An innocent and beautiful lion was killed as a trophy for a rich man, yes.
But as reprehensible to me as that is, that is not what outrages me.
What outrages me is the hypocrisy of the moral-high ground that the media, government officials, social media and individuals are all taking.
“How dare he kill a lion?”“He has no right to kill a defenceless animal.”“How dare he use it as a trophy?”
I actually don’t disagree with these statements, I hate hunting for sport. I hate that a defenceless animal is killed at the whim of a human-being sporting a gun. I surely do not understand how killing anything is considered sport.
But the self-righteousness of what I am witnessing makes me sick. It is incomprehensible to me that while the world becomes so “outraged” over the killing of one lion, an animal, outrage over the systematic killing of defenceless, innocent babies every day within our civilised society is almost non-existent.
The outrage over the death of a lion! To the point where the man who killed it has to go into hiding. Where is the outrage over:
60 million babies aborted in the USA since Roe Vs Wade,
the estimated 80,000 babies that are aborted in Australia every year and the
336 million babies aborted in China over the last 40 years?
One may argue that abortion has nothing to do with the killing of Cecil the lion and that the two issues should not be connected. After all one is to do with killing for sport, the other is “women’s healthcare”.
Agreed. They are not the same issue.
Of course they aren’t. One is to do with an animal’s right to live. The other a human being’s right to live.
The issue is completely different because of course human life is more valuable than animal life.
Isn’t it?
Guys?
How the hell have we come to the point where we are so outraged, so angry over the death of a lion that the man who killed it has to go into hiding, but at the same time we collectively don’t give a rats-you-know-what about millions of innocent baby boys and girls being murdered every day?
You tell me we haven’t lost our moral compass somewhere along the line. When we consider the life of an animal as of greater intrinsic value, as something more worthy to get outraged about than the life of millions of babies, then something is seriously, seriously wrong.
One thing that bugs me about the debate over gay marriage is that when both sides bring the Bible into the discussion they always seem to miss something. And it’s something HUGELY important.
One side says it is about justice and equality. The other side says it is about the family and the rights of the child. Both sides are passionate, heated and emotional.
But it is important to see something bigger is going on: whilst there is much emotional rhetoric on both sides, the battle is actually spiritual.
There are two people who care more about marriage than even the most verbal and passionate of activists:
These are of course God and Satan.
I have heard both sides discuss Leviticus 18 & 20, the story of Sodom and of course Romans 1. I’ve heard Christians and non-Christians, gay and straight argue these scriptures.
And of course, whilst these scriptures are valid, something vital is constantly overlooked. And that is the fact that the whole Bible, the whole story of redemption is about marriage.
It begins with a marriage – the Garden of Eden
It ends with a marriage – the marriage supper of the Lamb
And in between is the great and wonderful story of the redemption of humanity through marriage.
The Eternal Truths of Marriage
As followers of Jesus Christ in this post-modern age it is easy to miss the beauty and significance of the eternal truths displayed in marriage.
It is oft-repeated that Jesus never said anything specifically against homosexuality, thus saying in effect, that He condoned it. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact everything Christ said and did was in order to institute a covenant marriage-relationship between Himself, the Bridegroom, and His Church, the Bride.
Jesus used the Jewish marriage customs of the day to illustrate to His Jewish disciples the significance of why He came. We need to remember that Jesus is a Jew and it was to other Jews that He spoke. We, as non-Jews who have been grafted in, can often miss the significance of Christ’s words. (I have written extensively about this here)
In point form here are just a few of the Jewish marriage customs showing forth Christ’s redemption:
The Bride-Price (Mohar)
In ancient Jewish customs the Bride-price was agreed upon by the father and the Bridegroom-to be. The Bride-price was a very high price to pay. The higher the price that was paid, the less incentive for a young man to divorce his betrothed. This gave the young woman comfort that her betrothed would in fact return for her after he had finished preparing a place for her in his father’s house.
