“Oh my Land, my birthplace!” (הוי ארצי מולדתי)
by Annie Nissim
I want to give a link to a lovely Hebrew song about the land of Israel, written by a non-believing Ukranian Jew, Shaul Tzernichovsky, one of Israel’s well-known, who settled in the Land of Israel and died here before the foundation of the State in 1948. I can’t find a good English translation of the poem and it would take me too much time to try to make one but the words are basically describing the beauty and uniqueness of the land. He starts, “O, my land, my birthplace! A bald, rocky mountain.” The poet is trying to paint an accurate description of different aspects of the land, not a picturesque but unrealistic one. In one verse, he mentions “the smell of spring orchards! the song of camels! Everything is drowned in a sea of light, and over all the light blue sky” (reyach (smell of) pardesay aviv (spring orchards), shir tziltzel (ringing song of) gamelet (female camel), b’yam shel or (in a sea of light) tovea kol (everything drowns), v’al pnei kol (and over all) ha’tchelet (the light blue))."
This really doesn’t do the Hebrew any justice but gives some idea. It’s really so descriptive of Israel: you walk down the street squinting from the light, the reflecting white brightness from cars and windows, and above all the blazing, bright blue sky. The poem mentions the rockiness of the land, in one place ‘a vulture in the sky’ (bashamayim ayit), a river panting for water (nahal kmeh mayim), the howling of jackels (even in Nahariya we hear them in the distance at night), olive next to olive; Israel is described as ‘land of the heart’s desiring’ (eretz hemdat lev). It’s really such a beautiful and real description of Israel. The tune was written by Naomi Shemer and the photographs in this video are part of a tribute to her. She wrote many songs that became national classics. Here’s the song:
This really doesn’t do the Hebrew any justice but gives some idea. It’s really so descriptive of Israel: you walk down the street squinting from the light, the reflecting white brightness from cars and windows, and above all the blazing, bright blue sky. The poem mentions the rockiness of the land, in one place ‘a vulture in the sky’ (bashamayim ayit), a river panting for water (nahal kmeh mayim), the howling of jackels (even in Nahariya we hear them in the distance at night), olive next to olive; Israel is described as ‘land of the heart’s desiring’ (eretz hemdat lev). It’s really such a beautiful and real description of Israel. The tune was written by Naomi Shemer and the photographs in this video are part of a tribute to her. She wrote many songs that became national classics. Here’s the song:
Modern Israel – the Land
Of course modern Israel has changed in some ways since Tzernichovsky wrote his poem. Immigrants have flooded the country in great waves – Jews from Russia, Morocco, South America, all the Arab countries you could name (where hardly a Jew remains), Europe, the USA, Ethiopia. Cities and towns are crowded with high-rise apartment blocks, each with a pile of white water tanks on the roof, busy cars, cars parked all over the pavements, loud arguments, piles of street cats, armed guards by every supermarket and mall, crowds of young male and female soldiers packing the trains to get to their bases at the beginning of the week, Muslims with their headresses, Druze with their white head scarfs, Orthodox Jews in their black suits, immodest maidens, eastern music. Many characteristics of that Israel which Tzernichovsky knew have not changed – colorful marketplaces, flocks of green parakeets, date palms, red and pink hybiscuses, walls of extravagantly colored borgonvillea, citrus trees, olive trees, pomegranate trees, twining grape vines, prickly sabras cactuses sprawling along the roadsides, the rolling Galilean hills, the beautiful Kinneret, the forested Judean hill country, the endless deserts – everything bounded on the West by the blue Mediterranean Sea with its far-stretching yellow shore line. What a beautiful country! There is something so special about the Land of the Bible. Don’t come in search of spectacular scenery. For that let me direct you to New Zealand or Switzerland. The chiefest beauty of this Land, though, is the character of God stamped over hill and plain.
Watch the Jordan River, from the glorious heights of the Hermon, continually descend in altitude through the length of the country to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. Does this not speak of the remarkable descent of humility by our Lord from the glory He had with His Father to His death on the cross? What a descent!
The very landscape of Israel declares the glory of God. “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people”. The Lord is likened to the waters of the Shiloah that go softly. His incarnation in a body that had no beauty that we should desire Him, that most incredible humility of the Lord is reflected not by the grandure of sweeping caverns and giant ravines of other countries, but in the soft waters of Shiloah. The landscape and features of Israel, beautiful and lovely as they are, will not astonish or draw appreciation from a heart that doesn’t long for the Lord like the gazelle pants for those refreshing water brooks of Ein Gedi. Millennial Jerusalem is perfectly described in Psalm 48, “The city of our God”, “the mountain of His holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for a refuge.”
