We thank and praise the Lord very much for this: all of our children feel/know that Israel is their home, which we do not at all take for granted, and know others who have not experienced that with some or all of their children. I did tell them growing up that I did not believe that God had brought me home [on earth] to Israel just for our children to leave. We certainly could not “make them” also believe that for themselves, so the grace and mercies of the Lord have done this good thing for us, and, I believe, for the Body of Messiah in Israel. There are others’ children who have left and remained abroad, serving the Lord there, and for that, they, too, are very thankful. The Lord also sends out, even as He is calling many to return home to this vineyard in His field. There is much to do here towards influencing and impacting the society, and to build up the church in this country, and in this part of the world — the focal point of all history. The center of gravity, so to speak, is here in the land of so much conflict ever since He brought the children of Israel out of Egypt in order to bring them into the land of Canaan, which He promised to give, with an oath, to His chosen people for His purpose and glory. The battle is raging in our generation! Though victory be snatched out of what may seem certain defeat, that great day of deliverance and victory will surely come!
Life over here is stressful at many levels. For Israelis — especially the Zionists among them (not all are) — without faith in the historic heritage associated with the long struggle with God and with man to be overcome — every tragedy would become only a matter of personal concern: bring my son, daughter, husband, father, brother, etc home now, whatever the price.
Those who understand that this is an historic battle towards a final redemption — however difficult to define or explain — for a people and a land, they are ones who are able to bear the loss of their own loved ones as part of the sacrifice to be rendered towards that goal. They understand that they are part of something much bigger than one generation. Don’t most countries speak of sacrifices of their soldiers who give their lives for the nation and country, and for police and fire-fighters who risk their lives to protect mostly people they do not even know? But it is a sacrifice towards what they hope will be a better life for their families and nation, not towards self-destruction.
YHVH God has given His people the blessed hope of the resurrection of the righteous, so that the victory will not be limited to a particular generation, but to all who have lived in the hope of that promise. (Heb 11:17-19; Dan 12:1-3; Acts 26:4-8; Phlp 3:1-17) For those who know the truth of the gospel, which includes that the Lord Jesus Christ/Yeshua the Messiah rose from the dead, and is coming again to raise all those who are His, we, too, must see current events in light of the end and purpose of the Living God, and not just as tragedies or losses that make no sense — even though we may not be able to make sense of so much evil at the personal level of any individual. Our hope is in the LORD, and in His eternal plan and purpose, not in our own personal lives and plans and suffering. Without living faith and hope and love in what is beyond our temporal experience, we will weaken in the good fight of faith until the end. Hearts are being tested. God has promised to help us overcome, and the Holy Spirit is in born-again believers to enable us to be more than conquerors in Him who loves us.
While I know that much has already been written about Charlie Kirk and his awful assassination, his “sacrifice” has also provoked in me some thoughts, some of which have already been expressed in what I have written above. Yesterday at our congregational outing, there was prayer for Charlie’s wife and children, and that the impact he has already been making on especially younger people would even expand and strengthen. I had not realized how many of the Israeli younger generation he had been reaching and gaining an audience with, even among the believers. As the Lord taught, “a grain of wheat must be buried and die in order to bring forth much fruit”. Charlie was only 31 years old. Keith Green was even younger at 28 when he was killed in a plane crash that did not have to happen. As his wife said back then: the Lord knew who was on that plane. Both of these young believers were making huge inroads into the society, each in their God-given call and way, with the gifts He bestowed to them.
We have to see the “big picture” and Kingdom of God aspect; otherwise we will overly focus on the fact that his wife and two young children “won’t celebrate Christmas” with their beloved husband and father; and he was also a beloved son to his parents; etc. These personal tragedies are happening all the time everywhere, just not in such a dramatic and viewed-by-everybody way. We grieve, but not as the world grieves — because we are part of something much bigger than just a life that is but a vapor! Yeshua died at the young age of 33 1/2, according to YHVH God’s plan of redemption determined from before the Creation. Yeshua was “cut off from His generation in the land of the living”. (Is 53:8) I am speaking to myself, too, in case sudden, unexpected bad news or tragedy hits close to home, so that emotions will be genuine, but not overtake the sovereignty and greatness of our wonderful God and Savior.
America’s motto is “out of many, one”; In God’s judgment of humanity’s sin at the Tower of Babel, He confused and separated “out of one, many”: God confused the communications between people through the judgment of many languages from the one spoken in the Garden of Eden; and further strengthened the confusion and disconnect by separating the one land into the seven continents not too long afterwards. Babel/Babylon thus means confusion; some say that it means “gate”. If it does [also] mean gate, then it opens up allowing all manner of confusion to enter in!
For pluralism to work it requires an agreed upon consensus of a spiritual foundation, upon which a family or a nation can build with a unity of acceptable laws and means to achieve/reach an acceptable end; those who undermine that either need to at least be hindered, if not actually removed, or else they will gain more strength to destroy the house/family/nation. A house divided can not stand. Only the Kingdom of YHVH God can forever accomplish a unified people in His righteousness, everyone loving Him and each other, causing no one any harm or fear. A kingdom of sinners will both destroy itself, and be destroyed. This is what the USA is doing, and what natural Israel is, too. The foundations are breaking up, and the righteous cannot repair it fast enough. If not for the faithful and holy YHVH God, we would all be as Sodom and Gomorrah. The Messiah prophetically warned us that before His return the whole world — not just a small town near what is now the Dead Sea — would be as in the days of Noah, and also as Sodom. These scenarios are brazenly expressing themselves in every aspect of life without shame or fear. The Apostle Peter wrote, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that Lot was a righteous man in such an ungodly city (if the Word of God didn’t say so, I might rely on my doubts about that from reading only in Genesis). God says that Noah found favor with Him in his evil and unrepentant generation. The eyes of the LORD are looking for us to be likewise, even moreso, since we have the life and teachings and commandments of the Son of God for our example; we have the whole counsel of God written for us, which they did not, but are given as examples for us; and, the Holy Spirit dwells within those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life in Heaven.
Where would we be without Yeshua/Jesus?! Even so, come, Lord!
