Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
China ‘notes’ Pope’s new year greeting, calls for flexibility
Jan.3, 2016 TRUNEWS
China said on Wednesday it had “noted” an interview in which Pope Francis sent Lunar New Year greetings to President Xi Jinping, and called on the Vatican to be flexible in creating conditions for better relations.
The Vatican, which has had no formal diplomatic ties with Beijing since shortly after the Communist Party took power in 1949, has been trying to improve ties with China and its state-sanctioned Catholic Church.
The main point of contention between Beijing and the Vatican is which side should have the final say in the appointment of bishops. Another stumbling block is the Holy See’s recognition of Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province. Pope Francis holds a skullcap given to him by a faithful as he arrives to lead the weekly audience in Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican February 3, 2016. REUTERS/Max Rossi
While he was in South Korea in 2014, the Pope urged China to pursue a formal dialogue to benefit both sides. While flying to South Korea, his plane was allowed to cross Chinese air space, a first for a pope.
In the interview in the Asia Times this week, the Pope did not mention difficult subjects like human rights, expressing his admiration for China and sending his best wishes to Xi and China’s people ahead of next week’s Lunar New Year holiday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he had “noted the relevant report”.
“China has always been sincere about improving Sino-Vatican ties, and have made many efforts in this regard,” Lu told a daily news briefing.
“We are still willing to have constructive dialogue with the Vatican based on this principle, meeting each other half way, and keep pushing forward the development of the process of improving bilateral relations. We also hope that the Vatican can take a flexible, pragmatic attitude to creating conditions for improving ties.”
Jerusalem has always stood at the forefront of Jewish consciousness. Synagogues are all built facing Israel so that wherever a Jew prays, the direction of prayer is towards Jerusalem. When building a new home, it is customary to leave an unfinished square in order to remember the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. And at the conclusion of every Yom Kippur and Passover Seder, Jews declare, “Next year in Jerusalem!” The Temple Mount Heritage Foundation brings awareness of the significance of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, the place of God's "resting place forever." It is here in God's dwelling place that peace will one day emanate to all the nations of the world.
On the surface, it looks like Pope Francis and the Jews are cozying up to one another. Below the surface, an End of Days prophecy that pits Rome against Jerusalem may be playing out.
Over 2,000 years ago, King Solomon commanded his builders to hew stone blocks out of the hills of Jerusalem in order to build the first holy Temple and the surrounding Temple Mount, creating the holy site where God would choose to rest His presence on earth. Today, these same ancient stones can still be seen, visited and touched at the Western Wall, one of Judaism’s most treasured sites and Jerusalem’s most famous landmark. The Western Wall, or Kotel, is visited by thousands of people daily, and millions yearly, who seek to connect to the Divine Presence which once rested within these stones. Hold your own piece of Jerusalem with this beautiful and totally unique print on authentic Jerusalem stone.
I enjoy any good report or update concerning things of Israel and pray often. John S. Ferris, Michigan, U.S.A.
Hi. My name is Dave DiGennaro and I am from Saugus, Massachusetts. I really enjoy reading about the land of Israel and I truly believe it is protected by our most Holy God. Although I am not Jewish, I do pray for the protection of Israel and I am appalled at how our current administration is acting towards Israel. Thank you for all the news you send our way. Shalom, Dave DiGennaro
Rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, accompanies Pope Francis, during a visit at the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, on May 26, 2014. (Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO/FLASH90)
The Prophetic Truth Behind the Rapprochement Between the Pope and the Jews
“Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD; but they that deal truly are His delight.” (Proverbs 12:22)
On the surface, it looks like Pope Francis and the Jews are cozying up to one another and becoming besties. Below the surface, an End of Days prophecy that pits Rome against Jerusalem is playing out.
That’s the contention of Rabbi Tovia Singer, a Jewish expert in both Hebrew and Christian Scripture and director of the counter-missionary organization, Outreach Judaism. Singer opens his case by noting the proximity of two recent news items.
