There is a calling forth of the fishers and hunters as it relates to Israel. The Lord said that after He calls for the fishers, He will send for the hunters. The fishers are people who have a servant's heart like Yeshuah and love His brethren after the flesh - the Jewish race. After the fishers, the hunters, men like Hitler, Haman, Stalin, and Herod, will come forth with vengeance in their heart to hunt and kill the Jewish race. Both natures are in man. The question we must ask ourselves is simple. Are we going to be a fisher or a hunter?
By Chris McDonald
TEXT: Jeremiah 16:14-16 - Therefore, behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord lives, that
brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; [15] But, The Lord
lives, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and
from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into
their land that I gave unto their fathers. Behold, I will send for many
fishers, SAITH the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for
many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill,
and out of the holes of the rocks.
"Israel is ripe for
the Messiah". These are the words of Nita Johnson, a
precious woman of God with a prophetic gift. Nita said these words to me one
morning during a conversation where the Lord was giving her a prophetic word for
my family. She says that whenever people pray for Israel bitter tears usually if
not always accompany those prayers. Weeping over Jerusalem and Israel is nothing
new. Our Master did it prior to His death, burial and resurrection. Yeshuah knew
that Jerusalem's future, as well as that of all of Israel, would be filled with
weeping, mourning and woe.
Matthew 23:37-39 - O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that kills the prophets, and stones them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! [38] Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. [39] For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Jeremiah himself wept over Jerusalem as well. He foresaw the innocent slaughter of babies at the hands of Herod when he penned the words: "a voice was heard in Ramah, Rachel weeping for her children, for they are not." He heard the weeping in Ramah.
Jer. 31:15-16 - This is what the LORD says: "A voice is heard in Ramah,
mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be
comforted, because her children are no more." 16 This is what the LORD says:
"Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will
be rewarded," declares the LORD. "They will return from the land of the enemy. (NIV)
I can tell you friend that the days Jeremiah, and Jesus for that matter, foretold so long ago are here. They are beginning to be fulfilled as we write these words in the early part of 2002. The fishers are on the rise, but the hunters are on the rise too. These two developments will escalate in intensity as we draw closer to Yeshuah's return. The fishers will be those like myself and others (a tremendous number of Gentiles!) whom the Lord is touching right now and giving a supernatural love for the Jewish people. The establishment of Israel as a nation in 1948 was a result of outpouring of a similar anointing during the early 1900s on men such as Theodore Herzl and Chaim Weizman. Our nation owes a tremendous debt to the late President Harry S. Truman in standing with the Jewish people in 1948. It was Truman's pressure that caused the United Nations to declare Israel a nation while the entire world stuck their hands in their pocket and said, "no." Truman didn't realize it but there were higher "powers," and a higher "person" working! But through his leadership Israel began her identity, as we know her today.
Since that time she has fought an unending battle for her survival. At the time of this writing she has just suffered several months of suicide bombings and attacks at the hands of the Palestinian Liberation Organization headed up by Yasser Arafat. Yasser Arafat has declared Israel's destruction in the past through his speeches, the PLO Charter, and private conversations the western news media never seems to get a hold of. I'm afraid the Western media knows these things but just don't report them. There is a bias against Israel in the world today. Many may disagree with that. Lisa and I were in a local Christian bookstore recently when a Jewish man began talking to us and to our surprise was very critical of his own people. He told me that he didn't think the nation of Israel had a right to stay in the land she was in because she couldn't prove it was her's anyway. This individual said he believed in Jesus but felt like the bias in the Western media was justified. In loving tones, I just listened but disagreed with him STRONGLY in my heart. THERE IS a bias toward Israel. This bias is not based on the Word of God, but on a demonically inspired hatred Satan has birthed in the hearts of those around Israel to see to her destruction. And on the heels of the fishers, the hunters are coming. The hunters have been seen in the names and faces of Josef Stalin, Adolph Hitler, Herod, Haman, Antiochus Epiphanies and others whose anti-Semitic hearts have drove them to do some of the most despicable deeds in history to the Jewish people. Those type people are waiting in the wings, child of God. You can turn a blind eye to the rising Anti-Semitism here in America if you want but you will do that to your own destruction. But it’s time we as God’s people make a choice in our hearts just who we are going to stand with when the real heat starts.
Never forget this. Israel brought the world three things - the LAW, the WORD OF GOD and the MESSIAH. Those are the three foundational stones of all civilization. In addition to Israel being a key to the past, Israel and the salvation of the Jewish people to Messiah holds a huge key for the future. Loving the Jewish people is important for several reasons:
1. The Jewish people hold a key to the world revival that is soon to be unleashed upon Planet Earth. The harvest foretold in scripture is going to take place mainly among those of the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who will come to know Yeshuah as their Messiah.
