Dear Friends,
It’s important to have a life vision. A dynamic vision keeps a Believer focused, year after year.
My life vision has been helping Jews to know Jesus and Believers to know Jews. The need to work at this endeavor in the coming year is as meaningful now as when Jesus gave the visionary Great Commission 2,000 years ago.
Speaking of which, numerous television
viewers have praised our recent production The
Messianic Miracle. With your help, Zola Levitt
Presents took both Believers and unbelievers
behind the scenes into the heart of this prophetic,
spiritual revival. Jews and non-Jews alike received
a Jewish witness. We also invited them to participate in Messianic Jewish ministries.
Moreover, our broadcasts referred them to Internet sites where they can locate and attend
Messianic congregations near them—all over the world.
Producing and broadcasting The Messianic Miracle was a considerable undertaking that exceeded our usual budget. As for helping Jesus’ people come to know the Jews, let me emphasize that the desperate need continues. The recent article below explains the problematic combination of Replacement Theology and ignoring Judaism’s connection to Christianity:
Us Bishop Says Jews Have No “Exclusive Right” To Israel
By Francis X. Rocca, Religion News ServiceVATICAN CITY (RNS) A special Vatican meeting on the Middle East ended October 23 with a flare-up in Catholic-Jewish tensions, after an American bishop declared the Bible does not give Jews privileged rights to the land of Israel.
“We Christians cannot speak of the ‘promised land’ as an exclusive right for Jewish people,” said Archbishop Cyril Bustros (right), a native of Lebanon who is currently a Melkite Greek Catholic bishop in Newton, Mass.
“This promise was nullified by Christ,” Bustros said at a Vatican press conference marking the end of a two-week session of the Synod of Bishops.
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon called Bustros’ statement “a libel against the Jewish people and the State of Israel,” and expressed “our disappointment that this important synod has become a forum for political attacks on Israel in the best history of Arab propaganda.”
“The synod was hijacked by an anti-Israel majority,” Ayalon said.
Horrible! The article about the misguided shepherd is alarming for a variety of reasons.
I happened to read the bishop’s obnoxious statement while in Israel finishing our new television series entitled Eretz Israel (Hebrew for The Land of Israel). My on-location teachings guide listeners through many scriptural promises. God unequivocally gave this particular real estate to a particular people—the Jews. Emphasized with words like forever, the Promised Land promises are so clear that it is inconceivable that a Christian shepherd can deny the Bible’s direct teachings and implications—and consequently mislead his sheep.
Michael Freund expressed similar distress at Archbishop Bustros’s comments in a much-needed Bible lesson. His article “What Bible is the Vatican reading?” in the October 27 edition of The Jerusalem Post provides the Scripture’s testimony. “Take, for example, Isaiah 14:1, where Isaiah says: ‘The Lord will have compassion on Jacob; once again He will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land.’ Or how about Jeremiah 11:5, where God says: ‘I will fulfill the oath I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey...’ And then there’s Ezekiel 34:11–13. And Hosea 3:4–5. And Amos 9:14–15. And Obadiah 1:17, Zephaniah 3:19–20 and Zechariah 8:7–8.”
I trust you get the point: Scripture commends Israel to the Jews. Period!
The Bustros incident compelled me to alert Israeli Deputy Foreign
Minister Danny Ayalon, who also refuted his misconceptions. Ayalon was
Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. and is now its Deputy Minister. You may recall
my recently televised interview with him, during which he described how the
twenty-two Muslim states surrounding Israel continually castigate the Jews,
no matter what Israel does. He added that one hundred or so spineless nations are each
economically connected to the Muslim nations. Consequently, these nations follow suit
without question, complicitly keeping step with their oil-rich, Islamic benefactors.
Zola Levitt Presents will rerun highlights of that interview at year’s end. Considering Ayalon’s points, it is not surprising when Islamic nations undermine Jews. However, it is reasonable to expect Christendom’s religious leaders to accede to the Bible and its Author. Instead, they disregard the King of Kings’s dictates and sheepishly submit to the gods of this world.
