陈业宏教授的书我编过两部。2019年出版的《千年脚踪——保罗在希腊与罗马》，以及今年（2026年）的《看古今圣地——一个上帝编织以色列民救赎的历史进程》。
事隔7年，这两本先后出版，”信仰省思系列”里的书，特点就是”厚”；而又比之前几本同样与圣地有关的书，《不堪回首伊斯坦布尔》《凡有耳的就应当听》《耶路撒冷的呼唤》以及《犹太人不死的秘密》，页数是越来越多，一本比一本厚。
“陈教授真是有那么多说不完的话吗？”
是真的。在过去20多年，他和夫人曾七访圣地，不是随团的。他说，感谢神的恩手，使我逐渐摆脱观光者式的浮躁与匆忙，越过风景的表象，而深入触碰这片古老地土的属灵动脉——当然来到圣地，踏足其上，我们大体上会感觉”圣经中所提及的山谷河川、古道旷野或村庄城邑，都不是虚构的文学异象，而是实在的存在……”
但陈教授不遗余力撰写，更是要让有机会或没机会到圣地的读者，能”一同走进历尽沧桑却因神的应许而生机盎然的土地，在时间与永恒的交汇之处，寻找耶和华神在这片地土上作为所留下的痕迹。”
于是陈教授这次一口气写了约15万个字，把很难说得清楚，神所编制的以色列民救赎的历史进程，旧约新约说个遍。书分两部分，上部写耶路撒冷及其周边地理与考古的考察，见证圣经预言的真实可靠；下部分说的是——以色列复国，一个本世纪最震撼的先知性神迹。两千多年走过，以色列人两次流放，最终散遍世界各地，受尽迫害；又经历两次世界大战，沦为世界各国政治博弈下的筹码，还有回归过程里九死一生的战役……而更关键的是，犹太人归心如何？已长年融入其它国家、文化、生活方式，它乡作家乡的族群，仍然有这个意愿吗？
但神体念人的有限和短视，期间不乏出现振奋人心，一些人眼所能见的神迹，譬如那因种种原因，”死去”整千年的希伯来文复活，就不是能从政治学、社会学和语言学里寻得答案——于是人在片片历史的拼图里，浪迹天涯的民，窥见了神的大手笔，也听到了神在历史长廊里”归去，归去”的声声呼唤。
“而我们，真的要知道那么多吗？”
说来亏欠，有些事是我们向来不大知道。譬如多年来流落世界各地的犹太人，备受歧视与迫害，竟然与基督徒有关？而在反犹主义极其猖獗的欧洲，反犹主义的创始者与推动者，居然是教会初期的教父，以及教会整体。以致是1930-1940年代，德国纳粹党对犹太人的大屠杀，一个历史上超乎常理的种族灭绝——的一个成因。
如果我们要知道为什么犹太人对基督教会这么反感，对福音如此抗拒？对犹太人来说，为什么十字架就是代表了恐怖？请打开陈教授的这本书，仔细读个遍。
而我们当今应该所做的，就是陈教授在书里书外大声疾呼的事——教会当年无情逼迫犹太人所欠的血债，今天的我们也都一同有分。因此，以实际的行动，表达基督教会对以色列的关爱与怜悯，并向犹太人宣教，是今日基督教会不容推卸的当前急务。
“你必起来怜恤锡安，因现在是可怜他的时候，日期已经到了。”
诗篇 102:13
I have edited two of Professor Tan Nget Hong’s books. The first was Ancient Footsteps: Following the footsteps of St Paul in Greece & Rome (published in 2019), and the second is this year’s (2026) Behold the Covenant Land: Past and Present — Unfolding the Divine Tapestry of Israel’s Redemptive Journey.
Seven years apart, these two books published sequentially in the “Faith Reflections Series” share a defining trait: they are “thick”! Compared to earlier books in the series that also touch on the Holy Land — O Istanbul: My Heart Cries!, He Who Has an Ear Let Him Hear, The Call of Jerusalem, and The Secret of the Immortality of the Jews — the page counts keep growing, with each book being thicker than the last.
“Does Prof. Tan really have so much to say?”
Indeed, he does. Over the past 20-plus years, he and his wife have visited the Holy Land seven times — and not as part of a tour group. He shares that, by God’s grace, he gradually broke free from the superficial rush of a typical tourist, looking past the scenery to deeply touch the spiritual pulse of this ancient land, the land that God calls “My Land.” Naturally, upon setting foot on the Holy Land, one generally realizes that “the valleys, rivers, ancient roads, wildernesses, or villages and towns mentioned in the Bible are not fictional literary visions, but tangible realities…”
Yet, Prof. Tan’s tireless writing aims to do even more: to allow readers — whether they have the chance to visit the Holy Land or not — to “walk together into a land that has endured endless hardships yet remains vibrant because of God’s promises, and at the intersection of time and eternity, seek the traces left by the Lord God’s deeds upon this land.”
And so, Prof. Tan poured out 150,000 words in one breath, comprehensively walking through both the Old and New Testaments to unravel the history of the redemptive journey of the Jewish people woven by God. The book is divided into two parts: Part I examines the geography and archaeology of Jerusalem and its surrounding regions, testifying to the truth and accuracy of biblical prophecies; Part II addresses the restoration of Israel — one of the most astounding prophetic events of our modern era. Over two millennia, the Jewish people endured two exiles, ended up scattered across the globe, suffered persecution, and became pawns in global political power plays across two World Wars, all while facing life-and-death battles during their return and restoration. A crucial question is: where is the heart of the Jewish people? Having long assimilated into the cultures, ways of life, and nations of their host countries — treating foreign lands as home — does this people still possess the will to return to their ancient home?
Yet, God understands human limitations and shortsightedness. Throughout this journey, there was no shortage of heart-stirring, visible miracles that defy natural explanation. For instance, the resurrection of the Hebrew language — which had been “dead” for a thousand years due to various historical causes — cannot be explained through politics, sociology, or linguistics alone. Through these scattered puzzle pieces of history, a wandering people caught a glimpse of God’s masterstroke and heard the echo of His voice calling out through the corridors of time: “Return, my people, return.”
“And do we really need to know that much?”
To our shame, there are things we believers have long remained largely unaware of. For instance, the fact that the discrimination and persecution suffered for centuries by the Jewish people scattered across the globe were actually tied to the Church. In a Europe where antisemitism ran rampant, the very originators and perpetuators of antisemitism were unexpectedly the early Church Fathers and the Church as a whole. This ultimately became one of the underlying causes of the German Nazi Party’s Holocaust in the 1930s and 1940s — an unthinkable, irrational act of genocide in human history.
If we want to understand why the Jewish people harbour such strong aversion to Christianity, why they are so resistant to the Gospel, and why, to them, the Christian Cross symbolises terror — open Prof. Tan’s book and read it thoroughly.
What we ought to do today is precisely what Prof. Tan passionately pleads both inside and outside the book: we today share in the blood debt incurred by the Church’s past heartless persecution of the Jews. Therefore, expressing the Christian Church’s care and compassion for the Jewish people through practical action, alongside reaching out to the Jewish people with the Gospel, stands as an imperative, urgent duty that the Church of today cannot evade.
“You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come.”
PSALM 102:13
