Don West - Israel 101

Don West is a new columnist and speaker for Prophecy Matters.  His passion for Israel and prophecy is instantly contagious.  He is a professor at North Arkansas College in Harrison Arkansas.  Dr. West holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Arkansas.

 

Article 11

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Written by Don West Tuesday, 27 December 2011 18:14

 In the previous article we learned from Deut. 7:7 that God “did not set His love on [Israel] nor choose [Israel] because [Israel] was more in number than any other people, for [Israel] was the least of all peoples...”; and from Deut. 9:6 that neither did God give [Israel] the good land because of Israel’s righteousness, for [Israel] was a stiff-necked people. For us earthlings, and according to our calculations, size and compliance are things that matter; and Israel’s lack thereof and failure on both counts toward God would have been far more than sufficient justification for most of us to terminate the relationship – permanently so. So why does God persist in and continue to use itty bitty, stiff-necked Israel as one of His most important instruments of accomplishment in this world? As previously noted and celebrated, God is patient, longsuffering and forbearing. But it also appears that God does so for the purpose of confounding this world and disabusing all of mankind of what, to us, seems to make perfect sense and logical logic; when in His order of things, our “conventional wisdom” is, in fact, the height of foolishness and a negation of Him, His methods, His instruments, and His work.

 
What have become two of my favorite scriptures are Jeremiah 9:23-24. And Jeremiah’s declaration begins with the full and clear imprimatur of God: “Thus says the Lord (see what I mean); ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor the rich man glory in his riches; BUT LET HIM WHO GLORIES GLORY INTHIS, THAT he (man) UNDERSTANDS AND KNOWS ME, THAT I AM THE LORD, EXERCISING LOVINGKINDNESS, JUDGMENT, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE EARTH. FOR IN THESE I DELIGHT SAYS THE LORD.’” Thus to God, what man so admires, values, cherishes, envies, and seeks (intellect, power, wealth), is inconsequential in comparison to our acknowledgement and growth in comprehension and understanding of Him; and our submission, during our lives on this earth, to His immutable truths and purposes. And one cannot understand or know the God of this universe, to the degree that He desires and intends for us, unless we appreciate how God chooses to accomplish His will and way on this earth; which is significantly different than man’s. God in Isaiah 55:8 puts it this way: “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. (9) ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” This is, not surprisingly since it is God making the statement, a very succinct and profound declaration as to the difference between God and us. 
 
God further amplifies what He said through Isaiah in I Cor.1:20 and 21, where Paul writes that God intends to make “foolish the wisdom of this world (human reasoning, contemplations, and thoughts). For since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” And from where does this “foolish” message come, but a series of Jewish writings out of, according to the “wisdom” of this world, a troublesome, insignificant, and, yes, contemptible little nation. The collection of which, the Bible, is today generally ignored or castigated, mocked, scorned, and ridiculed as fiction and fantasy by the “wise” of this world.  
 
But Paul is not done with this concept of the wisdom of God and the foolishness of man. He continues in I Cor.1:(22): “For Jews request a sign, and Greeks (gentiles) seek after wisdom; (23) but we (the apostles) preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, (24) but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, CHRIST THE POWER OF GOD AND THE WISDOM OF GOD. (25) BECAUSE THE FOOLISHNESS OF GOD IS WISER THAN MEN, AND THE WEAKNESS OF GOD IS STRONGER THAN MEN... (27) BUT GOD HAS CHOSEN THE FOOLISH THINGS OF THE WORLD TO PUT TO SHAME THE WISE, AND GOD HAS CHOSEN THE WEAK THINGS OF THE WORLD TO PUT TO SHAME THE THINGS WHICH ARE MIGHTY (Think Israel’s David and Philistine’s Goliath. All that size and armor versus one little boy and one itty bitty rock!); (28) AND THE BASE THINGS OF THE WORLD AND THE THINGS WHICH ARE NOT, TO BRING TO NOTHING THE THINGS THAT ARE. (29) THAT NO FLESH SHOULD GLORY IN HIS PRESENCE... (31) THAT, AS IT IS WRITTEN, ‘HE WHO GLORIES, LET HIM GLORY IN THE LORD.’” 
 
So now we know: God, in complete contravention to the wisdom of mankind, uses the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and the weak and base things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; so that no flesh should glory before Him. (God told Paul that “My strength is made perfect in weakness. 2Cor.12:9.) And one of the significant manifestations of these two truths, I believe, is that God has chosen this very small nation, both in size (8,000 square miles; the U.S. is 3.5 million square miles) and population (7.2 million; the U.S. is 305 million), to use in the creation, proclamation, and advancement of His truths (the Bible) and His salvation for the world (through His Son, Jesus; who is, let us not forget, the King of the Jews). Neither let us forget that it was and is this small nation which, through the Bible, has provided the very underpinnings and foundation of western Europe’s and the western hemisphere’s culture; for which we give credit every time they are referred to as Judeo-Christian civilization.
 
