Why You Should Support Israel - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Why You Should Support Israel

“Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations, and set up My standard for the peoples; they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders;” (Isaiah 49:22, NKJV)

A few NowThink On This messages ago I wrote, “Why I Go So Often To Israel”. While many read it, I am sure some considered it “not for them” and skipped it, as other things occupy their time, money and daily thoughts. As, “Good for him, but that isn’t for me” type of thinking.

Were you one of them?

I believe this message is for you, then, if you answered yes to the afore asked question. And for those who did read it, and thought, “Yes, I understand, but not my thing either”, then I hope you consider the following.

Steve Martin with some Israel Today staff, Jerusalem

With that said, I am primarily focusing this message to Americans, but I am sure there are a few “non-Americans” who might consider what I have to say also. For you see, it just might change your life. Seriously, it just might.

While many know the biblical reasons Christians, such as us, should support Israel and the Jews, more than likely there are many more who think not or couldn’t care less. But here are the biblical reasons why we should anyway, and then more reasons why you should also consider support.

While I won’t list all the Bible verses written to clearly show this, they are there for you to read and acknowledge.

1.      God had the Bible recorded/written by Jews. And several of those Jews became believers in Yeshua (Jesus). Basically, this is what we now know or call the New Testament.

2.      The hundreds of prophetic verses foretold by Jewish prophets, such as Isaiah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, Micah, and King David, have already been fulfilled concerning the Messiah, Jesus, when He came the first time. No one before or since has done that. You can’t make this up and still hold these truths up through the centuries that have followed, without them being accurate.

3.      Yeshua, having become a man, walked the earth for 33 years. What He spoke has come true, as proof for who He said He was – God in the flesh. Said it. Did it. Believe it.

4.      The land of Israel was promised to Abraham and his descendants after him, through the bloodline of Isaac and Jacob. The God who made the covenant is also the God who created everything. He does what He wills and purposes to do, with or without our consent. That is why He is God and we are not.

5.      Jesus Himself said that in the last days more prophesies would be fulfilled concerning Himself and Israel, revealing the time of His soon return. He also declared that specific ones would take place in that Land, and more importantly, in Jerusalem. They are now happening today, in increasing measure.

Nissim and Hadassah Lerner, Steve & Laurie Martin - Jerusalem, Israel  May 2019

Now for the other reasons, which are many, and not all-inclusive here.

1.      Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. If only for that fact, Americans should support them, as they “are on our side” when it comes to politics and war.

2.      Israel is fulfilling the written word that it would be a “light to the nations.” (Isa 42:6)

High-tech and other inventive companies have placed their footprint among the cities there. The results are currently being used around the world with modern conveniences, including here in the USA abundantly.

3.      Several Middle Eastern nations repeatedly threaten to destroy Israel. If they ever were to succeed (which they won’t), they would next seek to destroy America. “The little satan and the big satan” as they call us both. Their hatred for us will never cease.

4.      Many Americans have moved to Israel (making “aliyah”), and they still hold American passports, which they are entitled too. Knowing many myself who have now done so, and many who are yet to move, I support them.

5.      For possibly selfish reasons, and yet not so, the Bible says that if we, Americans (and all others have this choice), bless Israel and the Jews, then we will be blessed. (Genesis 12:3) I personally like being blessed.

6.      Those who curse and hate Israel will be cursed and destroyed. I’d prefer not to be among that group. History also proves this fact.

Genesis 12:1-3 reads, “Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.  And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." (NASU)

With all the other reasons listed above, here is another primary list of those who also give us many reasons as to why you too should support Israel.

Having said this, the ministry Love For His People, founded in April 2010, supports several families, friends, and respected news agencies in the Land of Israel. Here is part of our monthly gift-giving list. I encourage you to check them out and do so accordingly. Or with this online link send to us and we will pass it on.

1.      His Lighthouse, Inc. – Nissim and Hadassah Lerner in Jerusalem

2.      Aliyah Return Center – Chaim Malespin in Tiberias

3.      Richard and Carolyn Hyde – Heart of G-D near Tiberias

4.      Christian Friends of Israel – Jim and Linda McKenzie in Jerusalem

5.      Israel Today – Aviel Schneider and team in Jerusalem

6.      Israel365/Breaking Israel News – Rabbi Tuly Weisz and team in Bet Shemesh

7.      Rabbi Kokeb & Menalu Gedamu – Congregation Amud HaEsh in Jerusalem

8.      CBN News/Jerusalem Dateline – Chris Mitchell, Julie Stahl and staff

Having been blessed by Israel and the Jews, we are now delighted and honored to do the same. I hope you will join us in this God-given command, to bless Israel and the Jews.

