Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Blind Spot



As an Israel supporting Christian, I have known for several decades that as soon as you say something about Israel, Christians who don't grasp God's incredible faithfulness to Israel's salvation even to this day will automatically get defensive with their perception that you don't care about Arabs. 

That's wrong. It is not only wrong concerning me, it is wrong concerning almost every Israeli ministry leader I know - down to the man (or woman). 

Israelprayer has always endeavored to raise prayer for the Christian Arab ministries too. I am not able to publish as many of the ministry prayer requests of the Christian Arabs, due to their own personal safety issues. Many must fly completely under the radar. Their personal safety issues have to do with life-threat from Islamists, not Israel! 

There are also those Christian Arab ministries that I choose not to publish because they are pushing a theological concept that God does not have any more use for Israel as a nation in His Divine plan. That is just wrong, and is it any wonder that Christians in the nations who believe the same way are the very ones who get so upset with their perception that you don't care about Arabs if you support Israel? 

God knows what is going to happen within the Church that thinks God eliminated His vows toward Israel when the Church came into being. I know precious people who love God, are faithful believers and ministers, but they have this incredible blind spot to exactly how faithful to His Word God actually is. Some of them 'humor me' but I have to say, I also humor them. When they come rebuking me for my beliefs, I do not humor that. 

I do have great concerns about when this blindness gets removed from the half of the Church that does not believe what is already unfolding - the redemption of Israel. I am sure many will gain the ability to see what is clearly written about these things, but I am not so sure all will. This concerns me because I do believe this issue of Israel is pretty much the last dividing asunder line between sheep and goats. 

Israel as a nation today stands alone as nations divide up against it - ignoring what is honest, just or right, so why wouldn't Israel also be a central spiritual defining issue among believers, as well? I believe it is the issue - for believers and for the nations of the world. Shouldn't believers be smarter about this choice than the unbelieving of the nations? 

The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 11:17-21, 23-26, "If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. . . .And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

"I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved."
 

What do they think that means? The MYSTERY is hidden from those who are arrogant against Israel. From how I read it, God is judging individuals and nations on that basis.