Join us for a thought-provoking Q&A session as we delve into the complex perspectives surrounding Israel and its biblical significance. Addressing questions from our listeners, expert David sheds light on critical identities and relationships within the Jewish community and their alignment with scripture. Tune in to explore how biblical prophecy, faith, and historical interpretations intersect in today’s world.
This is Hope for Today. Is it true that only the Jews who believe in Jesus are biblically the real Israel? Do the Jews really hate the Arabs? And if so, why? What did the people of Israel think of former U.S. President Barack Obama? And if a Jewish man is not circumcised, is he really a Jew? Well, you may wish to text a friend to invite them to listen along with you for our special question and answer edition of Hope for Today. We’re going back to our archive of question and answer programs and bringing you some of the best questions from listeners and David’s answers from the Word. Stay tuned. Just before we begin, if today’s program on Israel speaks into the fear or uncertainty you might be feeling right now with everything that’s going on in the world, well, we want to encourage you to visit DavidHonking.org. There’s so much happening in Israel, Iran, and the United States. Many people are looking for something solid, something true, and something that will help quiet a troubled heart. At DavidHawking.org, you’ll find teaching from David on Israel, prophecy, the Middle East, and many other biblical issues, along with books, videos, and free resources to help you go further in your study of God’s Word. The biblical answers you’ll find there do not stir up more fear. They do bring clarity, stability, and real peace. That’s DavidHawking.org. Let’s get into today’s questions and answers.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, friends, we’ve come to another question and answer program. Jim Durbin, our radio production man, is right here with me as well. Hi, Jim. Good to be here. David, questions on Israel. Wow. Yeah. Hath God forsaken his people? God forbid. Romans 11. You can probably say a few words about that, right? Well, folks, here’s what it says in the opening verses. I say then, hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people. which he foreknew. There it is. Well, what do you got, Jim?
SPEAKER 03 :
We’ve got a question that’s right on that topic, but that’s coming up later here. First off, my pastor speaks of an earthly Israel that is in unbelief and a heavenly Israel that are saved Jews. Does the Bible teach this?
SPEAKER 01 :
You know, I don’t recall getting this question before, Jim. Maybe you do. I don’t recall it. It’s kind of different. And this person’s letter went on to describe what the pastor had said. It’s a very interesting view. What it works out to be is similar to what we were just answering, that somehow Israel, and in his sermon he indicated Jewish people, Well, there are plenty of people in Israel who aren’t Jews. There’s over a million who are Arabs alone. But anyway, his idea was that Israel on earth are the unbelievers, but in heaven, there is a heavenly Israel. Well, folks, we don’t actually have that in the Bible. What we do have is that both Jew and Gentile who’ve come to put their faith in the Messiah when they die, they are being assembled in heaven. And Hebrews 12, 22, and 23 says you’ve come to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. And he goes on to describe the various groups, including the church, which is composed of both Jews and Gentiles who’ve come to believe in the Messiah. as well as the Old Testament believers. And when you die, you are going to be a part of what is the true universal church being assembled in heaven. Down here on earth, we have local churches, some who are a part of the heavenly church and some who are not. But I hope that helps this individual a little bit.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, David, we talked earlier about Romans 11. Here’s that question. The listener says, doesn’t Paul’s teaching in Romans 11 mean that only those Jews who believe in Jesus are the real Israel?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, very involved. It’s a great question. You’ll find this interesting. It’s called the Elijah syndrome. And in chapter 11, that’s what we have right off the bat in verse 2 in the middle. After saying God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew, we then read, well, what does the Scripture say about Elijah? He made intercession to God against Israel. He said, Lord, they’ve killed your prophets, they dig down your altars, and I’m left alone, and they seek my life. But then we have the answer of God to him that I have reserved to myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Well, now the listener is appropriately asking a question based upon what’s in verse 5 that follows that. It says, “…even so then,” meaning in the exact same way, at this present time, there is a remnant, which would be equal to the 7,000 who haven’t bowed to Baal, according to the election of grace.” And then he goes on to say that grace is not works, otherwise it loses its meaning. And then there’s a whole section from verse 7 to 10 where he shows from the prophecies of the Bible, both Isaiah 29 and Psalm 69, that the rejection of Israel was prophesied. But folks, listen to me. The entire 11th chapter says, from that point on, is about the restoration. of Israel. And his explanation down in verse 25 is that this is a mystery. Blindness in part has happened to Israel, but it’ll only continue until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. And people say, well, what’s that? Well, according to verse 11 and 12 of chapter 11, it is the salvation of Gentiles. That will continue throughout the tribulation. So by the end of the tribulation, then God will again be dealing with Israel as a nation. The Messiah will come, the Spirit of God poured out, and multitudes of Jews turning to the Lord when they look on Him whom they pierced. The fact is that the question our listener gave us is really good. It’s a great question. But our answer is Romans 11 is showing that there was a remnant in Paul’s day. He wasn’t the only one. And that remnant is, according to grace, God giving us what we don’t deserve. And there will be a remnant of Jews who turn and believe in him after this blindness in part. It’s only partial. There are many Jews who’ve come to know the Lord. But from a national point of view, it’s partial. So I hope that just helps our listener a little bit. And I want to thank you for that great question.
