And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Luke 2: 8-20
Yesterday we celebrated Christmas. Others will celebrate Christmas on the 6 or 7th January.
I am sure that all my readers are familiar with the passage above which records that angels appeared to the shepherds in the fields just outside Bethlehem and announced the birth of the Messiah. But have you ever wondered why? Why did the angels chose to come to the shepherds, and why these particular shepherds and no others?
To find the answers we can start by going all the way back to the Book of Genesis.
Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, “Don’t despair, for you have another son.” As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni (son of my trouble). But his father named him Benjamin .
So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb.
Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder.…
As I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).
Genesis 35 : 16-21, and 48:7
We see here that Jacob’s wife, Rachel (whose name means ‘ewe’ – a mature female sheep) gave birth to her son Benjamin on the road on the way to Bethlehem (also known as Efrat or Ephrath). Benjamin means ‘son of the right hand’ and his name may be a prophetic allusion to Yeshua, who now stands at God’s right hand (Acts 7:55). Rachel died in childbirth and was buried there.
We see too that Jacob (Israel) pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder ( literally ‘The Tower of the Flock’). Towers were erected around fields as watchtowers to protect the sheep from thieves and predators, such as lions, bears and wolves. (Many of these towers can still be seen around Bethlehem today.) This tower however seems to have been a particular tower known as the Tower of Eder, just outside of Bethlehem, and many see a link between this and the Messianic prophecy in the Book of Michah, which says.
“And you, O tower of the flock,
The stronghold of the daughter of Zion,
To you shall it come,
Even the former dominion shall come,
The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”
Michah 4:8
In the days when Yeshua was born, the fields around Bethlehem were used to raise lambs for the Temple sacrifice. The shepherds who cared for these flocks were not just any shepherds, but priests assigned the critical job of caring for the sacrificial lambs. The lambs chosen for sacrifice had to be perfect, free of any blemish or injury, and they would be wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger to prevent any injury. It is no accident then that the angels announced the birth of the Messiah, the true sacrificial lamb, to these shepherds in the fields of the Tower of Eder outside of Bethlehem. You can see a video about this on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlmnLTCp22k. or on the video below.
It has been a long time since I have posted a blog entry. Somehow life has been full and busy over the past months, and inspiration lacking. However I do aim to rectify this now. There is no way I can address all that has happened in Israel over the past months, but I will try to touch on the main issues facing us now – in no particular order.
New Government.
On 1 November Israel held its 5th General Election in the past 4 years. The previous election had led to the formation of a unity government with a coalition of eight political parties, with the leader of one, Naftali Bennett, and the leader of another, Yair Lapid, becoming alternate prime ministers. In April and May two of their Ministers of Knesset (MKs) resigned leaving them only 59 seats, thus losing their majority. On 20 June, Bennett and Lapid dissolved their government with Lapid acting as interim Prime Minister.
The Election of 1st November once more failed to give any one party an outright victory, but Netanyahu’s Likud Party gained 23.41% of the votes giving him 32 Knesset seats, more than any other party, and consequently he was given the mandate to try and form a coalition with at least the 61 seats needed to form a government. In the succeeding weeks Netanyahu has been frantically negotiating with the other right wing parties, some on the very extreme far-right, to gain his 61 seats. Two days ago, he announced that he had succeeded and on Thursday the 29th , he plans to have his government sworn in.
Normally I do not comment on Israeli politics but the trends we are seeing today are so disturbing that I cannot remain silent and I ask you all to pray for us.
In order to co-opt some of the far-right religious parties Netanyahu has agreed to give them powerful positions, and has promised support for new laws or amendments some of which undermine the existing Basic Law, which is the closest thing Israel has to a Constitution. Some of these amendments threaten minority groups and their rights. Although Netanyahu promises to keep these far-right, religious parties well reigned in, it seems to me unlikely he can do so without bringing down his own government.
Last Friday, 23rd Dec, the Times of Israel published (1) a list of twelve key points of the emerging deals of the incoming coalition and I summarize some of them here:
- The far right Otzmah Yehudit (Jewish Power Party), led by Itamar ben Gvir, is demanding an end to the ban on individuals who incite racism from becoming members of the Knesset. The existing law, introduced in 1985, was used to prevent the racist Kach Party, led by Meir Kahane from returning to parliament. Ben Gvir is a disciple of Kahane.
- The coalition is committed to supporting a reform of the judiciary and in particular introducing a so-called ‘override clause’ which would allow the Knesset to bypass or override any judicial rulings against legislation and government decisions. This would undermine the independence of the Judiciary and the courts, and put the government above the law.
- The United Torah Judaism Party (UTJ) and the Religious Zionism Party have demanded amendments to the law to permit business owners, such as hotels, or others (including doctors) to refuse service on account of their religious beliefs. Under their proposed amendment, a hotel could refuse to host LGBTQ events or a doctor could refuse to treat a transsexual, for example. Though currently aimed to curb the increasing influence of the LGBTQ movement on society, such a law opens the way to discriminate against any event or person who is deemed unacceptable by the ultra-Orthodox community, threatening the freedoms and rights every non-Orthodox group. Such discrimination is illegal under the current law and incurs a large fine. The proposed amendment threatens the existing democratic nature of the State in which all citizens are guaranteed freedom of religion and equal rights.
