Shalom Partners and Friends of Israel,

"In our time the Biblical prophecies are being realized. As the prophet Amos said, they shall rebuild ruined cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine. They shall till gardens and eat their fruit. And I will plant them upon their soil never to be uprooted again. Ladies and gentlemen, the people of Israel have come home never to be uprooted again." – Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel.

The quotation above is how Benjamin Netanyahu concluded his speech on October 1, 2013 at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Netanyahu's speech was a warning to the rest of the world to not rush into some agreement with Iran that would let them off the hook in relation to their development of nuclear weapons… "Now I know: Rouhani doesn't sound like Ahmadinejad. But when it comes to Iran’s nuclear weapons program, the only difference between them is this: Ahmadinejad was a wolf in wolf's clothing. Rouhani is a wolf in sheep's clothing, a wolf who thinks he can pull the wool over the eyes of the international community," warned Netanyahu. The Prime Minister said that Israel has two historic concerns learned over thousands of years of existence. First… never give up hope and second… always remain vigilant!

As Netanyahu notes at the end of his speech, the basis for Israel’s hope is Bible prophecy. Simply put… the Lord says in a multitude of passages that Israel will experience a great time, future to our own day, of great blessing, prosperity, and spirituality.

All the prophets except Jonah speak of a time in our future when the Jewish people will return to the Lord and the Lord will return them to their land forever. Netanyahu closed his speech by quoting from, Amos 9:14-15. A little earlier, right before his reference to the passage in Amos 9, he claimed: "In our time the Biblical Prophecies are being realized!" And, in the very last sentence of his speech, after referring to the Amos 9 passage of the Bible, he announced: "Ladies and gentlemen, the people of Israel have come home never to be uprooted again!"

When we heard these statements we perked up and was excited to hear the Prime Minister of Israel saying such things, in of all places, the U. N. General Assembly, one of the headquarters of Satan. Throughout his speech Netanyahu used the Bible as the basis for Israel’s right to exist and to protect herself. He did not appeal to some secular standard such as International Law, although he could have. Netanyahu took it right to his audience with repeated references to the Bible. Netanyahu began his speech by noting that the founding of the Jewish people originated almost 4,000 years ago through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The only place you learn about them is from the Bible. Next, he introduced the nation of Iran (known historically as Persia) in the Bible.

In the last year, 2013 especially, Netanyahu has quoted more of the Bible than any of Israel’s previous Prime Ministers, except perhaps for Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion. Further, in December 2011 Netanyahu began to host a regular Bible study at his residence in order to perpetuate love of the Bible. News reports said that Netanyahu was following the lead of former Prime Ministers David Ben Gurion and Menachem Begin. While Netanyahu is not an orthodox Jew, it is certainly clear that he values and respects the Bible and believes it, at least to some extent. It is clear that Scripture provides for him a certain level of confidence concerning the future and the destiny for the Jewish people and the land of Israel. He appears to be growing in his confidence that the Bible is true and provides the prophetic roadmap for even the modern state of Israel. Apparently belief in biblical prophecy strengthens his resolve and gives him the courage needed to stand up against the Iranian nuclear threat and even the backbone to launch an attack against Iran, if that is deemed necessary in the future.

From East to West…! "For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." Matthew 24:27

Since the days of the Book of Acts, the gospel has expanded in a westward direction. In Acts 16 we see that Paul who was in present day Turkey at that time wanted to go east and preach the gospel in Asia.

During Paul’s second missionary journey… twice it was recorded that God re-directed him (Acts 16:6-10). He was travelling with Silas (a believer from Jerusalem), Timothy (Paul’s young Jewish disciple) and Luke (a Gentile doctor). They left Jerusalem and launched out into an area that is now Southern Turkey and since Paul has grown up in this area was familiar with the people and culture. It would have been natural for him to continue to evangelize in Asia Minor… but the Lord had other plans!

So often we have our own plans but God has the best outcome for our lives. Julie and I have seen this in very similar situations in our lives. We were living in Turkey before and during the devastating earthquakes of 1999 and taught English at a University and ministered there for seven years before moving to Israel. During our time in Turkey (Asia Minor) we had the privilege of visiting Patmos and the seven cities where the first churches were located in the book of Revelation and while there we often had questions in our minds… Why did these churches die? Why did the Lord allow Islam to rule over Christianity in such a way that Christianity became underground? When a church dies who is at fault and what caused it to happen?  What is God saying about the churches of our day? A really sober thought that we also wrestled with was does this portrait Islam as superior… or maybe it is just that God might use Islam to bring judgement against the West and the church that is asleep?

