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"Father Abraham"
Message
summary:
"If you belong
to Christ,
then you are
Abraham’s
seed, and
heirs
according to
the promise".
Listen to our message on your audio player.
"Now
the Lord said
to Abram, 'Go
from your
country and
your kindred
and your
father's house
to the land
that I will
show you. And
I will make of
you a great
nation, and I
will bless you
and make your
name great, so
that you will
be a blessing.
I will bless
those who
bless you, and
him who
dishonors you
I will curse,
and in you all
the families
of the earth
shall be
blessed'”
(Genesis
12:1-3). "If
you belong to
Christ, then
you are
Abraham’s
seed, and
heirs
according to
the promise"
(Galatians
3:29).
Throughout the week I've shared about my work over on the Old Windmill Farm the last several days as thousands of Hasidic Jews converged on the farm for the Festival of Sukkot. I drove a lawn tractor pulling a train of barrels for the children and more than a few adults who crammed into a barrel to be with their kids.
I
really enjoyed
talking to the
Jews and
learning about
their way of
life and they
were likewise
interested in
me, in part
because
they assumed I
was Amish!
Several times they noted my last name and asked if I was Jewish as they informed me Weber is a common Jewish name. The photo to the right is the Weber family posing with me as an honorary member.
It
was a blessing
that they felt
accepted and
safe on the
Old Windmill
Farm. They
find the Amish
people
interesting in
part because
of some shared
values.
Several
shared with me
how hard it's
been the last
several years
with the
increase in
antisemitism
which is a
prejudice,
hostility, or
discrimination
against Jewish
people, rooted
in
centuries‑old
religious,
social,
political, and
racial biases,
and
historically
culminating in
the Holocaust,
where six
million Jews
were murdered.
Today's
first verse is
the call of
Abram (later
his name was
changed to
Abraham). What
a tremendous
promise and
one we've seen
fulfilled over
the last 4,000
years. So much
here but just
consider the
words of the
Lord to Abram,
"so that
you will be a
blessing".
We primarily
see that in
the sense that
through him
and his
descendants
came the
Messiah.
Paul, a Jew who had accepted Jesus as the Messiah, later wrote to the Galatians and through Scripture to all of us, "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29). That's the basis of the children's song.
Father Abraham had many sons, and many sons had Father Abraham
I am one of them and so are you
So let's just praise the Lord!
Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13.
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father,
regardless of
our birth
genealogy,
whether we’re
born as
peasants or
royalty, when
we are born
into the
Kingdom of God
we become Your
children and
all are on
equal standing
at the foot of
the cross. We
are not just
born into Your
Kingdom but we
were purchased
with the
precious,
sinless blood
of Your Son,
Jesus Christ.
There is no
higher calling
and no greater
privilege
granted to the
human race.
Thank You for
the spirit of
Sonship that
invites each
of us to call
You Abba
Father. This
is possible
only because
of Christ
Jesus who gave
His all that
we may be born
again and
receive
eternal life
for which we
are eternally
grateful.
Amen.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resourcesshis week for the many Hasidic visitors to the Old Windmill Farm was a camel ride.
Some
additional
musings:
As it seems
practically
the entire
Middle East
and much of
the world is
now opposed to
Israel, a
relatively
tiny country
(about the
size of New
Jersey with
much of that
being desert).
Israel also
has a
relatively
small
population.
Yet the impact
of Israel and
the Jewish
people on
world events
far, far
exceeds their
size.
The Middle
East region
represents an
area of over
5.0 million
square miles.
Vast deserts
are common in
the region.
Yet Israel has
just 8,630
square miles
or a minuscule
.2% of the
land area of
just the
Middle East.
The total land
area on earth
is 57,268,900
square miles
so a math whiz
can determine
what % Israel
has of that!
Regarding
population
according to
the Israel
Central Bureau
of Statistics,
the Israeli
Jewish
population
stood at
7,181,000
people in
2023,
comprising 73%
percent of the
total
population of
Israel (if the
Arab
populations in
East Jerusalem
and the Golan
Heights are
included). The
Middle East is
comprised of
17 countries
with a
population of
371 million.
The world's
population is
at 8.1
billion.
Israel is a
proportionately
a very tiny
country in
population.
1) As the
nations of the
Middle East
mass in
opposition
against Israel
I recalled the
premise of a
book written
over 30 years
ago titled,
"The Samson
Option". The
"Samson
Option" refers
to the nuclear
strategy
whereby Israel
would launch a
massive
nuclear
retaliatory
strike if the
state itself
was being
overrun, just
as the
biblical
figure Samson
pushed apart
the pillars of
a Philistine
temple,
bringing down
the roof and
killing
himself and
thousands of
Philistines
who had
gathered to
see him
humiliated.
