OUR NATION, ISRAEL, AND TEACHERS
Tuesday – January 3, 2017
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ from The Three Minute Word Publication and Eastern Gate Ministries International. Oh, it is a good day in the eyes of the Lord and in my eyes. It is Tuesday and the day that I remind us all to pray for these United States of America, the various governmental layers of this Republican form of government, and especially for the persons of this new and forming administration as well as our new President, Donald J. Trump. If we, the Church will stand strong, refuse to waver in our focus on Jesus, not look to the right or the left in the times of upheaval that are necessary to return America to right standing with God then America again as His Covenant nation will be His instrument in the earth.
I am led of the Lord to take a moment and speak of something that is of great importance to the Church and to our nation as a whole. On the 23rd of December the United Nations Security Council voted on Resolution 2334 which in a nutshell condemns Israeli settlements in what it calls “Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including East-Jerusalem”. Ironically the Jewish Quarter is located in East-Jerusalem. We otherwise hear of this area of Israel as the “West Bank and Samaria”. This area is
legally part of Israel as a result of the 1967 war in which Israel was invaded by its neighbors. The United States has repeatedly indicated that it opposes the Jewish settlements in the “occupied” territories (West Bank [Jordan River] and Samaria) for it hinders a peace treaty with the Arabs (Palestinians) for a two-state solution. Fourteen of the fifteen permanent and Non-permanent members of the Security Council voted to approve this resolution and the United States abstained. The world and now the United States has entered into actions to isolate Israel and call into question Israel’s claim to the land which they have occupied for millennia, given them by God, and acquired legally in a defensive war. There are already groups who are boycotting products produced in the “West Bank and Samaria” and this promotes these economic actions. I have placed three maps above. The top map is how we generally see it on TV with the “West Bank and Samaria” in a 
different color like it is a different country (which it is not) and the Golan Heights also a spoil of the defensive 1967 (six day war) war. The middle map is Israel as it exits legally today. The third and bottom map is of the Middle East today, consider these maps as you meditate the verses below.
Genesis 12:1-3 (KJV)
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Bold added by Dr. Wood)
This resolution is not a blessing for Israel but a cursing.
Deuteronomy 11:23-24 (KJV)
23 Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.
24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.
As you look at the bottom map and consider the preceding verses you can see that God gave Israel from the Mediterranean (uttermost sea) to the Nile of Egypt (the river), to the river Euphrates in eastern Iraq (including the Arabian Peninsula) back to the Mediterranean enveloping Lebanon. The “Two-State” solution is an abomination in the sight of God and is a demonically hatched conspiracy to destroy Israel and the Jewish people.
Joel 3:1-3 (KJV)
1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. (Bold added)
3 And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
God will judge, there will be justice for Israel, the first covenant people with God. If you take the time to review the preceding Scripture this gathering in the valley of Jehoshaphat does not end well for those gathered. Anyone who seeks to divide or in fact divides Israel is under a curse and there will be a judgment and justice. We must forgive those responsible, ask God to be merciful to them as they need Him as badly as we did, and ask Him as we repent for our leadership and nation to be merciful to these United States.
I will now return to our Bible Study from the Book of Ephesians.
Ephesians 4:10-12 (KJV)
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
As last year was drawing to a close I was teaching about the Five-Fold Ministry gifts of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher. Perhaps the Church or Denomination of which you are a part does not believe that these gifts are still active in the Church. If that is the case I would encourage you to settle in your heart, your thinking, that you will place the Word of God above all else. Once each of us have settled in our thinking that the Word of God is above our Denominational Doctrine, above the Pope, above the Wesley brothers, above Luther, above our favorite Commentary, and so on then let us just meditate on this passage concerning the gifts Jesus gave to the body of Christ.
Certain people in the body of Christ have been appointed, and gifted by God to help the saints to mature, and step into their unique and special call in the Kingdom of God. The body of Christ is thereby strengthened, built up, and made more visible and attractive. The body of Christ remains in the earth and will remain in the earth as such until He, Jesus, catches us away at the command of the Father these gifts exist and continue to function. I don’t think we can deny that each of us need to mature further and for the most part the body of Christ is immature and in defeat, routed by the enemy. However let me remind you a new day has sprung, the Lord has heard the cry of His people however pathetic it was, He loves us, knows our hearts, and fortunately cuts us a lot of slack. He is able to do that because He does know the ignorance and hardness of our hearts. We have a space of time for repentance and find out and practice the real good news, the gospel. And if we are honest with ourselves almost no work of the ministry is being done, it is shameful and we are all in need of repentance and I am among those repenting. The Five-Fold Ministry is desperately needed as is rightly dividing the Word of God.
So far I have discussed the ministry of the Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, and Pastor leaving that of the Teacher. I have shared with you in the past how the Lord has taught me that it is important in the study of Scripture to consider the gender and number of various words, since it can enrich our understanding. Each one of these gifts that Jesus has given to the body of Christ are of the masculine gender and are pleural. Each of these gifts in action can sow seed (Word of God) into individual members of the body of Christ and they in turn are productive for the Kingdom of God. When we look at the twelfth verse of our text and the phrase, “the work of the ministry” the word ‘ministry’ is feminine singular and therefore it, ministry, is what brings the increase in the Kingdom of God. So, the Word of God sowed into the saints bringing maturity in those who choose to mature, enhancing their individual ministry bringing about growth for the overall body, advancing the Kingdom of God.
As I finish with this specific discussion of the Five-Fold Ministry gifts let’s focus in on the Teacher. Jesus was frequently referred to as ‘Teacher’ and when He was referred to as ‘Master’ it was the same Greek word. I suspect that we all have at least an intuitive understanding of who or what a teacher is since, hopefully, we have all been to school and received instruction from a teacher. A teacher presents a body or point of knowledge and how that interfaces with other knowledge and the application of that information to our lives, jobs, or the world around us. To give just a little more insight synonyms for the word ‘teacher’ include: educator, tutor, instructor, coach, trainer, lecturer, professor, governess, educationalist, and schoolteacher.
Ephesians 4:11-12 (KJV)
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
