Israel, A Stone In the Path

In one paragraph

Brian walked the congregation through a series of questions about where people hang their beliefs about the nation of Israel, using the imagery of hooks and hats that has run through this multi-week series. The central claim was that Israel is a stone in the path of every person and every nation, and that the only right response is to fall on the rock of Jesus and let him shape a biblical...

Read together

1. Revelation 12:11 congregation member quoted 'they overcame by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony' when discussing testimony as an unshakeable hook
2. Zechariah 12:1-3 read aloud by a congregation member as the main text: Jerusalem made like an intoxicating drink, nations staggering, Jerusalem as an immovable rock
3. Nehemiah 4 enemies of Israel mocking the wall being rebuilt, saying even a fox could knock it down, used to show the anti-Israel narrative is ancient
4. Genesis 6 referenced as biblical evidence for spiritual beings taking human women, creating hybrid offspring
5. Genesis 3 the curse and the first messianic promise that from the seed of the woman a savior would come
6. Deuteronomy 7:6-9 read aloud: God chose Israel not because of their size or perfection but simply because he loved them and kept his oath to their ancestors
7. Isaiah 9:1-7 read aloud: from darkness a great light, the child born to us, government on his shoulders, wonderful counselor mighty god everlasting father prince of peace
8. Matthew 21:44 read from the screen: anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces and it will crush anyone on whom it falls, used to call people to fall on the rock of Jesus regarding Israel

Talk about it

1. Brian described the 'principle of the biggest hook' as the idea that the most compelling narrative usually wins our belief, but that the most compelling narrative is not always true. Can you think of a time when you moved your hat from one hook to another because a more compelling narrative came along? What caused the shift?
2. Brian asked whether people had hung their hat on Israel before October 7, and whether that changed afterward. If your thinking about Israel shifted after that date, what specifically moved it, and where does it sit now?
3. Brian laid out three popular narratives about Israel: that Israel is a brutish colonizing state, that the conflict is irrelevant to everyday life, and that God has replaced Israel with the Gentile church. Which of those narratives have you encountered most, and what arguments have you heard used to support it?
4. Brian connected the ancient mockery in Nehemiah chapter four, where opponents said even a fox walking on the wall would knock it down, to the kind of language used about Israel today. He called the narrative that Israel is the bad guy 'old and boring.' Do you think that framing holds up, and why or why not?
5. Brian said the best response to Israel as a stone in the path is to fall on the rock, meaning Jesus, and let him shatter preconceived ideas rather than trying to move the stone yourself. What would it look like practically for someone to pray that prayer honestly, and what might they have to give up to do it?