Church Weekly for 2 December 2007
My dear readers,
1. Nothing like walking in the Holy Land
Calvary Pandan’s pilgrim band, just back from a study tour of Israel have gained rich spiritual insights and a new appreciation of the absolute accuracy of the Bible record. Group Leader Deacon Milton Ang reports: “The valuable lessons we learnt far exceeded the expense of the trip, in fact it was no comparison. We were more than amply rewarded with priceless experiences, eg. retracing the steps of Moses up Mt Nebo, for a panoramic view of the Promised Land; sitting in the cave of Adullam of which David wrote Psalm 57 , sharing the Psalmist’s inspired thoughts; treading the shores of the Dead Sea, the very spot where God rained fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah, a reminder of God’s coming global judgment by fire; ascending to the Mt of Olives, the site of our Lord’s soon return to earth, the very spot of a predicted split of the land (Zech 14:4 ); the experience (with our Lord) of praying in the Garden of Gethsemane; wading through knee-high water the ancient aqueduct built by King Hezekiah to channel water from Gihon’s spring to Siloam’s pool (2 Chron 32:20 ), and much more! Space will not allow me to tell readers the rest of our travelogue. Do join us for our next Holy Land Study Tour, Nov 14-29, 2009.”
2. When Eschatology supersedes Archaeology
Archaeology is great in the understanding of certain aspects of history. Our study of the archaeology of the Holy Land, however, goes beyond historical interests into the future destiny of Planet Earth. History without the understanding of eschatology is of limited value.
Climactic events of the end time, from our understanding of Biblical eschatology, are centred on the Holy Land, a land that has been the “hot spot” of fratricidal wars for over 3,500 years, war which was hatched in a woman’s womb. The intra-uterine struggle was so violent that the woman, Rebekah, sought an explanation of God: “What is the meaning of this turmoil in my tummy, Lord?”
“And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger” (Gen 25:23 ).
Since 1948, when the State of Modern Israel was born, five wars between Israel and the neighbouring Arab natives have left the Israelis victorious but without a peace agreement. Militant Arabs are unmoved in their commitment to “wipe Israel off the map.”
The Arab-Israeli conflict is beyond human solution. No amount of negotiations, Camp David talks, Oslo accords, Road Maps, etc can bring about lasting peace. Eschatology in God’s Book has it all mapped out, precisely, inerrantly and finally. The day of Jacob’s trouble is looming. The question is: when?
3. Report from the Holy Land (from “Hashivah” Nov 4, 2007)
Mixed Signals – Under attack from without and within
· Unprecedented military build-up in Syria in apparent preparation for war; Hizbullah in Lebanon has rearmed to greater strength than in summer 2006; Hamas has created a mini-state and army in Gaza; Iran continues its nuclear-bomb program unhindered; and al-Qaeda declares Israel one of its main targets. “Israel has not faced such a dangerous combination of threats since 1973” (Yaakov Katz, The Jerusalem Post, July 13, 2007);
· Israeli officials are mum about the Israeli bombing of a secret site in Syria on September 6. Sources in Washington and London, however, reveal that North Koreans were involved in storing nuclear materials at the site close to the Israeli border;
· China and Russia are preventing sanctions against Iran for its nuclear-bomb program directed against Israel and the West. While some companies are reducing business with Iran, 5,000 companies in Germany alone continue to do business with it, (worth) US$5 billion in 2006 (The Wall Street Journal, September 24, 2007);
· Throughout Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles, September 26 – October 4), terrorist rocket-fire against Israel continued. On the first day alone, 30 Kassam rockets and shells landed in Israel;
· Denying any Jewish legal or historical claim to the biblical Temple Mount, the Muslim Authority of Jerusalem has been illegally digging up the plaza area with a trench as long as a football field, destroying two millennia of archaeological artifacts. The Israeli cabinet, inclined to relinquish the area as part of a peace agreement, remains silent;
· The Jewish National Fund (JNK-KKL) has been planting forests and rebuilding the land for over a hundred years. Now heavily influenced by left-leaning persons, it does not plant trees beyond the “green-line” borders of Israel of June 5, 1967, effectively boycotting Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”). Also, this year it was revealed that Palestinian Arabs have built scores of homes for themselves on JNF-owned land, paid for by Jews and Christians, while the JNF looked on the other way (Aaron Klein, World Net Daily, Jun 21, 2007).
4. The lull before the storm
The Middle East, on the surface, is (like the rest of the world) enjoying unprecedented boom time in business and prosperity everywhere. Be not deceived! Ever heard of the lull before the storm? God’s Word has warned: “For when (men) shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them … and they shall not escape” (1 Thess 5:3 ).
Our one and only safety is in Jesus, the coming Lord of lords and King of Kings. Come to Him, receive Him as Saviour and Lord, and be saved from the wrath to come. God bless all readers.
Lovingly in the Lord
Dr SH Tow, Senior Pastor