“All of you who are on the Lord’s side come over here and join me”. (Exodus 32:26).
It’s all about “taking a stand” vs. “good intentions”.
These were the words of Moses as he stood in the gate of the camp with his people. In a few moments I will pick up this story and bring to everyone a challenge. Sometimes the church sings “These are the Days of Elijah” but I wonder if they know truly about “salvation
Coming from Zion’s Hill“. I wonder if they really believe what they are singing!
Having lived among the Jewish people for over 20 years now, I know that most Jewish people are far more interested in our deeds than any words we will ever say. In the famous words of Margaret Thatcher, “No one will ever remember a Good Samaritan if they only have “good intentions”.
It was November 19, 1940. Emmanuel Ringelbaum had kept a journal of the war and he wrote: “A Christian was killed today, for throwing a sack of bread over the wall of the Warsaw ghetto“. It says a lot. This unnamed Christian gave his life to help the Jews – He did more than have “good intentions”.
Danish Christians put their faith into deeds in 1943 by hiding Jews and transporting many to Sweden.
The Christians in the village of LeChambon, France, saved approximately 3,000 Jewish people. Through the leadership of their Pastor, the people had strong ethical standards and valued human life. The Pastor had inspired the whole village to a high plane of Christian living. It is natural to help. It was right. They did more than have “good intentions”.
The Ten Boom family in Holland: father Ten Boom had set the example “If I go home today, tomorrow I will open my door to any man in need who knocks” were his words to the Nazis. Of course he died in a camp. His children though continued hiding and helping the Jews.
Dietrich Bonheoffer, a German Pastor was hung on the gallows by the Nazis because he defied their goals of extermination of the Jewish people.
Expressing concern for Israel is not enough.
Praying that God will help Israel: it is good, but it is not enough.
We have to care enough to do something.
Go to work to “make a difference”. Do not hang on good intentions!
Will we ever face another “holocaust?” God forbid. But if we do, we had better make a commitment now as to how we are going to help. What can we do in times of anti-Semitism that may get worse?
When the crisis comes, there will be plenty of opportunities.
There will eventually be a massive aliyah (going up) coming from the West.
Terrified Jewish people responded to “Crystal Nacht” by lining up at foreign consulates in a desperate attempt to get out of Germany. But it was too late. The Nazis permitted them to take about 2% of their savings, sending them out penniless.
The lessons of the holocaust are a stern warning to both Jews and Christians. The Nazis had enough gas left tot kill 20,000,000 more people. Who was next? Who is Islam against today? First the Saturday people. Next the Sunday people.
Today the Church wants to be the Bride without knowing the Groom’s family!
We’ve got to do more than listen, we’ve got to actively help!
I have lived in Israel over 21 years…
I have worked with holocaust survivors; I have heard hundreds of stories and am close friends with too many to count. I have heard “Sharon, why didn’t the Christians help us? They didn’t have to love us but they could have helped us?Before she died, love of Jesus shown to her!
The one who received the Lord in Tel Aviv.
Polish Christians and the Jews who knocked on the doors of their homes – they had moved in before the soup on the stove was cold!
“You are 2,000 years late but we’re glad you’ve come”.
Luba: Black since the war…………..lavendar dress…because our came, I will never wear black again.”
There are countless Christians in the nations today who are wavering in their stand with Israel. They justify indifference and apathy towards Israel with remarks such as “I don’t know any Jews“. “So, how does Israel effect me?” or “God has not called me to concern myself with the Jews”.
We must do more to be actively involved!
We have been ignoring the RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CHURCH TO ISRAEL for a long time now!
It is a day of decision. There is no middle position, no tritium quid. Everyone must take a stand because not taking a stand is taking a stand against by default!
“The Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Let him come unto me”. (Exodus 32;26). After a tremendous spiritual experience on the mountain with God, Moses stops to look down to the camp he left behind. His eyes catch sight of the evil conduct among the Jewish people below. His anger becomes hot as he lifts the stone tablets of the law, which God had given to him for the people. With all the strength he has, he hurls the tablets to the ground and shatters them into pieces. As he walks into the camp with his face like a flint, he calls. For those still on the Lord’s side to join him and take a stand. In essence, his response was “All of you who are on the Lord’s side, come over here and join me”. The Levites came forward. The fate of those who never stepped over onto the side of righteousness was sealed. Moses called for a decision to be made by everyone…..so it will be with the Church!
Moses made the people take a stand for right or wrong!
