Source: The Christian Broadcasting Network.
Original broadcast July 13, 2008.

Israel’s Messianic Jews: Some Call it a Miracle

In Israel, a resurgence in the number of Jews who believe in Jesus is getting a lot of attention. Many leaders say it’s the strongest growth since the time of Jesus and that the Messianic movement could be on the brink of a great revival.

“This is the first time where we’ve seen Israeli society in general being so open to consider who Yeshua is,” said Messianic leader Asher Intrater. “This is a real miracle, and there’s beginning to be grace and favor with us in the land.”

Although Jesus and the early disciples were Jewish, for nearly 2,000 the gospel has been viewed as a religion mainly for Gentiles. Even the name Jesus or Yeshua has been a forbidden word among many Jews. But in the last few years, Messianic leaders in Israel say something important is happening.

“I believe with all my heart, after we have come back to the land, we are seeing the Lord, the Holy Spirit, is removing the veil from the eyes of the Jews and more and more Jews are realizing,” Tel Aviv pastor Avi Mizrachi said.

Although nobody knows for sure how many Messianic Jews live in Israel, it’s believed there are about 120 congregations now and 10,000-15,000 Jewish believers in Jesus.

That may not sound like many, given Israel’s nearly six million Jews, but it’s a far cry from 10 years ago, when there were only about 3,500 Jewish believers and 80 congregations.

A good example is Shemen Sasson in Jerusalem, where attendance has nearly tripled over the past four years. Today, close to 300 people attend the meetings, most of them Jewish or people married to Jews, and salvations are increasing.

Meet the Ronens. Daniel, Ayelet and their 5 children are Israeli believers. Ayelet is an Israeli Jew and Daniel is a Finnish Gentile. But his family has been here since before Israel became a nation. They believe Jesus is the Jewish Messiah.

“When Jesus came, when Yeshua came, he came to talk to our people,” Ayelet Ronen said. “He walked on our land, He spoke our language, He spoke in our synagogues. Really He came for us!

Yad-Hashmona is a beautiful little village about 10 miles outside Jerusalem, and the only one home to just Messianic Jewish believers like the Ronens.

For this family, being Israeli and believing in Jesus is a natural fit. They keep the Jewish feasts, circumcise their sons, keep the Sabbath and serve in the army. And even though they live in a Messianic village, they don’t feel secluded from the rest of Israeli society.

“Our kids go with everybody else to school… I go to work outside…Our principle is to go out and be part of society,” Daniel Ronen explained.

Their children sometimes face challenges, but have used those occasions to witness.

“My friends started to know I’m a believer and they ask me if I’m a believer…I tell them I’m a believer in Yeshua and it’s really good to believe in Him and that maybe you can one day believe in him too,” little third grader Adan said.

The Ronens are sometimes accused of being missionaries, a very bad word in Israel, but they insist they are not.

“My point is to share my faith with anyone who wants to hear me and I will gladly share the Good News of my faith,” Ayelet said. “I never speak of you should do, and you should change..”

In addition to Israeli-born believers, many are from other countries. American Jews Eddie and Jackie Santoro became believers during the 70s Jesus movement.

They made Aliyah to Israel 11 years ago, learned Hebrew and now lead a growing congregation in Jerusalem.

“Our current congregation, we started almost 2 years ago with about 20 people, today we have over 100,” Eddie Santoro explained. “We see salvations here and there, but we feel like there’s something yet to come, it’s definitely growing.”

But being a Jewish believer in Israel isn’t easy.

“I think probably the greatest challenge is that you always feel that the rest of society isn’t accepting you and so when you meet somebody and you want to talk to them and you want to tell them who you are, there’s always that challenge of, ’should I say something,”; Jackie Santoro said.

For the first time, the secular media are saying something, even mentioning Messianic Jews in a more favorable light. A recent wave of persecution, including the bombing of a young Jewish believer, have put Messianic Jews on the front page.

“At least we see that believers are being asked to explain who they are, what they believe in, why they are here…how they can be Israeli and believe in Jesus and be given an opportunity to tell their story and share their testimony,” Knut Hoyland of the Caspari Center said.

And what does this movement mean for the Body of Christ?

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1. The restoration of the State of Israel on 14 May, 1948 is the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy (Isaiah 66:8, Ezekiel 38:8).
2. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and the recapture of the city in 1967 is fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.
3. Jerusalem will be a burdensome stone for all nations in these days is fulfillment of Biblical prophecy
   (Zechariah 12:2-3).
4. Israel is God’s timepiece in the end of days (Matthew 24:32).
5. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob shall keep His promise to His people Israel and intervene to save them when all seems to be lost (Luke 13:35).

Shalom Yerushalayim!