Indeed, it is clear from Biblical writings that God is so inclined, committed, affectionate, and dedicated toward His people and their small nation that He intends to have Israel glorify Him and, in return, He will glorify Israel. Let’s take a look at some of the scriptures that speak to these truths; yet even here we will see God’s dissatisfaction, amazement, and anger at Israel, which has everything through Him who chose them, nevertheless leaving the God of the universe for the junk of a spiritual flea market.
 
Jer.2:11: “‘Has a nation changed its gods, which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory for what does not profit. (12) Be astonished O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; be very desolate,’ says the Lord. (13) ‘For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns--broken cisterns that can hold no water.’”
 
Jer.31:19: “I will multiply them (Israel), and they shall not diminish; I WILL ALSO GLORIFY THEM, and they shall not be small.” (Someday, both Israel’s borders and population will be far greater than they presently are.)
Is.44:23: “Sing O heavens, for the Lord has done it! ...FOR THE LORD HAS REDEEMED JACOB, AND GLORIFIED HIMSELF IN ISRAEL.”(Guys, God has, since the latter 1800’s and particularly since May 14, 1948, been glorifying Himself and His people Israel by regathering them to the land He promised the Patriarchs; and even more so by restoring to Israel control of the most sacred piece of geography in all the world: their capital, JERUSALEM.Allwhile the world remains totally oblivious, impervious, and blind to the magnitude of these events. God, however, is merely doing what He said He would do three millennia ago through His prophets.)
 
 
Is.55:5: “Surely you (Israel) shall call a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God and the Holy One of Israel; FOR HE HAS GLORIFIED YOU.”
 
Is.60:1: “Arise, shine; for your (Israel’s) light has come! AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD IS RISEN UPON YOU... (2) For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and HIS GLORY WILL BE SEEN UPON YOU. (3) The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising... (7)...and I WILL GLORIFY THE HOUSE (Israel) of MY GLORY... (9)... and the ships of Tarshish will come first, to bring your sons from afar (the regathering and restoration of Israel as promised by God) their silver and their gold with them, to the name of the Lord your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because HE HAS GLORIFIED YOU... (10) For in My wrath I struck you, but in My favor I have had mercy on you. (12) For the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish, and those nations shall be utterly ruined... (14) Also the sons of those who afflicted you shall come bowing to you, and all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet; and they shall call you The City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel. (15) Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no one went through you, I WILL MAKE YOU AN ETERNAL EXCELLENCE, A JOY OF MANY GENERATIONS. (16)...YOU SHALL KNOW THAT I, THE LORD, AM YOUR SAVIOR AND YOUR REDEEMER, THE MIGHTY ONE OF JACOB. (19) ...But the Lord will be to you an everlasting light, AND YOUR GOD YOUR GLORY. (21) Also your people shall all be righteous; they shall inherit the land forever (hear that, world!!!), the branch of my planting, the work of My hands, THAT I MAY BE GLORIFIED. (22)... I the Lord will hasten it in its time.” (and that time is now occurring.)
 
Is.61:6: “But you (Israel) shall be named the Priests of the Lord, men shall call you the Servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, AND IN THEIR GLORY YOU SHALL BOAST. (7) Instead of your shame you shall have double honor... (8)... I will direct their work in truth, and will make with them an everlasting covenant. Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed.” (And the world, in its “wisdom”, still doesn’t get it.)
 
Is.62:2: “The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings YOUR GLORY... (3) YOU SHALL ALSO BE A CROWN OF GLORY IN THE HAND OF THE LORD, AND A ROYAL DIADEM IN THE HAND OF YOUR GOD. (4) You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate... (12) And they shall call them the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord...”
 
Is.63:14: “As a beast goes down into the valley, and the Spirit of the Lord causes him to rest, SO YOU (GOD) LEAD YOUR PEOPLE, TO MAKE YOURSELF A GLORIOUS NAME.”
 
And finally there is this passage in Isaiah 46:13 that initially put me on the alert to this whole concept of the mutual glorification of Israel by God and of God by Israel: “I will bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off; My salvation shall not linger, and I will place salvation in Zion, FOR ISRAEL MY GLORY.”
 
Clearly, God has chosen to use Israel for HIS GLORY, and He has demonstrated again and again down through four thousand years of HIStory, to instruct and remind this world collectively, and us individually, that there is no one, no thing, and no things, that is or are greater than He. God is the irresistible force; we are the movable object. We are as dust, without the capacity to resist or deter Him or His will (about Israel or anything else); other than having been granted by God the freedom to reject His plan and His will for our personal lives. But the will of God is, and has always been, that we acknowledge Him; recognize our alienation from Him; accept His loving, merciful, and gracious offer of reconciliation to Him through Jesus; and then bask in the joy of being His servant and child forevermore. This is why the Christmas season should be a time of unconstrained holy celebration, gratitude, and joy that the God of all purposefully came to this earth in the form of His Son to redeem, reclaim, and restore each of us. And how do we know all of this; but by God confronting the world through the use of Israel’s prophets and apostles to confront and confound the “wise” through their revelatory writings of GOD’S GLORIOUS AND MAJESTIC PLAN OF SALVATION---THE CREATOR (there really is one) COMING AND DYING FOR HIS creatures.  
 
