Without Excuse: Apologetics Blog

Questions to ponder: Why are Jews so hated and vilified? Why have they been one of the most persecuted people in history? Why is the world so hyper-focused on such a tiny ethnic minority? Why is Israel so hated and vilified? Why is the world so hyper-focused on this tiny strip of land the size of New Jersey? Connecting the right prophetic dots and having a proper eschatological framework will answer these questions and explain why the Jews and Israel still matter, regardless of what anyone else thinks. To do so, we must first start at the beginning. Ancient Israel After the Tower of Babel incident, God disinherited the nations and chose a people for His own through Abraham (Gen 12:1–3). He made an "everlasting" covenant with Abraham and his descendants (Gen 17:7-8). He later made a series of additional covenants with them. Some of those covenants were unconditional while others were conditional and came with blessings and cursings. Unfortunately, Israel fell into a pattern of...

 Israel is often compared in the Bible to the unfaithful wife who cheats on her husband, in their case, God. However, another comparison can be made in the parable of the prodigal son (Luk 15:11-32). In the parable, a man had two sons. The younger son took his inherence, traveled to a faraway country, and wasted his money on wild living and prostitutes. The young man became destitute but eventually came to his senses. He returned to his father and repented of his sins. The father forgave him and welcomed him back into the fold with a celebration. However, the older son was not pleased and rebuked his father. The father simply reminded his older son that everything he had was his, but his younger brother was lost, and now he’s found. The parable of the prodigal son is a narrative about forgiveness, repentance, and restoration. As with all parables, it can have more than one application. I believe the prodigal son can also represent Israel. Israel too wasted their inherence (their ...