O JERUSALEM O JERUSALEM - HOW I HAVE LOVED YOU!
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A short time ago I was driving a friend home across town on a Shabbat afternoon. Passing along a major street in Jerusalem I was confronted by about 30 men and boys, all wearing the black garb of the ultra-orthodox, shouting and throwing stones at all the cars passing by. A small boy, about 7-8 years old, threw a stone at my car and shouted abuse at me. No real harm was done but on the way home I was struck by the incongruity of a religion that forbids a peaceful act of kindness towards a friend, but condones the throwing of stones (surely much harder 'work' than driving a car) on the sacred day. I wondered what the Lord was thinking of this scene in his Holy City and this verse came to me
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!Matthew 23:27 (RSV)
To me this verse resonates as an expression of the passionate love of God for his people. I grew up on a farm and often watched as a mother hen, at the first sign of danger, would emit a few clucks and immediately all her chicks would scramble for safety, and she would tuck them under her wings. I never once saw a chick ignore this warning call, nor did I ever see a hen turn a chick away. We could learn something from the humble fowl.
When Yeshua (Jesus) uttered this heartfelt cry he had been speaking to his disciples against the hypocrisy of the leaders of the organized religion of his day, the Pharisees. He said, "They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders..." and "They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men." Jesus goes on to say "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in.." (Matthew 23: 4-7, 13). In the following verses Jesus called the Scribes and the Pharisees hypocrites, children of Hell, blind fools, whitewashed tombs full of hypocrisy and iniquity, serpents, and a brood of vipers. Harsh words indeed.
But it was the teachings and example of these so-called men of God that caused the majority of the people of that day to reject Yeshua as the promised Messiah, and thus brought death and destruction upon Israel, and two thousand years of exile, wandering, and suffering. And so it is still today, when in the synagogues and yeshiva's of Israel the "Pharisees" of today lay on our shoulders the heavy burden of a plethora of man-made laws and regulations that go far beyond the commands of God, impossible to keep and which detract from the true commandments and teachings of our LORD as revealed in the Torah. No wonder so many Jews today reject their religion. It is these leaders too who forbid the reading of the New Testament and conveniently ignore the passages of the Scriptures that point clearly towards Yeshua as Messiah, such as Isaiah 53. Just as in Yeshua's time they prevent those who would enter the Kingdom of God from doing so.
"...but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written:Romans 9:31 -33 (NKJV)
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,
And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
The teachings of man-made religion, and the religious spirit driving them, make up much of the veil that prevents revelation to Israelis and Jews all over the world today. (In the same way as empty religion and hypocrisy turn many Gentiles away from the Truth ).
So what is the solution? We need to pray fervently for the lifting of the veil, and I believe that at this time we are beginning to see this happening here in Israel. Ironically I read an article today about how a group of religious women are busy trying to make a new veil to separate the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place for the coming Third Temple. http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/24644/Default.aspx?archive=article_title
However we do not need a new temple, for the Temple of the LORD is within us who believe in Yeshua (I Corinthians 3: 16-17). What is more, we certainly do not need a new veil. The temple veil was torn in two from top to bottom when Yeshua died on the cross (Matthew 27:51), signifying that the partition between men and God was broken down as Yeshua paid the price for the sin of all mankind for all time.
Nevertheless there remains another veil, one blocking the way to God for those who are perishing.
God has given them a spirit of stupor,What constitutes the veil today? It is partly the emptiness and lies of man-made religion as I have explained above, but that is not the whole story. The veil that hides Yeshua from Jews today is also made up of 2000 years of anti-Semitism and persecution, often perpetrated by the Church in the name of Jesus. Jews today believe that Hitler was Christian, and are taught that believing in Yeshua is a terrible betrayal of their people.
Eyes that they should not see
And ears that they should not hear,To this very day.” Romans 11:8
What can possibly break through such a heavy veil? Only the love of God. I believe that when a Jew calls out to God from the depths of their heart, He will answer and will reveal himself to them in Yeshua. Thousands of Jewish believers in Israel and throughout the world can testify to this truth personally. The same is true for the Muslim or anyone else. And what will bring a person to this point, when they are willing and ready to give up all in order to know God? In a word "trouble". When we are at the end of all other hope we will call out to God. Ask any soldier going into battle. Even the most godless will pray at such a time.
"But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away". 2 Corinthians 3: 15- 16
When we look around us and read the news, it seems the whole world is in terrible turmoil and it is getting worse by the minute. Why is God allowing this to happen?
I think it is because of his mercy. He is shaking the world up, shaking us out of our complacency, our trust in human endeavor and material things, revealing the emptiness of religion, whether it be Judaism, Christianity or Islam, so that we will cry out from our hearts for Truth and Salvation, and be saved. In recent times we have begun to hear reports of many Muslims and Jews, disillusioned with their religions, who have cried out to the living God and he has come to them in dreams and visions, and they have believed in Yeshua. I have heard that even amongst the Orthodox Jews of Israel there are many who secretly believe. There are more Jews who believe in Yeshua at this point in history than ever before, and there has never been so much interest in the person of Yeshua amongst Jews since the first century.
Ironically it may be the rise of brutal and fanatical groups like the Islamic State, Al Qaida and Hamas, that will bring about the collapse of the Islamic world, as moderate, decent Muslims wake up to the Satanic lies that have given rise to their religion. Similarly it may be the fanaticism of extreme ultra-orthodox Judaism that will in time drive many Jews to seek out a better truth and find Yeshua.
I have believed in Yeshua for over 40 years now. I came to know him in the '70s when there was a great expectation of the imminent second coming of Yeshua. This was largely based on the belief that the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948 marked the budding of the fig tree (Matthew 24:30-34) which was the sign that Messiah would come within the lifetime of the generation that saw it. As the years have passed that expectation somewhat dimmed, but now, with world events gathering pace, the news lining up with the prophecies of Scripture more and more, I am beginning to believe again that the arrival of Yeshua is not far off. I think many agree with me, particularly here in Israel.
Is the current turmoil in the Middle East, the dramatic rise in blatant anti-Semitism all over the world, and the intense criticism leveled at Israel from every corner whenever we are forced to defend ourselves against terrorism, all setting the stage for the day when all the nations of the world will come up against Jerusalem as was prophesied long ago? It doesn't seem too far-fetched any more:
Thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him: 2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. 3 And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. 4 In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the Lord of hosts, their God.’ 6 In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem.7 “The Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. 8 In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them. 9 It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.Zechariah 12 (NKJV)
10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
AMEN!
