Chaplain Desk – Israel My Glory

There’s an organization that is very pro-Israel. It’s called Friends of Israel, and they put out a very good magazine every other month called Israel My Glory.  (foi.org)  For those who receive the magazine, and follow the organization in any way, they also put out a prayer calendar.  For Friday the 13^th of September (2019), the request was, “That God protects Jewish students from the swell of anti-Semitism on university campuses, and raise up influential advocates for Israel.”

That’s a prayer request that should be on the minds of all who claim to love God.  The safety of all students should not have to be debated.  Schools of higher learning used to be safe places for all ideas to be debated, but too many have taken a turn and only allow certain ideas to be promulgated.  Vitriol and hatred for those who think differently seem to permeate not just American schools, but those world-wide.

Families are torn apart due to thinking differently.  Cain and Abel were different and Cain killed his brother.  Ishmael and Isaac were different and look what we have today; a world-wide problem.  Differences can also be in habits or mores.  Peninnah despised Hannah because she had no sons.  We’re not told if things became any better after Hannah had Samuel, but usually these things are so ingrained that they last, they go on and on.  Peninnah probably still felt superior because she had had a son longer.

Satan knew the Messiah would come though the nation of Israel and so he has used every weapon he can think of to destroy Israel.  Christians believe Messiah has come and He will come again, to Israel.  He will rule in and through Israel.  He is coming as the prophets of old have predicted.  He first came to save and He is next coming to destroy the evil one.  There will wailing and gnashing of teeth by many before that day, but it is coming.

Ezekiel 34 is a great chapter concerning the leaders of Israel and the promise of Messiah to come.  It ends like this: 20-30  `Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: “Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep. “Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad, “therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. “I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd.  “And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.  “I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.  “I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.  “Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them.  “And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid.  “I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, nor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore.  “Thus they shall know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” says the Lord God.’ ” “You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,” says the Lord God.’ ”   What a great promise for Almighty God!

There are nations that will attack Israel, but God will protect the nation.  The apple of His eye will survive.  As in days of old, it appears there will only be a surviving remnant, but Israel is going to come through it all, with God’s help.  The day is coming when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess who God is.  Isaiah predicted His coming, as well as David and others.

The prophet Ezekiel told of the wars yet to come in chapters 38 and 39.  Read the first few verses of 38.   1-12.  Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,  “and say, `Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.  “I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. “Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet;  “Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops many people are with you. “Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them.   “After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.  “You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.”  `Thus says the Lord God: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan:  “You will say, `I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’  “to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land.

Are these not enemies of Israel today, for the most part?  God says He is going to bring them in so that He can show His glory when He defeats them.  You might ask, what is the end of this?  How can I know for sure about this?  God said it, He promised it would come, and He has always kept His promises.  Chapter 39 ends with these words.

(21-28). “I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. “So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward.  “The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword.  “According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.”   “Therefore thus says the Lord God: `Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name `after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid. `When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, `then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their own land, and left none of them captive any longer.  `And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord God.”

The prophet Micah also tells us that Messiah is coming.  Chapters 4 & 5 are full of “Latter Days” prophecy.  When are Latter Days?  The Apostle Paul gives us many good examples of what to look for.  In his second letter to Timothy we read: 1.  But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2.  For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3.  unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4.  traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  5.  having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!  6.  For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,  7.  always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.  Does that not sound like today’s society?  Proud, money-hungry, traitors, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, and so much more.

In the Book of Daniel we see many prophecies about “latter days.”  I love the inner strength that Daniel possessed for God. His stand not to eat from the king’s table because the food had been offered to idols, and his continued prayer life throughout his life time stand as examples of a godly person for us today.  Do we have that strong stand for what God wants, or do we compromise?  God wants people to stand for His Word.  He then has made promises He will not fail to fulfill.

Look to God for all of your needs.  He loves His children, and if you are following His commands, you are His child.  As a Christian, I turn to Jesus every day for strength and guidance.  He has promised that if I follow him, He calls me a friend.  What a thought: I am a friend of God.  You can be, too.  It will prepare you for tougher days to come.  You must be ready for what God has promised for this world.  Read your Bible.  That’s the only way.  He IS coming soon!

Chaplain Bob