ICEJ NEW ZEALAND When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.
Psalm 126:1-3
INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN EMBASSY JERUSALEM NZ BRANCH | September 2018 | Tishrei 5779 | Shana Tova!
Israel my inheritance – the nations blessed Derek McDowell ICEJ New Zealand Director Israel’s biblical relevance today Israel and its ongoing biblical relevance are important issues for us to grapple with. They go to the heart of God’s character, His trustworthiness, integrity and faithfulness to His unconditional Covenant promises, and the culmination of His redemptive plans for the world. If we cannot trust God to uphold His Covenants, then why should we believe He will uphold His New Covenant with us – the one He gave the House of Israel in Jeremiah 31 that is always intended to reach out to all nations, in keeping with Galatians 3:8 and the divine sovereign call to Abraham? Why do we want to undermine that? If God is done with Israel because of her disobedience, why would God not renege on an imperfect, arrogant, brutal and divided Church, as seen through the annals of Church history? How would we understand the mercy of God to the Gentiles and not the mercy of God to the Jews, which Paul speaks of in Romans 11:30-32? The perniciousness of replacement theology and fulfilment theology, disinvesting the Jewish people of their divine covenanted land inheritance for the purpose of redemption, has given rise to many acts of anti-Semitism throughout Church history. Clarence Wagner from Bridges for Peace says it this way: “The error of Replacement Theology is like a cancer in the Church that has not only caused it to violate God’s Word concerning the Jewish people and Israel, but it made us into instruments of hate, not love in God’s Name.” Why does the Church wonder with incredulity as to general (but not all) Jewish blindness concerning their Messiah (for now) and yet generally remain blind concerning Paul’s admonition in Romans 11? There he warns that the Church not be conceited about the temporary unbelief and disobedience of the Jewish people,
whom God has not forgotten to show mercy towards. Despite historical Jewish unbelief, which God used for the benefit of the Gentiles, the gifts and call of God concerning the Jewish people remain irrevocable. Their call is not dependent upon their salvation, it rests upon God’s sovereign choice. Like Gentiles, however, Jewish salvation remains dependent upon acceptance of the Jewish Messiah. The national calling of Israel is not to be confused with the individual need for salvation. Paul makes this clear in Romans 3 and the final verses of Romans 2 as we’ll consider soon. Paul refutes that outward circumcision buys salvation and God’s favour. He declares that circumcision of the heart by the Spirit is what makes one a true believer grafted in to the olive tree of faith (Rom 11: 13-24) whether a natural branch (biological and cultural Jew) being grafted into their own olive tree (Rom 11:24) or a wild grafted-in branch (Gentile). The roots of this olive tree are the Patriarchs grounded in the Abrahamic Covenant and the nourishing sap of this root is the Spirit of God. Paul appears to contradict himself when he then asks the question, if that is so, “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God. What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar.” (Rom 3:1-4)
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While Paul asserts that Jews and Gentiles have equal need for salvation (Rom 1:16, Gal 3:28-29, Col 3:11), he makes clear that there is “advantage”, “much in every way” in being a Jew. Paul outlines here and in Romans 9:4-5 that God remains faithful to His Word concerning the Jews and everything else. Jewish or Gentile faithlessness does not cancel out God’s faithfulness. In Romans 3:1-3 Paul declares the Jew has been entrusted with the divine oracles of God and the infallibility of God’s promises. To this he adds in Romans 9:4-5. “Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised!” In Psalm 147 God avows His unique calling to Israel… He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation… Paul makes clear again (Rom 11:2829) the distinction between national calling and individual salvation. That calling is not finished or fulfilled with the coming of the Messiah. “As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” Israel’s national calling remains irrevocable (binding, irreversible, unalterable, final). Neither the Church nor Jesus has replaced or fulfilled that calling. In fact, Israel’s calling is unique.
