Concubine or Honored?

Israel: A Concubine in the Eyes of the World, but Honored in the Eyes of God

By Guy Cohen, Harvest of Asher Congregation in Acco, Israel

The world sees a small nation. God sees a people with whom He made an everlasting covenant. There is a question that has troubled the world for generations. How is it possible that Israel is still standing?

Throughout history, powerful empires have risen and fallen. Kingdoms that once ruled the world have disappeared. Nations that seemed impossible to defeat are now little more than chapters in history books. Yet Israel, a small nation that has endured exile, persecution, wars, and countless attempts to destroy its identity, is still here.

For many people, this is difficult to understand. For me, as a Jewish believer in Yeshua the Messiah, the answer is found in the Word of God. God has never broken His covenant with Israel.

Concubine or Honored? continues

The world often looks at Israel as though she were an unwanted woman, someone who may be tolerated but never truly honored. In the eyes of many nations, Israel is expected to know her place, remain silent, and depend on the approval of others for her existence.

We see this attitude in parts of the Muslim world, where Israel’s very existence has often been challenged. Sadly, we have also seen it throughout Christian history, where certain teachings and traditions have pushed Israel aside, as though God had finished His work with the Jewish people. But there is something the world has failed to understand. Israel is not a forgotten concubine in God’s household. She is a people of covenant, chosen by His grace and remembered because of His faithfulness.

The World Accepted Israel’s King but Forgot His People | One of the most painful contradictions in Christian history is that much of the Christian world learned to worship the King of Israel, yet parts of it forgot that this King has a people, a covenant, and promises that God never canceled. Think about that for a moment.

Yeshua was born a Jew. His mother was Jewish. His disciples were Jewish. The prophets who announced His coming were Jewish. The promises concerning His birth, His ministry, His suffering, His resurrection, and His coming Kingdom were given through the Scriptures of Israel. Even Yeshua Himself declared that salvation is from the Jews, as recorded in John 4:22. Yet somewhere along the way, parts of the Church began to teach that God had rejected Israel and replaced her with the Church.

How can we embrace the Jewish Messiah while rejecting the continuing covenant God made with His people? How can we worship the Son of David while forgetting the promises given to David? How can we preach from the Scriptures of Israel and then claim that Israel no longer has a place in God’s plan?

The apostle Paul confronted this very issue in Romans 11. He asked a question that every believer should take seriously. “Has God rejected His people?” And his answer was unmistakable. “By no means!” Romans 11:1.

Paul did not say that God had replaced Israel. He did not say that the promises to the fathers had expired. Instead, he warned Gentile believers against arrogance toward the natural branches of the olive tree. In Romans 11:18, he reminds them that they do not support the root, but the root supports them. The tragedy is that some of the branches that were grafted in began to behave as though they were the root.

Gentile believers were brought near through the blood of Messiah. They became fellow citizens and members of God’s household, as Paul explains in Ephesians 2. What a wonderful expression of God’s mercy. But being brought near does not mean that Israel has been pushed away. The grace given to the nations does not require the rejection of the Jewish people. God is faithful to both.

Israel Was Never an Afterthought | When God called Abraham, He was not simply choosing a man for a temporary assignment. He was beginning something that would affect every nation on earth. In Genesis 12:3, God promised Abraham that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him. Later, God confirmed His covenant with Isaac and Jacob. Israel became the people through whom God revealed His Law, raised up His prophets, preserved His promises, and ultimately brought forth the Messiah according to the flesh.

This does not mean that Israel is better than other nations. Scripture makes it clear that God did not choose Israel because she was greater or more powerful. He chose her because of His love and because of the oath He had sworn to the fathers, as we read in Deuteronomy 7:7 and 8. That is the beauty of God’s covenant. It begins with His grace, not with human greatness. And that is also why Israel’s failures have never been enough to erase God’s promises.

Israel has sinned. Israel has rebelled. Israel has experienced judgment. The prophets spoke openly about these things, often with painful honesty. But there is a difference between God disciplining His people and God abandoning His covenant. The Lord Himself declared through Jeremiah that Israel would remain a nation before Him as long as His established order of the sun, moon, and stars endured. Jeremiah 31:35 to 37. These are not the words of a God who has forgotten His people. These are the words of a God who remembers what He has promised.

Why Is Israel Still Standing? | I have often wondered what the nations truly see when they look at Israel. Do they see only a political problem? A disputed piece of land? A nation that seems too small to have such a significant place in world affairs? Certainly, Israel’s history can be studied through politics, military strength, diplomacy, and the determination of the Jewish people to survive. These things are real, and we should not ignore them.

But as a believer who stands on the Word of God, I see something beyond them. I see the faithfulness of the Lord. I see the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob keeping His word even when the world cannot understand what He is doing. I see a people who have survived circumstances that could have destroyed their identity many times over. And I see a testimony that God’s purposes are not defeated by human opposition.

This does not mean that every decision made by the modern State of Israel is righteous. No nation, including Israel, stands above God’s standards of justice, mercy, and truth. The prophets never hesitated to confront Israel when she turned away from the Lord. But the failures of a nation do not give humanity the authority to cancel a covenant that God Himself established. Israel is still standing, and I believe the deepest reason is that God is still faithful.

