The faith-based nonprofit Jews for Jesus, an organization that shares the Gospel with people of the Jewish faith, says it has seen an increase in the number of New Testament orders from Israelis since the war between Israel and Hamas began last October. Jews for Jesus, affiliated with the Messianic Jewish movement, is an organization dedicated to helping Jewish people continue living out their faith while believing in Christ, the Son of God. The organization engages in conversations about Jesus in public spaces like college campuses and parks and hosts events to create opportunities for dialogue. The group is devoted to demonstrating Christ-like behavior through charitable acts, such as soup kitchens and ministering to Holocaust survivors during their last days of life.
Jews for Jesus offers the New Testament for free to Israelis through its website and the sites of its ministry partners, One for Israel or Tree of Life Ministries. According to data provided to The Christian Post, the organization has seen 1,230 New Testament orders from Israelis since the war between Israel and the terror group Hamas began in October. Jews for Jesus Executive Director Aaron Abramson told CP that one possible reason for the increase in requests is that Israelis appear to have a lot of questions, including spiritual ones, since Hamas’ Oct. 7 onslaught. “But there’s also a kind of hopelessness,” Abramson said. “Israel has prided itself in its ability to defend itself, so Oct. 7 was a real blow to that for people. You had people questioning whether they should remain in Israel and if it was safe for them. You have people who once lived in other countries and experienced antisemitism who were like, ‘Well, where do we go from here?’ And so, if you can’t put your trust in maybe, let’s say, a political solution, you can’t put your trust in like a military solution, or if you can’t put your trust in an economic solution, then where do you put your trust?” he asked. “And I think that’s why a lot of people were starting to sort of dig into those spiritual questions.”
Abramson said many of the organization’s staff in Israel have wives, husbands or kids in the Israeli military who were called in after Oct. 7. He said the nonprofit decided to “shift gears” by supporting those who were impacted by the terrorist attack, partnering with groups like Samaritan’s Purse. In addition to helping kibbutzim residents relocate after Hamas devastated their communities, Jews for Jesus helped provide food once residents resettled at hotels. They also set up makeshift classrooms so children could continue going to school.
Jews for Jesus transformed its Moishe Roshen Center in Tel Aviv into a location that provided resources to those impacted by Oct. 7, such as toiletries and medication. Abramson said that the group even set up an art gallery to help people express themselves and hosted barbeques for military units. “So for us, it was really how can we create space for people to come in to wrestle through deeper questions and how can we speak to those spiritual needs, as well as meeting some of those emotional and physical needs?” Abramson said.
Biblical Connections: In Romans 11, the apostle Paul said Israel was spiritual blinded and the Gospel would go to the Gentiles, but in the future Israel would turn back to God and recognize Jesus as their Messiah. While this will most likely occur during the Tribulation period, it is possible that we are starting to see the beginnings of this revival today.
PRAY: Pray more Jewish people will have their eyes opened to the Gospel and accept Jesus as their Messiah and Savior.