You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
MATTHEW 5:43-45
8 February 2020
It is (yet another) wet, rainy, windy and cold winter’s day in Jerusalem. God is certainly sending rain on the just and on the unjust alike this winter. I cannot remember a winter as wet as this in the nearly 40 years I have lived in Israel. Snow is falling in the north and the whole land, even as far south as Eilat, is enjoying abundant rainfall. The Sea of Galilee is rising about 5 cm every day and now is only about 1.3 m below its ‘full’ mark, and the rivers and aquifers are being replenished.
Last weekend I went to Ein Hemed, a little park nearby, and, in spite of the cold temperature and the imminent threat of rain, I was surprised to see many people like myself strolling along the little stream there enjoying the sight and sound of clear, running water – something I have learned to appreciate living in this arid and often drought-stricken land.
The passage quoted above is also a timely reminder that we should love our enemies and pray for them. In a world permeated with hatred and violence it is easy to hate our enemies. Only by the power of God can we love them. The first step towards that goal is to pray for them. True prayer opens our hearts to God’s love, both for ourselves and for others.
Earlier this morning I watched a video made by a well-known anti-missionary rabbi and was secretly giggling as he inadvertently preached the gospel even to the extent of quoting from the New Testament, ” For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek ” (Romans 1:16). It was a reminder of the confusion and complexity of everything here in the Holy Land. I have heard it said that here in Jerusalem there is a kind of spiritual ‘fog’ in which nothing is clear, and it is sometimes difficult to discern right from wrong, and good from evil. How important it is to stay close to God’s Word, meditating on it day and night, that we can find our way through the ‘fog’.
THE DEAL OF THE CENTURY
This week saw the unveiling of President Trump’s so-called “Deal of the Century” for resolving the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. Is it a good ‘deal’? Is it in line with God’s will? Will it bring peace?
I think most Israelis are not overly excited by the ‘Deal’. Even calling it a ‘Deal’ is something of a misnomer, since a deal implies discussion and agreement between two sides, and this patently did not occur. From the beginning the Palestinians refused to enter into any dialogue, and nor do they accept the ‘Deal’ now that it has been unveiled. Abbas said, even before it was made public, “We say 1,000 times: No, no and no to the deal of the century’” (1). Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who hold power in the Gaza Strip, have also categorically rejected the Deal.
This is the first peace plan that has come with a map – see below. The Vision as it appears on this map involves a ‘land swap’ in which Israel will annex the Jordan Valley and settler enclaves in the West Bank, in exchange for the ‘Triangle’ region including the large city of Umm el Fahm and other Arab towns in central Israel and some land along the Egyptian border adjacent to the Gaza Strip. Jerusalem would remain as Israel’s capital and the capital of the Palestinian state would be in East Jerusalem. A tunnel would be built linking the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and access for Palestinians to the border crossings into Jordan would be maintained.
Although Israel could, and possibly will, implement elements of this plan, for example the annexation of the Jordan Valley, other elements necessitate the agreement of the Palestinians and this does not seem likely. For instance, the approximately 600,000 Arab residents of the Triangle do not want to lose their Israeli citizenship and economic prosperity by being transferred to Palestinian rule. For this reason I do not see this ‘Deal’ as likely to bring any long lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians in the long term and probably will serve to exacerbate tensions in the short term.
Just a glance at the map shows that the proposed Palestinian State would have a rather peculiar outline which has been likened to a Swiss cheese. Like other plans before it, this Deal focuses on land and land ownership and ignores the real issue. The real issue is spiritual and results from Israel’s claim that God gave them the land as a perpetual possession, something that cannot be reconciled with the Islamic view that the land belongs to them, and the Koran forbids them to yield any of it to the ‘infidel’. Only the coming of the Messiah will solve this problem!
In response to the Deal, the Islamic State, now based in the Sinai Peninsula, has ‘declared war’ on Israel, and the Palestinian Prime Minister in the West Bank, Mahmoud Abbas, has called upon Palestinians to renew terror attacks against Israeli targets, and he announced that he would cut all intelligence cooperation with Israel, something that has for years helped to minimize terrorist acts. Jordan, with its predominantly Palestinian population, and other Arab States also oppose the plan.
Consequently we have seen an escalation of tensions over this past week. There have been near daily mortar and rocket attacks on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, and a number of explosive-laden balloons have been found as far north as near Beit Shemesh. Early Thursday morning 12 Israeli soldiers, and two civilians were injured, one seriously, when a Palestinian Arab drove into them as they walked down the sidewalk in Jerusalem near the First Station. Later the same day a border policeman guarding the Lions Gate entrance to the Old City was shot and was lightly injured in the arm by an Israeli Arab from Haifa. On Wednesday an armed mob of 200 or so ambushed an IDF unit operating in the West Bank city of Jenin and as a result a Palestinian was shot dead. It is still far short of the massive uprising that some Palestinian leaders have called for, and I suspect the average Palestinian does not want a return to the days of the Intifadas, during which they suffered severe economic and security difficulties. On Friday Jerusalem was on high alert for violence following the Moslem prayers but as far as I heard nothing much eventuated.
