Following is an e-mail I received that I would like to share with those that take the time to read my blog. As you know, Anne and I just went to Jerusalem and purposely did not sign up for a professional tour. We asked the Lord to bring about some sovereign connections so that we can take part in what He is doing at the Epicenter of the Earth. One of these contacts came about in the most unusual way, but was without question a “God-thing”. God had us do more than just make contact but also get involved in the ministry that is headed up by this pastor. Due to security issues, I cannot give his name over the internet. Here is the first of several e-mails we’ve had since being there. I did as little editing as possible so as not to change what this brother had in mind to share. Thanks for reading…
Dear Brother Jake & Sister Anne: Shalom, Please read the following article of encouraging thoughts. They were written to awaken people in supporting their Jewish brothers and sisters.
Doing The Work
I don’t know exactly why God chose me to play central part in this recent renewal; though, I am convinced that all miraculous happenings leave us with a work to be gratified. I always felt that there is more to God’s plan of redemption than simply getting saved in preparation for Heaven. The people of God who have died yesterday are no different than we are, from the beginning; God’s plan was to redeem the people on this earth. First God called Abram out of Ur, and guided him the way to Canaan-Israel, He changed Abram’s name to Abraham, and spoke to him, saying, (From you will be the blessing of the nations. There will be kingdoms coming from you. (Gen 17:3-6) From here we see the Interest in the people and the land Israel and its nation from which the redemption and restoration of the human race should created and consummated. Has God suddenly lost this interest? Did He lose it when He opened the door for the Gentiles to be saved? Two thousand years ago Jesus opened the door for the Gentiles and now there are millions of them who are believers in Jesus Christ. The Jewish Apostle Paul said (those of us who have been born again, we have become a part of the commonwealth of Israel.) Eph. 2:11-13. This indicates that we are also in the family of Israel; sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That is why Christians have an affinity toward Jews. We cannot love Christ and dislike or ignore the Jews. Christians naturally love Jews if they understand their heritage according to the Holy Scriptures. No, God has neither changed His mind nor deviated from the completion of His plan. God still has a plan for all the nations of the world, just as He had from the beginning. God told Abraham that his first-born son, Ishmael, would be fruitful and that God would make a great nation of him, according to Genesis 17:20. God established a covenant with him to guarantee this promise. Today there are 22 nations that come from this seed of Ishmael. There are more than 220 million Arabs who come from the seed of Ishmael, the first-born son of Abraham. Abraham is our root and also the father of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel, through the Jewish people in general, and through Jesus Christ in particular, the body of Christ is established. Christians are found in all nations of the world. The United States has been considered a Christian nation, Canada is considered a Christian nation, Lebanon as well is considered a Christian nation, these and many other Christian nations have come from the seed of Isaac, Abraham’s second son. God chose Abraham because he was a man of faith, a man He could trust to uphold his part of the covenant. I believe the Christian Church, in this end–time, must take a new look at faith, faith in the first steps is designed to benefit an individual alone, it is supposed to be directed toward God and utilized in fulfilling His plan and purpose on this earth, which involves nations. God has a plan and will use people like us to fulfill His plan. As a believer in God, as a worshiper of God, as one who willingly accepted God, you and I should take an interest in the plan of God. We should want to get involved with what God is doing, even to the point of relinquishing our own plans. I had to surrender such plans in my own life. I have gone through plateaus of growth and development in my Christian experience. In the beginning I acted only on what I was taught and my level of faith was quite small. But then as I grew older in the Lord, I began seeing more clearly. The clearer the vision became, the more I was able to do. Today my thoughts are different from what they were when I first started my Christian walk more than 25 years ago. I also feel a responsibility to explain to my generation the things I have learned.
Knowing The Signs Of The Times
In this generation things are changing rapidly. I’m mindful of the words of Jesus to the blind Pharisees and Sadducees in Matthew 16:1-3. The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired Him that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them: “when it is evening, ye say, it will be fair weather; for the sky is red, and in the morning, it will be foul weather today; for the sky is red and lowering. (Then He talks to them somewhat harshly) O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky, but can ye not discern the signs of the times? Do we discern the time in which we are living? Ever since the early days of my Christian experience, I was told that we are living in the end-time. When you first accept the gift of salvation, you are fulfilled by being saved. That is as it should be. You are a baby and babies don’t have very much responsibility. Someone else cares for them. But you don’t stay a baby forever, and if you are normal, you mature. If you realize that you are a normal Christian, then you mature to the point where you realize that you are a responsible child of God, a servant of God. You are a responsible individual designed to fulfill something that God your Father has planned for the nations, for the peoples of this earth. During the days following the age of Jacob and Joseph, the children of Israel lived in Egypt, for more than 400 years. It was one big Israeli family from the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; 12 tribes in all. They entered the land with 80 people and then multiplied until there were more than two million Israelites. For more than 400 years, Egypt was the only home they knew.
Preparing For Change
What if the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would speak to His people all over the world–I mean to those who claim to be led by the Holy Spirit? What if God sent a prophet to declare that He has a mission for us, a mission designed to move us from our present land to a land of His choosing, thus resulting in drastic changes? THE CHILDREN OF Israel had to go through drastic changes. THEY HAD TO PULL UP STAKES, pack all their belongings, cross the Red Sea and go out into wilderness. Had they not been faithful, not one of us would ever have been saved. Let us thank God for those people who were obedient and followed MOSES INTO THE WILDERNESS AND Joshua into the Promised Land. A popular misconception of the modern Christian is that a born-again Gentile is saved primarily to go to HEAVEN. In the mean time, they discover God’s promises and indulge themselves until the rapture or the coming of the Lord. What if God would again say to His Church, His anointed ones, (I want you to understand something. You are now living in 2008 (or whatever year you find yourself in), once again I have something you need to know. It is a very urgent thing and for the sake of all world nations, are we willing to be led by the Holy Spirit to other parts of the human race? Focus on what you think God’s plan and purpose is at this time for the earth and the people of the earth. What is in His heart? What do we find in the scriptures to help us discern God’s heart? Does God still love this world? We know for sure that He did when he sent Jesus. The Bible tells us, (For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life) John 3:16. Isaiah the prophet said something similar in 11:9 (For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea). Habakkuk also prophesied something similar in 2:14 (For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the Sea). I see what both prophets Habakkuk and Isaiah are saying –God will cause the knowledge of His glory to cover the earth, as waters cover the sea. Let’s ponder the words in Isaiah 61:11(For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all nations). I think in Isaiah 11, God gives us a solution, in verse 1, and 2 He says (And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots; and the spirit of the LORD SHALL REST UPON Him…) I believe that the rod that comes out of the stem of Jesse is Jesus. He comes as Deliverer and Savior; also I believe the branch that will grow out of Jesus’ root is the Church. So this rod coming out of Jesse is known as the Deliverer. (And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse.) Jesse was the father of King David, a man after God’s own heart-a symbol of the coming Messiah, our Savior Jesus Christ. The branch that comes from Y’shua is the Church, which includes all who have been born into the commonwealth of Israel. It includes every Jew, Arab, and Gentile who is born again with that spirit of Messiah. Redemption had its beginning in Israel through Abraham. Our Redeemer was born and lived in the land of Israel. Our Father promised, from Jerusalem, Israel, that Messiah Jesus Christ shall rule and reign over the nations. Also, His coming is relative to Jerusalem.
Shalom, Shalom, from Jerusalem…. In His Glory –
(name withheld for security reasons)