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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.
Saturday, February 2, 2019
Will Israel Always Have Enemies? ✡ “They chased us in the mountains, lay in wait for us in the wilderness.” - Israel365
COMMENTARY: Israel's Forgotten Friend in Britain - Charles Gardner ISRAEL TODAY
COMMENTARY: Israel's Forgotten Friend in Britain
Friday, February 01, 2019 | Charles Gardner ISRAEL TODAY
I confess that the article I am about to write was initially intended only to address the important issue of roots – both of Christianity and of Western civilization as a whole.
But I have been somewhat diverted along a different route, which I shall explain. So stay with me as I will eventually return to the roots of my story.
In looking up a verse from Isaiah, where he refers to the “root of Jesse” (one of many prophecies of the coming Messiah, Jesus), I was reminded of the fact that former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson had made much of a text from this passage in support of his Zionist views, spelt out in his book _The Chariot of Israel _and clearly inspired by his strong Christian faith. (I am reliably informed that both Harold and his wife Mary were Bible-believing Congregationalists to which he also owed his brand of Christian socialism).
The text in question, Isaiah 11.11, refers to a second return of Jewish exiles, which trumps the notion that such prophecies were all fulfilled with the return from Babylon so that modern Israel has no right to their ancient land today.
I believe this is very significant in light of the ongoing controversy over rising anti-Semitism within the Labour Party, of which Wilson was a long-time leader and the only occupant of No 10 Downing Street to have won four general elections.
By contrast, current Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has openly embraced those who wish to destroy Israel.
Writing for the Jewish Chronicle on the 50th anniversary of Wilson’s first election victory, Robert Philpot dubbed him “the forgotten friend of Israel” who sprang to her aid in 1967 and 1973 and whose first overseas visit after leaving office in 1976 was to Israel, where he received an honorary doctorate and inspected a forest near Nazareth that had been named after him!
In Parliament he described the Jewish state “by any test…the only democracy in [the] region” and his book was described by his Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer Roy Jenkins as “one of the most strongly Zionist tracts ever written by a non-Jew”.
Tragically, however, his devotion to the cause of Israel contrasts sharply with today’s Labour left from whose ranks he originally hailed.
Which takes me back to my starting point, for the survival of our Judeo-Christian civilization will depend entirely on whether we remain connected to our biblical roots. If we cut ourselves off from our godly heritage, the ‘sap’ that gives us life, direction and purpose will no longer flow, with the result that our culture will wither and die like a tree pulled from the ground.
It’s that time of year when we begin to witness the shoots that produce flowers like snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils pointing the way to another springtime. These beauties come from roots (or bulbs) buried in the ground for many months.
Christianity was the new spring in the purposes of God that emerged from the roots of Judaism. According to St Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians, who had to be reminded that God was not finished with his chosen people, Gentile believers “now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root (of Israel) …You do not support the root, but the root supports you,” he thundered. (Rom 11.17f)
This should encourage us to put our trust squarely in the God of Israel, and his Son, the Jewish Messiah, Jesus, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David” _(Revelation 5.5), also prophesied by Isaiah as _“the root of Jesse” (Isa 11.10) who will draw the nations (Gentiles) to himself.
In this respect it is also significant that there is a strain of Gentile ‘blood’ in Jesus, through his ancestor Ruth, the Moabitess, King David’s great-grandmother, a wonderful woman of virtue who threw in her lot with her Jewish mother-in-law Naomi.
Still on this theme, Isaiah’s discussion of roots is related to a springtime for the nation of Israel that surely speaks of today with its reference to a second return from exile, this time not just from Babylon but “from the four quarters of the earth” (Isa 11.11f) including “the islands of the sea” considered by some theologians to refer to the British Isles.
This passage also speaks of a coming millennial age of perfect peace when _“the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together…” _(Isa 11.6)
Something of a preview of this beautiful picture was sent to me by a friend the other day. It was a photo of an elephant crossing a road with a lioness and her cub, using its curled up trunk to protect the baby lion from the scorching heat. (Ed. note: The veracity of the photo is currently being disputed.)