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
May they be secure who love you!

Psalm 122:6

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These are exciting times indeed for us who look forward to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the Lord has told us that when we see Israel back in the land that God has given to the Israelites He shall soon return.

From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

Matthew 24:32-34

This video discusses some of the prophecies that were fulfilled when Israel was restored on 14 May, 1948.

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I decided to write in and requested copies since I thought my wife would enjoy them, as it was also part of the literature in my growing years.

The booklet came with the package and piqued our interests immediately because it talked about the Spring Feasts that the Jews celebrate. It was also very useful because it gave a diagram of the Jewish months alongside our Gregorian calendar months and indicated when the feasts were celebrated.

What caught my attention was the account of the broken matzah eaten during Pesach (the Passover).

Pesach is celebrated in accordance to God’s instructions to Moses after He had brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, as recorded in the Book of Exodus in the Bible. It is celebrated on the 14th of Nisan, when observant Jews must consume unleavened bread for seven consecutive days.

In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the Lord’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.

Leviticus 23:5-6

The festival commemorates how God broke the Egyptians with 10 plagues to rescue His own from spiritual darkness and bondage. The tenth plague fell on the 14th of Nisan, when God told Moses to instruct that each Israelite home slaughter a lamb, collect its blood, and set that on the lintels and door posts of their households with a hyssop brush.

On the night itself, God took the lives of the first-born of all beasts and men in Egypt, but He ‘pass(ed) over’ those households that had done exactly what Moses had instructed them to do.

What I also discovered reading the booklet was this amazing piece of information: Nisan was also the chief month of the Egyptian god Amon, represented by a lamb or ram. Amon, whose name meant “Hidden One”, was the king of the Egyptian gods.

Throughout that month, Egyptians were forbidden to touch lambs or rams, much less slaughter and eat them as the Israelites did. On the 15th of Nisan when there is a full moon, the Egyptians believed that Amon reached the apex of his power.

Therefore, when the Israelites slaughtered lambs it was a direct challenge to the Egyptian religion. And where the first-born of all Egyptian beasts and households were taken, the LORD our God showed Himself unto the Egyptians as to who was really the Living God who executes judgment.

For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.

Exodus 12:12

Since the destruction of the temple by the Romans under General Titus in 70 A.D., exactly just as our Lord Jesus Christ had said it would be, no lamb has been served during the Pesach as no sacrifice could be performed in the absence of an actual temple and authorized priesthood.

Therefore, for more than 2,000 years, unleavened matzah bread took the place of the lamb. Eating the matzah bread would be alike consuming the lamb.

On tables in Jewish homes observing Pesach would be a matzah tosh, or matzah bread bag, where there will be three pieces of matzah bread, each contained in its own pocket.

During Seder, the middle matzah bread is broken in half. One of the halves is wrapped in linen cloth then removed from the table and hidden. The piece wrapped in linen cloth and hidden is now called the Afikomen, a Greek word for “The Coming One”.

It is easy for Christians to see the significance of the three matzah bread — representing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The significance of the piece wrapped in linen cloth and hidden is even more interesting.

During the night, the children will play a game to find the hidden Afikomen, and whoever finds it brings it to the ‘Papa’ who has to then ransom it. Once ransomed, the half-piece is eaten last so that the flavor lingers for the remainder of the meal.

Through Christian eyes, the significance is not lost — the middle piece of matzah bread that’s broken in half, wrapped in linen cloth and hidden to be ransomed is the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

For our Lord Jesus Christ was broken — stricken, bruised, smitten — for our iniquities and transgressions (Isaiah 53), and through Him were we ransomed. Therefore, when we share in the bread of communion, we share in Christ who became the matzah bread.

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood…

Luke 22:19-20

There’s also great significance between the Kiddush cup used during the Pesach meal and the wine that we share when observing Communion. Due to time constraints, I’ll leave you to read that from the booklet itself.

You can download the PDF of the booklets on the Spring feasts here, and the one on the Autumn (Fall) feasts here.

Shalom Aleichem.

Photograph ‘Passover @ Marilyn’s 2006′ by Josh Bousel.

Illustration of Feasts Calendar taken from “The Holidays of God: Spring Feasts”, Copyright 2000 by RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Information in the post is based on booklet “”The Holidays of God: Spring Feasts” written by Kevin Williams, Copyright 2000 by RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI.Similar Posts:

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I wonder which Bible George Bush reads because the one that I read, and which many other Christians around the world also do, says that Israel belongs to the Jews, including the land which he now calls ‘occupied Palestinian territories‘.

And what in the world is a Palestinian state anyhow? There’s never been in history any record of a Palestinian state, or a Palestinian people. If there were, we’d see archaeological records of such a people, their culture captured in relics, writings, paintings, etc.

