FESTIVALS OF FREEDOM

There is just one day to go until we celebrate the two festivals of freedom and redemption, Passover and Easter. This year, the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the modern Jewish State, these two celebrations coincide, but I do not believe it is a coincidence. 

Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.  So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! 

Matthew 24 : 32-33

In Israel the fig trees are putting forth their leaves, and spring is heralding the imminent arrival of summer.  The land is clothed in its glory, green and full of the beauty of wildflowers and blossoms. The week before last I took a friend for a brief visit to the Galilee and remarked how you could think you were in England as the landscape was so green. 

As we traveled north I was, as always, amazed by just what has been accomplished by this small, beleaguered nation in just 70 years. We passed massive chemical factories, tall skyscrapers, as we drove along a state-of-the art highway through tunnels and over bridges, and on every side lush agricultural fields and orchards. What a contrast to what Mark Twain reported in 1867 when he passed through the Holy Land (1):

"Jerusalem is a dismal city, desolate and lifeless....

" The land of Israel is a barren and ugly land..."

Jerusalem from the Jerusalem forest today

Mark Twain described the Land of Israel as 'ugly', yet God calls it the Beautiful Land  (Daniel 8:9) . Actually the words translated in most English translations as the 'beautiful land' or the 'glorious land' are in Hebrew the 'land of the gazelle' (eretz hatzvi). How appropriate that, right in the heart of Jerusalem today, a reserve has been set aside for a  herd of wild gazelle, and anyone can visit them and see these beautiful animals. The hills around Jerusalem, once treeless, are now cloaked in forest and gazelles once more browse freely in Judah. I often see them in the beautiful forested valley across from my home.  I wonder what Twain would have to say today?

A gazelle buck feeding from an almond tree in Jerusalem's gazelle reserve. 

We truly have much to celebrate in the Holy Land.  Passover ('Pesach' in Hebrew) commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The night before their exodus the Angel of the Lord killed all the first-born of Egypt but passed over the homes of the Israelites, which were protected by the blood of the sacrificed lamb painted on the lintels and doorposts of their homes (Exodus 12-14).  Easter celebrates the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Yeshua, and His shed blood which protects us from the wrath of God, covering our sins, and permitting us to enter into the true liberty of spirit in God.  There are many parallels between these two festivals and their historical basis. I see the exodus as a prophetic type or foreshadowing of the crucifixion and resurrection of the Messiah Yeshua. It is pure joy therefore to celebrate these festivals together, so full of the rich symbolism pointing to the greatest reality of God's promised redemption. 

How sad it is that in celebrating these festivals of liberty and freedom, we so often make them into a time of bondage and hard labor by adding many man-made rules and regulations. I especially feel for the religious Jewish women who at this time must totally clean their house, searching every nook and cranny to ensure that not a crumb of hametz (leaven) can be found. Then they must shop for food and prepare meals for large family gatherings and much feasting. The children are home from school and it is also tradition to buy them new clothes at this time. I feel tired just thinking about it, and thank God for the liberty to observe his ordinances without the added burden of human rules and traditions.

This year the festivals of Passover and Easter coincide with Palestinian Land Day which commemorates the death of 6 Arabs during demonstrations in 1976 against the appropriation of Arab-owned land by the government for the expansion of the town of Carmiel in the Galilee.  This year the conjunction of the Passover and Easter Holidays, the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the State, and the planned opening of the American Embassy in Jerusalem in May with Land Day and Nakbah Day promises to raise the heat significantly. Nakbah (Catastrophe) Day commemorates the declaration of the State of Israel in 1948. Already we have seen an increase in terror incidents in the last weeks. In Gaza activists are calling people to mass along the Gaza border  and march towards Israel.  According to the Jerusalem Post newspaper, the IDF is deploying additional battalions and a hundred snipers from special units to prevent a mass infiltration. Troops have been prepared not only to deal with a large convergence on the border fence, but for scenarios where Hamas might use violent disturbances as a distraction to carry out an attack against troops or to infiltrate Israel and attack nearby communities (2) This is clearly a situation that could easily escalate into violence especially if civilians on either side are injured or killed. Hamas is calling for a continuation of mass marches on Israeli borders until Nakbah Day on the 14th March. 

As I want to publish this before Passover, I will finish here with a link to an excellent article describing the cultural characteristics of Israelis - should be required reading for all new immigrants, business persons, tourists and visitors. 

