Author: Martin Scott

How fast can you go?

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

Maybe the question should be ‘How fast should we move at?’ or ‘What pace will get you there?’. Here we are Wednesday and not yet gone to Sicily – though Friday comes and we go! (A couple of weeks back we thought it would be Tuesday (yesterday).) A delay, or getting the right pace?

One of my mentors who travelled incessantly with me 1998 onwards used to quote Prov. 19:2,

…and one who moves too hurriedly misses the way.

When praying (maybe a month back) re our entry to Sicily it seemed clear to us that we were not going to enter quickly but the pace would pick up once we arrived (It better had as we have no accommodation there!). We have slowed down, not by deliberate choice, but a couple of circumstantial issues, that initially frustrated us (‘we want to get going!’) but have come to realise that it has forced us to slow down and see what rhythm we need to run (‘walk?’) at. Then this morning Gayle says… ‘I have been awake in the night and I wonder if we need to spend some days in…’, and the ‘in’ adds some 8 hours to our already 24 hour of driving. Ah well.

But bigger picture I wonder if God is teaching us a little – and the ‘us’ could be a larger ‘us’ than ‘us’. Lazarus is dead, so let’s get there… or wait a few more days. Those who wait on the Lord… maybe could be translated as ‘Those who others think are using up valuable time when they could just get on with it…’

I remember the words from the ‘MasterMind’ quiz program, ‘I’ve started so I will finish’. The buzzer went while asking the question but the host would always finish the question. I have started, and Paul spoke about finishing the race (maybe it was Priscilla, the author of Hebrews who said that?). Whoever said it (and sadly it is not likely that Priscilla wrote Hebrews) was talking about how we end our life’s journey, but I think we can apply it to every aspect. And if we learn the appropriate pace we certainly have more chance of finishing what we were so excited to be in at the beginning.

The long haul remains something we have to focus on. Given the global crisis (combination of crises) we might need to be ‘bailed out’ so we continue to pray ‘maranatha’ but continue to work on the basis of the inbuilt arc of the universe is toward justice (as described by many) or as journeying toward new creation.

And the long haul is made up of multiple small responses. And increasingly we need to learn to make the small response (scaling out, as I heard someone recently say, and not scaling up) alongside everyone else making their small response. One sows, another waters – both take time – and then there is an increase.

Timing is important, but also the pace with which we connect to the timing. So let’s see – Friday surely is not too soon?

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After six years

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Justice

So goes the title in this Guardian article: Spain expresses regret over ‘injustice’ suffered by Mexico’s Indigenous people during conquest with the opening paragraph being:

Spain has acknowledged and expressed regret over the “pain and injustice” suffered by the Indigenous people of Mexico during its conquest of the Americas, heralding a shift in tone after six years of diplomatic spats over the abuses of the colonial period.

After SIX years…

We don’t have the exact date but in 2017 I wrote A few years ago we went up to Colon (Columbus) square, Madrid, to pray the day before the so-called Columbus Day… maybe it was in 2015 and Gayle had painted a protest piece of art proclaiming (with a question mark) whether this was really ‘indigenous peoples’ day’ rather than ‘Columbus day’. We hid the painting amidst fairly strict security in a tree beneath where a huge Spanish flag was raised. I am sure later that day the painting would have been removed as the site was secured for the national display the next day. A few years later our friends from Calpe were in Mexico and carried a repentant spirit for the historic abuse on the land.

Two ways of looking at the outcome of ‘after six years of diplomatic spats’. A one to one connection – ‘we’ did this and look what happened; or coincidence as it would have happened anyway. And probably the reality is somewhere in between. Certainly the ‘we’ did this has to be significantly softened. When we think we are the only ‘we’ we will miss it totally, but I do carry a conviction that the body of Christ carries a responsibility to help clear ground so that genuinely ‘good works’ can be done by whoever stands in that place of implementing a shift. Here is a sweet statement from one of Sanchez’ cabinet:

It’s a very human history and, like every human history, it’s had its light and its shadows,” he said. “And there has also been pain – pain and injustice towards the Indigenous people to whom this exhibition is dedicated. There was injustice and it’s right to recognise that today and to be sorry for that, because it is also part of our shared history, and we can neither deny nor forget it.

