More to Israel than Ruins & Artifacts

This is a sort of a follow up to a previous blog post, I know what it takes....

More to Israel than Ruins & Artifacts

There is a report that needs to be corrected
that has been circulating in the past few days
among Christian intercessors who have a love for Israel.

It is based on an article that appeared on World Net Daily a few days ago ‘Ark of the Covenant’ about to be unveiled? Ethiopian patriarch tells pope he will show artifact to world.

That article was posted on June 24 and by June 26th, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church was already back-peddling on its plans: Hark! Where’s the Bible Ark? Ethiopia’s Orthodox patriarch cops out on revealing plan for public viewing.

One claim reported in the second article to have been made by the Patriarch is scripturally inaccurate: "The state of conservation is good because it is not made from man's hand, but is something that God has made." That should be a huge clue to us as to the authenticity of the claim.

The Biblical Ark of the Covenant was fashioned by men according to specifications God gave Moses (primarily recorded in Exodus). Additionally, it was only a representation of a spiritual reality. The blood on the mercy seat represented the Blood of Jesus (Lev 16:14). We have in spirit and truth what the mercy seat in the Ark of the Covenant only foreshadowed.

Claims to possession of long lost Temple treasures like the Ark of the Covenant should always be greeted with a wait-and-see attitude even when made by ancient Christian denominations. Rarely do these claims turn out to be the truth – similar to the many claims that tingle and sway Christendom by the often claims of some to know the date of the Rapture.

We should be careful about looking backwards for an artifact that was prophetically pointing to a spiritual reality that we already possess through the Blood of Jesus. It may well be that the Ark was “lost” accidently on purpose by God so it would not be worshipped or in any way distracting our focus from the spiritual realities it was meant to prophetically communicate.

Even the rebuilding of the Third Temple which so many eagerly look into with excitement, is problematic because according to 2 Thess 2:3-4 this rebuilt Temple will be inhabited by a false Messiah. Is this really good news for us or Israel?

Which brings me to another problem with the emails circulated over the past few days, because information was added to the original WND article reporting that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had just announced to the world that the temple will be rebuilt. This report is in error.

In reality, a leader of the Islamic Movement Sheikh Raed Salah ACCUSED Netanyahu of planning to rebuild the Temple on the Temple Mount. In a Israeli newspaper report on June 17th covering a speech made a Haifa University by the Sheikh, Ynetnews.com reported:

“Salah claimed that the government continued constantly to dig tunnels under the Temple Mount and the al-Aqsa Mosque, and that Netanyahu was planning to complete during his current term what he did not complete during his first one – ‘to dig additional tunnels under al-Aqsa and rebuild the Temple on the Temple Mount."

Additional confirmations from legitimate news sources: Weekly Standard and Jerusalem Post.

The accusation was meant to cause trouble for Israel and for Netanyahu, and it is not something that Christians should be excited to hear. As Christians, we have been listening far too much to the extreme religious viewpoint in Israel that seeks to rebuild the Temple no matter what the cost to people of Israel. Some readers may not like this, but unreliable religious sources include Arutz Sheva’s Israel National News and the frequent Christian TV guests, the Temple Mount Faithful. Yet Christians flock to those sources for news.

Even in the INN (Israel National News) coverage of the false accusations Sheikh Salah made against Netanyahu trying to create an uprising – yet another Islamic intifada – against the Israeli government, INN noted in its final paragraph:

“Jewish religion commands the Jews to rebuild the Temple as part of a Divine plan for the salvation of the Jewish people and the entire world, but Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is not considered observant, never has associated himself with efforts by Jews to pray on the Temple Mount.”

It is not like we are without spiritual brothers and sisters in Israel who are well informed on the true issues and developments. Why should we depend on those who oppose Jewish faith in Jesus to faithfully communicate to Christians what the important events and issues in Israel really are? Would it not make more sense for our prayers to be directed by the requests of the believer ministries in Israel rather than by the often religious misrepresentations of Israeli religious un-believers?

Even World Net Daily pays too much heed to sources in Israel who consistently report nothing more than quotes like this from Sheikh Salah that misrepresent the facts. The purpose? To influence Christians with the agenda of the Israeli religious unbelievers – those very same ones who actively oppose Jews in Israel who believe in Jesus. We should not allow ourselves to continually be stirred up by false reports and misinformation for the agenda of unbelievers in Israel – even if they are religious.

Isn’t it about time we started seriously considering the source of the reports we are heeding out of Israel?

It is easy: Turn your ear to our spiritual brothers and sisters in Israel who not only follow and report the important, reliable news, but who can also give you the spiritual eye-view of what the Lord is doing in the Israeli harvest.

If you are interested in such a thing, please review Arrows from Zion at my blog Israel Prayer Dot Com or sign up to subscribe via weekly email reports of Arrows from Zion with an expanded attachment of actual excerpts of prayer request from a diversity of Israel Ministries, with photos, contact information, links to teaching articles, news items and more.