Zola Levitt
The View from Jerusalem
It Might Be a Little Cramped But at Least It's Home
by Emanuel Feldman
As I travel, I carry a notebook in my pocket and I jot down items of
interest for this letter and our program in general. Israel, New York
City, and the news in general provided some thoughts of interest, I
believe, and I will present some of those below.
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York City calls a spade a spade and a
terrorist a terrorist. The New York Times reports that in
October he expelled Yasser Arafat from a concert for world leaders,
calling Arafat "a murderer and a terrorist." "I would not invite Yasser
Arafat to anything, anywhere, any time, any place," he continued. "I
don't forget." He said that "as a US attorney, he had investigated
several terrorist incidents to which the PLO was linked, including the
hijacking in 1985 of the Achille Lauro cruise ship." Giuliani said that
Arafat "has never been held to answer for the murders that he was
implicated in." He went on, "I would rather not have someone who has
been implicated in the murders of Americans there if I have the
discretion not to have him there." Naturally, there were many who said
the mayor had his political purposes in such statements, but in reality
all that he said was perfectly true, and truth is becoming a rarity in
the Middle East "peace process." Our Jerusalem 3000 series, to
be aired this coming spring, will feature an interview with Kare
Christiansen, the Norwegian official who quit the Nobel Peace Prize
Committee in protest of the coveted award being given to Arafat along
with the Israeli leadership.
Mark Twain visited Israel in the nineteenth century and called it "a
cursed land" rather than the Promised Land. He described the place as
having "no hope," but he apparently was not a Bible reader. In reality,
the Land while the Jews were away suffered terribly under the Turks and
the Arabs who are now calling themselves Palestinians. It was virtually
uncultivated and the forests had been removed, creating areas of
swampland infested with malaria. No person on earth reading Twain's
description and then seeing what the Jews have done with the land since
1948 could have the slightest doubt of who the real owners and
caretakers of the Land really are.
A curious greeting on the streets of Jerusalem before Yom Kippur,
the Day of Atonement, went this way: "Have an easy fast." The Day of
Atonement is a day of fasting, and the well-wishers certainly have good
intentions. But if we read the Scriptures for this high holiday, they
are clear that people must "afflict your souls" for the 24 hours. In
view of the fact that every (unsaved) Jewish person must confess the
sins of a whole year in that 24 hours, an "easy fast" would be
inappropriate so far as the Torah is concerned.
Israel was most courteous to the recent Iranian hostages, who made an
unintentional overnight visit in late September when their plane was
hijacked by a crazed Iranian cabin attendant. They were amazed at the
good accommodations and food and friendliness from people who they had
been taught (as we have) to see as primitive and dangerous. Many of
them did not want to go back to Iran, now that they had seen
civilization in the twentieth century. Their original flight plans were
for a short trip within Iran. After the hijacker took command, neither
Saudi Arabia nor Jordan would allow the plane to land. Imagine the fear
of the pilot of the aircraft when he radioed the Ben Gurion Airport
tower that he was out of fuel and would have to ditch in the
Mediterranean if they refused him permission to land. The Israeli
"monsters" (as Arabs are taught to view them) were his last hope. The
Jewish nation demonstrated its barbarity by allowing the plane to set
down at a military base and treating the passengers kindly.
Before returning to their country, the Iranians were presented with the case of
Ron Arad, an Israeli pilot who was shot down over Lebanon several years ago and
who is believed to be imprisoned by Iran. The rescued hostages were asked to
lobby their government for his release. Ron Arad's mother, Batya Arad, spoke to
the passengers: "You are mothers. You know what it is like to have a child and
raise him… you can help me bring about Ron's release… look me in the
eye."
In the exciting Iraqi elections, Saddam Hussein luckily won by 99.96% of the vote
and gets to rule seven more years. What a surprise! He has been the dictator of
Iraq since 1979 and his policies have reduced his people to paupers and made the
country — once considered a relatively enlightened nation — into an outcast of
the world community. As I commented when "President" Assad of Syria won by
a similar margin a few years ago, all the dissenters could be held in one small
cemetery. Other Arab nations were appalled at Saddam's election chicanery, but
we must remember that every one of them is a dictatorship, including Egypt,
which seemed to complain the most. Some do have rubber-stamp parliaments
as some kind of copy of a democracy, but in no case does any Arab person have
any voice in the leadership of his country, nor any real ballot privilege.