SPEAKER 03 :
Sure. And for more information, you might check the website davidhawking.org for some details on that. And David, the next question here, we have seen this one before. Please help me understand who is really a Jew. Romans 2 at the end has Paul saying that there is no Jew in the physical sense. At least that’s what I think. Or am I just not reading this correctly?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, you’re right, Jim. We have heard of this before. Now, the immediate discussion of Romans 2 that she’s talking about is the issue of circumcision. Jews circumcise their male children on the eighth day of their life. Now, he says in verse 26, if uncircumcision, meaning Gentiles, keep the righteousness of the law—in other words, they’re obeying it— shall not the uncircumcision be counted for circumcision, and shall not uncircumcision, which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision are transgressing the law.” This is absolutely fabulous reasoning. The point here is that you’re not a Jew simply because you’ve been circumcised. You say, what? Well, of course not. There are many Gentile men who have been circumcised. Yeah, doesn’t make you a Jew. Yeah, right. And he also said that circumcision, as God was talking about it, and you find this discussion in the book of Deuteronomy, It’s not just outward in the flesh. In other words, it meant something more. The removal of the foreskin of the male organ is not simply a physical act. Now, there are people who make a big issue of this as it relates to health. And the evidence is overwhelming that those who are circumcised are more of a blessing not simply to themselves but to, in the future, a wife that they may marry because there’s very little evidence of cervical cancer among those who stay circumcised. loyal and faithful to their marital spouse. Now, if you play around, of course, that ends that. But what we’re saying here is it’s not just medical. If people think that, you’re missing the whole point of this. Deuteronomy speaks about circumcising your heart. The foreskin of your flesh, like of the male organ, is referring to what we might call scar tissue that builds up on your heart. and it needs to be removed through repentance and confession and getting right with the Lord. That’s why he says in verse 29, a true Jew is one inwardly. Circumcision is of the heart. Now, folks, it doesn’t mean that the Jewish male is not circumcised, but let’s remember that this argument would apply also to females who would ask the question, and they are not circumcised in the Jewish context. So please understand that he’s talking about a spiritual matter, not simply a physical one. And you said, well, you thought there’s no Jew in the physical sense. That’s not true. There are descendants, physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, even in Israel, there’s arguments over whether or not you had a Jewish father or a Jewish mother. And now, of course, they want evidence of a Jewish grandmother. And there are many exceptions, like when a Jewish man who had a Gentile mother marries a Jewish woman, they kind of put him back in the line again. But Paul is dealing with a spiritual issue. In fact, if you go to Galatians chapter 6 on this— Let me turn to that while we’re chatting on this so that we’re quoting it correctly. He says, verse 15, “…in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” So, folks, I hope that helps just a little bit. We need to be Jewish in our hearts, and that is to believe in God’s wonderful everlasting covenant to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which includes not only a nation and a land, but a descendant, namely the Messiah, who would bless the entire world. So hopefully that will help. Amen.
