“After two days He will bring us to life; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight” (Hosea 6:2 MKJV).
In the year 2006, on the Sabbath, December 23, at 10 AM, we raised the Israeli flag at Harvest Haven Market Farm. Twelve were in attendance. They were Paul Cohen, Sara Schmidt, Lois Benson, Trevor Benson, Mark and Mariko Benson, Dena Dahl, Ingrid Nicolay (now Benson), Sean Fife, and Jonathan, Marilyn and Victor Hafichuk. The words spoken in prayer were, in essence, “As we raise the flag of Israel, so shall we raise up the nation of Israel.” There was great thankfulness.
We raise the Star of David at our farm as a token of solidarity with Israel.
Through a recent series of fast-paced and remarkable coincidences, we were suddenly propelled on to the world scene of politics and conflict focusing on the Middle East, and, more specifically, Israel. While we in Christ (Yeshuah HaMashiach) have been fighting spiritual warfare for decades, we have not been personally involved in a manifest way with physical Israel (except when I met Paul in Israel, the Lord having sent me in 1979). Now we are. We have decided to raise the Star of David at our farm as a token of solidarity with Israel. Read The Star of David: A Better Perspective.
The sad thing prevailing throughout the world is the wilful ignorance of the facts, historical and otherwise, concerning the conflict between Israel and the Arabs and Palestinians. The facts are available. The problem, however, is not the lack of a well-documented history or the capacity to comprehend it; the problem is that men’s hearts are at enmity with their Creator, the God of Israel. The world sits by and watches injustice, believing lies, in the name of Christianity and any other name convenient, while Israel and Jews stand alone.
What the world does not know is that it is under God’s judgment through Israel. All are being confronted with a decision. Israel is God’s chosen nation, the “people of the Book,” as the Koran calls them, and the “beloved for the fathers’ sakes,” as the New Testament calls them. Those in neutrality or choosing against Israel will be found to be at enmity with God.
We stand with Israel, as led by the Spirit of Yeshuah, its unrecognized Messiah.
The same goes for countries as well as people. I am so thankful to see the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, and his government standing for truth and justice concerning Israel. We also stand with Israel, as led by the Spirit of Yeshuah HaMashiach, its unrecognized Messiah, Who is coming for them.
I received that the physical Jew represents the body, while the spiritual Jew represents the spirit. We are the spirit of Christ, knowing Him, and Israel is the body. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon said:
“Then the dust shall return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God Who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7 MKJV).
There are two elements here, physical and spiritual. Is the physical element, the nation of Israel, cast off forever? Not at all! As it is written:
“I ask, however, Have they stumbled so as to be finally ruined? No, indeed; but by their lapse salvation has come to the nations in order to arouse the jealousy of the descendants of Israel; and if their lapse is the enriching of the world, and their overthrow the enriching of the nations, will not still greater good follow their restoration? But to you Gentiles I say that, since I am an Apostle specially sent to the nations, I take pride in my ministry, trying whether I can succeed in rousing my own countrymen to jealousy and thus save some of them. For if their having been cast aside has carried with it the reconciliation of the world, what will their being accepted again be but Life out of death?” (Romans 11:11-15).
As Jesus Christ/Yehoshuah HaMashiach is known as the Son of God, so the nation of Israel is known as God’s son (Hosea 1:1). As God’s Son was planted to bring forth fruit, so was Israel planted to do the same. As God raised His body from the dead by His Spirit, so we in the Spirit of Christ must raise up physical Israel.
No power can withstand the resurrection of Israel to new life.
We stand for Israel, to reconcile it unto God, regardless of the enmity Jews have towards us and the enmity they falsely perceive coming from us because of their experiences with false Christians throughout history and to this present day. We stand with them as unto the God of Israel, the Messiah, by His resurrection power:
“For He Himself is our peace, Who has made both one, and Who destroyed the dividing wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, putting to death the enmity in Himself” (Ephesians 2:14-16 EMTV).
As these words are now fulfilled in us, God reconciling flesh and spirit, so will they be fulfilled for us with Israel. Nothing could prevent the resurrection of Jesus Christ, not the Sanhedrin, not the Pharisees, not Rome, and no power can withstand the resurrection of Israel to new life:
“Having stripped rulers and authorities, He made a show of them publicly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15 MKJV).
God sowed, or laid down the body, Israel, in the earth, that the seed might not remain alone, but that it might bring forth much fruit. We, begotten of the Messiah, are that new fruit. Israel has been waiting for its Messiah because it (Israel in the flesh) has been in the grave. We, in His Spirit, now speak to the body and raise it from the dead to newness of life. Spirit and body are to be joined together in resurrection power. The body cannot raise itself up, being dead. Those who criticize the physical Jew for not believing criticize his Maker, his Maker’s laws, and all of nature.
Therefore, when Christians say that the Messiah has come for the Jews, and the Jews deny that He has come for them, ironically, those Christians are wrong and the Jews are right. While He has come for those to whom He has given His Spirit, He has not come for those who are still in the grave. Until He does come for them, by us, they will not know that He has come, and once He has come, they will not look for another according to their thinking in their death, which death has been for our sakes.
Redemption begins as I forgive my wife, which I publicly declared on December 23, 2006, to everyone at the farm. As Israel has been to its God, so my wife has been to me. While she has openly confessed other gods, and has been unable to redeem herself, I have publicly forgiven her, and now she is redeemed by the power of God.