Jesus Himself paid a very high price for His bride, the ultimate price – He paid with His own blood. His life was poured out for her. No higher price has ever been paid than what He paid.
Paid in Full
When the young man paid the price in full to the father of the bride the marriage covenant was established….
…and so we see Jesus. Upon the cross He cries out with a loud voice “It is finished!” (John 19:30)
There He paid in full the debt owed, our debt, for the sin of mankind to the Father.
The Glass of Wine
After the bride-price was agreed and paid, the Jewish bride-to-be would be called in and offered a glass of wine to drink. To drink from the cup would show her acceptance of the covenant with the groom.
So too Jesus, the Bride-Groom, offered His disciples a cup of wine.
“Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. Mark 14:23
This was Christ’s “marriage proposal” to His Bride. Jesus offered to His disciples the Cup, and in doing so He was instituting the New Covenant.
The Old Covenant was between Jehovah and His Wife, Israel.
The New Covenant is between Christ and His Bride, the Church.
And every time the gospel is proclaimed throughout the world it is Christ once again issuing His marriage-proposal to the lost sinner.
Satan Hates Marriage
And of course, this is why Satan hates marriage. Because every time a man and a woman enter into a marriage-covenant with each other it is proclaiming the victory of the Bridegroom and the redemption of humanity through Christ’s Bride. Marriage is a prophetic sign-post pointing to Christ and His Bride. And more than anything Satan wants that sign-post removed from the earth. This is the reason he is pushing the gay-marriage agenda so vehemently.
God Loves Marriage
And of course, this is why God loves marriage. Because He designed it to be a pointer to His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. He put it in this earth to point to the true marriage of Christ and His Bride. He wants people to see marriage and to know there is something deep and mysterious shown forth that cannot quite be grasped. Something that will turn people to Christ and be saved.
“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” Ephesians 5:31, 32
Marriage is the fight of our day. I urge you not to become side-tracked with emotional rhetoric, but to see this issue as it truly is – a spiritual battle. And one in which the Church must be engaged. Care about this. Pray. Write to your MP’s too. Encourage church leaders to speak up. Pray, pray, pray.
When we look at what has been going on in Syria since the beginning
Image courtesy of transconflict.com
of 2011 and when we look at what is going on in Iraq at present, we surely cannot help but be horrified by all the seemingly senseless killing going on: faction against faction, each wanting to be in absolute control. We know that religiously all the combatants essentially follow the same faith, although we know they have split into two main groups, Sunni and Shia, and mostly they also have the same ethnic heritage; the majority of Syrians referring to themselves as Arabs while Iraq’s dominant ethnic group are regarded as the Iraqi Arabs.
This is not about who is right or who is wrong in the conflicts taking place there at present, nor is it about the involvement of the US, Russia, Britain or Europe, whether directly or from behind the scenes, but it is an attempt to try to get some understanding of the root causes of the whole situation there.
As Christians we cannot help but be reminded of Ishmael and Esau from whom the Arabs are descended. At this point it will be meaningful to look at a few scriptures regarding these two “patriarch’s” of the Arab people.
Firstly, and importantly, we learn that through “the angel of the Lord” God granted a special blessing to Ishmael. Speaking to Hagar, who was then pregnant with Ishmael, “the angel of the Lord” said:
“I will so increase your descendents that they will be too numerous to count”. (Gen. 16:10.)
Later in Genesis 17:20, God reaffirms this promise to Ishmael.
However, in Genesis 16:12 the angel of the Lord also announced to Hagar that her son, Ishmael,
“will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers”. (Gen 16:12.)
As for Esau, we learn that included in Isaac’s blessing to him, were the words that he was destined to “live by the sword”. (Gen 27:40.)
In both these scriptures, without being too simplistic, we seem to find a fitting and vivid description of the incessant feuding that goes on between the Arabs themselves, their neighbours and others: a situation that has been going on since those words were spoken by God and by Isaac and one which we surely are witnessing going on now in Syria and Iraq?