Israel my inheritance... Concerning their election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. Yet Paul does not contradict himself again in Romans 3:9ff when he says both Jew and Gentile are alike under sin. Righteousness from God comes only through salvation by faith in Jesus the Messiah. He reminds us of the “both-and” of Israel’s national calling and individual salvation for all. Right up to the end of the Biblical record, Jesus the Jew, the root and offspring of David, the Word that became flesh, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah retains His Jewish identity. The Messiah will remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything as He promised long ago through His holy prophets (Acts 3:21). This includes the restoration of Israel to which He will return to rule and reign from Jerusalem before the culmination of the age ushering in the New Jerusalem. Israel’s relevance therefore continues to the end of the age. Our gratitude of indebtedness and responsibility to God and to Israel (for being the conduit of God’s spiritual blessings to the world and paying a horrendous ongoing price through history for it) even in its unbelief, on account of His sovereign will, requires that we partner with the God of Israel in His redemptive restorative purposes which include supporting Israel’s restoration. Her physical and spiritual restoration, not her destruction or consignment to irrelevance and to the forces of evil in our world which would, as history attests, precipitate her destruction in an instant, given the chance.
Covenant perspective Ignoring God’s Covenants with Israel ignores or reinterprets entire threads of Scripture in both Old and New Testaments which repeatedly speak of Israel’s restoration in keeping with the Abrahamic Covenant promises concerning God’s bequeathing the Land of Israel to the Jewish people as an everlasting possession. Not for Israel’s sake… for His Holy Name’s sake. This is biblical Zionism, a God idea - and the
purpose is world redemption, Hebrews 6 tells us “Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.” The two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie? His promise and His oath. Concerning what? The Covenant with Abraham. Consider the remembrance about covenants, oaths, promises and decrees concerning the land component of the Abrahamic Covenant and its duration… forever. Psalm 105:8-11 says: “He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.” Many Christians confuse Israel’s role because they do not read Scripture and discount modern-day empirical evidence that Israel has been, is and will continue to be a vehicle God uses to bring about His redemptive purposes, culminating in His return to Jerusalem. Israel’s role is foreordained in Scripture through everlasting Covenant promise and ongoing prophetic reaffirmation. It is neither given over to the Church replacing it, nor is it fulfilled in Jesus. Nor does Israel’s role in any way whatsoever undermine the role of the Church and the centrality of Jesus, His Divinity, Messiahship, Suffering Servanthood, Kingship and Salvific credentials for both Jew and Gentile. Rather Israel facilitates it. Paul tells
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us the gospel was given in advance to Abraham through Covenant (“all nations will be blessed through you” Gal 3:8). Referring to Jesus saying that “salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22), Malcolm Hedding, former ICEJ Executive Director, writes: “This is an amazing statement in that in reality Jesus is the only Saviour and yet He recognized that the Jewish people, in their historical journey, undergirded only by the Abrahamic Covenant, are the custodians of redemptive truth. Even Jesus needed their historical journey because by it the Word of God was produced that gave Him context and credentials for His redeeming work. That is, “beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself “ Luke 24:27). Paul reinforced the same truth in Romans 9:1-5.” Malcolm says further of Israel and the Jewish people: “It means that their existence, revelation, land and Messiah are testimony to the irrevocable call that God placed over their national destiny for the blessing of the world.” Israel and the Jewish people are used of God to bring about the revelation of God to mankind. Israel gives birth to and hosts the Messiah, and its restoration is essential for return of the Messiah. Consider Jesus weeping on the Mount of Olives that His People will not see Him again until they say, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord”. In Acts 1 Jesus tells His disciples that the “Kingdom of Israel” will be restored at a time of His
Israel my inheritance... denies the facts of history supported by archaeology and the Bible, that the Jewish people have lived in the land for over 3,000 years, since God called them there.
