise keeping God would one day wipe away their tears of His suffering covenant children.

What a beautiful promise and future hope He gave to the people He chose from among the nations. We see this partially fulfilled as right now about half (7.5 million) of the Jewish people in our world today live in Israel. The Lord promises a greater and more complete deliverance in the future. 

The day is coming when the Jewish people will not only return to the land, fulfilling the promises, but will also be delivered from sin and turn to Jesus (Romans 11:25–29). At that point, He will return and establish the Davidic throne in Jerusalem. He will reign as the true king of the Jewish people, Lord of the nations, and the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6–7).

We look forward to that great day and, quite frankly, I saw some sparkles in Israel of the anticipation of this great future in the eyes of many young people I met at our current Messianic center in Tel Aviv. At a Sabbath dinner I had the joy of preaching to seventy-five young adults about hope. Israelis desperately need hope today, and we know that Jesus is the embodiment of God’s promises offered to all, Jewish and Gentile, who call upon Him today (Romans 10:9–10). This is why it is so critical that we proclaim the message of salvation and thank God our staff in Israel is growing!

I was so encouraged by some of the young people I met, especially the new believers who had come to faith within the last year. Two of these young people came to believe through reading our book, Isaiah 53 Explained. I sat through dinner with a young woman who was only nine months in the Lord. She told me her story about how her life turned from darkness to the light.

During her search for God, someone gave her the Isaiah 53 Explained book in Hebrew. She read it and discovered a Jewish Messiah who had died for her sins, conquered death, and offered forgiveness and joy to her. And she described her experience with the most beautiful smile you have ever seen in your life. She told me that when she accepted Jesus into her life, she was completely transformed. Wow! This conversation was worth everything to me.

Just imagine what will happen through our incredible staff in Israel when we move into our new Tel Aviv center, which will be completed this month! 

And it is now paid for because of you.

Our Partnership

Dear friend, we cannot do any of this without your support and encouragement. I could sense your prayers while I was walking through the streets of a very busy and vibrant Tel Aviv witnessing the pain and anguish of my people at rallies and protests.

Yet, my sadness was tempered by the reality and joy of what faith in Jesus does for a person who gives their life to the Lord. This is what it is all about. It is what my life has been about, and it has been the purpose of Chosen People Ministries for more than 130 years. 

May God bless you for everything you have done to help us fulfill our ministry “to the Jew first” and also to the Gentile (Romans 1:16). 

As we prepare for Passover and Easter, remember to pray for Israel and for the millions of Jewish people all over the globe who need to understand that these two holidays are linked together in the person of Jesus. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and the One who rose from the dead to conquer death and ultimately reign as King.

My heart is bursting with love for my people and gratitude for you and our partnership in reaching Jewish people for Jesus.

God bless you and thank you from the bottom of my heart.

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February 14, 2025 · 9:00 AM

A Sign of the Times?

As this world becomes more dangerous and finding peace becomes more and more elusive, we are reminded of just how important it is for us to consider the signs of the times, particularly in light of the teachings of Scripture. 

Matthew records the disciples asking Jesus about the timing of His return.

As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) 

The disciples were responding to Jesus’ earlier prophetic predictions about the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem: “Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Matthew 23:38–39), which was fulfilled in 70 CE with the Roman invasion of Jerusalem (Luke 21:20–27). 

Jesus answers by delivering the prophetic address known as the Olivet Discourse, which He begins by comparing the signs of the times to the pangs of childbirth. 

You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. (Matthew 24:6–8)

Jesus is describing for His disciples of yesterday—and informing us today—that, as we get closer to His return, the signs of the times will escalate and intensify. 

He expects us to be mindful of these signs and to wrap our view of the present around what is going to happen in the future. 

We live today in light of tomorrow! 

As we watch the news or glean from our favorite digital streams, it is difficult for us to miss the birth pangs of global conflicts, especially in the Middle East. What transpired recently in Syria—the downfall of the Assad regime grabs our attention not only because it changes the landscape and balance of power in the Middle East but because it could very well be another sign of the times appearing without our expecting it! 

