Paying It Forward

There was a movie that came out several years ago called “Paying It Forward”. It was about an idealistic boy around ten years old in elementary school. His teacher gave the class a project to do that involved doing random acts of kindness for strangers without asking for anything in return, and then reporting back on what happened. This young boy took it seriously and began doing that. Soon, other strangers were helping other strangers because they had been helped, asking them only to “pay it forward' by helping someone else that they did not know. Soon the whole city began to change with people doing random acts of kindness all over. It even made the daily newspaper. In the end this young boy gave his life literally by “paying it forward” by helping a fellow classmate who was being constantly bullied by this gang. The gang leader pulled out a knife and stabbed the boy to death. It happened on school grounds. The teacher saw it and arrived in time to break it up and get help, but the helpful boy died in his arms, saying, “Just paying it forward”. Well I had a real experience this evening.

I was shopping for groceries late in the evening and had finished around 9 p.m. I sat down with my several bags of groceries at a local bus stop. It suddenly occurred to me that maybe the last bus had gone by because of it being a holiday and they were on a Sunday schedule, which means the buses do not run as late as they do during a regular weekday schedule. I had forgotten this when I left my place. I called my son on my cell phone and had him check the bus schedule. Sure enough, I had missed the last bus by a half hour. There was another man also waiting at the bus stop. He looked to be a business man in his dark suit and white dress shirt. I went over and told him that the last bus had already gone by and why. I was thinking about if I even had enough money to take a cab home, but never said anything to this guy. The man asked where I was going, and I told him. Turned out it was about half the distance of where he was headed further on, so he asked if I wanted to split a cab fare with him. I said sure, but that I need to go to an ATM to get some cash because I didn't have any on me. He had to do the same, so we agreed to meet back at the bus stop in a couple of minutes. He volunteered to call the cab with his cell phone, so I agreed and we split. Turned out we both used the same bank and there was an ATM right behind us that we both used. The cab arrived about five minutes later. He offered to let me sit in the back of the cab with all my bags and he take the front seat beside the driver. I said that that was ok with me. Well, the driver had stuff piled in the seat beside him, so that was out, but I just stacked my 3 bags around me and left the side open for the other guy. We all managed to fit in the back seat.

My stop was first. I had told the driver an intersection a couple of blocks away from my place so as to keep us going in a straight line and not to inconvenience the gentleman sharing the fare with me. The driver let me out at the corner gas station. I told them here was fine that I could walk the couple of blocks to my home from there. They both graciously offered to take me all the way, but I said I was fine, that I did not wish to inconvenience the other passenger. I asked how much I owed the driver and had my wallet out to pay, when the businessman said that it was only a couple of dollars and that he would take care of it. He routinely took the cab this distance when he got off work late at night to his home sometimes about another mile away, so he was familiar with the cost. I graciously thanked him, utterly astounded, and he said, “Just pay it forward. Just help somebody else.” I laughed in joyous understanding and said that I would. I left the cab in a daze and started my trek home with grocery bags in hand.

God bless you, kind stranger.

Is Modern Israel a Fulfillment of Prophecy?

I fully agree with the ideas and theology expressed in this article. I am wholeheartedly against replacement theology.-- Linda L.

 
By Mark Ellick

Is modern-day Israel the fulfillment of prophecy? In this article we will consider and evaluate various positions and determine whether it is or not.

A Closer Look at Replacement Theology

What is "replacement theology"? This theology claims that because of the Jewish people's disobedience and general rejection of Messiah, God has rejected Israel and replaced it with the church. It asserts that the church is the "New Israel," and states that the promises made to Israel in the Tenach (Old Testament) have been transferred to the church. Replacement theology also holds that the prophecies in the Tenach regarding a re-gathering of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and the reestablishment of Israel as a nation should be interpreted allegorically, not literally. Thus, replacement theology argues that modern-day Israel is not a fulfillment of prophecy.

However, God's promise that Abraham's descendants (the Jewish people) would possess the land God promised to Abraham is initially found in a covenant. The Abrahamic Covenant is unconditional, meaning that its fulfillment does not depend on the obedience of Abraham or his descendants. Rather, its fulfillment depends solely on the faithfulness of God. The Abrahamic Covenant is mentioned a number of times in Genesis. Two of these are particularly relevant to our study:

"And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: ‘Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are-northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.'" (Genesis 13:14-15).
"And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." (Genesis 17:7-8) 

Neither of these passages place any conditions on Abraham or his descendants, and it is in these passages that God promises Abraham, "all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever." God, who never lies, promised Abraham that his descendants would possess the land forever - and He will keep that promise!

