Israel, the Apple of God’s Eye

As the body of Christ we find ourselves come to a time when many of the truths we have stood by for generations are now being called into question. No longer does the world adhere to a position that the word of God as it is revealed in scripture is to be received as absolute truth. Today, truth that is accepted in one moment is in the next declared to be no longer trustworthy. The bible, Paul’s letter to the church in ‘Rome spoke of a time when men would exchange the truth of God for a lie. We find ourselves to be living in such times. In this teaching I will be speaking of the Heart of God as it relates to the nation of Israel and particularly I will be speaking of the relationship between Israel and the church in these last days however the principal that I will lay out applies to every assault that the world may choose to bring where we are being asked to lay down our willingness to trust in the truth of God.

In the last of book of the bible, speaking through the apostle John, the Lord Jesus addressed the church in Laodicea saying, I would rather you would be hot or cold instead of lukewarm. He continued by giving a warning that there would come a time when those who are lukewarm he would spit out of his mouth. To be lukewarm is to be attempting to walk a middle road where we try to agree with God while we also agree with the voices of this world. In this hour God is calling his children to recognize how imperative it is to stand on God’s truth so that we will be willing to declare loudly that we are hot for His truth and not lukewarm. The truth of God remains the truth today as ever it has been in the past, no matter the opinions of those who would tell us otherwise. Just because the world would have us to change our believes, the Lord has called His people to stand by faith in His truth.

The Lord has called His children to understand the sigs of the times. There are going to be many issues that will arise, not just the one that I will address in within these pages, and as His children we will be required to stand up for the truth of God in our time. There is great comfort in knowing our identity in Christ. The is such assurance in knowing that there is such a thing as absolute truth to guide us through the trials that we all will face in life. There is a battle raging in our world and it is becoming more fierce as each day passes but we are part of a bigger story called His-story and we can take such great confidence in the fact that we know how the story ends. Jesus is the Victor!

One New Man – Exploring God’s Heart for Israel and the Church

On October 7th 2023, the terrorist group Hamas attacked Israeli settlements killing over 1200 Israeli men women and children. Since that time, Israel has prosecuted a war against Hamas in retaliation and believers everywhere have been trying to evaluate what their stand ought to be in face of the great groundswell of resentment that has risen against Israel as a result of their response.

I believe as believers that we are required to come to grips with this question and to do so we must recognize that it would not be appropriate to approach the subject from a political standpoint. As believers it is far more important that we understand the heart of God on the matter as it is revealed in the pages of scripture.

The Question.

What is God’s heart relative to the relationship between Israel and the church? As Christians do the scriptures encourage us to have a relationship with Israel? Does Israel still have a place in the heart of God ? Does the word of God provide us with clear guidance as to the way we are to conduct ourselves on this issue?

The Response.

As believers, we must recognize that no matter the current political climate on this or any issue, once we become aware of the Lord’s heart, neither our feelings nor the prevailing world view in one direction or another must not be allowed to guide our actions. Regardless of all we hear come across the airwaves, our responsibility as believers must always be to follow God’s leading as it is revealed in His word.

Discussion.

In His word, the Lord has laid out a clear and persuasive case in terms of His everlasting love for Israel. Currently there are those who have adopted the position that the Christian church has replaced Israel (This is referred to as replacement theology) however, in His word, God’s plan and purpose for humanity shows us that nothing could be further from the truth.

In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul declares that we are not the root of the spiritual tree, but Israel is the root, and we are the branches that have been grafted in. The light of God given to the world came through Jesus and Jesus was born a Jew. As gentiles, we became the spiritual inheritors of the truth that was revealed through the Jews. The scriptures are clear that it was we who were grafted into Israel as the root, not the other way around.