The Mount of Olives, Jerusalem
choosing and that Jesus will return the way He left from the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. So, we can agree Israel does not challenge Jesus’s divine credentials. It acts as God’s vehicle to reveal them. God is not finished with Israel because He has not finished His redemptive work for mankind. It is not Israel or the Church, or Israel or Jesus. It is all three. If we dismiss Israel’s biblical significance today and tomorrow, we must see her present-day restoration as an accident of history. How do we then explain the multitude of passages which underpin her current restoration and reaffirm God’s promise to Abraham concerning the Land? If God annuls the Abrahamic Covenant (including the Land component of that covenant) to replace Israel with the Church or see everything fulfilled in Jesus, then how can we Gentiles be children of Abraham according to the promise (Gal 3:29) if it no longer exists? And as Hebrews 6 highlights, the hope we have in the New Covenant as an anchor for the soul is firm and secure because we can rely on the two immutable things by which it is impossible for God to lie – as already stated-- His promise and His oath concerning the Abrahamic Covenant. As Malcolm Hedding tells us, the Abrahamic Covenant ushers in God’s decision to save the world bringing into existence the nation of Israel as His chosen vehicle to reveal Himself. The New Covenant is God’s enabling through the Jewish Messiah that we become Abrahams’s children according to the promise. The redemption we find in Jesus does not abrogate the Abrahamic Covenant. The New Covenant happens
because of the Abrahamic Covenant not instead of it. God institutes Israel to bring it all about. And He is not done yet!
Modern-day outcomes Meanwhile let us be careful what we wish for in how we engage with Israel and how we read the media each day. Let us remain concerned for the Palestinian suffering as for all suffering around the world. Let’s not succumb to media propaganda about which suffering we should be alarmed about. Let us not be deceived by the demonic lies and ultimate agenda of so much that purports to care about the Palestinians but in its final outworking secures the destruction of Israel.
These theologies affect our view of how God’s redemptive purposes play out and our view of Israel in the world today. Without diminishing the humanitarian concerns that have arisen from these issues, the Palestinian problem is a 70-year construct that arose following a significant event, the modern-day rebirthing of the State of Israel. The problem could have been solved several times, including in 1947, 2000 and 2008. The key problem for the Palestinian leadership is not Palestinian suffering which they exacerbate, or Palestinian aspirations of national self-determination - it is the existence of a Jewish State in their midst. This is fundamental. If Israel is to accept a Palestinian state, which it is willing to do provided its security is guaranteed, is it not reasonable to accept a one and only tiny Jewish state alongside it and twenty-one other Arab states in the region?
Where does that lead? Frequently to hostility. The modern-day insidious nature of the varied campaigns to delegitimise Israel “in the name of justice” has at its root a spiritual underlay which negates Israel as the legally restored Jewish nation state and the hand of God in it according to Scripture. Israel’s existence is always threatened.
We misunderstand or do not recognise the demonic spiritual drivers that seek to thwart those purposes, manifesting daily in our newspapers. Why is it that those who generally profess to care about the plight of the Palestinians nearly always focus on Israel’s shortcomings which pale into insignificance when compared with the brutality of Arab and Islamic leaders across the region? Throughout history Israel and the Jewish people have fought for their survival. Pharaoh, Assyrians, Babylonians, Haman, the Greeks, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Nazis, the Muslims… Why? Might it have something to do with the fact that the Jewish people have suffered because through no choice of their own, they have been God’s vehicle to reveal Himself to a fallen world in need of His redemption?
For example, the false premise that the Jews have usurped Palestinian lands denies the facts of history. There has never been a Palestinian sovereignty in the region let alone the West Bank. It
Why is it today that we see an unprecedented post WWII rise of anti-Semitism that defies the generally internationally accepted definitions of anti-Semitism set out by the
Embracing a replacement or fulfilment theology nearly always leads to the same outcome concerning the Jewish people and the Land of Israel. Israel is dismissed as irrelevant because one sees either the Church replacing Israel in the purposes of God or Jesus fulfilling everything that needs to be fulfilled, thereby consigning Israel and her people to a same irrelevance.
