Israel’s Destiny :: By Terry James

Author’s note: The article presented here was written some years ago. It was at that time and continues to be meant to inform the Jewish people of their God-ordained destiny. Because God’s Word is absolutely true, the matters involving His chosen nation have not been proven to have fallen by the wayside of history. God’s Word on the Jewish people has only increased in veracity. That is, each and every passing day, God’s Word about Israel issues forth ever stronger Proof that God’s promises to that people—and to all believers in Jesus Christ—will come to pass. All that’s going on at present, with the building worldwide hatred and satanically driven genocidal ranting by even deluded American university students, gives validation that Jesus Christ is on the very brink of calling believers to Himself as He promised:

“And when you see all these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your head, for your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).

Israel’s Destiny

Israel is the one nation in human history that the Creator of all things chose to be “a people unto himself”:

“For thou [art] an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that [are] upon the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6).

Jehovah made promises to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that are staggering in their implications. He promised to bless those who bless the nation that would spring from the loins of these men, and warned about His curse for those who cursed those people. God said to Abraham:

“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).

Certainly, this promise can easily be verified as coming true throughout recorded history. The modern record, as a matter of fact, is contemporary proof of the veracity of the Almighty and His prophetic promises. Historians–except those blinded by the great deceiver, Lucifer—concede, sometimes reluctantly, that Israel’s history in ancient times was a record of greatness. David’s and Solomon’s exploits and accomplishments are legendary but built upon archaeological facts. Israel has achieved greatness among the nations of this earthly sphere.

One point over which secular historians, at the minimum, raise eyebrows of skepticism is that man received laws and moral codes through Moses, the son of Abraham. Most give Hammurabi’s Code that honor. But those who believe that God is who He is know that the great human deliverer of the chosen people came down from Sinai with rules for living life, given by the God of Heaven to His creation. Particularly, the Ten Commandments were meant for Israel to follow as fealty to their God, and as example to the rest of the world.

God’s promise to make Israel a great nation and to bless all other nations through His chosen people has come true. The United States, for example, has the Ten Commandments upon its walls within government buildings–including the Supreme Court. America, despite the anti-God forces who want to destroy the nation’s moral underpinnings—continues to lead the world in most areas of improvement of the human condition. This is due to the Ten Commandments’ influence upon American ethics and achievement. But, it goes profoundly deeper.

Much of America’s successes in technological, medical, and every other category of progress has been contributed by members of the Jewish race. We don’t have to look far to find them. I’ll just mention the most obvious: Albert Einstein, the German-born genius-physicist who became an American citizen. No more than a cursory study will show, indelibly, that God’s Word is true, when He followed through on the promise to make the people of the book the head of all peoples:

“And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do [them]” (Deuteronomy 28:13).

Then what about the maltreatment, the genocide, against the Jewish race down through the millennia, particularly during the twentieth century? This doesn’t appear to be God making Israel the head of all nations. Here is where God placed some conditions upon the people He chose as destined to become the head of all others. Note the last of the above promise:

“…if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do [them].”

God will make Israel the head of all nations if they will listen to His instructions and commandments. Not only is that where the nation has strayed, but it is where those who say that God is through with Israel–that the Jewish race is no longer God’s chosen—have also strayed. God’s Word says ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All have strayed–both Jews AND Gentiles.

Israel’s detractors within Christianity say the Jews rejected their Messiah in His first visitation. Therefore, they say, Jehovah has written off the Jews and the nation Israel. The Israel in the land surrounding Jerusalem since May 14, 1948, is not the Israel of the promises, the detractors say; modern Israel is but an imposter, and God considers it no more within His prophecy for future national or racial greatness than He considers any of modern Israel’s blood-vowed enemies.

Absolutely nothing could be farther from the truth. It is true that Israel of Jesus Christ’s day rejected Him as Messiah. It is equally true that those of His own race, the Jews, cried, “Crucify him!”—which convinced the Romans to crucify Jesus. But God’s Word says every person is a sinner. We are born into sin–because Adam, the physical father of humankind, disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. Again, God’s Word says that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

The Jews, as a race, are no guiltier than my race, which is Gentile. We all, as the human race, put Jesus Christ to death on the cruel Roman cross. He came to earth, sent by His Father, the God of Heaven, to offer Himself as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Jesus the Christ–the Jews’ Messiah—came to fulfill all Mosaic Law, the Ten Commandments. In Christ, we can now believe, and our sins are cleansed, washed away by Christ’s sacrifice for eternity. Through His shed blood, we ALL–Jew and Gentile–are in the family of God forever.

