Master Minded Ministries Newsletter - June 2024
Israel's Independence Day Celebration Overcast by the US President
by Paster Dave
Israel’s Independence Day at the Western Wall
Let’s consider Israel’s current situation in real time. My hope is to keep you informed regarding what’s going on and with an understanding of the issues. By the time you read this article, their Independence Day will have just finished. What is usually a very special and heavily celebrated day, is now fraught with a heavy hanging decision and treatment of Israel by the United States, and in particular, President Biden.
Typically you would see blue and white Star of David flags flying from cars and buildings all over the country as Israelis prepare to celebrate their Independence Day holiday ‑ their 76th‑ first with somber memorial ceremonies, then barbecues, fireworks, music and remembering the past - from the Holocaust to the birth of the State of Israel, and then being engaged in war just hours after becoming a sovereign nation.
Usually, it is about remembering the sacrifices of 1948 and later wars, marking national achievements, nostalgia and having fun. But this year's is not the happiest of anniversaries; the hottest talking point of recent days is the fact that as Israel’s IDF troops are moving into Rapha, President Biden decided to withhold weapons from being delivered. These are weapons Israel purchased. This puts Israel in a terrible position.
For the first time since the US–Israel Alliance was declared, Israel can no longer count on America having her back. This is extremely dangerous for two reasons:
1st Reason
Let me tap into our dear friend, Elliot Chodoff’’s well said comments to make this point - this is so clear and pointed. “President Biden's statement that he is prohibiting arms shipments to Israel is one of the most efficient presidential messages in history. In one statement, he:
Told Israel that the US cannot be relied on in time of war. Domestic considerations take precedence over defeating a murdering, raping, baby killing, hostage taking, body snatching terrorist organization that wants to destroy the State of Israel and annihilate the Jewish People.
Told Hamas that America supports their safe zone in Rafah and is willing to accept any conditions they dictate for a hostage deal and a ceasefire. American participation in the Hamas victory parade is still open to negotiation.
Told America's allies, potential and actual, in the Middle East and beyond, that when they are at war, they can expect their operations to be micromanaged by the White House and the State Department. Without US approval, they are on their own.
Told America's enemies that with a bit of stamina and fortitude they can outlast America in a conflict. A little propaganda, some campus incitement, and a few skewed media stories - and America will fold, while declaring its unswerving support for those it is abandoning to their fate.”
2nd Reason
This is dangerous is what the Bible says about turning against Israel. Read Zechariah 14. This is the plague with which the LORD will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: “Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.” God has every intention of looking out for Israel, His beloved and first born, and He will soon gather those nations in the Jezreel Valley and destroy them.
For me personally, I have come to believe that God raised up the United States of American to be a blessing to Israel. We were birthed with Judeo Christian values and our government was established on the Word of God - and the directives were embraced by the citizens and lived out by our societies.
If the day ever comes…perhaps now…when our Nation turns its back on Israel while it is in a fight for its life, God will remove His blessing upon America…something that has never happened since our birth in 1776.
Prior to October 7, the future seemed so bright for Israel. They had just signed their 6th Arab-Israeli peace and normalization agreement. They seemed to be on track to sign a seventh agreement with Saudi Arabia. The economy was booming, tourism was hitting record levels, and Israel was building increasingly close and warm ties with nations and governments all over the globe.
But October 7 and the war that ensued changed everything. Israel now finds itself in its darkest hour since the War of Independence in May 1948. And the world is increasingly turning against them. The people of Israel feel it, and hear it from College and University campuses, the antisemitic Squad on Capitol Hill, and now even from President Biden.
Indeed, the situation has gone from bad to worse in recent weeks. But the big question is this: Are Israelis just going through a bad patch and their fortunes will brighten again soon, or are they beginning to see Bible prophecies unfold in which the entire world turns against Israel and Jewish people in the “last days”?
Throughout the Bible, there are repeated prophetic warnings that when we get to the eschatological season known as the “last days,” the entire world will turn against the nation of Israel.
For example, in the Old Testament – in Ezekiel, chapters 38-39 – it becomes painfully clear that no nation comes to Israel’s defense when the “War of Gog and Magog” begins in the “last days” (Ezekiel 38:16).
