Praying for Israel

            About 24 years ago God did a deep work in me and in my wife.  We were introduced to a Jewish lady who had recently immigrated to Israel.  After listening to her love for Israel, and wanting to go there ourselves, she prayed for us that God would give us a heart for Israel.  WOW!  Did He ever answer that prayer!  Since that time we have been to Israel eight times and were blessed with a six month stay in Israel in 1993.

            While we were living there, the first Oslo accord was signed on the White House lawn between Yasser Arafat and Yitsak Rabin.  That began a downward spiral for Israel in which the hoped for peace was replaced by increased violence of Intifadas, terrorist bombings, and growing international pressure to give up more and more land.

            Meanwhile, we noticed a huge upswing in support for Israel among people of faith around the world.  We began hearing about groups in Korea, New Zeeland, Australia, South America, Europe, and across the United States that were praying passionately for Israel.  Our own hearts grew in support for Israel as we began praying for her on a regular basis.  The more we have prayed for Israel, the more we have noticed the intensity of spiritual warfare increasing.

            This past week our church held around-the-clock prayer and one of the emphases was Israel.  One six year old boy told his mother that he was going to pray that Israel would be protected from her enemies.  We also just returned from an evening of prayer with other churches in our city—and the whole two hours was prayer for Israel.  God is stirring up His Body to intercede for Israel.  What an awesome privilege to partner with Holy Spirit and voice His heart for His people and His Land.  Join us.  Pray as Holy Spirit prompts you. 

            If you want more information on why to pray and how to pray for Israel, I urge you to read Don Finto’s book Your People Shall Be My People. 

 

More Anti-Semitism

          Anti-Semitism is alive and well on planet Earth.  Its expressions are obvious in the lunatic proclamations of Iran’s president Ahmadinejad as he openly declares Israel should be wiped off the map and while denying the holocaust ever happened, promises he will bring about a new holocaust to eliminate all Jews from the Middle East.  Less obvious but just as anti-Semitic are the calls by members of liberal Christian Churches who call Israel an apartheid state guilty of persecuting Palestinians.

            Now comes a call for a third Durban conference on Human Rights.  It is sponsored by the United Nations Human Rights Council and is advertized as an “anti-racism week”.  The first two were touted as conferences to support human rights world-wide, but were simply anti-Israel rallies that called for censure of Israel for its treatment of Palestinians.  This third conference, scheduled for late September, promises to be more of the same rhetoric   

            But there is a movement to support Israel.  Friends in Israel have notified us that a demonstration will be held against the Durban council in front of the UN headquarters on the opening day of the General Assembly. The Demonstration will be held at the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, on the 21^st of Sept, 2011, at 11 am.  For more details visit the events website at Durban3nyc.com, join the Facebook group “Boycott Durban III.  I urge you to watch a short video on their website that gives a clear history of the anti-Semitism that has characterized the resolutions and attitudes of the United Nations for the last forty years.

            I urge you to be informed and watch for the anti-Israel bias that permeates today’s media.  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and all of Israel.  She is still the “Apple of God’s eye.”

The Dividing Line

            It never ceases to amaze me that one can be Buddhist, Bahai, or even atheist and still be fully Jewish.  But if you embrace Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah, you are accused of betraying your Jewish heritage, you may be denied citizenship in Israel, and be rejected by family and friends.  There are cases where people who have lived in Israel for many years have been, after being found to be Messianic, threatened with deportation, have lost their jobs and been ostracized on many levels.  A Messianic Pastor in Jerusalem was recently sued along with a couple in their fellowship on a trumped up charge of trying to convert a minor.  They were acquitted, but the anti-missionary group that sued them has now taken it to the next higher court—and so the persecution continues.

            Those who come to faith in Yeshua are not giving up their Jewishness, but in fact are more fulfilled as Jews than ever before.  They continue to celebrate the feasts and find deeper meaning in those feasts as they understand not only the historical significance behind them but also the applications for their spiritual lives today.

