My perspectives on Israel and the Bible

Tag: almond blossom

WHEN THE ALMOND BLOSSOMS

 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a rod of almond.”  Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”

Jeremiah 1: 11-12 RSV

 וַיְהִ֤י דְבַר־יְהוָה֙ אֵלַ֣י לֵאמֹ֔ר מָה־אַתָּ֥ה רֹאֶ֖ה יִרְמְיָ֑הוּ וָאֹמַ֕ר מַקֵּ֥ל שָׁקֵ֖ד אֲנִ֥י רֹאֶֽה׃

וַיֹּ֧אמֶר יְהוָ֛ה אֵלַ֖י הֵיטַ֣בְתָּ לִרְא֑וֹת כִּֽי־שֹׁקֵ֥ד אֲנִ֛י עַל־דְּבָרִ֖י לַעֲשֹׂתֽוֹ׃

In Hebrew there is a word play in this passage. The word for almond “shaked” has the same root as the verb “shoked”, here translated as “I am watching over…”. The verb ‘shoked’ carries the meaning to be watchful, wakeful and diligently watching over something. It has a stronger meaning than merely ‘watching over’. It is more active and has the connotation of diligent perseverance and determination. God is always diligently acting to bring his word to pass.

Thus the almond is a symbol of God’s faithfulness in fulfilling his word. The almond is the first tree to blossom in Israel, usually in February which is the coldest and wettest month of the year. It can even sometimes be seen flowering as snow falls here in the mountains of Judah. As I am writing the almonds are blossoming in the hills all around. They are a much loved sight, not the least because they are the first sign of the coming spring.

Almond blossoms in the snow in Jerusalem, 2 March 2014

It is encouraging that especially at the darkest, winter times in our lives we can remember the promise of the flowering almond. God is faithful and spring will come. Whatever we are going through it will come to an end at some time.

God spoke these words to the prophet Jeremiah just as he was about to send the nations of the north to invade Judah.

The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.”  Then the Lord said to me, “Out of the north evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.  For lo, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord; and they shall come and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls round about, and against all the cities of Judah.

Jeremiah 1: 13-15

From our point in history we know that everything that God prophesied concerning the coming invasion of Judah and their exile to Babylon came to pass. We know too that God’s promise of restoration also came to pass when the exiles returned from Babylon, and in our own day as well.

There is a sense today among Messianic believers in Israel that God is doing a new thing here. We are seeing an openness to Yeshua and the good news of salvation unlike anything we have seen before. It is exciting and not a little daunting too. Just as the almond blossoms just when things are darkest, so too will the ‘blossoming’ of the ‘good news’ be. Sometimes it is at the darkest times when men and women call out upon the name of God. You don’t have to look far to see that we are living in very dark times, a time of wars, famines and plagues. It is frightening but we can be assured of God’s promises, according to the testimony of the almond.

Almonds in flower at Ein Sataf, near Jerusalem

There is another reference to almonds in the book of Numbers. After the rebellion of the Korah against Moses and Aaron, the people of Israel still murmured against Moses because God’s wrath had broken out and destroyed the rebels. To settle the dispute God told Moses to instruct the leaders of each of the 12 tribes to bring a rod and Moses put them into the Tabernacle.

Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds.  Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the children of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.

Numbers 17: 8-9

 וַיְהִ֣י מִֽמָּחֳרָ֗ת וַיָּבֹ֤א מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־אֹ֣הֶל הָעֵד֔וּת וְהִנֵּ֛ה פָּרַ֥ח מַטֵּֽה־אַהֲרֹ֖ן לְבֵ֣ית לֵוִ֑י וַיֹּ֤צֵֽא פֶ֙רַח֙ וַיָּ֣צֵֽץ צִ֔יץ וַיִּגְמֹ֖ל שְׁקֵדִֽים׃

Numbers 17:23 in Hebrew

Thus God used the almond to confirm the authority of Aaron as a priest of the house of Levi. It was clearly supernatural as the rod of Aaron sprouted, made buds , flowered and yielded ripe fruit in just one night, a process that usually takes around 6 months.