A MERRY HOLIDAY, but A HOLY CHRISTMAS!       

(adapted from The Boone County Spotlight; used with permission)

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Article 10

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Written by Don West Tuesday, 27 December 2011 18:13

The previous nine articles on Israel and the land which it presently occupies as a sovereign, Jewish, and democratic nation-state have attempted to establish that God, in His sovereign will, chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel and their descendants forever to be the beneficiary of His special election, favor, and gift of the land that comprises their territory. But the question arises as to why. Why? What is the reason or reasons for this choice of Israel and largesse of the land by God?
 
Obviously, consideration of God’s sovereignty and sole, singular, and divine will does much to answer the question. God does as He chooses, without consultation or collaboration, and none of us mere, finite, mortals (I recognize the redundancy here) is in a position to even raise the issue, let alone demand an answer from Him. Yet, I do not believe God objects to either our wonderings or our questions. In fact, he probably desires that we all would contemplate Him and His works far more frequently than we do. But knowing our inclination to curiosity long before we would ever become aware of the issue, He, I believe, would graciously provide insight into the matter, if not the definitive answer itself; by and through a couple of revelatory love letters He dictated to us centuries ago: the Old and the New Testaments. So it is to His Word that we look for guidance on this matter, and it appears that there are, in addition to God’s sovereignty, at least three additional prongs of reasoning for His having done as He did: faithfulness, wickedness, and spitefulness. Let’s take a look.
 
We are instructed within the book of Hebrews that “without FAITH it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6. And as most of you reading this article are well aware, the beginning of the entire narrative of Israel is initiated by God’s selection of Israel’s first and great patriarch Abraham who endeared himself to God by his trust of and faith in God’s plan, will, and work in his life; the lack of which (faith) would have seriously undermined if not eliminated all that has followed regarding God’s and Abraham’s people’s subsequent history. Three thousand eight hundred years worth of subsequent history.
 
For, (8) “[b]y FAITH, Abraham obeyed when he was called (by God) to go out to the place (Canaan) which he would afterward receive as an inheritance (from God; and which today just happens to be the primary place where Abraham’s descendants now live as the nation of Israel). And he went out (on faith in God), not knowing where he was going. (9) By FAITH he sojourned in the land of promise (Canaan/Israel) as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;…”
 
Thus God, in dealing with Abraham, tested him repeatedly and saw that Abraham repeatedly responded by obedience (with, I admit, some divergences) “[a]nd he believed in the Lord, and He (God) accounted it to him (Abraham) for RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Gen 15:6. And consequently, God’s blessings therefore continued to flow to God’s servant Abraham, as well as his son and child of promise, Isaac, and his grandson, Jacob/Israel: namely, a steadily evolving nation and the gift of a land for that nation of Israelites to dwell in. Clearly, one of the most significant messages that God as sent to us through His Word is that faith in Him is critical, essential, elemental; and that responding to God and His truths faithfully and obediently brings great, even incalculable blessings: and ultimately, the ultimate blessing of all: God’s righteousness and God’s adoption of us by reason of our faith in His Son Jesus, the Christ. But in the Patriarchs’ time, and before the coming of Jesus, their faithful and obedient responses to God’s directives would result in nationhood and territory for their descendants: Israel.
 
An additional reason for Israel’s selection by God and His grant of the land to them is that He simply chose to love them and make them a very special, set-apart, and peculiar people. And by peculiar here, we mean uniquely related to God, and hence separate from all other nations and ethnicities on this earth. Moses establishes this line of thought beginning in Deuteronomy 7:6: “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. (7) The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; (8) but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath (God is also faithful) which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (9) Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; (10) and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him. He will repay him to his face. (Notice the repetition here. I think this means He means it; and this should be a sobering reminder and warning to us all of the consequences of the rejection of a loving God who has accomplished all, repeat all, that is necessary to redeem and reconcile us to Him; if we will just come in faith and obedience to His Son, and Redeemer of mankind, Jesus.)
 
We should pause here and review just exactly what Moses was referring to when he told the nation of Israel that God was keeping the oath which He swore to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel. That oath of God’s can be found beginning at Genesis 12:1: “Now the Lord had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. (2) I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. (3) I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’” So the nation of Israel, finally poised and prepared to invade the land of Canaan, beginning with Jericho; listening to an address by Moses that would be, for all intents and purposes, his dying declaration (the content of Deuteronomy); was being reminded by Moses that they were the beneficiaries of a selection made by God centuries before when He chose their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel; and that they were the object of a special love that was solely and only prompted and initiated by God. Simply put: the people of Israel had absolutely nothing to do with what God had chosen to do.
 