Many pastors and Bible scholars believe that Ezekiel is describing a Russian dictator who will lead the attack on Israel in an alliance with the military forces of Iran, Turkey, Sudan, and several other Central Asian and African nations.
Yet, the prophecy makes it clear that when such an invasion comes, Israel will be all alone, utterly abandoned even by its closest friends and allies. And this comes about so that the world will see and know that there is a God in Israel, and He will fight on their behalf. Look what it says in Deuteronomy 20:1-4, “And he shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; for the LORD your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”
Have you seen these verses in Zechariah 12:2-3? “Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him, ‘Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.’”
Zechariah is telling us that the eyes of “all the nations of the earth” will be against Jerusalem, Israel’s eternal capital. Why?
““And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; for the LORD your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.””
Because God is going to supernaturally “make Jerusalem a cup that causes intoxication to all the peoples around” in order that all of Israel’s enemies would be “severely injured”. So, in the last days, the Bible indicates that all of the leaders of the world will essentially get drunk on the notion that Israel – Jerusalem – is the problem that the world must solve.
Yet, God also makes it clear that all the nations that turn against Israel will themselves face Divine Judgment and be “severely injured”.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has told the world the reasons why it’s so important to enter into the last remaining major city in Gaza. We know it as Rafah. It is the last stronghold of Hamas in Gaza with the last of their full battalions and where the hostages most likely are, but it is also where most of the population currently is.
With the President choosing to not support Israel’s invasion of Rafah, it means that Israel will go it alone. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hardened his rejection of Hamas demands for an end to the Gaza war in exchange for the freeing of hostages, saying on Sunday that would keep the Palestinian Islamist group in power and pose a threat to Israel.
Netanyahu said Israel was willing to pause fighting in Gaza in order to secure the release of hostages still being held by Hamas, believed to number more than 130.
"But while Israel has shown willingness, Hamas remains entrenched in its extreme positions, first among them the demand to remove all our forces from the Gaza Strip, end the war, and leave Hamas in power," Netanyahu said. "Israel cannot accept that. Hamas would be able to achieve its promise of carrying out again and again and again its massacres, rapes and kidnapping."
Today, as I write this article, Prime Minister said this in response to the US decision, "If we must stand alone, we shall stand alone, if we must (being without weapons), we shall fight with our fingernails, but we have much more than our fingernails, and with that strength of spirit, with God's help, together we shall be victorious."
But Netanyahu said in an interview on US television he hopes he and Biden can overcome their disagreements over the Gaza war. "We often had our agreements, but we've had our disagreements. We've been able to overcome them."
So, Israel is in a very difficult position. This year, against the backdrop of the Gaza war and the number of hostages still being held in captivity, the 2024 Independence Day events will understandably look a little different. The traditional Air Force flyover will not be taking place. Most municipalities have also decided to cut any big performances and artists.
The day before Independence Day, is The Day of Remembrance. They will be remembering the Israelis who have fallen in battle and the terrorist attacks. The entire nation is marked with a spirit of mourning and you can feel the sadness in the air as they remember loved ones whose lives were cut short. And when the siren sounds throughout the entire country, for one short moment everyone stops what they are doing - including driving on the freeways - they get out of their cars, and the whole nation stands together in silence and remembrance of those they have lost. Don’t underestimate the Jewish people. They are resilient! They have and always will bounce back from the most horrible and unrelenting attacks, because God made a covenant with a man named Abraham, and renewed it with Moses. Israel still has a God who will, “redeem her with an outstretched arm.” Let’s pray for Israel. Let’s do all we can to support her and the Jewish people. Let’s be intention and determined. The saying, “Never Again,” is NOW.
Is The Old Testament Still Inspired Scripture and Significant For Today?
Part 1 by Pastor Dave
There is a very concerning trend happening within the framework of Christianity where a growing number of people are rejecting the Old Testament. They say that more than half of the Bible is obsolete and irrelevant. They question whether God provided humanity with two sets of inspired writings - the Old Testament and the New. One of the more recent books that underscores the Old Testament being obsolete, is Andy Stanley’s book “Irresistible.” Here’s a guy who has historically been an extremely solid biblical teacher and preacher. Not with this new book. Something has definitely changed.
