I wonder, though, if we don’t make too much of the faith issue, in this respect:

Israel was under judgment (experienced concretely as foreign oppression and the prospect of war) not because of a lack of faith but because of a lack of righteousness, a failure of obedience (= idolatry, immorality, injustice).

I agree with your implicit suggestion that the term "faith" easily becomes one of those jargonistic words that can refer to a host of things to different religious groups. In that sense, I would agree with you that it is possible to make too much of it.

Nevertheless, I think the wider issue which lies behind faith is what David Stern terms "trusting faithfulness" - a subtle blend of obedience, trust and allegiance, even love and biblically, throughout both testaments, the single path to righteousness.

In that sense Israel’s lack of righteousness was because of their lack of trusting faithfulness and, in turn, the reason why they didn’t fully recognise and embrace the Messiah. I agree that the goal of faith is the right relationship of a people of God that is demonstrated by that blend of character and service that is implied by this understanding of "trusting faithfulness" - to calling, to the very person of Jesus…

You go on to mention the reorientation of the call to trusting faithfulness around him. I noticed in your book, if I understood you correctly, andrew, that you suggested that, had a wider body of Jews accepted the Messiah - or perhaps implicitly, the national / religious leadership? - this might have led to the developement of a more Hebraic character to the Christian faith. I found that quite interesting.

I wonder, therefore, whether you would see value in the retrospective search for the Hebraic character and cultural understanding that many scholars and Christian movements (Messianic Judaism, Jewish roots etc) are engaging in?

shalom! - john