            Jesus was a Jew.  Unfortunately, as the number of Gentiles who believed in Jesus for forgiveness of their sins increased, more and more of the roots of Christianity in Judaism were forgotten or abandoned on purpose.  As the Church became dominated by Gentiles, the sense of connectedness to Jewish history and foundations was lost.

            Over the centuries those who call themselves Christians have wrongly persecuted Jews for killing Jesus.  They have changed the true Jewish image of Jesus into a “Christian” Jesus and erased all the Jewish identity he had.  This has further alienated Jews from Christians and set up barriers between them that are very difficult to overcome.  There is a great need for us Believers in Yeshua to humble ourselves and ask forgiveness for the ways our predecessors have treated the Jews in the Name of Jesus. 

            I am not saying Gentile Believers should begin looking like their Jewish cousins by eating Kosher, keeping Sabbath, etc.  Nor should Messianic Believers be expected to look, act and live like Gentiles.  Paul exhorts us to remember that we are saved by faith, not by keeping the law—a spiritual axiom for all Believers, Jew and Gentile alike!

                                   

Standing with Israel

            “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.”  God gave Abraham this amazing promise.  If you look at the way this was carried out in the book of Genesis, you see time and again God’s blessing flowing to someone who honored Abraham. 

            Then as you follow the children of Abraham through Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy you see this pattern continue to the succeeding generations. 

            Even down to today, I have seen people who take a stand against Israel pay a heavy price.  President George H. W. Bush refused to guarantee loans for Israel to build much needed housing in Israel and a few days later his own home on the East Coast was hit by a major hurricane.  In a more subtle way, we have seen church denominations take a stand against Israel and the result has been a lifting of God’s blessings on that group.

            That is the background for my concern for the Quakers.  This past week they called for a boycott of companys who stand with Israel.  Their call for this boycott is couched in terms of standing against the violence that Israel has done against the “Palestinian people” in Gaza.

            The Quakers need to go to Israel and see the conditions on the ground as well as review the history of Israel.  They have apparently just accepted the liberal-left agenda and media story line of how the government of Israel has persecuted the Palestinian people.  The closure of the border between Gaza and Israel only happens in response to the firing of rockets from Gaza into population centers in Israel, or because of some other terrorist threat from Hamas or some similar group against Israel.  If Hamas and the Palestinian leaders would stop the violence perpetrated on Israel’s citizens, life would be much easier and more peaceful for everyone.

            In another blog entry, I will delve more fully into the history of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.  It is a complicated situation.  Our prayers and efforts need to be directed to both sides.

Acts Déjà-vu

            The book of Acts is being lived out again by our Messianic brothers and sisters in Israel.  As they quietly go about their daily lives and simply live out their faith in Yeshua, they become a thorn in the side of religious people who are threatened by their faith.  This past week a dear brother who leads a congregation in Jerusalem was dragged into court under false charges of attempting to convert a minor.  The judge threw the case out when our brother produced a letter they had given the young lady stating that she would only be allowed to attend their congregation if her parents would give their permission.

Praise God for His protection.  This same pastor was told by a rabbi that “harsh opposition” is being planned by other rabbis against the Messianic community.  But in the face of that persecution, he acknowledged that they are not really rejecting him but rather Yeshua.  He continues to walk out love toward those who are making his life difficult.

            This is just one incident in a long list of ways the Believers in Israel are being persecuted.  About 20 years ago the Baptist Church in Jerusalem was burned to the ground by Orthodox Jews who wanted them out of the country.  Two years ago a young teenager was severely maimed and nearly died of his wounds as he opened a Purim gift left on his front porch that exploded when he opened it.  The “gift” had been planted there by an Orthodox group who hate Messianic Jews.

            And there are many other incidents like this.  Many Messianic Believers have lost their jobs when the boss found out about their faith in Yeshua.  Others have been deported, or threatened with deportation, by the Orthodox controlled Department of Immigration.

