By Not Known
On this day in 1938, Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party, delivered a much-anticipated speech in Berlin. This was the beginning of the expansion of the Nazi regime, which later resulted in World War II (1939-1945). His regime was totalitarian and fascist in nature, and he strived to fulfill the message that “his” race were superior, leading campaigns to eliminate various racial, religious, and political groups including Jews, Africans, Romanis (Gypsies), Lutherans, and anti-communists, marked by dark periods of mass genocide such as the Holocaust.
Much of the book of Romans focuses on the nation of Israel as God’s special people. Throughout history, Israel and the Jewish people have been at the forefront of attention and news, especially in American politics and many wars, insurgencies and tensions in the Middle East region. There is no doubt that there is something special about the Jewish people. Over 22% of all Nobel Prize winners since 1901 have been Jewish or people of Jewish descent (who comprise less than 0.2% of the world’s population, or 1 in every 500 people). Jews are also among the top genetic researchers in the world, and make up 20% of America’s chief executives and 22% of Ivy League students.
The Reformed tradition often teaches that because Israel had turned away in unbelief and rejected God, the church or body of Christ has now replaced it as God’s chosen people until the fulfillment of the end of the age.
Whichever camp you may belong to or support, whether you are German, Jewish, or a Christian, God’s word teaches us that all of mankind is created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27) and that God wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth and repentance (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9). How often do we pray for the world or the lost, or even for Israel? May God grow a burden and burning desire in our hearts and lives to see souls won and turned to Christ, and for the gospel to be shared and spread across the nations before the return of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, to whom will be all glory forever!
For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Rom. 10:12-13)
Timothy Pang