Publishing my friends Neil Mackereth’s and Chris Moyler’s comments on Israel stimulated them to further thought, in what’s been an intensely busy period.

Chris says, “I wrote it all so fast, completely from the hip, in two quick sessions. I have it, completely unedited as a document (but) am currently putting in the foundations for our new extension. Pure crazy, but the LORD is most definitely in it. Chris”

He raises A QUESTION….

“Are Christians interested in the scriptural basis for the support of modern day Israel?

I don’t think so. Maybe just a few……. I presently find myself up against a wall of disinterest.

My aim in writing about Israel is NOT that we should pontificate about her, but that we should have a sound scriptural underpinning to our prayers. i.e. that our prayers should not be weak and general, but bold and purposeful-prayers of great clarity.

Your thoughts please???? Chris xx”

With my minimal editing and italicising verses, Chris’ six-page, deeply personal posting on his Telegram Channel reads as follows:

THE MODERN DAY RESTORATION OF ISRAEL IN HER WEAKNESS

(1st draft 13 Nov 2023 at the time of the Gaza war with Hamas)

1)
Dear Friends,
I sense a resistance in some Christians to discussing Israel and, in particular, the issue of the importance of her place among the nations, from the LORD’s point of view.

The truth is that we Christians, as a worldwide covenant community, have spiritual roots that extend far further back in time than the first coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us look at Paul’s teaching in Romans. He states there:
Rom 4:16,17a“That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”

Therefore, every truly born-again Christian has TWO spiritual fathers – Our Heavenly Father, and Father Abraham!

But what is Paul saying to us here?

Before the call of Abraham, there was no such thing as a covenant community in the earth i.e. a people set aside for the LORD, a people through whom he could launch his plan of salvation for the entire earth.

Prior to Abraham’s call, there were individuals who walked with the LORD, and who pleased him. Examples of these, going right back to Abel, are listed in Hebrews ch 11.

These individuals became part of the famous Lamb’s Book of Life, spoken of several times in Revelation:

Revelation 20:15 – And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

And by Moses:

Deut 32:32,32 – But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.” But the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.”

Jesus also described this community of people as ‘Abraham’s Bosom’, a people in the world of the dead (Sheol), but separated from the rest of those who had died.

Luke 16:26 – And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’

This community of people, set-aside by the LORD for himself, were not able to be received into Heaven until the price for their entry had been paid by our LORD’s death.

At his ascension, he emptied Abraham’s Bosom, because it no longer had any purpose. He took these ones to Heaven with him, and by the power of his blood, he made their spirits perfect. We learn about this in Hebrews:

Heb 12:22,23 – But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

Therefore, we Christians, we who “are seated in the heavenly realm with Christ,” are now added to a community of faith, the “enrolled” ones, i.e. those in the Lamb’s Book of Life, whom the Father has been carefully gathering from the time of Adam! Just as we are enrolled, so too are they! There is only ONE Book of Life!

So why does this all matter so much today? It matters because the worldwide covenant community of Christ, to which we belong by faith, did NOT begin with the Book of Acts!

No! Our story can be traced right back to God’s promise to Eve, that he would crush the serpent on man’s behalf, thereby freeing man for Himself. (Gen 3:15)

Once these basic truths about our covenant community are clearly established, we can then begin to understand both the place of the Jewish people in its formation, and the ongoing purpose of the Covenant land of Israel in God’s plan of salvation for the whole world.

2)
To return to Abraham, God gifted him the part of the Middle-East from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates:

Gen 13:15 – for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring FOREVER.

Genesis 15:18 – On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates”

Then, when Abraham offered Isaac, as a sacrifice to the LORD, the LORD confirmed Abraham’s central place in his plan of salvation for ALL MANKIND.

Genesis 22:18 – and in your offspring shall ALL the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

Later, God confirmed these two promises with Isaac, concerning both the land and the centrality of Isaac’s family in his worldwide plan of salvation (Gen 26:3-5)

And then he repeated this dual promise with Jacob:

Gen 28:13,14
And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall ALL the families of the earth be blessed.”

What is the LORD doing here? He is defining, for himself TWO things – the PEOPLE through whom he will build his covenant community, and the PLACE, the LAND where he will begin its construction, the place where his plan of salvation for ALL mankind will be revealed.