“I am hurting! I am hurting!” says the God of Israel, Yeshuah HaMashiach, because His people are hurting, and He has come down to save them. God save Israel, His people. Raise them up from the dead for the world to see Your glory, even as we raise up the Star of David, the flag of Israel, to the sky.
Victor Hafichuk
Paul Beiler, a carpentry craftsman in Pennsylvania sent us a finely crafted board formed as a flag with the “Star of David” design. He understood that we supported using the symbol as we flew the Israeli flag at our Harvest Haven farm in solidarity with Israel, as mentioned in this article. We thankfully received it.
However, there has been some controversy because the symbol is identified with the Star of Remphan, a heathen deity as mentioned in the Book of Acts.
Despite the arguments I’ve given in support of the innocent and meaningful use of the flag to glorify God and His creation, justified or otherwise, I’ve decided to destroy Paul’s gift and answer Paul’s subsequent question:
“Is there anything on this TPOT article (The Star of David – The Path of Truth) that you would put differently today?“
I’ll answer with these words from the apostle Paul:
13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.
14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.
15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.
16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil.
17 For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.
19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and mutual upbuilding.
20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.
21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.
22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.
23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin (Romans 14:13-23 ESV)
And: “Therefore, if meat makes my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world stands, lest I make my brother to offend” (1 Corinthians 8:13 ESV).
Comments and questions?
Victor
Nicholas Carpenter said:
I wonder if you’d stop flying the flag as well. I think the difference between flying Israel’s flag and the board is that the flag is an obvious and undeniable statement of solidarity while the board seems to be a more casual thing that could be easily misinterpreted.
In other words, we don’t need and shouldn’t have fancy stuff that risk being spiritually problematic.
Victor replied:
By Martin’s will, we haven’t been flying the flag for years now.
Martin answered:
Hello!
Victor and I have both talked about the “Star of David” actually being the Star of Remphan on several occasions over the years, wondering what to think or do about it.
Amos 5:26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
Acts 7:43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
I had just finished reading the Scripture in Amos condemning the Star of Remphan the morning before visiting you. That night, I was subject to all kind of thought wanderings, as is often the case. For some reason, I felt very strongly that I needed to tell you that I believed the board needed to be burned.
You had always been up in the air about it, not having a conviction one way or the other. I had also been undecided. UNTIL that night before I visited you, when I was overwhelmed by the conviction to destroy it. It felt like I needed to drive out to your place immediately and make it happen. It was a very passionate experience.
It felt like I needed to share my conviction with you, immediately, or I’d be guilty of withholding a message from God. I wrestled with it, because my thoughts in the night can be so strong, aimless, and unstable.
The troubling was like this. I thought, “if I tell Victor what I think, it will only trouble him. If he agrees with me, he’ll be troubled, wondering if he is just being persuaded by man. If he doesn’t agree, he’ll wonder if he’s ignoring a message from God.”
I knew that I was obligated to deliver a message from the Lord regardless of how Victor would react, and yet, isn’t part of submission to Victor considering my expression and how it affects him? Was I even hearing from the Lord, or was I just half asleep and delusional?
It was a great turmoil, and then after what seemed an hour or more of conflict in the half-sleeping state, I finally committed myself to saying nothing. I came to believe that if it was the Lord turning my heart to destroy the board, that He would give that same conviction to Victor, independently. With that belief, I fell asleep immediately. When I awoke, it all seemed so far away again. I thought, “What was that all about? Why was I so troubled?” I didn’t seem so big anymore, and I stuck with my conviction to remain silent until the Lord gave a witness.
Then, that very day, at the end of our visit, moments before heading home with some odds and ends you were parting with, you said, “I’ve got one more thing for you to get rid of for me,” and you gave me instruction to destroy the Star of David that Paul Beiler had crafted for you.
I laughed, marveling at how quickly the Lord confirmed my conclusion. I wasn’t surprised. It was very much the same amused joy I experienced when I red your writings for the first time. It was more like an “of course it would happen this way and even the very next day” sort of reaction.
As for not flying the flag here at the farm, it was mostly the logistics of it that prevented me from doing it. Not any kind of conviction. We were very busy in the early years and flying the flag didn’t just require putting it up and then down at the end of the day. It required constant attention in case the wind came up strong, because it would tear the flag to pieces with our strong winds.
Sean had been responsible for it, though he wasn’t very responsible. He often left it up in the wind out of neglect. After Sean left, it was impossible for me or James to be running back every time it got windy, so I stopped flying it. Years later, when the guys came to live here, they gave a shot at taking care of it. It went up one or twice before a strong wind came up out of nowhere and tore it to shreds. It was a fairly worn out flag and it didn’t take much. None of us had the conviction to source and fly a new flag.
It wasn’t my conviction or will for any length of time to get rid of the Star of Remphan. I had only ever wondered about it, as you had. It had only been my resolute conviction for about 18 hours before you told me to destroy it.
Clearly, the Lord arranged the circumstance, including giving Paul to create such a fine piece of craftsmanship. It’s all appointed, timed, and very significant.
I don’t believe this event is about being fearful of “pagan imagery” and putting away a star, which is just a geometrical object. This is about the pagan nation of Israel. This is about Israel being judged and cleansed. This is about Israel identifying with her Redeemer instead of her defiler.
The old thing must make way for the New!
