A Day of Mourning

by Steve Lumbley, Apostasy Watch!

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:…. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
Ecc 3:1& 3

The 9^th of Av has historically been a day of mourning for the children of Israel. It was on the ninth of Av that the men sent to spy out the promised land returned with an evil report (Num 13:32) causing the people to despair and lose hope of entering into the land. Because of their unbelief, the generation that came out of Egypt was not allowed to enter the land.

Since that day, God has made the 9^th of Av a day of great tragedy for the nation of Israel. 

586 B.C. – Babylonians under Nebuchadnezar destroy the first temple. 100,000 Jews die and millions more are exiled

70 A.D. – Romans under Titus destroy the second temple. Over 2.5 million Jews die from war and famine. Millions more are exiled throughout the Roman empire.

132 A.D. – Romans crush the Bar Kochba rebellion. Over 100,000 Jews die

1095 A.D. – Pope Urban II declares the first crusade. 10,000 Jews killed in the first month.

1290 A.D. – Jews expelled from England. All Jewish property confiscated

1492 A.D. – Jews expelled from Spain. Property confiscated, many die.

1914 A.D. – Britain and Russia declare war on Germany beginning WWI which ultimately leads to WWII and the holocaust.

1942 A.D. – Nazis put down the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and begin deporting Jews to Treblinka

And now:

2005 A.D. – Jews expelled from Gaza and West Bank towns by their own leaders. Homes and property destroyed. Massive resistance expected.

Many in Israel and around the world are praying for a miracle, hoping that somehow the disengagement plan will be stopped. Thousands have joined the residents of Gaza towns like Gush Katif in an effort to resist the forcible eviction of Jews by their own government.  Their hopes and prayers will be in vain.

God will not stop the disengagement because God is the one causing it.

…according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: Eph 1:11.

Israel’s leaders are in rebellion to God. Like the faithless spies who gave the evil report they do not believe they can inhabit the land. After all the miracles God did to bring Israel out of Egypt, that generation refused to believe. And this generation of Jews is just like them.

Since 1948 God has supernaturally brought the physical descendants of Abraham out of exile and into their own land. Just as He promised, He has made the children of Abraham a mighty nation. In fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies he has made the desert bloom and the wilderness to bring forth crops in abundance.

The very day that Israel became a nation, her Arab neighbors attacked but true to His promise, God defended her. Every time the sons of Ishmael have tried to drive Israel into the sea, God has supernaturally come to her aid. In 1967 when Egypt, Jordan, and Syria launched an all out attack, God destroyed their combined forces in only 132 hours. Jerusalem was restored to Israel as well as Judea and Samaria.

Yet for all that God has done in their sight they will not believe. Like their forefathers they refuse to believe that God is with them. They make covenants with their enemies hoping for peace but peace will never come until they repent and obey God.

Because of their unbelief, God is once again bringing destruction upon the children of Israel. The coming months and years will bring death and misery to millions in Israel. The war that the U.S. has started in the Middle East will expand and Israel will be involved. The United States will come to be seen as an enemy of the Jews. This is all part of God’s plan. As long as Israel sees the United States as her protector and provider she will never trust in God. So, God must bring her to a place where she has no where else to turn.

This part of the disengagement is only the beginning. Israel will be pressured to give up more and more in exchange for a peace that will never come. The United States will side again and again with the children of Ishmael. Eventually, when all seems lost, when the final destruction of the Jews seems imminent, God will step in.

In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem;….
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him,…
Zech 12:8-10

This is the beginning of sorrows and no man can stop it.

There is also a lesson here for the church, for those who have been grafted into the natural olive tree.

Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Romans  11:18-19

For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Romans 11:20

Everything that happens to Israel eventually happens to the church. There is coming a time when we will be pressured to give up our promised land. Even now the apostate church doesn’t really believe the promises of God.

The leaders of today’s church are just like the leaders of modern Israel. They don’t really believe God.

They don’t believe that the gospel is power over sin. They tell you that you will never fully overcome sin in this life.  But God’s word says that Jesus has perfected for ever them that are sanctified.(Heb 10:14)

They don’t truly believe that God has given to us all things that pertain to life and Godliness (IIPeter 1:3) They think you must add things like psychological counseling and the wisdom of men.

They don’t really believe that you must deny yourself  (Math 16:24) or that you must lose your life to save it. (Math 16:25). They tell you that Jesus came so that you can have everything you ever wanted in this life.

They don’t believe that we can enter into His rest (Heb 4:3) by ceasing from our own works of righteousness. They counsel you to live by laws, principles, commandments, and formulas. They don’t really believe that the law was not made for a righteous man (1Tim 1:9)
 

The apostate leaders of the modern church don’t really believe God and they don’t want you to believe Him either. When you begin to get a revelation of these truths and start to act on them you will find yourself less and less welcome in assembly of these non believers. They may even ask you to leave.

They are in effect saying that you must give up your promised land.

Many in Israel today vilify the settlers because they have the nerve to actually believe the promises of God. They are seen as obstacles to peace and religious zealots. They are blamed for the violence and terrorism being perpetrated against all Israel.

There is coming a time very soon when true Christians will face the same anger and resentment right here in the U.S.A. And just like in Israel our greatest opposition will come not from atheists and unbelievers but from those who call themselves Christians.

If you see the apostasy and unbelief that is rampant in the church of America, if you grieve over the sins being perpetrated in the name of Christ, if you desire the truth above all, you might as well prepare yourself now. The events occurring in Israel are but a small preview of what is about to take place here.

Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.
Psalms 41:9-10

Steve Lumbley 2005  www.apostasywatch.com
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