In time to come we will see this happen again; but on this occasion it will be a much larger conflict than any the world has witnessed to date. It will also be a conflict in which God Himself gets directly involved on Israel’s behalf. At that time God will intervene and through His intervention he will magnify His Name. As a result both Israel and the nations will know that He is the Lord; that it was He who defeated Israel’s enemies.
Here we refer to the war described by Ezekiel in chapters 38 and 39 of his book, when he tells of a vast army led by Gog of Magog which comes against Israel: most commentators interpret this army as being a coalition of Arabic nations led by Russia.
God uses a number of supernatural events to all but wipe out this vast army. However, one interesting method God uses is found in Ezekiel 38:21 where He says: “I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord. Every man’s sword will be against his brother.” Not only will God use a number of supernatural means to defeat the coalition led by Gog, but the coalition of Israel’s enemies will turn on itself!
It will surely be a repeat of what we are witnessing now and what has been foretold in God’s Word and, in view of what we see going on at present as well as noting who the parties are that are now involved, dare we ask whether we are even now seeing the build up to this terrible war?
Chris, from our fellowship, has an interest in Bible prophecy and from time to time will share his views with us on current events and how they relate to prophecy in this new series “Bible Prophecy”.
“Co-Creation Conference 2014” begins this weekend, May 1-3. This is an event promoted and attended by Brian McLaren, Phyllis Tickle and other Emergent Church leaders. If you’ve read my post The Emergent Church/New Age Connection you will be aware that “co-creation” is a New Age term that has been adopted by the Emergent Church. The Emergents seem to be rather keen on using pagan labyrinths in their “ancient wisdom” mysticism. And thus “Co-Creation Conference 2014” features a very special one:
“You are invited on a modern-day pilgrimage at Holy Trinity’s outdoor labyrinth located adjacent to the sanctuary. There you will find a beautifully crafted eleven-circuit Chartres-style stone labyrinth with a fountain of flowing water in the center. Nearby, a replica of the Muiredach Celtic high cross bears witness to this sacred place. By walking the labyrinth alone or in a guided group, you may experience a kind of body prayer or walking meditation that quiets your mind, allowing your spirit to become more receptive to the still small voice of God. The Holy Trinity labyrinth, located in a cloistered and well-lighted outdoor space, is available any time of day for individual walkers. Opportunities also abound for you to experience labyrinth walks facilitated by the Holy Trinity Labyrinth Keepers.” http://servleader.org/the_labyrinth
Not only is the Emergent “Co-creation Conference” being held this weekend – this Saturday, the 3rd of May, is also “World Labyrinth Day”. This is where you can “Celebrate the sixth annual World Labyrinth Day (WLD) on Saturday, May 3rd, 2014! The Labyrinth Society invites you to ‘Walk as One at 1″ in the afternoon, joining others around the globe to create a wave of peaceful energy washing across the time zones.” (https://labyrinthsociety.org/world-labyrinth-day)
But….not only is it “World Labyrinth Day” and the “Co-Creation Conference 2014” this weekend! Amazingly both events coincide with the season of the pagan festival of Beltane (May Day). Is this a coincidence…? Hmmm…me-thinks not. It is of note that Celtic neo-pagans and Wiccans observe Beltane as a religious holiday. It is interesting to consider that during a pagan religious festival many people will be ritualistically walking labyrinths at a pre-determined time. And still more interesting that the Emergent Church’s “Co-Creation Conference”, featuring a sacred labyrinth, will be proceeding simultaneously.
The Co-Creation Conference’s website states the labyrinth as having this purpose:
“Three stages of the (labyrinth) walk:
Purgation (Releasing) ~ A releasing, a letting go of the details of your life. This is the act of shedding thoughts and distractions. A time to open the heart and quiet the mind.
