Good morning to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
I’ve now been in Israel a full week with a group of friends, visiting a variety of Biblical sites. It’s summertime here in Israel so the weather is warm, perhaps some would say hot, the sky is cloudless blue all day, the sun is bright and can give you a good burn in one day. The air is dry, rain is extremely rare this time of year. I was last here 10 years ago and I am amazed at the changes, the growth, the increase in everything! As I’ve walked the streets, ridden in the tour bus from place to place, visited many Biblical sites, there’s a powerful Old Testament chapter of God’s promises which I’m sure for centuries seemed ridiculous, outrageous, impossible… but I see it happening today, now in the land of Israel. God’s promises are being fulfilled; I’ve seen it with my own eyes. And I’m recording this in Jerusalem, so if you hear buses or cars outside, it’s an example of this!
About 2600 years ago, clouds of doom were gathering over this city, Jerusalem. The northern kingdom Israel had been invaded, conquered and devastated in 722bc by the powerful and vicious armies of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. 4 generations later, Jerusalem was the target of powerful nations wanting to expand their territories. Egypt to the south, the rapidly growing Babylonian kingdom to the southeast and the Assyrians to the north and east.
It seemed only a matter of time. God raised up great prophets to warn Jerusalem and call the people to repentance and return to God. Mostly, those calls fell on deaf ears. Finally, beginning in 609bc a series of invasions decimated Jerusalem. First the Egyptians, then the Babylonians in 597bc and again in 586bc. That final invasion brought the total destruction of both the great Temple which King Solomon had built, and the entire city of Jerusalem. Yes, it was rebuilt after the 70-year captivity, (Ezra 1-6) but then the second Temple and city of Jerusalem once again were totally destroyed by the Romans in 70ad.
As I’ve stood on the hills overlooking the city of Jerusalem, in 2023, several times in the past few days, it has not been difficult for me to imagine being in this very place over the past 2600 years watching the fires burn, the soldiers destroying and killing, people in vain trying to run for their lives, as God’s judgment was poured out on this great city, not once but many times over the centuries.
I’ve been re-reading the letter of the prophet Ezekiel which was written and read both to the captives in Babylon, but also to any who survived the horrific devastations through the centuries. “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘Because they ravaged and crushed you from every side so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations and the object of people’s malicious talk and slander, therefore mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord: ‘I speak in My jealous wrath because you have suffered the scorn of the nations…. Your mountains of Israel will produce branches and fruit for My people Israel, for they will come home. I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor, you will again be plowed and sown, and I will cause many people to live on you – yes, all of Israel. The towns will be inhabited, and the ruins rebuilt. (Ez. 36:1-10)
Everywhere I’ve been these past days I see towns and cities with construction cranes rising up on the skylines, as new apartment buildings, new roads, new businesses and schools are being constructed, everywhere! Places I drove by 10 years ago which were small villages are now cities. Hillsides which were barren have busy neighborhoods. Roads which were one lane in each direction are now divided highways!
Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Beth Shemesh, Joppa, Tel Aviv, are huge bustling cities! Hamlets, villages, are rapidly growing cities. Olive tree groves cover the country hillsides. Now what strikes me is that for 2000 years what I see today had been thought impossible here, as this place had very few Jews and was over-run so often by invading and destroying armies. But then 1948 and the miracle of the UN deciding there should be a homeland for the Jewish people and agreeing to allow it to be known by its Biblical name, Israel! Over the past 70+ years, Ezekiel 36 is coming true here, as God promised!
But there’s more, my friends! Listen to what more God said through the prophet Ezekiel during some very dark days more than 24 centuries ago: “I will increase the number of people and animals living on you, O mountains of Israel, and they will become numerous. I will settle people on your mountains as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD. I will cause My people Israel to live on your mountains. They will possess you and you will be their inheritance; you will never again deprive them of their children.” (Ez. 36:11-15) While it is true some of the growing cities, I’ve seen here in Israel are primarily Arab in population, the majority of the growth appears to be Israeli. Jews continue to flock back to their ‘homeland’ in vast numbers, from all over the world where for many generations their families have been growing, as Jews in exile. Now, with great joy, they return ‘home’ with the flag bearing the star of David flying proudly over their towns and homes! It truly is a marvelous thing to behold.
But finally, may I draw us to consider one more important thing God spoke through Ezekiel: “Again the word of the LORD came to me: ‘Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their idolatry. So I poured out my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and had defiled it with their idols. I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries of the world. I judged them according to their own conduct. And wherever they went among the nations they profaned My holy name, for it was said of them. ‘These are the LORD’s people, and yet they had to leave His land’… I had concern for My holy name, which the people of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone.” (Ez. 36:16-21)
During these centuries when there was no homeland of Israel, the Jews have scattered to every corner of the world. For centuries they have lived with nothing but the promises of God in Scripture. Generations have been born, lived and died wondering if Ezekiel 36 could ever possibly become reality? And now it’s happening, right before our eyes!
God spoke to Ezekiel: “It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of My Holy Name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show you the holiness of My great name…then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show Myself holy through YOU before their eyes. For I will take you out of the nations, I will gather you from all the countries of the world, and I will bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean! I will cleanse you from all your impurities…I will give you a new heart and a new spirit within you . And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be My people and I will be your God.” (Ez. 36:23-29)
As I stood among them, these black clad, bowing, praying men near the ‘wailing wall’, I could see the desperate gratitude in their eyes. Grateful to God that they are back in Jerusalem after all these centuries, realizing it is only by God’s power they are here, but also desperately wanting an even greater move of God, a spiritual move of His Spirit among the Jewish people and all Israel. What will that look like I have wondered as I wander among them? What will God do to open their eyes to fully see God’s Messiah plan and provision?
So on this Tuesday, I’m inviting you to join me in thanking God for the miracle of modern day Israel, and all God is doing to fulfill His promises through Ezekiel, His prophet so many centuries ago. But more, I’m praying for a great spiritual work of God which will open eyes, hearts and minds to a sweeping spiritual awakening of God in Israel! Will you join me in praying for the Jewish people all over the world, but especially here in Israel, that the Holy Spirit would do the miraculous and Ezekiels’ words will become reality here in every way! Here’s a Messianic Jewish song to help us pray for Jerusalem, for Israel, for Jews.
Today’s Scripture is Ezekiel 36.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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