Israel lies at the meeting place of three continents. The Bible states that Israel is the center, the navel of the earth – Ezekiel 38.12 (Hebrew). Jersualem will be exalted and during the Millennium will be the highest point on earth, visible from everywhere, as far as I understand the Scriptures of Isa 2: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”
Israel is in many ways a modest land, without spectacular outward show. Similarly, there was nothing about the Lord’s outward appearance to draw man’s attention. And modest as it is, the Bible describes this as the Land that the Lord loves. It makes me think of Samuel when he saw Eliav and thought, could you find a finer man more suited to be a king than this? But the Lord looks not at outward appearance. Not only is this the Land that the Lord loves, it’s also described as ‘His Land’ – and He has given it to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by everlasting covenant.
This land is budding with fruitfulness and variety. The fruitful, beautiful Galilee with the Sea of Galilee in its midst, is where the Lord spent most of His public, earthly ministry. Its fertile land and fruitfulness has made it the perfect home for agriculture, from biblical times until now. The Judean hills lead the traveller in a winding ascent to Jerusalem, that ancient city where our Lord was crucified. Judea has for millennia been the seat of Jewish religious learning. The same intensity of thought and feeling can be seen among the modern residents of Judea and Jerusalem.
The Mount of Olives stands on the Eastern side of Jerusalem, and from it the city and particularly the Temple Mount can be clearly viewed. From that Mount our Lord ascended to Heaven; there also, the Shekinah glory of God hovered in the last stage of its reluctant departure from Israel, as described in Ezekiel. To that Mount also, our Lord will return in His final victory march when He establishes His Kingdom on earth, “His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives”.
The Carmel mountain range overlooks the vast Jezreel valley that has seen so many historic biblical battles – if we name a few we could mention that of Deborah and Barak, Gideon’s war, the battle in which Saul and Jonathan died, and the final battle against the enemies of Israel at Mount Megiddo. A friend of mine maintains that the Gilboa Iris, a deep purple/ black iris that is found only in this region during the spring, is a sweet memorial to Jonathan who died here in battle. Somewhere along the peak of the Carmel range, Elijah contested with the prophets of Baal.
In the North, a dramatically steep ascent of a sharp 1500-2500 feet distinguishes lower from upper Galilee (Lebanon of today – but the biblical northern border lies along the Litani river which today lies deep within Lebanese territory). The Judean and Negev deserts have their own beauty, their flora flourishing after the flash floods of the winter rainy season. The Dead Sea area boasts lovely little water oases such as Ein Gedi – complete with their own unique flora and fauna. The beautiful little Jordan River runs the length of the country on the East, the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea bordering on the West and the South East, the mountains of Lebanon forming the biblical northern border, past the Litani river.
This land is dependent upon God for its rainfall. Didn’t God intend it that way? The neighboring ancient empires of Egypt and Assyria had a constant supply of water for irrigation along the banks of their great rivers, and agriculture could continue year round. Israel is dependent upon rainfall and its rainfall is dependent upon God. He made sure that this people need to turn their eyes to Him to meet their basic, daily needs.
Similarly, Israel is dependent on God for her security. I’m sure that this is no mistake either. Israel is a small nation, surrounded by enemy countries intent on her destruction. Considering the years of Israel’s modern statehood alone, God’s deliverance of Israel has been repeatedly miraculous. This dependency enables God’s repeated and miraculous demonstration of His mercy toward His people, and through it we hear His continual call for repentance. We are sad when we hear Israelis boasting in their army or their own capabilities as this is poor defense for us. How God yearns for His people to seek Him for their deliverance in order to demonstrate His might and faithful love.
Watch the Jordan River, from the glorious heights of the Hermon, continually descend in altitude through the length of the country to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. Does this not speak of the remarkable descent of humility by our Lord from the glory He had with His Father to His death on the cross? What a descent!
The very landscape of Israel declares the glory of God. “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people”. The Lord is likened to the waters of the Shiloah that go softly. His incarnation in a body that had no beauty that we should desire Him, that most incredible humility of the Lord is reflected not by the grandure of sweeping caverns and giant ravines of other countries, but in the soft waters of Shiloah. The landscape and features of Israel, beautiful and lovely as they are, will not astonish or draw appreciation from a heart that doesn’t long for the Lord like the gazelle pants for those refreshing water brooks of Ein Gedi. Millennial Jerusalem is perfectly described in Psalm 48, “The city of our God”, “the mountain of His holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for a refuge.”