The entire world was stunned, shocked, and surprised by the military agility of the band of revolutionaries who have now replaced Assad. Very few expected that these Isis- and Al Qaeda-inspired rebels would be able to overthrow the Assad-Ba’ath Party and the Alawites, an Arab religious minority in Syria. Now, these Sunni Islamists are in control of Syria. This turnover is the dawning of a new day in Syria but not necessarily a better day for relations between Israel and Syria, which remains to be seen.

But what does the Bible tell us about Syria, and how can we better understand recent events through the lens of the Word of God?

SYRIA IN PROPHECY

The future of Syria and its capital city, Damascus, is detailed explicitly in the Bible. 

The Scriptures tell us that, one day, Syria will be destroyed. By this, we can surmise that Syria’s ultimate posture toward Israel will be hostile. The long-term fate of Syria will ultimately be based on the way Syria (as with any nation) treats Israel and the Jewish people as declared in the covenant God made with Abram, “And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse” (Genesis 12:3). 

We do not know for sure, but Syria might be one of the enemies who surround Israel, as described in the book of Zechariah. The Lord will then return to save Israel on that glorious day when the Jewish people turn to their Messiah and Savior. 

And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 

I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. (Zechariah 12:9–10) 

While we should keep praying for peace between Israel and her neighbors, the future does not bode well for this possibility with Syria any more than it does with Iran or Iraq! 

So, what does the Bible say specifically about the future of Damascus—as representing the nation of Syria? A key prophecy is found in Isaiah 17:1–3: 

The oracle concerning Damascus. “Behold, Damascus is about to be removed from being a city and will become a fallen ruin. The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be for flocks to lie down in, and there will be no one to frighten them. The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and sovereignty from Damascus and the remnant of Aram; they will be like the glory of the sons of Israel,” declares the Lord of hosts. 

The Bible is very clear on the fate of Damascus. The Hebrew words for removed and fallen ruin leave us with little doubt that Damascus will one day be utterly destroyed. 

Author Joel C. Rosenberg places Isaiah’s prophecy about Damascus in the future: 

Isaiah’s prophecy about the judgment of destruction of Damascus in chapter 17 is yet to be fulfilled. Damascus has never been totally destroyed and made uninhabitable. To the contrary, it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.1 

According to Old Testament scholar Walter Kaiser, Isaiah’s prophecy is describing a city that once flourished but will one day be reduced to a heap of ruins. 

When did this ever happen in history? Even if it is hyperbolic, it surely must point to some major tragedy that is coming. So a major “fortified city will disappear and a royal power from Damascus” (Isaiah 17:3).2 

Other biblical prophets described Syria’s demise. The prophet Amos predicted, “Thus says the Lord, ‘For three transgressions of Damascus and for four I will not revoke its punishment . . . ’” (Amos1:3). About a century after the destruction of Damascus described in 2 Kings 16:7–9, the prophet Jeremiah also described Damascus falling once again at a later date: 

Concerning Damascus. “Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard bad news; they are disheartened. There is anxiety by the sea, it cannot be calmed. Damascus has become helpless; she has turned away to flee, and panic has gripped her; distress and pangs have taken hold of her like a woman in childbirth.” (Jeremiah 49:23–24) 

Neither the Assyrians nor any other significant ancient or modern Middle Eastern power has ever totally destroyed Damascus. Therefore, I must agree with Rosenberg’s and Kaiser’s view that the final judgment of Syria is future.

MODERN-DAY DAMASCUS

While Damascus has flourished throughout the years, we have witnessed a steady weakening of Syria’s military might throughout the rule of Bashar al-Assad (2000–2024), who succeeded his father, Hafez, after decades of cruel dictatorship. Also, Syria under the Assads—both father and son—has proven to be a mortal enemy of the modern State of Israel. We will be waiting to see how the new leaders of the country live as neighbors with Israel. 

Looking at pictures of modern-day Damascus, you can see it is still a vibrant city, although its governance is uncertain. What happened recently in Syria was unexpected. Within a week, a mix of anti-Assad rebel groups took Syria back while its president fled to Russia. Again, it is unclear how the new leaders will rule Syria and what their position will be regarding Israel. 

