Four Blood Moons (2 page)

God commands us through the prophet Isaiah to be watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem (62:6). We are commanded by God, through the prophet Isaiah, to speak up and defend Israel and the Jewish people when they are slandered, attacked by their enemies, and are subjected to any callous act of anti- Semitism. Isaiah writes:

For Zion's sake I will not hold My peace,

And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest. . . .

I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;

They shall never hold their peace day or night.

You who make mention of the L
ORD
, do not keep silent.

(62:1, 6)

Another biblical reason we support Israel is given by the apostle Paul: “For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things [the Jewish people], their duty [the Gentiles] is also to minister to them [the Jewish people] in material things” (Romans 15:27).

What are the “spiritual things” Paul is referring to?

• The Jewish people have given to us the written Word of God.

• The Jewish people have given to us the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

• The Jewish people have given to us the Old Testament prophets: Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

• The Jewish people have given to us the first family of Christianity: Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. Take Jesus out of Christianity and there is no Christianity.

• The Jewish people have given to us the twelve disciples and the apostle Paul.

Consider the monumental contribution given to us by the seed of Abraham. For this reason Jesus said in John 4:22, “For salvation is of the Jews.”

If you take away the Jewish contribution to Christianity, there would be no Christianity. Judaism does not need Christianity to explain its existence; Christianity, however, cannot explain its existence without Judaism.

When I refer to Christianity I am referencing the teachings of Christ, which were based on the principles of Judaism—not the deeds of polluted historic Christianity.

Historic Christianity has left an evil legacy. It is responsible for the Crusades, in which Jewish people from Europe to Jerusalem were slaughtered in seven major pogroms (crusades). The first crusade was declared by Pope Urban II in 1095. The Crusaders were rapists and thieves, forgiven in advance by the reigning pope for any sins they might commit while on their holy campaign to liberate Jerusalem from the “infidels.”

Not one Christian in a hundred today can answer the question: “How is it that Christianity, born through the teachings of a Jewish rabbi named Jesus of Nazareth, could three hundred years later kill Jews in the name of God?”

There is a dramatic difference between historic Christianity and the teachings of Jesus Christ. I publicly state that I am not a follower of historic Christianity; I am a follower of Jesus Christ!

We should support Israel and the Jewish people because it was Jesus' final request to His church. Jesus said in Matthew 25:40:

Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these
My brethren
[the Jewish people], you did it to Me.

Jesus never called the Gentiles
His brethren
until after the cross. Before the cross we were, as described by the apostle Paul, outside the covenants of Israel, without God and without hope, of all men most miserable (Ephesians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 15:19).

Gentile Christians can look at the day of the cross and shout for joy. It was there we were grafted into the original olive tree (Romans 11:17). It was there our sins were forgiven, buried in the deepest sea, never to be remembered anymore (Jeremiah 31:34). It was there that our sicknesses and diseases were removed and we received divine health, for “by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

It was at the cross that Jesus took our poverty and gave to us the riches of Abraham. We who were “not a people” (1 Peter 2:10) were adopted and became “kings and priests to His God” (Revelation 1:6), “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20), and have been taken from rags to royalty through the precious blood of the virgin-born, “the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). The curse of death, hell, and the grave was broken, and we were given eternal life; hallelujah for the cross!

God's Gentile assignment toward the Jewish people is to show them what they have not seen from historic Christianity
in two thousand years—
the pure and unconditional love of God
!

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works [practical acts of kindness] and glorify your Father in heaven.

(M
ATTHEW
5:16)

Jesus said, “I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me” (Matthew 25:35–36).

Jesus makes it very clear that it's not what you feel about the Jewish people that is the acid test, for Jesus didn't say, “I was hungry and you
felt sorry for
Me; I was thirsty and you
felt concern for
Me; I was a stranger and you
felt pity for
Me.” I often hear pastors, evangelists, and Christians say, “I really like Israel” or “I like the Jewish people.” Jesus couldn't care less what you like or don't like; He's looking for action. What will you do? What practical acts of kindness have you or your church done to demonstrate your love for Israel as mentioned in Matthew 25:40? What
action
have you taken to support Israel?

Stop talking about what you
feel
 . . . and start taking
action
by showing practical acts of kindness toward God's chosen people. Simply put, “Don't tell me you love me. Show me!”

When I stood before those four hundred evangelical leaders at Cornerstone Church on February 6, 2006, asking them to join me in a historic effort to lovingly and unconditionally support Israel and the Jewish people, I fully expected a theological argument that would have made the battle of the Alamo look like a backyard Texas tea party.

But the free-for-all didn't happen! Instead, the most influential spiritual leaders in the nation mutually agreed to stand up and speak up for Zion's sake. No debates. No axes to grind. No pontification on, “One thing we must make clear about our differences is . . . blah, blah, blah.” Nothing but a divine moment of unconditional unity.

With one voice, we declared that Israel had the right to exist, the right to secure defensible borders, and the right to defend themselves by themselves against any enemy. The blessings that God promised in Psalm 133 has become a reality; as this book goes to print, Christians United for Israel has more than 1.3 million members in America, with nations around the world asking to become a part of this voice of Jewish-Christian unity.