Israel lies at the meeting place of three continents. The Bible states that Israel is the center, the navel of the earth – Ezekiel 38.12 (Hebrew). Jersualem will be exalted and during the Millennium will be the highest point on earth, visible from everywhere, as far as I understand the Scriptures of Isa 2: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”
Israel is in many ways a modest land, without spectacular outward show. Similarly, there was nothing about the Lord’s outward appearance to draw man’s attention. And modest as it is, the Bible describes this as the Land that the Lord loves. It makes me think of Samuel when he saw Eliav and thought, could you find a finer man more suited to be a king than this? But the Lord looks not at outward appearance. Not only is this the Land that the Lord loves, it’s also described as ‘His Land’ – and He has given it to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by everlasting covenant.
This land is budding with fruitfulness and variety. The fruitful, beautiful Galilee with the Sea of Galilee in its midst, is where the Lord spent most of His public, earthly ministry. Its fertile land and fruitfulness has made it the perfect home for agriculture, from biblical times until now. The Judean hills lead the traveller in a winding ascent to Jerusalem, that ancient city where our Lord was crucified. Judea has for millennia been the seat of Jewish religious learning. The same intensity of thought and feeling can be seen among the modern residents of Judea and Jerusalem.
The Mount of Olives stands on the Eastern side of Jerusalem, and from it the city and particularly the Temple Mount can be clearly viewed. From that Mount our Lord ascended to Heaven; there also, the Shekinah glory of God hovered in the last stage of its reluctant departure from Israel, as described in Ezekiel. To that Mount also, our Lord will return in His final victory march when He establishes His Kingdom on earth, “His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives”.
The Carmel mountain range overlooks the vast Jezreel valley that has seen so many historic biblical battles – if we name a few we could mention that of Deborah and Barak, Gideon’s war, the battle in which Saul and Jonathan died, and the final battle against the enemies of Israel at Mount Megiddo. A friend of mine maintains that the Gilboa Iris, a deep purple/ black iris that is found only in this region during the spring, is a sweet memorial to Jonathan who died here in battle. Somewhere along the peak of the Carmel range, Elijah contested with the prophets of Baal.
In the North, a dramatically steep ascent of a sharp 1500-2500 feet distinguishes lower from upper Galilee (Lebanon of today – but the biblical northern border lies along the Litani river which today lies deep within Lebanese territory). The Judean and Negev deserts have their own beauty, their flora flourishing after the flash floods of the winter rainy season. The Dead Sea area boasts lovely little water oases such as Ein Gedi – complete with their own unique flora and fauna. The beautiful little Jordan River runs the length of the country on the East, the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea bordering on the West and the South East, the mountains of Lebanon forming the biblical northern border, past the Litani river.
This land is dependent upon God for its rainfall. Didn’t God intend it that way? The neighboring ancient empires of Egypt and Assyria had a constant supply of water for irrigation along the banks of their great rivers, and agriculture could continue year round. Israel is dependent upon rainfall and its rainfall is dependent upon God. He made sure that this people need to turn their eyes to Him to meet their basic, daily needs.
Similarly, Israel is dependent on God for her security. I’m sure that this is no mistake either. Israel is a small nation, surrounded by enemy countries intent on her destruction. Considering the years of Israel’s modern statehood alone, God’s deliverance of Israel has been repeatedly miraculous. This dependency enables God’s repeated and miraculous demonstration of His mercy toward His people, and through it we hear His continual call for repentance. We are sad when we hear Israelis boasting in their army or their own capabilities as this is poor defense for us. How God yearns for His people to seek Him for their deliverance in order to demonstrate His might and faithful love.
