The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

OUR VIEW

Posted: Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:47 PM

OUR VIEW: Israel's 70th Anniversary Of Her Independence A Testimony To God's Faithfulness To His People

The prophet Zechariah declares that those who have fought Israel through the decades and in many ways one could argue centuries, is the "apple of God's eye!"

Zech. 2:8
For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that touches you touches the apple of his eye.

The apple is known as the pupil of the eye and as such is the instrument through which one sees. Thus, the individual or nation who touches Israel touches the center of God’s eye. Since ISRAEL is the center of God’s vision, we need to see Israel’s destiny as one that ultimately will be one of blessing, even though dark days are ahead for the Jewish state according to scripture. 

Yet, despite what is ahead, Israel never leaves the Lord’s gaze or His attention, nor shall she ever do so! This is why the Apostle Paul called Israel a "mystery," because for the gospel's sake, she is still in darkness. For the church's sake, she is a nation we must earnestly pray for and honor as in doing so we are honoring the apple of God's eye!

This is neither an ethnic issue nor a political pep rally for the modern nation of Israel as we know it today. Like America, her leaders are not perfect, her nation isn't perfect. There are many forces from within and without seeking to destroy her, just like here in America.

This is a GOD issue. The primary issue is not about a race of people; it’s about a promise-keeping God who is faithful to fulfill His plan for a people, a city and a nation through which He has promised to display His splendor. For 70 years, that faithfulness has been on full display with the protection He has given His chosen people.

Psalm 102:13-14
Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come. [14] For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof.

There are seven main keys to understanding the mystery of Israel. These are not the only keys because of so many other smaller issues that surround the nation’s end and her ultimate salvation. ALL ISRAEL shall be SAVED! Let’s look at these keys.

1. Israel Is STILL the Apple of God’s Eye And His Inheritance

Deut. 32:9-11
For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. [10] He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. [11] As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, takes them, beareth them on her wings:

Israel is still and always will be very close to God’s heart.

Centuries before Zechariah’s prophecy concerning her being the apple of God’s eye, Moses wrote a song concerning a very similar picture! Psalms 148:14 also declares that Israel as a nation is a “people near to Him.”

The HIM there is none other but Jehovah God, who neither slumbers nor sleeps when it comes to Israel’s protection and perseverance.

Yes, she is away from Him spiritually still, but the time is rapidly approaching when she will be brought back as a nation as Messiah reveals Himself to her once again at His Second Coming!

Psalm 148:14
He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the Lord.

When we pray for Israel and support her, we are praying for a people who are near to the heart of God. We never want to be opposed to anything or any group of people who are aligned with God’s sight! If God says that Israel is the center of His sight, then I want to pray with that same insight. Let me rephrase that a bit - with HIS INSIGHT and HIS HEART!

2. It is Time To Have Compassion

Psalm 102:13-14
Thou shall arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. [14] For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof.

The time has come! Our hearts need to burn for Israel, not with a self-righteous anger, but with a compassionate heart. I can tell you this does not necessarily come automatically to the hearts of Christian believers. The enemy fights hard to keep the Christian world in direct opposition to the Jewish people.

I remember a summer years ago when the Lord first revealed to me His heart for Israel. It over a course of three weeks when my prayers became nothing more but tears each time I would in my private time of prayer pray for the peace of Jerusalem. I would just see this impression of the nation, lost without God, lost without their Messiah, like sheep without a shepherd, and burst into a torrent of tears that would gush down my face. I would see Jesus weeping over her prior to His crucifixion and I truly believe for a few moments during those weeks the Lord let me literally feel His heart and weep like He did for her.

I could not utter words but just lie on my face and weep deeply. THAT'S the type of compassion the Holy Spirit must birth in us all.

This compassion goes WAY beyond “going to Israel” and taking a few church groups there. I know quite a few people who brag they’ve been to Israel, but have no compassion for the nation’s soul and destiny. Others, like ourselves, have never stepped foot on Israeli soil, yet the Holy Spirit has transformed us and done such a work that words cannot describe the compassion in my soul I have for this people close to God’s heart.

God wants to give all who are willing to embrace His heart for Israel and give them the same unction so we as a collective body, and individually, can pray for Israel with God's compassion.

