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Biblical understanding about Israel
Why Pray For Israel? >>
By Ken Burnett
Asking this very question today, the slightest change in the intonation of voice will bring with it a flood of widely differing responses.
For example, with the sincere but uninformed, the forehead might pucker, and the head be tilted, but the ear would listen: ‘Why pray for Israel?’
With the incredulous, the eyebrows could rise, the arms be flung back, and the mind could already be stacking up its own answers: `Why pray for Israel?'
Or, again, with the more firmly set, the lips might even curl, the temperature rise, and the face could redden! `Why pray for Israel?’ Land-snatchers! Aggressors! Murderers! The spark for a third World War!'
To all three attitudes, and any others, the author brings this arresting thought from Scripture: “The LORD has His way, In the whirlwind and in the storm, And clouds are the dust of His feet” (Nahum 1:3).
In other words, God's ways are not our ways; God's thoughts are not our thoughts. He is to be found in the most unlikely circumstances. ‘Why not pray for Israel?’
God's answer to the questions is in His placing before us yet another question. This question was raised and put to Queen Esther, the Monarch’s wife of that time, as she faced the threatened annihilation of the Jewish people: “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). To put it another way: ‘Haven’t you come to this very point in time – for this very purpose - to pray for this tiny but afflicted nation of Israel?’
The Time
The two timings are similar: Esther's influence with her King, Ahasuerus, at the time of Haman's intended destruction of the Jews; and the potential prayer power of the Christian and the Church, at this time of escalating hatred of Israel (Matthew 24:9).
Were this not the answer, we may well ask why – of all the books of the Bible – is the book of Esther preserved? There is no direct mention of God in it, but, instead, a synopsis of the fate of Haman and others who are found plotting the destruction of the Jewish people. The verse from Esther and its context indicate that our relationship with God at this time carries with it a specific responsibility related to the current threat (through Israel’s neighbours) to destroy Israel.
Queen Vashti, who had preceded Esther (each being a type of the Church), lost her position through disobedience, because she did not like the channels used to call her - the King's eunuchs and chamberlains (Esther 1: 10,12). Esther herself, an orphan and outcast, was eventually chosen by the king to replace the deposed Queen Vashti (There is a hidden prophetic warning to the Church within this passage – amplified in Romans 11:21,22).
Let us bear in mind at this point that, geographically, only one place is mentioned in the Bible for specific prayer - Jerusalem! Why?
Many Christians today are in total ignorance as to why God would choose such a place. Yet, as long ago as the time of Moses, some 26 veiled references to Jerusalem were made in the book of Deuteronomy (e.g. Deut 12:5). And Jerusalem’s history did not by any means end with the Crucifixion!
If there is any doubt that God has called us, the Christian Church, to such prayer, to such a position at this very hour, let us be reminded that His Holy Word is entrusted to us - not to politicians. Jeremiah's inspired exhortation: “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, And declare it in the coastlands afar off: He who scattered Israel will gather him” (Jer. 31:10) is for us, Bible-believing Christians, to hear and to vocalise. It is for us to proclaim, to pray over! God’s will, God’s strategy and God’s purposes are revealed to us through His Word. Even a passive belief in this portion of the Word of God is quite insufficient.
Our Own Welfare
At the heart of the matter, Esther is warned that she cannot just opt out of concern for the Jewish people (Esther 4:13). Similarly, the question is: ‘Can we opt out today? “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish” (Esther 4:14).
Because of the massive political overtones, the doctrinal confusion, and the controversy that Satan has managed to weave on the subject of Israel within the Church, many well-meaning Christians totally shy away from this matter, which is the very key to understanding God’s end-time purposes for the Church. This in spite of the fact that Israel itself is mentioned 2,567 times in the Bible, which coupled with such terms as Jerusalem, Zion, Jacob, Judah, and Ephraim give a total of almost 5,000 references related directly to Israel. Is not the LORD saying: ‘Haven't you come to My Kingdom for this very hour and purpose? Am I not soon to confound all nations with the sight of my holiness, power and faithfulness? Will this not be demonstrated through my tiny Servant nation - Israel - before the eyes of the whole world?' (See Ezek. 36: 23, 38:23).
Is there not a clear link between God's dire warning in Romans 11:22 to the wild (Gentile) branches being cut off, and that warning of “…you and your father's house will perish” in Esther 4:14?
Our own well-being is involved. The gallows that Haman had built for Mordecai's destruction proved to be his own undoing and departure point. Robbing Israel as we do of all the biblical promises made to her in the Word of God equates to putting ‘Israel on the gallows’. But the truth is that even in her present unbelief, the `insignificant' nation of Israel has by no means ceased to be God's servant-nation, as we read in Isaiah 41: 8-10: “You, O Israel my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, You descendants of Abraham my friend, I took you from the ends of the earth, From its farthest corners I called you. I said `You are my servant; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous hand”.
Whether we like it or not, our attitude to Israel is our attitude to God. “He that touches you touches the apple of His eye” (Zech. 2:8). The eye is the most sensitive part of the whole body, and Zion thus pictured to us is a simple, but vivid exhortation to love and to care – and it is a warning.
