israel

Jerusalem part 2: The Nation

Posted on March 22, 2024March 23, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Jerusalem: Intro
Jerusalem: part 1- The Land
Jerusalem part 3: Its glorious spiritual future

Jerusalem! It is the eternal city, (Psalm 46:4, Revelation 3:12) God’s city where He has set His name, (1 Kings 11:36, 2 Chronicles 12:13) and is the city in which Immanuel (Matthew 1:23) will dwell in all His glory, (Zechariah 8:3) calling it Jehovah Shammah, The Lord is There. (Ezekiel 48:35). It is the nickname He uses when he calls His people. (Zechariah 3:2). It is a place that it figures solely as the most important land, city, and people in the history of the earth. All of history is dwindling down to one focal point: Jerusalem. So let’s take a look at this incredible place.

God chose a people and a land to bring unto Himself. These are the Israelites and His land is Israel. Its city is Jerusalem. He made this promise to Abram in Genesis 12. God was actually delivering three distinct promises to Abram, later re-named Abraham. God made a land promise, a national promise, and a spiritual promise. In part 1 we looked at the land promise. Here is the verse–

“Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3).

Was Israel a great nation? Yes. Militarily secure (for a while) incredibly wealthy (for a while) and led by the wisest king ever to walk the earth (for a while). Israel as a nation has certainly had its ups and downs.

Is Israel a great nation now? Well, yes. It has developed some of the world’s most wonderful technology. It has changed an arid place into a garden, and now most of the world’s fruit is exported from there. It is a military nation, strong and mighty. It is a tiny nation, having given away land during successive political parliaments. It is only the size of New Jersey, but it is incredible in that it simply did not exist for 1900 years and then one day it did! No other nation can boast that history.

However as much as Christians bless the nation, and pray for its deliverance, we have to be realistic. This is from a sermon titled “The Cleansing of Israel,” delivered by John MacArthur in 1977. Not much has changed since then-

“Israel is not a religious nation. I would have to say that I doubt whether been in a more irreligious nation in my life than Israel. It’s an irreligious nation. Their god is the god of armies, the god of strength, the god of surprise, the god of might, the god of racial identity, which is the big thing, but not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and not the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

Jerusalem is referred to as ‘Salem in Genesis 14:18, when Abram honored Melchizedek, King of Salem and priest of the God Most High (unusual that this one is King AND Priest, something banned later in Israel’s history. Priests always came from the tribe of Levi and Kings from the tribe of Judah).

Below, The meeting of Abraham with Melchizedek

Ezekiel 21:25-27 prophesied the end of the kings and there has been no king rightfully officiating over Israel since King Jehoiachin in about 600BC, shortly after Ezekiel’s pronouncement. There has been no priest in Israel since the last High Priest serving when the Roman army came and overthrew the Temple in 70AD since Phannias ben Samuel and he wasn’t even from a priestly family, he was just a revolutionary. He died during the Roman overthrow.

There is still no king or priest over Israel today. And of course, no prophet since John The Baptist and then Jesus who is ultimate Prophet. There was not even any nation Israel between 70AD and 1948. By this standard, the Israel of today is merely a political entity, led by a Prime Minister, a President, and a Parliament (Knesset) and sadly, a spiritual desert.

Even during the period between May 1948 and June 1967, Jerusalem was not in Israel’s hands. Israel won East Jerusalem back during the Six Day War of June 1967, wresting it from the Jordanians who were occupying it. Later that month the Israeli Knesset declared Jerusalem unified. On July 30, 1980, the Knesset passed a law declaring the City of Jerusalem to be ‘eternal and indivisible.’” The United Nations promptly condemned the action.

There is still contention today. For example, what are the city’s borders? You can search for that answer online and you’ll come up with millions of maps with dotted lines, position papers, and news articles, but no borders.

Why does the world insist on calling Israel a state, and not a nation? The roots of the political conflict with Jerusalem and Israel lay in the fact that the Arab world refuses to declare it a national state for the Jewish people. This goes back to the original enmity between Israel as God’s selected people and the world that hates God. This is especially true of the Philistines who hated the Jews and their descendants are the Palestinians who are currently at war with Israel.

