Thoughts from Matthew Henry - 1600's Bible Commentator ~
Always keep a holy reverence of the glory and majesty of God; a holy dread of His wrath and curse, and dare not provoke Him. Let your thoughts fasten upon that which is good and keep closely to it; even in unquiet times keep your spirit calm and quiet.
We must look with an eye of faith; further than we can see with our eye of sense. "LORD, let us have Thy favor, and let us know that we have it and we will desire no more; that is enough to make us happy."
"LORD, be at peace with us, accept of us, let us be satisfied of Thy loving kindness and we will be satisfied with that."
If we have the favor of God we should beg it for others as well as for ourselves, for in God's favor there is enough for us all and we shall not be less for ourselves for sharing it with others. Though we may be alone, we are not alone if God is with us.
Though we have no guards to attend to us, the LORD alone is sufficient to protect me, He can do it Himself when all other defenses fail. If we have the light of God's countenance we can enjoy ourselves. Our soul returns too God and reposes our self in Him as our rest. (He is our resting place, King David says).
A good person, having by faith and prayer cast our care upon God, sleeps and rests night and day, and is very easy, leaving it to our God to perform all things for us and we are prepared to welcome His holy will.
In singing verses, and praying them, let us, with a holy contempt of the wealth and pleasure of the world, as insufficient to make us happy, earnestly seek the favor of God and pleasingly solace ourselves in that favor; and with a holy indifference about the issues of our worldly concerns, let us commit ourselves to all our affairs to the guidance and custody of the Divine Providence,
and be satisfied that all shall be made to work for good to us if we keep ourselves in the love of God.
And you shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all of your heart! (Jeremiah 29:13) The LORD is good to those that wait for Him; to the soul that seeks Him. (Lamentations 3:25)
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Ready To Fight? David Wilkerson
David Wilkerson Today
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2011
NOT READY TO FIGHT! by David Wilkerson[May 19, 1931 -April 27, 2011]
Suppose a boxing trainer took his fighter to an isolated training camp and then spent the whole training session psyching up his man for the big fight. He tells him, “I will be with you at ring side—I will never leave your side. Here is a list of great boxers of the past, so study their every move. You do not have to suffer through hard workouts. I told you that you are a winner and my word is all you need! I will give you some diagrams on how to defeat Monster Man when you step into the ring with him!
”What kind of trainer is this? Absolutely foolish! What would a good trainer do? He would find the best boxer he could, put his man in the ring with him, and let them have it out! Beloved, how many Christians call themselves warriors without ever being tested or trained? We hear so much about the many prayer warriors in this nation. But the sad truth is, the vast majority of them have never been in battle! They have not been trained and they are not ready to fight!
Recently I asked the Lord why so many true believers are going through such heavy, hard times. Why such deep suffering? I asked, “Why are so many being tested to their limits?” God knows that Satan is going to be loosed on the earth for his last hour of warfare. And the Lord is going to need well-trained warriors who will prevail over all the powers of hell. Right now He is doing a quick work in His remnant—it is called crisis training!
These suffering, deeply tested saints are becoming the captains of His last-days army. God is putting Holy Spirit fight in them and He is bringing forth warriors who are tested and tried, because they have wrestled with God.The more they suffer and the more intense the trial, the greater the work He has for them to do! This kind of training calls for physical discipline as well as spiritual.
Jacob threw his whole body into the battle, all his human ability. A fighting spirit had risen up in him and Scripture says, “In his strength he struggled with God” (Hosea 12:3). This verse has great meaning for all who want to prevail in prayer. It says Jacob won the battle “in his strength.”
Dearly beloved, if you are going to prevail in these last days, you are going to have to put all your body and strength into it!
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2011
NOT READY TO FIGHT! by David Wilkerson[May 19, 1931 -April 27, 2011]
Suppose a boxing trainer took his fighter to an isolated training camp and then spent the whole training session psyching up his man for the big fight. He tells him, “I will be with you at ring side—I will never leave your side. Here is a list of great boxers of the past, so study their every move. You do not have to suffer through hard workouts. I told you that you are a winner and my word is all you need! I will give you some diagrams on how to defeat Monster Man when you step into the ring with him!
”What kind of trainer is this? Absolutely foolish! What would a good trainer do? He would find the best boxer he could, put his man in the ring with him, and let them have it out! Beloved, how many Christians call themselves warriors without ever being tested or trained? We hear so much about the many prayer warriors in this nation. But the sad truth is, the vast majority of them have never been in battle! They have not been trained and they are not ready to fight!
Recently I asked the Lord why so many true believers are going through such heavy, hard times. Why such deep suffering? I asked, “Why are so many being tested to their limits?” God knows that Satan is going to be loosed on the earth for his last hour of warfare. And the Lord is going to need well-trained warriors who will prevail over all the powers of hell. Right now He is doing a quick work in His remnant—it is called crisis training!
These suffering, deeply tested saints are becoming the captains of His last-days army. God is putting Holy Spirit fight in them and He is bringing forth warriors who are tested and tried, because they have wrestled with God.The more they suffer and the more intense the trial, the greater the work He has for them to do! This kind of training calls for physical discipline as well as spiritual.