“They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isa 11.9)
As for Israel, the Lord speaks emphatically of final restoration through the prophet Amos, concluding with the words: “I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted…”(Amos 9.15)
Charles Gardner is author of Israel the Chosen, available from Amazon; Peace in Jerusalem, available from olivepresspublisher.com; and A Nation Reborn, available from Christian Publications International
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Friday, February 1, 2019
Acceleration - Now Think On This by Steve Martin
Acceleration
Steve Martin
“But you, Dani’el, keep these words secret, and seal up the book until the time of the end. Many will rush here and there as knowledge increases.” (Daniel 12:4, Complete Jewish Bible)
“Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!” (The first nine Superman cartoons produced by Fleischer Studios from 1941 to 1942, and movies beyond.)
If you remember those lines from the original Superman cartoons and movie, then yes, you too know how time flew by back then. But that is nothing compared to how time is flying by. Now.
Even as the Jewish prophet Daniel proclaimed centuries ago, “This is a confidential report, Daniel, for your eyes and ears only. Keep it secret. Put the book under lock and key until the end. In the interim there is going to be a lot of frantic running around, trying to figure out what's going on.' “(Daniel 12:4, The Message)
Acceleration is happening. Many prophetically gifted people have been proclaiming this for a few years now. The Lord God Almighty is moving at His pace that we, nor anyone else, have ever seen or experienced before. He is not bound by time, structure, or any box we may have set up regarding Him. Being the God Who is performing His eternal plan, He is fulfilling His prophetic, promised words – that many at the “time of the end” would be rushing about, frantically running here and there, having no idea what really is going on all around them.
Caught up in the desperate desire to “be all that you can be”, even many Christians are unaware of that which takes spiritual eyes and ears to discern.
Jesus (Yeshua) Himself declared, during the time He walked the ground in Israel, “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”
“In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
'YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND;
YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;
FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL,
WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR,
AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES,
OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES,
HEAR WITH THEIR EARS,
AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN,
AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.'
"But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (Matthew 13:13-17, NASU)
Spiritual eyes and ears, together with having the mind of Christ, are necessary to see, hear, and understand the acceleration that is taking place in our time. Though with the human eye one can see the prominent, rapid increase in technology, medical advances, and scientific discoveries that the Lord has permitted man to unlock, yet in the spiritual realm all too many are virtually unaware of what is happening in the heavenlies, and on the earth itself. And all this while they are clueless as to what is actually going on all around them.
Since May 14, 1948, when the nation of Israel once again came forth, in one day, time has been marching on at an extreme pace. The prophetic clock began ticking faster when the major indicator of the end times, the miraculous rebirth of Israel in their Promised Land, began on that prophesied day. As Isaiah the prophet wrote, in Isaiah 66:8, “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons.” (NASU). Time has been accelerating, as we know it, since that appointed time of God the Father. All prophetic destinies since then have been fulfilling at a major clip on His timeline. It is in His ordained plan that He has been arranging, moving, advancing, promoting and giving placement to individuals and people groups. We have seen this, those with eyes wide open, taking place in the nations, and in particular, Israel.
Another major prophetic word fulfilled, that of Jerusalem coming fully under Jewish control in June 1967, during the Six Day War, further strengthens the coming together of the Lord’s purposes for this hour that we live in. And on the eternal timeline, it is occurring in but an hour, if even that very short amount of time.
As we keep our eyes on Israel, and in particular the capital city of Jerusalem, we will observe the nations all across the globe being prepared for that time when the continuing rapid decline into full anti-Semitism is fully ripe. Then another fulfillment of His Word, recorded in the Gospels, will take place.
As Jesus (Yeshua) spoke clearly, "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” (Luke 21:20-24, NKJV)
The acceleration process has certainly begun. Knowing what the Lord is doing will help you be ready for that which is rapidly approaching. I trust you will not be among those who will be surprised and caught off guard by the actions of the Almighty God, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the all-loving Redeemer of Israel, and the Gentiles who turn their face to Him.
Now it the time.
Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).
Now think on this,
Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.
Want an adventure walking on short adventures? Check this out on our YouTube channel: "Walk With Me" video series with Steve Martin.
Also, I hope you get my latest book, Adventures in Courage, published in November 2018. Comes in paperback or Kindle versions. This was my 19th authored publication. (Yes, this is an advertisement!)
If these messages have ministered to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $10-$120 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 #386 - in the year of our Lord 02.01.19 – “Acceleration” – Friday, 2:20 pm
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