Christianity Archives - The New Antisemitism

March 23, 2023 By Olivier Melnick 11 Comments

This is the Mark of the Beast, Are You at Risk?

The Mark of the Beast is not a Hollywood creation to generate ticket sales, it is a real Mark for real people that will tragically affect our world in the not-so-distant future. This being said, what is the Mark of the Beast and more importantly, who will take it and what will be their fate for taking it? It is definitely a very intriguing issue in all of Bible Prophecy, and as such, it has generated many books, conferences and YouTube videos. People go from making fun of it to being terrified that they might have taken it. I believe that like everything else, moderation is key and that we should seek solid ground rooted in Scripture to explain the Mark of the Beast.
The Bible speaks of that Mark with the most details in Revelation 13:16-18, ¹⁶And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a Mark on their right hand or on their forehead, ¹⁷and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the Mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. ¹⁸Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.
It is important to understand that the Beast is the Antichrist. It is critical to understanding his Mark and his destructive agenda (Revelation 13). He will be under the authority of the dragon (Satan, Rev. 13:2 4). He is also the “little horn” of Daniel 7:7-8, 20-25. So, If indeed the Beast is the Antichrist powered and directed by Satan, we understand that there is absolutely nothing good about this Mark; but it still doesn’t tell us who will get it, when, how and if they can escape from its grip after receiving it.

• The timing of the Mark of the Beast: Some believe that the Mark of the Beast occurred in the past (preterist). These are people who view the events of the book of Revelation as already having happened and they identify the Beast as Roman Emperor Nero. This would have occurred between AD 66-70 and culminated with the destruction of the Temple. Yet, the book of Revelation was written about 30 years after the reign of Nero, so that would force us to see the book of Revelation as non-prophetic, and Nero NEVER fulfilled all the events of Revelation 13 required to identify him as the Beast. Additionally, Nero never forced a mark on anybody. The Mark of the Beast has yet to come!

• The reason for the Mark of the Beast: While the Bible tells us that without the Mark of the Beast, nobody can buy or sell during the Tribulation (Rev. 13:17), the ultimate purpose for the Mark is for someone to show unconditional allegiance and devotion to the Antichrist (Rev. 13:15). The Antichrist will not invite people or offer them options to follow him. He will demand it! People will either worship the Antichrist or they will worship Christ (Yeshua the Messiah). The consequences will be drastically different. Those who worship the Beast will temporarily be taken care of during the second half of the Tribulation, but their eternal destiny will be the Lake of Fire without exception (Rev. 20:11-15).

• The number of the Mark of the Beast: 666 is probably one of the most-known numbers in history by believers and unbelievers alike. Revelation 13:18 advises those with wisdom to calculate the number of the Beast. The process of assigning a numerical value to letters exists in Hebrew, Greek and English and other languages. It is known as Gematria, and while people can get out of control with the use of Gematria, Revelation 13:16-18 can be granted some clarity from its proper use. Many reputable scholars see the number 6 as the number of man, one short of the number 7, representing the number of perfection or the number of God. As powerful as the Antichrist will be at his peak of power, he will always remain just a man, still under the control of the perfect God of the universe. His name will have a numerical value of 666, but until his name is revealed, many names can have that numerical value. So, first people will have to hear his name and then they will be able to calculate the value of the letters as Revelation 13:18 tells us, Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast.

• The location of the Mark of the Beast: A tremendous number of books have been written on what the Mark of the Beast will be and where it will be located on or in the human body. People continue to speculate on this topic. For decades, people have conjectured on the possibility for the Mark of the Beast to be an under-the-skin microchip implant, an ID card or recently even a vaccine. While the exact nature of this Mark cannot be determined with certainty with what the Bible reveals to us, we know a few details about it. Revelation 13:16 says that the Mark will appear on their right hand or on their forehead. It never mentions “under” the skin or “within” the body of a person. Incidentally the Hebrew Scriptures also use the word “mark” similarly to the way it is used in Revelation 13. “The Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a Mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.” (Ezekiel 9:4.) The Greek word used in Revelation 13:16 is epi, meaning “upon” or “on” and never “inside” or “under”. The Mark will be on the right hand or on the forehead.

