Category: Opinion

We are living in the last days, and many of the prophecies in God’s Word about Israel have been fulfilled. One of these main prophecies is in our reading in Jeremiah today.

The prophet Jeremiah speaks of a time when Israel will no longer say, “‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ but ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’ I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers” (Jer. 16:15).

Nearly everyone has a special place he would like to visit during his lifetime. For many people, that place is Israel.

The mere mention of the country’s name evokes a wide range of emotions, one of which is longing. For thousands of years, Israel has held great significance for people from all walks of life, and those who have a heart for the land yearn to see it.

Though Jesus clearly said of His return to the earth, “Of that day or hour no one knows” (Matt. 24:36, NKJV), there are signs throughout Scripture that point to the second coming of the Lord. One of them is the increasing number of Jewish people who are coming to recognize Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah, and another is the growing body of Messiah in the land of Israel itself.

The Messianic movement refers to the growing number of Jewish people who have become believers in Jesus, the Messiah of Israel. This movement began with the Jewish disciples, continued into the first four or five centuries and then was lost. After a terrible season of forced conversions during medieval times, more reasonable attempts to help Jewish people find Jesus began during the post-Reformation period.

Some 5,000 Christians from 100 nations marched through the streets of Jerusalem Tuesday to show their solidarity with the nation of Israel.

March participants waved Zionist banners and flags, while others wore T-shirts that read “Jerusalem United” as part of a campaign responding to political pressure on Israel to stop construction in the largely Arab eastern part of the city.

The Israel Antiquities Authority in Migdal near the Sea of Galilee discovered a 2,000-year-old synagogue from the Second Temple period this month during archaeological excavations.

The 390-square-foot synagogue contains mosaic floors and walls covered with frescos. Also, a square stone featuring sides adorned with reliefs and engraved with a seven-branched menorah was discovered in the hall atop a pedestal with a triangular base.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week addressed the United Nations General Assembly. This man, who stole his re-election and violently suppresses his political opponents, sought to teach the world about democracy.

Ahmadinejad, who persecutes religious minorities and tortures civic activists, presumed to lecture the world about human rights. He denies the Holocaust and has threatened to wipe Israel off the map, but he dares to accuse Israel of genocide.

In Psalm 119, the writer expresses his devotion and love for God by seeking to obey the Word. He says, “With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!” (Ps. 119:10). When we were children we might have rebelled against our parents’ instructions, not realizing the purpose for their rules. But once we became adults and parents ourselves, we learned that boundaries are necessary to keep children safe from harm.

The Hebrew translation of the word “law” is “Torah.” But the word “law” doesn’t capture the true essence of Torah, which actually means “instruction as from a father to a son.”

A Muslim prayer rally on Capitol Hill Friday drew between 3,000 and 5,000 participants, a figure well below the 50,000 organizers hoped to attract.

Among those gathered were several dozen protestors. Some stood at the rear of the crowd holding Bibles and praying. Others yelled “repent” from across the street, where they gathered with banners and crosses, the Washington Post reported.

As we continue to think of our Jewish brethren during these High Holy Days, we only have to wonder how they have missed seeing the Messiah clearly presented in their prophets, the psalms and even the Pentateuch. The only explanation is what Paul speaks clearly about in Romans. The Jewish people have a veil over their eyes that has been placed there by God. Should we pray for this veil to be dropped if this is God’s will? The answer to this is a resounding yes.

We have the hope and promise of God that this veil will be dropped, and the day will come when the Jewish people will recognize Jesus as their Messiah. Until that day we can be diligent in prayer for the Jewish people. Today many Jewish people are accepting Jesus as their Messiah. Our recent trip to Israel revealed much more openness on the part of secular Jews to discuss faith with others. I believe this is a direct result of the prayers of many Christians for Israel and the Jewish people.

Many students of Bible prophecy do not know what to make of fundamental Islam or how it figures into the end-times scenario. Perhaps what will be shocking to many is the most traditional Protestant Bible scholars of old believed that an Islamic and not an exclusively European paradigm will categorize the end times.

Such a view was held by John Wesley, Hilaire Belloc, Gregory Palamus of Thessalonica, Josiah Litch, Cyril of Jerusalem, Sophronius, Maximus the Confessor, John of Damascus, Eulogius, Paul Alvarus, the Martyrs of Cordova, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards and Sir Robert Anderson, who all believed that Islamic nations will be the major players in the end times.

Over the years I have accompanied thousands of people to the Holy Land. I am always thrilled to see people on these tours with their Bibles open, eagerly reading Old and New Testament passages that identify the very places they are seeing for themselves. I’ll never forget an elderly gentleman in one group who kept peppering me with questions about biblical prophecy such as: “When Jesus returns, exactly where will He appear?” and “What else must happen before the Second Coming?”

His questions reflect an understanding about Israel that is so important for us as Christians to have. It is that everything God does on this planet, He does according to His dealings with Israel.

We are on the brink of a spiritual breakthrough in the nation of Israel. Today, the number of Israeli Messianic Jewish believers is estimated at 12,000, with about 140 different congregations and home fellowships. God is birthing a new end-time movement of Jewish lovers in Yeshua that is becoming a prophetic voice to Israel as well as to other nations. This is truly a time to rejoice.

Nevertheless, many Jewish believers in Israel regularly experience not only rejection by the traditional Jewish religious establishment but also growing antagonism and hostility from extremist ultra-orthodox elements. What is happening to the Messianic Jews is to be expected considering we are in the end times. Similar persecution is being experienced by believers all over the world.