SPIRITUAL
ZIONISM
Yeshua of Natzeret:
"All things are
possible to him who believes"
(Mark 9:23).
Theodor Herzl (Binyamin
Ze’ev):
"If you will, it is no
fairytale".
Shaul of
"Now all
these things happened to them by way
of example, and
they were written for our admonition,
on whom the ends
of the ages have come"
(I Cor. 10:11).
phase (Ezekiel 37:1-6), a
visible, physical phase (vv. 7-8),
and a spiritual coming-to-life
phase (vv. 9-14).
Phase 1. The restoration of
level. In the years 1863 and
1870 the first newspapers in
the Hebrew language appeared.
Their intent was to gather
their people into their own
land. In 1897 the first Zionist
Congress was held and the
World Zionist Organization
was founded in
of Theodor Herzl. The movement
adopted two goals:
- the return of the Jews to their
homeland, the land of
soil, and
- a recognized, legally protected place of
residence for
the Jews in their original homeland
The Hebrew language was
revived under the leadership
of Eliezer Ben-Jehudah, David
Jellin, and Nissim Behar.
In 1892 they determined the
Hebrew words which were
to be used in mathematics and
science and established
a common curriculum for
schools. Forty years after the
founding of the first
newspaper Hebrew became the main
language of the Jews living in
the
Phase 2. On November 12, 1917,
British General Allenby
arrived in
rule in the
1922 to 1948. During the
Second World War (1939-1945)
six million Jews, about a
third of the world's 16 million
Jews, perished. In May 1941
the American Zionist
Conference called for the
creation of a Jewish state in
of the genocide carried out by
the Nazis. Faced with the
indifference and even
obstructive policies of the British
and other Allies they
committed themselves to a national
rescue operation. At the end
of the Second World War
the British turned away about
100,000 survivors of the
Holocaust who were seeking a
place of refuge in
At that time the Jews living
in
two things:
- to bring Jewish refugees into the
country
- to liberate the country from British
rule and achieve
independence for the Jewish people
On May 14, 1948, the physical
phase of
began.
together. Tendons and flesh
began to grow on the bones
and they were covered by skin.
But there was no spirit in
them yet (Ezekiel 37.7-8).
Immediately after their declaration
of independence the
surrounding Arab nations invaded
gained control of the Jewish
quarter of
the fact that the United
States prevented the import of
arms and
refugees survived the invasion
of seven Arab states with
their population of 30
million. Little David conquered big
Goliath - seven nations (Deut
7.1, Joshua 3.10). It was
miracle of God!
there was no spirit in her
yet.
Phase 3.
only after they have received
their Messiah, Yeshua of
supplication and they will
look upon Him (Yeshua) whom
they have pierced (Psalm
22:17, Zech. 12.10, Rev. 1:7). They
will call upon My name, and I
will answer them. I will say,
My people, and they will say:
My God (Zech 13.9, Rev 3.12).
Afterward Yeshua will come to
the
then the YHVH will be king of
the whole land. On that day
YHVH will be one and His name
shall be one (Zech. 14.4,9).
Then
salvation for the whole world.
Upon returning to their
liberated homeland, the Jews
experienced the same thing
experienced by those who
have on their heart the
restoration of the church to what
it was at the beginning.
"Everyone has joined forces
against us - the Christians,
the Moslems, and the pagans!"
Those who are building the
church are on the black list. So
was Nehemiah in his time. God
had promised blessing upon
the reconstruction but each
man had to keep his sword in
one hand while working with
the other (Neh. 4.17).
The restorers will be opposed
just as the founders of the
state of
Jews still maintain that
"God has promised to bring his
people together but these
Zionists are working with their
own strength. This is
definitely out of order; this is not the
Lord's way. They will not be
able to restore
manner!" Many Christians
claim that unity will be achieved
only by the rapture, just as
the Jews were told that they will
receive their land as a gift
from God only when Messiah
comes. God has not planned it
this way. They obtained
the land by fighting for it.
