Memorial Day to Independence Day - Secular Zionsim to Biblical Zionism | Land of Israel Fellowship

You know, this time of year it really makes you reflect on life in Israel. It's makes us reflect on our history, on biblical history, on biblical destiny. And so, I want to just share some thoughts to sort of lay a foundation of where I want to take us today. And then I'll invite, of course, Ari to join and share his thoughts. But, um I really want to first go to the foundation of the modern state of Israel because that's where we're at now. And the first leader the man who brought the Jewish people together and organized them to start working toward creating a Jewish state in the land was a man named Theodor Herzl. He never lived to see Israel come to into being, but he was the first political leader and activist that organized the national movement to rebuild the Jewish country. Here's a picture of him right here. And so, Herzl organized the first Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897. And in his address, he famously declared this quote, "We have an important task before us. We have met here to lay the foundation stone of the house that will someday shelter the Jewish people." And so, that was his vision for Israel. That it needed to be a shelter for the Jewish people. So, the father, the thinker, the leader of the modern return to the of the Jewish people to the land of Israel, he wasn't a religious man and his vision had nothing to do with the commandments in the Torah or a vision of biblical destiny. He wanted to create a country that's primary purpose was to serve as a shelter, to protect Jews from being persecuted. The state of Israel would be a place for Jews to run to and a place that would offer them a night shelter in times of danger. And the man had vision. I mean, that's for sure. He saw a great persecution was coming and that was decades before the Holocaust. But, even more is what he wrote. It's chilling in his diary. And it was later that night after the first Zionist Congress, he wrote like this in 1897. "Were I to sum up the Basel Congress in a word, which I shall guard against pronouncing publicly, it would be this. At Basel, I founded the Jewish state. If I said this out loud today, I would be greeted by universal laughter. In 5 years, perhaps, and certainly in 50 years, everyone will perceive it." And then, exactly exactly 50 years later, in 1947, the United Nations voted on the establishment of Israel. And his words were fulfilled almost exactly to the year. I mean, it's like remarkable, historic. I mean, we could call that a spice card for sure, a sign, a divine stamp that Hashem was overseeing this process of return. And even if it came at the end of a sec- of secular people, I mean, we're going to talk about that in just a little bit. There was something that was truly historic and divinely orchestrated about it. But, if you think about it, Herzl's original reasoning to create a security shelter for Jews and apply it today, the only place in the world where there's all-out war on the Jews for being Jewish is in Israel. And if the reasoning to create a state of Israel was to create a place, a security, a shelter for Jews after these last 2 and 1/2 years of war, that reasoning seems totally irrelevant. A shelter for Jews? I mean, Israel is the only place where Jews are living in bomb shelters because of the sirens that are going off in October 7th attacks, it's the only place in the world. A shelter that's a total failure. And so, the early leaders of secular Zionism said that we need to have a country. We need to go out to wars and fight. But, if you ask them why, you know, they would take you to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial Museum, which really became kind of like the holy temple of modern secular Israelism. And that just doesn't work anymore. And so, if we want to stay in this land, we have to discover a new mission here, a new vision for Israel. We have to define a new purpose. And I think that's what this Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut, that's really what it's all about. I mean, every Israeli has to make a choice. They have to ask themselves, is Israel really worth fighting for? Is it worth dying for? I mean, Israel's Memorial Day makes that question very real and very raw. And the only way a person can honestly say, "Yes, Israel is worth fighting for." They would have to look really deep inside themselves by looking all the way to the bottom of your being. To reconnect with our history, to reconnect with our prophets and bringing God into the equation. I mean, what's happening in Israel right now is the transition from secular Zionism to biblical Zionism. October 7th was the biggest catalyst of that movement. I mean, Israel has to draw its meaning, its purpose, and direction from the Jewish people's historic mission, from our values and connection to the land. And all of that is built upon the foundation of the Bible. And what's so remarkable is that that's the vision the prophets gave us of the return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel. It's actually manifesting before our eyes right now. And so, if you look at Ezekiel chapter 36, verses 24 to 28, here's what it says. "For I will take you from among the nations and gather you from out all of the countries and bring you unto your own soil. Then I will sprinkle pure water upon you that you may become clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my laws and you will keep my commandments and fulfill them. And then, you shall dwell in the land that I gave your fathers. You shall be a people, my people, and I will be your God." It's like the return of the people of Israel will be ushered with a non-religious, unclean, ungodly movement of Jews. The Jews that come here are not going to be religious. And then, when they're in the land, they're going to need to be cleansed. They're going to need to be given a new heart because spiritually, they're going to have a heart of stone. God will need to pour his spirit upon the people of Israel in the land of Israel and make it so that we'll start living a godly life and start living by the Torah. And so, you know, it's at the end of a long process in the land. God says, "You shall be my people and I will be your God." And for the first time in my life, I see that happening across the country on a national level. I see it happening across the idea of every soldier is rediscovering a deeper connection with themselves, a deeper connection with Hashem. Hey, that was a highlight from this week's Land of Israel Fellowship. If you liked that highlight, you'll love the Land of Israel Fellowship. Find out more on the landofisrael.com. Join our global community from over 50 countries around the world that gather together every Sunday live from Israel. Check it out on the link below. >> [music]