One day, the Emperor of Prussia, Frederick II the Great (1712-86)—an agnostic and disciple of the Enlightenment movement—was discussing with his personal physician various problems related to late 18th century. Finally, he confronted the doctor with a frank question, "Is there any substantial reasoning for the existence of a personal God?" The physician replied, without hesitation, "The Jews, my king, the Jews!"
Four Rabbis and One Purpose
For about 1400 years, between the 4th and 18th centuries, there was no visible expression of a Messianic Jewish body on earth. Then, in the late 17th century, in a sovereign and supernatural way, the Holy Spirit began to bring back the Messianic Jews. They resurfaced from the dead.
The first event we know of occurred in a small town in southern Poland, Pinczów (near Kraków)— around the year 1680. Four well-known Rabbis—Rabbi Krokeffer and Rabbi Sender, both from what is now the Czech Republic, and Rabbi Chaija Chajon from Turkey—met with the Chief Rabbi from Pinczów, known among his people as "Rabbi Megalleh Amukkoth" (the one who discovers secrets). According to documents later found in the Archives of the Moravians in Herrnhut (Germany), the three rabbis from outside Poland were individually led by the Holy Spirit to come to this small town to meet their colleague. They did not meet on just any day, but on Tisha B'Av, the Jewish day of fasting and mourning over the destruction of the Temple.
As they met, they discovered they shared the same sentiment. Deeply frustrated with the condition of the Jewish people, all four longed for God bring change. The Jews of their time were highly discouraged. Pogroms—such as the one under Ukrainian Cossack leader Bohdan Khmeinytsky, when 100,000 Jews were killed—had terrified them.
There was a great longing for the Messiah to come, and many were easily persuaded by anyone who claimed to be the expected Redeemer. One such figure was Sabbatai Zvi, who in 1665 announced a revelation that the following year would begin the Messianic Age and the establishment of a New World. Great was the distress among his Jewish followers when nothing happened—and even greater when he revealed himself as a false Messiah.
Others had already lost all hope in Biblical prophecy, and they resolved their frustration by abandoning their Jewish identity and attempting to assimilate into Gentile society. But this Gentile society in post-Thirty Years' War Europe was not open to integrate them. The confusion among the Jews in Europe grew even more. The four Rabbis longed for a new direction for their people.
In the course of their meetings, the four became overwhelmed by the presence of the Holy Spirit. After intensive studies of the Scriptures—especially the books of the prophets—and comparing them with the Christian New Testament, the veil was lifted from their eyes. They could see that many Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. So they understood that Yeshua of Nazareth is the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of mankind.
According to their revelation, the four Rabbis began baptizing each other in the mikvah of the house in Pinczów in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—with the Hebrew words, "BeShem HaAv, HaBen, VeRuach HaKodesh." From the Scriptures, they clearly saw that the Kingdom of God would soon be revealed. But before this could happen, Israel would need to convert to its Messiah and form a "Kahal"—a congregation of its own, parallel to the Kahal of the Gentiles. It was the rabbis' conviction that through this recognition of Yeshua as their Messiah, Israel was no longer the enemy of Christ, but instead, "His people." Now all nations on the earth would come to faith. On that night, the Messianic Jewish part of the Church experienced a hidden resurrection—a reawakening long buried beneath centuries of silence.
The four Rabbis shared two convictions. It was clear to them that they should not join any Gentile Christian church. If they did, they would lose their distinct Jewish identity. As authentic Jewish believers, they wanted to preach their faith among close friends. And so they did—and many were baptized.
The other conviction was that they wanted to remain Jews and to stay rooted in their Jewish culture—still going to the synagogue and living under the Law. But it was utterly impossible to share their convictions publicly with other Jews. They knew that if they spoke about this truth, they would be excluded from their people—or even killed. Although all of them were well known and respected rabbis within their circles, the time was not yet ripe. So, they decided to live their faith in secret.
Each began to form a clandestine cell of Jews who believed in the Messiah. They also wrote letters about their experience to friends living in different parts of Europe, from London to Constantinople. Small groups began to emerge in people's homes. Thus began a "hidden" network of Jews who believed in Jesus. All of these activities were kept secret, because if they became public knowledge, the Jewish authorities would suppress the movement.
