Ein Gedi nature reserve (Shutterstock.com)

It is unlikely that the Baptist pastor, Luke Moon, or rabbi Elie Mischel, will ever see this. Christian relatives, brothers and sisters I personally know who are in the faith of our Lord Jesus Chrst don’t subscribe or read what is published here, unless I happen to select something specific and send them a link in an email.

That doesn’t stop me. I don’t do this for them or any person or people on this earth. I do it for the LORD and leave it to Him as to anyone finding this place and being moved to open and read something [yes, I made sure ACP is on Facebook and X, and I need to add other platforms, I know, and I will — I’m pondering having A Crooked Path totally redesigned and upgraded], that written though, I must add this preface to he following, wherein rabbi Mischel writes a reply to what his Christian friend said; “I’ve got to show this to my Jewish friends in New York. You guys pray for the ingathering of the exiles every day! You now have a State of Israel, and all Jews can move there and fulfill the words of this prayer. What are you still doing in New York?”

And rabbi Mischel ponders and asks why this is, that his Baptist friend nailed it, or called the bluff of the Jewish people in rabbi Mischel’s words.

The answer, my friends, who are here, is very simple. Very clear.

Cease thinking of everything in the extremely limited, finite, here and now fleshly wisdom manner and begin to try, at least try, to examine, ponder, think, and believe things according to God’s wisdom and God’s plan. In His time, His will be done. Not ours.

Jewish people are making aliyah. Aliyah, the moving of Jewish people from the four corners of the world to Israel to settle and live. These numbers fluctuate but have been increasing for years.

Here’s the thing — everything — EVERYTHING — according to God’s will. Not ours. Not our desires. Not our questioning God as to why this, why that? How about why aren’t we all who profess to have His Son, the LORD Jesus Christ, as our Salvation, our Redeemer, our Friend, asking ourselves and those we know why we all aren’t spending more studied, diligent, prayerful time in God’s Word? More time with eyes, hearts, minds, spirits, and souls focused within God’s Word and less on FOX News, or every other pursuit — rather than continuing to further pursue the LORD, which is accomplished through His Word and knowing it. Asking why it is we aren’t more trusting of God and less demanding of Him as we act at times, many times, like spoilt children rather than faithful, obedient ones?

The answer to Luke Moon’s question and rabbi Mischel’s response is very clear, very easy to answer. When it is God’s will, His people will be moved to leave where they are and to go to Israel.

God’s inerrant, infallible, unchangeable, eternal living and active Word tells us clearly, plainly that the Jews will return from the four corners of the earth to Israel. In God’s time. According to His will and wisdom. When the time is right. Just as it was when they were released from bondage in Egypt, just as it was when they no longer wandered in the wilderness and entered the Promsed Land, just as it was when He came to earth to them first, but they rejected Him, denied Him, and remained with scales upon their eyes and darkness withing their hearts towards THE MESSIAH, Jesus, Yeshua, Yeshua Hamashiach.

This massive and major influx of aliyah will likely occur just prior to the Rapture of the Church, or very swiftly thereafter.

All according to God’s will. Not ours. His understanding and wisdom. Not ours. His ways. Not ours. His mind. Not ours.

We need to not only understand but implement this understanding in every aspect of our lives. Each day. Each night. All the day and night long.

Read on…

Ken Pullen, Friday, March 28th, 2025

Ten Minutes in Synagogue: A Baptist Pastor Calls Our Bluff

March 28, 2025

By Rabbi Elie Mischel

Reprinted from The Israel Bible in association with Israel 365 News

Last November, my Christian friend Reverend Luke Moon joined me in Efrat for Shabbat. On Friday evening we sat together in the synagogue for the afternoon prayer. When we finished, Luke pointed to a blessing in the siddur, the Jewish prayer book: “Sound the great shofar for our freedom and raise a banner to gather our exiles and unite us together from the four corners of the earth. Blessed are You, Hashem, Who regathers the scattered of His people Israel.” He said – “I’ve got to show this to my Jewish friends in New York. You guys pray for the ingathering of the exiles every day! You now have a State of Israel, and all Jews can move there and fulfill the words of this prayer. What are you still doing in New York?”