Jacob threw his whole body into the battle, all his human ability. A fighting spirit had risen up in him and Scripture says, “In his strength he struggled with God” (Hosea 12:3). This verse has great meaning for all who want to prevail in prayer. It says Jacob won the battle “in his strength.”
Dearly beloved, if you are going to prevail in these last days, you are going to have to put all your body and strength into it!
Possibly Events Near Term-Dr. David Reagan
Thursday, August 25, 2011
The Land of Israel: Imminent Scenario
By Dr. David R. Reagan
What is likely to happen next in the land of Israel?
Here is the most likely scenario that I can foresee at the moment. Hamas, the fundamentalist Arab terrorist organization funded by Iran, will take complete control over the Palestinian autonomous areas. Hamas will then unleash a renewed reign of terror on Israel, continuing their lobbing of rockets from Gaza and Jericho to back up their demand for control of Jerusalem.
Abbas will orchestrate world pressure on Israel through the United Nations and the Vatican. In September of this year he will likely proclaim a Palestinian state and then demand that Jerusalem be "liberated" or internationalized.
Since even the most liberal Israelis take the position that Jerusalem is non-negotiable, the pressure will mount toward an inevitable conflict. If Hamas does not unleash the rockets first, then Abbas will ultimately return to the method he knows best — terror.
This will prompt an Israeli counter attack, which, in turn, will motivate the Arab states to come to the defense of the Palestinians. This could very well lead to Syria launching an all out missile attack on Tel Aviv in order to reclaim the Golan Heights and turn attention away from their civilian upheavals.
If that ominous event should occur, the Israelis will be forced to use their ultimate weapon to survive. They will strike Damascus with nuclear weapons. This will fulfill the prophecies that state that Damascus will cease to exist in the end times (Isaiah 17:1-3 and Jeremiah 49:23-27).
In panic, the Arab states will then turn to their natural ally for help — the Russians. And the likelihood is that the Russian government will be only too happy to send an army into the Middle East to destroy Israel (and grab the Arab oil fields in the process).
That is when the Lord will step in personally to destroy the Russian hordes on the mountains of Israel in a supernatural way so that even the Israelis will realize that their deliverance came from the Lord and not from their own military might (Ezekiel 38 and 39).
As the whole world panics on the brink of World War III, a dynamic, charismatic political leader from Europe will step into the vacuum and propose an ingenious solution that will result in peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors — a peace that will enable the Jews to rebuild their Temple.
We live in exciting times when we can watch prophecy being fulfilled before our eyes. The events are ominous and overwhelming, but we can stand firm with great hope because we know that God is on His throne and that He is in control.
The events we are currently witnessing point to the imminent return of Yeshua, and when He returns, the world will be flooded with peace and righteousness, and Israel will enjoy the blessings of territorial integrity and peace forevermore (Zechariah 8:1-8).
The Land of Israel: Imminent Scenario
By Dr. David R. Reagan
What is likely to happen next in the land of Israel?
Here is the most likely scenario that I can foresee at the moment. Hamas, the fundamentalist Arab terrorist organization funded by Iran, will take complete control over the Palestinian autonomous areas. Hamas will then unleash a renewed reign of terror on Israel, continuing their lobbing of rockets from Gaza and Jericho to back up their demand for control of Jerusalem.
Abbas will orchestrate world pressure on Israel through the United Nations and the Vatican. In September of this year he will likely proclaim a Palestinian state and then demand that Jerusalem be "liberated" or internationalized.
Since even the most liberal Israelis take the position that Jerusalem is non-negotiable, the pressure will mount toward an inevitable conflict. If Hamas does not unleash the rockets first, then Abbas will ultimately return to the method he knows best — terror.
This will prompt an Israeli counter attack, which, in turn, will motivate the Arab states to come to the defense of the Palestinians. This could very well lead to Syria launching an all out missile attack on Tel Aviv in order to reclaim the Golan Heights and turn attention away from their civilian upheavals.
If that ominous event should occur, the Israelis will be forced to use their ultimate weapon to survive. They will strike Damascus with nuclear weapons. This will fulfill the prophecies that state that Damascus will cease to exist in the end times (Isaiah 17:1-3 and Jeremiah 49:23-27).
In panic, the Arab states will then turn to their natural ally for help — the Russians. And the likelihood is that the Russian government will be only too happy to send an army into the Middle East to destroy Israel (and grab the Arab oil fields in the process).
That is when the Lord will step in personally to destroy the Russian hordes on the mountains of Israel in a supernatural way so that even the Israelis will realize that their deliverance came from the Lord and not from their own military might (Ezekiel 38 and 39).
As the whole world panics on the brink of World War III, a dynamic, charismatic political leader from Europe will step into the vacuum and propose an ingenious solution that will result in peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors — a peace that will enable the Jews to rebuild their Temple.
We live in exciting times when we can watch prophecy being fulfilled before our eyes. The events are ominous and overwhelming, but we can stand firm with great hope because we know that God is on His throne and that He is in control.
The events we are currently witnessing point to the imminent return of Yeshua, and when He returns, the world will be flooded with peace and righteousness, and Israel will enjoy the blessings of territorial integrity and peace forevermore (Zechariah 8:1-8).