• The Recipients of the Mark of the Beast: Now, considering that a variety of people have worried about receiving the Mark of the Beast in some way or another for a very long time, it would be helpful to narrow down who will actually receive that Mark. Since the Mark of the Beast is a future event taking place during the Tribulation, nobody will be at risk of receiving it prior to that seven-year period of time on earth, and it really doesn’t come into effect until the Antichrist demands to be worshipped as god at the mid-point of the Tribulation. The identity of the Antichrist will be revealed after the Rapture of the church (2 Thessalonians 2:2-3), when he signs a peace treaty with Israel (Daniel 9:26-27). People will choose to take the Mark of the Beast so that they can survive in a world where the entire economy is based on acceptance or refusal of that Mark. Part of taking the Mark of the Beast will be a total allegiance to and worship of the Antichrist. Those who refuse the Mark by trusting Yeshua will most likely die as Tribulation martyrs.

• The Finality of the Mark of the Beast: While no one can receive the Mark of the Beast until the middle of the seven-year Tribulation, receiving it has dire consequences. It marks the point of no return for that individual who will willingly reject Yeshua and worship the Beast. His identity and the exact way that the Mark will be displayed are still unknown, but the result of taking the Mark is very clear, Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a Mark on his forehead or on his hand,¹⁰he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.¹¹And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the Mark of his name.”

The Mark of the Beast is to be feared if you are not part of the family of God and will find yourself left behind and suffer through the seven-year Tribulation. Even then, not taking it is the best outcome because your death as a result of rejecting the Antichrist and trusting Yeshua will result in eternity in God’s presence. Taking the Mark of the Beast will bring social and economic benefits in days of global havoc, but they will be short-lived, and the end result will be eternal damnation in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. For those of us on God’s side, the Mark of the Beast isn’t to be feared, even if much of the technology to accompany and facilitate it is already in place, it will simply not affect believers.

Let’s not worry about the meaning of 666, the method by which the Mark will be inaugurated or who will choose it. Let us make it clear to those who don’t yet know Yeshua that they either come to a saving knowledge of the Messiah today and avoid the Tribulation altogether or procrastinate and trust Him on the other end of the Rapture and suffer greatly and unnecessarily.

March 15, 2023 By Olivier Melnick 1 Comment

What does it mean to be Jewish?

When it comes to the Jewish people, nothing is simple. The chosen people of God as found in the Tanach (Deuteronomy 7:6-8), are also the targeted people of Satan. We read repeated biblical accounts of how our enemies wanted to destroy us (Pharaoh, Haman or the Amalekites to name just a few) and also how God promised to never allow for the Jewish people to completely be eradicated (Jeremiah 31:35-37.)

As it stands, God’s plan for mankind really revolves around the Jewish people from start to finish. We shouldn’t ignore that when God defined mankind and set the story in motion, we received 11 Genesis chapters on mankind and 39 on the Jewish people. God is certainly not finished with the Jewish people as we see that His program will culminate when Israel calls upon the Messiah (Zechariah 12:10) and usher in His Second Coming.

It is very obvious that from a biblical standpoint, the Jewish people play a very important role, but the question remains, who is a Jew? To answer this, we first have to define two words, Judaism and Jewishness.

Judaism, on one hand, is a belief system and lifestyle that one chooses, based on the Jewish faith established in the Bible, including some adherence to the 613 mitzvot of the Torah and customs derived from that over time by a myriad of Jewish scholars. So, as a practice, Judaism is within reach of anyone in the world who so chooses to place themselves under the authority of the Mosaic law and to an extent–while not inspired like the Tanach–the Talmud. In other words, Judaism is a choice that one makes. Practicing Judaism doesn’t necessarily make you a Jew as we see in the book of Ruth. After Ruth placed herself under the authority of the Commonwealth of Israel, she continued being called a Moabite. She had simply become a proselyte to Judaism ( Ruth 1:22, 2:2, 2:21, 4:5, 4:10.)

