"The Lord Remembers"

Our message last week started a series highlighting 16 events which will take place "On That Day" that will occur at the end of the Tribulation Period. All of these events are illustrated in chapters 12 - 14 of the book of Zechariah.

The Prophet Zechariah's name actually means "The Lord Remembers." These last chapters of Zechariah are a prime example of our Lord God remembering the covenant He made with Abraham and his descendants in Genesis 18:8, "I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." He will be their God and the land of Canaan will be their land forever. Hallelujah!

The four events we will study this week show The Lord coming to the defense of Jerusalem and the corresponding response of His people.

Zechariah 12:9 - "On That Day, I will set out to destroy all nations that come up against Jerusalem."

The nations of the world gather around Jerusalem in order to destroy it. However, our Lord God steps in and protects Jerusalem and its people. Praise His Name!

Zechariah 12:11 - "On That Day, the weeping in Jerusalem will be great like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Meggido."

This describes the most important event for the Jewish people. They recognize Jesus as their Messiah and the one they pierced and they mourn.

Zechariah 13:1 - "On That Day, a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and impurity."

Following the recognition of Jesus as their Messiah, the Jewish people's sins will be cleansed and forgiven. This is only possible through the shed blood of Jesus Christ who is Lord of all!

Zechariah 13:4 - "On That Day, every prophet will be ashamed of his prophetic vision. He will not put on a prophet's garment of hair in order to be deceived. He will say, 'I am not a prophet. I am a farmer, the land has been my livelihood since my youth.'"

Our Lord God will intervene and remove all forms of idol worship and false prophets.

Thanksgiving Blessings To All,

Frank 

"An Immovable Rock"

Last week's message was about the Church of Jesus Christ being His Bride but also the land of Israel being His Bride. This week we will start a series of messages illustrating further how much our Lord God loves the land of Israel and that He will always protect it during very trying circumstances. These messages will center on the book of Zechariah Chapters 12 - 14. 

Zechariah 12:1-3 says, "This is the word of The Lord concerning Israel. The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him, 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.'" 

These few verses reveal the primary theme of the last three chapters of Zechariah. "On That Day," or the end of the Tribulation Period, enemies will try to destroy Jerusalem but our Lord God will intervene and win the battle for the Israelites. Hallelujah!

There are actually 16 events that will happen "On That Day" as outlined in Zechariah 12-14. But first Our Lord God says in chapter 1:2 "Return to Me and I will return to you." He wants to take care of and protect His people Israel but wants them to return to Him first. This is a good reminder also for all of us today.

Following are the first four of sixteen events which will happen "On That Day," I have included my comments after each Bible quote:  

Zechariah 12:3 

"On That Day, When all the nations of the earth are gathered against Jerusalem. I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves."

God's ultimate plans and purposes for Israel will prevail no matter what their enemies attempt.

Zechariah 12:4

"On That Day, I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness," declares The Lord. "I will keep a watchful eye over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations."

Israel's enemies will be gathered around Jerusalem but will be unable to find their way to victory.

Zechariah 12:6-7

"On That Day, I will make the leaders of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume right and left all the surrounding people, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place." 

Israel's leaders under God's direction will lead them to victory.

Zechariah 12:8

"On That Day, The Lord will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of The Lord going before them."

The weakest among those living in Jerusalem will be able to rise up with the strength of David.

Be encouraged by these messages about our loving and protecting God but also keep praying for the Peace of Jerusalem as stated in Psalm 122:6. 

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You This Day And Each Day,

Frank

"The Bride Of Christ"

"Blessed Are Those Who Are Called To 

The Marriage Supper Of The Lamb!" 

Revelation 19:9

The day is coming when those who know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will take part in the Marriage Supper Of The Lamb. Our Groom, Jesus, will invite us, His Bride, to this glorious meal and we will be dressed in fine linen representing the righteous acts of the saints. 

