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| Isaiah
5:1-2 My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. 2 He dug it up and
cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a
watchtower in it and cut out a wine press as well. NIV |
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Watchtowers/watchmen
were/are still necessitated by the abundance of
enemies
The word Enemy appears 152 times and the word Enemies
430 times in the Bible (TLB) = 582 times together.
"Enemies" are
of course, first of all those who keep man from serving God and accepting
his plan of salvation, an ongoing status quo ever since Adam and Eve's
sin, followed by God's curse on Eve's offspring and those of her enemies,
personified by the snake:
From now on you and the
woman will be enemies, as will your offspring and hers. You will strike his
heel, but he will crush your head." Gen 3:15.TLB
The
Hebrew saying "ein chadash tachat hashemesh"
(nothing new under the sun) has very much to do with Satan manifesting in
different disguises over time to lure man away from God. In our day, it is
the brilliant strategy to utilize the concept of MONOTHEISM:
"since there is just one god, it must be the same god..."
In our discussion of the God of Israel being the only
LIVING GOD, encompassing a
THREEFOLD MULTIPLE, we refuted the "same god"
misconception.
Messiah (Yeshua)
faced the same enemies that tried to prevent him from accomplishing his mission
to execute God's plan of salvation for mankind.
The dragon stood in
front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her
child the moment it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who
will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched
up to God and to his throne. Rev 12:4 NIV
In setting up this
plan of salvation, Messiah however, actually turned people who haven't accepted
and publicly acknowledged him as their Savior, into his enemies and
enemies of his Gospel:
"If anyone publicly
acknowledges me as his friend, I will openly acknowledge him as my friend
before my Father in heaven. 33 But if anyone publicly denies me, I will openly
deny him before my Father in heaven. 34 "Don't imagine that I came to
bring peace to the earth! No, rather, a sword. 35 I have come to set
a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law- 36 a man's worst enemies will
be right in his own home! Matt 10:32-37 TLB
In fact, Yeshua said,
"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather
with me, scatters. Luke 11:23 NIV |
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The
belief of some Christians that Jesus Christ provided
a platform for general reconciliation between people groupings with different
ideas is therefore a deception, a false premise for actions they call
INTER-FAITH RECONCILIATION. No wonder the word "Reconcile" only appears
3 times and the word "Reconciation" 4 times in the NIV -- referring
invariably to reconciliation between God and man via Yeshua.
Isa 26:10 Your kindness to the wicked
[including those deceived by false gods] doesn't make them good; they keep
on doing wrong and take no notice of your majesty [Jehovah's]. 11 They do
not listen when you threaten; they will not look to see your upraised fist.
Show them how much you love your people. Perhaps then they will be ashamed!
Yes, let them be burned up by the fire reserved for your enemies.
TLB
Yeshua did say,
"...Love your enemies! Pray for those
who persecute you! 45 In that way you will be acting as true sons of your
Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good,
and sends rain on the just and on the unjust too. Matt 5:44-46 TLB
"Loving our
enemies" is a manifestation of our sharing God's
sovereignty by entering into the
New
Covenant.
In our Lord we receive wisdom to deal with enemies, but it does not
include whitewashing them. "Believers who do that are compromised
themselves, as Paul says,
"For although
they knew God, they neither glorified him as God** nor gave thanks
to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."
(Rom
1:21) -
**don't discern that other groups serve other gods, like
sun & moon gods,
fertility gods, elevating humans to gods or
saints, etc.
Psalm 81:9 You shall have no
foreign god among you...!! |
NO!! ENEMIES
REMAIN ENEMIES. While naive humanists pursue peace based on "see, hear no
evil" principles, the war against Messiah's enemies, will go on until the
time of his return - already more than 2000 years:
The LORD says to
my
Lord: "Sit at my
right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." [repeated
in Matt 22:44]. The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will
rule in the midst of your enemies. (Ps 110:1-2 NIV, A psalm of
David)
"...rule in the
midst of your enemies" is actually the only formula for lasting peace
- also when it comes to peace in Israel. In other words, ruling from the
basis of having the upper hand, viz.
