Deuteronomy 1:6-8 "The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: “You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighbouring places in the plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates. See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers — to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — to give to them and their descendants after them.” NKJV
Eretz-Yisrael
It was at midnight, tonight in 1948, that The Land of Israel officially became a nation. Happy Birthday Israel and may the Almighty, protect and prosper you and may also the Palestinian Diaspora, be provided for by the rest of the world and their near Arab neighbours in particular. This is an easy blessing and this is an easy prayer, ah but the working out of this, from old and broken buildings, from open wounds and broken hearts, from bitter brows and clenched fists, will amidst the fierce contentions, around the cup of trembling take continued miracles, all magnificent in magnitude.The city centre of this continued cup of trembling is of course Jerusalem, the most contended for city on the face of the planet and of course we all pray for the peace of Jerusalem, even while others continue to fight for a piece of Jerusalem. Lest I be misunderstood, may I say right now dear friends, that as a Christian, tonight I stand with Israel.
We Christians are people of the eternal, book of books. From this we learn that our homeland is above and that our capital city, the New Jerusalem is the free mother of us all. We also learn however, that God gave this earthly real estate, this 'Eretz-Yisrael', to the Jewish people. If we Christians deny this, then we must also deny the rest of the great eternal book of books. Of course we cannot. So, reading the eternal book of books, it seems to me then, that the Almighty still has business to do with the Jews. So then, as a Christian, tonight I stand with Israel. Yes, as I write tonight, the not so subtle rise of Anti-Semitism continues to manifest itself in the political correctness of the popular media, and shuns all who stand with the nation State of Israel. So let me be very clear, that as a Christian, tonight I stand with Israel.
Now, standing with anyone does not mean blind support of their actions that might be both hurtful to themselves or to others but rather, and in particular with Israel, it means a reminding them, even a remembering to them, of the purpose of possessing that good and blessed, that meaningful and merciful place into which the Almighty has brought them into once more. For example, the 1948 Israeli declaration of Independence says many wonderful things and especially that, ‘THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.’ As a Christian, tonight I stand with the nation state of Israel regarding this declaration and remind them of both the power and attractiveness of it.
It is my prayer, that Israel turns to their Messiah, my Saviour Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Prince of Peace. HE is Israel's only hope, HE is OUR only hope. In this prayer and in this hope, as a Christian, tonight I stand with Israel.
Aside of our national and personal declarations, be they ever so lovely, the eternal book of books, also tells us of the declarations of God and of the great enemy of our souls. Unfortunately, from this dreadful story, it would appear that hard times, even the hardest of times, are yet to come upon us all and especially upon Israel. As a Christian, tonight I stand with Israel, in all their coming troubles, believing that they will turn to Jesus.Lastly, may I say that the New Israel of Old, geographically and in every other way, can do nothing but build upon the past. However, many of you tonight reading this have been born again by the Spirit of God, your sins have been forgiven and you have been set free from your past! In this way, you have a better land and a far, far better future than Israel of old, even that Israel of more recent birth. Indeed, the future is that blessed Beulah land which you can move into and begin to build upon right now! Black or white, male or female, Jew or Gentile, former Hindu, Scotsman or Muslim, you are my brother, you are my sister, and we belong to the Jerusalem above which is free and the mother of us all. As a Christian, tonight I stand with you in Jesus, and in Jesus, let us build upon our future for unlike Eretz-Yisrael, we have no command and no need to build upon our past!
Listen: - I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go into the house of the Lord." Our feet have been standingWithin your gates, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together, where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, to the Testimony of Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. For thrones are set there for judgment,The thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls,Prosperity within your palaces." For the sake of my brethren and companions,I will now say, "Peace be within you." Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good. Psalms 122 NKJV.
Pray:-O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to Thee, O Israel.
O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times didst give the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to Thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them vict’ry o'er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to Thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Dayspring from on high
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to Thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heav'nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to Thee, O Israel
No comments:
Post a Comment