Charlotte & Uzi's Israel News # 04/2009

Today's Theme for Israel: "Faith has perished; it has vanished from their lips"
(Jer. 7)

Our guests for the last Shabbat Evening in July 2009, were very dear friends from our days in South Africa. Like us, they have also left SA, and for the past 9 years have made their home in Canada. We met them at their Hotel in Tel Aviv, and brought them to our home, to celebrate Erev Shabbat and fellowship together. As we were travelling, the wife, who is Israeli, asked a very pertinent question: "what is your view on the state of the Israeli Society these days; where do you think they stand?"

Tough question, with a simple answer: Our Society, like every other society these days, has become Evil, because the knowledge of God is not there!

Earlier that morning, Uzi was listening to one of his favourite Hebrew Radio Talk-shows, a completely secular program. Yet, a portion from Jeremiah was quoted, a portion that impacted him deeply in his spirit! After checking the reference, it turned out to be Jeremiah chapter 7: a heavy warning for the remnant of Judah, as a symbol for the People of Israel. When one witnesses what is going on in the society today, in this beloved Land, one cannot avoid seeing the frightening parallels between Jeremiah's time and ours! So sad!

Jeremiah 7 starts with a very simple message:

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: Stand at the gate of the LORD's house and there proclaim this message: "Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, 'This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!' If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the Land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever". (Jer. 7:1-7).

God is detailing, once again, a very simple Divine Principle: "I, God, will ALWAYS keep my promises under the Covenant I made with you; all YOU have to do is keep your obligation and commitment to Me, as you agreed to do, as a Nation, in the Desert of Sinai".

If one looks carefully, we have a unique phenomena here: the Nation of Israel is the only nation in the world, which is required to come to Abba en-mass, AS A NATION! God's relations with Israel, including all of His Promises to her, as well as all of His Requirements from her, are NATIONAL: a Nation that together, as one Redeemed Body, in unity, is required to demonstrate His Ways and Principles - to Him first, and to the rest of the nations second! If the Nation, (the People), does this - it proves that it understands who God really is on one hand, and it can also fulfil its role as being A Light to the Nations on the other.

And you know what? This is not only "an Old Testament approach": Yeshua Himself, when weeping for Jerusalem, related to the entire nation: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" (Luke 13:34-35). You see - when Yeshua speaks about Jerusalem - He refers to her as a symbol for the entire Land of Zion - the entire Land of Israel, inhabited by the People of Israel! He requires the entire Nation to call unto Him and invite Him, as a pre-requisite for Him to return once again, FOR AND TO ALL NATIONS!

But sadly, our Nation is not ready yet - not even nearly so. On the one hand, we have a society which is crumbling from inside: lawlessness, injustice, lack of consideration, lack of compassion, corruption and deceit everywhere. We have a succession of Governments which not only refuse to listen to the nation that elected them, they also refuse to do what is good for the nation, and use and abuse it, to levels which we have never seen before, and with no shame at all! We all know what Yeshua said about such conditions: "Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: 'Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall'" (Luke 11:17).

Days like these, serve as fertile ground for Orthodoxy to reign and rule. Any Orthodoxy, in any religion or faith, be it Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism or Judaism - kills the Spirit of God in the people, and gives way to a dark, loveless and evil era in that nation, all under the mask of Godly Religion. It happened in Yeshua's days, when the Spiritless and Loveless Orthodoxy was represented by the Pharisees. The New Era Orthodoxy is raising its head in Israel these days, in the form of the Haredi Orthodoxy, which albeit being only a minority in the Israeli society - 'calls the shots' in every aspect of life here, yet contributes nothing to the Land but strife, division and bitterness! This is not the right venue to describe to you all the symptoms that are related to this situation. It will suffice to say that the fact that "Yad La'achim", the small, Orthodox, Anti Missionary Society here in Israel, has managed to infiltrate the Ministry of Interior, and is harassing us, the Messianic Body in the Land and some of Israel Loving Christians - is only one symptom.

But this is the least of our worries. Verse 28 in Jeremiah 7, describes the most dangerous symptom of all - the symptom, which is the key-issue that delays Yeshua's return: "Therefore say to them, `This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips'" (Jer. 7:28). You see dear friends, the term used in Hebrew for "Truth" here is actually a derivative of the noun "FAITH"! So, if we substitute one term with the other, we'll get something completely different: "Therefore say to them, `This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction. FAITH has perished; it has vanished from their lips'". And this is the key for everything, isn't it?

Our God IS indeed a Faithful God; He cut a covenant with His beloved Nation Israel, to give them peace, prosperity and every other possible blessing. All we have to do is, turn to Him, in Spirit and in Truth, acknowledge, as a Nation, the Lordship of Yeshua, walk in His ways - and then, and only then, will everything fall into place, and Yeshua will indeed fulfill His promise: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14:27). When this happens - God's promise through Jeremiah - will also come to pass: "This is what the LORD says: 'In the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem... there will be heard once more the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of Bride (us) and Bridegroom (Yeshua), and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD, saying: 'Give thanks to the LORD Almighty, for the LORD is good; his love endures forever'. For I will restore the fortunes of the Land as they were before,' says the LORD" (Jer. 33:10-11). AMEN!