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COVENANT
G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days
Baruch Battelstein
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© Copyright 2005 - Baruch Battelstein
All rights reserved. This book is protected under the copyright laws. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations or occasional page copying for personal or group study is permitted and encouraged. Permission will be granted upon request. Scripture quotations are from Judaic Classics JP Tanach w/Rashi, CD-ROM, Davka Corporation, Copyright 1999 by Davka and Judaica Press. Take note that the name satan and related names are not capitalized. We choose not to acknowledge him, even to the point of violating grammatical rules.
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DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to all the people in Israel who are crying out, be they young or old, whose hearts have been broken by those who are seeking to separate the Jewish people from their inheritance in the land of Israel. These are the ones who, by choosing to follow G-d’s way, have put their lives and the lives of their families at risk. Let these words comfort your heart. “…I call out to You when my heart becomes faint; on the rock that is higher than I, You lead me” (Psalm 61:3). This book is dedicated to all the friends of Israel in America and throughout the world who fear G-d, not man, be they Jewish or Christian; who believe that G-d’s covenant with Israel, regarding the land, is everlasting; who are willing to stand on the word of G-d even when the world leaders and world powers are seeking to divide the land of Israel in order to remove the Jewish people from their eternal inheritance—promised by G-d. Let the following be an encouragement. “You have given those who fear You trials with which to be tested, in order to beautify [Your behavior] forever” (Psalm 60:6). This book is dedicated to all the people in Israel and throughout the world who believe that the G-d of Israel is a covenantmaking, covenant-keeping G-d. It is dedicated to those who have chosen to stand on G-d’s promises regardless of the leaders, nations, religions, or powers who are seeking to lead the Jewish people away from their G-d and away from His everlasting covenant with them. May His words strengthen your belief.
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Remember that “G-d spoke one thing, I heard two, for G-d has strength. And You, O Lord, have kindness, for You repay a man according to his deed” (Psalm 62:12-13). This book is dedicated to all the people in Israel and throughout the world who believe that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel; that Jerusalem must never be divided and given over to a foreign god; that Jerusalem is the place where the Messiah will return to rule and reign and dwell among His people forever saying, “You shall be My people, and I am your G-d!” Continue to know and believe: “Only He is my Rock and my salvation; my stronghold, I shall not falter” (Psalm 62:7).
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book could not have been written without the continuous and fervent prayers of my wife. Her support and encouragement, coupled with her skills, brought form, structure, and life to this book. Her love and her prayers literally birthed this book. I give praise to my Lord that He gave me a wife like the one King Solomon wrote about: A woman of valor who can find, for her price is beyond pearls. …Her children rise and call her fortunate; [also] her husband, and praises her. “Many women have acquired wealth, but you surpass them all.” Charm is false and beauty is futile; a G-d-fearing woman is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and her deeds will praise her in the gates (Proverbs 31:10, 28-31). My most sincere and grateful appreciation goes to David, not only a great friend and brother, but one who also has such a wonderful heart and mind for the word of G-d. Your help and assistance in the editing of this work has been a great blessing to us, as well as to all those who will read it. My appreciation is extended to Earl, a special friend, for his support in editing as well. To my dear friend Ferro, whose mind and hands work as no other whom I know. I thank you for using the inspiration that the Lord gave you to create the artwork for the book. Your work will bless the reader by bringing vision to the text and causing their spirits to leap within them.
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To all of my dear friends who have prayed for the Spirit of G-d to lead me in the writing of this book, I say thank you. To those friends who have lifted up their prayers to G-d on behalf of His people here in Israel and who interceded before the Lord daily to remember His covenant with the descendants of Abraham, the Jewish people, and for those who have prayed for the peace of Jerusalem, I say: May the Lord greatly bless you. Most of all, to the One True Living G-d, the Holy One of Israel, I praise You and thank You for putting in my heart Your strong desire to write this book so that others may also come to the truth of Your plan for Your people, and Your land, and for Jerusalem in the last days. You gave me the pen of a ready writer so I could declare Your faithfulness to this generation and those who will follow for a time such as this.
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CONTENTS
One
Two
G-d, Covenant-Maker and Covenant-Keeper..................1
Four
A Covenant With Death and a Pact With Hell ............21
Three
The G-d of Israel and the Land of Israel......................11
Five
That the Name of Israel Be Remembered No More....33
Six
I Will Bless Those Who Bless Thee; I Will Curse Those Who Curse Thee ............................................................41
Seven
These Two Lands Will Be Mine ....................................49
Nine
Jerusalem—A Cup of Trembling ..................................67
Eleven
I Will Bring You Into the Bond of the Covenant ........93
Eight
Prophesy Unto the Mountains of Israel ......................59
Ten
Rend Your Hearts, Not Your Garments ......................85
Twelve
A New Covenant ............................................................99 A Book of Remembrance Was Written Before Him ..105
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PROLOGUE
In July 2005, Israel is a nation that has come to a historic “fork in the road.” All Israelis must choose the fork upon which they will travel. There are two forks: the one straight ahead with the road sign that reads: “G-d’s Way!” and the other fork, to the left, which reads: “Man’s Way!” The road sign that reads “Man’s Way” has a doctrine that is being espoused in Israel, and it is called the doctrine of “No Choice.” Its mantra is “Peace at any price!” The doctrine of “No Choice” is very strong in Israel. One of the primary tenets of this doctrine is that everything is negotiable: the land, Judea and Samaria, East Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, and possibly even Tel Aviv and Haifa. To those who have chosen this road, nothing is holy—“Peace at any price!” Those walking this road according to its doctrine believe and espouse that Israel must be willing to give over most of her inheritance promised by G-d. They are like Esau, who gave up his G-d-given inheritance for a pot of soup. The peoples’ voices of “No Choice” declare, “There is ‘No Choice’ but to remove the Jewish people from their inheritance in Gaza because there is no possible way to continue defending the people living there.” America is demanding that Israel retreat. The Quartet of nations is demanding it. Both the U.N. and the E.U. have declared their support for Israel’s withdrawal; Israel’s own government and her own leaders have mandated it.
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Those who espouse the doctrine of “No Choice” will declare next that Israel must give over her inheritance on the “mountains of Israel,” Judea and Samaria, and in East Jerusalem to a foreign god, because there is “No Choice.” Why does Israel have “No Choice”? Because America is demanding that Israel returns to the “Auschwitz borders” of 1949! Therefore, Israel has “No Choice.” The people of Israel must be obedient to their American masters and to the leaders in Israel who declare, “We have ‘No Choice.’ We must do whatever they demand because if we lose American support, Israel is doomed. Without America, how could Israel possibly survive as a nation?” The advocates of “No Choice” will declare that unless Israel forsakes and gives over her covenant-promised land, America will abandon Israel, the unholy U.N. will announce a trade embargo on Israel, the E.U. and all the nations of the world will support it enthusiastically, and Israel will be brought to her knees economically and die. By the grace of G-d there is a remnant in Israel who believe they do have a choice, and that choice is choosing the fork in the road that says, “G-d’s Way!” They understand that they will be labeled extremists—like the settlers, who are being threatened with forcible removal from their homes in Gaza—because they have chosen “G-d’s Way,” rather than man’s way. So be it! The remnant has made a clear choice. They have turned to their G-d, the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, I exhort the remnant, “Let Him fight for you and save you from all your enemies.” As in the days of Jehoshaphat, G-d will fight for Israel when we call upon His Great and Holy Name, and He will prevail. He is our G-d and we are His people, and we do have a choice to stand upon His covenant promises regarding the land of Israel and Jerusalem. If all those in Israel who believe in Him will stand in the gap, before the Lord G-d of Israel, and cry out to Him, He will defend His holy Name; He will remember His holy covenant with Abraham regarding the land; He will reclaim His holy city, Jerusalem, rebuild His Holy Temple, and redeem His people, because He is the covenant-making, covenant-keeping G-d of Israel. To each one who has the courage to choose to follow “G-d’s Way,” you will be as the Psalmist:
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The kindnesses of the Lord I shall sing forever; to generation after generation I shall make known Your faithfulness, with my mouth (Psalm 89:2). These very words of the Psalmist express most vividly the heart of this book that you are about to read. Our G-d is a merciful G-d and He is faithful to keep His word to all generations. This book will bring you to the “fork in the road” in your life. You will understand that no power on earth or in heaven can stop the horrendous events that are about to take place upon the earth. Israel will be at the epicenter of these events, which were prophesied long ago in the Tanach (Bible). As we approach the time of testing and calamity, we will each have to choose which fork we will take. The cry of this author’s heart is that the words will leap off the pages of this book and into your hearts to set them on fire for G-d. I pray that your heart and mind will become desirous as never before to return to Him and seek His face with great fervency, and that your hunger in the days ahead will be for Him and His word. The Lord tells us in Lamentations: “Verily, the kindnesses of the Lord never cease! Indeed, His mercies never fail! They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). This book was written to encourage you to choose the fork in the road that leads to everlasting life, and not the one that leads to shame and everlasting contempt. In the Book of Daniel we find the words: “...the people that knows its G-d will adhere and perform. And the wise will shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who bring the multitudes to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 11:32b; 12:3).
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By Mediaware. Used by permission.
C
The Map of Israel Today
C
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Chapter One
G-D, COVENANT-MAKER COVENANT-KEEPER
AND
The Jewish people should be like the many other ethnic peoples who have been lost in human history, having vanished with the wind in the sands of time. History reveals that in the year 70 C.E., the Romans besieged Jerusalem and destroyed the city and the temple, killing a million Jews and dispersing those who were left throughout the nations. For almost 1,900 years Israel ceased to exist as a nation. The Jews were expelled from their native homeland and scattered throughout the nations as aliens. They were persecuted, reviled, and hated wherever they sought refuge. Have any people or nation on earth ever been physically removed from their native land for 1,900 years and survived as a people? Has any group of people ever sojourned as aliens among the nations of the earth and yet maintained their native language, culture, heritage, and traditions for thousands of years? It was impossible—apart from G-d. By the mighty hand of the G-d of Israel, the Jewish people, generation after generation, maintained their bloodlines, their heritage and culture, and survived as a distinct people. In May of 1948, an event unparalleled in all of human history took place. The nation of Israel was resurrected from the ashes of history and once again became a nation among nations. 1
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days
HOW COULD
THE IMPOSSIBLE
BECOME POSSIBLE?
There is absolutely no human explanation or human understanding for the resurrection of the nation of Israel. Yet, in G-d’s eyes, nothing is impossible when it is based upon His covenant promises! And I will establish My covenant between Me and between you and between your seed after you throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant, to be to you for a G-d and to your seed after you. And I will give you and your seed after you the land of your sojournings, the entire land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be to them for a G-d (Genesis 17:7-8). In these verses are key words and phrases that reveal the very character and nature of the G-d of Israel and how He is the keeper of His covenant with Abraham’s descendants:
C “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and your seed [descendants] after you throughout their generations”
C “As an everlasting covenant” C To be G-d to you and to your seed after you” C “I will give unto you and your seed after you” C “All the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession” C “I will be their G-d” Not one word in this covenant promise is conditioned upon Israel’s faithfulness—rather it is based upon the fact that G-d does not change and is always faithful to fulfill His covenant promises.
G-D’S UNCONDITIONAL, EVERLASTING COVENANT WITH ISRAEL
C G-d is the maker and keeper of this covenant with Abraham and his descendants.
C It is an everlasting, unbreakable covenant. C I will be G-d to you and to your offspring forever. C I, G-d, will give all of the land of Canaan to you and your descendants as an everlasting possession. 2
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G-d, Covenant-Maker and Covenant-Keeper
C There is a physical and spiritual connection ordained by G-d for all eternity between the land of Canaan (Israel), and the Jewish people.
LOOK, YOU HAVE GIVEN ME NO OFFSPRING!
In these words we will examine how G-d’s covenant promise to give Abram a son revealed the grace and mercy of the Lord toward Abram and his descendants. And Abram said, “Behold, You have given me no seed, and behold, one of my household will inherit me” (Genesis 15:3). True faith persists before the Lord until the promise is fulfilled. Faith involves believing what we cannot yet see in the natural, but knowing in our hearts it will come to pass because it is based upon a promise from G-d. Abram lived before the law was given, and it is his faith and his obedience that are our examples to this very day. G-d knew He would give Abram a son. G-d was waiting for Abram’s heart and character to mature to the point where he would persist before the Lord until the promised son from Sarah would be given to him.
DELAYED PROMISES WILL EITHER DIMINISH FAITH STRENGTHEN FAITH!
OR
When Abram persisted before the Lord, he was not expressing unbelief, but rather his abiding faith that G-d would do exactly what He promised He would do. Seeing Abram’s heart and his faith, G-d affirmed the promise once again. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one [Ishmael] will not inherit you, but the one who will spring from your innards—he [Isaac] will inherit you (Genesis 15:4). The Lord told Abram to look up into the heavens and “count the stars, if you are able to count them.…So will be your seed” (Genesis 15:5). The words then came that changed human history: And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). 3
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days It was Abram’s belief, his faith in G-d’s word spoken to him, that was accounted as righteousness unto him—not the law, because the law had not yet been given. This covenant expressed G-d’s grace and the promise that He would forever honor His word. It was because the Lord remembered this covenant of grace that He brought the Jewish people out of bondage and slavery in Egypt after 400 years as was prophesied to Abram at the time that G-d made the covenant with him. G-d heard their cry, and G-d remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And G-d saw the children of Israel, and G-d knew (Exodus 2:24-25). This defining moment established the pattern of faith exemplified in the rest of the Tanach (Bible). It established the pattern for the Jewish people for all time, in all cases, under all circumstances. Faith is based not on the information we have about G-d, but rather on our belief in the absolute reliability of G-d’s promises to His people, expressed to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel, and all the other prophets in the Tanach (Bible). This faith did not come easily or quickly to Abraham. He had to spend many years walking before the Lord before He gave him Isaac. The Lord had determined to develop Abraham’s faith to the point where He could entrust to him a level of intimacy and personal relationship given to no other person before this in all of creation. How long would you wait for the Lord to fulfill His promise to you? Do you walk by faith like Abraham, or strictly by the law? If you are Jewish and your walk is solely based on the law, then you must grow in your relationship with the Lord and develop an intimate relationship with Him, so your faith becomes so strong that you will wait for Him and believe He will always do what He promised. For the Jewish people, observing the law is an important part of our daily walk with the Lord, but our faith is what enables us to believe that He will never forget His covenant promises. 4
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G-d, Covenant-Maker and Covenant-Keeper
G-D’S GRACE
HE REMEMBERED HIS COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM HIS DESCENDANTS!
AND
Would the Lord remember His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob after He scattered Israel among the nations for 1,900 plus years? As we closely examine Scripture, we find that often there are many years, sometimes thousands of years, that separate the words of promise or prophecy and the actual fulfillment of that word. We observe that it was G-d’s purpose and time for His prophetic word to be fulfilled when on May 14, 1948, after bringing His people out of the nations unto which He had scattered them and placing them in the land He had promised them as an everlasting possession, He brought forth the nation of Israel.
THE DRY BONES
Can dry bones be covered with new skin and can the breath of life come once again into a re-formed, revived body? Could the remnant of the house of Israel, the survivors of the holocaust who were literally walking skeletons, weak, completely cut off, helpless, with one foot in the grave, miraculously rise up after 1,900 years to become a nation on the very land promised to them by the G-d of Israel? Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. Behold they say, ‘Our bones have become dried up, our hope is lost, we are clean cut off to ourselves.’ Therefore, prophesy and say to them, So says the Lord G-d: Lo! I open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves as My people, and bring you home to the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and lead you up out of your graves as My people. And I will put My spirit into you, and you shall live, and I will set you on your land, and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and have performed it,” says the Lord (Ezekiel 37:11-14). These prophetic verses, written more than 2,500 years ago by the prophet Ezekiel, pointed to the time ordained by G-d for the rebirth of the nation of Israel. 5
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days WHO ARE THESE DRY BONES?
The verses tell us clearly who the dry bones are: “These bones are all the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 37:11). The Lord says to Ezekiel, “Prophesy and say to them, so says the Lord G-d” (Ezekiel 37:12). Ezekiel is told to speak to the surviving remnant of the 6 million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis.
TO WHERE WILL
THE
LORD BRING HIS PEOPLE?
What does Ezekiel say to them? “Lo! I open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves as My people, and bring you home to the land of Israel” (Ezekiel 37:12). How can this be possible? For 1,900 years there was no “land of Israel.” It did not exist. Yet He told the prophet Ezekiel to speak forth these words because “in G-d’s eyes,” the nation of Israel never ceased from being a nation before Him. Notice the Lord did not prophesy that He was going to bring His people back to the “land of Palestine,” but rather to the “land of Israel.”
THE GRACE
AND
MERCY
OF
G-D
Then the verses tell us that the G-d of Israel wants His people to recognize and know that He is the one who caused them to come up out of their graves. He is the one who put His Spirit into them, and He is the one who put breath in them for one purpose—to bring them to the land of Israel, to set them on their own soil once again! After 1,900 years G-d remembered His covenant with Abraham and his descendants, “to set them on their own soil again.” Then, and only then, says the G-d of Israel to His people, “You shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and have performed it” (Ezekiel 37:14).
I WILL MAKE THEM INTO ONE NATION
IN THE
LAND
And say to them, So says the Lord G-d: Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side, and I will bring them to their land. And I will make them into one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be to them all as a king; and they shall no longer be two nations, 6
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G-d, Covenant-Maker and Covenant-Keeper neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms anymore (Ezekiel 37:21-22). It was by the grace and mercy of G-d that He remembered His covenant promise to Abraham and His descendants. Interestingly, these verses reveal that it was the will of the Lord to bring them to their own land and make them one nation in the land. Since the rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948, by the mighty hand of G-d, some 6 million Jewish people have been gathered from the four corners of the earth, from among the nations to which they had been scattered at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple, and brought back to their land, the land of Israel—just as the word of the Lord declared! Was May 14, 1948, chosen by G-d as the exact day in time to resurrect the nation of Israel, or was it just some random date in human history? Could it be possible that this exact date was prophesied thousands of years before in Scripture? Not one word of Scripture is without eternal meaning and purpose. In the Book of Leviticus we find the prophecy of how the Lord would punish Israel seven times for her sins against Him: And if, through these, you will still not be chastised [to return] to Me, and if you [continue to] treat Me happenstance, then I too, will treat you as happenstance. I will again add seven punishments for your sins (Leviticus 26:23-24). As a stand-alone verse this is very strange, and when applying it to the history of Israel it seems impossible to fully understand. However, when we read the Book of Ezekiel we find another strange prophecy that leads us back to G-d’s prophecy in Leviticus. It is through these prophecies that we come to an understanding that May 14, 1948, was the exact date chosen by G-d for the resurrection of Israel thousands of years before it took place.
ATONEMENT
FOR THE INIQUITY OF THE OF ISRAEL
SINS
OF THE
HOUSE
Ezekiel is commanded by G-d: And you shall lie on your left side, and you shall place the iniquity of the house of Israel through it; the number of the days that you shall lie on it, you will bear their iniquity. Now 7
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days I have given you the years of their iniquity by the number of days, three hundred and ninety days, and you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when you complete these, you shall lie on your right side a second time, and you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; forty days, a day for a year, a day for a year, I have given it to you (Ezekiel 4:4-6). In this strange prophecy, Ezekiel is commanded to first lay on his left side for 390 days and then on his right side for 40 days, for a total of 430 days, as punishment for the iniquities of the house of Israel. We are told that this punishment represents one day for each year. Taken alone, the prophecies in Leviticus and Ezekiel do not take on any specific significance. However, when we combine them, the results are astonishing: Ezekiel 4:5—Lie on his left side = 390 days Ezekiel 4:6—Lie on his right side = 40 days Add those together: 390 + 40 = 430 days G-d decreed to Israel a total of 430 years of punishment for her sins against Him. That punishment consisted of physical removal from the land G-d had promised His people. Israel’s captivity in Babylon was exactly 70 years as prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10). Therefore, the first 70 years of Israel’s punishment was completed when the Babylonian captivity ended. By the decree of King Cyrus, conqueror of Babylon, the Jews were set free from their captivity in the year 538 B.C.E. The year 538 B.C.E., therefore, becomes the base year with which we begin our calculations: 430 years - 70 years captivity = 360 years of remaining punishment to come. Remember the prophecy in Leviticus: And if, through these, you will still not be chastised [to return] to Me, and if you [continue to] treat Me happenstance, then I too, will treat you as happenstance. I will again add seven punishments for your sins (Leviticus 26:23-24). 8
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G-d, Covenant-Maker and Covenant-Keeper 360 years of coming punishment x 7 (Israel must pay 7 times for her sins) = 2,520 years
CALCULATIONS:
2,520 years x 360 days (Jewish calendar is a 360-day calendar)= 907,200 days Conversion to actual years: 907,200 days/365-day calendar = 2,485 years and 5 months or 2,485.5 years and months 2,485.5 years - 538 B.C.E. = 1,947 years and 5 months There is no year “0.” Consequently, from the end of year 1 B.C.E., the following year is 1 C.E. So we must call the year “0,” year 1 C.E., and in turn, the year 1 we must call year 2 C.E. and so on forward. Therefore, the year 1,947.5 we call the year 1948.5. So exactly 1,947.5 years after 538 B.C.E., we come to the year 1948.5. May is the fifth month of the modern calendar, and on May 14, 1948, Israel arose from the ashes of extinction to become a nation! G-d’s prophetic word is precise down to the exact day. These prophecies declare that our G-d is outside of time. He knows the end from the beginning. Remember the first things of old, that I am G-d and there is no other; I am G-d and there is none like Me. [I] tell the end from the beginning, and from before, what was not done; [I] say, “My counsel shall stand, and all My desire I will do” (Isaiah 46:9-10).