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5147319,00.html

Prayer points:
1. Give thanks for the economic and social success of the State of Israel and the restoration of the barren and ugly land transforming it to become trutly the 'land of the gazelle'.
2. Pray that all Jews and Christians will have a fresh revelation of the meaning of these festivals this year. May the truth be understood and celebrated.
3. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and all Israel as we celebrate these festivals. 
4. Pray for the exposure of the lies of the Enemy especially as it pertains to the conflict between Jews and Arabs. 
5. Pray that the call of the activists in Gaza will not be heeded and the planned mass march on the border will fail.
6. Pray for the safety of defense personnel.
6. Keep praying for rain as the rainy season is already drawing to a close. 



References:

(1) Mark Twain  1867 Innocents Abroad
(2) http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Defense-minister-Anyone-who-harms-Israels-sovereignty-will-be-harmed-547430

FOR JUST SUCH A TIME AS THIS

https://sites.google.com/site/
biblewomentruehollywoodstory/queen-esther

This past week all Israel celebrated the festival of Purim, which commemorates the events recorded in the Book of Esther. Some 2500 years ago the Persian King Xerxes 1, identified in the English Bible as Ahasuerus, decreed the extermination of the Jews in all his Empire, which stretched from India to Ethiopia, after one of his close advisors, Haman the Agagite, plotted against them. The Jews were saved by the exposure of the plot by Queen Esther (Hadassah), herself a Jew, the niece of the Benjaminite, Mordecai. Unable to revoke his decree, Ahasuerus made another decree allowing the Jews to take up arms to defend themselves, and thus they were saved. Haman on the other hand was hung on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai the Jew.  

It had been very risky for Ester to speak to the King about Haman's plot. It could have cost her her life but her uncle, Mordecai, spoke to her saying:

Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.  For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

    Esther 4: 13-14.  

Esther was in the right place at the right time. Imagine her position. She was a young Jewish exile in Babylon, orphaned at an early age and brought up by her Uncle Mordecai, and then she had been taken away from him to a harem where she was forced to become a concubine, and later the wife, of the King. She must have sometimes wondered what she a mere, Jewish exile was doing in the royal palace. She may well have been very lonely and unhappy there. However it would appear that God had brought her there 'for just such a time as this' and would use her to rescue the entire Jewish nation from certain extermination, thus thwarting the Enemy's plan to derail God's planned redemption of the world through the Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus). 

 There have been many such times throughout history that Satan has attempted to destroy and annihilate the ancient Israelite lineage in order to block God's plans. Each time he has failed- Hallelujah. Today we stand yet again at another such crucial point in history. Satan once more is trying to destroy Israel and, interestingly, he is using the Persian Empire (modern Iran) and its leader (Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni) to do so. Hardly a day passes that Khameni or the Prime Minister, Rouhani, do not promise to totally destroy Israel. At the same time, he is moving his forces closer and closer to our borders, arming and training the Syrians and Hezbollah, financing Hamas in Gaza, and other terror organizations, all determined to annihilate the 'Jewish entity', Israel. War is imminent and Israel faces a terrifying enemy. It could break out any day. 

 We here have been concerned about the Iranian threat for many years but that threat has never been more immediate nor menacing than it is today. Although there is no direct evidence that Teheran is about to launch a war against Israel in the near future, it is clear that it is making preparations to be able to do so. Backed by Russia and China, Iran already has a massive military presence in Syria, just a stone's throw from our borders. It is estimated that there are some 20,000 Iranian military personnel in Syria and these have been joined by Iraqi, Hezbollah and Lebanese militias and mercenaries from Pakistan and Afghanistan (1).This week the New York Times published a map of long-term Iranian military bases and positions in Syria today (see below). It does not show the many temporary installations. One of the questions being raised in Israel at this time is whether we should wait until they build up their forces and arsenal to the point they attack Israel or should we attack pre-emptively.  Either option would lead to a massive regional war and great loss of life on all sides, but especially here in Israel. Please pray for great wisdom for our leaders. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/world/middleeast/iran-syria-israel.html

As tensions rise on our northern border so they are also rising on our southern border with Gaza. About two weeks ago four Israeli soldiers were wounded, two seriously and two moderately, when an explosive device detonated near the border fence. The IDF retaliated by bombing Hamas targets in Gaza. Hamas returned fire and a rocket landed on the roof of a family home in a town near the border. The family was home but no one was hurt because the rocket failed to detonate (hallelujah) (2).

