God has been sending you wake up calls

 

What do the Red Heifers arrival in Israel have to do with recent uptick in anti-Jesus riots against Messianic believers and government actions to deny the ICEJ Christian Staff with renewed work visas? A lot actually – at least I think so. The religious coalition parties in Israel now have power over Christian work visas and citizenship/immigration issues. They are in the strongest position of power they have ever been in. From their perspective, this is the moment to establish all in their hearts to remake the state of Israel. The move against ICEJ just might specific targeting because Jurgen Buhler, President of ICEJ, took part in the the Global Isaiah 62 Prayer event for Israel. Good for him! He did the right thing.

God has been sending you Wake Up calls
but Christians are still turning a blind eye to our spiritual family in Israel.
by Donna Diorio

Many high level Christian leaders have been granted an "ALL ACCESS" backstage pass by Israeli political and traditional Judaism leaders. It is going to be very difficult for them to openly recognize the Israeli Body of Messiah and likewise to begin to transfer even some of their abundant resources to the God-ordained mandate of Israeli Messianic ministries preaching Yeshua the Messiah and the Kingdom of God in Israel.
     The IHOP Isaiah 62 Fast & Prayer for the salvation of Israel in the month of May was powerful. It united Christians all over the world behind God’s redemptive plan for Israel. The prayer event even ended in Jerusalem with an alarming real life incident much like the one the apostle Paul witnessed in Acts 12:1-2, 25. The Apostle Paul understood what God was showing him and it immediately changed his priority going forward in ministering to the Gentiles in the nations.
     After the events of Acts 12, Paul began urging an ongoing collection be made in each church that was earmarked for the Israeli Messianic leadership in Jerusalem to meet the needs of the body of Messiah in Israel. Why? Because of the persecution: Same as today. Paul was setting the example that Christians were to follow going forward, but this practice fell by the wayside probably within one generation of Christian leadership but certainly it was cut off officially at the Nicean Council.
     Fast Forward to 2023 events in Jerusalem because God is INTENT on restoring the provision for the Israeli believers in the restored state of Israel. It is HIS PLAN that the Israeli believers be Yeshua’s witnesses in Israel to bring forth in the spiritual harvest there.
     At the very end of the Isaiah 62 month of prayer, Christian Prayer representatives from the nations met with the Israeli Messianic ministry leaders to hold an international prayer event on the southern steps of the Temple Mount on May 28^th. Many who participated in the IHOP event attended too. Most of the Christians gathered at this event do not have a clue about the significance of Israel, much less the Messianic body of Messiah in Israel.
     Imagine their shock as Christians and Messianic Jews prayed above on the southern steps, as a mob of extremist ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered on the street below around the entrance and the tour buses that brought the Christians to the event. There was pushing, shoving and in-your-face yelling as participants entered and exiting the prayer event.  Police had to called in to keep the rioters from harming the participants, although some of the Israeli believers were roughed up and hurt by the tumultuous mob. Later, after Christians went home to their nations, it seems all was forgotten, but Israeli Messianic believers continued to be attacked.
     Another mob action was called when came together for a worship concert in Jerusalem on June 22^nd and another riot ensured. Individual acts of targeting Messianic Jews has increased over the summer and Israel’s Messianic believers are feeling it strongly. At the same time there is a disheartening decrease in donations to these ministries, forcing them into hard decisions of what must be cut from their budgets.
     Inside Israel persecution of the faith in Jesus is being advanced by the religious radicals in another way: directly targeting the Christian organizations in Israel to refuse the visas of their workers.  This approach is not new to the Israeli citizen-believers who are often targeted attempting to revoke their citizenship because of the faith. The common belief of Jews all over the world is that when a Jew comes to faith in Jesus, he has ceased to be a Jew. That, of course, is false, but it is mainstreamed belief among Jews.  The religious bureaucrats in charge of immigration and citizenship don’t often pursue revoking citizenship of Jews who believe in Jesus because of the Christian uproar, but they do often attempt to target non-Jewish spouses with revoking citizenship or citizens services. This sword over the head of many couples is a stressful threat on Messianic families with or without children born in Israel. The bureaucrats hope to discourage the families so much that they leave Israel to escape the stress of persecution.
     With the latest effort to create stress on all believers in Israel, the religious bureaucrats are now
targeting Christians with the threat of not renewing their ability to stay in Israel on 6-month work visas. Frankly, the bureaucrats are striking at the weakest link in the chain which is the lack of Christian allegiance to Israel’s Messianic Jews. 
     Christians fold all too easily when threatened with less access to come and go freely to Israel. For example, in 1998 Israel-based Christian organizations entered into an agreement with the Israeli government. It was called “The Understanding” and the wording of it was seen by many of the Israeli Messianic Jews as abrogating the cause of evangelism of the Jew. The pay off was that the strong efforts in the Knesset of the late 1990’s coalition government under Netanyahu was the bill to pass an “anti-missionary” bill would be withdrawn.  It is said the agreement was developed by Christians in Israel and verbally agreed upon by the parties rather than signed.
     The exact wording of a key portion of the 3-paragraph “Understanding” reads:  "We believe that the covenant which God concluded with the people of Israel was never revoked. We deeply respect the Jewish people in their identity and integrity and will therefore not engage in activities, which have as their intention to alienate them from their tradition and community. Nor will we exploit, for the benefit of our denominational interests, such economic, social or psychological needs as may emerge. Recalling the grim events preceding Israel's rebirth, we are sensitive to their memories, hurts and feelings, even as we pursue our religious callings. We also recognize the potential for healing between our faith communities as we live in the midst of a Jewish majority, sharing its challenges while living together in a land sacred in both our traditions.”