9
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Chapter Two
THE G-D OF ISRAEL AND LAND OF ISRAEL
THE
As we have learned, the G-d of Israel is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping G-d. The G-d of Israel made a covenant with Abraham, promising him and his descendants the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession. In order to understand the foundation of this covenant promise we must go back to the beginning and ask the most important question of all: To whom does the land belong? The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land belongs to Me, for you are strangers and [temporary] residents with Me (Leviticus 25:23). It is a basic human understanding that if you own a house, car, or any other tangible asset, it is under your control and you are the only one who can decide to whom it can be given or sold. In the same way, because the land belongs to the Lord, He remains the only one who can rightfully give it away. This is further confirmed by the very first sentence of the Tanach (Bible) wherein the Lord declares that He created the heavens and the earth and everything that is within them. Man did not create anything, and is himself a creation of the Spirit of the creator of the universe. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the heights. Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts. Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all stars of the night. Praise Him, highest heavens and the water that is 11
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days above the heavens. They shall praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created. And He set them up to eternity, yea forever, He issued a decree, which will not change (Psalm 148:1-6). G-d’s Word says that He commanded that the heavens and the earth be created to endure forever, establishing an order that shall never change. Since it is His creation it is also His possession and He can give it to whomever He chooses.
TO WHOM DID
THE
LORD PROMISE
THE
LAND
OF
CANAAN?
And the Lord appeared to Abram, and He said, “To your seed I will give this land,” and there he built an altar to the Lord, Who had appeared to him (Genesis 12:7). We see in this verse something instructive about the heart and character of Abraham, G-d’s friend. After the Lord appeared to him, Scripture says that he built an altar there to the Lord. Scripture reveals that Abraham had a heart for worship. G-d always entrusts His plans and His special work to those who worship Him and are obedient to His commands. Abraham built an altar and worshiped the G-d of Israel with all his heart, all his mind, and with all his strength. Abraham was not worshiping according to the law but rather according to his faith in the One who had brought him into a covenant relationship—a covenant relationship with the creator of heaven and earth and all that is within them. Abraham did not worship the Lord in private; he was very open about it so that others who lived with him would see there was a direct connection between Abraham’s worship of G-d and the blessings that G-d bestowed upon him. Over time Abraham’s faith would grow, forged through the experiences and challenges of everyday life. Again, when Abraham moved to Bethel, Scripture reveals that: …he built an altar to the Lord, and he called in the name of the Lord (Genesis 12:8). Abraham exhibited a pattern of worship that was to continue throughout his entire life. This proved to be the case even when 12
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The G-d Of Israel and the Land of Israel the Lord commanded him to sacrifice his son, his unique one, Isaac, as a burnt offering, a living sacrifice unto Him. And it came to pass after these things, that G-d tested Abraham, and He said to him, “Abraham,” and he said, “Here I am.” And He said, “Please take your son, your only one, whom you love, yea, Isaac, and go away to the land of Moriah and bring him up there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains, of which I will tell you” (Genesis 22:1-2). Interestingly, when the Lord speaks to Abraham about Isaac in this chapter, He refers to Isaac three times in three separate verses as your “yaw-kheed”-dyjy- one—or your “unique or only one whom you love”! The Lord uses the specific word yaw-kheed-dyjy- in Genesis 22:2, 12, and 15, not “ekh-awd” dja Ekh-awd-dja- is the form of the word “one,” which denotes two becoming as one, as used in Genesis 2:24 when a man and his wife become one flesh, united or ekh-awd. dja Isaac was truly “unique” because it was only through his bloodline that Jacob would come, and from Jacob’s line would one day come King David, and through King David’s line would come the Messiah. G-d had an eternal plan and He was about to make it known to Abraham. Notice when the Lord called Abraham, he answered, “Here I am!” He was not hiding from G-d, rather in anticipation he was waiting to hear from Him. Then Scripture says, “G-d tested Abraham.” If the hand of Abraham had not been stayed by the Lord G-d, when Abraham offered up Isaac as a living sacrifice, then from a human standpoint, there would have been no future descendants flowing from Isaac’s loins, and no Messiah from his line to redeem the Jewish people. What a test of Abraham’s faith in his G-d! Abraham was being asked through faith, not by the law, to demonstrate his complete and abiding faith in his G-d. Did Abraham trust in G-d? Was G-d able to raise Isaac from the dead to fulfill His promise to him: that through his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed? G-d said to Abraham, “Take your son, your unique one whom you love, Isaac, and offer him as a burnt offering, a living 13
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days sacrifice to Me. Take the only possible idol before Me, your unique one whom you love, and bring him up onto the mountain that I will show you.” Abraham’s faith was to be tested as no man before him, and so was Isaac’s, because it was Isaac who willingly allowed himself to be bound and placed on the altar as a living sacrifice. On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder, and we will prostrate ourselves and return to you” (Genesis 22:4-5). These verses reveal that Abraham associated “sacrifice” with “worship,” taking a position of prostration. His faith was so great that even though he knew he was being called to sacrifice his own son, he had the faith to believe that G-d would raise him from the dead. We know this because of his statement to his servants: “I and the lad will go yonder, and we will prostrate ourselves and return to you.” Dead people do not return. They are buried and gone forever. Worship was a way of life to Abraham no matter what the circumstances in which he found himself. There is no record of others in his family “building an altar.” Building an altar and worship were very special to Abraham because it was the place where the G-d of Israel spoke to him. We know that the altar at Bethel was very special because it was to this altar he would return after he had sinned grievously by going down to Egypt. He knew in his heart he could return to the altar at Bethel, to the place where he met G-d, and could repent and experience the forgiveness and mercy of G-d. It is a fact that no people or nation can be shaped into holiness and consistently be blessed by G-d unless a place has been established in their hearts for worship of the living G-d. Worship is a deliberate, dedicated time set apart in order to give honor and recognition to G-d. True worship is G-d centered and G-d focused, and Abraham knew that through worship he could expect to regularly encounter G-d and receive a clear word from Him. 14
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The G-d Of Israel and the Land of Israel Only through times of worship could G-d develop Abraham’s character and build his faith to a point where obedience was immediate. It was through worship that Abraham came to know both G-d and obedience.
BECAUSE YOU OBEYED MY VOICE
And through your children shall be blessed all the nations of the world, because you hearkened to My voice (Genesis 22:18). We see that in order to obey G-d’s voice, Abraham had to hear G-d’s voice, know it was G-d speaking to him, and understand what G-d was commanding him to do. In order to be obedient, Abraham had to act, which involved using his feet. It was not what Abraham said that revealed what he believed about G-d, but rather what he did by his actions. Scripture says that Abraham went forth as the Lord had spoken to him. The Lord also said to Abraham: And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will aggrandize your name, and [you shall] be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you (Genesis 12:2-3). G-d promised to bless Abraham as well as all the families of the earth. However, Abraham had to go forth or there would have been no blessings.
OBEDIENCE BRINGS BLESSINGS
One of the greatest principles of the Tanach (Bible) is expressed in these verses of Scripture. Blessings follow obedience. Judgment follows disobedience. In the eyes of the Lord, partial disobedience is the same as complete disobedience. Abraham obeyed fully and completely without hesitation, and that was exactly what the Lord was looking for. It is exactly what the Lord is looking for in each of us today. In his life, Abraham had to walk through many difficult experiences and circumstances and had to struggle against many kinds of external pressures. However, over time, his faith grew into a life totally yielded to G-d, on G-d’s terms, and with no exceptions. 15
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days Abraham set a pattern for the Jewish people for all time. This is the very heart of the man called Abraham—G-d’s friend. Are you one such as Abraham in your relationship with the Lord? It is not how many times a day you pray that reveals what you really believe about G-d. On the contrary, it is the condition of your heart that the Lord is most concerned with, for the Lord sees what is within a person’s heart, and nothing is hidden from Him. When G-d speaks are you obedient, or is there rebellion in your heart? G-d often uses circumstances to test our hearts. Do you seek the Lord and His Word for answers, or do you turn to man? The answer to this question reveals a great deal about your relationship with G-d. Abraham was a man who was always blessed when he sought the Lord for answers, because he was obedient. This was true for Abraham and it is true for you and me. And through your children shall be blessed all the nations of the world, because you hearkened to My voice (Genesis 22:18). Obedience to G-d’s voice was the key to Abraham’s blessings and it is the key to our being blessed as well.
ISHMAEL
OR ISAAC,
ABRAHAM’S dyjy SON
It is clear from Scripture that Abraham had eight sons. His firstborn, Ishmael, came through Hagar, his concubine, who was also his wife’s Egyptian maid. However, his second son, Isaac, came through his first wife Sarah. Abraham loved his son Ishmael, and when he was worshiping before the Lord he cried out, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You” (Genesis 17:18). However, G-d’s ways are never our ways, as His ways are above our ways. G-d’s reply to Abraham’s prayer reveals that it was not to be Ishmael, but rather Isaac and his descendants, through whom the G-d of Israel would establish His covenant promises. And Abraham said to G-d, “If only Ishmael will live before You!” And G-d said, “Indeed, your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac, and I will establish My 16
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The G-d Of Israel and the Land of Israel covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his seed after him” (Genesis 17:18-19). Yet because he was Abraham’s son, G-d did not cast off Ishmael. When Hagar, Sarah’s maid, fled from her mistress in fear, the Lord told her she was to have a son. The Lord prophesied about her son, giving her his name, describing his personality, and even the place where he and his descendants would live. And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you will conceive and bear a son, and you shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your affliction. And he will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be upon all, and everyone’s hand upon him, and before all his brothers he will dwell” (Genesis 16:11-12). The place where Ishmael lived, east of his brothers, is further confirmed in Scripture: And these are the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred years and thirty years and seven years; and he expired and died and was gathered to his people. And they dwelt from Havilah to Shur, which borders on Egypt, going towards Asshur; before all his brothers he dwelt (Genesis 25:17-18). The area in which his descendants settled is the land that is occupied by the nations to the east of the land of Canaan. These nations today are the nations of Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, Kuwait, and Pakistan. Just as the word of the Lord prophesied regarding Ishmael’s personality, so also that personality was passed down to his brothers living there today: “And he will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be upon all, and everyone's hand upon him...” (Genesis 16:12). Still, because Ishmael was of Abraham’s seed, the Lord declared He would bless him and his descendants. And regarding Ishmael, I have heard you; behold I have blessed him, and I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him exceedingly; he will beget twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year (Genesis 17:20-21). 17
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days By divine decree, Isaac was G-d’s choice to be the one through whom He would give His covenant promises regarding the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession, and only through Isaac’s seed would one day come the promised Messiah. After the death of Sarah, Abraham took another wife whose name was Keturah. She bore Abraham six more sons, who are the ancestors of many of the Arab nations of our modern world, thus fulfilling G-d’s promise to Abraham that he would be the “father of a multitude of nations.” And Abraham gave all that he possessed to Isaac. And to the sons of Abraham’s concubines, Abraham gave gifts, and he sent them away from his son Isaac while he [Abraham] was still alive, eastward to the land of the East (Genesis 25:5-6). In these verses of Scripture we learn that “Abraham gave all that he possessed to Isaac,” but to the rest of his sons he gave gifts and sent them away from Isaac to the land of the east. The reason the G-d of Israel sent them to the “land of the east” is because it was to Isaac and his descendants the Lord would give all of the land of Canaan—Israel! G-d’s covenant promise regarding the land of Canaan is once again confirmed in Scripture by the physical movement of all the other “sons of Abraham” away from the land promised to the Jewish people. And the Lord appeared to him [Isaac] and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land that I will tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and I will bless you, for to you and to your seed will I give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham, your father. And I will multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens, and I will give your seed all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will bless themselves by your seed, Because Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My instructions” (Genesis 26:2-5). In these verses we again come face to face with the primary reason that G-d blessed Isaac—because Abraham, Isaac’s father, obeyed G-d, kept His charge, His commandments, His statutes and His laws. 18
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The G-d Of Israel and the Land of Israel Isaac too heard G-d’s voice and knew it was G-d speaking to him. He understood what G-d wanted him to do, and he obeyed completely. In Hebrew we equate the word for hearing (lishmoa) with obeying and that is exactly what both Abraham and Isaac did. Do you hear G-d’s voice speaking to you about your life and your walk with Him? Do you clearly and unmistakably know the voice of G-d and understand what He is saying to you? I am not speaking about hearing G-d’s audible voice, although there are those living today who have heard His voice and knew it was G-d. I am talking about learning to hear G-d’s voice through the reading of His Word, through experiences, and during times of worship. Ask yourself, “How can I obey G-d if I never know when He is speaking to me?” Since obedience, through trust and faith in G-d, was the key to Abraham’s covenant relationship with G-d, then obedience to G-d’s voice is absolutely essential to having a covenant relationship with the One we worship.
SACRIFICES
A BROKEN SPIRIT
OF
AND
G-D
CONTRITE HEART
The Lord reveals to us in Scripture what delights Him and what allows us the same kind of covenant relationship that Abraham and Isaac enjoyed with their G-d: For You do not wish a sacrifice, or I should give it; You do not desire a burnt offering. The sacrifices of G-d are a broken spirit; O G-d, You will not despise a broken and crushed heart (Psalm 51:18-19). The G-d of Israel is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping G-d, and in order to have a covenant relationship with Him you must walk with Him in a personal relationship as did Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Joshua, Daniel, and the 7,000 who refused to bow the knee to the Canaanite god, Baal. G-d desires this personal relationship with all of us, not just with those He has placed in positions of power and authority. All these people of faith believed in G-d, they feared Him, and when they heard His voice they obeyed, and others were blessed because they “obeyed His voice.” 19
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days In order to hear His voice you must believe that G-d really does speak to His people. This fact is revealed from Genesis through every succeeding book in the Tanach (Bible). Understand fully, those to whom G-d spoke always knew it was G-d, always understood what it was He was saying to them, and in every case knew what they were to do. You must believe that G-d desires to speak to you, and that through His Word He will speak to you. This is really a heart issue, a conscious choice to be like Abraham and “walk before Me (G-d) and be blameless.” Are you one who hears G-d’s voice and is obedient to His commandments? It’s a choice—make the choice and be blessed!
20
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Chapter Three
A COVENANT WITH DEATH AND A PACT WITH HELL
Therefore, listen to the word of the Lord, men of scorn, allegorists of this people who are in Jerusalem. For you said, “We have made a treaty with death, and with the grave we have set a limit; when an overflowing scourge passes, it shall not come upon us, for we have made lies our shelter and in falsehood have we hidden ourselves” (Isaiah 28:14-15). The current government of the nation of Israel has decreed that in August of 2005 all Jewish people living in Gaza and parts of northern Samaria will be forcibly removed from their homes, schools, businesses, and synagogues. Entire communities will be given over to the god of Islam: Allah. If the Lord allows this to occur, most of the Jewish people living in Gaza will be forced to leave their homes against their will. The Jewish way of life in Gaza will cease to exist. Their thriving communities will cease to exist. Their businesses will be no more. The prayers offered up daily to the G-d of Israel from their synagogues in Gaza will be silenced, replaced by the prayers of thousands of Muslims offered up to their god: Allah. The rulers of Israel who govern from Jerusalem have done exactly what was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah, who said, “You scoffers who rule this people who are in Jerusalem have said, ‘We have made a treaty with death, and with Sheol [Hell] we have made a pact.’” 21
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days How have the rulers in Jerusalem been able to accomplish this evil thing? G-d’s Word reveals that they have done it by making falsehood their refuge and by concealing themselves with deception. The righteous ones in Gaza and Samaria who believe G-d’s covenant promises regarding the land of Israel are distraught beyond measure. Their own government is attempting to make them appear as odious extremists in the eyes of their brothers and sisters in Israel. By intimidation, threat of arrest, administrative detention, false propaganda in the media, and deception, the prime minister and his associates in the government have sought to silence all who oppose this covenant with death and this pact with hell. The settlers in Gaza and Samaria are crying out to G-d saying: O Lord, why do You stand from afar? [Why do] You hide in times of distress? With the haughtiness of the wicked man, he pursues the poor man. They are caught in the plots that they have devised. For the wicked man boasts about the desire of his soul, and the robber congratulates himself for having blasphemed the Lord. A wicked man at the height of his anger; “He will not seek; there is no G-d,” [say] all his thoughts (Psalm 10:1-4). Thousands of Israelis have marched and protested against the forced removal of the Jewish people from their inheritance in Gaza and Samaria. It seems to the religious that the G-d of Israel is standing afar off, hiding Himself in this time of trouble. It seems to the religious Jews in Israel that the men who are in power in Jerusalem fearlessly boast of their hearts’ desire for peace, yet in those same hearts they curse the Lord because, in their innermost being, they truly believe that “There is no G-d.” They transgress against the Lord and His covenant, and against those who love Him and call upon His holy Name. They willfully do this because there is no fear of the living G-d in their hearts and because they are comforted by their firm belief that “There is no G-d.”
PEACE, PEACE WHEN THERE IS NO PEACE!
The plan that was hatched by the current government and supported by its associates to forcibly remove the Jewish people from 22
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A Covenant With Death and a Pact With Hell their inheritance in Gaza has been put forth as a plan that will bring peace. Nothing could be further from truth or reality. Yet, the Lord said men would arise in Israel who would mislead and deceive the Jewish people saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace. Like foxes in ruins were your prophets, O Israel. You have not gone up into the breaches nor have you built a fence for the house of Israel, to stand in war on the day of the Lord. They prophesied futility and false divination, those who say, ‘The word of the Lord,’ while the Lord did not send them, and expect their words to be fulfilled! Have you not prophesied vain prophecy, and spoken false divination; yet you say, ‘The word of the Lord,’ while I did not speak. Therefore, so said the Lord G-d: Since you spoke falsehoods and prophesied lies, therefore, behold I am against you, says the Lord G-d (Ezekiel 13:4-8). The leaders of Israel and those who have hatched this disengagement plan have not sought the Lord, and when they cry “Peace, peace,” it is a lying divination. Because they have spoken falsehood and declared a lie to the Jewish people, the Lord is against them. And My hand shall be against the prophets who prophesy vanity and the diviners of lies; in the counsel of My people they shall not be, and in the roster of the house of Israel they shall not be inscribed, and to the land of Israel they shall not come, and you will know that I am the Lord G-d. Because, indeed because they misled My people, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and it is building a flimsy wall, and behold they are plastering it with daub (Ezekiel 13:9-10). What a terrible judgment awaits these men who put their plan into action to remove His people from their inheritance. Therefore, says the Lord, “They will have no place in the council of My people, nor will they be inscribed in the roster of the house of Israel.” They have literally “built a wall in Israel,” seeking protection for the people, but they have plastered this wall with a whitewash of lies and deception saying, “Peace!” When there is no peace. Say to the plasterers with daub, ‘Behold, it will fall. If there will be driving rain, then you, gigantic hailstones, will fall, and a storm wind will crack it. And behold, the wall has 23
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days fallen! Will it not be said to you, “Where is the plaster that you have plastered?’” Therefore, so said the Lord G-d: I will cause a storm wind to crack [the wall] with My fury, and there shall be a driving rain with My wrath, and gigantic hailstones with fury to destroy it. And I shall demolish the wall that you plastered with daub, and I shall make it reach the ground, and its foundation will be bared, and it will fall, and you will perish in its midst, and you will know that I am the Lord (Ezekiel 13:11-14). The wall that is whitewashed with lies, and all those who perpetrated them will fall and be brought to the ground and laid bare! They will be consumed by the Lord’s wrath. Then all Israel will know the truth, and all will know that “I am the Lord who did this in your midst.”
I DID NOT COME HERE TO ISRAEL TO EXPEL JEWS FROM THEIR HOMES!