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
VALLEY OF DECISION- From Israel
Jerusalem Watchman « Stan Goodenough - From Israel
September: Much Ado About Everything
Into The Valley ---Posted on Tuesday 13 September 2011
Today, September 13, 2011, will be a momentous day. Today, representatives of 193 countries are coming together on the east side of Manhattan for the opening of the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Of the 168 items on their agenda, one towers above the rest, guaranteed to dominate the 15-day event: Item #36 – “The question of Palestine.”
When that number comes up on September 20, the nations of this world will secure their places in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. For during the course of their deliberations, they will be called upon to vote for, or against, recognizing a Palestinian state.
Recognizing a Palestinian state means voting for the creation of an Arab state in the biblical heartland of the Land of Israel.
It means voting for the “permanent” division of God’s land.
“For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will also gather all nations,
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
And I will enter into judgment with them there
On account of My people, My heritage Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land.
…
Proclaim this among the nations:
“Prepare for war!
Wake up the mighty men,
Let all the men of war draw near,
Let them come up.
Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’”
Assemble and come, all you nations,
And gather together all around.
Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O LORD.
“Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
Come, go down;
For the winepress is full,
The vats overflow—
For their wickedness is great.”
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
The sun and moon will grow dark,
And the stars will diminish their brightness.
The LORD also will roar from Zion,
And utter His voice from Jerusalem;
The heavens and earth will shake;
But the LORD will be a shelter for His people,
And the strength of the children of Israel. (Joel 3: 1-2, 9-16)
“Who will endorse Palestine?” This question headlined an article on the Israeli Ynetnews website two weeks ago.
According to the report, officials in Jerusalem believe the “Palestinians” will secure an automatic majority due to the guaranteed support of the 116 “non-aligned” states,” which tend to vote as a bloc and promote joint interests. Just 12 more “yes” votes will secure a two-thirds majority. And on September 12, Russia announced its determination to support whatever the Palestinian Arabs want.
To try and offset the outcome, Israel’s foreign ministry has targeted the “moral majority” – influential states that include the 27 European Union members, global powers, and several other key countries.
Israel hopes the failure of such states to endorse a unilateral Palestinian move would render the UN decision illegitimate. To further this, officials in Brussels have worked on establishing a united front of EU states that would abstain. Still, it seems Europe’s votes will be split. Few if any nations are expected to vote “no.”
Despite having personally flown to various countries in recent months, appealing to leaders to reject the unilateral Palestinian move, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be bracing for what now looks like the inevitable outcome.
Israel stands alone on the world stage. In fact, at the UN – and this is not new or rare –Israel will stand alone in the dock.
The universal recognition of “Palestine” as a state in its own right will be an indictment of the Jewish people, the world’s rejection and dismissal of their claims to their patrimony and a charge accusing them of usurping another people’s land.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) aka Palestinian Authority has already stated its intention to drag Israel before the International Court in The Hague.
However, the judgment on this event has already been determined and will soon be passed. It was seen thousands of years ago by the prophets of Israel who must have shivered as they recorded God’s expressions of His fury.
Joel 3, parts of which are quoted at the top of this piece, is only one of these warnings. Read the whole chapter. See also Isaiah 34, Isaiah 63, Psalm 94, .
God has a day of vengeance for the controversy of Zion. (Isaiah 34:8). He describes the valley of Jehoshaphat as the winepress of His wrath into which He will gather the nations. Soon – if He has not already begun – He will start to tread them out, crushing them like grapes beneath His feet.
How awful His judgment will be!
Fearful for their nations, believers in Europe and America have mobilized to act on Israel’s behalf. On September 12 The Jerusalem Post reported “two of the leading Christian groups in Europe have joined forces to counter mounting pressure on the Jewish state.” According to the report, the Dutch organization Christians for Israel and the Brussels-based European Coalition for Israel, will be holding joint protests today (September 13) in The Hague, and on September 19 in Brussels.
Although the Post failed to mention it, the initiative was launched by one man. Back in March, on the cover of the Dutch language publication of his organization “Pillar of Fire,” Jack van der Tang published a facsimile of the mobilization form for military service that the men of Holland received in 1939, when the Nazis were poised to invade them.
Inside the magazine, under the heading, “An urgent message to the church in the Netherlands (and worldwide),” Van der Tang posed the question:
Have you ever wondered what you would have done right before the Second World War, had you known that 6,000,000 Jews were going to be murdered? We did not yet know, then, about the death camps where the Holocaust would be carried out.??Now, in 2011, throughout the countries around Israel, millions are openly, and without shame, calling for the destruction of the Jews.??And we cannot say again, “we did not know.”
After listing the long and growing list of threats and dangers facing Israel, he concluded:
In 1939 a nationwide mobilization occurred in the Netherlands when it was clear that war was unavoidable. ??Let there be an overall mobilization in the Church, today!
Other Christians – individuals and organizations – have followed Van der Tang’s lead. One man, a Czech citizen who has no organizational backing, alone successfully prepared a manifestation that will take place in Prague this evening. Events are scheduled for England too.
The men organizing these gatherings are driven by a) a strong sense of the fear of the Lord; b) a compelling love for the Jewish people and c) deep concern for their nations.
They know, as do many millions of Christians, that the motivation behind the upcoming vote is hardly a heartfelt desire to give the “poor Palestinians” a state of their own.