The Veil Covering the Nations | There is a remarkable prophecy in Isaiah 25:7. “And He will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.” I believe there is something here that speaks powerfully to our generation.

The prophet describes a veil covering the nations, something that prevents them from seeing the fullness of what God is doing. Isaiah’s prophecy is greater than the question of Israel alone. It speaks of God’s final victory, the destruction of death, the removal of disgrace, and the revelation of His salvation. But I also believe that this promise has profound implications for how the nations will one day understand Israel and Jerusalem.

Today, the world looks at Jerusalem and sees conflict. It sees competing claims, political tensions, religious disagreements, and endless arguments. But the prophets saw something more. They saw Jerusalem as a city connected to God’s future purposes, a place from which His instruction would go forth and where His Kingdom would be revealed.

Isaiah 2 speaks of nations coming to the mountain of the Lord to learn His ways. Zechariah speaks of a future day when the Lord will act in relation to Jerusalem and the nations. And Isaiah 25 tells us that God Himself will remove the veil. Not politicians. Not military power. Not human arguments. God Himself.

I believe there will come a day when the nations will understand that the story of Israel was never merely a political story. It was always connected to the faithfulness of the God who keeps His promises.

Yeshua Is the Key to Understanding the Covenant | As a Jewish follower of Yeshua, I cannot speak about Israel’s future without speaking about her Messiah. Yeshua is not separate from the story of Israel. He stands at the very center of God’s redemptive plan.

Paul tells us in Romans 15:8 that Messiah became a servant to the circumcised to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs. Notice those words. To confirm the promises. Not to erase them. Not to replace them. Not to declare that God had changed His mind about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yeshua came as the fulfillment of God’s faithfulness. Through Him, salvation has reached the nations.

Through Him, Jews and Gentiles who believe are reconciled to God. Through Him, the promises of redemption find their fulfillment. And yet Paul still speaks of Israel’s calling in Romans 11:28 and 29. He says that, regarding election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers, because the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. What an extraordinary statement. Even in the midst of Israel’s unbelief, Paul points back to the fathers and to the unchanging character of God. This is why I cannot accept the idea that God has simply finished with the Jewish people. If God’s faithfulness to Israel can be dismissed, what does that teach us about His faithfulness to anyone else? Our confidence in salvation rests on the character of the same God who made those promises. And He does not lie.

The Day the Nations Will See | I believe we are moving toward a day when the world will be confronted with a truth it has too often refused to recognize. Israel is not an accident of history. Jerusalem is not merely another city. And the Jewish people are not a forgotten chapter in God’s plan.

The prophets speak of a future in which God will reveal His glory among the nations, bring judgment against evil, and establish His righteousness. Zechariah 12:10 speaks of a time of mourning and recognition, when the people will look upon the one who was pierced. As believers in Yeshua, we understand this passage in the light of the Messiah who suffered and gave His life for us. We look forward to the day when Israel will recognize her Messiah and when the nations will see the fullness of God’s saving purposes.

But we must remember something important. The purpose of God’s covenant is not to give Israel a reason to boast over the nations. Nor is the salvation of the Gentiles a reason for the nations to boast over Israel. In the end, all boasting belongs to the Lord. Jew and Gentile alike stand in need of His mercy. And Jew and Gentile alike are invited to receive His salvation through Yeshua the Messiah.

A Final Word to the Church and to the Nations | I want to speak especially to my brothers and sisters in the Christian world. You love Yeshua. You worship Him as Lord. You believe that He died and rose again. You wait for His return. But do not forget where He came from. Do not forget the people through whom God gave us the Scriptures. Do not forget the promises made to the fathers. And above all, do not forget Paul’s warning that the branches do not support the root, but the root supports the branches.

To honor the King of Israel while despising His people is a contradiction that every believer should examine before the Lord. This does not mean that Christians must agree with every action of the Israeli government. Faithfulness to Scripture never requires us to abandon righteousness or compassion for others. It means that we must learn to distinguish between political disagreements and the everlasting faithfulness of God to His covenant.

And to the nations that see Israel as insignificant, unwanted, or temporary, I would say this: Be careful not to judge God’s purposes only by what your eyes can see. Human kingdoms come and go. Political alliances change. World powers rise and fall. But the Word of our God stands forever. The world may treat Israel as a concubine, someone whose place can be questioned and whose future can be decided by others. But God has not forgotten His covenant people.

Israel is not the mistress of God, for the Lord alone is sovereign. Yet she is not a disposable servant in His story either. She is a people He has chosen to love, discipline, preserve, and call back to Himself. And I believe that when the veil is finally removed, the nations will understand something they could not see before. The world thought it was deciding Israel’s place in history, while God was faithfully carrying out His purposes all along.

That is why Israel is still standing. Not because Israel has never failed. Not because Israel is stronger than every enemy. Not because Israel is righteous in everything she does. But because the God of Israel has never ceased to be faithful. And the same God who promised redemption through the Messiah will bring His purposes to completion. “For the Lord will not forsake His people; He will not abandon His heritage.” Psalm 94:14.

Israel is not the forgotten concubine of history. She is a living testimony that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob still keeps His word. And when the veil is lifted, the nations will see it.