Illumination (Receiving) ~ When you reach the center, stay there as long as you like. It is a place of meditation and prayer. Receive what is there for you to receive.
Union (Returning) ~ As you leave, following the same path out of the center as you came in, you enter the third stage, which is joining God, your Higher Power, or the healing forces at work in the world. Each time you walk the labyrinth you become more empowered to find and do the work for which you feel your soul is reaching.”
I ask you – is THIS Christianity?
“Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods…” Exodus 34:10-15
The Blood Moon will be visible in our sky’s here in Mid and Eastern Australia (!) tomorrow night (Passover night on Tuesday).
“The total lunar eclipse on 15 April is one of two for this year, and will begin before the Moon rises, says Dr Nick Lomb, consultant astronomer and curator, Powerhouse Museum and Sydney Observatory…
Lomb says a twilight total lunar eclipse is quite rare.
“Just as the Sun is setting, the Moon will be rising, and it will be totally eclipsed, which should be fairly spectacular,” he says.
But because the eclipse will happen so low in the sky, to see it you will need to make sure there are no trees, hills or buildings in the way.
“The essential thing is to have a really clear view towards the eastern horizon.”
The Moon will already be eclipsed when it rises at 5:28 pm AEST, but at that stage the sky will still be quite bright, warns Lomb
“So it might be hard to see a slight reddish fudge on the horizon,” he says.
But wait five minutes for the Sun to set and you could be in for a treat.
“It’s a fair chance it will become a reasonably bright reddish Moon,”
says Lomb.
He says while the Moon is usually blood red, because the Earth’s atmosphere refracts light from the Sun, this colour is not guaranteed.
This is because the atmosphere could make the Moon too dark to see. But, says Lomb, since there is no volcanic activity around, this is unlikely to be a problem.
By 5:46 pm AEST, the Moon will be in the middle of Earth’s dark shadow and from 6:25 pm AEST it will start leaving the shadow.
Even if there are clouds, Lomb says people should still be able to see this partial eclipse, lasting until 7:33 pm AEST.
“Even if people can’t see the Moon when it’s red they should still be able to see the Moon creep out of the Earth’s shadow and that’s still interesting.”
I guess he could have. It would have probably been a whole lot easier for him to accept the first offer from Pharoah which came after the plague of flies : that the children of Israel can go make their sacrifices to God right there in the land of Egypt.
But Moses said “no deal” – that’s not what God had instructed: “We will go three days’ journey in to the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He will command us.” Exodus 8:27
After the plague of hail Pharoah conceded slightly and offered a new deal to Moses “Go now, you who are men, and serve the Lord.”
But, again, Moses said “no deal”, that’s not what God had commanded : “And Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.” Exodus 10:9
After swarms of locusts and 3 days of intense blackness Pharoah called Moses in. He was ready to offer his best compromise yet:
“Go, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your little ones also go with you,” he said.
This was his best deal yet. After all, Egypt’s own animals had now been wiped out by boils, hail and disease. Moses only need leave the animals behind and all the men, women and children were free to go!
Did Moses yield and make a compromise with the one holding God’s people captive? Did he agree to the deal with Pharoah potentially bringing about peace and unity between the Israelites and the Egyptians?
‘But Moses said, “You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. Our livestock also shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind. For we must take some of them to serve the Lord our God, and even we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.” Exodus 10:25, 26
Of course Moses didn’t make a deal with the devil, oops, I mean Pharoah. He didn’t compromise one inch! Not even one little hoof was to be left behind!
Moses was a man of God with a foundation of truth and integrity that was built on the Word of God. Moses had always told Pharoah the truth. The whole truth – even the hard parts about judgment. Moses had always proclaimed the truth and he wasn’t going to start backing down now.
My question is…..So what on earth has happened to the Church?
At every turn we are compromising: making deals with the devil, shaking hands, signing documents with Islam (Chrislam), Interfaith conferences, performing occult practices in the Church.