Recently in a major Israeli newspaper there was an article written about a U.S.-born soldier in the IDF, a Corporal in the Combat Engineers, who refused to take part in an IDF operation to demolish vacant buildings near a Gaza Strip settlement. The following is what he declared: “I didn’t come to the country to expel Jews from their homes.” He said, “Some nine years ago as a child, I emigrated to Israel with my family from the United States. We didn’t come to the country to expel Jews from their homes. I didn’t enlist in the IDF in order to destroy communities or prepare the ground for the destruction of communities. I enlisted in the IDF to defend the state, and this action is not the role of the IDF…. “It wasn’t something I planned because I had no idea what I was going into but, when I saw what was happening, when I saw how they were beating dedicated Jews, my heart broke, and my conscience said to me, ‘This isn’t Jewish justice. You are not going to participate in such a thing.’ I am proud of what I did,” the young man continued. “I don’t think I am a criminal and that I deserve to go to jail; but if they decide to send me to jail, I won’t regret it. I did the right thing!” (Haaretz, June 27, 2005) 24
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A Covenant With Death and a Pact With Hell This is a young man, like many here in the land, in whose heart lays a spirit that is crying out to the G-d of Israel to come in this time of great trouble and help them. These are the ones who are not afraid to stand up for the covenant that G-d made with their forefathers. They are not ones who will be separated from their inheritance in the years to come. These are the ones for whom G-d is looking to put His Spirit within to display strength and take action. These young men and women will one day be among His remnant.
WOE
TO
“THE
THOSE MEN IN JERUSALEM WHO SAY THEIR HEARTS: LORD WILL DO NO GOOD OR EVIL”!
IN
And it shall come to pass on that day, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and I will visit upon the men who are settled on their lees, who say in their heart, “The Lord shall do neither good nor harm.” And their wealth shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation, and they shall build houses and not dwell in them, and plant vineyards and not drink their wine (Zephaniah 1:12-13). The day is approaching when the Lord Himself will search Jerusalem with lamps in order to punish the men who are stagnant in spirit and who say in their hearts, “The Lord will do no good or harm.” We are living in an evil time, when those who lead Israel are saying, “The Lord will do no good or harm.” Consequently, they come against the religious Jews who seek to follow the Lord with all their hearts, all their souls, and with all their might. So why would the G-d of Israel allow this to take place? Has He forgotten His covenant promise to Israel? Is the Tanach (Bible) silent as to why all this might be allowed to happen?
G-D’S JUDGMENT
OF
GAZA, LAND
OF THE
PHILISTINES
In G-d’s eyes everything He “allows” to take place in Israel has eternal consequences and an eternal purpose. As we approach the time in history called the “Day of the Lord,” events are beginning to take place that will culminate in the G-d of Israel bringing judgment upon all the nations surrounding Israel and upon all 25
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days peoples who have joined them in seeking to divide and appropriate the land G-d promised to Israel as an everlasting possession.
By Mediaware. Used by permission.
As we examine G-d’s Word regarding this most important day, we find a very compelling reason as to why the Lord might “allow” the Jewish people to be removed from the settlements in Gaza and Samaria.
The Gaza Strip Map In this map of the Gaza Strip the areas marked in white clearly identify where Israelis are living or are areas under Israeli military control. 26
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A Covenant With Death and a Pact With Hell Before judgment comes, the Lord first instructs all who are humble to seek Him and to seek righteousness and humility before the coming of the great and terrible “Day of the Lord.” Gather yourselves together! Yea, gather together, O nation that has no desire, before the decree is born, as chaff that passes .the sun; before the fierce anger of the Lord comes upon you; before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth who executed His judgment; Seek righteousness, seek humility! Perhaps you will be concealed on the day of the Lord’s wrath (Zephaniah 2:1-3). The Lord G-d of Israel is very clear in His instructions as to why we are to seek righteousness and humility: “Perhaps we will be concealed on the day of the Lord’s anger.” The great and terrible “Day of the Lord’s anger” will not be like any other day in human history: Lament, for the day of the Lord is near; like a raid from the Almighty it shall come. Therefore, all hands shall grow feeble, and the heart of every mortal shall melt. And they shall panic; pangs and throes shall seize them; like a woman in confinement they shall writhe; each man shall be amazed at his fellow; their faces are faces of flames. Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel with wrath and burning anger, to make the land desolate, and its sinners He shall destroy from it. For the stars of the heavens and its constellations shall not allow their light to illuminate, the sun has become dark in its going forth, and the moon shall not shine its light. And I will visit evil upon the earth, and upon the wicked their iniquity; and I will cut off the pride of the presumptuous, and the arrogance of the tyrants I will humble (Isaiah 13:6-11). The day of the Lord will be a day that is cruel with destruction from the Almighty One. Every man’s heart will melt and their hands will grow feeble with fear. They will be so terrified with anguish that they will writhe like a woman in labor. The proud and arrogant leaders of Israel who say “There is no G-d” will suddenly come face to face with His anger and there will be no place for them to hide. All those who did not 27
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days fear nor serve the Lord will be destroyed by the Lord Himself. The stars of heaven will not flash forth their light, the sun will be dark and the moon will not shed its light. The Lord will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. We are speaking here of the time when the Lord will judge the earth. Surely the people and nations who sought to appropriate Israel’s inheritance in Gaza and Samaria will find no place to hide in the day of the Lord’s anger.
JUDGMENT
OF THE
NATIONS SURROUNDING ISRAEL
Perhaps the Lord is setting the stage for the removal of the Jewish people from Gaza and Samaria in order to bring eternal judgment upon those who have been arrogant against the Lord of Hosts, against His covenant land, against its borders, and against His people. For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon shall become wasteland. Ashdod—At noon they shall drive her out, and Ekron shall be uprooted. Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, the nation of Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, Canaan land of the Philistines, and I will destroy you so that there shall not be an inhabitant. And the seacoast shall be breakfast nooks for shepherds and sheepfolds. And it shall be a lot for the remnant of the house of Judah, whereupon they shall pasture. In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down in the evening, for the Lord their G-d shall visit upon them and return their captivity (Zephaniah 2:4-7). These verses declare that the Lord G-d of Israel is against the land of the Philistines—Gaza—and that His purpose is to completely destroy them so there will be no inhabitant! Like Sodom and Gomorrah, Gaza will be completely devoid of human life.
THE G-D
OF ISRAEL AND
HIS ETERNAL PLAN PURPOSE: COVENANT
AND
Incredibly, these judgments will come to pass at some point in time after the Jewish people are removed, and when there will not be a single Jewish inhabitant remaining in Gaza or in 28
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A Covenant With Death and a Pact With Hell the appointed northern villages of Samaria. Even though He might allow the removal of His people at this time, the exact timing of His judgment is something known only by G-d Himself. Perhaps the Lord is setting the stage for the fulfillment of His own words written in Zephaniah. Perhaps, just as G-d extended mercy to His faithful remnant at the time of Sodom’s destruction by promising to not destroy the righteous with the unrighteous, we are even today seeing the Lord’s mighty hand of great mercy and protection being extended to His people living in Gaza in recognition of their faithful witness and unswerving willingness to die for His covenant promise. Why would the Lord bring such terrible and swift judgment on the inhabitants of Gaza? The answer can be found in one word: Covenant. The G-d of Israel is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping G-d, and He will never allow Himself to be mocked by man or by any foreign god. The G-d of Israel is Himself the only true G-d and there is none other in heaven or on earth but Him.
THE G-D
OF ISRAEL IS A
G-D WHO HEARS
I heard the taunts of Moab and the jeers of the children of Ammon, who taunted My people, and they aggrandized themselves on their border. Therefore, as I live—says the Lord of Hosts, the G-d of Israel—for Moab shall be like Sodom, and the children of Ammon like Gemorrah; a rattling of nettles, and a salt mine, and desolation forever. The remnant of My people shall plunder them, and the remnant of My nation shall inherit them. They shall have this instead of their haughtiness, for they taunted and aggrandized themselves over the people of the Lord of Hosts. The Lord shall be feared by them, for He weakened all the gods of the earth. And every man shall prostrate himself to Him from his place, all the isles of the nations (Zephaniah 2:8-11).
29
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By Ferro Bubenko. Used by permission
COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days
Millennial Kingdom of Messiah Map 30
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A Covenant With Death and a Pact With Hell From these verses we learn that G-d’s judgment will also be manifested far to the east of Gaza in the land of Moab, unto the sons of Ammon who comprise the modern nation of Jordan. The Lord declares He has heard the taunting of Moab and the revilings of the sons of Ammon and will take action against them. The Lord will bring terrible judgment upon them because they have taunted His people and because they have become arrogant against Israel’s borders and territory. They have sought to appropriate His land for themselves. In a profound statement the Lord declares, “As I live, I am the living Lord of Hosts the G-d of Israel.” What will bring forth G-d’s eternal judgment on the nations surrounding Israel is their failure to recognize and understand that the living G-d of Israel and His eternal covenant with Israel will not be mocked or changed. Moab will be like Sodom and the sons of Ammon like Gemorrah. A perpetual desolation is decreed upon them because they have been arrogant against the Lord and against Israel’s territory. The remnant of Israel will plunder them, and instead of appropriating Israel’s land and Israel’s inheritance, Israel will possess their land and their inheritance. They will lose their inheritance because they have taunted and become arrogant against the people of the Lord of Hosts. Not only will the Lord terrify them, but He will starve all of the false gods of the earth who made a covenant against the Lord of Hosts and against the people who serve Him. And your treaty with death shall be nullified, and your limit with the grave shall not endure (Isaiah 28:18a). All nations and all peoples will bow down to the living G-d of Israel and declare, “Is it not I, the Lord, and there are no other gods besides Me, a just and saving G-d there is not besides Me.” Declare and present, let them even take counsel together; who announced this from before, [who] declared it from then? Is it not I, the Lord, and there are no other g-ds besides Me, a just and saving G-d there is not besides Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am G-d, and there is no other. By Myself I swore, righteousness emanated from My mouth, a word, and it shall not be retracted, that to Me shall every knee kneel, every tongue shall swear” (Isaiah 45:21-23). 31
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Chapter Four
THAT THE NAME OF ISRAEL BE REMEMBERED NO MORE
Why is there no peace today in Israel? Why is there only violence, terror, war, and turmoil in the land of Israel and in Jerusalem? Israel is one of the smallest land masses on which a nation has been established. It contains no vast reserves of oil, minerals, or tangible wealth. There are no mighty rivers flowing through the land, for in its natural state Israel is a dry and arid land that lay completely barren for hundreds of years under Gentile rule. What makes this tiny piece of real estate so important, and why does there rage endless conflict over the land of Israel? Why have every peace process, plan, and road map put forth by presidents, prime ministers, kings, princes, the E.U., the U.N., Russia, Britain, and the United States all ended in failure? The reason that every peace process, plan, and road map have failed is because there is no understanding in the hearts and minds of Israel’s modern-day leaders, nor in the hearts and minds of the leaders of the nations of the world, that the issue concerning the land of Israel has absolutely nothing to do with peace— rather it has everything to do with COVENANT! G-d’s prophetic word is eternal, and everything written in the Tanach (Bible) is written from G-d’s perspective with eternity in mind. G-d says that we are to know and understand the times and seasons. Only the Lord can see the beginning from the end, and that is one of the reasons why He gave us the Tanach (Bible), so 33
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days we could learn to see and understand prophetic events through His eyes and not our own eyes. G-d has also made it abundantly clear in Psalm 33:10-11, “The Lord frustrated the counsel of nations; He put the plans of peoples to nought. The counsel of the Lord shall endure forever; the plans of His heart to all generations.” To understand why there is no peace in the Israel we must examine Psalm 83. The verses in this Psalm give us revelation as to the true foundational issue—Covenant.
PSALM 83:2-9
A PSALM
COVENANT
OF
OF THE
ASAPH.
ENEMIES
ISLAMIC COVENANT
OF
G-D
O G-d, have no silence, do not be silent and do not be still, O G-d. For behold, Your enemies stir, and those who hate You raise their heads. Against Your people they plot cunningly, and they take counsel against Your protected ones. They said, “Come, let us destroy them from [being] a nation, and the name of Israel will no longer be remembered.” For they have taken counsel with one accord; against You they form a pact. The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites. Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre. Also Assyria joined them; they were the arm of the children of Lot forever. In this prophetic Psalm, written some 3,000 years ago, we find the enemies of the G-d of Israel making uproar in the earth. Those who hate Him are exalting themselves against Him and the Jewish people. How have the enemies of the G-d of Israel exalted themselves and what are they conspiring together to accomplish? The enemies of the G-d of Israel have conspired together saying, “Come, and let us destroy them from [being] a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.” 34
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That the Name of Israel Be Remembered No More How could these enemies possibly wipe out a nation when it did not even exist? We know that in 70 C.E. it was the Romans, not the Muslims, who destroyed Jerusalem and Judah and dispersed the Jewish people throughout the nations for more than 1,900 years. Yet, from the very day that Israel was resurrected as a nation in 1948, the nations surrounding Israel (as listed in this Psalm) have sought to destroy her through six wars, waves of unrelenting terror and violence, economic boycott, and through political compromise. Just as it was prophesied in this Psalm some 3,000 years ago, from the moment G-d re-birthed the nation of Israel in 1948, the nations surrounding her have conspired together with one mind, forming an Islamic covenant against the G-d of Israel and the Jewish people that the name of Israel will be remembered no more. Psalm 83 was written for this time and this day. It reveals that there are two opposing covenants in operation regarding the land and the nation of Israel. The Islamic Covenant became operational in 1948 and is in direct opposition to the Abrahamic Covenant, which was established between the G-d of Israel and Abraham’s descendants, and which addresses the question of who will ultimately possess and occupy the land of Israel.
TENETS
OF THE ISLAMIC
COVENANT
C Islamic nations make a covenant against the G-d of Israel.
C Islamic nations covenant together to wipe out the nation of Israel.
C Islamic nations covenant to cause the name of Israel to be remembered no more. Only one covenant will prevail because the fundamental issue revolves around the question of who G-d is—Allah or the G-d of Israel? Upheaval regarding the land of Israel has nothing to do with peace, but it has everything to do with who G-d really is, and which covenant will prevail. There will never be peace in the land of Israel between Muslims and Jews until the issue of “Covenant” is resolved. This will 35
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days only happen when the G-d of Israel subdues once and forever, Allah, the god of Islam.
NO SEAT
AT THE
TABLE
Do the leaders of Israel in the 21st century know or believe anything about G-d’s covenant with Abraham regarding the land of Israel? Do they understand the prophetic word of the Lord G-d of Israel and its application today? Regrettably, there is no fear of the living G-d or knowledge of His prophetic word in the corridors of power in Israel. Among world leaders today, the truth of G-d’s word regarding His covenant promises to the Jewish people has no seat at the table where prime ministers, presidents, kings, foreign ministers, secretaries of state, and ambassadors gather to plan and discuss implementation of “peace plans.” Each does what is right in his or her own eyes, choosing to operate either in ignorance of G-d’s prophetic word or in willful disobedience to that word. As it was in the time when judges ruled the nation of Israel, so it is today. In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his eyes (Judges 21:25). In Israel the reason truth is forgotten and there is no seat at the table is because there is no fear of the living G-d in the hearts of men and women in leadership. The wisdom of man reigns supreme amidst the policy-making process in Israel today. Totally ignored are the wisdom and the commandments of G-d as found in His eternal Word. The G-d of Israel has much to say about the consequences of choosing the wisdom of man over the wisdom of G-d. He reminds us that as man chooses, so shall he receive—either blessings or curses. The same is true for Israel’s leaders who exalt themselves and choose their ways over G-d’s ways.
ISRAEL’S LEADERS SAY, “PEACE, PEACE,” BUT THERE IS NO PEACE!
Israel’s leaders today have chosen to lead the nation away from G-d’s covenant promise to the Jewish people. They are deceiving the Jewish people, saying “Peace, peace” when there is no peace. Every tool in their arsenal is being used to separate the Jewish people from their G-d and their covenant connection to the land 36
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That the Name of Israel Be Remembered No More of Israel. From prophet to priest, all are greedy for gain and power, and they all deal falsely with our people. For, from their smallest to their greatest, they all commit robbery, and from prophet to priest they all deal falsely. And they healed the breach of My people easily, saying, “Peace, peace,” but there is no peace. They shall be put to shame since they have committed abomination. Neither are they ashamed nor do they know to feel disgrace. They will, therefore, fall among the slain; at the time I have visited upon them, they will stumble, says the Lord (Jeremiah 6:13-15). Just as it was prophesied in the days of the prophet Jeremiah regarding the leaders of his day, so it is with the modern-day leaders of Israel who are not the least bit ashamed of the abominations they have committed. The G-d of Israel does not change, nor can He lie regarding His prophetic word and His covenant promises.
PUT
A
MARK
ON THE
FOREHEADS
OF
THOSE WHO MOURN
Yet in Israel there is a remnant that mourns over the abominations being committed in Jerusalem by the leaders of Israel. And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and you shall mark a sign upon the foreheads of the men who are sighing and moaning over all the abominations that were done in its midst” (Ezekiel 9:4). Undoubtedly, the Lord is putting a mark on the foreheads of the men and women in Israel and Jerusalem who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are being committed by the leaders of Israel. The Lord is marking those men who are clean, thus, separating the clean from the unclean, the holy ones from the unholy ones, in Israel. There is no middle ground with the Lord on this issue—either a man will have G-d’s mark on his forehead or he will not. In the eyes of the G-d of Israel, a man will either be holy before Him or unholy. The distinguishing factor is “covenant.” A man will choose to walk in covenant with the G-d of Israel or choose to walk in the ways of man. 37
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days Have you chosen to walk in covenant with G-d, or have you chosen to walk in the ways and wisdom of man? Your choice will have eternal consequences for you, for your family, and for all of Israel.
PROPHECY
FOR ISRAEL AND FOR ITS
LEADERS
So says the Lord: stand on the roads and see, and ask of the paths of old, which is the good way, and go on it, and find rest for your soul, and they said, “We will not go.” And I have stationed lookouts over you. Hearken to the sound of the shofar, and they said, “We will not hearken.” Therefore, hearken, O nations, and know, O congregation, what is within them. Hearken, O earth, behold, I bring evil to this people, the fruit of their thoughts, for they did not hearken to My words, and they rejected My instruction (Jeremiah 6:16-19). Again, as in the time of Jeremiah, Israel’s leaders have no faith in the G-d of Israel nor in His covenant. They have spurned the ancient paths where the good way is and have said, “We will not walk in it.” They have chosen not to listen to or follow G-d’s prophetic word. They have rejected His covenant, spurned His law, and followed the dictates of their own hearts. Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord; they did not desire my advice, they despised all my reproof—they will eat of the fruit of their way, and from their counsels they will be sated, for the backsliding of the naive shall slay them, and the tranquility of the fools shall cause them to perish. But he who hearkens to me shall dwell confidently and shall be tranquil from the fear of harm (Proverbs 1:29-33). The leaders of Israel have dangerously chosen to follow their own wisdom. As the Lord prophesied saying, “Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose fear of the LORD, the backsliding of the naive will kill them, and the tranquility of fools will destroy them.”
THE WISDOM
OF
G-D
OR THE
WISDOM
OF
MAN
This is one of the most important questions you can ask yourself today. Am I following the wisdom of G-d or the wisdom of man? Each of us must choose to either follow the ways and wisdom of man and the world or the ways and wisdom of G-d and 38
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That the Name of Israel Be Remembered No More His holy Word. Your personal choice will result in either eternal destruction or eternal blessing. For the Lord—His eyes run to and fro throughout the entire earth to grant strength with those whose heart is whole toward Him (2 Chronicles 16:9). Have you ever met a woman who was just a “little bit pregnant”? Of course not. She is either pregnant or she is not. There is no such thing as being a “little bit” pregnant. The same is true about being in covenant with the G-d of Israel. You are either living in a covenant relationship with Him or you are not. There is no middle ground. As it is with individuals, it is also the same for a nation and its people. Either they are living in covenant with G-d or they are not. Living in covenant relationship with G-d is a choice that individuals must make, as well as the leaders of Israel. Where is your heart today? We have come to the day and the hour when we who live in Israel must choose whom we will serve and whom we will support. In Israel, both our leaders as well as every individual, will either choose to be in covenant with the G-d of Israel, trusting Him and living according to His ways and commandments, or they will choose to follow the ways of man and those secular leaders who know not the G-d of Israel, who hate the knowledge of Him, who have chosen not to fear the Lord, and who utterly reject His covenant promises. Yet the Lord declared to those who have not chosen to fear Him: Arise, O Lord; let man have no power. May the nations be judged for Your anger. O Lord, place mastery over them; let the nations know that they forever are mortal man (Psalm 9:20-21). And to those who fear Him and seek to walk according to His ways, He says: Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am G-d, and there is no other. By Myself I swore, righteousness emanated from My mouth, a word, and it shall not be retracted, that to Me shall every knee kneel, every tongue shall swear (Isaiah 45:22-23). 39
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Chapter Five
I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS THEE; I WILL CURSE THOSE WHO CURSE THEE!
