Israel & the Church Journal
Israel and the Church is a journal for biblical and theological reflections concerning Israel and the Church in God’s plan for this world in the light of His coming Kingdom. The editors are aiming at two magazines per year, filled with contributions from all C4I branches from all ‘corners’ of the earth, to strengthen each other as a worldwide movement. The magazine is available as a digital file.
Issue 1 | 2024: Israel at war
The theme of this edition is Israel at war. October 7th, 2023, felt as a turning point in Israel’s history. Israel was brutally attacked by Palestinian terrorists from the Gaza Strip, who thereby broke the existing ceasefire. Since then, Israel has been at war, and we see the world turning against Israel. Where do we stand as Christians? In this volume, we hope to offer some Biblical perspectives on Israel’s war.
Issue 1 | 2023: The Shabbat and the Feasts
The theme of this edition is The Sabbath and the Feasts. In this volume, we focus on the Shabbat, together with the three pilgrimage feasts, and Purim. We read the testimonies of Jews who give us an insight in how they celebrate the feasts. At the same time, they reveal the deeper meanings and concepts involved.
Issue 2 | 2022: The blessing of Abraham
The theme of this edition is The blessing of Abraham. The authors explore the meaning of the words God spoke to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, and to whom they are addressed. What does it mean for Gentiles to bless Israel? Blessing Abraham and being blessed is a wide topic. The Editorial Team hopes to draw some lines for a better and deeper understanding of these important words.
Issue 1 | 2022: Jesus and Israel
One of the most important questions in understanding the place of Israel (both the Jewish people and the land) is that of the relation of Jesus and Israel. Obviously, He was born a Jew and the New Testament proclaims Him as the Messiah of Israel. But seemingly, the leaders of Israel had rejected Him as such. And the majority of the Jewish people lived on without any consciousness of Him. In later times, the relations between the early church and rabbinic Judaism became strained in such a way that it caused Jesus to be an apparent stranger to His own people. In this edition we cover the subject of the presence of Jesus with His people in the time of the Bible and after His resurrection and ascension.
Issue 1 | 2021: The coming of the Kingdom of God
One of the functions of blowing the shofar, the ram’s horn (see the picture on the front page), is to proclaim God’s kingship. God is King and He reigns! At the same time, in today’s life and world, we experience that the belief in God’s reign is very often challenged. Things do not go as they should go. The reality is a reality of sin and brokenness. Yet, we are standing on a solid foundation: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. We are looking forward to the full realization of God’s kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven.
Issue 2 | 2020: Exile and Restoration
For over two thousand years, a large part of the Jewish people have been exiled from the homeland God had promised them. In our time, we are privileged to see many Jews return to their ancient homeland. The foundation of the State of Israel in 1948 was a landmark in history, enabling the restoration of the Jewish people in their homeland. Is the exile now going towards its termination?
Both exile and restoration of Israel raise many Biblical questions. In this volume, we try to deal with some of them, centered on what the New Testament has to tell us about exile and restoration.
Issue 1 | 2020: The promise of the land
It is obviously one of the central themes, if not the central theme, in the stories of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and probably in the Old Testament as a whole: God has promised a land to the people of Israel. In this edition of the journal Israel and the Church, we try to trace the theme of the land promise throughout the Scriptures of Old and New Testament.
Issue 1 | 2019: Twelve Theses
This issue contains lectures on the Twelve Theses, that were held during our Twelve Theses Summit in February 2018. As an addition, Rev. Willem Glashouwer has put the twelve theses in the perspective of the classical creeds that are known from history, and that are kept in churches of various denominations.