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It
is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the L
ORD
bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

(P
SALM
133
NIV
1984)

One of the blessings Christians United for Israel has afforded me is the many new friendships with a vast number of pastors who have come together under one banner in support of Israel. As one pastor stated, “Pastor Hagee, this is more than Christians United for Israel; this is Israel uniting Christians!”

Six years after CUFI was born Diana and I got in the waiting black Suburban for the short trip to the church pastored by Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries, where the Night to Honor Israel would be conducted. Spiritual leaders from across the city and state would attend our first event in the state of Washington. The air was charged with excitement and expectation.

As we drove to the church, I could not get over the breathtaking beauty of Puyallup, Washington, and how cool it was in the summer. In Texas, the month of August is so unbearably hot that lizards climb on steam pipes trying to cool off in the one-hundred-plus-degree temperature.

We arrived at the church where Pastor Mark Biltz and his gracious staff met us at the front doors. It was my first time to meet Pastor Biltz, and it's a moment I shall never forget.

Within minutes we were discussing the seven feasts of Israel and their connections to the Lord's first and second coming. I recognized that Pastor Biltz was a Bible scholar par excellence who understood the Jewish roots of Christianity like few people I've ever met.

During our conversation, he asked me if I had ever studied the sun, moon, and stars as a source of prophetic revelation. My answer was quick and truthful.

“No.”

Pastor Biltz immediately responded, “You should! I believe God is trying to speak to us, and we're not listening!”

We walked into the church, and I didn't give our conversation about the sun, moon, and stars a second thought. I was more concerned about speaking to the thousands of people waiting in the church's auditorium.

That night, as I walked onstage with Pastor Biltz and Rabbi Daniel Lapin, one of America's celebrated Torah scholars, to celebrate the Night to Honor Israel, I listened to the sound of the shofar, blown with power and clarity. The long blast . . . the short blast . . . the sweet, thunderous sound reverberated through the auditorium, bringing tears to my eyes—and I am not the weepy type.

As I listened to the divine sound echoing through the packed building, I was reminded of the words of the apostle Paul:

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but
we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet [shofar]. For the trumpet [shofar] will sound, and the dead will be raised.

(1 C
ORINTHIANS
15:51–52)

Following the beautiful music of the evening, Rabbi Lapin gave an inspiring speech. He was followed by Pastor Biltz, whose scriptural knowledge concerning the seven feasts and their message to the church today was simply off the charts. Then I presented the biblical reasons for supporting Israel. The wonderful evening came to a joyous conclusion without protestors, security concerns, or a single audio blemish. It was, by every standard of measurement, a magnificent night!

The next morning our entourage climbed aboard the plane bound for the land of the blazing sun—San Antonio, Texas. I had been in four states in three days where I made four speeches, stood for hundreds of photos, and signed enough books to break the back axles in a two-ton truck; we were all fighting jetlag and fatigue.

The plane took off with a roar of the engine, and within minutes Diana was sleeping like she was stretched out on a Posturepedic mattress. I have a confession to make: in the best of situations I have a hard time sleeping . . . period.

For me to sleep six hours, my maximum, I need a room that's absolutely dark, totally quiet, and completely still. Bouncing through the air on an airplane in turbulence at a speed of five
hundred miles per hour is like riding a wild Brahman bull at the National Championship Rodeo in Las Vegas.

I glanced at Diana in deep sleep and felt the spirit of resentment creeping in. If deep and prolonged sleep is a guarantee of long life, Diana will live to be one hundred twenty years old . . . 
minimum
!

As we climbed to forty thousand feet, and the pilots searched for clear air at an altitude high enough to escape the turbulence, I cinched my seat belt tighter and thought of Jesus' words to His disciples: He said, “Lo, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20).

In the midst of the storm, my mind went back to Pastor Mark's question: “Have you ever considered the sun, moon, and stars in the study of prophecy?” Having studied the Bible for fifty-four years and authored numerous books on the subject of prophecy, my mind is a database of prophetic Scripture. Genesis 1:14 came to my mind, which declares that God created the sun, moon, and stars (signals) in the heavens.

Since we will be discussing the sun, moon, and stars as they relate to the Bible and the people of Israel, I want to avoid any possible confusion by clarifying the difference between astronomy and astrology.

Astronomy
is the science of studying the movements and positions of planets and stars. For example, the North Star
never moves. Knowing where the North Star is has helped captains of ships sail the seven seas of earth for centuries. God Almighty created the stars, and He “calls them all by name” (Psalm 147:4).

Astrology
is the worship of stars, which is occultic and pagan. People who make choices based on the stars are seeking guidance for their lives from things created rather than from the Creator. This is a violation of the law of Almighty God (Romans 1:20–21; Exodus 20:4).

In this book, our discussion of the stars and moon in biblical prophecy is based on the Word of God, history, and the science of astronomy—and
never
refers to astrology.