1 Kings 20: 28-30 -- And a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The Lord is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’” And they encamped opposite one another seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle was joined. And the people of Israel struck down of the Syrians 100,000 foot soldiers in one day. And the rest fled into the city of Aphek, and the wall fell upon 27,000 men who were left.
In the battle described in 1 Kings 20:28-30, Israel's initial army of 7,000 men, including 232 young leaders, defeated the vastly larger Syrian forces.
The Israelites fought many decisive battles against great odds which are viewed as evidence of God safeguarding the Israelites. Others include the Battle of Mount Tabor (Judges 4-5), where Deborah and Barak defeated Canaanite forces through divine intervention, the Fall of Jericho, Gideon's victory over Midian with just 300 men (Judges 7) and of course God drowning Pharaoh's men when He lead the Hebrews out of Egypt.
Physical/military conquests is one way in to think about salvation. Consider the Jewish expectation for a Messiah who would defeat Rome.
Jews and Christians Define Salvation Differently
Judaism teaches that God saves, but the concept differs from many Christian interpretations.
In Jewish belief, God's salvation primarily refers to collective deliverance rather than personal salvation from sin or guarantee of eternal life.
Salvation in Judaism is closely linked with the idea of redemption (ge'ulah) and is frequently understood in terms of God saving the people of Israel from exile, oppression, or other hardships. The Jewish Bible (Tanakh) records many instances where God delivers or saves, but unlike Christianity, Judaism does not emphasize individual salvation through faith in a savior. Instead, it focuses on collective rescue, living a righteous life, repentance (teshuvah), and following God's commandments.
It seems to me that the Jewish concept of salvation has a perfect application to what Israel is going through since October 7th. Israel is fighting enemies to the north, east, west and internally.
Messiah's Role
The Messiah in Judaism is anticipated as a human figure who will bring peace and redemption, not as a divine being who grants personal salvation.
The Messiah in Judaism is expected to be a future human leader—a descendant of King David—who will bring about the redemption of the Jewish people, usher in an age of peace, rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem and gather Jews back to Israel.
Interestingly, despite Jews and Christians having different notions of the role of the Messiah, expectations are running high for the coming of the Messiah by both Jews and Christians!
Atonement - Are We Ready?
In biblical times, personal atonement from sin was done through a blood sacrifice. Since the destruction of the 2nd Temple and the end of the sacrificial system, atonement is achieved through repentance, prayer, charity, and good deeds—not through belief in an external savior.
Jewish framework holds that God is just and merciful, and that the gates of repentance remain open to all who return to righteous behavior. Jewish faith asserts that God's salvation or mercy is available to all people, not exclusively Jews, provided they honor God and act ethically.
The prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 66:18–23) envisions “all nations and tongues” coming to worship God, making universalistic statements about God’s accessibility and concern for all humanity—not just the Jewish people.
Given that there are 613 Commandments, it is hard to feel one is on solid ground when it comes to meeting a Jewish standard. As a Jew, atonement was always on a year-by-year basis as we fasted and went to temple on Yom Kippur and prayed to be written into the Book of Life for another year. The afterlife was not so much of a focus.
Jewish repentance (teshuvah) requires apologizing directly to the person you have wronged and seeking their forgiveness. Jewish repentance (teshuvah) differs from the Christian concept of repentance in some key ways:
- In Judaism, genuine repentance requires not only confession and regret but also making direct amends and apologizing to those you have wronged; interpersonal sins cannot be forgiven by God until the victim has been compensated or reconciled.
- In Christianity, repentance is typically understood as sincere regret before God, often mediated through faith in Jesus, and is primarily focused on forgiveness and salvation, sometimes without the requirement for direct restitution to those harmed.
The differences between Jewish and Christian views on repentance and forgiveness are deeply rooted in their perspectives on this life versus the afterlife—this world (Olam HaZeh) versus the world to come (Olam HaBa).
Jewish focus on this world (Olam HaZeh) is why Jew's are so concerned with social justice, environmentalism and other ways to repair the world (Tikkun Olam).
Christianity, being highly concerned with the Kingdom of Heaven, and a relationship with God, the dominant understanding is that sin primarily damages a person’s relationship with God. Therefore repentance is first and foremost directed toward God.
The structure of the 10 Commandments indeed reflects this balance: traditionally, the commandments are understood as two sets of 5, where the first 5 are directed toward our relationship with God, and the second 5 toward our relationship with other people.
Interestingly, even though Christianity focuses on repentance to repair our relationship with God, Jesus redirects us back to our relationship with our fellow.
While Christianity often frames repentance as restoring our relationship with God, Jesus repeatedly teaches that reconciliation with our fellow human beings is inseparable from that. In fact, He makes it clear that you cannot claim to be right with God if you are deliberately remaining unreconciled with others you’ve wronged.
Matthew 5:23–24 — “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there … first go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”
Another perfect example is Matthew 6:12 — “And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us..”
What's Love Got to Do with It? Everything!