The upshot is that Israel, and Jerusalem, is a political entity. It surely is a great nation, but it is without paying homage to her God. God is still with her, and will protect her to the end. She will be ravaged, for it has been the times of the Gentiles since Jesus ascended. Only gentile Kings ruled Israel, such as Cyrus, Nebuchadnezzar, etc. Even now she is without a king, only a Prime Minister.

Today’s Israel is a politically buffeted nation without a king or a priest or world regard. The world is against it.

This was an Opinion Editorial in Israel National News 11 years ago by Guilio Meotti. “How did 150,000,000 Europeans Come to Hate Israel?” Anti-Semitism has risen markedly even since then.

Meotti ended his piece this way, “Europe’s public opinion has been persuaded to believe that Israel is a state that ought to be dismantled forthwith. Europe’s population count today is 730,000,000 citizens. What would happen if the anti-Semitic worm infected the mind of all of them? Can Israel really remain immune from that eruption of psychotic anti-Jewish illness?“

Yes. and No. Political Israel’s days are numbered. The world is coming against it as Zechariah showed in the prophecy. The psychotic illness that is hate against Israel is satan’s contribution to his plan to thwart God. In the end of the end the world will gather against Israel and surround Jerusalem. In this regard, the Italian journalist’s question is consistent with prophecy.

“Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes staggering to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. It will come about on that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will injure themselves severely. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.” (Zechariah 12:2-3).

Things do not look good for the nation Israel and the city Jerusalem, now or in the future. And they aren’t. But the Lord will come and save His nation, His people, and His city. The third part of the series on Jerusalem will look at its glorious future! And it IS glorious! They will go through a dark time, but then things become very bright, as bright as the glory of the LORD himself!

biodiversity, israel, jerusalem

Jerusalem! part 1: The Land. Israel’s biodiversity, geography, & wildlife

Posted on March 21, 2024March 23, 2024 by elizabethprata

Jerusalem! Introduction

Jerusalem! Part 2, The Nation

Jerusalem! Part 3, Its glorious spiritual future

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It all begins and ends with Jerusalem.

Actually let’s back up a bit. It all begins and ends with God.

Before the foundation of the world, God determined in His mind and His heart to select a people for Himself to have fellowship with, to produce the Messiah through them, and for them to spread the news of a Savior to the world. (Deuteronomy 7:6). And so began the creation of worlds, and His creation of people. (Genesis 1).

However, simply because the Jews were chosen, did not mean they would be exempt from living out God’s holy standards. We know from much of the Old Testament, that they didn’t.

“You only have I known among all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your wrongdoing.” (Amos 3:2)

Out of the dispersed descendants of the builders of Babel, God called one man, Abram, with whom He enters into covenant. Some of the promises to Abram and his descendants were purely gracious and unconditional. These either have been or will yet be literally fulfilled. Other promises were conditional upon the faithfulness and obedience of the Israelites. Israel utterly failed.

The LORD made a promise to Abram, found in Genesis 12, telling Abram that the LORD chose Israel to be His nation and the Israelites to be His people.

Now the Lord had said to Abram: Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3).

God was actually delivering three distinct promises to Abram, later re-named Abraham.

He made a land promise, a national promise and a spiritual promise.

1. The Land Promise: “A land that I will show you.”
“He also said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” (Genesis 15:7). Genesis 15:18-21 describes the boundary of the promised land in terms of the territory of various ancient peoples:

“On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates – the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

This land promise has never been fulfilled. The land that God promised His people the Israelites is very extensive. It would encompass all of today’s Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Gaza, part of Iraq to the Euphrates & Tigris, the Nile Delta of Egypt, and part of Saudi Arabia.

Ancient maps placed Jerusalem in the center of the page. They knew that Jerusalem is God’s city and is the fulcrum of history, the axle of the wheel, and the center of the world stage. In the Jewish tradition, the Ark in the Temple in Jerusalem, through which God revealed himself to His people, rested on the Foundation stone marking the “navel of world” (‘omphalos’).

Ezekiel 5:5, “This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the center of the nations.“

And what of this land? What is it like? It is wonderful! From deserts of the southern Negev to the snow-capped mountains to the north, to the 270 miles of coastline along the Mediterranean and to the frontier at the east, it is a diverse land.