What will constrain the overwhelming majority – probably all – who choose in favor of Palestine, will be:
Anti-Semitism, manifested in its “new” skin as deeply-rooted and vociferous anti-Israel bigotry, and/or
Unfettered hatred of Israel and a desire to see her destroyed, and/or
Immoral national self-interest that “justifies” betraying a small, peace-seeking, oil-less country to appease tens of large, oil-rich, belligerent ones, and/or
Hatred of God and rejection of His Word.
Whatever their individual motives, what these delegates will be voting for is the manifest theft of land belonging – by the decree of the Almighty; by international law as ratified at San Remo by the League of Nations and never revoked; and by all the rights that legitimize the existence of modern nation states – to the Jews.
For those who still don’t get this, let me spell it out once more:
The territory upon which the UN would establish a State of Palestine is that land where Abraham walked when God promised it to him and his descendants after him, forever. It is that land where Jacob lived and through which he travelled when God made it clear that His promise to Abraham was to his seed through the bloodline of Isaac and Jacob.
It is that land in which Israel’s founding fathers purchased property, and where they lie buried. It is that land conquered by the Israelites under Joshua and given as an inheritance to the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and the half-tribe of Manasseh. It is that land where for nearly 400 years the Tabernacle stood in which Samuel served and where the people of Israel worshipped. It is that land where David was born, and from which and over which he reigned. It is that land that contains the Jerusalem of biblical times, in which Solomon and Zerubbabel and Herod built the Jewish temples, and where, in Solomon’s days, God’s glory was visibly revealed to the Israelites. It is that land where Jesus was born and in which He ministered; where He was crucified, buried, rose again, and from which He ascended into heaven. It is that land to which He will return. It is that land God specifically promised to restore the Jews to after they were dispersed among the nations.
It is THAT land the United Nations will vote this month on taking “legally” out of the hands of the Jewish people and placing into the hands of the Muslim Arabs – the vast majority of whom have been raised on a hate-rich diet of war mongering anti-Israel thoughts.
Recent weeks have seen some Israeli leaders and opinion shapers making calming statements – assuring their people that a General Assembly vote is not binding; that there is little if any point in trying to withstand it.
Darker voices warn that Arab and Muslim protests will be staged all over the world to “convince” the General Assembly in New York that the demand for the creation of Palestine is global and must be complied with.
A sweeping vote supporting the proposal is expected to – eventually if not right away – sway the Security Council towards making it legally binding on Israel.
So WHO is bringing the nations to New York to cast this fateful ballot? Who will lead them? Who will drive them?
The answer, I believe, is the LORD God. For decades they have been pulling and pushing Israel around, instigating wars against her, fomenting hatred of her, taking advantage of her, plotting against her, holding her in derision, and just bullying her relentlessly and heartlessly, in a never-ending way.
But now, now comes the time to decide. God is giving them the choice. For some nations – those that long ago sold their souls to the devil, voting to divide the land of Israel will be easy and quick. For others, there will be ethical and moral questions to weigh up. These nations know that they know that to recognize Palestine will be to do a terrible injustice to the Jews. Will they still proceed?
The few Judeo-Christian nations still left may be given pause by the fact that the Holy Bible contains the unambiguous title deed to the ancient Holy Land.
What they all will do in the end, is decide for or against Israel; for or against the Bible; for or against the establishment of a country that, together with its 21 allied Arab states, will present a terrible danger to the piece of land that will be left of Israel.
The time, it appears, is here. The nations have to decide and the choice they make will be read out in the “valley of decision,” the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Multitudes, it says, will be there.
The Valley of Jehoshaphat is a small, nondescript gully that feeds into the northern end of the Kidron Valley, in the shadow of the Mount of Olives.
I pointed it out last week as I guided a group from the Garden of Gethsemane into the Old City. How, we wondered, will all the nations that are today aligned against Israel and eagerly waiting to “create” Palestine fit into this small place for judgment? Zechariah may have the answer:
And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south. (Zechariah 14:4)
Below is a list of scriptures (not exhaustive) in which God promises “all the land of Canaan” to Abraham, and then to Isaac, and then to Jacob; God promises to bring the people of Israel back to this land, which He repeatedly calls “their own land.”
Some of these passages will be read out in the European capitals where Christians are taking their stand today.
This is the point – the final Word: God says the land belongs exclusively to the Jewish people. God Almighty says it is their land. It makes no difference if every nation on earth says otherwise. It matters not if even the democratically elected government of Israel agrees to a “two-state solution” on this land, and wants to give part of it away.
Believers can and must stand on the Bible, and proclaim that, according to it, this is Israel’s land.
We must comfort and encourage the Jewish people by reminding them of God’s promise to be “a shelter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.”
And we must warn our nations that God will judge them in fury for dividing up the land – which He calls HIS OWN. (see, again, Joel 3).
* TITLE DEED TO THE LAND: Genesis 12:1-3, 6-8; 13:14-17; 15:7, 17-20; 17:7-8; 24:7; 26:2-4; 28:12-15; 35:10-12; 39:9-15. Exodus 6:2-4; 6-8; 32:13; 33:1-2. Leviticus 20:23-24; Numbers 33:50-54; 34:1-2; Deuteronomy 1:6-8; 11:11-12; Joshua 21:43-45; 1 Chronicles 16:14-19; 2 Samuel 7:10; Isaiah 14:1; Jeremiah 23:8; Ezekiel 28:25-26; 34:13-14; 36:24; 37:14, 21; Amos 9:14-15.
