Amos 9:15
I spent a lot of time advocating for Israel. I traversed Israel looking for great material, data. I remember in 2002, going through rooms of Palestinian terror at the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center near Tel Aviv. The IDF had intercepted a weapons shipment on the Karine A. They invited media onto the deck, where an enormous number of weapons and ammo was waiting.
Few cared.
Then seven IDF soldiers were killed in the terror sweep through the Hamas stronghold of Jenin. The graves are at Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem.
Few cared.
The Fogel family was slaughtered in their beds by “Palestinian” terrorists.
Few care to this day. On and on it goes.
One would think that the demonic assault on southern Israel in 2023 would have been enough.
It wasn’t.
Jewish life is cheap in this world.
Instead, the world identifies with the “Palestinians.” Worst of all, after raping, torturing and murdering scores of Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, the world laments alleged mistreatment of…”Palestinians.” The Jews they hate.
Recently, “theologian” J.D. Hall was on Tucker Carlson’s podcast. Among other things, he tossed out the “Jews killed Christ” canard, which has gotten plenty of Jews murdered in the last 1,500 years. It is medieval-level Jew-hatred. Hall is being challenged but look at the social media numbers. A really good Israel advocate might have 2,000 followers on X.
Carlson has 17 million.
Increasingly, professing Christians are attacking Israel and Jews. They feel free to do so because they won’t be physically threatened. They try and placate the real threats, such as Muslims.
I’ve been thinking more about where we are and what are the opportunities to do more advocacy. I’ve modified some of my positions on this.
I believe our side squandered some real opportunities in the past to reach people. Focusing on fringe prophecy topics—while trying to build brands—left a lot of opportunities on the table. Softening the message in some cases didn’t help (even pro-Israel folks were saying perhaps the “Palestinians” could have a state).
So we now live in a culture that glorifies murder and hates the good. Specifically hates the Apple of God’s Eye. I think we are very far advanced down the timeline of history. The planet literally cannot sustain this level of hatred and irrationality forever.
They hate Israel because they can’t defeat it. And they can’t defeat it because the gifts of God are irrevocable. There is only one God. And I serve Him. I take His word literally. I don’t presume to know better than Him.
June 27
I find it astonishingly ironic that belief in the literal eternality of the land promise to Israel is considered unsophisticated today yet it is exactly what the Bible says. And when I say “exactly“ I mean, explicitly, in no uncertain terms.
Also, while cynics ridicule as heretics those who believe the land promise to Israel is permanent claim it is a recent belief when in fact, it owes its origin to Holy Scripture itself (Gen. 17:8; 1 Chronicle 16:15-18; Ps. 105:8-11). The literal language makes the promise Israel-specific. Only if you allegorize it, which I believe there is no warrant for doing, can you apply it to the church instead of actual Israel. I would not ridicule those who reject the idea that the land promise is eternal toward Israel, but I would hope they would reciprocate and give us the same respect, especially since Scripture, which Christ says cannot be broken, affirms it.