Almond blossoms, Ein Sataf, Feb 2013

This incident occurred, as I said, after the people had risen up in rebellion against the authority of Moses and Aaron. Immediately after the death of the leaders of the rebellion, the people continued to murmur against Moses and Aaron, and God was about to break out upon them to consume them. However Moses quickly instructed Aaron to make atonement for the people “for wrath has gone forth from the Lord and the plague has begun“, and indeed the plague had already begun among the people, and already 14,700 had died. Aaron made atonement and stood between the dead and the living and the plague was stopped.

41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the people of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord.” 42 And when the congregation had assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting; and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. 43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, 44 and the Lord said to Moses, 45 “Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces. 46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone forth from the Lord, the plague has begun.” 47 So Aaron took it as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had already begun among the people; and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stopped. 49 Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the affair of Korah. 50 And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, when the plague was stopped

Numbers 16 : 41-50

Today the world is facing the outbreak of a plague, covid-19 a virulent coronavirus, that could if it continues to spread could kill thousands, if not millions, and bring the world economy to its knees. The question is, will it bring the saints of God to their knees. Aaron made atonement by carrying the censer of incense amongst the people, standing between the living and the dead, and the plague was stopped. Today we do not have a Levitical priesthood nor do we usually make use of incense in this way, but in the book of Revelation we see that the angels of heaven mingle incense with the prayers of the saints.

And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne;  and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God.

Revelation 8: 3-4

I believe that the saints of God in the present time are a holy priesthood, with the calling and authority to stand between the people and the wrath of God.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen

Revelation 1: 5-6

Furthermore, God said

When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 

II Chronicles 7:13-14

As priests of the living God, by right of the shed blood of Yeshua for atonement, those who are called God’s people have the calling and authority to pray for the people. If we are faithful to do so, perhaps the plague will be stopped and the lands healed. I am always reluctant to blame natural disasters on the wrath of God, but in the Bible we see that God often uses natural disasters to judge nations for their rebellion against him. On the other hand, God also uses natural disasters to remind people of His awesome power, His justice and righteousness, and of their own mortality. Pray that in these dark times people will call out and turn to their God and be healed, not only physically, but spiritually also.

WAS YESHUA RIGHT WING?

This brings me to comment on something that has been bothering me for a while and that is the question of our priorities as believers in Yeshua. This issue was highlighted for me by an article that appeared in a major online Israeli newspaper this week, entitled “Evangelicals to the Left, Iran to the Right” (1), a somewhat confusing title since the article was about the support of evangelical Christianity for the political right in the USA, and especially for President Trump. I feel the politicization of evangelical Christianity, especially as is occurring in the USA, is a big mistake. It is also rampant here in Israel, where a very large majority of Messianic believers support the right and Prime Minister Netanyahu. If your political leanings are towards the left you are almost considered heretic. If evangelical believers identify with the right they automatically alienate those who have different views. Although the individual is entitled to his or her political alliances, it is dangerous for the Christian or Messianic faith to be identified on political grounds. We need to be able to speak to all men and woman and to do this we need to be apolitical.

The same is true for those who fanatically support Israel no matter what Israel does. They automatically alienate Palestinians. We need to remember that the gospel is for all men equally. Yeshua was very careful not to get involved in political struggles during his time on Earth. He spoke out against injustice and the hypocrisy of the ruling authorities, and taught us to pray for our leaders, but he did not busy himself with wielding political power, but He kept his focus on his primary task, the salvation of individuals. I believe that this should be our focus also.