One interview that won't be on our television program was a talk I had in
Bethlehem with the owner of a tourist shop that our Fall Tour group visited. He
is a Palestinian Christian, and he was really shaking over the fact that Bethlehem
is to be returned to the PLO, which basically represents only Palestinian Moslems.
There have already been cases of abuse of Arab Christians by the PLO in Jericho
and Gaza, and the Christians of Bethlehem are very afraid of the future. As we
insanely manufacture a 23rd Arab dictatorship in Israel, we are consigning some
Christians to lives of fear, arrest, torture, and even death. We should bear in
mind that much of this is being done with American tax dollars.
CNN International is a service of the news network overseas, and puts one in
mind of how small a global village the world is really becoming. From my
Jerusalem hotel room, I could review the stock markets of Japan, New York, Hong
Kong and London, and I watched sports events I hardly understood at all (rugby,
Australian football, etc.). The drama that is our world goes on as a leading actor,
the Antichrist, awaits his entrance offstage.
CNN blithely declared on October 23 that in Israel we have "two sides at war for
half a century." In reality, there has been war in Israel for a period of a few weeks
over the last 50 years. The United States, by way of contrast, was at war for a
total of 11 years between Korea and Vietnam.
New York City had 1361 murders last year, down about 50% from the 1970's,
according to The New York Times. Jerusalem, which the Times
itself trumpets as a very dangerous place, had less than 100 for the same year.
CNN, always overly dramatic about Middle East problems, spoke of Bosnia and
Israel as "two of the most troubled places on earth." Bosnia's casualties since
the beginning of their conflict are around a quarter of a million.
Russia recently gave the PLO 40 armored personnel carriers. They are armed and
capable of much destruction. The number of Palestinian "police" will come to
50,000, we are told. Israel, three times the size of the new Palestine, has 17,000
policemen.
Ten percent of all new cars purchased in Israel are stolen by Palestinians during
the first year of ownership. One effect of our creating a new country for the
Palestinians is that they have a retreat beyond the reach of the Israeli police, and
they stole 33,000 cars and took them across their border in the past year! The
Israelis are going to extraordinary lengths to protect their cars with burglar
alarms, "the club" devices, transmission locks, and so forth.
One day in the old city, our producer decided to hire a donkey and a driver to
properly dress a scene in the Arab market, but our crewmen were approached by
Arabs who said we were "stereotyping" them and they were now modern people
and resented this implication. One of them suggested that he would cut out the
tongue of one of our crewmen, and so Ken Berg, our producer, released the
donkey and the driver. The next day, I passed a man on a camel going into the
Jaffa Gate at the same site, and finally two more men riding donkeys. (I guess
they hadn't had time yet to "modernize" themselves by stealing cars to replace the
animals.)
On the way back to America, I chanced to be seated right beside a member of the
Israeli parliament, Avraham Burg, whom we interviewed in our Israel by Divine
Right series. Burg, in favor of the peace process, said in answer to my
question about how he thought things were working out, "I am delighted; I love
it." I said, "Well, there are some problems." And he replied, "When there's a new
birth we have pain, but there is new life!" It was said in the manner of a true
politician, but some babies later on bring less joy than others.
And finally, there is beloved Jerusalem, 3,000 years old this year since David
made it the capital of Israel that long ago. Nothing anyone can see or hear
anywhere in this world can match in beauty, spirituality and meaning this
magnificent city or the pristine experience of beholding it. And so, sha'alu shalom
yerushalayeem, pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Thomas McCall
A Day at King David's Tomb
By Thomas S. McCall, Th.D.
It was my privilege to assist Zola as one of the tour leaders for his Fall
Festival Tour to Israel in October. While in Jerusalem, I got to visit two
tombs: Jesus' and David's. The tomb of Christ was empty, but the tomb of
David still commemorates the remains of the ancient Israeli king. It has so
marked his grave for some three thousand years in Jerusalem, which David
chose for his capital and the location of the Temple of God. Most Christian
groups never get to see David's tomb, although it is quite close to a
favorite site for believers, the Upper Room.
