Historic: Welcoming the King of Glory Conference Jerusalem

It's a First & Your Prayers are Especially Needed to Cover What is About to Take Place! 

by Donna Diorio with Chaya Mizrachi

On October 10-13th, a significant first will take place in Jerusalem during the festivities of the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot as it is known from the Biblical Fall Feasts of God. During this season it is quite usual for Israel and especially Jerusalem to be overflowing with Christians who come to celebrate the feasts at many conferences that are conducted by Christian ministries.

What makes the "Welcoming the King of Glory" conference different is that this marks the first time that the Israeli ministry leaders were asked to be both the organizer and leaders the conference that would host ministry leaders and participants from the nations. Usually these international conferences are entirely organized and lead by Christian groups, with some participation in speaking by the local Israeli ministries. 

But a group of indigenous ministry leaders including many different Pacific islanders, New Zealand and Australia including Hawaiians and First Nations of the Americas, approached the Israeli ministry leaders to do a conference in Israel - with one catch: 

They would not do the conference unless the Israeli leaders led it. They said it was time for the Israeli leaders to sit at the table as an older brother and they stated that the nations could not find their right place until the Jewish leaders from Israel stepped into their place. What a powerful breakthrough of prophetic insight!

Adonai Roi congregation (The Lord is my Shepherd kehila) and Dugit Ministries leader, Avi Mizrachi in Tel Aviv said, “This is the first time that a group of Israeli leaders are leading a gathering where we are inviting the native leaders from the far islands to come and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles with us.”

Apparently this has been on the heart of the indigenous peoples of the nations for some time and they have been praying about it for some time. Finally they approached Avi Mizrachi with their desire and Avi called a meeting of different Israeli leaders together to hear them. Avi said,  "We heard from God to go forward." 

Afterwards, it created a desire among the Messianic leaders to meet together to worship and hear from as a group as they have never moved together before. So over the summer as the Israeli leadership met together, Asher Intrater of Revive Israel stood up and said, "Avi, you are called to lead this and we are with you." 

Mizrachi, a sabra, or native Israeli himself, sees a special significance in the indigenous ministry leaders coming to the ministry leaders of Israel in this way. It is significant that they are the first international Christians to recognize correct protocol for coming up to Jerusalem to keep the feast of Tabernacles. It is a historical first.

What do I mean by that? I mean that many come to Israel to keep the feasts and to hold conferences, but the leadership of the Israeli Messianic community of faith are not approached except as an afterthought or sometimes in last minute recognition that their involvement would enhance the gathering. This is akin to throwing a party at a neighbor's house and not seeking their blessing until all the invitations have gone out and the plans completed. 

The correct protocol has been followed in this event and it is significant too that has come about at the request of the indigenous, or first-nations peoples. They recognized that it was important when coming to Israel to come as true guests of the Jewish Messianic ministry leadership.

There are many Israeli leaders involved in the conference including Benjamin and Reuven Berger, Guy Cohen, Argo Andargachew, Gil Afriat, Tony Sperando, Michael Yaron, Eitan Shiskoff, Schmuel Birbaunm, Asher Intrater, Ariel Blumenthal, Peter Tsukahira, Eddie Santoro, Rick Ridings, Simcha David, Israel Pochtar, Avishalom Tekle, Tal Robin, Michael Yaron and Avi Mizrachi.

There will also be Arab Christian pastors and leaders who will participate in the conference to show their support for the Israeli ministry leadership and for Israel. In fact, the conference will take place in Abu Ghosh/Kiryat Ye'arim, just outside Jerusalem in the Jerusalem Hills. Abu Ghosh is an Arab-Israeli village known for warm ties to Zionism according to the Times of Israel. Kiryat Ye'arim is an ancient Israeli town that is significantly noted as village that the Ark of the Covenant was returned to after being captured by the Philistines. It was held in Kiryat Ye'arim until the Ark could be correctly taken up to Jerusalem because there was an exact protocol issued by God for conveying the Ark.

