By James Wilson
Three
events converge the first week of March.
March 3 finds Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressing both
houses of the United States Congress, making his case against Israel’s
threatened annihilation. March 5 the
ancient Jewish Feast of Purim celebrates the deliverance of Israel’s people from
their intended destruction at the hands of a Persian (Iranian) official named
Haman. Between these two occasions
stands March 4 – the Fast of Esther.
Esther,
whose Hebrew name is Hadassah, is married to King Xerxes, ruler of the Persian
Empire in the Fifth Century BC and known to moderns as Ahaseurus. When her Uncle Mordecai gets wind of Haman’s planned
mass murder he begs his niece to intervene with her husband. Going to the king unsummoned risks execution,
yet Mordecai insists only she can save her people. He says, “You were born for such a time as
this.”
Esther agrees to
seek a meeting with the king; meanwhile those of her people who know danger
fast three days in repentance and prayer for her protection and for forgiveness
of their national sin of persistent idolatry.
Every one of them understands it is sin that landed them in exile and
placed them at the mercy of men like Haman.
Their repentance is what we call identificational repentance; each prays
not solely for self but on behalf of all their people. They identify with their people.
Christians and Jews who stand with Israel are
invited – exhorted – to spend a portion of March 4 in repentance and prayer for
Israel. The fast is organized by the
National Day of Repentance and many ministries are partnering. No rules are laid upon anyone in terms of how
long or how sacrificially the fasting and praying ought to be. A fast is virtually anything we let go for
the sake of God and a prayer is whatever we offer in terms of conversation with
Him.
The
concept of identificational repentance is a bit more complex. It is imperative – for one thing – that we
not make the mistake of imagining ourselves as the sinless ones stooping down
from on high to bless a people less virtuous.
Is Israel sinless? Of course
not. She is one of the most secularized
nations on the planet with rampant pornography and abortion industries, large
scale drug abuse and families torn apart by divorce. Are we any better here in the States? Is the American Church any better? The point of repentance for them is repentance with
them. As we go before God on behalf of
our Israeli brothers and sisters we confess our own sins and ask forgiveness as
we beg God’s intervention in their lives and ours. We would not dare speak on their behalf if we
failed to note we are in the same boat.
Not if we take the message in Romans 3 and 1 Corinthians 6 seriously
that all have fallen short and no one is fit to pass judgment.
Israel
and her people are the Chosen ones of God.
When we choose them we choose their God.
When we humble ourselves we permit Him to perfect His strength in our
weakness.
Another
imperative is humility in prayer. Some
Christians think their highest and best use is to imperiously order the devil
to leave their friends alone – as though we Christians ourselves are the
biggest bad boys in the valley of the shadow.
The biblical approach is outlined in 2 Chronicles 7:14. We are called to humble ourselves, pray, seek
God’s face, and turn from our wicked – read stubbornly inadequate – ways if we
would find forgiveness and healing. We
cannot stand and point fingers at the same time we kneel with folded hands.
A
last imperative is to recognize the power of repentance. When the steam ship Titanic was sunk by an
iceberg in 1912 she was attempting to set a new speed record between England
and New York. Her captain was so
arrogantly confident in her unsinkability he deliberately set his course
through the ice field as the shortest distance between two points. While the ship began to sink – after the
iceberg tore her hull – the crew got a wireless message through to the
Carpathia, hove to about sixty miles away.
Her captain knelt on the deck, confessed his unworthiness to demand
anything of God, and begged His protection as he too set off through the
icefield at flank speed to the rescue.
The Carpathia was unscathed as she presented the vulnerability of a
servant heart. It is when we submit to
God in our weakness that He always perfects His strength. This is as true when we defend the Alamo –
cornered and outnumbered – as it is when we beg God to heal His little ones.
Whatever
any of us choose to do March 4 on behalf of Israel and the Kingdom of God, if
it is offered in humility and service we will discover that Israel is indeed
numbered among His little ones – and so are we. We were born for such a time as this.
James A. Wilson is the author of Living
As Ambassadors of Relationships and The
Holy Spirit and the End Times – available at local bookstores or by
e-mailing him at
praynorthstate@charter.net
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