Orthodox Rabbis Hold Out An Olive Branch
On December 3, 2015, the Center for Jewish Christian Understanding and Cooperation (CJCUC) issued a statement calling for increased cooperation between Jews and Christians. Rabbi Dr. Eugene Korn, Academic Director of CJCUC told Breaking Israel News, “The statement was addressed to the Jewish community primarily, and secondarily to the Christian community.
“Most of our statement referred to the developments in the Catholic Church (e.g. Nostra Aetate) but it also applies to all Christians and churches who are not actively converting Jews and acknowledge that the biblical covenant between God and the Jewish people is still a valid living covenant.”
Nostra Aetate, passed in 1965, is a declaration by the Catholic Church that the Jewish people of today are not responsible for the death of Jesus. The statement also condemns any expression of anti-Semitism and confirms that “God holds the Jews most dear.”
Korn further commented to Breaking Israel News, “Our statement was not coordinated with the Vatican or the Pope’s request in any explicit way. As Orthodox rabbis, we felt that after 50 years there was a need to express our position on the positive changes brought about by Nostra Aetate and the Church’s affirmation of the validity of the special covenantal relationship between God and the Jewish people, which is the foundation of Judaism.”
Vatican Tells Catholics to Stop Trying to Convert Jews
Just one week later, on December 10, 2015, the Vatican called on Catholics to stop missionizing Jews.
In an extended interview with Breaking Israel News, Singer explained that, while that gesture looked to many like the next stage of friendship between the Jewish people and the Catholic Church, the Vatican’s statement is essentially meaningless since “Roman Catholics haven’t evangelized Jews in 75 years.”
Singer acknowledged that the evangelical Christians who oppose the Vatican’s statement are theologically correct when they claim that Pope Francis is presenting a distorted view of a central Christian teaching. “The New Testament clearly tells that Jews are the primary audience [for conversion],” he told Breaking Israel News.
These two events – the peaceful statement of more than 50 Orthodox rabbis toward Catholicism and the Pope’s command to stop converting Jews – look to many like rapprochement. However, according to Singer, there’s a third, darker element that has been overlooked by most. This third element, which has prophetic implications, tells the real story of the Catholic Church’s agenda toward Israel.
Although the modern state of Israel was established in 1948, diplomatic relations between Israel and the Vatican were not established until 1993, 43 years after the founding of the State.Yet the Vatican has already recognized the State of Palestine, despite the fact that no such entity exists.
The Prophecy
According to Singer, the Pope recognizing the PA points to an End of Days prophecy that speaks of Edom (Rome) coming up against Jerusalem.The Jewish people’s conflict with Edom is discussed in the Book of Daniel (2:31-35) which speaks of four exiles of the Jewish people. Until the arrival of the Messiah, the Jewish people, even those who live in Israel, are still in the fourth exile, known as Galut Edom (the Exile of Rome)
The Exile of Rome began when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in the year 70 CE, and continues until today. It will only end in the Messianic days, when the Third Temple is built. The Book of Obadiah includes a prophecy that, at the End of Days, Edom (Rome) will attempt to come up against Jerusalem a second time.
The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom: We have heard a message from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the nations: ‘Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.’ (Obadiah 1:1)
According to Singer, the surest way for Edom to “rise up against Jerusalem” and destroy Israel is to strengthen her enemy. Thus, the Pope’s friendship with Abbas and his efforts to embolden the PA is the real story, the true fulfillment of the prophecy of Obadiah.
Singer urged that the world not be fooled by signs that the Pope and the Jews are warming up to one another. The Catholic Church’s true agenda, to fight against Jerusalem, as Obadiah prophesied, is being revealed by the Church’s recognition of the non-existent State of Palestine.
My heart yearns for the glory of the Lord Jesus to be revealed in the earth, touching the hearts and souls of men, women and children in each and every nation. As we see the days become darker, we believe that the Lord God of Israel will show Himself strong, and prove that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, as He says He is.
I wrote this book for you who also long to walk in strong faith, courage and commitment to the end, for whatever the Lord has planned and purposed for you and I. Together, as the Body of Christ, and the glorious Bride that we will become, we will one day see His Kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. The Gospel, the Good News of salvation, will be declared, and that which is just and good will for all eternity overcome the evil one.