The human eye is protected in five ways: by constant washing, and by the eye socket, the eyelid, the eyelash, and the eyebrow! It is worth noting also that a valid reading of the same passage is as follows: ‘He that touches you, touches the apple of his (own) eye!’ Our attitude to Zion will definitely affect the accuracy of our own Christian vision as a whole.
We are virtually told here that Zion is God’s window on the world! So, the question arises as to whether or not the present regathering of the Jewish people to their original land is just a political accident – or the work of the One Who is repeatedly called the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Vigilance
One third of Matthew 24, the “spinal chord of biblical prophecy, into which all other such passages must fit, is taken up with warnings to the Church on readiness in the last days (Matt.24:32-51). In the parallel chapters of Mark 13 and Luke 21, one quarter of the verses apply in the same way and all are aptly summed up in, “Watch at all times, Praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, And to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).
The very first words of our Lord's response to His disciples' question about his return (Matt. 24:3) were “Take heed that no man deceive you…!”, a clarion, personal call repeated many times and in many ways in the Bible.
Christians can be led astray and can lead others astray. We can fail to maintain a spiritual alertness to situations around us. Jesus' repeated warning was to ‘Watch, keep awake, be vigilant.’ While thankful to God for the renewing by His Spirit today of much of the church, only a tiny minority of us are aware of the importance and relevance of the Restoration of Israel.
The exhortation, “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light” (Eph. 5:14) is addressed to spirit-filled believers! (v.18)
In recent years, much so-called prophetic teaching on the Rapture has provided an easy escape route for the Church – with Israel left behind to `face the music'!’ It helps to put us to sleep and blinds us to the delay that is clearly referred to in the coming of the Bridegroom (Matt. 24:48, 25:5; Mark 13:36)... But the future of what is called the Church, (also called `the Commonwealth of Israel' in Ephesians 2:12), is inextricably bound up with the spiritual restoration of Israel. This is of crucial importance.
Firstly, this must involve a physically restored Israel. (Listen to any daily news broadcast!) God has set her aside for a coming work of the Holy Spirit. Although it is not discerned or realised, it is the focal point of what God is doing, and what He will do in these last days. Hence the ceaseless efforts by her enemies to wipe her off the map. It is the Bible, more often than not in its literal meaning, which will give us answers, not the news media! “The entrance of Your Words gives light.” (Psalm 119:130)
God's sorrow and anguish
If, as we affirm, we really believe that “All Scripture is inspired by God, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and training…’(2 Tim. 3:16) then let us consider a passage written by a Hebrew who had ample reason to turn against his own kinsmen, but who, by the Holy Spirit, made this five-fold, soul-searing declaration: “I am speaking the truth in Messiah, I am not lying, My conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit,
I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart ...for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel” (Rom. 9:1,3).
The writer of course is none other than the apostle Paul. With such a five-fold reminder of divine inspiration, can we doubt that Paul does anything but reveal the very heart of God? Is not all scripture inspired? Did the Lord's sorrow end when Jesus wept over Jerusalem? “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!...How often would I have gathered your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing” (Matt. 23:37).
Don't you catch through Paul's words, the tears and yearnings of Jesus over Israel and Jerusalem to this very moment? Paul's sorrow was not simply a twinge of remorse. It was great sorrow – enough to cause him to offer himself, were it possible, as a substitutionary sacrifice for his fellow Israelites! Note here that Paul is not simply concerned with fellow-Jews but with fellow Israelites. He realised that Israel as a nation had a future, although of course that would embrace individual Jews.
Also, note that it is unceasing anguish. Anguish is described in the dictionary as `excessive pain of body or mind!’ Whose experience in Gethsemane does this remind us of? This attitude is not expounded in Bible teaching today, nor something we experience in our daily Christian walk - `unceasing anguish!' Genuine tears, of Holy Spirit origin, would so wash away from us the complacency and apathy of the western Church today!
Paul goes on to add that this is in his heart, in his innermost being, at the centre of his mind and will. If, like others, you have prayed that beautiful, expressive prayer of Paul's in Philippians 3:10 – “That I may know Him (Jesus, the Messiah), and the power of His resurrection, and may share in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death” – have you ever thought that His sufferings include an identifying with the needs of His people Israel right now - today?
The Jewishness of our Saviour
Jesus did not cease to be Jewish at His death. The `one mediator between God and men, the man-Messiah Jesus' is Jewish. Moreover, He is concerned not simply for His fellow Jews, His kinsmen, but for the nation, His nation, which they represent – Israel. What you and I do, or do not do to them is done, or not done, to Jesus! “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me ... Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” (Matt. 25: 40, 45).
The least and the most we can do is to pray for Israel, although we must also move into the practical realm to aid this oppressed nation. Paul himself later added, “My heart's desire and prayer to God for them (Israel) is that they may be saved” (Rom. 10:1). Again, not a theological treatise, but a `heart's desire' – the earthly place to which God's angels are tuned in – far more than are our hearts, or even our heads!
