My Christian Zionism Relating to Jerusalem U.S. Embassy

John R. Houk

© May 17, 2018

I am a Christian Zionist. This means my reflections on the Jewish State of Israel might be a bit controversial definitely to the American Left and to a few Conservative Americans. Essentially the Land of Israel belongs to the Jews by Promise from God Almighty Himself. You can probably guess as well, I am no friend of the Arabs that claim to be the made-up people known as Palestinians.

The Christian side of my Zionism probably is a bit of a turn-off to many observant Jews; viz., the re-establishment of the nation of Israel is an indicative sign the that Savior of humankind – Jesus the Messiah – is returning soon to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. On the other hand, I am not an overt fan in demanding Jews accept Jesus as their Savior.

This demand has been a blight on Christians through history. As Gentiles became the prominent population of the Christian make up, Antisemitism reared its ugly head against Jews with false accusations of Christ-killer. Remember ALL of the 12 Apostles and the initial Christians were ALL Jewish!

The Apostle Paul – born Jewish Saul of Tarsus – became a Christian after ending his Pharisaic Temple-ruler edict to persecute Christians. Jesus Himself appeared to Paul traveling the Damascus road to persecute Christians. Paul Believed in Jesus became an Apostle of The Way. Paul then became the catalyst to bring the Gospel of Christ to the Non-Jewish Gentiles as instructed by Jesus:

 ¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16: 15 NKJV)

So, why don’t I demand the overt conversion of Jewish people? Observant Jews are steeped in their traditions that probably won’t change without a Road to Damascus moment such as Paul experienced. Thus, at Christ’s return at the Second Coming, Jews will have their Road to Damascus moment. Until that day, I am fully supportive of Jews practicing Judaism and all their traditions (which ironically point to a future Messiah and many Christians believe are a type of the Christ [See Also: HERE, HERE &. HERE]).

Originally, I intended this as an intro to an Ari Bussel submission. However, the more I began writing the more I realized I was writing my thoughts on Christian Zionism. Ari’s submission essentially writes about President Trump’s decision to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel’s capital city Jerusalem is a God blesses those who bless Israel moment. As a Christian Zionist, I 100% concur with Ari Bussel.

JRH 5/17/18

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The God of Israel Rewards Those Who Come to Take Refuge under His Wings

By Ari Bussel

Sent 5/14/2018 5:39 PM

Dear Friends,

Yitz Dekel from Los Angeles writes:  "As an 11 years old boy in Haifa, I clearly remember the turbulent and riveting days of May 14 and May 15, 1948…”

It was today, exactly 70 years ago, that the world witnessed the rebirth of an ancient nation in its Biblical and historical homeland, the nation of Israel in the Land of Israel.

Today, as the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem, Israelis and Jews the world over expressed their joy in one simple, unifying manner.  

We said a blessing, thanking God the Almighty, Lord of the Universe

who has granted us life and sustained us

who has brought us to this very moment, 

enabling us to reach this occasion

(The Blessing of Shehecheyanu)

ברכת שהחיינו

ברוך אתה ה׳

אלוהינו מלך העולם

שהחיינו 

וקיימנו 

והגיענו 

לזמן הזה

[Blog Editor: Google Translate of above Hebrew Shehecheyanu blessing:

Shehecheyanu blessing

bless you God'

Our God is King of the Universe

Shehecheyanu

And we have

And we arrived

For this time]

Unlike an Orthodox (religious) Jew, for a secular Israeli, reciting this blessing is not something we do often, easily or without thought.  It is thus all the more extraordinary that from the President to the Prime Minister of Israel, to every Israeli and Jew wherever one is, we said the same thing, with the utmost sincerity and meaning - for having reached this time and place!

As I sent out the text of the Prime Minister’s speech, our Christian friends replied immediately with greetings.  They were excited too, or maybe it was our joy that permeated and saturated the entire surface.  We were reinforcing each other, delighted and jubilant.  

Israel 

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center here in Los Angeles writes:

Enter Donald Trump. With the stroke of a pen, he validated 3,500 years of Jewish history by opening the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, debunking the global smear campaign against the Jewish State.