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Israel my inheritance... International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance? Applying double standards, by requiring of Israel a behaviour not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation, occurs frequently in international media and in general conversation. Criticising Israeli government policy (both left and right governments) is one thing – Israelis in their vibrant democracy do it better than anyone - but exacting a different standard compared with other nations and the implications of those expectations on Israel’s safety and security is quite another. Israeli journalist Caroline Glick warns: “If the current violence between Israel and the Hamas terrorist regime in Gaza escalates into a full-scale war, one thing is certain. The main thoroughfares of the West’s great cities will be filled with thousands of protesters marching in support for Hamas and its strategic goal of annihilating Israel. The anti-Israel demonstrations this time around will dwarf all those that preceded them.” The Red-Green alliance of the Left and the Muslims and its blatant antiSemitism so frighteningly on display under British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn would be even more sinister should Labour assume power. Recently Britain’s three national Jewish newspapers closed ranks and published the same front-page editorial decrying the growing prospect of a Corbyn-led government, considering that possibility as “an existential threat to Jewish life in the UK.” Further they said, “With the government in Brexit disarray, there is a clear and present danger that a man with a default blindness to the Jewish community’s fears, a man who has a problem seeing that hateful rhetoric aimed at Israel can easily step into anti-Semitism, could be our next prime minister.” Consider the United Nations’ appalling record on Israel. The UN Human Rights Council is a flawed, politicised and discredited organisation with serial human rights abuser nations in its ranks displaying an unharnessed, disproportionate and consistent bias against Israel, (nearly half its resolutions are anti-Israel). It consistently fails to
Sea of Galilee
address serious human rights abuses equally and objectively, particularly in those oppressive nations in the council itself with a track record of persecuting religious, political and press groups and their own people. The recent US withdrawal from this organisation was principled, right and long overdue. Furthermore. with so much of the liberal media around the world pushing an anti-Israel oppressor narrative (dressed up as a pro-Palestinian oppressed narrative), the public consciousness is affected and infected with at best annoyance, at worst open hostility, towards Israel and Jews. Anti-Israelism quickly morphs into anti-Semitism – Jews being held responsible for actions of non-Jews… Regardless of our political leanings, left or right, we need to beware of aligning with radical anti-Semitic fringe thought which has infected mainstream thinking. This includes Christians who are influenced by their theological thinking and tendency to align with the perceived underdog in the name of a misconceived social justice. Nowhere is this more evident than the hostile attention given to Israel by many who have not taken the time to critique what is true behind the headlines, let alone take a big picture view from the Scriptures. When the Church takes its proper role in God’s redemptive plan for the world, fully appreciating God’s ongoing covenant relationship and love for Israel and the Jewish people, the Church partners with God and His redemptive plans from Genesis to Revelation more effectively and holistically - emphasizing the importance of the whole and the
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interdependence of its parts... Clarence Wagner summarises it succinctly. “The Church is related to Israel and partakers of the covenants, promises, and hopes, but we have not been called to usurp them. Our relationship is as “grafted in” (Rom. 11:17); “brought near” (Eph 2:13); “Abraham’s offspring” (by faith) (Rom. 4:16); “heirs” to Abraham’s promise as adopted sons (Gal. 3:29) and “partakers” (Rom 15:27).” When the Church adopts this right relationship with Israel, theologically and politically, in the big picture sense and practically, the Church will be blessed, and Israel will be blessed. Ultimately so will the world. (Gen 12:1-3). That is God’s plan… right from the beginning. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.” (Isa 19:24-25) Derek McDowell is director of ICEJ NZ
