The Sons of Zion

How would I define the sons of Zion? There’s Zionism that brought the state of Israel into being and I respect and honor those pioneers. But I’m talking about a different kind of Zionism because most of them were Socialists and had no real faith in the Word of God. It’s one of the miracles of history that God used them to achieve something they didn’t believe in! That’s one of the ways God operates. He’s used a lot of people to do things, like Cyrus. I mean, I don’t know. Nebuchadnezzar. God even calls Nebuchadnezzar “my servant.” He calls Cyrus “my servant.” I think in some ways Winston Churchill was God’s servant, although he never became a believer as far as I know. God has some unexpected servants and maybe you’re one of them!

Anyhow, sons of Zion I call Biblical Zionists; that is, Zionism that’s founded on the Bible. I think they have one basic text which is the opening words of the Bible:

“In the beginning God...”

That’s Biblical Zionism. In other words, everything has its source and its origin in God. God is the ultimate, His promises and His decrees ultimately will determine the course of human history.

I read an article in the Jerusalem Post recently which really touched my heart. It was called the In Focus section about some Jewish settlers in a place called Fardaron, which is a tiny little settlement southeast of Gaza. This is a full-scale interview. Some of you saw it, I’m sure. A very, very beautiful photograph of a Jewish mother with her baby in her arms. I mean, it was a beautiful face. These two or three paragraphs describe the result of an interview with the people in Fardaron. They said:

“We have had many meetings with senior IDF officers. [IDF is the Israeli army.] ‘And when we asked them about the situation on the roads, who will be in control, how they will protect us, they have no answers.’ ‘This is not very encouraging. Despite the pressures, the fears, the uncertainties, the five residents of Fardaron and Netsareem spoken to this week said without exception that they have no intention of leaving their settlements. Their reasons are summed up in the handwritten petition [to Rabin] posted on the Fardaron bulletin board.’”

This is the petition:

“‘We the undersigned know and believe that all of Eretz Israel [that’s the land of Israel] belongs to the people of Israel, according to God’s Word in our Torah. We believe that God is with us and that with His help we will continue to build the state of Israel.’ ‘The residents say they are acting responsibly toward their children by remaining in what is essentially the eye of an unpredictable storm.’”

Then the lady who was nursing the little baby says this:

“‘There are values more important than life,’ says Doytch, discreetly nursing her infant. ‘Torah, for instance.’ Doytch’s neighbor, [unintelligible], 31, the father of three, concurs. ‘My responsibility is not only to my children,’ he says, ‘it also extends to my people.’”

To me, that is the material out of which biblical Zionism will be built. I notice that they were not primarily concerned about security, material prosperity, an easy life, or the safety of themselves or their families. There was another value that took precedence over all of those. How many people are there like that in the world today, in any nation? Not many. And when I read that I thought about the words of Revelation 12:11:

“They [the believers on earth] overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

Now like others here, I’ve taught a great deal on spiritual warfare and spiritual weapons. I’ve taught about the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony. But I want to point out to you that there’s only one kind of person who’s qualified to use those weapons and that’s stated in the last part of the verse, “they did not love their lives to the death.” My interpretation of that is for those people to do the will of God was more important than to stay alive. I believe that’s really a question which each of us is going to have to face. The way the world is going and the forces that are being unleashed, I think we’re going to have to ask ourselves which is more important for me, to stay alive or to do the will of God?

The early believers who had that attitude overthrew the Roman Empire. They never had any marches, they never published any manifestos, they had no TV preachers. But, they had one thing, commitment.

I don’t believe that Satan in the least bit fears uncommitted believers. The only ones who threaten him, who can use the weapons of his defeat, are those who do not love their lives to the death.

I want to say that obviously as a believer in Yeshua there’s more to it than what I read in the testimonies of the people in Fardaron. But you know one thing Jesus said, “If you believe Moses you’ll believe in Me.” The problem is the majority of Orthodox Jews don’t really believe Moses. That’s why they don’t believe in Yeshua.

This is just a subjective impression. I have a feeling that a kind of change is coming, that there’s going to be an alignment of people who normally you wouldn’t expect to see aligned together. The key to that alignment will be people who take God seriously. There are a lot of definitions of faith that are offered but one that’s come to me many times is faith is taking God seriously. I have observed in the Charismatic movement in the United States, I think it would be true to say, the majority of Charismatics do not take God seriously.

A well known Charismatic preacher whose been a personal friend of mine for 20 years made some right off-the-wall statements while he was preaching. When he was challenged he said, “My people know better than to take me seriously in everything I say.” Now, that’s surprising but what was amazing was nobody reacted to that statement. It was regarded as normal.

I believe this conference is designed by God to release a new kind of seriousness into the body of Messiah. What have I got to live for if it isn’t for the purposes of God? I believe God has kept me alive because he has a task for me to do. I believe God has a task for me to do that’s in some way connected with Israel. And for me it’s much more important to complete my task than to stay alive.

Now, you’re not all as old as I am but one day some of you may be. Let me tell you, it will come a lot quicker than you expect!

Basic truth is usually simple. The truth is Israel is Israel and the church is the church. God is not so poor that He has to rob Israel to keep His promises to the church. Israel is never used as a synonym for the church. Never. It has no basis in the New Testament. Israel is often used as a type or a pattern for the church but it is never the name for the church. So, anybody who claims that the church is Israel is absolutely in direct contradiction to the New Testament.