Recently, I have been studying King David's role in the unfolding of the
biblical message of redemption. When I had a few hours to spare in the busy
schedule of the tour, I followed the signs on Mount Zion to the traditional
site of the tomb of David. Before I share with you what I found, let me
review how important King David is in the Gospel of Christ.
The New Testament strongly emphasizes the relationship between King David and
the Lord Jesus Christ:
- He is the son of David, the son of Abraham;
- He was made of the seed of David according to the flesh (through Mary);
- Joseph went to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus, because he was of
the house and lineage of David (for legal adoption);
- Christ is fruit of David's loins who will sit on David's throne;
- He is the fulfillment of the sure mercies of David;
- He is the root of David;
- He claims in the last chapter of the Bible to be the offspring of
David.
(See Matt 1:1; Rom. 1:3; Luke 2:4; Acts 2:30; 13:34; Rev. 5:5; 22:16).
When it comes to the humanity of our Lord, it is His relationship to King
David that is emphasized in the New Testament, but the Church has tended to
ignore this emphasis. Why is this? Associated with King David are the
Davidic Covenant, the Israeli monarchy, and the future Millennial kingdom
with Jerusalem as its capital. These are concepts that have often been
suppressed by the Church, but have been revived during this century in the
evangelical movements of Dispensationalism and Premillennialism.
As for the proclamation of the Gospel, the death of David plays a prominent
role in contrast to the death of Jesus, as prophesied in Psalm 16:10:
For thou wilt not leave my soul in sheol, neither wilt
thou permit thine Holy One to see corruption.
Both Apostles Peter and Paul use this remarkable prophecy to explain to
Jewish listeners the necessity of the resurrection of the Messiah. Peter, in
his message on Pentecost, argued that David was not speaking of himself. The
proof of this was that David died and his body was corrupted long before, and
his tomb was clearly visible in Jerusalem. Rather, David was prophesying
about his descendant, the coming Messiah. This great Son of David would die,
but His body would not see corruption and would rise from the dead.
Paul also used the same Psalm 16:10 prophecy, when he spoke to the Jewish
synagogue in the Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13). He declared that this passage
proved that the Messiah had to die and rise from the dead.
These scriptural passages were focused in my mind as I visited the tomb of
David on Mt. Zion. The tomb is located on the ground floor of a building
which is non-descript on the outside. It is approached by way of an anteroom
about the size of a standard
living room. The anteroom has bookshelves with Hebrew books, descriptive
materials on the walls (also in Hebrew), and a table or two. This room has two
doorways opening to the room which contains the tomb, but these doorways are
blocked with iron bars so the visitor may not enter into the tomb room. The large
sarcophagus can be viewed by standing before, and looking through, the bars in
the doorways.
The tomb is large, at least twice as large as an ordinary sarcophagus, with a
sloped roof covered by drapings and mounted on the top with several metallic
crowns. While I was there, no more than 15 or 20 people were in the anteroom
at one time, and the atmosphere was one of quiet, subdued reverence.
A group of Israeli high school students in school uniforms came into the
anteroom, and spent about fifteen minutes there. Most of them were high school
age girls, who appeared to be quietly excited about being in the presence of King
David's tomb. They were avidly reading the Hebrew plaque on the wall of the
anteroom. I had the feeling that they might break out in songs about David like
their ancestresses did 3,000 years ago. I began to understand something of the
close attachment these young Israelis have to David, perhaps closer than to other
heroes, such as Moses.
After leaving the tomb, I wandered through the various rooms in the building, and
came upon a doorway with a sign, "King David Museum." I didn't know there was
a museum in Jerusalem devoted to King David! The curator invited me in to view
the artifacts, which I did. All the signs were in Hebrew, and I was able to make
out some of their significances. However, it was clear that this museum, unlike
many in Israel, was designed for the benefit of Israelis, not for foreign tourists.
When I finished looking at these things, I went back to the entry and met the
curator and his young son. We sat down, and he explained to me the authenticity
of this site for the tomb of David, saying that the two biblical references to the
location were in II Samuel and Nehemiah. He also opened for me a large red door
in the wall, which covered the entry to a long, deep tunnel. He explained that
they believe there is a tunnel between the old City of David and the Mt. Zion area
where David's tomb is located.