In the same way it will require
a struggle to restore the
church. Unity will be achieved
prior to Yeshua's arrival to
take his church. "Heaven must
receive Him until the time of
restoration of all things of
which God spoke in ancient
times through the mouth of
his holy prophets" (Acts
3.21).
Those who desire the
fulfillment of Yeshua's prayer
(John 17.20-23) will discover
that others want to assimilate
them into denominations. In no
way do others want the
full unity that can be
achieved outside of denominations.
Those groups which began on
the basis of the local
assembly have, upon
denominationalizing, become
opponents of restoration. By
every means possible they
try to prevent those who are
leaving the denominations
from reaching the restored
local assembly. In the former
willing to let those Jews
depart whose destination was
some other country besides
who goal was aliyah,
moving to the
a spiritual Jew it is easier
to reach another denominational
land than it is to reach the
promised land. In most cases
moving from one denomination
to another is considered
OK. But moving to the local
assembly should be the
obvious move for the Christian
who has read his Bible. It
appears all the forces of darkness
are trying to stop God's
plans and Yeshua's coming.
Is it written somewhere that
the unity of believers will
Be achieved without lifting a
finger? Several times God
promised. "I will give
you the
Gen. 17.8, Num. 14.30), but
when the time came, He said,
"Go and take the
land!" (Deut. 1.8). It took a fierce struggle
to obtain that which had been
promised. During the entire
time in which God's church has
been scattered among
denominations the promised
land has been theirs just
as
dispersed among all the
nations. Now there is talk in both
cases of a return and of a
reconstruction. Is it written
anywhere that effort should
not be exerted in either case?
God's church is still in
ruins, uncared for, and in a degraded
state as Palestine was when
the Jews began to return and
rebuild it. With sweat and
toil they made the land arable.
Many scorned them saying,
"This is the land that flows
with milk and honey?"
(Exodus 3.8, 13.5, 33.3). God's church
is now as Palestine was before
but with the Lord's help it
will become an arable land
flowing with milk and honey
(I Cor. 3.9). When the
Israelites stood between Pharaoh's
armies and the Red Sea
everything seemed hopeless. But
God uses just these situations
that seem hopeless to show
his power. Why do Christians
not notice this? Have they
all become so blind?
Christians must now buy eye salve
(Rev 3.18) in order to see
what God's will is. God's promises
belong to those who will do His
will (Matt 7.21, Luke 6.46,
John 9.31, James 1.22).
It is now the end time. The
church will be tested and the
true Jews will be separated
from the chaff. "He that is
unjust, let him be unjust
still: and he which is filthy, let him
be filthy still: and he that
is righteous, let him be righteous
still: and he that is holy,
let him be holy still. And, behold,
I come quickly; and my reward
is with me, to give every
man according as his work
shall be" (Rev. 22.11-12). End
time events are presently
taking place. The fire is hot and
its purpose is to purify.
"I will purify them as silver is
purified and I will try them
as gold is trued. They will call
upon my Name and I will answer
them" (Zech 13.9). This
is the purpose of this
tribulation, of this trial by fire.
God has not rejected his
church. Worldliness and
hardening have overtaken her,
but just for a limited time.
"'The tribe of Israel
(just as the church of God) went into
exile because of its sin,
because they were unfaithful to
me (practiced harlotry, joined
the world) and I turned my
face from them and I gave them
into the hand of their
enemy and they fell each one
by the sword. I did unto
them according to their
uncleanness and wrong doing
and turned my face from them'.
Therefore thus says the
YHVH, 'Now I will turn the
fortune of Jacob and I will have
mercy upon the tribe of Israel
and I will be zealous for my
holy name. And I will bring
them back from among the
nations (believers from
denominations) and I will gather
them from the lands of their enemies.
Thus I will show in
them my holiness before the
eyes of the nations. And they
will come to know that I, the
Lord - YHVH - am their God
when I, have brought them from
exile among the nations
and gather them into their own
land (the believers into the
local assembly) and I will not
leave one of them there. And
I will no longer turn my face
from them for I will pour out
my Spirit upon the tribe of
Israel', says the Lord YHVH"
(Ezek 39.23-29).
