Psalm 48:12-13 Walk about Zion, and go all around her. Count her towers; Mark well her bulwarks; consider her palaces; that you may tell it to the generation following. (NKJ)
This week I want to share something that has been on my heart for many years now. I actually wrote this comment in 2011, and sadly the situation has only improved very slightly since then. I was originally inspired to write most of what have repeated below after I heard that Barry & Batya Segal organised a Feast of Tabernacles celebration in London. More than a 1200 people attended the event and one of the guest speakers was Colin Urquart. In one of his messages, Colin spoke about passing the Israel baton to the next generation. It was noted that of the 1200 plus in attendance, only 12 people at the event were under the age of 30. Sadly we still see the same thing in most Israel focused meetings or events, outside of Sunday services. We praise GOD for the older brethren, many of whom have been standing with and praying for Israel for many years, but It always blesses me to see younger people in the meetings, as they are the generation that will be around to support Israel once the other generations have passed on to Glory, if Yeshua does not return before they pass on..
I see 2 main reasons that younger Christians have very little or no interest in Israel is simple. Firstly, because they have not been exposed to Biblical teaching concerning Israel. When was the last time you heard a Biblically based message about the importance of Israel in your Church on a Sunday morning. Apart from guest speakers like myself, and others with similar ministries, or the very rare pastor who understands the strategic relevance of Israel, there is no teaching at all. Actually that is not completely correct. There is a lot of wrong teaching. They don’t call it by name, but Replacement Theology is still regularly taught by many pastors and teachers. People often tell me what a “a wonderful Christian” their pastor is, but he regularly teaches the congregation that the New Testament has cancelled all of GOD’s promises to Abraham, and that the Church has replaced Israel and the Jewish people. As we all know, being a ‘wonderful person’ does not make one a Christian. I don’t know which god these people are worshipping, but if their god has finished with Israel, then it can not be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. If GOD’s covenant with Israel is no longer a relevant, then their Jesus is not coming back to Jerusalem. But the Yeshua, the Son of GOD I read about in the Bible is definately coming back to Jerusalem, the undivided capital city of Israel. Anyone who believes or teaches otherwise has been deceived by the spirit of antichrist and needs to repent.
These leaders and theological institutions who teach Replacement Theology are doing great damage to the Christian faith and to the Kingdom. In my estimation, more than 80% of Christians don’t care about Israel or openly oppose the Jewish people’s occupation of the land that GOD promised them. To not care is almost as bad as being against. Yeshua warned that we are either with GOD or against Him. There is no neutral ground. To be anti Israel, anti Zionist or anti Jewish is to be anti GOD as the GOD of the Bible is the GOD of Israel, the GOD of the Jewish people and He is not just a Zionist, He is the Ultimate Zionist. Zechariah 1:14 So the angel who spoke with me said to me, “Proclaim, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts: “I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great zeal.” Zechariah 8:2 Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘I am zealous for Zion with great zeal; with great fervor I am zealous for her.” (NKJ)
If you are on the Out of Zion mailing list and reading this comment, you are most likely a Christian Zionist, and I want to tell you that you are normal! It is the others who are not Christian Zionists who have a serious problem. They are depriving themselves and the younger generations of knowing the truth about Israel, and they are robbing the Kingdom of the next generation of those who will love, pray for and stand with Israel and the Jewish people. Unless this situation changes, and the Lord tarries, where will the next generation of Christian Zionists come from?
The second reason for Israel ignorance among the younger generations is that many are more influenced by social media than the Word of GOD, because they spend more time on their smart-phones than reading the Bible. This is why I have has this burden to see younger people exposed to Biblical teaching about Israel. I have a vision to see teams of young Israeli Messianic Jews raised up and sent out to be a light and a blessing to the Nations, to especially minister to their own age group. In fact Josie and I believe that one of the primary reasons God called people of our generation back to the Land, was to get our children there, to one day fulfill the calling on the Jewish people to be a ‘light and a blessing to the nations.’ Many of our children have lived in Israel for the greater part of their lives, they glean amazing revelation from the Bibles as they read it in Hebrew, and most of them have served in the IDF, and thus have amazing testimonies to share with other young people (and with the older people also). Our eldest son Stefan is an amazing Bible teacher, and his wife Keren is a very anointed worship leader. I believe that they can minister powerfully to the younger (and the older) generations in the nations.
If you are in agreement with what I have written above, and you also have a burden to see the next generation get the revelation about Israel, then you can play a part in this. We need people like you to speak to the pastors and youth pastors at your church, and to the leaders of any youth orientated ministries that you know of and strongly encourage them to teach their young people about Israel. Better still suggest that they invite young people from Israel to come to minister to their young people. Now is the time to reach out to the next generation with the truth about Israel. We believe that the younger generations will be far more open and impacted if they hear about Israel from someone in their own age group. Here are some of the ways Josie and I see that you can get involved to bless the young people in your church.
This article originally appeared on Out of Zion Ministries and is reposted with permission.