No other land but Israel would do Paul Ataya No other people so widely scattered and often persecuted, have carried the pain of alienation for so long. Yet, somehow in their isolation, Jews have collectively retained their rich traditions and aspirations of return to their beloved homeland. Jewish aspirations are encapsulated in Israel’s national anthem, ‘Hatikvah’ (‘The Hope’) “As long as the heart within, Our hope is not yet lost, The Jewish soul yearns, the hope that is two-thousand years old, And towards the eastern edges, onward, to be a free nation in our land, An eye gazes toward Zion. The Land of Zion, Jerusalem.” I am a New Zealand-born Lebanese married to an Israeli citizen. My wife struggles with being so far removed from her birth place. In some measure she is comforted by the delight of observing Jewish Feasts. I note that the Passover Story always concludes with “Lishana Ha-baah Bi-yerushalyim” (“next year in Jerusalem”). The yearning of Jews for their ancient homeland comes from deep within their ‘kishka’ (gut) and predates Roman persecution and expulsion during 66-136 CE. Rather, it dates back to the Babylonian exile, 597–581 BCE. The vocal group ‘Boney M’ referenced this period of Jewish anguish in their song ‘By the Rivers of Babylon’ (lyrics based on Psalms 137): By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yeah, we wept, when we remembered Zion. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yeah, we wept when we remembered Zion When the wicked carried us away in captivity. Required from us a song. Now how shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land... More than 3,000 years ago King David ruled a sovereign nation-state, Israel, from Jerusalem. His son Solomon built the Temple there with help from the Lebanese who supplied materials and skilled labour. Having a ‘foot in both camps’ has caused me to contemplate the history of Arab/Israeli relations. The troubled history of Arabs and Jews dates back
some 4,000 years to their shared forefather, Abraham. He was from Ur, then sojourned in Harran (both in modern- day Iraq) and finally settled in the land of Canaan which later became Israel. Abraham was called a Hebrew (one who crosses over) and his grandson Jacob (through Isaac) later became known as Israel. Palestina or “Palestine, was an enforced official name applied by Roman overlords to describe Syria and Judea collectively. This, coupled with banishment in 135 CE following the “Bar Kokhba revolt”, was a cruel attempt by Rome to permanently sever Jewish connections to their homeland. It was also a calculated insult to reference the Philistines who previously fiercely rivalled the Israelites for control of that region. Jews easily trace their ancestry through Jacob, Isaac and Abraham and Arabs through Ishmael (Abraham’s first son by his handmaid) and the sons of Keturah (Abraham’s second wife). Egyptians originated before the Arabs as did the Lebanese (Phoenicians) and the Iraqis (region of Mesopotamia). In these regions Aramaic was the prevailing language in past millennia, greatly influencing present-day dialects of Arabic as spoken in Lebanon and Iraq. Noting these origins is important because the Arabic-speaking world does not have a unified history although it was united in its rejection of the re-emergent nation-state of Israel in 1948. Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Egypt all declared war on Israel and, united under Egypt’s command, invaded Israel. Against the odds, Israel repulsed these attacks. Egypt in 1979 and then Jordan (1994), both revoked their declarations of war and entered into peace treaties with Israel. In stark contrast, though, Israel’s other three neighbours have stubbornly refused to sign peace accords. I’m saddened by this failure as it harbours animosity and denies the opportunity for cooperative prosperity in their region and beyond. On May 7, 1934, the Russians established a “...Jewish Autonomous Region (JAR)...”, an inhospitable place where winter temperatures average minus 22.2oC. It is officially termed the JAO, the O standing for ‘Oblast’ or ‘Province’. This indicates its true nature as a federal
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subject of Russia. It was not a truly independent Jewish State.- the Russians were never that benevolent towards their Jewish citizens. Their main reason for establishing the JAO was to help provide a Far East Border buffer zone against Chinese and other insurgents. Sadly, two years later, Stalin rewarded Jewish aspirations for autonomy by targeting them with brutal purges – déjà vu! The Oblast Jewish population, 25% by 1948, now only constitutes about 1.2%, although still very visible. Despite long periods of foreign occupation and large-scale banishment, Jews have maintained a continuous presence in their ancient homeland. Their modern day restoration as a sovereign nation-state is legally validated under international law and no other location would satisfy the yearning for their sacred heritage. Paul Ataya is a New Zeland born Christian of Lebanese parentage married to Shulamit an Israeli sabra. Together they support many Israel focused ministries in New Zealand and abroad and have regular speaking engagements. Paul’s article was recently submitted to the NZ Herald commenting from a different perspective on Bob Jones’s article commenting on Jewish history and nationstatehood.
