Our Relationship With Israel

In one paragraph

On March 3, 2024, Brian Hunter set aside his planned message to talk with the Tribe fam about Israel, prompted by a gathering in support of Israel scheduled that evening on the town square. The conversation moved from why Christians should care about Israel at all, to what is actually special about it, to the honest question of what might hold someone back from showing up that night. Brian opened...

Read together

1. Romans 11:24 read aloud to support the idea that Gentiles are grafted into the olive tree of Israel
2. Psalm 34:14 Clay quoted it to address seeking peace in the context of Israel's response to Hamas
3. Genesis 12:1-3 read aloud as the covenant promise to Abraham, blessing those who bless Israel
4. Zechariah 8:2 read aloud to establish God's passionate love for Jerusalem as a baseline for Christian support of Israel
5. Zechariah 8:3 read to show that God will return to Jerusalem and it will be called the faithful city
6. Ezekiel 16:1-15 read at length to show Israel's origins as unwanted and abandoned, and God's choosing and adorning of her
7. 2 Corinthians 2 cited loosely to say these things were written down as an example for us
8. Romans 12:1-2 cited to contrast the New Testament pattern of God working from the inside out rather than external blessing

Talk about it

1. Brian read from Zechariah 8:2 that God's love for Jerusalem is passionate and strong, and then read from Ezekiel 16 that Israel was born unwanted, abandoned in a field, with nothing special about her. How do you hold both of those things together when you think about what God's love actually looks like?
2. Several people in the room pointed to Romans 11:24 and the idea of being grafted in, and Brian said the story of Israel is our story. Where do you see your own story reflected in what Ezekiel 16 describes about Israel's relationship with God?
3. Brian read from Ezekiel 16 that Israel used the very gifts God gave her to worship other things, and then asked the room, is that not our own story too. What does that honest accounting change, if anything, about how you think of Israel and how you think of yourself?
4. Caleb mentioned that Jewish people he knows in this community are setting alarms in their homes and afraid to travel, and said that showing up physically to stand with them could lead them to think maybe Jesus loves us too. What would it look like, beyond a rally, for this congregation to make that kind of statement to Jewish neighbors?
5. Brian named a few reasons people might not show up to the gathering, including feeling it is too political, doubting whether one person standing in the cold in Jackson makes any difference, and not wanting to be seen a certain way professionally or socially. Which of those, or what other reason, would you say is hardest for you personally to push past?