Israel is The Dividing Line

It has taken me a couple of weeks to get my faculties together in order to write this post. Yes ... the filing system is quite deep :o) I tend to have to really chew on and work through (which includes much prayer) something first (step number one), then I either have to talk or write about it (step number two). I have decided that today would be a good day to write about it and to finally be able to file this topic and start chewing on the next one! I am pretty sure that this topic will re-surface again ... but hopefully the next time I will be a little stronger and more assured in this area ... Hellelu-YAH!!

About a month ago I was confronted with a lady verbally assaulting me for no other reason than for who she thought me to be. I have often been mistaken for being Jewish (I guess the head-covering and modest dress are the two main reasons why) ... but this time it was with pure hatred :o( This was the first time that I have ever encountered something like this, and at first it really shook me. At first I was confused ... ‘Is she talking to me?’ ... then I wondered ‘Why?’ ... and then the penny finally dropped ... ‘She thinks that I am Jewish!’... then I found myself becoming angry (at this point though, she was already gone) . I learned many valuable lessons that day, one of which is that reading and learning about anti-semitism (the holocaust etc) is one thing, actually physically and spiritually encountering the hatred that spurns these atrocities is quite another! Over the last month I have found myself revisiting all the changes that have taken place in my life over the last two years ... as we all know, Torah has a way of changing you!! I have had to ask myself really tough questions ... let’s face it, having a head knowledge on persecution and actually going through it are once again polar opposites! Before my journey in Torah Observance began, I didn’t look very different from the world that I live in, maybe if I am honest I didn’t behave that much differently either! Now how-ever ... I not only behave very differently, I also look very different. My very existence and all that I do is now determined by the fact that I now belong to another kingdom ... not of this world. After some analysing I have found that my faith (before TO) was very compartmentalised, I had church and such on Sunday and well ... these things didn’t really feature much in the rest of my week. Torah (Praise YAH) has a way of changing all of that ... so to answer one of those tough questions I found myself asking ‘Can I ever turn away from what YAH has called me to ... can I stop looking different and being so very different – walking in His ways - , even if I find myself being afraid?’. The answer by His grace is no, for I now find that my faith is no longer something that I believe ... instead it is who I have become.

Any-one who reads my blog will know that I have a heart and a love for Israel that I believe only YAH could give to us. Does this however mean that I think I am now Jewish ... no. Does this mean that I want to become Jewish ... no, for the very reason that we are from the nations grafted into the Israel of YAH proves His faithfulness!! Did He not promise that He Himself will cause ALL the families of the earth to be blessed through Avraham?

Galatians 3 v 14 ‘That the blessing of Avraham might come to the gentiles through Yeshua the Mashiach, that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith...’

I believe that Israel is and will prove to be the dividing line in these last days. What the church has moved so far away from is the fact that apart from Israel there is no covenant.

Jer 31 v 33 ‘ But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of ISRAEL, after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people.’

Amos 3 v 2 ‘You only have I known of all the families of the earth ... ‘

The truth is that in order to partake of the covenant of salvation we must become part of the covenant family of YAH (Just to clarify - I am not talking about conversion). There are many who would disagree with me ... but I challenge any-one to prove otherwise from the word of YAH. I believe that we can learn much from the account of Naomi, Orpah and Ruth ... Orpah turned back ... but Ruth remained with Naomi, and both of them returned to the land and God of Israel ... both of them had to leave the pagan fields of Moab.

Ruth 2 v 11 – 12 ‘ ... and thou dost leave thy father, and thy mother, and the land of thy birth, and dost come in unto a people which thou hast not known heretofore, YHVH doth recompense thy work, and thy reward is complete from YHVH God of Israel, under whose wings thou hast come to take refuge,’

So in conclusion ... those who hate Israel (in my opinion) cannot love the Saviour, King and God of Israel. Yes I may not be Jewish by birth ... but I am now part of the common wealth of Israel (through YAH’s grace) my life and ways are all governed by the Torah of YAH. This means that I do look Jewish and my ways appear to be Jewish ... and yes, I will continue to stand alongside and with the people of Israel ... for just like Ruth I will not and cannot turn back ... for my heart you see ... is of Israel!

I pray all of YAH’s richest blessings over each one of you and your homes this Shabbat ... I pray that just like Ruth ... YAH through His grace will cause us to pursue Him with all of our hearts and with all of our strength, that the Shalom of YHVH the God of Israel will rest upon each one of us ... the redeemed of Israel!!

I would like to add a link to becky’s blog I Couldn't Believe It... she has also had a run in with anti-semetism. I think you will find her heart and strength encouraging.



Blessings and Shalom