Russia and Aliyah Howard Flower - ICEJ Director for Russia and Global Aliyah the Americas would become ancestors of the vast majority of the US Jewish communities today.
A Russian history lesson During Russia’s history, two significant regions for Jews were formed - the Pale established by Catherine the Great in 1791 and Birobidzhan , the Jewish Autonomous Republic established by Stalin mid 1930s in eastern Siberia. The Pale was enforced but Birobidzhan was voluntary. Birobidzhan was however a counterfeit Israel designed to distract Jews from Israel. Like a lot of Soviet experiments, it was pretty much a failure. There is still some Jewish life there and a small stream of aliyah also. Both cases are historical manifestations of Russia’s antiSemitism. Stalin died on Purim we should remember. In 1791 Catherine the Great, the German-born Russian Empress confined the Jews of the Russian Empire to a huge ghetto called the Pale of Settlement. The word ‘pale’ came from the Latin word, palus, which means a stake or pole used to mark a boundary. The Pale of Settlement encompassed all of Belarus, Lithuania and Moldova, western Ukraine, parts of eastern Latvia, eastern Poland, and some parts of western Russia. Map attached. Only a few Jewish people were allowed to live outside its boundaries. The Pale was a buffer zone for Imperial Russia and since then has continued to be a defensive region for invasions from the West such as those launched by Napoleon and Hitler. The Pale also helped Russia to insulate itself from Western reforms that followed the American and French revolutions. In the East, Russian Orthodoxy held kingship as a form of divine mandate where the Tsar was the leader of the Russian Empire according to the messianic legend of Moscow as the Third Rome. The title Tsar was derived from the Latin word Caesar and Russia was a rising empire. Despite this, real reform arrived in Russia during the following century most noticeably during the reign of Alexander II who emancipated the
Aliyah
serfs in 1861. It was Alexander II who sold Alaska to the United states in 1867 as a buffer to the British threat, in hope the USA would shield Russia from Britain’s imperialism through any further Eastward expansion of Canada. Tsar Alexander II was the target on several assignation attempts and in 1881 he was killed by an anarchist terrorist bombing in St. Petersburg. The Jews were blamed which triggered waves of Pogroms immediately following the Tsar’s assassination. His son Alexander III took the throne and began serious repressions against the Jews. Thousands left for Israel and the West. The formation of the State of Israel had now begun in and those who fled to
Some 100,000 Jews from the Russian Empire made aliyah to Israel before the formal establishment of the Soviet Union in 1924. And against all odd another 150,000 Soviet Jews managed to make aliyah before the official end of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991 when Gorbachev resigned as leader of the USSR. Since then another 1,000,000 Jews from the Former Soviet Union have come to Israel returning to the land of their fathers. At one time it was estimated that more than 5 million Jews lived within the borders of the Russian Empire. Today there are perhaps 1.5 Million and they continue to come back. We are in a fresh wave of Aliyah which began following the RussoGeorgian war of 2008. In 2008 the Aliyah from the FSU was 5,587 and last year it rose to 16,605. This is a 197% increase. The Jewish Agency report estimates it could go as high as 17,950 this year. ICEJ is positioned for this surge and your help is very much needed. Our advocacy for Soviet Jews began in 1981 and our official hands-on work started in Vienna in 1986 following the continued page 8
Recent ICEJ Flight group picture at the airport in Helsinki
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Russia and Aliyah (from page 7)
Chernobyl disaster which opened the doors for the enormous wave of Jews who have come since 1986 and continue to come in increasing numbers. Russia is now providing more Aliyah than any other country. The falling ruble and an uncertain economic future are strong motivations for moving to Israel. ICEJ Russia and ICEJ Finland are moving more Russian Jews to Israel these days and many are flying with generous extra baggage from Helsinki airport. Buses leave from St. Petersburg, cross the border and stay one night at a Finnish hotel before traveling on the next day to fly on to Israel. In the Northern part of Finland, the Russian Jews stay in the homes of Finnish Christians before taking the overnight train to the airport. ICEJ is also sponsoring Aliyah seminars outside of Russia in the near abroad to help the Olim get prepared. There is an atmosphere of freedom which some have never experienced. This is a taste of the freedom they will feel in Israel. In August ICEJ had both a busload of seminar participants and a second bus of repatriates stay at our expense in the same border hotel in Finland. ICEJ will sponsor another seminar in Riga Latvia in October and then one in Kiev Ukraine in December. The Jewish Agency projects that more than 60% of the world wide Aliyah will come from the Former Soviet Union. The Aliyah from the Former Soviet Union has increased 197% in the past 10 years due to weakling economies and geopolitical events like the civil wars in Georgia and Ukraine. These wars contributed to regional instability which precipitated recessions and dramatic currency devaluations. All of these were push factors causing a fresh new wave of Aliyah from the land of the North. Please join with us to help bring these people home! Howard Flower is ICEJ Director for Russia and Global Aliyah. He has lived with his wife and family in Russia for over 20 years.
