Signs of the times – connecting the dots

“The Pharisees and Sadducees came up. Testing Yeshua, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. But He replied to them, ‘When it is evening, you say, “It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.” And in the morning, “There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.” Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?’” (Matthew 16:1-3).

Yeshua was doing many Messianic miracles throughout Israel. Thousands were getting supernaturally healed and delivered. Some were even resuscitated from the dead. But most power brokers and media influencers would not embrace either the Messenger or His Message: “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed” (John 3:19-20).

You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows

The spiritual dynamics of not ‘getting with the plan’ are as old as the hills. In 1965’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” Dylan lets loose with the famous line, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” Yeshua also spoke to the weather channel authorities of his generation, warning them that “something was going on and they didn’t know what it is.”

Today there are certain events going on which seem to pass us by like ships in the night. We do shudder at the explosions of Islamist jihadi terrorism, for sure. But even so, politicians and media bend over backwards to avoid such terms. There’s a lot of mealy-mouthed mumbling going on regarding the Middle East-based ‘emperor and his new clothes.’

But now is the day when we need to wake up and smell the Jägermeister. We are facing sober parallels to the rise of Hitler. Though the Führer had time to instigate and catalyze WWII (involving the bloody ravaging of Europe and North Africa), his compulsion was the mass murder of Jacob’s children. Hitler prioritized sending Jews to gas chambers over sending Wehrmacht troops to the Russian front. Six million dead Jews later, most of the world has not yet come to terms with the satanic roots here – the spiritual sources of Hitler’s hatred of the Hebrew nation (see Genesis 12:3; Ezekiel 35-36).

When anti-Semitism raised its ugly head in Germany of the 1930’s, most nations pooh-poohed the matter. It’s just over-excitable Jews trying to drag us into their paranoid delusions, said many. The Jewish people deserve it, some opined; they are simply too successful in business. Others slyly commented that the Jews are the power behind all thrones, supposedly controlling the banks, the media, the world economy, the arts, etc.

Multiple choice or ‘one size fits all’?

The Jewish community of Germany’s 1930’s Weimar Republic could not allow itself to believe that mass murder of Isaac was coming down the pike. Hitler rose to dictatorial power on a tidal wave of anti-Communist fear. Loyal German Jews would not believe that Germany (Europe’s most technologically advanced and civilized nation) was turning against the Hebrew people. Many German Jews were actually anti-Zionist and anti-religious, hoping that by staying away from strongly Jewish identity they would avoid persecution.

The Jews of France fell into a similar pit during Marshal Pétain’s Régime de Vichy similarly thinking that they would be safe due to their unimpeachable loyalty to the French Revolution. Others (like Theodore Herzl and those who witnessed the Dreyfus Affair riots of 1898) were not so sure. Modern political Zionism was the outstanding response to French anti-Semitic violence:

Today most American Jews prefer to see the murder of Jews as a right-wing and white racist phenomenon. Yet in fact it is international jihadi and Islamist Jew-hatred which is the prime mover in this field. The explosion of European anti-Jewish attacks is largely due to the tidal wave of Muslim immigration, which has brought with it centuries-old anti-Jewish Islamist attitudes and history.

Leftist anti-Semitism is not only widespread in Europe (as the above articles show). It has bounded to its feet with demonized energy in the United States:

Modern anti-Semitism comes in many variegated stripes – Islamist, white power and radical leftist.

These are the present manifestations of Jew-hatred.

All those who love the Jewish people need to be on guard against the cancer of all three signs.

Who said ‘Never again!’?

On the last day of Passover, April 27, 2019, a Chabad synagogue in Poway (San Diego, CA area) was attacked by 19-year old John Earnest. Lori Gilbert-Kaye, a 60-year old Jewish woman was murdered when she jumped in front of her Rabbi Yisrael Goldstein’s son Mendel to protect him. Three other synagogue attenders were wounded including:

After the Holocaust/Shoah, a watchword was created in the Jewish community, “Never again!” The origin of the term might have come from Ukrainian-born Hebrew poet Yitzḥak Lamdan who published a poem in 1926 called “Masada” where he declared, “In the dance’s circling chain, never shall Masada fall again!”

Later on the term was used to proclaim that the Jewish people would never allow a Second Holocaust to occur.  The 1961 documentary Mein Kampf, directed by the Swedish-Jewish filmmaker Erwin Leiser, concluded with an overhead panning shot of Auschwitz and the words “It must never happen again – never again.” In 1972 Meir Kahane of the Jewish Defense League authored a book outlining his vision of Jewish history titled Never Again! A Program for Survival. And finally in 2000 the British-Jewish historian Martin Gilbert authored Never Again: A History of the Holocaust.

When people are forced to confront the murderous evil of anti-Jewish hatred, it is natural and healthy for them to fight back. However, without a biblical perspective about the spiritual roots of Islamist source documents, it is also easy to assume that all terror movements are equal, and that they all can be eradicated by concentrated social action. But we have the wry privilege of living at a critical juncture in history – where there is coming a dénouement of evil. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a dénouement refers to the final part of a play, film, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved.

