Are the Jews in Israel today not really descendants of the Jews from the Bible?
To answer this and many other questions concerning Israel in Bible prophecy, we invited as a special guest on our television program Christ in Prophecy radio host Jan Markell of Olive Tree Ministries, located in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area. Jan’s “Understanding the Times” radio program broadcasts nationally on more than 800 radio stations! Being a Messianic Jew, Jan holds many unique insights into God’s prophetic plan for the nation of Israel.
The Real Jews
Jan Markell: Since the advent of the Internet these kinds of false stories have been mushrooming. Really, it’s just tragic. Claiming the Jews in Israel are not really Jews is yet another anti-Semitic toy that has gotten way out of hand by those who hate the Jewish people.
Nathan Jones: Jan, you are a Jewish Christian, so you agree that the people living in Israel are actual Jews, right, genetically proven?
Jan Markell: I have so many relatives living over in Israel and getting married over there. Their eyes are heavily blinded, spiritually speaking, but there is no doubt they are of Jewish descent.
Dr. Reagan: Those people who claim the Israeli Jews aren’t Jews at all, I always respond to them, “Why don’t you tell the Arabs that so they’ll back off and stop persecuting them.” The Arabs know a Jew when they see one.
Abandonment Issues
Nathan Jones: Jan, why has the Evangelical Church been abandoning its historical support of Israel?
Jan Markell: The answer to your question has a lot of bullet points.
Number one, the pulpits are silent on the topic of Israel in Bible prophecy, so how are their people supposed to know Israel is prophetically important unless they are watching programs like “Christ in Prophecy”?
Two, we have the cry of social justice filling our sanctuaries. The fact that Christians are beginning to get more interested in the plight of the Palestinians than what the Bible says about the Jews has shifted the interest from justice for the Jew to justice for the Palestinian.
Third, we have the naysayers. We have so much mocking going on of biblical things that are vitally important to what’s going on in the world.
Fourth, we have the rise of the religious left, meaning the Emergent Church. All these offshoot churches do is denigrate the topics that traditional churches have historically held so dear.
Fifth, we have the decline of the teaching of Dispensationalism and the rise of Kingdom Now, or Dominion Theology, with its belief that the Church is going to take over the world and deliver the Kingdom to Jesus Christ. The latter limits and marginalizes any topic related to Bible prophecy. Likewise, we even have the rise of Preterism, meaning all prophecy is history. Impossible! As these two teachings marginalize Bible prophecy, the historic support of Israel erodes. This rising of the new Apostolic Reformation has their teachers reinforcing the view that modern-day Israel is an aberration because the Kingdom is here within the Church.
When churches marginalize #BibleProphecy, the historic support of #Israel erodes. Click To TweetDr. Reagan: In fact, one of the most important spokesman in Christianity today has jumped on that bandwagon, and that is Pastor Rick Warren. Jan, tell us about his peace program.
Jan Markell: Rick Warren has caused some difficult issues within Evangelicalism. His peace program is more about social justice than the preaching of the Gospel. His seeker sensitive emphasis has hurt other churches, because the churches are very pro-Rick Warren. Certainly, I cannot judge Pastor Warren’s heart. I’m sure he loves God. But the approach he has taken in his book The Purpose Driven Life, like on page 286 where he says that Bible prophecy is a waste of time that will distract you from your purpose in Christ, is misguided. The Christian’s purpose is to lead people to the Lord, naturally getting Christians all excited that the King is coming.
In the third segment of our interview of radio host Jan Markell concerning the miracle that is the nation of Israel, we’ll ask her if the Palestinians are an oppressed minority in Israel.
I have seen a few people in you tube that says that are a false Jews and authentic Jews. They are saying they decedents of the Khazar from the 12th and 13th centuries. The really Jews were the Sephardi Jews (Jews from Spain and Portugal), plus the all Jews from the middle east. The Ashkenazi were decedents from the Khazar people who adopted the Jewish religion which they are gentiles. What do you know about?
Noe, that the Jews in Israel today are not genetically Jews is a myth (there are so many). In the Bible times a Jew would be considered a Jew because of their father’s line. After the Jews were dispersed to the nations after 70 AD, because it was easier to prove who a child’s mother is, the proof now comes from the mother’s side of the family. Since Israel became a nation in 1948, Jews emigrating to Israel had to prove they were Jewish due to their mother. With today’s advances in genetic testing, though, a person can now be determined if they are truly Jewish or not without any proof of parentage.
Re the Khazars: I thought this was well done:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDWUZ6EqWHc