Has God abandoned Israel?

I finally decided to write about Israel. Every time I am going through difficult times, I think about Israel. Why? Because Israel learnt from their God-they never give up, no matter how hard it gets. And boy did it get hard for them. I avoided writing about Israel because I know as soon as I do, I will have to address anti-semitism and what's worse anti-semitism in church and this topic always gets to me. I have to remind myself that patience and gentleness are from God whenever I see it:-)

Anti-semitism in church should be two oposite terms. They should not even be in the same phrase, since The One who is the Head of the Church is a Jew, but then again this is what makes this sort of mindset even more mad and ridiculous. I don't know when "God abandoned Israel and chose us" came into existence. Some blame Apostle Paul for it. I think they are wrong and they should read Romans 11 for enlightenment:
"I ask, then, has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin." (Romans 11:1)
What matters is that this stupid theory is amongst us and it doesn't seem to want to go away completely no matter how much we step on its head. I don't have the habit of calling a theory stupid until I can prove it wrong, and in the case of this one, I didn't even have to make an effort. If the anti-semites would bother to read the first part of their Bibles as well, and not just consider it was put there to make the book thicker, they hopefully would be able to see the truth. I am saying hopefully, because Martin Luther read it, and he didn't seem to get to much out of it. Hence he was one of the worst anti-semites in the history of the church (please don't understand I am saying everything Martin Luther said and did was wrong, I am saying his anti-semitism was wrong and I will never support it.) I heard Christians making comments that if in Judaism, Rabbis would speak more from Isaiah 53, then they would see what we mean. With all due respect, how many Rabbis have you heard speaking in your whole life? And since we're at this topic, how many pastors have you heard preaching from Romans 11? They don't, because it's not popular to tell Chriatians that they don't come first, that we are adopted (this comment is sure to bring me some "popularity":-))

I began asking myself questions at the begining of my walk with God. I would see preachers reading promises from the Torah and Prophets and interpret them solely in a symbolic way. They never made it clear those promises were addressed to Israel, and if we have part of them, it is because a Jew had mercy on us. Then it was Bat Melech, my sister:-) That girl never accepted "capital truths" only because someone said them. Bat Melech dug and kept on digging until she would understand. I will never forget how they recommended us to read the Gospel of Luke when we began our walk with Adonai. As a good Christian girl, I immediately complied. My sister went straight to the book of Isaiah. She would constantly tell me: "Check this out. Look at this verse" I also read it afterwards, and no other book in the Bible got me closer to God than Isaiah, perhaps because He speaks as if He opens up His heart widely and invites you to have a look.

My conclusion was, God never abandoned Israel and never will abandon Israel! Not only that, but whether some of my Christian brothers like this or not, they actually are first, because God calls Israel, His first born (Jeremiah 31:9b). I know Paul says there is no Greek or Jew anymore, but do forgive me if I choose to believe God more than Paul. If God abandoned Israel who are His first born, what guarantee do we have He will not do the same with us, who are just "branches in the olive tree". There is an eternal covenant between God and Israel. God compares it to a marriage. Did they go through some hard times together? Sure they did. What marriage doesn't? But who's business is to judge their marriage, anyway? Please show me one single situation where a husband and a wife have problems and then someone outside the marriage decides to call the marriage annulled without any of the two involved, having a word in it. Such an idea is ludicrous beyond belief. But that's what we've done in their case. We decided their "marriage" is no longer valid and stepped in. I do not follow a God who changes His mind every other millenia, I don't know about the rest.

Enough with the anti-semites, because the majority of the Christians support Israel and see them as God's chosen people. I am happy to say, I belong to such a church. But we live in a world where Israel is being accused again of every thing going wrong around her. I am sorry, but if Romania would look like a pit and we would have no current water or sewage, I think it would be pathetic to go and blame our Hungarian neighbours. Please show me another country that does this and is not laughed at.
How much do we, Christians, talk about this? How much do we even care? In the Arab countries they have soap operas on TV where they depict Jewish men kidnapping Christian children to make matzah, using their blood. Why don't we say anything? Why do we keep quiet?...

I did not write this article because I want to convince anybody of anything. I don't have the power to change anybody's mind if they don't want to hear something. I wrote all this, because when it comes to Israel, I will not keep quiet out of political correctness. I don't care how much of a fanatic someone might consider me.

I could carry on forever... it's the Shabbat today, the day dedicated to Adonai. So I'll let Him speak about them. Shabbat Shalom!

“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned. Yes, the Lord has punished her twice over for all her sins.” (Israel 40:1-2)

"All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all. For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you," declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." (Isaiah 41:11-14)

"For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life." (Isaiah 43:3-4)

"Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself." (Jeremiah 31:3)

“This is what the Lord says: If you can break my covenant with the day and the night so that one does not follow the other, only then will my covenant with my servant David be broken. Only then will he no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. The same is true for my covenant with the Levitical priests who minister before me. And as the stars of the sky cannot be counted and the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of my servant David and the Levites who minister before me. The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Have you noticed what people are saying?—‘The Lord chose Judah and Israel and then abandoned them!’ They are sneering and saying that Israel is not worthy to be counted as a nation. But this is what the Lord says: I would no more reject my people than I would change my laws that govern night and day, earth and sky. I will never abandon the descendants of Jacob or David, my servant, or change the plan that David’s descendants will rule the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, I will restore them to their land and have mercy on them.” (Jeremiah 33:20-26)