(Wikipedia)
The Sampson
Option
describes
Israel’s
planned,
last-resort,
massive
retaliation
with nuclear
weapons
against enemy
nations if
they appear to
be winning in
a war of
annihilation
against
Israel. Thus
far, since the
establishment
of modern
Israel, they
have prevailed
against their
enemies using
conventional
warfare. The
Samson Option
remains one of
the most
discussed but
officially
unacknowledged
elements of
Israel’s
strategic
posture.
2) Another
musing is the
selective
outrage being
demonstrated.
Islamic Hamas
terrorists
brutally,
savagely,
purposefully
killed
non-combatant
Israelis to
begin the
current
conflict three
years ago. Yet
the focus
among so many
seems to gloss
over this and
instead focus
on what Israel
may do and how
"proportionate"
it will be.
Here's an
outstanding,
brutally
honest video
perspective on
this by
Douglas
Murray.
3) We have
regular
reminders in
our ABF class
from a retired
missionary
regarding the
brutal,
ongoing
slayings of
Christians in
Nigeria by
Islamic
terrorists
which is also
happening in
many other
African
countries and
around the
world. The
news media
essentially
ignores this
although
according to
the report
“Martyred
Christians in
Nigeria”
issued by
Intersociety,
over the past
14 years at
least 52,250
Nigerian
Christians
have been
brutally
murdered at
the hands of
Islamist
militants. In
the same
period 18,000
Christian
churches and
2,200
Christian
schools were
set ablaze.
About 5
million
Christians
have been
displaced and
forced into
Internally
Displaced
Persons (IDP)
camps within
Nigeria and
refugee camps
at regional
and
sub-regional
borders. See
here. It's not
reported on in
my view due to
the
persistent,
politically
correct
narrative of
Islam being a
"religion of
peace" that is
prominent in
the west, one
of the
greatest lies
of all time.
4) Another
musing is in
regard to
displaced
people with a
focus only on
some of the
people who
lived in what
is now Israel
when it was
established as
a nation in
1948 (the
Palestinians).
They have
remained in a
constant state
of agitation
and "refugee"
status for 75
years.
Yet during
this same time
there has been
much
displacement
and
mistreatment
of Jews in
present
Islamic
countries
where they
have lived for
millenniums.
Some stayed in
Persia (now
Iran)
following the
exile over
2,500 years
ago. That
community had
diminished
from 100,000
1948 to 9,200
in 2022. In
Iraq it's even
starker with
150,000 in
1948 to 4 in
2021. Can you
imagine what
it must be
like for those
who remain?
5) The
ancient, yet
ongoing peril
of
anti-semitism
(hostility to
or prejudice
against Jewish
people).
Anti-semitism
is all through
the Bible,
notably
Pharaoh's
attempts at
extinction and
Haman's. I
have
considered how
that it was in
Persia (modern
Iran) where
Haman sought
to annihilate
the Jews and
his spirit
lives on in
that evil
regime to this
day. All
though
history, most
notably the
holocaust, a
people with a
relatively
tiny
percentage of
the world's
population
face a vastly
disproportionate
amount of
scorn.
J. Dwight
Pentecost was
a professor at
Dallas
Theological
Seminary and
wrote a
popular book
on the end
times titled,
"Things to
Come". I
recall hearing
a quote of
his, probably
while in Bible
College, in
which he
asserted that
one of the
most
remarkable
evidences of
the
Scripture's
authority is
the survival
of the Jews as
a distinct
people in
spite of all
they have been
through. I am
sure it's
worded more
profoundly
than that but
I can't seem
to find the
quote. Perhaps
a good
internet
sleuth could
help me!
The spiritual
root of
anti-semitism
is scorn of
the promise to
Abraham,
"And I will
make of you a
great nation,
and I will
bless you and
make your name
great, so that
you will be a
blessing. I
will bless
those who
bless you, and
him who
dishonors you
I will curse,
and in you all
the families
of the earth
shall be
blessed"
(Genesis
12:2,3).
Of course
anti-semitism
is also an
historic
outlook some
who call
themselves
Christians
have. It is
rooted in a
very faulty
view of
redemption and
the purpose
for the death
of Christ who
came to die
for our sins.
"This man was
handed over to
you by God's
set purpose
and
foreknowledge;
and you, with
the help of
wicked men,
put him to
death by
nailing him to
the
cross"
(Acts 2:23).
“He (God) made
Him who knew
no sin to be
sin on our
behalf, so
that we might
become the
righteousness
of God in Him”
(2 Corinthians
5:21).
More photos from Old Windmill Farm on Sukkot
Photo by Ester
Photo by Ester
Photo by Ester
Photo by Ester
Click on photo to enlarge
Click on photo to enlarge
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version and a variety of other versions.
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