But, each individual must accept this grace gift that replaced the sacrificial system of blood from innocent lambs of the physical sort. We must accept Christ as Savior, as Lord one-on-one with God, because He gives each person the free will to accept or reject His grace offer of salvation.

Now, I must come to the sad part—the tragic part of this essay, really—in which I address this nation’s prophetic destiny.

God’s Word, the Bible, foretells that the Jewish race as a whole, Israel as a nation, will continue to reject their Messiah, the one who came to them more than two thousand years ago. This rejection will continue to result in God’s promises being delayed until the moment Jesus returns to put an end to humankind’s final war called Armageddon.

Israel was scattered after the AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple atop Mount Moriah. This was exactly what Jesus predicted in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew, chapter 24; Mark, chapter 13; and Luke, chapter 21). Jesus prophesied that not one stone of the Temple would be left upon another. Titus and the Roman legions saw to the fulfillment of this prophecy.

The Jews lost their temple, their city, and, following Hadrian’s purge in AD 135, their geographical homeland area, plus their common language (Hebrew), as a cohesive link to one another as a distinct people. Yet God’s Word foretells that Israel will be a nation again at the end of days–the time just before Christ returns.

Again, tragically and sadly, you are back in the land for a time that will be worse than any ever experienced by any people. The prophet Jeremiah foretold this:

“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it” (Jeremiah 30:7).

It will be a time of horrors beyond anything even Adolf Hitler dreamed about perpetrating upon the Jewish race.

Can we see a build-up toward that time? Let us consider the words of the prophet Zechariah, and put his prophecies as a template over today’s headlines:

“The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it” (Zechariah 12:1-3).

The peoples of the earth are gathering against Israel. Even some leaders within the US, governmental and religious, want Israel to give away land for peace. The “Zionists” are seen as the problem.

Israel is basically isolated today, so far as true allies are concerned. The United States stands almost alone as your friend. However, it hurts to say that support is eroding, while some within recent American diplomatic efforts seem to want to exclude your nation from talks involving the small territory you now occupy—territory, incidentally, that is but a fraction of the land the Lord your God granted you through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These negotiators join the so-called international community in wanting to placate Israel’s hate-filled enemies.

This Neville Chamberlain-like “peace at any cost” maneuvering is not lost on those who want Israel wiped off the map. It is creating a perception of weakness that will tempt them to act on their satanically driven hatreds.

Ezekiel foretold of a time at the end of days when a northern coalition will invade from the North (all biblical direction is given from Jerusalem). There is not space here to go into detail, but excellent scholarship has determined the chief attacker will be Russia, joined by many surrounding peoples. This attack will include forces from the area of ancient Persia, which encompasses all of Iran, and considerable surrounding geographical areas. This coalition, I am convinced today’s news headlines indicate, is gathering now. This will be the Gog-Magog assault described prophetically in Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39.

The one bright prospect, and it is a bright spot, indeed, is that the God of Israel will never let Israel be destroyed; we have His Word on that:

“This is what the Lord says, ‘He who appoints the sun to shine by day, Who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord Almighty is His Name; Only if these ordinances vanish from My sight,’ declares the Lord, ‘will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before Me’” (Jeremiah 31:35-36).

The bottom line is that Israel, the Jewish race, is again destined to become hated and persecuted—this time with satanic vitriol that will make Hitler’s Holocaust look somewhat less terrible by comparison.

Antichrist, the long-foretold, sometimes spoofed, but 100 percent Bible-prophecy guaranteed-to-come-on-the-world-scene tyrant, will implement genocidal policies against the Jewish race that will go far beyond draconian.

I didn’t make up this prediction. God’s Word, the Bible, does say it. I accept that Word as the only truth there is. I, and other Christians who know Jesus Christ as Lord, love, or should love, the Jewish people–the nation Israel. God loves you; so must we. You are His chosen. However, I, and they, can’t change what God has prophesied to take place, I’m convinced, in the relatively near future.