Approximately 60 years later, a German-Austrian count, Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700-1760), became the first Gentile "mentor" of this secret Messianic movement. Since his youth, he had been a man dedicated to Christian unity. Throughout his life, he worked tirelessly to reconcile Christian groups in Germany, France and wherever he had influence. As the founder of the Moravian movement—the first "ecumenical community" in Church history—he became one of the pioneers of spiritual ecumenism.
In the year 1742, Zinzendorf understood that all his efforts for Christian reconciliation would be in vain if the first division of the Church—the split between Jews and Gentiles—was not addressed and healed. Therefore, when he heard of this underground network of Messianic Jews, Zinzendorf recognized that God had sovereignly reawakened the Jewish part of the Church. With the influence he had, he felt a deep responsibility to help Jews and Gentiles be reconciled into one Body.
Following this foundational decision, Zinzendorf sent one his closest co-workers, Samuel Lieberkühn, to Amsterdam to begin a new form of evangelism among the Jews of the city. He no longer wanted Jews to be baptized into Christian denominations. Instead, he wanted Lieberkühn to teach those Jews willing to follow Jesus as their Jewish Messiah to form their own Messianic Jewish congregations, which Zinzendorf called "Judenkille" (from the Hebrew word Kehila, meaning "congregation").
This parallel experiment began not only in Amsterdam but also in Zinzendorf's hometown of Herrnhut, Germany. It was the first time since the fourth century that baptized Jews were invited to preserve their Jewish lifestyle—expressing their faith in Jesus in Jewish terms while enjoying full communion with their Gentile brothers and sisters in the Church. This was a bold and unprecedented move. But with the death of the duke, this experiment in Jewish–Gentile unity came to an end. Again, the time was not yet ripe. However, his vision and his ideals did not disappear.
The Origin of the Modern Messianic Jewish Movement
It took another 200 years for Zinzendorf's vision to bear full fruit. At the beginning of the 19th century, many Christians—shaken by the overwhelming power of Napoleon's invasion of Europe—felt something akin to an "Antichrist momentum" and a heightened longing for the fulfilment of Christianity's eschatological hope. As a result, many Protestant groups were awakened to a renewed interest in the future of Israel. By studying the Scriptures, they came to understand that there could be no eschatological consummation of God's plan—and no fulfillment of prophecy—without the return of the Jews to their homeland. So, to hasten the Second Coming of Christ, many Protestant congregations—primarily in Britain, the United States, and Germany—began to take great interest in inviting Jews to become followers of Christ.
Until then, Jews who accepted Jesus as their Messiah had to give up all Jewish elements of their lifestyle. Now, for the first time, these Jewish believers in Jesus were allowed to continue living as Jews. Many congregations among the Anglicans, Baptists, and other Protestant denominations helped to develop what became known as the "Hebrew Christian Movement." Jews who accepted Yeshua as their Messiah formed Hebrew groups within and under the umbrella of Gentile Christian churches. This was a radical missionary concept for that era. Though helpful for the moment, it was not a long-term solution, because these Hebrew Christian congregations still remained under the control and guardianship of Gentile churches.
"The Church's Ministry Among Jewish People" (CMJ)—formerly known as the "London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews" or "The London Jews' Society," and later the "Church Missions to Jews" (CMJ)—is an Anglican example of this kind of missionary activity.
Within the "London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews," founded in 1809, leading evangelical Anglicans—including members of the influential "Clapham Sect," such as William Wilberforce and Charles Simeon—recognized an unmet need to promote Christianity among the Jewish people. The agenda included:
- Declaring the Messiahship of Jesus to the Jew first, and also to the non-Jew.
- Endeavoring to teach the Church its Jewish roots.
- Encouraging the physical restoration of the Jewish people to Eretz Israel, and the formation of an independent state in the Holy Land—decades before the rise of political Zionism.
- Supporting the development of the Hebrew Christian/Messianic Jewish movement.
Engaging in Pro-Israel Advocacy
The society's work began among poor Jewish immigrants, with a center in the East End of London, and soon spread to Europe, South America, Africa, and Palestine. In 1813, a Hebrew-Christian congregation called "Benei Abraham" (Children of Abraham) began meeting at the chapel in Palestine Place, East London. This was the first recorded assembly of Jewish believers in Jesus on English soil, and a forerunner of today's Messianic Jewish congregations. The London Jews' Society was the first such organization to operate on a global scale. In 1836, two missionaries were sent to Jerusalem: Dr. Albert Gerstmann, a physician, and Melville Bergheim, a pharmacist, who opened a clinic offering free medical services. In its heyday, the society had over 250 missionaries.