The birth of the restored
assembly appears very difficult
to the natural sight.
Nevertheless according to the Bible it
has a firmer basis than any
other kind of congregation.
At the beginning everything is
in disarray and nothing
appears to function.
Nevertheless we do not doubt the
final outcome. It is according
to a biblical principle and
the answer to Yeshua's prayer
… that they would all be
one … so that the world
would believe … and understand
that you have sent me (John
17.18ff).
During all of church history
there has been a small
Flock outside of the camp (that
is, the denominations)
(Heb. 13.13) and in the end
time they will establish the
church upon the model of the
early apostolic church.
Many of the prophesies of the
Bible will become timely
when the church is formed and
established and comes
closer to the early church.
Now at the end of the age of the
Laodicean church (Rev. 3.14ff)
there has arisen in many the
desire to experience a living,
working faith in place of dead
religion. This desire brings
forth a willingness to sacrifice,
zeal, and love for restoration.
It instills faith in the future
and an ability to overcome the
greatest obstacles.
For such believers the
restored assembly is the only
alternative; dead religion has
nothing to give them. It is
truly a matter of life and
death. In their desire to sacrifice
everything they will have to
experience powerful
opposition. Denominations will
stand against them as
Goliath did against David.
They will experience all kinds
of opposition; they will be
slandered, all kinds of rumors
will be spread about them, and
they will be called dreamers.
This all belongs to the birth
pangs of restoration and the
result will be according to
what God has revealed in the
Bible.
Some religious circles will
take a neutral position regarding
restoration but in their hearts
they do not hope for victory
for the spiritual Jews. Many
leaders and workers will instill
fear in their church members
and cause them to avoid the
restorers because they
supposedly are causing the
destruction of congregations.
But you cannot destroy that
which does not exist. A
denomination is not the church.
The fate of denominations is
tied to the fate of Babylon
(Rev. 18) and the restorers
cannot change that. Their task
is solely to bring God's
admonition to those believers who
will listen: Depart from her,
my people … (Rev. 18.4). The
company of pioneers is small
which will come to do the
work. It is like Gideon's
exploit with three hundred men
(Judges 7). If you were to
take into account the theological
armaments of the denominational
leaders and workers and
their skill in using them, you
would think that the restorers
would fall by the thousands.
But that will not happen. The
spiritual Jews will be the
winners and their victory can only
be explained as a great
miracle of God. The Messiah,
Yeshua of Nazareth, is the
help of his people and he will
not let the enemy overcome
them.
In the building of the
restored assembly many will join it
acting like the English
soldiers during the formation of the
state of Israel. They departed
from the country but return
via Jordan disguised as Arabs.
"And such as do wickedly
against the covenant shall he
corrupt by flatteries: but the
people that do know their God
shall be strong, and do
exploits. And they that understand
among the people shall
instruct many: yet they shall
fall by the sword, and by
flame, by captivity, and by
spoil, many days. Now when
they shall fall, they shall be
helped with a little help: but
many shall cleave to them with
flatteries. And some of them
of understanding shall fall,
to try them, and to purge, and to
make them white, even to the
time of the end: because it is
yet for a time appointed"
(Daniel 11.32-35).
By bringing pretenders into
the assembly, the enemy
intends to lower its spiritual
state and to take it down the
same road of defection upon
which the early church went,
led by its leaders after the
death of the apostles. The
church will be tested, sifted,
and purified for the end time
and all false brethren will be
exposed.
UNITY - UNIVERSAL OR LOCAL
CONGREGATION?
The issue of unity is a
current one in God's church. Does
unity exist only on the
universal level or it a more visible
unity possible? The concept of
the universal church has
developed in the world in
which believers are scattered
among different denominations
and in which they have
few contacts, such as in the
organizing of meetings and
ministry projects. They do not
strive for close unity but
are waiting for Messiah upon
coming to take his own will
unite them and they will be
fully one in heaven.
In the beginning large
congregations, such as the one in
Jerusalem, were one even if
they met in different homes.
