“DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?”
“In this time of war in the Middle East, we need to see what God sees. Time and again Hashem (God) has challenged His people through the prophets, and those who seek His ways, to see by faith what He wants for the land of Israel. Throughout history, He declares to His people, “See what I see.” The use of “Amen” at the end of a prayer or statement means to agree that what God says is true.
Hashem challenged Abraham to look up into the heavens and count the stars. He told Abraham, “So shall your descendants be as the number of the stars.” (Genesis 15:5). The Lord (Hashem) assured Abraham that He would do great things for him because He established a covenant with Him. Hashem called it an “everlasting covenant” through all generations. (Genesis 17:7). He promised in this covenant to give Abraham and his descendants the lands in the Middle East from the River of Egypt (Nile) to the river of Euphrates. (Genesis 15:17-18). Abraham made covenant altars in Israel to declare a covenant with the Promised Land. Hashem said to Abraham after Lot had parted from him, “Raise your eyes and look out from where you are, to the north, and south, to the east and west, for I give all the land that you see to you and your offspring forever.” (Genesis 13:14-15 TIB). This same promise was repeated to Jacob while he slept in Bethel where his name was changed to Israel. (Genesis 28:13-14).
God’s (Hashem’s) promises require us to look beyond where we are and our circumstances to see and believe His covenant promises. Abraham was ninety-nine years old and his wife ninety years of age when God promised Sarah would have a child. Before we can walk by faith in the promises of God, we must see and believe what He says is true! Amen! Hashem in the Book of Genesis was asking Abraham and Sarah, “Can you see what I see?” Sarah had a hard time saying “Amen” and believing the promise because she was old.
Seeing what God sees for Israel.
In our day, God is asking us, “Can you see what I see regarding Israel?” When we see and believe what God has said about the Promised Land given to the children of Israel, we do not trade away this land, or support those trading it for peace. Hashem has promised to judge all nations who seek to divide the lands given to Israel. (Joel 3:2). Those who support the dividing of covenant lands in Israel are standing in line for judgment. Peace will never come as a result of breaking God’s covenant with Israel.
What God sees for Israel in the End of Days.
I believe in the midst of war in the Middle East, and in this time of uncertainty, we need to hear God saying to us, “Lift up your eyes and see what I see!” The prophet Ezekiel challenges us to see a vision of what God showed him about our day. The Lord (Hashem) showed Ezekiel a valley of dry bones representing the children of Israel. He asked the prophet a question, “Can these dry bones live?” (Ezekiel 37:3). He told the prophet to say to the dry dead bones, “O bones, hear the Word of the Lord (Hashem).” Seeing what God sees always involves believing what God says in His Word! Consider now that the dry bones have no ears to hear. They cannot hear. The Lord says to those bones,
“Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life.” The prophet spoke to the dead dry bones what Hashem said and, “They came to life, and stood on their feet, an exceeding great army.”
Return of the Dry Bones to Israel.
The Lord tells Ezekiel that these dry bones are “the whole house of Israel who have lost hope.” (Ezekiel 37:110). The bones have said, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished.” Here is Hashem’s answer, “My people, I will bring you into the land of Israel.” (Vs-12). Hashem says to Israel, “And I will put My Spirit within you, and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land.” (Vs-14). Hashem makes it clear where the dead dry bones of Israel are located, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them and bring them into their own land: and I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel.” (Vs-22). The “mountains of Israel” includes the Samaritan and Judean hills which are now being considered as a part of the Palestinian state. The Two-State solution is based on trading covenant land promised to the returning tribes of Israel. This proposal for peace will not result in peace and is a clear breaking of covenant with God (Hashem).
What God sees is a Restored Land to Israel.
God (Hashem) promises He will be seen in the midst of the tribes who return to the Promised Land. He promises to “feed them on the mountains of Israel.” (Ezekiel 34:13). He will, “bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick.” (Vs-16). God makes it clear that the land He is referring to is the lands given to Jacob, “And they shall live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it forever.” (Ezekiel 37:25). The Lord (Hashem) will make a covenant of peace with them (the returning tribes), and it will be an everlasting covenant. And He will put His sanctuary (temple) in their midst. And the nations will then know that Hashem is the Lord. (Ezekiel 37:26, 27). In this promise of the return of the tribes, God (Hashem) sees a restored temple. The tribes have been returning since 1948 and the Jewish settlements have been multiplying in the hills of Judea and Samaria. We are living in the days of promises fulfilled. We are living in the days of the restored temple. When this restored temple comes, God declares, “It is than, the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.” (Vs-28).
It is important that our actions and prayers agree with what God sees and calls forth in this hour. Blessings and curses await those who stand with God’s promises to Israel or who ignore them. Listen now to what the prophet Joel says for our day, “I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land.” (Joel 3:1-2 ESV). Every nation will have to give account to what stand they took with Israel. This means all mankind will give an account with where they stood with Israel. Those who agreed with dividing the land of Israel into a Two-State solution are standing in line for judgment. This prophetic statement from the prophet Joel has nothing to do with politics but has everything to do with what God (Hashem) wants for His “Heritage” Israel. We ignore this prophecy concerning a coming judgment of the nations to our own peril. When we look at what is occurring during the Israel-Gaza war and the proposals from the various leaders around the war, do we see what God sees? Are our expectations for peace based on what man is mandating or is our peace based on what Hashem states He wants to see for Israel? Do we see what God sees? Amen!
The Prime Importance of Israel and the Temple.
As prophecy zeros in on what most concerns God in the End Times, why is Israel and the Tabernacle of such prime importance that all nations will be judged as a result of what they do to Israel? And what does Israel’s restoration to the Promised Land, and the restored Third Temple, have to do with the nations? The prophet Amos gives a promise that the Lord (Hashem) will rebuild and raise up the foundations of the Tabernacle of David that contained the Ark of the Covenant. (Amos 9:11-12). The purpose of restoring the Tabernacle of David is that salvation might come to all the Gentiles who are called by God’s name (Amos 9:12).
Why is Israel of such prime importance? God has made Israel, and His covenants with this nation, a window for the world to SEE His faithfulness and plan of redemption as seen in His tabernacle (temple). The Tabernacle of David contained the Ark of the Covenant with the glory of God over the mercy seat. The whole temple sacrificial service was an object lesson to see the plan of redemption. A knowledge of His love and mercy was to be put on display so with new eyes we can see His redeeming love causing all mankind to seek after the Lord (Hashem). Christians may say, “We have a new model in the New Testament. We do not need this old model!” Here is the truth. Unless you can understand the Old Testament model of the plan of redemption, you cannot fully understand the model you are using in the New Testament. In addition, God (Hashem) himself is saying He wants to use the Old Testament Temple model in these last days as a witness to all mankind. (Acts 15:17). Standing with God in these last days means standing where God stands with His word. He stands with Israel and a promised Third Temple. If your theology cannot embrace where God stands then, your theology may need to be adjusted so you can stand in the right place and in alignment with God’s Word for the End Times. Only then we can see what God sees! Can you see what God sees now as it applies to Israel and say, Amen!
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