For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Shalom and welcome to the Everlasting Nation broadcast, a radio ministry of International Board of Jewish Missions in Hickson, Tennessee. Now here's your host, IBJM Ministries Director, John Lawrence. Greetings, friends. This is John Lawrence, Director of Ministries here at IBJAM and your host for the program today. We have talked about many Jewish mission fields over the last few months, but today I wanted to share German-speaking fields with you, several countries in Europe particularly that have large Jewish populations and where German is the native tongue. Many of the older Jewish people in these lands would also probably speak Yiddish, which resembles German in many ways. Of course, the first country would be Germany itself. There are now more than 120,000 Jewish people in Germany. They've returned to Germany in large numbers in recent years. Prior to World War II, Berlin which is the capital, of course, was a major Jewish cultural center in Europe. And now, since the reunification of the two Germanies about 20 years ago after the Soviet Union fell, Berlin has once again become a thriving place for a Jewish community. Frankfurt and Munich also have large Jewish populations, and there are about 80 smaller Jewish communities scattered throughout the country. Many of these Jewish people arrived from the former Soviet republics, the Baltic states, and even from Russia and the Ukraine. A lot of them are young, well-educated, but most of them have little knowledge of Jewish tradition, having grown up, of course, entirely under communism for many years, where the practice of any religion was forbidden. These young Jews have nonetheless injected new life into the aging Jewish community in Germany. Prior to the rise of Adolf Hitler, the Jews of Germany were pillars of the society. They were successful people in all walks of life, including commerce, industry, art, and science, and the Jewish community was religiously very diverse. Of course, the reign of Hitler and his Third Reich ended all that, which makes it all the more miraculous that large numbers of Jewish people in recent years have been willing to return there. And now, of course, that makes Germany a Jewish mission field. We need someone who would be willing to go there. and to reach the Jewish population for the Lord Jesus Christ with the Gospel message. Another German-speaking country is Austria. Of course, it too was annexed by Hitler to the Third Reich. He was born there, in fact, and Jewish people also suffered greatly in that country. Austria has a Jewish community of more than 10,000 people, most of whom are located in Vienna, but Vienna boasted a huge Jewish community of nearly 180,000 prior to World War II. Many of those people were wiped out, others fled the land. A large number of Jews from the former Soviet Republic of Georgia now have settled in Austria in recent years, since most did not want to remain in those countries where they had been brutally persecuted. under communist regimes. There was also a history of persecution in Austria under the Habsburg Empire, but now, of course, there is freedom, and again, the Jewish people are quite reachable in the country of Austria, which is part of the European Union. There's also another sizable Jewish community in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, primarily in the city of Zurich, with about 8,000 Jewish people. While Jews were often accepted in the business and banking communities there in that country, there is a history of anti-Semitism. When Switzerland was founded in 1798, the Jews were defined actually as resident aliens. They were not granted citizenship until nearly 70 years later. During World War II, while 25,000 Jews found safety and protection in Switzerland, many more were delivered back into the hands of the Nazis after the Swiss government induced the Nazi regime to mark Jewish passports with a large letter J. There is much to be done to reach the Jewish communities in these German-speaking nations, and workers are certainly needed. We've one Mexican missionary currently on deputation to work in Switzerland, but it's a difficult country to access and to be able to stay there, so pray about that. Perhaps the Lord will lead you to one of these needy countries where there's a Jewish population that needs to be reached with the gospel. So if you're interested, please contact us at area code 423-876-8150. In any case, pray for laborers to be sent forth into the harvest. Now let's listen to Jewish believer brother Mark Oshman with today's Bible message. Thank you for listening to our radio program. Over the past few minutes, we will look at how God has demonstrated his love for the Jewish people. Robert Browning and Elizabeth Browning, poet and poetess, comprised one of the most famous couples in 19th century England. Elizabeth Browning's pet nickname was the Portuguese. She wrote a series of poems to and for her husband, entitled Sonnets from the Portuguese. One of the most famous of these sonnets began with these words, quote, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways, unquote. In the opening chapter of the book of Malachi, God made a similar declaration to the Jewish people. They had asked him for proof of his love for them. In reply, he contrasted his treatment of Israel with the way he dealt with Edom. God destroyed the Edomites. They would never again enjoy a period of national sovereignty. However, God said he brought the Jewish people back to their land and restored them. Out of all of the nations on earth, God selected the Jewish people to be his instruments. The Jewish forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all of them played relatively insignificant roles with regard to secular history. Yet, God made covenants with each of these men. agreements by which God bound himself to bless them and provide for them and their descendants. Some people have argued that the early Jews possessed an aptitude for religious matters. However, God made it clear that he alone enabled the Jewish people to grasp complex spiritual matters. In other words, the Jewish people receive God's blessings solely through God's sovereign grace. God deals with saved sinners in a similar way. By means of his grace, he adopts them into his