Why is the LOVE & HATE of Israel Both on the Rise? | The Land of Israel Fellowship

Just want to now dive in to the great international revelation that is the Ten Commandments. That is perhaps the reason why the world is just filled with hatred because it's our responsibility to bring the Ten Commandments to the world. And if we're not doing our task and we're hiding behind Super Bowl ads, playing the victim, then of course they're going to hate us because we need to be a light to the world, a light from Zion. Anyway, let's take it from here because the right way to read the Torah is not just that the stories are an account of biblical history. They are a blueprint for biblical prophecy. And after the Israelites leave Egypt, they journey toward the land of Israel. And on the way to receive the Torah because the Torah is the constitution for the nation of Israel in the land of Israel. The Torah is the laws of holiness, the rule is of engagement of war, and the keys to living a successful, blessed, prosperous society in the land of Israel. But what we see on the way, we encounter two nations, two representatives, two representations, and Israel has to deal with them. As we leave Egypt, before we arrive at Sinai on our way to the promised land, these two nations, these two polar opposites hit Israel. The first is Amalcch who attacks us. And the second is Jethro, Iro, who comes toward us. And the contrast isn't accidental. It is the blueprint. Amalecch [snorts] represents the force in the world that meets God's revelation with violence, with cynicism, with denial. He heard of God's miracles and God what he was doing and he just wanted to cool us off and so disbelief and so cynicism and doubt in God. It ro represents the exact opposite response. He hears about what God is doing in the world and it ignites his curiosity, his humility and his desire to connect. And this pattern repeats itself again and again throughout all of the prophets of Israel. Nations that turn on Israel and then righteous among those nations who join Israel. Joshua meets Rakav the harlot, a woman from the nations who recognizes the hand of God. As Jericho prepares for war against Israel, she chooses life and attaches herself to Joshua in Israel. The midash teaches that Rakav actually marries Joshua, symbolizing that even a lowly harlot like Rakav. She actually becomes like royalty in the eyes of Israel and in the eyes of God. The righteous among the nations are so precious. The book of Ruth gives us Ruth whose loyalty and faith ultimately give birth to King David. It's the attachment between the nations and Israel that makes way for King David's messianic dynasty. The prophetic pattern, it's clear. And we see it happening today. As Israel walks through history, the nations are watching and the nations are responding. And that's what really brings us to Parashatro. There's a revelation that wants to attack us and there's a revelation that want to be a part of it. And what's happening in the land of Israel is the greatest revelation. It's like God's hand in the world, the living witness of God. Nothing like it in 2,000 years. And what's happening in Israel is the only thing that you can look down. Open up your Bible. Read the Bible. Raise your eyes from the pages. Gaze at the promised land of Israel and see that God is alive. The Bible is true. Biblical destiny is unfolding. And in some ways, that's what's brought everyone here to the land of Israel fellowship. The Bible isn't just a book. It's a living word and it comes to life in the land of Israel. And the question that I want to address today, why is the Torah portion, which centers around the Ten Commandments, named after Itro, after Jethro, the climax of the Torah, the most fundamental national revelation in human history, is named after a non-Israelite Medidianite priest. Why? And I'll tell you why. It's because Jethro didn't just hear God, he responds. In Exodus 18:1, he says,"I know that Hashem is greater than all gods." This is the first time in the Bible that someone from the nations recognizes that Hashem is supreme. He actually coined the one in most famous Jewish cultural saying. He says, "Baruk Hashem, blessed is God that he saved you from Egypt." 3,000 years later, every Jew in the world says, "Barak Hashem, Barak Hashem." when something good happens. It roined that term and gave it to us. It ro says God is the greatest. He's the master of the world. That my friends is the blueprint. It wasn't about his religion. It was about God. And what we're seeing and what we see at Sinai is that that wasn't a tribal moment. It was a human moment. Alongside Israel were a mixed multitude of nations who joined Israel in the Exodus from Egypt who stood together with the Israelites at Mount Si. It wasn't just the Jews. The Ten Commandments are not only for Israel. They're given through Israel to the world. And because in the end of days, the Ten Commandments are going to be the dividing line of history. There the moral litmus test of civilization and actually what will build God's kingdom on earth. The Ten Commandments, murder, theft, adultery, falsehood, honoring your parents, those not just Jewish values. They're not even Judeo-Christian values. They're God's values. But they don't come from a human intuition. They come from revelation. Like a world without the Torah, none of these words can be taken for granted. And if you look at Israel's enemies, the murderous jihad of the kamas or the woke progressive anti- good, anti-f family, antir movements, you see a world without the ten commandments. The enemies of Israel are here to show us what the world would look like without the revelation of God's truth. And so, why were the ten commandments not suggestions? They're spoken as