Tag: Israel

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Reflections on My Journey to Israel

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King (Psalm 48:1-2 ESV).

My first impression of the city of Jerusalem is that it is indeed built on a mountain. When the Psalmist cried out, “Let us go up to the house of the Lord,” he meant “Let’s walk up the mountain.” Between the city and the Mount of Olives is the Kidron Valley. To walk around Jerusalem is to walk uphill. Also, everything is compact. Various sites that one reads about in the Bible are just several minutes walk apart. On most days, we walked between five and eight miles visiting various sites. This is not a journey for the faint of heart.

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Dogs at the Table

One of the harshest statements to come from Jesus was “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Matthew 15:26). When we realize that these words were spoken to a widow in distress they seem to defy the virtues of love and mercy. How can we properly understand these harsh words? What is the significance of this narrative?

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Who is Israel?

This is the text of a speech I offered on the floor of the General Council of the Church of God in response to a resolution in support of the State of Israel. The attempt here is not to make a political statement, but a theological statement.

The Apostle Paul referred to himself as a “Hebrews of Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5). He insisted that Israel is not the children of Abraham by the flesh (Romans 9:6); but the children of Abraham by faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:7). Not those who are circumcised in the flesh; but those whose hearts are circumcised by the Holy Spirit (Romans 2:28-29). The promises of God to Abraham are not fulfilled in the nation state of Israel; but in the revelation of God’s Son, Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:16). God loves the world (John 3:16) and God’s promise is not limited to the land of Palestine, but that the meek shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).

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God’s Mission to the Nations

Break forth, shout joyfully together, You waste places of Jerusalem; For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations, That all the ends of the earth may see The salvation of our God (Isaiah 52:9-10).

The prophets of ancient Israel declared that Yahweh is the One who fills the earth with the glory of His presence (Isaiah 6:3). The prophets were theologians par excellence and their theological expectations are fulfilled in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here selected passages are interpreted via a Trinitarian model to demonstrate how the prophetic writings reveal God’s mission to rule all the nations of the earth.

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