And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you (Genesis 12:3). Throughout history no other prophecy in the Tanach (Bible) has been confirmed as many times as this single verse in Genesis 12. Without exception, every nation that has sought to subjugate, destroy, oppress, uproot, or persecute the Jewish people, and to appropriate the land of Israel as their own possession, have themselves been destroyed by the mighty hand of the G-d of Israel. Why? Because of G-d’s eternal prophecy regarding blessings and curses. History is littered with the ashes of the men, empires, and nations who have cursed Israel and the Jewish people, from Pharaoh of Egypt, to Assyria, Babylon, Haman the Persian, the Greeks, and the once invincible Roman Empire. All rest today in the ashes of history. The great Spanish empire, the Ottoman Empire, even the British Empire that once controlled Egypt, Suez, Hong Kong, and India, are mere shadows of their former glory. Hitler’s Third Reich ended with the complete destruction of the nation of Germany. Even the former Soviet Union, which once possessed the world’s second-most powerful military capability, fell without a shot being fired because it would not permit its Jewish citizens to return to their land. 41
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days When you examine history, you will find without exception that all these great Gentile empires had one thing in common— they all persecuted, oppressed, uprooted, or sought the destruction of the Jewish people, or the dividing of their covenant promised land. From the moment they cursed Israel and the Jewish people, they themselves became the ones who would be cursed and destroyed by the G-d of Israel. The blessings and curses form a prophetic word from the mouth of the G-d of Israel. There are no exceptions to this prophecy. No nation, empire, people, or organization is exempt. History is a living testimony to this fact. The unfailing prophetic word of G-d does not change because He Himself does not change. The leaders of the great nations of the world would be wise to understand that the G-d of Israel is G-d and He says what He means and means what He says. No exceptions!
IT IS
A
TERRIFYING THING
TO
REBUKE
THE
LIVING G-D
OF ISRAEL
The leaders of the nations that surround Israel have no fear of the living G-d. The leaders of the nations that comprise the “Quartet”:—the U.S., the European Union, the U.N., and Russia—obviously have no fear of the living G-d, because they all seek to divide the land of Israel and give it over to the people of a foreign god: Allah! The current leaders of Israel have purposed in their hearts to remove the Jews from their inheritance in Gaza. Many others in the cabinet, in the Knesset, and among those unelected civil servants who advise them, are in agreement with their purposed declarations and reveal by their actions that they too have no fear of the living G-d of Israel.
A WORD FROM
LORD FOR THE LEADERS OF ISRAEL WHO FOLLOW AFTER THEM!
THE
AND
THOSE
Woe to those who plot iniquity and work evil in their beds; when the morning becomes light they perform it, for their hand has the power. And they covet fields, and they rob; and houses, and they take; and they oppress a man and his house, and a man and his heritage. Therefore, so said the Lord: Behold! I plot evil against this family, from which you 42
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I Will Bless Those Who Bless Thee; I Will Curse Those Who Curse Thee! shall not remove your necks, nor shall you walk erect, for it is a time of evil. On that day he shall take up a parable against you, and he shall lament, “A lamentation has come about”; and he shall say, “They have robbed us! He changes the portion of my people! How will He turn to me to return our fields, which he divides?” Therefore, you shall not have anyone who casts a line by lot in the congregation of the Lord (Micah 2:1-5). This prophetic word of G-d describes the days in which we are living as “a time of evil.” Leaders will devise iniquity and work evil in their minds as they lay in their beds. When they awaken they will execute their plans because it is in the power of their hands to do it. They will covet the fields of their brothers, moving to seize them and banishing the rightful owners. They will oppress a man by forcing him to give up his house, his land, and his inheritance. Notice what the Lord says about the leaders and their families. In essence He says, “Against this family I Myself will devise an evil from which you shall not remove your necks, neither will you walk upright because this is an evil time!” It will be by the purposeful hand of the Lord, not by the hand of man, that evil shall come upon them and their families. If the current government succeeds in carrying out this plan to remove the Jewish people in Gaza from their inheritance, Scripture prophesies that they will take up a parable against them, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say: “We are utterly ruined; he has changed the inheritance of my people; how doth he remove our inheritance from us! Instead of restoring our fields, he divides them and gives them over to the people of a foreign god: Allah!” Once this doleful lamentation is declared, the following verse begins with, “Therefore!” When the Lord says, “Therefore,” He means “as a result of” your actions this is what will take place. “You shall not have anyone who casts a line by lot in the congregation of the LORD.” Therefore, because you have done this, the Word of the Lord declares that He will not give you or your children, or your children’s children, any inheritance in the land of Israel or in the congregation of the Lord. 43
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days Pray for mercy from G-d for our leaders of Israel and their families.
TWO COVENANTS
In the previous Chapter we carefully examined Psalm 83, written more than 3,000 years ago but pertaining to the times in which we live today. This Psalm prophesied there would be a confederacy of enemy nations surrounding the reestablished nation of Israel who would covenant together against the living G-d and His people at a time when they were once again a nation. We titled this agreement the Islamic covenant and noted its objectives: In covenant together saying, “Come, and let us cut them (Israel) off from being a nation. In covenant together saying, “That the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
And I will establish My covenant between Me and between you and between your seed after you throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant, to be to you for a G-d and to your seed after you. And I will give you and your seed after you the land of your sojournings, the entire land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be to them for a G-d (Genesis 17:7-8). The Abrahamic covenant and the Islamic covenant are in direct opposition to each other and only one can and will prevail. The reason for this is perfectly clear: There is only one G-d— either the living G-d of Israel, or the god of the Muslims, Allah. To understand where a leader takes a stand is not difficult. He or she will either choose to affirm and support the Abrahamic covenant, or will choose disbelief and rejection thereof—to the delight of those who are party to the Islamic covenant. A leader’s actions always reveal where he stands and what he believes about the living G-d and His holy word. To those nations who choose to join themselves to the Islamic covenant, the Lord will bring judgment and curses, and to those who choose to believe and join themselves to the Abrahamic covenant will He bring blessings in abundance. 44
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I Will Bless Those Who Bless Thee; I Will Curse Those Who Curse Thee!
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? The people of any nation are dependent upon their leaders. A leader will either direct his people toward the living G-d, or away from Him and His laws, statutes, and commandments. You will know what a leader believes by his or her actions. Leaders who profess with their mouths to be standing with the Abrahamic covenant, yet by their actions reveal an indifference to the threat posed by the Islamic covenant, remain in direct opposition to the will of G-d Almighty. Partial disobedience is complete disobedience in the eyes of G-d. Not knowing G-d’s word regarding Israel and the Jewish people is not an excuse that is acceptable to G-d. Willfully choosing to reproach the living G-d and the prophecies written in His Word will bring forth His curses rather than His blessings. There are no exceptions. In the Book of Joel we find the reason why the Lord will judge all the nations at the appointed time. His judgment will be absolute and it will be devastating for all. Not one who has opposed the plans and purposes of G-d for the Jewish people will survive the judgment of the living G-d. For behold, in those days and in that time when I return the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and I will take them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will contend with them there concerning My people and My heritage, Israel, which they scattered among the nations, and My land they divided (Joel 4:1-2). After His final victory the Lord intends to gather all the nations and bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat wherein He will enter into judgment with them there for two specific reasons: 1. They scattered My people Israel, My heritage among the nations. 2. They have divided up My land. The valley of Jehoshaphat, also known as the Kidron Valley, is the valley that runs between the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. In late May of 2005, the president of the United States declared to the Israeli prime minister that Israel must return to its 1949 45
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days borders. By stating this, the president appears to have joined himself to the Islamic covenant and its malevolent objective—to divide the land of Israel and give it as a possession to a people who worship a foreign god, Allah. The European Union, the U.N, the former Soviet Union, and Britain have joined the Islamic covenant for one specific purpose—to divide the land and give it as a possession to a people who worship a foreign god, Allah. The following is a quote from the president of the United States: “There must be a viable two-state solution.” The president stated there must also be meaningful linkages— territorial contiguity via a land bridge—between the West Bank (“Mountains of Israel”) and Gaza. He asserted this as the position of the United States today, and that it will remain the position of the United States at the time of final status negotiations. The president also gave American backing to a key Palestinian demand, declaring at a press conference following his meeting with President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority in May 2005, that “any border deviations from the 1949 (not 1967) armistice lines would have to be by mutual Israeli-Palestinian consent.” Judgment without exception is coming to all nations that have joined themselves to the Islamic covenant, because they have purposed in their hearts to “divide up My land!”
TREAD
THE
WINEPRESS
OF
G-D
Gather and come, all you nations from around, and they shall gather; there the Lord shall break your mighty men. The nations shall be aroused and shall go up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations from around. Stretch out a sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, press, for the winepress is full; the vats roar, for their evil is great. Multitudes [upon] multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon have darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining (Joel 4:11-15). The Lord is going to bring all the nations who have joined themselves to the Islamic covenant into the valley of Jehoshaphat where He will sit and judge them. 46
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I Will Bless Those Who Bless Thee; I Will Curse Those Who Curse Thee! The Lord declares there will be multitudes upon multitudes in the valley of decision! Interestingly, the name Jehoshaphat means “the Lord will judge.” The Lord declares, “Stretch out a sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, tread ye, for the winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.” (Joel 4:13). When the prophet Joel says, “Stretch out a sickle” this means death and destruction for all who are in the valley of Jehoshaphat. When the winepress is full, the valley, representing the winepress, will be filled with human blood. Because of the wickedness of all the nations against the G-d of Israel, against His land, against His people, and against His covenant, the blood from the slain of the Lord will fill the valley to overflowing. The judgment of G-d is far more severe than the judgment of men. When the G-d of Israel pours out His judgment of wrath on the nations, He will take no prisoners. His judgment will be without mercy and it will be complete. There will be no survivors.
G-D’S JUDGMENT UPON THE ARMIES WHO SEEK CONQUER JERUSALEM
TO
And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the nations who besieged Jerusalem; his flesh will waste away while he still stands on his feet; his eyes will waste away in their sockets, and his tongue shall waste away in his mouth (Zechariah 14:12). The Lord will smite all the peoples whom He brings into the valley of Jehoshaphat and who had sought to make war against Jerusalem—their flesh shall rot away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their sockets, and their tongue shall rot away in their mouth. And it will come to pass that everyone left of the nations who came up against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to prostrate himself to the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the festival of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16). The day will come when, their armies vanquished, the Gentile nations of the world, every one that is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem, will go up to Jerusalem every year in 47
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days observance of the Jewish religious calendar, there to worship the Lord of Hosts at the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles will be a feast of remembrance, praise, and thanksgiving unto Messiah, the Holy One of Israel. Thus, He will come to tabernacle with His people once again as He did in the desert. In that day He will be their G-d and they will be His people forevermore! Amen and Amen!
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Chapter Six
THESE TWO LANDS WILL BE MINE
Israel became a nation in 1948. Since that day the Islamic nations have covenanted together to make war against Israel for one purpose—the complete destruction of the nation so that the name of Israel will be remembered no more. The Road Map of the Nations has become a part of the strategy of the Muslim nations to achieve their ultimate goal. They view the Road Map as a first step towards the complete destruction of Israel. The stated goal of the Road Map is the division of the land of Israel by political means in order to create a Palestinian Nation on the land promised by G-d to the Jewish people. The Road Map has four sponsors: the United States, the U.N., the E.U., and Russia, and calls for the removal of all Jewish citizens from Gaza and from the mountains of Israel by way of Israel’s ceding to the Palestinians most of the land comprising Judea and Samaria, in order to create a fully functioning and sovereign Palestinian state. So the mountains of Israel are an integral part of the Road Map of the Nations. Today, the news media refers to Judea and Samaria as the West Bank. However, the Tanach (Bible) calls them “the mountains of Israel.” Given that Israel completes its withdrawal from Gaza, “the mountains of Israel” will become the next target of the Palestinians and the nations. 49
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days It is interesting to note that 2,600 years ago the prophet Ezekiel was commanded to prophesy to “the mountains of Israel.” This is most unusual, since many prophecies refer to nations, kings, kingdoms, and to the coming Messiah. Yet the Lord commanded the prophet Ezekiel to prophesy specifically to “the mountains of Israel.” Until 1967, “the mountains of Israel” were under the control of the nation of Jordan, but after the 1967 war they came under Israeli control for the first time in almost 2,000 years. The Palestinians and their allies who are sponsoring the Road Map are determined to force Israel to cede control of this area to them, and to force her back to the 1949 borders. No man knows the timing or manner in which the exact sequence of events will take place that was prophesied regarding the mountains of Israel. However, with the advent of the Road Map of the Nations, and by the words and actions of the Palestinians and the Islamic nations, we suspect that fulfillment of the words of the prophet Ezekiel cannot be far off. This Road Map of the Nations was prophesied over 2,600 years ago. It was written for all to read: Because you said, “The two nations and the two lands will be mine, and we shall inherit it,” and the Lord was there (Ezekiel 35:10). In these verses we read that someone is saying, “These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; and the Lord was there.” The someone speaking in these verses are the Palestinians and the “it” are “the mountains of Israel.” The following is the text of the Friday sermon, February 4, 2005, in Gaza, preached by Ibrahim Mudyris, Palestinian Authority: Our willingness to return to the 1967 borders does not mean that we have given up on the land of Palestine. No! We ask you: Do we have the right to the 1967 borders? We have the right. Therefore, we shall realize this right with any mean it takes. We might be able to use diplomacy in order to return to the 1967 borders, but we shall not be 50
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These Two Lands Will Be Mine able to use diplomacy in order to return to the 1948 borders (when there was no State of Israel). No one on this earth recognizes [our right to] the 1948 borders [before Israel’s existence]. Therefore, we shall return to the 1967 borders, but it does not mean that we have given up on Jerusalem and Haifa, Jaffa, Lod, Ramla, Natanyah [Al-Zuhour] and Tel Aviv [Tel AlRabia]. Never! We shall return to every village we had been expelled from, by Allah’s will. Our approval to return to the 1967 borders is not a concession for our other rights. No! This generation might not achieve this stage, but generations will come, and the land of Palestine will demand that the Palestinians will return the way Muhammad returned there, as a conqueror.
PROPHECY FULFILLED
The message preached by Ibrahim Mudyris in the mosque was prophesied more than 2,600 years ago by the prophet Ezekiel. Mudyris said, “These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it!” Mudyris is declaring publicly that once the State of Palestine is established in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, the remainder of the nation of Israel—Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa, Lod, Ramla, Natanyah, and Tel Aviv—will become Palestinian territory as well, by way of conquest according to the plan of Muhammad. The plan of the Palestinians and the Arab Muslim nations is not a secret, as they declare it openly every Friday in their mosques all across the Middle East. Their first objective is to establish the State of Palestine, then arm themselves and, along with their Muslim neighbors, return the way Muhammad returned—as a conqueror of what remains of the nation of Israel! Just as it was prophesied 2,600 years ago, they declare, “These two nations—Palestine and Israel—and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it.” 51
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By Ferro Bubenko. Used by permission.
COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days
The Landbridge Map
AND
THE
LORD WAS THERE
In the last part of the prophecy wherein the Palestinians declare that these two nations and these two lands “will be mine,” the closing verse says, “And the Lord was there.” What the Palestinians and their supporters failed to take into account or believe was the most significant part of the prophecy: “The Lord G-d of Israel IS there!” 52
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These Two Lands Will Be Mine Where is He? He is on the mountains of Israel. They are seeking to appropriate His land that He promised to Israel by covenant as an everlasting possession. The following verse begins with the word, “therefore.” The Lord is saying to them. “Therefore know that the G-d of Israel is there—not the god of Islam.” Therefore, as I live, says the Lord G-d, I shall commit [acts] like your wrath and like your [acts of] anger that you did out of your hatred for them, and I shall be known among them when I judge you (Ezekiel 35:11). The G-d of Israel says, “Therefore as I live!” He is the living G-d. He is not the G-d of the dead; He is the G-d of the living. He declared I am the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He did not declare I was the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! He is the living G-d, the eternal G-d, the all-knowing and allpowerful G-d. He said, “I am G-d Almighty! Nothing is impossible for Me. I am the G-d who created the universe and everything in it. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are alive with Me in heaven, because I am the G-d of the living, not the G-d of the dead. I am your G-d, O Israel. I am the G-d who sees and the G-d who hears, and the G-d who acts according to My prophetic word.” With this established, the Lord declares to the Palestinians, “I will do according to your anger and according to your envy, which you have shown through your hatred against Israel; and I will make Myself known among Israel, when I shall judge you.” The Lord is going to judge them because of their envy and their hatred of Israel. He will make Himself known when He judges them. The judgment of G-d is an awesome thing. One only has to read about Sodom and Gomorrah to understand fully the severity of G-d’s judgments. Not a single human being was left alive!
THE G-D WHO HEARS
And you will know that I am the Lord. I heard all your blasphemies that you said concerning the mountains of Israel, saying, “They have become desolate; they were given to us to devour.” You have magnified yourselves against Me with your mouth, and you have multiplied your words against Me; I have heard (Ezekiel 35:12-13). 53
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days The living G-d of Israel is a G-d who hears and a G-d who sees, and He declares He has heard all the blasphemies the Palestinians have spoken against “the mountains of Israel,” saying: “They are laid desolate and given to us to devour.” The Lord acknowledges that the Palestinians, who are the sons of Ammon, have magnified themselves against Him with their mouths, and have multiplied their words against Him; and He declares, “I HAVE HEARD IT!” During the days of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, smote the land with his vast army and besieged Jerusalem in order to conquer it. To King Hezekiah he sent his messenger, who cried: “So shall you say to Hezekiah the king of Judah, saying, ‘Let your G-d in Whom you trust, not delude you, saying, ‘Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand[s] of the king of Assyria. Behold you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands to destroy them. Now will you be saved? Did the g-ds of the nations whom my forefathers destroyed—Gozan and Haran, and Rezeph and the children of Eden which is in Telassar—save them? (2 Kings 19:10-12) What was King Hezekiah’s response to this blasphemy against the G-d of Israel? And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “O Lord G-d of Israel, Who dwells between the cherubim, You alone are the G-d of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth. O Lord, incline Your ear and listen, O Lord, open Your eyes and see. And listen to the words of Sennacherib, who sent him to blaspheme the living G-d. Indeed, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their land. And they have committed their g-ds to the fire, for they are not g-ds, but the handiwork of man, wood and stone, and they destroyed them” (2 Kings 19:15-18). Hezekiah’s response was to pray, because he understood that the living G-d of Israel is a G-d who hears and a G-d who sees. He prayed, “Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he sent through an emissary to be as a reproach to the living G-d!” It is a fearful thing to reproach the living G-d of Israel. 54
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These Two Lands Will Be Mine The Lord answered Hezekiah’s prayer with the following response to Sennacherib’s threat: And your sitting and your going out and your coming I know, and your raging against Me. Because you have raged against Me, and your tumult has ascended into My ears, I will place My ring in your nose and My bit in your lips, and I will return you by the road by which you have come (2 Kings 19:27-28). Clearly the Lord says, “Because of your raging against Me, and because your arrogance has come up to My ears, and I have heard it, I will deal with you so you will know that I am the Lord.”
JUDGMENT
“And I will protect this city to save it, for My sake and for the sake of My servant David.” And it came to pass on that night that an angel of the Lord went out and slew one hundred eighty-five thousand of the camp of Assyria. And they arose in the morning, and behold they were all dead corpses (2 Kings 19:34-35). Judgment came upon the king of Assyria and his army because he blasphemed and raged against the living G-d of Israel. Notice it took only one angel to execute judgment, and he alone struck down 185,000 Assyrians in a single night. It is a terrible thing to blaspheme against the living G-d of Israel.
WHEN
THE
WHOLE EARTH REJOICES
In our world today what single event would make the whole earth rejoice? What would cause all of the nations and peoples of the earth to suddenly break out in rejoicing? The declaration of a Palestinian State would immediately cause the whole earth to rejoice. The sons of Ammon, Moab, and Edom (the Palestinians of today) will rejoice. The Muslim nations of the world will rejoice, declaring Allah has prevailed over the G-d of Israel because He was not able to defend and fulfill His covenant promise to Israel. The European Union will declare a holiday. The United Nations will throw a party. 55
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days The U.S. State Department will rejoice. The president of the United States and his cabinet will rejoice over their great accomplishment in leading the way toward the establishment of the State of Palestine. Britain and Russia will both celebrate. However, what does Scripture prophesy that the G-d of Israel will do? Thus saith the Lord G-d: “When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate. As thou didst rejoice over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee; thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it; and they shall know that I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 35:14-15). The Lord declares that on the day the sons of Ammon rejoice, He will make them desolate. The Hebrew word that is translated as “desolate” here does not simply mean to lay waste. Here it also takes on a much broader meaning, as in “to be astonished or to be amazed.” As the whole world rejoices, the Lord G-d of Israel is going to do something so astounding that it will amaze the entire world. G-d’s sovereign act will be so startling to a world that does not believe there is a G-d in Israel that they will shake their heads in absolute amazement and dismay. It will be a day when they will all know it was the G-d of Israel who acted while they were rejoicing, and on that day the god of Islam will be brought low by the Lord G-d of Israel.