I set up a WhatsApp group a while back entitled ‘not many smart’ as I m convinced that none of us are that smart. And certainly that is something that will accompany us as we travel (hopefully this week) to Sicily. We, excellent representatives of being qualified to belong to all ‘not many smart’ groups, will probably do something from time to time that will appear so limited, small and meaningless… and I hope over the next six months a stack of other people do the same. There will be no straight lines for any of us such as ‘we did / prayed this and look what took place’; some of it might be absolutely meaningless, but maybe between us all we might just be able to read in a few years’ time that something has changed. I am encouraged to continue to give it a clueless go. Hope you are too.

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Young people… 55 and above

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Prophetic Perspectives

I had an interesting day yesterday. The first three emails I received and replied to were from people I either rarely hear from or never hear from. The first was from the wife of a couple who were the first people in 1997 to invite Sue and myself to a meal when we had moved into Cobham. (We were not married yet so had meals with our respective hosts: Ralph and Ruth, Richard and Linda… but Rosemary and Rob were the first to invite us outside of our hosts.) I probably have not seen / talked to Rosemary in 25 years. The second email was from a very gracious minister who has worked across Baptist churches (and beyond) and is somewhat restricted with respect to how much travel can now be done. The third email was to let me know that her father at 91 had recently passed away. Kitt was someone I met on a few occasions and was always impacted by his humility and desire to be always moving forward.

History impacting the present. Rewards from heaven for those who have been faithful. And impacts in my life. I wish to be faithful to leave a mark for others who are younger or more recently on the trail of following Jesus, but I also seek to keep my eye on those who are further along the journey and honour their faithfulness (an early email this morning I received was from a couple who are ‘celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary this year’).

By the time I was replying to those three emails I recalled (and I have written about this elsewhere) that in 1991 I was in South Africa at Easter and one morning ‘saw’ a number of things to come. One was a sizeable number of young people who had caught the fire of God (not surprising as there was much talk of an army of ’11th hour workers’) but what caught my attention was that alongside this was a whole group of those who were 55 years old and above. The group might not have been the same size but it was certainly equally,and probably more, effective. Those people were mixed. Some had ‘early retirement’, some had been content to be attenders, others had thought that they were now too far through their lives to make a difference in our planet… but they all had the same element in common. They had recognised they had one life and whether the years remaining were short or long they were repositioning themselves and for many their latter years were more effective than all those years that had gone before.

I appreciate post 55, and certainly post 65, our energy levels drop, other challenges come in to slow us down and restrict us. But… if we are not looking for the public profile there will always be accidental and deliberate ‘cups of cold water’ and ‘2 coins in the treasury’ that can be done. I have been meditating on Paul (I call him a friend much to Judith’s amusement!) being dragged out of the city and left for dead. If we were to shrink the passage we would read, ‘dragged out… got up and went back in’. Love that.

Time for those of us not so young to find out what that might mean for us.

A number of people who are roughly my age (55+) have said to me recently ‘why can’t we do…’ In other words it is a mindset shift that has been provoked in them.

I have been frustrated (ask Gayle) why the average of those who join me on Zoom meetings is around 105 years old (ask Gayle I never exaggerate) – where are the 23 year olds I ask. They might come; they might not come. But what a resource for kingdom involvement is present with those who can only just remember what 23 looked like.

I honour those who have walked this path before and have gone on to receive a reward; I desire to see those who are 23 carrying a level of maturity that maybe a 46 year old and who have no fear; but I also see that now is an opportunity for the breath of heaven come to those who are no longer 23 but still have time left.