We need to remember that, just a few short years ago, the “rebel” group known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS for short, led by the military leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, now using his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was part of ISIS. He then merged with Al-Qaeda and finally broke with the group in July 2016. But this does not mean his ideology or jihadist commitments and a long-standing anti-Israel position has changed. We should watch and pray. Meanwhile, the United States has removed HTS from its roster of terrorist groups and the ten-million-dollar reward for the capture of Ahmed al-Sharaa has been discontinued. 

We hope that this new Syrian government will view Israel more positively, which is something Israel is still trying to figure out. In fact, Israel took immediate action to destroy dozens of arms storage facilties and naval capabilities scattered throughout Syria in case the newly formed leadership decided to wage war against it. Israel also swiftly moved into a demilitarized buffer zone within Syria beyond the Golan Heights to protect its border. 

While the details of war and peace in the Middle East are still unclear, we believe God will defend His people. The Holy One of Israel will preserve the Jewish people and His promised land. We also know that those who refuse to bow the knee to Jesus the Messiah will be judged individually and nationally.

PROPHECIES OF PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

So, what comes next? The biblical timeline is not always easy to determine, but we are sure that we presently have new and complicated relations between Syria and Israel and a future with an increase of hostilities and destruction. But, then again, there is more to the biblical story! 

Scripture also affirms that a glorious day of peace in the Middle East is coming! Egypt and what remains of the Assyrian Empire (which could easily include parts of modern Syria!) will enjoy peace in the future kingdom as they subject themselves to the reign and rule of Jesus the Messiah. It will be a great and glorious day! 

As Isaiah wrote, 

In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.” (Isaiah 19:23–25) 

Whether or not the nations in Isaiah’s prophecy make peace with Syria, we know that the Lord wants us to pray for the salvation of Syrians and for peace in the Middle East. 

We should pray for a cessation of hostilities and for the gospel to go out among Syrians, including the hundreds of thousands of refugees still living in Jordan and other countries. 

How close are we to the day when these prophecies will come to pass? We will see! The stunning beginning of a new Syria puts Damascus back on our prophetic map in a way it was not previously. All eyes should be on the Middle East, and especially upon Israel, as we see the Lord preparing the way for His return. 

Our marching orders and the work of Your Mission to the Jewish People does not change. We are committed to creatively and lovingly presenting the gospel—the good news of Jesus the Messiah, to the Jew first and also to the Gentiles (Romans 1:16). We need your prayers and your understanding of the times in which we live. 

I hope you enjoy the rest of this newsletter as we drill down on some key prophetic events detailed in Scripture. We read these in hope but also recognizing the warnings of judgments upon nations and individuals that are at the very core and heart of the biblical message. 

Jesus is coming, which means one thing for those who believe and quite another for those who do not! 

Standing for His truth with love and compassion for all!

  1. Rosenberg, Joel C. “STUDU-Damascus Prophecies-R.” Joel C. Rosenberg, September 2013, http://www.joelrosenberg.com/files/2013/09/STUDY-Damascus-prophecies-R.pdf. ↩︎
  2. Walter Kaiser, personal communication, email message to another. ↩︎

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January 31, 2025 · 9:00 AM

Even So, Come Lord Jesus!

If you ask me, today’s events in Israel and the Middle East send a loud and clear message that the Lord is coming soon. Jesus may not want us to know the day or the hour of His return, but He did tell us to pay attention to the signs of the times! The Savior said,

Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. (Matthew 24:32–33)

My Confidence in the Messiah’s Soon Return

I had a strong sense of the Lord’s soon return when I first became a believer during the Jesus Movement of the 1970s. I was a Bible novice at the time, but it seemed to me that the return of the Jewish people to Israel and Jerusalem’s coming back under Jewish control pointed to the signs of the times found in the Scriptures.

Then I became more “sophisticated,” or at least I thought. I grew more biblically fluent and spent more time examining the complex matters of the end times in the books of Daniel and Revelation and in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24–25; Mark 13; and Luke 21). While it was a privilege to study Scripture more closely, I became somewhat cynical about the study of the end times. Maybe I was more aware of the historical prophetic miscalculations of Christians and the overconfidence of date setters in the early 1980s. I believed we should be more cautious about claiming a prophecy was fulfilled when it might not be the case. 

