I have lived in Israel nearly 40 years and I have loved this nation with all my heart. For the most part I am incredibly proud of what Israel has achieved in the last hundred years or so. However from time to time I am puzzled by some of the things we do, and yes, even ashamed. It does not diminish my love in any degree, any more than a mother ceases to love a disobedient child. But like that mother, I am deeply disturbed when Israel ‘misbehaves’, and I believe that the God of Israel, who loves Israel unconditionally as a father, is also grieved when we do wrong.

Twice God expelled Israel from the Land because of her disobedience, and the main sins He accused us of through the prophets were three – idolatry, corruption, and the oppression of the poor.

Now that the people of Israel are returning to the Land it distresses me that we are still guilty of all these sins. It is true that we do not worship the Baals on the hilltops or burn our children alive to Moloch any more, but there are other forms of idolatry we commit. Many have turned away from the God of Israel and seek after enlightenment through Hindu/New Age practices such as the various forms of meditation and yoga, and many practice occult forms of witchcraft and sorcery, all of which are an abomination to the LORD.

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.  Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,  or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.  Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.  You must be blameless before the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 13: 9-13

Others, rejecting religion, seek only after hedonistic pleasure, sexual abandon and covetous materialism, also a form of idolatry.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.  Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.

Colossians 3: 5-6

This week we were horrified to learn that 12 teenage Israeli boys were arrested for the gang rape of a 19-year-old British woman in Cyprus. Yesterday all 12 were exonerated when the woman admitted that her accusations were false. It would appear that the woman had had consensual sex with three of the boys and when a fourth wanted to have sex with her, she refused and he humiliated her. She had made the accusation of rape in revenge for her humiliation. Today these boys are coming home with big smiles on their faces and, so far anyway, none have expressed regret or shame for their acts. It grieves me that this kind of behavior has become something of the norm amongst our young people. It is the result of the over permissive and indulgent style of parenting that is common in all Western nations today (as a teacher I see this every day), and the rejection of the Biblical moral compass. Too many young people have no respect for themselves as moral creatures made in the image of God, and no respect for their parents or any other authority figure, or even respect for the law. I feel like an old fogey saying such things, and probably our parents said the same about my generation, but this does not detract from its truth. It is sad that our young (and not so young) people seek the cheap thrills of sexual abandon, and hedonistic pleasure, rather than true love.

While the secular often seek only materialistic hedonism, the so-called ‘religious’ practice a works-based religion based more on man-made rules and traditions than on the revealed Word of God. They add to the Torah hundreds of rules and regulations that proscribe every daily action – something God forbade:

See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.

Deuteronomy 12: 32 (in Hebrew Bibles it is chapter 13:1)

It is sad that the tight legalistic world of religion turns so many young people away from the loving God of Israel. No wonder they seek spirituality in New Age practices or happiness in the pursuit of pleasure.

I am also appalled by the rampant corruption and fraudulent dealing in our society and it stretches from the street merchants to the highest levels of leadership and government. It results in the oppression of the poor and much injustice. God warned Israel to repent of these things through the prophets prior to the two great exiles but they did not listen. They paid the price – exile.

For I know how many are your offenses
    and how great your sins.

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes
    and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
 Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times,
    for the times are evil.

 Seek good, not evil,
    that you may live.
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
    just as you say he is.
 Hate evil, love good;
    maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy
    on the remnant of Joseph.

Amos 5: 12-15

There is another sin that I see everyday in Israel these days. It is the sin of arrogance and complacency. We are all very aware of all the threats against us. Every day our enemies boast that they will annihilate Israel. But we proudly assume that God will not allow that to happen. We trust in the power and strength of our army, and that of our friends – especially the USA, to protect us. We glory in our past victories with the assumption that we can beat any enemy because God is with us. I do believe that God is watching over Israel and has even in recent times supernaturally protected us many times over. I believe that no Enemy will have final victory over us but, that said, we must guard our hearts against the sin of presumption. We must remember to give all the glory to God with a spirit of thankfulness. I also believe that because of our sins God will bring a terrible time of judgement on Israel in which all the nations will rise up against us in a great battle for Jerusalem and Judah. This battle will result in tremendous loss of life and bring Israel to her knees. The battle would be lost but at the end God will step in and save Israel, and she will at last recognize her savior, Yeshua, and bow down before him (Zechariah 12, Joel 2, Isaiah 34 etc) . God has promised that no one would be able to stand against Israel but that promise has a condition – obedience:

 If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast to him— then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.  Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea.  No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.