SPEAKER 03 :
David, next question here. What do people of Israel think about Barack Obama? Are they comforted by his efforts?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, he gets a lot of flack from all sides, and some of it’s deserved and some of it not. Actually, this was asked by a Canadian, and they’re looking into what’s going on down here all the time. We need to understand something. Our trust, according to the Bible, is not in princes and kings and leaders. Our trust is in the Lord. That’s it. But what do we do about leaders that we may not be comfortable with? Well, the Bible tells us what to do, 1 Timothy 2, 1 to 4. We’re to pray for them and pray that we might live a quiet and peaceable life, that We wouldn’t have all this turmoil and problems, which probably, in my way of thinking, is a part of the judgment that God’s bringing on us for our moral corruption in this country. But I do think that we need to understand that in Israel, President Obama at the present time is not very popular. Only 8%. of the people of Israel who think that he is on their side. They pretty well have seen by his actions and statements that he’s supporting the side of Muslims. And of course, there’s the big argument whether he is one or not. He claims to be a Christian. He had Muslim upbringing. And of course, a lot of Muslims say once a Muslim, always a Muslim. But he is trying to bring together Muslims and the whole Islamic culture with America’s way of life so that we don’t fight each other. We learn to get along with each other. So we need to pray for him. I’m not happy with a lot of things that are going on. And anybody who listens to me on this broadcast knows that I’m pro-Israel. It doesn’t mean I justify and defend everything Israel does. But at the same time, people have lost a sense of history when they talk about Israel. That’s right. And my history is rooted in the Bible. I know what the Bible says about Israel. That’s where I stand. That’s where I’m going to stay. So God bless you, and thanks for asking this.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you talk about reliability. Next question here, David. Is Fatah a reliable peace partner for Israel, the listener asked. Who are they, and where did they come from?
SPEAKER 01 :
The reason why this is on the front burner, so to speak, as probably a lot of listeners know, we have the UN General Assembly this month, and President Obama had plans to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to try to get this peace process going. So Fatah has, which is… Chairman Abbas’s organization has come to the forefront of people’s thinking. Who are they? We do know that they’ve had a lot of battles with Hamas, who not too long ago by a military coup took over Gaza. And they’re both Islamic. They’re both Muslims. Fatah was started by Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen. and Yasser Arafat. They were in it together. Mahmoud Abbas was a terrorist. In fact, the facts are that he engineered the plans for the killing of the Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972. I was in the area. I know a lot about it. He also attended—his doctoral program was in Moscow, Russia, and graduated from the University of Moscow with a degree— that had as its dissertation, there is no Holocaust. So he’s a denier of the Holocaust. He will not allow the United Nations even to put that in the books that they’re providing for the Palestinian Arab children. He will not allow it because he said it’s a Zionist plan, conspiracy, this Holocaust, and it never happened. Well, that’s utter foolishness. It’s so ridiculous, it doesn’t even deserve a comment. But a problem that we have that this listener is really speaking from is that we’re being told that Fatah is a reliable peace partner for Israel. All the peace negotiations are right there. Hamas up to this point has been left out, although former President Jimmy Carter said he thought Hamas should be a part of the negotiations. But Hamas will not make peace with Israel. Well, to all of our listeners— I need to tell you something about the conference they had in Bethlehem back in August. Over 2,000 delegates from the Muslim world And Fatah was running that conference. And it was Fatah and Chairman Mahmoud Abbas who said, we do not want peace with Israel. We do not want a Palestinian state. Our goal is the same, the extermination of the Jewish people off the face of the earth. So, folks, don’t be deceived. World leadership—and I’m sorry to say even the administration of the United States of America— has continued to believe that you can negotiate and make peace with your hostile enemies by giving them the land they want. They made it clear at that conference in August, they’re not interested in the land. They’re interested in getting the Jews out of the land. They say all the land belongs to them, which, of course, is a flat-out lie. The land belongs to God, and he gave it to the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob 2,600 years before Muslims ever existed. So we need to wake up. And I’m sorry for all of that, but we need to tell the truth. The truth will set us free.
SPEAKER 03 :
David, our final question here. Why do the Jews hate the Arabs? The listener asked. I’m 12 years old, and I have a good Arab friend.
