Over the past several weeks, I have been sharing with you about Israel, the Jewish people, and the danger of replacement theology. These are not always easy subjects. They carry history, emotion, and sometimes deeply rooted beliefs. But I continue to return to them for one simple reason: if we want to understand the heart of God, we must be willing to look honestly at His Word. Not politically. Biblically. And the deeper I look at God’s plan for Israel, the more I find myself returning to one word: grace. God’s amazing grace.
Grace is something I know personally, because when God changed my heart, He changed the way I saw an entire people. For years, I carried hatred toward Israel and the Jewish people. Then Yeshua began to deal with my heart, and the same people I had once rejected became people I longed to reach with His love. God gave me a mission of reconciliation—to build bridges, to show His love, and to bring Jews and Arabs closer to Yeshua.
When I first began preaching about God’s love for the Jewish people and His determination to pursue them, my wife once looked at me and said, “You make me jealous. I want to be Jewish.”I smiled, but my answer was serious: “No. You don’t.” Why? Because being God’s chosen people has never meant automatic salvation or spiritual superiority. Scripture tells us that a veil remains over many hearts, preventing them from recognizing Yeshua as Messiah. The Jewish people were chosen by God for a purpose—to be His witnesses—and when we study their history, we discover something far greater than the story of one nation. We discover the character of God.
Israel’s story is not proof that Israel was perfect. It is proof that God is faithful.
Again and again throughout Scripture, we see the same pattern. When God’s people walked faithfully with Him, they experienced His blessing. When they rebelled, He disciplined them. When they turned back to Him in repentance, He forgave and restored them. Read the book of Judges and you will see this cycle unfold again and again: Israel wandered, trouble came, the people cried out to God, and in His mercy, God raised up a deliverer. Then the cycle began again.
It would be easy to read those pages and shake our heads at Israel. How could they forget God again? How could they rebel after everything He had done? But perhaps the better question is: How often do we do the same? We cannot live in rebellion and expect the blessing of obedience. We cannot ignore the Word of God and then wonder why our lives have moved away from His purposes. And yet, when we repent and return to Him, we encounter the same God Israel encountered throughout Scripture—a God whose grace is greater than our failure and whose faithfulness does not disappear because we have stumbled.
This is God’s amazing grace.
And this is why I cannot accept replacement theology. God’s faithfulness to Israel is not based on Israel’s perfection. If it were, their story would have ended long ago. His faithfulness rests upon His character, His covenant, and His promises. The re-establishment of the State of Israel and the gathering of Jewish people from the nations cannot simply be dismissed as coincidence. If we want to understand what is happening in the Middle East today, we must be willing to open our Bibles and look at events through the lens of Scripture—not only through politics.
The same grace that reveals God’s faithfulness to Israel has also carried us. When we began our ministry in Nazareth in 2009, people spoke against us. Some even declared that within six months the ministry would close. Six months passed. Then years passed. 2009 is long behind us, and today we are in 2026. We are still here. Not because we are perfect. Not because we never made mistakes.
We are here because God is faithful.
Today, we are preparing to move into our new Lighthouse Humanitarian Center—a place that will serve Jewish and Arab families, Ukrainian and Russian immigrants, Holocaust survivors, Muslims and Christians. Through practical acts of compassion, people are encountering the love of Yeshua. Lives are being changed. Bridges are being built. And people who once seemed far from God are drawing near. When I look at what God has done, I see grace. When I look at Israel’s story, I see grace. And when I look at my own life—the heart God changed from hatred to love—I see grace.
The question, then, is not whether God’s plan is moving forward. The question is whether we will take our place in it. Will we allow old hatred, inherited prejudice, and doctrines without biblical foundation to control us? Or will we surrender our hearts to God and ask Him to teach us to love the people He has called us to reach? Yeshua told us to go into all nations and make disciples. Are the Jewish people a nation? Yes. Then how can we decide they are excluded from the mission Yeshua gave us?
Friends, it is time to show the love of Yeshua. Perhaps those who believe this are not always the majority. But the majority is not always right. Remember the twelve spies: ten returned with a report filled with fear, while Joshua and Caleb chose to believe God. Ten were the majority. Two carried faith. We know whose report God honored.
As we continue this teaching, I encourage you to follow along and share these messages with others. Download our app, where we are gathering this complete teaching series on replacement theology along with our weekly devotionals. Use it not only to listen, but to help others understand God’s heart and His plan for His people.
And please continue to pray for us as we prepare our new humanitarian center in Nazareth. The road ahead will require time, work, and significant resources, but we believe this center will become a lighthouse of hope and reconciliation—a place where practical help opens doors for people to experience the love of Yeshua.
God’s grace has not forgotten Israel. His grace has not forgotten us. And His grace has not forgotten you.
“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
Romans 11:29
Blessings from Nazareth,
Pastor Saleem