Our Christian faith has a JERUSALEM centre not a ROME centre!!

It is highly significant that this land given to Abraham is the ONLY place in the earth that the LORD specifically refers to as MY LAND.

After Solomon’s consecration of the first Temple, the LORD appeared go him and said this:

“But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.”

And this is precisely what happened to Israel. First the Northern Kingdom, then the Southern Kingdom, were sent into exile. But please note very carefully that the people were removed from the land, but the land was NEVER removed from the people!

From the very beginning of Israel as a Nation, God has always worked in and through her weakness. His work is ALWAYS an expression of his GRACE, and not because of the faithfulness of the people.

When the LORD brought the people to Sinai, he said this:

Ex 19:5,6
“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

Here, the LORD expresses so clearly WHY he created Israel. But I think we can easily miss the profound promise here:

“You SHALL be to me…a KINGDOM…a HOLY NATION.”

The LORD began to do this through the reigns of David and Solomon, and he took it to a whole new level when he BEGAN the restoration of Israel, after Christ’s ascension.

Acts chapters 2-9 is all about the restoration of the Jewish people, through the gift of the Holy Spirit. These chapters are NOT about the restoration of we Gentiles!

Just as the LORD began the restoration of Israel at his FIRST coming, and he did so in HIS LAND, he will complete that restoration at his SECOND coming, also in HIS LAND.

Thus, the issue of the Land of Israel is actually about whose story will be told there – God’s or Satan’s.

3)
And God has made it very very clear what the FINAL outcome will be:

Ezekiel 43:7 and he said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel FOREVER. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies of their kings at their high places,|”

God’s heart towards man, his purpose for making us, is that he might live in the midst of untold creatures, formed in his own likeness.

Therefore, he called Abraham and, from him, formed the Nation of Israel that he might use the Nation as the beachhead and the channel for the total destruction of Satan’s kingdom across the entire earth.

Now, some Christians believe that because Israel failed the LORD, he therefore, no longer has any particular or special place for Israel in his plan of redemption for the earth.

As we have already seen, God’s work in and through Israel has ALWAYS been based on HIS extraordinary Covenant faithfulness. Time and again, Israel has come to a place of utter weakness, and yet the LORD always ends up coming strong for her.

If we are to properly understand OT prophecy and, most importantly for this discussion, prophecy concerning Israel’s future, then it is absolutely essential that we note carefully that God’s prophets, whilst harshly criticising the Jewish people for their unfaithfulness towards the LORD, AT THE SAME TIME (and sometimes in the same breath) ALWAYS spoke of Israel’s eventual glorification!

Consider Israel’s days in the wilderness:

After having a covenant meal in God’s presence on the mountain, one of the most extraordinary events in all of Torah, for they actually SAW Him, Israel’s elders made the Golden Calf.

Moses was so disgusted that he no longer had faith that Israel could achieve anything good, and he smashed the tablets! Then he prayed for Israel, asking God to “blot him out of his book” if he would not save them.

Tell me, where does a man get that kind of heart for others? By spending time with the LORD!

Exod 33:11a – “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”

So the LORD told Moses to make 2 more tablets, and He wrote the 10 Words a second time. Please note carefully WHY the LORD didn’t make the second set – it was because He had not given up on Israel, Moses had!

The central point here, which is so pertinent to any discussion about modern-day Israel is that, at the time of Israel’s birth as a Nation, the LORD was under no illusions whatsoever concerning the deeply flawed character and nature of his covenant people!

This aspect of God’s character is precisely mirrored in the NT:

Romans 5:8 – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Later on, Balaam was not only expressly forbidden from cursing Israel, he was told by the LORD to speak glorious words of blessing! (Num 23:3-9). He was instructed to do this, despite the LORD’S great displeasure with his people, causing that entire generation to perish in the wilderness. (1Cor 10:1-10)

However, Phinehas was granted the covenant of a perpetual priesthood:

Num 25:12,13 – “Therefore say, Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.”

Zadok and his descendants are the continuation of this line right through into the Millennium! (Ez 40:46,48:11)

Then, immediately prior to the next generations entry into the covenant Land, Moses teaches Israel a song, Moses’ Song, which is to be taught to ALL successive generations of Israel, AS A TESTIMONY AGAINST THEM!