What sets Israel apart? Susan Michael ICEJ Director USA
Israel, a nation as small as the state of New Jersey, occupies center stage of the world’s attention. While vilified by some circles, the Jewish State is also admired by many for a story that is unique from that of all other nations. Having defied the odds against the survival of this tiny people group—no more than 14 million worldwide—the Jewish people have built a nation that is thriving and is leading the world in many ways. Here are a few of the things that make her story not only unique but remarkable.
A Biblical Mandate The Bible tells the unusual story of the miraculous inception of the Jewish people some 4,000 years ago and their calling to be God’s instrument of blessing in the world. Their role was to “bless all the families of the earth” (Genesis 12:3) by being the vehicle of God’s redemptive plan. This calling required that they follow certain laws and practices that marked them as His and caused them to stand out as different from other peoples. This uniqueness was also dangerous and made them an easy prey of cruel leaders who sought conformity to ideologies and practices at odds with Judaism. But God promised the Jewish people would survive, and one day, would return to their God-given land. Their story is unfolding just as the Bible foretold. An Ancient Language Revived Israel still holds the distinction as the only success story in world history where an ancient language achieved modern usage. The Hebrew language was preserved in sacred, written form, yet as a spoken language it had become extinct in the Diaspora. That is, until 2,000 years later when lexicographer Eliezer Ben Yehuda set out to resuscitate Hebrew in the late nineteenth century. Ben Yehuda immigrated to then-called Palestine in 1881 and lived in Jerusalem where he began his arduous task. Gabriel Birnbaum, a senior researcher at the Academy of Hebrew Language, said, “By 1914, Hebrew as a spoken language in the land of Israel was a fact.” Ben Yehuda’s legacy continues every time new immigrants of any age enroll in Israel’s free intensive Hebrew classes. An Expert in Refugee Resettlement When Israel became a modern
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Jewish state in 1948, Arab nations expelled hundreds of thousands of Jews who had lived in their lands for millennia. Israel—a tiny nation of 600,000 Jewish people barely out of the horrific Holocaust with scant resources—welcomed a million Jewish refugees between 1948 and 1960. They arrived with barely anything since the Arab nations kept all the Jewish wealth, homes, and businesses. Israel has subsequently absorbed many waves of immigrants throughout her short history. One such wave has been that of Ethiopian Jews beginning primarily with Operations Moses and Solomon in the 1970s and 1980s. Israel once again demonstrated its remarkable DNA. It holds the distinction as the nation that brought African peoples to freedom rather than slavery. Jewish Nobels Looking at the worldwide Jewish population outside Israel itself, here’s a remarkable statistic: According to the Jewish Virtual Library, approximately 195 of the 900 Nobel prize honorees since 1901 have been Jewish (22%). It’s especially amazing since Jewish people make up less than 0.2% of the world’s population currently estimated at 7.6 billion people. The categories include literature, chemistry, medicine, world peace, physics, and economics. These numbers reveal not just intelligence but a commitment to education and innovation that helps to explain Israel’s leadership in so many fields today. Israel and Innovations Following are just a few of the thousands of examples of how Israel is leading the world in innovation and problem-solving: IDE Technologies is recycling salt water into fresh, drinkable water; Netafim’s smart drip and microirrigation have improved crop production worldwide; Mobile Eye has helped reduce auto accidents; ReWalk is helping paraplegics walk; and WoundClot bandages are saving lives. These innovations have made possible 65 Israeli companies on the NASDAQ. Only the United States and Canada have more. Tiny Israel has survived war, terror, and anti-Semitism for decades while blessing the world in the process. Her oversized achievements not only make her unique but also truly remarkable amongst the nations.
