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Rock
Monument set up in Jabbok, Jordan
in recent years as a testimony that
“Yeshua Shlomeinu/Jesus is our peace”
Israeli Remnant of
Faith
Call on God
on Behalf of ALL Their People
by Donna Diorio
A few weeks ago Howard Bass of Nachalat Yeshua (Yeshua’s Inheritance)
congregation,
reposted this picture from a past spiritual gathering in Jordan. He had been one of the Israeli Remnant of faith who went to Jordan to meet with
fellow Christian Arab ministry leaders from Middle Eastern countries who also shared
a heart of unity and for the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 19:23-25:
"In that day there will be a
highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the
Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In
that day Israel will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria—a
blessing upon the earth. The LORD of Hosts will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My
handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”
There are different ideas of when this prophecy will be fulfilled, but
the main point is that God intends to fulfill it, so what is stopping us from
acting in faith to step toward the fulfillment now as it is possible and in our
ability to do so? That is what I have been seeing the Israeli believers
doing for many years now even though the practical reality of it is that it is easier
said than done. Only those devoted to walking in a peace that Yeshua has
made for us can overcome deeply embedded conflicts and ancient breaches.
This is true between Jew and Arab, as well as between Messianic Jews and
the Church. But God will make a way for a people who are willing to walk it
out with conscience toward God.
Howard wrote that the photos he shared from Jordan were taken at
Biblical locations that are significant, but not well known to the public: “At the Jabbok River, Mahanaim [Two Camps] and
Pnuel [Turn to God], Jacob wrestled with the "Man" all night, and was
named Israel after the struggle; Jacob sent out his wives and servants ahead of
him to meet Esau and the 400-man troop of his servants; then he was ready to
meet his estranged twin brother Esau, and they were partially reconciled. Esau never accepted that the inheritance of the Promised
Land would actually be Jacob's, and this same spiritual reality is evident
today. Tishbi is the home
site of Elijah. The rock pile is a monument that we stacked up as a witness there that
Yeshua Shlomeinu/Jesus is Our Peace, reconciling Jews, Arabs, and others to God
and to one another.”
In the year of this journey Howard
noted the reality that “Israel has
historically been a land-bridge between empires and has seen many wars and
invasions as a result.” It is interesting to see that God intends to
override history of blood, violence and conquering armies and turn the Israeli
land-bridge into a highway of blessing.
“This is the promise that the time
will come when Egypt, Assyria, and Israel will be a blessing in the midst of
the Earth, Howard continued. “That will
be the outcome of the righteousness and peace which He will bring, and there
will be no more war. But, meanwhile,
believers now can experience the spiritual application when God has made those
who have been enemies friends, and we can cross [some] borders to meet together
as brothers and sisters in our common salvation.”
After the conference Howard
wrote, “At this time the nation is torn over political, cultural, and heart
issues regarding who and what the people and the nation of Israel is. It is
bringing much acrimony into all levels of society, and threatening even the
unity normally expressed in remembering those whose lives have been sacrificed
to keep Israel alive and free. The Arabs and the Jews both need to be
reconciled with the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob/Israel, and the God
and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ/Yeshua the Messiah. This is our prayer.”
Today how much more so is the
unity of the Israeli nation torn brother against brother, faction against
faction? To read the newspaper headlines it appears there is none willing to
accept anything except what they view as the way forward. But this is not just Israel – this is seen in all nations across the
world. Deep conflict has overtaken the
nations. Somehow it is harder to see Israel torn apart to the same degree, but Israeli is like all the nations as
the saying goes, “but more so.”
There is no more biblically significant, severely acute conflict
than that between Israel and her Islamic Middle Eastern neighbors, and the
whole world has taken sides. But
when Israeli Messianic Jews and Christian Arab believers reach out to each
other in brotherly unity and love, this is the testimony of great power in
Yeshua/Yasūʿa. This is what
has been taking place between Messianic Jews and Christian Arabs for many years
now, even in the midst of the current warfare between Israel and Gaza.