Deuteronomy 31:19 – “Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me AGAINST the people of Israel.”

4)
Moses’ Song boldly declares God’s faithfulness, and Israel’s utter future unfaithfulness, and I believe that we need to drink deeply from its message, which is that the LORD has chosen to accomplish his will and purposes THROUGH fragile mankind!

This is true of Israel, just as it is most certainly true of the worldwide church.

By the end of the book of Judges, Israel was in a very weak state, wholly unable to fulfill her calling to be a kingdom of priests for the LORD.

And yet within a very short time, Samuel and King David, under the LORD’s anointing, brought Israel into her golden age.

The LORD swore to David that both his house and his kingship would never fail:

2 Samuel 7:16 – And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’”

Solomon’s reign that followed David’s was indeed a high point, because of the Shekinah glory presence, and strong worship. The nations sought out Solomon’s wisdom and they left satisfied by his answers.

But then the Kingdom divided. The Northern Kingdom never had a righteous king, and was destroyed by the Assyrians.

And the Southern Kingdom, despite some righteous reigns, was exiled to Babylon, and the first Temple was destroyed.

Some of the exiles returned from Babylon, and the Second Temple was built, but the Shekinah glory had departed.

When the time came for Jesus to be born, the Nation was at a particularly low ebb, spiritually speaking. There had been no kingship since the exile to Babylon, and the priesthood was deeply corrupt.

Nevertheless, we see that, even then, in examples like Simeon and Anna, God preserved a tiny believing remnant of Israel for himself. Zecharaiah and Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary, Simeon and Anna, in the midst of the weakness of Israel. (Luke chs 1,2)

That is WHY Isaiah foretold that Messiah would spring up from ‘dry and barren ground,’ from an Israel wholly unable to fulfill her calling:

Isaiah 53:2
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of DRY GROUND;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.

As true Christians, we Gentiles who have put their trust in Jesus Christ, and have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, we know that the well-spring of our lives is in Isaiah ch 53.

But have we ever paused to consider the effect of Is 53 upon Israel? What happens in Is 54? Amazingly, IMMEDIATELY after the sacrifice of his Son, the LORD’s focus shifts back to Israel, back to his barren wife!

Isaiah 54:1
The Eternal Covenant of Peace
“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;
break forth into singing and cry aloud,
you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than the children of her who is married,” says the LORD.

This entire chapter is a most glorious love song. The LORD affirms in the strongest language that his WIFE remains very close to his heart:

Is 54:6,7
“For the LORD has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you.”

This language can never be used of the church. It is ONLY applicable to ISRAEL!

Furthermore, the LORD powerfully affirms that he remains Israel’s Husband:

Isaiah 54:5
For your Maker is your husband,
the LORD of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God of the whole earth he is called.

This revelation of the ONGOING Husband/Wife relationship between the LORD and Israel is by far the most profound of all the revelations that I have received from the LORD since I was born again in 1976.

5)
He did not give me this revelation as a detailed teaching, as he sometimes does, but through a flood of intense weeping and groaning. The weeping was so deep, I can only describe it as akin to receiving the news of the sudden and unexpected death of a wife or child, something that tears your whole being at a gut level.

At that time, he said very simply:

“Israel IS MY WIFE! I miss her, and I want her back.”

I honestly hadn’t a clue what the LORD was talking about, and he didn’t explain anything. He simply left it with me as a revelation. It took me a further three years of digging in the word, studying and writing, before the picture began to become clear.

This revelation has changed my life forever. God’s undying love for Israel is now central to my whole being. It colours my whole walk with the LORD, and has radically changed how I view the world.

So let us return to what happened to Israel after Christ’s death. Yes, the corrupt leaders and priests had conspired to kill him, but a glorious believing and Holy Spirit empowered remnant of Jews now emerged in Israel.

It was renewed Jewry that was entrusted by Jesus with the task of taking the Gospel to the Gentiles. Acts chs 1-9 is almost exclusively about Jewish renewal; it is NOT speaking about the Gentiles!

By means of this renewed remnant of Israel, the LORD has covered the entire earth with his Gospel! Speaking exclusively to Jews, Jesus said:

Acts 1:8 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

After this, the Temple was destroyed in AD70, and Simon bar Kokhba’s revolt was crushed in circa 135.

