Elisha Vision – Commentary

The Gaza war casts a dark shadow over the land of Israel today, but we must insist that God views it differently. What does He see? How does today’s war move the arrow toward the promised purpose for the promised land? Consider the amazing prophecy about Mark Twain in the book of Deuteronomy.

“…so that the coming generation of your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, would say, when they see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses which Yehovah has laid on it: ‘The whole land is brimstone, salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor does any grass grow there, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which Yehovah overthrew in His anger and His wrath.’ All nations would say, ‘Why has Yehovah done so to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?’”  Deuteronomy 29:22-24

Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens) visited Israel (then called Palestine) in September of 1867. The Hebrew meaning of the name “Samuel Clemens” is: “God has heard and has been merciful.” His remarkable description of the desolation of the land is recorded in his famous book, Innocents Abroad.

“Mark Twain, who visited the land of Israel in 1867 (referred to as Palestine at the time), described Israel as a “…desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds—a silent mournful expanse… We never saw a human being on the whole route… There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.”  

“Half a century after Twain’s visit, the Balfour Declaration was issued in 1917. Fifty years later the Six Day War was won. And today, in 2017 – 50 years after that – Israel continues to flourish, moving in leaps and bounds away from Twain’s “sackcloth and ashes.”  Jerusalem Post

I conclude that Mark Twain’s visit in a Jubilee Year was the exact fulfillment of Deuteronomy 29. Seeing these events connected each 50 year cycle reveals the larger picture of Yehovah’s predetermined plan of restoration for Israel. He needed a witness to the whole world of the devastation so His miraculous healing of the land would shine in contrast. The glory of God can now be seen. Yes, there are terrible events such as the Gaza war along the path. But the greater glory is relentlessly unfolding as Yehovah keeps His word of the SET TIME of His favor and blessing. The Messiah Yeshua will only come in the restoration:

“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.”  Acts 3:19-21

Pray for the peace and restoration of Jerusalem and abundant rains.

Les Lawrence, a voice of Christian Zionists                (Read more)