The Apple of His Eye

This morning I am reminded of the words of Jesus in Luke 9:26 where He says:

Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when He comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.


Paul also writes something similar to this in Romans 1:16, and I stand with Paul in what he declares:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.


I am not a Jew, I am a Gentile believer, someone so grateful that God has given me the opportunity to understand the message of salvation. I am a branch that has been broken off from a wild olive tree and grafted into the cultivated olive tree, grateful for the roots that support and nourish me through which I have also become a recipient of God's redeeming grace that entitles me to eternal life.

In recognition of the Hebraic roots of my faith, I am among those who stand with Israel and fully believe in God's everlasting covenant with her.

The nation of Israel has always had an important prophetic destiny.


It is therefore unfortunate that many people are embracing a wrong understanding about the role of Israel in history.

I am talking about the increasing popularity of Replacement Theology, now being openly taught and creating confusion, especially in the minds of those who still have little understanding about the end times.

It was my beloved Pastor Jerry Osbron who first opened my heart to have a special love for Israel.
I will never forget how we would observe the feast of Passover as a small congregation way back in the 1980's.

That Israel has an important role in God's prophetic timeline is among the important legacies that our beloved Pastor Jerry entrusted to us. A legacy of spiritual truth that we as recipients would do well to treasure and pass on to the next generation.

In this day of increased knowledge, we need to ask Abba Father for soft and humble hearts, that we may not fall prey to the wiles and schemes of the enemy of our souls, the one whose name is Apollyon and Deceiver.

I am constantly reminded that the enemy prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking for someone to devour. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus has come to give abundant life.

Like Peter I run to the Lord for protection, saying, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal Life." (John 6.68)

Jesus Himself said that the words He speaks are spirit, and life. (John 6:63)

There is something that works against us when we begin to treat God's word as mere information, and not as life.

Among Pastor Jerry's favorite verses was 2 Timothy 2:2 -

And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses

entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

As faithful stewards, let us guard jealously the rich deposit of truths that have been entrusted to us.
(1 Timothy 6:20)

Let us carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to us. (2 Timothy 1:14)

It is for this reason that I have the courage to write this post. That I, as a faithful steward, may carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to us. And not simply watch what is happening in our midst without so much as lifting a voice, while others might prefer to be intimidated into silence.

At the end of the day, what other people believe is their own lookout.

However, if a person has the crucial role of being a spiritual leader and authority, then as shepherd of the sheep, he has an important responsibility to make sure that what is being fed the flock is truth based on an honest and intelligent study of God's word.

On him rests the vital role of leading the sheep to green pastures and quiet waters.

Will not the shepherd stand accountable to the Chief Shepherd?

Isn't  wrong behavior the result of wrong belief? Even just a slight deviation at the start will ultimately lead to a huge discrepancy from what is true. Wasn't that how Eve fell from grace? The enemy lured her with a half truth; the rest is history.

Let me use the analogy of being on a wrong bus: one may believe with all his heart that this bus will take him to his desired destination... but he will never reach it! He has to get off that bus and board the right one which will take him where he wants to go.

By your patience possess your souls. Luke 21:19 - This is one of the verses in Luke 21 that speaks volumes to my own heart. I do not want to fall into disputes and arguments which is what the enemy wants. But rather, with a genuine hunger for truth and patient trusting in the Holy Spirit who will teach us all things... we can save our own souls from falling into error.

The whole Bible is completely true and trustworthy. If God's word says that Israel is God's first born son, and that whoever touches Israel touches the apple of His eye (Zechariah 2:8, Exodus 4:22), His word stands as truth.

Replacement Theology is a  Biblically unfounded doctrine which affirms that "God has finished with the Jews" and that the literal Israel has been replaced by the Christian Church, as it now exists.

Those who embrace Replacement Theology also say that the present day established visible Church is God's Elect, and that today's church comprises "the chosen ones."

According to the tenets of Replacement Theology the Jewish nation has no future role in the purposes of God.

This is a denial of the promised restoration of all Israel as taught by Paul in Romans 11. It is also a denial of the promised salvation of the Jewish nation prophesied by Zechariah in Zechariah 12:7-13:1.

Replacement theology ignores what God is doing in and through Israel today.

Now the Lord had said to Abram:

Get out of your country

From your family

And from your father's house,

To a land that I will show you.

I will make you a great nation;

I will bless you

And make your name great;

And you shall be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

And I will curse him who curses you;

And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

- Genesis 12:1-3

And I will establish My covenant between Me and you

and your descendants after you in their generations,

for an everlasting covenant,

to be God to you and your descendants after you.

Also I give to you and your descendants after you

the land in which you are a stranger,

all the land of Canaan,

as an everlasting possession;

and I will be their God.

- Genesis 17:7-8

Paul's exhortation to us in Romans 11 states the case quite clearly. There is a warning lest we be wise in our own opinions. All Israel will eventually be saved... That refers to the literal Israel: 

For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery,

lest you should be wise in your own opinion,

that blindness in part has happened to Israel

until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

And so all Israel will be saved,

as it is written:

The Deliverer will come out of Zion,

And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;

For this is My covenant with them,

When I take away their sins.

- Romans 11:25-27

Rev. Malcolm Hedding, former Executive Director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, sums it up so beautifully:

"Israel has always been God's vehicle of world redemption (Romans 9:1-5). In a way, she is God's microphone, the means by which He speaks to a lost world. Moreover, she has birthed all God's covenants into the world and has now come back to her ancient homeland, by the promise of the Abrahamic Covenant, to birth the final great covenant of history, the Davidic Covenant. Herein lies the ultimate purpose of her modern day restoration. Jesus will return to Zion as the root and offspring of David (Revelation 22:1-6; Psalm 2:1-12; Psalm 75:5-11).

"No wonder the conflict over Zion is so great. [ICEJ's ministry] is removing the stumbling blocks from Zion and thereby preparing her for the arrival of her great and most blessed King (Isaiah 62:10).

"Replacement theology is thus an instrument of the powers of darkness to frustrate the purpose of God, by disconnecting the Church from this final great redemptive initiative in history. We reject it and stand fully on the promises of God concerning Israel and the Church." Source


All throughout the Scriptures we read of the promise of Israel's coming restoration.

In that day I will raise up

the tabernacle of David that is fallen

and close up its breaches;

and I will raise up its ruins,

and I will build it as in the days of old.

- Amos 9:11

Restoration is God's heart for Israel. Who are we to say otherwise?