One Nation, Under Who?

A promise:

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:17 (emphasis added)

And a warning:

"But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. And though this temple is now so imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and say, 'Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?' People will answer, 'Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them-- that is why he brought all this disaster on them.'" 2 Chronicles 7:19-22 (emphasis added)

In the chapters preceding these verses, we see Solomon build the temple and then dedicate it to God. The entirety of chapter six is Solomon's prayer to God, a plea and an oath, both seeking God's protection and provision, but also stating rather matter-of-factly the inevitable judgment that will befall them should Israel turn away from God.

Solomon is unmistakably aware of the fact that ALL GOOD THINGS COME FROM THE LORD!

He knows that nothing they possess or could ever hope to accomplish would even be remotely attainable were it not for the direct willful blessing of the God who created them and promised to protect them. And he also knows that every one of these blessings can be just as easily stripped away in an instant if God so chooses.

He knows this. He acknowledges this, both before God and before men. And he accepts the consequences, be they ever so severe, should Israel ever turn away from God again.

And God does not take such promises lightly. If you make a commitment to God, you had best intend to keep it.

We know from studying history that they do indeed turn away from God yet again, and they do indeed reap the painful consequences.

The standards that God held for the Israelites were different from those he held for the rest of the world. They were his children, his own special possession. God disciplines those he loves. A parent doesn't discipline a child that doesn't belong to them; you discipline your own children, for their own good.

But the Israelites are not the only group of people who God has called his own. When Jesus Christ came to this earth to pay the penalty for all sin, anyone who would believe was immediately adopted into this Jewish family. We are now sons and daughters of God. We are his special possession as well, and because He loves us, our God will discipline us. He now holds us to the same standard that he has always held Israel. Those same promises and warnings now apply to us: Our God has promised to protect us, to provide for us and to heal our land when we repent and turn back to him. And likewise, should we turn away from him, we should not be surprised when two things happen: 1) His provision and blessing cease; and 2) His hand of protection is lifted, and we are allowed to endure pain and suffering.

And while the bride of Christ, the Christian church, is spread throughout the world, there is one nation in particular which is by definition, a Christian nation: The United States of America. While you might be hard pressed to find any evidence of that long-forgotten fact, this country was indeed founded on the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was established as a place where individuals would be free to worship God in spirit and in truth, uninhibited by the religious demands and persecution they were facing at home. Its laws were founded on the principles of God's laws. And, most importantly, it was dedicated to God, just as Israel once was.

In 1789, for the first time ever, our nation had a functioning government, and upon being inaugurated as our first president, George Washington gave the first inaugural address. In it, he gave this prophetic warning:

"...it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect... No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency...; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained..." (emphasis added) (George Washington's inaugural address can be read in its entirety here.)

And were it not enough that our government was birthed with these words, George Washington, along with a group of our very first political leaders, marched from their present location to a little chapel called St. Paul's Chapel to pray and to dedicate this nation to God. Just as Solomon made vows to God, so our founding fathers did no less.

And all of this took place not in Washington, where our government functions today; at the founding of our nation, the capitol was not Washington D.C.-- it was in New York. George Washington was inaugurated at Federal Hall in New York City. And the chapel that these men walked to after the ceremony, the very site where this nation was ceremonially dedicated to God was at the corner of Ground Zero. And when the attack happened on 9/11, the only thing left standing was this little chapel.

The Lord gave us this land. He has blessed us exceedingly. We committed it to Him. We dedicated it to Him. And we have since turned our backs on Him in ways that aren't even numerable. And on September 11th, 2001, God lifted his hand of protection.

"For this is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land. I will shake all the nations..." Haggai 2:6

Our world is shaking, and it's only going to shake harder until the day Christ returns. But this nation has a hope and a promise! God has not forgotten the foundations that we were once built on...

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

This promise is as much ours as it is Israel's. It's time to wake up, pay attention to the shakings, and get serious about surrendering our lives to Christ. I'm not talking to unbelievers here! Absolutely, I pray that those who are lost would be found, but this verse is not written to the unbelieving people and nations of this world. It says my people, who are called by my name. WE have gone astray. WE have tossed God aside to worship worthless idols. WE are the ones who need to throw our precious lifestyles out the window and GET ON OUR KNEES!

More on how we can tangibly do that in the next post...

*This fascinating bit of information about the founding of our nation is just one tiny piece of wisdom and insight that Rabbi Jonathan Cahn shares in his book The Harbinger. It is written in the form of a fictional story, but within it are FACTUAL details, outlining the message that he believes God is sending us. I posted a video interview that he did a while back, here. I highly recommend that you watch the video and get a copy of the book. It will boggle your mind to discover all the detailed ways in which the events of 9/11 literally parallel the warning signs God sent to Israel.

