August 18, 2014 22 Av, 5774 Dear Praying Friends, Before getting into the subject of this letter, we want to share something with you from the depth of our heart concerning the state of affairs in Israel. We thought to say there really is no good solution to the multi-layered conflict being expressed in Gaza right now; but the truly accurate statement is that given present conditions, there is no solution. In order for Israel’s security needs to be properly addressed, Hamas must cease to exist. Without an upheaval of a magnitude beyond our comprehension, this is not about to happen. We say multi-layered, because after Hamas, there are all the other intransigent enemies. We as believers have always known the conflict will end only when Messiah is sitting on His Throne in Jerusalem. Whereas in the past there were “breathers” between the contractions (to use the metaphor of labor and birth), now it appears that we are in a new season. May the Lord God of Israel help us.- Making Israel JealousMost believers who are conscious of Israel are familiar with the following verse in Romans 11:“I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Rom. 11:11-15) …have they stumbled that they should fall…A rendering according to the Greek words and roots gives us the following meaning: - “Have they misstepped, falling from where they were, so as to land on something else?”The reply comes back…”certainly not.” In other words, they are somewhat in a state of limbo…not having landed anywhere. Isnt that descriptive of the 2000-year Diaspora (Dispersion)? …through their fall…God was at least using their fall, if not having designed it. …to provoke them to jealousy…This phrase is actually one word in the Greek meaning “to stimulate alongside unto emulation.” … salvation has come to the Gentiles…Taking this literally, it denotes the purpose to which God has made the nations custodians of the revelation of salvation…for a season. It seems that this then should be taken as a prime directive.A few points to note:- Paul was sent to the Gentiles to let them know that God’s plan and purpose for them had Israel at its center.- Paul hopes in the end to “save some of them” (the Jews). - Twice in the passage he speaks of the blessing for all when the Jews come in. Now we come to the question: “What will make them jealous?” Many believers think that it will be when they see our love for one another. Some believe that keeping the Feasts and even the Law will do it. Others believe the way is to be true children of Abraham, walking with God as he did. In the early years of my walk with Yeshua, I (arni) had the perception that my people, not being “saved,” were basically blind, stiff-necked, lost, and without any life in their spirits. Over the years we have seen multitudes of believers coming to the Land as witnesses to bring the Gospel to the Jews. It seems a logical thing to do, since the Gentile believers are the only ones that can see…or so we have thought. Let’s have a look at some things about this partially-blinded people:- Three innocent teens are murdered. One of the mothers, as spokesperson for the three families, declares that their sons’ death was a sacrifice by which many lives were saved. Here is the link for an interview with her. foxnews/on-air/hannity/transcript/2014/08/07/mother-teen-murdered-hamas-speaks-out. - Two of the soldiers that fell had no family living in Israel. The funeral of one of them was attended by 20,000, and of the other by 30,000. - Politics and right or wrong aside, we gave over 1000 terrorist prisoners for one kidnapped soldier. - Tens of thousands of Israelis have chosen to live under constant life-threatening conditions in the belief that the God of their fathers has called us to occupy the Land He promised to Abraham. Beloved, though the facts and reactions presented above obviously do not represent everyone’s sentiment, they do reflect deep elements within the heart and soul of the nation. In the face of this, we are constrained to ask…what testimony does the worldwide Body of Christ have to offer, that will make such a people jealous? Be assured that by and large, Israelis have an honest and true appreciation of the many encouraging words and declarations of unity and support in the face of constant condemnation from most of the world. However, to bring those who live 24/7 with the threat of annihilation to a place of emulation will surely require more than a smile, an encouraging word, a pat on the back and a few nice songs about God. Isaiah 6 reveals that God sovereignly blinded the eyes of Israel for a season. This is reiterated and expanded in Romans 11:25: “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in….” (Note that the Greek word “fullness” is not indicative of a numerical measure.) It is not a total blindness. The fact that it came upon them with the endpoint already determined gives a sense of God’s sovereignty, as opposed to His fixing something that should not have been broken. It’s more than that they are simply a stiff-necked and rebellious lot. If the Body, given all we have received, is the way we are; and Israel, with only part of the picture, is producing the kind of testimonies noted above, is it any wonder that they are not jealously seeking to emulate Gentile Christianity? As a matter of fact, a notable number of born-again believers are emulating being Jewish. Observing the yearly Feasts is good and right, as they are the Feasts of God. But this is not likely to make Israel envious. In fact, we have witnessed that Gentiles adopting Jewish symbols was actually offensive to some Jews. Beloved, we are of the opinion that the answer is in the definition noted above… “to stimulate alongside unto emulation” -- the key word being “alongside.” We Jews are branded…by God and by the world. It doesn’t matter how we dress, what we eat, where we live, what we do, how we talk, or what we believe. In the end, regardless, we are Jews. As it has been so it will be…only more so. Things are just barely warming up. Let’s be realistic. Looking down the road, we have no doubt that a day is coming when Israel’s existence will be so threatened that it will leave us no alternative but to make a full-out military response. If the Gaza scenario, as clear as it really is, has licensed such worldwide condemnation of Israel, what is to follow will likely make the Third Reich look like a dress rehearsal. It really all comes down to what is probably the single most difficult and costly element in God’s creation…free choice. Having chosen to lay down our lives at the feet of Yeshua, we got through the door. When the Lord was on earth, many who heard the cost of discipleship chose to leave Him. Israel is a threshing board dividing nations and individuals. Up till now, much to our shame, the Church has largely centered on all the blessings that were promised to Israel without regard to the price paid for them. Are you ready, regardless of the cost, to willingly accept all that goes with being grafted into the natural olive tree? In the West, non-Jewish believers in Messiah are not so much on the firing line. In the Middle East it’s quite another story. As surely as the sun travels from east to west, so shall the enemy’s full ire be turned in your direction as well. Your time to choose is growing shorter by the day. When they come for you, and they will, it will be too late to decide. If you, who call on His Name, miss it, it will be a great loss for us all. There is yet time to choose to take a position on the front line. Yeshua spoke of this when He said we must work while it is yet day, for the night is coming when no man can work. A group of pastors from the US are coming to show solidarity with Israel. It’s good they are coming. They will spend a few days “in the center of the battlefield” and go home. It’s not an empty gesture. It has a cost. But if it is only a single act in time, and not done as part of a strategic ongoing partnership, it will likely have little lasting effect and eventually be forgotten. We know that for the most part, unless you are Jewish, it is between difficult and impossible to come here and live permanently. However, as part of a community of believers, you can have a continual presence by our side. You can see to it that our tired hands are held up from morning till night. When you, Yeshua’s spiritual brethren, freely choose to make this battle yours, and, as it were, put on the yellow star as did the King of Denmark, binding yourselves to us as Ruth did to Naomi, standing with Yeshua’s natural brethren as pictured in Matthew 25:40… then, dear friend…the children of Israel will have good reason to be jealous. May we truly live all our days on earth... For the Glory of His Name, Arni and Yonit
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 10:05:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015