His decision will also have an impact on Christian-Jewish relations. My grandparents fled Eastern Europe at the beginning of the 20th Century primarily because of theologically-fueled hatred from Christian churches and clergy.

They would have been shocked to see the hundreds of Christian Zionists who sat shoulder to shoulder with American and Israeli Jews at the embassy opening on Monday. And they would have been amazed to learn it was American Christians, led by a few million Evangelicals, who consistently reminded President Trump about candidate Trump’s promise to do right by Israel.

For us, the Jewish people, it is amazing to see Christians standing with us; side by side, often leading.  As it is says in Psalms:

Psalms Chapter 133 תְּהִלִּים

א  שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת, לְדָוִד:
הִנֵּה מַה-טּוֹב, וּמַה-נָּעִים--    שֶׁבֶת

אַחִים גַּם-יָחַד.

¹ A Song of Ascents; of David. {N}
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

++++++

Like our Christian friends the world over, minorities in Israel celebrate too, with equal dosages of excitement.  They know that it is in Israel and nowhere else where they can live freely and securely, as equal citizens in a Jewish country.  In the only Jewish country in the world, they can worship as they wish.  So it was in Biblical times; so it is in modern era in the 21st Century.

An Israeli Druze whom I am honored to call a friend, Riad Hasson, writes:  

This day in Jerusalem was most thrilling.  Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel and the Jewish people for all its generations.  We, the Israeli Druze, are proud of the decision and the execution (of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem)!!  Jerusalem - the City of King David - is suitable and warrants glory and honor, appropriate for the City of the Forefathers and the City toward which the eyes of the entire world turn.   I love your Jerusalem.  We all love you Jerusalem!

My dear friend Mendi Safadi, also an Israeli Druze, was in Jerusalem the entire day celebrating.  Here are some pictures he took - join, as if we are all there!  As I was forwarding the video clips he took, people thought I am in Zion Jerusalem.  “No,” I replied, “I am in the City of Angels, saluting the City of God.”

(Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

[Blog Editor: Ari included many photos of the U.S. Embassy event in Jerusalem. Below are only a few hand-picked stunning photos. I feel confident if you want the entire photo array, ask Ari Bussel to send them to you - bussel@me.com]

The power and energy emanate from Zion Jerusalem, like an immense beam of light, and the entire world turns its head toward the City on the Hills, as foretold by the Prophet Isaiah:

Isaiah Chapter 2 יְשַׁעְיָהוּ

ב  וְהָיָה בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים, נָכוֹן יִהְיֶה הַר בֵּית-יְהוָה בְּרֹאשׁ הֶהָרִים, וְנִשָּׂא, מִגְּבָעוֹת; וְנָהֲרוּ אֵלָיו, כָּל-הַגּוֹיִם.	2 And it shall come to pass in the end of days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established as the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
ג  וְהָלְכוּ עַמִּים רַבִּים, וְאָמְרוּ לְכוּ וְנַעֲלֶה אֶל-הַר-יְהוָה אֶל-בֵּית אֱלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב, וְיֹרֵנוּ מִדְּרָכָיו, וְנֵלְכָה בְּאֹרְחֹתָיו:  כִּי מִצִּיּוֹן תֵּצֵא תוֹרָה, וּדְבַר-יְהוָה מִירוּשָׁלִָם.	3 And many peoples shall go and say: 'Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

However, it is not the Prophet Isaiah’s words that are applicable today.  Instead, as we are in the City of David, the redheaded, good-looking David, who was skillful in playing and a mighty man of valor, a man of war and prudent in affairs and a comely person (1 Samuel 16:18).  David son of Yishai, grandson of Oved, great-grandson of Ruth of Moab.

Ruth was not Jewish, and yet she is the great-grandmother of King David, whose city we celebrate today and every day.  Jerusalem was once the home of the Temple, today it is the capital of Israel.  It is the same King David from whose lineage Jews and Christian alike believe that the Messiah will come.

