Homeward Bound
He who "removeth kings, and setteth up kings" (Dan. 2:21) also controls the destinies of democracies. He allows the winds of public opinion to blow one way or another, to the end that what He has determined shall be done.
Our acquaintance beforehand with the final result of the world's politics, our being fully persuaded that our Father's will is being done now, and the conscious knowledge of our portion in a better sphere, should keep us tranquil and composed no matter what happens in this or any other country. We who have been informed of "things not seen as yet" should not only be submissive to the will of God in such matters, but really have no will of our own whatever, no more than an angel would have who was sent from heaven into the world on a certain mission. But Christians are constantly in danger of forgetting that they are not of this world, even as He is not of it.
When the Lord Jesus was here, politics were bad, but He did not lift a finger or utter a word to change them. When the Apostle Paul labored here, they were still worse, but not once did he express a wish to change things, or give instructions to Christians to help do so, or even to pray that it night be changed. In the days of the ruthless and capricious tyrant Nero, Paul wrote of the emperor's agents that they were the ministers of God for good (Rom. 13:4). We are exhorted to "fear God. Honor the king," to "obey magistrates" and the "powers that be," while we pass through this world. And while doing so we can sing: We are but strangers here, Heaven is our home.
P. Wilson
Editorial
Among the Jews who are trying to make aliyah (return to their homeland) is a group that the Supreme Court of Israel refuses to allow entry into their land. The High Court of Justice ruled unanimously against them on December 25 of last year. They are called "The Messianic Jewish Alliance of America," and "The International Alliance of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues." The court held that Jews who believe in Jesus are "members of a different faith" and so have left the Jewish people.
These Messianic Jews believe the Scriptures teach that God brought eternal atonement for sin to Jews and to all the nations through the sacrificial death of Yeshua the Messiah, the Passover Lamb of God. Also, they hold that God then removed the temple and the sacrificial systems because it was His will.
In effect, the Supreme Court's ruling is that the Messianic Jews' faith in Yeshua of Nazareth renders them non-Jewish. It is estimated that the Messianic Jews number about 100,000.
Besides these current events being intensely interesting, there are two things that especially impress us. First, it is that the hatred of the Jewish nation is just the same today as it was 2000 years ago when Jesus of Nazareth was crucified.
The second thing is more puzzling to understand. It is this: if these Messianic Jews truly believe in Jesus of Nazareth, they should not want to return to Israel. A full understanding of the Scriptures would show them that believing in Jesus as Christ and Lord makes them a heavenly people with heavenly blessings. Also, the light of prophecy would show that Jews who do not truly believe, and who are gathering in Israel now, will be left there after the Church is caught up to heaven, and then follows the time of Jacob's trouble (Jet 30:47). This will be the seven years of tribulation of which Jesus said, "Except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved." Matt. 24:22.
Peter preached Jesus of Nazareth to the "men of Israel" in the second of Acts saying, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.”
By baptism, the Jews of that day disconnected themselves from the Jewish nation and their guilt in crucifying their Messiah and so were saved from the sentence, pronounced by God, of national judgment yet to fall upon them. Again we state that this is the tribulation. The time of the execution of that sentence is drawing near. The fig tree is tender (Matt. 24:32-35), a national symbol of Israel. The "children" are back in the land. We refer to the people who answered Pilate, "His blood be on us, and on our children." Matt. 27:25.
Ed.
Questions and Answers
QUES. "If thou be the CHRIST"—who is the Christ to the Jewish mind? (John 10:24.)
ANS. The Jews to whom Jesus was talking in this 10th chapter of John were not ignorant of the Old Testament, but rather, they knew of the coming of Messiah—Anointed—Christ (Dan. 9:25, 26). Even the woman of Samaria knew that (John 4:25).
QUES. In John 10:30 Jesus said, "I and My Father are one." Why did the Jews in verse 33 call His statement blasphemy?
ANS. Although the Jews should have known that Jesus was their Messiah and received Him as God manifest in the flesh, the Lord's Prayer for them as He hung on the cross shows that they did not. "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Luke 23:34.