 It is time to have compassion on Zion. It’s not an earthly compassion. It’s something only heaven can birth, and something hell fights with everything in it. Satan knows that when the Christian community comes into one accord and weeps for the salvation of Israel as a nation then His time is REALLY getting short!

That’s why replacement theology has taken hold in so many areas of the Body. Yet, no matter the lies preachers seek to spew from anti-Semitic hearts and pulpits, Israel has not been replaced by the church. She will one day once again be head of all nations with our Savior, Messiah Jesus Christ ruling over her and the world from Jerusalem – the city of the Great King!

It’s TIME to have compassion! It’s TIME to favor ZION!

3. God Commands Us To Give Him and Ourselves No Rest!

Isaiah 62:6-7
I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, [7] And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

Give him no rest until WHAT is established? Jerusalem! He did not say Washington DC, Paris, London or Cairo. He did not say Moscow, Athens, Damascus or Constantinople. He said until JERUSALEM is made a praise!

The news about Jerusalem seems to indicate Jerusalem is far from being a praise in the Earth. The Palestinians, along with many millions of Muslims worldwide, curse Jerusalem and call the Jewish people names no one dare repeat. Sadly, many Christians who have no understanding also call Jewish people the same names. We must life our voices in prayer until Jerusalem becomes a PRAISE!

Not only a Praise, but a GLORIOUS PRAISE in ALL the earth!

This is NOT for our sake! It is for Zion’s SAKE! It is not about what is convenient, it is a priority! The church must put its hand at the plow of intercession and take up this cal. Our heart must be resolute.

4. God Desires To Work Through The Church For Israel’s Salvation

We must pray for Israel's salvation - both physically and spiritually! While God wants to give us His heart of compassion and tears for Israel, those tears and compassion are not God’s end objective! God wants us to embrace His heart for Israel so we can pray with accuracy and discernment for the salvation of Israel.

The apostle Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:

Romans 9:2
That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.

Romans 10:1
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

Romans 9:3-4
For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: [4] Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;

Paul was willing to be separated from Christ so that his brethren might know their Messiah. That’s compassion!

What a sacrifice Paul was willing to make for the sake of Israel! Are we willing to do the same today?

This prayer for Israel’s salvation must be a torch in our heart, not just a side issue on our schedules.

Israel’s salvation in fullness will not take place till the end of the Tribulation, yet our intercession NOW shows we are in tune with God’s purposes for these last days.

The reconciling process of Israel back to God means revival for the Gentile church! How all that will take place is not clear at the moment, but friend one thing is certain! Israel’s salvation is God’s ultimate goal in ALL the prophetic drama that is ahead for Planet Earth and the church.

It should be ours too!

5. God Commands Us To Pray for The Peace of Jerusalem

Psalm 122:1-3
A Song of degrees of David.
I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. [2] Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. [3] Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:

Psalm 122:6
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

Part of understanding Israel’s importance in these last days is tied into the fact that God wants to bless Jerusalem and her inhabitants with His peace and goodness.

David, the warrior psalmist, loved Jerusalem and fought many battles for her. Wars and heated conflicts have raged over her for 70 years and sadly many more may be to come. There is a strong correlation between Jerusalem being at peace and the world at large being at peace as well!

David’s exhortation in Psalms 122 must still be the prayer of our hearts today. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to birth God’s deep desire to bless Israel DEEP inside our spirits!

The Apostle Paul also loved Jerusalem and was concerned for the city and for the welfare of her inhabitants.

In Romans 15 he wrote this:

Romans 15:25-27
But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. [26] For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. [27] It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.

Israel today is suffering economically. With wars and rumors of war, tension and pressures, terrorism and other international issues surrounding her, many live in abject poverty in the place known as the city of God. We must pray for the PEACE of God upon the city of Peace.

But we must do MORE.

“You can do more than pray after you’ve prayed. But you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.” Those are the words of S.D. Gordon, a powerful intercessor who has a heart for Israel. It is time for our works to match our faith.

We must do all we can – whether small or great – to bless the “least of these My brethren,” – Jesus brothers after the flesh – with a “cup of cold water,” by feeding the hungry and clothing the poor.

