PRÉCIS ON THE RECONCILIATION OF ISRAEL II: BUT FIRST, THE JUDGMENT

PREFACE. Let me state clearly at the top of the Commentary that I am a life-long, unapologetic CHRISTIAN ZIONIST: “Christian Zionism is a political and religious ideology that supports the Return of the Jewish people to Israel. It’s based on the belief that this Return is a prerequisite for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ” (cf. Genesis 15:18; Amos 9:14-15; Romans 11:26). NOTE. Further, it is not insignificant that this commitment to the theological “Right of Return” is undergirded by my own ancestry deriving from the Sephardim on my mother’s (Rodriquez) side of the family.

SCRIPTURE. “Woe to Ariel [Jerusalem], to Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add yet another year; let the feasts run their round [but only one year more]. Then will I distress Ariel; and there shall be mourning and lamentation, yet she shall be to Me like an Ariel [an altar hearth, a hearth of burning, the altar of God].

And I will encamp against you round about; and I will hem you in with siege works and I will set up fortifications against you. And you shall be laid low [Jerusalem], speaking from beneath the ground, and your speech shall come humbly from the dust. And your voice shall be like that of a ghost [produced by a medium] coming from the earth, and your speech shall whisper and squeak as it chatters from the dust.” – ISAIAH 29:1-4, AMPC

KEY TERM: “DISTRESS!” ‘Tsuq’ [וַהֲצִיק֖וֹתִי]: “‘To compress, oppress, constrain;  to straiten; to pain or afflict greatly; to harass with calamity; to make miserable.’ NOTE: “The Hebrew verb ‘tsuq’ primarily conveys the idea of pressing or constraining. It is often used in contexts where there is a sense of being under pressure or experiencing oppression. This can be physical, emotional, or spiritual in nature. The term suggests a situation where one is hemmed in or restricted, often leading to distress or hardship.”

QUOTATION. “God’s call to Israel was: ‘This is what the LORD says: Come home to Me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever. Only acknowledge your guilt. Admit that you rebelled against the LORD your God. Return home, you wayward children’ says the LORD, ‘for I am your Master’ (Jeremiah 3:12–14).

Never does God agree to Reconcile while Israel continues in sin. There can be no Reconciliation without Repentance. In the New Testament, Jesus expressed the same reality when He said, ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate’ (Matthew 23:37–38).

‘God cannot be Reconciled to those who are unwilling to Turn to Him.’ There is no Scriptural evidence that God ever forgave anyone who did not Repent of sin and turn in faith to Him.” ― DR. GARY CHAPMAN, Anger: Taming a Powerful Emotion, 2015; edited

COMMENTARY. “Ariel may signify the altar of burnt-offerings. Let Jerusalem know that outward religious services will not make men free from judgements. Hypocrites never can please God, nor make their peace with him. God had often and long, by a host of angels, encamped round about Jerusalem for protection and deliverance; but now He fought against it.

Proud looks and proud language shall be brought down by humbling Providences. [Yet] the Destruction of Jerusalem’s enemies is foretold. The army of Sennacherib went as a dream; and thus the multitudes, that through successive ages fight against God’s altar and worship, shall fall. Speedily will sinners awake from their soothing dreams in the pains of Hell.” – MATTHEW HENRY, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 6 vols., 1708-1710; edited

DK’S TAKE. ‘Same Rules for everybody, folks. Judgment comes to all for the Sins of Betrayal of the One True God.’ Whether the Jews at Sinai who made the Golden Calf, or Jewish Israel and the Christo-America of today that worships The Beast, DONALD TRUMP.

There shall simply be no quarter given to it, ever!

The Good News, however, is that the Lord has presented to us The Gospel of Jesus Christ Who is sent as not only Judge but also as Deliverer from our reckless wantonness to ‘Have a king just like us to judge us’ (1 Samuel 6:8).Thereby is the God of the Universe Judging not only His Christian House here in America, but also His Jewish House in Jerusalem.

Israel is reminded here by the Great Apostle:

“However, it is not as though God’s word has failed [coming to nothing]. For not all who are descended from Israel (Jacob) are [the true] Israel; and they are not all the children of Abraham because they are his descendants [by blood], but [the promise was]: “Your descendants will be named through Isaac” [though Abraham had other sons].” – ROMANS 9:6-7, AMP   

CODA. So long as both Israel and America bow down low to Antichrist, they shall both be Judged most severely. The Former toward God’s Winnowing of two thirds of Israel, after which “One third shall pass through the fire” and be saved (Zechariah 13:8-9). The Latter of which, however, shall be utterly destroyed, “in just one hour” (Revelation 18:10).

He has told us, beloved: “Judgment must come first to the House of the Lord” – both Jewish and Christian (1 Peter 4:17).

The Remainder to survive as a SINGLE, FAITHFUL REMNANT – Jewish and Christian – ‘Reunited as One under Almighty God’ when He shall Return and establish His Kingdom here on the Earth.

Then Forever, and Ever, and Forevermore!