One of the common misconceptions among readers of the Bible is that a large part of it is obsolete - irrelevant for modern life. Sadly, some professing Christians have unwittingly turned a blind eye to much of God's revelation by rejecting what is known as the Old Testament. They believe that the New Testament (the writings of the apostles) is what really matters - that the Old Testament was valid up until Christ came, but at that time became old and outdated.
People ask, “Did God, in essence, provide humankind with two Bibles? Did He inspire one set of writings - the Hebrew Scriptures - for the Israelites living from Moses' time to Christ's birth, and then provide another set in the first century, with that set intended for everyone else? Does the Bible itself have anything to say about this idea? Would one part of the Bible reject the other?”
In Part 1 of this teaching, let's see exactly what the Bible itself has to say about the Old Testament.
Let’s exam whether God gave us two different sets of writings - or one continuously inspired set of teachings and instruction.
Let's begin with the terms Old Testament and New Testament.
The general view is that the Old Testament was old - and, consequentially translated as obsolete or worn out - and that it has been replaced by the New Testament. Is this view found in the Bible?
No, it isn't. The terms Old Testament and New Testament are found in a few places in some Bible translations, but the word translated "testament" is actually the word for "covenant". Those scriptures simply talk about the old and new covenants - not about books of the Bible.
If you had been around to ask the apostles John, Peter or Paul about the "Old Testament" or the "New Testament", they would have had no idea what you meant. The terms Old Testament and New Testament were coined by men long after the books of the Bible were written. The first use of the term New Testament is found a century or more after the deaths of the apostles.
Some interesting facts:
Let's consider a few statistics to show how the writers of what is known as the New Testament viewed the Hebrew Bible, which we call the Old Testament. These are very insightful.
The authors of the New Testament quote the Old Testament many times. In fact, if we pulled out all Old Testament references and names of people from the Old Testament out of the New, it would be reduced down to a small number of chapters and become a quick read. Scholars tells us that there are some 695 separate quotations from the books of the Old Testament in the New. And there are many other passages where the Old Testament is referred to, as in cases where an Old Testament figure is mentioned, but no specific scripture is quoted.
Compare those figures to the number of times other writers are quoted in the New Testament: four. The apostles quoted the Old Testament 695 times, but other writers only four times. Yet some people insist that the teaching of the New Testament is that the Old is obsolete, only valid for a specific people during a limited time in history.
Paul's view of the Old Testament Scriptures
Paul made his view of the Old Testament clear in 2 Timothy, a letter filled with instruction for a younger minister. He wrote that "from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures" 2 Timothy 3:15. What are the "Holy Scriptures" Paul refers to? At the time this was written, about A.D. 66, there was no "New Testament" - some of what has since then been called the New Testament hadn't even been written at that point. Paul is referring very clearly to the Old Testament; those were the Holy Scriptures Timothy had been taught since childhood by his Jewish mother - Acts 16:1-3.
Though it may be surprising to some, Paul clearly states that these same Scriptures "are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" 2 Timothy 3:15. Salvation was available under the Old Testament Scriptures. And how was it available? "Through faith which is in Christ Jesus." Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Elijah, Daniel, David and others who are promised eternal life elsewhere in the Scriptures received salvation the same way we do - through faith in Jesus Christ, through faith and belief in a promised Messiah who would redeem them from their sins.
Jesus Christ did not die only for those who have lived since His death. He died for all those who have ever lived, both before and after His physical life on earth.
Questions?
Please write and let us delve deeper. You can contact us at mastermindedministries.org or write to Pastor Dave at dmcgarrah@gmail.com
About Masterminded Ministries
Discovering the Jewish Roots of Christianity
Master Minided Ministries is a non-profit ministry that teaches, disciples and preaches the Jewish roots of Christianity. We support a radio program called “The Teacher and the Preacher” that can be heard each week on 20 different stations across the US. Each weekly program features Pastor Dave and Aaron Lipkin, an Orthodox Jew who lives in Israel, talking about the ways we can learn from each other and benefit our Judeo-Christian country. It is common to hear from guests who contribute new and fresh insights from what’s really happening on the ground in Israel, to what’s the best thing we can do to love and support each other and bridge the gap for Christians and Jews.