The priesthood of the believer
If, like myself at one time, you have not the faintest inkling of concern for Israel – don't give up! Seek the will and mind of the Lord diligently and persistently, until, little by little, line upon line from his Word, or perhaps even more quickly in some other way, He writes these things upon your heart. “It is ‘God that works within you to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).
Then, from the prompting of the Holy Spirit within you, you will begin to pray for His land, His people.
So will you, under the Lord’s hand, become like Aaron, the priest of God, who was commanded to bless Israel with the indelible, unforgettable words that he had to vocalise, not simply to read or to know: “This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace. So they shall put My name on the children of Israel and I will bless them” (Num. 6:23-27).
Note that this is in the imperative – “This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel” and the Lord's closing words show that, by the priest's obedience, God would bless Israel. Any priestly failure implies the withholding of that blessing. Yet, for centuries and right up to this very point in time, the Church has almost entirely failed to see its priestly role on behalf of Israel.
This is basic, and the initial exhortation is in Genesis - the book of Beginnings. We deny ourselves the accompanying blessing that the LORD promises, “I will bless those who bless you” (Gen 12:3)
Significantly. the same priest, Aaron, was bidden to carry the names of each of the twelve tribes of Israel on a 'breastpiece of judgement' (a place of decisions by the heart). Each name was expressed by a precious stone, not simply by a name or a symbol, but by something indestructible, and individually representative and precious for each tribe. Precious stones invariably increase in value as time goes on – and God's love for Israel has certainly not diminished. Aaron was to bear these twelve names upon his heart, whenever he went into the Holy Place, and `to bring them to continual remembrance before the LORD' (Exod. 28:21, 29,30).
Jesus went to great depths to retrieve and redeem those ‘stones.’ One day they will be polished and sparkling, to manifest the Messiah's glory. The twelve Gates of the heavenly City in Revelation 21 are to bear the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, - and the Wall's twelve foun¬dations bear the names of the twelve Apostles. For what reason? Because they have a central role in God’s eternal purposes! Is not that in itself sufficient to answer our opening question ‘WHY pray for Israel?’
God's Command
In reality, praying for Israel is not an optional extra for Christians. Although some will obviously have prior calls to other regions, none can escape the twice-repeated and emphasised command to pray for the very heart of Israel, which is, of course, Jerusalem.
1. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who love you” (Ps. 122:6). If this were merely some ethereal Jerusalem where there will be no more war or strife, no terrorists, no suicide bombers, no Muslim claim for Governmental dominance, no claim for the Holy City and the Temple site, and no concentration or clash of every kind of false and superficial Christianity – why pray for its peace? In such a heavenly realm, peace would surely be assured!
One of the root causes of centuries of darkness within Christendom has been our failure to place a literal interpretation here. While prior to 1948 and the re-establishment of the State of Israel we could have excused this, today we cannot. With such a Jerusalem and such a nation as Israel visible before our eyes, there can be no excuse for refusing to seek the Lord, even if only to express a willingness to receive new revel¬ation through the Holy Spirit.
Although the Church has slept through the most of the centuries, (though there was an awakening during the Puritan age) in regard to praying for Israel and Jerusalem, God has certainly not slept. He tells in His Word: “He that keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps” (Ps. 121:4).
2. For Zion's sake I will not keep silent and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until her vindication goes forth as brightness” (Isa. 62:1).
While uttered by the prophet Isaiah, these great words are undoubtedly of the Lord Himself speaking. God's second command to us to pray is along those lines – to be unresting – and it is addressed to every Christian. “You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give Him no rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth” (Isa. 62:7).
Nowhere else in Scripture is there such a call to relentless, specific prayer! Although the LORD tells us He will take no rest, paradoxically He puts the ball into our court in bidding us to give Him no rest, and not to take any for ourselves! Why? Because there is some vital purpose in God's heart in and through Jerusalem to bless the whole earth! It is not simply that God loves the Jew, Jerusalem or Israel (which He truly does), but that He also loves the world and the Arabs and has covenanted to bless the whole world through His elect people (Romans 11:12, 15). That covenant has been only partially fulfilled. Much, much more has yet to come!
O God of Heaven, to Thee we raise our prayer, For all Thine Ancient People now our care, That Thou wouldst win them home again to Thee, With love eternal, and with pardon free.
O Gracious Father, who in love dost yearn, That Jew and Gentile unto Thee may turn - Redeemed in Christ, of Thine own wondrous grace. We plead with Thee for Israel's chosen race.
O Loving Saviour, Shepherd of the sheep, Who dost Thy ransomed flock in safety keep, We plead with Thee to bring Thy lost ones home; `Scattered and peeled' Oh, let them cease to roam.
O Holy Spirit, Comforter and Guide, Breathe on us now and in Thy power abide, Speed on Thy message from the worlds above,
And flood dark souls with holy light and love.
O God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, This boon from Triune God we covet most, We pray Thee, hear Thy servants' suppliant cry
For Jews far off – that all may be brought nigh. AMEN.