September: Much Ado About Everything
Into The Valley ---Posted on Tuesday 13 September 2011
Today, September 13, 2011, will be a momentous day. Today, representatives of 193 countries are coming together on the east side of Manhattan for the opening of the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Of the 168 items on their agenda, one towers above the rest, guaranteed to dominate the 15-day event: Item #36 – “The question of Palestine.”
When that number comes up on September 20, the nations of this world will secure their places in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. For during the course of their deliberations, they will be called upon to vote for, or against, recognizing a Palestinian state.
Recognizing a Palestinian state means voting for the creation of an Arab state in the biblical heartland of the Land of Israel.
It means voting for the “permanent” division of God’s land.
“For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will also gather all nations,
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
And I will enter into judgment with them there
On account of My people, My heritage Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land.
…
Proclaim this among the nations:
“Prepare for war!
Wake up the mighty men,
Let all the men of war draw near,
Let them come up.
Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’”
Assemble and come, all you nations,
And gather together all around.
Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O LORD.
“Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
Come, go down;
For the winepress is full,
The vats overflow—
For their wickedness is great.”
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
The sun and moon will grow dark,
And the stars will diminish their brightness.
The LORD also will roar from Zion,
And utter His voice from Jerusalem;
The heavens and earth will shake;
But the LORD will be a shelter for His people,
And the strength of the children of Israel. (Joel 3: 1-2, 9-16)
“Who will endorse Palestine?” This question headlined an article on the Israeli Ynetnews website two weeks ago.
According to the report, officials in Jerusalem believe the “Palestinians” will secure an automatic majority due to the guaranteed support of the 116 “non-aligned” states,” which tend to vote as a bloc and promote joint interests. Just 12 more “yes” votes will secure a two-thirds majority. And on September 12, Russia announced its determination to support whatever the Palestinian Arabs want.
To try and offset the outcome, Israel’s foreign ministry has targeted the “moral majority” – influential states that include the 27 European Union members, global powers, and several other key countries.
Israel hopes the failure of such states to endorse a unilateral Palestinian move would render the UN decision illegitimate. To further this, officials in Brussels have worked on establishing a united front of EU states that would abstain. Still, it seems Europe’s votes will be split. Few if any nations are expected to vote “no.”
Despite having personally flown to various countries in recent months, appealing to leaders to reject the unilateral Palestinian move, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be bracing for what now looks like the inevitable outcome.
Israel stands alone on the world stage. In fact, at the UN – and this is not new or rare –Israel will stand alone in the dock.
The universal recognition of “Palestine” as a state in its own right will be an indictment of the Jewish people, the world’s rejection and dismissal of their claims to their patrimony and a charge accusing them of usurping another people’s land.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) aka Palestinian Authority has already stated its intention to drag Israel before the International Court in The Hague.
However, the judgment on this event has already been determined and will soon be passed. It was seen thousands of years ago by the prophets of Israel who must have shivered as they recorded God’s expressions of His fury.
Joel 3, parts of which are quoted at the top of this piece, is only one of these warnings. Read the whole chapter. See also Isaiah 34, Isaiah 63, Psalm 94, .
God has a day of vengeance for the controversy of Zion. (Isaiah 34:8). He describes the valley of Jehoshaphat as the winepress of His wrath into which He will gather the nations. Soon – if He has not already begun – He will start to tread them out, crushing them like grapes beneath His feet.
How awful His judgment will be!
Fearful for their nations, believers in Europe and America have mobilized to act on Israel’s behalf. On September 12 The Jerusalem Post reported “two of the leading Christian groups in Europe have joined forces to counter mounting pressure on the Jewish state.” According to the report, the Dutch organization Christians for Israel and the Brussels-based European Coalition for Israel, will be holding joint protests today (September 13) in The Hague, and on September 19 in Brussels.
Although the Post failed to mention it, the initiative was launched by one man. Back in March, on the cover of the Dutch language publication of his organization “Pillar of Fire,” Jack van der Tang published a facsimile of the mobilization form for military service that the men of Holland received in 1939, when the Nazis were poised to invade them.
Inside the magazine, under the heading, “An urgent message to the church in the Netherlands (and worldwide),” Van der Tang posed the question:
Have you ever wondered what you would have done right before the Second World War, had you known that 6,000,000 Jews were going to be murdered? We did not yet know, then, about the death camps where the Holocaust would be carried out.??Now, in 2011, throughout the countries around Israel, millions are openly, and without shame, calling for the destruction of the Jews.??And we cannot say again, “we did not know.”
After listing the long and growing list of threats and dangers facing Israel, he concluded:
In 1939 a nationwide mobilization occurred in the Netherlands when it was clear that war was unavoidable. ??Let there be an overall mobilization in the Church, today!
Other Christians – individuals and organizations – have followed Van der Tang’s lead. One man, a Czech citizen who has no organizational backing, alone successfully prepared a manifestation that will take place in Prague this evening. Events are scheduled for England too.
