There are some notable events in Acts 19 that relate to our generation in one way or another, no matter what part of the world we live in. Wherever the Word of God comes into contact with a corrupt society or culture, it causes two reactions. There is a supernatural changing of lives, but at the same time, often a hostile reaction from those opposed to the message. Sometimes it brings about violent reactions. In Acts 19, it caused a riot.
23 About that time there arose a great commotion about the Way. 24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen. 25 He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said: “Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. 26 Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands. 27 So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.” 28 Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” 29 So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s traveling companions. Acts 19:23-29
This is much like what happens when the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus is brought to very dark places. Islam is not compatible with true Christianity. Multitudes are finding Jesus as their Savior because they have never heard the true story of who Jesus is, nor have they ever heard the message of God’s love for humanity and the grace and total forgiveness He offers those who will accept His free gift. Others, however, react with great rage and feel Christianity is a threat to what they have always accepted as the truth — most from the time they were children. Sometimes, it has even caused riots within Muslim towns. The House of Blessing has suffered the loss of many hundreds of their missionaries over the years that I have been writing the Mideast Updates. This will not stop until Jesus takes over this world as the Prince of Peace and as God/King of Planet Earth. Soon and very soon!!
Now, on to the House of Blessing…
Many of you received an urgent request for prayer concerning some difficult situations that had developed. The first portion of the previous update had glowing reports of how God had intervened in miraculous ways. But in the last portion I shared some devastating news that had just come in, though I had no details yet. I now have some of the details of what had happened. The first was sent by Omar.
Hello my brother Jack, this is Omar. Peace be upon you, my brother Jack, and upon those who follow Jesus and believe in Him with true faith from the heart. Today, the decision to execute us (myself – Omar, Dhargham, Aylout, Iban, Murtada, Shahbandar) was made in front of a large group of Shiites who really have no religion or conscience. Their sheikh said to Aylout, “I will pardon you on the condition that you heal this blind man. Let’s see where your Jesus is to heal him. And, also heal this deaf man who has been afflicted with deafness for a long time. Heal them and I will pardon you.”
Aylout answered by telling him, “I do not heal, but we call upon our Lord and He responds. I am a humble servant of His, and nothing else. If Jesus heals them, will you accept Jesus as the one and only true LORD?”
The sheikh agreed and Aylout asked for clay, flour, and some water. He asked me (Omar), Shahbander, Murtada, and Dhurgham to mix the clay with water and put it on the eyes of the blind man and pray over him. We did as Aylout asked and prayed these words: “Oh Jesus, heal him and make him see your light — that same light that illuminates the heavens and the earth. Make him see!” Aylout then shouted words in a heavenly language by the Spirit. He prayed with the brothers some of the same words that the Apostle Paul did in a passage from the New Testament, and then he walked away. The brothers then guided the blind man to the deaf man and helped him to put some of the dough in his ears. Aylout asked the brothers to pray again — one from the right side and another from the left side. They prayed the very same prayer for the deaf man as they had for the blind man.
After they finished praying, Aylout asked the brothers to wash the blind man’s face and put anointing oil on his eyes. The deaf man also took the dough out of his ears and anointing oil was put on both ears. Praise God! The blind man was able to see clearly and the deaf man heard all the voices around him! There were over 500 people from the city of Qom there who witnessed all that happened, and all became believers and followers of Jesus on that day!
Needless to say, all of us condemned to immediate execution were set free!
Omar
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I received some of the details of what had happened with the 6 sheikhs’ wives who had been abducted. This is what Abdelrahem had to say.
“Peace be upon you, my brother Jack, I have a special message for you and for everyone who prayed for the sisters Ratiba, Zainab, and those with them. They were kidnapped by evil people, enemies of Jesus. The women were drugged with a strong drug and placed underground. They refused to eat anything and avoided going to the toilet. There were temporary guards put over them when the men were not present. Their names were: Ahadeer, Ibtihaj, Tasneem, Sundus, and Khaitam. When the female guards would take food down to them, they noticed a strong unnatural light emanating throughout the dungeon. This surprised them and they decided not to tell their husbands — some of whom were officials. The dungeon in which the captured women were kept had lots of rats and there was open sewage running through the area in which they were confined.
Ratiba and Zainab took advantage of the opportunity while the husbands went to pray and began to speak to the female guards about Jesus. After hearing what they had to say, the women began to cry and shared with the sisters the suffering they endured from the harshness of life, work, the humiliation they had to endure with their husbands, and the sexual relations they were also having with each other. The female guards then asked the other women in the dungeon to pay attention to what the sisters were sharing about Jesus. Zainab also told the women the story of how her husband had died in his bed but was brought back to life when a Bible was laid on his chest. As a result, at least 15 women accepted Christ as their Savior and while their husbands were at noon prayer, they escaped.
May God bless you, my brother Jack.
Your brother Abdelrahem, servant of the Lord
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I did receive more details about the situation the women had to endure. As expected, they were violated, humiliated, and badly abused. But, they held together and kept their faith in Jesus through the entire three days they were in captivity. The temporary female guards explained a little of what they had to endure with their husbands. Each of the husbands had at least two wives, some three, or even four. These men would force all of their wives to engage in sex — all at the same time, and with each other. It was just an excuse used by the men to have their own home orgies. More details would be inappropriate. It is not difficult to imagine how they had to live and the humiliations they were forced to endure. Even though Islamic law overlooks some pretty disgusting sexual practices, what these women had to endure is not allowed within traditional Islam. Thank God for the freedom they are now experiencing. But, they have escaped and thugs will be looking for them. Please pray for the safety of all of these women. They will be executed if caught. Prayer works. It was the prayers of God’s people that brought God’s intervention, both with the sisters who were captured, and also the brothers who were facing immediate execution.