2. Jesus is NOT coming back to a church that hates Jewish people. Our Messiah is a Jew. Jewish writers wrote the Bible. The covenants of Old and the NEW Covenant cut in blood at Calvary were given to the JEW FIRST. We Gentiles have been grafted in as well as those Jewish people who did not believe in Messiah but have come to a saving knowledge of Him. They have been “regrafted,” into their root. The root bears the Gentile branch, not the other way around. The Gentiles owe a debt of gratitude to the Jewish people for EVERY single blessing we receive from Yeshuah. Our prayers should be laced with compassion to see the Jewish people return to the root of their olive tree. When it happens, it will bring “life from the dead.”
3. The ultimate defeat of Satan is tied into Messiah’s return to Earth. He will not come until the Jewish people say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”
4. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days will be upon the Jewish race who will bring forth the man-child of Revelation 12 – 144,000 evangelists who will sweep the globe proclaiming Yeshuah Ha'maschiah as Lord and Master and bringing deliverance to the captives.
5. Last, but certainly not least, is the fact that if we say we love Yeshuah, we cannot say we hate the people or brethren after His flesh. Nor can we sit indifferent and unmoved by their plight. Many may say, “oh I love the Jewish people,” but do nothing to help them. Friend, we will not be allowed any longer to love in word and not in deed. The days of the hunters are upon us and upon us soon.
Satan’s hatred for the Jewish people is also hot for basically the same reasons. He knows his time is short and if he can keep the Gentile part of the church blinded from its Jewish roots and keep the animosity for the Gentiles in the heart of the Jewish people, then he believes he will succeed (at least for a season) in thwarting Messiah’s return. Regardless of what Satan or backslidden Christendom does, Jesus is coming! We can be unashamed at His coming knowing we have His priorities birthed in our heart or we can keep old prejudices and hatreds from generations past festering to the point we miss out with God and our eternal purpose.
The Fishers
I want to talk briefly about the fishers. God has put a burden of intercessory prayer for Israel on the hearts of a growing number of people both here in America and other parts of the world. The call to the Gentiles to support Israel may differ from person to person. Some may be called to just pray for the Jewish people. Others may be called to support them financially. Some may receive angelic or heavenly instruction to go to Israel and be a support for ministries that seek to evangelize the Jewish people. Others may be called to be an “Oscar Schindler” in the last days, protecting Jewish people from hatred and murderous acts about to be unleashed upon them in the near future. The gift of “helps” is JUST as important and powerful in the Gentile’s role as any teaching or prophetic gift can. The Jewish people need all the loving they can get these days. A simple cup of cold water to a elderly Jewish person on the streets of Jerusalem may go further than any 5-point sermon ever would.
The call of God to the Jewish people is two fold right now. One, He is calling them back to their homeland. Many ministries here in America and Israel both are receiving prophetic insight that America will turn so Anti-Semitic within the next 12 months that many Jews will not be able to leave here except with the clothes on their back if they don’t leave now. Many have been engulfed in the god of materialism here in America and are blinded to the burning ground underneath their feet. A dear friend told Lisa and me the other day that America is just one or two economic crises away from becoming Germany in 1938. (We will pick this up in part two of this journal "The Hunters") It was Germany’s poor economic condition, fueled by an Anti-Semitic demon in power that fueled the Holocaust from 1938-1945. Tom Hess in his book “Let My People Go,” predicts that many Jews will stay here in America and other parts of the world without going back home to their homeland because of a false sense of security in the American economy.
As I write this anti-Semitism is rapidly escalating in the former Soviet Union and in France. It's escalating here in America too but we're just not being told about it by our news media (simply because our news media is generally anti-Semitic too). For nearly a decade, anti-Semitic violence had become fairly rare in France. But according to a recent New York Times article, France has witnessed a wave of attacks on Jews. Increasingly, Jewish leaders are speaking out, challenging government statistics that they say minimize the problem and criticizing public officials who they say fail to denounce the mounting threats, insults and assaults directed at French Jews. Part of the current problem, according to the Jewish leaders, is that the attacks are no longer coming just from skinheads and other supporters of the far right as in the past. These days the assailants are often Arabs, who occupy the lowest echelons of this society. The increase in incidents has corresponded to the deteriorating situation in the Middle East.
Most often the attacks occur in Paris suburbs where poor and working-class Jews and Muslims live side by side in bleak housing projects. "Today's incidents are linked to some very real social problems in France, where many Arabs who are having a hard time or who are frustrated with what is going on in Palestine are taking it out on Jews," said Dr. Shimon Samuels, the co-author of a recent report on the issue for the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Paris. "The fact that the government is not willing to acknowledge this is a very big problem," he said. "People are scared." The Jewish leaders see a political component in the lack of outcry over the new wave of violence against Jews. More than five million Muslims — many of them from Algeria or other former French colonies in North Africa — live in France today, but only 600,000 Jews.