I sincerely believe we are living in the end of days, as prophetic words have been rapidly fulfilled since the re-birth of Israel in 1948. Jesus Himself had said that when we see the fig tree budding, we know that the time is near.
This book, my 10th published in the last three years (all between 2013-2015) and before my 61st birthday, is very special to me. I sense it is something the Lord put on my heart to do several months ago, giving it that “urgency of getting it done and out there” feel as I wrote. Originally these chapters were Now Think On This messages. It was amazing to me how many were done in September and October of 2015 alone, as the Holy Spirit would speak a word or sentence to me, and I would write soon after. I am truly grateful for His impartation, and acknowledge Jesus (Yeshua), my Lord and Savior, above all.
The photos I have included in the book are primarily ones I took (exceptions noted), both to document history and to share another way the Lord also speaks to His Body. Capturing moments of the Holy Spirit action, especially in the two “fire” photos, were exciting. In both cases I wasn’t even aware of it until they were “developed”.
I trust this book will both encourage you and cause you to re-commit yourself - to know the Lord’s will for your life, do all you can to allow Him to direct your steps, and be the light in these dark days we desperately need and have been called upon by the Lord to be. I am with you, arm in arm! Ahava (love in Hebrew) and shalom (peace),
Steve Martin Love For His People Charlotte, NC Jan. 25, 2016
Pope Francis (R) embraces Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the end of the ceremony for the canonization of four nuns at Saint Peter's square. (Reuters)
Vatican's Recognition of Palestine Now in Effect
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An agreement signed last year making the Vatican's de facto recognition of Palestine in 2012 official has come into effect, the Holy See said on Saturday.
The Vatican signed its first treaty with the "State of Palestine" last June when it called for moves to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and backed a two-state solution.
"... the Holy See and the State of Palestine have notified each other that the procedural requirements for (the accord's) entry into force have been fulfilled, the Vatican said in a statement on Saturday.
The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2012 recognizing Palestine as an observer non-member state. This was welcomed at the time by the Vatican, which has the same observer non-member status at the United Nations.
In October 2014, Sweden acknowledged Palestine, a decision that drew condemnation from Israel and led to tense relations between the two.
Israel has previously called the Vatican accord a hasty move that could damage prospects for advancing a peace agreement and impact its future diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
But the Holy See under Pope Francis is eager to have a greater diplomatic role in the Middle East, from where many Christians have fled because of conflicts in Syria, Iraq and other countries.
"The Agreement ... regards essential aspects of the life and activity of the Church in Palestine, while at the same time reaffirming the support for a negotiated and peaceful solution to the conflict in the region," the Vatican said.
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A GROUP of Jewish leaders issued a historic public statement affirming their desire to accept “the hand offered to us by our Christian brothers and sisters.”
Agroup of prominent Orthodox rabbis in Israel, the United States and Europe have issued a historic public statement affirming that Christianity is “the willed divine outcome and gift to the nations” and urging Jews and Christians to “work together as partners to address the moral challenges of our era.”
“Jesus brought a double goodness to the world,” the statement reads. “On the one hand he strengthened the Torah of Moses majestically” and on the other hand “he removed idols from the nations,” instilling them “firmly with moral traits.”
This year 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the declaration issued in 1965 by the Second Vatican Council, which marked a watershed in Jewish-Christian relations.
In language unusual for its day, Nostra Aetate stated that “God holds the Jews most dear,” stressed the great “spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews,” and condemned “hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.”
Now, a group of Jewish leaders has responded in kind, expressing their desire to accept “the hand offered to us by our Christian brothers and sisters.”
“Christians are congregations that work for the sake of heaven who are destined to endure, whose intent is for the sake of heaven and whose reward will not denied,” the text reads.
The statement bears the title, “To Do the Will of Our Father in Heaven: Toward a Partnership between Jews and Christians,” and is signed by over 25 prominent Orthodox rabbis, who invite fellow Orthodox rabbis to join in signing the statement.
