The Value of Speaking in Tongues - Jim Croft

The Apostle Paul strongly indicated that speaking in unknown tongues is a volitional act. He said, I will pray and sing with my spirit (in unknown tongues); and I will pray and sing with my understanding. (1 Cor 14:15) Praying / speaking in an unknown tongue and articulating speech in one’s mother tongue are decisions of human will.

The difference between the two is the source of the words spoken. Birth language vocabulary is acquired by learning and is stored in the frontal lobe of the brain responsible for speech. Unknown tongues vocabulary is not acquired by parental exposure and education.

Words spoken in tongues might momentarily register in the brain, but the brain’s speech center is not the origin. The source is the Holy Spirit within a Christian’s personal spirit. The words are spontaneously formulated in the human spirit which is separate and distinctive from the brain.

The language spoken is determined by the Holy Spirit and can be that of men or angels. (1Cor13:1) Known languages are recognizable. Dead dialects and the languages of angels might sound somewhat like nonsensical gibberish even though they are not.

For illustration, I’ll use a word that I occasionally hear as others speak in tongues. It sounds like she-bah-bah and is often repeated again and again. The nuances of pronunciation and voice inflection of a word in given language can have numerous of definitions.

Depending on tone, three repetitions of she-bah-bah could easily have 3 different meanings. The Lord is coming; the Lord is near; and the Lord is here.

Science Concurs

What is happening in the brain when people pray in the Holy Spirit is described in 1Cor 14:14. It says their understanding is unfruitful. A good alternate interpretation is that the brain is out of gear when a person speaks, prays or sings in tongues. This reality has been confirmed by scientific research.

A team from the University of PA conducted a study of the effects of religious activity on the brain. A special solution was injected to enable blood flow to various sectors of the brain to be tracked. When subjects prayed in English, blood flow intensified in the frontal lobe of the brain responsible for speech.

When the same individuals spoke, prayed or sang in unknown languages, there was not any increase of blood flow to the brain’s speech center. The scientists had 2 conclusions: The words spoken in tongues are not generated from any known sector of the brain. And, that unknown tongues possibly originate from a non-human source as claimed by tongues speakers.

For the study go to - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZbQBajYnEc&sns=em

Clip Clarification

There were statements made by the physician interviewed on the clip and by believers participating in the study that aren’t accurate from biblical and experiential standpoints. The scientist and the narrator insinuated that tongues aren’t intelligible language. In reference to speaking in unknown tongues, the Bible mentions the tongues of angels and men. The implication is that instances of utterances can feature either and perhaps even both.Study spokesmen described tongues as sounding like gibberish.

I’ve spoken and have prayed in with my spirit for decades and haven’t ever heard myself saying anything that didn’t have the sound of distinct language. In addition, I have two personal friends who came to salvation by hearing believers speaking in unknown tongues in prayer services. The speakers, who had no familiarity with my friends or their native language, were heard asking God to forgive my friends of their respective secret sins.

One of the participants in the study inferred that she wasn’t in control during episodes of praying in tongues. She then began to dance about giving the impression that a certain emotional ecstatic state had to be achieved before speaking in tongues could be activated. Her belief is similar to that of a few Pentecostal denominations. It declares that one cannot speak in tongues unless “moved” by the Spirit.

This doctrinal position contradicts the teaching of 1Cor 14 that clearly defines the use of praying and speaking in tongues at the desecration of individual believers. My experience with speaking in unknown tongues is that it is a gift and not an emotional state. For me, the exercise of the gift of unknown languages is a decision. I have observed the same with believers in scores of nations.

Value of Speaking in Tongues

I’m of the opinion that the gift of tongues is too often neglected by Spirit baptized Christians. It’s not a onetime gift. The gift of tongues is multifaceted. It is to be employed throughout a recipient’s lifetime. Here are some of its uses:

1. Tongues are one of God’s signs to a believer and to others that he/she has been divinely acknowledged as a child of God. It is indicative of repentance and that one’s heart has been purified by faith. (Acts 11:15-18; 15:7-9)

2. Hebrews 6:4-5 speaks of believers receiving the heavenly gift that is the foretaste of the powers of the age to come. It is interesting to note that the physical organ with which we taste is located in the mouth. It is the human tongue. Each time we speak in tongues, our mouths taste and pour forth samplings of the powers of
the world to come.

3. Faith is a spiritual substance that can weaken and can be intensified in strength. Praying in the Spirit builds up our reserves of faith. (Heb 11:1; Jude 1:20)

4. As a believer prays in the Spirit, he is edifying himself. Speaking in tongues charges one’s spiritual battery to compensate for life events that drain spiritual, emotional and physical energies. (1 Cor 14:4)

5. While we pray in the Spirit, we are praying about issues that are mysteries to us as we don’t understand what we are praying about. The topics of those utterances are no mystery to God. It is the Holy Spirit praying from within our personal spirits about matters that would never occur to us.

It could be for some future need we have yet to experience. Or, it could be intercession for a believer in crisis whom we might not meet this side of heaven. At crucial times, I’m always comforted to know that believers near and yon are unwittingly interceding for me as they pray in the Spirit. (1 Cor 14:2; Rom 8:26-27)

6. The Bible admonishes us to pray without ceasing and not to quench the Holy Spirit. The only way to pray without ceasing is to pray in tongues. When we do so, it is our spirits that are praying and our minds are free to engage in the matters at hand. I can read a book and can fully comprehend what I’m reading while praying in tongues at the same time. (1 Thes 5:16-19; 1 Cor 14:14)

7. Praying in tongues is a method of giving thanks to God in a manner superior to our own capabilities. (1 Cor 14:16-17)

8. When we speak in tongues during a public gathering the Holy Spirit can give the interpretation. When this happens, the interpretation serves the same purpose as prophecy in that it edifies those present. (1 Cor 14:5)

Occasionally, God gives me the interpretation of what I’m praying about in tongues. In one situation, I was
concerned about my future. The interpretation was, “You’ve never been one who prospered by being in great demand. You’ve prospered by willing obedience to me to be strategically placed in people’s lives time and time again. In the future you will experience greater prosperity as I strategically place you time and time again.” God has been faithful to that prophetic interpretation.

I will close with one of my interpretations of 1 Cor 14:39-40 – Don’t forget to pray often in unknown tongues. Let it be done in an appropriate setting, but make sure it gets done.

Be blessed and be a blessing,

Jim Croft

jcm888@comcast.net

 

(Note: Pictures included with this article were added by this editor. Steve Martin)

Balm for Dashed Election Expectations - Jim Croft

Editor's Note: I can relate to this, and so I share this word from Jim Croft. His mailing list received it on Nov. 13, 2012.

Steve Martin

 

Balm for Dashed Election Expectations

Jim Croft

I felt acute grief when Barak Obama was declared the winner of the 2012 Presidential Election. Sorrowful sensations intensified throughout the night and into the next morning. I searched within to discern why I felt so grieved.

I choked up when the Lord’s answer registered in my spirit. As a member of Christ’s Body, I was vicariously carrying the devastating disappointment experienced by Christians who had been led to believe their prayers would be the determining factor in the election’s outcome. (Rom 12:15-16)

Many equate widespread national troubles to judgments for forsaking the Christian principles on which our nation was founded. The innuendo is that national ills would significantly diminish with a President committed to the Christian sentiments of the USA’s founding fathers. Both positions have capacity to wound because they don’t fully consider biblical truth and the realities of Church and World History.