After all, I did not want to go out on a limb to suggest that we were seeing prophecy fulfilled right before our eyes. What if I were wrong? I did not want to be a poor testimony for the Savior by misinterpreting His Word. But—thank God—my yearning for the coming of the Lord never waned.

As the years passed, I continued to study these incredible prophetic passages of Scripture and have come back to where I started when I began this journey with Jesus—confidently awaiting His imminent return. I look at today’s events in light of the Bible’s teaching and am more convinced than ever that the Lord is coming soon. And once again, it is a game changer that Israel exists as a modern nation and is under merciless attack by enemies near and far! 

As I asked one skeptical friend, “So, how many El Al jets would it take to remove almost seven-and-a-half million Jewish people from the Land of Israel?” I smiled when I asked the question, and he, catching my point, returned the smile. We are not setting dates or declaring prophetic fulfillment in a vacuum. The presence of the Jewish people in the very land God promised to Abraham multiple millennia ago should capture our attention and become a lens through which we see ancient prophecies unfolding before our very eyes. We might be closer than we think!

Recognizing God’s Plan for the Future

I also recognize that parts of the future outlined in the Bible can be quite unsettling and overwhelming. The future holds good news for some and very bad news for others. How harshly this falls on our twenty-first-century ears. Yet, it is true! I have so many family members who are not yet believers, and it is my sincere prayer and highest hope that they might come to know Him before He returns! I am sure you feel the same about your family and friends who do not yet know the Lord.

The future God has for the world is unstoppable! And we cannot sidestep His plans. We are called to discover His agenda and join in His mission of redemption. Humanity is not simply meandering through the ages, as God has a plan and purpose for the conclusion of our present age.

The Importance of the End Times

I know that Bob Dylan is not a prophet, but he eloquently expressed my feelings about the return of the Messiah in his song, “When He Returns”

Like a thief in the night,
he’ll replace wrong with right

When he returns . . .

Will I ever learn that there’ll be no peace,
that the war won’t cease

Until He returns? . . .

Of every earthly plan that be known to man,
He is unconcerned

He’s got plans of his own to set up His throne

When He returns.1

Did you know that the future was one of the Messiah’s favorite subjects? Jesus never avoided talking about it!

In an article, popular American preacher Chuck Swindoll listed some statistics about Jesus’ return:

One out of every 30 verses in the Bible mentions the subject of Christ’s return or the end of time. 

Of the 216 chapters in the New Testament, there are well over 300 references to the return of Christ. 

Of the 27 New Testament books, 23 mention Christ’s return.

Christ often spoke specifically about His own return to earth.

Throughout the centuries, Christ’s disciples and followers have adamantly believed, written, and taught that Christ would someday return to earth.2

Swindoll is correct in his assessment: The future is a major concern to the biblical authors and to the Savior, who was the greatest of all the prophets.

Our Role in Light of the Future

We also have starring roles in His forever story! We need to study the Bible to discover what His plans for the future are and to allow them to inform the way we live in the present.

Jesus calls His disciples to live today in light of tomorrow.

We recognize our days are numbered. Life, as we know it, will soon end. We have very little time to let the world know that He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). I have come to believe that our greatest motivation to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19–20) is knowing that He is coming back soon—and when we least expect Him.

Notice that Jesus said He would always be with us—even till the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). His second coming was always on His mind, even as He was ascending to the right hand of the Father. Thoughts of His soon return need to fill our thoughts as well and motivate us to faithfully proclaim the gospel until we see Him face to face!

Your Mission to the Jewish People

I wish I had time and space to tell you what Your Mission to the Jewish People is doing to proclaim the gospel among Jewish people today. And we need your help now as we reach Jewish people for Jesus in these last days.

So, what can you do to enable God’s chosen people to hear the gospel and to get ready for His return?