Israel is the place where the very first church was birthed on the day of “Pentecost.” From there the gospel went westward from Asia Minor to Troas (the site of ancient Troy), Macedonia, Greece, Philippi, Corinth, Thessalonica and Rome in Europe. Paul told the Roman church that he had fully preached the gospel from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum on the Adriatic Sea (modern Albania). It did not remain that way as God’s purpose was for the gospel to go west into Europe. The gospel has been travelling westward ever sine that time, even to this day.  From Jerusalem Spain (Romans 15:24; 28) is as far as one could go before facing the mighty Atlantic Ocean.

More than fourteen hundred years before Columbus, Spain must have seemed like the end of the world and that is exactly how the gospel took direction in the years following the Apostle Paul’s journeys. The gospel had been successfully launched into the west and saturated the Greek-speaking world. We certainly can understand the term… “All roads lead to Rome!” In Rome for more than two centuries, the gospel fought a life and death battle with the Roman culture of Emperor Worship and Christians were put to death as they came into conflict with this Roman cult. In the end Rome weakened and fell from within while true believers Jew and Gentile stood strong. In Europe the gospel was being preached even though faith of their Jewish Messiah although most probably had never even heard of Israel… and Christianity moved like a tidal wave sinking pagan culture. We can see this with all the cathedrals of which some took centuries to build. This Christian worldview became a basis for Europe’s success, prosperity and political power.

It was during the 1600’s that the institutionalized church of Europe was becoming too strong and was wielding too much political power and new movements of the Holy Spirit was stifled. We certainly cannot stop God’s plans! Believers like the early Baptists, Huguenots, Quakers, Puritans and Mennonites searched for a place where they could freely worship God and practice their religion and leave the European continent behind. With this they caused the gospel to move further westward from the “Old World” to the “New World” of the American Frontier and so America received these European settlers and early Puritan pilgrims in the harsh, undeveloped land. Settling there took much sacrifice and commitment but the gospel had reached new shores across the Atlantic Ocean.

In a relatively short period of time America became the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth. Much was contributed to their commitment to serving God and taking in the Jewish people expelled from Spain by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. The freedom America had especially worshipping the God of Israel, without government interference, helped propel a young nation to superpower status in less than three hundred years. Today America however needs a fresh touch from God. They have forgotten the promises made to God by their founding fathers. The steady decline in church attendance and moral decline in society as well as accepting Islamic religion as norm and part of the American nation has contributed to this and Europe is in much of the same boat. The church in America is labouring as the gospel continues westward on to Africa and Asia. The God of the Bible does not show partiality and will release His power to any nation that allows the gospel to penetrate there.

Israel is where the gospel started and it will end there!

Jerusalem is God’s chosen place for the return of our Messiah and the chosen time is also described in Scripture. Israel’s revival will follow the fullness of God’s harvest among all nations (Romans 11:25 – 26)… but we need to understand what God is saying and search His Word for the times that we are living in.

For years we felt this burden and taught with a passion that… we as the Church chosen by Almighty God would wake up to the fact that Islam is spreading rapidly across the West, in the USA, UK, and parts of Europe and has altered drastically these places… cultural, political, legal and religious landscape in those places. Islam is not as suggested a “peaceful religion” it is bent on domination of the world and we write this article out of concern for what lies ahead for Israel and the Church. The threat of terrorism is just one of their insidious campaigns of deception and infiltration taking place in our midst.

In South Africa, we have noticed how huge mosques are now springing up like mushrooms in many places… and guess what? Nobody has noticed this! Why is this happening? Because, this is a subtle change that the Muslim Brotherhood and many offspring organizations are committed to achieve increased influence through immigration, mosques, education, Muslim centre’s in Western countries, infiltration into government and if necessary jihad.

Also, it is important for us to mention here, that there are thousands of Muslims that have converted to Christianity and face much persecution and even death around the world in Muslim countries… and we need to keep them in our prayers too. It is our loving Abba, Father’s desire that all be saved and we also believe that in His mercy He has brought many Muslims to western nations for that purpose to be exposed to Yeshua (Jesus) as they need a Saviour too. However, that is not the desire of Islam and the teachings of Muhammad, nor the desire of extreme Islamists, who follow Allah of the Koran that teach that Jews and Christians are the enemy. We as the Body of Christ, His church, must wake up to the reality around us and pray for Israel and our own country as never before! We also have to teach the next generation of Christians what they will face as the Islamists continue advancing their agenda through whatever means possible.