Jewishness, on the other hand, is an ethnic state that one is born with depending on their ancestry. One person is said to have Jewish ancestry if one or both of their parents are Jewish. Jewish ancestry or origins is not something that can be acquired after birth or learned and practiced. So, Jewishness is in the blood so to speak. As a result, and biblically speaking, one does not have to practice Judaism to be Jewish. To be Jewish one doesn’t have to do anything but be born into a Jewish family.

Understanding the difference between Judaism and Jewishness is key to also understanding that a Jewish person is free to believe in anything or nothing at all without fearing the loss of their ethnic Jewish identity. This unfortunately is contrary to popular mainstream Jewish belief, as a Jewish person who puts their faith in Yeshua is almost always no longer considered Jewish.

Jewish identity is one thing, but the dilemma doesn’t stop here. Many people argue that being Jewish is enough to have a proper relationship with God. In other words, Jewish people would be saved by virtue of being descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, requiring no redeemer, savior or Messiah. This erroneous view is known as Dual Covenant Theology and goes directly against what the Bible says.

Considering Rabbi Nicodemus’ night meeting with Yeshua, we understand that he thought he was in, or “saved” by virtue of being Jewish, but Yeshua corrected him by saying that to be part of God’s family, one must be born of water AND born of the Spirit (John 3:1-15.)

As much as Jewish people resist the idea of trusting Yeshua for their eternal destiny, there is no way around the idea of a redeemer coming for Israel’s salvation and also for the rest of the world. A myriad of prophecies from the Tanach about the Messiah seem to validate that view (Genesis 3:15, 49:10; Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Psalm 16, 22; Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7, 52:13-53-12; Zechariah 12:10; Micah 5:2.)

There is actually nothing more Jewish than trusting in Yeshua as the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world. Our people still await the coming of the Mashiach, but as followers of Yeshua, we have the confidence that He first came as the Lamb of God or as Mashiach Ben Yoseph, to die for His own people (Isaiah 52:13-53:12), and He will return one day as the Lion of Judah, to reign from Jerusalem as Mashiach be David (1 Chronicles 17:10-14.)

Some might argue that those who put their faith in Yeshua become “spiritual Jews.” But let us review what the two words mean. Being Jewish is the ethnic state of a person who is a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Being spiritual is the state of someone walking in and yielding to the Spirit of God moment by moment each day. Being spiritual requires an intimate steady relationship with the Holy Spirit. A Jewish person who is walking in the Spirit can be called a spiritual Jew, and a Gentile who is walking in the spirit can be called a spiritual gentile. Let’s not blur those lines unnecessarily.

Finally, some have also claimed that according to Galatians 3:28, There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. This interpretation also blurs the lines between Jews and Gentiles claiming that those who believe in Messiah are no longer to be called Jews or Gentiles, as we are all one new man in Messiah.

Galatians 3:28 speaks of justification, not identity. When Yeshua looks at us all, He doesn’t differentiate between Jew or Gentile, male or female and slave or free. He sees us all as human sinners who fall short of God’s glory and need a redeemer. Once we enter the Body of Messiah through salvation (only by Yeshua’s shed blood on our behalf) we continue to be either Jews or gentiles, males or females. Galatians 3:28 never erases identity or ethnic origins, it simply brings us all on equal footing before a righteous, perfect and just God. Ephesians 2:14-16 further states, ¹⁴For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, ¹⁵by abolishing in His flesh the hostility, which is the Law composed of commandments expressed in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two one new person, in this way establishing peace; ¹⁶and that He might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the hostility. Once in the body of Messiah, we are redeemed and God looks at us differently as far as sin is concerned, yet we continue to be who we are ethnically.

There seems to be a lack of balance when it comes to defining who is Jewish. Some people in the church want to “replace” the Jews as recipients of God’s promises, as taught by Replacement Theology. Incidentally, this would make God a covenant breaker and a liar, but God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19.)

Others choose to leave Jewish people alone and never tell them about the importance of being followers of Yeshua. This as I mentioned earlier, is what Dual Covenant Theology teaches when it claims that being Jewish is enough in God’s eyes, but, Yeshua disagreed with Nicodemus on that point.