Even some conservative, evangelical scholars argue in favor of calling the Land
Palestine over its more biblically accurate name: Israel. One example is The New Moody
Atlas of the Bible, by Professor Barry J. Beitzel (Chicago: Moody Bible Institute
Press, 2009). Imagine the bitterness of my disappointment, especially since I
took Jewish Studies at Moody Bible Institute.
Never mind Catholic bishops, for the moment. The sickening anti-Israel narrative is similarly peddled in Protestant circles, certified by evangelical seminaries, and promoted through evangelical publishing houses. Here’s a sample of Beitzel’s reasoning for devaluing the name Israel in favor of Palestine:
The term Palestine appears thirteen times in ancient neo-Assyrian texts dating back as early as Adad-nirari III (810–782 BC), Tiglath-pileser III (744–727 BC), and Sargon (721–705 BC). An ancient Egyptian statuette from the 27th dynasty (945–715 BC) referenced a “commissioner of Canaan and Palestine.” This, Beitzel reasons, is evidence that the term Palestine is preferred over Israel in a geographical/provincial context.
196 citations for Palestine can be found in pre-second century AD Greek and Latin literary sources. Beitzel believes these non-biblical uses strengthen his argument.
Beitzel concludes that “no factual basis exists for objecting to the use of the term Palestine for the land in preference to Israel.” He finishes Israel off, saying: “It is difficult to identify a biblical passage in which the word Israel is utilized to explicitly denote a specific stretch of geography.”
Really? Incredible!
Because Beitzel is an Old Testament scholar, one might excuse his ignorance of Jesus’ words in the New Testament. In Matthew 10:23, for example, Jesus speaks to His followers about “going through all the cities of Israel.” Now, that sounds authentically geographical to me!
Jesus’ authoritative statement should be enough. But even an Old Testament scholar should acknowledge that when King David came into his kingdom in 2 Samuel 5:1–5, the Text states that he was authorized to rule over… you guessed it: all Israel.
Want more? Writing many years after David, in Ezekiel 34, the exiled Old Testament prophet employed shepherding motifs saying: “I will [re]establish one Shepherd over them… My Servant David” (v. 23) and that “they shall [then] be safe in their [own] land” (v. 27). This prophecy sets the stage for when he later says: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves … and bring you into the land of Israel” (37:12).
Again, Israel certainly sounds geographic to me. Lastly, Ezekiel ends the lengthy prophetic book in 47:13–48:35 by recounting the Lord’s measurements of the land given to the Israelites. He begins with “Thus says the Lord God: ‘These are the borders’” and finishes with a declaration that its capital ( Jerusalem) shall be called “The Lord is There” (48:35).
Now that’s the Bible, friend. And scholars like Beitzel should know it.
Having both rationalized the use of Palestine and dismissed the term Israel in his introduction—which, by the way, he entitled, “A Geographical Introduction to the World of Palestine”—Professor Beitzel comfortably employs non-biblical and anti-biblical chapter and sub-chapter titles in his Moody Atlas of the Bible. He offers titles like “Abraham in Palestine,” “The Patriarchs in Palestine,” and even “An Analysis of Israel’s Settlement of Palestine.” His section on the Israelite presence east of the Jordan River is entitled: “Israel’s Occupation of Transjordan” (italics mine). I personally find his choice of language to be insulting and dishonest.
I’m reasonably certain that
Moody Publishers does not want
to be associated with Catholic
archbishops. Unfortunately, they
both opt for an Arab-Muslim narrative
instead of a biblical, Jewish-friendly
history of the promised
land of Israel. Furthermore, they
obscure the biblical reckoning.
And both of them intellectually
delegitimize the modern nationstate
of Israel by favoring the antibiblical,
Arab-Muslim language
and vision. This pattern is troubling,
to say the least.
