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Once Upon A Time in Beer Sheva

Call it what you will – Be’er Sheva, Beersheva, Beersheba, Birüsseb, or Bir Seb’a – it is the “Capital of the Negev.”

Beersheva is the largest city in the Negev desert, the center of the fourth most populous metropolitan area in Israel and the eighth most populous Israeli city, boasting a world-class university, hospital and cyber research center of international repute.

You can read the full and interesting article here about the early years of the city during the formation of the modern State of Israel:
https://www.israel21c.org/once-upon-a-time-in-beersheva/

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Towards Unity of the Spirit in The Bond of Peace

I returned home on Friday night from one week in Kenya. I was invited to be part of a small team for a diplomatic mission, speaking with senior church leaders about reconciliation of Gentile Christians — and church “positions” — with Jewish believers in Jesus/Yeshua, with a conference being planned in two years. For my part, my Jewish identity is not conflicted with my faith in Jesus and being also identified as a Christian, along with other believers and followers of the Messiah. But this is also something that might not necessarily have been so just a couple of hundred years ago, and even lingering until today in many quarters. Continue reading “Towards Unity of the Spirit in The Bond of Peace”

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Beer Sheva: A Key to Breakthrough to Jerusalem

(Spoken at a ‘Tribe of Judah’ joint service in Beer Sheva on Jan 12, 2019)

Beer Sheva and the rest of the Negev have a key role in God’s plan of redemption and salvation of His people Israel, and of all the Gentiles who are called by His name. We are also part of His plan and history, most of us being immigrants from somewhere who have returned home on Earth in these last days, according to YHVH’s promise.

“Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness, seekers of the LORD: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him.”

‘For the LORD will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her desert like Eden and her wilderness like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the sound of melody.’ (Isaiah 51:1-3)

Beer Sheva has a history of nearly 4000 years: the City of the Patriarchs of the Israeli people; the city named by Abraham, the father to the Jews, to the Christian believers, to the Arabs. Beer Sheva’s future is full of hope because she has deep roots in the past Messianic promises of the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob – the God of Israel. Believers in Jesus from all nations confess their own faith in the God of Israel’s fathers, who all lived in Beer Sheva.  Continue reading “Beer Sheva: A Key to Breakthrough to Jerusalem”

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Face of Jesus Uncovered at Shivta?

Archaeologists continue to find startling finds in Israel’s Negev Desert.  The latest is one in which they believe the face of Jesus is depicted.  The Shivta site is in the western Negev, not far from the Egyptian Sinai border.  Shivta is a Byzantine Christian site dating back to the early centuries AD.

What is particularly interesting in this depiction is that Yeshua has short hair and more of a Jewish Middle-Eastern appearance.  The later church renderings depict Him more as less Jewish looking, and more like a Nazarite, with long hair (and no drinking of wine).

https://www.timesofisrael.com/jesus-image-hidden-in-plain-sight-at-negev-church-is-one-of-earliest-in-israel/

Evidence of Jewish people’s history and presence in the land of Israel — and of Christian faith — is everywhere to be found throughout the State!  Come and see.

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New Moon of 7th Month: God Remembers His Covenant With Israel

(Collage by Connor Madison)

Ps 19:1  The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.
Num 29:1-6

The New Moon celebrations were given by YHVH to Israel to commemorate, both under the Law of Moses and also in the future Millennial Kingdom (Lev 23:24; Num 10:10; 28:11-15; Ezek 46:1-8).  The New Testament tells those who are now believers in Yeshua/Jesus not to make too much of days, months, seasons, years, festivals, New Moons, Sabbaths – all of these things being shadows of things to come, but the substance is Messiah. (Gal 4:9-11; Col 2:16-17)

The Lord has told us that all of the Scriptures are written about Him, and we know that all of the sacrifices and holidays/appointed times are also fulfilled by Jesus in the entirety of His first coming, and in the anticipation of His coming again to fulfill all that is written in the whole of the Bible, which still waits for the Kingdom of God to come.  God has given His set holy-day times to remember who He Is, what He has done, and what He will do.  Even the Lord’s Supper/Communion serves those purposes. (1 Cor 11:26; Mt 26:26-29) Continue reading “New Moon of 7th Month: God Remembers His Covenant With Israel”