The timing of this event is also seen as particularly significant as 2017 marks a special moment on God’s calendar. It is:

   120 years since the First Zionist World Congress
   100 years since the Balfour Declaration
   70 years since the United Nations Resolution 181 calling for the partition of British Mandate  Palestine into a state for Jews and a state for Arabs
   50 years from the Six-Day War and unification of Jerusalem
   50 years of the restoration of Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley and the Golan Heights to Israel

Intercession for this event is requested between now and the event date just a few weeks into October.  This morning (9/26) Chaya Mizrachi noted to me an indication of the level  warfare that exists for this quite historic conference relating the history of their event location and also noticing a terror attack that occurred this very day.

Chaya explained that in 1948 the British handed the keys of the Abu Ghosh police station containing the arms to the Muktar, the head of the village. Also that the British handed  over much to the Arabs rather than to the Jews in the villages, tilting the balance of power, if you will. But in a surprising and unusual move the Muktar of Abu Ghosh turned around and gave the keys to the Palmach Hagana, the Jewish fighting force during the British Mandate. With the British rule pulling out, Abu Ghosh was taking its stand with Israel. From that strategic location, the Jews were able to watch the road to Jerusalem and protect Jewish settlements in the area.

Today, you may have heard about a terrorist attack in Har Hadar that murdered three Israeli and seriously wounded a fourth. The one the three security forces men that were murdered by the terrorist was a young man from Abu Ghosh. He was there, an Israeli Arab, protecting the Jewish community. 

As Eddie Santoro of Ahavat Yeshua congregation wrote recently, "We live in this reality every day. The battle that is raging around us is mighty on many fronts. There is every 'natural' reason for fear to raise its ugly head. But we have chosen not to look to the way of this world but to trust in God. His way is our way and His victory is our victory. We step out in faith and the wonder of God surrounds our life. We are committed to stepping out in faith also in sharing Yeshua with those we meet."

The spiritual warfare going into this historic breakthrough is great.  Also because it is already a great breakthrough that the recognition of the Pacific Islands and First Nations have followed the correct spiritual protocol to an event in Israel. We are expecting great fruit to come from this conference, and ask for many to take up the prayers of faith interceding for every detail going into the conference and covering all the participants coming and going.

We are entering into times that the spiritual enemies of our God do not want to see unfold. That is why the ministries of Israel live under strong daily pressures and also why there is an urgency to this call to intercede over this historically significant  "Welcoming the King of Glory" conference.  

Please join us in praying for this to be the first of many more to come in the correct protocol from the nations. 

To learn more about this event you can access the conference  website wtkog.com/ 
Arrows from Zion will also be posting more as we continue to receive  further updates.

The Year is 5778

The year is 5778.
I remember many years ago I was at a conference and my friend who was putting on the conference asked me to stand on Sunday morning and told the congregation that I had an Israel Prayer letter. Then he asked me what the Jewish year was. I answered, I don't know because I don't follow that kind of stuff. Later he told me I should have given it a shot since none of the people there would have known the difference anyway. This is so true. To pursue understanding to all things Jewish from a Christian standpoint is to dive into a seemingly bottomless pit. There is no end to the 'rabbi trails' of study that we can wander around in like some elaborate maze. And of course I did exactly that in my first years of being drawn into the search for the Jews that I found missing from the faith of Jesus, the Messiah born in Nazareth. As I locked onto where God was leading me, to the believer ministries of Israel, I came to realize that although there was much richness in Jewish roots and the Hebrew language, it did not hold a candle to me realizing and pursuing what God was doing through the believers of Yeshua in the nation of Israel. That they were the key to future events and it was crucial that believers in the nation became not only aware of them, but entered into relationship with them. When the Church officially cut off the Jewish believers in 318 AD - according to Catholic historian Malachi Martin - they were a comparatively rag tag group of emissaries who went to Rome to meet with pope Silvester. Martin writes of them that "they shunned all worldly power and revolution, and were for the most part dirt-farmers and petty merchants, hugging close to their obscurity even though their first bishop was James, first cousin of Jesus." To most of the major figures in the Church, the Israeli ministries of our time also appear to be a rag tag group of emissaries "hugging close to their obscurity." In the restoration of God's mercies, expressed through His salvation of Israel to faith through the Messiah Yeshua, it is the Church in the nations who see beyond the humble nature of the Israeli ministries and believers, and in faith re-connect with them. It is a seeing through the eyes of faith, like Naaman, a commander of the Syrian army who was a leper seeking to be healed by a prophet of God in Israel. Elisha told him to dip in the Jordan River seven times to be healed. What the prophet told Naaman to do enraged him, because it was too simple, too plain - not dignified or treating him as his commanding rank surely deserved. Besides, the Jordan River was just a dirty brown river and Naaman was used to more sparkling clean river flows in Syria. This is a metaphor for the state of much of the Christian church today regarding the Israeli prophets - and all the five fold ministries. Naaman's SERVANTS had to talk sense to the great commander. They asked him essentially that if the Israeli prophet had told him something that appealed more to his own image of his personal standing, would he have followed the instruction and been healed. So, Naaman humbled himself and did as Elisha had told him to do - dip 7 times in the dirty Jordan River and be healed of his leprosy. I often see Christians who do not want to accept that God has put the Israeli ministries into a significant and unique position in these last days of the last days. Not only are they especially anointed to reach their people in Israel, but they are also anointed to be facilitators of the vision of God for one new man in Messiah Yeshua that is coming together. At this point while the Western church continues somewhat to balk at the rag tag Israeli contingent of the faith, the Far East is coming in droves to connect as family with their brothers in the faith. The faith has traveled across the world heading west and is now coming full circle back to Jerusalem - from the far east through the middle east and will finally come to Jerusalem, the City of the Great King. Time for the West to awaken to this.