Mountains of Judea, source Wikipedia commons

rosh hanikra view. Source Avishai Teicher via Wikimedia CC

Jordan’s Rift Valley. Source Wikipedia Commons

Acacia tree in Negev Desert, Makhtesh Gadol, Wiki photo

The wildlife of Israel includes the flora and fauna of Israel, which is extremely diverse due to the country’s location between the temperate and the tropical zones, bordering the Mediterranean Sea in the west and the desert in the east. (Wiki: Wildlife of Israel)

God called it a land flowing with milk and honey. (Exodus 3:8). A land with abundant milk means that it had abundant grasslands and pastures upon which the grassy lands could support abundant cattle (or goats). I have read in several Jewish commentaries that the honey is not bee nectar but the syrup one extracts from dates or figs. Either bee or fig, it evokes the same sense of abundance, this time from lush and growing vegetation.

Hoopoe looking for insects. Author Hari K Patibanda, CC license

According to Israel Birding website, “Israel is situated at an intercontinental junction- a bottleneck for migration routes. An estimated 500 million (!!) birds pass through every spring and autumn, with 530 species in record.”

The bird migration bottlenecks over Israel because when the migrating birds of Europe migrate, there’s the Mediterranean to the west and the Black Sea to the east. Every migration south or north they fly over Israel. There are so many flocks and Israeli aviation and military planes had so many bird strikes that the Israelis developed special radar to avoid downed planes from bird flocks.

“Israel’s climate varies from semi-arid to temperate to subtropical. The region is home to a variety of plants and animals; at least 47,000 living species have been identified, with another 4,000 assumed to exist. 116 species of mammals are native to Israel, as well as 511 bird species, 97 reptile species, and seven amphibian species. There are also an estimated 2,780 plant species. There are insects belonging to roughly 27 orders in Israel, out of about 29 worldwide“. (biodiversity in Israel).

So the landforms, birds, insects, and now mammals are extremely abundant and diverse. Incredible since Israel is only the size of New Jersey.

From Nature Israel, “From ancient times Israel’s native mammals have had an important role in Jewish culture, featuring in colourful biblical metaphors and prophecies, as symbols of the tribes of Israel or discussed at length in the dietary codes so central to the Jewish culinary tradition. The young David battles a bear and a lion, and Samson struggles with a juvenile lion. Torah scrolls are written on parchment from deer or antelope skins, the Jewish New Year is commemorated by blowing on the ram’s horn and the very Land of Israel itself is described as the “Land of the Gazelle”.

Song of Solomon 8:14 mentions the gazelle in terms of its speed. One of the sons of Zeruiah was compared to the speed of a gazelle in 2 Samuel 2:18.

Sadly (or not sadly for the locals…) the lions and bears are now extinct, but most of Israel’s native mammals familiar from the Bible and folklore remain – the jackal and the gazelle, the rock hyrax and the ibex, the wolf and the leopard, the wild boar and the hare.

Psalm 104 mentions many different kinds of vegetation, birds, and mammals of Israel.

“mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.” (Psalm 104:18). Proverbs 30:24 says the following animals are ‘exceedingly wise’ and the hyrax, or rock badger, is one of those, “the rock badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs;” (Proverbs 30:26). (Above, rock badger)

As mentioned, lions and cheetahs are now extinct in Israel, but imagine young David, armed only with a slingshot, guarding his flock against wolves, lions, bears, leopards, and cheetahs. Not to mention hyenas and jackals. Leopards still exist in Israel today, as do other wild felines including caracals (a kind of lynx), bog cats and wild cats.

Bears are mentioned in 2 Kings 2:24 as animals that came out of the woods and tore up 42 youths who were mocking Elisha. Of course the lion is prominent in fact and in metaphor in the Land. Proverbs 30:30 says of the lion, “the lion, which is mightiest among beasts and does not turn back before any;“. The LORD used lions as a judgment when Assyrians settled in the Land and did not worship the LORD. (2 Kings 17:25).

The Lord has blessed His land with biodiversity, geographical diversity, a wondrous climate, and beautiful flora and fauna of all kinds. After the restoration when the curse is reversed, it will finally be all that He intends it to be, His city, His dwelling, named “The Lord is there” (Ezekiel 48:35. (Jehovah Shammah!)

