June 2000 Personal Letter

Dear Friends,

Last night I dreamed about the Exodus. That was such an odd subject for a dream, but I just couldn’t shake it. I woke up time and again with different thoughts about it, and so I think the Lord would like me to deal with that subject. It is full of possibilities and helpful spiritual lessons.

First, it’s not exactly what is pictured in Biblical textbooks—a desert valley with the tabernacle in the middle and a few ranks of tribal tents on all sides. That picture is accurate as far as it goes, but we should appreciate that the mass of people of the Exodus, moving through the desert, would be the size of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex or corporate Chicago! The picture would be more like almost an ocean of people extending to all horizons.

That many people moving through an open desert must have attracted a lot of attention. There were, after all, other tribes out there, as there are now, but apparently the Chosen People stayed on track for their mission—to reach the Promised Land. They did not stop and get entangled with the local politics or battles, and they did not seek to learn the ways of the desert from passing Bedouin, etc. The lesson there is very clear. We are all on a kind of exodus journey in this life. Passover teaches that the whole thing is a story of Christian salvation, from the bitter herbs in Egypt—our lives before we were saved; to the blood of the lamb—our actual salvation; the water of the Red Sea—our baptism; and then the long journey to the Promised Land (the Rapture). If we get distracted during the Sinai portion, that is, delving into local politics, religions, and customs, we do our journey to the Promised Land a certain amount of harm. Some ministries are deeply involved in American politics and morals, and perhaps they feel a calling for that. But our emphasis should be on Israel, where we are going to live for 1,000 years, and not on the country in which we happen to find ourselves during this exodus journey. I am a born-and-bred American and as patriotic as the next citizen, but I have never been comfortable with trying to “prepare the Kingdom” or whatever by promoting certain candidates or imagining that I can help make this country into a quasi-Promised Land.

American values creeping into Christianity is what causes seminaries to become larger but less effective, and big churches to turn into businesses with pastors who are like veritable CEOs at the helm rather than real pastors. The term “pastor” is associated with the idea of “pastoral” in the sense of one who feeds the sheep, and instead, we have promoted pastors who are more like the biggest sheep in the flock and the ones who get to walk in the front. But our Lord said, “He who is first shall be last.”

And finally, with the Exodus, the whole point is Israel, and that is its goal. I’m going to say as loudly and clearly as I can that if a Christian has his mind on other than Israel, he’s missing much of God at work in the world today. It is a characteristic of those seminaries we have criticized, Moody Bible Institute and Dallas Theological Seminary among them, that they have de-emphasized Israel in the last 20 years, just as they have raised beautiful buildings and established a bank in Chicago. As to this ministry, it primarily teaches three things: Israel, Israel, and Israel. And if any of those is de-emphasized, we’re in trouble!

I personally subscribe to three Israeli publications, and I can recommend the monthly magazine Israel Today. It is written by Messianic Jews in Jerusalem and contains up-to-date information on our faith and the Holy Land. They have a special millennium offer of 50% off the first-year subscription, so 12 issues would be $37.50 at the moment. Call toll-free to inquire about a subscription at 1-888-557-7235.

I was once asked by a nationally known Bible teacher, whom I respect very much, how it was that I was successful on television. He had tried a short stint on that medium and went through a great deal of time and trouble, not to mention money, trying to make a go of it. He’s a much better teacher than I, and if I said his name you would know him instantly, but I will respect his privacy. Frankly, I have thought about his question for years, and I think the answer is simply found in Genesis 12:3—God will bless those that bless Israel, and that’s all there is to that! If you look at our Christian television or most of our seminaries (but not all) you will see a lack of interest in or reportage concerning Israel, and that is costing us as Christians. We are not knowledgeable about what God is doing or how the End Times are coming on, and that is for lack of news about what’s going on in the time-honored center of His operations.