You do not support the root, but the root supports you. (Rom 11:18)

It is very important to be clear that the heart of God has never changed regarding His feelings Israel as a nation and the promises and covenants of God regarding His people remain as valid today as ever they did in the past. Scripture reveals,

God’s gifts, His calling, and His promises to the people of Israel are irrevocable. (Rom 11:29)

The promises of God toward Israel don’t get withdrawn just because world circumstances change, and humanity decides that what was once given must surely now be revoked. Not at all, the covenants and decrees of the Lord regarding Israel remain in place forever, regardless of the prevailing politic of the day, and the Lord is entirely clear on this point.

He has declared in His word, Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel. (Jer 31:37)

In His word, God declares that His promises remain, and He will never abandon His people. The covenants of God, as well as His promises, form an everlasting relationship with Israel that will remain in force until Jesus returns for His own.

Another important point to take note of is that an everlasting Covenant continues to be in force, regardless of circumstances. Let me say that again, the covenant of God with Israel remains in force regardless of circumstances. This means, even should Israel turn its back on God as it has so many times in the past, God will continue to remain faithful to Israel. Our God does not revoke His promises just because we break ours. God has often set limits on His declarations stating that if ….. then…. a thing shall happen. However, in the case of His covenant with Israel as a nation and as a people, He has declared that His covenant is to be an everlasting covenant, where there are to be no ifs, ands or buts.

I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. (Gen 17:7)

God’s love for His people Israel is to be everlasting.

I have loved them with an everlasting love. (Jer 31:3)

God’s love for Israel knows no bounds and is never-ending. Throughout His word, God has demonstrated that as the grafted in branches, we are called to love Israel as God loves Israel. It is inconceivable that if God loves Israel so much, that as the grafted in branches we are not called to love them as God loves them after all He has declared in His word that those who bless Israel will be blessed ! The scriptures clearly lay out God’s heart for the believers in relation to the nation of Israel. God wants us to bless Israel, regardless of how Israel as a nation conducts itself. God is a never changing God and since we serve our God, are we then not called to be in agreement with Him on the matter of our relationship with Israel?

I am the Lord, I change not. (Mal 3:6)

This part of the character of God also applies to Jesus as the son of God, for we read in Hebrews,

Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Heb 13:8)

Scripture is clear that it was God’s choice to call Israel His own, and He did not make a mistake for He chose her out of all the nations of the earth.

God chose Israel out of all the people and nations of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. (Deut 7:6).

God has guarded Israel not as any other nation but as His ‘treasured possession’. This paints a very clear picture of the heart of God for Israel. If God considers them to be His treasured possession, how can it be that as His grafted in branch Hew would not desire that we would share His heart. Our Lord’s desire is that we will love those whom God loves. Surely since this is the heart of God for Israel, then as believers, it ought to be our heart too. How shall we justify taking a position that willfully opposes the heart of God. If Israel is God’s treasured possession, are we are being called to treasure her also!

There is a common phrase that we have learned to use rather loosely referring to those that we particularly care for, however, it is worth noting that it was first used by Moses when he uttered the words referring to Israel saying, she is ….

The apple of His (God’s) eye. (Deut 32:10).

If Israel is indeed the apple of God’s eye, how must God be feeling when as believers we choose to do anything to disparage her or choose to not stand squarely beside her. God chose Israel so that He might display His splendor through her, to the ends of the earth. How then do we justify doing anything other than to hold her up as a gift from God that should be given honor before him.

Israel was created to display God’s splendor throughout the earth. (Isa 49:3)

God has not been slow to demonstrate His love and care for Israel. God loves Israel. God treasures Israel. How then can we as Christians justify adopting any other position? How can we take any position other than God’s position ? Shall we turn to God to say, well Lord, that is good for you, however since you said all those things, the circumstances really have changed and in light of all that’s going on in the world right now, we’re so sorry, but we really have to adjust our position. Which of us will be the one to go into God’s throne room to let the Lord know what we have decided?