The Feasts
The feasts of Israel tie in with the agriculture of the Land and are a perfect picture of God’s prophetic plan for Israel and the Nations. Israel’s feasts fall in the spring and the autumn seasons. The summer has no rain whatsoever and there are no feasts during these long, hot, dry months. Hillsides become bare and brown. It’s as if the Lord was showing that after those ‘Passover events’ of the Lord’s ministry on earth, there would be a long period of desolation for the nation when spiritually, the nation became shriveled and dry, with sparse numbers of Jewish believers scattered here and there, like the scattered patches of green during summer. Immediately after the Lord’s Passover Sacrifice, the years following saw a large influx of thousands of Jews into the Body of Christ. Shortly after this, however, while there was always some ragged remnant of believing Jews during the 2,000 years from Acts until today to fulfill the promises of God, for the Jewish nation it has been largely a dry and desolate summer – and how unbearably lengthy for the nation of Israel! Indeed, so dry and lengthy it is that the brethren of Joseph (the Jews – Jesus’ brethren) are beginning to famish for spiritual hunger with their families in the land of Canaan. The afflictions that Joseph laid on his brethren to bring them to repentance are awaiting the Jewish people in these days, before restoration can occur. Yet more severe will be those trials, as much as the crime committed against their greater Brother, and Lord, so far exceeds the crime of Joseph’s brethren against that lovely young man who so typified our Savior.
As summer draws to a close, the atmosphere starts to change; ‘autumn is in the air’ and soon afterward the festive season begins with the Feast of Trumpets. Autumn has been in the air for this nation since the early Zionist movements, when God began to both move Jews back to the Land of Israel in more significant numbers and as He began to save more Jews into the Church and we saw the beginning of the Hebrew Christian movement and special Christian missionary interest in the Jewish people. For 2,000 years there were only enough believing Jews to maintain God’s promise that there will always be a faithful remnant; now we begin to sense the change, to feel the wind as it were and to smell the promise of rains to come. The number of believers in Israel has simply mushroomed in the past few decades and the remnant continues to grow at an astonishing rate. We hear more of non-believing Jewish families saved and becoming true disciples of the Lord. Believing families in Israel also have plenty of children and the amount children in the churches is just wonderful to see. What grace of the Lord that although this is the time specifically designated for the ‘fullness of the Gentiles’ to come into the Church, the Lord is still bringing a good last wave of Jews into the Body of Christ, before the Tribulation and the turning of His attention more specifically to the Jewish nation once more.
The Feast of Trumpets, the first of the autumn feasts, foreshadows the Christian hope that the whole Body of Christ will one day be called up into the air by the trumpet call of God. This feast is immediately followed by 10 ‘terrible days’, the Days of Awe, a picture of Israel’s tribulation, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. These days are a tense, waiting period for Israel in anticipation of their culmination in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is a time when Jews, more than at any other time of the year, ‘consider their ways’. Surely, when those judgements of God begin to pour out on unbelieving Israel after the rapture of the Church, Israel will most carefully consider her ways and the remnant will come to full repentance.
Yom Kippur is a picture of Israel’s national repentance, when Israel as a nation will repent with the words of Isaiah 53 concerning their rejection of Jesus the Messiah – and they will ask the Lord to deliver them from their enemies, the Gentile armies that have surrounded them on every side with the desire to finish them off.
A short time after Yom Kippur comes the Feast of Tabernacles, lasting a week. This is symbolic of the entry of the Millennial Kingdom. This frequently marks the beginning of Israel’s rainy season, when great downpours of water turn the brown hills into green, fertile pasture. Suddenly, river beds that are dry all year round are flooded with gushing water. Rivers burst out in the desert and the dry land blossoms. What a picture of God’s outpouring of blessing on this nation during the Millennium. The barren desert will be streams of water indeed! They will not speak each man to his brother saying ‘know the Lord’ for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest! Happy day! Indeed, all creation declares the glory of God and how much more so the Land that He loves! How can any heart excited about God’s work and ways remain untouched by God’s intended plan for this nation and this people?
As summer draws to a close, the atmosphere starts to change; ‘autumn is in the air’ and soon afterward the festive season begins with the Feast of Trumpets. Autumn has been in the air for this nation since the early Zionist movements, when God began to both move Jews back to the Land of Israel in more significant numbers and as He began to save more Jews into the Church and we saw the beginning of the Hebrew Christian movement and special Christian missionary interest in the Jewish people. For 2,000 years there were only enough believing Jews to maintain God’s promise that there will always be a faithful remnant; now we begin to sense the change, to feel the wind as it were and to smell the promise of rains to come. The number of believers in Israel has simply mushroomed in the past few decades and the remnant continues to grow at an astonishing rate. We hear more of non-believing Jewish families saved and becoming true disciples of the Lord. Believing families in Israel also have plenty of children and the amount children in the churches is just wonderful to see. What grace of the Lord that although this is the time specifically designated for the ‘fullness of the Gentiles’ to come into the Church, the Lord is still bringing a good last wave of Jews into the Body of Christ, before the Tribulation and the turning of His attention more specifically to the Jewish nation once more.
