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Hebrews 11:14
For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. The second of November marks the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration when in 1917 British Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour, influenced the Jewish communities of the world to believe that Great Britain would support the creation of a Jewish state in the Middle East. Though achieved within all legalities, Israel’s return from exile has not been an easy one. It is still in question today. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and later the whole nation of Israel coming from Egypt, none of them got a free pass into the Promised Land. All had to push and fight for their God-given inheritance. Genetics teach us that children possess within themselves the potential of their parents, so we can be assured that when ‘push’ comeS to ‘shove’, our people will again show enough stubbornness to claim what is ours. Alongside the modern-day Zionist movement we also have a new generation of messianic teenagers with a mission to reach out to their peers. They could also inherit being the messianic leaders of the World to Come, of the Kingdom of Messiah on earth. But as it was with our fathers it will not be an easy task. The promises are given to us for free, but LIKE Abraham, Rebecca, and Jacob, we have to show our will and worthiness to receive them by going to an all-out spiritual war for them. Again, genetics come to the rescue. Under the blessing of Abraham (Genesis 28:14), biological descendant of the patriarch as well as all who take refuge in his seed Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah, can find the strength, will, stamina, courage, if not plain sheer stubbornness (and by Hashem’s own definition we are a stubborn stiff-necked people) to accomplish the mission of the Master, Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is immersed will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover (Mark 16:15). Just like our youth seems to be engrossed in today’s distractions, the Zionist movement in Israel seems to be a passing fad. Can we blame them? Aren’t many of us adults so engrossed in our own lives, even in congregational activities and divisions that we have very little time left for our godly mission to reach out to our peers? We as adults need to show our teenagers the way to a godly life. It is our responsibility to blaze the trail for them by doing like Abraham, letting go of the baggage of the past in order to engage in the mission Messiah called us to (Genesis 12:1). Like Abraham, Moses and all our fathers, our eyes and hearts need to be so focused on our bright future that the present world and its concerns seem to us but husks. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city (Hebrews 11:15-16).
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Matthew 24:31
And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Behold the Great Day has come We have fasted for it over the centuries and until this day afflict our souls in prayers of repentance. Now has Hashem heard our voices; the blood of His many martyrs reaches to His nostrils and now He inclines His ears to our cries. May He who brings Israel back to Him be blessed for truly, He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock (Jeremiah 30:10).' On this day, see the reward of our work over the centuries. See Him who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? "It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save." Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress? "I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come (Isaiah 63:1-4). The galloping of His white horse echoes Moses' song. The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelations 19:11-6; Deuteronomy 32:34-43). As Moses and all the prophets sang of the deliverance of Israel, of its return to his land and his God, let us foresee and rejoice of His mighty works for truly Adonai has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of Hashem, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more. Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow (Jeremiah 31:11-13). Hebrews 11:9
By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. Father Abraham was promised a promise. The Almighty swore to Abraham, all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever(Genesis 13:15). Yet, after decades of wondering, and even going to war with five kings to protect his inheritance, he was still a foreigner in the land of promise. When it came time for him to bury his wife, the patriarch still claimed to be as a ‘foreigner’ in the Land (Genesis 23:4) and he had to haggle a burial place from a mocking Canaanite. The Scriptures record three important places being purchased by a Jew: the Cave of Machpelah by Abraham (Genesis 23:17-18); the place where the Temple was built (2 Samuel 24:24); and Joseph’s sepulcher (Joshua 24:32). The Scriptures solidly record these purchases but until today, these places are claimed to be Muslim holy sites ‘stolen’ by the Jews. Abraham believed the promises of God and acted upon them as much as he could, but he lived within his reality of having to buy what already belonged to him by divine right. He actually refused Ephron’s offer of a gift. Abraham bought the land, and he bought it at an exorbitant price. This teaches us the difference between promise and reality. Four thousand years later, as a response to a distant echo, the descendants of the Children of Abraham moved into this land and conquered it. Until today this small strip of land by the Mediterranean Sea, that Pleasant Land promised to the descendant of Abraham not to die but to live in, is being bought at an exorbitant price. It is being bought not only at the price of the lives and deaths of many victims of war and terrorism, but also at the cost of world’s anger and the resurgence of anti-Semitism. The haggling continues, not with one king this time, but with the United Nations. Sometimes Israel is so tiered of the ‘haggling’ that it is tempted to offer ‘land for peace’. We must also live with our reality. Our souls have been bought and purchased; Yeshua paid the exorbitant bride price to live within the walls of our hearts, but daily the haggling goes on with he who does not let go. We also can get so tired of the daily fight that we compromise with the evil one offering him some land in our heart for peace. But wait, Messiah bought that land; it belongs to Him. And as Israel must remember the price and the promises, we must also remember that we belonged to Him who paid for it. Abraham still claimed to be a ‘stranger’ in the Land of Promise. Will Messiah say that He is as a stranger, a guest in your heart? Is He the prime owner in promise, and reality? Hebrews 11:14
For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. The second of November marks the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration when in 1917 British Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour, influenced the Jewish communities of the world to believe that Great Britain would support the creation of a Jewish state in the Middle East. Though achieved within all legalities, Israel’s return from exile has not been an easy one. It is still in question today. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and later the whole nation of Israel coming from Egypt, none of them got a free pass into the Promised Land. All had to push and fight for their God-given inheritance. Genetics teach us that children possess within themselves the potential of their parents, so we can be assured that when ‘push’ will come to ‘shove’, our people will again show enough stubbornness to claim what is ours. Alongside the modern-day Zionist movement we also have a new generation of messianic teenagers with a mission to reach out to their peers. They could also inherit being the messianic leaders of the World to Come, of the Kingdom of Messiah on earth. But as it was with our fathers it will not be an easy task. The promises are given to us for free, but we have to show our will and worthiness to receive them by going to an all-out spiritual war for them. Again, genetics come to the rescue. Under the blessing of Abraham Genesis 28:14), biological descendant of the patriarch as well as all who take refuge in his seed, ,Yeshua the Jewish Messiah can find the strength, will, stamina, courage, if not plain sheer stubbornness (and by Hashem’s own definition we are a stubborn stiff-necked people) to accomplish the mission of the Master, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is immersed will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover (Mark 16:15)." Just like our youth seems to be engrossed in today’s distractions, the Zionist movement in Israel seems to be a passing fad. Can we blame them? Aren’t many of us adults so engrossed in our own lives, even in congregational activities that we have very little time left for our godly mission to reach out to our peers? We as adults need to show our teenagers the way to a godly life. It is our responsibility to blaze the trail for them by doing like Abraham, letting go of the baggage of the past to engage in the profession Messiah called us to (Genesis 12:1). Like Abraham, Moses and all our fathers, our eyes and hearts need to be so focused on our bright future that the present world and its concerns seem to us but husks. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city (Hebrews 11:15-16). |
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