WHY WILL
THE
G-D
OF ISRAEL
ACT?
The Lord will act because, with the support of all the nations, the Palestinians declared; “The two nations and the two lands will be mine, and we shall inherit it,” and the Lord was there, (Ezekiel 35:10) The Lord will act because of their anger, their envy, and their hatred against the Jewish people. The Lord will act because He has heard all the blasphemies that they (the Palestinians, the people of Ammon, Moab, and Edom) have spoken against the mountains of Israel. The Lord will act because they have said, “They have become desolate; they were given to us to devour.” (Ezekiel 35:12) 56
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These Two Lands Will Be Mine The Lord will act because they, the Palestinians, the people of Ammon, Moab, and Edom, as well as the other Muslim nations, have magnified themselves against Him with their mouths, and have multiplied their words against Him, and He has heard it! The Lord will act: Because you had everlasting hatred, and you hurled the children of Israel by the sword, on the day of their misfortune at the time of the end of their iniquity (Ezekiel 35:5).
HOW WILL
THE
LORD ACT AGAINST MOUNT SEIR OF AMMON—THE PALESTINIANS?
AND THE
SONS
Therefore, as I live, says the Lord G-d, for I shall make you into blood, and blood will pursue you; for surely you hated blood, and blood will pursue you. And I shall make Mount Seir into desolation and waste, and I shall cut off from you anyone passing through or returning. And I shall fill his mountains with his slain, your hills and your dales and all your streams—those slain by the sword will fall in them. I shall make you everlasting desolations, and your cities will not return, and you will know that I am the Lord (Ezekiel 35:6-9). As they rejoiced over appropriating the inheritance of the house of Israel—the mountains of Israel—and made them desolate, so the Lord G-d of Israel will make them desolate. Can you imagine the astonishment and consternation of the Muslim nations, the United Nations, the European Union, America, Britain, and Russia, when the Lord G-d of Israel humbles the sons of Ammon and makes them desolate? I will make thee desolate! As thou didst rejoice over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee! They shall know that I am the Lord! (Ezekiel 35:14-15) Not only will all the nations recognize the One who rendered the sons of Ammon desolate, but apostate Israel will also recognize that it was the G-d of Israel who did this great work. They will come to recognize that He fulfilled His prophetic word, that He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 57
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days and that He remembered His promise that you (Israel) will be His people and He will be your G-d. The Road Map, which is being forced on Israel by the United States and its “allies,” and which fully intends to transfer sovereignty over the mountains of Israel to the people of the god of Islam, will in the end come to nothing. The Lord frustrated the counsel of nations; He put the plans of peoples to nought. The counsel of the Lord shall endure forever; the plans of His heart to all generations. Praiseworthy is the nation whose G-d is the Lord, the people that He chose as His inheritance (Psalm 33:10-12). Why is the Lord going to do this? In one word: Covenant. The sons of Ammon, the Muslim nations, America, the E.U., the U.N., Britain, Russia, and all Israel will know the power of the Lord G-d of Israel, that He is the Maker and the Keeper of His covenant with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that there is no other G-d in heaven or on earth besides Him! Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am G-d, and there is no other. By Myself I swore, righteousness emanated from My mouth, a word, and it shall not be retracted, that to Me shall every knee kneel, every tongue shall swear.” But to me did He say by the Lord righteousness and strength, to Him shall come and be ashamed all who are incensed against Him. Through the Lord shall all the seed of Israel find righteousness and boast (Isaiah 45:22-25).
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Chapter Seven
PROPHESY UNTO THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL
Now you, son of man, prophesy concerning the mountains of Israel, and say; O mountains of Israel, hearken to the word of the Lord. So said the Lord G-d: Since the enemy said about you, “Aha!” and “the high places of the world have become our inheritance” (Ezekiel 36:1-2). The mountains of Israel in the Tanach (Bible) are referring to Judea and Samaria. As we stated before, the news media often refer to Judea and Samaria as the West Bank, while the U.N., the Palestinians, and the Muslim nations refer to the mountains of Israel as the “occupied territories.” It is interesting that over 2,600 years ago the Lord called the prophet Ezekiel to prophesy directly to the mountains of Israel because He knew the day would come when the enemies of the G-d of Israel would seek to possess and control them. The mountains of Israel also surround the city of Jerusalem, the heart and soul of the conflict in Israel today. The president of the United States has stated clearly that Israel must stop building new homes anywhere on the mountains of Israel. President Bush is demanding that Israel completely cede control over the mountains of Israel and return to the 1949 “armistice lines or borders” agreed to by Israel and Jordan at the end of the War of Independence. Those lines, the famous “Auschwitz borders” as they were called by the late Israeli labor party statesman, Abba Eban, leave Israel’s heavily populated coastal plain just 9 to 11 miles wide, 59
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days measured from the Mediterranean Sea to the border of what would be the new State of Palestine.
By Mediaware. Used by permission.
If Israel is forced to accept the 1949 borders (shown in light grey area on the map), the nation will be militarily indefensible. What would remain as the nation of Israel is clearly seen on the map.
Map of Distances Notice in Ezekiel 36:1-3 that the Lord refers to all those seeking to possess the mountains of Israel as “the enemy.” 60
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Prophesy Unto the Mountains of Israel The new Palestinian State, as demanded by the “Quartet” of nations, would include Samaria, Judea, Gaza, all of East Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount. In addition, the “Quartet” of nations is demanding that there be a land bridge connecting Gaza to Judea, effectively dividing the land of Israel! Therefore, prophesy and say; So said the Lord G-d: Because, yea because those around you were appalled and longed for you to be an inheritance for the remnant of the nations, and you were brought up on the lips of every language and the gossip of every people (Ezekiel 36:3).
IT IS
A
TERRIFYING THING TO BE CALLED “THE ENEMY” THE G-D OF ISRAEL
BY
It is a terrifying thing to be referred to as “the enemy” of the G-d of Israel. This single verse declares that the nations will swallow up the mountains of Israel on every side and make them desolate. For what purpose will they do this? So the mountains will become the possession of the nations. In May of 2005, President Bush, standing next to the man that he would like to see become the first president of a Palestinian nation, told Mahmoud Abbas and the rest of the world that the reference point for negotiating the future boundary between the two states was the 1949 “armistice lines” and that any change to that border “must be mutually agreed to between Israel and the Palestinians.” In other words, as far as President Bush is concerned, Mahmoud Abbas must approve Israel’s annexation of the Western Wall or even part of the Tel-Aviv–Jerusalem highway. Conversely, without Abbas’s agreement, those areas are slated to be part of a new and independent Palestinian State!
WOE
TO
THOSE WHO HAVE APPOINTED MY LAND FOR A POSSESSION
TO
THEMSELVES
Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hearken to the word of the Lord G-d. So said the Lord G-d to the mountains and to the hills, to the streams and to the valleys, to the desolate ruins and to the deserted cities, which became a scorn and a mockery to the remnant of the nations that are around. Therefore, so said the Lord G-d: Surely with the fire of My anger I spoke 61
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days about the remnant of the nations and about Edom in its entirety, who appointed My land for themselves as an inheritance with the joy of every heart, with disdain of soul, because her expulsion was for plunder (Ezekiel 36:4-5). The Lord declares that the mountains of Israel are “My land,” not anyone else’s land. Though others may occupy them for a short time, in the end they will understand that “when you touch ‘My land,’ you touch Me. When you touch Me, you touch My covenant, My Word, My heart, and My people, Israel. I am G-d Almighty and you have forgotten that you are but mere men.” In these verses the Lord declares that His land, the mountains of Israel, will become a prey to the residue of the Muslim nations surrounding Israel with the help, aid, and encouragement of the other nations of the world. The Lord caused Ezekiel to prophesy that Edom and the nations of the world will join themselves together for one purpose and one plan: “…who appointed My land for themselves as an inheritance with the joy of every heart, with disdain of soul, because her expulsion was for plunder” (Ezekiel 36:5). It is not surprising, therefore, that President Bush, rather than emphasizing the importance of Mahmoud Abbas’s so-called fight against terror and the keeping of his obligations under the Road Map, instead focused on Israel’s own Road Map obligations, which primarily dictates a halt to all settlement construction in Judea and Samaria and the removal of what he called “unauthorized outposts” from the mountains of Israel. George W. Bush is a president who means what he says. After mentioning the 1949 lines, Bush said the following: “A viable two-state solution must ensure contiguity of the West Bank, and a state of scattered territories will not work. There must also be meaningful linkages (a land bridge) between the West Bank and Gaza. This is the position of the United States today and it will be the position of the United States at the time of final status negotiations.” The president of the United States, along with the Palestinian leadership and that of the other nations, should cry out to the G-d of Israel for forgiveness. They should rend their hearts and not their garments for their arrogance against the G-d of Israel and His 62
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Prophesy Unto the Mountains of Israel covenant land. But they will not—because there is no fear of the living G-d in them. With joy of heart and disdain in their souls for the G-d of Israel, for His holy Word, and for His land, they will cast it out for a prey to the god of Islam.
THE NATIONS ROUND ABOUT ISRAEL SHALL BEAR THEIR SHAME! Therefore, prophesy concerning the soil of Israel, and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the streams and to the valleys, So said the Lord G-d: Behold I have spoken with My anger and with My fury because you have borne the disgrace of the nations. Therefore, so said the Lord G-d: I have raised My hand; surely the nations that are around you—they will bear their disgrace. And you, the mountains of Israel, will produce your branches, and you will bear your fruit for My people Israel because they are about to come (Ezekiel 36:6-8).
When we read, “Thus saith the Lord G-d,” it is time to sit up straight and pay attention. The enemies of Israel covet and claim the mountains of Israel as their own possession, although the Lord was there. The Palestinians and their Muslim brothers claim the mountains of Israel as their own. The land is being swallowed up by the Palestinians with the help and aid of the Muslim nations, America, the E.U., the U.N., Britain, and Russia. The mountains of Israel have become their prey. Once Israel’s enemies have “appropriated the land for themselves” we see that the judgment of G-d comes with fury against all of the nations surrounding Israel, and especially Edom. His judgment comes in the fire of His jealousy for His people and for the mountains of Israel. The judgment of the Lord will be most severe because Israel has borne the reproach of the nations around her. Because of this, He declared that the nations around Israel would soon bear their own reproach, and what they sought to do to Israel the Lord would do to them. The Lord will act out of His jealousy and His fury regarding what the nations and their leaders have done to the mountains of Israel, and all the nations of the earth will know that this powerful act was done by the hand of the G-d of Israel. 63
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days The Lord is going to bring absolute judgment on the nations that are round about Israel. The land they appropriated with joy in their hearts from the G-d of Israel will be redeemed from them in His fury, in His jealousy, and by His mighty hand, and given once again to His people Israel.
WHO IS
THE
G-D
OF ISRAEL?
The leaders of the nations surrounding Israel, along with the leaders of the rest of the nations of the world, are much like Pharaoh of Egypt when Moses spoke to him and declared: And afterwards, Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “So said the Lord G-d of Israel, ‘Send out My people, and let them sacrifice to Me in the desert’” (Exodus 5:1). And how did Pharaoh answer Moses? Pharaoh said: “Who is the Lord that I should heed His voice to let Israel out? I do not know the Lord, neither will I let Israel out” (Exodus 5:2). Is this not what the leaders of the Palestinians and the Muslim nations are saying to the G-d of Israel? Is this not what the leaders of the rest of the nations are saying to the G-d of Israel? They are all declaring together that they, not Israel, will possess the mountains of Israel because in their hearts they do not believe the living G-d dwells in Israel. They do not believe He is G-d, and they don’t believe He has any power to act on behalf of His people, His covenant, or His land. Scripture reveals that the day came when Pharaoh was given the opportunity to meet the Lord G-d of Israel up close and personal. On that day Pharaoh understood that the G-d of Israel is indeed G-d and there is no other G-d in heaven or on the earth. Pharaoh paid a high price for arrogantly saying, “Who is the Lord that I should hearken to His voice to let Israel go?” The firstborn in all of Egypt died, including Pharaoh’s own son, and later the Lord drowned Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea. The Lord declares that the nations surrounding Israel will all meet the Lord G-d of Israel up close and personal when He dispossesses them from the land they appropriated from Him and His people. 64
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Prophesy Unto the Mountains of Israel For He declares that by the power of His mighty right hand He will cause the mountains of Israel to shoot forth their branches and bear fruit, not for the nations who appropriated His land, but for His people Israel, for they are about to come and possess His mountains.
THE MOUNTAINS
OF ISRAEL
SHALL BE YOUR INHERITANCE FROM ME!
For behold I am for you, and I shall turn to you, and you will be tilled and sown. And I shall multiply men upon you, the whole house of Israel in its entirety, and the cities will be settled, and the ruins will be built up. And I shall multiply upon you man and beast, and they will be fruitful and multiply, and I shall settle you as in your early days, and I shall make you better than your beginnings, and you will know that I am the Lord. And I shall cause man to walk upon you, My people Israel, and they will inherit you, and you will be to them for an inheritance, and you will no longer continue to be bereaved of them (Ezekiel 36:9-12). There can be no doubt that the Lord will redeem the mountains of Israel from the possession and control of the nations surrounding Israel because His Word says, “The Lord is for them.” From the moment the Lord removes all those who worship a foreign god from the mountains of Israel, all Israel will know that the Lord is for them, and that He has turned their hearts back to Him for the purpose of blessing them. By the strong hand of the Lord He will multiply men in this place, and all of the house of Israel will see and experience the cities once again being inhabited. There will be blessings on the mountains of Israel rather than curses. The Lord declares, “I will cause men to walk upon you, even My people Israel, and they shall possess thee and thou shalt be their inheritance; and you (O nations) shall no more bereave them” (Ezekiel 36:12). Israel, G-d’s people, will walk on and possess their inheritance in Judea and Samaria for all eternity, and they will all know that it was the hand of the Lord that accomplished this. 65
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days
THE LAND WILL NO LONGER BE
A
DEVOURER
OF
MEN
So said the Lord G-d: Because they say to you, ‘You are a devourer of men and you were a bereaver of your nations,’ therefore, you shall no longer devour men, and you shall no longer bereave your nations, says the Lord G-d. And I shall no longer let you hear the disgrace of the nations; the taunt of the peoples you shall no longer bear, neither shall you bereave your nations any longer,” says the Lord G-d (Ezekiel 36:13-15). The mountains of Israel will have experienced so much bloodshed and death that the people will call them a place that is a devourer of men, a place that literally bereaves nations of their children. From that day forward however, the mountains of Israel will no longer bear the insults of the surrounding nations. From that day forward the mountains of Israel will no longer cause the nations to stumble due to their idolatry because they will all know and understand that the G-d of Israel is truly G-d and there is none other in heaven or on the earth.
AND I WILL SET MINE EYES UPON THEM
FOR
GOOD!
And I will place My eyes upon them for good, and I will return them to this land, and I will build them and not destroy, and I will plant them and not pluck them. And I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord, and they shall be to Me for a people, and I will be to them for a G-d, for they shall return to Me with all their heart (Jeremiah 24:6-7). Has the Lord given you a heart to know Him, that He is the Lord? This is the heart issue for all of the Jewish people today. Only when you and I purpose in our hearts to know Him and to know Him as our Lord will His eyes be set upon us for good. Only then will He, the Lord G-d of Israel, bring all of our people back into His land to build us up and not pull us down. Only then will He plant us in the land never again to be plucked out. Pray that the Lord will give all Israel a desire to return to Him with their whole hearts, and to know Him as their Lord, because only then will we be His people and He be our G-d.
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Chapter Eight
JERUSALEM—A CUP OF TREMBLING
THE PHYSICAL REALM Satan is the enemy of G-d and of all those who love and worship Him. Since the time of Adam and Eve, satan has sought worship from mankind and has used all manner of cunning and crafty schemes to deceive man, causing him to turn away from G-d and give worship and glory to him. The heart of G-d’s plan for Israel and His people revolves around future events that deal with the issue of sovereignty and control over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. In the same perspective, an integral part of satan’s strategy and plan at this time is to gain sovereignty and control over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Why? Because satan wants the whole world to worship him alone, not the Messiah of Israel, on this most holy of Jewish sites in all the world. There is abundant scriptural evidence that the G-d of Israel has chosen Zion (Jerusalem) for His dwelling place. For the Lord has chosen Zion; He desired it for His habitation. This is My resting place forever; here I shall dwell for I desired it (Psalm 132:13-14). The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob (Psalm 87:2). In Psalm 48, G-d speaks of Mount Zion: 67
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days A song, a psalm of the sons of Korah. The Lord is great and very much praised, in the city of our G-d, the Mount of His Sanctuary. The fairest of branches, the joy of the entire earth—Mount Zion, by the north side, the city of a great king. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of Hosts, in the city of our G-d; G-d shall establish it forever and ever (Psalm 48:2-3, 9). Satan desires above all else to thwart the plans and purposes of the G-d of Israel. He is causing the Muslims to fight to the death in order to maintain sovereignty over the Temple Mount. Satan believes that if the Muslims control the Temple Mount, he can prevent the coming of Messiah. If there is no Jewish Temple, Messiah would have no place to rule and reign except in the House of Islam on the Temple Mount, known today as the Al Aksa Mosque. As farfetched as this may seem, the Muslims have gone to great extremes in the physical realm to do everything within their power to keep the Messiah from coming to rule and reign on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In the months and years ahead, you will clearly understand that the center of controversy over the land of Israel will be the attempts by the Palestinian Authority, supported by the nations of the earth, to force Israel to cede sovereignty and control over East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount to the god of Islam: Allah! The entire world will rise up against Israel and demand she give over that which is holy to that which is unholy. The conflict has eternal significance because all peoples and all nations will one day come to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to worship the G-d of Israel, Messiah on Succoth, as foretold long ago by the prophet Zechariah. At this time satan and his evil cohorts will have long been vanquished by the G-d of Israel who sits on His throne. When we view the stage that is being set for the coming battle through the spiritual eyes of G-d, as opposed to using our limited human eyesight, wonderful revelation begins to come forth. The Book of Ezekiel reveals clearly that Messiah will return to His House through the East Gate on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. 68
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Jerusalem—a Cup of Trembling
VISION
OF THE
GLORY
OF
G-D FILLING
THE
TEMPLE
And he led me to the gate, a gate that faced eastward. And behold, the glory of the G-d of Israel came from the way of the east, and its sound was like the sound of abundant waters, and the earth shone from His glory (Ezekiel 43:1-2). In these verses the scene begins with the prophet Ezekiel being led to the East Gate of the Temple Mount where he beholds the glory of the G-d of Israel coming from the way of the east and with the earth shining with His glory. The prophet then beholds the Lord Himself coming into the house on the Temple Mount by way of the East Gate. And the glory of the Lord came to the House by the way of the gate that faced eastward. And a spirit lifted me and brought me to the Inner Court, and behold the glory of the Lord filled the House. And I heard [Him] speaking to me from the House, and a man was standing beside me. And He said to me, Son of man, [this is] the place of My throne and [this is] the place of the soles of My feet where I shall dwell in the midst of the Children of Israel forever, and the House of Israel will no longer defile My Holy Name, they and their kings with their harlotry, and with the corpses of their kings in their high places (Ezekiel 43:4-7). As the scene continues to unfold, the glory of the Lord—Messiah—comes into the Temple by way of the gate facing toward the east. Then Ezekiel is taken into the inner court where the glory of the Lord fills the entire house and Messiah says to him, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever!” Wow, what a revelation! The Messiah will enter the Temple Mount through the East Gate, walk into His house, sit on His throne, and dwell among the sons of Israel forever and ever, amen! The Temple Mount will be the place of the Messiah’s throne where He will sit and judge the nations. It is His purpose and His plan to dwell among the sons of Israel forever! It is not difficult to understand that this prophecy reveals astonishing facts regarding the coming of Messiah. These verses 69
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days prophesy regarding the exact place where He will enter through the East Gate on the Temple Mount—the exact place where the soles of His feet will rest—in the Holy of Holies, the place of His throne, where He will dwell amongst His people forever. Is it any surprise that all those who worship Allah, the god of Islam, want to maintain control of the Temple Mount after reading these prophetic Scriptures?