The prophetic Scriptures concerning Israel's future are founded on the promises contained in the Abrahamic Covenant. Because the promises in the Abrahamic Covenant are unconditional, these same promises found in the prophetic Scriptures must also be unconditional. This includes the promises concerning the re-gathering of the Jewish people to Israel that they might possess the land.

Allegorical Or Literal?

Replacement theology's claim that the prophecies concerning Israel's future should be interpreted allegorically is also incorrect. The promises God made to Abraham were clearly literal. For example, God's promise that He would make Abraham a great nation (Genesis 12:2) has been literally fulfilled. Likewise, the covenant promises concerning Israel's future - and the prophecies that elaborate on these promises - will be literally fulfilled as well. Additionally, the prophecies regarding the reestablishment of Israel are part of a group of prophecies concerning the second coming of Messiah. Because the prophecies concerning Messiah's first coming were fulfilled literally, consistent interpretation dictates that the prophecies concerning His second coming - and the reestablishment of Israel - should be interpreted literally as well.

Conclusion
We may conclude that the teachings of replacement theology are not the most literal interpretations of the teachings of Scripture, and replacement theology must be carefully scrutinized. The covenant promises made to Israel still apply to Israel, and they will be fulfilled literally. This includes the possession of the land of Israel by the Jewish people.

Israel And The Prophetic Scriptures

Let's now consider one of the prophetic Scriptures that elaborates on the promises made to the Fathers concerning the land.

"For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God." (Ezekiel 36:24-28)

In this passage, Ezekiel prophesies that the Jewish people will be gathered from the nations among which they have been scattered and return to live in the land promised to their forefathers. This prophecy records, far in advance, the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham concerning the Land. There is neither a literary nor a biblical reason to interpret this prophecy allegorically. Its fulfillment is, as Ezekiel clearly indicates, literal.

Two Re-Gatherings

We have established that the promises God made concerning the land of Israel still apply to Jewish people and will be fulfilled literally. Now we will determine whether modern-day Israel is a fulfillment of these promises.

There are some who say that while it is true that God will restore the Jewish people to the Land, it is possible that there may be a number of "non-prophetic" re-gatherings preceding the prophetic re-gathering. According to this view, modern-day Israel may be a work of man, not a work of God - and therefore not necessarily a fulfillment of prophecy.

However, according to the Scriptures, there are to be only two re-gatherings of Israel. This is confirmed by the prophet Isaiah:

It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (Isaiah 11:11-12)

Isaiah chapter 11, which contains the prophecy of a second re-gathering, describes it as a final and permanent re-gathering. Scripture thus indicates that there will be precisely two re-gatherings - no more and no less.
One view of this passage asserts that the modern-day re-gathering and reestablishment of Israel is the first re-gathering, a re-gathering in unbelief for judgment - and that a second re-gathering in belief for blessing will follow this first re-gathering. However, this view does not account for a previous re-gathering: the return of the Jewish people to their homeland after the Babylonian captivity. This appears to contradict Isaiah 11, which calls for precisely two re-gatherings.

A different view of this passage, which accounts for precisely two re-gatherings, asserts that the first re-gathering took place when the seventy-year Babylonian captivity prophesied by Jeremiah ended (Jeremiah 25:8-11), and the Jewish people returned to their homeland (Ezra chapters 1 and 2).

According to this view, since the prophecy concerning the first re-gathering has been fulfilled, the modern day re-gathering of the Jewish people and the reestablishment of Israel as a nation must be the second and final re-gathering and a fulfillment of prophecy. This view is consistent with the promises made in the Abrahamic Covenant and the prophetic Scriptures based on that covenant.

Based on our study of the Abrahamic Covenant and the prophetic Scriptures, we may conclude that God has declared unconditionally that Israel would one day be reestablished - and God has been faithful in keeping this promise. The prophetic Scriptures, properly interpreted, indicate that modern-day Israel is indeed a fulfillment of prophecy.

* The views above are those of the author.

Mark Ellick serves with Chosen People Ministries in Irvine, California

http://www.chosenpeople.com/main/index.php/prophecy/261-is-modern-israel-a-fulfillment-of-prophecy

A New Day

The veil was thin this morning.
Doves were cooing
As the sun peaked thru
The billowing grey clouds,
Full of promise of rain to come.
Yahweh's children were up and about
Greeting their Father
As a new day arose.

Linda K. Light

Easy to Talk

It's easy to talk about someone else's woes when you are in an armchair a safe distance away.

Walking Wounded

[Dedicated to MR]

by Linda Light

I walked by the hospital one day

And out back I heard the sounds of shots fired.

Hurriedly I ran back there to see

A man kneeling on the ground,

Writhing in pain,

As a doctor stood pointing a gun

At a man who was already ill.

I shoved the gun aside and ran

To the man on the ground.

