The darkness, the glory and the flattened curve

Isaiah’s prophetic scenario cuts through the mists of time. There’s a day a-coming when gross darkness will cover the planet, and a heavy fog of spiritual pollution will hang over the entire earth.

That generation will witness a shocking nuclear explosion of spiritual light radiating out from the nation of Israel:

The streets of the Western world are racked by injustice, murder and riots. The casbahs of the Middle East are rocked by Islamist violence and hostilities. Plagues, locusts, drought and the sword are sweeping across this planet. But God calls us not to lose heart: “When you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door” (Matthew 24:33).  Days of insurgence and uprising are causing seemingly stable governments to tremble. Persecution of Bible believers (a fixture of the Islamic and Communist worlds) is mushrooming in the vestiges of once-stalwart Christian empires. Family foundations are increasingly mocked and undermined. In the middle of this storm Messiah Yeshua speaks encouraging words to us: “Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven” (Luke 6:23)!

Dark nations, radiant sons of Jacob

God wants us to prepare for what is barreling down the freeway. Though we may be walking through ‘the valley of deep darkness’ (the original Hebrew meaning of Psalm 23:4’s gai tzalmavet, often translated as the valley of death) – and it will get worse before it gets better – YHVH offers the nations a helpful bit of advice: when the going gets tough, look to Israel! When this present darkness starts exploding exponentially, know that the God of Jacob is about to shine His light on Israel in a world-shaking way.

God’s focus in Isaiah 60 is simple: His planetary solution will come through the Jewish people’s revival.

Life from the dead will be manifested through the sons of Jacob (Romans 11:15). The nations will receive even greater spiritual riches when the Jewish people come into the fullness of their divine calling (Romans 11:12). These Jewish gifts and the Jewish people’s calling will fill the Gentile world with spiritual and physical fruit (Isaiah 27:6).

As Hannibal Smith in the A-team would say, God “loves it when a plan comes together,” and this Jewish key is the plan. No need to be paralyzed by fear, depression or hopelessness. Instead, let’s remember that the God of Israel has not been taken by surprise, and that He wants us to trust in His sovereign oversight even now. God’s intercessory train is bound for glory:

We can be proactive in hope-filled prayer and in biblical vision when so many other foundations are built on shifting sand. Our prayers and our outreach help to birth the Jewish people into their ancient calling – to be a light to the Gentiles and to bring life from the dead to the entirety of our dark planet:

Isaiah prophesies about Yeshua the Messianic Servant in Isaiah 49:6 (see also Acts 13:47 where Paul also applies this prophecy to the Messianic Jewish remnant): “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

The flattening curve?

In these days of COVID-19, doctors and world leaders speak of ‘flattening the curve’ (https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/new-cases; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flattening_the_curve) – the goal of slowing coronavirus infection rates so as not to overwhelm each country’s medical system. The nation of Israel has had marked success in flattening the curve, and has been positively affirmed for this across the globe, and for this we are thankful:

Though the curve may be flattening in Israel for now, there is an opposite curve which is peaking. The Jewish people and Israel are being blamed in some international circles for the creation and spread of COVID-19:

A viral spike in anti-Semitism is happening not only in Iran and the Islamic world. The University of Oxford published a recent survey in the journal Psychological Medicine on May 22, 2020 (https://jpost.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx) revealing that 20% of surveyed Brits believe that Jews created COVID-19 to collapse the economy for financial gain.

In a February 2020 polling of 3011 adults from across UK by Focaldata, the HOPE Not Hate Charitable Trust found that, in answer to the question “Do Jews have an “unhealthy control of the banking system,” 13% of the respondents agreed with this anti-Semitic propaganda, while 38% couldn’t say that this Nazi-like declaration was either true or false, or answered that they didn’t know (www.hopenothate.org.uk/2020/04/26/trust-no-one-findings/).

These British percentages show that fertile soil exists for a pandemic outbreak of anti-Semitism. The known British ‘stiff upper lip’ dynamic may actually point to the distinct possibility that this spreading anti-Jewish poison may be even more virulent in other less reserved nations.

The darkness of anti-Semitism was a benchmark indicator for the plans both of Nazi Hitler and Communist Stalin. The Book of Revelation reveals that Satan’s Last Days priority is the annihilation of the Jewish people (Revelation 12:1-13).

