Front Row Seat Israel

“…Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands…”- Revelation 20:4

In the future, historians will wonder how our modern society got to the point where beheading would be so commonplace, and I believe that they will be able to pinpoint the beginning of the “normalization” of this form of execution to the summer of 2020.

Here are a couple of pictures showing this “normalization”.

When I originally saw this article (and others like it), a cold chill went up my spine. No one cried foul, because the demonstrators were BLM/Antifa/related gangs. No one cried foul because the target was a rich “white” male. No one cried foul because the victim was not seen as a victim.

Americans have—rightly so in my opinion—shunned beheading as a normal form of capital punishment. We see it as barbaric, even if the person “deserved” the death penalty. We associate it with ISIS, Saudi Arabia and the French Revolution. Or, today’s “cancel culture.”

But God’s word tells us that beheading will be the lot of those who resist the beast, its image or the mark. Jesus told the disciples, “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.” True believers will be targeted for “cancellation.” Those days will make “Logan’s Run” look like a quaint children’s film in comparison.

Would you have believed anyone, if a year ago they would have told you that, “Next summer, the U.S. economy will have shrunk 32.9%, unemployment will be in double figures, world travel will have ground to a halt, schools would be mostly closed, large cities will have been given over to paid thugs, Beirut will have been flattened (and not by Israel), state and local governments will be trying to close or limit in-person church meetings, only 50% of attendees will have returned to those churches that have reopened…”? And that’s the short version. And it has all happened in six months.

Beloved, this pandemic is just one of God’s ways of getting our attention. Think of this as a practice session. Lawlessness might have increased, but we must not allow our love to grow cold. We must learn to endure through the power of the Holy Spirit, immersion in God’s word and the proclamation of the Gospel.

Are our lives in order for what is to come? “Every branch in Me that bears no fruit, He takes away. And every branch that bears fruit, He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

How is God pruning you?

https://nypost.com/2020/06/30/protesters-set-up-guillotine-in-front-of-jeff-bezos-dc-home/

Since this is the week leading up to both Easter and Passover (after all, Easter’s basis IS Passover, with an added tomb and resurrection), I thought that I would offer up some information that I don’t often hear discussed in Christian circles. It has to do with Passover and the coming of the Messiah.

It is common within evangelical Christian groups to talk about the return of Jesus as being in conjunction with the Feast of Trumpets, since both Jesus and Paul speak of trumpets being sounded upon the Lord’s return. Some are adamant that this will be the time when he arrives, and they actively look for this future event during the autumn timeframe.

But did you know that Israel did not expect the Messiah to arrive around Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets)? Instead, Israel expected the Messiah to return and deliver them during a Passover feast, just as God had delivered them from the Egyptians during the first Passover. Especially in light of the current day’s plagues of Covid-19, locusts and waters turning blood-red in various places, many religious Jews today—including some that Meg and I know personally—are in expectation that the Messiah will arrive this week.

We read about the “Triumphal Entry” of Jesus on “Palm Sunday,” when the crowds cried “Hosanna!” and “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” We are taught that Jesus was welcomed in this way because of the number of miracles that he had performed, including the recent resurrection of Lazarus and the expectation that the Nazarene was the ONE. I’m certain that these signs played into the people’s thinking, but I don’t believe that it was the primary reason they treated Jesus like a king as he rode on a colt from the Mt of Olives (two items which the crowds would have immediately recognized from Zechariah’s messianic prophecies in chapters 9 & 14).

Instead, Israel had always expected that their future redemption would begin at Passover, just as it first happened nearly 1,500 years earlier. As far as the crowds were concerned, this Passover was going to be the one. But after the “Triumphal Entry” Jesus did not act like the “redeeming Messiah” the people were looking for. He didn’t save them from their enemies. He didn’t “restore the kingdom to Israel” at that time. We shouldn’t wonder why the crowds went from adoration to damnation. He was a fake, as far as they were concerned. He had over-promised and under-delivered.

But we know the rest of the story. We have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. We know that Jesus’ plan was to allow the “rulers of this age” to crucify him. We know what the crowds, and even Jesus’ disciples, did not know. He was—for the joy set before him—ready to give his life of his own accord. He was in control of the situation, but it wasn’t what everyone expected of the coming messiah. No one—not his enemies, his closest family, friends or followers—expected him to rise again on the third day. No one.