“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For whatfellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14
Imagine if Moses had said “yes” to one of Pharoah’s little deals…who knows, maybe he was tired and the offer was tempting….
What would we have done? Would we have had the guts to say “No. Not even one hoof is going to be left behind! I am not budging on God’s Word one teeny iota” ? Would we have been brave enough to stand on God’s Word, hard as it may be…?
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…” Romans 1:16
Let us not fear men more than we fear God. Where would that have gotten Moses?
“Give me one hundred men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergyman or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth” John Wesley
In Matthew 24:3, when four of Jesus’ disciples asked Him “ . . . what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age”, before listing the events that would occur prior to the end of the age, Jesus warned them in Matthew 24:4 “ . . . Watch out that no one deceives you. . . . ” In Mark 13:3–5 and Luke 21:7-8 we also read about this interaction between Jesus and those disciples.
The first thing to note in the disciples’ question is that they linked Jesus’ coming again and the end of the age together. Jesus, in His answer, did not refute this so we can know that His coming and the end of the age will happen simultaneously. It may seem obvious but is, nevertheless, worth highlighting.
Following up on His warning to those disciples not to be deceived, He immediately warns them to be on the lookout for the appearance of false Christs’ and not to go running after them. Most Christians would automatically assume that, since they are followers of Jesus, know and regularly study God’s Word and regularly fellowship with other believers, such a thing could not happen to them. Clearly, in the way Jesus warned His disciples and ultimately us, that will not necessarily be the case and should be a sobering reminder to us that it is possible to be deceived. However, we surely can also take some comfort from Jesus’ answer when He tells us to “Watch Out”, meaning that if we are alert we can avoid being deceived.
Many Christians believe that we are nearing the end of the age and that many of the signs Jesus and other prophets spoke about are beginning to manifest themselves. That being the case, we are surely nearing the time when Christians could face being deceived. So what are we to do and to watch out for?
If we stop to think about what we are to watch out for, surely some answers are already staring us in the face? The main one, we would suggest, is the falling away from the faith, or apostasy, that is continually taking place today and the deception that goes with it; a situation ripe for false Christs to appear and be followed. In Matthew 24:10 Jesus said it would happen. These are His Words: “At that time many will turn away from the faith . . . . .” In many Christian denominations we constantly see God’s Word being changed and watered down by their leaders and accepted by many in their congregations. In doing so these leaders and congregations have not only moved away from God’s Word but are also setting themselves up to be deceived by false Christs. It seems easier for them to fall into line with secular standards than keeping to God’s standards.
The uncomfortable reality is that you will know you are on the right track not to be deceived when you start being persecuted! In Matthew 24:9 Jesus said: “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.” Some Christians around the world are already facing such persecution.
We believe we need not only “Watch Out” but need to warn other Christians not to become complacent or compromise God’s Word, in addition continually asking God to help us keep to His path. Of course, we also need to carry on with our efforts to bring the Gospel to the notice of others who do not yet know or have a relationship with Jesus.
(Note: All quotes are from the NIV Bible.)
Chris, from our fellowship, has an interest in Bible prophecy and from time to time will share his views with us on current events and how they relate to prophecy in this new series “Bible Prophecy”.
To top this off the first of the Blood Moons is due in 3 weeks, on Passover, April 14, 15. This Blood Moon will be the first in an unusual Tetrad of Blood Moons falling on Feast days in 2014 and 2015. In the Bible the books of Joel, Acts and Revelations talk of the Blood moons as one of the signs of the Day of the Lord. Could these signs be pointing to something significant for us?
Enoch Lavender has written on this fascinating topic…
Davo’s Big Break
David – or Davo as his mates called him – was over the moon. After years of patiently developing his business, his business ideas had caught the eye of the prominent Chinese business leader Mr. Wang. Mr Wang had announced that he was going to make a special trip to Australia to see David and find out more – and they had excitedly arranged to meet at the airport.