Stay on target

In Star Wars: A New Hope, Gold Five pilot Davish Krail exhorts his X-Wings as they race to the Death Star reactor port: “Stay on Target!” Every U.S. Marine knows the motto ‘Semper Fi’ (Latin shorthand for ‘always faithful’). Staying the course is the apostolic challenge:

We are coming face to face with ‘this present darkness,’ As the world trembles, let’s keep our eyes on the prize and hold on:

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

Christmas and Pentecost – beyond the tinsel and the Torah

Growing up as a Jewish kid in Montreal, I loved Christmas. Snowy winter lawns were bejeweled at night with twinkling trees. People got tipsy and were nice to each other. What could be bad about all that? And a baby nursed in a Bethlehem stable seemed like friendly ‘family content’. Secular Westerners love the tinsel and the traditional music and foods. But the biblical emphasis was blurred for many of us. I had not met any believing Christians whose main Christmas focus and joy was the birth of the Jewish Messiah.

Someone has said that Jews are just like Gentiles – only more so.  Gentiles have traditions and, as Tevye of Fiddler on the Roof says, Jews also have traditions. Some Jewish traditions reflect our wanderings through Eastern Europe, Spain and Babylon. Some reflect biblical emphases, but others are more tinsel-like in nature. Let’s look at Shavuot (in Greek, Pentecost) for some helpful perspective at this season.

The feast which keeps on changing

Moses gives the people of Israel exact and clear days when to celebrate the New Year (the first day of the month of Aviv; Exodus 12:2), Passover (the 14th day of the month of Aviv; Exodus 12:6, 14; 34:18; Leviticus 23:5), Trumpets (the first day of the seventh month, Leviticus 23:23; Numbers 29:1), the Day of Atonement (the 10th day of the seventh month; Leviticus 23:26; 16:29; 25:9; Numbers 29:7) and the Feast of Tabernacles (the 15th day of the seventh month; Leviticus 23:34; Deuteronomy 16:13).

The reckoning is given in Leviticus 23: “You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering. There shall be seven complete sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath. Then you shall present a new grain offering to YHVH” (Leviticus 23:15-16).

Moses explains that the 50 day counting of the Omer (which ends on the day when Shavuot/Pentecost is celebrated) begins on “the day after the sabbath” – meaning the day after the first Sabbath day which occurs after the first night of Passover. The Karaite movement in medieval Judaism follows this exegetical meaning of Leviticus 23:16. But the rabbinic stream takes a different approach, defining this Passover as the ‘sabbath’ itself. Interestingly, the biblical text does not use the word ‘sabbath’ here or anywhere else to describe Passover.

So based on Moses' instructions, the date of the biblical celebration of the day of Shavuot/Pentecost will vary from year to year (depending on what day of the week Passover occurs). The exact day is fluid, and reflects the changes of each calendar year. Rabbinic tradition has chosen to tie down the celebration of Shavuot to one specific calendar date every year, and it is the rabbinic traditional date that nearly all Jews celebrate today.

Reap, don’t weep

This feast is called the Feast of Reaping (Qatzir; Exodus 23:16; see Psalm 126:5 for the same root) and also the Feast of Weeks (Shavu’ot; Exodus 34:22; Numbers 28:26; 7 x 7 weeks plus one day). This day celebrates the beginning of the wheat harvest season (Exodus 34:22) and is characterized by celebrations of joy in the harvest and thankfulness for the Exodus from Egyptian slavery:

Shavuot is one of the three Pilgrim feats (Passover, Shavuot, Tabernacles), when all Jewish men are commanded to make their way to Jerusalem and worship before YHVH (Exodus 23:14; shalosh regalim, three times as in Exodus 23:3; Numbers 22:28).

Messianic harvest in Jerusalem

In Acts 1:3 Luke recounts that Messiah Yeshua ascended to heaven 40 days after the crucifixion: “He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.” Ten days later (50 days on), “when the day of Shavuot/Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place” (Acts 2:1). The Ruach Hakodesh (Holy Spirit) came upon the gathered Messianic Jews all of a sudden and with great power: “And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues” (Acts 2:2-4).

The result of this supernatural visitation let to a huge Messianic harvest of salvation: “Therefore let all the House of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Messiah – this Yeshua!” (Acts 2:36). Shimon Kaipha’s message was bold and evangelistic and spoken to all the Jewish men gathered for the Feast of Shavuot: “‘Repent, and each of you be immersed in the name of Messiah Yeshua for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.’  And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, ‘Be saved from this perverse generation!’ So then, those who had received his word were immersed. And that day there were added about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:38-41).

