ISRAEL UPDATEFebruary 3, 2002 - When the Word of the L-rd came to Jeremiah, confirming his call, the prophet was clearly shown two parts of a vision. The first was a rod of an almond tree and the second a seething pot. Jeremiah 1:11-13.
As Jeremiah acknowledges the rod of an almond tree, G-d states Jeremiah has well seen, then G-d says He will hasten His word to perform it.
The almond in Hebrew means the watcher or watchman. It signified G-d's pending judgment. Because the almond tree blooms earlier than other trees, G-d is acting as the watcher who sees Israel's sin and their worship of other gods.
Secondly, he saw a seething pot that was boiling. The judgment coming upon Israel would soon be hot, scalding wrath that would overflow onto all the children of Judah.
The chapters that follow in this book testify that the Babylonians manifested the wrath of G-d.
Yet knowing judgement and 70 years of captivity were coming, Jeremiah still purchased a piece of land in Anathoth to preserve posterity, even though he would not live to see it. Jeremiah 32:8-15. Jeremiah's statement of faith is shown in Verse 15: "For thus saith the L-rd of hosts, the G-d of Israel, houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.”
Today, as we watch the enemies of Israel “boiling in the pot” and see the budding almond tree, rest assured, there will be rebuilding and restoration while G-d restores his land and his people. Let us be like Jeremiah… having faith in G-d's Word.
February 3, 2002 - I have often pondered the words of the Psalmist as he questioned G-d. . . "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the L-rd and against his anointed, let us break their bands asunder, and cast their cords from us." Psalms 2:1-3.
And now, as I have observed the situation in the Middle East for more than two decades, and also as a Christian believer living in the last days, I can say this passage has come into full view, as Satan desires to destroy Israel.
The raging and vain imagination is manifested by people strapping bombs to their bodies - then detonating them in buses, crowded malls, discotheques, and lately barging into a bat mitzvah, killing and wounding scores of innocent people.
We saw this take on a whole new definition as four planes were hijacked and used to catapult death and destruction into buildings full of people.
People ask, how can human beings do these things? It might seem irrational and heinous, and it is, but it is a reflection of culture and the society in which they live.
The Islamic regimes suppress freedom, human rights, and self-expression, because they are under the thumb of Sharia Law (strict Islamic law).
It is the natural response for people not free to follow their own pursuits - to pursue the only outlet available, that being the fanaticism of fundamentalist Islam, simply because it is the only avenue they have. As America has now experienced how Israel has lived with terrorism, G-d's Word identifies where the problem is and where truth needs to be spoken in this day and time.
To be continued. . .