Got to make sure I have some cold water and am ready to deposit those coins.

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An audio to listen to (or not)

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

Noel Richards (people think he is a really nice person but he blocked me on email for over a year – more below on this) and I have just recorded with Martin Purnell (of ‘Off Grid Christianity’ fame) our fourth Christmas special. The normal bizarre quiz in which I think I gained ‘nil point’ but did win (in my mind) cos of bonus points. The episode will come out some time around Christmas and we did overrun by more than an hour, so some serious editing to be done! In one of the ‘off the record as you have gone off-piste but could we pursue this…’ the conversation somehow got on to ‘penal substitution’. Anyway Martin P has saved it as a stand-alone recording. It would need a bit of extra work to reach a doctorate level but here it is:

The ‘off grid Christianity’ podcasts can be checked out at:

https://www.accessradio.biz/series/ogc/

And as an extra bonus (we all like bonus points) – try this ‘Gospel in Chairs’ with Brad Jersak.

Oh and the bonus points – I put in a claim for 2 on the basis that when Martin Purnell sent us an email with suggestions I was always the one to reply first. Noel was tardy. He did claim that there was no expiry date to the emails but I was certainly worth 2 points for my all-but immediate replies. And then I claimed 2 more as Noel had blocked my emails for over a year – claiming that he only did that as he had a lot of spam from emails with the suffix ‘.eu’. Claiming that it was nothing personal. Lame excuse.

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Joining the Zoom on ‘Reconciliation’?

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

Tomorrow night (Wednesday) UK time at 19:30 I will host a Zoom meeting /discussion that is based on what I have written on ‘Reconciliation: in four ways’. If you plan to join the Zoom link is below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5728039267?pwd=NEozVVM0Z1NJSDFKKzNwdG9KUDc5dz09&omn=84117477173

ID: 572 803 9267
Passcode: 5GkMTA

If joining please either watch a short video or read the pdf document:

Pdf document can be read / downloaded here: Reconciliation in four directions

There is no need to agree with what I propose but we do need to listen to agreements that we disagree with as well as opinions that we agree with.

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A stroll in the city

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives, Strategic Prayer

I arrived home last night at 11:00pm after a 7 hour bus journey from Madrid, having been there for a few days to walk the city. So some disclaimers first – no idea what was achieved and certainly am aware that so much of what we (OK, ‘I’) do is for us even when we think we are doing this for ‘God’s kingdom’. I hope it was worthwhile and one day (maybe) will find out. Until then we seek to do whatever we think might be what we ‘should’ be doing in response to our discipleship.

Practically first. Schoolboy error (not the first one I have made) is to walk with shoes that are not fully broken in. I have two pairs of running shoes – one that is on the way out, but still good but covered in paint from when I painted the roof this year. I have another pair that I have been using to drive in and to go and get a few groceries – after a couple of hours I soon discovered they were not fully worn in, and over the following two days used over 200ml of vaseline to oil my way to the finish – more vaseline covering my feet than socks, methinks.

I chose to start and finish at San Lorenzo metro station. I have posted regarding the above mentioned gentleman before. 258, August 10th he came to the end of his life on this planet having been put to death at command of the emperor when his response to being commanded to bring the wealth of the church to the emperor was:

Here are the treasures of the church. You see, the church is truly rich, far richer than your emperor!

He presented those who were blind, physically disabled and impoverished. Not the response that was desired! But what a place to start – values. Any city, any civilisation, any society has to understand true values, and all values are measured by a truly human standard.

I will not document every step but pick up on a few aspects – basically I walked the city from the north east (San Lorenzo) south to finish the first day at Puerta de Alcala (near Retiro park); from there through Atocha station to the south and then turning north at Piramedes and Puerta de Toledo, past the royal palace to the university and then turning east back to San Lorenzo. The north of the city is wealthier, wider streets, bigger houses, people dressed with ‘better’ clothing, then the south (Lavapies for example) was in some contrast with for example right in front of me the police stopping their patrol car and jumping out to confront someone demanding their ID. Probably he was a little high, (un)like a much better dressed person in another part of the city who might be acceptably ‘high’ on having signed a very lucrative deal that day. Values!