These Jewish men were all followers of the Mosaic covenant, as were nearly all Jews in those day. “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Teaching” (ed. of the Mosaic covenant; see the context of Acts 21:20). They were being inaugurated into what Messiah Yeshua called ‘the New Covenant’ in Luke 22:20. In the words of Jeremiah, this New Covenant would be different from the Mosaic covenant:  it would not be “like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, says YHVH” (Jeremiah 31:32).

Pentecost power or Rabbi Ruth?

My dear friend now with the Lord, Dr. Louis Goldberg (former Professor of Jewish Studies at Moody Bible Institute; www.messianicjewish.net/products/fire-on-the-mountain-past-renewals-present-revivals-and-the-coming-return-of-israel-by-dr-louis-goldberg), often taught that rabbinic connecting of Shavuot/Pentecost to the giving of the Mosaic covenant on Mount Sinai was not actually based on biblical information. Instead, it was based on the theological desire to shift focus away from the amazing events of Acts 2.

Rabbinic emphasis refused to accept the Acts 2 connection with Shavuot/Pentecost, since that involved the inauguration of the New Covenant, and included Gentile inclusion into the Jewish Body of Messiah through faith in Yeshua alone. Instead, rabbinic Judaism tried to weld the inauguration of the Mosaic covenant into Shavuot/Pentecost. Rather than accepting Gentile salvation as coming about through faith in the Jewish Messiah Yeshua, rabbinic commentators now made the Book of Ruth do double duty: Ruth herself would now be presented as a convert to rabbinic Judaism, and Shavuot would be highlighted as the day of the Giving of the Sinaitic covenant.

Here are the biblical dates given for the period between the first Passover and the giving of the Decalogue:

This time line reveals that it's impossible to state with any sense of certainty that Shavuot/Pentecost and the Giving of the Tablets happened on the same day.

Only a Grinch gets angry at Christmas. So who would want to get into an argument concerning when to celebrate the Giving of the Mosaic covenant?

Perhaps it is worth remembering that God Himself did not tell us to establish a feast commemorating the giving of the Mosaic covenant. The God of Jacob also gave no clear date in the SCriptures as to when that blessed event happened. The rabbinic plastic surgery done on Shavuot/Pentecost occurred many years after Acts 2.

 If all of the above biblical and historical information is true, then could the emphasis on Shavuot/Pentecost as a Mosaic Covenant day actually be a distraction? Could it be undercutting what YHVH is trying to teach us throughout the Holy Scriptures, and de-emphasizing what He would like us to understand?

 Let us rejoice in the great Harvest Feast of Shavuot/Pentecost as we thank God for His rains and look forward to the mighty harvest of the nations – when Israel will bring much greater riches to the nations and life from the dead to the entire world! (Romans 11:12, 15)

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

Rightists and leftists

When a child can finally differentiate between his left and his right hand, even God takes notice (see Jonah 4:12)!

Nearly 3,500 years ago the God of Jacob spoke to Joshua about having a clear vision regarding left and right: “Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to do according to all the teaching which Moses My servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go” (Joshua 1:7).  And again, “Do not turn to the right nor to the left. Turn your foot from evil” (Proverbs 4:27).

Johnny Cash sang “I walk the line!” God wants us all to walk a straight line. Turning to the right or to the left means getting off track, getting ensnared in moral compromise or spiritual disobedience.

Here comes the judge

The God of Jacob commanded Moses to appoint judges in Israel known for fairness and impartiality. Any bending of the rules would result in a miscarriage of justice: “According to the terms of the teaching which they teach you, and according to the verdict which they tell you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the word which they declare to you, to the right or the left” (Deuteronomy 17:11)

We have a promise that the Good Shepherd of Israel’s voice will tell us in each situation whether a veer to the left or a turn to the right is needed: “Although YHVH has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right or to the left” (Isaiah 30:20-21).

When Messiah Yeshua returns to Jerusalem, He will judge all the nations based on how they treat Israel – specifically, how they have long desired to divide both the Promised Land and the City of Jerusalem (see Joel 3:2). That judgment involves a separating to the right and to the left: “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him. And He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left” (Matthew 25:31-33).

Right and left often have deep significance in Scripture – vis-à-vis the past, the present and the future.