"Love" in a Jewish spiritual sense was directed AT God. Judaism teaches that love is directed at God as a central commandment, especially expressed in the Torah: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5)
For the Christian, atonement and the Messiah go hand-in-hand. Please pardon the pun. God's love is directed at us. In the ultimate act of love, Jesus lays down his life for our wrongs. He asks us to show our love for Him by loving our fellow.
In John 13:34-35, Jesus puts love for others at the heart of discipleship and as the distinguishing mark of His followers -- “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." — John 15:13 (NIV)
Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22:12-13) is "love" in a class by itself.
Two Paths
Ironically, both Judaism and Christianity end up achieving a "better world," even though they get their in different ways. But when it comes to the afterlife, I will simply say that Christianity's view of Salvation brings more to the discussion. In the final analysis, Christianity's premise of how "God Saves" rides on whether or not Yeshua was crucified, was laid in an unused tomb and the rose from the dead on the 3rd day. That's why when some scribes and Pharisees wanted to see a sign, the only sign he offered was the "sign of Jonah" (Matthew 12:38-42).
Hezekiah and the Messiah
Some believe we are witnessing God’s salvation in Israel with the war. Surely Israel's miraculous protection since October 7th is beyond anyone's reasonable expectations.
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| King Hezekiah of Judah Between the late 8th and early 7th century BC. |
It seemes to me that the defeat of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen, Syria and Iran warrant a mighty Hallelujah. The amazing protection Israel has had during these wars could be compared to the moment Hezekiah discovered that the angel of the Lord miraculously struck down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night during the siege of Jerusalem around 700 BC.
The Implication of God’s Protection
The Jewish sages say that had Hezekiah sung praises to God after that great victory against Israel's Assyrian enemies, the Messiah would have been revealed as well as Gog and Magog as prophecied in Ezekiel. The Gemara tells us in Sanhedrin 94a:
Isaiah said: “The burden of Dumah. One calls to me out of Seir: Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The Watchman said: The morning comes and also the night; if you will inquire, inquire; return, come” (Isaiah 21:11–12). Rabbi Yoḥanan says: That angel, who is appointed over the spirits [seirim], his name is Dumah. All the spirits assembled near Dumah and said to him: “Watchman of the night, what of the night? Does God, Guardian of Israel, say that the time for redemption has arrived?”
The angel answered: “The Watchman said: The morning comes and also the night; if you will inquire, inquire; return, come.” The Holy One, Blessed be He, said that the morning of redemption has come as well as the night of the exile. If you inquire and seek repentance, inquire and repent, and return to God and redemption will come.
In Sanhedrin 94a, "It was taught in the name of Rabbi Pappeyas: It is a disgrace for Hezekiah and his associates that they did not recite a song themselves."
In other words, because Hezekiah and his associates failed to sign songs of praise to God for their redemption, the Messiah was not appointed by God.
What is especially interesting is that we find a description of the nature of the Messiah in this part of the Gemara. Here is how the Messiah is described, had he appeared in Hezekiah's time:
The Gemara Describes the Messiah
The Rabbis drew from Isaiah 9 to list the eight names of Hezekiah. As it is written: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government is upon his shoulder; and his name is called Pele Joez El Gibbor Abi Ad Sar Shalom”.
The translation of "Pele Joez El Gibbor Abi Ad Sar Shalom" is: "Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace"
There you have it, a description of the One who Saves. That is the description of the Jewish Messiah. This is Israel's "Redeemer."
Speaking of names, the Hebrew name Yehoshua יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, Yeshua for short, and Joshua in English all means "YHWH (the LORD) is salvation" or "God saves".
Jonah Knew Who His Savior Was
With war against Hamas coming to a close the big question I have is whether or not Israel, will say their "Salvation is of God," just as Jonah did when he was redeemed. Three days and three nights in the belly, "Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish." ‐- Jonah 2:9 esv.
The Prophet Jonah told us in Jonah 2:8-9 esv:
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
Today's Hezekiah Moment:
Clearly, the IDF soldiers and Israel's missle defence systems are to be lauded for their protection of Israel and defeat of Israel's awful enemies. If you ask many of the soldiers, they would give the glory to God. There have been too many miracles not to see His hand and shield over Israel.
If today’s events are a prophetic shadow of the events the bible in Jerusalem during the time of Hezekiah, the question should be: To what/who will Israel give the victory? And will the leaders and people of Israel sing praises?
If those songs of praise are for God and the Messiah is revealed, as the Rabbis in Gemara said He would be, who will He be. Again, we have a description so we recognize Him. Here is the Messiah we'd be looking for:
"Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace"
This Hezekiah moment will be another moment like Yeshua spoke of in Luke 13.34.
Conclusion
I called this blog post "God Saves." That is what Jesus's name means.
Jews and Christians relate to Salvation very differently. Both Jew and Christian believe God saves, but figuratively and literally they are talking two different languages, Hebrew and Greek.
When it comes to Salvation, Jews and Christians both begin at the Aleph/Alpha, but Jews end at the Tav and Christians end at the Omega.