Further Reading

What does it mean that the Jews are God’s chosen people?

theology

What to think about what is happening in Israel right now…

Posted on October 16, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

We ALWAYS live with an expectation that in the leading up to that blessed moment of Jesus’ return, sin will heighten and grow worse- for all humans but especially for Israel.

What is going on in Israel right now is an expression of the always present, but not always seen, hatred satan has for Israel. Some horrific stories are coming out of that area, which I won’t repeat, but as Justin Peters said,

“This is not normal human animosity. The hatred Hamas and its supporters and enablers (a few of whom are in the US Congress) have towards the Jewish people is a demonic hatred. This level of barbarism and degeneracy is nothing short of demonic. Satan and his fellow fallen angels know the scriptures. They know God has a plan for Israel (Romans 11) and they hate it. They know their doom is sure… and it is.” –end Justin Peters

What people don’t often contemplate is HOW AWFUL sin is. We don’t often see visible expressions of it, or if we do, such as in a school shooting, or a serial killer unmasked, we think it is an anomaly. But horror of this kind is not an anomaly. It is normal, given man’s depravity. We either don’t see it, or we ignore it if it comes our way, or if we can’t ignore, we look away and explain it away.

God’s restraining Hand has kept the earth from tottering like a hut and collapsing under the weight of its sin. Once in a while He lifts his hand a bit and this is what happens. Chaos and violence on a wholesale scale.

We forget the Bible tells us over and over, HOW MUCH satan hates Jews and Christians. Eruptions like this in Israel are what can be called a blessed reminder, blessed because in His mercy, God shields it from us most of the time. Once in a while though, it is a blessing also, to be reminded that:

–satan is present on the earth igniting hatred passions of many,
–that things can and will get really bad in the end of the end. If people think THIS is bad, just wait,
–and God is still in control.

I believe that is how we should think of the events of the day happening in Israel. Pray always.

Further Resources

Should I pray for the peace of Jerusalem?

theology, tribulation

The Tribulation is about Israel

Posted on August 1, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The Time of Jacob’s Trouble as it is known (the Tribulation last 7 years) is about Israel. Israel is the hand on God’s prophetic clock. These things must come to pass as it is prophesied that Israel on that last day will stand alone with all her enemies around her.

A prophecy:

The word of the LORD concerning Israel. The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the human spirit within a person, declares: “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.” (Zechariah 12:1-3).

Why? So that they turn to their Messiah, the One whom they rejected but now call upon!

Although there have been seiges and wars around Jerusalem before this time, we also know that this particular event is still future. The verse says “on that Day”, which is always a reference tot he Day of Judgment.

For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.’ Romans 11:25-26).

That verse tells us that Jews in Israel will be accepting Jesus as Messiah during the Tribulation. He will remove the partial hardening so that they will see the truth and be able to call out to Him. At long last, they will ask for Jesus!

And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. (Zechariah 12:10).

Though rejected by His own people for 2000 years, on that Day He will pour out grace. Not mete it out, not dribble it out, but POUR it out upon those who refused to know Him but now clamor for His grace.

deliverer from zion verse

theology

New gem discovered in Israel

Posted on February 6, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Because I am interested in gems, I was interested in this headline from last week-

Extraterrestrial Mineral Harder than Diamonds Discovered in Israel

A new discovery in the mountains of northern Israel has caused significant excitement for geologists around the world. While working in the Zevulun Valley, close to Mount Carmel, Israeli mining company Shefa Yamim found a new mineral never before discovered on earth.

The International Mineralogical Association regularly approves new minerals for its official list, with up to 100 new substances added to the register each year. However, this latest discovery was hailed as a significant event, as it was previously believed that this type of mineral was only found on extraterrestrial material.

The article continues with a layman’s understandable explanation as to why this discovery generated so much excitement. For believers reading the article, just ignore the secular geological explanation of how this gem came to be formed, lol.

Forbes has a more technical explanation of the gem’s composition.

https___blogs-images.forbes.com_davidbressan_files_2019_01_YAMIM_2019_Carmeltazite — Carmeltazite, or “Carmel Sapphire,” a new mineral
described from Israel. SHEFA YAMIM

Forbes:
Carmeltazite: A New Unique Gemstone From Israel

There are currently over 5,500 known minerals on Earth, with around 100 new minerals being added to the list each year. Most are quite unspectacular in appearance, with crystals too small to be used in jewelry or too rare to be of any economic interest.
Last week, the International Mineralogical Association recognized carmeltazite as a new, distinct mineral. The mineral was named after Mount Carmel where it was found and the elements it contains – Titanium, Aluminum and Zirconium.

