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Prayer letter
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Watchman's Prayer Letter
A Guide to Intercessory Prayer
December 2011 Jewish Year 5772
Mercy to a thousand generations
After God reached out and brought Gentiles into the fold of salvation, many believed His covenant with Israel had ended. This type of thinking began quite early in the history of the Church. Seeing herself as the "true Israel," the early Church came up with a doctrine that is sometimes called Supersessionism or Replacement Theology. Because of her sins, Tertullian (AD150-230) said, "Israel has been divorced." Clement of Alexandria, writing about AD195, said that Israel denied the Lord and thus "forfeited" the position of the true Israel. Justin Martyr (c. AD150) is also often quoted. A writer by the name of Jeffrey Siker says, "According to Justin, the patriarchal promises do not apply to the Jews; rather, God has transferred these promises to the Christians and…to Gentile Christians in particular."
In speaking that way, the Church Fathers overlooked the fact that God's covenant with Israel was a permanent one. Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein (President of International Fellowship of Christians and Jews) is surely right, when in an effort to combat Replacement Theology, he quotes from the book of Deuteronomy: "Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands" (Deuteronomy 7:9). There is also a passage in which God says that if His covenant with day and night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth can pass away, then so can His covenant with Israel be abrogated (Jeremiah 33:25-26).
We are right to combat the Replacement Theology that does away with Israel, and transfers all the promises and blessings of the entire Bible to the Church. However many Christian leaders may not be aware that in an interesting contradiction of sorts, the Church Fathers also believed that the day would come when all Israel would be saved! As Mark Cameron points out, "a consensus existed among the theologians of the Patristic Era that a future salvation of the Jews would come, in accord with Old Testament prophecies and Paul's words regarding Israel in Romans 11:26." For example, Justin Martyr held that the tribes of Israel would be gathered and restored in accordance with the prophecies of Zechariah. (The Church's Doctrine of Israel in the Patristic Era, by Michael Vlach)
There are also New Testament passages that militate against Replacement Theology and teach that Israel will one day come to know her Messiah. The Apostle Paul wrote: "I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin" (Romans 11:1); as well as "And so all Israel will be saved…"(Romans11:26).
STRATEGIC PRAYER POINTS:
- Pray that the eyes of all Believers would be open to the errors of Replacement Theology which the Bible clearly does not teach.
- Pray that we Gentile Believers will live in such a way as to provoke the Jewish people to jealousy, as described by Paul (Romans 11:11).
- Pray that God will hasten the day when His people will turn with their whole hearts to their Messiah (Zechariah 12:10).
- WAITING, WAITING, WAITING…WHILE THE ENEMY ARMS ITSELF
- Talk is cheap, and there has certainly been plenty of it recently about Israel's predicament with Iran's nuclear weapons programme. In recent days there has been much hype-and even some strong anxiety-among Israelis that the IDF and IAF were about to attack Iran. In the West, we waited with baited breath to see if the threatened strike on Teheran's nukes would actually materialise. But Israel is still waiting…and waiting.
A recent Debkafile article says that "Israel can wait for sanctions to work…" and then in another article says, "Iran will have 5 nukes by April 2012." So what will Israel do?
However, the real question is what can Israel do? In the days when Iraq's Osirak reactor threatened Israel, the tiny nation, vibrant and strong, could virtually do no wrong. The reactor was taken out with such skill that there was not one stray bomb. A somewhat similar attack on Syria's nuclear reactor in 2007 went well. But now Israel is entirely surrounded by enemies, so completely targeted by missiles and rockets, and comprehensively warned by everyone from the USA to Saudi Arabia to steer clear of an attack on Iran, that humanly speaking she seems to be in an impossible position.
So why, when the "little dictator of Teheran" has promised to wipe Israel off the map, does the whole world warn Israel not to touch his nefarious weapons? It is surely because, increasingly, no one cares whether Israel survives or not. Certainly Europe does not care (with the exception of Believers and others who stand with Israel, of course), and it appears that the President of the United States does not either. Only God in heaven really does, and there must be some reason why He Himself, has stayed Israel's hand up to this point. Maybe the situation is somewhat like the time when Gideon was allowed only 300 men to attack the enemy, or when Jehoshaphat, facing a strong enemy, was told to send the choir out in front, rather than the fighting men (and there are other examples). It is because God wants the glory.