I screamed at the doctor

“ You’re supposed to help people heal here,

Not wound them more! What do you think you are doing??”

I took hold of the elbow of the now shot man,

Helped him to stand, and

Took him to a humble cottage down the road.

Urgently I rapped on the door.

A bearded man robed in white

Soon opened wide the door.

“Father, please take us in! Another patient rescued

From down the road.”

With eyes full of love, he helped the man in.

He touched his wounds and healed them,

Then lastly he touched the man’s heart.

“Go and tell others of what you’ve learned this day.”

Jewish Salvation Is Not Automatic

There are some false teachings going around in the “Christian” world that the Jewish person does not need to be told about Yeshua HaMachiach (Jesus Christ) because the Jewish people are automatically saved by being Jewish and therefore they will automatically go to Heaven when they die. Not so!! This is a lie straight from the pit of Hell to keep the gospel from the Jewish people. I love the Jewish people. I believe they are a chosen people by God to bring the law (Torah) into the world and to be the earthly line that the Messiah would be born into and enter the world of mankind in physical form. But I believe they have to make a choice about what they will do with Yeshua just like everyone else. The Bible supports this.  Here is an excerpt from an article by Dr. Mitch Glaser of Chosen People Ministries that explains it very well.

The Church and Jewish Evangelism
By Dr. Mitch Glaser

Introduction

As the leader of a traditional mission to the Jewish people, I believe that all Jewish people need to accept Jesus in order to have a place in the age to come (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). I do not believe that a Jewish person is capable of keeping the Law to the extent that their human efforts would in some way satisfy God’s demands for righteousness, enabling the individual Jewish person to enter heaven on their own merit (Gal. 2:15-16, 3:23-25, Romans 10:2-4 ff.).  This is true of non-Jews as well, who are judged on a different basis than the Jewish people according to the argument of the Apostle Paul in the early chapters of Romans (Romans 2:12-16, 3:9-20), but non-Jews are also made acceptable before God by the same act of conscious faith in the Son of God who died and rose for our sins (Romans 10:9-12).

I also believe it is a biblical mandate for Gentiles in the Body of Messiah to reach Jewish people with the Gospel message.  In fact, according to Paul’s statement in Romans 11:11, the Gentiles are to make the Jewish people jealous.  The Great Commission has application to both Jewish and Gentile believers; however, the Scriptures do not present Jewish evangelism as simply one aspect of the Great Commission among many.  It is a unique venture that is specifically addressed in Scripture and once again, Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, is the biblical spokesperson who argues for this position.

This mandate for Jewish evangelism (and discipleship) that Paul calls upon the Gentiles in the Body of Messiah to embrace is based upon many different passages from the New Testament, but the following two passages seem to be the most prominent.

The Mandate to Evangelize Jewish People Based Upon Romans 1:16

Franz Delitzsch, the well-known Old Testament scholar, wrote, “For the church to evangelize the world without thinking of the Jews is like a bird trying to fly with one broken wing.”

The Apostle Paul expresses it this way, For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ:  for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16).

It is in this thematic verse of Romans that one is able to see the clear progression of evangelism.  The rest of the world is not to be ignored, but the first step is to reach out to God’s chosen people.  Even the word “first” clearly exhibits that the Jewish people are the first priority for evangelism in time, place and rank.

…for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first…

Of course, Paul is not suggesting that the Roman believers withhold the Gospel from the Gentiles until every Jewish person in the world is reached.

Neither is the Apostle implying that the Gospel has already come to the Jewish people first and therefore preaching the Gospel to the "Jew first" no longer has any particular application to the year 2010.  Romans 1:16 is written in the present tense - so let's follow the logic of the text.   If the Gospel is still the power of God "unto" salvation and is still for "all who believe," then the Gospel is still "to the Jew first."

The Greek word used by Paul and translated first is protos. It implies a priority, rather then a sequential order of events. The word is also used in Matthew 6:33 where the Lord Jesus reminds us to Seek first the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God should always be sought as a priority in our lives, even as we seek other things.  In a similar way, reaching Jewish people with the Gospel must be a priority concern for all who know the Lord Jesus as their Savior.

Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, focused his ministry on reaching non-Jews with the Gospel message.  But this did not lessen his concern for the salvation of the Jewish people. Wherever Paul went in his ministry among the Gentiles, he also tried preached the Gospel to the Jewish people living in that area (Acts 13:13-52; 14:1-5; 18:7-11; 19:8-10).  He would regularly attempt to evangelize the Jewish people of a particular city before he spoke to the Gentiles.  The salvation of the Jewish people was an ever- present concern for Paul, and his actions in the Book of Acts reveal his understanding of what he wrote in Romans 1:16.

