Going to the polls
In April this year Israelis will go to the polls to cast their votes in the upcoming elections. Once again a shadow of corruption allegations hangs over Prime Minister Netanyahu. There is no doubt that Prime Minister Netanyahu has proved to be a strong and capable leader over the past decade. According to the Washington Post it states; “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday called early elections for April, setting the stage for a three-month campaign clouded by a series of corruption investigations against the long-serving Israeli leader. Riding high in the polls, Netanyahu appears all but certain to win a fourth consecutive term and a place in history as the country’s longest-serving prime minister.
A witch hunt?
Those bright prospects, however, could be derailed by a looming decision by the country’s attorney general on whether to file charges against Netanyahu. Netanyahu, facing the possibility of bribery and breach of trust charges in three different cases, made scant mention of these investigations at a gathering of his Likud Party as he announced plans for what is expected to be an April 9 vote. Appearing loose and confident, he listed his government’s accomplishments in office and said he hoped his current religious, nationalistic coalition would be the “core” of Israel’s next government as well.” Prime Minister Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing and said he is the victim of a media-fuelled witch hunt.” Prime Minster Netanyahu has many enemies within his own government even though he is confident his party will stay in power. The biggest threat to his being stood down appears to be posed by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who must soon decide on whether to indict the prime minister.
“We want a King!”
In the last verse in the book of Judges we read; “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” In the Book of Judges we see how the LORD raised up judges to deliver the Israelites from their oppressors. When the judge died the Israelites went back to the ways of the pagan world. God raised up Samuel the prophet to lead the people to follow after the LORD. They demanded a king so that they could be like the other nations and Samuel said to them that the LORD was their king but they insisted on having their own way. They wanted to be like the rest of the nations. Samuel warned them what the king would be like and that in the end he would prove to be a burdensome stone that the Israelites could not carry. However, they insisted and God gave them what they craved. In the end their insistence on doing things their way led to disaster for the nation at the hands of the Philistines in Gaza.
Refuge in the LORD
While Prime Minister Netanyahu is a capable leader he is by no means perfect and once again the alleged corruption charges may or may not have substance to them but clearly brings out the Biblical fact that; “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.” (Psalm 118:8-9) And again it is written in God’s Word; “Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.”(Psalm 146:3) King Saul knew the LORD and what He required of Him and he rejected the Word of God deliberately and God “removed him from office” as it were. Prime Minister Netanyahu is a man who it seems is not opposed to Torah and is favourable desposed towads Bible believing Christians but if he has not believed in the Lord Jesus as his Messiah and the one who can save both him and Israel from their sins then he, like those who reject the Messiah, are in reality rejecting the Eternal Word of God Himself, manifested in flesh and sent to save His people from their sins even before He saves them from their enemies.
Like a sling stone
King Saul was the people’s choice and he was a strong man at the beginning but in the end did not embrace the Word of GOD and Israel reaped the consequences. Now God had a leader already prepared in King David but the nation was not ready to receive him. When the crisis came with Goliath no one in Israel was able to defeat him and it looked like Israel was lost to their enemy. Into the situation stepped David and with a stone and a sling took Goliath down and in David’s victory the armies of the God of Israel won the day. It can be said that the five smooth stones David had in his sling pouch represented the Torah being the first five books of the Old Testament written by Moses. In using one of the stones to take out Goliath it showed that David was standing on the promises of God’s Word and using those promises like a sling stone. He believed God’s Word, stood on it by faith in his heart and released the power of the faith he had with the words of his mouth and Goliath fell before him.
Israel’s true King
The LORD has given Israel a king in the character of King David and He is our Lord Jesus the Messiah. At the cross He took out that Giant Satan and defeated Him and all of his hordes from Hades. Just as young David crushed the head of Goliath with the stone from the sling so the Lord Jesus crushed the head of the serpent at the cross giving the Israelites the way back to defeat all of their spiritual and physical enemies and to be saved from the power of Stan and sin. But what do the Israelis want? They want a leader to get them out of their current troubles, a strong man to lead the armies of Israel against their insurmountable odds as the Islamic pincer movement moves in towards Israel on all sides. Prime Minister Netanyahu cannot save Israel. President trump cannot save Israel. There is only one who can save them and that is their King the Lord Jesus the anointed Messiah who is of the line and in the character of King David. He has won the victory if only Israel could see it.
Judgement delayed?
Humanly speaking this is not the time for Israeli leadership to be divided or to have an election when the nation is on the very precipice of an Islamic invasion, an invasion that will come and is inevitable according to the Word of God but one that even now can be delayed if Israel turns back to the Lord Jesus their true king and Messiah. Many in Israel are turning again to the LORD in their extremity but there is only one who can save them and if they continue to reject Him and the salvation found only in Him then they will receive the consequences of their actions. Judgement is coming because Israel by enlarge are still in their sins and reject their Messiah but judgement can be delayed if there is repentance and faith in Him. Tragically Israel’s leaders have set their course to try to do things their way. They are once again confronted with the ‘Goliath of Islam.’ Their enemies are gathering around them on all sides. You have Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, Turkey, Syria, Iran, and even Russia behind the scenes.
Standing at the crossroads
Is President Trump proving to be for Israel a King Saul in being ineffective to protect and defend Israel against their enemies as King Saul was? Right now President Trump is competing with Russia in proposing a 3.5 billion dollar weapons deal with Turkey, Israel’s sworn enemy! No wonder Trump withdrew American forces from Syria. No wonder President Erdogan is clapping his hands with glee as he sees the expansion of His revived Turkish Ottoman Caliphate going ahead and gaining momentum. Will the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq be next? President Trump can be changeable. In the final analysis America cannot save Israel. Can indeed America even save itself? Israel as a nation and its leaders now stand at the crossroads. Will they even now hear the Word of the LORD; “This is what the Lord says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, “We will not walk in it.” I appointed watchmen over you and said, “Listen to the sound of the trumpet!” But you said, “We will not listen.” (Jeremiah 6:16-17)
The Watchmen
The watchmen today in Israel are those faithful Messianic and Gentile believers seeking to win their Jewish brethren to repentance and faith in the Messiah our Lord Jesus. The LORD has sounded the trumpet heralding Israel’s salvation in the Lord Jesus and it is still being blown but to this day the people of Israel on the whole will not come to Him and to that fountain opened in Jerusalem for uncleanliness and sin” but continue to look to the Egypt of this world which in the end will prove to be “a splintered reed of a staff that pierces a man’s hand when he leans upon it.” It is going to take the Time of Trouble for Jacob to bring forth a purified, believing faithful Israeli remnant who will be reconciled to their Messiah and ready to meet Him when He comes back. In that day God says; “I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave them. Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king whom I will raise up for them!” (Jeremiah 30:9) In that day “All Israel will be saved!” because “the gifts and call of God are irrevocable!” (Romans 11:26, 29)
