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Note: After all the hype about the Tim Tebow ad, the critics have now reversed and are complaining about Tim playfully tackling his mother. Good grief.
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This Thursday, February 11 on our calendar---the 22nd of Bahman on the Persian calendar, is the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran. Iran will likely be prominent in the news as this week progresses, particularly in that Ahmadinejad has said the anniversary will "hearld an important announcement."
Some feel it may be a move toward more peaceful relations in the middle east. Most do not. Regardless of what Ahmadinejad may say, most believe Iran is moving toward deployment of nuclear weapons.
And many feel the inclination to commit terror acts against America will be heightened on February 11.
One thing is abundantly clear. Mr. Ahmadinejad is committed to "wiping Israel off the map."
You may recall that Israel and Iran had close ties during the Pahlavi dynasty, from the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 to 1979.
Recently, Iran's Supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, said that western support of Israel is, "ineffective and that Israel's obliteration is imminent according to the will of God." (View video on FFN home page).
In follow up, yesterday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manchour Mottaki said that Israel is now weaker than ever before, before, adding that it is a, "crazy country run by crazy people."
"Therefore," he said, "we must prepare for the chance that Israel will do something crazy."
I suspect one of the "crazy" people running Israel would be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Recently Netanyahu traveled to Poland to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
Speaking on the actual site of the Nazi death camp, Netanyahu warned the world of new genocidal threats against the Jewish people and the importance of acting early enough to prevent such threats from coming to pass.
Then, in a stunning and remarkable moment, he declared to Europe and the world that the prophecies of Ezekiel 37 have been fulfilled.
He said the holocaust represented the "dry bones" and "graves" of the Jewish people and out of that horror the State of Israel was resurrected.
Netanyahu, quoting from Ezekiel said, "Prophecy, therefore, and say to them: Thus said the Lord God: I am going to open your graves and lift you out of your graves, O my people and bring you to the land of Israel."
He then said, speaking in Hebrew, "As head of the Jewish State, I pledge to you today: we will never again permit evil to snuff out the life of our people and the life of our country."
I would encourage Christians to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and God's protection of America.
Below are seven biblical reasons for Christians to support Israel.
The following has been created by the ministry, "Boston Bless Israel."
Genesis 12:3: "And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed." Point: God has promised to bless the man or nation that blesses the Chosen People. History has proven beyond reasonable doubt that the nations that have blessed the Jewish people have had the blessing of God; the nations that have cursed the Jewish people have experienced the curse of God.
St. Paul recorded in Romans 15:27: "For if the Gentiles have shared in their (the Jews) spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things."
Christians owe a debt of eternal gratitude to the Jewish people for their contributions that gave birth to the Christian faith. Jesus Christ, a prominent Rabbi from Nazareth said, "Salvation is of the Jews!" (St. John 4:22) consider what the Jewish people have given to Christianity:
a) The Sacred Scripture
b) The Prophets
c) The Patriarchs
d) Mary, Joseph, and Jesus Christ of Nazareth
e) The Twelve Disciples
f) The Apostles
It is not possible to say, "I am a Christian" and not love the Jewish people. The Bible teaches that love is not what you say, but what you do. (1 John 3:18) "A bell is not a bell until you ring it, a song is not a song until you sing it, love is not love until you share it."
While some Christians try to deny the connection between Jesus of Nazareth and the Jews of the world, Jesus never denied his Jewishness. He was born Jewish, He was circumcised on the eighth day in keeping with Jewish tradition, He had his Bar Mitzvah on his 13th birthday, He kept the law of Moses, He wore the Prayer Shawl Moses commanded all Jewish men to wear, He died on a cross with an inscription over His head, "King of the Jews!"
Jesus considered the Jewish people His family. Jesus said (Matthew 25:40) "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren (the Jewish people… Gentiles were never called His brethren), ye have done it unto me."
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper that love thee." (Psalm 122:6) the scriptural principle of prosperity is tied to blessing Israel and the city of Jerusalem.
Why did Jesus Christ go to the house of Cornelius in Capernaum and heal his servant, which was ready to die? What logic did the Jewish elders use with Jesus to convince Him to come into the house of a Gentile and perform a miracle?
The logic they used is recorded in Luke 7:5; "For He loveth our nation, and He hath built us a synagogue." The message? This Gentile deserves the blessing of God because he loves our nation and has done something practical to bless the Jewish people.
Why did God the Father select the house of Cornelius in Caesarea (Acts Chapter 10) to be the first Gentile house in Israel to receive the Gospel? The answer is given repeatedly in Acts 10.
Acts 10:2 "a devout man, (Cornelius) and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always." Who were the people to whom Cornelius gave these alms? They were the Jews!
Again is Acts 10:4 "… thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God."
Again in Acts 10:31 "… and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God."
The point is made three times in the same chapter. A godly Gentile who expressed his unconditional love for the Jewish people in a practical manner was divinely selected by heaven to be the first Gentile house to receive the Gospel and the first to receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
These combined Scriptures verify that PROSPERITY (Genesis 12:3 and Psalm 122:6), HEALING (Luke 7:1-5) and the OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT came first to Gentiles that blessed the Jewish people and the nation of Israel in a practical manner.
We support Israel because all other nations were created by an act of men, but Israel was created by an act of God! The Royal Land Grant that was given to Abraham and his seed through Isaac and Jacob with an everlasting and unconditional covenant. (Genesis 12:1-3, 13:14-18, 15:1-21, 17:4-8, 22:15-18, 26:1-5 and Psalm 89:28-37.)
There are biblical reasons why evangelicals support Israel.
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Gary Randall
President
Faith & Freedom
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