Yet there’s none.

What we do see from archaeological digs and know from recorded history even outside of the Bible is that there was a Jewish state in that strip of land, and in the ‘occupied territories’.

So, where is the legitimacy for the claim of these ‘Palestinians’ who now demand a state on the world stage, and which countless world leaders are scrambling to help create at the expense of Israel’s security and at the cost of billions of dollars.

Just take a look at the map of this proposed state of Palestine that the world leaders are trying to carve out from Israeli land.

Really, how do you militarily defend a country that’s cut in the middle by a state that has some of the most hostile enemies even now firing rockets daily into Israel?

Perhaps you might also realize that if this were to be implemented, just imagine where the Katyusha rockets will then be able to hit on a daily basis from then on!

And here’s what’s worse — in order that there be peace in the region, compare what rights the Israelis are expected to compromise on and relinquish versus what the ‘Palestinians’ need to do.

Israel is expected to surrender:

• a vital part of Jerusalem (the rightful capital of the Jewish State)
• the Western Wall and the Temple Mount
• Christian and Jewish holy sites
• 95% of Judea and Samaria
• security by releasing convicted Arab terrorists from Israeli jails
• potentially the Golan Heights
• opposition to “the right of return” and they must absorb
  millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants
  who chose to leave Israel, while disregarding rights of a
  comparable number of Jews expelled from Arab countries.

In return, the ‘Palestinians’ need only promise:

• dismantlement of terrorist groups
• future (false) ‘peace’

Some fair trade, eh?

It’ll seriously take a stupendous amount of stupidity and naivety on the part of any Jewish leader to agree to that!

Shabbat Shalom.

¹ “Bush Calls for ‘Painful’ Mideast Concessions.” Associated Press. 10 Jan. 2008. CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/10/bush.mideast/.

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This past year hasn’t been a great one for me in terms of success as the world defines it. There has been no breakthrough career-wise, much less financially. In fact, quite the opposite has happened — I’ve seen a fall in my take-home income and seem to be stagnant in terms of career advancement. There have also been some difficulties that had me tossing and turning in bed, worrying about this issue or that problem.

All in all, there were more setbacks than advances for me on this little rat-race island called Singapore. I got to thinking that the reason why I am quite disappointed with how the year has turned out is because I’ve been seeing things from a worldly perspective. In other words, I have been measuring success with the yardstick that the world has fashioned.

Surely, there have been blessings that cannot be measured in financial terms or other units of measurement imposed by the world. If I were to set my eyes on eternity and the things that truly matter to my spiritual walk with our LORD and Savior, then I count so many of these blessings! Perchance some might say that that’s a cop-out. In fact, even among Christian circles, some might say that, well, I’ll need to have more ambition and do better in the new year because God desires the best for me and for everyone whom He loves to succeed in the world.

Rubbish! What then? Are we Christians to be just mediocre people getting by with what we make per month, with nary an iota of ambition for that top post in the company or to become someone who is a mover and shaker in whatever industry we might be in? In which case, we need to ask ourselves if we have indeed been made anew in Christ Jesus, or does the world still have a hold on us. If we abide in the Word, then this should abide in us also:

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:25-33

God has promised that if we seek His kingdom first, then all those things — clothing, food, and sufficient sustenance for a normal life — shall be added to us. So perhaps it follows that since I have those problems in the past year, that I have not been seeking God’s kingdom first?

Perhaps so, perhaps not.

I’ll have to admit that I am still trapped in the world’s definition of success, although I’m not chasing success itself to its ends of owning a million-dollar house complemented by a swimming pool and a luxury car. However, I still want enough to sometimes be able to afford a luxury or two, like some new electronic gadgets and replacing this old PC of mine (that should now belong in some PC cemetery) with a Macbook.

Yet the question also is that if I were to be able to seek God’s kingdom first, will I therefore be blessed with what I desire in the world?

My personal take? No, not necessarily. Some might choose to believe the heresy that is the prosperity gospel that God is just waiting to shower upon you a personal net worth of a few million dollars in Euros, or health, or victory, or whatever makes you shine in the world.

I don’t.

First off, if I were indeed seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then the trappings of the world will not be of concern to me any longer. God’s kingdom is not of material wealth, but of eternal riches.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19-21

And if I were to chance a statement on that, I’d say that we have our eternal riches in Christ Jesus, and He alone is our prosperity. I don’t think anything’s more precious than salvation, because all is lost when one is cut off from God, who is the light and everything good! Secondly, what matters is our repentance of sin and salvation, and that’s a point that most pastors don’t teach enough of.

