By Pastor Tobias Krämer
Jesus taught a great deal—the Gospels recount this at every turn—and he didn't do it for fun. It may be somewhat out of fashion today, but it's a fact that one cannot grow in faith without teaching. The Holy Spirit alone and the practical life of a Christian are clearly not enough. One also needs teaching, the processing of the Word, wrestling with truth, and basic biblical knowledge; otherwise, one remains uncertain in one's faith and cannot progress. This is precisely why it is said of the early church: "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching." (Acts 2:42)
What did the apostles teach? They taught Jesus, of course—who he was, what he did, what he taught, and what he means for humanity—and from this came the New Testament. But as devout Jews, they also taught the Scriptures (the Old Testament). There's no doubt about that. In modern terms, one could say: They taught the Bible. And so do we.
What does the Bible say? An endless amount! And everything needs to be learned. But one enormously important topic is Israel. I don't say this just because I'm a friend of Israel. It's actually the other way around: because the topic of Israel is so important in the Bible, I've become a friend of Israel. If you enter "Israel" into the Luther translation on www.bibleserver.com , 1406 results appear. That's a lot. God appears more often, namely 3094 times, Jesus 869 times, Moses 776 times. And no, I do NOT mean to say that Israel is more important than Jesus! I only want to say one thing: Israel is an important topic in the Bible. If you delve deeper, it's easy to see why: God chose Israel as his own people (Deuteronomy 7:6-8), and this remains the case to this day (Romans 11:1, 11, 28). This means: not only are we Christians on a journey with God, but so are the Jews, or rather, Israel.
Many questions arise at this point – and we explore them at the IsraelAcademy. We delve into the necessary depth and breadth until we truly understand: biblically, theologically, historically, and even politically. This is incredibly exciting, and along the way, our own faith matures. You are warmly invited!