What stood out to me was what I saw in the various gates. Try these photos:

End of first day: Puerta de Alcala… from the bullring to Alcala to the fountain of Cybele to the bank of Spain to parliament – draw a straight line, for those who give credence to something along the lines of ‘ley-lines’). Alcala was one of the original gates into the city.

On the south side of the city there is an interesting twin obelisks that then give an entrance to the Puerta de Toledo. Obelisks are of Egyptian origin erected in honour of the sun god, with prisoners of war sacrificed in order to draw the power of the sun god.

Twin obelisks

Standing between these two obelisks then pointing north and one would walk right through the Puerta de Toledo:

More ‘gates’… this one is quite spectacular with a conglomeration of arches and monuments – making quite a statement:

Plaza de Castilla

There were other gates too – and probably ones I missed. One marking the entrance to the bull ring and one ‘off the map’ to the north west in the ‘iron gate’ that unless I wanted to stand in the middle of the freeway I had no direct access to. (That would have been beyond my second ‘schoolboy error’.)

The gates are so often a place of contention and even with some initial tracking of alignments of the gates it seems there is some convergence on the parliament building – also with other aspects such as the obelisk at Plaza de Lealtad.

The major aspect of why I wanted to walk and pray the city was to follow up on what we sensed when we first moved to Madrid (and to complete before moving to Sicily) was that of seeking to hold the government and judiciary in to a wholesome mode of being and behaviour. In big langauge I wanted to make sure that over the next years the government and judiciary cannot ‘escape’!

I am sure there are those who can prayer walk and be effective, I am not claiming to be one of those, but after the Toledo gate I came to the royal palace, then the Temple of Debod (literally moved from Egypt to Spain) and it sits with an East/west alignment and directly outside it on the wall is a sculpture to a fallen soldier from the civil war – this being the area where the entrance was made into the city.

So much more I could add but having started the walk at San Lorenzo with the issue of values the final photo has to be of ‘homeless Jesus’ asleep on a bench outside the main Cathedral (where the rich and famous are interred, including Franco’s daughter – but NOT him, thank God).

So what was achieved? Something cos God is gracious and listens to prayers but of course a percentage of what we do ‘for God’ is more for us and our own little ideas. Here’s to many of our own little ideas combining to sow into the future where values are measured differently, measured by the stature of the incarnated One.

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So Madrid?

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

Not sure how much of ‘life’ I understand – probably about as much of the Bible as I understand. Loose ends; things not tied up; dots that don’t connect. Maybe that is just me?

It was a significant battle to get ourselves into Madrid, some of which I have recounted in previous posts from years back; perhaps the most bizarre bit was a clause in the contract that in the light of it we were advised to ‘not touch this with a barge pole’ but felt to proceed. It meant that there was a gap between parting with the money and receiving the property when the seller could indeed walk with the money and keep the property. We sensed that was the risk we were to take. In the evening before the legal work the following day we managed to track down who the seller was and that he owned a shop a few streets away. We googled the shop and found only one review… ‘do not deal with this man he is a thief’. Ah well…

We spent much time in Madrid, most days would go to the parliament and pray outside as well as a host of other activities. Then along came COVID and we heard from the grapevine that Madrid would be closed the following day. We left early as we had people due to visit us in Oliva. Madrid was closed and we were unable to go back for quite a period of time. Currently we have a rentee in the apartment, at a very good price for him, as we have to do something that pushes back against the monetary system that dictates.

And the future? Would love to be back there on a longer term basis, but who knows. I will travel up next week and over 3 days walk the perimeter of the city – a small act that I think will settle this part of the journey. Would love to be back there long term but am very aware that many aspects of what we engage with are not fulfilled in the way we think they would. It is the principle of ‘seed’ into the ground for the next phase, and this is where I consider a number of us probably fail to move on well as we hang on for something more in the context that we need to move on from. As for Madrid, we don’t know what this means.

