Thanksgiving Special: The Pilgrim Settlers & The Israelites :: By Bill Wilson

Published on: by RR10 Category:Bill Wilson, General Articles

Over the ages, there have been many parallels drawn between the United States and Israel. Close allies since the declaration of Israel as an independent state in 1948, America and Israel have shared economic, political and spiritual links.

One of those commonalities dates back to the original Pilgrims who ventured across the Atlantic to escape persecution and claim a new land in the “Name of God” and “Advancement of the Christian Faith,” as is written in the Mayflower Compact. William Bradford, an author of the Compact and leader of the Pilgrims, alluded to being driven out of England “as the heathen historians asserted of Moses and the Israelites when they went out of Egypt.”

Indeed, the allusion to the Israelites’ journey to the Promised Land was not lost on the Pilgrims as they prepared and eventually traveled from Leyden, the Netherlands, to the new America and the establishment of the Plymouth Colony in 1620.

The parallels between the Israelite’s Exodus and the Pilgrims are significant. Bradford’s history of the Plymouth Colony, carefully written in great detail in his work, “Of Plymouth Plantation,” documents the persecution that the Separatists endured from both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England under King James. The Separatists were poor and heavy-labored to survive and “submitted to bondage” by not being allowed “to enjoy the ordinances of God in their purity, and the liberty of the gospel.”

Thus, Bradford wrote, “They cherished a great hope and inward zeal of laying good foundations, or at least of making some way towards it, for the propagation and advance of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in the remote parts of the world, even though they should be but stepping stones to others in the performance of so great a work.”

Even so, King James would not grant the Separatists “religious freedom by his public authority, under his seal, [it] was found to be impossible.” They decided to move ahead and “trust to God’s providence for the outcome, as they had done in other things.” Bradford later wrote they “endeavored to establish the right worship of God and the discipline of Christ in the Church according to the simplicity of the gospel and without the mixture of men’s inventions, and to be ruled by the laws of God’s word.”

Bradford compared the Pilgrims’ plight to the Israelites’ migration from Egypt to Canaan:

“Our fathers were Englishmen who came over the great ocean and were ready to perish in the wilderness, but they cried to the Lord, and He heard their voice and looked on their adversity…. Yes, let them who have been redeemed of the Lord, show how He has delivered them from the hand of the oppressor.  When they wandered forth into the desert-wilderness, out of the way, and found no city to dwell in, both hungry and thirsty, their soul was overwhelmed in them [Psalm 107:1-6].  Let them confess before the Lord His loving kindness, and His wonderful works before the sons of men.”

Indeed, as Psalm 107:13 states, “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.”

Moreover, Bradford and his Mayflower colleague William Brewster are credited with bringing the Hebrew language to America. Some 400 books, many in Hebrew, were in the hold of the Mayflower.

Bradford was a student of Hebrew. Why? In his own words:

“Though I am growne aged, yet I have had a longing desire to see with my own eyes, something of that most ancient language, and holy tongue, in which the law and Oracles of God were write; and in which God and angels spake to the holy patriarchs of old time; and what names were given to things from creation…”

The Exodus from Europe to a new land; The wilderness of starvation and death; The deliverance by the hand of God; and The Thanksgiving “sukkot feast”—the first Thanksgiving. And the making of a new nation under God—the parallels of the Israelites and the Pilgrims.

Posted in The Daily Jot

 

They Parade Their Sin Like Sodom :: By Lynda Janzen

Published on: by RR10 Category:General Articles

“For Jerusalem stumbled,
And Judah is fallen,
Because their tongue and their doings
Are against the Lord,
To provoke the eyes of His glory.
9 The look on their countenance witnesses against them,
And they declare their sin as Sodom;
They do not hide it.
Woe to their soul!
For they have brought evil upon themselves” (Isaiah 3:8-9 NKJV).

9 “The look on their faces testifies against them;
they parade their sin like Sodom;
they do not hide it” (Isaiah 3:9 NIV).

“Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14) (7th Commandment) All emphases are added

In 1970, Ruth Graham, Rev. Billy’s wife, made the bold statement, “If God doesn’t punish America, He owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology.” That was 53 years ago! Our Western nations were already on the moral slippery slope back then. Ever since, each year has seen an increase in the abuse of the seventh commandment in every possible aspect of it. So many missed the signs back then, and it seems that the majority of the elder generation has been asleep about these issues. Many are now waking up, finally, to find the world has morphed into this spiritual nightmare called “Woke’ism.”

The Bible account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is compelling. The men of the two cities were inflamed with a proclivity for rampant sexual depravity. Abraham’s nephew Lot, though he lived in Sodom, was the lone righteous man there. Two angels visited Lot to tell him he was to leave the city right away, for “The outcry to the LORD against its (the city’s) people is so great that He has sent us to destroy it.”

The angels were insistent and were under considerable constraint of time to get Lot and his family to safety. Finally, after dragging his feet for a bit, Lot consents to leave, and the LORD God “rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah from out of the heavens. Thus, He overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the land. But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” (Genesis 19:24-26).

When confronted with the account of Sodom and Gomorrah as God’s displeasure at the actions of their citizens, “Woke” spokespersons will inevitably raise this old chestnut: “Well, the sin wasn’t homosexuality; it was inhospitality.” Somewhere, at some time in the hazy past, a ‘woke’ pastor mistranslated this text into one of the greatest lies ever told on planet Earth.

Now, stay with me for a minute here.

Isaiah is among the greatest of the major prophets, not only because the book is lengthy but also because some of the greatest prophecies about Israel and the advent of Messiah are found in his writings. The prophecies of Isaiah are clear and unmistakable. There is no fog around the meaning of Isaiah’s prophecies. And almost all of them have been fulfilled.

