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** I counsel you to buy from me salve to put on your eyes,
so you can see" | Update 6 December
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A weekly reflection on current global affairs concerning Israel and
the Jewish people from a Biblical perspective.

Are we looking at the world through worldly eyes, or through God’s eyes?

When we look at Israel and world affairs from a secular perspective, then it is no wonder that we see only endless - and apparently insoluble - confusion and conflict. From a purely secular perspective, informed by the secular media, the modern state of Israel looks (from the outside) a lot like a colonialist enterprise persecuting the miserable Palestinians.

But when we look through the eyes of faith – through the perspective of God’s word – we see a different reality. We can start to see what God is doing. We start to realize that there are miracles going on around us every day. Because we know that God is moving and shaping history (both geopolitical and personal) towards the fulfilment of His purposes.

In the words of Rabbi Pinchas Winston, reported in Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz’s very interesting article on Gog and Magog (below):

“History is coming to an end. The secular world sees time as an endless cycle but the Bible repudiates all that. The Jewish perspective has a definite end-point. That is what the concept of Messiah comes to teach us.”

So our mindset is that we are looking for and believing that God is restoring the people of Israel to the land and that He will intervene and send His anointed One.

In the meantime, yes, we must all work for justice every day. I firmly believe the Palestinians deserve justice, and that we should work for peace and reconciliation. But the reality is complex, and we cannot rely on the secular media for our information or for our sense of direction. There is a spiritual dimension to the conflict. I think the main problem there is no political resolution of the “conflict” is not Israel or the settlements, but those who reject the right of the Jews to exist as a nation, and who seek to oppose the very idea of the Jews living as a people in the land.

This is why it is important that we work as Christians for Israel to support the Jewish people, but also to support Jewish-Arab cooperation, and the best way to do that is to strengthen the Arab-speaking Christians in the land who believe in God’s word, such as Pastors Steven and Naim Khoury in Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

We can’t act in the right way if we don’t first see clearly. As people grounded in the Word, let us look with spiritual eyes, not the eyes of the world.
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Descendants of Gog & Magog Join Russia, Iran in Joint Military Drill
Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz reports: Iran announced last week that they will, for the first time, hold joint war drills with China, and Russia. One rabbi, an end-of-days expert, stated that this will bring together all the elements “to end all of history.” Read more.. ([link removed])


Is ‘East Jerusalem’ Palestinian territory?
There is a lot of confusion about the status of Jerusalem. Few people realize that “East Jerusalem” contains the Old City and the Holy Basin: the location of holy sites vitally important to Jews and Christians. In this article Prof. Avi Bell asks: What country has legal sovereignty over Jerusalem? Israel’s answer is straightforward and well-grounded in international law: the state of Israel. The Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) answer is confused and contemptuous of international law. Read more.. ([link removed])

Turkey's Burgeoning Nuclear Ambitions Raise Concerns
Jonathan Spyer writes about the deep and growing alliance between Turkey and Pakistan. “These concerns regarding a possible emergent Turkey-Pakistan nuclear link exist within the context of an acknowledged emergent strategic alliance between these countries.” Read more.. ([link removed])

Choose not to be a bystander but to confront racism head on:
Rabbi Sacks’ Thought for the Day
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote recently: “A few days ago, two Jewish children were sitting with their parents in a train on the London Underground when a man came up to them and for almost twenty minutes harangued them with antisemitic abuse. Someone intervened but was threatened with violence. Then a young woman confronted the man, and calmly told him what he was doing was wrong. This distracted him and saved the day. It was a heroic act. The hero was a young Muslim woman wearing a hijab. Her name was Asma Shuweikh.” Read more.. ([link removed])


Did British-Israeli Tin Trade Supply Solomon’s Temple?
Dr. James Patrick writes: “Scientists recently found evidence suggesting that Solomon’s Temple may have been built with bronze made from British tin. Late Bronze Age tin ingots found in Israel have been analysed and shown to have originated in the tin mines of Cornwall and Devon.” Read more.. ([link removed])


Support Arab Christians in the land
Life for Christians in Bethlehem is often not easy. There is a high rate of unemployment and poverty among Arab Christians. Christians for Israel supports the First Baptist Church of Rev. Naim Khoury in Bethlehem and his son pastor Steven Khoury and Jerusalem. The members of this church spread the gospel among Arabs and share their love and heart for Israel and the Jewish people. Read more.. ([link removed])

Interview: Jews and Arabs Together – Hope for the Future ([link removed])

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Tulips as a sign of friendship and support

A team of Christians for Israel Netherlands recently visited Israel to distribute one hundred thousand tulip bulbs. It is a sign of friendship and support. In a few months these tulips will blossom as a reminder of their friends in the Netherlands!

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“Focus on the future” -
Video teachings by Rev. Willem J.J. Glashouwer

Rev. Willem Glashouwer helps us understand God’s prophetic word, and how prophecy is being fulfiled in our generation.

Volume 2 episode 5: We have been talking about the last hour of the last days. The last days started when Jesus came to planet Earth. When He came to be the lamb of God, to take upon himself the sins of the world. He promised one day He would come back and one day His Kingdom would go to ends of the world. Since His first coming and His second coming there is a time that the Bible calls the End Times.

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“In the footsteps of Abraham” -
Video teachings by Johannes Gerloff

Watch this series of teachings by Israeli-based Bible teacher and journalist Johannes Gerloff:

Episode 5: All human beings are equal. This is what modern man would like to believe. This is what our culture proclaims. However, God created differences. He loves His creatures to be diverse. And He uses tension to create new things.

Shabbat shalom,

Andrew Tucker
Editor-in-Chief - Israel & Christians Today


** SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK:
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** Revelation 3:14
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^14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. ^15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ^16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ^17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ^18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
^19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. ^20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
^21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. ^22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

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**
Newspaper Israel & Christians Today
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The goal of Israel & Christians Today is to help Christians to take God’s Word seriously, and study current events in the world in the context of the Bible.

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Christians for Israel
P.O. Box 1100
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Tel: +31 33 422 04 05
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** www.c4israel.org ([link removed])
Our mission is to bring Biblical understanding in the Church and among the nations concerning God’s purposes for Israel and to promote comfort of Israel through prayer and action.

Our vision is to establish a global network of Christians having local impact, for the blessing of the nation of Israel, the Jewish people and the Church.

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