The Feast of Trumpets, the first of the autumn feasts, foreshadows the Christian hope that the whole Body of Christ will one day be called up into the air by the trumpet call of God. This feast is immediately followed by 10 ‘terrible days’, the Days of Awe, a picture of Israel’s tribulation, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. These days are a tense, waiting period for Israel in anticipation of their culmination in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is a time when Jews, more than at any other time of the year, ‘consider their ways’. Surely, when those judgements of God begin to pour out on unbelieving Israel after the rapture of the Church, Israel will most carefully consider her ways and the remnant will come to full repentance.
Yom Kippur is a picture of Israel’s national repentance, when Israel as a nation will repent with the words of Isaiah 53 concerning their rejection of Jesus the Messiah – and they will ask the Lord to deliver them from their enemies, the Gentile armies that have surrounded them on every side with the desire to finish them off.
A short time after Yom Kippur comes the Feast of Tabernacles, lasting a week. This is symbolic of the entry of the Millennial Kingdom. This frequently marks the beginning of Israel’s rainy season, when great downpours of water turn the brown hills into green, fertile pasture. Suddenly, river beds that are dry all year round are flooded with gushing water. Rivers burst out in the desert and the dry land blossoms. What a picture of God’s outpouring of blessing on this nation during the Millennium. The barren desert will be streams of water indeed! They will not speak each man to his brother saying ‘know the Lord’ for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest! Happy day! Indeed, all creation declares the glory of God and how much more so the Land that He loves! How can any heart excited about God’s work and ways remain untouched by God’s intended plan for this nation and this people?
Modern Israel – the people
Many Americans visit Israel and don’t much appreciate the lack of cleanliness and lack of civil manners (not to mention lack of knowledge of English!). I have to say I appreciate the blunt honesty of Jewish Israelis, the lack of show, the lack of personal barriers that makes the whole country feel like a kind of family, everyone interested in everyone else and willing to immediately involve themselves in your lives and of course offer their opinions without reserve! There’s almost always a willingness to talk.
When people are angry, they shout at each other; when people disagree with you, they don’t hesitate to tell you. There’s no concept of personal space – someone can ram your shoulder as they walk past and continue without a second thought, not to mention an apology. Yes, there is a rudeness and a roughness about this people, and a lot of sin and immorality. The army is very immoral, with a lot of temptation for the youngsters (as an aside, please pray for the believing male and female soldiers in this regard, there are always a lot of believing youngsters serving in the army – some in good positions too). My husband witnessed two soldiers holding each other, looking intently at each other and cursing Jesus immediately prior to their ambush against some terrorists in Lebanon. The nation is morally corrupt. I believe many in Israel commit adultery. The Lord says in Hosea 4.1-2 that He has a controversy with the inhabitants of the Land (of Israel needless to say), “Because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery.” I haven’t studied the context of this verse but it seems to me a very good description of Israel today. Also the description of Jerusalem comes to mind, “How has the faithful city become a harlot”.
There’s a lot of anger and aggression in Israel – you’re at far greater risk driving on an Israeli road than you are from war or terrorism. There’s paganism and superstition – almost every Jewish home has a ‘hamsa’, a lucky charm that is supposed to bring blessing and prosperity. Most Israelis fear the ‘evil eye’ and often after a complement or positive wish expressed, add a wish against the ‘evil eye’. An Israeli astronaut introduced the hamsa into space – his wife gave each of the astronauts in his team a hamsa to carry with them. One lady here told me that she’s the ‘daughter of Zeus’! Israel was the first nation to send a transvestite to the Eurovision. We have certainly outdone the Gentile nations at their own pagan sports – just as in the days of the biblical prophets.
Many people don’t know who Yeshua is (Yeshua is the Hebrew name of Jesus, the name He was called by). They know Him by the name ‘Yeshu’ which is an acronym made by the religious Jews meaning ‘May His name and His memory be blotted out’ (Yimach Shmo V’Zichro). People here don’t know that it’s an acronym, they think that’s His real name and if you call Him ‘Yeshua’ it takes a while for them to understand who you mean – you mean Joshua son of Nun? no, I mean Yeshua of Nazareth! Many Jews are not religious at all and many are sick of the Jewish religion. For religious Jews, if they are pious, any interest in the New Testament would carry the dread of displeasing God. Among those who are not pious – some religious are simply wicked people in religious dress – many would detest and loathe Jesus and any Jews who follow Him.