It is my prayer that this article will be an antiseptic that will encourage renewed confidence in God’s willingness to answer scriptural prayers for those with governmental authority. To provide understanding, it will be a necessity to give some unpublicized information about God’s dealing in human affairs. The good news is that the end of the matter is better than the beginning and provides good reason for joyful optimism.

Weighty Vote
Along with millions of other Christians, against hope, I chose to activate my faith to believe that Romney would win the presidency. Our hopes were not sufficient to overrule one element central to all elections. The key component was the will of Almighty God.

The underlying reason for Obama’s victory was not voter bloc failure; Governor Chris Christi’s sudden admiration of the President; and a terrible storm named Sandy. The plain truth is that God chose Obama over Romney to lead our nation during the next phase of bringing us closer to the end of the age. The Lord did so in spite of our disapproval of the administration’s stand on the redistribution of wealth; fiscal responsibility; entitlements; abortion; same sex marriage; Islamic issues; and Israel.

No matter what form of government, whether republic, democracy, monarchy, military or Islamic dictatorship; God has never relinquished his right to promote or depose whomever he wishes. (Psa 75:4-7) The Old and New Testaments confirm that it is God who appoints and sustains heads of State and governmental institutions.

What’s the use of Prayerful Voting

After Judas betrayed Christ and hung himself, the disciples sought his replacement. The choice was narrowed to spirit-filled Joseph and Mathias. God knew which man he had appointed for the office. To avoid argument about the Lord’s choice, the disciples prayed and then tossed dice to see whom the Lord had chosen. The lots landed in favor of Mathias. (Acts 1:23-26)

Thus it is with elections by ballot. Citizens participate by prayerfully casting their votes. The winner is the candidate that is the Lord’s choice.

Since God is in ultimate control, a stolen election is providentially impossible. If it does happen, its purpose is likely the eventual exposure, humiliation and impeachment of the cheater. At the same time, we must be mature enough to accept the fact that many rulers throughout history came to power and kept it by ruthless measures. There have been many situations where the actions of evil politicians were the slow train for what God eventually turned around for good.

Daniel 2:20-21, 4:17, 35; and 2 Sam 23:2-4 convey the following concepts: The Most High God rules in the kingdoms of men by installing and removing rulers by his sovereign choice. Some that he chooses are seekers of wisdom and some are the basest of men. God does as he pleases among the inhabitants of the earth and no one can restrain his hand or question what he does. The ideal is that Kings should rule justly in the fear of God, but remarkable numbers don’t.

There are no guarantees that intensity of prayer puts inept, cruel and unjust rulers on the fast track to removal from office and replacement by wise God-fearing rulers. This is evident by the caliber of Roman Emperors during the initial stages of Christianity; history’s Islamic regimes; and the 20th Century’s Hitler, Stalin, and Chairman Mao. All toll; tens of millions of believers were imprisoned and butchered by despots whose administrations often lasted decades. Many of the nations of Mediterranean and the Middle East that were Christianized by the Early Church were taken over by Islam by the 9th Century. They have been predominantly Muslim far longer than they were predominantly Christians.

The Bible promises that the godly will suffer persecution. (Matt 24:9; 1 Thes 5:4) We are possibly fast approaching the point when it is American believer’s turn to experience tribulations. It has nothing to do with judgment for sin and prayerlessness. It is a guarantee that accompanies the holy aroma of Christ within that has come upon myriads of Christians since the martyrdom of Stephen. (2 Cor 2:15-16)

Eye-Opening Principle

Why would God refuse to answer the prayers of his people to replace inept and unjust rulers? There are 2 interrelated reasons: First, wise and kind rulers and

those who are foolish and tyrannical are all denoted in the Scriptures as servants of God.

Secondly, as time advances toward the end of the age; heads of State are unwitting players in bringing about conditions most suitable to God’s plans for each generation. Principle – God favorably answers most prayers related to blessings for individuals. Nevertheless, prayers pertinent to the destiny of nations are often overruled by his will.

Nebuchadnezzar was the idolatrous king of the Babylonian Empire. He erected an image of himself to be worshipped by everyone under his authority. Nevertheless, Jeremiah prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar was God’s servant. (Jer 25:8-9) The Apostles Paul and Peter said the same of the administrations of the Roman Emperors of the First Century’s Christian Era and encouraged believers to comply with their regulations as best they could without violating conscience. (Rom 13:1-7; 1 Pet 2:13-17) That was a difficult command to obey.

The Church was birthed in a hostile political, religious and economic environment. The 10 emperors of Christianity’s first century of establishment are best described as cruel tyrants of corrupt administrations.

On the Day of Pentecost Caligula was Emperor. He was infamous for addiction to hideous sex orgies. Few emperors of that period died natural deaths. Relatives that might have been successors for office were frequently assassinated before they could display ambition. Oposing senators were executed at whim. Food shortages and excessively high taxation were common. During the year of 68-69AD the power struggle for emperor was so confused that 4 emperors attained rule in a single year.

Titus burned Jerusalem’s Temple to the ground in 70AD and lined the streets with crucified Jews. A favorite pastime within the Roman Empire during the first century of Christianity was persecuting Christians. The last emperor of that period was Domitian and he outperformed all of his predecessors in murdering believers.

Perplexing and as trying as the times were, there are not any explicit New Testament examples of Christian leaders encouraging their congregations to pray for the removal of adversarial politicians. Believer’s response to political persecution was to pray for an increase in miraculous healings. (Act 4:23-31) The Apostolic mandate for every fellowship gathering was to give foremost place to prayers and thanksgiving for the salvation of all men, especially rulers. The objective was for believers to have sufficient peace to live quiet, godly lives for the sake of spreading the Gospel. (1 Tim 2:1-5)

Faulty Premise

Many wonderful Christians have been influenced by a teaching that sounds biblically sensible and historically on target. It asserts that the societal and

economic ills that have hit the USA would be healed if believers would pray and fast for a conservative government and for a return to Judeo-Christian values. The premise suggests that our nation was practically trouble free prior to 1972 when the horrors of abortion were legalized and the earlier decisions to remove prayer and Bible reading from schools began to be enforced.

The argument does not hold up under thorough investigation. Yes, our nation was supremely blessed prior to 1972. And though not everyone is willing to admit it, to a generous extent our country has continued to be blessed since.

What they don’t realize is that America’s history is a mixed bag of blessings and curses. The truth is that America has never been free of severe widespread trials and societal prejudice and injustice. Surfing the Internet would convince most anyone that they don’t want to go back to the good-ole-days-when-things-were-bad.

Exploration reveals a history of wars; epidemics; natural disasters; violent labor disputes; economic challenges; 80% of all business ventures failing within 5 years; gender bias and the oppression of minorities. Most present day Christian Conservatives might decry the nation under a curse if translated to live in former years.

