By Jan Willem van der Hoeven

If what the Apostle Paul writes concerning his people in his letter to the Romans is true, that “if their fall [has been] riches for the world and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! ? For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Romans 11:12,15); if this is the truth, as we believe it to be, then we can hardly over-emphasize the utter and all-inclusive importance of the restoration of Israel which we – our generation – has been privileged to witness.

As Old Testament prophets wrote again and again, at a time “when darkness shall cover the earth ? the Lord will rise over Israel and His glory will be seen upon them?so that the Gentiles shall come to their light.” (Isaiah 60:2,3)

This is the strong and persistent vision of the prophets, who thus agree with what Paul wrote here in his epistle to the Romans!

It is at a time “that God will restore the kingdom to Israel” – as Jesus implied would happen when questioned about this by His disciples – that the whole world would rejoice, and mankind would enter one of the most blessed moments of history.

In that way – here on earth – there is hardly anything so beneficial to be involved in as helping towards this aforementioned and prophesied fulfillment of the prophecies concerning ‘the fulness’ and ‘restoration’ of God’s people – the Jews.

As the breathtaking result of this restoration, all the earth will rejoice: The trees will clap their hands, the nations will make war no longer and instead will come yearly to Jerusalem, to the Mountain of the Lord, to worship Him and hear His words.

The whole earth will again become a paradise of love, peace and justice, where everyone will sit in safety in his and her garden, and the whole animal world, as it was in the Garden of Eden will live in harmony with mankind and with one another.

The Dead Sea, symbol of death and lifelessness, will become a sweet water lake teeming with fish. The whole earth under His coming reign will be rejuvenated into a millennium of peace and righteousness.

This is the assertion of all Israel’s prophets; and this is about to happen now that the people of Israel are back in the land of their fathers – the land God promised them not, as the Church has often implied, for only a temporary period, until the advent of Christ – but as an everlasting possession.

And everlasting is everlasting!

This is how Isaiah describes this breathtaking result of the homecoming of God’s people:

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.” It shall come to pass in that day that the LORD shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (Isaiah 11:6-12)

If it is truly so important that we see the fulfillment of the will and word God has purposed for His people for this day, then the question arises: What can we do in and for His Name to see this come to pass?

One could nearly say that the enmity and obstruction that the Evil One has brought against the Jewish people from the days of their return to their land is proof, and a measure of just how much he apparently fears the enormous consequences of this biblically-foretold return of the Jews.

For it is truly astonishing just how much enmity the reborn State of Israel has engendered. It is as if the Devil knows what Paul was writing to the Romans and thinks: ‘I already lost so much through their diminishing – multitude of gentiles are now reconciled to the God of Israel – how much more will I and my kingdom of darkness lose as a result of this full restoration of God’s people? It will be terrible for my destructive purposes with this earth and mankind!’

The final focus point and ultimate reason for Israel’s restoration is found in relation to the Temple Mount, the hill the Bible calls the Mountain of the Lord.

As in the entire world, one country, the land of Israel, is specifically called His land, so among all the cities in that land, one city, Jerusalem, is called His city – the city of the great King. So too, of all the hills on which that holy city is built, only one is specifically called “His holy hill” (Psalm 2:6). And this hill is reserved for the future reigning King and Messiah.

This centrality in the purposes of God concerning the prophesied return of His people from all the nations where they were scattered is seen in many scriptural passages. As Ezekiel writes:

“For on My holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel,” says the Lord GOD, ‘there all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, shall serve Me; there I will accept them, and there I will require your offerings and the firstfruits of your sacrifices, together with all your holy things. I will accept you as a sweet aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered; and I will be hallowed in you before the Gentiles. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I lifted My hand in an oath to give to your fathers. And there you shall remember your ways and all your doings with which you were defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you have committed. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for My name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel,” says the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 20:40-44)

Now, if this is true, then we can expect a ferocious attack by Satan on this divinely inspired plan and purpose in which the Mountain of the Lord has such a crucial and central part to play.

This is how the battle is taking shape:

By claiming the ancient God-given land of Judea and Samaria as rightfully belonging to the Palestinian Arabs, with of course the Old City, which includes the Temple Mount, the Evil One is trying to thwart God’s plan by stealing away the very mountain that is the key to the fulfillment of this plan!

By claiming Samaria, Judea, the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount as Palestinian Islamic property, to be legalized as such by Israel and the nations of the world when they officially recognize the Muslim Palestinian State – as they now propose as a solution – the Evil One is trying to prevent the realization of the very reason for which God has brought His people – “all the house of Israel” – back after centuries of immense suffering: to worship Him on His holy Mountain!

This is the focal point of all of Israel’s prophets, that in that day the Mountain of the Lord will be the central point for all the nations of the world, as Micah says:

Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; he will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken. (Micah 4:1-4)

So, if we want to stop this devilish plan to undo all that God in His mercy and goodness has meant to do with the present regathering of His people to their land – we have to battle with God’s help and inspiration for the preservation for His purposes alone of all this His land, including His city and His holy hill.

The Lord has thus laid it upon our hearts to warn and cry out against this satanically inspired strategy – which stands in contradiction to God’s will and Word – to steal the Temple Mount as part of the conceived plan of a Palestinian state, which nearly all the nations of the world now propose as the solution to the Middle East conflict.

If we truly love the purposes of God for this our world according to His prophetic Word, nothing can be more strategic in this respect than to see this devilish plan stopped and abrogated whatever the cost and consequences.

Hardly anything is more crucial in our fight for God’s divine purposes with Israel than this.