The men organizing these gatherings are driven by a) a strong sense of the fear of the Lord; b) a compelling love for the Jewish people and c) deep concern for their nations.
They know, as do many millions of Christians, that the motivation behind the upcoming vote is hardly a heartfelt desire to give the “poor Palestinians” a state of their own.
What will constrain the overwhelming majority – probably all – who choose in favor of Palestine, will be:
Anti-Semitism, manifested in its “new” skin as deeply-rooted and vociferous anti-Israel bigotry, and/or
Unfettered hatred of Israel and a desire to see her destroyed, and/or
Immoral national self-interest that “justifies” betraying a small, peace-seeking, oil-less country to appease tens of large, oil-rich, belligerent ones, and/or
Hatred of God and rejection of His Word.
Whatever their individual motives, what these delegates will be voting for is the manifest theft of land belonging – by the decree of the Almighty; by international law as ratified at San Remo by the League of Nations and never revoked; and by all the rights that legitimize the existence of modern nation states – to the Jews.
For those who still don’t get this, let me spell it out once more:
The territory upon which the UN would establish a State of Palestine is that land where Abraham walked when God promised it to him and his descendants after him, forever. It is that land where Jacob lived and through which he travelled when God made it clear that His promise to Abraham was to his seed through the bloodline of Isaac and Jacob.
It is that land in which Israel’s founding fathers purchased property, and where they lie buried. It is that land conquered by the Israelites under Joshua and given as an inheritance to the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and the half-tribe of Manasseh. It is that land where for nearly 400 years the Tabernacle stood in which Samuel served and where the people of Israel worshipped. It is that land where David was born, and from which and over which he reigned. It is that land that contains the Jerusalem of biblical times, in which Solomon and Zerubbabel and Herod built the Jewish temples, and where, in Solomon’s days, God’s glory was visibly revealed to the Israelites. It is that land where Jesus was born and in which He ministered; where He was crucified, buried, rose again, and from which He ascended into heaven. It is that land to which He will return. It is that land God specifically promised to restore the Jews to after they were dispersed among the nations.
It is THAT land the United Nations will vote this month on taking “legally” out of the hands of the Jewish people and placing into the hands of the Muslim Arabs – the vast majority of whom have been raised on a hate-rich diet of war mongering anti-Israel thoughts.
Recent weeks have seen some Israeli leaders and opinion shapers making calming statements – assuring their people that a General Assembly vote is not binding; that there is little if any point in trying to withstand it.
Darker voices warn that Arab and Muslim protests will be staged all over the world to “convince” the General Assembly in New York that the demand for the creation of Palestine is global and must be complied with.
A sweeping vote supporting the proposal is expected to – eventually if not right away – sway the Security Council towards making it legally binding on Israel.
So WHO is bringing the nations to New York to cast this fateful ballot? Who will lead them? Who will drive them?
The answer, I believe, is the LORD God. For decades they have been pulling and pushing Israel around, instigating wars against her, fomenting hatred of her, taking advantage of her, plotting against her, holding her in derision, and just bullying her relentlessly and heartlessly, in a never-ending way.
But now, now comes the time to decide. God is giving them the choice. For some nations – those that long ago sold their souls to the devil, voting to divide the land of Israel will be easy and quick. For others, there will be ethical and moral questions to weigh up. These nations know that they know that to recognize Palestine will be to do a terrible injustice to the Jews. Will they still proceed?
The few Judeo-Christian nations still left may be given pause by the fact that the Holy Bible contains the unambiguous title deed to the ancient Holy Land.
What they all will do in the end, is decide for or against Israel; for or against the Bible; for or against the establishment of a country that, together with its 21 allied Arab states, will present a terrible danger to the piece of land that will be left of Israel.
The time, it appears, is here. The nations have to decide and the choice they make will be read out in the “valley of decision,” the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Multitudes, it says, will be there.
The Valley of Jehoshaphat is a small, nondescript gully that feeds into the northern end of the Kidron Valley, in the shadow of the Mount of Olives.
I pointed it out last week as I guided a group from the Garden of Gethsemane into the Old City. How, we wondered, will all the nations that are today aligned against Israel and eagerly waiting to “create” Palestine fit into this small place for judgment? Zechariah may have the answer:
And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south. (Zechariah 14:4)
Below is a list of scriptures (not exhaustive) in which God promises “all the land of Canaan” to Abraham, and then to Isaac, and then to Jacob; God promises to bring the people of Israel back to this land, which He repeatedly calls “their own land.”
Some of these passages will be read out in the European capitals where Christians are taking their stand today.
This is the point – the final Word: God says the land belongs exclusively to the Jewish people. God Almighty says it is their land. It makes no difference if every nation on earth says otherwise. It matters not if even the democratically elected government of Israel agrees to a “two-state solution” on this land, and wants to give part of it away.
Believers can and must stand on the Bible, and proclaim that, according to it, this is Israel’s land.
We must comfort and encourage the Jewish people by reminding them of God’s promise to be “a shelter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.”
And we must warn our nations that God will judge them in fury for dividing up the land – which He calls HIS OWN. (see, again, Joel 3).
