For
Love of Zion
Every generation has its heroes, but I
wonder if Scotland will ever again be blessed by a concentration of
spiritual
giants gracing the land as happened in the mid to late 19th Century.
One of
those “giants” was Andrew Bonar, who was in the front rank of all that
was
remarkable about the Scottish Presbyterianism of that time.
Bonar was
one of a group of friends whose passion for, prayer for
and work for God’s ancient people led to an outpouring of the Holy
Spirit. His
hermeneutical axiom was, “Let unfulfilled prophecy be interpreted with
the same
literality, and no more, that we find borne out by fulfilled prophecy.”
Bonar’s
conviction was that work
amongst the Jews was biblical, merciful and profitable.
First, he
was convinced that the
evangelism of the Jews was biblical. In
Acts 1:8 our risen Lord told his disciples that after the Spirit came
upon them
they would be his witnesses “in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to
the ends of the earth.” We tend to read that passage through a
redemptive
historical matrix, but for Bonar nothing had changed about the Lord’s
call to
his church. The gospel must first and always be preached in Jerusalem.
Bonar
differentiated between Jewish and Gentile mission and saw the
foundation for
blessing in Gentile mission as being in the faithful pursuit of Jewish
mission.
His reading of Scripture also led him to believe that “there is a day
coming
when God will bless the Jews more than he has done the Gentiles.”
Secondly, he was convinced that the
evangelism of the
Jews was merciful. Through his travels, especially his “mission of
enquiry” in
1839, Bonar became acquainted with the lives and deaths of the Jewish
people.
More than any other people on earth, they have been subjected to
hardship,
xenophobia and persecution. They live unhappy lives, but even worse
after they
die, if they have not acknowledged their Messiah – and so Bonar writes,
“Jews
are miserable enough in life, but yet more so in death.”
Thirdly,
he was convinced that the evangelism
of the Jews was profitable. Bonar’s interest in Jewish mission under
girded his
belief in the success of Gentile mission – particularly in his own
congregation
in Finnieston. He writes, “All those who love Zion are made to
prosper.” On the
occasion of his jubilee celebrations in 1888, Bonar told a packed
audience of
fellow ministers and sundry, “It is something for any minister to have
his hand
in Jewish work. If you want a blessing put your hand to the Jewish
work. It
will not encumber you or hinder you but it will greatly bless you.”
Could the
roots of Bonar’s success in his congregation be attributed not just to
prayer,
but also to his interest in Jewish mission? Such a conclusion does no
violence
to Paul’s teaching in Romans 9-11.
In
closing, can I make this one impassioned plea, especially to those who
preach
the Word and lead our people into the Scriptures – please be a friend
to the
Jews! It will call down the blessing of God upon you and your
congregation. You
will not be the loser for loving Zion.
Colin Dow
Rev Dr Colin Dow is the minister of St Vincent
Street Free Church of Scotland in Glasgow. This article is adapted from
his
lecture Andrew Bonar –
Joshua of the Disruption, the
full text of which
is available on the St Vincent Street Church website: http://www.greekthomsonchurch.com/dowblog/2007/09/03/
andrew-bonar-joshua-of-the-disruption/#more-85
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