This is a thumbnail sketch of what happened while abortion was outlawed; while we prayed and read Bibles in classrooms; and while greater percentage of conservative politicians ruled: Roughly 50% of the original super religious Jamestown and Plymouth Colony settlers died of exposure, starvation and disease within a year of arrival. Various intensities of Indian wars took lives and destroyed property in most every westward movement from 1607 until the final victory over the Paiutes in 1915. From its founding to 1972, Americans fought in 23 domestic and foreign wars; and there was a persistent line of spontaneous army and naval engagements with foreign powers to protect US interests. There was hardly a decade exempt of widows grieving loss of husbands and families disadvantaged by horribly crippled wounded warriors.

During the same centuries epidemics of smallpox, yellow fever, malaria, cholera, measles and polio struck hundreds of thousands in wave after wave of successive generation plague installments. For many generations quarantine signs regularly appeared on homes throughout America. From March through November of 1918, 500 thousand citizens died of the Spanish Influenza pandemic. Hundreds of thousands more were taken ill with it.

Then there was the stock market crash of ’29; and the dustbowl famine and Great Depression that hit in 1930 and lasted into the ‘40s to complicate every family’s life. And finally, I must mention the USA’s natural disasters of floods, earthquakes, winter storms, hurricanes, fires and the like. Single incidents of those

calamities took more lives and took longer to rectify prior to Roe vs. Wade than after it.

With history in mind, can anyone claim overwhelming proof that our citizenry was more blessed in the past than now?

Salt of the Earth

The Early Church believed that prior to the Coming of the Lord there would be a tremendous visitation of the Holy Spirit and an ingathering of souls into the Body of Christ. Therefore, Christians endeavored to live undisruptive lives that would draw secret admiration even from their persecutors. The concept was that many of the evil would be so shamefaced about God’s attestation of those whom they previously hated that their hearts would be opened to receive Christ. (1 Pet 2:11-17)

America is not God’s holy nation, but the Church of Jesus Christ is. Jesus described believers as the salt of the earth. We can regain our saltiness if we shift our focus of prayer and fasting from the healing of our land to the healing of the nation of the Church to become all Christ intends it to be.

Salt has 2 functions. First, it brings out flavor for that which is bland and unappetizing and it sweetens foods that are sour and bitter. Secondly, it preserves from corruption.

Our salt assignment from God is to believe that we can bring sweet flavor to bitter circumstance. We can do so by exercising faith to follow God’s instructions to Israel while in Babylonian captivity. We are to build businesses and homes; and choose to enjoy family life as though every aspect of existence were ideal. We are to pray for our cities and nation with full faith that as they prosper so shall we prosper. (Jer 29:4-7)

Our salt value will also be greatly increased as we pray for and receive more power for miraculous healing. There is hardly anything more appealing than coming up on a neighbor’s blindside and healing one of their loved ones of a wasting illness. It is especially so when done without showbiz fanfare and in the mode of being naturally supernatural.

The Lord is coming for a Bride without spot or wrinkle. To qualify we must be dedicated to embracing salt’s ability to hold off corruption. For believers, that demands that we challenge one another to live righteously.

One way or the other, Christians are often trodden under the feet of evil men. We deserve it if we continue to criticize sinners for acting like sinners when we so often are exposed as having secret lives of the same. (Matt 5:13) Only righteous salt can cause sinners to yearn for the fruit of salvation.

Believers activate salt’s flavor enhancing and anti-corruption qualities by being a people who refuse to incessantly grumble about the government. Prayers of faith for the salvation and welfare of governmental leaders is saltiness that has God’s approval.

Personal Word

For an entire year, I became feverishly preoccupied with the election via cable news. For me, it was a mistake to allow myself to become entangled with the affairs of this world as God's Kingdom is not of this world. (Jn 18:36; 2 Tim 2:4) I am not called to purposely antagonize the world. My brand of the scent of Christ from within keeps me on the front-burner of controversy without extra provocation.

At this juncture, politics and cable news are as disdainful to me as cheap wine after a teen’s first overdose of it. I bless God that my days feel as though they’ve been supernaturally lengthened for productivity in keeping with my calling.

jcm888@comcast.net 
Florida, USA

Wakeup to the Truth about Islam

Wakeup to the Truth about Islam

40 minutes of clear & simple presentation will open your eyes

·    New Testament Christianity in Bible lands reduced to bloody stub by Islam between 7th & 12th Centuries. Global Nations have come under increasing Muslim influence ever since.

·    270 Million non-Muslims butchered by Muslims since introduction of Islam.  60 Million were of Christians heritage.

·    US Embassies torched & diplomats slaughtered by Muslims & we apologize to Islam for religious free speech.

·    When do Americans say, enough is enough?

This video will equip you to understand the realities of Islam.  It is bad for us.  It is bad for people of other religions.  It is bad for Muslims.  The video was produced by Dr. Bill Warner of NC State U physics department.  As a scientist, he verifies all points with historical data.  His approach is not in preference to whatever his personal brand of faith might be.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_Qpy0mXg8Y&feature=channel&list=UL



Be blessed and be a blessing,
Jim Croft
jcm888@comcast.net



 

Blessings Await Christians Who Bless the Jews

Blessings Await Christians Who Bless the Jews
Part 4 of a 4 Part Series

Jim Croft

Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the     families of the earth shall be blessed."

Almighty God closely monitors the attitudes and actions of individual and nations toward his Chosen people, the Jews.  Individuals and nations that bless Israel and the Jewish people can anticipate temporal and eternal blessing for kindness demonstrated toward the Jews.  There are spiritual and tangible material blessings connected to cultivating an attitude of respect toward Israel and for exercising compassion toward Jews in adverse situations.

Identifying the Lord’s Brothers

When Christians read Jesus’ words in Matt 25:31-46, most don’t consider the full implications of what he said.  Throughout the centuries believers have read the Lord’s statements and have been inspired to launch ministries to prison inmates; the impoverished and to those struck by national disasters.  That is well and good.  However, more often than not those ministries only target people who qualify as the Lord’s kinsmen in the sense that God created them and cares for them. 

The Lord has another group of people who are his ethnic kinsmen in the natural.  It is the Jews.  Normally speaking, the Jews scattered throughout the earth are left out of the mercy ministry equation and so is the nation of Israel.  Few Christian outreaches specifically target Jews imprisoned in ghettos and those reduced to poverty by the many nations that have anti-Semitic political policies.   How many nations are first responders to aid Israeli’s whose limbs and homes are blasted to smithereens by the rockets and homicide bombs of Islamic terrorist groups?   I don’t know of any.
 
The Lord warned of judgment against the churches of the Book of Revelations that were only partially obedient to his commands.  Nations that neglect the plight of the Jews will not have placement in the Millennial Kingdom.  Those that bless Israel and the Jews can expect the manifold blessings of life in the Kingdom.

Prophet’s Reward

Jesus was a Jewish prophet.  Many Christians envision their ministries as an aspect of the prophesied restoration of the ministry of the Jewish prophet, Elijah.  Jesus proclaimed that anyone who gives so much as a sip of water in the name of a prophet would receive a prophet’s reward. 

What is a prophet’s reward?  It is extraordinary supernatural help in times of trouble.  The widow of Zarephath shared her last bits of food with Elijah.  For the duration of the famine, her flour bin was supernaturally replenished and her oil jar never lacked sufficient supply.  Her son died of a sudden illness and Elijah raised him from the dead. (1 Kg 17:9-23)

Material $ Spiritual Blessings

Psa 122:6-9 dictates that all believers who love Jerusalem and pray for her will be rewarded with prosperity. 

