Learn from your Roots
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
"So, your father heard Netanyahu on conservative talk radio the other day. Long story short, armageddon's on the doorstep."
"Yeah, pretty much."
-Everyday conversation between my mother and myself, 11/21/06
I often wonder, how serious is the believing community when it comes to the end times? Sure, you've got your Left Behind crew making millions off the anti-Christ, but does that really count? When the dreck hits the fan, are these people going to be ready, or are they going to be running scared? You've got plenty of TV preachers talking and writing about living in the end times, guys like John Hagee who write books claiming that the Christians will be raptured into their own heavenly Jerusalem while the Jews in Israel battle the anti-Christ on earth... when that glorious rapture never takes place (because it isn't scriptural, but that's another topic for another day) will those end of days congregants actually understand what's happening? Or will they be "eating and drinking as in the days of Noah," just waiting to be sucked up into the sky?
How seriously can you approach a situation when you're taught to believe that it won't effect you in any way? Or you gather the idea that it's fictional, something best left to storytelling? Or, you think it's a million years away? One time, in a television writing class, of all places, we got into a discussion about G-d. Eventually our professor asked the believers in the room if anyone thought Messiah was going to return in their lifetime. All the Christians (one of whom was the head of the University's Christian Fellowship) in the room said no. I said yes. The non-believers just shrugged; the believers were the ones who sat with mouths agape.
I remember thinking there was something terribly wrong with that picture.
I can recall laying in bed as a nine year old, listening as my mother watched Pat Robertson on the television in the next room. Once a year, during fundraising time, he'd go on this apocalyptic kick, preaching hellfire and damnation in-between pleas for money. I remember laying there and shaking with fear thinking of how horrible my life was going to be. I also remember reasoning that, if this is the way life is going to be, I might as well get used to it; the apocalypse was not something to be feared, but something to be looked forward to, right? It meant the return of Messiah, right? So, all these years later, I found myself thinking, "What are these Christians so afraid of?"
When Netanyahu basically insinuated that armageddon was on the doorstep, he was right. Anyone who's been following events in Israel (as all real believers would) would know that. Yet, what do we see happening here in America? Complete and utter ignorance. The media has basically put a black-out on any news involving Israel since the Gaza pullout. Our government is focusing on developing relationships with Syria, and possibly even Iran, at the expense of Israel. Most average Americans take one of two positions: for or against. Those who are for Israel are primarily Evangelical/non-denominational protestant Christians, who pray for Israel so that they and their country, in turn, will be blessed. You can't blame them for expecting something out of the deal; Genesis 12:3 and Psalm 122:6 are the most they've been taught from the Tanak.
Even the American Jews who support Israel do so out of an obligation instilled in them from birth, based on the belief that Jewish American money is what keeps the State of Israel going. This isn't necessarily a total falsehood, but it does justify the Jewish American attitude that the United States is their "new Zion". (Ever been to a Pesach seder that ends with the singing of "G-d Bless America" instead of "L'Shanah haba B'Yerushalayim"? I have.)
In other words, the Christians believe that their prayers for peace are enough; the American Jews believe that their money is enough. Are these things enough? Not when they justify willful ignorance used to mask fear. Placate the problem with money; instead of being praises to G-d, prayers are being used to band-aid a wound that just won't heal. When are Americans going to rip off the band aid and confront the bloody reality?
Israeli Jews may need our money and our prayers, but we need their courage. We need their pride. We need their stubborn bravery. Israeli Jews aren't band-aiding any wounds or throwing money at their problems; they're stepping up to the plate and preparing themselves for battle, because battle is the only solution to the problem.
IDF Enlistment: Motivation is High [Israel National News, via Israpundit]Baruch haShem for the willingness to fight, the courage to conquer fear, and the determination to win! How much do we, as believers in Yeshua, have to learn from these brave men and women! We who know the truth of Messiah, yet couch behind empty promises of rapture and false peace, we who are so willing to fall for the glamour of fictionalized accounts, only to pale at the idea of having to fight any real battles on our own. It is a pathetic thing that we who know the power of Messiah have reduced ourselves to nothing more than cowering mortals who seek to bribe or swindle for their earthly salvation.
Though precise numbers are not publicized, many hundreds of youths began their 3-year army service Sunday when the November group of IDF enlistees arrived in the Recruitment Center near Tel Aviv. [..]
Sunday's enlistment, the first since the recent war in Lebanon, showed continued motivation to serve in combat forces, especially in the Golani Infantry Brigade. Some 500 new recruits joined the Golani, beginning with four months of grueling basic training and two months of more advanced training. In addition, despite - or because of - the heavy involvement of tanks in the recent war, motivation to join the armored units remained high, and these units' personnel will increase in number. [..]
A senior officer overseeing the enlistment said that the youths are seeking to enlist in the more dangerous unity. "The units that their parents don't want them to go into," he told the NRG website, "that's where they want to go. Even parents who have lost a son in the line of duty are finding that their sons want to go specifically to Infantry."
For the first time, 18-year-old female soldiers enlisted for three-year stints in Field Intelligence. They will be trained to fight just like other soldiers, and will even be fit to fight against Hizbullah in Lebanon.
Then I said, "Lord, how long will this go on?"Believers like to talk about their Hebrew roots. Well, these are their roots: strong, mighty, holy seeds that survive destruction and cannot be torn from the land. Don't just study your roots and don't just embrace them; don't think your roots are 2,000 years old, or relegated to mere pages in a book. Your roots are living and thriving before your eyes.
And he replied, "Until their towns are empty, their houses are deserted, and the whole country is a wasteland; until the Lord has sent everyone away, and the entire land of Israel lies deserted.
If even a tenth of a remnant survive, it will be invaded again and burned.
But as a terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down, so Israel's stump will be a holy seed." [Isaiah 6:11-13]
You had better learn from them before it's too late, before you're the one who is uprooted because you aren't strong enough to last.
Messianic Judaism
Hebrew roots
Christianity
Zionism
Israel
church
posted by Shoshana @ 10:26 AM
