'The Covenant': Could reconnecting with Hebrew scripture be an antidote to antisemitism in the Church?

Antisemitic sentiments have been finding their way into evangelical conversations, according to Ryan Dobson from Focus on the Family. He suggests that a fresh look at Hebrew scripture might help Christians reconnect with the people of Israel, and he has been working on a new video series toward that aim.

Dobson, son of the late founder of Focus on the Family, Dr. James Dobson, has made some astute observations about the antisemitism he sees in the church, along with potential reasons for this disturbing trend.

Recently appointed to the position of vice president of Broadcast at Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, Ryan Dobson points to research showing the alarming rise of antisemitic hostility in American society in general.

According to the American Jewish Committee (AJC), 91% of American Jews say they now feel less safe in the wake of violent anti-Semitic attacks. The vast majority (86%) feel antisemitism has increased since Oct. 7, 2023, and almost a third have personally been targeted by antisemitism either online or in person over the last year.

But after posting pictures of his recent visit to Israel, Dobson discovered that the same hostility was also being expressed by Bible-believing Christians. 

“The harshest words I heard in Israel didn’t come from terrorists. They came from Christians,” he wrote in the Washington Stand, expressing his surprise.

Dobson experienced strong reactions to a picture of himself beside an Israeli flag. “One ministry leader messaged me publicly: 'You’re an idiot.' A woman commented, "If the Jews haven’t found Christ in 2,000 years, then we are the new chosen people.” Dobson recalled. 

“I was stunned. I was raised in a family that believed Christians should honor the people through whom the Scriptures came. But what I witnessed online suggested something has shifted,” he said. “Something has gone wrong. That casual contempt reveals something deeper.” 

Observing these developments, Dobson has teamed up with Messianic Jewish writer and commentator Andrew Klavan, director Cyrus Nowrasteh, and Ronald Daw, executive producer, to present a new series called “The Covenant,” based on Hebrew scripture. 

“Our hope is simple,” says Dobson, “to help modern audiences rediscover the Old Testament story that shaped the faith of Jesus and the early church.”

Dobson’s conviction is that much of the vitriol is rooted in a lack of love for Hebrew scripture, since many Christians tend to focus on the New Testament, ignoring two-thirds of the book.

“We have become increasingly detached from the Old Testament. Many churches move quickly to the Gospels and Epistles while neglecting the Torah and the Prophets. The result is a generation of believers who love Jesus but have almost no understanding of the covenant story He stepped into and fulfilled,” he explained.

It seems like some are veering toward a modern version of Marcionism, a second-century heresy. Marcion rejected Hebrew scripture entirely, wanting to keep only some of the Gospels and Paul’s epistles in the canon. He believed that Jesus was a benevolent character in contrast with the God of Israel, and consequently tried to purge all Jewish influence from the Bible.

“Jesus did not distance Himself from Israel’s Scriptures,” Dobson insisted. “He embodied them. When Satan tempted Him in the wilderness, Satan quoted Psalm 91. Jesus answered not with something new, but with Deuteronomy. Three times in Matthew 4, Jesus responded to temptation by quoting the Torah. On the cross, He cried out the opening words of Psalm 22: 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' Jesus’s vocabulary was saturated with the Hebrew Scriptures,” he said.

He continued, “Contempt for the Jewish people is incompatible with Christian faith. If your theology produces disdain for the people through whom God gave the Law, the Prophets, and ultimately the Messiah, something is broken.” 

“These are not abstractions. They are the living descendants of the people who preserved the Scriptures Christians claim to cherish.” 

“When contempt for the Jewish people shows up among Christians, it exposes a theological problem before it exposes a political one,” he added. “The language shifts. The tone hardens. Replacement theology – sometimes unnamed, sometimes unexamined – creeps in.”

But he has ideas about how to counter that problem.

“The antidote to anti-Semitism is not political tribalism. It is biblical literacy. It is remembering that Christianity did not begin in Rome or Washington. It began in Jerusalem. It is teaching our children not only the Sermon on the Mount, but the covenant with Abraham. Not only the cross, but the Exodus. Not only the Resurrection, but the promises that preceded it,” writes Dobson.

“That conviction led me to become involved with 'The Covenant,' a TV series similar to 'The Chosen,' which is designed to help viewers rediscover Hebrew scriptures through stories that connect the ancient world to our own,” he explained.

“Not because the church needs new content. But because it needs old roots,” Dobson said.

“After all,” says Klavan, “these are the greatest stories ever told.”