family. As Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 2, quote, For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast, unquote. Neither Jew nor Christian can brag about why God loves them, They should instead thank God for his unmerited love and favor. God displayed his love for the Jewish people by repeatedly delivering them from perils. Throughout the Old Testament, Jewish authors illustrated this truth. When Israel suffered in Egypt under the pharaoh's bondage, no human effort could have set them free. No other nation had a military force that could have compelled the Egyptian pharaoh to liberate his Jewish slaves. Yet God himself intervened in human history and accomplished that very end. He afflicted both the land and the people of Egypt, sending them ten plagues, according to the sixth through the twelfth chapters of Exodus. After God finished with it, the Egyptian pharaoh besought Moses to take the Jews out of Egypt. God brought the Israelites out of a tight spot shortly thereafter, as recorded in Exodus chapter 14. To liberate the Jews encamped on the border of the Red Sea. While they were there, the pharaoh sent his chariots after them in order to recapture them. The Jews could neither successfully resist this force, or could they retreat with the Red Sea behind them. Once again, God intervened on the behalf of the Israelites. After Moses instructed the Jews, quote, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, unquote, God told him, quote, lift up thy rod and stretch out thine hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea, unquote. God performed what he promised to do. The Israelites safely crossed the Red Sea on that day. When the Egyptians tried to do the same thing, God sent the waters back to their original position, drowning the pursuing Egyptians. Throughout the period of the Judges, God continued to deliver the Jewish people from peril. Time after time, foreign oppressors would arise against Israel. The Jewish people would repent and cry out for a deliverer. God would send them deliverers. people such as Othniel, Ehud, Jephthah, and Samson. God would send them liberators who would overthrow the persecutors of the Jewish people. God further showed his love for the Jews by committing unto them the oracles of God, as Paul put it in the third chapter of Romans. Jews wrote every book of the Old Testament and, with the possible exception of Luke and Acts, every book in the New Testament. God also gave the Jewish people their own homeland. In Genesis 13, he promised Abraham, quote, lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art northward and southward and eastward and westward. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever." God instructed Isaac, quote, sojourn in this land and I will be with thee and will bless thee. For unto thee and unto thy seed I will give all these countries, unquote. In Genesis chapter 28, God told Jacob that he would, quote, give thee the blessing of Abraham to thee and to thy seed with thee. that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham." Before God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, according to Exodus chapter 3, he informed them, quote, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, unto a land that floweth with milk and honey. In Deuteronomy chapter 11, God instructed their descendants, quote, Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land whither ye go that possess it, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which the Lord God swore unto your fathers, to give unto them and to their seed a land that floweth with milk and honey." The prophet Jeremiah according to the 32nd chapter of his book, affirmed that God had indeed given them the land, the land that he promised the Jewish people. However, the most important gift that God gave the Jewish people was a Savior. In Galatians chapter 4, the apostle Paul wrote that, quote, when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." The New Testament Gospels noted that Jesus Christ directed his outreach primarily to the Jewish people. According to Matthew chapter 15, for instance, the Savior told a Seraphim woman that his father had sent him only to, quote, the lost sheep of the house of Israel. After Jesus Christ's crucifixion, The early believers promoted their Savior's Jewish background. In the fourth chapter of Acts, for instance, Peter declared about Jesus Christ, quote, Paul told the Jews in Antioch of Pisidia, according to Acts chapter 13, that, quote, of this man, that is David, of this man's seed hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus. Jesus Christ grounded his doctrines on the Mosaic law. In Matthew 5, he told his followers that he had not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. Here's one example of how Jesus Christ upheld the authority of the Mosaic Law. In Matthew chapter 22, a scribe asked him about the two greatest commandments of the law. Here's what Jesus Christ replied, quote, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Jesus Christ added furthermore, quote, on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets, unquote. Throughout the Gospels, the Savior never once cited a non-Jewish poet or a pagan philosopher to support his doctrines. He recognized no written authority beyond that which the Jewish scriptures provided. In other words, Jesus Christ drew upon the teachings of the Old Testament to support what he himself taught the Jewish people. The Jewish nation has indeed contributed much to the human race. However, Jews must learn to rely solely upon God. not upon anything or anyone else. As the author of Psalm 118 put it, quote, it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes, unquote. The Jewish people need to realize that God loves them. God has always loved them, God loves them still, and God will continue to love them, and that they can put their trust in God and rely upon Him. Our radio program has come to an end. Thank you for listening. We invite you to return for future radio broadcasts. You've been listening to the Everlasting Nation Broadcast, a radio ministry of International Board of Jewish Missions. For more information, you can write us at P.O. Box 1386, Hickson, Tennessee 37343, or call us at 423-876-8150, or you may also go online at ibjm.org. Until next time, may God bless and shalom.