2 Sam 10:19 When all the kings who
were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they
made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them. NIV
Reagan was right:
history leaves no doubt that peace only happened through
strength--something a member of Carter's inner circle acknowledged to
me recently. Joel Mowbray: Pushing "peace" pushes war instead.
http://jewishworldreview.com/0303/mowbray.html
March 20, 2003
This entails control
of the Temple Mount:
"The Temple
Mount is the heart of the Nation of Israel, the object of its longings
throughout the generations. If we give up on the Temple Mount, then we
have to ask what are we doing here in the land altogether." Prof. Dan
Zaslavski. Arutz-7 News: Thursday, Feb. 6, 2003
As long as the god
of Islam has a foothold in Israel, especially on the Temple Mount, there
will never be peace. |
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Secondly,
the enemies of the God of Israel and His Son, Yeshua, also target
his son Jacob (Israel) , because they serve as the vehicle of his
plan of salvation - these enemies also want the land promised them because
it is also the land from where he will rule the world.
There is nothing left
to show that we are your people. (Psalm 74:9-10 Living Bible). "Come,"
they say,
"let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no
more." (Psalm 83:4 NIV). |
In our day the actions
of these enemies are depicted as Anti-Semitism/Israelism/Zionism/Christ;
etc. Concepts emanate from it like "Replacement Theology," "Zionism is Racism,"
"Partition," "Right of Return," "Refugee," etc. and hundreds of U.N.
resolutions .
| Since 1967, the United
Nations, led by 21 Arab States, has launched over 1,000 one-sided anti-Israel
resolutions, but has never once explicitly condemned Arab terrorism against
the Jewish State. Imra-Digest. August 26 2001. Vol. 01 : Number 294 |
Due to the sanctity
of of the "Promised" Land and the Jews to the God of Israel, the main
criterium for judgement on the nations will be the way they treated
them:
Joel 3:1 'In those days
and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I
will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance,
my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided
up my land. ...16 The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem;
the earth and the sky will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his
people, a stronghold for the people of Israel. 17'Then you will know that
I, the LORD your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy;
never again will foreigners invade her. NIV |
When the God of Israel
refers to his people, however, he refers to all those included in the multitudes
promised to Abraham:
Heb 6:10 God is not unjust; he will
not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his
people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same
diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 12 We do not
want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience
inherit what has been promised. 13 When God made his promise to Abraham,
since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself,
14 saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants." 15 And
so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
NIV
Yeshua narrowed the
"descendants" down to:
..."Who is my mother, and who are my
brothers?" 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and
my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother
and sister and mother." Matt 12:48-50 NIV.
NOTE that Yeshua
didn't single out his natural mother for special treatment like raising her
to sainthood. He thereby distanced his doctrine from the "mother & child"
Babylonian concept. His statement does not contradict, just expands on the
prophesy: "I will praise you
to all my brothers; ..." TLB (Ps 22:22, 23)
The latter,
"Let all Israel sing his
praises," eagain
narrows down Abraham's decendants down to ISRAEL, but we have already shown
that gentiles can be included in the
"Characteristics of the Ling God of Israel"
and "grafting in" in our discussion of the Olive
Tree. |
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"Watching" from city walls have
more general and Symbolic significance than vineyard
watching.
General
watching:
2 Samuel 13:34 Now
the watchman on the Jerusalem wall saw a great crowd coming toward the city
along the road at the side of the hill. TLB
2 Kings 9:17 The watchman on the Tower of Jezreel saw Jehu and his company
approaching and shouted, "Someone is coming." TLB (The
Jezreel referred to here is a village, obviously not with a wall, but a tower
from where watch could be kept.)
Symbolic
Watching:
Jerusalem the Watchtower of God's
people: Micah
4:6 In that coming day, the Lord says that he will bring back his punished
people-sick and lame and dispossessed- 7 and make them strong again in their
own land, a mighty nation, and the Lord himself shall be their King from
Mount Zion forever. 8 O Jerusalem-the Watchtower of God's people-your
royal might and power will come back to you again, just as before.
TLB
Prophetic Application:
Isaiah 21:11
This is God's message to Edom: Someone from among you keeps calling, calling
to me: "Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? How much
time is left?" 12 The watchman replies, "Your judgment day is dawning now.
Turn again to God, so that I can give you better news. Seek for him, then
come and ask again!"
God's Messenger to the
people:Ezekiel
3:17 "Son of dust, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel; whenever
I send my people a warning, pass it on to them at once. TLB |
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