Bodie Thoene on the bombings in London and Glasgow

My favorite all time Historical Novels are written by Bodie Thoene, with her husband Brock. He is the Historian,  she is the writer. Their books are mostly of the times when Nazis were taking power, the WWII times, and the beginnings of Israel, including the build up to the war that took place as the new Nation was born, and Jerusalem was lost until June, 1967. I urge you to read their Zion Covenant, Zion Chronicles, and Zion Legacy
series. She includes the US aspect in the S hiloh Legacy Series, which also seemed to build off of the earlier Saga of the Sierra Series.

The Galway Chronicles are more of the Irish side of the family.... lol.

The Zion books, however, give an account that is eerily reminiscent of things going on in the world today. Her characters are based on real people, or 'combinations' of a few real people. Lori Kalner has answered some readers questions about that time/this time on the Thoene blog, and 'Tikvah' has shared some of her mother's story, and that of Rachel Sachar who raised her after her mother's death in Jerusalem.

God bless!

http://www.thoenebooks.com/blog.asp?post=0&id=261

Miraculous Deliverance

Written by: Bodie Thoene on Saturday, June 30, 2007

Miraculous Deliverance
by Bodie Thoene

       The violence against Christians and Jews and Western civilization is escalating! First London and now Glasgow have become targets in the U.K. 
      Here are our thoughts after much prayer and reflection on these events:
     
     There is a footbridge leading across the Thames River in London which Brock and I crossed several times a week in the years we lived in that great city. At night from the Hungerford Bridge we could see the well-lit dome of St. Paul's Cathedral in the east and the towers of Westminster Abbey, originally dedicated to the Apostle Peter, in the west.
       St. Paul's is built on a hill where an ancient Roman temple to the Roman god Jupiter once stood.
       St. Peter's (Westminster Abbey) has foundations which date back to the third century when the Roman persecution of Christians finally came to an end.    
      When St. Paul's Cathedral burned down in the Great Fire of 1666, money to rebuild St. Paul's was borrowed from St. Peter's (Westminster Abbey). This is the origin of the phrase,  "Robbing Peter to pay Paul."
     The existence of these two magnificent buildings, St. Peter and St. Paul, identify the Christian origins of England and the city of London.  Peter and Paul stand as symbols of God's protection over the nation. 
     During World War 2, in the Blitz, Nazi bombers leveled vast areas of London.  St. Paul's Cathedral loomed up through the smoke; its beauty untouched amid a sea of rubble.  Men and women digging through the remains of their homes looked up,  saw the Cathedral, and found courage in the knowledge that with God's help, England would be victorious. 
    Though a German bomb exploded in the Houses of Parliament, St. Peter's Westminster Abbey remained unscathed.  
      Sixty years after WWII, I recall one evening when journalist friends from the 700 Club were staying at our home on their way to Jerusalem.   We took them on one of our exhausting "Thoene walking tours" of London.   Together, we strolled out on the footbridge straddling the Thames to view the lights of London and point out the historic sights.    We stayed there for over an hour and prayed together, claiming God's conversion of the new generation of Londoners.  We fervently prayed for spiritual deliverance for the great city whose first Christian churches and spiritual foundations were named to honor the two great apostles, St. Peter in the West and St. Paul in the East. 
              
      Everything means something.  
     In the early morning hours of Friday, June 29,  2007, a terrorist bomb plot, which would have killed hundreds in the heart of London,  was foiled. 
       How many times have we and our children walked by that place?   Countless times.  
       The news commentators have been remarking over and over about the "accidental discovery" of the two cars rigged as deadly bombs.  They have linked the plot to the close anniversary of the Islamic terrorist bombings in London two years ago on July 7.
       As Christians who believe in miracles and the significance of all things, we must ask ourselves if the anniversary date June 29, 2007,  has any spiritual significance to the DELIVERANCE in London?  
      Let's take a look at the daily scriptures being read in the church throughout the day this latest terrorist plot was foiled:
    
      On Friday June 29, 2007, the scripture readings of the ancient church remember and honor the apostles Peter and Paul.
      
Readings of the day the terrorists were thwarted in their murderous plot are these:
     
Reading 1) *Acts 12:1-11 tells the story of Peter's DELIVERANCE from prison by the miraculous intervention of an angel who woke him up, loosed his chains and led him from prison! 
        "About that time, Herod the King stretched forth his hands to afflict and oppress and torment some who belonged to the church…"   
        Read it all!  This is quite a story of deliverance from evil!
      
Reading 2) * 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18   Paul writes from prison in his final days on earth to encourage Timothy that his life and ministry have not been in vain.  He says he has fought the good fight and has finished the race…V. 17 "But the LORD stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the Gospel message might be proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.  So I was DELIVERED out of the jaws of the lion!  And the Lord will certainly DELIVER and draw me to Himself from every assault of evil. He will PRESERVE and bring me safe unto his Heavenly kingdom!   To Him be the glory forever and ever!  AMEN!"  

     These scriptures proclaim and document the miraculous, literal and physical deliverances of Peter and Paul as they served the Lord and spread the Gospel.    
     Is it merely coincidence that Peter and Paul were honored on the very day the plot to murder hundreds in London was foiled? 
      Peter and Paul died as martyrs for the Kingdom of Christ, and yet they still rejoiced in their DELIVERANCE from danger.   
     God's promise of deliverance was proclaimed aloud in the Word from pulpits on Friday, June 29, 2007, around the world.   We all saw God's deliverance in London, whose first two Christian communities were founded and named for St. Peter in the West and St. Paul in the East. 
     From the pulpits of St. Peter's and St. Paul's the Gospel has been proclaimed for nearly 1,700 years!   The Christian heritage of the English-speaking world has its roots in these churches which were first to rise out of Roman paganism.  Great servants of God's Kingdom are buried there and will emerge from their tombs, resurrected on the last day!  
     The Islamic terrorists may keep their own calendar of death and horror.   But on June 29, 2007, on the Commemoration of Peter and Paul,  London witnessed the message of God's  miraculous deliverance!   Like the miraculous deliverance of Peter and Paul, hundreds were delivered from a horrible death. 
    Pray with us that every man, woman, and child whose life was saved that night, will now cross the bridge which leads to Eternal Life.   May each heart pause a moment and see the true Light found in the Word of the Lord, proclaimed through the apostles  Peter and Paul.    

     "But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the Gospel message might be fully proclaimed…"  2Tim. 4:17


Baruch atem b'Shem Yeshua,
Bodie