But, I, and they, are charged with showing individuals within Israel the way to escape the coming time of Antichrist’s regime of horror. Accept Christ now. He is Messiah. And one day, perhaps very soon, He will call His people—Jews and Gentiles who accept Him as Savior—to be with Him forever. This will be the Rapture. (That stunning event in which millions of people will vanish from planet Earth can be found in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and 1 Corinthians 15:51–55. Jesus spoke of it in John 14:1–3.)

The Rapture will take place before that time of horror–the era Jesus called “great Tribulation” (Matthew 24: 21).

The people of the nation Israel who are unrepentant (the remnant, for most will die in this last holocaust) will accept Christ at the last moment.

Here’s what that future remnant’s Messiah says:

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zechariah 12:9-10).

Israel will then be made the head of all nations, with the resurrected King David ruling as co-regent with the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, atop Mount Zion at Jerusalem for one thousand years–the Millennium! Believe it or not, that is your nation’s great God-promised destiny.

We who love Israel pray that you will believe.

Calm In Wild Weather – Peace in Life’s Storms :: By Ron Ferguson

Who controls Nature? Is it some arbitrary force often personified as “Nature,” or is it climate change (if you are desperately seeking an answer), or is it some random series of happenings? It is none of these. The One who created the entire universe is the One who has His hand on every aspect of it.

John 1:3 “All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” The Christian can accept that by faith and rest in the assurance it gives.

This is one week before Christmas 2023, and I am composing this message on a faithful 2007 MacBook Pro laptop in darkness because we have no electricity, and even this laptop’s battery will run out soon. You see, we just had a cyclone 5 days ago, and we are suffering the results of it.

Great storms around the world go by many names – hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones, depending on where you live. These weather events can be among the most powerful forces in nature. These great disturbances in the weather pattern are caused when warm tropical air begins to rise, causing a circular rotation of winds anti-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

The cyclone we had was called Jasper, and as far as strength goes, it was not a large one. It reached category 2 on a 5-rating scale. This cyclone was supposed to come right in on us but then moved a little to the north and eventually came on the coast 100 kilometers north of us. Our homes in North Queensland are built with cyclone ratings that make them a lot safer than homes built elsewhere. In fact, they are built to withstand 150 km/h winds, so they say.

Well, it passed without too much fuss in my city, but then did something unexpected. It was predicted by the Weather Bureau, who often get predictions wrong most of the time, to keep traveling west as a tropical low and, in a few days, head off toward Darwin. That did not happen. It moved to the west for about 200-300 kilometers or thereabouts, parked itself there for days, and has remained stationary.

Rain, and more rain! In the last 5 days, I have recorded 49.5 inches of rain (1250 mm) at my place, and that was followed by another half inch, making it a total of 50 inches. The rain stopped but the damage has been enormous.  I won’t go on about the damage. All day long we have a stream of helicopters coming and going because that is the only way to reach communities north of us. Some places have had over 2 meters of rain (that is 80 inches), and reports are coming in of even higher totals.

(I am revising this a few days later. The rain has stopped). It is like living in north-east India or Bangladesh or Assam. Rain has caused the city to be flooded, and the whole coastal region is suffering from flooded areas. All coastal rivers are at major flood levels. My house has some problems, but nothing like some people who have water in their homes and cave-ins entering their homes and are being evacuated.

The water damage is immense. Highways have had sections just washed out, completely gone, by the raging torrents of waters, and sections of ranges have collapsed, bringing large boulders and orange debris down over the roads. There is much more, and you can see that if you search “flooding in far North Queensland.”

It is at times like that we have a whole mix of emotions, and it is the same for all of us, Christian and non-Christian. It is the same in any crisis or tragedy. People are called upon sometimes to face awful tragedies, from medical diagnoses to receiving news of a family member being killed in a car accident.

Returning home to find your house has been burgled or running from your home because it is being engulfed by fire are just two more examples. I know the list is endless, and people suffer a lot.

The expression I used, “Christian and non-Christian,” might be equal for tragedy, but the understanding and support are different. We can put it this way. The Christian is like an oyster that is fastened to a rock, but the non-Christian is like a jellyfish that just passes by because there is no stability to which it can anchor itself. That Rock, of course, that Christians are anchored to is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Rock of support.