* TITLE DEED TO THE LAND: Genesis 12:1-3, 6-8; 13:14-17; 15:7, 17-20; 17:7-8; 24:7; 26:2-4; 28:12-15; 35:10-12; 39:9-15. Exodus 6:2-4; 6-8; 32:13; 33:1-2. Leviticus 20:23-24; Numbers 33:50-54; 34:1-2; Deuteronomy 1:6-8; 11:11-12; Joshua 21:43-45; 1 Chronicles 16:14-19; 2 Samuel 7:10; Isaiah 14:1; Jeremiah 23:8; Ezekiel 28:25-26; 34:13-14; 36:24; 37:14, 21; Amos 9:14-15.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Always With Us
What a Holiday weekend. Like most I was looking forward to three days rest. It was not to be. Early Saturday morning I arose around 4 a.m. and my heart suddenly started beating out of control; again! I went back to bed, prayed and finally fell into a fitful sleep.
My wife goes to yard sales on the weekends so I did a few small chores around the house, all the while praying that I would start feeling better. It was not to be. Around noon my wife checked me into the Emergency Room of our hospital and I spent the three day holiday weekend in ICU.
My meds have been increased and I am dealing with the side effects of some of them; dizziness, being tired and so forth. I have prayed for and am still praying for healing; total healing. The same God who created the heavens and the earth created the human heart, our soul, body and spirit and all things are possible with Him.
While they doctors were trying to get my heart rate down from 170 beats per minute for over a day, to the normal level of 70 or so, they decided to increase an I.V. med to bring down the heart rate. The next step would have been to trying to shock my heart into regular rythem. Right after they increased the I.V. I started to sweat so bad the bed and my clothes were soaked as if I were standing under a water hose. I almost blacked out and could not see anything! Three things were going through my head at the same time; so this is how it feels right before you die? Why don't I just lose consienceness so I do not see what is happening? And, I had a deep inner sence that God was right there; a sence not of a Presence of any sort but I knew He was in total control of the events as they seemed to be spining out of control in the natural sense, and they truly were. The staff was callling the doctors 911 and such and they were tugging and pulling cords trying to bring my blood pressure back up; it had fallen to 40/20.
Within ten minutes things were back to normal. A close call by any definition. This happened for a reason. Here are one of the things that I feel are going on ~
1. This is a test of my faith; it has been sorely tried since my heart attack of May 9. Do I still believe the promises of God?
2. I agree with Brother Dave Wilkerson that some of the trials and tests we go through in this life are not because of our sin, our faith, the devil or anything of the sort; they are preparing us for what we will be in the world to come. We are earning our stripes, getting experience that will last us into the ages of eternity. I need to get out of an earthly frame of mind and "set my mind on things above, where God is".
I have cried, begged, tried to bargain with God and even this is causing growth in my spiritual man; the man that is eternal. I read a passage of Scripture this evening that explains what I am trying to say ~
" They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
He that goeth forth and weepeth,
bearing precious seed,
Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
bringing his sheaves with him. " Psalm 126:5
Our tears have a purpose. We are bearing seed as we bear our burdens. The precious seed we are carrying is our faith. After the great trials, tests, burdens and harvest, a great day of rejoicing awaits us. Some of the rejoicing will be in the here and now; most I believe will be when we get to our real home in the heaven of heavens; where God is.
I have prayed most of my life to be a man of faith. It is easy for me to have faith when things are going on a normal scale. When things start falling apart to the point that they look hopeless and death is at the door; this is the place where faith is birthed. I pass some tests, I do not do so well on others. But I am learning.
I am confident of one thing and I felt His presence as my blood pressure was dropping this past weekend in I.C.U. ~As fear started to momentarily set in, then a change started to occur and this is the passage " As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about His people from henseforth, even forever." Psalm 125:2
My wife goes to yard sales on the weekends so I did a few small chores around the house, all the while praying that I would start feeling better. It was not to be. Around noon my wife checked me into the Emergency Room of our hospital and I spent the three day holiday weekend in ICU.
My meds have been increased and I am dealing with the side effects of some of them; dizziness, being tired and so forth. I have prayed for and am still praying for healing; total healing. The same God who created the heavens and the earth created the human heart, our soul, body and spirit and all things are possible with Him.
While they doctors were trying to get my heart rate down from 170 beats per minute for over a day, to the normal level of 70 or so, they decided to increase an I.V. med to bring down the heart rate. The next step would have been to trying to shock my heart into regular rythem. Right after they increased the I.V. I started to sweat so bad the bed and my clothes were soaked as if I were standing under a water hose. I almost blacked out and could not see anything! Three things were going through my head at the same time; so this is how it feels right before you die? Why don't I just lose consienceness so I do not see what is happening? And, I had a deep inner sence that God was right there; a sence not of a Presence of any sort but I knew He was in total control of the events as they seemed to be spining out of control in the natural sense, and they truly were. The staff was callling the doctors 911 and such and they were tugging and pulling cords trying to bring my blood pressure back up; it had fallen to 40/20.
Within ten minutes things were back to normal. A close call by any definition. This happened for a reason. Here are one of the things that I feel are going on ~
1. This is a test of my faith; it has been sorely tried since my heart attack of May 9. Do I still believe the promises of God?