SPEAKER 01 :
You know, I really appreciate that. One of the things that we enjoy at Hope for Today are all the kids that listen to us. And kids come up and say, I listen to you every day, and oh, what a blessing. But I want to answer this 12-year-old boy directly, if you’re listening right now. The problem is not Jews against Arabs in the Middle East, right? It is Israel as a nation against Islam, the religion. That’s the problem. You see, many people believe that all Arabs are Muslims and therefore potential terrorists. Well, that’s not true. Over half the Arabs in this world are Christians, not Muslims. Maybe not the kind of Christianity we’d be comfortable with, but they are Christian, not Muslim. We also know that there are over a million Arabs who live in peaceful harmony, most of them with the Jewish people in the land of Israel. They’re full citizens. In government as well, yes. We have Arabs in the Knesset. Some of them are rather hostile at times, but the fact is that Arabs enjoy a level of prosperity and of care and that is not known in the Islamic countries. Most of the so-called Arab countries are not Arab at all. They’re Muslim. They’re Islamic. And what they call Arabs is what they call Hindus in India, and it really means a worthless person. You can kill them anytime you want. They really don’t care about Arabs. They manipulate and use the Arabs. And Arabs suffer terribly in these Muslim countries and live in fear. And we need to wake up to that, folks. There are plenty of Arab Americans who have come to this country for the freedom that we provide and who are deeply disturbed. I’ve met them. I have folks who are Arab Americans and believers in our Lord who pray for me every week in my Israel conferences. They are very pro-Israel. We need to wake up to this. So to this young man, don’t hate your Arab friend. I know you don’t. You like him. That’s great. And there are Jews and Arabs who work together in Israel. And it’s outsiders, terrorists, Islamic people who don’t care about Arabs who are causing all of this trouble in Israel. And it is a serious problem. But it’s not a Jew-Arab fight. It’s Israel versus Islam. And don’t ever forget it. Well, to all of you who are listening around North America and the world on the Internet, we hope this question time has been profitable.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, thank you, David. And you’ve been listening to our special monthly question and answer program here on Hope for Today with David Honking. And we’ll tell you in a bit how you can lend your support to this broadcast ministry. First though, David’s son Matt is here and we’re going to share a powerful, a powerful home Bible study resource with you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Matt. Okay, Jim, this month we are featuring two special resources. The first one is my dad’s book called Love is the Greatest.
SPEAKER 03 :
Man, I love this book here because God’s definition of love and the standard for love that he wants us to understand and apply in our lives towards our spouses, our friends, our relatives, the neighbor next door who’s kind of noisy. Right.
SPEAKER 02 :
It all applies. In a world increasingly marked by division, noise, and self-interest. Oh, yeah. Scripture reminds us that God’s highest priority has never changed. Without love, even the most impressive spiritual activity, it’s empty in God’s sight. Think about all the activities we can be involved with as believers.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. All these good charitable works. If love is not the foundation and infused through it. It’s empty. It’s empty. Yeah. And then in that same passage, 1 Corinthians 13, and your dad develops this so marvelously. It tells us what love isn’t. Right. In the first few verses. Then it tells us what love is.
SPEAKER 02 :
Amen. It bears all things. Believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
SPEAKER 03 :
Now, I wish I could say after being married for 39 years I’ve got that down pat, but you know better. I’ve got a lot to work on with this. Now we have grace, too.
SPEAKER 01 :
And grace.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, there is that, too. But I think about this, Matt. Your dad with his God-given talent for teaching and his – Bible study four hours a day for so many years. He dives into this passage and then shows us how to put it into action.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right, because faith without works is dead, right?
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s it. That’s it. Okay, so you can get this book, Love is the Greatest, and the price, Matt? Just $15.
SPEAKER 1 :
$15.
SPEAKER 03 :
Mm-hmm. The second resource we’re featuring this month is a bundle. Sermon notes of the Old Testament. All 35 message series that your dad has taught through the Old Testament. These are his original sermon notes. His personal notes that when he preached, this is what he referenced. So the sermon notes bundle, again, these are David’s original sermon notes and outlines for all 35 series that he has taught through the Old Testament. And the cost? Of $75. And folks, you can download these and get them right away. Yes. Or you can call us, same price. We’ll send you a PDF CD. Of $75. Get your copy of David’s book, Love is the Greatest, or our bundle package that’s the collection of sermon notes and outlines for all of David’s teaching series in the Old Testament. Call in the U.S. at 800-75-BIBLE. In Canada, 888-75-BIBLE. Bible is 24253. You can also order online at DavidHawking.org. And if this ministry is helping you think clearly, stand firmly and stay grounded in the Word of God, we’d like to ask you to pray for us and then prayerfully consider supporting Hope for Today with a special gift this month or every month as God might provide and direct. This program continues because listeners like you decide that solid Bible teaching matters. Call us in the U.S. at 800-75-BIBLE. In Canada, 888-75-BIBLE. Or go to davidhawking.org and drop us a note. Now, if you’d like to send in a special one-time gift or a regular gift by mail, write to Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO 7 Oaks, Abbotsford, B.C., V2S 8P1. Your support plays a real part in keeping the teaching of God’s Word clear, direct, and available to those who need it. Well, next time on the program, we begin a series called The Attributes of God, taken from various portions of Scripture. The world isn’t short on opinions about God. Culture reinvents Him. People try to remake Him. But you know something? We’re not going to follow any of that. We’re going straight to the Bible to see who God really is, what he’s actually like, and why right thinking about him changes everything. Thank you for listening. May the Lord strengthen you, steady you, and keep you rooted in his truth. See you next time on Hope for Today.