There was only one catch – they were to meet on Chinese New Year and Davo had no clue what this meant. “I reckon it must be on the 1st of January”, Davo said to himself, “she’ll be right mate!”
So on the 1st of January, Davo got up early, put on his best business suit and even combed his usually unkempt hair. “Today’s the day”, he thought to himself excitedly. Getting to the airport just in time, Davo was surprised to find no sign of Mr. Wang. Davo waited for hours, looked up and down the different parts of the airport and asked repeatedly at the information desk, but no one could help him. Finally Davo headed home. Disappointed, he thought to himself: “Why didn’t Mr. Wang come as he said he would?”
Soon Davo settled back into his ordinary routine and forgot all about Mr. Wang and his appointment. Then one February morning Davo was wakened by his phone ringing. With a sleepy voice he discovered to his surprise that it was Mr. Wang himself. Today was Chinese New Year! Mr. Wang asked with a disappointed tone in his voice: “David, why weren’t you ready for my coming?”
We all have an important appointment coming up with THE Mr. Wang Himself – Jesus our Lord and King (Wang means ‘king’ in Chinese). He is indeed coming soon! But to be ready for this once-in-a-lifetime divine appointment, we need to make sure that we too are on the King’s calendar.
The King’s Calendar
Many of us have a hard time reading the book of Leviticus, but in it are contained some very important treasures. Leviticus chapter 23 outlines for us the King’s calendar. Let’s read in verses 1-2:
“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.”
The word translated ‘feast’ here, does not really refer to parties, food and celebrations – although God does indeed through some great celebrations. The Hebrew word for ‘Feast’ is actually better translated as ‘appointment’ – a ‘divine appointment’.
Note that God describes them as ‘My feasts’. They are not some antiquated Jewish customs to be brushed aside – they are His Divine appointments with us.
We will be learning more about the Divine Appointments later this year, but it is sufficient for us to now know that:
There are 7 Divine Appointments and they all prophesy and foretell a future event that is important in God’s calendar
The first 4 Divine Appointments where fulfilled on the Day during Jesus’ first coming in great detail
The last 3 tell us of His Second coming – and warn us to be ready for the soon coming King
The big questions for us to consider are:
How close are we to the last 3 Divine Appointments?
Will we see them in our lifetime?
Are we ready for them?
Signs in the Sky on the Divine Appointments
There are many things happening in our world that we should watch – including significant developments concerning Israel, the Nations, and concerning the great harvest of people coming into the Kingdom from every tribe, tongue and kingdom! All this points us to the fact that we are living in a time where Bible prophecy is being fulfilled at a scale that has not been seen in history since the time of the Book of Acts. I believe we are indeed getting closer to the Lord’s return!
The Bible tells us to look for signs in the sky as we get closer to the Lord’s return. One of many verses that say this is found in Acts 2:20:
“The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.”
The most literal way of interpreting this is that there will be solar and lunar eclipses around the time of the Lord’s return.
A Pattern of Signs in the Sky
A few years ago, a Messianic Pastor called Mark Biltz made a startling discovery of a pattern where from time to time 4 consecutive lunar eclipses take place – precisely on the first and last ‘appointments’ or Feasts of the Lord for 2 years in a row. This is an extremely rare event, and what is even more interesting is that it appears to happen at times when there are prophetically significant events taking place on the earth.
Let’s have a look at an overview of when it has happened in the past when these signs have been in the sky:
Around the time of Jesus death there were 4 partial lunar eclipses in a row on the ‘Divine Appointments’ – as if God Himself was signalling to all of mankind the importance of this event!
Since then, it has occurred 7 times – coinciding with:
Major Persecution of Jews and or Christians
Islamic attempts at conquering Europe (and the World)
The Restoration of Israel and Recapture of Jerusalem
As we enter into 2014/2015 it is therefore important to watch and pray for Jews and Christians, for Israel and for the Islamic World.
