Tag Archive for: prophetic

Why are the Gentiles aligning with Israel?

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Thus says the LORD of Hosts: “In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Yehudi, saying, ‘We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'” [Zec 8:23 HNV]

This prophecy clearly foretells the coming of a day when the goyim, the people of the world, the non-Jews will experience a spiritual awakening which will compel them to do something very interesting; they will align themselves spiritually with the children of Israel.

This spiritual realignment will inevitably spill over into the political and geopolitical arena as more and more nations will choose life over death. The current developments in the Middle East and the way President Donald Trump’s administration has brokered peace between Israel and some of their formerly staunch enemies, is an astounding miracle of Biblical proportions.

In addition, more and more believers who have grown up in traditional Christian churches, are now experiencing a longing to return to the Hebraic origins of the our faith.

Could the movement to form alliances with Israel and to return to the Hebraic foundation of the faith be part of the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy?

1. Prophesying the big picture

Zechariah prophesied these words shortly after the time of the Babylonian exile as the Jews struggled to rebuild the temple and Jerusalem. The Lord spoke through him to the Jews of the day and he spoke to them about a day when the goyim (traditionally translated “Gentiles”), will come to the Jews and form an alliance with them.

This was obviously a huge promise. A small community of around 50,000 had returned to Eretz Israel (the Land of Israel). It’s estimated that 500,000 stayed behind in Babylon. Why did they stay behind? Because they prospered there and didn’t want to go back to Eretz Israel only to be confronted with hostilities. However, the Jews in Babylon became an important resource for the “Palestinian Jews” as most scholars would refer to those who went back to Eretz Israel. “Palestine” is a derivative of “Philistine” – derogatory name given to Eretz Israel by the enemies of Israel and referring to the Philistines, Israel’s arch-enemies.

Casting a great vision for the remnant of Jews who went back to Eretz Israel was very much in line with how God spoke to Abraham from the very beginning. This was entirely a prophetic act since this was not a time when Jews were held in high esteem by the surrounding nations. Jerusalem had no drawing power for the world. “In the natural”, as we like to say, there wasn’t much to look forward to – except the promises of God!

2. Who or what moved the Gentiles to align themselves with the Jews?

It’s interesting that the promise God gave the children of Israel through the prophet Zechariah was about the restoration of Israel but it also included the Gentiles (the goyim). What was good for the Jews was also going to be good for the goyim. 

The first thing that God intends to make happen is to restore the Truth to Jerusalem (Yerushalayim). Next, He promises He will not only bless Israel, but they will also become a blessing. This is also consistent with the promise made to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 that in Abraham the world will be blessed.

Thus says the LORD: “I have returned to Tziyon, and will dwell in the midst of Yerushalayim. Yerushalayim shall be called ‘The City of Truth;’ and the mountain of the LORD of Hosts, ‘The Holy Mountain.'” [Zec 8:3 HNV]

and I will bring them, and they will dwell in the midst of Yerushalayim; and they will be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.” [Zec 8:8 HNV]

“For the seed of shalom and the vine will yield its fruit, and the ground will give its increase, and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things. [Zec 8:12 HNV]

It shall come to pass that, as you were a curse among the nations, house of Yehudah and house of Yisra’el, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Don’t be afraid. Let your hands be strong.” [Zec 8:13 HNV]

Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the LORD of Hosts in Yerushalayim, and to entreat the favor of the LORD.” [Zec 8:22 HNV]

Clearly, the goyim are coming to seek the Lord in Yerushalayim and to entreat his favor.

It only makes sense; if you are serious about seeking the Lord you will end up in Yerushalayim. You will end up realizing the great love the Lord has for his covenant people and the blessing you will experience by aligning yourself with them. 

“To entreat the favor of the Lord” speaks of humbling oneself and seeking to be blessed by the Creator rather than being arrogant and thinking of ways to make yourself prosperous on your own. Gentiles who align themselves with Israel can be confident about seeking the blessing and favor of God without any reservations. When you sincerely honor the God of Abraham and the children of Abraham, you will have no greater friend! Great alliances are forged when the Jews are rightfully honored for who they are in God’s plan -the people who gave us the Torah, who kept the faith for thousands of years. And for those of us who believe in Yeshua, they also gave us the Messiah (even if most Jews don’t accept Yeshua as the promised HaMashiach).

This is why it’s so important to expose false Jew-hating teachings and theology. This should be obvious but millions of people are still fed demonic teachings making out the Jews to be somehow enemies of God and Christians. This is a lie from the pit of hell. You can’t sow hatred towards the Jews, persecute and murder them, and expect to serve God at the same time. This is insane. 

Many Christians have been seriously affected by Jew-hatred and the deception of the replacement theology. Until people come to grips with the fact this theology isn’t based on God’s Truth as revealed in the entire Bible, and turn away from it, they will remain stuck in deception. Such people will have a very hard time on the Day of the Lord.

3. Ten will seek one

Thus says the LORD of Hosts: “In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Yehudi, saying, ‘We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'” [Zec 8:23 HNV]

This language is an exaggerated prophetic-poetic form very characteristic of the way the prophets expressed what God showed them. It means that even though the Jews are small in number, they will lead the majority. Notice, no one is forcing the majority of goyim to do anything. Their spiritual eyes have been opened. As a result, a change of heart has taken place in them. They aren’t ashamed to seek the God of the Jews in Yerushalayim. They aren’t ashamed to align themselves with the Jews and to seek the favor of their God. They are reaching out and grabbing the hem of the garment of a Jew. Something happens when we reach by faith and connect with the children of Abraham. For those of us who will never be Jews by blood, the next best thing is to align ourselves correctly with those whom God considers beloved fo the sake of the fathers – Avraham, Itzhak and Yaakov. Thus, the will of God is fulfilled and He is pleased. His people have fulfilled their calling – they have given His Truth, His Light to a dark and lost world. We, the Goyim have humbled ourselves and have received it.