When he re-posted the photo
a few weeks ago of the rock monument that ‘two camps’ of Jewish and Arab
believers had built on the Jabbock River in Jordan, Howard wrote:
“The Apostle Paul tells us to strive to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace…. It is
admittedly difficult to feel ‘united’ with other believers who actually
think that Hamas is justified in its Oct 7 attack and atrocities, and that
Israel is guilty of existing. Since I am speaking of believers
who think and feel this way, we are dealing with deep issues of the heart that is in opposition to normal
discernment between good and evil, and in opposition to the Holy Spirit to
God's righteousness for His own holy name's sake.”
That describes perfectly how I feel
about it also, dealing with fellow international Christians who have such
denial of basic biblical facts, because if we don’t believe what the Bible
says then we are bound to believe the lying narratives instead.
As Howard spelled it out: “He (God)
will save the nation that He exclusively chose to be His
witnesses in the world to bring glory and praise to YHVH God the Father and His
Son.” (Read Isaiah 43 and
understand that is God’s plan for Israel spelled out: “I, yes I, am He
who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your
sins no more.”)
“For Gentile Christians,” Howard writes, “as the Bible gives us to
understand, you have been brought into
God's plan for Israel, which is for blessing and salvation of the world,
through Jesus Christ/Yeshua the Messiah, born an Israeli Jew…. With all the things done historically in
the name of Christ, do Gentile Christians have nothing to learn from the Jews
who have also done huge sins as representatives of the Supreme God?! We
are all saved by grace and mercy, and Yeshua/Jesus died for all
sinners.”
Many consider the battle Israelis
face from Palestinians to be simply a matter of being magnanimous Christians
toward Arabs. They see themselves as being more highly moral than Christian who
support Israel. They don’t see the issue as biblical but merely a real estate
dispute. They do not consider those at war with Israel deny the Jews have any
place in the holy land despite God’s Word to the opposite. They buy into the
idea that Jews in modern day Israel are “colonizers” and oppressors in David
and Goliath-type terms. There is absolutely nothing in the Bible to give such an
idea, and in fact the Bible is 100% clear that God has always intended to
restore the Jews to the Promised Land. He is good on His promises,
and any explanation for modern day Israel to the contrary is a lie that is not
to be found in the Bible. People,
whether it is believers or non-believers, who refuse the truth of God’s
restoration of Jews to Israel, are fighting against God Himself.
As the war has intensified relations
even between Israel’s Messianic Jews and Christian Arabs, another thing has
been springing up and that is how they are pressing in to keep the unity of the
faith with each other. We must join our prayers with them for the many ways
they are reaching out to each other for the Holy Spirit to be in the midst of
them making the way of brotherly peace and love.
In
this respect, I would like to pass along word that the congregations of Israel
have called a 24/7 prayer chain on behalf of their nation for Divine Intervention.
It is to start July 7th and to continue for 1 month, each
congregation taking part. I was first
alerted to the prayer chain by my intercessor friend at the Kfar Saba HaMaayan congregation, Sally
Shiff
wrote, “Only God can end this war, bring the hostages home and save Gaza. It
has always been the mighty hand and outstretched arm of the Lord who exalts one
nation and puts another down. And in spite of us, always protects His people.”
She
wrote me that they are seeking God “for Divine intervention breakthrough
for the hostages and protection for our soldiers, many of them are our children;
for fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom be upon all our decision
makers — military and political; and for the removal of
the ‘10 negative leaders/spies’ who brought a bad report of the Land and
rebelled against the living God. Also they are praying “for new leaders to be
raised with ‘another spirit’ like was said of Calev ben Yephuneh of Judah and
Yoshua ben Nun. Also for Israel to “be moved by FAITH and not by FEAR.”
The
Remnant of Israel is stepping into the place of intercession for their whole
nation and there is none with more authority to pray over what Israel needs in
this moment than those surrendered to God for such a time as this. It is love of
their people that is the power behind their prayers.
That doesn’t
mean we cannot pray along with them in unity, seeking God’s Divine intervention
for Israel. We come alongside in
appealing for God to move mightily on behalf of the nation of Israel and also for every single believer in Israel to be
strengthened in the inner man so the light of Yeshua within them will be
visible to all. “Yeshua Shlomeinu: Jesus is our peace.”
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