The New Moody Atlas of the Bible won the coveted Christian Book Award, a Medallion of Excellence from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). To my way of thinking, the improperly slanted publication only serves the interests of the devil. Some Bible students and scholars will say I am dogmatic and not showing enough love. Whatever!
When this ministry’s Bible-based television series Eretz Israel—the Land of Israel is finished, I will mail DVD sets to both Archbishop Cyril Bustros in Newton, Massachusetts and Professor Barry J. Beitzel, who teaches Old Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. And I’ll let you know if and how either one responds.
Mind you, archbishops and Protestant theologians are not the only people in the world who deny Israel’s right to exist and, as a result, play into anti-Israel, Islamic visions. Eretz Israel will confront that darkness and do a lot of good the world over. If you hold the same expectation, please help us deliver this vital teaching to the millions who watch Zola Levitt Presents. Beitzel’s improperly slanted, anti-Israel Atlas retails for $49.99. Eretz Israel will offer better, more biblical insights for free.
It’s my honor to reach out to them.
If it’s your honor to help Jewish people come
to know Jesus, and to help Jesus’ people come
to know the Jews, then please co-labor with
me by sending your best gift now.
Writing “Donations Are Down…,” author Jonathan Daniel Harris observed: “Donations to nonprofits [have been] dropping amid the American recession.” The Seattle Post-Intelligencer added: “Donors are still donating, but the amounts of the donations are lower… People are still caring, which is wonderful, but I think the economy has affected individuals and grantors.” I agree.
We at Zola Levitt Ministries have experienced this downturn, too. Though not crippling, it’s noticeable enough that I need to ask for your help at this time. We’ve tightened our belts and remain faithful, managing principally because of those who gave sacrificially in the past to help us weather such storms. Your contribution now will enable this outreach to forge into a new year of prolific TV production while maintaining our high standard of quality.
Our ministry is always pleased to help the faithful
make a trip-of-a-lifetime pilgrimage to the Land of Israel.
If you want to go on a splendid study tour with me, please call Tracie
at (214) 696-9760 during office hours, or our answering service at
1-800-WONDERS (800-966-3377) anytime. Our Spring Tour will depart March 13, 2011,
with two return dates—either March 24 for the 10-day Israel Tour, or March 28 if you wish
to include Petra.
Our Summer Discovery Tour will travel June 12–22. We offer four options for our Fall 2011 Tour including Petra and/or Athens, departing October 18 and 23. Hope to see you there—as do the Jewish people, on the whole. Tourism has been spiking upward in 2010, and all Israel looks forward to another safe and successful year in 2011. Call now if you are led to bless Israel with your presence there.
Thanks for upholding our anointed efforts as we daily “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6).
Your Messenger,
Jeff
P.S. If you’d like to share some love with us, please help with the cost of producing and airing Eretz Israel—the Land of Israel. You can also help with our massive literature distribution and participate in a mission that reaches throughout the world. Please make an investment in Christ’s purposes at the time of year when many celebrate His arrival.
During the month of December, please tune in to the weekly television segments below on Zola Levitt Presents.
The Feast Of LightsDear Jeff,
Anti-Israel narratives in evangelical seminaries and publishing houses oppose God’s Word and serve only the interests of the devil.
“Here’s my gift for December. Count on me to help you enlighten errant Bible scholars and others regarding the Abrahamic covenant.”
In this “after-Christmas musical,” Zola narrates the moving story of Simeon, the aged-but-faithful servant who waited to see the Messiah face-to-face.
Are we now approaching the Great Tribulation and the return of our King? An update entitled “The Millennium” plus a post-9/11 epilogue make this a prophecy book of the past, present, and future.
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” Printed on removable vinyl, this incredible bumper sticker measures 3–3/4” by 11–1/2” and has a striking 3-D effect. Pass some on to your friends!
