People today often discuss the relationship between Judaism and Christianity, two of the world’s major religions, but Christianity’s relationship with Israel, a nation and a parcel of land, is a complicated and more contentious issue. The Bible helps us understand Christianity’s relationship to Judaism and Israel, but this does not always make life or world events easier to bear.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are referred to as the Abrahamic faiths. They trace their roots to Abraham, whom God blessed and sent out to bless others. God told Abraham that those who blessed Him would be blessed, and those who dishonored Him, God would curse (Gen. 12:1–3). These blessings and curses are according to God, not the world.

The relationship of Christianity to Judaism is well understood. Christianity was instituted by God’s Son, the greatest Jew who ever lived. The 27 books of the New Testament were written within 50 to 100 years after the 400-year-silence of the Old Testament. God’s perfect love inverted the evil of Jesus’s death into good for all humanity. Then God ensured that the gospel was proclaimed so that every person in the world might hear it.

In the early days of Christianity, the apostles discussed how Jewish laws and traditions impacted the faith. Peter and Paul, especially, argued about what would be required of Gentile (non-Jewish) believers regarding such things as circumcision. This was resolved in Jerusalem by the first church council (Acts 15:1–35).

Paul’s letter to Galatia and Peter’s two letters give us some understanding of the challenges faced by early church leaders and the grace which God provided to help them resolve disputes in a godly manner. Throughout the world today, New Testament gospels and letters plus the 39 books of the Old Testament inherited from Judaism encourage and teach Christians. The Old and New Testaments together, the Bible, is the world’s best instruction book.

The Jews place their faith in God, Yahweh, as most important as they fight to retain their land. Israel, the name which God gave Isaac’s son Jacob (Gen. 32:28), is also the name used to describe the land which God gave to Abraham (Gen. 12:7, 15:18–21, 26:3–4, 28:13; Josh. 1:2–4). Jews who follow Jesus are called Messianic Jews. Orthodox Jews may respect Christians and Christianity, but they do not believe that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah of the Old Testament.

Christians know that Judaism and Israel, products of God’s Old Covenant, precede Christ. They respect Jews as all people should but also because God chose the Jews to work through them to show His goodness and faithfulness to the world. God has not given up on the Jews who do not accept His Son just as He has not given up on anyone who does not accept His Son. It is people who give up when they deny or reject the Son of the one true God of the Bible.

History has shown that the Jews were not chosen because of their goodness. God used sinful Jews to exhibit His mercy and kindness. He used a few faithful men and women to display His goodness and sovereignty. Then, in a final effort against their sin, God sent His Son Jesus to save the Jews, but many rejected Him as their Messiah. Some Jews had Jesus arrested by the Romans and were complicit in His death. This was all part of God’s plan of salvation.

Some Christians believe that Judaism is no longer relevant because Christianity alone, the New Covenant, is the only way to God. They say that Judaism was displaced when Jesus instituted His church. Believing that Judaism and Israel no longer have roles because Christianity subsumed them is a false doctrine sometimes referred to as Replacement Theology or supersessionism.

If Jews had been more faithful and sinned less against God, God would not have sent Jesus, and non-Jews may never have had the opportunity to accept God through Jesus. This hardness of Jewish hearts allowed non-Jews to be grafted into God’s family as His children. The Bible tells us that when the fullness of Gentiles is brought into God’s fold, Israel will be saved. The deliverer will come from Zion and will banish the ungodliness from the Jews. God’s covenant with the Jews will be fulfilled when He takes away their sins (Rom. 11:25–36; see also Ps. 14:7, 53:6; Isa. 27:9, 59:20; and Rev. 7:9).

Just as God provided a way for faithful Gentiles to be grafted into the olive tree (Israel) through Jesus’s first coming, God has supplied the means for faithful Jews to be saved near or at Jesus’s second coming. The Bible abounds with prophecy pointing to the salvation of people from all over the world. Revelation records some of the Bible’s greatest mysteries, including Chapter 7’s description of what some believe to be a literal 144,000 Jews from the twelve tribes of Israel and an innumerable international multitude of saved souls and Chapter 21’s triumphant return of Christ with a new heaven and a new earth.

Judaism and Israel helped form Christianity. Some people view the Jews and Israel as irrelevant, while others hate the Jews so much that they desire their annihilation. God chose Israel, the Jews, and His Son to show His love, strength, and power to the world. Every person on earth, Jew and Gentile alike, will be accountable to Jesus when He returns.