Israel's Passover Deliverance

Past, Present and  Future
by Angus Wootten

Shalom

Traditionally, remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt is emphasized in a Jewish Passover celebration. This is so because during the first Passover the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were delivered from Egyptian bondage.  Out of this first Exodus came a "Joshua Generation" who were raised in the wilderness and who, forty years after Israel left Egypt, ended up crossing over the Jordan River and into the Promised Land.

Once in the Land, time after time the sons of Israel unfortunately forsook the Covenant that the God of their fathers made with them when He brought them out of Egypt. They instead went after and served and worshiped other gods. So the anger of YHVH burned against the Land to bring upon it every curse that was written in the book; and He uprooted them from the land in anger and in fury and great wrath, and cast them into other lands, as it is to this day (Deu 26:25-27).

We failed. Yet, full restoration and a second Exodus are promised to us by our God: "So it shall become when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where YHVH, your God, has banished you, and you return to YHVH, your God, and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to that I command you today, you and your sons, then YHVH, your God, will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where YHVH, your God, has scattered you. And YHVH, your God, will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall posses it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers" (Deu 30:1-5).

Some thirty-five hundred years have passed since Israel's first Exodus. So, when can we expect a second Exodus and what would be its signs? Surely a key sign would be to first have scattered Israelites begin to return to the Promised Land. Even so, Zechariah said, "YHVH will save the tents of Judah first" (Zec 12:7).

In fulfillment of this prophecy we have seen, and continue to see the tents of Judah returning to the Land. Following the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in 70 AD we have seen a consistent Jewish presence in the Promised Land. Their numbers have often been sparse but despite all opposition, they have remained present to some degree. Then, beginning in the early 1800's Jews from Russia began to return to the Land. Their spark of enthusiasm ignited an ever-increasing return of Jewish people, which in turn resulted in formation of the modern State of Israel in 1948.

Like the first Exodus the promised second Exodus will similarly be met with resistance. This fact is confirmed by Zechariah. He reiterated YHVH's sovereign warning to all who would resist His plan: "It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it" (Zec 12:3).

Are we not seeing fulfillment of Zechariah's prophesy as the nations of the earth gather against Jerusalem?

In our day we have witnessed an Israeli/Palestinian Peace Agreement, ratified in Moscow on March 19, 2010, by the International Quartet (United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States), plus a Declaration by the 22nd Arab League Summit in Libya on March 28, 2010. Surely these agreements mark giant steps toward fulfilling Zechariah's Scripture. The U.S. is trying to assist in implementing the Moscow agreement by trying to revive the Peace Talks between Israel and the Palestinians. They hope to have a finished agreement within 24 months.

Surely these actions are not well received in the Heaven's Throne Room! (For more on this subject see the article, A Time of Decision for All Israel).

From the Quartet and Palestinian perspectives the peace agreement would include an end to the occupation of disputed Palestinian territories and it would make Jerusalem the capital of both Israel and the new Palestinian State.

Thus we see that even as prophesied, Jerusalem has become a major stumbling stone to the world. From a Palestinian viewpoint, one obstacle to reviving peace talks is that Israel plans to build some 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem. The Palestinians, supported by the Arab League and the Quartet, want no further Jewish building in East Jerusalem, which they want to have as their capital in a future state.

Disregarding opposition, Israel is firm in its plans to build some 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem. They make it clear that Jerusalem is not a settlement and they have no intention of ever giving up any portion of Jerusalem. This position has created a division that has embroiled the United States and Israel in what some diplomats describe as, "the worst crisis between Israel and the United States in decades."

Putting aside the Quartet plans for a moment let us consider where the Israelis and Palestinians really stand on this issue.

The latest public opinion survey conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research and the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found the following: The majority of Palestinians and Israelis prefer a two-state solution to the conflict. However, the results show a decline in Palestinian support for the two-state solution. It declined from 64% in December 2009 to 57% in a recent poll. On the other hand 71% of the Israelis were found to support a two-state solution. The main concern of the Israelis is that they maintain a Jewish majority in their State. However, there are Israelis who believe that having only one State is inevitable, because Jewish and Palestinian communities are so entangled in the West Bank that it would be almost impossible to divide them. Also, Israel is heavily invested in the West Bank and it would cost them dearly to give up on their many investments.

Even before the Oslo process in the early 1990's many Palestinians spoke favorably about a one-state solution. They also agreed that- how they would resolve issues regarding West Bank settlements and a division of Jerusalem would be extremely difficult. So more and more people feel that a one-state solution would be the easier solution.

The Israeli and Palestinian definitions of a two-state solution are very different. The Palestinian idea is based on resorting boundaries to the 1967 borders and to giving all refugees and their descendants the right to return. Obviously, Israel is not going to allow this. The 750,000 Arabs who left- at the instruction of their own people- have now swelled via their descendants to some five million Arabs.

Israel is not going to give up all that they have worked so hard to establish in the area the world currently misnomers with the title of the "West Bank." Nor are they going to give up any part of East or West Jerusalem. These territories are known in Scripture as Judea, Jerusalem and Samaria (the Capital city of the ancient Northern Kingdom of Ephraim/Israel). Again, the "West Bank" title is a deceptive misnomer.
Since these are the facts of the matter, our question is not whether or not anyone supports a two-state solution, but rather, if it can be accepted at all, what type of two-state solution could Israelis and Palestinians jointly accept?

Truly now is A Time of Decision for All Israel. Our recent article by this name describes the four options Israel and the world now face, and it describes what is required to fulfill each option. The four options as we understand them are:

1. Continue to Postpone a Decision on Statehood
2. Two State Solution
3. One State Solution
4. The Samson Option

The "Sampson Option" is one of last-resort destruction, and we concluded that Option Three offers the greatest hope to collective Israel. It also could possibly be acceptable in Heaven's Throne Room. It is furthermore the only option that could readily give birth to a second Exodus. Thus we suggest that the people of Judah need to trust that their desire to maintain a Jewish majority can be safely put in YHVH Hands. After all, He has many times proven that He controls all wombs and has repeatedly shown that He is well able to regather Israel's lost sheep and bring them back to His chosen Land.

As for Messianic Israel, this is the solution that we should both encourage and support. Moses told us that our God would test us to find out if we would love and trust Him with all our heart and soul (Deu 13:3). If we love Him, His desires will be our desires, and He desires to have an obedient people who will live in the Land that He gave His servant Jacob. When we give Him that blessed desire, His dwelling place will be with us and He will be our God and we will be His people (Eze37:25-27).

The only choice that allows for fulfillment of this promise is Option 3, the One-State solution. So as we celebrate this Passover week, let us thank YHVH that our forefathers were delivered from Egypt, and let us pray that this Passover will mark the beginning of yet another deliverance-  even a second Exodus. No matter how small might be our beginning numbers, let those of those who know and understand this truth open our hearts to a beginning fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy: "'Therefore behold, the days are coming,' declares YHVH, 'when they will no longer say, "As YHVH, our God, lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, but, as YHVH, our God, lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them." Then they will live on their own soil'" (Jer 23:7-8).

The article titled 2010: A Year of Opportunity outlines how we can take advantage of present-day opportunities that will result in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria being possessed by Israelites whose King is the Greater Son of David!  We encourage you to read the article, plus the companion article, A Time of Decision for All Israel. We also ask you to please help us by forwarding this article to interested friends.
Batya and I pray that you will have a blessed and rewarding Passover season.   

Shalom b'Yeshua,
Angus

This is a team effort, so we would like to hear your thoughts and comments.