In fact, the people of Israel, due to their rebellion and sin, had done just about everything in their power to dissuade God from keeping the oath that He had made to the Patriarchs. And we can grasp that from more of Moses address, in the following verses, to the nation of Israel before he died. A death which, by the way, was the consequence of Israel’s rebellious behavior while in the wilderness, which caused an exasperated Moses to sin against his God. And we will further learn from these same verses, I believe, the major reason for God’s intended eviction and destruction of the Canaanites from the land in the first place.
 
Deut. 9:1. “Hear, O Israel. You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations greater than yourself, and cities great and fortified up to heaven…(3) Therefore understand today that the Lord your God is He who goes before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has said to you. (4) Do not think in your heart after the Lord your God has cast them out before you, saying ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess their land; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you. (5) It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you and that He may fulfill the word (faithfulness) which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (6) Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. (7) Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness; from the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. (8) Also in Horeb (Mount Sinai) you provoked the Lord to wrath, so that the Lord was angry enough to destroy you.” And then Moses goes on to recount to the nation that the Lord sent him down to deal with them, whom after forty days of Moses’ absence on the mountain, had decided to substitute a calf made of gold for the God of the universe (the apogee of insanity, rebellion, sin, and disobedience).
 
Moses had learned of Israel’s behavior when (12)…”the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly; they have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded image.’ (13) Furthermore, the Lord spoke to me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed they are a stiff-necked people. (14) Let me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you (Moses) a nation mightier and greater than they.’” Moses, much to his credit and humility, would decline the opportunity and thereafter spend the next forty days and nights without food and water pleading with God not to destroy the people He had chosen. Obviously, Moses pleadings were heard and granted, for here they are today (2011); resisting, contending, and striving with a mostly hostile, hateful, and hubristic international confederation of the United Nations, the European Union, the Russians, the Muslim alliance, and unfortunately, but incrementally, the United States.
 
But, due to the sovereignty of God, the faithfulness of both God and the Patriarchs, the wickedness of the Canaanites, and in spite of His rebellious and stiff-necked people, Israel; God would nevertheless choose, love, and provide His chosen with a nation-state and the land on which it would exist. Just typical of God’s patience, longsufferance, and forbearance. THANK GOD!!!

 

(adapted from The Boone County Spotlight; used with permission)

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Article 9

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Written by Don West Tuesday, 27 December 2011 18:08

In an attempt to convey the basis of modern Israel’s claim and right to the land that they occupy as a nation, (but which is highly contested by the Palestinians, the Arab world, the Muslim world, and a significant portion of the rest of the world, as represented by the United Nations) I have previously submitted for your consideration numerous biblical writings indicating that Israel was the beneficiary of God’s sovereign will and choice to be the recipient of a region of territory in the Middle East called the land of Canaan; and that God gave Israel the land because He considered it His with the concomitant right to give the land to whomever He chose, which in this case was and is Israel. The analogy of a gift in part 8 of this series was used to express the idea that for a gift to be effective the giver must have the right to give it. Since the God of this universe clearly claims and states that the land was His, He could and hence did give a valid and effective grant of it to Israel.
 
To go a step further with the gift analogy, when any of us mere mortals give a gift we usually have a certain degree of pride over what we have chosen to be a gift; and anticipate that the beneficiary will be elated, impressed, and duly, even dramatically, appreciative because of the quality of the gift (although we have all given out of a sense of obligation, rather than joy, at which times we give the least that will “do”, or am I the only one who has behaved this way?) Let’s face it, when we really care, we want our gift to be recognized as special and good. Guess what? God, too, was proud of His beneficence to Israel, and there are a series of scriptures through which God categorically declares not only that the land God was giving to Israel is GOOD; but He also declares that this land He gave Israel is ONE OF A KIND. Let’s take a look, but remember that as the quality of the gift of the land is discussed it is sadly, but frequently, in the context of Israel’s disobedience. (All emphatic indicators are mine)
 
Deut. 1:25: (Moses recounting to Israel of its spies having gone into the mountains of the land of Canaan to see and scout out the land that God had given them.) “They also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought back word to us, saying, ‘It is a good land which the Lord our God is giving us.”
 
Deut. 1:34: (Moses addressing the people of Israel about their history and their history of complaining about God’s work in their nation’s life.) “And the Lord heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and took an oath, saying, (35) ‘Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land(and if God says it is good, then you can be absolutely certain it is GOOD) of which I swore to give to your fathers, (36) except Caleb [and Joshua]…because [t]he[y] wholly followed the Lord…’ (37) The Lord was also angry with me (Moses) for your sakes, saying, ‘Even you (Moses) shall not go in there.’” (And alas, Moses and the entire nation of Israel that was twenty years of age or older at the time of the exodus were compelled to live in the wilderness until they died before a new generation of Israelites would be permitted by God to enter “that good land.”)
 