I do know (wow, Martin you are sure you know?)… OK a rephrase. I have a perspective that God is a forward moving God and that Jesus is not about to return today or even tomorrow. We have not yet run out of time to see amazing shifts in our world. [Sidenote: I think the whole pre-, post-, a-millennial approaches are not where it is at; I am not convinced that there is very much in the NT that fuels speculation… loads to encourage us to live today as what is done today provides the building-blocks for the future age.] And here is my perspective that Europe having been the cradle of the gospel and of Christendom can fully throw off the clothing of Christendom and also discover the Pauline gospel that carried a vision of a new creation (Paul makes a rather abrupt statement in 2 Cor. 5:17 ‘So if anyone is in Christ, new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being’.)

A bumpy, most challenging path ahead. Not one that will see a mega-church on every street corner, but could see ordinary people (are there any other types of people?) taking responsibility for a neighbour, a street, a business, a school. Enabling space to come where people can find that where they live is nothing other than a gateway from heaven to earth (Acts 17:26; Gen. 28:17).

Back to Madrid. No one is the saviour of the world other than… I want to walk – a small act – where I simply want to put my feet to say that a manifestation of God’s reign will be obscurely shown in the governmental and judicial spheres of Spain. Not perfectly, but certainly not in opposition to God. I note that there is a big push in certain quarters for government and the judiciary to serve an agenda, that agenda being understood by some as ‘Christian’ but I consider is aligned to ‘Christendom’, motivated, I believe, by a desire to see Christendom extend its life.

There is loss in order for there to be gain. Jesus said ‘better I go’ to the disciples. Really? Better, and more difficult. The next 15 or so years will be tumultuous at crazy levels, but right or wrong in that perspective, God will not abandon us. We will lose some good things, good things that have come our way at a price… but there is always a hope that does not disappoint.

Madrid we always saw as leverage point for Spain. Maybe we need to get back there ere long. Maybe we need to take some new inadequate steps in new direction?

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From a street called Sicily

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

We have found that Oliva is a refreshing, re-orienting place for many. These days we don’t have so many guests – there was a time when for a few years we had people with us between 100-130 days / nights of the year. A season that was. It was interesting finding this place for as I indicated in the previous post we were living in Cadiz when Gayle had that dream of ‘C/ Azahar’. We took ourselves off to Valencia just after Christmas of 2013 and started to drive from 100kms north of Valencia. 2 days in that direction but nothing resonated; 2 days south 100kms of Valencia and finally came to Oliva. We were ready to go home as we had found nothing that resonated. Anything ‘prophetic’ has to ultimately be witnessed to internally. And nothing witnessed. We stopped for a final cup of coffee before planning that our journey was fruitless when we suddenly realised that this was the place as we stepped out of the car at a cafe.

5:55 so read the clock the next morning as I woke. It might have been 7:05 and hopefully not 6:16(there is an alternative MS reading of 616 to the 666 reading!!)… can be coincidence but I was convinced it was not simply a time on the clock. I began to pray… ‘5’ generally the number representing grace, 3 times over. Then this came to me – we will make an offer on 3 properties and it will be a grace package with each one costing more than the one before. ‘Grace package’ is often taken to mean ‘cost less’, but I realised that grace is the emptier we are (our pockets) the more they can be filled. Long story but that is exactly what happened with the final offer being refused with a ‘don’t even talk to me’ coming back from the owner. A phone call out of the blue some weeks later – there is an angel you need to connect with to release you from Cadiz and open the door for you to go. Next morning off we went… and within 30 minutes of the connection the phone rang, and it was the agent in Oliva – ‘I don’t know what has happened but the owner who said not even to talk to him has just called me to say that I am to tell you that you can have the apartment at the price you offered’.

