God's Chosen People Have Not Chosen God

American Jews are a proud lot, they're proud of their heritage, they're proud of their community, they're proud to be Jewish. But are they proud of their special relationship with God? Not so much.

Every day more and more Jews are identifying themselves as "Jews of no religion". These self titled Secular or Cultural Jews would be much more honest if they called themselves JINOs: Jews In Name Only. They are as disconnected from their heritage and community as they are from God. As the prophesied Great Falling Away (2 Thessalonians 2:3) continues to roll across the social landscape, we find that the special ones, the people God chose for himself (Deuteronomy 7:6) are no better than we are. 

A recent poll by Pew Research shows that more and more Jews are calling themselves "Jews of No Religion". The number of our fallen Jewish brethren is up to 22% of all Jews in America and as you would expect the largest number of these JINOs are in the most recent generations - the generations born free from oppression knowing only of true semitism from stories told by their Grandparents and grainy black and white documentaries that the History Channel will no longer show.

In the 1950's the number of Jews in America was about 4% of the US population, today the number has dropped to 2%. Meanwhile the number of Americans who are ethnically Jewish yet claim to be atheist or agnostic is rising and is now about 0.5% of the US adult population. 

As you can see from the chart from the Pew Research Center, 93% of the Jews in the Greatest Generation identify themselves as Jews by religion and only 7% describe themselves as having no religion. (JINOs) By contrast the Jews of the current generation, AKA the Millennial generation, only 68% identify themselves as Jews by religion while 32% describe themselves as having no religion and identify themselves as Jewish on the basis of ancestry, ethnicity, culture, or habit.

So what does it take to be a Jew if religion is not really a factor? according to the Pew Survey:
73% of Jews say that remembering the Holocaust is essential,
69% say leading an ethical/moral life is essential,
56% insist that working for justice/equality is essential,
49% think that being intellectually curious is essential, 

43% say that Caring about Israel is essential 

28% said being part of a Jewish community is essential

19% insisted on obeying Jewish Law and

14% said essential included eating traditional Jewish foods.

Oh wow! Except for that whole kosher thing I'm Jewish! Mozeltov!

The same people when polled answered the working on the sabbath is just fine for a Jew (94%) Then why does my oven have a sabbath setting? Why do elevators in my HQ building have special lifts for sabbath? They stop on every floor on the way up and down so you don't have to push a button (thereby committing 'work') when you go to work. Please explain to me how that works.

When asked if it's ok to be critical of Israel 89% of Jews think that's just ducky. In fact just 17% of American Jews think the continued building of settlements in the West Bank is helpful to Israel’s security, then again it's easy to be critical of a situation 4000 miles away when you're safe and secure and cowering behind the US military rather than having your butt hanging out in a land filled with people that want to slaughter you.

When asked if it's ok not to believe in God 68% of American Jews think that's perfectly fine, but when asked if it's ok to believe that Jesus was the Messiah nearly the same number said No. So if I claim (Like Barack Hussein Obama's Trinity United Church of Christ) to not believe in God but believe in Jesus what would the American Jewish community say then?

But all in all for me this is heartbreaking. The Jews are God's chosen people, He's showered them with blessings, land, prophets, and His only Son. Yes, God was tough on His people, but Proverbs 3:12 tells us that this treatment is a blessing too. I can only dream of being born into a community of people who are so loved by God that He sends prophet after prophet, that He walks with them and He talks directly with them. It's depressing to think of all the prophets the Jews killed, but God kept sending them so great His love for them. In return they turn their back on him and make fun of the "Zombie Carpenter"

And I constantly think; "When Jesus returns is He going to find 144,000 Jews?" well of course he will, with God nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37), but finding 144,001? that may be a bit harder.