In just ten minutes of synagogue attendance, Luke had zeroed in on one of the Jewish people’s most glaring contradictions. For two millennia, Jews have prayed daily to return to Israel. Now that this ancient prayer can be fulfilled with a simple plane ticket, millions of Jews still choose to remain in exile. The disconnect between our prayers and our actions demands explanation.

This paradox is not new.

In the 12th century, Rabbi Judah HaLevi penned The Kuzari, a masterwork that takes the form of a dialogue between a Jewish rabbi and the king of the Khazar kingdom. Through their exchanges, the king challenges the rabbi with penetrating questions about Jewish faith and practice.

The Khazar king’s rebuke of the Jewish people’s relationship to the Land of Israel still stings today (The Kuzari 2:23): “You are shirking the duty imposed by your Torah. You have not made the Land of Israel your goal, nor your place of living and dying. Your knee bending and bowing toward Israel is mere flattery, an empty custom.”

The rabbi’s response is shocking in its candor (The Kuzari 2:24): “You have shamed me, King of Khazaria. When we recite ‘Bow down to His footstool,’ and ‘Blessed are You Who returns His Shechina (Divine Presence) to Zion,’ we are like birds chirping meaningless sounds. We do not even think about the words as we say them.”

This tension between prayer and action reaches back to the very birth of the Jewish nation. The Israelites stood at the shore of the Reed Sea, trapped between the advancing Egyptian army and the impassable waters. In this moment of supreme crisis, Moses turned to prayer:

God’s response was unexpected – instead of accepting Moses’s prayers, He demanded action.

What had Moses done wrong? The Sages explain (Mechilta D’Rabbi Yishmael Beshalach 4:26) that the Lord turned to Moses and demanded: “My children are in trouble—the sea rages before them, the enemy pursues behind them—and you stand here praying?”

“But what can I do?” Moses replied.

“Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea!” God commanded.

In this moment of crisis, God taught Moses when to pray and when to act. Even Moses, who spoke to God face to face, had to learn when to stop praying and start acting.

This balance of prayer and action runs through Jewish thought. Consider King David’s words:

Notice the verse’s two verbs: “asking” (she’eilah) and “seeking” (bakasha). Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal teaches that asking is prayer—the heart’s plea before God. But seeking is action—the physical pursuit of what we desire. David knew that his yearning for closeness to God required both prayer and concrete steps (Eim Habanim Semeicha, Chapter 2)

We see this approach throughout Scripture. The beloved in Song of Songs declares:

She doesn’t just pray for reunion—she searches every corner of the city. When the Psalmist commands “Shun evil and do good, seek amity and pursue it” (34:15), he’s clear: peace takes more than prayer—it takes action.

The prayers crafted during our long exile stand as monuments to Jewish faith—from the desperate pleas whispered in Inquisition dungeons to the final Shema uttered in Nazi death camps. These prayers, written in history’s darkest moments, defy description.

In 1896, Theodor Herzl launched the modern Zionist movement, and Jewish history changed forever. For the first time in two millennia, the Jewish people held the power to shape their own destiny. The era of passive prayer had ended; the time for decisive action had arrived. Yet tragically, millions of Jews remain frozen in the mindset of exile, responding to every crisis as our ancestors did—with prayer alone. Like Moses at the sea, they haven’t learned that prayer without action isn’t enough.

If one million American Jews rose up today and moved to Israel, they would transform Jewish destiny. Picture it: hundreds of new communities across Judea and Samaria, a million more Jews building lives in our biblical heartland. No political leader would dare suggest surrendering these lands. No enemy would question our right to this territory. This power lies in our hands—we only need to use it.

That Shabbat afternoon in my synagogue, Reverend Moon exposed the central challenge of our generation. God has answered two millennia of prayers. The great shofar of ingathering has sounded. Now comes the real test: Will the Jewish people finally shake off the psychology of exile and answer history’s call? Will we learn what Moses learned at the sea—that there comes a moment when prayer must yield to action? Our ancestors could only pray for return. We can make it happen.

Now is the time to take action for Israel! If you are an American Jew, vote for Israel365 Action (Slate #7) in the World Zionist Congress Elections (March 10-May 4, 2025). Israel365 Action (Slate #7) stands firmly for the principles of opposing a Palestinian state in Judea & Samaria while affirming the Jewish people’s divine right to their ancestral homeland. Non-Jewish supporters can take action as well. Please encourage your Jewish friends to vote and join Ten from the Nations today.