Always Have Been, Always Will Be...

It is the Lord who provides the sun to light the day and the moon and stars to light the night, and who stirs the sea into roaring waves.

His name is the Lord of Heaven's Armies, and this is what he says:

"I am as likely to reject my people Israel as I am to abolish the laws of nature!"

This is what the Lord says:

"Just as the heavens cannot be measured and the foundations of the earth cannot be explored, I will not consider casting them away for the evil they have done. I, the Lord, have spoken!" Jeremiah 31:35-37

Much of the church today, predominantly in certain denominations, has adopted an unbiblical, false doctrine, which many refer to as "replacement theology". Some churches may teach this as an outright fact, while others may simply, though just as dangerously, allow the attitudes and ideas of it to subtly seep into their teachings and belief systems. Either way, it has permeated so deeply into the hearts and minds of a frighteningly large portion of believers today that many of us have accepted these attitudes toward Israel and the Jewish people as normal. The result is, at best, a disinterest or slight annoyance with the "problems" that Israel seems to pose to our world today geopolitically, and at worst, a disgust or even hatred for a nation that God has clearly called His own. What this theology teaches is basically that all of the promises which God made to Israel somehow transferred to Christians, or the church, because of Israel's rejection of Jesus; essentially, this means that we must discard the entire Old Testament, or at least, insert "the church" into the promises of God anytime He addresses Israel. I'll leave the doctrinal research to you, and simply say for now that this idea is completely ludicrous; God made specific promises TO Israel, and He intends to fulfill every single one of them WITH Israel.

In the last post, we took a look at what the Millennial Kingdom, the 1,000 year period following Christ's return to earth, will look like. Now, I'd like to outline for you a few highlights concerning God's special plans and promises for Israel. Remember, anyone who enters into the Millennial Kingdom, whether Jew or Gentile, HAS accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Simply being Jewish does not entitle a person to the fulfillment of these promises; they must accept Christ, just as the church has had to do...

First of all, here's a quick outline of what the ruling structure will look like during the millennium:

1. Jesus Christ: Jesus will rule over the entire world.
1. The Gentiles, ruled by the church (1 Corinthians 6:2-3)
1. "Kings" will be ruling over the individual nations of the world.
2. The Jews, ruled by King David (Ezekiel 34:23-24)
1. The 12 disciples (with the exception of Judas, who will be replaced by someone who has yet to be revealed) will rule over the 12 tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:27-28, Luke 22:28-30).

In Ezekiel, over the course of several chapters, as well as throughout the majority of the Old Testament, God lays out a very detailed description of the future plans for Israel. Here is one small window into those plans:

My servant David will be their king, and they will have only one shepherd. They will obey my regulations and be careful to keep my decrees. They will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren after them will live there forever, generation after generation. And my servant David will be their prince forever. And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give them their land and increase their numbers, and I will put my Temple among them forever. I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And when my Temple is among them forever, the nations will know that I am the Lord, who makes Israel holy. Ezekiel 37:24-28, emphasis added

It doesn't take a bible scholar to figure out that the Israel described here has NEVER existed. This has NOT happened yet, but it will! During the 1,000 year reign of Christ, this Israel will be a reality!

It's also interesting to note that during this time, as Ezekiel 40-48 and other passages describe to us, the practices of temple worship and temple sacrifices will be reinstated. We must understand, however, that these sacrifices will NOT be atoning, as they were in their early days; these sacrifices are a symbol that point back at what Christ did on the cross, just as the original atoning sacrifices pointed toward what he would do in the future. These sacrifices will be a type of memorial of Christ's blood spilled on the cross, similar to what we practice when we take communion. We, the church, will not take part in offering these sacrifices, but we will help administer and serve during the process.

While we certainly don't need to go out and start participating in animal sacrifice, it would probably do us all a world of good to reconnect with our Jewish roots in some way. Perhaps a study about Jewish holidays and what they mean. Maybe participating in a Seder dinner. Maybe celebrating Chanukah this year. Remember that we are adopted into this Jewish family when we become a follower of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. There is so much richness to be found in the Hebrew traditions. All of these seemingly tedious rites and rituals that God required of the Jews were each a unique, poetic foreshadowing of the beautiful relationship that we would one day have with Jesus Christ, Yeshua, the Messiah! Learning about and participating in these practices now only give us a deeper, more intimate view of the sovereignty and intricacy of an Almighty God. How can we truly understand the God we serve if we deny or simply ignore the culture through which He chose to enter this world?