  • Tell your Jewish friends about the Lord.
  • Pray for the salvation of Israel.
  • Generously support our ministries in the United States and in twenty countries around the globe.
  • Introduce your pastor and local congregation to Chosen People Ministries.
  • Pray and work toward the peace of Jerusalem and for the welfare of Jewish people so the Jewish community can see that our love for Jesus gives us a love for His kinsmen according to the flesh.

I just returned from a five-day ministry trip to Israel. We have thirty staff members in the Holy Land, and they are reaching out to elderly Holocaust survivors, secular young Israelis, Orthodox Jewish people, and those still displaced from their homes because of the war.

It is so hard to see Israelis suffer hardship (as well as Jewish people globally due to rising antisemitism), but we know the Lord is coming soon, and He uses difficult times to turn our hearts to the only One who can give us hope.

So, please help us reach Jewish people across the globe through your generous support and prayers! We probably have less time to accomplish the task of reaching His chosen people in these last days than we might ordinarily think. 

The signs of the times remind us that the Lord is near.

I am especially burdened for Israelis whose lives are so unsettled because of the wars and rumors of wars we see unfolding and intensifying in Israel and throughout the Middle East (Matthew 24:6). The prophetic future detailed in Scripture is upon us, and time is short. 

So, your help today in reaching Jewish people in Israel and around the globe is critical.

Looking ahead to a glorious future through the One who died for our sins and rose from the grave, may the Lord fill you with His joy and the hope of His return!

  1. “When He Returns,” Slow Train Coming, lyrics and music by Bob Dylan, accessed December 11, 2024, http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/bobdylan/whenhereturns.html.
    ↩︎
  2.  Chuck Swindoll, “Scriptural Support for Christ’s Return,” Insight for Living, June 15, 2009, https://insight.org/resources/article-library/individual/scriptural-support-for-christ’s-return. ↩︎

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January 15, 2025 · 9:00 AM

Israel and Jewish Evangelism Today

Happy New Year! I hope and pray 2025 will be a fruitful year as you and I serve the Lord. 

There is a wonderful story about the relationship between John Wilkinson, a Gentile missionary who founded the Mildmay Mission to the Jews, and J. Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission (now OMF International). Every January, Taylor would send Wilkinson a gift with a note attached, “To the Jew first.” Wilkinson would then send the same amount back as a gift to Taylor for his work among the Chinese with a note that read, “And also to the Gentiles.” This true story nicely captures what we will learn in this letter: how we can prioritize reaching Jewish people and still reach the world as commanded by our Messiah prior to His ascension.

There is no doubt that Jewish people need to consciously accept Jesus to obtain salvation and have access to God the Father (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). This saving faith grows out of a Spirit-enlightened understanding of the gospel brought about by embracing Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah (John 3:16–17, 16:8).

It is also clear God made promises to the nation of Israel. While these promises do not guarantee the salvation of every Jewish person, they do assure us that the people of Israel will play an important role in the final chapter of the drama of redemption outlined in the Scriptures.

Believing what the Bible tells us about Israel’s guaranteed role in the future should not dampen our enthusiasm to proclaim the gospel among Jewish people today. Our hearts should be inspired to fervently proclaim the gospel to Jewish people, knowing the time is near and that the salvation of the Jewish remnant is linked to the second coming of the Messiah Jesus.

An End-Times Motivation for Jewish Evangelism

Until recent days, a key factor in motivating many Christians to reach Jewish people with the gospel was the belief that the salvation of the Jewish remnant was connected to the coming of the Lord. The wide acceptance of this end-times inspiration for Jewish missions was also broadly understood among churches throughout the world.

Today, Jewish people and Jewish evangelism have somewhat fallen out of favor among Christians as Israel and Jewish people are not as noticeably needy of redemption. Many Western Christians have sided politically with Palestinians, viewing Israel and Jewish people more negatively, and have directed their “mission impulse” toward social justice issues and evangelizing Arabs, particularly Muslims. I applaud proclaiming the gospel among all people groups. However, many Christians passionate about evangelizing Muslims have embraced a one-sided view of Israel that conflicts with the facts of what is happening in the Middle East and with the Bible itself.