Deut. 3:25: (Moses speaking to God.) “I pray, let me cross over (the Jordan River) and see the good land beyond the Jordan, those pleasant mountains (of Judea and Samaria) and Lebanon.’ (26) But the Lord was angry with me on your (Israel’s) account, and would not listen to me. So the Lord said to me: ‘Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter.’”
 
Deut. 4:21: (Moses speaking to Israel.) “Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I would not cross the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. (22) But I must die in this land (Ammon). I must not cross over the Jordan; but you (Israel) shall cross over and possess that good land.”
 
Deut. 6:18: (Moses speaking to Israel.) “And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the Lord swore to your fathers, (19) to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken.”
 
Deut. 8:7: (Moses speaking to Israel.) “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of mountains and springs, that flow out of the valleys and hills; (8) a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; (9) a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. (10) When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.”
 
Deut. 11:8: (You’ve got it; Moses speaking to Israel.) “Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess, (9) and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord swore to give your fathers, to them and their descendants (to this very day, I hasten to add), a land flowing with milk and honey…(12) A LAND FOR WHICH THE LORD YOUR GOD CARES; THE EYES OF THE LORD YOUR GOD ARE ALWAYS ON IT, FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR TO THE VERY END OF THE YEAR.”
 
Ezek. 20:5: (God speaking to Ezekiel after the Babylonian conquest of the nation of Judah and their destruction of Jerusalem; approximately 586 BC.) “Say to them (Judah, exiled in Babylon), ‘Thus says the Lord God: On the day when I chose Israel and lifted My hand in an oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob (approximately 1800 BC) and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt (through Moses; approximately 1446 BC), I lifted My hand in an oath to them, saying ‘I am the Lord your God. (6) On that day I lifted My hand in an oath to them (and God most assuredly keeps His oaths), to bring them out of the land of Egypt (approximately 1446 BC) into a land (approximately 1406 BC) that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, THE GLORY OF ALL LANDS.” (Did you SEE that???? Here is the God of this universe, and all others as well, proclaiming that this land [which I have stated, ad nauseam I admit, is at the epicenter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict] is THE ULTIMATE IN, AND THE CRẾME DE LA CRẾME OF, ALL EARTHLY REAL ESTATE. No wonder Palestinians want a piece of the “action”. Unfortunately for the Palestinians, God did not give this land to them; and unfortunately for Israel, their refusal to adhere to the standards that God set for their nation would compel Israel’s God to literally purge a disobedient generation of that nation (approximately 1446 BC – 1406 BC) before finally allowing their descendants into the land (approximately 1406 BC). Further repetition of that kind of behavior in Israel’s and Judah’s subsequent history, however, would result in God’s scattering and dispersing (and if anyone can scatter and disperse, it is God) the now divided kingdoms of Israel in 722 BC (referred to today as the ten lost tribes; see what I mean?) and Judah in 586 BC to Babylon; and even later Judah would be dispersed (70 AD) across the entire globe for almost two millennia more before His people would slowly, but prophetically, begin to trickle back to their God-given homeland in significantly growing numbers by the 1880’s; ultimately culminating in the reconstitution of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948. In fact the next three verses reiterate and confirm the absolute uniqueness and quality of the land God gave Israel, but these verses also state why His chosen people would not consistently enjoy it.)
 
Ezek. 20:15: “’So I (God) also lifted My hand in an oath to them (indicating both the absolute truthfulness and the absolute intensity of His intentions)…, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY, (and here it is again) THE GLORY OF ALL LANDS, (16) because they despised My judgments and did not walk in My statutes, but profaned My Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. (17) NEVERTHELESS MY EYE SPARED THEM FROM DESTRUCTION. I DID NOT MAKE AN END OF THEM IN THE WILDERNESS.” (But the implication and the certainty of this is that He thought it [Ex. 32:9-14] and undoubtedly could have had He so chosen.)
 
So, nevertheless and in spite of it all, the God of this and all universes, who chose this people as His own, also chose, even with His omniscience and foreknowledge of Israel’s future and persistent episodes of rebellion, to give them the ultimate piece of real estate in the world. And with this land located as the connector of Asia, Africa, and Europe, God would in due time use Israel’s faithful apostles of His Messiah and Son, Jesus (Matthew, Mark, John, Peter, Paul, et al), strategically positioned at the crossroads of the world (location, location, location), to proclaim and herald, orally and scripturally, the most important and glorious news that will ever be heard by humankind: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
 
News that a desperate world desperately needs to hear; and do any of us really need to ponderously ponder these two options (to perish or to live eternally) before making the correct and obviously obvious choice: Jesus? REMEMBER: GOD SAYS WHAT HE MEANS, AND HE MEANS WHAT HE SAYS.