The Seed of Abraham David Parsons The word of God is “quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword,” (Hebrews 4:12), which means that a misinterpretation or misapplication of Scripture can also have powerful consequences. This has been especially true for those Christians down through the centuries who have twisted Scripture to justify their rejection of the Jewish people. In modern times - with Israel’s restoration to her promised homeland - you would think some of this contorting of the Bible to disinherit Israel would have faded. But alas, it still persists in far too many church circles today.
argument for the Messianic credentials of Christ. We can infer from his phrasing that the more inclusive plural form of “seed” would have denoted the people of Israel’s collective pursuit of the law.
1) We must always consider the full counsel of Scripture on a matter and not be dogmatic about our narrow interpretations of certain verses. Otherwise, the consequences can be tragic.
Yet throughout his epistles, Paul never limited his use of the expression “seed of Abraham” exclusively to the singular form, and he does not want us to do so either. In fact, just a few verses later, he says that anyone who belongs to Christ is also the “seed of Abraham.” (Galatians 3:29)
2) Those who seek to divest Israel of her inheritance in God by manipulating Scripture will always wind up in error.
One of the New Testament verses that has been methodically misused to strip Israel of her enduring calling before God is Galatians 3:16 [which quotes from Genesis 22:18]: “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ.” This has often been read narrowly to mean that the covenant promises delivered to Abraham and his descendants were ultimately intended for Christ alone. Thus, it is used as just another way of cutting Israel out of her inheritance. Taken to its extreme, there are even those today who argue that the Land of Israel belongs solely to Jesus, and not to the Jewish people. Now the point which the Apostle Paul is making in Galatians 3:16 is a valid one and no Christian can dispute that. But the verse needs to be understood within its context, which is a contrasting of the righteousness that comes by faith in light of the Abrahamic covenant versus the works of the law in the Mosaic covenant, which was “added” for a different purpose. The word “seed” - in English and in Hebrew (zaraka) - is an invariant noun, meaning it can be either singular or plural. Paul employs the singular form of “seed” in crafting a rabbinic
3) The Abrahamic covenant is remarkably inclusive, containing promises to the natural descendants of Abraham, to his spiritual sons and daughters, and indeed to Christ as well. It is important to identify who each promise was made to, and then who also may benefit from those promises. 4) The Abrahamic covenant is also the underlying foundation for Israel’s calling and relationship with God, not the Mosaic covenant, and we do well to respect its enduring nature.
Elsewhere, he again uses the more expansive meaning of “seed” - in the plural - to refer to all the natural descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. We see this in 2 Corinthians 11:22 (see also Hebrews 2:16). And in Romans 4:16, Paul uses it to refer to both Abraham’s natural and his spiritual offspring: “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.” The Apostle Peter also addresses his fellow Jews as the “seed” of Abraham in Acts 3:25: “You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’” From all this, we can draw several conclusions:
Insert page 1 INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN EMBASSY JERUSALEM NZ BRANCH
So may we all be “blessed with believing Abraham.” (Galatians 3:9)
David Parsons was media director for the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem when this article first appeared in the Jerusalem Post magazine, Christian Edition, released in August 2013. David is now ICEJ Vice President and Senior International Spokesperson.
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