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Israel & Christians Today
Biblical understanding about Israel
Rev. Dr. Canon James Wong – What Israel means to me
By Henk Kamsteeg
“One night in early January 1973, I was in prayer before I went to sleep. As I was praying, I sensed the Lord was going to touch me in a special way. I went to the study room and waited upon the Lord. The presence of the Lord came upon me and I found myself beginning to praise and worship Him in an unknown tongue. It was a very definite and real encounter with the Lord as I found myself initiated into this experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit. I did not seek the gift of tongue. I was seeking strength and power from the Lord for my ministry as a new pastor. Yet the Lord Jesus Christ baptized me with His Spirit, filled me with His power and gave me the boldness to overcome my fears and to serve Him faithfully.”
HK: That was the beginning of James Wong’s journey of faith, and it sparked a tremendous Spiritual Renewal in Singapore, resulting in church growth, evangelism, church-planting and marketplace ministries over the last 25 years.
James Wong (JW): I believe Singapore has been prophesied to be the Antioch of Asia. Over the last 20 to 30 years, there has been a spiritual renewal in Singapore churches and there is a close correlation between economic/political stability and spiritual growth of churches. I see the prosperity of the nation as a sign of divine favor of God’s blessing upon the nation. When the nation is righteous and blessed, God’s blessing and favor will rest upon the people because righteousness will exalt a nation and I believe Singapore has been experiencing this for we have a righteous, hardworking and stable government. There is a freedom to preach the gospel, freedom to worship God and freedom to proclaim and advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
But with the blessings of God, we also have responsibilities. To whom much is given much more is also required. God blesses us; we are to be a blessing to the nations. So Singapore is increasingly active in missionary work, in raising support for mission organizations, and in sending more missionaries from the church of Singapore to all parts of the world.
HK: It is wonderful the Lord is blessing the churches so that it can fulfill the mandate to advance the Gospel and transform Singapore for Jesus Christ. However, can it be that for a real transformation of Singapore and other countries in South East Asia a point on God’s agenda is the relationship between the Church and Israel?
JW: To be very honest, the church in Singapore is still by and large very ignorant about Israel. There is no real awareness what God is doing there. I believe this needs some kind of correction. If the church is going to be strong and favored by God then our understanding of Israel has to be increased and changed remarkably.
I believe there are 3 things we have to do:
1) Encourage and facilitate more Pastors to visit Israel at least once in their lifetime, so they will have a deeper appreciation for Israel and gain understanding of what God is doing in Israel in the light of the Scriptures.
2) Theological Seminaries and Bible Colleges, which train future pastors, need to include in their curriculum a course on the subject on Israel and the nations, and God’s plan for Israel to be taught to these students who will become future pastors.
3) Increase the knowledge of Israel by spreading DVDs and books. And Christians for Israel International can raise up a fund whereby we can buy these books to give to these churches. There are about 500 churches in Singapore so if we can give these resources to the church it will be a blessing to them and help to overcome the ignorance and correct the situation.
HK: Can Singapore be seen as a friend of Israel? If so, what triggered this close relationship with the Jewish people?
JW: We have to go back some 40 years ago, when Singapore became independent from the British in 1965. One of the things that we had to do quickly was to build our defense force because prior to that Singapore depended on Britain for the Army. And so we were asking for friends in the western nations to help us build up our army. Unfortunately, none of these western allies responded to our request. To our great surprise however, Israel, the Jewish nation, responded to our request and were able to send us their military personnel to help to train our local Singapore army.
From that moment on, Singapore is very grateful to Israel and when several years ago the President of Israel wanted to pay a visit to South East Asia, some of our neighboring countries did not welcome him and that brought a lot of tension. In spite of that, Singapore took a bold step to welcome him. We are a sovereign nation and we dared to openly identify ourselves with Israel. So, Singapore has a close friendship with Israel and we want to continue to be a blessing to Israel at all times.
The churches are the first group of people that organize trips to Israel. Over the last 30 years, thousands of Singapore Christians visited Israel and have come to appreciate the nation of Israel as a sovereign country and its right to exist
Unfortunately, Singapore being a secular society, it has no religious preferences. All religions are welcome in Singapore. There used to be a big Jewish community in Singapore and so Judaism was viewed as one of the religions. I believe in the Inter-Religious Organization, which is recognized by our Government. The Jewish Rabbi is always invited to participate in its activities. So the society in Singapore view the Jewish people as a blessing to the world in some way and we want to welcome the Jewish people and invite them to participate in the religious harmony and share with our people about their community.
HK: Christians for Israel International has helped about 95,000 Jewish people from the former Soviet Union to go back to Israel. Isn’t that really strange? Israel doesn’t seem to be a safe place to live?
JW: Yes, from the political point of view, Israel is always under threat. There is not much peace there. But from God’s point of view it is prophesied in Scripture, both in the Old and New Testament. The New Testament particularly, in Romans ch. 9-11, where it says that Israel will be restored and will return to God. So the Jews returning to the Promised Land is initiated by the Holy Spirit and organized not by man but by God himself. The Bible says especially in the book of Ezekiel that God will bring HIS covenant people from the north, south, east and west. And it is in our present time, right before our own eyes, that we see His promises and prophecies being fulfilled. Many Jews from Russia are returning to Israel, also from Ethiopia, even from China and Europe, from Australia, New Zealand from the south, and from North and South America. So we are seeing all these migrations going back as a fulfillment of prophecies.
HK: What is the significance of Jerusalem to Jews, Christians and Muslims? Should it be divided to bring peace with the Palestinians?