“Now that the Catholic Church has acknowledged the eternal Covenant between G-d and Israel, we Jews can acknowledge the ongoing constructive validity of Christianity as our partner in world redemption, without any fear that this will be exploited for missionary purposes,” it says.
Echoing recent words by Pope Francis, the document states: “We are no longer enemies, but unequivocal partners in articulating the essential moral values for the survival and welfare of humanity.”
“Neither of us can achieve G-d’s mission in this world alone,” it says.
According to Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, one of the statement’s initiators, the “real importance of this Orthodox statement is that it calls for fraternal partnership between Jewish and Christian religious leaders, while also acknowledging the positive theological status of the Christian faith.”
“This proclamation’s breakthrough is that influential Orthodox rabbis across all centers of Jewish life have finally acknowledged that Christianity and Judaism are no longer engaged in a theological duel to the death and that Christianity and Judaism have much in common spiritually and practically. Given our toxic history, this is unprecedented in Orthodoxy.” said Rabbi Dr. Eugene Korn, Academic Director of CJCUC.
Pope Francis issues a statement that Jews don't need to put their faith in Jesus Christ to be forgiven. (Wikimedia)
The Vatican Is Wrong: Jews Do Need Jesus
An important new statement from the Vatican on the relationship between the Catholic Church, the Jewish people and Jesus Christ makes many praiseworthy points. At the same time, it misunderstands Jesus' own mission to His Jewish people, thereby undermining fundamental tenets of the New Testament along with the very nature of the apostolic witness.
Issued on the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking document "Nostra Aetate" ("In Our Time"), the new document, titled "The Gifts and Calling of God Are Irrevocable," rightly reiterates the Catholic Church's repudiation of replacement theology, also known as supersessionism, the teaching that the church has replaced (or superseded) Israel in God's plan of salvation. It also reiterates the Church's repudiation of anti-Semitism, quoting the dictum of Pope Francis that one cannot be both a Christian and an anti-Semite.
In addition, the new statement urges deep respect for Judaism and for the historic connection between the Jewish people and the God of Israel—the God whom Christians worship—also calling on Catholic Christians to learn from Judaism's interpretation of the Scriptures and to join with the Jewish people in standing for justice and caring for the poor.
All this is tremendously positive, as the Church continues to distance itself from the plagues of anti-Semitism and supersessionism, plagues that infected both Catholic and Protestant branches of the faith, in some circles until this day. And so it is right to recall the reality of the Holocaust, as this document does, since the Holocaust could hardly have taken place if not for more than a millennium of European, Church-based anti-Semitism.
Most importantly, the new statement states plainly that the Jewish people do not need to put their faith in Jesus Christ to be forgiven, since their faith culminates in the Torah, in contrast with the Christian faith, which culminates in Jesus. Therefore, we are told, there is no need for the Catholic Church to have a specific mission to convert Jews to Christianity, looking forward to the day when, in the mysteries of God, Jews and Christians will serve God together, shoulder to shoulder.
Not surprisingly, this statement has been hailed by Jewish leaders, in particular for its explicit call for the Church not to engage in an intentional, specific outreach to the Jewish people.
From my perspective as a Jewish believer in Jesus who is deeply indebted to my Christian friends who reached out to me as a rebellious, heroin-shooting, LSD-using, 16-year-old, hippie rock drummer, it would have been tragic had they thought not to share the Good News with me because I was Jewish.
To be sure, the new statement does allow for respectful interaction between the faiths and does not prohibit all Christian witness, but the overall sentiment of the statement, as reflected in numerous headlines, is that "Jews do not need Jesus to be saved," as if they can somehow be included in His salvific act while explicitly rejecting Him as Messiah.
Certainly, I agree that the Church's goal should not be to convert Jews to Christianity. Rather, the goal should be to help them embrace Jesus-Yeshua as their Messiah, discovering Him to be the one who fulfilled what was written in Moses and the Prophets (Matt. 5:17-20) rather than the one who came to start a new, somewhat foreign religion.