We must know what God is saying to the churches in our day! As we direct our thoughts to the seven churches of Revelation 2 - 3 we must learn from the Christian cities of Asia Minor (today located in Turkey). The Lord has allowed Julie and me to live in Islamic Turkey and then in Israel where it all began, both are connected to our Bible, and it is so significant for us to teach the Body of Christ about the importance of Israel in God’s plan for the nations.

If the ancient churches of Turkey could speak… what would they say to us? We believe that the story they would tell us would be one that we would need to hear. The famous quote of the philosopher George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it!” 

Many brothers and sisters in Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) have already gone ahead of us in history and paid a high price for their obedience to our Lord. There are seven lessons we can learn from the seven churches of Asia Minor that were conquered by Islam and how churches were turned into ruins. We ask you to join us on this journey as we now take a look at the churches of Revelation as we learn from their sacrifices, mistakes and triumphs.

We have a great responsibility as believers and must never take for granted what the Lord has done for church, which is His body.  Having visited the Hagia Sophia church (the church of Holy Wisdom) in Istanbul, Turkey, not part of the seven churches of Revelation but the history of this church gives us an open window into Muslim Islamists goal of turning churches into mosques. It was dedicated in the sixth century what was then the ancient city of Constantinople… This church was for many years the greatest one of all until it was turned into a mosque in 1453 after a conquest by the Ottoman Turks. The better we know of this church we can understand the history of what happened to the seven churches of Revelation. The church of Hagia Sophia was dedicated by the great emperor Justinian in 537 AD, who at his dedication speech said, “Solomon, I have outdone thee!” In a way his prediction was correct as this same church once turned into a mosque now 1500 years old is still standing, beautiful and a museum today.

When the city of Constantinople collapsed in 1453 Christian families were forced to fight against their own people.  The people of Constantinople greatly outnumbered fought bravely but in the end they succumbed as bands of Muslim soldiers looted all they could and killed families in their homes. Killing, raping, looting, burning and enslaving went on and Christian worshippers were killed as religious icons and furnishings destroyed or taken in the name of Allah! The Church of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) was just one of the many churches in the city that became places of Muslim worship almost immediately after the conquest of the city of Constantinople. All crosses were removed, Bibles and holy writings burned, mosaics covered over with white plaster and it is said by Muslim Islamists that Allah had triumphed!  The signs of Muslim heritage are very much on display and in the air as one sees the verses from the Quran adorning the walls of buildings that once were of Christian origins. To the Islamists this triumph was proof to them that Islam was superior over Christianity. Conquering by war was victory! In fact, the fall of Constantinople (now Istanbul) was but the last stage in the transformation of this region from Christian to Muslim territory. The story of the Church of Hagia Sophia is the story of thousands of churches throughout the Middle East, Asia and North Africa as Muslim armies swept through the lands conquering cities and turning churches into mosques.

We must understand a mosque in a Muslim or Muslim-majority country is considered to be in the “House of Islam” (Dar al-Islam)… That is, it’s in a place under Muslim control, where both Muslim worship, Koran and Shariah law is the norm. But, a mosque in the West is considered to be in the “House of War” (Dar al-Harb) or a place not yet under Muslim control… a place where they consider that “infidels and unbelievers” live. Thus, the mosque in Western countries are considered a “foot-in-the-door” or “strategic base position” for attack whilst the Islamic doctrine of “sacred space” dictates that once a territory such as a mosque in a non-Muslim country can never be surrendered as it belongs to Islam.

This concept of "sacred space" is a key reason that the Middle East conflict will never end unless the Lord intervenes! The Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem according to Islam cannot be surrendered.

Back in 637 AD, Muslim armies besieged and conquered Jerusalem and in 692 AD, the Dome of the Rock was completed on the Temple Mount, directly above the site where the Jewish Temple once stood.

But, today the Holy Land is in Jewish control (just as God promised in His Word, the Bible, that it would one day be returned to the rightful owners)… which means that there can be NO PEACE until Muslim’s win back what they perceive to be their land conquered for Allah even though it is only considered to their third holiest site in Islam.

Have you ever wondered why the minarets on the mosques are set high above the building? Muslim’s attempt to demonstrate the superiority of Islam by making their mosques the highest and biggest buildings in the immediate area and much of these extravagant building programs are funded by Saudi Arabia, as they anticipate future building plans and growth. Next time you see a mosque in your area remember that the West is their target! What is more, conversion to Islam is easy and requires no repentance from sin or change of heart all that is required is to recite out loud the “Shahadah” confessing that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger. What seems so simple to many people even in the West is that they don’t realize that Islam offered an open door that was easy to enter, but once in the key is taken away and bolted from inside with no escape, except to be ostracized or killed if converting back to Christianity. Islam offers no hope!