Some Gentiles even believe that they become ethnic Israel when they start following Yeshua. They believe that they are incorporated into ethnic Israel when the Bible only says that they are grafted in (Romans 11:17.)

Perhaps the most important notion about Jewish identity is found in Romans 2:28, For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.

In that verse, we are told who a real Jew is. To be considered a real Jew biblically speaking, a Jewish person must be one inwardly. In other words, being circumcised doesn’t guarantee salvation nor would keeping any or all of the 613 mitzvot of the Torah. There needs to be a spiritual rebirth for a Jewish person to be a real Jew from a salvific sense.

The Gospel of Yeshua is the same lifeline for all people, Jews and Gentiles and they remain who they are in Messiah while being together in the Body of Messiah to serve the Master. While being Jewish remain very important, being saved is critical.

February 16, 2023 By Olivier Melnick 46 Comments

The Rapture: One Second Before and One Second After!

One of the most talked about subjects in the Bible is the rapture. People have many opinions on the topic, to be sure. From myth to reality, from literal to allegorical – and everything in between. However, when believed to be literal, it is then placed all over the eschatological spectrum. Did it already happen? Will it happen before the tribulation? During the tribulation? After? In other words…there are more views about the rapture than we can shake a stick at. I don’t intend to write another article defending the pre-tribulation and pre-millennial rapture, but here we go. I will state my position from the start and assert that the rapture will occur before the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (the Great Tribulation) begins.

Incidentally, there is more than one Rapture mentioned in the Bible. Including the Rapture of the Believers, there are possibly eight different Raptures. Enoch was raptured in Genesis 5:24, Elijah was taken up in 2 Kings 2:11-12, and Yeshua was caught up in Revelation 12:5. Philip (Acts 8:39-40) and Paul (2 Corinthians 123:1-4) were temporarily raptured. John was possibly raptured in Revelation 4:1-2, the believers will be raptured according to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and finally, the two witnesses in Revelation 11:11-12. So, the future Rapture of the believers is one of several, but definitely the most important in the history of mankind.

Taking a pre-tribulational and pre-millennial position, when we read 1 Corinthians 15:52, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed,” we are told of a “last trumpet.” Many will argue that this is a reference to the last trumpet in God’s prophetic program as in Revelation 11:15. In 1 Corinthians 15:52, the subject is the Church being caught up in the sky to be with Yeshua. The trumpet of God’s grace sounds to announce that event. It also connects to the Tekiah Gedolah or last trumpet of the Feast of Rosh Hashanah (this doesn’t necessitate for the Rapture to happen on Rosh Hashanah. It could, but it doesn’t have to). On the other hand, the trumpet in Revelation 11:15 is within a different context. It relates to a fallen, rebellious world and the judgment of sinners and is part of a progressive series of judgments during the Great Tribulation. There is no thematic connection between 1 Corinthians 15:52 and Revelation 11:15.
Two more pressing questions must be answered:

What happens one second BEFORE the Rapture? Since the Rapture is imminent (John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, 5:4-9; 1 Corinthians 1:7; 1 John 3:2-3), anything can be happening one second before the Rapture. There is absolutely no exact sign that we can expect before the Rapture. Some people call it “signless. It could happen at any moment. In his book Kept from the Hour, Gerald Stanton defines the imminence of the Rapture as follows: “The certainty that He may come at any moment, the uncertainty of the time of that arrival, and the fact that no prophesied event stands between the believer and that hour.” Other events may happen before the Rapture, but certainly not because they must happen. Too often, those who believe in the pre-millennial rapture of the church try to pinpoint exactly when that is expected. However, they probably have the rapture and second coming confused. It is easy to identify the timing of the Second Coming since it will happen at the end of the Seven-Year Tribulation. At the Rapture, Yeshua gets the believers and takes us to Heaven, and He never touches the ground. At the Second Coming, He touches the ground and splits the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4) as He returns with the believers.