Front and center

To sit at the right hand of the king was to sit in a place of the highest honor: “So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king arose to meet her, bowed before her, and sat on his throne. Then he had a throne set for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right. Then she said, ‘I am making one small request of you; do not refuse me.’ And the king said to her, ‘Ask, my mother, for I will not refuse you’” (1 Kings 2:19-20).

The desire to sit close to the center of power is very human. Even the Twelve Disciples and one of their mothers struggled with this desire – to be recognized and to have a measure of pre-eminence:

The Twelve Apostles were not the only ones who wanted to be power brokers sitting on the right and left hand of God’s Messiah. Yeshua addressed this same dynamic, speaking to wedding guests jostling each other to get the best seats:

Sitting on the right and left side of an important Jew

Something surreal often transpires when the God of Jacob drops His heart for the Jewish people into our own hearts. We get hit by a stunning revelation – God is madly in love with Israel. The children of Jacob are a people close to His heart (see Psalm 148:14; Hosea 2:14-23; 11:1-4). Some of us know what it is like to be overwhelmed by His love for the Jewish people. The experience is as exciting as a wedding night!

Responding to that heart-revelation, some of us have tried to get close to the Jewish people. Along the way we ran into some bumps in the road – potholes on the way to paradise! Jewish people are occasionally suspicious of starry-eyed Gentile believers. It is not unusual for there to be wariness, disdain or scorn. This process can be very painful.

For those Gentile believers trying to befriend Jewish people, there is another potential hazard: if one tries to share the Good News about the Jewish Messiah, or if the discussion turns to Messianic Jews and their community – stress often results. The Gentile believer is presented with a choice – if you want to continue as a friend of the Jewish people, then you need to cut off all connection with Messianic Jews. This includes a full stop to sharing the gospel with Jewish people and turning a cold shoulder to the Messianic Jewish community. We know more than a handful of Gentile believers who have done just that. They have jettisoned the Jewish gospel. They stay far away from Messianic Jews. Some start pretending that they are actually ‘hidden Jews.’ Others embrace a new form of Replacement Theology, calling themselves ‘of the tribe of Ephraim.’ Still others try to live as Orthodox Jews, even converting to Rabbinic Judaism. These tragic situations are very real. Faces of former friends pass before my eyes.

Some of these Gentiles have chosen to get very close – to sit on the right and left side, as it were, of Orthodox Jewish people who vehemently reject the Jew Yeshua. This often involves buying into a lie and sometimes leads to the shipwreck of one’s faith. The price of admission that some Gentiles feel they need to pay to be accepted by the Orthodox Jewish community, can go as far as turning publicly against Messianic Jews and castigating them in Jewish circles. A recent example of this has surfaced in Israel in the past few weeks, revolving around attacks on GOD TV’s Messianic Jewish cable station Shelanu on the HOT network. Some Orthodox Jewish spokesmen (who have assiduously cultivated handfuls of pro-Israel Evangelicals over the years) have persuaded these Christian Zionists to publicly oppose Israel’s first Messianic Jewish-operated cable TV station – even to the point of pressuring Prime Minister Netanyahu to rescind GOD TV’s license:

Years ago, the Apostle John faced a similar problem with a congregational leader named Diotrephes. This man rejected the gospel and apostolic authority, loved the limelight and accused Messianic Jews with wicked words:  “I wrote something to the congregation, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words. And not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the congregation” (3 John 9-10).

What is the threat to Jewish-Christian ties?

The Jerusalem Post newspaper recently posted an op-ed entitled “Is GOD TV a threat to Jewish-Christian ties?”  The more accurate question would be, “Is the gospel a threat to Jewish-Christian ties?” (www.jpost.com/israel-news/is-god-tv-a-threat-to-jewish-christian-ties-627798).

Freedom of religion in the Western world is meant to safeguard the free practice of one’s religious faith. A central part of the faith of Messianic Jews and Gentiles is that the New Covenant scriptures (and Messianic prophecy in the Hebrew Scriptures) reveal the Jewish Messiah Yeshua as the only atoning hope for the world. In Romans 1:16 Paul declares that he is not ashamed of the good news of Yeshua. It is the dynamite-like power of God to bring salvation to all who believe. That passage declares that the message is to be preached with priority (according to the Greek word prôton) to the Jewish people and also to all other nations. This is the gospel, and its message is not a threat to Jews or to Gentiles. To speak clearly, it is the only way that Jewish people and Gentiles can come into a personal relationship with the God of Israel. According to the New Testament Scriptures, any attempt to suppress the Good News of the Jewish Messiah is a clear and present spiritual danger to mankind, including to the Jewish people.