Therefore, because the Messianic Jews were such a tiny part of the strongly emerging, and mostly Gentile church, Christian teachers began to develop the accursed doctrine of ‘Replacement Theology,’ which has so infected worldwide Christendom.

These early Christian teachers willfully chose to ignore Paul’s strong teaching in Romans chs 9-11, which has become, by far, the most untaught passage of the entire NT Canon.

They achieved this by allegorising OT prophecy, assigning the curses to Israel and the blessings to the truth.

They utterly failed to affirm the crystal clear promises of Israel’s final, full and complete restoration.

In these chapters, which are so vital to our present day thinking about Israel, Paul, one of the most learned young rabbis of his day, was especially chosen by God to bring the Gospel to the Gentile world precisely because of his in-depth knowledge of the OT scriptures – the Bible of the 1st Century church.

Here, he states boldly that the LORD has NOT rejected Israel! He has preserved for himself a believing remnant, of which Paul is a part:

Romans 11:1 – I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

And he goes on to teach that though God had rejected most of Israel of his day, that was only temporary; a day will come when they will be accepted:

Romans 11:15 – For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?

He speaks of the believing remnant as a first fruits offering; not the whole harvest of Israel, as true sons for the LORD, but just the beginning!

Romans 11:16 – If the dough offered as first-fruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

6)
Next Paul teaches about the Olive Tree. It is a vitally important picture for the church to understand. When we came to faith in God through his Messiah, Jesus Christ, we became a part of the PRE-EXISTING COVENANT COMMUNITY OF FAITH, that God had created in and through Abraham.

Romans 11:17 – But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,

And he strongly warns believing Gentiles not to be arrogant concerning those Jews who are unbelieving. We who are Gentiles are supported by the BELIEVING COVENANT COMMUNITY that precedes us:

Romans 11:18 – do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.

But what is this ROOT that Paul speaks of, what is the root of the Olive Tree, whose nourishing sap gives life to we believing Gentiles?

It is nothing less than Messiah himself:

Isaiah 11:10 – In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

This 11th chapter of Isaiah overflows with promise concerning Israel’s FULL and FINAL restoration!

Isaiah 11:12
He will raise a signal for the nations
and will assemble the banished of Israel,
and gather the dispersed of Judah
from the four corners of the earth.

But let us note carefully that Jesus, Yeshua, is not only the root of the entire covenant community, he is also a shoot from it.

Isaiah 11:1 – There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

Furthermore, and this is vitally important for our understanding of Israel today, the shoot emerges from Jesse’s stump.

Messiah does NOT come from Israel in her strength! He comes from her in her WEAKNESS!

A stump represents a tree that once existed, but has now been cut down. And who cut down Jesse’s tree? None other than the LORD himself!

It was the LORD who ordered the exile of the Northern Kingdom to Assyria, and it was he who ordered the exile of the Southern Kingdom to Babylon. Even worse, perhaps, it was he who ordered the destruction of his Temple in Nebuchadnezzar’s day, as he warned Solomon that he would, at the time of the Temple’s dedication. (1Ki 9:8)

This was a repeat of what the LORD had already done at Shiloh, where the Tabernacle had once stood. (Jer 7:12)

What should we learn from all this? It is surely that the LORD is not afraid to discipline his people, even with great severity, but he NEVER entirely rejects them. God’s covenant with the House of Israel always stands.

Right now, both the land of Israel and the people of Israel are being prepared for the return of the King to ZION. For it is only when He is enthroned there that the world will finally know peace.

There is a quote from Isaiah 2:4 that is written on a monument, close to the UN in New York. It reads:

“They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

But this is a deception, for it omits a most powerful context, which is in v3, that immediately precedes it. This miracle will only occur when the LORD is enthroned in JERUSALEM:

For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Our blessed Saviour is returning to Jerusalem. His return is emphatically NOT the end of the world! It is the end of the age, the Age of the Gentiles.

Presently, the leaders (kings) of the Gentile nations are the most important people of the world. It is they who presently rule the world.

But one day the LORD Jesus will rule the world from Jerusalem. And when he does so, Satan will be locked away for 1000 years.

Then the entire world will know peace in a time of unparalleled prosperity.

THIS is the story that will one day be told in the Land of Israel, from among the people of Israel.

This is the story that Satan is trying to snuff out.

He will utterly fail!

Chris xx