(adapted from The Boone County Spotlight; used with permission)

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Israel 101 - Part 8

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Written by Don West Tuesday, 06 September 2011 01:32

My last effort in attempting to convey the interesting and significant concept that God is the giver of the land to Israel because He is the Owner of the land did not get very far. I was able to quote Leviticus 25:23 where God says: “...the land is Mine...”; and Joel 3:2 where God says, ... “My land”; but that would be the only two scriptures I was able to use in that article regarding what I believe to be is this extremely important aspect of modern Israel’s claim to the land: God’s ownership of the land, and hence His right to convey the land to His Chosen People, Israel.

 So what follows will be numerous other scriptures that reflect both God’s declarations and man’s understanding as to who is the ultimate owner of the land of Canaan, which today comprises the modern State of Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and potentially other areas which we will not address at the present. And as you read these scriptures regarding ownership, you will also sense the numerous times of God’s great dissatisfaction, even anger and wrath, with Israel for her disobedience and rebellion against Him. All bold wording that follows is my emphasis.

Numbers 35:33: “So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. (34) Therefore do not defile The Land which you inhabit In The Midst Of Which I Dwell; For I The Lord Dwell Among The Children Of  Israel.”

2Chr. 7:19: “But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I (God) have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, (20) then I will uproot them (dispersion) from My Land which I have given them; and this house (the temple in Jerusalem) which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight and will make it a proverb and a byword among all nations. (21) And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and this house?’ (22) Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshipped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.’ ”

2Chr. 20:11: (prayer of King Jehoshaphat) “...here they (the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mt. Seir [Edom] ) are, “rewarding” (sarcasm) us (Israel) by coming to throw us out of Your Possession which You have given us to inherit.” (Have you also noticed the similarity in name between this ancient, biblical people of Ammon who, the biblical writers declared, were located in the area east of the Jordan River which now constitutes the nation of Jordan, and the name of the present Jordanian capital of Amman?  Ammon and Amman. So, is this a coincidence, or is this a correlation of biblical history and historical truth?)   

Jeremiah 2:7: “I (God) brought you (Israel) into a bountiful country (the land of Canaan) to eat its fruit and its goodness, but when you entered you defiled My Land and made My Heritage an abomination.”


Jeremiah 12:10: “Many rulers have destroyed My Vineyard, they have trodden My Portion under foot; they have made My Pleasant Portion a desolate wilderness.”

Jeremiah 16:18: “And first I (God) will repay double for their (Israel’s) iniquity and their sin because they have defiled My Land; they have filled My Inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable idols.”

1Kings 8:35 (a Solomonic prayer): “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they (Israel) have sinned against You (God), when they pray toward this place (the temple in Jerusalem) and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them, (36) then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and give rain on Your Land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.”

2Samuel 7:22 (a Davidic prayer): “Therefore, You are great, O Lord God. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. (23) And who is like Your people, like Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for Himself a name—and to do for You great and awesome deeds for Your Land – before Your people whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from the nations and their gods? (24) For You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever, and You Lord, have become their God... (26) So let Your name be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is the God over Israel.’ ...”

Deut. 32:43: (a song of witness for God against Israel): “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His (God’s) people (Israel); For He will avenge the blood of His servants (Israel), and render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His Land and His People.”

Psalm 10:16: “The Lord is King forever and ever; the nations have perished out of His Land.”

Psalm 85:1: “Lord, You have been favorable to Your Land; You have brought back the captivity of Jacob”. (Out of Egypt, out of Babylon, out of the Holocaust, and out of the nations)

Psalm 95:10: “For forty years I (God) was grieved with that generation, and said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways.’ (11) So I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter (forty years wandering in the wilderness and the consequent death of a generation) My Rest” (the land of Canaan).

Joel 1:6: “For a nation has come up against My Land...”

Joel 2:18: “Then the Lord will be zealous for His Land, and pity His people.”

Hosea 9:1: “Do not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like other peoples, for you have played the harlot against your God... (3) They (Israel) shall not dwell in the Lord’s Land...”

Isaiah 14:1: “For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land... (2) Then people (the nations) will take them (Israel) and bring them to their place (the land of Canaan/Israel), and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the Land of the Lord; ...”

Isaiah 14:25: “...I (God) will break the Assyrian in My Land, and on My Mountains tread him under foot, then his yoke shall be removed from them (Israel), and his (Assyria’s) burden  removed from their (Israel’s) shoulders. (26) THIS IS THE PURPOSE THAT IS PURPOSED AGAINST THE WHOLE EARTH, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. (27) FOR THE LORD OF HOSTS HAS PURPOSED AND WHO WILL ANNUL IT? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back? ... (29) Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia... (31)... All you of Philistia are dissolved; ... (32)... the Lord has founded Zion (Israel), and the poor of His people shall take refuge in it.”