As a result, we need to be ready for the Marriage Supper Of The Lamb at all times. Matthew 25:6-13 says, "At midnight a cry was heard, 'behold, The Bridegroom is coming; go out to meet Him!' then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise answered, saying 'no, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves.' And while they went to buy, The Bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with Him to the wedding and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' But He answered and said, 'assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming." We need to be ready for the coming of our Bridegroom at all times!  

There is another aspect of The Bride of Christ that is rarely discussed. The land of Israel will also be married to Christ. Isaiah 62:4 says, "You shall no longer be termed Forsaken nor shall your land anymore be termed Desolate; but you shall be called Hephzibah and your land Beulah; for The Lord delights in you and your land shall be married." When we look at the Hebrew interpretation of this verse we find that Hephzibah means "My delight is in her" and Beulah means "married." This verse is saying Our Lord God takes delight in the land of Israel and will marry her in the future. Hallelujah!  

As the Bride of Christ, we need to always have oil for our lamps expecting Jesus to come for His Bride at any moment. Additionally, I pray for each of us to continue praying for Israel as this message emphasizes the extreme importance of the land of Israel to our Lord God.

May The Lord Bless You This Day And Each Day,

Frank  

"A Spirit Of Stupor"

"Just as it is written; 'God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.'"

We referenced this verse in our message last week explaining that our Lord God has placed the Jewish people in "A Spirit Of Stupor" so that they cannot see or hear that Jesus is their Messiah. When I first learned of and studied this verse many many years ago, I was confused and wondered why would a loving God do this to His own covenant people?

The salvation of the Jewish people is a most significant topic especially as part of end times scenarios. Salvation began and will end with the Jews, Romans 1:16, Zechariah 12:10. Then why have the Jews been in this "Stupor" during this very lengthy intermediate period? 

Our Lord God's word is very clear in answering this thought provoking question. John 1:11 says, "He came to His own, and His own did not receive him." The Jewish people missed the hour of their Messiah's visitation. Luke 19:41-44 shows Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, "Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes, for the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.'" Thankfully, this period of "Stupor" is a temporary situation, Romans 11:11.

Can we as born again Christians who love Israel and the Jews participate in bringing this time of "Stupor" to an end? Yes, absolutely! Following are five specific steps in how we can be involved . . .

  Repent For Any Anti-Semitic Activities In Our Lives Past Or Present 

And Promote Our Churches And Denominations To Do The Same.

Become Intercessors Who Become Watchmen And Stand In The

Gap Praying For Salvation Of The Jewish People.

Perform Acts Of Friendship, Kindness And Encouragement

For Jewish People In Our Lives.

Pray For The Jewish People To Be In A Mindset Of

Repentance For Their Sins Past And Present.

Pray That Our Lord God Will Lift The Veil 

            Over Jewish Eyes So They Will Proclaim,              

 "Blessed Is He Who Comes In The Name Of The Lord."

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You This Day And Each Day,

Frank

  

  

First Natural, Then Spiritual

"And so it is written, 'the first man Adam became a living being.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is The Lord from heaven." 1Corinthians 15:45-47.

The title for our message this week could be referred to as one of God's perfect order of all that He created. The principle in this case is that the natural takes place first and then the spiritual.

Last week's message concentrated on the importance of the Jewish people world wide moving back to Israel. This event is mentioned over 700 times in scripture and is vitally important to them and to our Lord God. Where does the principle of first the natural and then the spiritual fit into end times scenarios? The return of the Jewish people to physical Zion must take place in the physical realm and then the Spiritual Zion will take place.

What do we mean by the Spiritual Zion? Romans 11:26-27 says, "And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: 'The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.'" Biblical Scholars believe these verses mean that all Jewish people, who have returned to Israel, will recognize Jesus Christ as their Messiah and be saved as part of the Second Coming of Jesus to earth. (Zechariah 14:4 and Zechariah 12:10) 

 Israel Will Have Become Spiritual Zion 

How close are we to Spiritual Zion becoming a reality? Only our Lord God knows! However, this we do know. Romans 11:8 says, "God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, to this very day." Currently, it is challenging for the Jewish people to see Jesus as their Messiah and to know the critical importance of their returning to Israel. Praise The Lord this is only a temporary situation.