Psalm 18:2 “THE LORD IS MY ROCK AND MY FORTRESS and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” David found that Rock to be his refuge many times and resorted to his God on every occasion that the situation was too great for him. We have all seen in storms where items can be blown around in the wind. Lives are like that. They are carried by the winds in storms because life has no solid basis when isolated to itself.

One of the illustrations Jesus told was about that very matter. Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared with a wise man who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act upon them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.”

This story confirms there are only two foundations, and they are greatly contrasted. The stability was founded upon rock, but the sand represented the superficial life, one without substance. What that means is that there are only two ways: the correct one that leads to life and security, and the incorrect one that leads to death and hell. I am not being dramatic. There is too much superficiality in this world; people deluded and deceived by so many things. That is what Satan and his hordes do – they keep people away from eternal life in the Lord Jesus and bind them up in sin so they can’t be released.

Jesus said there were only two ways: the broad one because so many are on it, and the narrow one because only few are on it. He also said this – John 14:5-6 “Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going. How do we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER BUT THROUGH ME.'”

The world hates that message because Jesus said He is THE ONLY WAY TO GOD. People like to pave their own way to God, or they think there are many ways and that all religions lead to heaven. That is the devil’s lie. Jesus is the only way to the Father, and it is not found in a particular church or in keeping rules or traditions. The entry into God’s kingdom is simple; it is through a saving faith, but it is a committed faith. It is serious, not an act or a pretense or an act to please another person. It is genuine, but without it, you will perish.

Matthew 11:27-29 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. COME TO ME, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls.”

Sometimes in life, we have to weather pretty hard and fierce conditions. Life has many storms with fierce winds, and much personal damage and hurt can be done to us. There can be huge personal turmoil, and our lives can become hard or bitter and hurt. The storms can almost be too much to bear.

I know a woman who is a Christian, but she has all manner of tragedies and conflicts every day of her life, as well as great and constant health problems. What she has to put up with is horrendous, but her faith is in the Lord. Christians support her, and this is such a strength to her. When all is said and done, human beings are very frail people.

The bravado some have is all show, all on the surface, but when the real storm hits, the bravado is stripped away; at least it is stripped away on the inside. Real storms expose the fragility of a person, but once that becomes reality, then turn to Jesus with all your heart and soul, for there is salvation in no one else and comfort in no one else. SURRENDER YOUR LIFE TO THE LORD JESUS.

There is a calm that every human being can know in the midst of life’s storms. There is something very special about resting in the peace and calm that Jesus can give when turmoil rages all around you. When you are passing through rough seas, and the terrible weather of life comes your way, you can seek that calm and peace found in God’s love. That calmness God gives is like being in the sheltered eye of the storms of life.

There is a very fitting example of resting in calm over troubled waters or riding the wild elements in peace. It is found in a man of long ago called Noah. The world had become so bad and unjust that destruction came upon it, but Noah was a good man. While the judgment of God raged all around him, he was sheltered in the Ark that God had provided. That was the calm of God’s provision in the midst of the storm.

Sometimes I think of Noah in the ark, and I wonder what his thoughts were. Yes, he would have gratitude in being saved from destruction; he would be calm and contented in the will of God. I think he would also be very humble, for when God removes you from disaster and you realize the grace of God that did that, then your soul must open up to God. He would have known that because as the Lord had been faithful to him in the past and in the present, then the Lord would be faithful to him in the future. It reminds me of that verse – Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.”

This is a very important fact to contemplate – 2 Timothy 2:11-13 “It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”

Sometimes we confess we do deny the Lord in subtle ways, and we are not always faithful, being faithless on occasions. What a beautiful fact that even when we sinfully do that, the Lord remains faithful.

On the eve of the cross, Jesus said the most remarkable words to His disciples, words of comfort and strength, words of loving kindness, and words of assurance in all the storms of life. Nothing will ever separate us from the love of God, not lightning or raging torrents or howling winds. We have peace in life’s storms.

John 14:15-18 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments, and I will ask the Father, and He will give you ANOTHER HELPER THAT HE MAY BE WITH YOU FOREVER – that is, the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you.”