Ultimately, regardless of how much we understand or participate in the traditions of the Jewish people, we MUST remember God's warning to anyone who would threaten to harm them:

I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. Genesis 12:3

There I will judge them for harming my people, my special possession, for scattering my people among the nations, and for dividing up my land. Joel 3:2 

The Lord is going to judge those who seek to divide the land of Israel. Does this sound familiar right now? Where do you stand on a Palestinian state? How is that affecting your voting? your prayer? your support or lack thereof of this special nation? I have made the comparison before of a bystander who sees a bully tormenting his victim and watches idly from the background; the bystander is just as guilty as the bully himself. We have to stand visibly, vocally, prayerfully, financially, spiritually, and in every other possible way with Israel. These ARE God's people, and so are we, if we love him and obey his commands.

The Harbinger by Rabbi Jonathan Cahn

Rabbi Jonathan Cahn's book, The Harbinger, comes out January 2012. Listen to this INCREDIBLE 2-part message about the nine specific harbingers (or warnings) that God gave Israel thousands of years ago, and has recently given to America in stunning parallel. We can't afford to miss it when God speaks to us.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear! Matthew 11:15 NKJV

A Wake-Up Call

This event happened live on 9/11/11 and served as a wake-up call for Israel and the church. It was hosted by Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of Billy Graham, and Joel Rosenberg, author and founder of the Joshua Fund. The link will be live for about 3 months, so jump over there and make sure to watch it. If you miss it, the video will be available for purchase on DVD or audio CD.

Check it out here:

http://mediasuite.316networks.com/player.php?p=i0yi846u

Know God, Part Seven: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

As I was praying, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came swiftly to me at the time of the evening sacrifice. He explained to me, "Daniel, I have come here to give you insight and understanding...

A period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish their rebellion, to put an end to their sin, to atone for their guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to confirm the prophetic vision, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. 

Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler --the Anointed One --comes... After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing, and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple. The end will come with a flood, and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end. The ruler will make a treaty with the people for a period of one set of seven..." Daniel 9:21-22,24-27

These "sets of seven" can be interpreted as 7-year periods. The seven sets plus sixty-two sets would give you a total of 69 sets, or a total of 483 years. Gabriel tells Daniel that this is the amount of time that will pass from the command to rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One comes. And this is exactly how much time passed between these two events. In 444 B.C., Artaxerxes gave the decree for the Jews to "restore and rebuild Jerusalem" (Dan 9:25, Neh 2:5-8). Then, 483 years later, in 33 A.D., Jesus Christ was crucified, "appearing to have accomplished nothing" as Daniel 9:26 puts it, and then rose from the dead.

But what happened to the 70th set of seven? There is a break in the timeline given in this scripture. Throughout the Bible, when prophecies are given, they almost always have both an immediate application and a future application. Often times, a prophet will speak of the events that are coming soon, and then fast forward to the time of the day of the Lord. This is exactly what happens here. As Gabriel is explaining to Daniel about the command that is about to be given and the time that will pass until their savior comes, he then jumps forward to the end times. The timeline breaks after Christ's death and resurrection, and the church age is inserted. When the church age comes to an end, or the "fullness of the Gentiles" as we discussed in the last post, the timeline will continue and the seventieth set of seven will be fulfilled. This last set of seven is the seven years of the tribulation. And during this time, God will supernaturally preserve and protect Israel, a covenant that will be visible to all after one prophesied event in particular takes place: the war of Gog and Magog. Let's take a look at the detailed account of this future event from Ezekiel 38.

Give him this message from the Sovereign Lord: Gog, I am your enemy! I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws to lead you out with your whole army... Persia, Ethiopia, and Lybia will join you, too, with all their weapons. Gomer and all its armies will also join you, along with the armies of Beth-togarmah from the distant north, and many others. Ezek. 38:3-6

Notice God says that he will "put hooks in [their] jaws to lead [them] out." It is important to remember that, as always, God is in control. He sets up rulers and tears them down. Just as Christ seemed helpless and hopeless in his death, Israel will appear to be overcome by her enemies and facing certain annihilation. But just as Christ's death was prophesied and necessary, resulting in his resurrection and ultimate salvation of the world, this blow against Israel will only appear to be devastating and hopeless; God is going to dumbfound the world through this incredible plan of redemption for his people.

Get ready; be prepared! Keep all the armies around you mobilized, and take command of them. A long time from now you will be called into action. In the distant future you will swoop down on the land of Israel, which will be enjoying peace after recovering from war and after its people have returned from many lands to the mountains of Israel. You and all your allies --a vast and awesome army --will roll down on them like a storm and cover the land like a cloud. Ezek. 38:7-9

There are some key points from these verses as well as from Daniel that help create a setting for this event to take place: "The ruler will make a treaty with the people for one set of seven." Dan. 9:27 The antichrist is going to set up a peace treaty with Israel, but this will only be the calm before the storm. Israel "will be enjoying peace after recovering from war and after its people have returned from many lands." The wars that Israel has been experiencing and the stirrings that are happening in the middle east are the precursor to this time of "peace" that is about to come.

