Despite a recent upsurge in Palestinian terror attacks and intelligence warnings indicating a possible suicide bomber might be headed toward the capital, the streets of Jerusalem were delightfully full yesterday as thousands took part in the city's annual Succot (Feast of Tabernacles) march.

With color, pomp, and ceremony, marchers wound their way through the streets, spreading cheer and goodwill in a city that has seen more than its fair share of violence and grief since the start of the Palestinian terror campaign two years ago. Among those taking part in the festivities were thousands of Christian supporters of Israel, whose love for the country and its people was clearly on display. Hailing from dozens of nations around the globe, many of the pilgrims are visiting under the auspices of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, which has been organizing such events since it was launched in 1980.

The importance of the march goes far beyond its entertainment value. It serves as a refreshing reminder that although we are besieged by enemies at home, we still have plenty of warm and caring friends abroad who are willing to stand with us even in the most difficult of times. Indeed, even as the UN Security Council was busy condemning Israel for having the nerve to defend itself against Yasser Arafat's onslaught of terror, the Christian marchers, helped to drown out the criticism emanating from New York thanks to their merriment and high spirits.

The growing popularity of the annual Jerusalem march among Christians worldwide is a testament to the rising support Israel enjoys in various Christian quarters, particularly among Evangelicals in the United States. As Michael Freund noted in a feature story in last Friday's Jerusalem Post, "No one outside the Jewish community has been more supportive of Israel than US Evangelical Christians, and they've just begun to get better organized." The reasons behind this groundswell of backing are linked both to our security predicament and the phenomenal growth of Evangelical Christianity, now said to number as many as 50 million people in America. Bible-believing Christians throughout the US hold firm views regarding the State of Israel's role in the divine plan for history and, more than ever before, they have begun to put their money, and their political clout, to work on its behalf.

Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was among the first Israeli leaders to energetically reach out to US Christians, actively courting their support and encouraging them to work on our behalf. On two separate occasions, when Netanyahu was effectively summoned to Washington by an exasperated Bill Clinton seeking to pressure him into making further concessions, large numbers of US Christians turned out to greet him and voice then support.

The sudden burst of Christian pro-Israel activity did not emerge out of thin air, of course. It is the result of a lot of vision and hard work. Groups such as the Kansas-based National Unity Coalition for Israel, which is run by the indefatigable Esther Levens, have brought together dozens of Christian and Jewish organizations across the US, literally mobilizing millions of people to press their elected representatives on Israel-related issues. Working through constituent groups such as Bridges for Peace and Christian Friends of Israel, the coalition has helped to educate numerous Americans about the importance of a strong US-Israel relationship, and it has become a leading voice for Israel in the halls of power in Washington.

Other groups, such as Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein's International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and Sondra Oster Baras' Christian Friends of Israeli Communities, have played a crucial role in rallying financial support from US Christians to fund a range of social and humanitarian projects here. From assisting Russian and Ethiopian Jews to make Aliyah to defraying the costs associated with their absorption once they arrive, the BFCJ has succeeded in raising tens of millions of dollars annually from American Christians, enabling them to play an active role in improving Israeli society. And CFOIC, through its work with Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip, has helped to energize greater levels of support among Christians for Jewish residents of the territories.

Needless to say, some Israelis look askance at such expressions of Christian friendship, fearing that they are intended to conceal a missionary agenda aimed at converting Jews. Last week, in fact, the Jerusalem Municipality reportedly turned down a request by a so-called Messianic Jewish group which had sought to take part in yesterday's march, because of concerns it would exploit the event to proselytize.

Having suffered so much from forced conversions at the hands of Christians throughout the past two millennia, it is hardly surprising that many Jews are apprehensive, even skeptical, about the sudden outpouring of love and support. But, while fending off missionary elements is certainly important and even necessary, it would be wrong to automatically dismiss all Christians as surreptitious soul-snatchers.

There are undoubtedly those who use pro-Israel activities as a ruse for proselytizing, but there are also many deeply devoted Christian friends of Israel whose sincerity and commitment is beyond reproach, and whose only agenda is to live in accordance with God's promise to Abraham: "I will bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you." And when it comes to our Christian friends, it seems safe to say that they will most assuredly be blessed. (Jerusalem Post editorial, September 25, 2002)

I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah--how he appealed to God against Israel: "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me" ? And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal." So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, as it is written:

"God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day."

And David says:

"May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever."

I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

"The deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins."

As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.