If we want to have clarity today and endurance through our remaining tomorrows, we would do well to become literate in the prophets ourselves, remembering a critical principle: The Scriptures are no ordinary texts vulnerable to the scrutiny of our own wavering criticisms; we must submit to the Scriptures. The Scriptures are under no burden to submit to us.

“The prophets foresaw both Israel’s stumbling and the salvation of the Gentiles, culminating in Israel’s restoration. Paul grasped this divine mystery: Jesus will not return until a remnant from every nation is gathered in, and this ingathering of the nations will lead to the salvation of all Israel.”

“The prophets and the apostles had access to that pain, they embraced it as their own, they felt it, and contrary to any intuition it obviously sustained them. It is counterintuitive and paradoxical indeed that pain could sustain, and build-up character. Unless that pain is the expression of undying love…”

“A cheaply won, ‘personal-escape-route-to-Cloud-Heaven’ Gospel will never be attractive to Gen Z. They want solutions that work on a global and communal scale. My generation is crying out for justice and a half-baked Gospel just won’t cut it.”

The way that the nations behave has never been an acceptable path for the Jewish people. It is a heavy calling and there is no opt-out option for the Jew.

“If the coming of Jesus had subverted or altered God’s plan for Israel, Paul would not have been suffering or consumed by unceasing sorrow for his people. Paul’s heart burned for Israel’s salvation.“

“If we lack Jerusalem, we are untethered from the ‘sure and steadfast anchor of our souls,’ the hope of the resurrection and coming restoration. And in our unmooring, we are unprepared to bear faithful witness of the Gospel of the Kingdom to those perishing without knowledge. Worse yet, the danger of a different gospel is that we may well be perishing ourselves.”