The society supported the creation of the combined Anglican and Lutheran Bishopric in Jerusalem in 1841, and the first incumbent was one of its own workers—Michael Solomon Alexander, a former Jewish Rabbi. The society played a role in establishing Christ Church in Jerusalem—the oldest Protestant church in the Middle East—completed in 1849, and still owned by CMJ, not under the control of the Anglican Church. By the time of the First World War, the society was described as the oldest and best organized of its kind, with auxiliary societies in 52 countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Since its foundation, approximately 5,000 Jews have been baptized through the society's ministry.
A next step happened in Moldova, a region under Russian control in the late 19th century. A Jewish merchant named Joseph Rabinowitz, who lived in Kishinev, was deeply concerned about the growing anti-Semitism throughout the region. He began helping young Jews emigrate from Russia to Palestine to escape persecution. For years, the Jews in Moldova lived under intense pressure, with no prospect for a better future. This was largely due to the Orthodox Church, in partnership with the Tsarist state, which was aggressively anti-Semitic.
During one of his regular trips to Jerusalem, while walking on the Mount of Olives, Rabinowitz had a profound religious experience. He saw Jesus as a Jew coming toward him, saying: "I am the One whom you seek; I am the solution to your problem." After this encounter, Rabinowitz became convinced that Yeshua was the Messiah and Savior. From that moment, his life changed. He ceased focusing on Jewish emigration to Palestine and instead invested all his energy and resources into Jewish evangelism in Moldova, seeking to win his people to the Messiah. Those who came to faith in his hometown of Kishinev formed the first independent congregation of Messianic Jews since the early centuries. Unlike the practice of the "Hebrew Christian Societies," Rabinowitz insisted that his congregation remain unaffiliated with any Christian denomination. This marked the birth of the completely independent Messianic Jewish Movement in the modern era.
Though a single experiment, the concept was now launched. The principle was to form Messianic Jewish congregations that were independent of Christian denominations. Although they did not have an institutional relationship with Gentile churches, they were now linked to them in a much deeper sense: as free partners.
However, it would take another 70 years before the Messianic Movement experienced a significant breakthrough. The Lord still needed to prepare both the world and the Church to understand that they must make room for the Jewish people in general—and for the Messianic Movement in particular. This period marked the darkest chapter in Jewish history, as anti-Semitism reached its climax under Nazi rule in Europe.
The Horror of the Holocaust Opened a Unique Window of Opportunity
At the end of World War II, six million Jews had been murdered. All Jews—and the whole world with them—were in shock. As a consequence, a brief window in time opened: a unique opportunity for the establishment of an independent Jewish State. Under the weight of sorrow over the genocide by the Nazi regime, and the failure of the free world to prevent this mass murder, the United Nations took action. In November 1947, a majority of 33 states voted in favor of the creation of an independent Jewish State. On May 14th, 1948, David Ben Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister, announced the creation of the sovereign State of Israel. Even though Israel had to fight for its existence the very next day in the War of Independence, this event transformed the perspective of all the Jews in the world—and gave them hope for the future.
David against Goliath
Thus, in 1948, when Israel was established, many Jews recognized Yeshua as the Messiah. Many who had been secret followers of Jesus decided to make their faith public—both in Israel and in many places across America and Europe—and so a great beginning was made. The momentum of Messianic growth became even stronger after the Six-Day War in June 1967. The newborn State of Israel was in real danger of extinction, as Arab nations with overwhelming military power sought to annihilate the Jewish presence and expel all Jews from the region. As in the War of Independence in 1948, Arab tanks in June 1967 advanced from all sides—and again, an unexpected miracle occurred. "Little David" triumphed over the great "Goliath". All Egyptian aircraft were destroyed on the ground in a single day. The battle against Syrian tanks on the Golan Heights in northern Israel was also successful, though costly in lives. The vast financial investment by Saudi Arabia in the war effort was ultimately wasted.
The culmination of the war came when the Jews retook the Old City of Jerusalem from Jordanian control. In 135 A.D., Roman emperor Hadrian had officially renamed the Jewish Homeland from Israel to Palestine, decreeing that the Jews would never again return to own or rule Jerusalem or any part of the Land. But in 1967, the Jews entered the historic city after decades of absence, prayed at the Wailing Wall, and soon after declared Jerusalem their "everlasting" capital. It is difficult to describe the kind of hope that surged among Jews across the earth following this event. For them, Old Testament prophecies were being fulfilled before their very eyes.