I asked the curator if he was aware of a reference in the New Testament which
might have a bearing on the location of King David's tomb. He looked up with
interest, and said he was not. It was clear to me that the historian had devoted
his professional life to this subject, and he was intrigued with the prospect of
previously unknown information. I described for him the events of Acts 2, in
which the Holy Spirit filled the believers and Peter proclaimed the Gospel of
Christ. The Scriptures are not clear about the location, but one view is that this
happened at the Temple, while another view is that the Pentecostal events
occurred in the neighborhood of the Upper Room, which is on Mt. Zion near the
tomb of David.
At any rate, the Apostle Peter spoke of David's tomb as he argued from
Psalm 16:10
that David was not referring to himself but to his Messianic descendant.
It's almost as though Peter was pointing toward the monument when he told his
audience that the tomb with David's corrupted remains was plainly visible at that
time.
My curator host was considerably impressed, and asked where this passage in the
Psalms was located. I told him and he reached for his copy of the Hebrew
Scriptures to look it up. He read and re-read the passage written by David, "You
will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption." He kept reading the sentence,
looking at me and reading it again. It was as though he had never heard of this
great Messianic passage before. We discussed these things a little further and
then I left Mt. Zion for our hotel. I got the impression that this studious curator
was going to discuss this matter at length with his colleagues, and that Peter's
comments about King David's tomb and the risen Messiah might reverberate once
again on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem.
A Note From Zola
Dear Friends,
We now have a new series of programs "in the can." After our tour group left
Israel, the crew and I covered the Feast of Tabernacles celebration and the
wonderful festivities connected with the anniversary called "Jerusalem 3000."
It was certainly a necessity for our ministry to cover this one-of-a-kind event. We
are the spokesmen for Israel on Christian television and to a great many
American Jewish people also. But in doing this coverage, we have really incurred
a lot of heavy expenses.
You will realize if you are watching our program that we are running a new series
of programs right now. Our series The First Christians is now airing and
you can see that we utilized the highest production values in making those
programs. This is the first time in the history of our ministry that we have made
location series on two tours in a row, and it is costing us.
There comes a time when I have to talk to you very seriously about funds, and
this is such a time. It seems that we are presently overextended, and donations
are slow because of our new Family Channel airtime. When we changed to 6:30
am Sundays (5:30 and 4:30 in Central and Mountain times) we temporarily lost
some significant audience. People are a little slow to make the change, and some
just don't hear about it and it might take them a year to find us again. Therefore,
at just the time that we are in post-production on two series at once, we also have
the burden of fewer donations coming in.
If we can make it until the end of the year, I know we will be okay. The problem
is we will have shortfalls before that time and we do not want to be late with our
bills. Particularly on the secular stations where our program runs, we want to be
excellent witnesses and have a reputation for paying on time and cheerfully. It
is very difficult for us when we have to ask for donations to come in. It also
threatens our airtimes on those stations because they begin to wonder if they
might get left in the lurch some day. While I'm sure that we'll be okay come
January, I think that any of you who would be kind enough to accelerate your
year-end giving to right now would be a very big help to us.
Folks give at year's end because they can still deduct that charitable gift from
their 1995 taxes, but they have utilized the money to earn interest through the
whole year. But actually, giving a month or so before the end of the year costs
very little. In fact, if you want to deduct about 10% of what you would have given
at year's end and send it to us now, it will make all the difference to us and will
cost you nothing. You would lose no interest in that case, but we would have the
money in time to amortize our December bills.
I realize I don't talk this way very often. And perhaps that is the reason we are
strapped sometimes. But I think you know us well enough to know the money
will be well used. When you see these beautiful programs celebrating Jerusalem's
3,000th birthday, you will be simply delighted. For one thing, we have interviews
with both the mayor of Jerusalem and the PLO spokesman Faisal Husseini, who
evidently aspires to be the mayor of a future "Palestinian Jerusalem." Those two
gentlemen had extremely thought-provoking and opposite views of Jerusalem
3000, to say the least!
Where giving is concerned, I have always been satisfied to say if you would speak
to the Lord about what you may do for this ministry at this time, whatever He tells
you would be perfectly fine with us.
Thanks for praying.