For the first hundred years
after the birth of the church the
believers did not build even
one building intended only for
the purpose of meeting. The
first known church building
was built in 160 AD. Those
believers who strive for fuller
unity base their belief on the
practice of the early church,
that each locality had only
one assembly. Those who
belong in the other category
avoid such a notion and strive
to be assimilated into their
own denomination even deeper
than before. Yeshua
nevertheless prayed that the believers
would have a unity that would
be visible. That assumes
that one will depart from his
denomination and come into
unity with the free
non-denominational believers in his
own locality.
In connection with restoration
another critical issue needs
to be considered: must each
spiritual Jew make a spiritual
aliyah, that is, leave his denomination
to build the local
assembly or can he remain in
his denomination? Some think
it is an advantage to belong
to a denomination, they think
they can thus build the body
of Messiah. They consider
talk about restoration and
actually doing it as some kind
of caprice on the road to true
unity. Many believers have
left their first love (Rev.
2.4) in order to remain in their
denomination. Upon coming into
the faith they were
zealous in their faith and
love for Yeshua. They were able
to see miracles and powerful
deeds done by Yeshua's Spirit
through them (Acts 16.7).
Gradually however a cooling off
began and often it became
apparent that they no longer
represented Yeshua but the
denomination to which they
belonged. They abandoned their
first love, the signs and
wonders diminished from their
life and finally there was
only a lukewarm academic
religiosity (Rev. 3.16).
Yeshua words of warning apply to them: "Not every one
that says unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven; but he that does the
will of my Father which is
in heaven. Many will say to me
in that day, Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in your
name? and in your name
have cast out devils? and in
your name done many
wonderful works? And then will
I profess unto them,
I never knew you: depart from
me, you that work iniquity"
(Matt 7.21-23).
The trend of believers in the
denominations toward greater
worldliness should provoke
them to realize we have come
to the moment when one can
remain spiritual only in the
scriptural unity of believers
and therefore the return to the
restored assembly is not an
option. When the church has
returned to its original
state, a spiritual renewal will take
place which will bring us back
to signs and wonders as
before in connection with
unity, when the Word is declared
and confirmed by the Lord
(Mark 16.20).
CHRISTIAN ZIONISM
Zionism is the Jewish national
freedom movement whose
goal is a Jewish state with
secure borders. Zionism is a
movement that wants to
encourage the voluntary
emigration of Jews to Israel.
Zionism is not capitalistic,
neo-colonialist, or
imperialistic and it does not strive to
form a Greater Israel
stretching from the Mediterranean
to the Euphrates.
Christian Zionism is a
Christian freedom movement whose
goal is a restored assembly.
Its purpose is not to establish
a new denomination. It seeks
to lead believers out of
denominations. The assembly
does not need to expend
effort on the collection of
funds because it will not possess
real estate and it will not
have salaried officials or any other
kind of personnel. Apostles,
prophets, evangelists,
shepherds and teachers who
have been appointed by the
Spirit (Eph. 4.11) will
function as the responsible ones in
the assembly. They will not
consider godliness a means of
gain but will "follow
righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
perseverance, and
meekness" (I Tim. 6.5,11) " … for the
perfecting of the saints, for
the work of the ministry, for
the edifying of the body of
Messiah: till we all come in the
unity of the faith, and of the
knowledge of the Son of God,
unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the
fullness of Messiah: that we
henceforth be no more
children, tossed to and fro,
and carried about with every
wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie
in wait to deceive; but
speaking the truth in love,
may grow up into him in all
things, which is the head,
even Messiah: from whom the
whole body fitly joined
together and compacted by that
which every joint supplies, according
to the effectual
working in the measure of
every part, makes increase of the
body unto the edifying of
itself in love" (Eph 4.12-16).
Yeshua called it a little
flock (Luke 12.32); thus it would
never become a large company.
The opposite large
company the Bible calls
Babylon the Great (Rev. 18.2)
and unfortunately the largest
part of Christendom will
end up in its bosom. Only
during the Kingdom of Peace
under Messiah's rule will
natural Israel obtain the
boundaries promised to her and
the little flock lead by
Messiah Yeshua of Nazareth
will rule Greater Israel and
the whole world.