This shift in sympathies is now commonplace in the United Kingdom, northern and central Europe, and it is rising in North America, too. Those who do not take the biblical prophecies about the land of Israel in a literal sense are fueling these shifting sympathies, leading to a declining interest in Jewish evangelism.

This is why understanding the end-times rationale for Jewish missions and the role of Jewish people in the plan of God is critical. It is my hope that Gentile Christians will be moved by the Scriptures to bring the good news to God’s chosen people.

“To the Jew First” (Romans 1:16)

There are several critical passages which should undergird an end-times motivation for Jewish missions. One of the most important is Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Those engaged in Jewish evangelism are familiar with this passage and understand its importance in motivating the church toward Jewish evangelism. This brief verse has been interpreted in a number of different ways, but more often than not, it is used to emphasize the importance of Gentile Christians reaching Jewish people with the gospel.

I would suggest that one of the reasons the apostle Paul believed the gospel should go to Jewish people first was because of his understanding of the events of the last days. When Romans 1:16 is viewed in this way, the urgency of Jewish evangelism becomes evident. One cannot fully understand Romans 1:16 without understanding Paul’s conclusion in Romans 11, where he speaks about the end-times repentance of the remnant of Israel and their reception of Jesus as Savior. If we look closely, the priority described in Romans 1:16 is founded on Romans 11:25–27 (and more fully on 11:11–29) and must be viewed in light of the role Jewish people play in the second coming of Christ.

Paul is not suggesting that the Roman believers withhold the gospel from the Gentiles until every Jewish person in the world is reached. Neither is the apostle implying that the gospel has already come to Jewish people first and that this priority no longer applies to the mission of the church today. Romans 1:16 was written in the present tense. Therefore, if the gospel is still “the power of God for salvation” and is still for “everyone who believes,” then the gospel is still “to the Jew first.”

Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, focused his ministry on reaching non-Jewish people with the gospel message. Yet, this did not lessen his concern for the salvation of Jewish people. Wherever Paul went in his ministry among the Gentiles, he also preached the gospel to Jewish people living in that area (Acts 13:13–52, 14:1–5, 18:7–11, 19:8–10). He would make sure this was his first evangelistic effort in a particular city before he spoke to the Gentiles. The salvation of Jewish people was an ever-present concern for Paul, and his actions described in the book of Acts reveal his understanding of what he penned in Romans 1:16.

The apostle’s argument may be summarized (and connected with Jesus’ words in Matthew 23:39) as follows: When Jewish people are successfully evangelized, then Jesus the Messiah will return. There was an end-times urgency in the tone of Paul’s preaching and in his letter to the Roman believers, encouraging them to prioritize outreach to Jewish people. His theology was enacted in his own strategy for mission. And this is why we should follow suit. In effect, Paul argued that if the church desired to witness the second coming of Christ, Jewish people must be evangelized.

The church cannot neglect Jewish evangelism: Jewish evangelism should not become the great omission of the Great Commission, and the church must make Jewish evangelism a priority because of Romans 1:16. 

“All Israel Will Be Saved” (Romans 11) 

Paul connected the priority of reaching Jewish people with the end times, and he argued that God has not cast off His people Israel despite their national rejection of Jesus the Messiah (Romans 11). His concluding statement proving God is not finished with Israel is that “all Israel will be saved” (Rom 11:25–27). Furthermore, he wrote:

Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be! For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Rom 11:12, 15).

God has not rejected Jewish people (Rom 11:1) but rather has preserved a remnant within the nation (Rom 11:5) until the remnant becomes the nation. In this passage, the apostle tells us that in the end, God will save “all Israel,” which I believe refers to the entirety of the nation of Israel alive at that time.

This monumental end-times event takes place after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. It is evident from this passage that prior to the salvation of national Israel and the end of days there is a time when God will be at work among the Gentiles in a special way—grafting numerous “wild branches” into the olive tree as described in Romans 11:16–24.

In summary, Jewish people will return to the God of our fathers by accepting the Messiah. The nations will then witness the return of the Lord Jesus. God has not rejected His people because He is always faithful to His promises (Rom 11:29).

Reaching Jewish people with the gospel must become a priority for all Christians as, ultimately, the salvation of Jewish people ushers in Jesus’ second coming and releases the fullness of God’s blessings to the whole world. 

