Once again Bibles are being opened to find passages from the Old Testament prophecies regarding the events of the End Times. I shudder to think at the same moment many Christians were fist bumping at the thought of Jesus’ near return, Israelis were waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of sirens.
I can picture our friends’ house in Israel, and the room where my wife and I stay when we visit Israel. It’s their youngest daughter’s bedroom. It is also the family’s bomb shelter. Instead of posters on the wall and girl’s stuff on the shelves, the room is stocked with bottles of water, essential foods, and paper goods.
At 2 AM on the night of Shabbat, the family rushed to their shelter wondering if the latest siren was the signal for their next war. They were soon alerted that for the first time in history, Iran was firing missiles directly from their nation towards Jerusalem, the city of God, the place where they worship, work, and go to school.
The sirens continued through the night and like a groundhog searches for his shadow after a long winter, Israelis left their shelters not knowing what to expect. But the world was still there. The sky was blue and the sun was shining. Instead of rushing to hospitals or Army bases, they went to their neighbors and hugged each other.
On the first night of Passover, it is customary for the youngest child to ask four questions. The first one is;
“Why is this night different from all other nights?”
That night was about 3500 years ago, but it still applies. There have been countless nights since then when the enemies of Israel attempted to eliminate every trace of their existence.
But God, who is faithful, kept them.
Among the Messianic Believers— Israelis who believe and are discipled by the greatest Rabbi ever–the Son of David–the King of Kings– Jesus, the Jewish Messiah—there was great rejoicing for His faithfulness that past Saturday. His word of promise held through another night as over 300 missiles filled with explosives headed toward their homes, stores, schools, and playgrounds in search of Jews.
But He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.
Instead of fist bumps and the angry cries for revenge, the Believers were proclaiming praise to the One seated on High.
“Todah li El!—Thanks to God” flowed from their hearts.
However, within a couple of days, skeptics all over the world issued a different report of how several nations came alongside Israel and were able to disable the entire missile attack with sophisticated defense systems.
Human ingenuity?
Certainly, but only partially.
The ability to precisely target incoming missiles, many of them before they crossed the shores of Israel, is phenomenal. However, the remarkable engineers who designed and fabricated this capability will admit to a maximum of 90% accuracy only if every operator and mechanism functions perfectly. There are just too many factors.
God never promised the sons of Jacob their lives would be rosy, in fact, it would become mingled with tears and opposition. God told Abraham before Isaac was even born, that his descendants would become slaves for 400 years—give or take.
We don’t have all the particulars of God’s conversations with Abraham, but we do know that God called him friend (James 2:23). And we know that friends don’t keep secrets.
Here’s how I picture a conversation.
“Abraham, what’s up? You seem troubled.” “It’s this slavery clause,” he answered.
“I’m not sure I want to be known to the countless descendants you promised me, as the Patriarch who signed off on it”
“I get it, Abe–but you will understand. You will agree there was no other way. Their future is secured, though. Don’t worry about the slavery–no one will blame you. I have a purpose, in fact, one day it will be known as my eternal purpose. For it to be executed your descendants must be prepared. One day they will face descendants of their enemies and become like brothers to them. It will be for the entire world to see what I can do through them. They must become resilient and determined. Otherwise, they will be unable to represent me as you do now. The same blessing I have given you, I will do for them.”
“…and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:2
The word “blessing” needs to be defined from the original Hebrew. It can refer to “good-will,” or “prosperity,” which no one would object to receiving, but it is incomplete. It also means a “source of blessing” and “treaty of peace.”
“…and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” vs.3
Have we missed something?
If this is true (if it’s not we’re all in trouble!), then God made peace possible since the days of Abraham. However, there were two conditions.
The first one is that the families around Abraham needed to get to know him. This refers to his neighbors.
“Shalom, my name is Abraham. I want to bless you and my goal is to be a blessing to you.”
Then it’s up to the neighbor to receive the blessing and pass it on.
“I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 12:3
The answer is yes, we have missed something. And it’s not God’s fault. In brief, the Jewish people, the sons of Jacob, failed to bring the blessing outside their borders for most of history…and the Gentiles ‘dishonored’ the Jews for most of history.
Based on the response to these two verses, we have inherited a world in chaos and often at each other’s throats for much of history in an escalating degree.
It would have been vastly different if we had listened in the beginning and ever since. Those who blessed Abraham and his descendants were blessed with the same blessing and ability to be a blessing to their neighbors as living “treaties of peace.”
Because mankind chose to do it differently and make up a way that seemed more suitable, it went south, time and time again.
But, by God’s mercy, He promised a redeemer and in the fulness of time, as all creation was painfully groaning from the destructive behavior men had embraced, Jesus arrived.
He paid the price for the liberty of His creation and goodwill to those who longed for it.
On the cross, He broke the ancient hostility and made peace possible between all peoples of every race, color, status, and gender. Then, He revealed His manifold wisdom to the demonic forces of the spiritual realm. He called it “the one new man.”
It was according to His eternal purpose. It was His masterpiece and remains accessible, even though the devil has successfully re-concealed it for 18 centuries.
Don’t take my word for it, read and re-read Ephesians 2 and 3.
If we understood the authority and beauty of God’s one new man, we would not tolerate for the umpteenth time in history, man’s attempt to destroy Israel and eliminate the Jewish people.
God created the one new man for two specific reasons.
*Make peace *Become a force of righteousness to combat wickedness.
It was for the benefit of all mankind. It is only natural to assume that Satan would make every effort to oppose it.
Sadly, he has been quite successful.
Isn’t it time the church puts him in his rightful place—underfoot? (Ps 91:13; Rom 16:20)
Did we miss a miracle?
Someday it will be recorded that on the night of April 13th, God performed a miracle in the Land of Israel. I don’t expect the world to agree, but I do expect the church to.
Not only should we agree, but with one voice we should be exalting His Name and breathing a collective sigh of relief. For if He allowed even a handful of those rockets to hit their intended targets, Jerusalem would be in shambles, countless people would be dead, the Dome of the Rock would be no more, and Jews everywhere would be blamed.
By now, Israel’s Air Force would have already retaliated in Iran, while Iran would have already begun to fire far more powerful rockets on our shores and into our cities.
“Paul, you’re getting carried away with speculation—calm down.”
I get it. Do I really think this would happen, and that the ‘‘one new man” could prevent it?
What I do know is that we must reclaim what the enemy has stolen. He has looted our society of its dignity. Our children remain unprotected and at risk.
Please consider if what I have stated could be true. Read Ephesians 2 and 3 and Genesis 12:1-3. Ask God for understanding.
Study these portions specifically as if your life depended on it.
Do it alone and with fellow believers. Ask your pastor and respected leaders what these portions mean but refrain from hitting the commentaries. Ask God to align your understanding with His.
And do something.
Quote from an Israeli Physicist who worked for years in the development of Israel’s defense and security system:
“With all the high technologies, the expectation was for a breach in the defense of the skies of the State of Israel. Even if we got 90% protection it would be a miracle. What happened is that everyone, but everyone–the pilots, the system, and the technology operators–acted as one man at one moment in total unity. If this is not an act of God, then I no longer know what a miracle is.”
We can either deny the facts and embrace coincidence and superhuman abilities or believe that God interceded for the survival of Israel.
If, or because, God performed a miracle in the skies above Israel, shouldn’t we be declaring the good news of His salvation from the rooftops.
Just to be clear, we are talking about Jesus.