I received an email yesterday letting us know that Abdelrahem traveled with Fishawi to meet with Jaafar and Zalatimo to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles with 14 rabbis and their people. These rabbis are new believers and followers of Messiah Jesus, whom they have at long last recognized! Saftawi and Shabo intended to meet there with them as well. I have now since received confirmation that they did in fact arrive safely. They are presently in Zardab, Iran, Zardab is right on the southern end of the Caspian Sea, about 2.5 hours northeast of Tehran.
From what I have gathered, Abdelrahem is a highly regarded guest to this gathering. Many rabbis have been reached through his preaching and teaching. One of the scenes described is of Abdelrahem being sat in a chair while he is surrounded by numerous rabbis and sheikhs — all praying for him. The rabbis know that it was the Lord that sent Abdelrahem to them. That would be a sight to see! Sister Rolla was told by Hananini that there were already about 1500 people gathered to hear Abdelrahem.
Hanini says that more and more doors are opening, just as they did in Pastor Rashid’s time of ministry. Hanini also said that more doors are opening even further east. More information will be made available as I hear more. He sends his greetings to everyone.
I have one last message to share, one I just received from Abdelrahem today, October 7.
Hello brother Jack, this is Abdelrahem. We had a prayer meeting yesterday and there were many people there. We prayed and asked the Lord to bring a larger nation to believe in Jesus. I prayed with the rabbis and elders, but there was a sheikh named Abu Hadwan who, along with his group, objected to the message about Jesus. There were also rabbis who did not believe in Jesus, but the Lord has more wisdom than any who stand against Him.
In the night, suddenly, I saw the hands of the Lord surrounding the building. I got hold of Hael, Arshid, Al-Fishawi, and Al-Hidmi and then I instructed Shabo and Sabazi to bring the people out of the building quietly because it was only the hand of the Lord holding the foundation of the building that was keeping it from collapsing. I told them that if I go out of the building, it will fall. So, they got all of the people out, right to the last person, who I finally followed. After a few minutes, the building fell. It was a building made up of many floors and only columns holding them up. When it fell, a great fire was ignited inside. The people who were so against the Gospel about Jesus were absolutely stunned when they saw what had transpired. It literally made believers out of them! What a surprise?!
One last thing to mention is that there was a birth of some leaders from Afghanistan. God has opened a new door! Pray for us please!
Your brother,
Abdelrahem, servant of the Lord
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One thing I might add, Sister Sarah had an incident much like the one above some years ago when she was ministering in eastern Lebanon. She was doing some teaching in a building that had been damaged by bombs. As she was teaching, the Holy Spirit spoke to her, telling her to get all the people out of the building right away. There were several hundred people in the building but all made it out safely before the building collapsed. Now, it happened again!
Many of us in the Western nations wonder about the meaning behind Jewish feasts that are currently being celebrated in the Mideast. What do the spring and fall feasts of the Jewish people have to do with us as Christians? Here is a very brief synopsis.
Every book in Scripture has the Messiah Jesus embedded within it. This is very much the case with the seven main feasts of Israel. There were four spring feasts and three fall feasts.
The Spring Feasts:
- The Feast of Passover is a foreshadowing of Jesus as the Passover lamb, symbolizing His sacrifice for humanity’s sins. This is why Jesus is referred to as the Perfect Lamb of God.
- The Feast of Unleavened Bread is representative of Jesus in the grave (or tomb), having been sacrificed for the sins of the world. The Old Testament animal sacrifices only covered sins, whereas the sacrifice provided by God through Jesus eradicates them in all who accept God’s free gift of Salvation.
- The Feast of First Fruits foreshadowed the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He was the First Fruit of resurrection. All believers and followers of Jesus will be resurrected in like manner at the Rapture / Catching Up of the Church
- The Feast of Weeks is associated with Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out, initiating the early church.
The Fall Feasts:
- The Feast of Trumpets is seen as a time of repentance and foreshadowed a time of judgment. The feast is celebrated by the blowing of the shofar and a call for the people of Israel to worship. It is also symbolic of the sound of the greatest Trumpet of all, the Trumpet voice of God, resurrecting all the saints and calling His people home.
- The Feast of Atonement foreshadowed the ultimate atonement of Jesus, who offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. This is the one time a year when the high priest went into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled the blood of slain lambs on the mercy seat. Jesus appeared at the throne of the Almighty God as the slain lamb in the fifth chapter of Revelation.
- The Feast of Tabernacles was a commemoration of Israel’s exodus from Egypt, celebrated by living in “booths” for seven days. It, however, also foreshadowed the establishment of God’s kingdom on Planet Earth in the millennium. Jesus Christ will reign as God-King over the entire planet from Jerusalem. It will be the first installment of God living with mankind. The second installment will be in the eternal state when the Book of Revelation tells us that God and Father and Jesus Christ will live with mankind in the New Jerusalem.
The four spring feasts were completed by Jesus before He ascended back to the Throne of God. The Feast of Trumpets will be fulfilled at the time of the initiation of the seven years of the Great Tribulation. Time of repentance will be over and Judgment begins. The Feast of Atonement will be fulfilled when Jesus returns as King and culminates the Judgment of God by destroying His enemies aligned against Him as He returns to take His place as God-King. And, as explained above, the Feast of Tabernacles will be fulfilled by Jesus Christ, as God, tabernacling with humanity.
Praise God, we live in the generation that will see these things fulfilled!
In conclusion, please continue to keep the entire community of the House of Blessing in your prayers. They depend on prayer support even more than financial support. Every open door that the Lord provides requires the printing of more materials. The need is enormous! For any questions, feel free to contact either of the email addresses below. Thank You!
Forever in His Service,
Jake (aka Jack) Jake Geier; 3206 SW 45th Street; Redmond, Oregon 97756 USA