God's covenant people currently are being saved and are moving to Israel but to a limited degree. We all need to pray daily that their eyes can see and their ears can hear the truth of God's Word . . .

Jesus Is Their Messiah And They Need To Move Back To Israel  

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You This Day And Each Day,

Frank

Now Is The Time!

"However, the days are coming, declares The Lord, when men will no longer say, 'as surely as The Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,' but they will say, 'as surely as The Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where He had banished them.' For I will restore them to the land I gave to their forefathers." Jeremiah 16:14-16.

Notice in this critically important message from our Lord God that He will bring back the Israelites to the land (Israel) which He gave to their forefathers. Notice also He will bring them out of "all" the countries from where He banished them.

There is much for us to comprehend from these few verses in Jeremiah. A question commonly asked in Christian circles is, "When will Jesus return to earth?" Also, a common question in Jewish circles is, "When will our Messiah appear?" Could these few verses in Jeremiah reflect on both questions?

The whole concept of the Jewish people world wide moving back to Israel has already been happening for many years and is referred to as them "Making Aliyah." A million have already left Russia and large numbers have come out of France, Ethiopia, Syria, India and Morocco. This is so important to our Lord God that over 700 verses in Scripture mention the Jewish people returning to Israel. Would one of the prerequisites for Jesus to return to earth and The Messiah to be revealed is for all Jewish people to be living in Israel?

For the conclusion of our message this week, we will consider the millions of Jewish people living in the United States. In 1987, Tom Hess who is a prophet and the founder of the International House Of Prayer For All Nations, was praying and he received a vision from Our Lord God of judgments coming to America in the form of bombs exploding. The Lord at the same time revealed to Tom it was time for the American Jewish population to return to Israel. 

The title for our message this week is, "Now Is The Time!" If anything, the time is overdo for American Jews to "Make Aliyah." Bombs have been exploding in the United States for years. For us, who love and support Israel and the Jewish people, what can we do? We can pray that the Jewish people world wide and especially in the United States will realize "The Time Is Now" and react.

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You This Day And Each Day,

Frank      

Tikkun Olam

The Jewish people believe in Tikkun Olam which means they believe they are called by God to "Repair The World." This is why they help others all over the world in disaster situations and why they are out front in helping Christians who are being persecuted by Muslims. This is the reason they send scientific experts to help solve problems in areas that are stricken by drought and help farmers in Africa to grow enough food to feed their families. They do all these things because they understand that they are responsible under God for the well being not only of themselves but also the entire human race.

Does this approach also apply in how they treat their enemies who surround them and even live among them? We need to realize that in the years 2015 and 2016 Israel has experienced 407 terror attacks including 165 stabbings, 107 shootings, 47 car rammings and a bus bombing. These attacks resulted in 40 deaths and 558 injuries.

Based on this, how did Israel respond? The Israeli democracy includes in their governing body, known as the Knesset, members of the Arab Party who support terrorism. Would this happen in most of the other countries of the world? Israel actually provides medical help to terrorists after they attempt to murder Israelies. An Israeli mother recently donated the kidney of her son who was murdered by a Palestinian suicide bomber to save the life of a Palestinian girl.       

The "Heart For Peace" humanitarian program has saved the lives of 610 Palestinian children since 2005. During the last war with Hamas in 2014, two Hamas terrorists who infiltrated Israel received medical treatment. Thousands of people from Gaza are treated medically in Israel each year.

When an Arab Israeli was wrongly beaten by police last summer, Israelis raised money for his college tuition and legal fees. A Palestinian girl whose bike was stolen was given a new bike by an Israeli man. This week just before the start of Yom Kippur, 1,500 Israelis gathered to pray for the people in Syria. 

These are all examples of God's chosen people obeying His word as stated in Genesis 12:3. We, as born again Christians, have a similar "calling" on our lives "to love your neighbor as yourself" illustrated in Matthew 22:36-39. My prayer for us as God's people is that we will fulfill these admonitions from our God in this world of turmoil in which we live. 

May The Lord Bless You This Day And Each Day,

Frank