One of the most often quoted verses regarding the nation of Israel is found in Genesis where God makes the following promise to Abraham,

I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by you. (Gen 12:3)

In His word the Lord tells us that He expects us to bless Israel and when we do, He promises to bless us. It’s a promise that if we will stand with Israel and bless her no matter what, we will receive a blessing too. We may say, but Lord, we can’t agree to bless her as a nation when she takes innocent lives. The truth of the matter is however, when it comes to Israel and the matter her homeland, we. see again and again in the Old Testament, many of the innocent lost their lives as Israel moved ahead to inherit the Land. When Israel was told to attack the Amalekites, they were told to ‘totally destroy’ them. They were told not to spare any but to kill men and women, children and infants, cattle, sheep and donkeys. King Saul chose to disobeyed God by saving some of the animals for his fighting men and as a result the Lord tore Israel from his hands. (1 Samuel chapter 15) Christians will often discuss this passage with dismay asking why God would do such a thing. My point is that for Israel to entirely seek to annihilate and enemy is not a new concept, but it is one that God Himself has in the past has ordered be undertaken. We may not understand it, we may not sympathise with it or like it however God’s decisions are not for us to judge. It is not our borders or our people who are being slaughtered.

Today Israel is once again being attacked from within her own borders and she has chosen to move to protect the land that the Lord gave to her. What is happening in Gaza today is more of the same that has been happening for thousands of years.

Israel has had to endure such conditions for millennia and scripture tells us that such aggression will continue until the Lord returns to take up His place in the millennial reign.

Returning for moment to the promise that the Lord will curse those who curse Israel, did you know that a contemporary example of the promise of Genesis chapter 12 was just played out in the halls of the Turkish parliament within the last month. A Turkish MP, while making a speech to his parliament decided to curse Israel in front of the entire Turkish assembly. After he completed his rant, the MP in question was struck down dead while standing at the podium. The event was carried live on countless news networks around the globe.

(https://www.facebook.com/ronkingministries/videos/412713834621813)

The promise of God made in the days of Moses remains as relevant today as ever it was in millennia past. In light of recent events in Turkey, the scripture in Genesis ought to cause us as Christians to pause and take notice. God’s heart for His people, Israel, remains as it always has been. She is the apple of His eye and those who curse her will be cursed.

Would you be surprised to know that in His word, the Lord also declares that there are times when it is important to say that ‘enough is enough’. Israel has paid for her sins time and again and in His word, God expresses His heart by calling ‘time’. It was shortly after the Babylonian captivity that God Himself cried out, ‘enough is enough’.

Comfort, oh comfort my people, says your God. Speak softly and tenderly to Jerusalem, but also make it very clear that she has served her sentence, that her sin is taken care of – forgiven! She’s been punished enough and more than enough, and now it’s over and done with. (Isa 40:1)

God’s heart is so clearly seen in this scripture. Enough already ! In my heart I believe God’s heart for Israel in this hour is calling out again, Enough already ! Israel cannot and must not sit back while terrible atrocities and overt threats continue to exit at the hands of Hamas without responding in a way that leaves no doubt that she will not tolerate such a blatant assault within her borders. As was just demonstrated, the Lord often ordered the entire removal of Israel’s enemies men women and children and animals too but that is not what is happening now. Innocents are being caught up in Israel’s response for sure, however Israel has so often stated that she is doing all she can to protect the innocent.

Throughout all of History, Israel has been a nation and a people under siege. We are familiar with the history of the Jews when they were taken into captivity, first by the Assyrians and then the Babylonians. Even after Jesus death, under the brutal Roman empire, Israel has known nothing but misery pain and death all the way from the fall of Rome to the death camps of 3 rd Reich and still Israel has survived, against all odds. No other nation has been so assaulted and chased down by the powers of this world and still to this day not only does she survive but she prospers. Surely, the only reasonable explanation for Israel’s existence can be that it has been protected by the miraculous, supernatural, hand of God going ahead of her along the way, and this makes a very clear statement as to the Lord’s heart for this people.