When people are angry, they shout at each other; when people disagree with you, they don’t hesitate to tell you. There’s no concept of personal space – someone can ram your shoulder as they walk past and continue without a second thought, not to mention an apology. Yes, there is a rudeness and a roughness about this people, and a lot of sin and immorality. The army is very immoral, with a lot of temptation for the youngsters (as an aside, please pray for the believing male and female soldiers in this regard, there are always a lot of believing youngsters serving in the army – some in good positions too). My husband witnessed two soldiers holding each other, looking intently at each other and cursing Jesus immediately prior to their ambush against some terrorists in Lebanon. The nation is morally corrupt. I believe many in Israel commit adultery. The Lord says in Hosea 4.1-2 that He has a controversy with the inhabitants of the Land (of Israel needless to say), “Because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery.” I haven’t studied the context of this verse but it seems to me a very good description of Israel today. Also the description of Jerusalem comes to mind, “How has the faithful city become a harlot”.
There’s a lot of anger and aggression in Israel – you’re at far greater risk driving on an Israeli road than you are from war or terrorism. There’s paganism and superstition – almost every Jewish home has a ‘hamsa’, a lucky charm that is supposed to bring blessing and prosperity. Most Israelis fear the ‘evil eye’ and often after a complement or positive wish expressed, add a wish against the ‘evil eye’. An Israeli astronaut introduced the hamsa into space – his wife gave each of the astronauts in his team a hamsa to carry with them. One lady here told me that she’s the ‘daughter of Zeus’! Israel was the first nation to send a transvestite to the Eurovision. We have certainly outdone the Gentile nations at their own pagan sports – just as in the days of the biblical prophets.
Many people don’t know who Yeshua is (Yeshua is the Hebrew name of Jesus, the name He was called by). They know Him by the name ‘Yeshu’ which is an acronym made by the religious Jews meaning ‘May His name and His memory be blotted out’ (Yimach Shmo V’Zichro). People here don’t know that it’s an acronym, they think that’s His real name and if you call Him ‘Yeshua’ it takes a while for them to understand who you mean – you mean Joshua son of Nun? no, I mean Yeshua of Nazareth! Many Jews are not religious at all and many are sick of the Jewish religion. For religious Jews, if they are pious, any interest in the New Testament would carry the dread of displeasing God. Among those who are not pious – some religious are simply wicked people in religious dress – many would detest and loathe Jesus and any Jews who follow Him.
Muslims in the Land
As in the days of Israel’s conquest of the Land, when God left foreign peoples in the land to test the nation’s faithfulness to God, so it’s no mistake that Israel now has a lot of Muslims and ‘Christian’ Arabs (Catholics). The Catholic Arabs are not a great problem to Israel (although I never met one who had any love of the Jews – and I have spent some years among the Catholic Arabs of downtown Haifa). The Muslims hate Israel. They really are our enemies, living among us, a real thorn in the side. Again, God’s design in this is to turn His people to Him.
Alas! Israel has yet to turn to God to seek His face on these matters. At times, God gives Israel quiet and relative peace and at other times Israel is in great distress from the enemy. Most of us remember a period when you could hardly turn on the news without seeing another Israeli bus or restaurant blown to pieces, and Israeli ambulance men trying to pick up scattered fragments of bodies. Since the security fence was built, God has given Israel significant respite from these interior terror attacks, and Israeli citizens (including the Arabs) feel relatively safe going about their day-to-day business again.
It’s no mistake that Bethlehem, the city where the Lord was born, the city that didn’t offer Miriam a room to give Him birth, that city of David so fondly spoken of by the prophet, is almost entirely Muslim Arab and unaccompanied access to the normal Israeli citizen who values his life is not a reasonable option. Nazareth, that city where the Lord grew up and that city that thoroughly rejected Him, is Arab (Christian), with a small Jewish section. Enter the ancient city of Jerusalem at the Damascus Gate by mistake (as I once did) and enter a teeming, pushing sea of hostile Muslim faces. So many of those fascinating ancient homes, where Jewish families lived over 2,000 years ago, are inhabited by Muslims.
