Time for Christians to take a bold stand for Israel

David Silver

As Israel moves on from the third general election a period
of four years, this nation that was miraculously 'resurrected' on May 14^th
1948, and has also miraculously survived attack after attack from her Arab
neighbors in her short but tumultuous 54 year history, is at the most precarious
situation of her entire history. The Likud party of encumbent PM Ariel Sharon
were returned to power in a landslide victory. Mr Sharon now has 120 days to put
together a coalition government, and at the same time deal with increasing
pressure from the 'Quartet' - the USA, UN, EC and Russia as they endeavor to
force Israel to submit to their 'Road Map' plan for a lasting peace in the
Middle East.

Israel was born out of the double-mindedness of the Egyptian
Pharaoh. The Lord sent the plagues to convince Pharaoh to agree to His demand to
let His people go, but each time Pharaoh changed his mind and held the Hebrew
slaves back. Only after the Angel of Death slayed all the first born of Egypt
were the Hebrews finally set free, and even then Pharaoh changed his mind and
sent his army out to bring them back. A foolish decision which resulted in the
total destruction of the Egyptian army.

Thus began Israel's checkered history. A 3600 year saga of
wars, walking with God, backsliding, repenting, the Babylonian exile and return
70 years later, the coming of the Messiah and finally the destruction of
Jerusalem, the Temple and the dispersion of most of the Jewish people to every
corner of the Earth in 70 AD.

However the Bible is full of God's promises to restore
Israel and the Jewish people at the end of the age, just prior to the second
coming and millennium reign of Jesus (Acts 3:21). This miraculous restoration
began with the First Zionist Congress in 1897, which 49 years later saw the
modern nation of Israel reborn in one day, exactly as prophesied in Isaiah 66:8
and Ezekiel 36:8.

Over the last 100 years 5.25 million Jews have returned to
the land that the Lord promised to Abraham. These modern Israelites are a
fulfillment of the prophecy of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37:4-5. It is now being
quoted that since the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967, a million Jews have
come to realize that Yeshua (Jesus) was and is their promised Messiah. The Lord
has breathed His Spirit back into these Messianic Jews, as He said He would in
Ezekiel 37:9.

Isaiah 11:11-12 tells us that the restoration of Israel will
be a banner, a sign to all of the nations of the Earth. A sign that He is the
Lord and that His Son is about to return to rule the entire world from His
Throne in Jerusalem.

This is what the Arab / Israeli conflict is all about. Satan
knows this and does not like it ! The Devil has never liked it. He used Pharaoh
to hinder the birth of Israel. Failing, he then used early Israel's Arab
neighbors, Haman in the time of Esther, Antiochus Epiphanes, and finally Adolf
Hitler to carry out his evil exploits, in the hope of destroying the nation that
represents his ultimate destruction.

Since 1948, the Devil has again used Israel's Arab
neighbors and the Muslim world to resist the plan of God. The day after Israel
was declared a state in 1948, the Arabs viciously attacked. Again in 1956, 1967
and 1973 there were major attacks by the surrounding nations. Even in times of
relative peace, the Israeli people have been under constant threat of terror
attacks at the hands of the so-called Palestinians. Terror groups such as the
PLO, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hizbollah, Fatah and the PFLP all vow and work toward
the entire destruction of Israel. And of course there is Syria, Iran and Iraq
who are all sworn enemies of the Jewish state -– the apple of God's eye.

As if the Arab and Muslim opposition is not enough, as Israel
stands at this most precarious time in her history, the majority of the nations
of the world are against her. A disproportionate number of all United Nations
resolutions have been against Israel and in favor of the Arabs. I wonder if that
has any connection to the vast oil supplies in the Arab world ? Most of the
European countries support the Palestinians and are currently boycotting or
attempting to boycott Israel.

As shocking as this may be to many of you, it should not come
unexpectedly. The prophet Zechariah spoke of this in Zechariah 12:2-3 "I
am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling.
Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations
of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock
for all the nations. (NIV)

Bible prophecy is coming to pass before our very eyes. The
Lord is behind, and in the midst of all that is taking place in the Middle East
. It is God who put Israel back on the world map. It is God who is drawing the
Jews from every nation on Earth to leave where they were born and return to the
Land He promised to Abraham. It is God who is drawing all of the nations to a
massive conflict over Jerusalem. It is God who will enter into judgment with the
nations on account of their treatment of the Jewish people (Joel 3:1-2). And it
is God who will make war with the nations who come against Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:2)

In light of all the above, do you now understand the heading
of this article? - Time For Christians to Take a Bold Stand For Israel.
Sadly many Christians are not aware of the Old Testament promises and the
prophecies to Israel. Because of lack of, or wrong teaching, many think that God
has finished with Israel and have been deceived into taking sides with the
Palestinians.

Christians are called to be ambassadors of the Messiah (2 Corinthians 5:20),
and He calls us His co-laborers (1 Corinthians 3:9), with the express purpose to
work towards hastening the day of the Lord's return (2 Peter 3:12) . However
many leaders and lay people alike now take the secular political perspective
rather than the Biblical one.

Its time to wake up and stand up for the nation we been
grafted into and have become fellow citizens of -– the apple of God's eye,
Israel. Ultimately we will all share in Israel's awesome inheritance.

David Silver is a New Zealand born Messianic Jewish
evangelist, now living on Mt. Carmel in northern Israel. He is the founder
director of Out of Zion Ministries, a ministry called to the Jewish people and
the Church.  www.out-of-zion.com