How wonderful our God is, yet men dismiss God; men turn from light to darkness and pursue their own destruction. Satan has the minds and hearts of most of the world’s population, and they rush blindly and hatefully on the way to hell. I am perturbed at the vile demonstrations and hate coming from these Palestinian demonstrations in our nations with slaughter on their minds toward the Jews. And these are joined by non-Moslems with a rabid hate for Israel, all fermented by that evil father of lies who hates God’s people, that is Satan.

Listen for a moment to those of you who are not saved. Please heed the words God has given. Terrible times are beginning to come on this world and will increase in intensity until the coming of the Lord for His own Christians. Then you will miss out. God tells you this – Hebrews 3:7-8 “Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS as when they provoked Me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness.” The Jews left Egypt in the exodus, but they hardened their hearts on the journey to Canaan, and they all missed out who had left Egypt. Salvation is offered to you in the world’s turmoil; peace in the storms of life, and assurance with God.

Are you wanting the place of calm in life’s storms? That special place is available for you. Jesus said, “COME TO ME, ALL WHO ARE WEARY AND HEAVY-LADEN, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29).

I have experienced a number of cyclones and have been in the eyes of three of them. The eye is the center of the giant storm, where it is relatively peaceful. During one of these cyclones in the past (remember the same as hurricanes), I wrote what I experienced. Here it is:

Cyclone Justin, which crossed the Australian coast in 1997, was one of these turbulent weather systems. The Weather Bureau had been tracking this cyclone for over three weeks. It developed in the Coral Sea as one of the biggest systems ever known. During the time it was being tracked by meteorological instruments, it drenched the whole northern Coral Sea with rainfalls of more than two meters (6-7 feet) in places. Then, it lost intensity and slowly drifted toward New Guinea.

In the hotter waters of the tropics, it reformed and grew in intensity and cut a course for the Australian coast. Strong upper-level winds sheared the top right off it when it had been 20 km high and carried most of the heavy rain off to New Guinea. But still, it kept coming, reforming itself as it advanced.

I was waiting, wondering if this system would hit us or veer away from the coast. Weather satellites and radar continued to monitor its progress as it tracked steadily toward the coast.

As usual all the coastal inhabitants had been warned to take precautions and prepare for a possible encounter with this unpredictable storm. Do you remember the cartoons that used to get around with some person holding a placard with “Prepare to meet your God” on it? Well, that is one preparation all should make, but this was another. Almost certainly the electricity would be cut.

Violent south-east winds had been blowing with increasing intensity for some time, and at 11 a.m. Saturday, Cyclone Justin hit us. It was one of the strangest feelings to be howled around by violent winds for a few hours, then rather suddenly, to be in the eye of the storm. For one hour, we were in the cyclone’s eye, which was 20 km across as it passed over the top of us.

What an experience! Now the weather had become calm, with only occasional gentle breezes. Overhead, you could see the wild storm with raging clouds racing across the sky in only about a minute, from horizon to horizon. Above and around, there was violence and turmoil and destruction, but for one hour, we were in the eye of the storm. I walked around outside. There was no rain, no hint of the fury we experienced just some minutes beforehand. Only debris and leaves and fallen trees proved that there was a cyclone indeed.

Then, a strange change of events happened. The clouds slowed, became still just for a short time, and then they changed direction. The weather became violent again, and the winds howled from the opposite direction, stronger than before.

That really spoke to me. Being in the eye of the storm was special. As I stood there watching the calm weather, I knew that only a few kilometers out, all around me, the storm was at its worst, but for me, in that one hour, there was calm. That weather event was a moving experience for me but just as moving is an experience with the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is the picture of Noah. He was at peace in the eye of the flood storm when all around was chaos and disaster. God was his stay and sure defense. Noah sheltered in the mighty Rock. What a moving experience to go through a cyclone and to know peace when in the eye. That is what God does for us all the time. He holds us in the “eye” of His hand in peace and comfort when all this world wants to do is batter the life out of us.

Jesus is our peace, our comfort, our hope of eternal salvation, our mighty Rock. Come, Lord Jesus, come, and soon, to take us to your very presence.

Amen!

ronaldf@aapt.net.au