However, all too often Jewish evangelism has become the Great Omission of the Great Commission.  This is beginning to change and some church bodies are taking Jewish evangelism more seriously than ever before - and it is my hope that this will continue.

A wonderful story is told of the relationship between John Wilkinson, a Gentile missionary to the Jews who founded the Mildmay Mission to the Jews, and of J. Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission (which is now OMF).  It seems that every January, Taylor would send Wilkinson a check for a sum of money with a note attached, “To the Jew first.”  Wilkinson would then the same amount back to Taylor with a note that read, “And also to the Gentiles.”

I hope this is a true story, though it has almost reached the zenith of myth within the Jewish missions community!   However, it does characterize the interdependence that missions to both Jews and Gentiles have in Scripture.  One mission does not negate the possibility of fulfilling the other.  We can reach Jewish people as a priority founded upon God’s own choice of Abraham’s seed according to the flesh, and still reach the world as commanded by our Messiah prior to the ascension.

Romans 9-11

Romans, chapters 9, 10 and 11 are passages of Scripture with which most Christians are familiar, but which are not usually understood in respect to Jewish evangelism. These texts are often utilized by preachers to instruct believers in the doctrines of election and predestination - especially Romans chapter 9.

Romans 10 speaks about the role of preaching and the preacher in evangelism: “How can they hear without a preacher?”  This is the passage believers use regarding evangelism in general and the role of the Word of God in evangelism.

In Romans chapter 11, where clearly the relationship of Israel and the Church is central to the Apostle's thinking, the text is mostly known for the final few verses which form a doxology, “For from Him and to Him and through Him are all things, to Him be the glory forever and ever.”

Yet for our purposes, Romans 9, 10 and 11 are some of the most critical chapters of Scripture dealing with Jewish evangelism, the role of the Jewish people in God’s plan, and the role of the evangelist among the Jewish people.

Some Key Thoughts from the Text

In Romans 9-11, the Apostle Paul points out some key thoughts about the Jewish people and about Jewish evangelism.

For example, in Romans 9:1-3, we learn of Paul’s burden for the Jewish people.  The statement “I wish that I would be accursed” shows Paul’s willingness to go to hell so that Jewish people might go to heaven.  Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, had a great burden for his own people.

In Romans 10:1 we learn about Paul’s desire to pray for the Jewish people.  “Brethren, my heart’s desire, my prayer to God is that Israel might be saved.”  The Apostle Paul relates his struggle in Romans 9-11 as he attempts to figure out how in God’s plan, the Jewish people did not embrace Jesus as their Messiah.

In chapter 11 Paul concludes that God has not rejected the Jewish people and that there is hope for their salvation in the present age and in the age to come.

The following summarizes the Apostle's struggle and conclusion.  Did all Israel reject Christ?  Did God reject the Jewish people?  No - all Israel did not reject Christ because Paul himself declares that he is a Jew in Romans 11:1 !  So not all Jewish people rejected Jesus, because Paul himself was Jewish!  Had God rejected the Jewish people for their unbelief?  No!  Paul is living evidence of God’s faithfulness. I too am a Jewish believer in Jesus, and there is a remnant of Jews today who are accepting the gift of salvation through our various ministries.

God had preserved a remnant, and there is a remnant today as there was in even in the Old Testament period, as evidenced by Paul’s recounting of the story in 2 Kings 18.  Elijah went up to Mt. Carmel to stage a contest with the Ba’al worshippers. What ultimately happens is that God shows Elijah when he feels all alone that he has company, because there are 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Ba'al.

This remnant doctrine is extremely important in Scripture and is mentioned throughout Scripture from Genesis through Revelation. Sha’ar, the remnant, is a key term and a very important concept in Scripture.

Noah is one example of the remnant. God was willing to preserve a city, Sodom, for the sake of the remnant.  Often you see the phrase, “except for the sake of the remnant, I would have destroyed...” Jewish believers today are also part of the remnant.

This doctrine points out that we are not alone.  The Apostle Paul's teaching reminds us that in every age there exists a remnant of Jewish people who are open to the Lord and willing to follow Him!  In this age, clearly, accepting Jesus as the Jewish Messiah fulfills this faith in God.

One of the reasons I am excited about serving with Chosen People Ministries is because I know that in every corner of the globe and every community within our own country, there are Jewish people ready to hear the Good News and respond positively.

This is why we should preach the Gospel “to the Jew first” in our communities, knowing that the Lord has promised to save a remnant.

I hope we will follow the Lord’s mandate and proclaim the Good News to the Jewish people and keep Jewish evangelism close to our hearts, as we know from Scripture that God is not finished with His people yet! (Romans 11:25-27).

http://www.chosenpeople.com/main/index.php/evangelism/400-the-church-and-jewish-evangelism