©January 21, 2012 Revive Israel Ministries

Islamic View of the West

By Betty Intrater

In her book, In the Land of Invisible Women (Sourcebooks, 2008), Dr. Qanta Ahmed describes her spiritual and cultural experiences as a Muslim woman in Saudi Arabia. At one point she sees a well-dressed Saudi couple renting a video of Al Pacino's movie, "The Devil's Advocate" to show to their young daughter.

Ahmed writes (p. 405): I was shocked. The movie imagined a world in which Pacino plays Satan. Group sexuality peppers the film. The violence is extreme and is portrayed against a sleek, glossy interpretation of modern-day New York.

Ahmed then asks why they would want to show the film to their daughter. The couple replies: “We want our daughter to understand all the things which are so bad about the West, especially America. We believe we should expose her to the true reflection of that corrupt and debased world. I want to inform my daughter."

Many Muslims view the sex, corruption, and violence in Hollywood movies as a correct portrayal of American society, and by inference of Christian culture as a whole. May God give us grace to separate true biblical, Judeo-Christian values from the images of the "Great Harlot" (Revelation 17) broadcast to the rest of the world by the media and entertainment industry!

Danny Ayalon on Refugees

Danny Ayalon is a Knesset member and Deputy Foreign minister, active in cooperation between the Israeli government and the international Christian community. Here is a 5-minute video with graphics in which he describes the history of the Palestinian refugee problem from an Israeli perspective.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_3A6_qSBBQ&feature=player_embedded#

Reminder for Esther Fast

Don't forget to mark your calendars for "Ta'anit Esther." In accord with the traditional Jewish date, we are hosting a 12 hour prayer and fasting assembly from 6 AM to 6 PM on Wednesday, March 7. Your church or congregation, prayer group or prayer house, are invited to join with local Messianic believers here in Israel for this historic and strategic intercessory event. Details will follow in coming weeks.

Light of the World

By Asher Intrater

Yeshua is so wonderful and His message so pure, I have often wondered why some people do not receive the gospel. In reverse, how can God judge someone simply because he didn't believe a message? That seems unjust. Here is Yeshua's answer:

John 3:19 – The light has come into the word, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 

Yeshua is the light. The light is His love, righteousness, grace, and purity. His appearance to mankind and His message constitute a moral test. Those with a heart of grace will come toward it; those whose hearts are impure will fight against it.

The gospel is like the wisdom of Solomon (I Kings 3). When two women came before him claiming the same child, he brought a sword to cut the child in two. The one whose heart was pure, said to release the child; the one whose heart was impure said to cut the child. The potential death of the innocent child was a moral test of heart for the two women. The same is true for the two criminals on the cross next to Yeshua (Luke 23). One had a soft heart; the other a hard heart.

The suffering of an innocent party is the only way to test the hearts of man. If a new child comes into an elementary school class, the "bullies" will pick on him; some will laugh, but others will be moved to compassion. The response to the suffering innocent child reveals the hearts of everyone in the class. Yeshua, the righteous and innocent, suffering on the cross, reveals the intentions of the heart.

The "light" in John 3 can be compared to the "light" in John 8. Here a woman is caught in adultery. The religious hypocrites want to stone her. They obviously have evil intentions, because they did not bring the man caught in adultery with her (Leviticus 20:10), and because the woman was clearly repentant. Yeshua rebukes those who want to stone her, then turns to the woman and says:

John 8:11 – Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.

And to the crowd he says:

John 8:12 – I am the light of the world.

In this context, it is not just Yeshua Himself who is the light, but His qualities of forgiveness and righteousness. The perfect balance between grace and purity is the light of Yeshua. Someone not willing to forgive others will find it difficult to accept a gospel of forgiveness. Someone not willing to stop sinning will find it difficult to accept a savior who says, "Sin no more." When church leaders become overly critical or overly lenient, they miss the heart of Yeshua’s message.

One of the reasons that many South Koreans accepted the gospel and the North Koreans did not, was because communism filled the North Koreans with hatred for America. When many Blacks in the US in the 1960’s began to hate Whites, they turned away from Christianity to Islam. When we Jews think we are spiritually superior to Gentiles, then we cannot receive Yeshua's message. When young people cannot forgive their parents, they will reject a message of forgiveness from God. Those brainwashed by sexual immorality and rebellion cannot receive a message that says, "Sin no more."