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March of the Nations – 15 May 2018

Yesterday Randi and I were treated as special guests at the March of the Nations events in Jerusalem.  This year’s event was the first time that it had been held in Israel, and it was done so in honor of Israel’s 70th year celebrations, and especially in honor of — as are all of the Marches of the Nations around the world each year — Holocaust survivors and their families.  One of the victims spoke about surviving two death marches, but having participated in five Marches of Life.  His life after the horrors of WW2 and the Nazi death camps is a story of death and restoration:  22 members of his family, including two great-grandchildren, live in Israel today. Continue reading “March of the Nations – 15 May 2018”

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The State of The State of Israel: The Gospel and The Body of Messiah

(Originally written for Spanish-language Christian newspaper in Guatemala)

What is God doing in Israel? What is the spiritual state of the State of Israel as she celebrates 70 years as a sovereign nation among the nations of the world? Her successes in many fields far surpass the normal expectation of other nations. By the long list of numerous innovations and developments that Israel is known for, God is drawing attention to Himself through His miracle nation! (Is 11:11-12) But how do we assess the whole of Israel by the Word of God? There are many perspectives on Israel and many opinions by believers concerning the current spiritual situation here in the land. One thing is for sure: Israel as a nation is still resistant to the good news of Jesus (Yeshua) being the Messiah. Continue reading “The State of The State of Israel: The Gospel and The Body of Messiah”

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Whose Right of Determination? – 17 Apr 2018

Israel remembers tonight all her sons and daughters who have died in the numerous wars and terror attacks since her birth as a nation 70 years ago, according to the Hebrew calendar.  (The Western calendar Independence date is May 14/15.)   Every war and attack against Israel is an existential threat to her existence.  As the Apostle Paul wrote, “Through many tribulations we enter the Kingdom of God!” (Acts 14:22)   There is much suffering, even death, before entering into glory.

YHVH God of Israel called and destined His people to be separate from the Gentile nations, a holy people to Himself, and a priestly nation to the nations.  But in the days of Samuel the prophet, the Children of Israel asked for a king like the Gentiles have, to judge them and lead them in war.  God gave them what they asked for:  He gave them Saul to be their king.  (Shaul in Hebrew, which means, “asked for”.) Continue reading “Whose Right of Determination? – 17 Apr 2018”

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Israel’s New Year and Examining Yeshua as Passover Lamb

Israel’s Biblical New Year begins tomorrow, Mar 17, the first of Nisan.

Let’s look here at how Yeshua was fulfilling the Word of God, who gave a pattern for how the Jewish people were to keep the Passover.  In Exodus, YHVH told Israel that their year would begin in the Spring/Aviv, on the first of the lunar month of Aviv/Nisan, marked by the New Moon.  God told Israel that each family was to choose their lamb for the Passover, and it must be without any imperfections.  They were to choose their lamb on the 10th of that first month.  They were to examine it during the next four days, and, assuming that it was without blemish, to sacrifice it to YHVH on the 14th of the month, at the Full Moon. Continue reading “Israel’s New Year and Examining Yeshua as Passover Lamb”

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Mitzpe Ramon Like Mars? – 16 Feb 2018

There is an article in the Jewish News Syndicate which says that it is.
https://www.jns.org/israeli-scientists-simulate-mars-environment-at-secret-location-in-israels-negev/

Truly the whole world comes to Israel, and Israel is a microcosm of the world!  YHVH God’s chosen land to become His and His Israeli people’s inheritance — in that Day.  Not the land of Israel only, but the whole Earth and the whole of the Universe will be restored to the Kingdom of God, who created and made them!

In any case, meanwhile, Israel is working with others around the world in preparing for making a move to Mars some day.  Should anyone  wind up going to live on Mars, he will take his sin with him.  Thank God that He has a better idea to make life more habitable for a much longer time — even on this Earth!  Even so, come, Lord Jesus!