Counting the cost

The eruption of Jew-hatred is a touchstone of Messiah’s soon arrival. Revelation 12 depicts a Last Days desperate satanic attempt to annihilate Jacob’s children. As we head toward such sober challenges, we need to be ready; we need to count the cost (see Luke 14:25-33).

The rise of unbridled anti-Jewish evil will not be easily stuffed back into the genie’s bottle. These are challenging days.

As Gandalf once said, “Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another shape and grows again.” “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. And already, Frodo, our time is beginning to look black. The Enemy is fast becoming very strong. His plans are far from ripe, I think, but they are ripening. We shall be hard put to it” (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, page 19).

Stay on target

There is no panic in Heaven, Corrie ten Boom would say. God has no problems, only plans. Corrie witnessed great anti-Jewish evil and suffered much for standing with the Jewish people during Nazi days. Her words can be of great encouragement to us.

God is raising up an army to counter this foul wave of anti-Semitism. In Ezekiel 37 YHVH describes His purpose in restoring the Jewish people (still without the fullness of the Holy Spirit) to their Promised Land of Israel.

This is what is coming down the pike. Are you ready? Would you like to partner with us in practical ways to make this prophetic vision a reality?

Equipping the army

The prophetic calling that the God of Jacob has given us involves catalyzing this vision, seeding it across the face of the planet, and equipping the remnant of Israel to grow into its destiny as the army of Ezekiel 37.

As we do this, as we spread our wings through media outreach (face-to-face equipping, on-line teaching, music video outreach, etc.) we surely are in need of  significant increase in financial support and prayer undergirding from all who believe in this message. Your ongoing contribution to this ministry will literally allow us to go forward and expand our outreach. When you stand with us, you actually become a co-laborer in what we are accomplishing, and you share in the rewards.

Would you consider standing shoulder-to-shoulder with us in this new and next level of challenge? We appreciate it as your brother and sister in Messiah Yeshua.

How should we then pray?

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal or credit card) through: www.davidstent.org

Rough-riding against the gods of Egypt

Passover is here. Soulful melodies combine with delicious foods to shape the Jewish people’s premier family holiday. A national celebration, it has been commemorated by Israel for over 3,000 years. Its traditions have been gathered over the millennia. Its framework is the Book of Exodus – God’s revolutionary exploits in delivering His chosen people from the pagan anti-Semitism of Egyptian slavery.

Passover (or Pesach, as it is known in Hebrew) has the raw stuff of great drama. It has everything a good movie needs: violent abuse, supernatural curses, bloody murder, high stakes political confrontation, signs and wonders… You name it, Passover’s got it!

But let’s not get lost between the matzah ball soup and the coconut macaroons. There is a Passover Secret hiding behind the horseradish and the lamb bone, and it has HUGE relevance for us in our day. The secret of Pesach is YHVH the Warrior, His burning social justice, and His politically incorrect judgment of the false gods and demons of Egypt.

This present darkness

Belfast bard Van Morrison sings of the time “when that rough God goes riding…riding on in” (“Rough God Goes Riding”; words and music Van Morrison, © BMG Rights Management, 1997). The God of Jacob uses similar language to describe His bringing the Ten Plagues to a climax: “For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments – I am YHVH” (Exodus 12:13).

The plagues are not only great footage for Cecil B. DeMille in his cinematographic epic “The Ten Commandments.” They reveal YHVH’s deep engagement in spiritual warfare “against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). Each plague targeted a different Egyptian demon.

* Hapi was the god of the Nile, Egypt’s source of life (Nile turned to blood)

* Heket was the frog goddess of fertility and birth (frogs became a curse)

* Horus, the hawk-headed god of war, was the first-born son of Osiris (even Pharaoh’s first-born was touched)

* Apis was the god of agriculture (cattle disease, locusts, hail and fire touched all agriculture)

* Ra was the god of the sun (the sun was turned to darkness)

Red Sea Rap music

In Exodus 15:1-18 we hear the Song of Moses, his Redemption Song shout at the Reed Sea. The God of Jacob is described in military terms, “YHVH is a warrior. YHVH is His name.”

God is the One who has taken sides on the battlefield and dealt a death-blow to the forces of Pharaoh: “I will sing to YHVH, for He is highly exalted. The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.”

Moses does not mince words. God has a powerful one-two punch and He is not afraid of using it on Israel’s enemies: “Your right hand, O YHVH, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O YHVH, shatters the enemy. And in the greatness of Your excellence You overthrow those who rise up against You. You send forth Your burning anger, and it consumes them as chaff.”

The enemy of the Jewish people boasts coming destruction on Israel, “The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil. My desire shall be gratified against them. I will draw out my sword, my hand will destroy them.’”

YHVH’s response is to the point: “You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who is like You among the gods, O YHVH? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders? You stretched out Your right hand. The earth swallowed them.”

The Middle Eastern neighbors beheld how the greatest regional superpower was broken, and they drew political and military conclusions, “The peoples have heard, they tremble. Anguish has gripped the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed. The leaders of Moab, trembling grips them. All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. Terror and dread fall upon them. By the greatness of Your arm they are motionless as stone – until Your people pass over, O YHVH, until the people pass over whom You have purchased.”