Yet the very fact that Jesus did come as the Jewish Messiah fundamentally contradicts the new Catholic statement. The reasons are both fundamental and significant.
1. Jesus was recognized by His followers as the one spoken of by Moses and the prophets, not as the founder of a new religion (John 1:45) but as the one who was born King of the Jews and died King of the Jews (Matt. 2:1-6; 27:35-37).
Jesus showed His disciples that the Hebrew Scriptures—the Jewish Bible—predicted His death and resurrection (Luke 24:25-27; 24:44-48) and He rebuked the Jewish leadership for not recognizing Him as the Messiah, saying that if they truly believed Moses, they would believe Him (John 5:45-47).
2. If Jesus is not the Messiah of Israel, then He cannot be the Savior of the world. Instead, He should be repudiated as a false prophet, false teacher and false messiah.
Many Jewish leaders today have great respect for the Christian faith, saying that while Jesus is not the Jewish Messiah, He is the Christian Savior, but this cannot be true. If He is not Israel's Messiah, He cannot be the Savior of the world.
If Judaism, then, is right in rejecting Yeshua as Messiah, there should be no such thing as Christianity, since the essential witness of the New Testament would be false. If the witness of the New Testament is true, then Jews need Jesus as much as Gentiles do.
3. The Jewish rejection of Jesus in the Gospels and Acts is seen as the culmination of Israel's rejection of Moses and the prophets.
Jesus warned the Jewish crowds that in the future, Gentiles would be sitting at Abraham's table while many of them—"the sons of the kingdom"—would be cast out (Matt. 8:10-12), and Peter, Stephen, and Paul all stated explicitly that their people's refusal to recognize Jesus as Messiah was in keeping with their history as recorded in the Old Testament (Acts 3:13-23; 7:51-52; 13:16-41).
4. Jesus warned His followers—all of them Jews—that they would be put out of the synagogue (John 16:3), and so it was incipient Judaism that first rejected "Jewish Christians" more than the reverse.
This pattern begins to unfold in the book of Acts, as the apostles—again, all of them Jewish—were persecuted and threatened by the Jewish leadership (e.g., Acts 4-7), and in each new city where Paul traveled, it was only after his message was rejected by the synagogue that he began to preach to the Gentiles (e.g., Acts 13:41-48).
5. According to Paul, the gospel is to the Jew first (Rom. 1:16; this echoes Jesus' words in Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8) and judgment is also for the Jew first (Rom. 2:6-11).
It is significant that the new Catholic statement relies primarily on Paul's teaching in Romans 9-11, choosing overtly not to emphasize the teaching of Hebrews (addressed to Jewish followers of Jesus), which stated that the old covenant system, which was even then "becoming obsolete and growing old" was "ready to vanish away" (Heb. 8:13). This, Hebrews tells us, is because the new and better covenant, prophesied by Jeremiah (31:31-34) and inaugurated by Jesus (Luke 22:17-20), was now in effect (8:7-12; 10:14-18).
Yet it is in Romans 9-11 that Paul spoke of his deep agony because His Jewish people were separated from the Messiah (9:1-3; he did this while affirming God's ongoing covenant with Israel in 9:4-5); he explained that both in past times and to this moment, it was only the remnant within Israel that was saved (9:6; 11:1-7); he prayed for the salvation of his people (10:1; why do that if the new Catholic statement is true?); he taught that Israel, on a national level, had been hardened but that in the end that hardness would be removed and his people would recognize their Messiah (11:7-27); thus, he explained, at present, the Jewish people are enemies of the gospel, even while still loved by God, "for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (11:28-29).
Significantly, it is this very verse, Romans 11:29, that inspires the title of the new document, yet it fails to understand what Paul meant when he wrote it. Jews are still loved by God and remain heirs of the divine promises, but outside of Jesus, they are alienated from God. That is why, to the end of his life, Paul engaged in an intentional mission to reach his people with the Good News that the Messiah of Israel had come (Acts 28:16-31).
If we truly love the Jewish people, we should follow his example, both with our tears and with our compassionate and sensitive outreach, recognizing that no other people on earth are so near and yet so far.
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