The return to rebuilding the
early church has begun in a
Zionism on the spiritual
level. Zionism is the principle by
which restoration will be achieved.
If the restored local
apostolic assembly wishes to
be a real center of spiritual
life, it is vital that
believers want to and know how to live in
interaction with that little
flock. At the end time as a result
of receiving admonition or
experiencing persecution they
will depart from Babylon, that
is from the denominations,
to form a genuine Christian
Zionist movement.
When part of the Hebrews (the
Levites, the tribe of Judah,
and half of Benjamin) returned
from Babylonian captivity
about 2500 years ago, God
awakened in their innermost
being the desire to return to
Jerusalem. In a remarkable way
this has also happened to
Israel in our time. The Zionist
movement has been God's
instrument to fish the Jews back
to their homeland. Zionism is
a movement which God
originated. God will also
liberate spiritual Israel from
Babylonian captivity, that is,
denominations. He wants
to awaken in their innermost
being also the thought of
returning to the original
assembly.
The old Jewish Passover
greeting "Next year in Jerusalem"
also applies to spiritual
Jews, those who desire the life of
the original assembly pictured
by the city of Jerusalem
(Psalm 87). This greeting
expresses the hope that the
church would return to what it
was in the beginning.
During the entire course of
church history there have
been those believers who have
desired it.
For ages in their religious observance the Jews have
Prayed for the rebuilding of
the temple in Jerusalem as
well as for the regathering of
their scattered people.
Nevertheless only a few of the
early Jewish thinkers gave
this idea any concrete shape.
Exceptions were Yehuda
Ha-Levi (1075-1141) and Isak
Luria (1543-1572). Perhaps
the most significant
forerunner of Zionism was Rabbi Löw
eli Maharal of Prague (died
1609). He believed that not
even one ethnic group should
have to live in submission
to another; the dispersion of
the Jews was not a tolerable
condition. In his mind they
had the right to anticipate their
liberation by Messiah but they
were not permitted to
attempt to return to their
homeland on their own initiative.
Elija Gaon (1720-1797) of
Vilna, an opponent of Hasidism,
was very learned and held in
exceptionally high regard.
In his criticism of Hasidism
his starting point was that
Hasidism placed greater importance
on inwardly directed
mystical experience than on
the study of the word and put
unrestrained subjectivism at
the center. He was disciplined
and self-possessed, a thorough
researcher of literature and
wrote commentaries on the
Bible, the Mishna, and the two
Talmuds. His disciples went in
three large groups to
Palestine in the years 1808
and 1809 and founded a Jewish
community in Safed. They sent
heralds to Europe to
encourage other Jews to follow
their example. In seven
years the number of immigrants
to Safed rose from 200
to 700.
Rabbi Zvi Kalischer
(1795-1874) and Yehuda Alkalai should
be included among the early
Zionist thinkers. They both
rejected the common belief of
the Jews that salvation was
only something that God could do.
They believed that the
individual could hasten
salvation. Consider what Peter
said " … looking
for and hastening the day of God… "
(II Peter 3.12).
The Jews have been extremely
undesirous of returning to
their own land. Many of them
have preferred to consider
as their homeland the land
where they have lived. Many
spiritual Jews have also been
so sold on their
denominations (whose cradle is
Rome) that they prefer to
remain in them rather than
come into visible unity. In 1862
Moses Hess in his book ROME AND
JERUSALEM
pointed out the impossibility
of assimilation of the
individual and undertook to
become the spokesmen for
national liberation. In his
opinion the Jewish state had to
be established in Palestine
where the revival of intellectual
and religious life would be
possible. He was the first who
clearly understood that racist
anti-Semitism would become
an obstacle either to
liberation from a subordinate position -
or to assimilation which they
considered better.
Neither can true spiritual
Jews assimilate into
denominations. At the end time
they will gather into an
assembly based on the original
apostolic model and thus
will believers return from
worldly religiosity to their first
love for Yeshua - the return
from Rome to Jerusalem - the
return from the bosom of the
harlot Jezebel to pure worship
of God as before. Like many of
the early Zionists Moses
Hess wrote too early and he
was largely ignored. It has also
happened to those who spoke in
earlier times about the
return of the spiritual Jews
to their homeland. God's will will
nevertheless be done
regardless of the indifference of men.