- According to the draft deal, the United Torah Judaism Party has secured an agreement to allow public funding for gender-segregated events, which the ultra-Orthodox party has claimed is respectful to its deeply religious constituents. Currently such funding would be against the law. This is just one aspect of a slew of demands to tighten Orthodox control over religious institutions and which apply their religious beliefs to civil affairs, education and welfare. They also seek an increase of government funding of religious yeshivot (schools for the study of the Talmud) and the revoking of steps recently made to encourage the conscription of religious youth into the army.
- The current Law of Return permits any Jew or person with at least one grandparent of proven Jewish descent to become an Israeli citizen, so long as they do not practice any other religion. The Religious Zionist Party and the UTJ, want to tighten this law, and eliminate the ‘grandfather clause’, in order to ‘prevent the dilation of the Jewish character of the State’. They will also introduce changes to current law and practice by refusing to recognize conversions carried out by Reform or Conservative Rabbis. These changes would severely limit immigration, especially from Russia, Ukraine and the USA where many of those seeking to come to Israel are the children of mixed marriages, are secular or have been brought up in Reform or Conservative communities.
I could go on, but if you want to know more I recommend you read the article linked (1) below. I should emphasize that none of these things have yet happened and they may not happen, however I raise the concern that the coalition agreements are pulling the State of Israel towards a dark, racist, discriminatory Orthodox theocracy, a kind of Jewish Taliban. Some of these measures could potentially severely affect the freedoms of Christian and Messianic individuals, congregations and organizations, and all minority groups in the Land.
Netanyahu’s government is not waiting to be sworn in but is already changing laws.
Yesterday and today (27-28th Dec), the government voted in favor of 3 amendments or laws promised to Netanyahu’s coalition partners. These are nicknamed, the Deeri Law, The Shmotrich Law and the Ben Gvir Law
The Deeri Law lifts the ban on persons who have served or been given a prison sentence of more than 3 months within the last 7 years from being appointed to the Knesset. The passing of this law yesterday means that the leader of the Shas Party, Arieh Deeri, can now be appointed to the Knesset and be given a Ministerial position in spite of the fact he served a 3-year prison sentence beginning in 2000 for accepting bribes, and was recently indicted for fraud, money laundering and tax evasion. As part of a plea bargain, his charges were dropped to just tax evasion, and he was given a year’s suspended sentence and a fine, on the proviso he resigned from government. This new law means he can now be given a Ministerial position in the government in spite of his criminal acts.
The change in the law would also remove the threat to Netanyahu himself should he be convicted and sentenced for the charges for which he is currently being tried in court.
Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the Deeri Law essentially makes the Knesset “lower the bar regarding membership in the government…The law is a bad law, a bad law that was extorted from the prime minister and damages the value of purity of public service, for personal reasons” (2).
The Smotrich Law creates a new position within the Defense Ministry which, under the terms of the coalition agreements, will put Bezalel Smotrich, the leader of the Religious Zionism Party, control over civil issues in the West Bank, including Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories and the Civil Administration (COGAT). A proponent of expanding the Jewish settlements and annexation, Smotrich will be responsible for the 450,000 Israelis and 300,000 Palestinians living in Judea and Samaria.
The current Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, expressed concern that creating this new position for Smotrich amounts to a “dismantling of the chain of command” that will “harm the functioning of our security system” (2).
The Ben Gvir Law expands the power and changes the title of public security minister to national security minister. The law will make the Israel Police subordinate to the government and give the minister the ability to set policy and decide on investigations. Itamar ben Gvir, the leader of the ultra-far right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) Party will be the first National Security Minister and according to this new law, he will have power over the Israeli Police Force. Otzma Yehudit is the ideological descendant of the outlawed, racist Kach party and it advocates for the deportation of those who they consider to be the “enemies of Israel”. This may sound reasonable but their definition of ‘enemies’ is pretty broad and could well include Arabs, non- Orthodox Jews, Messianic believers and Christians, and other minority groups.
There are many other things I could write about – the Russian-Ukrainian War, the Iranian Threat, Covid-19 and so on – but I will stop here for now in the interests of actually getting this published any time soon. Please keep praying for Israel. We are entering dark days and the mood is somber. May the LORD use this to His glory and may the gospel go forth. I thank Him for the hope He has given us. He will have the last say. As someone once said ” The world is not falling apart, it is just falling into place” and God warned us in his Word that these things must happen before Yeshua returns.
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Matthew 24: 3-14
References:
- https://www.timesofisrael.com/no-ban-on-racist-mks-annexation-yeshiva-funding-11-key-netanyahu-coalition-plans/?utm_source=The+Weekend+Edition&utm_campaign=weekend-edition-2022-12-24&utm_medium=email
- https://allisrael.com/new-government-set-to-swear-in-on-thursday-after-passage-of-two-controversial-laws