In contrast, it seems that most Palestinians are following their leaders in rejecting the ‘Deal’, without even reading or considering its provisions. Although I understand their rejection of it, it seems like it is possibly the best deal they could ever hope for and once again they have missed an opportunity for their own state and a better life. Their will be no peace until they put aside their bitterness and hatred, as justified as it might be at least to some extent, and begin to look forward to the future, taking steps to build a better life for their children. They need to accept that Israel is here, and here to stay, and if they would only let us, we can be their best friends. We could work together to build a beautiful Middle East but it will never happen as long as generation after generation is brainwashed from the cradle into a culture of hatred and violence. The only solution is that we all begin to pray for and love those we perceive to be our enemies, just as Yeshua (Jesus) taught. This is the only solution to the Middle East conflict, and probably this won’t happen until Messiah comes to establish his rule on Earth. That is my hope, and I pray He will not tarry.
17 February 2020
CORONAVIRUS
Like people everywhere we are all watching with concern the spread of the Coronavirus, Covid-19. So far in Israel there have been three confirmed cases and no deaths. Flights from the far east, particularly China, have been stopped and passengers coming from the far east are being asked to put themselves into voluntary quarantine for 14 days. No one is checking incoming passengers and many of these arriving people are travelling home by public transport. No one is enforcing the quarantine. It all seems a bit vague and ineffectual especially given the Israeli characteristic of ignoring rules. Yesterday the orthodox held a huge prayer gathering at the Western Wall to pray against the spread of the virus worldwide. We too need to pray for God’s intervention to stop the spread of this virus. It has the potential to kill millions of people and disrupt the entire world economy. Someone sent me this picture yesterday. I thought it was cute and made me think of Psalm 91. May God keep us all under his wings and protect us all from the pestilence and plague, but above all from fear.
He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
Psalm 91: 4-6
WEATHER – WOE OR BLESSING?
Whenever I turn on the news it seems that there is another weather related disaster somewhere in the world. Today the UK and parts of the USA are suffering floods, Australia is dealing with floods and wildfires. Last week in New Zealand parts of my hometown Gore, most of the neighbouring town of Mataura, and many surrounding farms, were flooded by the vast amounts of water coming down off the Fiordland mountains where around 2 meters of rain fell in 60 hours. All this while in the north of New Zealand they have a severe drought!
Here in Israel we have not escaped. We are having the wettest winter I can remember in my nearly 40 years living here. There have been several storms that have brought flooding and much loss of property in low lying areas, but of late, the rains have been less intense, just steadily dripping away. We have almost forgotten what the sun looks like. The waves on the Sea of Galilee are breaking over the promenade in Tiberias for the first time for at least 10 years. The Sea is less than a meter from its ‘full’ mark. I hope that in the next few days they will be able to open the gates and allow water to flow down the Jordan again into the Dead Sea, which has been losing 1m of height per year and is in danger of disappearing all together. There is still much water coming down the streams from the Golan and soon this runoff will be augmented by the melting snow on Mt Hermon. Many of us lately have fallen into the sin of complaining about the rain, like the Israelites in the Sinai. May God forgive us. May we all rejoice in the abundance of God’s blessing on this thirsty and arid land, and be thankful. Hallelujah!
Last Saturday (22 Feb)we had the first, and only, beautiful sunny day for a long time and I hopped into my car and drove down to the beach in Netanya. How good it was to get out of the house and take a stroll along the beach in the glorious sunshine. I was surprised too to see many of the early spring flowers already blooming, especially the almond trees in the hill country and the rotem (white broom) along the coast.
HOPE IN THE DARKNESS
I love the almond trees that always begin to blossom just in the very depths of winter, when everything seems dark and hopeless. They are a reminder that winter will end and spring is on its way. So too it is in the spiritual realm. When I look at the news or even consider all the troubles I and my friends are experiencing these days, all seems dark and heavy. There seems little hope in the world. But as the saying goes, “It is darkest just before dawn”. And here and there there are signs of spring coming. Here in Israel I have been much encouraged of late as more and more Israelis are finding their Messiah. There has never been as much openness to Yeshua as there is today, nor have there ever been so many Jewish believers in Israel.
Jeshua (Jesus) said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Luke 13: 34-35
That day is not far off. It is encouraging to see young Israeli Messianic leaders reaching out to their people with boldness and love sharing the gospel. They are especially making use of film and videos on the Internet. The central organization doing this is called “One for Israel”. Here is one of their videos and I would like to close by sharing it with you:
Finally – in these dark days remember this:Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Romans 8:35-37