Where did we move – to Calle Isla de Sicilia – Sicily Island street. We have never dug deep into the significance but have wondered why ‘Sicily’ street. From a street to an island – this is the plan.

Last night while seeking to get some keys to the island I read: Sicily’s geographical position makes it a central point in the Mediterranean, connecting it to the Arabic world, North Africa, and Europe.

At times I probably read too much into what others might term coincidences, but the above quote seems alive. Geography has always been important for us – with over 1200 references to land in Scripture maybe this is not surprising. I kinda think there is treasure hidden in the land there that might just make a contribution to the coming age.

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A month of preparation

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives, Prophetic Perspectives

October 6th… plan November 1,2,3 (?) having loaded up the van drive north into France, take a slight detour, then south, south, south to further south than the north of Africa, cross some water and enter the land of Sicily. Our plans are moving and we think we will probably be there for around 6 months.

Although most of the readers of this blog will be aware of our plans I thought I will simply try and give over a few posts some background and any insight that come this way as we plan.

The wonderful aspect about life is it is very personal and from a faith perspective there are as many paths as there individuals as far as following Christ. So these posts are simply personal perspectives.

Where to start? We are in Oliva, an hour south of Valencia and came here as a result of two dreams Gayle had. At the time we were living in Cadiz, south-west Spain and had no sight on this area at all. In one dream Gayle was showing someone where we lived saying, we no longer live in San Isidro (our address in Cadiz) and then she opened her computer and typed in ‘Azahar’ – not knowing that it was a Spanish word (orange blossom). In the morning she typed out what she remembered and lo and behold it was a genuine Spanish word.

Here are two images from google maps – we live right in between these two signs – one is 800 metres in one direction and the second 800 metres in the other direction.

Second from bottom: ‘Azahar’ – pointing in the direction of our apartment
Bottom on sign: ‘Azahar’ – pointing back toward out apartment

So to Oliva we came in March, 2014. Being somewhat nomadic it is quite a surprise we are still based here in 2025. 2017 we also managed to obtain an apartment in Madrid, having prayed for some time that ‘you have given us the lower springs, now also give us the upper springs’. We much later discovered that here at sea level (‘lower’) that the water table is high as a result of underground springs flowing from the centre of Spain to the sea; Madrid seems to be from old Arabic meaning ‘place of many springs’ and is the highest capital city in Europe. I don’t write the above to point anywhere other than God is remarkable and that is the way we have been led / others will have a different story.

We have had many wonderful days in Madrid – what a city. There we have joined protests on the street, but particularly focused on praying for the government and for the judiciary. When looking for an apartment there we were always short of finance and into that mix a German prophet (Michael Schiffmann) said to us that ‘the place you are looking for is bigger than you think’. Well, if short by x amount we thought we will look for something bigger. If we are short we are short! Nothing connected.

We then spent sometime praying over the area we felt where we should land (we had been visiting Madrid for some 9 years by this stage) and one day we were there with Roger and Sue Mitchell. Roger announced that we are just about to come to a marker, a sanctuary (might be good or bad). We rounded a corner and there was San Lorenzo church – we walked in and the first thing on the wall was his date of matyrdom: 10th August 258 at the instruction of the Emperor. My DOB! We like San Lorenzo, and had painted on our last van ‘furgo de San Lorenzo’ – other than I put ‘el furgo’ when it should have been la furgo (furgo short for furgoneta, feminine; the abbreviation threw me!).

[San Lorenzo did not appease the emperor, and his preaching rather annoyed him Eventually the emperor summoned him and gave him a date on which he was to bring the riches of the church with him. He duly did this bringing the disenfranchised, the blind, beggars, widows et al. He announced that this was where the riches of God was manifest. Surprisingly this did not connect with the emperor who ordered him to be burnt at the stake!.]