In other words, nobody knows the moment of the Rapture, so we’d better be ready. Live like it could happen any second, but plan like it won’t. Those of us who believe in an imminent pre-tribulational Rapture should not adopt an attitude of escapism, but we should double up our efforts to speak the Gospel truth to those who don’t yet have a personal relationship with Yeshua.

What happens one second AFTER the Rapture? This is the real question to focus on because Yeshua Airlines consists of only one flight up, and that’s it. Once we fly away, whoever is left behind will have to deal with the consequences triggered by the Great Tribulation one way or another. The Great Tribulation, also known as the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7), will last seven years (Daniel 9:26-27). It is a time when God will refocus His program on Israel and the Jewish people. Sadly, the result of that period is that two-thirds of the Jewish people will perish (Zechariah 13:8-9). The most intense trouble doesn’t start until the Tribulation’s mid-point when the Antichrist reveals His true nature and demands to be worshipped. That is also when people will take the mark of the beast or refuse it. The sad truth about that time is that one second after the Rapture, it is too late for people to escape the upcoming wrath of God. It is not too late to refuse the mark of the beast and not worship the Antichrist, but that will almost certainly result in people suffering great harm and dying as Tribulation martyrs. It could all have been avoided if they had been Raptured.

Ultimately the choice is ours. We are not coerced into anything; we are just invited to trust that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and the Savior of the world. One second before or one second after seems like nothing, yet it makes all the difference in the world. Will you be on the flight, or will you go through the fight? This is a flight you shouldn’t miss, but this will be a gruesome fight you might not win.

February 6, 2023 By Olivier Melnick 3 Comments

This is Why We Must Study Prophecy!

Almost 30% of the Bible is prophecy, so why would we not study nearly a third of the Bible? Yet, on one side of the spectrum, many churches and pastors refrain from teaching prophecies; on the other side, just about anything goes regarding prophecies on the internet. Where is the balance? I believe that the balance can only be found if we apply a very specific method of interpretation known as grammatical/historical, literal hermeneutics, remaining faithful to the original context. It is worth repeating that a text without a context is a pretext!

The prophets looked forward to Messiah as the meaning of their prophecies (Messiah, Savior and redeemer as found in 1 Peter 1:10-12): “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Messiah within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Messiah and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven — things into which angels long to look.’
On the other side of the cross, the apostles looked back on Yeshua as the one who fulfilled the Messianic prophecies of the Tanach. We, too, look forward to the Messiah as fulfilled from the Old Testament prophecies. There is so much to be gained by studying prophecies:

We Study Prophecy Because It is part of the Bible: All words given to us in the Bible are there for a reason. In some cases, we get the whole meaning upon a more in-depth study, but it is all there for us to live by.
2 Tim 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.
2 Peter 1:21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

We Study Prophecy Because God worked through His prophets: The prophets of old were God’s mouthpiece. They were the messengers of God who delivered His message to men as the priests delivered Man’s message to God. Being through dreams, visions or direct dialogue, God worked through His carefully selected prophets.
Amos 3:7 Certainly the Lord God does nothing Unless He reveals His secret plan To His servants the prophets.

And He also rejected false prophets: Many men came and went through Bible history claiming to be prophets of God but speaking a different message far away from God’s truth. A biblical prophet only had to be 100% accurate 100% of the time. No pressure, right? By the way, there is no indication in the Word of God that “modern-day prophets” fall under a different standard.
Deuteronomy 18:20-22 But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name, a word which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How will we recognize the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ 22 When the prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, and the thing does not happen or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you are not to be afraid of him.

We Study Prophecy Because Paul referred to the prophets: A substantial portion of the New Testament was written by the Apostle Paul, who referred to the Law and the Prophets (a euphemism for the Tanach.) He validated the importance of learning from the prophets of old.
Romans 3:21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.

We Study Prophecy Because Yeshua referred to the prophets: The Messiah Himself quoted from many of the Prophets of old. His teachings often took the audience back to the truth first delivered by prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah and so many more.
Matthew 7:12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

We Study Prophecy Because It Validates the Bible: Suppose we take silver dollars and lay them on the surface of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly all over the state. Blindfold someone and tell them to travel as far as they wish, but they must pick up one silver dollar, and it has to be the marked one. What chance would they have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing only eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man.

