I counsel you to buy from me salve to put on your eyes,
so you can see" | Update 6 December
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.
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..
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..
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..
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..
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..
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..
Interview: Jews and Arabs Together – Hope for the Future
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