Not only does God’s word declare His heart for the nation, but world history and the present wealth that Israel enjoys also points to the provision of God for Israel. It has been just over 75 years since Israel was granted a homeland. Since then, she has grown from a homeless outcast people to become listed among the top 30 most wealthy nations in the world. Fruit trees line her banks. She has become the number one exporter of roses in the world and technologically she has become the envy of the world. Many, if not most, of the surrounding Arab nations are lining up to sign onto the Abraham accords because Israel is the only nuclear power in the middle east capable of defending the region against a possible nuclear attack from Iran or any other rogue nation or power.

Like most western nations of the world, the nation of Canada is no longer a godly nation. We are become a pagan nation and Israel as a nation is no different to our own. Does that mean that God chooses to turn his back on us. Of course not. Israel too, has chosen the things of this world over the things of God. They to are become a liberal society. Again and again, they have chosen to turn their back on God, but let us be clear, God has not turned His back on them. In Romans chapter 1 the apostle Paul states,

Am I saying that God has turned His back on His people? Certainly not ! (Rom 11:1)

Paul continues by saying that there will always be a remnant and the same can be said of every nation today. In every western nation including Israel there remains a remnant of believers and if for no other reason than to support the remnant, the heart of God is calling out to us to pray for Jerusalem and the people of God in that nation. Yes, Israel as a nation has turned its back on God however, God uses all things for good for those who love him. The Apostle Paul writes,

Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the gentiles have come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. (Rom 11:25)

As believers, we are called to be purposeful as we seek to know the heart of God. It was because God desired that the gentiles be drawn toward Himself that the hearts of His people Israel were hardened. Scripture calls upon us,

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

Some things are unsearchable and unknowable except by the heart of God. Sometimes it may be better not to discuss them too much for fear that the wisdom of man direct our steps instead of God’s heart. Solomon was gifted with more of man’s wisdom than any other man and yet, it was his disobedience to the command of God that brought about the complete destruction of 10 tribes of Israel. Those who remained were then dispersed among the nations of the world, there to remain for two thousand years. If depending on the wisdom of man brought about such a dire result for King Solomon and Israel, then surely the lesson for us to learn must be to be governed not by our own wisdom but by the wisdom of God as it is revealed in scripture. It was to warn against the danger of trusting in our own wisdom that the apostle Paul wrote:

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and Revelation, so that you may know Him better. (Eph 1:17)

We must take note that the Spirit being mentioned in this verse is not the (s)pirit of man. The kind of wisdom and revelation that the apostle Paul was referring to is the kind that comes only from the (S)pirit of God, capital ‘S’.

I began by saying that we need to seek the heart of God on this matter. When it comes to understanding God’s heart for Israel, we absolutely must ask the Spirit of God to enlighten us. It is certainly true that proportionately many more Palestinians have now died than Israelis. Over 32,000 at the last count. Certainly, I believe that the responsibility of Christians around the world must rightly be to pray for the safety and well-being of these dear displaced Palestinian people and to support them where and how we are able. As Christians we must recognize that we can speak out for the loving care of the Palestinian people while at the same, time standing firmly and squarely in Israel’s corner, not only in terms of their right to defend themselves but also because that is exactly what the Lord calls us to do.

There are undoubtedly many in the world far better qualified than we to negotiate a political settlement in order to resolve the present conflict. That is not our role. Our role is to obey the word of God.

We make a great error by thinking that if we support one of the two sides in this conflict that we must then be taking a position against the other. Nothing could be further from the truth. The two positions are by no means mutually exclusive.