We Study Prophecy Because It Strengthens Our Faith: God has always been in control of all events of history. We are comforted with the fact that in the Word, He gave us Messianic prophecies that were all literally fulfilled in ONE person, and likewise, the future, yet-unfulfilled prophecies will also be literally fulfilled.
John 14:1-4“Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.”
As believers in Yeshua, we rest in the fact that God knows and controls the future. The events of the Second Coming are guaranteed by those of the first coming. This is why the Second Coming is called the “blessed hope.”
Titus 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Messiah Yeshua,
Based on prophecy and in light of the fact that the Lord could return at any moment, we should strive to lead lives that are pleasing to Him. (Titus 2:14; 2 Peter 3:13-14). In the effort to lead better lives for Him, we cannot avoid closer to God.
Titus 2:14: …” who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, eager for good deeds.”
2 Peter 3:13-14: …” But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found spotless and blameless by Him, at peace….”

We Study Prophecy Because it Equips Us to Share with the Lost: To understand who Messiah is based on the picture painted in the Tanach. By studying Messianic prophecies in the Tanach (Old Testament), we discover that through progressive revelation, God has granted us increasing knowledge about the person, character, timeline and redemptive career of the Messiah at His First and Second Coming. To understand who Messiah is based on the Objections to the Messiahship of Yeshua Once we understand the meaning of each prophecy, we can study and compare the Jewish objections. Eventually, as the prophecies are studied within the grammatical/historical context, they all point to the same person: Yeshua of Nazareth.

We regularly run into prophecies as we study the Bible or in our daily devotions. If we ignore them every time we see them, we will ignore almost a third of the instruction manual God left for us. How can we properly function and behave if we only pay attention to two out of three verses in the Bible? Ignoring prophecy will impair us and force us to come to conclusions that are not in line with the whole counsel of God, and that is a very slippery slope I am not willing to get on, especially in a day and age when Bible prophecy is being fulfilled in front of our very eyes.

January 21, 2023 By Olivier Melnick 1 Comment

The Biblical Case for Israel’s Right to the Land Should Be a Slam Dunk!

Israel continues to be in the news almost daily. Now they have a newly formed government coalition headed by Benjamin Netanyahu. Many critics of the new coalition are voicing their concern regarding the fact that Bibi had to form a coalition with some leaders who are more on the right than on the political spectrum. There was a gathering of 80,000 people on the streets of Tel Aviv to protest some of the moves the new coalition wants to make in the legal arena. People in Israel fear the survival of the only true democracy in the Middle East. Added to that is the constant tension about the land and the expansion of Jewish settlements.

The accusation of colonization and occupation–a fabricated narrative from the 1960s–is now well-seared into people’s brains. Very few, if any, in the mainstream media are questioning the validity of such a claim. Nothing shows how wildly accepted the “Palestinian Narrative “is more than the recent artifact “returned” to the Palestinian authority. A 2,700-year-old spoon from the Assyrian empire was confiscated from its owner as a part of a criminal case. It was then given to the Palestinian Authority and described as a “historic repatriation.”

Let’s not miss the point here. A significant shift just occurred. For the last sixty years, the Palestinian narrative has been part of anti-Jewish propaganda to turn Israel into “Palestine” so that the rightful original and indigenous original occupants could return. The narrative has become truth, and now is the time to begin validating it with artifacts and antiquities. Enter “the spoon,” heralded as “an example of Palestinian cultural patrimony.” This will undoubtedly be followed by more artifacts to enrich the history of a people that never existed–at least until their introduction to the world by Yasir Arafat and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in the 1960s.

Jewish history has been rewritten to rob the Jewish people of their heritage, culture, customs, and, last but not least, their land: Eretz Yisrael! I wish the Palestinian Authority would be honest about their goals like PLO executive member Zahir Muhsein was in an interview for a Dutch newspaper in 1977, “The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct ‘Palestinian people’ to oppose Zionism for tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa. While as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan.” He was very transparent and admitted that the Palestinian people were invented solely for political gain. Let’s look at a few points made by the Bible as it pertains to Israel and the land.

