![\"shulam\"](\"http:\/\/orenu.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/shulam-300x200.jpg\")
Veteran Israeli Messianic leaders Jacob Damkani and Joseph Shulam got together for a little chat about the faith and restoration of Israel on Damkani\u2019s online studio program, and the result was something that should be watched by Christians trying to get a handle on Israel and the Jews (see below).<\/p>\n
The underlying theme of the chat was how to deal with the notion that Israel and its Jewish population must \u201cconvert\u201d to faith in Yeshua (Jesus) in order to complete the restoration process.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsrael is not being reformed, it is being restored,\u201d said Shulam, director of Netivyah Bible Instruction Ministry. \u201cIt began 105 years ago with the first pioneers, through whose strength and courage, and with God\u2019s help, this land has become one of the most advanced nations in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Damkani, an outspoken street evangelist, continued, \u201cAnd here we are doing the same work of the pioneers on the spiritual level. They laid the foundation for the restoration of Israel physically, and now there are pioneers in the body [of Messiah].\u201d<\/p>\n
Then came the more difficult question of how to return the Gospel to its proper, Jewish context.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Jewish people are rediscovering our relationship with Yeshua\u2026 [following] a bloody past with the Christian world,\u201d explained Shulam. \u201cYou cannot restore something without first clearing out the garbage, both on the Jewish side and the Christian side.\u201d<\/p>\n
Damkani chimed in by noting that \u201cwe received things in a certain way from the Christian world, and we need to really undress Jesus [of his] blonde [hair and] blue eyes\u2026and discovery him anew so our people can relate to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shulam pointed out that this process was not only beneficial for the Jews, but for the Christians, as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cChristians [around the world] are beginning to realize that they don\u2019t need to import all the division and tradition and man-made institutions from the West, that they can [instead] go straight to the Word of God,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd all of this through a connection with the historical Yeshua and the historical people of God, the Jewish people, and the Land of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shulam insisted that Christians reconnecting with this biblical foundation \u201cis a key to the restoration. \u2026You cannot have a biblical Church without the Jews being part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Damkani wondered what it would take to teach the wider Christian world that \u201cit cannot do without Israel, and Israel cannot do without the Church, either.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shulam responded with the story of a famous Jewish rabbi who came to faith in Yeshua and who explained the faith-based relationship between Israel and the Church as being like a giant jigsaw puzzle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Jewish people have 70 percent of the pieces, but the Church has the centerpiece,\u201d the rabbi was said to have taught, concluding that \u201cwe can never finish the puzzle without the Church, and the Church can never finish the puzzle without Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watch the full discussion:<\/p>\n