I have already laid out a number of scriptures that help us to understand ‘God’s heart on this matter and there are a great many more however I have left the most illuminating for the last. The apostle Paul clearly identified God’s position when it comes to understanding how Jews and Gentiles ought to relate to each other. In his letter to the believers in Ephesus Paul writes,

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one (Jews and gentiles) and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. Consequently, you are fellow citizens with God’s people and also, members of one household (family) built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. (Ephesians. 2:11-22)

The word of God could not be any clearer on this subject. The Lord sees the church and Israel to be united as one family of God. We are fellow citizens with the Jews and together we are members of one household. Paul continues to paint the picture of unity between the two by comparing it to a building where we are joined together as a holy temple with the chief cornerstone being Jesus. A person may wish to say that this scripture points to believers, both Jews and gentiles and that would be correct howeve we read that through Jesus we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Paul was writing to the church in Ephesus however, he was speaking to all Jews and all Gentiles. He was pointing out that the dividing wall of hostility had been destroy and that God’s purpose was to create one humanity out of the two. By delivering this word to the Ephesian church, Paul was seeking to destroy the dividing was between the two so that believers might be able to move among both Jew and gentile in love sharing that because of Christ there is no longer any reason to remain divided. Ephesus at the time of this writing was the gateway of Asia, The 4TH largest city in the known world and so Paul understood that if he would share his heart with the believers in Ephesus it would be a truth that would likely become known throughout the whole world. If the believers understood the principal that he was sharing with the Ephesian church it could have repercussions throughout the entire Roman world, whether Jew or gentile. God has called both Jews and gentile believers to become ‘only family in Him’ saying that all our attentions must be to seek the heart of God. That’s all that matters. For what reason is this important we may ask. The answer can be clearly found in the gospel of Luke where we read,

To prepare a people made ready for the Lord. (Luke 1:17)

What better reason could there be than because God is preparing a people made ready as the family of the Lord, Jew and gentile together,

In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. (Eph 2:21)

God has a clear plan for Israel in the last days. When we, the church, have been removed and the restrainer is taken out of the way, God will once again turn to the Jews to become the voice of God to a lost world. God’s plan for Israel is far from over and as their spiritual brothers and sisters who have been built together with them as a spiritual house, we have the honor as well as the most awesome responsibility of standing shoulder to shoulder with her come what may.

The hour is late and there is a cloud of great darkness covering our world. To come against the darkness, the Lord by His spirit is moving upon His people to be the light of the world that will overcome the darkness.

Recently we have been witnessing a wonderful spiritual transformation taking place between Israel and the people of God. Today, all around the world there are said to be as many as 750,000 Messianic Jews and recently, Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted as saying that Israel has no greater friend than the Christian evangelical church. If the Spirit of God has moved upon Israel as a nation to recognize God’s heart, then surely the time has come for us as the church to do likewise. What man cannot accomplish in his own strength, the Lord can do in an instant and by His Spirt and so let us choose to join Jews and believers all around the world who are recognizing our spiritual responsibility to stand as one with Israel.

Never before, has the bond between Jew and Gentile been so strong. Strong enough to be able to bridge any political divide so that together we can become the light that shines against the darkness.

Dare we refuse to acknowledge the heart of God on this critically important matter ? In His word, God has revealed His heart where He has declared, ‘The two have been created to become one holy temple before the Lord.’

This particular issue is the one that has been brought to light in this hour however, we can be sure that it will not be the last. For that reason it would be good for us to wrestle with this question now so that going forward we will be in agreement as to where we stand on the matter of ‘Israel and the church’.

God is using this as a template for us as a church to decide where we stand on declaring that we stand on the absolute authority of His word not just on this matter but on any other that will confront us as society careens into apostacy.

We are become a pagan society. The Lord is calling His people to decide where they stand. Joshua spoke the words, as for me and my house we sill serve the Lord. In this day and age as we approach Jesus return so much about what we have been taught about the gospel is being watered down. Believers are being called to make a choice. Many have said NO they cannot agree with the word of God as absolute. Many don’t agree that the word of God is our guide for these times. Our God is calling us to be Hot or Cold but not Lukewarm. God wants us to decide in this hour where we stand!

The Lord does not desire a people who are lukewarm. (Rev 3:16)

He desires a people who are passionate for the things that His heart is passionate for and God is passionate for Israel.