Now think of this,

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin

Founder/President

Love For His People, Inc.

Please sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter: Now Think On This 

P.S. Didn't see or read my first message on this related article? Read here: Why I Go So Often To Israel

P.S.S. On May 10 I returned from my 20^th trip to Israel. And guess what? I brought back for you my last 58 short videos I entitled “Walk With Me in Israel”. You can join me as I walk through the beautiful land and cities of Israel. Watch them here on our YouTube channel: Walk With Me - Israel May 2019

Also, my previous ones from other locations are here also on YouTube: Walk With Me. You may like them as much as I do!

If these messages have ministered to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $10-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families in Israel whom we consistently help monthly through our humanitarian work. Your tax-deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.

  

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Todah rabah! (Hebrew – Thank you very much.) 

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Now Think On This #425 - in the year of our Lord 05.29.19 – “Why You Should Support Israel” – Wednesday, 4:30 pm

Friends and more in Jerusalem - Love For His People photos May 7, 2019

Aviel Schneider (Israel Today Editor) and Steve Martin

Friends and more in Jerusalem 

Love For His People 

Photos May 7, 2019

 Laurie Martin and Olga, Israel Today staff

 Olga, Ryan Jones (Israel Today magazine staff) and Steve Martin

Elvis Pressly

Steve Martin and Rabbi Tuly Weisz, Editor of Breaking Israel News

THE GOLDEN AGE OF JEWISH-CHRISTIAN RELATIONS - TULY WEISZ Jerusalem Post

THE GOLDEN AGE OF JEWISH-CHRISTIAN RELATIONS

BYTULY WEISZ

 

 SEPTEMBER 22, 2017 13:36

 

Christian love demanded that they try and convert the Jews, but more often than not, Jews felt more wrath than grace.

Powerful docudrama produced by CBN.. (photo credit:CBN)

Earlier this summer, hundreds of Israelis packed the Jerusalem Cinematheque theater for the 

premiere of the Six Day War documentary, “In Our Hands.” The film traces the steps of the 

55th Paratroopers Brigade through firsthand interviews with IDF soldiers and historical battle 

reenactments. Following the screening, an emotional curtain call featured four of the now 

elderly paratroopers who appeared in the film. They shuffled onto the stage to receive 

bouquets of flowers and a standing ovation.

There was nothing unusual that evening to distinguish this event from any of the other 

Six Day War commemoration events that took place in Israel or abroad, except for the 

evening’s host – Gordon Robertson, CEO of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN).

Robertson, who also served as the film’s executive director, explained to the Jerusalem 

audience his motivation as a Christian to make a film about Israel. “One of the guiding 

verses for me in this whole project was Psalm 126: ‘Then they said among the nations, 

the Lord has done great things for them.’ And I say to you, ‘The Lord has done great 

things for you.’”

While the movie was produced by CBN, which was founded by Gordon’s father and 

televangelist Pat Robertson in 1961, it contained no overtly, or even covertly, 

Christian messages.

“This is a film made by Christians, but it is not a Christian film,” Erin Zimmerman, 

the film’s director, explained. “The Six Day War is not a Christian story; it is first and 

foremost a Jewish and Israeli story and I wanted to honor that.”

This desire to honor Israel without strings attached and devoid of proselytizing is one 

of the newest, and most welcome, trends in Christian Zionism. The relationship between 

Christians and Jews is long and complex, and a fascinating case study in how shifting 

theology correlates to changes in behavior.

A short overview of some major shifts in Christian beliefs toward Israel can explain this 

new era of Christian Zionism marked by greater sensitivity and respect toward the 

Jewish People.

Christianity emerged as an offshoot of Judaism 2,000 years ago, putting the two religions 

immediately at odds. Early Church Fathers added pagan elements to recruit more local 

adherents, thus widening the gap ‒ and animosity ‒ with the Jews.

When it came to relating to Judaism, Christianity developed what has become known as 

“replacement theology.” The idea is that, as a punishment for rejecting Jesus, God replaced 

Israel with the Church and the original Bible (Old Testament) with a new one. It didn’t take 

long for Jews to go from being viewed as replaced to rejected, despised and, ultimately, hated.

