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