Deuteronomy 11: 22-25

In our society love has grown cold. A headline in a Newsweek article this week read, ” FROM ISRAEL TO THE U.S., COMPASSION IS IN DWINDLING SUPPLY”. Our world is becoming brutalized. We are bombarded every minute of every day with violence, hatred and increasingly evil acts. One way to cope with this onslaught is to harden our hearts. We cease to care and we withhold compassion.  

Several things have happened recently in Israel which demonstrates this. On Monday Israeli security forces demolished 13 buildings with 72 housing units in the Wadi al-Hummus neighborhood of Tsur Baher in East Jerusalem (1). Only two of those homes were occupied and the 17 residents were evicted prior to the demolition. Some of the units were still under construction. I find it hard to understand this action. Israeli sources claim the homes were built too close to the security fence and constituted a security risk. On the other hand, these buildings were constructed with permits obtained legally from the Palestinian Authority, and as far as I know no security incidents had emanated from them. I rather feel that demolishing peoples homes is creating a much greater security risk as it only serves to increase anger and hatred in a neighborhood already known as a hotbed of terror. However I do not know all the political or security arguments for or against. But I do ask, what about the people? Someone had paid for those buildings. Perhaps families had paid for those homes and are now left destitute. Does anyone care?

Marc Schulman, a Newsweek columnist put it this way:

“Monday night, after the buildings were eradicated, the Minister of Security, Gilad Erdan, posted multiple videos proudly showing off how the houses were being blown up. To further darken the picture, a video clip of Israeli soldiers celebrating the successful implosion of the largest building was widely shared. Those demolished buildings were constructed to house people; people who spent their hard-earned money to build new homes for their families”.

“Even if we have the legal right to destroy these buildings, human decency would suggest it only proper to show at least a bit of compassion, perhaps along with some sorrow over these actions that were deemed necessary. For instance — “We are sorry the situation has come to this. We would prefer to be able to build together, instead of having to destroy,” — or literally any statement that shows some sympathy for what the other side has endured “(1).

The following day, Tuesday, Israeli immigration police arrested two Filipino women and their 3 children and held them in a detention cell prior to deportation. Meretz Party chairman, Nitzan Horowitz, was present at the arrest and he tweeted this:”

“These children were born here and their only ‘crime’ was that they were born to a mother from the Philippines,”… “Now the police are packing up their few possessions and outside a few of their friends are standing and crying.”

“Here is such a cruel thing, … They are taking out the mother with tears and her two trembling children [with] two bags with a few clothes. This is how you end someone’s life.”

“They put the children, in total hysteria, into this sealed car, on the way to a detention cell. You can hear the crying and screaming inside.This is what you should do to criminals, not little children. There is no reason in the world to behave like this. It is much more than a shame and disgrace — it is abuse and it must stop.” (2)

Yesterday (29/7) one of the Filipina women arrested a week ago, together with her 11 month old baby, were deported back to the Philippines (3).

In spite of a national outcry against the practice, immigration authorities plan to deport in the coming days at least another 100 foreign workers and their children, most of whom were born in Israel (3). There are some 30,000 Filipino workers in Israel. They come legally to work, mainly caring for the elderly and handicapped, but many do not renew their visas and are classed as illegal over-stayers. 85% of these workers are women and some have given birth to children since their arrival. As a result there are now nearly 1500 Filipino children enrolled in Israeli schools (2). Children born in Israel are only given automatic citizenship if their parents are citizens, therefore these children, who were born and have grown up in Israel, are not considered legal residents.

Forcible deportation is legal but is it fair and morally acceptable, especially when it concerns children who have only known life in Israel and in many cases do not even speak Tagalog (the language of the Philippines)? These Filipino workers take care of our elderly and those with special needs with care and compassion and it is often because of this they chose to stay on when their visas expire, knowing there may not be anyone willing to take their place. They receive only very low wages and work 24/7 often in poor living conditions. Israelis are not willing to do this kind of work, and certainly not for the very low wages they would be paid. Perhaps the solution lies in creating a society that puts a much higher value on such work, and pays it accordingly, so that we do not have to import foreigners to do it for us. However, in the meantime, we owe a debt of gratitude to these workers who look after our needy relatives. Surely there is a better solution than arresting children like criminals and causing them life-long trauma. Where is our compassion?