     In essence this agreement was not only to not evangelize Jews, and by extension distancing themselves and their resources from those in the Israeli Messianic community that did. It is a black mark on the Christian community for lack of support of the believers in Israel, and frankly departs from the plan of God to spiritually redeem Israel by faith in Yeshua, Jesus. The Messianic community in Israel has been tight-lipped about The Understanding. They didn’t like it but they didn’t speak against those who entered into it either.  They have continued to bear the consequences of this ill-conceived agreement.
     Is this agreement honored by God, that is the real question.  The only honest answer is that God did not sign on to an agreement that puts His Chosen People outside of their ONLY way of re-entering spiritual relationship with Him: by faith in His Son and Israel’s Messiah, Yeshua. This will come, but it will come by the uncompromising witness of the Messianic Jews in Israel, and international Christians who put their support and prayers behind these servants of Yeshua in Israel.
     I began this article by saying that “Many high level Christian leaders have been granted an "ALL ACCESS" backstage pass by Israeli political and traditional Judaism leaders. It is going to be very difficult for them to openly recognize the Israeli Body of Messiah and begin to transfer their alliances to support their spiritual brothers who are in the faith of Messiah Yeshua, or Christ Jesus.
     Can that be done “in love” to all Israel, the believers and the unbelievers? Yes it can, but there will be backlash and attack for especially those Christian ministries who have high profile status with the unbeliever Israelis, and zero contact with the believer ministries. As soon as any of them begins to acknowledge our Divinely-ordained relationship with fellow believers in Jesus in Israel, they are going experience the pressure to get back in line with the non-saved Jewish projects in Israel – or else!  It is going to be really hard on especially the highest level of Christian leaders to withstand the level of pressure for them to denounce the Israeli Messianic body or at the very least completely withdraw from ever mentioning them or supporting them.
     One Jewish ministry head of a Christian humanitarian group had to leave their own ministry several years back when they began to steer donations to flow through some Messianic Jewish humanitarian operations instead of only through those unbeliever-operations in Israel. One member of the board opposed the Jewish leader’s direction of funds so strenuously they campaigned relentlessly against the leader of the aid group. It became unbearable to the leader who stepped down from their own organization. Starting afresh and now going to even more Israeli Messianic organizations to distribute the humanitarian aid, the Christian back at the original group has initiated false accusations against the Jewish leader in their new humanitarian outreach.  I related this story so you understand the nature of the backlash from Christians!  [*Report today that after being falsely accused of wrongdoing and reported to the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, “after an informal audit, where they dug deeply into our records, they said that we were compliant and appreciated all the work that we’ve done” This from my friend at Sar Shalom Israel who didn’t let efforts to aid the Israeli believer ministries be hindered by an uninformed and a badly indoctrinated Christian aggressive attempts to block.]
     Another form of Christian backlash we have witnessed is how when an Israeli TV network contacted an Israeli Messianic Jew to operate a channel that was a witness of Yeshua in Hebrew featuring all programming produced by Israeli believer ministries, it was radically opposed by Christians. One high level Christian Zionist in the United States came out against Shelanu TV hammer and tongs. She even petitioned the Israeli Prime Minister to pull it off the air! Shelanu means “Ours” conveying the message that Yeshua is a Jew, therefore one of ours. Inside Israel there was a former Christian who was from an evangelistic family who grew up in Messianic congregations in Texas, but was turned into a radical “anti-missionary” by her obsession with an infamous anti-Messiah rabbi. The woman converted to Judaism to follow the rabbi to Israel and is now a relentless bloodhound on the trail of any Messianic Jew she can take down inside Israel or the United States.
     I am telling you these things so you can pray with understanding for the plight of the Messianic body of Messiah. I know many, many Messianic Jewish leaders in Israel and not one that is not hurting due to decreased donations from international Christians.
     The apostle Paul – the Apostle to the Gentiles – knew this would be an issue to the end.
     I’m also telling you these things so you can pray that God will strengthen the faith of Christians to take uncompromised stands based on His will rather than the pressures of unsaved Israelis.  If we do not arise now, like Queen Esther did long ago, then the assault on our brothers and sister in Yeshua will be unbearable. Do not think you will escape consequences if you fail to stand with them. Or how was it that Mordechai put it? "When Esther’s words were relayed to Mordecai, he sent back to her this reply: ‘Do not think that because you are in the king’s palace you alone will escape the fate of all the ~Messianic~ Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, RELIEF and DELIVERANCE  for the ~Messianic~ Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”  Esther 4:12-14
     You might well deflect my application of this verse to the current reality saying, 'It does not say "Messianic" Jews in that verse! I am for protecting ALL Jews.'  By all means we do speak up for ALL Jews, but when some Jews are persecuting the Messianic Jews we are spiritually related to by the BLOOD of Jesus, if we do not rise to THEIR defense and remain silent, failing to provide them relief and deliverance from those who are target them for their faith in Yeshua, then we are not obeying GOD in the least. Make the hard decision to do the God thing, not the easy way out thing.
     It is going to be too hard for some of the highest profile Christian Israel supporters. They are going to fail God by continuing to turn a blind eye to our brothers in the faith of Yeshua in Israel. As the popular saying goes, they are going to be on the wrong side of history. HIStory.
      Do not follow their lead if they are not leading you to take an Esther stand for the body of the LORD in Israel. "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." Galatians 6:10