Could this happen in South Africa? In the early centuries AD, Christianity was widespread in Syria, Iraq, Turkey and other Middle East countries. No one would have ever imagined it would die out to the extent that it did, and this we can surely see by looking at the seven churches of Revelation! Today believers living in these and other Islamic countries risk their lives sharing their faith in Christ. So when a church is turned into a mosque, Islam has conquered another piece of property and is then transferred from the “House of War” (Dar al-Harb) to (Dar al-Salam) “House of Peace.” Muhammad’s vision of the whole world becoming a mosque is another step to closer fulfilment… and to Islam this makes them believe that Muhammad is triumphing over Yeshua (Jesus). No wonder our Lord has warned us thousand’s of years ago… “To be sensible and vigilant as the Devil walks around LIKE a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Yeshua (Jesus) the “Lion of the Tribe of Judah” gave us His Revelation of things to come in our day… we need to be wise to the tactics of Islam and Satan.  We don’t want to become so inspired by Islam’s victories in many countries of the world and even by what is happening today in Europe, America or even on a smaller scale in South Africa… we need to keep in mind what the Word of God tells us and what the Lord says the future holds. Meanwhile a weak, sickly church is NOT a credit to our awesome Saviour Yeshua (Jesus)… the church having lost its vision and voice.

No Muslim can pray in the presence of a cross…! Throughout centuries they have demolished thousands of churches, destroyed crosses and burnt Bibles. Destroying the symbols are one thing but destroying the victory of Yeshua (Jesus) on the cross is another thing… a day is coming when the cross will forever replace the Islamic crescent. Satan knows that no matter how many crosses are destroyed, his doom was sealed when Yeshua died as a sacrifice for us all (Colossians 2:15). Then why are we so weak when our Lord and Saviour so strong? He is the answer to the world’s problems and we have the key! We as believers in Yeshua (Jesus Christ) need to remain faithful to God and take a stand for our faith. All across Europe and UK we are seeing what happens to a church that is in a weakened state… we just cannot take for granted that we are strong and will remain so. We need to fight the good fight of faith! 

The Seven Churches of Revelation… although these messages applied to the experiences of the specific churches they were written to, they are also prophetic of the experiences of the Church through the centuries. Each of the letters also contains admonishments appropriate to God's people in every age. We have concentrated largely on the prophetic aspects of the letters to the churches. John is told, “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter” (Revelation 1:19). This text reveals that John had seen the events described in visions, “which thou hast seen.” It reveals that the visions had application for his time, “the things which are.” And it reveals that the vision had application for the future, “things which shall be hereafter.” This principle is applicable to the letters written to the seven churches. The letters have a then-time and an end-time application. The seven churches to which the letters were addressed were Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. These cities stood along one of the ancient postal Roman roads of that day, and, beginning at Ephesus, would have been visited in the order in which they are named. The distance between each is about 50 kilometres; a full day's journey on foot. The names of the cities are significant in that they convey a spiritual message relevant to the Church as a whole. It is incredible that their names so accurately reflect the history of the Church. It is one of the great evidences for the inspiration of the Word and the omnipotence of God. The letters contain a number of common features that applied to the Church in John's day, but also reflect the Church in prophetic time.

Let’s have a look at the seven churches and see what God is saying…

The letters the Lord wrote warning the seven churches follow a common pattern… For example: the Lord first addresses each church and identifies Himself, then defines things that He knows about the church in question. After this a challenge or reproach is given, followed by a promise. In all seven cases the admonition is included, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches,” however sometimes this comes before the promise and sometimes after. Although the letters differ in length in accord with the needs of each community, all conclude with an appeal to hold fast and to listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Each church is promised that everyone who conquers will be rewarded by Christ. The Lord used the Apostle John to receive the visions of Revelation while exiled on the Isle of Patmos. He was very old, but had total recall of the visions. John wrote his Gospel and his epistles in his old age. The Lord allowed him to write the most dramatic book of the Bible… the Revelation of Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ).