THE LAW
OF THE
HOUSE
OF
G-D
OF ISRAEL ON THE
TEMPLE MOUNT
You, Son of man, describe the House to the House of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; let them measure its plan. And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, let them know the form of the House and its scheme, its exits and its entrances, and all its forms, and all its laws and all its teachings, and write it down in their sight so that they keep the whole form thereof and the laws thereof, and do them. This is the teaching of the House; upon the top of the mountain, all its boundary round about shall be most holy; behold, this is the teaching of the House (Ezekiel 43:10-12). The Lord then instructs Ezekiel regarding “the law of the house.” First, He commands him to describe the Temple to the house of Israel. Why? So they will be ashamed and repent of their iniquities. Only when the remnant of Israel recognizes their iniquities and repents before G-d is Ezekiel commanded to reveal the vision of the Temple, its design, structure, statutes, and laws. The law of the house requires the entire area on the top of the mountain to be holy. Why must this area be holy? It will be holy because the Lord G-d of Israel is a holy G-d, and will never rule and reign from a place that is unholy. Today, everything on the Temple Mount is unholy because resting there is an altar to a foreign god: Allah. It will all be removed before the Messiah sets foot on the holy mountain.
THE MUSLIMS HAVE READ OUR BOOK!
Anyone who does not believe the Muslims have read our Tanach (Bible) should take note of what they have done in the physical realm in Jerusalem and around the Temple Mount. First, 70
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Jerusalem—a Cup of Trembling they have purposefully bricked up the East Gate, leaving all of the other gates open. Why? Because they know that the Messiah is prophesied to come through the East Gate onto the Temple Mount, and it is their futile hope that a blocked gate will prevent this from happening. Secondly, they have deliberately placed a Muslim cemetery in front of the East Gate. Why? Because they believe that the Messiah would never walk through a cemetery. Brick walls and Muslim cemeteries will hardly stop the Messiah from entering through the East Gate on the Temple Mount. Scripture further confirms this, saying: And he brought me back by way of the Outer Sanctuary Gate that faces eastward, and it was closed. And the Lord said to me; This gate shall be closed, it shall not be opened, and no man shall come through it, for the Lord G-d of Israel comes through it, and it shall be closed (Ezekiel 44:1-2). Scripture declares that “The gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord G-d of Israel shall come through it.” Once the Lord G-d of Israel, the Messiah, has entered by the East Gate, it will be shut and nothing unholy will ever enter through it. Just as the top of the mountain all around shall be holy, so shall be the East Gate. Today, the Muslims are doing everything possible in the physical realm to make certain these prophetic verses in Ezekiel do not come to pass. Yet, the Lord will not only enter through the East Gate, but once He has, it is He who will close it and no one shall enter by it because “the Lord G-d of Israel has entered by it!” Ezekiel prophesied concerning the rule and reign of the Messiah on the Temple Mount. This is going to be a physical event that is coming as sure as night follows day. The Muslims believe it, satan believes it, and that’s exactly why the battle over the Temple Mount is going to be of epic proportions. There can be no peace in Israel today because satan is determined to maintain the Temple Mount as the place where his people worship him, and where his house will be established in place 71
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days of the Temple of Israel’s coming Messiah, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel!
JERUSALEM WILL BE
A
CUP
OF
TREMBLING
AND
STAGGERING
Behold! I am making Jerusalem a cup of weakness for all the peoples around, and also on Judah, [that he] shall be in the siege against Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass on that day that I will make Jerusalem a stone of burden for all peoples; all who bear it shall be gashed, and all the nations of the earth shall gather about it (Zechariah 12:2-3). In these prophetic verses the Lord declares that He will make Jerusalem a cup of staggering or trembling to all the peoples round about. Why would the Lord choose to make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all peoples of the earth? The reason is that Jerusalem is the place where Messiah will come to rule and reign. He is not coming to Washington, D.C., or to Brussels, the home of the E.U., nor will He come to Whitehall in London. Rather, He is coming to Jerusalem, and all the leaders of the earth will come to worship Him there in His holy temple. The city will be a cup of trembling and staggering because satan wants to be worshiped in Jerusalem on the holy mountain, and he will cause all the nations of the earth to gather together in order to divide Jerusalem and give sovereignty and control to the god of Islam: Allah. Notice the prophetic verses declare, “All the nations will be gathered against Jerusalem and Judah.” It does not say “some of the nations.” This reveals that satanic powers and principalities will exercise such power and deception over the nations and their leaders that all will gather together against Jerusalem in order to dedicate to a foreign god that which is eternally holy to the G-d of Israel. Today very few people understand the heart of G-d and the eternal spiritual and physical significance of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Few people today understand the reason why, after liberating Jerusalem in 1967 after thousands of years of exile, the Jewish leaders inexplicably gave administrative control of the Temple Mount back to the Muslims. 72
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Jerusalem—a Cup of Trembling Why would they do such a thing? It makes no sense to the natural mind. The G-d of Israel even commands them to do just the opposite—tear down the altars to a foreign god. And a messenger of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said (in G-d’s name), “I will take you up from Egypt and I have brought you to the land that I have sworn to your forefathers and I said, ‘I will not break my covenant with you forever. And you shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land, their altars you shall smash,’ but you have not obeyed Me, what have you done? And I also said, ‘I will not drive them out from before you, and they will be pokers to you and their g-ds will be a stumbling block to you’” (Judges 2:1-3). Clearly the Lord commanded the leaders of Israel to do two specific things when they entered the land of Israel: 1. Make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land. 2. Break down their altars to a foreign god. These commands have great significance in regard to the situation in Israel today. G-d’s word is eternal and it does not change. His word and His purposes always have eternity in its proper perspective, and in His mind making no covenant with the inhabitants of the land and tearing down their altars to a foreign god are acts of obedience close to His heart because they are covenant issues. Today, Israel is not only seeking to make a covenant with the Palestinians, but they are going to willingly give away their covenant promised land to the god of Islam: Allah. This is clearly an act of rebellion against the covenant and commandments of the G-d of Israel. In 1967, the leaders of Israel further rebelled against the eternal word and commandments of G-d given to them. They returned control of the Temple Mount to the Muslims because they feared the opinion of man and the nations more than they feared the commandments of the Lord. They knew not the G-d of Israel nor heeded His commandments. This was done so that the prophecy in Zechariah 12:2-3 could be fulfilled, that Jerusalem would one day become a cup of staggering to all the nations of the earth. 73
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days WHO IS G-D?
The spiritual and physical battle for the Temple Mount and Jerusalem has at its very foundation the issue: “Who is G-d?” Is the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, written about in the Tanach (Bible) the one true G-d, or is Allah, the god of the Koran, truly G-d? The G-d of Israel is not the god of Islam. Ultimately only the One True Living G-d, the G-d of Israel, will rule and reign, and be worshiped on His holy mountain. The G-d of Israel will ultimately rule and reign on the Temple Mount. However, until Messiah comes, know for certain that the Muslim nations, the United Nations, the European Union, and the United States are all being deceived and seduced by evil demons empowered by satan in order to force Israel to cede sovereignty and control over East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. That is exactly why it was prophesied that Jerusalem would be a cup of trembling to all nations.
THE SPIRITUAL REALM
Very few people today understand the true spiritual significance of the conflict taking place over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, despite the fact that the news media and religious leaders throughout the world call it a “religious issue.” Three worldwide religions claim Jerusalem as foundational to their faith. However, while Judaism and Christianity clearly have their foundations in Jerusalem, Islam’s foundation has always been in Arabia. As we wrote earlier, the central issue regarding Israel, Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount is not peace; it is not about religion, rather it is COVENANT! So the heart of the issue remains, “Who is G-d?” Who will be worshiped as G-d, and who will one day rule and reign over the land of Israel and the nations? Covenant is a spiritual issue as well as a physical issue. It is spiritual because it was the G-d of Israel who made the covenant with Abraham, and G-d resides in the spiritual realm. The everlasting covenant with Abraham was established between a spiritual being (the G-d of Israel) with a physical being (Abraham) over a physical piece of land (Israel). The maker of the 74
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Jerusalem—a Cup of Trembling covenant, the living G-d of Israel, is the One responsible for keeping and enforcing this covenant. The Tanach (Bible) teaches that there is an adversary to the G-d of Israel who is also a spiritual being, whose name is satan. He is described in the Tanach (Bible) as the serpent in the Garden of Eden who deceived Eve. Thus he is a liar and a destroyer who opposes the plans and purposes of G-d. He has a host of spiritual allies and an army of demons at his disposal who work through the minds and hearts of those who seek to follow his ways and worship him. Satan is the implacable enemy of both G-d and the people of G-d. He is even now mobilizing all his heavenly servants, his entire army, to destroy Israel and take possession over both Jerusalem and the Temple Mount so that his followers can worship him as usurper of Messiah’s divine right to sit on His earthly throne atop G-d’s holy mountain.
WAR
IN THE
HEAVENS
In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar, and the word was true, and for a long time, and he understood the word and he understood it in the vision. In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three weeks of days. I ate no white bread, neither did meat nor wine enter my mouth, and I did not anoint myself until the completion of three weeks of days. And on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, when I was beside the great river, the Tigris. I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold a man clad in linen, and his loins were girded with a girdle of gold studded with jewels. And his body was like tarshish, and his face was like the appearance of lightning, and his eyes were like firebrands, and his arms and his legs were like the appearance of brandished copper, and the sound of his words was like the voice of a multitude. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, but the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them, and they fled into hiding. But I remained alone, and I saw this great vision, and no strength was left within me, and my complexion was turned in me into corruption, and I could not summon up strength. Then I heard the voice of his words, and when I 75
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days heard the voice of his words, I fell into a sound sleep on my face, and my face was to the ground (Daniel 10:1-9). In these verses we find the prophet Daniel by the river Tigris in Babylon. Suddenly, there appears before him a Man dressed in linen, with a belt of pure gold around His waist. His body was like beryl; His face had the appearance of lightning; His eyes were flaming torches, His arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of His voice shook the earth. Those who were with Daniel did not see the vision; nevertheless they ran away in fear and hid themselves from something they knew was there but could not see. To Daniel, it was obviously a Spiritual Being of the highest order in G-d’s kingdom. This Being had the power to make Himself visible to Daniel but invisible to all the others present. He had the power to inflict such dread in the hearts of men that they fled and hid themselves in fear for their lives although they could not see or hear Him. This Spiritual Being had the power to speak and shake the earth and it caused Daniel to fall on his face in a deep sleep on the ground. This Spiritual Being, obviously, possessed supernatural powers.
WHO WAS THIS EXTRAORDINARY SPIRITUAL BEING?
Who was this extraordinary Spiritual Being who stood before Daniel? We see in these verses of Scripture that there was, also, an angel present, whose name was undoubtedly Gabriel, who had appeared to Daniel before in Chapters 8 and 9. Daniel recognized the angel Gabriel as he declared to Daniel, “Fear not, Daniel, for since the first day that you set your heart to contemplate and to fast before your G-d, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words.” (Daniel 10:12) Gabriel had been sent with a specific message for Daniel from the G-d of Israel. This message was to give Daniel understanding of what would happen to his people, the Jews, in the latter days. From the description of the extraordinary Spiritual Being, it is obvious He was not human, nor was He an angel. He was dressed in white linen, the garment of a priest. His waist was girded with gold, the sign of kingship. His body was like beryl, while His face had the appearance of lightning. 76
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Jerusalem—a Cup of Trembling Lightning is a terrifying thing to see and its brightness can blind the eyes. Can you imagine looking into eyes that were like flaming torches? His arms and feet were like polished bronze. Is it any wonder that all the color drained out of Daniel’s face as he fell on his face before the Lord G-d of Israel, trembling in fear for his life? If you or I had seen and experienced what Daniel did, we too would be flat on our faces trembling in fear for our lives. Daniel was prostrate before the Lord of the universe. We know this Person was the G-d of Israel not only by His awesome appearance but more importantly by the fact that He alone knows the beginning from the end. Supernatural knowledge of future things was never given to angels, nor even to satan, who is himself a fallen angel. Daniel recognized the angel Gabriel because he had seen him before when Gabriel had given him a message from the G-d of Israel: Now I was still speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and casting my supplication before the Lord my G-d about the mount of the Sanctuary of my G-d. While I was still speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I saw in the vision at first, approached me in swift flight about the time of the evening offering. And he enabled me to understand, and he spoke with me, and he said, “Daniel, now I have come forth to make you skillful in understanding. In the beginning of your supplications, a word came forth, and I have come to tell it, for you have desirable qualities; now contemplate the word and understand the vision (Daniel 9:20-23). Daniel declares, “Then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me about the time of the evening offering.” Obviously, Daniel recognized the angel Gabriel and he knew that he was a messenger from G-d. He fully understood that Gabriel did not know the future, but that he had been sent by the only One who did know the future—the G-d of Israel—to give him understanding and revelation about what would be the fate of his people in the last days. 77
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days Gabriel then confirms this by saying, “O Daniel, I have come forth to give you insight and understanding, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.” Recognizing the difference between the messenger and the One who gave the message was important to Daniel, as well as it should be to us today. Remember this and strengthen yourselves, take to heart, you transgressors. Remember the first things of old, that I am G-d and there is no other; I am G-d and there is none like Me. [I] tell the end from the beginning, and from before, what was not done; [I] say, “My counsel shall stand, and all My desire I will do.” [I] call from the east a swift bird, from a distant land the man of My counsel; yea I spoke, I will also bring it; I formed it, I will also do it (Isaiah 46:8-11). Clearly, the G-d of Israel declares, “I am G-d, and there is no other; I am G-d, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning.” Daniel was on his face before the G-d of Israel who had instructed His angel Gabriel to come and give him insight about what would be the fate of the Jewish people in the latter days. Only G-d can declare the end from the beginning!
DO YOU HAVE
A
HEART LIKE DANIEL?
Do you have the heart of a Daniel? If not, ask yourself why not. If you want to have a heart like Daniel, you must have the faith of a Daniel. Ask the G-d of Israel to give it to you. He is looking for people of faith with a heart like Daniel. For the Lord—His eyes run to and fro throughout the entire earth to grant strength with those whose heart is whole toward Him. You have dealt foolishly in this matter, for from now on you shall have wars (2 Chronicles 16:9).
DANIEL IS STRENGTHENED
AND
COMFORTED
And behold, a hand touched me and moved me on my knees and the palms of my hands. And he said to me, “Daniel, man of desirable qualities, contemplate the words I speak to you and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he spoke to me this word, I stood quaking. And he said to me, 78
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Jerusalem—a Cup of Trembling “Fear not, Daniel, for since the first day that you set your heart to contemplate and to fast before your G-d, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words. And the prince of the kingdom of Persia has been standing against me for twenty-one days, and behold Michael, one of the first princes, has come to help, and I remained there beside the kings of Persia. And I have come to enable you to understand what will happen to your people at the end of the days, for there is yet a vision for those days” (Daniel 10:10-14). In these extraordinary verses we see the angelic messenger comforting Daniel. First, a hand touches him and sets him trembling on his hands and knees. Daniel had no strength to stand; he could only humble himself before this angelic messenger on his hands and knees. Then came forth some of the most wonderfully encouraging words ever spoken to a human being from a spirit being. He said, “O Daniel, man of desirable qualities.” The Lord G-d of Israel was calling Daniel a “man of desirable qualities.” Why was Daniel accorded such honor from the Holy One of Israel? Daniel was a man who knew his G-d. He was a man of prayer, and most importantly, Daniel was a man who did not fear man, choosing instead to fear only the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Daniel had a love for his people, and a heart to intercede and stand in the gap for them before the Holy One of Israel. In his distress, he cried out to the G-d of Israel to remember his people in the land of their captivity. Daniel understood that as a result of the sins and disobedience of his people, the Lord had given them over as slaves to the king of Babylon. The nation of Israel had been completely destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 586 B.C.E. So Daniel humbled himself before the Lord G-d of Israel seeking understanding of what would become of the Jewish people and their nation.
REVELATION
AND
UNDERSTANDING COME
TO
DANIEL
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days words were heard, and I have come because of your words” (Daniel 10:12). What a revelation about the power of a humble man’s prayers before the Lord. Scripture says that from the first day Daniel began to pray and humble himself before the Lord, his words were heard. Daniel was a man who persevered before his G-d in prayer because he expected an answer. He was unwilling to cease from his prayers until G-d answered him. Daniel’s prayers touched the very heart of G-d and that is why the angel Gabriel was sent to answer Daniel from the moment Daniel began to pray. Do your prayers have the power to move the Lord of the universe to answer you? What a testimony that we serve a G-d who hears our prayers and responds to them.
DO YOU BELIEVE G-D HEARS YOUR PRAYERS ANSWER THEM?
AND
WILL
Early last year we were invited to the wedding of one in our family here in Israel. It was a wonderful Orthodox wedding. Following the ceremony was a lovely dinner. I was seated next to a young Orthodox Israeli who spoke fluent English. In the course of the dinner he asked me, “You are an American; do you pray like we do here in Israel?” I replied, “Oh, yes, I pray as you do, however there is something decidedly different about how I pray.” The young man looked at me with a puzzled expression on his face, fork in hand, and he hesitated before putting the food into his mouth. I continued, “I pray differently than you because I always expect an answer from G-d!” He dropped his fork onto his plate in astonishment, and just stared at me in disbelief. “You mean,” he stammered, “you really believe G-d hears your prayers and answers them?” “Absolutely,” I replied, “If I didn’t believe it, I wouldn’t pray. Why do you pray if you don’t believe G-d hears you?” I shot back. He just looked at me for a few moments in silence. 80
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Jerusalem—a Cup of Trembling His silence was deafening, yet sadly his amazement was typical of so many here in Israel who pray and yet do not expect answers. Our G-d is the living G-d, and He is the same G-d who spoke to Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel, and all the other prophets. He has not changed. Our G-d speaks to His people when they humble themselves before Him and wait expectantly for an answer. Do you pray? If you do pray, do you expect an answer like Daniel? Are your prayers the prayers learned as a youth that are recited daily because of mere ritual practice, or do you actually believe that your prayers will be answered by the G-d of heaven? Do you believe your prayers have the power to bring forth an angel of the Lord to answer you? If not, why not? Prayer is our greatest weapon against satan and his agents. It releases the power and authority of G-d to accomplish things that in the natural seem impossible. The Lord said to Jacob, “I am G-d Almighty,” in Genesis 35:11. He was emphasizing that nothing is impossible for Him. We communicate with G-d Almighty through prayer, praise, and worship, and these are what release G-d’s power and authority, first into our lives, and then through our lives and into the world in which we live. G-d is a spiritual being. Therefore, in order to communicate with Him we must use spiritual means—prayer, praise, and worship. Nothing in the universe is faster than the speed of a single prayer. “Not by military force and not by physical strength, but by My spirit,” says the Lord of Hosts (Zechariah 4:6).
OUR PRAYERS HAVE
TO
PASS THROUGH ENEMY TERRITORY
Few of us realize that when we pray and humble ourselves before the Lord, our prayers, just like Daniel’s prayers, have to pass through enemy territory. Satan has given his most powerful demon angels authority over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount because he is seeking to rule over this area and subjugate the people thereof to his will. That is why the level of warfare is so great. Satan is determined to retain possession and dominion over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. 81
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days Yet what did the Lord G-d of Israel do when Gabriel cried out for help? He needed to send only one angel, Michael, one of His chief angels, and satan’s prince was quickly humbled. Gabriel was instantly set free from the power of the Prince of Persia, and Daniel’s prayer was answered. G-d’s purpose was fulfilled because Daniel persevered in prayer even when there was no immediate answer from G-d. For 21 days Daniel heard nothing from the Lord. What if he had stopped praying? What if he had lacked the faith to persevere in his prayers regarding the future of all Israel? Would satan have prevailed? Never! The Lord would have looked for another man with the faith of a Daniel. The G-d of Israel is, even now, looking for men and women who are willing to humble themselves before Him and pray: “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads,” declares the Lord G-d” (Ezekiel 20:30-21). Are you standing in the gap before the Lord for the land of Israel today, so that the Lord will not destroy it? The Lord said in the days of Ezekiel that “I found no one.” Can you imagine that in all the land of Israel no one could be found, not one, to stand in the gap and pray? The G-d of Israel is seeking the same today that He was seeking in the days of Daniel and in the days of Ezekiel. What has He found? Only G-dless leaders and G-dless members of our Knesset, and, except for a G-d fearing remnant, most of the nation of Israel does not know their G-d or believe He even exists. The only thing standing between Israel and complete destruction today is the faithfulness of the G-d of Israel to remember His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The reason Israel is in such a difficult situation today is because there is only a remnant within the nation of Israel who know their G-d, believe His covenant promises, and walk according to His commandments. G-d always keeps a remnant for Himself who will not bow down and serve other gods. He always 82
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Jerusalem—a Cup of Trembling keeps a remnant who will not sell their souls and their inheritance for money, power, or position. This remnant exists today, and although it is just a remnant, it is growing. Daily we see Israelis who are willing to stand up to a government that is seeking to remove Jews from their covenant promised land. They are willing to go to prison, even to die if necessary, in order to preserve and keep the covenant land promised to them by the G-d of Israel as an everlasting possession. The Lord asked the prophet Elijah why he had fled in fear from Jezebel. The prophet replied: And he said, “I have been zealous for the Lord, the G-d of Hosts, for the Children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, they have torn down Your altars, and they have killed Your prophets by the sword, and I alone remain, and they seek my soul to take it” (1 Kings 19:14). He was saying that of all the prophets, he was the only one left, and they were seeking to take his life. How did the Lord answer him? The Lord said: And I will leave over in Israel seven thousand, all the knees that did not kneel to the Baal and every mouth that did not kiss him” (1 Kings 19:18). G-d always keeps unto Himself a remnant in Israel who will not bow their knee to Baal, kiss the feet of corrupt leaders, or sell their souls and their inheritance for a pot of soup like Esau did. G-d is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping G-d, and He will remember His remnant. He will in His mercy remember His covenant, and He will save His remnant in Israel and redeem them from all their iniquities and sins. Are you a part of G-d’s remnant in Israel? If not, why not? It’s a choice we all must make. You will either be for G-d or against Him, for there is no middle ground. You will either be in covenant with the G-d of Israel or you will not. Where do you stand?