Good decisions take backbone and fortitude…the old fashioned term we used to use was “it takes guts“. In the book of Deut. 30:19 God spoke to the children of Israel and said “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: choose life…” In other words, “choose wisely!”. Everyone had to make a decision. What does it mean today to be “on the Lord’s side?” In short it means we discern and obey God’s Word in a day where deception is prevalent!
A centuries old and yet cogent and very misleading doctrine called “Replacement Theology” is still rampant in churches around the world influencing many. Those on the Lord’s side will place themselves under the authority of God’s Word and question this teaching. We are not free to pick and choose favorite Bible verses and reject others.
We cannot read just the New Testament. But the whole Bible. The Torah can stand alone. The New Testament must have the Torah which is its foundation.
Standing on God’s side will convey to the world that we believe the whole counsel of God. Abraham Lincoln once asked his critics a question. He said “If you call a cow’s tail a leg, how many legs does a cow have?‘ His critics answered, “Five”. Lincoln replied, “No, just calling a tale a leg doesn’t make it so!”. Likewise, just because some preach “God is finished with Israel” it doesn’t make it so! Our duty? To find out what the Bible says.
Also known as “Covenant Theology”, it has dominated nearly the entire history of the Church and can be traced back to the 3rd century. The Church fathers errored – this is hard for some to admit. The only One who didn’t teach it was Jesus. He said to us “Salvation is of the Jews”. (John 4). All we have received came from them. We owe them a great debt: this is the Church’s Responsibility to the Jewish people.
A wrong method of interpretation by many of the Church fathers opened up a demonic Pandora’s box of “divers and strange doctrines” which Shaul warned us about in Hebrews 13:9. He said this would be “contrary to the doctrine which you have learned…avoid them”. (Romans 16:17). Eluding Romans 9, 10 and 11 which is Paul’s specific admonition to the Church , led the Church astray over many centuries of time. (Rev. 21 – Replacement Theology).
The voice of Replacement Theology says God has traded one wife for another. God actually described His relationship with Israel in terms of a marriage: “I will betroth you to Me forever: yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in loving kindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord”. (Hosea 2:19-20).
Those subscribing to Replacement Theology will not say that God is guilty of divorcing the Jewish people; in effect they say that He is still committed to His wife – it’s just that her identity changed. She is now the Church. The Jewish people have been swapped for the Christians. God says He hates divorce. If Replacement Theology is true, God has then divorced the Jews and Has done what He says that He hates.
Many Christians today do not know the Word of God well. Some say “Can’t I just learn the Word by going to church?” The answer is yes, but it is like being a student without attending classes. You must do your own personal study. We are commanded to “search the Scriptures”, this is very Jewish and to “study to show yourself approved…rightly dividing the word of truth”. (II Tim. 2;15). So don’t be deceived in these “days of deception”.
Now is not a time for wavering. Would God ask us as He asked Elijah “How long will you halt between two opinions?” (I Kings 18:21). It is wisdom to question false teaching.
Israel is heralding the coming of the Messiah and few are paying attention to her. God says “Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision…” (Joel 3:14, 15).
It all boils down to the truth. When I think of truth, I think of the first Christian institution of higher learning in America founded din 1642. A young man from Cambridge named John Harvard went to Massachusetts. Harvard University’s motto in 1692 was “Veritas Christo et Ecclesia” (Truth for Christ and the Church).
The original seal of Harvard’s crest portrayed a shield and three opened books, two facing up and one facing down to symbolize the limitation of human knowledge. In recent decades the third book has been turned face up to represent the unlimited capacity of the human mind. The motto has been changed to “Veritas” – Truth. But what is real truth? The Bible is the only source of purest truth in the world today. The Jews gave it to us! Are we grateful?
Alliance with God required agreement with God and His unchanging Word, based on Torah which the Jewish people brought to us.
Christians need to marshal their prayer and support behind Israel.
The real “mother of battles” is ahead for all on this planet and it will not be between Arabs and Jews only but between God’s Word, the Jewish Scriptures, and deception in the Koran, which wants to destroy God’s people, Jews and Christians – who believe in the Jewish Scriptures.
The ugly head of this religious deception (Islam) bit the United States in 2001 and has again with the inauguration of a Moslem president and it is biting the world and little Israel.
And so, may the “Ruth” part of the true Church march forward in a strong Biblical alliance, with Israel and firmly grounded in truth.
Pray that we will be united at each other’s side with more numbers without breaking rank as we partner with God for His agenda for Israel, for their redemption and for the redemption of the world.
But it is going to take more than listening, more than study, it will take action and deeds to accomplish our goals not only to heal the Jewish heart of 2,000 years of neglect and mistreatment by organized Christianity but to take a stand against anti-Semitism and anti-Israel rhetoric.