So, will we Christians react in the same way if Jesus doesn’t return when we expect him? What if there’s no pre-tribulation rapture? What if the bride will be delivered up to “tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake,” just as many Christians throughout the world already suffer today? Will we still call Jesus our “King” or will we “fall away and betray one another and hate one another” because things didn’t go the way that we expected?

The current Covid-19 pandemic should teach us that tomorrow might just look very different from our expectations. But no matter what we think tomorrow will bring, “He is risen! He is risen indeed!”

On the evening of February 6, 2020, around 11:45pm local time, the Israeli Air Force executed an air strike against Iran. According to foreign reports (Note: Israel prohibits publication of Israeli military operations which aren’t approved by the military censors; however, news outlets are free to report on non-Israeli news publications reports), the missiles were either shot from Mt Hermon and/or from the Israeli Golan Heights, dependent upon which source you read. It’s possible that the eye witnesses were both correct. Friends of ours, who live in the Golan, heard the fighter jets above them. We hear so many jets and “booms” that we might have heard noise from the strike and not recognized it as something out of the ordinary.

The Russians claimed that Israeli fighter jets caused a Syrian passenger jet to reroute, but this isn’t the first time that they’ve made such an accusation. Russia said that Israel “put a civilian aircraft in serious danger and forced it to divert to Russia’s Khmeimim airbase.” But the Jerusalem Post wrote that, “the Cham Wings airline has not complained of being nearly hit and it’s not clear why it flew north to Latakia rather than land at another airport.” It turns out that Russia regularly shadows passenger jets to remain undetected, and then they split off to head toward their final destination to deliver unknown materiel.

Rumor has it that the United States and Israel have agreed to work with each other to keep Iran at bay in this part of the world. The United States is covering Iraq and Israel is covering Syria for this purpose.

Make no mistake, all of history is racing toward a conclusion which will take place in Jerusalem. The deceiver has not yet even been cast down to earth from heaven (Revelation 12:7-17), but his intentions are made evident through his proxies.

An article in the Jerusalem Post (read full article here) tells us that the Palestinian Authority (PA, previously known as the PLO) is asserting the claim that the “Western Wall belongs only to Muslims and must be defended even to the death.”

Of course, we know that there have already been two temples which previously stood on the Temple Mount—Solomon’s temple and the Second Temple. The western retaining wall which stands today was part of the great expansion of the Second Temple by Herod the Great, which was only fully completed around the time that the Son of Man, Jesus of Nazareth, walked on earth the first time.

But the PA has never allowed historical facts to get in the way of its anti-Semitic narrative. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Christian believers who openly support the PA (of which I am not one, either openly or secretly) will let this obvious lie slide by without calling the PA into account.

As the world convulses toward the end of this current age, I wonder what the PA will say when construction of the next temple begins on top of the Temple Mount? I can only imagine the seething and cursing that will be directed at those who partake in the restarted sacrificial system. Of course, to be honest, I personally cannot imagine what seismic geopolitical events will have to occur in order for this situation to come about.

However, I am certain that these things will come to pass, using a plain sense reading of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, Matthew 24:9-15 and Daniel 9:27 (to which both Jesus and Paul refer in these verses). For those who believe that these scriptures have been completely fulfilled, I respectfully disagree since each of these passages continue to describe either Jesus’ physical return to earth, or the desolator’s demise, or both. And obviously, neither of those things have yet to occur.

Now is the time—in the midst of the increasing chaos—to really become a “Berean” if you aren’t already. Search the scriptures to see if they match up to what you’ve been taught all you life. You might find that some adjustments will need to be made to your understanding—I’ve certainly had to make some changes myself. And this will cause you to make an even greater ongoing in-depth search.

The prophet Zechariah tells us that the LORD will gather all the nations against Jerusalem, and that will include the Palestinian Authority, in whatever form it will hold at that time. Unless it repents between now and then, the PA will be one of the recipients of Jesus wrath when he arrives from Edom in a blood-splattered robe (Isaiah 63:1-6 and also Isaiah 34:1-8 & Revelation 19:11-16).

And then the Palestinian Authority survivors (yes, there will be survivors) will be required to celebrate Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles/Booths) with the Jewish people, in Israel, in Jerusalem—year after year. If you don’t believe me, go read Zechariah 14:16-19.