Bethsaida, Chorazin and Capernaum, where the Lord performed the greater part of His works, are, just as the Lord said they would be, non-existant towns; only ruins remain. The Mountains of Israel, the mountains of Judea and Samaria, the backbone of the Land, are trampled under enemy feet while the Jewish population is squeezed largely into the coastal strip of the country and driven to the Negev desert and the far north. Much of the Galilee consists of Arab towns, cities and villages, that have no Jewish population in them. (I have to say here too that the Lord has been working among the Muslims and the Arab populations and we hear reports of many coming to faith, numbers that we envy for our own people.)
Alas! Israel has yet to turn to God to seek His face on these matters. At times, God gives Israel quiet and relative peace and at other times Israel is in great distress from the enemy. Most of us remember a period when you could hardly turn on the news without seeing another Israeli bus or restaurant blown to pieces, and Israeli ambulance men trying to pick up scattered fragments of bodies. Since the security fence was built, God has given Israel significant respite from these interior terror attacks, and Israeli citizens (including the Arabs) feel relatively safe going about their day-to-day business again.
It’s no mistake that Bethlehem, the city where the Lord was born, the city that didn’t offer Miriam a room to give Him birth, that city of David so fondly spoken of by the prophet, is almost entirely Muslim Arab and unaccompanied access to the normal Israeli citizen who values his life is not a reasonable option. Nazareth, that city where the Lord grew up and that city that thoroughly rejected Him, is Arab (Christian), with a small Jewish section. Enter the ancient city of Jerusalem at the Damascus Gate by mistake (as I once did) and enter a teeming, pushing sea of hostile Muslim faces. So many of those fascinating ancient homes, where Jewish families lived over 2,000 years ago, are inhabited by Muslims.
Bethsaida, Chorazin and Capernaum, where the Lord performed the greater part of His works, are, just as the Lord said they would be, non-existant towns; only ruins remain. The Mountains of Israel, the mountains of Judea and Samaria, the backbone of the Land, are trampled under enemy feet while the Jewish population is squeezed largely into the coastal strip of the country and driven to the Negev desert and the far north. Much of the Galilee consists of Arab towns, cities and villages, that have no Jewish population in them. (I have to say here too that the Lord has been working among the Muslims and the Arab populations and we hear reports of many coming to faith, numbers that we envy for our own people.)
Believers in the Land
The number of Jewish believers in the country has multiplied incredibly in the last generation. A believing sister in her sixties has worked with the children of believers here all her life and she said it used to be that all of the believers in the country went to one central summer camp and you knew immediately from looking at a child’s face who his father and mother were. Now it’s such that there are whole congregations here that you haven’t heard about.
There are a lot of American-style charismatic meetings. There are many Gentiles and many Arabs among the body of Christ in Israel. American Jews who come here have a tendency to Law keeping. This isn’t a problem so much among the Israeli-born Jewish believers. (2)
Yes, there are even secret believers among the religious. This is not just a myth. A friend of mine encountered one by chance. We know of a man who preached the Gospel boldly and without shame among the Jews in Mea Shearim (the most Orthodox place in Jerusalem) and saw many come to faith and live their faith in secrecy out of fear. We do believe that the Lord is bringing more Jews to faith in these days. Of course, the veil still lies over the heart of the nation and we don’t really expect large-scale Jewish salvation this side of the tribulation but we do see the Lord bringing more Jews into the body in these days (perhaps starting in the 60s).
One of my prayers for this people is that He would save many Jews into the body of Christ before the tribulation. We know that those who are not saved will go through the tribulation and two thirds of the nation will die – Zech 12. The remaining third will be saved and will go into the Millennium in their natural bodies. They will be Israel of the Millennial period. If more Jews are saved into the body of Christ, the Church, before the tribulation, that will mean a greater net number of Jews eternally saved as they won’t be counted among the “thirds” of Zechariah (I’m counting natural Israel who enters the Millennium as ‘saved’ – they are the “all Israel shall be saved” and they are “those who endure to the end” and who “shall be saved”).
There are a lot of American-style charismatic meetings. There are many Gentiles and many Arabs among the body of Christ in Israel. American Jews who come here have a tendency to Law keeping. This isn’t a problem so much among the Israeli-born Jewish believers. (2)
Yes, there are even secret believers among the religious. This is not just a myth. A friend of mine encountered one by chance. We know of a man who preached the Gospel boldly and without shame among the Jews in Mea Shearim (the most Orthodox place in Jerusalem) and saw many come to faith and live their faith in secrecy out of fear. We do believe that the Lord is bringing more Jews to faith in these days. Of course, the veil still lies over the heart of the nation and we don’t really expect large-scale Jewish salvation this side of the tribulation but we do see the Lord bringing more Jews into the body in these days (perhaps starting in the 60s).