Christian love demanded that they try and convert the Jews, but more often than not, Jews 

felt more wrath than grace. One could draw a direct line from replacement theology to the 

blood libels, forced conversions, inquisitions and expulsions that shaped the Middle Ages.

During the modern period, Christianity underwent an internal revolution known as the 

Protestant Reformation, which paved the way for a new approach for relating to Jews. 

In the 16th century, Martin Luther battled against the Catholic Church and advocated for 

individuals to read the Bible, made widely available for the first time through the newly

invented printing press, for themselves. No longer was biblical interpretation in the hands 

of the ruling elite. Rather, everyone was encouraged to read and understand God’s word for 

themselves, which they did in large numbers.

It doesn’t take much of a bible scholar to recognize that one theme appears on almost every 

page and in nearly every chapter of this holy text ‒ that is the relationship between the land 

and the people of Israel. With an open mind and in the absence of previously held interpretations, 

a literal reading of the text started to lead some Christians to begin viewing Jews differently.

For centuries, the people of Israel had been relegated to sub-human status and the land of 

Israel reduced to a metaphor. However, the age of enlightenment allowed Christians to see 

the Jews as real people and, in the era of exploration, they discovered that Israel was an 

actual place. More and more Christians started reading the bible literally and saw the 

prophecies of the return to Zion as being something within worldly reach.

The Puritans were among the first Reformed Protestants who began praying for a Jewish 

return to their homeland and were responsible for introducing the idea of Jewish restoration

 to America. While popular in England, as well, Restorationism (also described as Christian 

Primitivism) struck a noticeable chord in the New World. US presidents studied Hebrew, 

and American scholars traveled to Palestine to map out the area and dig up archeological relics.

At the time, Restorationism was steeped in replacement theology, which, even in its benign 

form, calls for proselytizing the Jews. The motivating force behind Christian efforts to restore 

the people to the land was best summarized by the influential pastor Charles Spurgeon who 

preached in 1864: “We look forward, then, for these two things. I am not going to theorize 

upon which of them will come first ‒ whether they shall be restored first, and converted 

afterwards ‒ or converted first and then restored. They are to be restored and they are to 

be converted, too.”

Restorationists were among Theodor Herzl’s most ardent supporters. The Reverend William 

Hechler, an Anglican clergyman, dedicated his life to assisting Herzl upon reading

 “The Jewish State,” which was published 12 years after his own treatise, “The Restoration of 

the Jews to Palestine.” Hechler immediately began to introduce Herzl to Europe’s leading 

political rulers, including 

German Kaiser Wilhelm, Queen Victoria of England and the Sultan of Turkey. Appreciatively, 

Herzl invited Hechler, in 1897, to the first World Zionist Congress in Basel as a non-voting 

delegate and the “first Christian Zionist.”

Major shifts in Christian theology vis-à- vis Israel continued into the 20th century because 

of the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel. Many Christians recognized 

the Holocaust as the bitter culmination of centuries of Christian antisemitism, which led to 

soul searching throughout the Church. Christian thinkers recognized the perils inherent 

in replacement theology as playing an active role in the Holocaust and began to question 

this theology seriously for the first time.

The establishment of the State of Israel, and its hard-to-explain successes, chipped away 

at replacement theology from the opposite direction. Christians began asking themselves: 

If God had rejected Israel, then how come the Jews are so successful making the deserts 

bloom and defending themselves from their enemies? The perception that many biblical 

promises were being fulfilled seemed like clear and convincing evidence that God had not 

broken His covenant with Israel, after all.

In recent decades, Christian Zionist leaders and organizations have emerged all over the 

world. In addition to their political and philanthropic support of Israel, Christian leaders 

are, more significantly, for the first time publicly rejecting replacement theology.

Perhaps the best-known group, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, has a 

lengthy essay on their website explaining why they renounce replacement theology. 

Similarly, Pastor John Hagee has used his influential ministry, Christians United for Israel, 

to unreservedly, “expose the lies of replacement theology.”

To be sure, these Christian Zionist voices are still a minority within the Church.

Nevertheless, we have entered a new age of Jewish-Christian relations.

Chris Mitchell, CBN’s Middle East bureau chief, said “In Our Hands” doesn’t ever 

mention Jesus, quote from the New Testament or push a Christian agenda. In that way, 

“I feel that the movie is a gift to the Jewish people honoring the soldiers who fought in the 

Six Day War and the Jews who waited over two millennia to return to Jerusalem.”