Choose all three – Yeshua, the Messianic Jewish remnant, and the Jewish people!

The God of Israel is looking for a few good men and women with backbone. To love Him means to love His choices and also to love the Jewish people whom He loves. One of the ways YHVH demonstrates His love for the Jewish people is through His birthing of the Messianic Jewish community. When gospel-believers love the God of Israel in a biblical way, they will love the people of Israel and also love the Messianic Jewish remnant within that people.

These three golden rings are inseparable. Let’s hold fast to all three and remain faithful to our calling!

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Messiah” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

 "But in everything commending ourselves as servants of God . . . by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left” (2 Corinthians 6:4,7)

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

The latter rain

Once upon a time there was no rain. Moses tells us that “YHVH God had not sent rain upon the earth . . .  but a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground” (Genesis 2:5-6).

But then God gave rain on the earth and sent water on the fields (see Job 5:10). “Who has cleft a channel for the flood or a way for the thunderbolt, to bring rain on a land without people, on a desert without a man in it – to satisfy the waste and desolate land and to make the seeds of grass to sprout? Has the rain a father?” (Job 38:25-28) The Bible describes God as the Great Rainmaker.

Paul declared in Lystra (modern Turkey) that the God of all nations “did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17).

Messiah Yeshua taught us that the rains  are a spiritual example to us, “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45).

“To every thing, turn, turn, turn” (The Byrds)

“There is an appointed time for everything, and there is a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1; see the Byrds video - www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPbR3uovtf8). Farmers can tell you that it’s not just that rain is needed. Showers need to come at the right time and in the right amount. “He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil” (Deuteronomy 11:14). The blessing of God is seen in the fact that rains come like clockwork and in due season: “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains” (James 5:7).

The regulated certainty of God’s seasons was a baseline for the Hebrew prophets, as reflected in Israel’s cry: “So let us know, let us press on to know YHVH. His going forth is as certain as the dawn. And He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth” (Hosea 6:3).

The nearness of God’s rain is my good

Mankind needs rain to survive. The God of Isaac knows that. He is like a father who loves to give good gifts to his children, as Moses reveals to Israel: “YHVH will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand” (Deuteronomy 28:12).  Here YHVH is proving the irrevocable nature of His gifts and calling on Israel à la Romans 11:28-29: “You shed abroad a plentiful rain, O God! You confirmed Your inheritance when it was parched” (Psalm 68:9).

God’s rains are a manifestation of His desire to bring blessing to Jerusalem: “Then He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be rich and plenteous. On that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture” (Isaiah 30:23).

In a dry and weary land

The mighty Nile has been called the lifeblood and the gift of Egypt. Farmers who lived close to the river used water wheels (sakia; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakia) or operated small canals controlled by a foot-operated wooden sluice gate which opened and closed, allowing the canal-borne river waters to flood the fields:

The Jewish people in Moses’ day knew how to use their feet based on traditional Egyptian agriculture. But the Promised Land would bring in a totally different way of doing things:

YHVH waxed poetic to the Jewish people, explaining to them that the Land of Canaan has very few perennial water sources or rivers: it “drinks water from the rain of heaven.” This was a divine setup: if the children of Israel obeyed YHVH and followed their calling, they received rain. If not, withering drought would appear.

Solomon proclaimed the same at his dedication of the magnificent Temple in Jerusalem:

A hard rain’s gonna fall

Modern folk wince when the subject of God as Judge arises. It’s true that the prophets (like Ezekiel 14:21) and Moses (Leviticus 26) who knew God personally, described Him as a judge who uses war, plagues, wild beasts and drought against rebellious nations and individuals. But most Westerners get antsy dealing with such concepts. The God of the West is seen rather as a well-behaved gentleman with some excellent moral suggestions.

The God of Jacob is different.

God has not changed. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. The real issue here is mankind’s sin and rebellion: “Behold, YHVH’s hand is not so short that it cannot save, nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God” (Isaiah 59:1-2).

Vindication by water

The prophet Joel lets us in on a spiritual secret concerning His End of Days dealings with Israel. Just prior to the final outpouring of God’s Spirit (“it will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit”; Joel 2:28 in English), YHVH announces to the Jewish people that He will pour out “the early rain for your vindication . . .  the early and latter rains” (Joel 2:23; the Hebrew words are moreh/yoreh and malqosh, the two yearly periods of rain in October/November and March/April).