One of my prayers for this people is that He would save many Jews into the body of Christ before the tribulation. We know that those who are not saved will go through the tribulation and two thirds of the nation will die – Zech 12. The remaining third will be saved and will go into the Millennium in their natural bodies. They will be Israel of the Millennial period. If more Jews are saved into the body of Christ, the Church, before the tribulation, that will mean a greater net number of Jews eternally saved as they won’t be counted among the “thirds” of Zechariah (I’m counting natural Israel who enters the Millennium as ‘saved’ – they are the “all Israel shall be saved” and they are “those who endure to the end” and who “shall be saved”).
Epilogue
The Lord Yeshua, Jesus, God’s Messiah, Israel’s King, will save the remnant of Israel. He will return her captivity. He will lead the captives with singing unto Zion, where they will dwell with everlasting joy upon their heads. When He brings back their captivity, will we be singing with them? Those who have wept with Israel in the valley of her humiliation will leap for joy, with their longing over the nation of God finally satisfied with delight in seeing them brought to full and blessed restoration, bringing health and healing to the Gentile nations in turn. Some believers will eat shame of face in that day, whose hearts never entertained a generous thought toward the Jewish nation. On the other hand, there will be those who may well be accompanying that freshly saved remnant of Israel, up to Zion’s gates with praise, song and everlasting joy. May God’s grace allow us to be counted among the latter. How good to join our hearts to the purposes of God, to believe His Word and long for His promises. A blessed portion will be the portion of such believers.
Notes
1) Note that I do not see the regathering of the Jewish nation to Israel as a fulfillment of the prophetic glorious regathering to the blessings of the Kingdom but rather as a regathering in preparation for the judgment of the Tribulation, the Time of Jacob’s trouble. However, God’s design in the whole plan is the ultimate salvation of the remnant of Israel, the third of the nation that will survive. God’s design in bringing them back is to enter into judgment with a sinful, unbelieving nation, in order to bring them into glorious salvation.
2) I believe this stems from the fact that Jews abroad have always had to hold on to the Jewish religion in order to maintain their identity and if you have Jews abroad who have thrown off the religion, they quickly assimilate, marry Gentiles and lose their Jewish identity. For Jewish believers, holding on to Judaistic elements is a way of holding on to their national identity as Jews, physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – not an identity they are willing to give up easily; their situation is not helped by the fact that their Jewish unbelieving brethren and their Gentile brethren in Christ are shouting at them from either side that they are no longer Jews. In Israel, there is a confidence among the Jews (I refer to non-believers) that caused many to throw off the Jewish religion because they don’t need it in order to maintain their Jewish identity. Most Jewish Israelis have a strong Jewish identity without following Judaism. They don’t have the fear of assimilation so much because they have Israeli national identity. Most Israeli-born believers came from this background and so have no ‘need’ to return to Law keeping and Judaism after they come to faith. We believe these things (trying to keep Judaistic elements) even repel Israelis who have no desire to adhere to a pile of Judaistic regulations. They rather appreciate the honesty of believers ‘being what they are’ and living in freedom – that’s far more likely to attract most Israelis.
2) I believe this stems from the fact that Jews abroad have always had to hold on to the Jewish religion in order to maintain their identity and if you have Jews abroad who have thrown off the religion, they quickly assimilate, marry Gentiles and lose their Jewish identity. For Jewish believers, holding on to Judaistic elements is a way of holding on to their national identity as Jews, physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – not an identity they are willing to give up easily; their situation is not helped by the fact that their Jewish unbelieving brethren and their Gentile brethren in Christ are shouting at them from either side that they are no longer Jews. In Israel, there is a confidence among the Jews (I refer to non-believers) that caused many to throw off the Jewish religion because they don’t need it in order to maintain their Jewish identity. Most Jewish Israelis have a strong Jewish identity without following Judaism. They don’t have the fear of assimilation so much because they have Israeli national identity. Most Israeli-born believers came from this background and so have no ‘need’ to return to Law keeping and Judaism after they come to faith. We believe these things (trying to keep Judaistic elements) even repel Israelis who have no desire to adhere to a pile of Judaistic regulations. They rather appreciate the honesty of believers ‘being what they are’ and living in freedom – that’s far more likely to attract most Israelis.