A few days ago there was another horrifying incident when a squabble over a car park resulted in a man being shot and killed. The victim was Ofir Hasdai (40) and he was trying to park in a disabled parking space at the Ramle Azreli Mall, asked the killer, Victor Katan (74), to move his car that was taking up two parking spaces. Katan’s wife began hitting Ofir over the head with her handbag, and then Katan took out a gun and shot Ofir in the foot and then in the chest killing him in front of his wife and three children. Now Ofir’s wife, Dikla, who suffers from muscular dystrophy is left alone to care for her three daughters, one of whom suffers from cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair and another who also suffers from muscular dystrophy and requires a ventilator (4). I am glad to say that within just 48 hours donors had given 1.7 million shekels (=$US490,000) in a crowd funding platform for the support of the family (5). This shows that there are still many people out there who feel compassion. However the killing of a man over a parking space is a sign of the times. Is it the result of the saturation of our society with violence on the media, the consequence of overcrowding in our cities and the dire lack of parking spaces, or the outworking of the Ugly Israeli syndrome which dictates that if one gives in or cedes to another he or she is considered to be a ‘frier’ (a weak and detestable sucker). The Jerusalem Post put it this way: The incident that unveiled the rude, selfish and lawless Ugly Israeli we routinely meet driving recklessly on the highway, leaving a trail of garbage in the park, or shouting from this end of the airplane to that, also unveiled his inversions, the charitable Israelis who in this case raised NIS 1.7 million in a crowdfunding drive joined within 48 hours by 10,000 people who had never met Ofir or Dikla (5).

Jesus predicted that the time would come when love will grow cold, because of the increase in wickedness in the world.

Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.  At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,  and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.  Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,  but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.  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: 9-14

Jesus as he said this was talking to his disciples and is talking about the church in the end times. He exhorts us to ‘stand firm’ in love until the end. That is our challenge. Will we allow our hearts to be hardened like those in the world around us, or will we draw on his divine resources to withstand that tendency and walk in love by his spirit?

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard

Isaiah 58: 6-8

And through the Prophet, Jeremiah, he warned the leaders of Israel saying,

This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there:  ‘Hear the word of the Lord to you, king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne—you, your officials and your people who come through these gates.  This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.  For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people.  But if you do not obey these commands, declares the Lord, I swear by myself that this palace will become a ruin.’”

Jeremiah 22: 1-5

Prayer points:

  1. Pray against the brutalization of our society, that we will maintain compassion and righteousness action according to the will of God. Pray that the people will turn to their God and for a spiritual restoration, through Yeshua (Jesus), of Godly moral values.
  2. Pray for righteous government that will lead us to a more just and righteous society. The party lists are now closed as we approach the new elections scheduled for 17 September. When God chose David to be king over Israel he instructed Samuel thus “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” I Samuel 16: 7.
  3. Continue praying for our security – the situation in Iran, with Hezbollah in the north and Hamas in the south and east continues to threaten our safety and very existence. The tension is still ramping up a notch pretty much every day. Pray too for the safety of our soldiers, police and border guards who every day put their lives on the line. Three Israeli soldiers were injured by an infiltrator from Gaza this week. Pray for their recovery.
  4. Pray for the health and growth of the Messianic Body here in Israel, especially for local congregations. Pray for protection from, and the strength to withstand, the spiritual intensity of the attacks from the Enemy. Pray especially against deception and false teachings. Pray that the Lord will add to our number and that we can communicate the good news that is in Yeshua to the lost people around us.
  5. Pray for protection from wildfires and arson. The last couple of weeks have seen more homes being destroyed by wildfires. We still have several months of hot, dry weather before us and as the Autumn equinox approaches the sharav season begins. The sharav is a strong hot, ultra-dry East or SE wind from the desert. This is the most dangerous time for fires. We’ve already had one unseasonably early sharav.

REFERENCES:

  1. https://www.newsweek.com/israel-palestine-demolitions-border-compassion-1451145
  2. https://www.timesofisrael.com/2-filipino-women-3-children-arrested-in-immigration-crackdown/
  3. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5559615,00.html
  4. https://www.timesofisrael.com/over-nis-300000-raised-for-disabled-wife-kids-of-man-killed-in-parking-dispute/
  5. https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Middle-Israel-Murder-in-the-heartland-597433