            Pray for our Brothers and Sisters in Israel.  Early Believers passed on a witness that eventually led to our being included in the Family of God.  Now, 2000 years later, a remnant of Believers is back in the Land as living witnesses to our Living Lord.  May He protect them and increase their witness for His glory.

Shavuot (Pentecost) 2011

Shavuot is June 7, 2011.  “Shavuot” is taken from Hebrew meaning “seven sevens” and reflects the counting of seven weeks, or forty-nine days after Passover.
The Feast of Shavuot is celebrated the next day, the fiftieth day, by staying up all night reading various passages from the Bible because this is the traditional date of God giving Moses the Torah.  It was also celebrated with waving two loaves of leavened wheat bread before the Lord in the Temple. 

            When Holy Spirit was poured out on the first disciples on Pentecost (fifty) He was fulfilling the Feast of Shavuot. The two loaves are a picture of Holy Spirit dwelling in man.  Jesus commanded the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they were given the baptism of the Holy Spirit which the Father had promised.  This baptism was for the purpose of giving them power to be witnesses about Jesus.  When Holy Spirit came upon them, it was a literal fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that the Spirit would be with them and would dwell inside them.  John 14:16-17.

            How marvelous this gift of Holy Spirit is!  The first disciples were saddened that Jesus was leaving them, but Jesus said it was to their advantage that He leave because He would send His Holy Spirit to live inside them.  Stop and meditate on the magnitude of that miracle.  The Third Person of the Trinity actually comes and fills you with His presence.  The result is an intimacy with the Father that you never knew before.  The Spirit can pray through you and intercede for a lost world.  You are given power to be a witness for Jesus.

            Let’s celebrate Pentecost (Shavuot) by pressing into the Father and praying the prayer Jesus taught:  “Father, Your will be done—on earth as in heaven!”  Baptize us with a fresh outpouring of Your Spirit that we may be effective witnesses for Jesus.

The Feasts of the Lord.

            Lev. 23 lists eight appointments God wants to have with each us.  The first is a weekly appointment on Sabbath.  The other seven are annual feasts.  These have been referred to as the Jewish feasts, and the Jews do celebrate them.  But these belong to all who call themselves God’s people—they are “the feasts of the Lord.”  The reason I say they belong to all of God’s people is that Jesus has already fulfilled the first four of these feasts and will fulfill the other three upon His return.

            The feasts are:  Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Shavuot, Feast of Trumpets, Atonement, and Booths (or Tabernacles).  The first three occur in one week in the Spring.  The fourth is celebrated 50 days after Passover in early Summer.  The last three are celebrated in the Fall, usually late September or early October.

            Jesus perfectly fulfilled the first three.  He is the Passover Lamb (I Cor. 5:7), a perfect lamb that was selected (on Palm Sunday) and carefully watched for four days.  He was then slain and His blood is what protects us from death, just as the blood applied to the door posts protected Israelites from the Death Angel.

            Jesus also is the sinless Man, a perfect picture of Unleavened Bread.  We, too, are called to live holy lives, free from sin.      

            Then on the feast of First Fruits, Jesus rose from the dead, the first of those who are to be resurrected (I Cor. 15:20-23).

            Now, as we celebrate Pentecost on June 7^th, we remember how the early Church was filled with the Holy Spirit, exactly fulfilling the Feast of Shavuot.  The Jewish celebration of Shavuot is remembering the giving of the Law to Moses.  Jesus said the Law would be written on our hearts, which is what happens when we are given the Holy Spirit—He comes, lives inside us, writing God’s Law on our hearts.

            The feasts are God’s snapshots of His Son.  By looking at the feasts we see what Jesus would look like and by celebrating them, we celebrate what God has done through Jesus in our hearts.  There is much more that could be said on each of the feasts.  Hopefully this will give a framework to understand God’s wonderful work in our lives.