It is amazing how, during the last days of the Clinton presidency, the Camp David meeting called to find peace between Israel, then represented by Ehud Barak, and the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat broke down because of the Temple Mount. After nearly 14 days of endless discussions and negotiations Arafat, when he saw that he would not get the Temple Mount as part and parcel of his future Palestinian state, simply walked out of the talks in anger and frustration maybe, as we hope and pray, never to have this chance again.

It is thus of extreme importance that we find God’s best way and strategy for not letting this reoccur – that never again will the ownership of the Temple Mount or, for that matter, the ancient biblical land that God promised His people, be negotiated away by an Israeli government.

For this not to happen we need to pray and battle for two things:

1) For a government and leader in Israel to arise that will stop the descent into this trap of Satan.

2) For the people of Israel to understand that the whole of their ancient land has been given them by God for one purpose only – to glorify His Name among the nations of the world.

This is the clear message of the prophets. Again, this has everything to do with God re-establishing His sanctuary on His holy Mountain. See how Ezekiel describers this in the following words.

“But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went. Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land?” (Ezekiel 36:21-24)

“Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people?” (Ezekiel 37:26-27)

Recently, a sister wrote to tell me: “My tithe is going to the settlements – I love those brave people.”

Perhaps, of all the beloved people of Israel, none are so close in spirit and lifestyle to biblically oriented Gentile believers as the community of settlers in the biblical land of Judea and Samaria. They believe in God and His values. Many of them believe wholeheartedly in the promises of His Book, the Tanach. They are family-oriented, lovers of God and His Word and commandments. In short, they are much closer to the Bible-believing community of Gentiles than the ones who propagate the notion of a Palestinian state on every occasion they can.

Those who do are often non-believers – even scorning the truths of God, and are far away from the biblical concepts that are the driving force of Jews and Christians who fear the Lord and His omnipotent Word.

Of course, the media of this world – with great success – has painted these Tanach-believing Israelis, not as God’s people and instruments in the fulfillment of His purpose, but as harsh and willful obstacles to the peace they (the media) envision as being their best solution to this conflict.

How deceitfully and cleverly they have twisted the reality around.

A dear President Bush, who begins his day in prayer and by reading the Bible, is far closer in spirit and outlook to the biblical settlers of God’s land promised to them [than the jihad and terror backed Palestinian Muslims who trample upon everything that is holy to God and His people] than to those who deny the relevance of that Word in relation to His people today, even to the extent that they are willing to become Satan’s instruments to prevent God’s purposes from ever coming to pass.

So too, among the so-called peacemakers who laid the basis for the Oslo negotiations, hardly any on the Norwegian side – Johann Joergen Holst; Terje Roed Larsen, Bjorn Tore Godal, Thobjoern Jagland – or on the Israeli side – Hirschfield, Ron Pundak, Yossi Beilin, Shimon Peres – felt any obligation to bring God or His Word into the picture. He who claimed the Jews as His people and the Land he gave them as His land never featured in the discussions about their future. To these negotiators, He was simply not relevant.

In Israel this is known as Neo-Zionism – Zionism without biblical roots. It is a danger to the very survival of a sovereign Jewish state, as the Bible foresees.

Do we need to stress here that, apart from the scornful attitude of most if not all of the Norwegian and Israeli participants to the Oslo talks towards God’s holy purposes – there were on the Palestinian side hardened Muslim criminals and terrorists who, as we now know, had no intention of foreswearing their methods or their aim – terrorism and jihad, and the turning of Israel from a sovereign Jewish state into a Muslim Palestinian one?

In this regard there is something significant to mention here:

Just as at the beginning of the birth of Zionism and the young State of Israel there were many believing, biblically-minded Gentiles like Lord Shaftesbury, Reverend William Hechler, Lord Palmerston, Oliphant, and Orde Wingate, so too it now seems right that those who want to be God’s instruments in preserving this ancient prophetic biblical stream will again be biblically oriented Gentiles – those who hold important positions in today’s governments as well as those who, by their constant prayers and speaking forth, can influence others to act in accordance with the plainly stated plan and will of God.

President George W. Bush and several of his biblically oriented advisors and administration officials could certainly be a part of these sorely needed Gentiles who stand on the side of God and His unchanging Word.

As in the beginning, with Israel’s coming into being and establishment as a sovereign Jewish State, so also now the redeeming combination may lie in the right Zionist Israeli leadership on the one hand, and God’s appointed, biblically oriented Gentile leadership on the other; as it was then in Britain under Lord Balfour, so now in the United States under President Bush.

As then, may this combination now win the day for God’s purposes with humanity and this planet earth through Israel, to His ultimate glory!

The unbiblical, yet widespread notion that the Gentile Church and Israel will remain two separate entities or flocks of God, one (the Church) with a heavenly calling and one (Israel) with an earthly calling, has prevented many from seeing this truth: that in the end the Bible teaches that the two shall become one people in God – one Israel, one tree and one commonwealth of Israel, one flock and, as written here in Revelation, one bride where the tribes of Israel will be seen to be included, not excluded, in the heavenly Jerusalem, just as the Lamb is standing on Mount Zion with 144,000 who follow Him wherever He goes are twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. (See Revelation 7:4-8; 14:1-5)

This is very important because it will open a whole new perspective on our end-time relationship with the people of Israel if we, like Ruth, can honestly say to them “Your people are my people and your God my God”. After all, Paul in his classic eleventh chapter of his epistle to the Romans does not speak about two separate trees, the Church and Israel, but only of one tree the noble olive tree into which Gentile believers are grafted in, not into a new tree called the Church, but into the tree and commonwealth of Israel. The thing to be noticed here with regard to Romans eleven is that Paul only speaks of some branches (never the whole tree!) being cut away to make place as it were for the incoming branches of those Gentiles who have come to faith and therefore can be made a part of the Israel of God, true children of Abraham by faith.

© Israel My Beloved