THE JEWS LIVING OUTSIDE ISRAEL
The Jewish people living outside Israel today will be given the same choice. Either they will walk in covenant with the G-d of Israel, or they will walk according to the wisdom of man. There is 83
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days no spiritual middle ground with G-d. You are either for Him or you are against Him. If you are against Him, then you are in covenant with satan, whose plan is clearly the destruction of the nation of Israel. There are two covenants in existence today: the Abrahamic covenant and the Islamic covenant. The Abrahamic covenant is between G-d and the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. By this covenant He promised them all of the land of Israel as an everlasting possession. The Islamic covenant stands against the G-d of Israel and the Jewish people, and clearly its aim is to completely destroy the nation of Israel that the name of Israel will be remembered no more. To which covenant will you choose to join yourself for all eternity?
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Chapter Nine
REND YOUR HEARTS, NOT YOUR GARMENTS
The Lord will send Elijah the prophet to His people before He comes. His purpose will be to restore the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Elijah is to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah, and that preparation begins with restoration of the Jewish family unit. Because of the unholy condition of the hearts and minds of the Jewish people today, there is a separation between them and the Lord G-d of Israel.
SEPARATION FROM G-D
Behold, the hand of the Lord is not too short to save, neither is His ear too heavy to hear. But your iniquities were separating between you and between your G-d, and your sins have caused [Him] to hide [His] face from you that He not hear (Isaiah 59:1-2). The Lord declares that what separates man from G-d is iniquity. Our sins cause Him to hide His face from us so that He does not hear our prayers. The message to Isaiah from the Lord is clear. Only through confession and repentance will the separation between the people of Israel and their G-d be removed. Only when the remnant of the entire nation, Am Israel, cries out and repents before their G-d as David did, will their iniquities be removed. 85
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days Purify me with a hyssop, and I will become pure; wash me, and I will become whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that You crushed exult (Psalm 51:9-10). Only when the remnant of Israel recognizes their iniquities and repents before G-d is Ezekiel commanded to reveal the vision of the Temple, its design, structure, statutes, and laws. Repentance is an integral part of G-d’s plan for His people—to turn their hearts back to Him, to remove their sins, to blot out their iniquities and to make them holy before Him. His plan is to give the faithful remnant of all Israel a heart of flesh, rather than of stone, and to write His commandments on hearts of flesh rather than tablets of stone. Only then will all Israel be cleansed of their iniquities, and only then will the Lord declare, “I will be your G-d and you will be My people.”
WHERE DO YOU STAND WITH G-D?
The Lord declared in the Book of Malachi that He would send the prophet Elijah to His people before His coming. Why would He choose to do this? Lo, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord, that he may turn the heart of the fathers back through the children, and the heart of the children back through their fathers—lest I come and smite the earth with utter destruction (Malachi 3:23-24). The Lord will send Elijah to His people for one purpose. He desires to restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. In order for this to happen, both fathers and children must turn their hearts to their Father in heaven, our heavenly Father, “Indeed, His mercies never fail! They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22b-23). G-d is going to do this in order to prepare the way for the coming of His Messiah. Our G-d is a G-d of restoration, and the key to restoration begins with repentance before G-d. G-d desires to do a mighty work, a work only He is both able and desirous to do in the hearts of all mankind. You see, G-d looks at the true condition of a man’s heart and not at how many times a day he prays. The attitude of a 86
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Rend Your Hearts, Not Your Garments man’s heart toward G-d is revealed by his heart attitude toward his children and his children’s heart attitude toward him. Many who are outwardly religious in Israel today know G-d’s truth in their heads, but have never allowed it to touch their hearts. Sin and uncleanness abound in their hearts. There is lust in their hearts, greed in their actions, abuse of their wives and children, and an unrelenting solicitation of praises and wisdom from rabbis rather than favor and wisdom from G-d. Rabbis themselves have become politicians who seek power with which to control and rule the people of G-d. Many of these men have sold their souls for mammon, power, and position. Israel is a nation that was called by G-d to be a nation of priests, set apart to worship the G-d of Israel and to be a light to the nations. Today, it is almost impossible to distinguish Israel from the other nations of the world. Instead of being holy, sanctified, and an example to the world, Israel is a nation that wants to be just like all her worldly neighbors, serving the gods of mammon, power, and prosperity rather than seeking holiness, a concept which seems foreign to most Israelis today.
WHO MAY ASCEND
THE
MOUNTAIN
OF THE
LORD?
Who will ascend upon the Lord’s mount and who will stand in His Holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not taken My name in vain and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord and charity from the G-d of his salvation. This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your presence—Jacob, forever (Psalm 24:3-6). Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, and who has not taken a false oath by G-d’s life, nor sworn deceitfully. How many people who are outwardly religious, claiming to be holy by standing before him three times a day in prayer, can be said to have truly clean hands and pure hearts? Who can stand in the throne room, the most holy place, and ascend into His holy presence? No one—be he rabbi, politician, priest, prophet, butcher, baker, or candlestick maker—can stand in the throne 87
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days room of G-d if he has unclean hands and an impure heart. No one—not one! What Israel needs today is spiritual resuscitation and restoration. The word resuscitated means to literally be revived from the dead. One of the prayers read daily in the Jewish prayer book known as the Siddur says, “You are eternally mighty, my Lord, the Resuscitator of the dead are You; abundantly able to save.” Shemoneh Esrei—Amidah. Today, Israel is spiritually dead and in desperate need of resuscitation. Israel is spiritually dead because its leaders are spiritually dead. From prime minister to rabbi, from finance minister to priest, all are dead. Few have called our people to take up a fast and repent, to humble ourselves, and cry out for forgiveness for our sins and iniquities as a nation. Like Esau, our leaders seek to give away our inheritance in Gaza, and after that our inheritance in Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem. Not one speaks of “covenant!” Where are the leaders of old who would stand up before the world and declare that the land of Israel is our land, and not to be given up to the god of Islam? Instead, what we hear from our leaders today is the exhortation to retreat, to turn from our G-d and His covenant promises, and to seek comfort instead in the promises of men and of nations. Our leaders foolishly lead the people away from covenant, away from Torah, away from their G-d, and unto what? They declare we have no choice because the United States will abandon us and the E.U. will place an embargo on us. They remind us that the world demands that we give the Palestinians our land, which is our inheritance. We must make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, we are told. We must cede control over Gaza, Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, and the West Bank. This is not what the G-d of Israel ever commanded His people to do. Rather it is just the opposite. Our leaders have no faith in the G-d of Israel; they blaspheme against His covenant promises, and they labor daily to lead our people away from G-d and away from His covenant promises regarding the land, as they seek to do what is right in their own eyes. 88
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Rend Your Hearts, Not Your Garments So who of all Israel is left to ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who in all Israel has clean hands and a pure heart? Who among Israel’s leaders seeks to lead our people and our nation into His presence, that we may carry away a blessing from the Lord, a just reward from our G-d, who is our Deliverer?
THESE PEOPLE HONOR ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEARTS ARE FAR FROM ME! And the Lord said: “Because this people has come near; with their mouth and with their lips they honor Me, but their heart they draw far away from Me, and their fear of Me has become a command of people, which has been taught. Therefore, I will continue to perform obscurity to this people, obscurity upon obscurity, and the wisdom of his wise men shall be lost, and the understanding of his geniuses shall be hidden” (Isaiah 29:13-14).
The prayers that are lifted up three times a day are often nothing more than rote prayers. Offering them are men who are giving honor to the Lord with their lips, but who in their hearts are far from Him. They pray thusly because of the commandments of rabbis, rather than seeking to ascend the mountain of the Lord and to stand in His holy place. The consequences of having hearts far from G-d are clear: Obscurity upon obscurity has come upon our people. The wisdom of our wise men has all failed. The understanding of our geniuses has been hidden!
WHAT IS THE LORD CALLING US TO DO TODAY IN LIGHT TERRIBLE ABOMINATIONS TAKING PLACE IN ISRAEL?
OF THE
And even now, says the Lord, return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting and with weeping and with lamentation. And rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the Lord your G-d, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and He repents of the evil (Joel 2:12-13). The Lord is calling out to our political leaders, our rabbis, our priests, our prophets, and to each of us to “Turn back to Me with all your hearts, and with fasting, weeping, and lamenting.” 89
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days This is a command of G-d, calling His people to a time of fasting, weeping, and lamenting. So many of us have this desire in our heads, yet sadly it has never touched our hearts and moved us to action. Where are the rabbis, priests, and prophets today in Israel and in America who will cry out like Jeremiah did? O that my head were (full of) waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people (Jeremiah 8:23). Why is Israel a spiritual wilderness today? Because in the hearts of rabbis, priests, prophets, political leaders, and most of Am Israel, there is no fear of the living G-d! Because there is no fear of the living G-d in the hearts of Israel’s leaders, there is no fear of sin. Fear of G-d’s judgment therefore remains far from their hearts. Israel and the Jewish people have paid a very high price for turning away from their G-d and following after other gods. Never in our long history have our leaders sought to give up the land to a foreign god. Rather, they fought to hold on to it, to possess it, and to drive out the enemies of the G-d of Israel. Today our nation’s leaders have the spirit of Esau rather than the spirit of Elijah. They have the spirit of Esau rather than the spirit of Joshua and Caleb. The G-d of Israel does not change, and for that reason only G-d’s remnant from within the House of Israel will be saved when judgment comes upon our nation. Only those who seek to ascend the mountain of the Lord and to stand in His holy place will be saved.
WHEN YOU PRAY WHAT HAPPENS?
We live in a day and time that is similar to the days of Elijah. He lived in a time when the prophets of G-d were being executed by the prophets of Jezebel. Elijah was faced with the same terrible apostasy we are facing in Israel today. He prayed and it did not rain. Then he prayed again and it did rain, and the whole house of Israel was brought back to the Lord. 90
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Rend Your Hearts, Not Your Garments One man of G-d can make a difference. One man seeking to ascend the mountain of the Lord and stand in His holy place can turn the hearts of His people back to Him. If you understand these Scriptures, ask yourself if something ever happens when you pray. Are you someone who prays and then never sees results? Ask yourself the question, when you pray, do you expect an answer like Elijah did? When you pray do you cry out to the Lord, “Oh Lord, please answer my prayers not for my sake. Not for my people’s sake, but for the sake of Your great and holy name and for the sake of your word, which is above Your name. Oh, Lord, I ask You when I pray please answer me and let me see it happen.” That is how Elijah prayed, and Elijah was a man just like you and me. So in this difficult hour let us all pray the prayer of Elijah daily: And it was when the evening sacrifice was offered that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord, the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are G-d in Israel and that I am Your servant, and at Your word have I done all these things. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, and this people shall know that You are the Lord G-d, and You have turned their hearts backwards” (1 Kings 18:36-37). Spiritual resurrection comes through spiritual leadership. When G-d calls one such as Elijah, He says to him, “I am going to shape your character and your faith until you are ready to deliver the message I want you to give to your leaders and to your people. Then I will hold you responsible to say exactly what I have commanded you to speak, then and only then will My people know that I am G-d and you are My servant and all this has been done because I am the one who sent you.” “O Lord, I pray that You will deal radically with my sins and my iniquities so I can hear Your voice as Elijah did, and my mind will understand what You have done in my heart, so that I may respond correctly and immediately to Your command. The very moment there is a word from You, I will hear it and speak it forth so that Your people will know You are G-d and there is one servant in Israel 91
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who is serving You and hearing Your voice and bringing Your word to Your people.” What prayer do you feel led to offer up unto the Lord? What is the Lord speaking into your heart right now?
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Chapter Ten
I WILL BRING YOU INTO THE BOND OF THE COVENANT
Since the creation of the world the eternal plan and purpose of the G-d of Israel has been for His people to be established in a covenant relationship with Him, to live out their lives as a sanctified people set apart unto holiness, a nation of priests serving their G-d. But what enters your mind shall not come about, what you say, “Let us be like the nations, like the families of the lands, to serve wood and stone.” As I live, says the Lord G-d, surely with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with poured out fury, will I reign over you (Ezekiel 20:32-33). The prophet Ezekiel prophesied that the day would arrive when it would come into the minds of the people of Israel and her leaders to turn away from the G-d of Israel, away from His covenant, and to seek conformity with the nations who serve other gods of wood and stone.
FOR THEY HAVE NOT REJECTED YOU RATHER THEY HAVE REJECTED ME
And the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people, according to all that they will say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from reigning over them. Like all the deeds which they have done from the day I brought them up from Egypt, and until this day, and they forsook Me and served other gods; so are they doing to you. And now, listen to their voice; except that you shall warn them, 93
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days and tell them the manner of the king who will reign over them (1 Samuel 8:7-9). From the days of the prophet Samuel, the people of Israel have rejected the Lord’s rule over them and have instead sought to have a human king rule over them. Why? Because they wanted to be like the nations of the earth—nations who had fallen victim to the seductive embrace of money, wealth, and power, and who worshiped foreign gods. This is the condition of Israel today. We are a nation that has rejected the G-d of Israel, a nation who does not care to know our G-d. Instead, what reigns in the hearts of so many Israelis today is the desire to be like America and the other Gentile nations of the world. Yet the prophet Ezekiel declared, “when this comes into your mind it will not come to pass.” Why? Because thus says the Lord G-d of Israel: “As I live, saith the Lord G-d, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, will I be king over you.” It was the mighty hand of the G-d of Israel that caused the Red Sea to part so His people could pass through on dry land. It was the mighty hand of the G-d of Israel and His outstretched arm that caused the sea to cover the approaching Egyptian army. It was the mighty hand of the G-d of Israel and His outstretched arm that brought down the mighty Soviet Union and brought over one million Jewish people from the land of the north and planted them in Israel. It will be the mighty hand of G-d and His outstretched arm that will cause Gaza to be a place of desolation without a single inhabitant. It will be by the mighty hand of the Lord and His outstretched arm that the mountains of Israel will be redeemed from the enemies of Israel. It will be by the mighty hand of the Lord and His outstretched arm that the nations surrounding Israel will be humbled forever. It will come to pass that they will all come to know the G-d of Israel as G-d Almighty. It will be by the mighty hand and outstretched arm of the Lord G-d of Israel that He will also be King over Israel—with fury poured out. 94
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I Will Bring You Into the Bond of the Covenant
WITH
A
MIGHTY HAND
AND
OUTSTRETCHED ARM
And I shall take you out of the peoples, and I shall gather you from the lands in which you were scattered, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with poured out fury (Ezekiel 20:34). For almost 2,000 years, the remnant of the nation of Israel was scattered throughout the nations of the earth; reviled, hated, persecuted, murdered, and oppressed—this was the sorry lot of the Jewish people until May 14, 1948. But on that day, through a powerful manifestation of His grace and faithfulness, the Lord G-d of Israel brought forth His people and resurrected the nation of Israel. Why did the Lord do this amazing thing after Israel had sinned so grievously against Him? He resurrected the nation of Israel because of one word—Covenant! Just as He heard and remembered the groanings of His people in Egypt, He heard the groanings of His people Israel in Europe after the Holocaust, and He remembered His covenant. And also, I heard the moans of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians are holding in bondage, and I remembered My covenant (Exodus 6:5). The Lord G-d of Israel is not finished with His mighty work and He is going to gather into Israel the remaining Jews from the United States, from Europe, from South America, from Mexico, and from the four corners of the earth—with fury poured out! Although most Jews in America do not believe it will ever happen, more and more Jews in France and Europe are beginning to believe it, and one day they will fully come to understand the reason: The G-d of Israel said He would do it.
THE REMNANT
OF ISRAEL
COMES FACE
TO
FACE WITH THEIR G-D
And I shall bring you to the wilderness of the peoples, and I shall contend with you there face to face. As I contended with your forefathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I contend with you, says the Lord G-d (Ezekiel 20:35-36). These verses are not referring to Mount Sinai where the Lord met all Israel “face to face.” This is the only other time and place 95
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days referenced in the Tanach besides Sinai where the Lord G-d of Israel declares that He will meet all Israel “face to face” to plead with them. Can you imagine the entire house of Israel being gathered to a place in the wilderness once again for one purpose—to meet their G-d face to face? Now who can abide the day of His coming, and who will stand when He appears, for it is like fire that refines and like fullers’ soap. And He shall sit refining and purifying silver, and He shall purify the children of Levi. And He shall purge them as gold and as silver, and they shall be offering up an offering to the Lord with righteousness (Malachi 3:2-3). Scripture asks, “Who can stand when He appears? Who can endure the day of His coming?” The whole house of Israel will be prostrate before the Lord on their faces just as the prophet Daniel was when the Lord appeared to him. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver. A smelter is a place of refining, a furnace where the heat is so intense that if you come too close to it you will be burned severely. Silver and gold are put into a smelter for one purpose—to purify and refine them so there are no impurities left. In that day, the remnant of the house of Israel will be purified from their sins, iniquities, and transgressions by way of G-d’s smelter in the wilderness. The Lord will refine the sons of Levi, His priests, like gold and silver so they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. In that day, even the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old. What will be offered up to the Lord will be the humble contrition of the people as they rend their hearts and cry out to be cleansed of their sins and iniquities.
THOSE WHO FEARED
THE
LORD
Then the G-d-fearing men spoke to one another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who feared the Lord and for those who valued His name highly. And they shall be Mine, says the Lord of Hosts, for that day when I make a 96
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I Will Bring You Into the Bond of the Covenant treasure. And I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him. And you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves G-d and him who has not served Him (Malachi 3:16-18). On that day the Lord will truly meet His people Israel face to face. Those who esteem His name shall cry out and be hearkened unto, and for His glory a book of remembrance shall be written before Him. The remnant of Israel who calls upon His name shall be His. He will spare them, make them His own treasure, and bless them. Know and understand that the holy will not participate with the unholy. The unclean will not stand on His holy hill. Accordingly, He will distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve G-d and those who do not. And I shall cause you to pass under the rod, and I shall bring you into the transmission of the covenant (Ezekiel 20:37). In this single verse, G-d’s plan for Israel in the last days is revealed—to bring Israel into the bond of the covenant! When the G-d of Israel brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm it was for one purpose— Covenant! They would be His people and He would be their G-d. “‘And now, if you obey Me and keep My covenant, you shall be to Me a treasure out of all peoples, for Mine is the entire earth. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of princes and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel” (Exodus 19:5-6). G-d redeemed Israel as a people unto Himself, to be His own treasure from among all the peoples of the earth, and for one purpose—to be unto Him a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The only possible way for Israel to be brought into covenant with her G-d is by an act of “passing under the rod of repentance, sanctification, purification, and redemption into the bond of the covenant.” And I shall separate from you those who rebel and those who transgress against Me; from the land of their sojournings I 97
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days shall take them, but to the land of Israel they shall not come, and you will know that I am the Lord (Ezekiel 20:38). The Lord declares that as the whole house of Israel passes “under the rod,” the Lord will purge out the rebels, leaving only the faithful to enter into the land. He declares that the rebels shall not enter the land of Israel, and the believing remnant will know and understand that He is the Lord and that there is no other in heaven or on earth.
ARE YOU ONE WHO FEARS
THE
LORD?
Are you among those who fear the Lord? Are you among those who serve G-d, worship Him, seek Him, and walk according to His commandments and statutes? If not, remember what He said. Who can abide or stand in the day of His coming? Who can stand before Him when He appears, for He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.
