"And Ruth said, "Urge me not to leave you or turn back from following you;
for where ever you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge.
Your people shall be my people and your God my God."
(Ruth 1:16)
I have always loved the story of Ruth, the young woman from Moab,
who, after she was widowed, did not return to her native land with her
sister-in-law, Orpah, but instead chose to go with her mother-in-law,
Naomi, also widowed, who was returning to Israel.
This beautiful biblical story of love and friendship and the eventual
courtship and marriage between Ruth and Boaz, a kinsman of Naomi,
is clear evidence of God at work in the lives of ordinary people.
A testimony of remarkable faith, "which comes by hearing" as the apostle Paul
reminds us in Romans 10:17., Ruth emerged from her idolatrous background,
to put her hope and trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
the Living God of Israel, and to subsequently embrace His chosen
people through the loving example set by her mother-in-law.
Ruth married Boaz and gave birth to a son, Obed, whose son Jesse,
was the father of David, the ancestor of Jesus Christ the Messiah.
Her story has always been a deep inspiration for me in my own
walk of faith, and especially in regards to the people and nation
of Israel, whom I love as God's chosen people. Without Israel
there would be no patriarchs, no prophets, no Bible, but
most important of all, no Messiah!
"Your people shall be my people and your God my God."
I was reminded of this passage this morning after I read an e-mail from
Jan Markell of Olive Tree Ministries, she herself a Messianic Jewish believer,
who is concerned about the profound silence coming from the American
evangelical churches in regards to the current war in Israel.
Jan reports that she has been receiving e-mails from dismayed believers
across the nation who have heard no mention of the October 7th attack
on Israel by Hamas, or have seen any show of support for the people
of Israel by their church leadership. One person wrote that while there
was no mention of the ongoing crisis in their church, there were several
mentions of a Houston Astros baseball game.
After she checked the website for the largest evangelical organization-the
National Association of Evangelicals (NAF),- Jan was further perplexed to
find no evidence of support for Israel, only a banner headline about racial justice.
There was, however, a small blurb on the website, which declared that Israel,
"should not act out of revenge" and "should support the dignity
of all the people affected in this situation."
Does this include "supporting" the "dignity" of terrorists?
As Jan Markell rightly observed: "Terrorists have no dignity.
They are evil. They are demonized."
Where is the voice of leading evangelicals in condemning the huge
protests erupting in cities across America in support of Hamas,
of their torture-murders of Israeli families, of elderly Holocaust
survivors in their homes, of the beheading of precious little babies?
I never thought I would ever see privileged American college kids
waving the flag of a sadistic terror organization while holding banners
with messages calling for the Jewish people to be gassed, or comparing
current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with
the likes of German dictator Adolf Hitler.
"And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, "The Lord is my Banner".
And he said, "Because theirs is a hand against the throne of the Lord, the
Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."
(Exodus 17:15-16)
Amalek /Antisemitism = Antichrist
The spirit of Antichrist is clearly alive and on display in the streets of America.
Meanwhile, much of "the church" remain silent spectators.
Focusing on baseball scores or hosting Halloween-themed, harvest parties.
Halloween- themed harvest parties held on church property?
Many in "the church" have embraced the satanic lie of "Replacement
Theology" claiming that they are now Israel and that they will usher
in God's forthcoming Kingdom on earth. The apostle Paul warned
that in the last days some will fall away from the faith and
follow after "doctrines that demons teach".
(1 Timothy 4:1)
The Bible makes it absolutely clear that "the church" is not Israel
and Israel is not "the church". Furthermore, when speaking to
the Samaritan woman at the well, the Lord Himself declared,
"Salvation comes through the Jews"
(John 4:22)
He was speaking of Himself, of course.
"The Lord is my Light and my Salvation..."
(Psalm 27:1)
The Hebrew word for "salvation" is Yeshua/Jesus.
In this season of extended grace, it is truly alarming to see that much of "the church"
in America has turn its back on God in order to march in lockstep with this
generation's army of Amalek-by keeping their silence.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor, who stood against the Nazis,
warned future generations, "Silence in the face of evil is evil itself."
It is imperative that the remnant of true believers in America not only support
the nation and people of Israel in these increasingly dark and dangerous times
we are living in, but, to effectively pierce the satanic veil of blindness over
our beloved homeland with the glorious, life-saving message of salvation,
found only in and through our Lord Jesus Christ the Messiah.
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