YHVH announces that this pre-revival rain is a sign of His favor. Huge agricultural bumper crops of wine and oil will result. All Israel “will have plenty to eat and be satisfied and praise the name of YHVH . . . who has dealt wondrously with” Israel (Joel 2:24-26). The God of Jacob stresses two times in a row, “My people will never be put to shame” (Joel 2:26-27)!

When God opens the physical heavens and pours out His rains, Scripture lets us know that this is a sign to the nations that He still loves Israel, He still favors Jacob, and He is still pressing forward with sovereign resolve to restore Israel. 

Lord willing and the creek (don’t) rise

Over many recent years Israel has been suffering bone-crushing seasons of drought. Lawns have gone brown, showers had to be timed, and forest fires ravaged ancient hills.  At the same time the nation of Israel has not yet seen a massive spiritual swing to revival. Sexual sins, demonic spiritualties and hard-heartedness characterize too many people here. Based on the cumulative teaching of the Scriptures looked at so far, one might assume that Israel would be overcome by massive drought.

Yet something very different is happening in the Promised Land. Southern Israel has broken a 76 year record for increased rainfall, while northern Israel has broken a 50 year record. The Lake of Galilee (which had of late been sporting some new bald-headed mini-islands emerging close to the shore-line) is now less than 10 millimeters from being totally topped off.  This is so astounding that every Israeli is aware of this mini-miracle, and there is wonder in the air about it.

Why is God blessing Israel when we are not deserving of it? Why is the country overflowing with rain and water when we have not yet entered into deep national repentance? Do these rains violate His holy character or His immutable word?

Part of the reason can be found in a simple word – ‘grace.’ The word has the sense of ‘unmerited favor.’ God is treating Israel with amazing unmerited favor. That’s the same pattern in Ezekiel 37:9-14: God brings the Jewish people back to the Land of Israel while most of us are spiritually insensate; He breathes His Spirit into us, makes us come alive through a New Covenant revelation of Yeshua, and turns us into His mighty army. It’s all based on grace and it’s all activated while we’re still undeserving.

This ‘gospel for the undeserving’ is a challenge to some believers. But is it not true that every believer in Yeshua is saved “by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:7-9)?

The national salvation of Israel is being crystallized through a process similar to that which every Gentile believer undergoes – a magnificent work of God dripping in grace.

The Hebrew word for grace is hesed. It spotlights God’s faithfulness to His covenant promises. Israel’s psalmist confesses, “Had it not been YHVH who was on our side when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive when their anger was kindled against us” (Psalm 124:1-3). If YHVH were not faithful to His promises, we the Jewish people would be up a creek without a paddle. Jeremiah laments our spiritual condition in Exile: “Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land: ‘Is YHVH not in Zion? Is her King not within her . . . Harvest is past, summer is ended, and we are not saved’” (Jeremiah 8:19-20).

The rescue and salvation of the Jewish people is an unattainable goal – unless YHVH pours out His spirit of grace and of supplications on our people Israel (see Zechariah 12:10). At some point in history God has to move us beyond labor pains and into full birth: “As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. ‘Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery? says YHVH. Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb? says your God’” (Isaiah 66:8-9).

The present rains reveal to Israel and to the world God’s unchanging and overwhelming love for Jacob. They challenge us to chew on the amazing scriptural promises of restoration yet to come for Isaac’s children.

It’s time to favor Zion

What time is it in the Spirit? It’s time to consider the words of the psalmist: “You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to be gracious to her, for the appointed time has come” (Psalm 102:13).

There are those who say that the time is not yet to favor Zion and to show compassion on Israel. Some say that what is needed to bring Israel face-to-face with Messiah is earth-shaking desolation on Israel and nearly total destruction of the Jewish state. This stance may sound uncompromising and courageous, but in light of the scriptures we have looked at, it sounds like something foundational is missing – and that something is called grace/covenant faithfulness.

Yes, there have been and there will be some hard times comin,’ not only for Israel but for the entire planet. But let’s keep on track with God’s enscripturated promises to restore and comfort Zion, to bring her back to the Land and to pour early and latter rains upon her. We are all eyewitnesses to these events. Now it’s time for each one of us to wrestle in prayer and be involved in works of restoration for the fulfillment of all of Jacob’s promises!

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

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FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

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