By Don Davis
WITH the extreme pressures being placed on Israel to make dangerous concessions, and the continual anti-Israel rhetoric echoing throughout the nations, people who claim to be Christian really need to consider a few things.
According to the Book of Revelation when Jesus Christ returns, he will not be the soft-spoken, gentleman carrying a lamb as some illustrations depict. Rather, Christ will be lamb turned lion, an angry, fierce God, using his devastating powers and angels to exterminate and punish those against him (Revelation 19: 11-19).
It is also important to note that in Revelation the Lord’s chosen 144,000 are exclusively from the tribes of Israel (Revelation 7:4-8, Revelation 14:1-5), and the fundamental fact that the Bible chronicles Jesus Christ as coming from the family of Jacob’s son, Judah (Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 3:23-38).
Moreover, there is a possibility there will be Israelites sitting on the Lord’s left and right of his throne because there are many mentioned in the Bible in addition to his disciples thus it would be logical to assume that the Israelite elders on the Lord’s left and right might have influence on sentencing.
How does this relate to Christians, Israelis and the nation of Israel?
God made it perfectly clear in the Bible that he does not change and he gave the ‘Promised Land’, the present-day land of Israel to the 12 tribes of the Israelites. Precisely interpreted, God promised the land to a man named Israel, commonly referred to as Jacob, son of Isaac (Genesis 35:9-13, Genesis 21:9-12, Genesis 17:3-8) . Today 4,000 years later the remnants of Israel’s 12 sons (Genesis 35:23-26) or the remnant of the 12 family tribes are universally known as the Israelis which consist of the tribe of Judah, Jesus’ kin.
God’s promise of the land of Israel includes the city of Jerusalem which 3,000 years ago was the throne of the king of Israel governing all 12 Israelite tribes (2 Samuel 5:3-5), the location of the Temple of Almighty God of the Israelites (1 Kings 8:62-63), and according to Revelation the New Jerusalem is the future throne of Jesus Christ (Revelation 21:9-27).
As a result, offering support and respect to Israel may not only be a Christian courtesy but a Christian duty in relation to the Lord’s promise to Israel, and it seems incomprehensible that the Lord would reward anyone for persecuting his birthplace and family members.
By using the word ‘support’, I am not implying or suggesting proselytizing to Israelis.
What I am encouraging Christians to do is to provide political and public support for Israel against this predominantly Gentile world which seems to completely disregard the concrete relationship the Lord has with Israel according to the Lord’s promise He gave to the Israelites.
Even Apostle Paul warned Gentile believers in Christ not to be arrogant (Romans 11:13-22), and that the Lord did not reject His people (Romans 11:1-5).
On the other hand, it is true that the Lord was known for using people or nations to discipline Israel when Israel sinned. But afterwards the individuals or nations suffered tremendously (Ezekiel 35:5-9, Ezekiel 36:2-7).
So, people can choose to ignore Biblical facts concerning Israel; a promise from God, and not support the Lord’s people and country, and in turn perhaps receive a curse now and chastisement when they face Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, the Lord is known for not only judging our actions, but the intentions of the heart. He knows when people are treated inappropriately and if someone has evil, prejudice or egotistical objectives.
Therefore, it would be wise for Christians to remember scripture if they do not want to risk wrath from the Son of God born from the Royal Israelite lineage of King David (Matthew 1:1-16; Revelation 5:5); scripture that states that there are at least two judgments.
The Great White Throne for the ‘condemned’ (Revelation 20:11-15), and the Judgment Seat of Christ for Christians whom are generally referred to as ‘saved’ (2 Corinthians 5:10), and the question remains; will us Christians hear ‘well done thou good and faithful servant’ or will we hear the Lord command His angel like what happened to the wicked and slothful servant with one talent (Matthew 25:30, Matthew 8:12); ‘And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth’?
Consequently, people who claim to be Christian need to decide for whom they stand and what they believe.
Because, at the Judgment Seat of Christ, we will all be standing there alone. Our parents, lawyer, counselor, advisor, pastor, priest, bishop, cardinal, deacon or elder will not be standing next to us. Each one of us will individually account for everything we have done on this earth, explaining our thoughts, words, actions and behavior to the Judge and Jury; the Great, Powerful, Fearsome, Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, who sits at the right hand of God…an Israelite born In Israel.
Don Davis has over 20 years experience in analytic research particularly regarding Israeli, Middle Eastern culture, behavior and historical patterns. Don is based in Israel, from where he monitors and evaluates worldwide information on finance, technologies, industries, and the military/political environment for a US consulting company. For general feedback, write to christianmessenger [dot] in [at] gmail [dot] com