And another way that you help us is by going on our tours,
and this Christmas
you can save a great deal of money and see two countries for the price of one! For
the first time ever, in addition to having extra time in Israel, our Grand Tour will
journey into the country of Jordan to see the ancient, "rose red" city of Petra. Our
Deluxe Tour will have an extended stay in Israel, traveling through the beautiful
Negev Desert and enjoying the Red Sea resort city of Eilat. Both Grand and
Deluxe Tours will have the one-of-a-kind experience of spending Christmas Eve
in Bethlehem. The Basic Tour will run from December 11 to 20, and the Deluxe
and Grand Tours from December 11 to 26. Please call Cynthia at (214) 690-1876
or our answering service at 1-800-WONDERS for a free, full-color brochure.
Your messenger,
Kendra's Korner
By Kendra Ryan Camp
Running a women's ministry which addresses such controversial subjects of the
'90's as abortion, spousal abuse and lesbianism, I am always prepared for
accusations that I am just a "mere woman" and therefore have no legitimate right
to express an opinion on traditional theological interpretation of the Scriptures.
In many fundamentalist Christian faiths, I would be prohibited from holding
church office or from preaching the gospel. I have, no doubt, offended the
male-dominated leadership of traditional Christianity, however, I have been amazed
that it is my stand on anti-Semitism that has been the sole source of my hate
mail. Many of you will remember my article in the January 1994 Levitt
Letter entitled "A Light Unto The Gentiles," which discusses anti-Semitism in
the Christian community, and my appearances on Zola Levitt Presents,
where I interviewed Zola on this very real and disturbing problem within
mainstream Christianity.
Although the majority of my mail has been extraordinarily supportive, I am
amazed at the depth of some Christian's compulsion to label me a "Jew lover," as
if that term were to be equated with being a "Communist" or, God forbid, a
"liberal." The pious, self-righteous outrage of some conservative Christians to the
fact that I have suggested there is a great deal Gentiles could learn from the study
of Judaism, seems to have pushed a hot button that has launched a barrage of
anti-Semitic harassment equal to a Klingon attack of a Federation starship!
There was the lady who wrote to me and claimed there was no such thing as
anti-Semitism in the church. She said that Christian anti-Semitism couldn't exist in
such a great country like America. At the end of her letter, she confessed she
hadn't lived in America for over thirty years, but had been a missionary in the
Philippine islands.
Then there was the Gentile lady from Brooklyn who wrote me that she had never
experienced anti-Semitism in her community. No kidding, Sherlock! You live in
the highest ratio of Jew-to-Gentile city in the United States!! Why don't you try
moving to the midwest or the deep south for a year.
One writer from Washington was deeply upset that I kept stressing that Jesus
was a Jew. She explained to me how she was Irish and that the Irish had nothing
to do with the Holocaust. Obviously, she didn't realize my maiden name is Ryan,
that I used to live in Dublin, and that I hold dual Irish and American citizenship.
She then proceeded to tell me how "Noah was born from Abraham's seed." I
realized immediately that this poor lady was profoundly confused. It must be the
Irish in her! In closing, she called me a "child of Satan," which I took as a
compliment since the same thing was said about Jesus.
My favorite was the 80-year-old man from Denver who questioned my "born
again" status because I had worked in the motion picture and television industry.
Some Christians love to criticize the entertainment industry as being responsible
for the moral decay of America, but I notice they all buy the products of the
sponsors that finance the production and distribution of films and television
shows.
In my office at Messianic Women Ministries, we have taken to leaving the
answering machine on at all times to screen incoming calls since we have become
the victim of constant telephone harassment regarding our stand on anti-Semitism
and the Jewish roots of Christianity. Of course, they never leave their
names and telephone numbers. Our county does not yet have "call tracing"
capability, but I wonder just how courageous these anonymous "crusaders" will
be when confronted with "automatic call back" by a mouthy broad like me!
Denial doesn't seem to be limited to problems such as drug and alcohol abuse.
Unfortunately, there are no twelve-step programs for Christians drunk on
anti-Semitism. Whenever Christians make war, whether on a country, an ethnic
group, or on a single individual, they always believe that Jesus is on their side —
I warrant Jesus must wonder who is on His!
For further information on Messianic Women's Ministries, write to:
P.O. Box 743
Cushing, OK 74023
Copyright © 1995 by Zola Levitt Ministries, Inc., a non-profit
501(c)(3) organization. All rights reserved. Brief passages may be quoted
in reviews or other article. For all other use, please get our written
approval.