Elisha Vision – Commentary

Turquoise water — tan sand — and a tangerine sun! It was without question one of the most beautiful and indescribable sights of my life. Words fail to adequately portray the splendor on that exquisite shore of the timeless Red Sea. My friend, Duane Trochessett, and I had just come from Jerusalem in January 1990. We had participated in the most powerful prayer conference we had ever attended. After speaking to a congregation in Tiberias on Shabbat, Israel’s Sabbath, we traversed Israel from Galilee in the North, to the southernmost Israeli seaport of Elat. This modern city is located at the northern tip of the Red Sea. From there, we endured a rickety Egyptian public bus ride five hours further south through the Sinai Peninsula to a spot near its southernmost point. We lugged a two-man tent with us, which we pitched on a deserted stretch of Red Sea beach, a few miles north of Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.

We heard that the Red Sea had some of the most beautiful coral reefs in the world along these shores and we were not disappointed. We walked up the pristine beach two or three miles, seeing no one else and feeling alone in the world. We then drifted and snorkeled, swimming with the current, back to our tent location among picturesque rocks on the tan beach. The underwater beauty of the Red Sea had never occurred to me before. The Bible does not refer to it, except for Pharaoh’s chariots and army ending up there.

Our greatest sight occurred the next morning at first light. The setting was already surreal; just being in such an exotic location at a time of personal renewal with God. We opened the flap on our eastward facing tent and were stunned with the view. Rising out of the turquoise sea was the largest sun we had ever seen, almost close enough to touch. It was the most incredible shade of color; the closest I can come is tangerine! It was perfectly round as it rose on the horizon, resurrecting out of the water. The lack of pollution in the cloudless blue sky eliminated the sun’s rays, making the stark contrast more amazing between that brilliant reddish-orange sun, the blue sky and the turquoise sea. The only slight comparison I can make, is to the occasional beautiful orange harvest moon I have seen a few times in New England. But this was the sun, a thousand times deeper in that surreal tangerine color, and a million times more radiant! Duane and I worshipped the Creator on that beach in a depth of personal connection with Him unlike any previous experience. We were not worshipping the creation, but the One Who had created. As you read this book, please try to rise above the history and logic of the words to see the God of the Bible, Who is the Faithful God of history.

Modern Israel has risen out of the sea of nations like that tangerine sun. In my opinion, this may be the most important book written on the subject of Israel and the Mid-East in this decade because of the critical message it contains for Christians. The amazing reappearance of Israel as a nation has profound importance regarding the nature of God. He directly links His covenant with Israel to His faithful nature, as seen in all creation:

Thus says Yehovah, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (Yehovah of hosts is His name): “If those ordinances depart From before Me, says Yehovah, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever” Jeremiah 31:36

While I claim no unusual credentials as a theologian in the academic tradition, nevertheless, the proper category for this book certainly is theology. But the style I have chosen in which to present my thesis is admittedly intended for a more popular and widespread readership. I will leave the subsequent debate over the finer points to others.

However, the theological issue is clear. The nature of God’s faithfulness, as a theological tenet, is being seriously undermined by Western Christian “pop theology” that divorces Christianity from its Jewish roots. But even more seriously, it divorces God from His own character. If God lied or changed His mind about His unconditional promises to Israel, then there would be no basis left to believe His covenant to Christians. God is either a covenant keeper or a covenant breaker. It cannot be both ways.

Hear the word of Yehovah, O nations, And declare it in the isles afar off, and say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him, And keep him as a shepherd does his flock.” Jeremiah 31:10

You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, Nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; But you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; For Yehovah delights in you, and your land shall be married. Isaiah 62:4

(The preceding is a passage from my new Kindle book, Speak to the Dirt! God has had some mighty unusual assignments for His prophets. Ezekiel was one who was told to “speak to the dirt” by travelling around Israel 2500 years ago to tell the mountains, hills, valleys and streams of Yehovah’s faithfull promise of future restoration, not only of the people of Israel, but of the geographical land itself. I have been re-writing and updating my first book, Prophesy to the Land! I hope to make the Kindle version available this month. Please pray for the project and stay tuned.)

Les Lawrence, Voice of Christian Zionists              (Read more)