When the Jewish elders of Jesus' day wanted him to come and heal a Gentile centurion's servant they knew that they would have to give him a good reason.  When Jesus heard that the man loved the Jewish people and had built them a synagogue, he sent a deposit of healing power to the man's home and the servant was healed. (Luke 7:2-10)

The first incident of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Gentiles for salvation and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit was prompted by the righteous acts of one Gentile Centurion toward the Jewish people.  The angel of the Lord told Cornelius that his habit of giving alms to Jews had been noticed in heaven.  God labeled the Gentile’s acts of kindness as a memorial that qualified him for divine favor.  As a result, the Spirit graced all of the Centurion’s friends and relatives with the gift of eternal life.  (Act 10:1-5, 24, 34-48)

Christians who honor the Jewish people can anticipate that relatives and friends whom they want to see saved and immersed in the Spirit to have supernatural encounters with God.

United In Christ

We must come to understand that the Lord never intended that there be ongoing animosity between Christians and Jews.  One of the primary reasons for Jesus' death on the cross was to break down the wall of enmity between Gentile believers and Jews.  We are to be reconciled to create one new man from the two.  As we allow the Lord to cleanse the anti-Semitism from our hearts, we qualify to become the completed habitation of God in the Spirit.  This is the clear teaching of the following passage from the book of Ephesians.

Ephes.2:11-22:   Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh--who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands--  [12] that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope  and without God in the world.  [13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  [14] For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,  [15] having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,  [16] and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.  [17] And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.  [18] For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.  [19] Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,  [20] having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone,  [21] in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,  [22] in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Please note the words two, both and together.  They refer to Gentiles who were afar off from God’s covenant with the Israel prior to salvation and the words also refer to born-again Jews.  Through faith in the atoning blood of Jesus, both groups have access through the Holy Spirit into the fullness of the Father's blessings.  We are to recognize that we are joined as one as the unified dwelling place of the Godhead.

If we repent of our ignorant neglect of this vital truth the Scriptures give ample precedent that the Father's blessings of everything from household salvation to financial prosperity will surely follow.  Gentiles Christians need those attestations if they are to fulfill their Godly mission to the Jews.
 Part of our commission as the people of God is to provoke the Jews, to jealousy.  (Romans 10:19, 11:11)  The provocation is activated as Jews see the covenant blessings that belong to them coming upon Gentile Christians.  It must be stated that Jews seldom have reason to be envious of Christians.  On the whole, Jews are creative, industrious people who are well known for their achievements in every area of life beneficial to mankind.

Unfortunately, it is not commonplace for Christians of fervent testimony to have the same measure of distinction.   Though many Gentile believers speak of the abundant life that Jesus promised, there are not significant numbers demonstrating it in a manner impressive to Jews.

Christians often boast, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philip.  4:13)  A pragmatic Jews response might be: “Just what have you done through Christ that is more notable than what we have accomplished without Christ”?

The Church that helps pave the way for the end-time harvest of the Jews will need to cultivate apprehending faith that bears evidence that God’s blessings reside on its Gentile membership.  Miraculous signs, wonders and marketplace achievements must become commonplace among us. 
The Jewish disciples who attracted 3,000 to the Lord on the Day of Pentecost were prophesying about the glorious works that God would do among his people in the end-times.  Clever sermons will not convince the Jewish people of the Lordship of Christ.  They will not be moved to investigate Christ’s authenticity as their Messiah unless they see objective proof that he is alive and is performing miraculous healings and improving the lives of Gentiles whom they have historically shunned.  The visible evidence of the Holy Spirit’s anointing on our lives will prepare them to accept their coming revelation that Jesus is indeed Jewish and their King.

Faith’s Response

Father, I ask forgiveness for any degree of prejudice and anti-Semitism that I have held in my heart.  Lord, I thank you for all the blessings that you have afforded me through the many contributions which your chosen people have made to enhance my life.  Lord Jesus, the Jews are your kinsmen in the flesh and I embrace them as my brothers in the Spirit.  I praise you for allowing me to see the full restoration of Israel in my lifetime.  Lord, I ask you to begin your move on Jewish hearts.  Send your Holy Spirit to visit them with revelations of their Messiah.

Christians who want to bless Jewish immigrants to Israel can do so through the ministry of Joseph’s Storehouse/Vision for Israel.  I have known the founders for decades.  They are among my most reliable friends.

 http://www.visionforisrael.com/

Sources

The historical data contained in this book was derived from research of the following:
The Long Way Home, 1997 HBO documentary.
The Last Word On The Middle East, Derek Prince, Chosen Books Pub.
The Anguish Of The Jews, Edward H. Flannery, Macmillan Pub.
The Jewish Connection, M. Hirsh Goldberg, Bantam Books Pub.
Israel America’s Key To Survival, Mike Evans, Logos International Pub.
The Christian History Institute’s website http://www.gospelcom.net/chi/

All Scripture references are quoted from the New King James Version.

Be blessed and be a blessing,

Jim Croft

jcm888@comcast.net

Israel: Whose Land is It? - Jim Croft

Israel: Whose Land is It?
Part 3 of a 4 Part Series

Jim Croft
 
The earth is the Lord’s.  The geographical location and boundaries of nations is not a matter of human political decision. (Ps 24:1)  The placement and perimeters of nations is a right that God has reserved for himself. (Acts 17:26)  Man might make decisions, but all the while God’s discreet influence is inevitably guiding the process.

There is a nation that God defines as particularly his own and he has delegated its ownership to one people group.  The land is Israel and the Lord has given it to the Jewish people as an everlasting possession.

All Christians know and intermittently recite the Lord’s Prayer.  Few are aware that the, your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth portion has implications about the restoration of the entire land allotted to the Jews as their homeland.  During the 40 days prior to Jesus’ heavenly ascent, the Lord spoke to the 120 about the Kingdom of God. 

His disciples made inquiries about the timing of the restoration of the kingdom to Israel.  His answer clearly defines that it will happen: “The Father sets those dates and they are not for you to know.” (Act1:3, 6-7 NLT)  This article is intended to establish that the Promised Land belongs to the Jews and that Jerusalem is its eternal Capitol.

Prophesied Restoration

 A primary theme of the Old Testament’s promises and prophecies is the restoration of the Promised Land as the Jew’s perpetual possession.   There are prophecies that declare there will be a time when the Jews will peacefully and without fear of enemies inhabit the entirety of the land given to them by God. (Isa 11:11, Ezek. 39:25-29)  That has yet to happen.  Post Solomon’s reign, Israel has never known peace and has always been occupied by hostile foreign forces.
 
If God does not keep his many promises to return the Jews to their own land, there is no reason to believe he is going to return to take believers to heaven.  One would be hard-pressed to find more biblical references about Christians inheriting heaven than it does about the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob inheriting Israel.  The Lord considers the Jewish people and their homeland treasures that he holds dear. (Deut 7:1-8)

Promised Land & Jerusalem

The Jews have a three-fold right to their land; God gave it to them.  In the 20th Century, they purchased it from the Arab Sheiks.  And, Jews have paid for their homeland with their blood since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. 