Returning to the pattern, it is extra interesting to note that the 7th lunar eclipse cycle happened at exactly the time when Jerusalem was being recaptured by Israel – and 7 is the number of ‘completion’. It was truly a time of Divine completion of ancient prophecies!
The next time this will happen will be in 2014 and 2015!
As a Church, we are being encouraged to fast, pray and spend extra time to seek the Lord at this time. Make sure your own life is in order with God. If you are struggling with issues, take them to the Lord and maybe get one of the leaders to stand with you in prayer that you might be able to live fully for the Lord.
Also, please pray for Israel and the Middle East at this time – her sworn enemies would like nothing less than the extermination of Israel and hope and dream for that day to come. Iran seeks to clandestinely build nuclear weapons and recently released a video proudly showing them launching a nuclear strike. At the same time other terrorist networks are seeking biological and chemical weapons to add to their arsenals. Daily anti-Semitic propaganda is being published across the Middle East, and the level of general hatred for the Jews is comparable to the situation in Germany at the time when Hitler came to power.
So, let’s fast a meal when we can and spend extra time to seek God at this crucial time in history. We are called to be history-makers and we have a role in interceding for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Enoch Lavender has a B.A. in Intercultural Ministry from Harvest Bible College (2008) and was a youth leader for 3 years in ECCC – Eastern Chinese Christian Church. Enoch is actively involved in a range of ministries including Shalom Israel, Ebenezer Emergency Fund and Teach All Nations (Dr. Kameel Majdali). Enoch has been studying Hebrew and Hebrew roots for the past five years, and has a keen interest in the Middle East from a Bible prophecy perspective
Beginning last year we have seen enormous efforts being made by a number of players to get Israel and the Palestinians to come up with a solution to their differences in order to stop the ongoing violence. The United States of America, assisted by Great Britain and the European Union, has been in the forefront of that drive. Simplistically put, their solution is for a Palestinian state to be created alongside the state of Israel, with Jerusalem designated an “international city”.
Over the years the Palestinians have made it clear that they do not and will not recognize the state of Israel. Furthermore, they have made it clear that, amongst their many demands, they want the “Old City” and East Jerusalem as their capital and want the Israeli settlements in the so called West Bank to be vacated by Israelis living there and handed over to them.
For their part the Israelis consider an undivided Jerusalem to be their eternal capital. They also consider that they have a right to keep their settlements in the West Bank; the biblical area of Judea and Samaria.
As a result of these differences (not all of them) the international community has been putting enormous pressure on both sides to reach an agreement to settle those differences. However, the pressure appears to be rather one-sided, in effect requiring the Israelis to submit to Palestinian demands. We constantly hear of Israel being berated for building new homes in the West Bank, that it will not give up any land nor go back to pre-1967 borders and that it is being intransigent over Jerusalem. Even as we write, British PM Cameron is in Israel putting pressure upon Israel to agree to the proposals by the International community; not to forget that the US, led by Secretary of State, Kerry, is constantly putting similar pressure on Israel, often using veiled threats to try to get them to comply.
This pressure is likely to intensify over the next month, especially as Kerry has declared that he wants a final agreement by 15th April.
We believe that those involved in trying to force Israel to give up land and to give up control over Jerusalem are playing a very dangerous game! We are therefore led to ask: “What does God’s Word have to say about the land of Israel and Jerusalem? Who owns the land of Israel? And, who has the “right” to look after the city of Jerusalem?”
There are many scriptures concerning these questions which, unsurprisingly, all point to the same answer but, here in our short article, we will only briefly consider a few of them.
Let us begin with the land. In Chapters 13, 26 and 35 of Genesis we learn that God first gives the land to Abram, later to be renamed Abraham, then reconfirms his oath with Isaac and finally with Jacob who, at that time, is also renamed Israel by God. In each case the land is given to them and their descendants:-
– To Abram in 12:15: “All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.”