I don't know where you are who read this, but wherever you are, God has brought you to that place, just as he did to Esther, for just such a time as this. We are living in momentous times and we all have a role to play. Perhaps we feel small and insignificant. What can we do? We can all fast and pray for the 'relief and deliverance' of Israel, and when opportunity arises we can open our mouths to expose the plot of the Enemy to destroy Israel and block God's redemption plan. None of us knows the eternal significance of our actions - who knows, my prayer or yours may just turn the tide in the spiritual battle. We should never underestimate the power of prayer. 

Before she ventured to approach the King, Esther called for all the Jews in the capital, Shushan, to fast and pray with her and her maids for three days and nights. Today observant Jews fast for the day before the Festival of Purim. On the first night of Purim the entire book of Esther is read in the Synagogues, with the children shouting and making noises every time the evil name of Haman is read. 

It is interesting to note the Haman was the son of Hammedatha the Agagite (Esther 3:1) and Agag was a descendant of Amalek one of the sons of Esau. From the womb Esau struggled against his brother, Jacob, from whom were descended the people of Israel. Esau's descendants have continued to stand against Israel ever since. During the time of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt the Amalekites ambushed the Israelites from the rear: 

Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.

Deuteronomy 25: 17-19

So it was that God commanded King Saul to kill all the Amalekites for what they had done to Israel during the Exodus, but Saul spared the life of Agag in disobedience to God's command. For this reason God rejected Saul from being King over the Israel. The prophet Samuel therefore killed Agag, king of the Amalekites. However it would appear that at least some of Agag's descendants survived and one of those was the evil enemy of the Jews, Haman.  Just like we do not know the consequences of our prayers, we also do not know the long-term consequences of our sin or disobedience. 

Now for some good news. Recently the English  language newspaper "The Jerusalem Post" published an article which ran the headline: 

EVANGELICALS AND ISRAEL

with the byline: "Perhaps the government of Israel should start viewing Messianic Jews as diplomatic assets rather than a religious threat."

It went on to say:

The support of the Evangelical Christian community has always been helpful to Israel. During the intifada years, when tourism was at its lowest, the Evangelical tour buses kept Israel’s tourism economy alive. They have literally donated billions of dollars over the past decade to social and humanitarian projects, through organizations such as the International Christian Embassy and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. There is no question that the socioeconomic resilience of the State of Israel would be quite weaker without its faithful Christian friends...

 Not surprisingly, the strongest allies and best friends of Evangelical Christians in Israel are Israel’s Messianic Jews – Jews who, contrary to popular opinion, insist that one can believe in Jesus and still remain Jewish. In fact, these two communities are virtually inseparable. It would be quite challenging to find any significant business or NGO in Israel that is funded by Christians, which does not have local Messianic Jews in its executive leadership. This would include Christian television networks such as TBN, CBN and GodTV, which broadcast content from Israel every day to billions of viewers worldwide. Go to any large gathering of Evangelical tourists in Israel, and you are likely to find Israeli Messianic Jews both on stage and in the crowd...

It would behoove the Israeli government to recognize that the small Messianic Jewish community in Israel, which apparently numbers less than 20,000 people, has become, since the election of Donald Trump, disproportionately influential and important to Israel’s security and diplomatic standing. Unfortunately, it appears that neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, nor anyone in his Cabinet, fully understands this new reality...

In view of the deep relationship between Evangelical Christians and the Messianic community, perhaps the government of Israel should start viewing Messianic Jews as diplomatic assets rather than a religious threat.(3)

 Since I first arrived in Israel, in 1979, I have seen a slow but undeniable increase in the acceptance of Messianic Jews as a legitimate part of the State of Israel, as we have served the nation we live in, established families and businesses, and become an integral part of society. Many have excelled in military service, risking their lives for the survival of the nation. We have in every way proven ourselves  loyal citizens. We still have a long way to go to find full acceptance, but one day when Jerusalem is ready to bless those who come in Yeshua's name, then Messiah will return as Yeshua himself prophesied: 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See! Your house is left to you desolate;  for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’

Matthew 23: 37-39

Now to finish with some photos of the Purim Celebrations in my town, the 70th since the founding of the State,

A 70th birthday cake for Israel

Snow white and the seven dwarfs

A dance school

Almost the whole town came to watch the parade

Dancing the hora

Its the only way to travel

References:

(1) https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5122994,00.html
(2) https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5118625,00.html
(3) http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Evangelicals-and-Israel-542875