I asked Mitchell if CBN would have been as sensitive had the movie been released upon 

the 25th anniversary of the 1967 war in the early 1980s. He said, “There has definitely 

been a remarkable development of deeper relationships between Jews and Christians 

in recent years. A greater understanding of the Jewish community and getting to know 

each other better has led to more sensitivity.”

Christian theology has shifted since its inception and has never been as respectful toward 

the Jewish people than it is now. The growth of Christian Zionism is a direct outcome of 

this change, so it is no wonder that Israel is enjoying unparalleled support from large 

segments of Christianity. After 2,000 years, Christian-Jewish relations are entering a new, 

golden era of restoration without replacement.

Tuly Weisz is an Orthodox rabbi and founder and director of Israel 365, the publisher of 

‘Breaking Israel News’ and the editor of The Israel Bible.

Israelis and Evangelicals Allying to Defeat BDS - By Tuly Weisz BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Israel rally organized by the Israeli-American Council (Photo: Adam Milstein’s Facebook)

Israelis and Evangelicals Allying to Defeat BDS

By Tuly Weisz   BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS  April 18, 2016

“For Zion’s sake will I not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her triumph go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a torch that burneth.” Isaiah 62:1 (The Israel Bible™)

There are nearly one million Israelis living in the United States forming roughly one third of the entire pro-Israel Jewish camp. However, Adam Milstein, chairman of the Israeli-American Council (IAC), hopes to have an even larger voice in support of Israel, by connecting Israelis living in America with Evangelical Christian Zionists.

Sitting down with Breaking Israel News, Milstein explained that the IAC sees the Evangelical community as natural allies in the fight for Israel. “We share the same values, the same beliefs and share a common enemy.”

While the American Jewish establishment has been slow in accepting the friendship and support of the Christian Zionist community, Milstein sees the IAC differently: “Israelis are more pragmatic”.

Adam Milstein speaking at an Israeli-American Council event. (Photo: Adam Milstein Facebook)

The real estate entrepreneur and philanthropist is one of the leading voices in the fight against BDS through his prolific presence on Social Media. Milstein was named one of the 25 most influential people on ‘Jewish Twitter’ and writes a regular column for the Huffington Post.

“I look at BDS as a movement to eradicate the State of Israel. It’s not about the economy. They want to destroy us,” Milstein told Breaking Israel News.

However, Milstein’s warning about BDS takes the argument a step further. He has used his platform on social media to call out notorious leaders of BDS for not only their anti-Semitic vitriol, but their animosity towards America.

“BDS leaders hate America’s leadership role around the world,” Milstein wrote in the Huffington Post, quoting Purdue University professor Bill Mullen, who said, “We can build a still-stronger BDS movement beginning in the name of Palestinian freedom and ending in a permanent blow against American empire.”

Milstein warned, “BDS leaders hate America’s democracy – and have even called for violent attacks to overturn our democratic system.” He cited Berkeley Professor Hatem Bazian, the founder of Students for Justice in Palestine who incited a San Francisco rally, who said, “Are you angry? Well, we’ve been watching intifada in Palestine, we’ve been watching an uprising in Iraq, and the question is that what are we doing? How come we don’t have an intifada (armed struggle) in this country…and it’s about time that we have an intifada in this country that change[s] fundamentally the political dynamics in here…They’re going to say [that] some Palestinians are being too radical; well, you haven’t seen radicalism yet!”

For these reasons, it’s a mistake to see BDS as a Jewish problem, claims Milstein.

Adam Milstein (standing, right) along with Sheldon Adelson (seated, right) and Chaim Saban (seated, left) in Las Vegas at the Campus Maccabee Summit in June 2015. (Adam Milstein Facebook)

Of late, Milstein has expanded his network from the influential Jewish mega donors such as Sheldon Adelson and Chaim Saban, with whom he co-founded the Campus Maccabees in June 2015.

For his most recent article, Milstein joined forces with Pastor Carlos Ortiz and co-authored “A Common Fight: Why Christians and Jews are Coming Together to Defeat Hate and Intolerance”.

In the article, the Israeli-American Jew and the Hispanic Pastor warn, “We must not be fooled: BDS was born from a radical Islamic ideology in the Middle East that not only hates Judaism, but also Christianity and America.”