The turning of the hearts of the goyim toward Israel and the Jews will be an astounding sign for the Jews that God is fulfilling his promise. It will move them to return to Him and to experience their own revival.

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Is America lost because Truth has been lost?

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Let’s take a look at something the prophet Isaiah said and then we’ll look at something the apostle Paul said.

The Prophet Yeshayahu, aka Isaiah, lived and spoke the word of the Lord during a very tumultuous time in the history of Israel and Judah. Syria attacked Israel and Judah four different times during his lifetime. It was ups and downs with godly kings following ungodly ones.

The way Israel related to God’s Truth reflected directly on how things turned out with them as a nation.

And justice has turned away backward, and righteousness stands from afar, for truth has stumbled in the street, and straightforwardness cannot come. And truth is lacking, and he who turns away from evil is considered mad, and the Lord saw and was displeased for there is no justice. [The Book of Yeshayahu – Isaiah Ch. 59:14-15]

In one of the dark moments of Israel’s history at that time, when all seemed lost, Isaiah identified something very significant: “Truth is lacking and he who turns away from evil is considered mad…”

What an incredible prophetic statement! Seems to be so relevant to the way things look today in America. The notion of “Truth” is frowned upon in the public square. People who choose to live humble and chaste lives are considered “nuts”.

Now let’s get some perspective here. To speak about “truth” in the 7th century BC is something remarkable. Folks, that’s 200+ years before what historians call the classical Socratic period! If you read Socrates and you read what the Hebrew prophets wrote about two hundred of years before him (not to mention Moses over 1,000 years earlier) you can only then begin to understand the supremacy of the Torah and the Prophets.

Looking at it from today’s perspective Western Civilization is rooted much more on Moses than any Greek philosophical tradition. Greek literary thought pales when compared to what Moses and the Prophets brought forth spiritually, intellectually and ethically.

Most people today have never taken the time to understand just what kind of light were the Torah and the Jewish people to mankind – for centuries. The world would truly be a lost, dark, paganistic hell on earth without the light of the Torah. Mel Gibson provided an artistic glimpse into the world of idolatry and paganism in his movie Apocalypto. This clip gives you an idea of what I’m trying to convey here.

But now the prophet is speaking not just of the Torah. He is speaking of The Truth, the very synthesis of God’s revealed knowledge – something worth living or dying for!

When we transition from simply revering Scripture to a place of accepting Scripture as a vessel for God’s Truth, it can be said that we have become “believers”.

A few days ago I was given a research by the American Bible Society that has to do specifically with Minneapolis. The bad news is that 70% of adults in Minneapolis are “disengaged” (67%) or “neutral” (3%). Only 10% have a “friendly” relationship with the Bible, 14% are engaged and 5% are “centered”. Centered would be people for whom it is a priority to live out the values and truths they discover in Scripture. The good news is that this 70 % do want to know more about the Bible. [Or at least this is what they told the pollsters].

These stats are probably not much different on a national scale even though I’m sure they vary from city to city and from state to state.

Given the low percentage of people who apply the Truth of Scripture as a guiding and deciding factor in their lives, is it any wonder America is in moral and spiritual trouble?

I will resist and expose the advancement of Islam, Neo-Marxism and whatever other false ideologies, philosophies, and religions try to creep in. But that’s only one side of the coin. Until the majority of Americans turns away from their “disengaged and neutral” attitude towards God’s Truth to one of reverence and engagement, only resisting the false will not get the job done. We will fall as a nation within a generation. The main reason won’t be that these spiritual, cultural and political enemies have been so powerful, it will be because the people of this nation would have chosen not to acknowledge the Creator and His Truth.

It’s a known fact that the more devoted the Jews become to the Torah, the more conservative, pro-Israel and pro-Liberty centric they become. When the Jews abandon their heritage and the Torah they become liberal and succumb to the same self-destructive mindsets as the American Left.

The same is true for Christians. The more liberal a denomination becomes, the more accepting of various perversions the people become, the more anti-Israel and pro-socialism they become.

Here’s a New Testament verse from the apostle Paul’s epistle to his spiritual son apostle Timothy (mistakenly considered a “pastor” and the epistles referred to as “the pastoral letters” of Paul. Timothy was the overseer of a huge metropolitan-wide network of family-based communities in Ephesus, not the “pastor” of a “local church” the way we think of it today.)

“…but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.” 1 Timothy 3:15

The word church here is the word “ekklesia” which for hundreds of years was used in a specific civic scenario – to describe the governing council of the polis, the city. When Yeshua (aka Jesus) spoke about “the church”, he taught that this “church”, this ekklesia that he was going to be a Head of, will be like the governing council in the city. Those who were one with him would walk in love towards each other and would win the trust of the city by virtue of their honorable and godly lives.

Having forsaken the true teachings of the Messiah whom we call “Christ”, the Western world invented a new religion, Christianity. It is time to get back to the roots and the essence of the Truth of Scripture: the teachings of Moses, the prophets, Yeshua, and his apostles.

This is where I see the only hope for America’s spiritual and civilizational renewal and victory over the false “gods”, religions, and ideologies of the world.

George @reformist