Contemporary Christians must not be confused by present-day West and East Bank issues and arguments about how to divide the land to accommodate the Palestinians.  The UN’s compromise to appease Islamic nations and terrorist organizations of the likes of Hezbollah and Hamas is something that enrages God.  It’s trifling with the borders that God established for the land He calls His own, Israel. (Joel 3:2) 

The full territory promised to the Jews stretches eastward from the Mediterranean Sea a little north of Lebanon to the Euphrates River bordering Iraq.  From there, it extends southward to the river of Egypt (Gen. 15:8).  God’s original allotment for the Twelve Tribes takes in all of the Sinai, Judea, Samaria, and significant sections of present-day Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria.

Biblically, Jerusalem has always been recognized as the capital city of the nation.  The fact that Jerusalem is the former site of Israel’s National Temple and the residence of Jewish kings that ruled over the combined northern and southern provinces of ancient Israel identify Jerusalem as the nation’s capitol.  During the worldwide Millennial Reign of Jesus, the inhabitants of Gentile nations will bring their offerings/taxes to the Kingdom’s Capitol, Jerusalem. (Rev 21:23-25)  The insolence of those insisting Israel’s Capitol is Tel Aviv is one and the same as resisting the Almighty.

Palestinian Question

In the 2nd Century there was a Jewish nationalist activist named Bar Kokohba.  He led a revolt against Rome and was defeated in 135 AD.  The Emperor Hadrian vindictively decided to wipe out the name and memory of Israel.  Therefore, he renamed Israel after its age-old enemies the Philistines.  He called the area Syria et Philistia.  Up until that time it had always been known as Israel or Judea, the home of the Jews.

The word Palestine is a corruption of the word Philistine.  Avid Bible readers know that God ordered the Jews to dispossess the Philistines of Canaan’s Land that it might become the homeland of the Jewish descendants of Isaac and Jacob.  During the years in which the world maps of Christian nations labeled Israel as Palestine it was a subtle insult to the Jewish people. 

On January 3, 1919, Emir Feisal of Syria signed an agreement with the Jews and multiple
governments renouncing all claims to the area known as Palestine.  He said that it should be the territory of the Jews. 

The agreement was made even more secure by 164,000 European Jewish Zionist between 1933 and 1935.  They paid absentee Arab landowners $20 million for the rocky, sandy and swampy area that is today called Israel.

With God inspired skill, the Jews transformed it into a green, productive land for the first time in hundreds of years.  In 1937, it was the intent of the Arabs to secure a big Arab State outside of Judea, leaving little Israel for the Jews.  Their slogan then was “Arabia for the Arabs and Judea for the Jews”.  The Christian community worldwide should insist that they remember and abide by that slogan. 

Strictly speaking, calling the region Palestine is unjustified because historically there is no such thing as Palestine or a Palestinian people group.  In 1946 the famous Arab historian, Professor Hitti testified that there is absolutely no mention of a Palestine anywhere in Arab history. 

In 1977 the PLO leader Zuhair Mohsen stated that the Palestinian people did not exist and that they all belonged to the Arab people.  He further stated that the establishment of a Palestinian State was just a name to continue their struggle against Israel in the cause of Arab unity. 

Watchmen Seek Jerusalem’s Peace & Prosperity

The prophet Isaiah spoke of watchmen intercessors that would continually remind God of His promises to Jerusalem.  The Hebrew word for remind is the same as the modern word for a secretary.  A good secretary will constantly remind an executive of upcoming crucial appointments.  In like manner, Christian intercessors are to remind God day and night not to rest until Jerusalem is known as a praiseworthy city by the earth’s inhabitants. (Isa 62:6-7) 

The Word of God clearly states that Gentiles who have become Christians are united as one with the Jews and Israel.  That status makes Gentile believers members of the Commonwealth of Israel. (Eph 2:12-19)   In the realm of the Spirit and through salvation, Christians are fellow citizens of Israel with the Jews.  Citizenship carries responsibility.

We are to comfort Jerusalem and the Jewish people by speaking tender prophetic declarations.  “Your sins have been pardoned by the atoning sacrifice of the Messiah; the time of your punishment has ended.   No longer will Hamas, Hezbollah, Egypt, Iran and Syria be able to threaten your security.  The Lord, the Captain of the Heavenly Hosts is coming to your rescue. (Isa 42:1-2) You no longer stand alone.  You have hundreds of thousands of near kinsmen, Christian Gentiles that consider your destiny of utmost importance because it’s entwined with their own destiny. We are praying that all of your enemies experience shameful defeat. (Psa 129:5)  With the eye of faith, we envision peace within your walls and abundant prosperity breaking forth for the residents of Jerusalem.” (Psa 122:6-9)

Educated Self-Interests

There are many benefits for loving and seeking good for the Jews, Israel and Jerusalem.  Believing prayer warriors can trust God to do as he has promised in Psa 122:6-9.  Those who sow loving prayers of peace and prosperity into Jerusalem can anticipate reaping prosperity for themselves, their relatives, and friends; and for the entire Household of God. 

The word for prosperity also implies safety from that which is harmful.  That can include safety from illnesses.  The first title by which the Lord identified Himself after the Jews were rescued from Egypt was as the Lord their healer, their doctor.  His names depicting his functions and character do not change.  All who fulfill the mandates to intercede for Israel can expect the Lord to prosper their families with the blessings of prosperity and good health.

In this regard Jesus is our pattern.  The Jews of antiquity did not seek social interaction with Gentiles.  When the Jewish elders of Jesus' day wanted him to come and heal a Gentile centurion's servant they knew that they would have to give him a good reason.  When Jesus heard that the man loved the Jewish people and had built them a synagogue, he sent the Spirit of Faith for healing to the man's home and healed the servant (Luke 7:2-10).

No More Fence-Sitting

God promised Abraham that all who blessed his descendants would be blessed and those who cursed them would be cursed. (Gen 12:2-3)  Christian nations are at a crucial juncture in their respective economic histories.  A key to help pull them from disaster is to align with Israel as loyal friends.  Any Christian who has held insolent, uncharitable views about Israel and Jews in general needs to repent.  Divine favor towards your nation can be invoked by urging your politicians to enact policies that support Israel as the Jew’s homeland and Jerusalem as its Capitol.

Next week: The blessings that await those who bless the Jews.

Be blessed and be a blessing,

Jim Croft

jcm888@comcast.net

The Plight of the Jews - Jim Croft

The Plight of the Jews

Part 2 of a 4 Part Series

Jim Croft

I apologize that this piece is lengthy. The length is necessary to give Gentile Christians an elementary understanding of the plight of the Jews throughout the past 2,000 years. It is important for every believer to know the extent to which ignorance caused our spiritual ancestors to persecute the Lord's ethnic kinsmen, the Jews. The article's introduction is in the body of this email. The rest is the MS Word rtf attachment. Hopefully you will read the download.

I will begin with a capsulated version of the testimony of a dynamic minister friend of mine. His name is Cesar Leyva Nieto and he pastors the Church on the Rock of Harrisonville, MO. He introduced himself as a Mexican until about a year ago. It was then that he discovered that he is actually 100% Jewish. His story confirms much of what is stated in this article. That is especially so of how his family immigrated to the sector of Mexico that is now called Texas; and how he came to the revelation of Christ while alone in style of the Apostle Paul.

