“Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, that I am Hashem your God and there is no other, and My people shall never again be put to shame.” (Joel 2:27)

When I was a young Christian, I was taught what I now call the “Church First Narrative.” According to this teaching, the Church replaced Israel, and the promises God made to the Jewish people now belonged to us. Theologians call this Replacement Theology, and I believed it without question.

I was far from alone. Today roughly 30 percent of Christians hold the replacement view, and about another 30 percent are unsure whether the Jews are still God’s chosen people. That means some 60 percent of Christians don’t know whether they should support Israel as God’s nation. The church badly needs education on where God stands with Israel. The 40 percent of Evangelical Christians who do hold an “Israel First Narrative” tend to support Israel with real enthusiasm and look for ways to bless the Jewish people. The question is how to reach everyone else.

The answer, I believe, lies in the prophecies of the last days.

The prophets put Israel first

The prophecies of the last days teach an Israel First Narrative from beginning to end. They show that God never replaced Israel. On the contrary, Israel is destined to become a blessing to every nation on earth. Isaiah makes God’s purpose for Israel unmistakable:

“I will also make you a light to the nations, so that My salvation may reach the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6)

Other far-reaching prophecies confirm this Israel First priority. One of the clearest appears in the book of Joel, where God promises to bless the entire world:

“After that, I will pour out My spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.” (Joel 2:28)

I was taught that this promise belonged to the Church. No one ever told me it applied to Israel first. Yet the verse right before it, the one quoted at the top of this article, settles the question. God declares that He will be “in the midst of Israel,” and that His people will never again be put to shame.

That declaration tells us the House of Israel will be back in its land, and that when this happens, God will be seen dwelling among them. This revelation will prove to the world that the God of Israel is the only true God. Only after the world sees this does God pour out His spirit on all mankind and on the nations.

As a Christian leader, I have no right to apply this prophecy to the Church while leaving Israel out of it. This prophecy has an Israel First application. If I want to see it fulfilled, I need to pray for Israel. The blessing comes when the Jews are back in their land, which means Christians should be praying for the Jewish people to return home to Israel.

The Third Temple prophecy

Many Christians also overlook God’s promise of a Third Temple, found in the prophecy of Ezekiel:

“I will take the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, gather them from every side, and bring them to their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel.” (Ezekiel 37:21-22)

We are living in the days of this promise. Immigration to Israel is rising, and applications for future immigration are climbing. More than 28,000 Jews around the world have opened aliyah files with the Jewish Agency to return to Israel. France saw a 32 percent increase in new aliyah files, the United States 17 percent, the United Kingdom 68 percent, and Australia a remarkable 90 percent.

Now notice what God promises once Israel is back in the land:

“I will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. My dwelling place shall be with them. And the nations shall know that I the LORD sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.” (Ezekiel 37:26-28)

The prophet Isaiah tells us what this Temple will be for:

“For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus says the Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel: I will gather still others to him, besides those already gathered.” (Isaiah 56:7-8)

Notice that in these prophecies, the Third Temple is built after the Jews return to their land. Some anti-Israel teachers claim this Temple will serve the Antichrist, but that distorts God’s purpose for it. God intends it to be a house of prayer for all nations. Like Joel’s prophecy, the promise of the Third Temple has an Israel First application.

God’s glory will shine from Jerusalem

Isaiah also foresees a day when God’s glory will go forth from Jerusalem, and every king on earth will see it (Isaiah 62:2). God is setting watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem who will pray day and night, giving Him no rest until He makes Jerusalem the praise of the earth (Isaiah 62:6-7). This prophecy is still waiting for its fulfillment in these last days.

Ten men and the garment of a Jew

The prophet Zechariah describes a time when Christians and many others will come to realize that the God of Israel is with the Jewish people:

“Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the LORD of Hosts and to ask for His favor. This is what the LORD of Hosts says: In those days ten men from every language and nation will take hold of the hem of a Jew’s garment and say, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’” (Zechariah 8:22-23)

The Church needs an Israel-first narrative

If God’s own prophecies for the last days put Israel first, then the Church must put Israel first too. When Christians stand with Israel and believe in God’s purposes and plans for her, they place themselves in the path of God’s blessing. God made this promise to Abraham and his descendants at the very beginning: “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you” (Genesis 12:3).

I once watched a man hook a trailer to the hitch receiver on the back of his truck. The hitch is what connects the trailer to the truck, and a small linchpin holds the hitch in place. That day, the linchpin had fallen out. When the man pulled away, the hitch slid right out of the receiver, and the trailer, with all its valuable cargo, stayed behind.

God has a linchpin that connects Israel to the Church. If the Church pulls away without Israel, God’s treasure in these last days, it will find that its blessings got left behind with her. God’s prophecies concerning Israel are what keep us connected to that treasure.

God’s linchpin

Here is the linchpin of the last days prophecies, and it needs to be fully restored to its place:

The Jews are still God’s chosen people, and Israel is still God’s chosen nation in these last days.

Paul made this plain in his letter to the Romans: “Did God reject His people? By no means! God has not rejected His people, whom He foreknew” (Romans 11:1-2). God has not left His treasure behind.

The prophecies of these last days make it clear that God is still keeping His covenant promises to the Jewish people and to the nation of Israel. Don’t pull away from Israel, and don’t leave this treasure behind.