The seven churches described in Revelation 2 - 3 are seven literal churches at the time that John the apostle was writing Revelation. Though they were literal churches in that time, there is also spiritual significance for churches and believers today! The names of the cities are significant in that they convey a spiritual message relevant to the Church as a whole… It is incredible that their names so accurately reflect the history of the Church. It is one of the great evidences for the inspiration of the Word and the omnipotence of God. The letters contain a number of common features that applied to the Church in John's day, but also reflect the Church in prophetic time. Names in ancient times conveyed a message. One of the names given to the Messiah was Emmanuel, conveying the message that God would live among us. In the same way, the names of the seven cities convey a message about the state and nature of the Church from John’s time to the end of time:

Church of Ephesus “Desirable” (Rev. 2:1 – 7)… “the church that had forsaken its first love! (Vs. 4)

Church of Smyrna “Sweet smelling, like Myrrh” (Rev. 2:8 -11)… “the church that would suffer persecution! (Vs. 10)

Church of Pergamum “Elevation” or “Exalted” (Rev. 2:12 – 17)… “the church that needed to repent!” (Vs. 16)

Church of Thyatira “Sacrifice of contrition” or “Sweet saviour of labour” (Rev. 2:18 – 29)… “the church had a false prophetess! (Vs. 20)

Church of Sadis “Renewal” (Rev. 3:1 – 6)... “the church had fallen asleep! (Vs. 2)

Church of Philadelphia “Brotherly love” (Rev. 3:7 – 13)… “the church had endured patiently! (Vs. 10)

Church of Laodicea “Judgment” or “Judging the people” (Rev. 3:14 – 22)… “the church with lukewarm faith! (Vs. 16)

It is time for us to reflect on what we have learned about Islam and the church and ask ourselves this question… “What responsibility did the churches in Asia have in contributing to their own demise? What made them vulnerable in the face of Islamic aggression in their day? Could it be that they had compromised in ways that weakened their ability to withstand the Muslim assault? We ask ourselves personally… if we will do better than they in maintaining our faith and witness of Yeshua (Jesus) if serious persecution were to come our way. By the time Islam came to Asia the churches were most likely weakened by various compromises and moral decline and at times when this happens the weakened church dies because of various compromises made with the world. The church that compromises its values is much more likely to succumb to deception and wilt under persecution… in contrast to a church that is deeply committed to living the Gospel of Yeshua (Jesus) regardless of the cost!  We can see this in the churches of Pergamum who tolerated the Nicolaitans and condoned immorality! The church of Ephesus was literally rich built on streets of marble… had no need yet it did not survive! The churches of Ephesus built next to the Temple of Diana/ Artemis (Acts 19:23 – 41) and Sardis was built right up to a pagan brothel. We have to ask ourselves… what are we tolerating in our day? Has Islam become so familiar in our culture that the West no longer recognizes that the Bible is the only true Word of God, Yahweh?

The churches of Asia Minor had their lights extinguished many centuries ago… what would they tell us today if they could? They would say persecution for Christ is to be expected and that we must remain faithful at all cost! Yeshua was beaten and then nailed to a cross… if we are His followers, then should we expect better treatment? Faithfulness in persecution proves that Christ is more valuable to us than life itself. We see in Matthew 10:28 that if we refuse to speak out because we are afraid, shows that we have built our lives around things that are temporal… not eternal!  Yeshua (Jesus) warned us that we will have persecution and as His followers we are called to remain faithful! The cross is the hinge on which the door of history swings; it is the hub that holds the spokes of God’s purposes together. The Old Testament prophets pointed toward it and the New Testament prophets proclaimed it.  Were those who refused to trample on it winners or losers? In this life certainly they appeared to be losers but are winners in the life to come… and certainly, eternity will reverse many of the verdicts of time and there awaits the crown.

We have no reason to be fearful of Muslims or Islam! Rather we can face the future with optimism because God is sovereign and is in control… And, we are in His Hands and not the hands of Islam and its threats. Israel is an example of this. God’s Hands are upon Israel, and if it had not been so… where would tiny Israel have been today surrounded by hostile Islamic countries seeking her destruction? Israel’s enemies are God’s enemies… and therefore our enemies too. Like Israel we belong to Almighty God… and we are called to stand with and support Israel. God will bless you for it you will see!

God’s Word is true! He IS watching to see how the nations are treating His people… and God will have mercy on Israel through Gentile believers acting as mediators towards them. This is one of the most amazing revelations ever given to the church – an opportunity to do something that carries the highest priority in the heart of God. Yet… sadly, so few have seen the potential and the rewards of serving God in this manner, as agents of mercy to Israel and the Jewish people! Israel was and still is despised today… and a despisable nation continually turning away from God but nothing ever altered the purpose of God for that nation. The despised element is always a noticeable element in the purpose of God. When the Saviour of the world came, He came of that despised nation; like Israel… He Himself was “despised and rejected by men,” …and there is that despised element, “things that are despised God has chosen.” 1 Corinthians 1:28 Now… more than at any time, is the time to support Israel and the Jewish people… the Lord’s Brethren!

We hope that you enjoy and become more informed by our work. We serve an awesome God and we are humbled by this opportunity to bring you this information. With Shalom to you and your family always,

Alf & Julie Saunders

15^th February, 2014

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