The verses we began with may not have made as much sense to past generations as they do for us today.

You have to admit, this language is crystal clear in light of how the ‘woke’ crowd is acting in the 21st century. Let’s take a closer look.

“For Jerusalem stumbled, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of His glory” (NKJV).

According to Wikipedia, Israel was among the earliest of nations to recognize the rights of persons identifying as LGBTQ.

“Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Israel are considered the most developed in the Middle East.[2] Although same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1988, the former law against sodomy had not been enforced since a court decision in 1963. Israel became the first country in Asia to recognize unregistered cohabitation between same-sex couples, making it the first country in Asia to recognize same-sex unions in any capacity. Although same-sex marriages are not performed in the country (as it does not have civil non-religious marriages), Israel recognizes same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.”

It’s safe to say, given the above information, that Jerusalem has indeed stumbled and that Israel, among many, many other nations, has provoked the eyes of God’s glory by tolerating this sin in the land that gave us the Ten Commandments, including the 7th: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

“9 The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it” (NIV).

The very first Gay Pride Parade happened in New York on June 28th, 1970. It quickly caught on, and the practice spread throughout the major centers of the U.S. over the next few years. In Canada, the first Gay Pride Parade occurred in Toronto on June 27, 1981. Again, the practice quickly spread across the nation and, indeed, the whole world. In June 1999, then President Bill Clinton declared the month of June to be Pride month. Today, that practice is worldwide.

If the LORD God had demolished Sodom and Gomorrah for inhospitality, why is the sin of homosexuality PARADED? And how, indeed, could you even parade inhospitality? How would an inhospitable person testify against him-herself with a look on his-her face? Consider, in light of these parades, what this text is really saying!

It may be that some people are truly waking up to these practices and are beginning to push back, even just a little.

In New York, this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is said to be promoting and sponsoring a non-binary and transgender extravaganza, including performances by LGBTQ actors from Broadway shows. A petition launched by a group called “One Million Moms” argues that the parade will push the LGBTQ agenda, whether children watch it in person or on TV.

The petition states, in part:

“Shame on Macy’s for promoting and sponsoring this type of entertainment. We still cannot trust Macy’s Dept. Store. It is clear that Macy’s does not have our children’s best interests in mind. Macy’s needs to know that trust must be earned and once trust is lost, it is difficult to get back.”

“One performer, Alex Newell, is a biological male who also identifies as non-binary. The petition states, “Newell, who uses all pronouns (he/she/they), has worn women’s clothes in recent public appearances and dressed in a shimmering, gold ball gown for the Tonys. We believe that our children deserve to be protected from vulgar and sexually explicit materials. The fact that even our national holidays, like Thanksgiving, are sexualized is absurd and an absolute disgrace. As concerned citizens, we must speak up and take action to protect the next generation.”

God is not pleased with us, any of us! All the nations of the world are complicit. Right now, it is Israel who is fighting for her life once again.

But remembering what the LORD visited on Sodom and Gomorrah, is any nation safe from God’s displeasure?

One more word about the twin sin cities. Modern archaeology is finding out more and more about just how widespread and complete the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was. They have found little balls of sulfur embedded in the ruins and whole fields of glass, which would have been desert sand. Only something like a mega-meteorite or a hydrogen bomb could have done damage like that. Modern experts are saying it was, indeed, a meteorite that wiped out the two cities and the surrounding area. But make no mistake: the LORD God made the universe. He can use anything in it as He sees fit. He obviously saw fit to destroy these two cities. The meteorite could have randomly hit Jerusalem or any other center in the area … BUT IT DIDN’T!

In Matthew 24, Jesus uses the term’ birth pains’ to describe what will come on the world before He comes again. Once the ‘birth pains’ began, they would quickly intensify and increase in frequency until, toward the end, nothing would ever have been worse or ever would be as bad, ever again. It would be as in the days of Noah and Lot. While people went about their business, evil would increase exponentially until it engulfed the whole world. And then the judgment and wrath of God would come, as outlined in the Book of Revelation.

In God’s Timeline, the next event will be the Rapture of the Church, followed relatively quickly by the unveiling of the antichrist and his confirming of a covenant of peace, which, according to Daniel 9:27, will kick start the seven-year period of tribulation.

“He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”

Jesus, again in Matthew 24, confirms this prophecy in verses 15-16: “So when you see standing in the holy place, the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel – let the reader understand – then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”

Some are pointing to the current war in Israel possibly as the war that will culminate with a “covenant of peace, signed by many.” If so, the Blessed Hope, as Titus refers to the Rapture, is nearly upon us.

Almighty God told us in Genesis 6:3, “My Spirit will not contend with humans, forever…” There comes a day when a reckoning will be demanded of every person on earth. If you are right with God, have confessed your sin and come to Him through His Son Jesus the Messiah, you are saved from the wrath to come (Revelation 3:10). If you are not so saved, please keep reading.

Glory to God the Father Almighty, and His precious Son, our Saviour Jesus Messiah, and His Most Comforting Holy Spirit. AMEN!

If anyone reading this article has not yet received Jesus as their Saviour, but God has touched your heart by His Holy Word, please email me (amadea0204@gmail.com) or find a Bible-believing local church and ask the Pastor what you must do to be saved in Grace. In the meantime, please consider the ABCs of Salvation, and may GOD bless you.

A – Admit

Admit what you have done wrong and ask forgiveness.

Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death.”

I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

B – Believe

Believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again as a payment for your sins.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

C – Confess and Choose

Confess and choose to allow God to be in charge of your life.

Matthew 16:24 “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

Romans 10:9 “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Romans 10:13 “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”