- Happy Birthday to the nation of Israel!
Israel has been a nation now for 63 years. We are definitely living in the Last Days. No other generation has been able to say this since the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.. Prophecies are being fulfilled before our eyes. Today please pray for the peace of Jerusalem and that His people will call on His name saying, “Baruch habah b’shem Adonai!” Only then will He come the second time bringing justice to the earth. His ways are perfect. Come, Yeshua!
Oh how He loves this city, this land and these people!
Last year we celebrated Hanukkah in Jerusalem. (You can see the lights of the city past the candles in the window.) Hanukkah is a beautiful time in Jerusalem. Hanukkiot (special Hanukkah menorahs) can be seen in windows and on rooftops all over the city. It is so fun and festive. Jews celebrating the miraculous preservation of their race. Jews and believing Gentiles thanking Hashem for his faithfulness and love. You can feel the excitement in the air.
This year we are celebrating Hanukkah in Brussels, Belgium. I don’t have to tell you how different it is. I can literally feel the anti-semitic spirit in Europe. Jewish life is not popular or even on anyone’s radar. Still this household and missions base is celebrating God’s faithfulness and provision to the Jewish people for the next eight days. As we add a new candle every night we will thank Abba and intercede for His chosen people.
Derek Leman at Messianic Jewish Musings in his recent post wrote such an eloquent description of Hanukkah:
The miracle of Hanukkah is the preservation of Israel’s people and the continuation of the covenant promises that God will heal and deliver Israel. The one who heals the people of Israel is Yeshua, the man who said at Hanukkah he was one with the Father, the one who said he is the good shepherd of Israel who leads his people to circumcised hearts and eternal life.
When a new Antiochus will arise, as foretold in Daniel, and will greatly trouble Israel again, it will be Yeshua who comes to deliver his people. In the meantime, we are the Hasidei Yeshua, the pious ones of Yeshua, who stand firm in faithfulness to God’s ways and who do not compromise. Great movements of salvation do not usually look impressive, but when the times get difficult, the ones who shine are revealed.
Tonight, the first night of this eight-day festival, we will celebrate the fact that the Jewish people have been preserved and that God’s promise has not expired or disappeared. Actually the Jews are the second hand on God’s prophetic timepiece for the Last Days. If you don’t understand the centrality of Israel and the Jewish people to the End Times, then you are missing a huge part of the Bible.
Yeshua, let the light of the knowledge of who You are shine on Your people during this season!
Yesterday I was listening to a teaching by Billy Humphrey, founder of the the International House of Prayer in Atlanta, Georgia. Billy came to our home church (Shady Grove Church) several times while we were pastoring, and we have always loved his fiery, prophetic spirit and passion for God. His opening text of the message I listened to yesterday was one verse in the book of Matthew, and it has gripped my heart. When you read it with natural eyes, there is nothing unusual about it. Actually it’s a verse that most of us have read many times. Billy described it as the “reset button” in his life. When it seems like life is getting too complicated or he’s having trouble focusing on what really matters, he meditates on this one verse in Matthew 22:2.
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son.”
This is what it’s all about. Our highest purpose is to be a bride prepared for the Son of God. It’s not what we do for Him. It’s who we are. This has been His purpose from the beginning of time. We, as sons and daughters of the Most High, the Church, are being readied for the marriage supper of the Lamb, to be married to the One who will ride on a white horse of war rather than a donkey of peace. His robe ‘dipped in blood’ but not his own. (more…)
