#249

The Exposure Continues

Being Exposed

We have seen many, many churches come out of the proverbial closet on cultural issues like abortion, gender issues and the like with the recent events of the past year. More and more congregations are being assaulted with twisted logic to support gay marriage, the taking of innocent lives and now the identity confusion with more than two genders. If you needed to know who supports the falling morality in the church, it’s pretty obvious. Social media posts also are another telling sign of Christians who apparently don’t know their Bibles or worse, know it enough to pervert it on these issues and more. A casual perusal of posts on the various popular sites can produce all manner of reasons that God loves these trends and even supports them in His word. I have to admit I can waste an hour or more just scrolling through them just to see what’s out there. If you or I need examples on the current state of believers, they are out there to disgust, disappoint, and depress you. The good news is that we don’t have to work very hard to see who the sheep and the goats are now. Unfortunately, the goats are winning the social media war now.

Another Divide Is Emerging

Many popular prophecy teachers, chief of these being the late Tim LaHaye of the “Left Behind” books, say that the super sign in prophecy is Israel. And multiple verses point to how we treat His chosen people will affect us on all levels, global, national, and even personal ones. That being said, the current divide is revolves around are you an antisemite or not. It is not surprising that such a litmus test is out there now given the war in Israel. It is both surprising and saddening that so many respected Christian leaders are really antisemitic and have been so for all along, but now they are saying so. The reasoning many use is basically what is called replacement theology which states that once the Church Age started, all the promises made to Israel are now meant for the believers. Regardless of how one arrives there, the end result is not supporting Israel the way God wants His body to support them. And the divide is only widening with no end in sight.

It Is Important

The Bible is pretty clear on supporting His chosen people, but many of the verses there are conditional ones which makes following them key to how God treats you. Saying nice things about Israel is not good enough. It is a heart issue as well. That being said, lets talk about a few of the verses that highlight how God wants you to treat Israel and what happens both if you do and if you don’t. The first on is missed by many current antisemitic people and it makes a crucial point:

Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him. (Gen 12:7, NLT)

Why is this important? God gave them the land, they didn’t just possess it by themselves. And only God decides what is done with it.

The next one is Genesis 12:3:

I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” (NLT)

As a way of encouraging the other nations to respect His people and their land, God puts blessing on treating them well and a curse on those who don’t. This is often seen as a global promise, but it goes all the way down to individuals. I for one prefer the blessings.

And About Dividing That Land

Those two verses cited above set the table for the ones that pertain to dividing up the land given to Israel by God himself. Rather than expound on this, I’ll let an article I found on the web site hope4israel.org explain things:

So, what then, are we to do? Where do we draw the line? Let’s go back to our foundation, His Word. He gives a very clear warning to those who seek to divide the Land that essentially belongs to Him:

“For behold, in those days and at that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations, And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; And they have divided up My land.” Joel 3:1-2

According to this prophecy, the nations will put pressure on Israel to divide the Land. And they will pay heavily for it. The reality is that whether or not there will be a Palestine on God’s Land, those who are responsible will pay dearly. God promises to enter into judgment with them, which is a terribly frightening consequence. It is not my intention to suggest the solution to this crisis, but rather to clearly state that a “Two State Solution” will only bring further chaos and bloodshed to this part of the world. His Word will not return void!

This is a key point and one many, even Jews miss. The people of Israel want peace and are willing to give up land to get it. Sadly, they are letting politics get in the way of what God wants.

What Of The Palestinians?

The Bible also tells of what God promises them, too. We find this in Genesis 17:18-21:

And Abraham said to God, “Yes, do bless Ishmael!”

19 “No,” God replied, “that isn’t what I said. Sarah shall bear you a son; and you are to name him Isaac (‘Laughter’), and I will sign my covenant with him forever, and with his descendants. 20 As for Ishmael, all right, I will bless him also, just as you have asked me to. I will cause him to multiply and become a great nation. Twelve princes shall be among his posterity. 21 But my contract is with Isaac, who will be born to you and Sarah next year at about this time.” (TLB)

Abraham interceded for the son conceived out of disobedience and God obliged. But He also made it clear that the promised land would go to the son of the covenant and his descendants. When people talk about the plight of the Palestinians, this verse applies. These descendants of Ishmael will be blessed, but they are not to take away the land He gave to Israel. But does the Bible talk about dividing the land for peace?

God Is Against The Two State Solution

No matter how good it sounds, God clearly says to not divide up His land as we read in Joel 3:1-2. Even if those leading Israel agree to it, God didn’t. And we even read about an end time judgment that is the same as the one in Joel 3 that is in Matthew 25:31-46. This speaks of the sheep and goat judgment and on a personal level we read about how He will judge people on how they treated Him however, in an article from the web site faithequip.org we read this:

The above judgment is the same as depicted in the sheep and goat judgment (Matthew 25:31-46). Shortly after the second coming of Christ, He will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat and enter into judgement with them. Among the atrocities described — hate towards Jewish people will even result in trading Jewish boys for prostitutes and Jewish girls for wine — one of the reasons for the judgement is because the nations ‘have divided up my land’. The Judge is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews, who as God but also as Son of Abraham refers to this as ‘my land’. While this judgement will only take place shortly after Christ’s second coming, today we already see continued and relentless pressure on Israel to divide its land, under the misguided refrain of “land for peace”.

God takes this very seriously and we should, too.

Which Side Will You Be On?

This of course is something I can’t decide for you. But I think the Bible is clear on this and on a side note, I think God was so specific on these promises because He knew the future of His chosen people and the land He gave to them. He knew that the current atmosphere of antisemitism would prevail and these verses would need to be brought up if for no one else but His Church to read and avoid being part of it. God also knew that Israel would fall away Him and that the land would change hands over and over again while He judged them and even took them from the land for a time. But He also said that He would draw them back and they would be a nation born in a day which miraculously happen on May 14,1948. And He wants them to get back the land He gave them, the land that He gave to the descendants of Abraham. Instead of supporting them losing more and more of it, pray that they get more and more of it back. In doing so you will be in agreement with God and His word. And you’ll be blessed as well. I know what side of this I’m on. What about you?