The pogroms in Russia
especially beginning in the year
1881 hastened the development
of Zionism. Jews began to
widely understand that at
least for the Jews of Russia there
were no great hopes for
achieving civil rights. Emigration
appeared to be the only
solution and thus it began mainly
to the West. In 1882 Zionist
activists in Russia founded
an organization called Hibbat
Tsion (Love for Zion). Its
first group emigrated that
same year and established a
community called
Rishon-le-Tsion (meaning "the first
ones to Zion") in
Palestine. In the same year Romanian
Jews established the community
Rosh Pina in Galilee. In
the following years several
new settlements were born.
In 1882 a doctor, Leo Pinsker
(1821-1891), emphasized in
his paper AUTO-EMANCIPATION
the right of the Jewish
people and their obligation to
stand up on their feet and
liberate themselves. He had
earlier worked for the cause
of assimilation but now he
dismissed all such thoughts.
He became convinced that it
was impossible for the Jews
to mix with other nations. The
only thing to do was to
establish a Jewish state in
Palestine. Spiritual Jews also
have to stand up on their
feet. They also can no longer
assimilate into the
denominational mixture of Babylon.
They can no longer take a
stand for any particular
denomination. Their only
possibility is to return to the
original assembly.
The term Zionism originated
with Nathan Birnbaum (1864-
1937). But the founder of
modern Zionism was Theodor
Herzl (1860-1904) who in 1896
laid the foundation in his
book THE JEWISH STATE. Herzl's
parents were assimilated
Jews and he did not know his
predecessors Hess or Pinsker
at all. But he was soon in
contact with the Hibbat Tsion
organization. But Baron
Rothschild who had begun a fund
for the purchase of tracts of
land for Jewish settlements in
the middle of the 19th century
and Baron Hirsch considered
his plans foolish and did not
want to support them.
Herzl's book on the Jewish
state became Zionism's classic.
Besides arousing support, his
political Zionism also
aroused fear and bitterness
among both orthodox and
liberal Jews. Even though they
gave their approval to
the thought of the Jews
returning to their homeland,
they feared that Herzl's
political declaration would cause
Palestine to be closed to all
Jews. Regardless of all the
opposition Herzl's line became
the winner. His words
appealed to the deepest
feelings and most powerful
longing of the Jewish people.
Christian Zionism will
also awaken in groups of
believers similar feelings and
also action. The response of
many will be positive to
the prospect of the unity of
all believers but they will
want to avoid all practical
and visible unity. But true
unity will win. Attaining such
unity will satisfy the
deepest desires of believers'
spirits and alleviate the
great sorrow that has been
caused by the scattering
of the body of Messiah (Eph
5.30).
In the beginning Herzl had
attempted to gain international
recognition for his
organization and its plans. When this
did not happen, they began to
turn to other issues.
Different factions appeared in
the Zionist movement.
Great Britain's proposal to
establish a Jewish national
home in Uganda in East Africa
was discussed at the 1903
Zionist Congress. Herzl was
ready to approve this as a
temporary measure because the
situation of the Jews in
East Europe had become so
unbearable that they had
To do something. But a large
East European delegation
nevertheless decisively
resisted any alternatives to
Palestine. This was due to the
diplomatic efforts of World
Zionist Organization's Chaim
Weizmann (1874-1952)
who later became the first
president of the Jewish state
(1948-1952).
Israel and also Jerusalem
finally belong to the Jews. Their
goal has been realized. At the
same time God has been
bringing spiritual Israel
together. He has begun in a visible
manner to answer Yeshua's
prayer that the believers would
be one. God's people are
beginning to return from the
prison of denominations to the
original way of assembling.
But there are still countless
Christians who are not desirous
of leaving their
denominations, just as the majority of Jews
living in the Diaspora are
undesirous of moving to Israel.