I pray that there will be a change of heart between now and then, but to be honest, I don’t expect there to be any decrease in the eternal hatred (Ezekiel 35:4-6). For the Palestinian Authority, those grapes are going to be even more sour than the ones they are eating and trying to sell today.

The Bible tells us that God has “put eternity into man’s heart,” (Ecclesiastes 3:11) so it’s not surprising that people wonder and worry about the future, especially as chaos increases in our cities, our respective countries and the world in general. The world always seems to be looking for a “savior” of some sort to fix our problems because we can’t imagine our kids or grandkids living in our increasingly unstable societies.

Our churches generally don’t help much in dealing with the future, other than speaking about a weak and nebulous “…do these things…and you’ll go to heaven.” Spending a future in a nondescript “heaven” doesn’t really excite most Christians, nor does it seem to gain much traction with those of other faiths, since all faiths have a version of “heaven.” Because of this, we generally don’t think deeply about the future or eternity and therefore we are a people who are weakened “for lack of knowledge,” referring to the prophet Hosea.

However, there’s some good news!

When Jesus the Messiah spoke with his disciples, much of what he discussed was regarding the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven—both phrases speaking of the same thing. In fact, after Jesus’ resurrection, he appeared to the disciples “during forty days” and spoke to them “about the Kingdom of God.”

This Kingdom is spoken of throughout the whole Bible, and the New Testament scriptures speak of a time when the risen Jesus of Nazareth, who referred to himself 78 times as the “Son of Man,” will reign on earth. Even a very basic understanding of scripture tells us that when he refers to himself in this manner, Jesus is speaking of Daniel 7:13-14. Here is that passage:

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.“

This passage speaks of a future event when the Son of Man returns to receive a kingdom in which all peoples, nations and languages will serve him. The questions that most churches avoid asking are: “Who are these people and where will this kingdom exist?”

The prophet Zechariah wrote that in the coming Day of the LORD, the LORD himself will fight against those nations who have come up against Jerusalem and Judah. The Jewish inhabitants of Jerusalem will see the LORD arrive, and will recognize that He is the same One “whom they have pierced.” The mourning will be tremendous, and will be accompanied by repentance.

But, what about those against whom the LORD fights? Apparently, according to Zechariah, there will be survivors! Because in Zechariah 14:16-17 (and to the end of the chapter), we see that the survivors will be required to go up to Jerusalem, year after year, to celebrate Sukkot, i.e. the Feast of Tabernacles.

What does this have to do with anything? The Bible speaks clearly that those whose faith has been place in the Risen Savior Jesus will reign forever with Him. And the location of this kingdom isn’t in some ethereal “heaven,” but on earth. An earth that is eternal and cleaned from the corruption and violence that has been happening since nearly the beginning. An earth where a child shall lead both the calf and lion in peace. Those who are the survivors will not reign, but will be ruled over.

When the angel Gabriel told Mary about the child she would carry, he told her that, “the LORD God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” This kingdom does not only describe some spiritual entity, it speaks directly about a physical kingdom. And this physical kingdom will be located here on earth!

Last week I visited Herodion, one of Herod’s strongholds. This location overlooks Tekoa (see Amos 1:1) and the fields where shepherds would have encountered the heavenly host, who praised God and said, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” While standing at the top of the stronghold, it was easy to imagine that encounter when the angel told the shepherds that the Savior, the Messiah, was born just a hill away in Bethlehem.

The time is coming when Jesus—the Savior, Messiah and LORD—will return to take the kingdom and rule over it for eternity from Mount Zion. Are you one with whom he is pleased, who will reign with Jesus? If you don’t know the Savior today, if you haven’t made the Son of Man—the Messiah Jesus—to be the Lord of your life, please repent and believe in him today. He came the first time as the lamb of God; but he is coming again as the Lion of Judah.

Don’t think that you will be one of the unlikely “survivors of the nations” when He returns, as much of humanity will have been killed in the last days. Jesus himself said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” His kingdom will never end, and I want to be one of those “with whom he is well pleased,” when he returns to “judge the living and the dead,” to bring in true peace on earth. Finally, the apostle Paul tells us that “if we endure, we will also reign with Him.”

And that is an eternity to get excited about.