commandments, as rules, as truths, like laws of nature. They can't be broken or else God's world will unravel into the chaos through us. And here's the kicker. At the heart of what I want to say today is that there's one command that's going to change the world. At the center of the Ten Commandments, there's this one commandment that's not very vague. It's a law that you can't really intuit it. It's one commandment that ultimately is going to challenge the nations in our generation. And that is Shabbat. Shabbat will be the litmus test. There is no logical reason in the world that the entire world runs on a 7-day work week. Seven isn't found in nature. There's no 7-day cycle. The only reason that there's a seven-day week as we know it today is because God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. The seventh day is a holiday and it's just built into the structure of reality. And that's why every culture around the world has a 7-day work week. Then there's a fascinating difference between Shabbat and almost every other commandment. You want to talk about food, there's room for variation. What's kosher? What's biblical kosher? I hold by this kasherous. I hold by that kosher. It's like, okay, what about holidays? Oh, well, there's so many different religions and backgrounds and calendars and cultures and interpretations. Shabbat is absolute. It's the seventh day. It's Saturday. Different nations, religions, they have different calendars, but the whole world has a 7-day work week. And Shabbat, the seventh day, was blessed and made holy during creation itself. Remember the Sabbath. Guard the Sabbath. time itself declared itself as holy. And so that's why Shabbat will be the litmus test especially for the nations. And the prophets describe a future where non-Jews keep Shabbat and those are the ones that will be brought to the temple in Jerusalem and celebrate together with Israel. Isaiah 56 and 7. One of the most beautiful messianic prophecies in the Bible. also the foreigners, the non-Jews who join themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love the name of the Lord to be servants unto him. Everyone who keeps the Sabbath, profaining the from profaining the Sabbath and holds fast my covenant, these I will bring to my holy mountain, and I will make them joyful in my house of prayer. For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. Now is the time that the righteous among the nations will be separated out and be attached to Israel. Everyone is talking about the rise of anti-semitism around the world. The force of Amalecch who attacked Israel after leaving Egypt. He's coming. But so is Jethro. And he came for the Ten Commandments. He came for the revelation because he is the prophetic blueprint for the righteous among the nations. And that's happening right now. And I want to let you all in on a surprise. I've been working on a project for quite a while. And it's coming and it's soon to be released. This year, Ari and I and everyone at the Land of Israel Network is just feeling called to bring this message to the world. It's a time for the world to sing the song of Shabbat and in their own ways honor and remember and guard the Sabbath and make it holy, make it special in their lives. So, this is going to be a new book that's coming out for our fellowship and for the world in just a little bit. And it's kind of a call to the world, Shabbat for all nations. And Ari and I will be making a special course to help people honor Shabbat, understand the importance of Shabbat. It's in the Ten Commandments. I mean, I don't know a single person that defines themselves as a believer, either Jewish or Christian or anything in between, that doesn't agree that the Ten Commandments are an expression of God's will in the world. and they would fight to have the Ten Commandments in the courouses in their children's classrooms. Obviously, it's the foundation and the building blocks of God's kingdom on earth. But then something funny happens when you mention the fourth commandment is to honor the Sabbath on Saturday, the seventh day. Many of them kind of get stumped and they're like, I don't know what to say about that. And so, we're saying just do it. You'll unlock blessing beyond your expectations for you, for your family. And that's why it ro Jethro matters. It ro represents the nations who hear Sinai and say the truth is bigger than Israel. It comes through Israel. But I want the truth in my life. And the ten commandments were given in the Sinai desert. It wasn't occupied by any nation. No nation would ever be able to say, "Well, that was given in the land of Israel. That's belongs to the Jews." It was given in an ownerless place that anyone that wants to take ownership has it. And so in that way, the Ten Commandments are an invitation for every believer to step up and take their faith journey to the next level. And it's an invitation to step out of your own Egypt and journey alongside Israel toward the promised land. the message of the land of Israel fellowship. It's like a hand stretching out from the land of Israel and inviting you, inviting the world on a journey. And so, my friends, the Torah teaches that Amalecch attacks revelation. It ro approaches it. And that choice still exists today. The Ten Commandments, they still stand. Israel was chosen to carry this message. and the nations are invited to hear it. And according to the prophets of Israel, Shabbat is what will be the defining characteristic of the nations that are brought to the temple in Jerusalem. Hey, that was a highlight from this week's Land of Israel Fellowship. If you like that highlight, you'll love the Land of Israel Fellowship. Find out more on the land of Isisrael.com. 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