Ezekiel 36:5: “Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Surely I have spoken in My burning jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave My Land to themselves as a possession (seized it from Israel)...”

Ezekiel 36:20: “When they (Israel) came to the nations (dispersion), wherever they went, they profaned My holy name—when they (the nations) said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they have gone out of His Land.” (Why? Because God Himself had, due to Israel’s long-term sin and disobedience, expelled Israel from the land He had given to and intended for them to dwell in; leaving His people as He, in His anger and wrath now intended, dispersed and scattered throughout the world, in fearful  vulnerability as refugees, aliens, and exiles. Correspondingly, Israel’s enemies now appeared triumphant and were, naturally, dismissive and contemptuous of Israel’s God. As a result of this national tragedy, the nation of Israel, by not being where God had decreed they should be, was in fact, and on a daily basis, bringing odium and profanation upon their God. Hence, for roughly the last 2000 years, it has seemed to the skeptics, the doubters, the non-theists, and the atheists of the nations that the Bible is a fraud and a lie; and that the God of the Bible not only could not effect what and where He had intended Israel to be; but would not, since He was and is, according to their estimation, merely a configuration of the minds of those who “are too weak to live life without a crutch”: the Jews and Christians. But if the reconstitution of the nation of Israel in 1948, in nothing less than the land that God had given Israel 4000 years previously, has not dispelled some of the confidence and cockiness of this element of this world’s society; just read the next passage to know that God will fully, completely, dramatically, and ultimately accomplish all His purposes and plans for Israel, [including where He has declared Israel is to abide] and will confound, stun, and awe all doubters, naysayers, and nations, then and eternally.)

Ezekiel 38:16: “You (Gog) will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land (Israel). It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My Land so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes... Ezek. 39:7: So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel (their disbelief will be extinguished), and I WILL NOT LET THEM PROFANE MY HOLY NAME ANYMORE (they will ultimately be obedient to their God in the land their God gave them). THEN THE NATIONS SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE HOLY ONE IN ISRAEL. (8) ‘SURELY IT IS COMING, AND IT SHALL BE DONE,’ SAYS THE LORD GOD. ‘THIS IS THE DAY OF WHICH I HAVE SPOKEN.’ ”

And that day is now approaching. May we all be prepared for it through God’s Son, Jesus, His Christ and Messiah.
 
   

(adapted from The Boone County Spotlight; used with permission)


       

 

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Israel 101 - Part 7

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Written by Don West Friday, 29 July 2011 02:36

 If you have ever received a gift of real or personal property from someone, then whether we give it any actual consideration or not, we act on the assumption that the donor, grantor, or benefactor of the gift is in fact the owner or legal possessor of the object that constitutes the gift and has the power and legal authority to convey and transfer that gift to us. To accept the property which constitutes the gift from one who does not have the right or power to convey ownership or is, unfortunately, a thief is usually fraught with disappointment and ultimate loss of the “gift” or, more seriously, being criminally charged with Theft by Receiving, A.C.A. 5-36-106. I know that this information is of no surprise to you, but it is an attempt to get us thinking again about what is the basis of Israel’s claim to the land it holds as a viable national state.

 
As the last several articles have indicated, God, that is the God of Israel and all others as well, gave this land, pursuant to His sovereign will, to the Patriarchs of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel and their descendants, FOREVER. Numerous references in the Book of Genesis, which have been cited previously, along with many other references throughout the rest of the Old Testament too numerous to mention at this time, clearly and cogently make this salient point. And since He is God, He can, of course, and does do as He pleases. But as I began to read the Bible with this issue of “The Land” in mind in April 2004, I was confronted with some very interesting passages which state that God regards this land as His first and foremost; and as a result of this fact, He clearly regards it within His power and sovereign will to give it, or lease it, to those whom He has chosen, which in this case is His Chosen People, the nation of Israel. Let’s take a look, and we will start with one of the more profound statements regarding this claim of ownership of the land by God, Himself.
 
As Moses, after the exodus from Egypt, and at God’s direction, instructs the nation of Israel about their God and their responsibilities in worship and obedience to Him; God, through Moses, gives this admonition to Israel in Leviticus chapter 25:
(1) “And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, (2) ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: WHEN YOU (Israel) COME INTO THE LAND WHICH I GIVE YOU, then THE LAND shall keep a sabbath to the Lord. (3) ‘Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruit; (4) but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for THE LAND, a sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard... (18) So you shall observe My statutes and keep My judgments, and perform them; and you will dwell in THE LAND in safety (O’ how Israel desires to live in peace and safety with its neighbors). (19) Then THE LAND will yield its fruit and you will eat your fill, and dwell there in safety...(23) THE LAND shall not be sold permanently, FOR THE LAND IS MINE; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me.’ ” (emphasis mine)
 
