Border Control

“And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done” (Daniel 11:36).

The epitome of narcissism is described in the above Scripture. It is he who wishes to be equal to or even replace God the Creator. The prophet Isaiah describes his desire: “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:14). Who is he? It is Lucifer. In the New Testament he is called the great dragon, the old serpent, the devil, and Satan.  

The center of his activity is God’s chosen land, Israel. The land we so dearly love; the land wherein the patriarchs dwelt—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; from which the prophets came and proclaimed God’s message. 

But, above and beyond all, it is the land where God was revealed in the flesh; whose coming to Israel was prophesied long ago. His work is documented in the four Gospels and Acts in the New Testament. It is a land incomparable to any other country on earth. As a matter of fact, the Bible makes this devastating statement about all the nations: “All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity” (Isaiah 40:17). That is enough reason for us not to unnecessarily worry about what’s happening on planet earth, what transpires among the nations. The entirety of human history is placed in this category, “less than nothing.”

Yet, Israel stands out. She is different; she is unique; she is called a holy nation and her land, the Holy Land. But at the same time, she is also referred to as the most abominable. It is this Mystery Babylon which has attempted—and still does today—to create its own self-made god. The prophet Ezekiel exposes Jerusalem with these words: “As I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:48-49).

It is sad for us to realize that Jesus said to the Jews in the land of Israel: “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” (John 5:43). However, after judgment comes salvation.

Reading Hosea chapter 2, one notices that the words “I will” appear 23 times. The first 13 verses expose Israel’s horrible sin of idolatry. But then, beginning in verse 14, the “I will” is directed to His people Israel in the spirit of compassion, as evident in the last verse: “And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God” (verse 23).

Israel Today
It has been over 11 years since this writer visited Israel. Thus, the yearning to return to the land was fulfilled during the month of October last year. From our small group of staff and board members, there were several who had never been to the Holy Land. We carefully instructed them on how to answer the immigration and security authorities when entering the land. From the multiple times we have traveled to Israel, we have gathered much experience, which we could authoritatively pass on to those members of our group who were traveling to the Promised Land for the first time.

Before we entered the area of passport control, we noticed a number of kiosks where travelers would scan their passport. Not knowing the procedure, we continued but were stopped at a gate, where an officer asked to see our visa. Thus, we returned to these machines and dutifully scanned our passport, after which the machine issued a visa the size of a driver’s license. 

That was all; with our passport and visa in hand, we quickly went through passport control without a hitch. Quite naturally, the scanning apparatus not only scanned and recorded the passport details, but also took our picture; thus, documenting that the person entering Israel is exactly the same as the one described in the passport. Doubtless, every traveler’s details were also automatically checked against Israeli and international databases, and flagged if there was anything suspicious. Welcome to the technological age of computers!

One must mention that on the return trip from Israel to Charlotte, NC, we waited no less than one hour and 33 minutes for the American immigration officers to compare our passport picture with the traveler.

Ebenezer Senior Citizens’ Home
After having read so much about the Ebenezer Home, it was a joy to see the excellent work being done in favor of the aged believers in Jesus, some of them Holocaust survivors. They are being taken care of in a spirit of love, compassion, and quite often with extended patience. The atmosphere, filled with the Spirit of Christ, was almost tangible.

Bethesda Assembly
On the Sabbath, we were invited to attend services at the local Bethesda Messianic Assembly. The entire service was impressive and spiritually uplifting. While all held in Hebrew, we were able join in on some of the old hymns in English. The message was extraordinary, with excellent headset translation. What was most notable was the volume of young people, which cannot be said of many of our churches in North America. Dual event youth groups have to meet at the Beth Shalom facilities not too far away. Indeed, we were abundantly blessed by being guests at the Bethesda Assembly.

Ebenezer/Action for Israel
Some have asked about the allocation of funds. For Ebenezer, 100% of funds received through Midnight Call Ministries is transferred to the Ebenezer Senior Citizens’ Home.

Action for Israel is administered by Fredi and Beate Winkler, who are the directors of Beth Shalom. They in turn prayerfully allocate funds where needed most in Haifa and the rest of Israel.

Thank you for praying and for your support of Israel, especially now for His Church in His land—particularly for the ever-growing number of young Israelis finding the fulfillment, “Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.”

Midnight Call - 01/2023