By Owen Strachan

“The Jews ARE especially evil.” So said a young man to me recently on social media. Growing up in the 1980s and ‘90s, hearing such statements was rare. It seemed then that distrust and hatred of the Jews had receded from polite society. So we thought — but we thought wrong.

Today, in conservative circles and increasingly Christian circles, one finds a growing chorus of skepticism toward the Jewish people. This skepticism ranges from a quiet suspicion about Jewish citizens all the way up to feverish theories about a global Jewish cabal that poisonously runs the world.

This opposition is not merely the grift of unstable podcasters, though. It is terrifyingly real. The horrific attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas in October 2023 led to the death of over 1,200 Israelis, shocking the world. Beyond this, Hamas brutally executed six Israeli hostages just last week. Instead of a global outcry at this wickedness, protests on college campuses and in many cities have brazenly blamed Israel for the war in Gaza.

Once again, a diabolical energy has ripped through America and the world; once again, the church has found itself on its back foot. We cannot stay off-kilter; we need to speak truth into this chaos. In what follows, I will give four principles that frame our engagement of the Jews. While I will not delve into the finer points of eschatology, I will show that prejudice against the Jews is bankrupt in biblical terms, and that we should reach out to Jews in Christian love.

Four Biblical Affirmations about the Jews

First, the Jews are called “enemies” of Christ. Chosen by God in a special way (as a nation), this people tragically fell away from God. Like Esau, they lost their birthright. In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel eventually collapsed in a spiral of depravity, idolatry, and pride. This dark chronicle came to a head when the Jews rejected Christ in his incarnation and cried out for his crucifixion.

The book of Acts shows that many Jews and Jewish rulers remained hostile to the gospel following the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. In fact, according to the Apostle Paul, the Jews had made themselves God’s “enemies,” a fearsome reality to be sure (Romans 11:23). In sum, the Jews deserve judgment for their sins just as the pagan Gentiles do.

Second, the Jews are called “beloved.” Paul did not hold back about the sad condition of the Jews. Many biased online commentators quote him approvingly along those lines. But even as Paul gave a serious diagnosis for the spiritual condition of his peers, he affirmed that the Jews were “beloved” (Romans 11:23). In the future plan of God, repentant Jews will be grafted back into the people of God through saving faith (Romans 11:28). Paul put this truth in no uncertain terms: “God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew” (Romans 11:2).

Neither did the apostles give up on the Jews. As the Book of Acts shows, the apostles faced fierce opposition from the Jews in different places, but they nonetheless reached out to the Jews in love, seeking their salvation through gospel proclamation. As Acts 2 records, 3,000 were saved in Jerusalem as a result of these Spirit-driven efforts. Then and now, God has not given up on the Jews — it is that simple.

Third, it is Satan who hates the Jews, not Christians. Satan, in truth, has always hated the Jews. It was Satan who sought to crush Israel in the old covenant era through one menacing nation after another. Across history, it is Satan who seems to harbor great enmity for the Jews. In our time, we can rest assured that Satan continues to hate the Jews and seek their destruction.

By contrast, nowhere does any New Testament author instruct the church to be a watchdog over the Jews, distrusting them in a special way, looking askance at them, feeling justified even in hating them. Such thinking owes not to Scripture but to the vile strand of anti-Semitism that runs through Western thought. Sadly, no less a figure than Martin Luther joined this chorus. There is so much about Luther to admire and emulate, but his treatment of the Jews is deeply regrettable.

Fourth, Paul warns us about arrogance toward the Jews. As we have said, the Jews are sinners in need of the grace of God just like the Gentiles. They are precisely where every lost person is. For this reason, Paul issues a warning about the Jews: “Do not be arrogant toward the branches” (Romans 11:18). Gentile Christians must avoid such a dismissive and unloving posture.

Sadly, being “arrogant” is common today. One edgy podcaster after another floods our content streams with attacks on the Jews. Instead of seeking the salvation of the Jews, these unstable figures dedicate themselves to tracking the global Jewish cabal that supposedly runs the world. We cannot mince words here: such people are drifting (or are already far from) sound doctrine, a sound mind, and a loving heart. They are unsteady and unstable people who are laundering genuine anti-Semitism into the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not follow them.

Conclusion

In closing, we do well to remember Paul’s heart for the Jews. He did not damn his kinsmen of the flesh, as some seem to want to do. He did the opposite: he expressed the strongest possible desire for them to be saved. He went so shockingly far as to say that he would voluntarily drink God’s wrath if only they could be saved (Romans 9:3). That is not sneering hate talking; that is love speaking, love borne of the gospel of Christ.

We believers should pray for the Jews. (So too should we pray for the Gentiles!) Every sinner is in the same condition: lost. But there is good news in this fallen world. There is a Savior. He loves to go into the wilderness and find those who have lost their way. Jesus Christ, we remember, was no Anglo-Saxon monarch. He was a despised Jew from the Middle East, and he died alone and forsaken on a cross for us, with forgiveness for his blood enemies on his lips.

Owen Strachan is Senior Fellow for FRC’s Center for Biblical Worldview.