Ruth wonders too, for she is “a foreigner” and yet treated equally or even better than the locals.  Such in ancient times; so at present times.  And so we are told the reason:  for “you left your father and your mother and your homeland, and you went to a nation you did not know previously.”  Ruth came to “take refuge under the wings of the Lord, God of Israel,” and so this act of hers is forever recognized and not forgotten:

Ruth Chapter 2 רוּת

וַתִּפֹּל, עַל-פָּנֶיהָ, וַתִּשְׁתַּחוּ, אָרְצָה; וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו, מַדּוּעַ מָצָאתִי חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ לְהַכִּירֵנִי--וְאָנֹכִי, נָכְרִיָּה.	10 Then she fell on her face, and bowed down to the ground, and said unto him: 'Why have I found favour in thy sight, that thou shouldest take cognizance of me, seeing I am a foreigner?'
יא  וַיַּעַן בֹּעַז, וַיֹּאמֶר לָהּ--הֻגֵּד הֻגַּד לִי כֹּל אֲשֶׁר-עָשִׂית אֶת-חֲמוֹתֵךְ, אַחֲרֵי מוֹת אִישֵׁךְ; וַתַּעַזְבִי אָבִיךְ וְאִמֵּךְ, וְאֶרֶץ מוֹלַדְתֵּךְ, וַתֵּלְכִי, אֶל-עַם אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יָדַעַתְּ תְּמוֹל שִׁלְשׁוֹם.	11 And Boaz answered and said unto her: 'It hath fully been told me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thy husband; and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people that thou knewest not heretofore.
יב  יְשַׁלֵּם יְהוָה, פָּעֳלֵךְ; וּתְהִי מַשְׂכֻּרְתֵּךְ שְׁלֵמָה, מֵעִם יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֲשֶׁר-בָּאת, לַחֲסוֹת תַּחַת-כְּנָפָיו.	12 The LORD recompense thy work, and be thy reward complete from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to take refuge.'

Ruth lived the way she did not expecting anything in return.  Quite on the contrary, she sacrificed and risked much.  In many ways, we have witnessed many more “Ruths” millennia later during the Holocaust.  These were the Righteous Gentiles.

And so we recall an ancient promise by God the Almighty.  How wonderful we have an opportunity to “open The Book” and refresh our memories.  We will discover there so many wonderfully amazing things.  All foretold; all happening in ancient times and at present times!

Genesis Chapter 12 בְּרֵאשִׁית

ג  וַאֲבָרְכָה, מְבָרְכֶיךָ, וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ, אָאֹר; וְנִבְרְכוּ בְךָ, כֹּל מִשְׁפְּחֹת הָאֲדָמָה.

3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.'

We have apparently merited reaching this very day and witnessing history in the making.

SHALOM!

Always,

Ari Bussel
bussel@me.com

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My Christian Zionism Relating to Jerusalem U.S. Embassy

John R. Houk

© May 17, 2018

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The God of Israel Rewards Those Who Come to Take Refuge under His Wings

 Edited by John R. Houk

Text enclosed by brackets and explanatory links are by the Editor.

© Ari Bussel

Ari Bussel Bio via BeverlyHills.org

Ari Bussel is Vice President of Operations at Saybrex International, a privately held family business specializing in the distribution of fine wines and spirits. He is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company and has held various positions in the company since 1993.

Prior to joining Saybrex, Mr. Bussel served as First Lieutenant in the Center for Systems Analysis at General Headquarters of the Israel Defense Forces, where he led the implementation of the Logistics War Doctrine in the Computerized Wargame Program.

Mr. Bussel is involved in a variety of philanthropic and civic activities. Mr. Bussel completed the Team Beverly Hills Leadership Program and served on the Environmental Sustainability Topic Committee of the City of Beverly Hills. He was a member of the Steering Committees of former Beverly Hills Mayor MeraLee Goldman and the current Beverly Hills City Treasurer, the Hon. Eliot Finkel. Mr. Bussel also completed and participated in the Community Emergency Response Training Program of the City of Beverly Hills as well as … READ THE REST