Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar;
Psalms 27:10: “Although my mother and my father forsake me, the Lord will lift me up.”
I spoke with a woman yesterday who just returned from a visit to Israel. I asked what the mood was like among the people living there. She said they are scared and feel like they do not have a friend in the world.
The world knows how explosive it is in the Middle East, they know Israel has the bomb and they know the Samson effect. The world is scared and it seems the simple answer is to just get rid of Israel. Thus, Israel is faced with very few friends. They also know that the Evangelical Christian is the best friend they have in this world, but our voice is being drowned out due to our own scandals and troubles.
It is heartbreaking to watch the world forsake this little nation. It is even more heartbreaking as we watch the gas prices rise to see a turning away from support of our nation for Israel as if our support for Israel is to blame.
However, the friendship between the Evangelical Christian and the Jew is growing deeper. Growing deeper as we become more aware of the fact that the Jews are truly God’s chosen people, that they are the guardians of our beloved Old Testament, guardians of the hidden mysteries of the God we love, not to mention their role in giving us our Savior and their role in his soon return.
As the world forsakes Israel, we as Evangelical Christians will be able to watch Psalms 27:10 unfold and in that Israel will teach us a very important lesson to us as individuals. When the world, even the United States forsakes Israel, God will still be there pick them up.
As pastors and Christian leaders you may have those moments when you feel like Israel, like the ones who call you friend will weigh you friendship against a tank of gas and will choose the tank of gas.
In the human setting there are two people you can always count one, your mother and your father. Yet, they could be capable of abandoning (‘azav) you. This word “’azav” is in a qal imperative form. That means when your mother and father are commanded to abandon you. There are situations in life when even the most dedicated can not help you. In this situation in the Psalms, David is most likely thinking of an impending invasion from Assyria where if they were conquered, the Assyrians would take families into the slavery. The children would be separated from their parents and the husband and wives would be separated. There would be nothing they could do to prevent this. The word “’azav” really means to leave behind to be given over.
In modern times, your own parents would be forced to ‘azav you if you have a serious or terminal illness, if you are put in prison, or even things like falling behind on your mortgage and your parents do not have the resources to help you. There is only so much a human can do to help you. Just as there is only so much the United States can do to help Israel, only so much Evangelical Christians can do to help their Jewish friends. Yet in that time when not even your own parents can help you and they must give you up to whatever it is they have no control over, the Lord is there to pick you up.
The word here is “ya’asepeni” This is in a qal imperfect. It gives the picture of God waiting in the wings. He is not yet lifting you up, He is letting the support base that He has given you do that. Say a son is praying for some money to pay a school bill. His dad finds out and offers to loan him or give him the money. The son says, “No, I am trusting God.” What I might suggest is that the “ya’asepeni” is in an imperfect form. Perhaps that offer from the dad is God’s way of answering his prayer. For the present God is using the United States to answer Israel ‘s prayer. But if this nation decides not to be obedient to God’s calling, then God will step in. I have heard. read books and articles by a number of Capital hill insiders who all say the same thing. The bottom line in the Iraq war that we are fighting is not for oil but for Israel’s security. The best of our nation is over there fighting and dying for the security of our friend Israel. Let there be no doubt the reason this country is still prosperous and strong is because of our commitment and the sacrifice in lives and economy for the chosen people of God. It is not that God needs us to defend Israel but He is using us and so long as we continue allow ourselves to be used by God, we need not fear for our economy or the next elections. He will make sure we have the resources to carry out His will.
However, if we do pull out and crawl under yon rock and let Israel be without a friend, then just sit back and watch what happens. Something far more powerful and positive than the U.S. and all it’s technology will step in and leave the surrounding nations wishing the U.S. was back in the game.
Back to us as individuals. When we look around and see our support base crumbling. Our friends abandoning us like we changed deodorants, then get ready for the “ya’asepeni” which will change from an imperfect form to a participle and you will be lifted from your troubles and carried away on the back of the Lion of Judah.
Recent Comments