Teaching Letter

Israel’s War for Truth

Since its reemergence as a nation in 1948, Israel has suffered opposition on nearly every level possible. She has been attacked repeatedly in the military arena by hostile neighbors, {image_2}the public relations arena by the world media, the political arena by the United Nations, the religious arena by replacement theologians, and even in the diplomatic arena by countries that claimed to be her allies. In recent years, however, a groundswell of support has arisen, creating for Israel a new and powerful friend in the form of evangelical Christians. From all over the world, many of these believers, perhaps like some of us, are proud to carry the label “Christian Zionist” and are determined to use their political, financial, and spiritual leverage to help Israel withstand whatever attack might come next.

The Nations in End-time Prophecy

If you’re reading this, you are probably a person who loves Israel and has spent significant time looking at the prophecies of what God has in store for Israel and her people as we approach the end of the ages. Bridges for Peace is an amazing source of information about biblical and modern Israel, its land, its people, and its future. But this teaching letter is not about Israel. {image_2}This month, I’d like us to take a look at the biblical prophecies and current events as they relate to the other nations in the region.

The Priests of the Lord

{image_1}There will always be priests. “If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant…and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers” (Jer. 33:20–21). Since the sun still shines and the moon still rules over the night, this promise still stands.

Christian–Jewish Relations: Creating an Atmosphere of Trust

Over the past couple of years, I have had some amazing opportunities to address interfaith meetings with large numbers of Christians and Jews in attendance. {image_2}This teaching letter comes out of those encounters. As a Christian who supports Israel and loves the Jewish people, I am often called upon to explain myself.

Called to Intercede

Perhaps the saddest words in the Bible are found in Isaiah 59:16, “He [the Lord] saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor…” Ezekiel recorded the same. {image_1}After God enumerated the sins the Israelites had committed, He was still willing to be merciful, but there was no intercessor: “I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one…” (22:30–31). “No one”—what a heartbreaking word!

Hosea: Yesterday’s Answers for Today’s Questions

It seems that everyone is talking about it: newspapers, magazines, the Internet—everyone is focusing on the difficult times that are engulfing the world. {image_1}Suicide is dramatically on the rise worldwide, as people are overwhelmed with financial and moral issues that seem hopeless. As Bible believers, however, we know where to find answers to today’s most difficult questions. Through the ancient prophets, the same God who spoke to Abraham and Moses face to face is speaking to us today. Their messages, delivered millennia ago, are meant to be a guide book for those of us who are living today in what many are calling “the birth pangs of the Messiah.”

The Lord Our Refuge

{image_1}2011 has been a year when the world has experienced great difficulties in many spheres—from natural disasters, to wars, to financial instability. World leaders are clearly confused in this time of instability, and even chaos, around the world. Natural disasters alone have been devastating.

God’s Invitations

There is something very powerful about an invitation. Knowing that someone cares enough about us as individuals to desire our presence and, further, to seek us out and request our presence, can have a profound effect on how we view ourselves. As a matter of fact, there are few things that are as affirming as receiving a personal invitation to an important event.{image_1}

Christian Stake in the Return to Zion

{image_1}Drive a stake into the dirt, and you claim some right to that real estate. Beyond a splintered spike, your stake is an “interest or share in an undertaking or enterprise” (Merriam-Webster). The Jewish people have an eternal and irrevocable stake in the land of Israel. Christians who explore their heritage discover that they too have a share in, and responsibility for, Zion. Former Israeli diplomat Michael Pragai insists, “Christians do have a stake in the Return. The restoration of the Jewish People to their homeland is part of a Christian understanding of God’s purpose in the world.” What accounts for this common interest in the Promised Land shared by Jews and Christians?

The Bible: How New Testament Writers Understood and Used the Old Testament

{image_1}

What value is there to understanding how New Testament writers understood, interpreted, and applied Old Testament (Tanach) texts? In many Christian circles, the Old Testament has been neglected or, worse, caused great harm and error to the Church and contributed to centuries of Christian anti-Semitism and Supersessionism (the teaching that the Church replaced Israel or the new covenant replaced God’s covenant with Israel). So, how were the apostles and New Testament writers shaped by the Old Testament, and how did they apply it to their writings? How does this impact our approach and response to the Scriptures?