There are a lot of theories floating in the church about the war in Israel – The church is looking at Ezekiel 38-39 to the point of prognosticating that we are imminently there…The Isaiah 17 destruction of Damascus is also being declared as a place we are prophetically as well. A few others are being touted as well – but I think there is a posture Believers need to take and it is notwithstanding any prophetic significance Israel has in Scripture – it has to do more with who you are as a Believer, a Kingdom citizen, and what our roles are in those identities.
Folks here’s the deal – If we would just pause for a moment and understand the ramifications of where we are today; in the world but even more with Israel under attack by evil…if we do, we might take a different position than attempting to figure out where we are prophetically (and I will get to that part) and instead, taking a stand individually and in our communities (both faith and logistical) – and more primarily, taking our places in the Kingdom of God.
So what does that look like? (I’m glad you asked…) This is not an exhaustive list but key points,,,
- STOP BEING SILENT ABOUT ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE – You have not only seen the atrocities in Israel BUT more poignantly – the amount of vitriol AGAINST the Jewish people – calling for death and destruction – hatemongering – Nations taking a stand against Israel AND the JEWISH PEOPLE. It is like there was a preparatory volcano getting ready and all the lava has erupted worldwide – so what does the Scriptures say? Yahweh says through the prophet Isaiah in chapter 62 – “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet, Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, And her salvation like a torch that is burning…” So, If Yahweh is not going to be silent – then those who call Him Lord of All – should also not be silent.
- PRAY EVERY DAY FOR ISRAEL, ITS INHABITANTS, ITS SALVATION, AND THE BELIEVERS THERE. – Psalm 122:6-9 says, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you. “May peace be within your walls, And prosperity within your palaces.” For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, “May peace be within you.” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good…” “Why Israel?” you may ask… Because “Salvation is from the Jews” (someone important said that) – and we (Gentiles) are grafted into the Root (Romans 11:17-18) – now that same word “root” means “vine” as well – so we have been grafted into what was already covenanted by God through the “Vine” – and we become branches…There is no Messiah (vine) without the rootedness of our faith in Yeshua without the lineage of Israel/Judah. The church must awaken to this not only as a revelation – but as a reality! Praying for the Peace of Jerusalem is literally praying for the Prince of Peace to be revealed in The Land.
- LOVE YOUR BROTHER – We cannot love one brother and not the other…We have an implicit example in Cain and Abel and the response of God to the whole story there. So how does that play into Believers and Israel? Exodus 4:22-23 says this when Moses is getting instructions to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let the Children of Israel go… “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I said to you, ‘Let My son go that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.” Did you know that God calls Israel “His Firstborn”? When Yeshua is talking in Matthew 25 about dividing the nations between the sheep and the goats – he makes a delineation between them by saying if they did nor did not do the things like bringing drink for thirst, visiting them while sick and in jail, clothing those who didn’t have anything – “If you did it to the least of these “My Brothers” – meaning literal siblings – not spiritual – we get this Scripture wrong in the church…Jesus is talking about his Jewish Brethren here…because the very acts of these three things lead to the propensity for them to see Yeshua as the Messiah. But you say – Mike how are they “my brother”? – Because John 3:16 says Jesus is God’s “…only “Begotten Son”…” and Jesus himself says in Mark 3:34 that whoever does the will of God is His brother… which means – If you are in covenant with God – you are called an “extended brother” and therefore Israel (God’s Firstborn) and Yeshua (only Begotten Son) then plays into the Apostle Paul’s message to Ephesus in chapter two about us becoming “one New Man” in Messiah. You and I have an obligation to Love our Brother Israel into the Kingdom through the work of bringing them aid when they need it, and according to Romans 11:11 to make them jealous – don’t you think they need help right now in this season of war?
- LET’S GET OUR MINDS OFF OF OUR DESIRES FOR OURSELVES – AND TAKE ON A SERVANT’S HEART OF SACRIFICE – Since the war started last week, I have only thought about how I can serve others – how can I begin to do more for the kingdom knowing that the fact Israel is in turmoil, and that being a barometer for the timeline of God allowing things on this earth; How can I be MORE available to hear his voice for MORE of His Grace and opportunity to see His Kingdom expanded. I want to encourage you in a few paradigms – I will get hate emails for this – but hear me out. I submit to you to pray about investing our time more into the Kingdom in this season and trade the time and resources on ourselves into serving others – whether it be for Israel or not – Let us stop being only receptacles of God’s presence and power – and start being ones going out and winning souls, sowing resources into needs of others – begin to take on an outward mentality – not dwelling inward…Let God move through you as you move out for Him. Isaiah, in chapter 6 after seeing the Glory of the Most High and experiencing the Holy Touch of heaven says this starting in verse six – “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.” Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate, “The Lord has removed men far away, And theforsaken places are many in the midst of the land. “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.” – “…here am I…” is an expression of will – “Hineini” in Hebrew – which means I am submitting my will to You for whatever You say. It is time Believers begin pouring out from themselves into the world and during times of turmoil where people flail in fear – realize – the harvest is ripe!
Now as to where we are today with Israel’s war. – Well in my humble opinion – we are not near Ezekiel 38 or 39 – because there is an often-forgotten time of harvest which must take place. Don’t get me wrong – there is going to be incredible worldwide turmoil and war. Suffice it to say that Zacheriah 8:20-23 says, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, “Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; I will also go.” So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord.’ Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”
There will be a difficult time because it takes difficulty and persecution for harvests to come in…also there must be Aliyah made from the US for the many Jewish people here and other places in the West. Jeremiah records it like this in chapter 16:14 –“Therefore behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.’ For I will restore them to their land which I gave to their fathers. “Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will fish for them, and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks. For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes. I will first doubly repay their iniquity and their sin because they have polluted My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations.” God will bring them to the land through wooing first – then through difficulties that will make His Firstborn come back to the Land – but this prophecy is also cyclical -as we have seen this before – we will see it again as millions of Jewish people have still not made it yet to Israel. These things must take place before the Day of the Lord…Remember there are going to be wars and rumors of wars before major Biblical moves happen – are we close? Yes probably – But I believe that according to many Scripture references, there is a harvest to be seen before there is the outpouring of seals and bowls – or they are in combination with them – and looking at Scriptures – especially prophetically designed for the end times – we cannot escape the modeling of Joseph and Egypt being a picture of what we will see in the Kingdom – especially in the pictorial aspect of Paleo Hebrew and the language used in Genesis. So, hold on, pray for and support Israel, win souls, Serve our Messiah even more, and see what God has for you in this season!