The gem, according to the first article above, was “found embedded in cracks within sapphire, the second hardest mineral (after diamonds) found to occur naturally on earth. Carmeltazite closely resembles sapphire and ruby in its chemical composition, and is found in black, blue-green, or orange-brown colors, with a metallic hue.”

This article was published in December, also interesting:

ring

2000-yr-old Bronze Ring with Remarkable Gemstone Found in Jerusalem

Archaeologists have unearthed a 2,000-year-old bronze ring with a solitaire gemstone in what could be a former ritual bath, or mikveh, in the City of David National Park in Jerusalem.
A Jewish penitent might have misplaced the ring after undergoing a ritual purification and before he embarked on a 2,000-foot climb toward the Temple Mount. “The ring was found by Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists in what appears to be an ancient mikvah (Jewish ritual bath) on the Pilgrimage Road, which dates back to the time of the second Temple period,” reported the Jewish News Syndicate.

I’ve always been interested in gems. Why? They’re pretty. I used to belong to the Maine Mineralogical & Geological Club. Club motto is: ‘Sharing common interests in minerals, gems, jewelry, geology, paleontology and the related earth sciences and lapidary arts.’ In addition to a major mineral and gem show, and auctions, club meetings and newsletters, the club has secured rights to go onto either private land or mines and are allowed to sift through tailings and do some digs. It’s fun. I’ve found amethyst, garnet, beryl, tourmeline, mica and other pretty gems.

The lapidary process is so interesting. To think, one can dig up a rock, open it, find amethyst inside, and through cutting and polishing, make the formerly dirty rock shine and sparkle. You can wear it as jewelry or display it in its polished state. The earth yields treasures, even while the ground is cursed.

After the curse it lifted and God remakes heaven and earth, we believers are treated to a sparkling new domicile. Literally, it will sparkle with the glorious gems that God will use as…construction materials! The doors will be pearl, the foundations will be emerald and agate and jasper… and so on.

What we believed to be such a precious commodity on earth, gems and jewels, will be simply materials to walk on or sit on. I used this example in a recent essay but I’ll use it again.

I once heard a story that was intended to express how heaven’s riches are beyond measure. It was a story about a rich man who was near death. He grieved because he had worked so hard and wanted to carry his riches with him.

The rich man pleaded with God and was allowed by God to bring one bag. Overjoyed, he loaded his suitcase full of gold bars. Upon arrival at heaven, he was checking in and was told by Peter the bag would not be allowed. He insisted that he had permission. Things were checked on, and it was found that he did have approval from God. When the bag was opened to see what was so needed by the man, Peter exclaimed, “You brought pavement?!”

We laugh at this, because it immediately shows us the different perspective and the priority of heaven. The sparkling jewels we so enjoyed on earth, the diamonds we sought for our engagement rings, the excitement of a new gem recently discovered, all mean nothing in heaven.

Why?

Because in heaven the surpassing jewel will be Jesus. EVERYTHING ELSE fades compared to Him. Remember the pronouncement Jesus made about love and hate?

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26)

No, Jesus wasn’t actually saying to hate one’s parents, that would violate the Fifth Commandment to honor they parents (Deuteronomy 5:16, Exodus 20:12). He was making the statement that one must love Jesus so much that by comparison the love we have for our parents seems like hate, it’s so far on the other end of the scale.

It’s the same with beauty. What we consider beautiful here, will pale in comparison and seem paltry next to the Great I AM in the flesh. His surpassing beauty will outshine all else, even the sun. (Revelation 21:23). Sparkling, precious gems here will be a near rubble, used for construction materials in the New Jerusalem.

Well, I can enjoy the gems’ sparkle here on earth, as long as I know what is ahead. Jesus is ahead, just Jesus. He is enough. And yet, He loves us so much he is preparing a place of beauty and adornment for His bride to dwell in. What a future we have!

The New Jerusalem

9Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. 18The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. (Revelation 21:9-21)