A Jewish historical society was doing a series of articles on successful Hispanics who have Sephardic Jewish roots. When they contacted Cesar, he vehemently and truthfully denied any knowledge of Jewish lineage. He explained that he was a 6' 5'' Mexican preacher who prophesied and spoke in tongues. The interviewer disclosed the history of both of his parent's family names assuring him that he was a Jew. In disbelief he told his mother about the call and she spilled the refried beans.

She explained that his paternal and maternal ancestors had fled Spain on the heels of another phase of the Spanish Inquisition that began in 1492. As usual, the Catholic Church played a heavy hand in authorizing clergymen to assist and accompany arresting officers. Cesar's forefathers had been tormented and tortured and their properties confiscated. They barely escaped to the New World with little more than their lives.

The same Church was there to meet them in Mexico/Texas with all of its prejudice and cruelty. One of his maternal grandmothers was publically beaten by Americans because she had born a brood of despised Jews to contaminate the culture. He had a grandfather who met discrimination and racial slurs as a Military Policeman in the US Army. Therefore, the family decided to hide their ethnic identity. The only remnant holdover was a curious lighting of candles on Friday nights. Throughout his childhood, Cesar never had a clue about the candles' announcement of Sabbath Eve.

It was customary for Sephardic Jews that immigrated to Mexico to attempt to keep low vocational profile. However, blessed cream has a way of rising to the top. In spite of their efforts, many became wealthy. A few chose organized crime. Cesar Nieto's father, Abel was one who did so and became one of the region's most powerful drug lords.

Cesar had a keen academic mind, but carried tough guy ways prior the first stages of his salvation process. His first encounter was through an angelic visitation. The angel walked into his room when Cesar was 17 years old. The visitor told him that he needed to “obey.” He did so and was converted. Later on he was translated into heaven and found himself plastered in a prostrate position between two sets of feet. The set on his right glistened with a gloriously white light. The set on his left were human feet. An angel picked Cesar up and placed him immediately in front of the human feet. The revelation of what was happening permeated his entire being: He had no right to approach the Father's feet without the necessity of obedience at Jesus' feet.

I am so glad that Cesar Leyva Nieto has been faithful to the implication of that divine encounter. After his Jewish discovery, he adopted the middle name of Leyva in respect for his mother's Levitical family heritage. Incidentally, Cesar married a Jewess and his married siblings all married Jews. God has a way of guiding His chosen in every path of life.

History

Abraham's grandson, Jacob complained of ill treatment by his uncle Laban in Genesis 31:36, 38-42. His complaint was that Laban had changed the terms multiple times over a twenty year period for the exchange of Jacob's labors for the right to wed Rachel and to earn a livelihood. Jacob rebuked Laban by telling him that had it not been for God's intervention that Laban would have sent him back to Israel empty-handed.

Throughout the past 3,500 years of Jewish history, the treatment of Jacob's descendants in countless Gentile nations has been far harsher than what Jacob experienced. Jews have experienced incidents of divine interventions, but they have been far and few between after the birth of the Church. Though they have been instrumental in blessing Christianized employers and societies, the terms for them to be accepted have never been firmly established. Without question, the Jews have been persecuted more extensively and for a longer duration than any other single ethnic group.

The Old Testament testifies that the Egyptians enslaved the Jews for 430 years. The Babylonians did so for 70 years and the Persians for 84 years. That totals 584 years. That is considerably longer than the indignities suffered by Africans who were sold by fellow Africans into the hands of European slave traders for export to the Americas.

In addition, the Jews have undergone excessive persecution, prejudice and job discrimination in every nation they have inhabited since the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Their properties and fortunes have been confiscated. Their homes and synagogues have been torched and their families brutalized, raped and slaughtered. In the majority of cases these political/religious motivated injustices culminated with Jewish expulsion from those nations. Time after time, Jews were forced to wander as refugees into other nations only to undergo a similar plight.

Persecuted Assets

Yet, in every nation and culture the Jews have consistently been a blessing. The God of Abraham has always faithfully empowered them to be creative and innovative in the midst of adverse circumstances. Brilliant Jews have never failed to enrich their persecutors through their God given abilities in the sciences, medicine, the arts, and business. A candid examination would reveal that wherever there have been advances in any society graced with a Jewish presence, the key figures responsible have been Jewish more often than not.

The Nobel Prize has been awarded to at least 139 Jews. It is likely that the number of Jewish recipients exceeds that of any other single religious group. They certainly leave Muslims sitting in the dust. Muslims represent 20% of the global population and Jews represent 0.2%. Muslim recipients of the Nobel Prize number under a dozen and most of them were educated in the universities of Christian nations.

It is often said that the most important commodity that one can possess is his health. We have the Jews to thank for many of the advances that have been made in the field of health. On a per capita basis, their lead in medical innovations is disproportionate to those of any other ethnicity.

Here are just a few of their accomplishments: Vitamins; the concept of a balanced diet for health; the Schick test for diphtheria; scratch test for allergies; the first doctor of pediatrics; the Salk polio vaccine; the March of Dimes; the antibiotic streptomycin; the drug Salvarsan to cure syphilis; appendicitis surgery and pioneering the study of human psychology. In addition, America's system of public school nursing, city playgrounds and public bath facilities to promote health were launched by the efforts of Jewish citizens. Surely we can make it through life without Jewish help, but not in health!

In the area of religion they gave us: The Scriptures; the concept of a Loving Heavenly Father; the covenant promises of the blessings of prosperity, healing and harmonious marital relationships; our prophets and apostles; and most of all, our Eternal Savior. We owe the Jewish people a tremendous debt of love and respect for all the contributions that they have made to our spiritual, financial, and physical well-being.

Spiritual DNA Hinders Christian Conversion

God has two covenant people, the Church, and the Jews. The Christian Church is presently incomplete in fulfilling its description as the true Zion or Israel of God. Jesus, when speaking to the Jews, said that He had sheep that were not of their fold. _{(John 10:16)} The implications are that Jesus has one flock, but two folds. The two folds are the Jewish fold and the Gentile fold. He will ultimately draw them together into one flock for His glory. Individuals who are permitted to come into His flock must come to God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. However, The Father's timing and manner of wooing people to the Cross is different for those of the two respective folds.

Historically, God blesses the Gentiles through the Jews. They gave us our Savior and the revelation of His Lordship through the preaching of Jewish apostles and prophets. These men penned the Bible that directs us to the path of repentance, faith, and salvation. Non-Jewish converts often testify as to how they met the Lord through the witness of the Christian Bible, evangelistic preaching, or another believer's testimony. This is rarely the case with Jews.

Most Jews will not read the New Testament and are seldom impressed by a Gentile's testimony of salvation. The thought of exposure to Christian evangelistic preaching is shunned. In the isolated instances where Jewish hearts are opened by the Holy Spirit to receive the testimony of others, it is most often that of a Messianic Jew. For most of them, only the testimony of a fellow Jew would have the remote potential to be deemed as credible. Normally when a Jew finds Christ it is commonly reported that he has experienced a direct, personal, spiritual encounter with Jesus while alone.

Why?