On our April-May Tour of Israel, I ran into British people who recognized me (our program is now broadcast on Euro-Sat to European countries), and they said they’re having trouble with Progressive Dispensationalism, also. This anti-Israel doctrine has infected their seminaries as well, and as a matter of fact, some of our American ministers have studied in England and Scotland and, as Dr. McCall puts it, “they come back completely changed.”

On the plus side, I learned there are now 70 Messianic fellowships in the small country of Israel. God is moving in wonderful ways there. In some places, Jews and Palestinians are worshipping Christ together.

But beware the phrase “Palestinian Christian,” because it usually refers to Greek Orthodox or Roman Catholic, etc., and not to born-again believers. And, interestingly, the national Museum of Israel, in presenting an exhibit on early Christianity, included the Dead Sea Scrolls portion of the museum as introductory to that subject. In other words, they themselves are admitting that the scrolls discuss our Lord and the early Church. An Isaiah scroll, carbon-dated at 130 BC, put to rest the liberal argument that Isaiah 53 must have been inserted after Jesus’ ministry. It appears intact, word for word, in a scroll written 130 years before His birth.

A rather sad editorial I chanced to cross in The Jerusalem Post was called “Our Looted Culture.” It talked about the paintings and Jewish artifacts stolen during World War II and the fact of the Germans being sneak-thieves along with many of the other Europeans who took advantage of the persecuted Chosen People. The Jews were not at home to protect their possessions, and they were robbed—cleaned out. But this was no matter of ideological philosophy or high-minded Aryan principles: it was simple grand theft, burglary. It put me in mind of our disappointing seminaries which, while our theological backs were turned, changed their courses around to exclude Israel and to loot our Christian culture.

It is significant that, since we began this criticism of Dallas Seminary, Moody Bible Institute, Biola College, and Talbot, we have received many letters saying this or that, and I have tried to run a good sample of them. But no professor, administrator, or student has even tried to defend the awful doctrine called Progressive Dispensationalism or its simple Sunday school class errors. I know that you have received defensive letters from seminary administrators, some of which are less than completely truthful. But if any of you chance to receive any kind of letter trying to defend this absurd doctrine theologically, please do refer it to us, and we will deal with it.

We also taped a new series in Israel with a working title of “Shadows of Things to Come,” a very thorough examination of the seven Biblical Feasts and how they are celebrated in Israel, along with their elegant Bible types of the Messiah.

I extend to you the most sincere invitation to come with us and see the Land. This September, for the first time, we’re offering you the Ultra Grand tour, an opportunity to follow the Apostle Paul’s path through the Mediterranean, experience a thorough tour of Israel, and visit Petra, the rose-red city of the ancient Nabateans, through which the Children of Israel traveled during their 40 years of wandering through the desert. See it all for yourself in only 19 days. If you can’t join us for the entire time, you can choose portions of the tour, such as the Deluxe Tour of Israel, the Grand Tour of Israel with the extension to Petra, or the Athens Grand Tour of Israel with the extension cruise aboard a luxury liner to the Greek islands of Mykonos, Patmos (where it is believed John wrote the Book of Revelation), and Rhodes, Athens, Corinth, Mars Hill, and Ephesus, Turkey. All of our cabins aboard the ship are luxurious outside cabins above the water.

During the Israel portion of the tour, you will visit all the major Biblical sites of the Holy Land. You will see Mt. Carmel, Megiddo, Nazareth, Capernaum, the Sea of Galilee, the Mt. of Beatitudes, the Jordan River (where you can be baptized just as our Lord was), the Western Wall, the Mt. of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Upper Room, the Garden Tomb, Masada, the Dead Sea, and other fascinating Biblical sites. You will also visit the beautiful Golan Heights and the Old City of Jerusalem. See the original Dead Sea Scrolls at the Israel Museum, and tour Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial and Museum. I genuinely hope you can join us as we tour the lands of the Bible.

And remember, Sha’alu Shalom Yerushalayim: pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

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