“So the LORD gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it.” (Jos 21:43, NKJV)
The sub-theme we have been concerned with since Day 341 deals with the blood of Jesus which brings reconciliation between the Jews and the heathen. We had to investigate how the destiny of the Jewish nation had developed within God’s greater plan for the world. This led to some very interesting findings, especially about the changing dispensation between the old and new covenant. If what we have learnt about Israel is the truth, then it surely also has some implications concerning the geographical land of Israel. For most believers who already consider Israel a chosen nation the little piece of the Mid-East is by default also holy. When I had the chance to visit Israel a few years ago I accordingly had an intense excitement at the prospect of walking where Jesus had walked (excluding walking on water, Thomas of little faith J), seeing where He had been born, raised, crucified, where Elijah had prophesied, etc. And – I wanted to be baptized in the Jordan.
Great was my disappointment when the spiritual climate in Israel was so hostile towards my spirit that I spent almost eighteen hours of the day in spiritual warfare. There was more demonic presence in Israel than in any other country I had ever visited, including Russia. The religious spirit, a demonic principality of the highest order, doesn’t allow spirit-filled individuals to simply walk around playing at being a tourist.
For most Christians this is a bitter pill to swallow. What is it about this piece of land which not only makes it politically very loaded, but spiritually loaded as well?
And if what we said about the Jews in the previous teachings is true, why did Israel get their promised land back after 2700 years? That amazing event in 1948, when the nation, as the prophet supposedly said, was born in one day? Is it not all part of the prophetic conclusion of the end-time prophecy that Israel would come out of their international Diaspora an exiled nation returning to their own land, that which God had promised them through an eternal covenant? Did it not have to happen for the events of the end-time to be fulfilled? This is what we had been taught.
There are quite a number of books that point this out in popular-apocalyptical style – Jerusalem: the final countdown, On the road to Armageddon: How evangelicals became Israel’s best friend, amongst others.
Alas not so. Each of these books have basically the same theological underpinning, but it is often loosely based on verses presented out of context, a neatly packaged lie. The church had gotten so strangled in this unbiblical theology that they had been robbed of their inheritance as the 42nd generation.
In the next few teaching we will unpack, in the light of Biblical prophecy, whose promised land Israel indeed is. In the time in which this manna is being originally written, early January 2009, there is a full-scale war raging about this sensitive matter, which affects the entire world. And born-again Christians with a wrong perspective on Israel are aiding the enemy’s plan to not let the kingdom of God come in Israel and the surrounding regions.
- Sela: First try and determine what you believe about the geographical piece of land now called Israel.
- Read: Deut 2 Joel 2; Ezek 28
- Memorize: Joel 2:7-9
- For a deeper understanding: For background information regarding the next teachings that follow, read Paul Johnson ‘s A history of the modern world, pp 484-487 & 666-667.