Why is it that Jews reject the evangelistic efforts of Gentiles that use the truths of salvation based upon the Scriptures written by Jews? They find it difficult to comprehend the messages as credible because the Lord has often historically used the Gentiles as instruments to judge them for their disobedience. In biblical times they were judged at the hand of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and Romans. During more recent history it has been Czarist Russians; Nazi Germans; and Muslim and Communist regimes.

It is interesting to note that the truth of Jesus' warning that we are justified or condemned by our words is born-out by the persecutions of the Jews at the hands of the Romans, Russians and Germans. They chose Barabbas to be released and opted that their own Messiah would be crucified in his place. In addition they said, “His blood be on us and on our children” and “We have no king but Caesar” _{(Matt. 27:15-26, Mk. 15:6-15, Lk. 23:1-25, Jn. 19:15)} This was a self-inflicted curse.

Barabbas was a murderer and political agitator. In 70AD the Romans destroyed Herod's Temple and lined the streets of Jerusalem with crucified Jews. The Russian word Czar is derived from the word Caesar. The Czars instigated the Pogroms that mercilessly wiped out thousands of the Jewish inhabitants of Russia. Adolph Hitler based Mien Kampf on a book titled, The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler. One of its themes was that the world needs another Caesar. Hitler comprised his elite SS henchmen from the murderers and political activists that he freed from German prisons.

It should also be noted that what goes around comes around. The Bible says that whoever curses the Jews will be cursed in return. _{(Gen 12:3)} The Roman Empire collapsed. The Czarist rule of Russia was ruthlessly ended by Bolshevik Communists who had been inspired by the writings of Marx and Engels who were both Jewish. The Communist leader Stalin butchered millions of Russians. The two World Wars coupled with pro-abortion policies have put the German nationality in danger of extinction. In a sense, they are threatened with the eradication that they intended for the Jews. In an attempt to counteract this, the German government pays those who have children “kinder-gilt”. It is a benefit awarded only to German citizens who have children.

Many contemporary evangelicals find it difficult to understand the Jew's aversion to the Christian faith and the Name of Jesus. They are often mystified as to why their syrupy expressions of Jesus' love are met with a cold shoulder and in some instances mocking hostility.

I believe that there are two reasons for this. One is the brutal inhumanity that those who call themselves Christians have demonstrated against the Jews for the past 2,000 years. The other is the timing of God's plan for a mass in gathering of the Jewish people prior to the Second Advent of the Lord.

Most Gentile Christians are oblivious to the negative imprint that the Church has made in the name of Christ on the collective Jewish psyche over the past two millennia. Historically, Christians have demonstrated anything but the love of God to the Jews. Under the banner of the Church and our love for Jesus we have either actively participated in or ignorantly allowed the persecution of the Jews in nearly every nation that calls itself Christian. Our unscriptural, anti-Semitic theology has paved the way for habitual expressions of animosity, social degradation, and forced baptisms. The histories of Christian nations reflect the shameful practice of awarding custodial rights of Jewish children to Gentiles; and the unjust persecutions, torture and exiles of Jewish citizens. For centuries misguided Gentile Christians chose the Holidays of Christmas and Easter as occasions to perpetrate barbarous crimes against the Jews who lived among them. Because of this, one could say, that it is as though there is something in most every Jew's historical and spiritual DNA structure that interprets the Cross as a symbol of disaster.

When they are confronted with the Gospel, especially through a Gentile, there is often something that is alerted within them which says; “Danger, danger, fight or flee”. This phenomenon could be compared to the ability of various species within creation to adapt to their environments. If there is a poisonous plant indigenous to an area, the wildlife adapts and over time learns to avoid it. Once the adaptation is secure, an alarm imprint within animal DNA causes all future generations to have an aversion to that which their ancestors found toxic.

The following is a brief overview of what has caused the negative imprint in the Jewish mind that hinders them from embracing Christianity. This overview features some overlaps where persecutions by Christian, Communist and Islamic regimes occurred simultaneously.

The First Century - There was a war between the Jews and Rome. At that time there were well over 50,000 Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. When the Romans assaulted the Holy City, the Christians interpreted it as the fulfillment of Christ's prophecy of Matthew 24:15-17. As a result Messianic Jewish Christians refused to defend their homeland and fled to the city of Pella that is in modern day Jordan. Israel's fighting forces were diminished by the exodus of Messianic believers. Jerusalem was captured, 600,000 Jews were butchered; 115,000 were exported as slaves and their national temple was burnt to the ground. This particular Roman siege took more lives than all the bombings of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Tokyo combined.

The Second Century - A Jewish nationalist named Bar Kokohba led a revolt against Rome. He was defeated in 135 AD and the emperor Hadrian vindictively decided to wipe out the name and memory of Israel. Therefore he renamed Israel after their age-old enemies the Philistines. He called the area Syria et Philistia. Up until that time, it had always been known as Israel or Judea, the home of the Jews.

The word Palestine is a corruption of the word Philistine. Every believer with Bible knowledge understands that God delivered the land of Israel from the Philistines and gave it to the Jewish descendants of Isaac. During the years in which the world maps of Christian nations labeled Israel as Palestine it was a subtle insult to the Jewish people.

The Fourth through the Sixth Century - St. John Chrysotom, St. Gregory of Nyssa, Hilary of Poiters, and many other noted church leaders preached that synagogues were the caverns of brigands and the dens of wild beasts. Jews were denounced in hundreds of sermons as greedy, lustful, inveterate murderers who were possessed by the devil. Jews were forbidden to serve in any public office and marriage to a Jew was considered a filthy union punishable by death.

Islam from the Seventh Century onward - The Arab, Mohammed instituted the political religious system of Islam in 610AD. He envisioned that Christians and Jews would adopt his faith. He was enraged when they resisted. Since that time, Islam has waged discrimination, war and genocide against Jews and Christians in every nation where Islam has dominance. The subjugation and eradication of Christianity and Jews is Islamic policy. Modern leaders of Islamic stronghold nations such as Iran and Egypt are calling for wiping Israel and the Jews from existence. As recently as the summer of 2012 the Muslims of 14 nations burned down churches and synagogues and thousands of Christians and Jews were forced to flee their homelands.

The Twelfth and Thirteenth Century - In England all Jews and their properties were considered the property of the king. A wealthy Jew of Bristol refused to pay exorbitant taxes. His punishment was to have a tooth extracted for each day that he withheld payment. Between 1262 and 1279AD there were 1,780 Jews executed in London alone. King Edward I ordered every living Jew to leave his realm by All Saints Day of 1290.

The Catholic Church incited thousands of its members to make Crusades to the Holy Land to liberate it from the hands of Islamic and Jewish infidels. In England, France and Germany civilians demonstrated their support for the troops by rioting against the Jews at home. They torched homes and synagogues and thousands were killed.

For instance, when Richard the Lion-Hearted left England it is estimated that Londoners slaughtered 1,500 English Jews. On their way to Jerusalem the Crusaders raped and pillaged their way through the Jewish communities of the Mediterranean and Middle East. Their justification for killing thousands and impaling infants on their lances was that they were of the hateful race that had killed Jesus.

In reality the Jews were not solely responsible for the death of Christ. It was actually the Romans who crucified Him due to pressure from the religious sect of the Pharisees. They, in turn were being motivated by satanic influences that were permitted to fulfill the pre-determined plan of God.