All Jews around the world were deeply moved and motivated by this victory. The war lasted only six days, and on the seventh day, the soldiers celebrated. The news spread across the globe, and many wondered: "How could such a thing have happened?" This event made the Jews feel profoundly blessed and proud. For them, it was a clear sign: God had not abandoned His people. As difficult as it may sound, to many Jews it seemed that the six million who had perished in the Holocaust had not given their lives in vain.
Old Testament Prophecies Fulfilled
Already in 1950, the renowned Jewish theologian Shalom Ben-Chorin posed a profound question: "Do we not have to see in all of these present-day developments the 'Etsba Elohim'—the finger of God?" He continued: "First there was the judgment of God over Israel—the most terrible of all His judgments (the Shoah)—and then the gathering of the remnant in the re-established State of Israel in the Land of Promise." (See: Julius Schoeps (Hg.), Auf der Suche nach einer jüdischen Theologie, p. 49).
There were important Old Testament prophetic lines concerning Israel—four of which now seemed to have been fulfilled:
- The Jews will possess the Land of Israel again as their own independent State (Amos 9:11-15)
- The Jews will return to the Land coming from the four corners of the earth—north, south, east and west (Isa 43:5-6)
- The arid desert will become a lush Indeed, modern Israel is a vibrant green landscape, while many neighboring countries remain deserts (Isa 35:1-2; 41:18-20)
- Before the end times, Jerusalem will be freed from Gentile dominion and become the capital of Israel (Zech 1:17; 2:4; 12:1-9; Luke 21:24).
In 1948, there were approximately 650,000 Jews living in Israel. By the end of the Six-Day War in 1967, that number had grown to around 2.1 million. Since then, constant waves of Aliyah—the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to the land—have brought hundreds of thousands of Jewish immigrants into Israel. They came from all parts of the world, including Ethiopia, and even countries such as India. Since 1989, over one million Jews have immigrated from Russia alone, following the collapse of Soviet communism. As of 2020, Israel's population exceeded 9 million, with more than 7 million identifying as Jewish.
Before 1967, Jerusalem was a divided city—with the Jewish section in the newer western part, and the Jordanian section in the eastern part. After the Six-Day War, Israel declared Jerusalem its everlasting capital. Even though this decision ignored widespread international protests that followed this significant political act, Israel's leaders understood it as an act of obedience to ancient prophecies. One reason why most peace negotiations between the Palestinians and the Jewish State have failed is that, for most Jews in Israel, Jerusalem is not negotiable.
When people look at old photographs of Palestine from the early 20th century, most cities appear small and devastated, surrounded by treeless mountains and a desert-like terrain. What a difference today! Usually, when tourists arrive in the Middle East—whether in Syria, Jordan, Egypt, or even parts of Lebanon—they encounter landscapes dominated by dry land. Amid this immense aridity, the land of the Jews (except the Negev) stands out as a small, green garden, with lush trees, vast fields of flowers, and orchards heavy with fruit.
But there is another prophetic line still awaiting fulfillment: Before the final consummation, the Lord declares that the people of Israel will look on "me whom they have pierced, and mourn for Him as one mourns the death of an only son" (Zech 12:10). The fulfillment of this prophecy remains in suspense: The national acceptance of Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah.
In spite of all these accomplishments, a growing number have become convinced: If God is fulfilling all the other prophecies, we must also pay attention to the fulfillment of this one. Since 1967, more and more Jews—from secular, conservative, and even orthodox backgrounds have begun asking: What does this development mean in light of Zechariah's prophecy? Could it be that the one "whom they have pierced" refers to the one many Jews still call "Yeshu"—a name with an unquestionable negative connotation? Could it be that He is the true Messiah of Israel?
In the atmosphere following the Six-Day War, thousands of Jews—especially university students—turned to Jesus. This was particularly true in the United States, where the Messianic movement had already begun establishing its own congregations. The pace in Israel was slower, but the movement took root there as well. It also spread to European countries, including England and France. In the former Soviet Union, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, thousands of Jews also came to faith in Yeshua. Thus, the years following 1967 marked a period of significant growth for Messianic Judaism.