Then one day we walked into, shall we say, a little challenged apartment in Madrid that no-one seemed to want to buy, and as we walked in we both saw something… we can get the entire government and judiciary in here. The problem was not the size of apartment; the problem was our thinking -‘ bigger than you think‘.

I go back to Madrid next week with one last act before leaving for Sicily. I want to walk the circumference of the city to make sure the government and judiciary do not escape!!! (Like I can really do that… ah well at least I can sow in that direction.) Madrid has been our place for Spain… some while back Gayle asked me about any desire I might have to accompany her on a far eastern trip – the question was helpful for it made me realise my focus is Europe; the old ‘lady’ will and must receive new life. So after walking and then making our way to Sicily? No idea.

Currently clueless of Oliva, soon to be clueless in Sicily.

I will follow up with a little more of this journey of ours with the hope that it will do more than inform but encourage anyone who reads with respect to their unique adventure in life.

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Israel – two states?

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

I closed yesterday’s post with a comment on the flotilla en route to Gaza; this morning I read that, ‘The Israeli navy has intercepted boats carrying aid to Gaza and detained the activists aboard, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.’

Not all ‘prophetic acts’ have a ‘successful’ outcome. Jesus’ key protest act in the Temple when he turned over the tables did not end in a permanent table-free Temple, but the effects are ongoing – an eternal protest whenever God’s house is turned into a money-making venture that in particular exploits the vulnerable (see my post https://3generations.eu/posts/2024/12/a-time-to-protest/ where I highlight the focus on the ‘dove sellers’).

Back to Israel… their land promised for ever. So complex: promised the land for ever,

And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding, and I will be their God.” (Gen. 17:8).

´Olam translated here as ‘a perpetual holding’ has the meaning of a long or indefinite time. Achish (Philistine king) believed David would always (´olam) serve him in other words during his lifetime. It could mean during the entire life-time of all descendants of Abraham, but I think Paul (again! he does have so many perspectives, that man) throws a curve ball when he says that Abraham was promised that he would inherit the ‘world’ (kosmos; Rom.4:13).

That curve ball rather changes (for me) the trajectory we look for. The re-gathering of Israel (a bigger term than ‘Jews’… gather all Jews would not gather all Israel) as a result of Pentecost (Acts 1:8; Rom. 11:28) is because the Gospel is gathering all peoples across the planet into the one olive tree, and so as that happens ‘in this way all Israel will be saved’.

Anyway all of the above is probably going to fuel my next longer article.

Back to flotillas, Israel of today (and I don’t think there is a straight line from OT Israel to the modern state), Palestine and Gaza. By any standards what is taking place today is genocide and the deep issue is we have two peoples who are reacting from trauma and peoples who are being exploited by those who claim to represent them.

Maybe an aside – maybe more than an aside – the route to the Middle East (Israel if you like) is through the Islamic world. The three Abrahamic faiths (allow me to suggest, one that was not able to make the step into the era initiated through the death and resurrection of their Messiah, the truly human One; another that has taken the Abrahamic story in a different direction; and one that sees fulfilment through the Son of Man) are, I think, central to where we are. A key principle if ever we need help to see where God is at work we can look to where the devil is at work – and vice versa. Look at the conflicts and the rhetoric that is in the public space to fuel suspicion, fear and hatred.

I hold that God is motivated by love that seeks to reconcile all. The choice of Abraham was not to damn the world (wrong view of salvation); Israel in her land was never to blanket exclude all others based on ethnicity (Rahab, Ruth, two half-Egyptian sons of Joseph et al); and post-the-resurrection a whole new creation was brought into being.

So here is my take. Political solutions go so far. The healing of historic trauma is needed, but if there is one place on the planet that should be open to being a land for all peoples it is the place where the cross demonstrated that God’s arms are outstretched to all. Breaking the curse of the law from ‘us’ (Jews) so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles (Gal. 3:13,14). A two-state solution might indeed be a step toward. A step. Prayer and protest can establish steps.

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