Birthpangs 2017 Part 2

I have never been a big fan of the direct connect-the-dots of political incidents against Israel to catastrophic weather events. Years ago it was popularized in an extremely detailed book which was well received by our community of Messianics and Messianic supporters. Regardless of the warm welcome it got almost universally from those of us who love Israel, I did not and still do not believe it says the right thing about the God we serve.

Maybe some of you think my comment yesterday, Birthpangs 2017, was in part mocking those who believe that God is directly punishing America for recent political moves related to Israel. Maybe I was mocking - although it was sparingly I believe. The real problem is what it says about God. For the record, I don't like what it implies about God when believers connect their causal dots to abortion, homosexuality or other sins that specifically push their buttons as followers of the LORD.

As I explained, there were spiritual laws laid down in Genesis 3 that govern the whole of mankind and one of those is that the curse of sin would not entirely rest on the man and women and their descendants, but some of the curse for their sins would be absorbed into the very ground. "Cursed is the ground for your sake."

Then later on in Moses time, God gave His people something that would keep them safe in the repercussions of sin. He gave them laws - statutes and ordinances which would not bring curses on the them directly, nor into the ground on which they lived. This was so important that God told them not only were they to live by these moral laws but they were to see to it that the strangers that lived among them did the same. And why because if some did not the curse of those sins would be absorbed into the very ground beneath their feet, and when that happens, then at some point the ground will begin to "vomit" out the inhabitants. Natural disasters are that vomiting out.

This is a universal spiritual law over the whole earth like gravity is a natural law over the whole earth. It is going to happen when a land absorbs the sins of the people who inhabit it. God does not have to issue a judgment, He already did in Genesis 3.

Sometimes there are connect the dots causal curses that are unleashed on us through political actions we take. But those are different from weather events which belong to the Genesis 3 curse. The sowing and reaping law is the direct causal spiritual law that impacts us when bad political moves are taken. "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked bears rule, the people mourn."

We are about to come upon the 16th Memorial of such an event of political sowing and reaping tomorrow, the 9/11 terror attack. Politically in 1993 the decision was made to allow Hamas to fund raise in the U.S. which meant Israel would bear an increased brunt of terror attacks. When the 9/11 terror attack occurred, the United States literally reaped what it had sown against Israel when it did not cut off Islamists within us from funding the effort against Israel.

The whole of Europe is in much worse shape than the United States on the same count of evil political moves against Israel and for Israel's Islamist enemies than we in the US are. That is because they are reaping on the same level that they sowed evil against Israel politically. This is a DIRECT cause and effect, sowing and reaping. It is also a spiritual law that is in effect that does not require God to say one word in judgment. He may stay the reaping, giving people a time to repent, but the sowing and reaping is going to happen regardless.

