Why Christian Kids Should Learn about Israel

I just asked a bunch of kids pastors on Facebook if they ever talked to the kids in their churches about Israel. And the first response was one took me by surprise! Dyanna from California wrote, “I’m so glad you are drawing attention to this! I just assisted with some online Bible clubs this summer with a well-known evangelistic organization for children and was dismayed by the way one particular person was referring to Jewish people. So many believers have never come to realize Jesus was and is Jewish!”

Why Israel is Important

Mic drop! That was not the answer I was expecting. But it does point out some interesting things about the world view of some Christians, which is why I am bringing this subject up! We need to teach our Christian kids about Israel, because if we don’t say anything about Israel from a biblical perspective, someone else is going to speak from an ungodly perspective, and it can easily affect their viewpoints and attitudes for years to come. We want to get to our kids first with the Bible perspective.

Here’s the deal – it’s almost impossible for us to separate what is going on in the world around us from who we are and what we believe as Christians. Reading your Bible is like listening to the daily news!

If you’ve listened to me very long, you know that I’m passionate about raising a generation of kids to follow Christ with all their hearts. And to do that, they need to know the Bible. They need to know God’s Word from front to back because it addresses every issue in life that we are going to run up against. And sooner or later they are going to encounter negative attitudes about Israel! We’ve got to be pro-active.

Shocked at Reaction of Christians!

I’ve posted things about Israel and the Jews before on social media, and I’ve been shocked at the so-called Christians that come crawling out from underneath a rock to slur and denigrate and belittle the Jews! Dyanna was right! Jesus was a Jew, and He never stopped being a Jew! He never was a Christian. You do understand that, right? And our kids need to know that when they became a Christian they were grafted into the vine of Abraham’s family. Father Abraham is not just a song we sing—it’s our reality! The Bible calls Christians one new man- that is Jews and Gentiles coming together to form a new creation that never existed before. It’s important for our Christian kids to know and understand their Jewish roots! The Jews are family to us Christians!

Something I’ve learned over the years about people, especially kids, if the most important people in their lives, like parents, grandparents, Sunday school teachers, children’s pastors, and close family friends stay silent on various subject, it creates a vacuum. And the children are then sitting ducks to be influenced by others who may not represent their family’s Christian views. This happens every day on many subjects, at school, in books, in movies, in music and so forth.

An Entire Conference about Israel

I have always felt very strongly about teaching my kids in my children’s ministries about Israel. So strongly, in fact, that I have produced more curriculums and more products on Israel for kids than almost any other topic. Probably one of my favorite family conferences I ever did was called, “Kids Blessing Abraham.” For three days and nights we taught over 200 kids, teens, and parents all about Israel and how important she is. We even invited a real Jewish messianic rabbi to come to teach us things about Jewish culture. He even delighted us by bringing a 200-year-old Torah to let us look at!

My favorite part of the conference was building a giant imitation wailing wall, then teaching them the history behind it. Then, on the last night, we gave everybody scriptures about Israel, we taught them how to reword them and make them into prayers, then we invited them to go our cardboard wailing wall and pray for the peace of Jerusalem. The room was electric as those kids began to pray!

God commands us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and says that those who bless Abraham will be blessed and those who curse Abraham will be cursed! Our kids need to know this! Those are very strong words! But boy, listening to some news channels, you’d think Israel was them devil himself! And don’t think kids aren’t listening to the news over your shoulder! They pick up more than you think they do! So, what do mom and dad have to say about Israel?

The Significance of Jewish Feasts

Did you pay any attention when reading your Bible about all the feasts that God commanded the Jews to celebrate? It was like wild! I mean, here in America, we basically have Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Memorial Day, the 4th of July, and a few others. But it was God who designed these holidays and commanded the Jews to celebrate them every year. But what I never knew as a little girl was that each of them had very significant meanings. There are two particular times of year that Jewish people celebrate the very specific feasts-in the fall and in the spring.

The fall feasts were historical, looking back at what God had done for Israel in the past. But the prophetic feasts have to do with Jesus coming back again and what’s about to take place in the future! When our kids learn about the feasts and their meanings, they understand the Bible on a whole new level!

A very celebrated Bible scholar, Derek Prince, once said you cannot fully understand the Bible unless you know something about Israel. And if you are confused about Israel, you are confused about the Bible. We owe the Jewish people an enormous debt. Without them, the church would have no patriarchs, no prophets, no apostles, no Bible, and no savior.