ITS STILL RAINING

We are all wondering when it is ever going to stop raining. It seems to have been raining nonstop all winter. This very unusual for us. Normally we will get a day or two of rain followed by several days of glorious sunshine. I cannot remember a winter as wet as this one. It is a bit depressing and we are all starting to grumble. However whenever I begin to complain I remember two things, the grumbling of the people of Israel as they travelled around the wilderness of Sinai and how it displeased God, bringing his judgement upon them, and secondly I think of the refugees, especially those from the Syrian province of Idlib, many of whom are sleeping out, under trees, without even a tent. It is very cold up there, with temperatures below zero at night, and many children and old people are dying from the cold. I cannot imagine what they are going through. I go to bed every night thanking God for the rain, since we need every drop, and also for my warm, dry, house and cosy bed. I have no right to complain and every reason to be very thankful. Still I am looking forward to spring if it is only to be able to get out and about to see the glorious spring flowers which already adorn the land. They will be especially luxuriant this year thanks to the rain.

ROCKETS FROM GAZA AGAIN

Over the last 48 hours or so we have had rain of another kind as some 100 rockets were fired into our southern communities by the Islamic Jihad in Gaza. Some 90% of these rockets were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome system. There we no serious casualties but some property damage to a home and a children’s public playground. Southern residents from Ashkelon south were advised to stay in their bomb shelters. Schools and businesses were closed, many major roads blocked and the train service to the area halted, all causing much disruption to everyday life and the economy of the region. Yesterday the Islamic Jihad called a truce and an uneasy calm is being restored. Life in the south is slowly returning to ‘normal’, though it is truly far from what most of us would consider normal. The people in the south have lived for many years now with these repeating rounds of rocket fire, and incendiary and explosive balloons. They are calling for the government to take stronger action to stop it, but with no government currently any changes of policy are stalled even if the politicians had a better solution, which no one seems to have.

This barrage of rocket fire was the reaction of Islamic Jihad to the killing by the IDF of one of its operatives as he was laying a bomb by the border fence. According to IJ the IDF dishonored the body by scooping it up in a tractor scoop and carrying it into Israel, with the intention of using it as a bargaining chip to gain the release of Israelis, both living and dead, currently being held in the Strip. I can sort of understand the Islamic Jihad reaction. The sight of this tractor scooping up the dead body was somewhat shocking and it seems to me unnecessarily offensive.

As was said in the Haaretz newspaper (4) “Every Israeli ought to be worried by the video clip of an army bulldozer dragging the body of a Palestinian who was killed by Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip. This isn’t the behavior of an army that is strict about upholding purity of arms and claims to exemplify morality in combat.”

I am an Israeli and I love Israel and support her in every way I can, but that does not mean I support everything Israel does. True love is not blind. I don’t think this atrocity was in any way justified by the situation. May God forgive us and may we in future live up to our oft-repeated claim of having the most moral army on earth. Pray for us that we will not stoop to the level of our enemies, even during war, and that we may uphold God’s holiness as an example to the world.

I suppose I cannot finish this blog without a mention of the upcoming election, our third in a year! I feel that most Israelis think the situation is rather hopeless. Polls indicate that the outcome is likely to be similar to the last time around, with the Blue and White Party lead by Benny Gantz winning a few more seats than Netanyahu’s Likud Party, but neither party being able to garner enough seats to form a government. Will they agree to forming a broad-based coalition between Likud and the Blue and White Party? It seems unlikely after all the insults and mudslinging both sides have indulged in during their campaigns. Will we have a 4th round of elections? Well we will see next Tuesday. Please pray that somehow we can have a righteous and effective government put in place. That would take a mighty miracle, but this is the land of miracles after all.

  1. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/SkFIq00u78 politicization of evangelical christianity
  2. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/BkePPf11E8 Sderot home hit by missile fire
  3. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r1aCOSfVI truce holding
  4. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/editorial/collecting-bodies-1.8586221

LATTER RAIN

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.

Ein Hemed stream 1.02.20

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.

Image result for image trump deal of century map
https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/map_deal_century_of_palestine_israel_hi_res_1.png

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.

Almond blossom

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

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