Weekly Update | Coronavirus: What is Go-d teaching us?

The Coronavirus continues to dominate our lives. This week we received a beautiful letter from Rabbi Shmuel Aharon Brodman, Chief Rabbi of Munich, Bavaria, and leader of the Savyon Centre in Israel, that we have supported for many years. You can read the letter in full below. What struck me most, is the following thought:

“Everyone should think carefully about what he needs to improve in his own behavior, what he could improve. When we do this we show that we have understood the wake-up-call from Go-d.” 

It’s maybe no coincidence this crisis is occurring in the 40-day period before Easter. In these days, we reflect on Jesus’ fasting and praying in the desert, tempted by the devil (Luke 4:1-13). He had no-one to rely on except His heavenly Father. The forty days refers back to the 40 years the Israelites spent in the desert before they could enter the Promised Land. They were also dependent on their Father.

This crisis is teaching us we are 100% dependent on our Father. We are still in the desert, waiting the true heavenly Promised Land: the Kingdom of heaven, that will come when Jesus returns. Our calling is a heavenly calling; we are to be looking for and expecting our Saviour to return, who will transform our earthy bodies into the likeness of His resurrection body (Philippians 3:20-21).

In addition to prayers for ourselves and our nations, let us pray especially at this time for the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. May the Lord protect all who live in the land – Jew and Gentile – and use this crisis to reveal His glory in and through them as He continues to bring the Jewish people home.

‘Hasten, O God, to save me; come quickly, Lord, to help me’ (Psalm 70).

Shabbat shalom,

Andrew Tucker
Editor-in-Chief – Israel & Christians Today

The corona epidemic – messages from our Jewish friends

Rabbi Shmuel Aharon Brodman writes: To my dear friends of Christians for Israel,
Everyone recognizes that this period is special. After all, there is hardly any person in the world whose lives have not changed in some way because of the corona epidemic. The results of this medical crisis are still unknown, and so the fight against the virus is being waged in various forms.
Read more..

Benjamin Philip, founder of Hineni in Jerusalem, reports that it has become extremely difficult to help the poor in Jerusalem. “Dear friends of Christians for Israel, The situation in Israel has become very difficult as a result of the necessary measures the Israeli government took against the COVID-19 virus.”
Read more..

On Tuesday 17th March, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks was interviewed by Emily Maitlis on BBC Newsnight about how the themes of his new book Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times* relate to the current Coronavirus situation.
Read more..

Israeli elections – latest developments 

JPost reports: The High Court of Justice late Monday night 16th March rejected a petition to block Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from eligibility to form a new government in light of the bribery indictment he faces.The three justice panel of Alex Stein, Noam Sohlberg and Uzi Vogelman rejected the petition based on the fact that at this time President Reuven Rivlin has given Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz the mandate to form a new government.
Read more..

Times of Israel reports: The Israel Democracy Institute has sent an urgent letter to Yuli Edelstein blasting the Knesset speaker for shuttering parliament in the backdrop of the coronavirus outbreak and disagreements with the Blue and White faction over the formation of parliamentary committees.
Read more..

How can Anti-Zionism be the new antisemitism?

Watch this illuminating video by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of England.

“Focus on the future” – Video teachings by Rev. Willem J.J. Glashouwer 

Rev. Willem Glashouwer helps us understand God’s prophetic word, and how prophecy is being fulfilled in our generation.

Volume 3 episode 8:
When you look at the future the Bible speaks very clearly about the end times. And part of the end times is also about the coming of what the Bible calls: “antichrist”. The word antichrist has two parts. The word anti and Christ. Anti in Greek means “instead of”, “in the place of”. So antichrist means “a christ” instead of Christ. “A Christ” in the place of Christ.

“Journey to Egypt” – Video teaching by Johannes Gerloff 

Episode 17 in the series of teachings by Israeli-based Bible teacher and journalist Johannes Gerloff:

Was it a sin that Abram left the Promised Land because of economic hardship? Did he betray his wife by exposing her to the lust of a foreign sovereign?