2. I agree with Brother Dave Wilkerson that some of the trials and tests we go through in this life are not because of our sin, our faith, the devil or anything of the sort; they are preparing us for what we will be in the world to come. We are earning our stripes, getting experience that will last us into the ages of eternity. I need to get out of an earthly frame of mind and "set my mind on things above, where God is".
I have cried, begged, tried to bargain with God and even this is causing growth in my spiritual man; the man that is eternal. I read a passage of Scripture this evening that explains what I am trying to say ~
" They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
He that goeth forth and weepeth,
bearing precious seed,
Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
bringing his sheaves with him. " Psalm 126:5
Our tears have a purpose. We are bearing seed as we bear our burdens. The precious seed we are carrying is our faith. After the great trials, tests, burdens and harvest, a great day of rejoicing awaits us. Some of the rejoicing will be in the here and now; most I believe will be when we get to our real home in the heaven of heavens; where God is.
I have prayed most of my life to be a man of faith. It is easy for me to have faith when things are going on a normal scale. When things start falling apart to the point that they look hopeless and death is at the door; this is the place where faith is birthed. I pass some tests, I do not do so well on others. But I am learning.
I am confident of one thing and I felt His presence as my blood pressure was dropping this past weekend in I.C.U. ~As fear started to momentarily set in, then a change started to occur and this is the passage " As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about His people from henseforth, even forever." Psalm 125:2
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Making Deals With God - David Parsons
Making deals with God - Special Commentary
By: David Parsons - International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem
Posted on: Mon, 07/25/2011
Every passing day, more and more Christians around the world are discovering within themselves a growing love for Israel and a greater appreciation of God’s enduring election over the Jewish people.
By: David Parsons - International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem
Posted on: Mon, 07/25/2011
Every passing day, more and more Christians around the world are discovering within themselves a growing love for Israel and a greater appreciation of God’s enduring election over the Jewish people.
Yet many in the growing Christian Zionist movement are no longer comfortable with all the popular ‘end-time’ charts which portray Israel as just another piece of the prophetic puzzle. Many charts have the Church escaping to heaven while Israel goes through hell. This just seems too impersonal, detached and contrary to their burning, heart-felt passion for Israel.
So rather than speculative charts about future events, many Christian Zionists are looking for a more solid biblical foundation which better expresses their zeal for the Israel of today. And they are finding it in the scriptural tenets of Covenant theology.
While some Christians take a very fatalistic approach to Bible prophecy and often focus too heavily on its dark side, Covenant theology is an uplifting view rooted in the very nature and character of God as eternally faithful to his sworn promises to Israel. It sees the great divine covenants with Abraham, Moses, David and the New Covenant as telling the story of God’s salvation plan for all humanity, with the Jewish people playing a central role – both in the past and the future. Indeed, the covenants “belong to” Israel, the Apostle Paul says in Romans 9:4.
Covenant theology holds that Israel’s journey down through time, until she reaches her ultimate destiny, is steered by the promises which God delivered by solemn oath to Abraham, Moses and David, culminating with the New Covenant (Hebrews 6:13-20). These covenants set out the terms and conditions for Israel’s relationship with God as His primary vehicle for world salvation – which pivoted around her eventual birthing of Jesus, the promised Messiah (Romans 9:5).
The Hebrew prophets then come along as “servants” of the covenants. They cannot go outside the covenant promises and provisions which God has already set out by sworn oath. But their prophetic utterances do tell us something about how God will keep His covenant promises to Israel. Thus interpreting Bible prophecy first requires that we understand the purposes, terms and conditions of the successive covenants with Israel. This is where many Dispensational interpretations go wrong.
Thus the modern-day restoration of Israel can and must be understood, first and foremost, as God being faithful to his covenant promise to Abraham to deliver the Land of Canaan as “an everlasting possession” to his natural descendants (Genesis 17:8). Furthermore, this restoration process will continue until God also fulfills the promises of the Davidic covenant that the Messiah will one day sit on the throne of David and rule the earth from a Jewish Jerusalem and a redeemed nation of Israel.
Such an approach is refreshingly focused on the positive side of Bible prophecy and it is built on solid theological grounds. No wonder Covenant theology is finding so many new Evangelical adherents.
Yet there are some ‘prosperity preachers’ out there who are latching on to the concept of divine covenant and trying to twist it for carnal purposes. They speak of making “salt covenants” with their supporters, and promote three-way contracts between you, their ministry and God which guarantee financial blessings in return for donations. In short, they think it is possible to just make deals with God.
This ignores the fact that any divine covenant is first birthed in the very heart of God, and then He finds a suitable human partner to receive the promises. We see this reflected in the Lord’s covenant with Noah, which originated “in His heart” (Genesis 8:21). One does not just decide to enter a contract with God; He carefully chooses the vessel to be entrusted with His sure promises.
Each of the divine covenants with Israel also had a unique purpose in furthering the redemptive plan of God. Christians can be third-party beneficiaries of those covenants, but we cannot just make our own separate deals.
In addition, the divine covenants of the Bible are largely unilateral. That is, God usually makes promises that only He can and will perform. Some conditions of performance are placed on the human partner(s), but the core obligations He reserves unto Himself.
This does not mean one cannot make vows before God. But if we do, the Bible is clear we better pay those vows.
Parsons is Media Director for the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.
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