• The Land ultimately belongs to God: God has granted the title deed to the Jewish people forever, but ultimately, it is His land.
‘The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, because the land is Mine; for you are only strangers and residents with Me (Leviticus 25:23.)

• The Land was given to Abraham and his descendants by God: God has given the Land of Canaan to the Jewish people ONLY through Abraham and his descendants
And the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. (Genesis 12:7, 13:15.)

• The Land grant was based on an unconditional covenant with Abraham: God made a covenant with Abraham, but only the Shechinah glory of God passed through the split animals making it eternal, and God said, “I will,” making the covenant unconditional.
Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹⁷Now it came about, when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, a smoking oven and a flaming torch appeared which passed between these pieces. ¹⁸On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: ¹⁹the land of the Kenite, the Kenizzite, the Kadmonite, ²⁰the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Rephaim, ²¹the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.” (Genesis 15:12, 17-21.)

• The Land grant was based on specific boundaries that should never be expanded: While the current size of Israel (about the size of New Jersey) is not what the millennial size (twice Texas) will be, even the specific boundaries of the more significant Israel are not expandable by one foot. There isn’t one country in the world that would have to abide by biblical boundaries and not try to expand its territory through war or other human means. Israel is unique in that regard.
⁴and command the people, saying, “You are going to pass through the territory of your brothers the sons of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful; ⁵do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even as much as a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.” (Deuteronomy 2:4-5.)
¹⁸‘Today you shall cross over Ar, the border of Moab. ¹⁹When you come opposite the sons of Ammon, do not attack them nor provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot as a possession.’ (Deuteronomy 2:18-19.)

• The Land was to Abraham, then Isaac (never Ishmael) and then Jacob (never Esau): While the land was first promised to Abraham, the promise was repeated through his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob.
Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; ⁶but to the sons of ^[a]his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east. (Genesis 25:5-6.)
Live for a time in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. (Genesis 26:3.)
May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a multitude of peoples. ⁴May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, so that you may possess the land where you live as a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.” (Genesis 28:3-4.)

• The Land grant is only based on God’s character, never on Israel’s performance: Israel was sent into captivity more than once, but God, while He disciplined the Jewish people, never rescinded on His promise.
Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so loathe them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. ⁴⁵But I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, so that I might be their God. I am the Lord.’” (Leviticus 26:44-45.)

• God’s promise to Israel is as unmovable as the universe He created: God gives the ultimate recipe for the guaranteed destruction of Israel and the Jewish people, but He makes it impossible.
³⁵This is what the Lord says, He who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— The Lord of armies is His name: ³⁶“If this fixed order departs From Me,” declares the Lord, “Then the descendants of Israel also will cease To be a nation before Me forever.” ³⁷This is what the Lord says: “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also reject all the descendants of Israel For everything that they have done,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 31:35-37.)

These are seven points out of many more I could make to validate this claim. I am well aware that a biblical defense of Israel’s right to the land will only work with those who hold the Bible as the inerrant word of God. My measuring stick has been the Bible for the last 40 years, and I know that one day I will have to answer to God, not for my salvation which I received 40 years ago as a gift from God through the atoning sacrifice of Yeshua of Nazareth, but for how I served and obeyed after He rescued me. Many Bible believers today do not see a future for Israel and buy into the false narrative of the Palestinians as an ethnic group. It is to them that this article is addressed.

We cannot change God, we cannot change His character, and since His promises and covenants are rooted in His character, we cannot change them either. What people can always do, though, is to study the facts of history alongside the promises of the Bible. If Israel weren’t in God’s plan, from a human perspective, we would have been long gone, but we still exist and are growing stronger against all odds. So, the Bible is one aspect of why we survived all the attempts at decimating us. Add history, politics, and archeology to that foundational truth, and the case is a slam dunk for those who are honest and humble enough to admit it.

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