Today, basically, Israel has Pharaoh's armies behind and the Red Sea in front. In Cecil B. DeMille's film 'The Ten Commandments', the leader of the Egyptians sneeringly says, "Moses' God is a poor general." But Pharaoh soon changed his tune. I believe today, likewise, there is no way out for Israel except to turn to God. The One Who brought the state of Israel out of the ashes of the Holocaust will surely not abandon her in this eleventh-hour crisis. "This is what the Lord says to you: Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's… Take up your positions, stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem." (2 Chronicles 20:15,17)
STRATEGIC PRAYER POINTS:
- Praise God for His love and kindness and for His promises not to abandon His children.
- Thank God for the salvation that has come through Israel's Messiah.
- Continue to beseech God that He Who neither slumbers nor sleeps will watch over the work of His hands.
"ARAB SPRING" WORKING TOWARD A REVIVED CALIPHATE
How naïve is it possible for a leader to become and still maintain that he knows what he's doing with regard to the convulsions in the Islamic world? Certainly American leaders do not know what they are doing, and sometimes I think some of Europe's leaders do not really care what they are doing. Appeasement of militant Islam seems to be the watchword of the day. Muslims build mosques, invade communities, demand rights, plug the streets with their mass-prayer meetings, and promise that they will "take over" the world. Why do we not believe them?
One reason why the West has no clear plan to stem the tide of Islam is because Western leaders are convinced that it is "just a religion." They think that a few extremists have "hijacked" this otherwise "peaceful" religion. A Christian lady from Lebanon, Brigitte Gabriel, has written two books [ONLY available from Amazon.com] about Islam: "Because They Hate", and "They Must Be Stopped." But is anyone reading them? Or even if they read them, are they really comprehending? Are they are under the condemnation of 2 Thessalonians 2:11, "For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe a lie…"? A few people in the Western world are aware of the situation. Many people fear that the end (of their country) is coming, but hope it will not be tomorrow, or next day, or even next year.
For Israel, the gist of all of this is that, once again, she is surrounded. There are, of course, Christians in the Middle East, but there is so much persecution that they are leaving in droves. As far as I know, only Egypt remains with a sizeable Christian (Coptic) population, but even they are finding it almost impossible to go on with their normal daily lives. That leaves only Israel to deal with the militants of Islam. Certainly there are peaceful Muslims, but for many Muslims, it appears that the way of dealing with an intractable problem is to resort to violence, and in the end, whether by devotion or fear, unless they are won to the Lord, they will follow this interpretation of the Koran.
A possible consequence of the revolutions in the Middle East (whether the individual demonstrators realise it or not) is to level the playing field so that a new Islamic Caliphate can arise. So who will be the new Sultan? There are, no doubt, several contenders: Erdogan, Ayatollah Khamenei, Ahmadinejad, and others.
If a new Caliphate materialises, their first order of business will be to deal with Israel. By that time the Western powers may already have sunk into the sea of helplessness. Tiny Israel will be alone, with no other option but to call on God.
STRATEGIC PRAYER POINTS:
- Pray that Western leaders-in fact, all inhabitants of the Western nations-will wake up before it is too late.
- Pray that God will enable all of us to learn the lessons of the perilous times in which we live and, that the troubles will be a spring-board to a new, closer, life-strengthening walk with the Lord.
- "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me…" (Psalm 23:4)
In Messiah,
Lonnie C. Mings
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CFI-UK NEWS
As 2011 winds down to its close, thank you for standing in prayer with Israel, the Jewish people and CFI-UK in these past weeks and months. Looking ahead to 2012, it does not appear that the tensions in the Epicentre will get any less, but more than likely will worsen. In the midst of all of this, we must never lose sight of the fact that the God of Israel is sovereign and is working out His plan and purpose...exactly on time. And we are called to be Watchmen on the Walls at such a time as this. Thank you - God bless you.
The Staff Team, CFI-UK
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