I grew up in a denomination that continually looked judgmentally at individuals upon whom bad things happened. I grew up thinking God was mad and mean, directly punishing us for every single time we screwed up. It has taken a lot to transform that view of God in my heart. Maybe that is why it bothers me so much to hear believers say God is punishing us when a major natural disaster strikes. The world is literally in our hands, it operates under God's laws, but we are the ones on the ground that are releasing what happens either through our obedience or our disobedience to His laws governing this earth.

In times like the current weather events in the USA, it seems to me that we are to be representing God as the way to safety, refuge, peace and compassion. I don't know about you, but when I returned to the God of my childhood, I was in dire straits. I was looking for help, not an explanation that God was hacked off at me and that was why I was in such a pickle.

Anyway, a few clarifying thoughts this morning.

Birthpangs 2017

We have a higher calling than to debate our connect-the-dots of why the world is experiencing so many great natural disasters at this time - and make no mistake about it: It is not just the USA experiencing these things. In the United States we are awash with prophetic speculations as to the cause of so many powerful hurricanes hitting the nation. Prophetic words on this are a dime a dozen. 

That is why I find it a pointless exercise for believers to focus on trying to pin all the current natural disasters on some specific evils, sins and opposition to God's plans committed by the US which God is taking vengeance on. It is not like God has looked down and said, 'That's it, I've had it! Release the Krackin!'

I do not believe in this explanation of things. Nor do I believe that these storms are purely generated by demonic activity that we believers have complete control over if we will just arise and speak to the storm. We have spiritual authority to use over the storms, but it is not complete because there is a reason why the storms are happening, and it is definitely evils, sins and opposition to God's plans.

There is some truth in both positions that we are seeing the people of God take in the face of these natural disasters, but to focus on putting our finger on single sin issues as the cause, or thinking that we are just dealing with demonic activity in stirring up the natural disasters is not looking at it with a big picture view.

As someone quoted the other day, "For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed" Ro 8:19 and 22 "the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time"

So we are seeing the whole creation groaning in these disasters. They are groaning to see the children of God being revealed.

When did creation begin to groan? Genesis 3:17 "cursed the ground for your sake". How does that manifest? Lev 18:24-29 explains that the ground is defiled by the sins of the inhabitants. That is why God gave HIS PEOPLE (we're that right?) statutes and ordinances that if His people would follow, it would keep them from defiling the ground beneath them.

And why is that important, because further explained that when the ground beneath us becomes so defiled it will begin to "vomit" out the inhabitants. Have you ever eaten anything that was spoiled and your body reacted to it with violent vomiting out of the bad? The land beneath us does the same, and it is part of the groaning we read about in Romans 8. Don't spiritualize that groaning because it is physical and we are experiencing it right now in natural disasters.

So the earth is groaning and it is groaning as in the pains of childbirth. What child is going to be brought forth? the children (sons) of God will be birthed out of the natural disasters. Selah.

The groaning of the land - natural disasters are occurring because the land beneath is so defiled by sin - violations of God's moral and ethical laws. Now many Christians reject this thought out of hand saying the Law has passed away, but how can God's morality pass away? And if that is so why do you say these hurricanes are because of abortions or homosexuality? Well yes, both of those are violations of God's morality and both of those defile the land in which we live and do play a part in how the land is trying to vomit us out. But that is not the whole story.

Our main focus is not in condemning the world, but in pointing the way to LIFE. These birthpangs are meant to bring ~us~ the sons of God, forth, snatching the sinners from the fire, or the floods, or the earthquakes. This is not primarily a time to cry out judgment, but to cry out, Over here! Here is where you can find safety and refuge from the storms. Here is where you will find peace in the midst of the storm. Here is where your needs will be met when you have nothing left. Here is where you will find compassion and hope.

Oh, yes, we are to speak to the storms, the fires, the quakes to be tempered by the mercies of God, but we are not going to make it all go away by exercising Christian spiritual macho over the storms. There are some things that cannot be reversed. We are to focus on the people in the midst of those storms, taking the opportunity of devastation to show them Jesus. When we do this, the sons of God will be birthed for the increasing spiritual battles ahead.