The Fourteenth Century - The Black Death plague hit Europe and the Jews were blamed. In Spain, Jews were coerced through torture to confess to poisoning wells with a concoction made of lizards, frogs, spiders, human hearts, and the sacred hosts. The story spread like wildfire throughout Christendom. In Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Poland and Austria the pattern for sending thousands of Jews to be burned at the stake were similar. False accusations were followed by trials, torture, forced confessions, and then the flames. The “Christians” of Europe were so blinded by hundreds of years of anti-Semitic propaganda that they were unable to recognize that Jews were dying from the Black Death alongside Christians. The Church was too ignorant to perceive that it would have been suicidal for the Jews to poison the wells from which they too drew water.

The Fifteenth - Seventeenth Century - The Catholic Church in Spain and Portugal had vicious Inquisitions. Jews and Marranos (Jews who had converted to Christianity, but were suspect of secretly practicing Judaism) were tortured and killed by the thousands. Those who refused baptism died, their properties were confiscated and their kidnapped children were raised as Christians in homes throughout Europe. Under the leadership of Martin Luther came the reformation and the Protestant Church. Luther began his ministry with high hopes that the Jews would join his new denomination. When they did not, he became enraged and began to preach and publish scurrilous sermons accusing them of being doomed to hell as anti-Christ devils who were guilty of ritualistic murders. In his last sermon before his death he called for all Jews to be expulsed from Germanic provinces.

1648-58 AD - This decade was perhaps the bloodiest in Jewish history until the Holocaust. Czarist Cossacks incited by the Eastern Orthodox Church blitzed through 700 Jewish communities of the Ukraine and Poland. It is estimated that at least 500,000 Jews died. Historians report that victims were skinned alive and left to the agony of a lingering death. Infants were slit like fish before their mother's eyes. Pregnant women were ripped open and then sown back again with live cats thrust into their wombs.

The Nineteenth and Twentieth Century - Czarist pogroms or purging of Jews from Russian cities caused thousands to flee to other nations as synagogues and homes were plundered and burned.

1939-45 AD - 6 million European Jews perished in the Holocaust. When Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, he appealed to German Christians whose minds had already been polluted by hundreds of years of anti-Semitic Lutheran and Catholic theology. He wrote: “I believe that I am today acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jews I am fighting for the work of the Lord.”

After the war it was inconvenient for the European nations to have Jews wandering about as displaced persons. Therefore, the Allied Forces returned scores of thousands to the very camps from which they had been liberated. In reality, the only things that had changed were the nationality their captors and the amount of food supply. The Nazis had killed them. The United Nations would not allow them to live as free human beings. Tragically, the Jews were not actually completely liberated from the concentration camps of Europe and Cyprus until 1947.

The victorious Allied Forces discovered the Nazi's cache of gold bullion. Much of it had been cast from the fortunes and dental work of Jews who had perished in the work camps. Conscience would dictate that these resources rightfully belonged to the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. It could have been a tremendous asset to help resettle European Jews in new homes and vocations. It would have gone a long way in helping establish the State of Israel as a homeland for Jewish people. However, the Allied Forces shamefully opted to give $44 million of Jewish fortunes to the Gentile industrialists of the nations that had sided with Germany during the war in order to help them rebuild their economies.

1960-Present Day - The sentiments of Europeans and their governments remain anti-Jew and anti-Israel. To their own hurt, they reject the Jews and welcome Muslims. They have most definitely chosen the wrong group of the sons of Abraham. Immigrate Muslims have been draining the socialistic welfare systems of European nations dry for the past 50+ years. Muslim birth rates outpace that of Europeans and they are now empowered to take Europe over politically. It is estimated that the entirety of Europe will be under Shariah Law by 2050. That will intensify everything related to anti-Semitism.

An Important Question

Is there any hint in the Scriptures that there was a potential for something like the Holocaust to happen? I think so. Jeremiah 16:15-18 it says that fishermen and hunters would pursue the Jewish people to get them back to their own land. The fishermen could be the Zionist beginning with Theodore Herzl who entreated the Jews of Europe to return to Israel. The hunters could be the Nazis who relentlessly hunted them down. Without question, had it not been for the population growth within Israel spawned by those two movements, Israel would not have the strength to thwart the intents of Islamists today (Rom. 8:28).

The Twenty-first Century - In America and Europe anti-Semitism flourishes through the efforts of the Klue Klux Klan, neo-Nazi, and Aryan purist groups. They label Jews as Christ-killers who manipulate the world's economy for their greed. More often than not they use the Gospel of John and other New Testament passages as their proof texts. Using isolated texts like John 9:22, 19:38 they punctuate that the true Christians were apprehensive of reprisals from “the Jews.” They fail to discern that the authors of the texts were themselves Jews who were referring solely to the Jewish clergy and political leaders who had rejected Christ.

Contemporary anti-Semitic groups also erroneously assert that the Jews, the Hebrews, and the Israelites are separate, distinctive people groups. They try to persuade their adherents that Christians are the true Hebrews. They assert that the Church, independent of a future massive ingathering of Jews, is the sole true Israel of God and that Jews are despicable enemies of God.

The Apostle Paul certainly had an excellent understanding of the terms Jews, Israelites, and Hebrews. He claimed to be all three. Though he was born of the tribe of Benjamin he proclaimed that he was a Hebrew of Hebrews, an Israelite and a Jew. _{(Rom. 11:1, Philip. 3:5, Acts 21:39)} In reality, the words Jew and Jewish refer to religion and culture. Hebrew and Hebrews refer to a language and a genealogy which can be traced back to Abraham and Isaac. And, Israelites are those born to citizens of Israel or within Israel's borders.

With this horrendous history how can we Gentiles expect to win Jews for Christ? The truth is that it is unlikely that most Gentile believers will be primary participants in the process through any means beyond intercession and the support of Messianic Jewish ministries that are effective in reaching their kinsmen. In most circumstances, Jewish evangelism is a privilege that the Lord has reserved for Himself. He will bring the Jews into His flock, in His own time through a global sovereign move of the Holy Spirit on Jewish hearts.

When this happens it is unlikely that it will be Gentile missionaries who can claim the credit. We can pray for that day and soften Jewish hearts through acts of gratitude and kindness. However, it is doubtful that our preaching will be a common factor in the conversion of the majority of Jews. The Lord will meet them in divine visitations as He did Jacob and the Apostle Paul. He will begin to take them aside individually to reveal Himself to them as their Messiah.

These private encounters will be much like that of Joseph when he made his identity known to his brothers in Egypt. As the Messiah's identity is made known to their spirits they will look on Him whom they pierced and mourn. Jesus will comfort them by telling them that even though they ignorantly meant it for evil, that God meant it for good. In a relatively short time millions of Jews will pass under the rod and into the bond of the New Covenant.

Ezekiel 20:33-37 "As I live," says the Lord GOD, "surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you. [34] I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. [35]And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead My case with you face to face. [36] Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead My case with you," says the Lord GOD. [37] "I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;

The Jews, as the natural branches of the olive tree will be grafted in among Gentiles who are the wild olive branches. Their initial rejection of the Gospel brought us salvation. Their acceptance will usher in life from the dead or the resurrection of all deceased believers from their graves and the Second Coming of the Lord to planet earth. _{(Rom 11:11-12, 15, 23-29)} 

 

jcm888@comcast.net