In fact, so many churches aren’t teaching repentance of sin anymore! All they are saying is that you can find completeness in Christ Jesus because after all the riches you have in the world, you feel empty because you have a “Jesus-shaped hole” in your heart.

There’s no such thing as a “Jesus-shaped hole” in anyone’s hearts!

Of one thing I am sure of — we are all sinners and are of depraved minds and hearts when left out on our own without God! What gives then? Are Christians to be without ambition and to remain mediocre, and be contented with what we have in material terms? Nay. It is my personal take, after thinking on this a good long while, that Christians are to have ambition and not be mediocre, though not as the world defines it, but to possess the ambition to strive to live lives that Christ Jesus has called us to, and not be mediocre Christians!

As for contentment with material wealth, or the lack thereof, know that it is the portion that which God has given you. For we ourselves are not to covet, for it is idolatry (Ephesians 5:5). Therefore it follows that if we are not to covet, then we shall be contented with what we have. If indeed you believe that God has blessed you with material wealth, then it is to be plowed back for God’s glory. If God has indeed blessed you with riches, then use that to help the poor, feed the hungry, support the spread of the Gospel in all nations.

Coming back to the retrospect on the year, i.e. what of the year 2007 then? Were someone to ask me today if I feel that I have been blessed, I’d say yes. Was it a good year then? Not materially speaking, but for the things that matter most and which money cannot procure, a resounding yes.

In closing, I’d list the five things that I am thankful for, in response to a meme that Mike at Simply a Night Owl so graciously tagged me for and which I promised I’d fulfil by year’s end.

1. I am thankful for God’s grace, patience and love for this wretched man who hasn’t been the best of His disciples, if indeed I can call myself one. Though many a times I tend to lean on my own understanding and perceived strengths, the LORD has been teaching me that there’s no strength in me without Him.
2. I am thankful to the LORD who has now brought my wife to His love and faithfulness. I am also thankful for the families we have, that our relatives, loved ones, and friends are healthy and blessed.
3. I am thankful for the trials that I’ve had this past year. Though I have found it very difficult to give thanks to the LORD for them, it is not too late to acknowledge and thank the LORD for building in me character and to learn more about myself and my relationship with Him.
4. I am thankful for the fellowship that I have with so many brothers and sisters all over the world through our blogs. I am also thankful that just as they have blessed and encouraged me with their posts, I hope that in some small way I have done the same for them.
5. I am thankful for the fact I can still be thankful for so many blessings despite the supposed gloom.

I won’t be tagging anyone in particular for this meme, as I do not want to impose on how others might want to look back on their year. Please just feel free to do the meme if you want to include it as part of your year-end post, and point it back to Mike’s post.

Shalom Aleichem.

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You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the Lord.’ And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban. It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.

Exodus 28:36-38

All that’s needed now is the Third Temple in Israel, and we shall know that we are indeed in the final week of Daniel’s vision when there shall be great tribulation, and when our Lord Jesus Christ shall return in glory and majesty!

Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us during His ministry on earth that a third temple shall indeed be built in Jerusalem and will be part of the unfolding of events as given to us in the Book of Revelation.

So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.

Matthew 24:15-21

How about the priests, that are to come from the tribe of Levi, you ask? Only the tribe of Levi is to be priests and minister unto God in the Temple. How do we know who are of the tribe of Levi, or Levi’im (Levites)?

Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall wash them with water and put on Aaron the holy garments. And you shall anoint him and consecrate him, that he may serve me as priest. You shall bring his sons also and put coats on them, and anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may serve me as priests. And their anointing shall admit them to a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations.

Exodus 40:12-15

Remember the recent amazing news of the successful identification of the descendents of Aaron using DNA technology? That’s right, there is now positive identification of a whole congregation of priests, or Kohanim, tested through DNA technology and proven to be descendants of Aaron! Quoting from the news report:

Molecular geneticists have recently discovered the “Kohen Modal Haplotype,” a Y-chromosome DNA lineage signature shared by a majority of both Ashkenazic and Sephardic Kohanim. This indicates direct patrilineal descent of present-day Kohanim from an ancient ancestor, genetically dated to have lived approximately 3,000 years ago, corresponding to the time of the Exodus from Egypt.

With the tzitz completed, and the Kohanim all identified, the Temple Institute is now working on “…120 sets of garments for ‘regular’ priests”.

In other words, all necessary people and items for the Third Temple will soon be ready, and all that’s needed is the re-building of the Temple in Jerusalem on which the Temple Institute has “…begun work on architectural blueprints for the Third Temple, including cost projection, modern supplies, electricity, plumbing, computers, etc.”!

These are exciting times indeed, my dear brothers and sisters!

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Revelation 22:20

Shalom Aleichem.

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