There is a vast mission field there and NO AMOUNT OF LOVE WE SHOW DURING THIS TIME IN HISTORY WILL BE TOO MUCH! Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

6. Israel’s Acceptance of Jesus Will Bring Life

Praying for Israel is one of the major keys to world revival. We must pray and act for Israel because the Jewish people’s acceptance of the Messiah Jesus will lead to worldwide harvest and renewal in an unprecedented magnitude and manner.

Romans 11:15
For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

Life from the DEAD; wow, what a thought! Isaiah prophesied the sentiments of Paul saying:

Isaiah 27:6
He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.

What the world will experience and blossom with is more than physical fruit, it's spiritual fruit!

As the Jewish people are awakened out of their sleep and behold their Messiah, this will create a divine acceleration into a time when hundreds of thousands, if not literally millions, turn to Jesus as their Messiah. I'm never one trying to put timetables on God, but I do believe this time is very soon upon the Earth and for sure during the time of Christ's Return and Millennial Reign!

7. Jesus Linked His Second Coming With Israel’s Turning To Him

Jesus prophesied before His death that He would return when Israel cries for His return!

Matthew 23:39
For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Johannes Facius, who has helped launch prayer initiatives in 45 nations says this:

“Now get the picture here! The Lord is not saying to the Jewish inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem that they shall never see Him again. He is saying that they shall not see Him until they are ready to welcome Him. When he came the first time He was not welcomed. The Messiah has no intention of repeating the situation. Jesus is saying that His Second Coming will not take place until there is a Jewish population in Jerusalem who will welcome Him with all of their hearts. Before that can happen, the descendants of the Jews who were exiled nearly 2,000 years ago will have to return to Jerusalem.”

We must pray that Israel will welcome her Messiah with open hearts. Peter states that we “hasten” the coming of the Lord through our intercession. It doesn’t mean man is dictating to the Lord when He should come, it’s that we are showing Him we are anxious and wanting Him to come “quickly.”

It is the prayer of the Holy Spirit AND the Bride, which many believe to be the Church:

2 Peter 3:12
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

Rev. 22:17
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Anna and Simeon spent their time in the Temple preparing the way for the first coming of our glorious Savior and Lord Jesus.

 Luke 2:34 -And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; [35] (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

2:38 And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

Many millions of true believers - both Jew and Gentile -  are watching, fasting, praying and yearning for Christ's return!

Why do we pray for Israel? Because Jesus said to; because Isaiah said to; because David the psalmist said to, and because today, the HOLY SPIRIT is saying to.

He is saying “COME,” to the Lord Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, to whom Israel seeks after today without knowing He is the One they crucified 2,000 years ago.

God wants us to know His heart for Israel and to be filled with compassion for Israel’s condition – both nationally and for individual Jewish people. God desires that this compassion provoke us to cry out to Him about what is on His heart.

The Church is at a pivotal hour recovering the lost art of intercession, fasting and prayer. Spiritual crisis intervention is launched from the biblical foundations of prayer and fasting.

I was going to write a political editorial today but as I began to write, I felt led to write what I wrote to inspire you to pray for Israel on this prophetic moment of history!

We celebrate and honor Israel on her 70th Anniversary of Independence. She has fought many wars and faced extermination through the centuries at the hands of the Hamans, the Stalins, the Hitlers and others. NONE of them have succeeded and none ever will.

The coming Antichrist may try again, but he too will meet his end before he can ever destroy this nation that God has put His heart upon and His eye and arm of protection over!

If you don't believe that, ask the many Arab nations around Israel who have sought her destruction through the years since she became a nation in 1948. They will tell you first hand accounts that when they came up against this tiny nation, they felt in their hearts they were more than able to defeat her militarily. When the dust settled each time, the Arabs, like the Pharaoh of old who watched his armies dashed in the Red Sea at the first attempt at destruction, realized Israel had been given help by a power and Person above that was  bigger and more powerful than any Arab army or military on the face of this earth. The Palestinians would do well to learn from history!

May God bless Israel today and forever. We honor her today on the 70th Anniversary of her Independence. Shalom.
 

Christopher McDonald, Publisher, Editor in Charge

Great Smoky Mountain Journal