PAUL’S ANGUISH AND THE HEART OF GOD • PART 1
How Paul’s Anguish for Israel’s Salvation is Connected to the Current Disciple-Making Movement in the Middle East—and How This Movement Relates to the Fulfillment of the Great Commission
Let us attempt to answer these questions by analyzing Paul’s feelings toward Israel and assessing how his ministry among the Gentiles had the goal of ultimately leading the nations to provoke Israel to salvation at the end of this age.
It would not be an exaggeration to consider Romans 9–11 the most important New Testament passage for understanding the connection between Israel, the Church, and the Great Commission.
“I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”[1]
We can see the intensity and importance that the mystery of Israel had for the apostle to the Gentiles through these emphatic declarations at the beginning of his discourse on the subject. Paul could not have been more emphatic: “I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit.” In a short statement, he emphasizes three times that what he is about to say is not merely an emotion or passing feeling; it is genuine, deep, and constant—testified by the Holy Spirit Himself.
Paul’s feeling on this matter is so striking that it can only be compared to Moses’ in the golden calf episode,[2] and to Jesus when He wept over Jerusalem and faced the cross. After stressing the importance of what he is about to say, Paul declares that he feels “great sorrow” and “unceasing anguish in [his] heart” because of the current condition of his people, Israel. He was afflicted, inconsolable, consumed by the grief he felt. When he thought about the condition of his Jewish brothers, Paul was overtaken by constant and profound physical, mental, and emotional pain.
Since Paul points to the Holy Spirit as his witness, we can affirm that this was not only the pain in his heart but also an expression of the heart of God Himself.
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. This was his main concern and aim whenever he began a new work. In every new city, the first place Paul chose to preach the gospel was the local synagogue.
PAUL, APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES?
Before being encountered by the Lord on the road to Damascus, Paul demonstrated great zeal for his people: a diligent Pharisee, an observer of the law, taught by the great rabbi Gamaliel.[3] But after that powerful encounter, Paul’s zeal was transformed into unceasing anguish for the condition of Israel—for the veil that remained over his people, preventing them from seeing their deep need for salvation.
Who could have had a greater impact among the Jews than Paul? He was the perfect man to be sent to Israel. Yet, God’s desire was for Paul to gain a more complete understanding of His heart. God loves Israel and the nations. Israel’s election does not mean the rejection of the nations; it is the means God chose to fulfill His purpose of bringing all nations—including Israel—back to Eden. And, as the apostle himself stated in another of his letters, the “foolishness of God is wiser than men,”[4] so God sent Paul as an apostle to the Gentiles.
The aim here is not to debate or respond to theological disputes, but to seek to understand the apostle’s heart and how it relates to Israel today.
Paul’s life and ministry became a prophetic picture of God’s passion for both Israel and the nations. The unceasing anguish Paul felt over Israel’s condition and his desire for their salvation were not in conflict with his calling and mission to the Gentiles.
Paul exhorted the church in Corinth to imitate him, as he imitated Christ.[5] Our ambition should be to attain the same heart as Jesus and the apostle Paul. We should deeply long to receive God’s heart for Israel and for the nations. Like Paul, we should be willing to lose everything (in the case of Moses and Paul, even their own individual salvation[6]) so that both might be saved.
THE GREAT COMMISSION AND GOD’S PURPOSE
The Lord entrusted His followers with the responsibility of fulfilling the Great Commission.[7] God had to transform men like Peter and Paul so that they could carry His burden and love for the Gentiles. In our generation, when controversy surrounding Israel and the destiny of the Jewish people has taken global proportions—with rising hatred and antisemitic practices—the Church urgently needs to be baptized in God’s heart and feel what He feels for His people, Israel.
We must dedicate ourselves to prayer and deep meditation on the Word so that the Lord may share with us His heartache, both for Israel and for the nations around them.
The Church carries a burden for the salvation of the nations and has recently been awakened to missions in the Muslim world. Workers have been sent to all regions. The task of reaching all peoples, languages, and tribes with the gospel of the kingdom may finally be completed in our generation. Just fifty years ago, this was something entirely unimaginable.
However, we must remember Paul’s own burden for Israel.[8] We urgently need to cry out for the salvation of Israel and for the Lord to prepare the nations—especially those surrounding Israel—to provoke her to jealousy. It is our responsibility before the Lord to serve the nations, and Israel, in this way.
May we not be found to squander it.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What is Paul’s anguish?
2. Have you ever felt anguish? If so, how can you relate? If not, try to imagine an emotion this intense; ask the Lord to help you feel what He feels.
3. What is God’s heart for His people, Israel?
4. Have you ever prayed for the salvation of Israel? Do so this week.