"I have heard the taunts of the moabites and the insults of the ammonites, mocking my people and invading their borders." (Zephaniah 2:8, NLT)
This was my scheduled reading in the "Minor Prophets" for yesterday. It could not have been more "timely." This very week, from February 28 to March 3, one of the many "Israeli Apartheid Week" gatherings is taking place in Pittsburgh. This is the event I referred to in yesterday's interview on Cornerstone Television which is taking place this weekend on the campus of Harvard University. I was born literally at the confluence of the Youghiogheny and Monongahela Rivers, just twelve miles from downtown Pittsburgh. This area has significance for me to this day. I am thankful for the faithful pray-ers in Pittsburgh whose daily prayers are surely making a difference.
While such horrendous anti-Israel and anti-semetic events are taking place, what is the Church doing? A Jewish writer recently wrote, "Obama seems to think that there is some force in the admonition that the world is watching; but history plentifully demonstrates that when the world is watching, all the world does is watch." In another article today, David Stolinsky writes, "The strong make demands of their enemies. The weak make demands of their friends. The strong evoke anxiety in their enemies. The weak evoke anxiety in their friends. As a result, the weak have more enemies and fewer friends." This describes current American foreign policy, and dare I say, the policy of far too many "christians." Yet what is the command of Jesus Christ? When we see the, "hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison," we do something. Jesus then says, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me."
Our text for today, from various translations, describes the history of Israel and the Church right to the present day, "taunts... and insults (threats, boasts against their territory...and invading their borders," in other words, the attempt to absolutely destroy Israel and the Church of Jesus Christ. Yet Zephaniah 2:9 goes on to tell us that, "The Word of God, " King Jesus, declares the ultimate victory of His Covenant People. "'Now, as surely as I live,' says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, 'Moab and Ammon will be destroyed-- destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah. Their land will become a place of stinging nettles, salt pits, and eternal desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them and take their land.'"
Father, in Jesus' Name, I choose Your Words over the words, theology, personal opinions of anyone. Amen.
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One of the Best Articles on Islam Yet: www.jerberwash.blogspot.com
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
