I heard someone teach that it is the duty of the Bride of Christ to finance the return of the house of Israel to the homeland. He goes so far as to say that “the blood of Israel is on our hands.” In other words, if we as Christians do not help finance the return of Israel to the homeland, somehow we will be found with blood on our hands.
He is using the story of Ruth and Boaz to support his teaching. He likens Ruth gleaning the four corners of the field and bringing the grain to lay in Naomi’s lap as the Bride of Christ financing the return of the dispersed Israelites from the four corners of the earth to the homeland.
From your studies, what exactly does scripture have to say on this issue? Is the Body of Christ responsible for the return of the Jews to the homeland?
The Bible says that God will bring the rest of his people back to Israel and to Him. He said it was He who dispersed them among the nations (Ezekiel 36:19) and He will bring them back (Ezekiel 36:24).
Isaiah 60-62 are devoted to the way Israel will be honored by the nations in the Millennium, but there’s no verse in the Bible that makes the Church responsible for Israel’s return. And as far as having blood on our hands, Jesus has made us a radiant Church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish but holy and blameless (Ephesians 5:25-27).
The gleaning of the fields in Ruth 2 is an application of the Hebrew law that required reapers to leave standing grain in the corners of the fields so the poor people and foreigners among them could harvest it as their own (Leviticus 19:9-10). (Ruth was a foreigner and Naomi was a destitute widow.) The Book of Ruth is a beautiful model of the relationship between Israel, the Church, and the Messiah, but I think this person is carrying the analogy too far.