   So here we have God not only reiterating to the nation of Israel that He has given them the land and instructing His people as to how and when to use the land, but He tells them why He tells them so: HE OWNS THE LAND, and as the OWNER and GRANTOR of THE LAND He has conveyed the land subject to what in the law is referred to as a condition subsequent; that is, you must use the land as the grantor has prescribed or risk losing it, either temporarily or permanently. Thus, while He had previously declared a weekly sabbath for the people, God now declares in these scriptures that the land must also have a sabbath every seven years during which Israel is to allow the land to lie fallow in obedience and honor to God. (Unfortunately, it is right here where a seed of catastrophe will be sown by Israel [definitely, no pun is intended]; for after it seizes the land by God’s enabling power from the Canaanites, the Amorites, and all the other “ites” (see the Book of Joshua), it will fail and refuse to obey this particular instruction regarding a “sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord.” And the nation of Israel will pay dearly for its disobedience regarding this (Lev. 26:33-35; 2Chr. 36:15-21), and other commandments and instructions, at the hands of God’s disciplining tools: the Assyrians (722 BC), the Babylonians (586 BC), and the Romans (70 AD). (emphasis mine)
 
Obviously, this is not a disinterested God when it comes to the land that He has promised Israel. In fact I will digress briefly as to the ownership issue to cite some scripture revealing some very profound and interesting comments made by God, again through Moses, about His land and His feelings for the land recorded in Deuteronomy, chapter 11:
                        (8) “Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong and go in and possess THE LAND which you cross over (the Jordan River) to possess, (9) and that you may prolong your days in THE LAND which the Lord swore to give your fathers (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel), to them and their descendants, A LAND flowing with milk and honey. (10) For THE LAND which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden; (11) but THE LAND which you cross over to possess is A LAND of hills and valleys, (you would not believe how deep and narrow some of those valleys in Israel are) which drinks water from the rain of heaven, (12) A LAND FOR WHICH THE LORD YOUR GOD CARES; THE EYES OF THE LORD YOUR GOD ARE ALWAYS ON IT, FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR TO THE VERY END OF THE YEAR.” (emphasis mine)
 
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again risking, indeed, the ad nauseam factor; these comments by God, and recorded by Moses, are about the same land which is at the epicenter of today’s Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And since this is so, attempts by mere man, i.e. the United Nations, to negate God’s gift and grant of the land to the nation of Israel by dividing that land and giving a portion of it to the Palestinians, are the height of conceit and dangerous in the extreme. Not surprisingly, God had something to say approximately 2800 years ago through the prophet Joel (remember, God not only knows, but declares through His Written Word that all may know, the end from the beginning) about this current proposed partitioning of His land which, again, He has given, not to the Palestinians, but to the nation of Israel. 
 
                      Joel 3: (1) “FOR BEHOLD, IN THOSE DAYS AND AT THAT TIME, WHEN I (GOD) BRING BACK THE CAPTIVES OF JUDAH AND JERUSALEM (possibly 1948 and 1967), (2) I WILL ALSO GATHER ALL NATIONS, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat (another name for the Kidron Valley which is immediately east of the present old-walled city of Jerusalem) AND I WILL ENTER INTO JUDGMENT WITH THEM THERE ON ACCOUNT OF MY PEOPLE, MY HERITAGE ISRAEL, WHOM THEY HAVE SCATTERED AMONG THE NATIONS (the diaspora); THEY HAVE ALSO DIVIDED UP MY LAND (creating, by the way, the West Bank, otherwise known as Judea and Samaria, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and whatever else, only the “creative” minds of the U.N. can know)... (4) Indeed, what have you to do with Me, ... all the coasts of Philistia (remember, Palestine means land of the Philistines)? Will you retaliate against Me? But if you retaliate against Me, swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head...(6) ALSO THE PEOLE OF JUDAH AND THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM YOU HAVE SOLD TO THE GREEKS (gentiles) THAT YOU MAY REMOVE THEM FAR FROM THEIR BORDERS (the diaspora). (7) BEHOLD, I WILL RAISE THEM (Israel) OUT OF THE PLACE TO WHERE YOU HAVE SOLD THEM, AND I WILL RETURN YOUR RETALIATION UPON YOUR OWN HEAD.” (emphasis mine)
 
SO BE AFRAID, PALESTINIANS AND UNITED NATIONS, BE VERY AFRAID!!! For GOD, the OWNER of THE LAND and the CREATOR of ISRAEL, has already granted it to HIS PEOPLE, ISRAEL, FOREVER; and NOTHING can thwart His intentions, His will, and His endowment. For this simple truth echoes down through the ages: God is not only the basis of Israel’s claim to THE LAND, God is the basis for Israel’s ABSOLUTE AND IRREVOCABLE RIGHT to THE LAND . (emphasis mine)
 
(adapted from The Boone County Spotlight; used with permission)
 
 
 
    

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