When I was in the army on patrol after arriving at our designated camp for the night, we would immediately set up our defensive perimeter and in conjunction with this, set up what was called a picquet line. This forward line of ‘watchmen’ if you like, would form a complete encircling line some distance out from the base to listen for enemy intrusion and be ready to give an early warning of infiltration. An uncomfortable and vulnerable position, but so necessary. Falling asleep was considered a severe dereliction of duty and in WW1 such an offence was punishable by death in the British Army. When at war, the consequences of such negligence would inevitably be catastrophic with a position held and often fought for at great cost, overrun and lost.
We are at War
Beginning with the great Cosmic Conflict in the heavenlies that spilled out onto planet earth, we have been in a ‘state of war’ ever since. War is mentioned over 400 times in the scriptures and military terminology is frequent. When the apostle Paul reviewed his life, he said, “I have fought the good fight…” something I hope I can say in small measure at the end of my days. However, with some notable exceptions much of the church in the West in particular, has retreated from the rigors of the ‘frontline’ to the comforts and safety of the rear echelons. Noted author and commentator Konstantin Kisin had it right when he said at the recent ARC conference in Britain, “for years many of us have been warning that the Barbarians are at the gates, we were wrong, they are inside.” As a result of us dropping our guard, the enemy has broken through the breaches in the walls, causing confusion and the eroding of long held biblical values at a dizzying pace. I could talk at length on the attack on these values, values of which incidentally are similarly held by observant Jews because they are based on the Torah.
The Ancient Breach
The enemy long ago forced a breach in the wall of the ‘City of God’, well before Augustine of Hippo first coined that magnificent phrase. It was through this early breach an insidious enemy crept in, one that took advantage of the complexities of the long-prophesised mission of taking the Gospel to the Gentiles. The infiltrators stepped neatly around the inspired teaching of the apostle Paul to initiate an expedient new doctrine called supersessionism, or replacement theology. Difficult Pauline chapters like Romans chapters 10 and 11 for example were regarded as a parenthesis to the book of Romans, not the pinnacle of his teaching regarding the church and its relationship with Israel. In other words, Paul’s teaching about the wild olive branches (Gentiles) being grafted into the Olive Tree (Israel) were a curious diversion not a divine destination. These infiltrators instead suggested that God had abandoned His covenantal promises with His people Israel and had taken up with a new people called the Church instead. Yes, Israel sinned, but the covenantal promises of God depend on His faithfulness not ours, for which we all should be eternally grateful. This indoctrination is more than just a “theological point of view, it is an insidious doctrine, it is the ancient antisemitic wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
A World at War
Today, the world is clearly at war with the forces of darkness threatening to overcome us in both the spiritual and physical domains, yet how seldom does the Church speak out. We pray for the sick and upcoming events as we should, but the great moral challenges of our time barely get a mention and as a result the church loses it prophetic voice. Nowhere is this more apparent than in relation to the current conflict in Israel, even though this crisis hovers on the brink of WW3. As I mentioned in my last article “Israel is more than the canary in the coalmine”, Israel is a bulwark against the joined forces of militant Islam and radical social Marxism. Bob Hawke, former Prime Minister of Australia, was not always right, but on this he was when he said, “when the bell tolls for Israel, it tolls for all mankind.” We slide out from underneath the responsibility of speaking out because we don’t want to get political, we don’t want to offend anyone, despite the biblical mandate to warn others of impending threats, instead we retreat into the safety of our Christians bunkers well behind the frontlines, with the deluded mindset that all will be well. If anyone doesn’t know where that mode of thinking ends, their knowledge of history is sadly lacking. The famed quote, ‘those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat history’, is most relevant here.
So, let’s awake from our slumber and join those who are scrambling back into the trenches to take up the fight, the good news is there is a stirring going on and increasing numbers are marching forwards.
To contact Barry, email admin@beershebavision.org. If you would like to know more about Beersheba Vision, go to their website at beershebavision.org
EVERY CHURCH should read this!