G-D FORGIVES
AND
REDEEMS
Remember these, O Jacob; and Israel, for you are My servant; I formed you that you be a servant to Me, Israel, do not forget Me. I erased your transgressions like a thick cloud, and like a cloud have I erased your sins; return to Me for I have redeemed you (Isaiah 44:21-22). The Lord is calling you to remember that it was He who formed you in your mother’s womb. It is He who lovingly reminds you that Israel remains His “firstborn son.” He calls you to be His servant and to never forget Him. Ponder and reflect upon these marvelous things, then turn to Him, cry out to Him, and ask Him to cleanse you from your sins and iniquities. From the moment you cry out to Him, He will blot out your transgressions and, as a thick cloud, cover your sins and iniquities. He is your Redeemer and He lives to redeem you for all eternity!
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Chapter Eleven
A NEW COVENANT
Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will form a covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, a new covenant. Not like the covenant that I formed with their forefathers on the day I took them by the hand to take them out of the land of Egypt, that they broke My covenant, although I was a lord over them, says the Lord (Jeremiah 31:30-31). Why would the Lord make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah? A new covenant would be necessary because G-d’s people had broken and defiled the terms of their prior covenant with G-d Almighty. Israel chose to give away its inheritance and became like Esau, who sold his precious birthright for a mere pot of stew. The Lord described the house of Israel and the acts of His people toward Him as the uncleaness of a woman in her impurity. He declared that He scattered them among the nations and dispersed them throughout the countries. According to their way and according to their doings He judged them.
WHY
A
NEW COVENANT?
Son of man! The house of Israel, as long as they lived on their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their misdeeds, like the uncleanness of a woman in the period of her separation was their way before Me. Wherefore I poured My wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the 99
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days land, because they had defiled it with their idols. And I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. According to their way and their misdeeds did I judge them (Ezekiel 36:17-20).
YET, I HAD MERCY
ON
THEM
These precious words reveal the heart of the Lord for His people Israel: “Yet, I had mercy on them although they profaned My holy name” (Ezekiel 36:22 paraphrased). Our people were dispersed throughout the nations of the earth for centuries because of our rebellious hearts, and the Lord judged us accordingly. Yet, He had mercy on us, and He remembered His first covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and because of His mercy and love for us He gave us the promise of a new covenant. He will not do this for our sake but for the sake of His holy name. G-d is holy and His name is holy and we have profaned His name among the nations wherein He has scattered us. Therefore, say to the house of Israel; So says the Lord G-d: Not for your sake do I do this, O house of Israel, but for My Holy Name, which you have profaned among the nations to which they have come. And I will sanctify My great Name, which was profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord—is the declaration of the Lord G-d—when I will be sanctified through you before their eyes (Ezekiel 36:22-23). Even though the Jewish people profaned the name of the Lord among the nations of the earth, it is G-d’s intent to sanctify His great name for one purpose: So the nations will know that I am the Lord! The nations of the world do not know or believe that the G-d of Israel is the Lord. In Israel today many people do not believe in the G-d of Israel or in His covenant promises and, to judge from the actions of our leaders, most of them do not believe in the G-d of Israel either. The Lord knows that it is the actions of our leaders and our people, not their words, that reveal what they truly believe about G-d. Most of the world’s leaders today do not believe there is a G-d in Israel, because if they did they would tremble 100
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A New Covenant at the very thought of dividing His land and giving it to the people of a foreign god. The nations will know He is the Lord only when our hearts have been sanctified (set apart) wholly unto Him, and when this amazing thing happens, the eyes of the nations will be opened and they will be unable to deny that He is the Lord.
I WILL WRITE MY LAW ON HEARTS OF FLESH, NOT TABLETS OF STONE
ON
For this is the covenant that I will form with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will place My law in their midst and I will inscribe it upon their hearts, and I will be their G-d and they shall be My people (Jeremiah 31:32). G-d’s new covenant with the houses of Israel and Judah will not be written on tablets of stone, but literally in their inward parts and on hearts of flesh. Only when G-d’s law is written in our inward parts and on our hearts of flesh will we be able to say, “You are my G-d.” Then will the Lord be able to say for all eternity, “You shall be My people.” And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My spirit within you and bring it about that you will walk in My statutes and you will keep My ordinances and do [them] (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Our Lord is going to give the Jewish people a new heart and, more importantly, a new spirit. He will put His Spirit deep within them. As it will be with the Jewish people, so will it be with all people, as the Lord moves upon the whole earth, creating new hearts and imparting His spirit into all peoples. This is necessary because we have stony hearts today, hearts that must be removed and replaced with renewed and sanctified hearts of flesh filled with the Spirit of G-d. Only when His Spirit is within us will we be able to walk in His statutes, keep His ordinances, and do them. 101
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days Then will you dwell in the land that I gave your fathers, and you will be a people to Me, and I will be to you as a G-d (Ezekiel 36:28). In this single verse we have the fulfillment of G-d’s covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all their descendants. You will dwell in the land that He gave to your fathers forever! You shall be His people. He will be your G-d.
I WILL CLEANSE YOU FROM ALL YOUR INIQUITIES
And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you shall no more have to accept the shame of famine among the nations. And you shall remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own eyes on account of your sins and on account of your abominations. Not for your sake do I do it, says the Lord G-d, may it be known to you; be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel. So says the Lord G-d: On the day that I will have cleansed you from all your iniquities, and I will resettle the cities, and the ruins shall be built up. And the desolate land shall be worked, instead of its lying desolate in the sight of all that pass by. And they shall say, “This land that was desolate has become like the Garden of Eden, and the cities that were destroyed and desolate and pulled down have become settled as fortified [cities].” And the nations that are left round about you shall know that I, the Lord, have built up the ruined places and have planted the desolate ones; I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will perform [it] (Ezekiel 36:30-36). The Lord will pour forth His blessings and His Spirit upon the land, causing it to bear fruit so there will no longer be any famine. As the land experiences a physical rebirth, so shall the Jewish people experience a spiritual rebirth. Spiritual famine among the people of Israel will be replaced by spiritual restoration as they return to their G-d. There will be repentance and cries for mercy mixed with lamenting, as all Israel remembers their evil ways and their doings that were not good. They will all loathe themselves in their own sight for their iniquities and for all their abominations. 102
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A New Covenant Once again the Lord reminds His people saying: “Not for your sake do I this, saith the Lord G-d, be it known unto you; be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.” The mercy of G-d then bursts forth as He declares: “Thus saith the Lord G-d: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded.” The phrase “I will cleanse you from all your iniquities” summarizes the intent of the new covenant with Israel and Judah, revealing the heart of G-d toward His people and His unique and marvelous power as the One—the Only One—who can cleanse them from all their iniquities. He does this not because we are righteous or deserving, but because He will remember His covenant, and through His mercies He will redeem His people Israel. It also reveals that G-d is the one—the only one—who can cleanse you and me from all our iniquities. We will be clean before Him not because we deserve it, not because we are holy, not because we are sinless, but because of the mercies of G-d, which are everlasting for those who love Him and keep His commandments.
THE LAND WILL BE LIKE
THE
GARDEN
OF
EDEN
The land that had become desolate will once again bloom and will become like the Garden of Eden. The desolate cities and waste places will be rebuilt and inhabited once again. The surrounding nations who sought to make the land desolate and the cities waste places will be astounded by the rebirth and renewal, and they will all know why this has happened: I the LORD have built the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate. It will be such an astonishment and they will all know and understand that only the Lord G-d of Israel could have done it. Now the revelation as to why this will all come to pass: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it!
I WILL
In all of these verses regarding a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, it is important to understand why all of this is going to happen. 103
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days The Lord says simply, “I will!” I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah! I will not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name! I will sanctify My great name! I will put My law in their inward parts! I will write it on their hearts and in their inward parts! I will give you a new heart! I will put My spirit within you! I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh! I will give you a heart of flesh! I will cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My ordinances, and do them! I will save you from all your uncleanness! I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field! I will cleanse you from all your iniquities! I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built! I will be their G-d, and they shall be My people! I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it! (Jeremiah 31:30-33; Ezekiel 36:22-23; 26-28,30-36) All these acts reflect the will of G-d, the heart of G-d, the plan of G-d, and the promises of G-d for Israel and for the Jewish people. Because this is the will of G-d for His people and His land, it will come to pass in the last days.
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Chapter Twelve
A BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE WAS WRITTEN BEFORE HIM
The “time of Jacob’s trouble” is a time of trembling for the Jewish people and nation of Israel. This time is described in several Books of the Tanach (Bible) and in great detail by the prophets Jeremiah and Daniel. This “day of judgment” is close at hand for the Jewish people. With one voice these prophets speak of this time as a day so terrible, so filled with trouble and affliction, that there has never been a time like it, nor will there ever be. It is a time when the whole earth shakes with fear and violence, and when peace itself has been swallowed up by the specter of global warfare. And these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For so said the Lord: A sound of quaking we have heard, fear, and there is no peace. Ask now and see whether a male gives birth. Why have I seen every man [with] his hands on his loins like a woman in confinement, and every face has turned to pallor? Ho! For that day is great, with none like it, and it is a time of distress for Jacob, through which he shall be saved. And it shall be on that day, says the Lord of Hosts, [that] I will break his yoke off your neck, and I will break your thongs, and strangers shall no longer enslave them. And they shall serve the Lord their G-d and David their king, whom I will set up for them. And you, fear not, My servant Jacob, says the Lord, and do not be dismayed, O Israel, for behold I save you from afar and your seed from the land of their captivity, and Jacob shall again be silent and at ease, and no one will frighten them. For I am with you, says the 105
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days Lord, to save you, for I will make an end of all the nations where I dispersed you, but of you I will not make an end, but I will chasten you in measure, and I will not completely destroy you (Jeremiah 30:4-11). In the above passage we find a vivid description of the time of Jacob’s trouble. The people of Judah and Israel have heard a voice of trembling, of fear and not of peace. The day of Jacob’s trouble is great and none is like it, but out of it shall a remnant of Israel be saved. The Lord will break his yoke (the conqueror’s) from off thy (Israel and Judah’s) neck, and He will burst thy bands; and strangers (foreigners) shall no more make him their bondman (slaves). A remnant of all Israel and Judah shall serve the Lord their G-d, and David their king, whom the Lord will raise up unto them. Therefore fear thou not, O Jacob, My servant, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel. I the Lord will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall again be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. The Lord G-d of Israel says, He will be with us to save us “for I will make an end of all the nations where I dispersed you, but of you I will not make an end, but I will chasten you in measure, and I will not completely destroy you” (Jeremiah 30:11). In these verses we see a time of immense trouble for Israel and Judah in the near future, a time so difficult and so overwhelming that it will make the Holocaust pale in comparison. Yet the mighty hand of the Lord G-d will directly intervene in the affairs of men, and He will completely subdue the nations who have sought to destroy Israel and the Jewish people.
A REMNANT WILL GO BEFORE HIM!
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A Book of Remembrance Was Written Before Him Lord will “correct Israel and Judah.” He will redeem them, cleanse them, enter into a new covenant with them, and they will be His people and He will be their G-d forever! We see that the Lord will correct Israel and Judah “in measure” and will not “utterly destroy” them. A partial destruction is decreed however, for the Lord reminds us through the prophet Ezekiel that it is His intention to purge the rebellious transgressors and keep them out of the land, leaving only the righteous as His inheritance: And I shall cause you to pass under the rod, and I shall bring you into the transmission of the covenant. And I shall separate from you those who rebel and those who transgress against Me; from the land of their sojournings I shall take them, but to the land of Israel they shall not come, and you will know that I am the Lord (Ezekiel 20:37-38). We are reminded of the sobering truth as to who among the house of Israel will survive the “day of Jacob’s trouble.” Only a remnant will survive, chosen by G-d for one reason only—the condition of their faithful hearts. Why will the Lord G-d of Israel allow such massive destruction and loss of life to take place during this period? Because He knows that oftentimes it is only when we find ourselves in the midst of our own personal “day of distress” that we open our hearts to G-d and cry out for Him to save us. Make no mistake, G-d will use whatever means necessary to focus the hearts of His people on Him and Him alone. And I heard the man clad in linen, who was above the waters of the river, and he raised his right hand and his left hand to the heavens, and he swore by the Life of the world, that in the time of [two] times and a half, and when they have ended shattering the strength of the holy people, all these will end (Daniel 12:7). The climax to the “day of Jacob’s trouble” is heralded when G-d completes His marvelous work of spiritual renewal in the hearts and minds of stubborn and rebellious Israel. By “shattering the power of the holy people,” G-d accomplishes that which brings Him the highest glory—the fulfillment of His covenant 107
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days promises and the final reconciliation of the faithful remnant of Israel to her Almighty G-d and His Messiah King.
MICHAEL, OUR GREAT PRINCE, WILL STAND UP JEWISH PEOPLE
FOR THE
Several verses in Daniel also speak of this momentous day of trouble out of which G-d will deliver a remnant of His people, that is, everyone found written in the book. Now at that time, Michael, the great prince, who stands over the children of your people, will be silent, and it will be a time of distress that never was since a nation existed until that time, and at that time, your people will escape, everyone who is found inscribed in the book. And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awaken—these for eternal life, and those for disgrace, for eternal abhorrence. And the wise will shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who bring the multitudes to righteousness like the stars forever and ever (Daniel 12:1-3). The prophet Daniel declares that during the time of Jacob’s trouble the Lord will send the great angel Michael to stand up for the faithful among His people in order to defend them. It will be a time of trouble unlike any other since the rebirth of the nation of Israel. From 70 C.E until 1948 there was no nation of Israel. Therefore, Daniel’s prophecy must relate to our time and to our day because Israel is once again a nation. It is during this horrific time that Israel will be tested severely, with many perishing. Only a remnant will be left of the whole house of Israel.
AT THAT TIME THY PEOPLE SHALL BE DELIVERED— EVERY ONE WHOSE NAME IS FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK
The Lord prophesied that there will be deliverance for His remnant—those faithful Jews whose names are found written in the book. To the promise of deliverance is now added the promise of everlasting life, even to those who have died long ago in faith and who sleep in the dust of the earth. 108
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A Book of Remembrance Was Written Before Him And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence. What a blessed promise we all have here: “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake!” This reveals the resurrection power of the G-d of Israel over the dead. Scripture says simply, “They shall awake!” The dead shall awaken even though all that remains of them is the dust of the earth. They shall awaken and be resurrected unto life. How is this possible? It is possible because the Lord G-d of Israel is the G-d of the living, not of the dead. As He declared; “I am,” the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—I Am the living G-d. He never said, “I was” the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! Our G-d is the living G-d, the Holy One of Israel; the creator of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. He has the power to create, He has the power to redeem, He has the power to sanctify, and to bring back to life those who sleep in the dust. These verses point to the wonderful reality of G-d’s everlasting faithfulness to all generations of the house of Israel. Since the time of the Patriarchs, those who died in faith carry the promise of resurrection at the appointed hour that they may join with the faithful remnant of the house of Israel whom G-d will preserve in the day of His judgment. These two groups—the righteous who sleep and are resurrected, and the surviving remnant preserved by G-d for their faithfulness—shall together enter Messiah’s Kingdom and forevermore shine as a light unto the nations. Then come the most important and terrifying prophetic words, “some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence!” (Daniel 12:2) Now who can abide the day of His coming, and who will stand when He appears, for it is like fire that refines and like fullers’ soap. And I will approach you for judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely; and also against those who withhold the wages of the day laborers, of the widow and fatherless, and those who pervert [the rights 109
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days of] the stranger, [and those who] fear Me not, says the Lord of Hosts (Malachi 3:2, 5). Upon His coming the Lord will judge the nations. He will also judge His people, both the living as well as those who sleep in the dust of the earth. Who can stand in the day of the coming of the Messiah to judge the people of Israel? Will He not be like a refiner’s fire to all those who do not fear Him, who love sin, who trespass against Him by their deeds, and whose iniquities are not hidden from Him? Scripture declares that while some of those resurrected will be given the gift of everlasting life, others will go to a place of reproach and everlasting abhorrence (hell). Do you want to be counted among the faithful remnant when G-d comes to judge His people? How can you know for certain that your name is written in “the book?” How can you make absolutely sure that your eternity will be spent in the presence of the One who demands holiness and obedience?
A BOOK
OF
REMEMBRANCE WAS WRITTEN BEFORE HIM
Then the G-d- fearing men spoke to one another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who feared the Lord and for those who valued His name highly. And they shall be Mine, says the Lord of Hosts, for that day when I make a treasure. And I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him. And you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves G-d and him who has not served Him (Malachi 3:16-18). These verses declare that those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, that the Lord heard them, and that “a book of remembrance” was written before Him for them that feared the Lord and thought upon His name. Are you a person who fears the Lord? Do you walk in faith before Him daily? Do you observe His ordinances and keep His commandments? Or do you walk in your own wisdom and strength? Are you a person whose life is characterized by doing 110
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A Book of Remembrance Was Written Before Him what is right in your own eyes rather than what is right in the eyes of the Lord? When there is no fear of the Lord there is no fear of sin. Where there is no fear of sin a person always chooses to do what is right in his or her own eyes rather than what is right in G-d’s eyes. G-d’s prophetic word, as written by both Jeremiah and Daniel, reveals that judgment is coming upon everyone who is of the house of Israel, with no exceptions.
I DO NOT CHANGE—RETURN
TO
ME
AND
I WILL RETURN
TO
YOU!
For I, the Lord, have not changed; and you, the sons of Jacob, have not reached the end. From the days of your fathers you have departed from My laws and have not kept [them]. “Return to Me, and I will return to you,” said the Lord of Hosts, but you said, “With what have we to return?” (Malachi 3:6-7) The Lord does not change, and that is the only reason that the sons of Jacob have not been consumed by the nations and peoples who have sought their destruction since the day they became a nation. The Lord G-d Almighty is coming in terrifying judgment, yet He is even now calling us because He loves us. He is calling us to return to Him, with the promise that if we do He will return to us. He will forgive us, He will cleanse us, He will save us, He will give us a new heart for service, He will write our name in His book of remembrance, and He will give us everlasting life! Then the G-d- fearing men spoke to one another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who feared the Lord and for those who valued His name highly. And they shall be Mine, says the Lord of Hosts, for that day when I make a treasure. And I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him (Malachi 3:16-17). Wow! What a promise to those who fear the Lord and serve Him. And you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves G-d and him who has not served Him (Malachi 3:18). 111
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COVENANT G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days The Lord G-d of Israel is going to “discern,” to “judge,” between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve Him and those who serve Him not! None shall escape His judgment. Not one! Those who fear Him, who call upon His name and serve Him, will have their names written in “the book of remembrance.” Those who do not fear the Lord and who do not call upon His name will be judged as wicked and their names will not be written in the book of remembrance. “Some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence!” (Daniel 12:2) Where will you spend eternity? Will you experience the joy of everlasting life, or the horror of everlasting abhorrence? Return to Me! says the Lord. And the Lord gave forth His voice before His army, for His camp is great, for he who performs His word is mighty, for the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can abide it? And even now, says the Lord, return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting and with weeping and with lamentation. And rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the Lord your G-d, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and He repents of the evil (Joel 2:11-13). The Lord G-d of Israel is calling us to return to Him, to repent, to rend our hearts and not our garments. The time of your redemption is drawing near—do not miss it. You must not miss the opportunity for your name to be written in G-d’s book of everlasting life. Our free will permits us to reject the call of the Lord, and yet it also grants us the ability to honor Him with our belief and obedience. We are born naked and helpless and live our lives for a season, then we too sleep in the dust of the earth. Acknowledge His call today, for as it says in Psalm 95:7c-8 “…today, if you hearken to my voice. Do not harden your heart as [in] Meribah, as [on] the day of Massah in the desert.” This is indeed the day and the hour He is calling us so that He can cleanse us and heal us. 112
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A Book of Remembrance Was Written Before Him The G-d of Israel is calling you and all Israel to ascend the mountain of the Lord and stand before Him. He declares only those who have clean hands and pure hearts may ascend the mountain of the Lord and stand in His holy place. The Lord is calling each of us to make certain that we understand what it means to be a righteous man or woman and to model holiness as a pattern in our life. He is calling us to know Him, to serve Him, and to fear Him. He is calling us to return to Him, and if we do, He promises to draw near to us and to redeem us.
MY PRAYER BEFORE
THE
LORD G-D
OF ISRAEL
Oh Lord G-d of Israel, hear my prayer this day. Lord, help me to understand what it means for me to be a righteous one before You, to walk in obedience, to call upon Your name daily, and to manifest holiness in my life so I may ascend the mountain of the Lord and stand before You in Your holy place. O Lord, cleanse me from all my sins, transgressions, and iniquities. Deal with them radically so that each day my heart will be open to hear Your voice. From the moment I hear a word from You, O Lord, cause me to respond with a pure heart, that Your people will know You are G-d in Israel and that I am Your servant who is seeking to hear from You and to bring Your word to Your people so they will return to You and know You are G-d. Amen and Amen!
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