You will say, 'Israel is an unprotected land filled with unwalled villages! I will march against her and destroy these people who live in such confidence! I will go to those formerly desolate cities that are now filled with people who have returned from exile in many nations. I will capture vast amounts of plunder, for the people are rich with livestock and other possessions now. They think the world revolves around them!' Ezek. 38:11-12

Never before in history has this description of Israel been accurate. The Israel described here is lush, plentiful, full of its own people, and has the eyes of the world focused intently upon it. For the first time in the history of the world, this picture of what Israel will look like before its attack is fully tangible.

So, who's involved in all of this? Bible scholars generally agree that the regions described in these verses are modern day Russia and Iran as well as many of the surrounding countries. The Bible predicts a Russion-Iranian alliance that will come against Israel. Such an alliance would not have been conceivable until recent years. The scriptures indicate that many of the surrounding countries will join in on the attack. Israel will be completely alone. No one will come to her rescue. What about the United States? The Bible doesn't make mention of any other nation, near or far, coming to her aid. Will the U.S. be powerless to help? Will they be able to help but unwilling for political reasons? There's no way of knowing why this country won't step in, but we can be absolutely certain that it won't.

But the events that will ensue will be a wake-up call to Israel and to the world that these are his chosen people, and he will not stand by and watch their destruction:

But this is what the Sovereign Lord says: When Gog invades the land of Israel, my fury will boil over! In my jealousy and blazing anger, I promise a mighty shaking in the land of Israel on that day. All living things --the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the animals of the field, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the people on earth --will quake in terror at my presence. Mountains will be thrown down; cliffs will crumble; walls will fall to the earth. I will summon the sword against you on all the hills of Israel, says the Sovereign Lord. Your men will turn their swords against each other. I will punish you and your armies with disease and bloodshed; I will send torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and burning sulfur! Ezek. 38:17-22

An attack is going to come against Israel, and God is going to supernaturally intervene in a way unlike anything this world has seen since the days of the prophets. There will be no mistaking the hand behind the actions. I encourage you to read all of chapter 38 and also chapter 39 to get a full picture of the brutal destruction that is going to take place. Read and understand that the Lord is going to stand up for his people, and know that he is just as eager and willing to fight for you if you love him and obey his commands.

In this way, I will show my greatness and holiness, and I will make myself known to all the nations of the world. Then they will know that I am the Lord. Ezek. 38:23

This verse right here embodies the very reason for the attack, the reason for God's thwarting of it, the reason for every other event that will follow, and the reason why it is vital to study and proclaim these prophecies: to demonstrate God's greatness and holiness, and to make Him known, so that the whole world might know that he is God. And that is my hope in sharing these scriptures with you. It is my prayer that if you are reading this and you do not know the Lord, that you would make a decision now, so that you might avoid the events that are coming. It is my prayer that this blog and others like it would be an available resource for those who reject Christ now and are left behind to face these tribulations, that when they see these events begin to take place, they would remember these warnings and know the purpose of the events happening around them. And it is my prayer that if you are reading this and you do know the Lord, that you would be faithful to share this information with the people in your life, so that no one is left uninformed of the very real consequences that await them should they remain stubborn in their rejection of Jesus Christ as Lord of their life.

It is also my hope and prayer that in learning specifically about this one event, we would remember that the God we serve is not a "Christian" God as we like to think of him. He is the God of the Jews. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The messiah that came is the one that was promised to the Jews. The fact that they failed to recognize him does not diminish or change the fact that he is their God. As believers in Christ, we have been merely grafted into the family.

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes --the Jew first and also the Gentile. Rom. 1:16

We cannot forsake the fact that our God has made some radical promises to the Jewish people and he intends to fulfill them in his perfect time. This is a god who keeps his promises. And this is a god who is violently jealous for his people, the people of Israel. We would do well to not stand against that. This is something to take into consideration as we take part in politics and even economics. Do our actions, our prayers, our words and thoughts stand in biblical unison with the view that God holds for the Jewish people, or do they oppose it? Are we more concerned with being politically correct than biblically correct? And do we consider silence on the matter a valid response? If we are not for him, we are against him. There is no middle ground. A bystander who observes a bully tormenting a victim and does nothing to stop it is just as guilty as the bully himself. We must pray for Israel. And we must bless her in real and tangible ways.

I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. Genesis 12:3

*Previous posts in this series can be found here.