JW: I believe Jerusalem is a very sacred city and God has a special purpose for Israel and Jerusalem right from the beginning of time. The 3 great monotheistic religions are Islam, Judaism and Christianity. And it is in Jerusalem where Christianity is birthed forth on the day of Pentecost when 3000 were added to the church through the preaching of the Apostle Peter. Ever since then, the Gospel has reached out from Jerusalem. It is out of this Jerusalem that Christianity was founded.
Of course the Jews in the Old Testament times have claimed Jerusalem as a special city of David. God’s special plan for Israel is linked up with the fate of Jerusalem. It was in Jerusalem that the 1st and 2nd Temple were being constructed and it was in this Temple that the people came to worship the Living God and hear the Word of God.
I believe that Jerusalem is still a sacred place, not only to the Jews and Christians, but also to the Muslims. So our prayer is that the Jews, Christians and Muslims live in harmony and peace with one another. And no one race should claim prerogative rights. Jerusalem should be an open city of God, for God loves all people regardless their nationality, race or even their religion.
Jerusalem is a place of peace, where the presence of God and the favor of God and the grace of God is wonderfully poured out on all the peoples that go up to Jerusalem. And I believe it should not be divided. It should be open to all nations of the world to come and worship God and find peace and grace with the Lord Jesus Christ.
HK: Should Christians keep the Sabbath instead of the Sunday? And what about celebrating the Jewish Feasts?
JW: Let me answer the first question. First, I suppose the Sabbath means Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. Of course the Seventh Day Adventist will keep that as a legalistic requirement under the old covenant law, but we are not under the old covenant. We are set free from the keeping of the Jewish law.
So originally the intention of Sabbath day was a day of rest whereby we cease from our ordinary work and devote that day unto the Lord to worship and enjoy God and have family time together.
We cannot be too legalistic on the timing of the Sabbath. Suppose you find yourself in an Arab country where Friday is the rest day, so as Christians living in the Arab country, you may have to keep the Sabbath as Friday. On the other hand, should you be living in Israel, the Sabbath day is Saturday where all society comes to a standstill. So we have to observe the Sabbath day as Saturday in Israel.
Then in other free democratic counties, Sunday is regarded as a rest day. We call it not the Sabbath day but the Lord’s Day, whereby our purpose is to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ as the 1st day of the week. The 1st day is not Monday but Sunday. Just as we ask Christians to give the tithe as the first fruit to the Lord, so likewise we ask Christians to keep aside Sunday as a day of rest to devote the time to the Lord for worship and fellowship and to read the Bible.
Therefore Christians are not bound to keep legalistically just one day of the week or a Saturday as our Sabbath, but any day according to your customs, according to the culture of your country and the legal requirement of the society they live in.
The second question is “Should Christians celebrate the Jewish feast?” The answer is according to your faith. Whatever we do it, we do it unto the Lord. Not for legalistic reasons, but by grace we can worship God. Not only the Jewish feasts but also all the other festivals like Easter, Pentecost Sunday, Ascension Day and Christmas whereby we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. So we set aside the time and season whereby we give thanks to God for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And all these celebrations, including the Jewish feasts like Passover, Tabernacle and other festivals are unto the Lord. And the Bible tells us that everyday is holy unto the Lord.
HK: Jesus spoke to His disciples about the signs of the end of the age. How do you view recent events in our modern world in light of Jesus prophecy?
JW: In 1948, Israel as a nation was re-gathered together and became a modern state. This is very significant. I believe that this was the turning point, not only for Israel but also for the world. Why? Because in that period from 1948–1950, God has wonderfully raised up many outstanding Christian Evangelists like Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, Demos Shakarian and even an organization like the Full Gospel Businessman Fellowship. Also many of the healing evangelists were raised up in that period – to be a sign of the coming of Jesus Christ, because it was prophesied in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 24: “ This gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached and witnessed to all the nations of the world and then the end will come.”
You can see that there is a correlation between the rise of the modern missionary and evangelistic movements in the world over that period of time and the formation of Israel as a nation. It is not a coincidence. So Israel and the worldwide evangelization is a sign of the soon coming of Jesus Christ. There is a movement whereby the whole gospel is to be preached to every unreached people’s group. This is increasingly gathering momentum all over the world and we rejoice in this fact.
Of course there are other signs, like nations rising up against nations. Violence like terrorism is seen all over the world. Just as ‘good’ will prevail, ‘evil’ will also be multiplied.
We see in the natural world earthquakes, floods, droughts and disasters as well as terrorism, wars, conflicts and worldwide accidents, pestilence, and the plagues that we see surrounding us such as H1N1, Evian Flu, bird flu, and HIV. All these are signs that we are moving towards the end times.
Another sign is the increase in knowledge. The world through Technology has rapidly evolved in a very fast pace. It is almost impossible to keep up with the growth and explosion of knowledge in so many realms in the political, military, in the scientific, educational and medical world. All these add to the increase of the knowledge that these are signs of the coming of Jesus very soon.
My plea to Christians is to be aware that we are living in the end times. Let us be ready for the return of Jesus Christ and not be complacent how we live our Christian life and witness for Him. Let us be the ‘salt and the light’ in the world.
(Rev Canon Dr James Wong has been in active Christian service for 50 years. He has served on the board of many Christian organizations which include the Scripture Union, Graduates Christian Fellowship,
the National Council of Churches, the Evangelical Fellowship of Singapore and the Lausanne
Committee on World Evangelization. He is also the Founder-President of the annual Festival of
Praise since 1986. He has planted several churches both in Singapore and Indonesia. Currently
he serves as the Honorary National Director for Crown Financial Ministries and the Crusade for
World Revival which was founded by the late Selwyn Hughes)