Recently, the Lord has opened up the door for me to write a monthly article on Israel in the Baja Christian Newspaper, "Kronos". This newspaper is distributed from Ensenada to the tip of the Baja, in Cabo San Lucas. I wrote my first article this week and I am posting it today in English version for you. Please pray for me as I walk through this door the Lord has given me. Shalom, Brandy
“Israel, Bible Prophecy, and You.”
Kronos Newspaper, Article #1, March, 2009
By Brandy Cook
Director, Comfort Israel, a division of I.D.T. / A.C.
Children. The joy of our hearts. Our little ones can make us laugh or cry. They can cause us the greatest contentment and the deepest pain. It is our children that cause us to stop whatever we are doing in an instant. No matter how busy we are, if our children are in trouble, nothing else matters. It is our children’s laughter that makes us think that even for just one moment in time, all is okay in the world. It is our children that cause us to weep uncontrollably, when they choose to walk down the wrong path in life. And it is our children, who give us the reason to run to them rejoicing, when they come home. Children.
You may be thinking, what do my children have to do with this article about Israel, Bible Prophecy and the Church? Everything. For God’s chosen people the Jews are God’s children, as we are who believe. And the Father’s heart is broken, broken for His people Israel. As Jesus taught us in the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32, so longs the Father’s heart for His firstborn, Israel to come home. To know their Messiah. To believe in the One who He sent. Read Romans 10:1, Romans 11 and Jeremiah 31:31-37.
“Sing, O heavens! Be joyful all the earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted. But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you, see I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before me.” Isaiah 49:13-16
God loves Israel. The Jewish people are not forgotten in the eyes of the Father. Consider the words of Zechariah 2:8 when the Lord says about the Jews, “… for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.” In other words, in the Hebraic interpretation of this verse, you could read it to understand that “He who touches Israel pokes God in the eye.”
Some of you may be thinking right now, “I thought the Jewish people were from the Old Testament and didn’t exist anymore.” Some others reading this may be thinking, “I thought Israel was rejected by God and now I am Israel”. Yet others of you may be thinking, “What does Israel have to do with me as a Christian?”. Dear ones, with the love of God I respectfully share with you today, that the Lord is inviting you to take a deeper look into His heart. I think we would all agree that He wants ALL of our heart. We call out in prayer consistently crying, “Lord, I am yours, I surrender to you, and I want your will, I want what YOU want.” In return, I also believe He wants us to have ALL of His heart, and a huge portion of His heart is ISRAEL. Israel did not cease to exist. Israel, as a people and a nation, are alive today and a FULFILLMENT OF BIBLICAL PROPHECY.
We are living in an hour that is experiencing more fulfilled Bible prophecies since Jesus went to the cross. Just within the past 100 years, more ancient prophecies spoken by God through the prophets of old are coming true IN OUR LIFETIME.
The first century church was predominantly Jewish. Jesus’ disciples were all Jews. Jesus was, is and always will be a Jew. He was born in Bethlehem, Israel. He grew up in Nazareth, Israel. He spend a good part of His ministry in the Galilee area, in Israel. And he was crucified and ressurection from the dead, in Jerusalem, Israel. The same Land of Israel that existed thousands of years ago, is still there today. We have been there several times and I can testify to the fact that EVERY WORD OF THE BIBLE IS TRUE, AND MODERN DAY ISRAEL IS A FULFILLMENT OF ANCIENT BIBLICAL PROPHECY. And it is God’s heart, that His Bride, the Church, pray for, bless and comfort His firstborn, Israel the children of Abraham, with God’s Biblical love.
May the 14th, 1948. Consider the scripture written by the Jewish prophet Isaiah in chapter 66 verse 8. It says “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children. Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord…..” This incredible promise, this ancient prophecy was fulfilled only 61 short years ago. IN OUR GENERATION, on May the 14th, 1948 when Israel was reborn as a nation according to God’s promise, we have witnessed this scripture fulfilled.
Within the last 100 years, (and most since 1948), over 6 million Jews, the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are now living in the ancient Land of Israel. These people have come “home” from the countries from which they were scattered! There are still Jews living in other countries that are still in the process of Ezekiel 37 including MEXICO. God is inviting you to participate with Him in these last days, in bringing the Jewish people back to their Land according to His Word. Please read Isaiah 43: 1-6 and Isaiah 49: 13-22, focusing on verse 22. There are over 85 scriptures that refer to God brining His people back to the Land of Israel. It’s happening now!
Church of the Living God, Messiah Y’shua, Jesus Christ is about to return! The Word of God tells us that the Jews would be re-gathered again a second time (some in unbelief) to THEIR OWN LAND before Jesus comes back. This was impossible until this generation, when Israel became a nation again in 1948. Open your heart and ask the Holy Spirit reveal to you the immensity of this. The Word tells us God would plant Israel back in their own land before Messiah’s return. Again, I encourage you to read Ezekiel 37. You are living in the day and hour of this prophetic chapter! Make sure your lamps are trimmed! Be about your Father’s business! Be ready to preach the Gospel! Be ready to follow the Lamb wherever He goes! Desire to want all of Him, including His heart for His children, the people of Israel!
Everything God is doing to wind up history centers around the nation of Israel, God’s prophetic “time clock.” Nothing can change the Word of God and His plan. And He desires that ALL of His children, both Jew and Gentile, come home to His heart.
I hear all the time here amongst my Christian friends here in Vicente Guerrero, “God is so faithful, at times we forget about Him, but He never forgets about us.” And this is a true saying. For the Father never, ever forgets about His children. Both Jew and Gentile alike.