– To Isaac in 26:3: “. . . . for to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. . . . “
– To Jacob in 35:12: “The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”
(All above are extracts from the NIV.)
Surely there can be no doubt as to the identity of the rightful custodians of the land? And yet the international community refuses to acknowledge it.
What about Jerusalem? In 1 Kings Chapter 14 God’s word tells us that He Himself chose Jerusalem as the city in which to put His Holy Name. In Matthew Chapters 4 and 27 there are references to the “holy city”. Jerusalem is also frequently referred to in the Bible as “the city of God”. The Lord refers to it as “My city” – Isaiah 45. More often He speaks about it as “My holy mountain”. And because the very name of the city means Peace, we know that in this place God Himself will give peace – Haggai 2. Psalm 76 informs us that God’s tent is in Salem and his dwelling place in Zion; references to Jerusalem. And finally one day it will become the city of righteousness – Isaiah 1. Jesus Himself will one day rule from Jerusalem in righteousness.
Presently the Dome of the Rock of Islam, controlled by the Jordanians, stands on this site which is so holy to God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To Islam this site is much less important than the Ka,aba in Mecca, but Islam will fiercely resist any attempts by the Jews to reclaim it for God. God has already rebuked Satan about it and in Zechariah Chapter 3 He makes it quite clear that He, the Lord, chose Jerusalem. Satan will not prevail there forever!
There can be no doubt that Jerusalem belongs to God.
Finally we need to be reminded that Jerusalem was bought by King David over 3.000 years ago. It has never been legally sold so logically it still belongs to the House of David. God will reclaim it for His purposes at the time of His choosing.
What Warnings does the Lord give to nations and individuals? Again there are many warnings in scripture and here we will consider only a few of them. In Genesis 12:3 God said to Abram 3I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” NIV. Here God makes it clear that those who do not treat Abram and his descendants properly will in turn be severely dealt with by Him.
About Jerusalem the Lord says in Zechariah 12:3: 3On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. (NIV) God is simply telling the nations not to tamper with His holy city. “All the nations” surely refers to the United Nations, a world body which is essentially anti-Israel and ready to approve a settlement along the lines noted above.
And the last scripture we will consider here surely concerns what is presently being proposed by the US, Britain and the EU. It is found in Joel 3:2. “I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.” (NIV)
Are we about to see God’s land divided? If so there will be consequences for those dividing it.
The final arrogance to consider is the date which has been set by which the peace talks are to be wrapped up; that date being 15 April, 2014. For the Jews it is a very important day, having been declared an “appointed time” by the Lord.
Firstly it is the first day of the Jewish religious New Year and, secondly, it is the first day of the Passover celebrations. Passover is a day specifically set aside by the Lord. This is what the Lord says about it in Leviticus 23:4-5. 4 “These are the Lord’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: 5 The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. (NIV) (Remember the Jewish day begins at sunset, here the 14th, and goes through to sunset the next day, here the 15th.)
We do not know how God will react to the deliberations going on at present but, we can be sure that in his own way and own time, He will deal with those who so blatantly disregard His warnings.
It would be wise for all involved in these negotiations to heed Gods Word.
Chris, from our fellowship, has an interest in Bible prophecy and from time to time will share his views with us on current events and how they relate to prophecy in this new series “Bible Prophecy”.
Interesting times we live in. As I was watching the news this afternoon the absurdity of the following scenario struck me….
As a large weapons cache is discovered on board a ship headed for Gaza, in the Red Sea, allegedly sent by Iran in order to arm Gaza militants, Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief and former vice-chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), as well as other leaders, shake hands and smile with Iranian leaders in Tehran. She was there to hold talks with President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif about their nuclear program.
The international community has so far been rather quiet on the subject of this weapons cache….Food for thought.
“Indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” Psalm 121:4
Grace and Truth 