God will send the fishers who
will fish them and he will
send hunters who will drive
them out of denominations
(Jer 16.16, Luke 6.22). True
spiritual Jews are beginning
to undergo persecution at the
hands of religious people
and likewise anti-Semitic
powers all over the world will
persecute, kill, and drive
Jews away.
The opponents of Zionism
considered the establishment
of the state of Israel a
hopeless cause; they treat the
restoration of the church in
the same manner. Nevertheless
in 1948 the state of Israel
became a reality and likewise the
restored assembly will be a
reality before Yeshua comes to
take away his own. Heaven will
keep him as long as it takes
to accomplish it.
The World Zionist Organization
is the connection between
the Jews living in Israel and
those living in exile. In the
same way the restorers need to
keep contact with all those
who are born of God's Spirit.
Those who have moved to the
promised land and those who
are still in their homelands or
denominations are by virtue of
their birth spiritual Jews.
They are brothers and sisters.
The Jews maintain unity
with the help of the World
Zionist Organization . There
must also be contact among
spiritual Jews.
In question is not a
particular individual's cause; neither is
it a matter of a new
denomination with a prophet or other
figure who can be presented as
its founder. Believers
together will build the church
in their own localities. It
appears that younger believers
are more desirous of
stepping onto the road of
restoration, because they
have not yet managed to become
so attached to their
denominations and their first
love for Yeshua still burns
in them. Those believers who
desire the faith and power
of the early church will
obtain it in a restored assembly.
To achieve it they must become
a clean slate. Their
thoughts must be cleansed of
the old denominational
teachings which are not in
line with the Bible. Some will
realize that they are
spiritually poor (Matt 5.3) and will
want to experience true living
faith; they will leave first
because they are sure that by
doing so their spiritual life
will change for the better.
The restorers will encounter
much opposition because
many older prisoners will not
voluntarily leave their prison.
But let every opponent find in
God's word a justification
for his opposition. Anyone who
does not want to leave
may remain where he is. There
is no intention of seizing
someone by force out of his
denomination. In this regard
God's Spirit will function as
Abraham's servant did when
he met Rebekah at the well
(Genesis 24). God's Spirit had
already prepared Rebekah and
she was ready to leave with
the servant to become the wife
of Isaac, who foreshadows
Messiah.
It appears that there will be
a battle with the mean,
narrow-minded, and
shortsighted church people just
as Yeshua in his time
encountered the opposition of his
learned orthodox countrymen.
But we must remember
that our battle is not against
flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in
high places (Eph 6.12) because
the enemy knows that
this age will end with the
restoration of all things.
When Israel went through
tribulation and persecution, it
always ended with a
celebration. Pharaoh wanted to destroy
the Jews when they lived in
Passover (Exodus 12). Haman
also wanted to get rid of
The Jews; the result was פורים Purim (Esther
9.26-28).
Antiochus Epiphanes tried to
do likewise and the result
was חנכה Hanukkah or the Dedication of the Temple
(John 10.22). The pogroms of
Russia brought to birth the
Zionist movement. After
Hitler's cruel genocide came
Israel's יום-העצמאות Independence Day.
Israel still has its last
great tribulation ahead of her but that
also will end in a
celebration. On that occasion Israel will
accept her משיח
ישוע הנצרי Messiah, Yeshua
of Nazareth,
and will crown Him King. The
last tribulation of the church
of God when all the false
brethren will turn against her will
end with a wonderful celebration
when her Bridegroom,
Yeshua of Nazareth, will come
and take her to the wedding
of the Lamb.
Now is the time for a
spiritual exodus. Now is the time
for every believer truly born
of the Spirit and walking in
the Spirit to depart for the promised
land, to take part in
the restoration of the local
assembly. According to the
Word of God, all spiritual
Israel is to leave denominations,
there will not remain in them
one who is circumcised in
the Spirit (Ezekiel 39.28).
Original text in Finnish: Hengellinen
Sionismi
(Spiritual Zionism), Moshe Zew, 1983
Translation to English: Steve Mintiyev, 2001
[ Back to Top ] [ Welcome ] [ Home ]