Outreach to Jewish people begins with you! Through your prayers, giving, and witnessing to your Jewish friends, the plan of God will go forth in power! We cannot allow Jewish evangelism to become the great omission of the Great Commission.

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January 6, 2025 · 9:00 AM

The Enduring Call of Romans 1:16

I am writing this brief letter to you right before I visit Israel this month. This is going to be a very significant trip, and I hope you will pray for me.

I cannot easily describe the level of suffering and anguish the last sixteen months have brought upon Israelis, Palestinians, Chosen People Ministries—Israel staff, and for Jewish people globally because of the wave of antisemitism that has erupted since the beginning of this horrible war.

Life in Israel During Wartime

As I write, quite a few of our staff are still moving in and out of bomb shelters on an almost daily basis. The missile sirens seem to be going off day and night, even though the Israel Defense Forces have destroyed so many of the missile launchers in Gaza and southern Lebanon. There are usually between twenty and one hundred (sometimes even more!) explosives fired every day. A number of civilians, both Arab and Jewish, are killed within Israel because the missile defense systems cannot shoot down every projectile or drone.

Israeli soldiers—most of them in their early twenties—are also dying daily both in Gaza and Lebanon . . . more than 800 so far! May I also remind you that there are still more than one hundred hostages held by Hamas in Gaza? As of November, Israeli intelligence has assessed that half the hostages are still alive. Mothers and fathers, husband and wives, and children continue to be distraught and spend hours shedding tears of grief because of the extreme adversity their loved ones continue to endure in the dark underground tunnels of Gaza.

Pray for My Trip to Israel

I will admit that it is a bit dangerous for me and for the two other godly men joining me on this trip to Israel, yet we really do not spend our time thinking about it. Our beloved staff endure this stress day in and day out, and all I want to do is support them. I do hope that you will pray for fruitfulness and safety for our little team as well as for our staff.

We hope to meet and pray with our staff members individually and with their families. We love them so much, and I am personally inspired by and grateful for their bravery during this difficult time. They not only care for their own family, but they are out and about each day meeting the needs of suffering and displaced Israelis. If you have given a gift already to our work in Israel, I want to assure you that it is being used well, as our staff continue their ministry amid ongoing danger.

I will also be reviewing the progress of our new Tel Aviv Messianic Center. I am so grateful for the huge outpouring of support for this new and much-needed center. We are now able to celebrate the completion of our two-year, $6.5 million campaign, which means we now own this beautiful new center in the heart of the Holy Land—debt-free. Thank you so much!

The construction has continued miraculously and should be completed by mid-February. Even our elevator, needed to ensure everyone can participate in our ministry activities, has come six weeks earlier than thought after being fabricated in Germany. All I can say is hallelujah!

The Enduring Call of Romans 1:16

Throughout the month of January, we emphasize the theme of Romans 1:16, where the apostle Paul wrote, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (emphasis added). This text is foundational to our ministry of 131 years. We are still unashamed; the gospel is still God’s power for salvation, and the message is still for everyone who believes—“to the Jew first” and also to the Gentiles!

We are praying for an outpouring of prayer and financial support during this month as we begin the year with a deep concern for the well-being of Jewish people. I cannot tell you how much your prayers, encouragement, and generous support mean to us.

The psalmist wrote, “pray for the peace of Jerusalem: may they prosper who love you” (Psalm 122:6). It is love which is at the heart of our generosity, and this new center was built with the love of faithful Jesus-followers for Jewish people.

The time of salvation is NOW, and your support and prayers are needed NOW . . . and the need to bring the gospel to Israelis and Jewish people around the globe is NOW.

May I also ask whether your local church has invited a Chosen People Ministries speaker? If not, please talk to your pastor and let them know that we are available. You can call our Church Ministries department at (561)-737-1431 or email us at churches@chosenpeople.com. We would be honored to send someone to speak at your church. Your pastor might especially consider a “Messiah in the Passover” presentation during the Easter season.

My wife Zhava and I pray you will know the power of His resurrection and the joy of His presence in the new year.

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