The lessons of Passover

Each of these Exodus principles is alive, active and sharper than any two-edged missile. These principles stand guard over the Jewish people as we are confronted with Middle Eastern enemies (both physical and spiritual). As you celebrate the victory of Passover and Messiah Yeshua’s victory through the atoning cross, let’s remember that God is getting ready to lead with His strong fist and stretch out His powerful arm (Jeremiah 32:21) to break the power of Israel’s enemies (Zechariah 12:1-9; 14:3).

The God of the Jewish people has a burning passion to purify His people (Zechariah 13:9) and to bring them close to His own heart once again (Jeremiah 31:33-34). Some of that purification process will be painful for Israel. The God of Jacob even uses Exodus language to describe the intensity of some of those moments (Ezekiel 20:33-34). “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Corinthians 5:11).

How should we then pray?

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal or credit card) through: www.davidstent.org

Sand or Rock - a challenge to the prophetic and apostolic movements

The 1980’s and 1990’s witnessed the rise of two Christian streams. One was called the prophetic movement and the other was known as the apostolic movement. Though these tributaries were beset by no small measure of controversy, they were eyewitnesses of some amazing stirrings of God as the foundational gifts of Ephesians 4:9-16 found renewed and reformed expression.

 
These young and burgeoning movements occasionally manifested immaturity, overstatement and pride. As with most charismatic movements, their strengths did not always lie in knowledge and careful use of the Scriptures.  Nevertheless, there were some voices of balance within these groups, and they wooed their enthusiastic adherents to more biblically sound and thoughtful expressions of faith.
 
This newsletter offers a challenge to these movements – to their present leaders and also to their many followers.
 
The prophetic declarations and the apostolic pronouncements which sound out from your pulpits – are they being constructed on dunes of sand or is their foundation on the rock of God’s word?
 
The sand and the rock in question refer to how you deal with the Scripture – their solid meaning focuses on the Jewish people, their calling, gifts and destiny. Do your preaching, your pronouncements and your prophesying honor that divine focus? When you adapt Bible promises about the Jewish people, do you let your people know at the get-go that these are priority prophetic promises of life for the Jewish people? Do you make that clear before you apply the principles in those verses to your Christian audience and to the larger family of faith?
 
If you give a wide berth to the Jewish people’s centrality in these promises, then believe it or not – Replacement Theology (the sin of the fathers) will continue to occupy the high ground in your movements; the Bible’s prophetic words about the Jewish people will continue to be twisted and Jacob’s amazing prophetic destiny will continue to be ignored.
 
Building castles made of sand
 
Jimi Hendrix once sang that “castles made of sand fall in the sea eventually.” Two millennia before Jimi, Messiah Yeshua’s words echoed quietly on Galilean hills: “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house. And it fell – and great was its fall” (Matthew 7:26-27).
 
We who hear and understand Yeshua’s words have a responsibility. Unless we act on His words, we are considered foolish people standing on shaky foundations.
 
“From the standpoint of God’s choice/election they (ed. the Jewish people) are beloved for the sake of the patriarchs. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:28-29). If these words are true (and they are!), this means that we must make absolutely certain to convey this rock-solid foundational truth as we apply the Jewish Scriptures to our primarily Gentile congregations and audiences.
 
If a promise pertains to Israel and her future prophetic destiny, then we need to make sure that we also proclaim Israel’s prophetic destiny to our people before we use the principles in that scripture to encourage our own people. But if we leave Israel out of the picture, we stand in violation of Genesis 12:3. The Hebrew in that verse says, meqalelecha a’or (‘the one who ignores/derides, scorns, belittles you [Israel], I will curse’).
 

 
So many of my dear friends in the prophetic and apostolic movements don’t know it, but they are actually trumpeters of a new form of Replacement Theology. Were someone to make a list of how often this happens (to paraphrase John 21:25) “I suppose that even the world itself would not contain” the many and varied illustrations.
 
Here are four examples of the myriads that abound out there:
 

 
 Is it not time to move on, to press onward and upward toward the goal, the prize of the upward calling we have in Messiah Yeshua the Son of David (Philippians 3:14)? Is it not time for the body of Messiah to get with God’s plan and honor His priority choosing of the Jewish people as the key to world revival? Can the prophetic and the apostolic streams get back in step with the Spirit of God here by honoring His heart and priority for Israel?
 
We will rock you
 
Yeshua challenges His listeners to be not only hearers but also doers of His words. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-25).
 
The night of boasting against the natural Jewish branches is nearly over (Romans 11:18). The daylight is almost here (Romans 13:12). Let those who would prophesy God’s heart and strategies get in step with God’s heart and strategies concerning the Jewish people. Let those who would speak God’s apostolic heart over His body be pleased to honor Israel, for Gentile believers are indebted to the Jewish people and share in Jacob’s spiritual things (Romans 15:27).
 
As the premier Apostle has said, “If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment” (1 Corinthians 14:37).
 
How should we then pray?
 


Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES
BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal or credit card) through: www.davidstent.org

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