The seeds of the Anti-Semitic wave in France are being planted right here in America. We have nearly 6 million Moslem people living in America in contrast to less than 1 million Jewish people. Whenever there is an economic meltdown people have always blamed the Jew. The Jewish people were the scapegoats in Germany. Later on they were the scapegoats in Russia. They are increasingly becoming the scapegoats again in the former Soviet Union. They are the scapegoats for France’s poor conditions and soon they will be America’s scapegoats too.
That is why this call to make “aliyah,” or to return to their homeland is such a vital key to survival now. If you are a Jewish person and you are reading this hear the voice of the Spirit of the Lord. Things in America are going to get very bad in the coming months. If you can possibly leave, get out now while you have the finances to do so. Sid Roth of Messianic Vision in Brunswick, GA., was told in a recent interview by Terry Morey from Tiberius, Israel, that the Spirit of the Lord had woke her up in the middle of the night several times recently encouraging her to warn the Jewish people to come home. Terri said the sense she got from the Spirit of the Lord was that Jews in America had anywhere from 12 to 18 months to make aliyah before it would become very difficult to leave. Sid bore witness with that as he prophesied that laws were going to be passed within the next year when the economy worsens that no money will be able to leave the United States. So if a Jewish person should decide to make aliyah later they would be able to leave the country, but they would go to Israel with nothing more than the shirts on their backs.
Some of you reading this are sneering, laughing, mocking and saying “there’s that Chris again – being melodramatic and being a kill-joy. There is NO way America would EVER become this Anti-Semitic, our country LOVES the Jewish people too much and we have ALWAYS supported Israel and her causes.” Hear me friend. Hear me child of God. If you’re listening to most Christian television right now you are probably hearing that. Most of the “gospel,” that is being proclaimed right now is laced with nothing but “positive,” news that America is going to be restored to her greatness and our economy will not go down because we “have always supported Israel.” Well the truth of the matter does not bear that out. America has betrayed Israel to her Arab nations - especially in the last decade under the former administrations of George W. Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton. As our economy here worsens and the Arab oil interests tighten their grip around our necks we will be called on soon to make a choice between getting cheap Arab oil or pressuring Israel to give up her land to her Arab enemies – the PLO. The force behind this is the religion of Islam. We are working on a journal as we speak concerning the Islamic connection to the last days. But don’t be deceived into thinking that Islam is a peaceful religion and the Arabs only want peace with Israel. Don't be duped into the media's portrayal of Israel as a tyrant landlord who have mistreated all these "refugees," they displaced as a result of the PLO uprising in the mid 1980s and more recently since September 2000. (If the Saudis want to do something let them put some money into helping these refugees instead of putting their money behind terrorists).
Beloved, things are NOT going to get better. The only security in these last days is an everlasting relationship and love for the Lord Jesus. HE WILL KEEP US and LOVE US through the storms that are coming. We can hold on to this fleeting thought that our material possessions will be kept safe during this storm but friend when the trouble starts, your material possessions won’t mean anything. You will be faced with choices of either saving your material possessions or saving your life. You can choose the first if you like but Jesus said what would it profit any of us to gain the whole world and lose our souls? That’s a question we need to all ponder right now. We really do.
Mark 8:36-37 - What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet
forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? (NIV)
The Second Call To The Jewish People Is A Call For Them To Return Back To Their God
The second call to the Jewish people by God is a return back to their God. Revival is about to break out among the Jewish people unlike it ever has since the first church in the book of Acts. Yeshuah is saving the best wine for last. We are living in the generation that will see that! Praise God. David gave us a prophetic glimpse of the last days in the 102nd Psalm. Israel’s enemies are gathered around her and have “reproached her” all the days. They are “mad against” her and have “sworn” her destruction. But in spite of this – David said the set time for the Lord to have mercy upon Jerusalem and favor toward Zion would be decreed to “the generation to come.” We heard a recent sermon at our local Messianic fellowship concerning this passage where the Jewish rabbi in charge said the phrase, “generation to come,” was originally written in Hebrew, “THE LAST GENERATION.” Friend, that should make chills go up your spine! We are in that generation. That’s how close we are to the Messiah’s return and the rapture of the church of Yeshuah. THIS GENERATION has been chosen to “declare the name of the Lord in Zion,” and “his PRAISE in Jerusalem” when the people are gathered together. Both things are happening in Israel right now. Her enemies are swearing her destruction, but the Lord is calling her back to Him.
Psalm 102:3-28 - For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as a hearth. [4] My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread. [5] By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin. [6] I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert. [7] I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the housetop. [8] Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me. [9] For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping, [10] Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down. [11] My days are like a shadow that declines; and I am withered like grass. [12] But thou, O Lord, shall endure forever; and thy remembrance unto all generations. [13] Thou shall arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come. [14] For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof. [15] So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. [16] When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory. [17] He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. [18] This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people who shall be created shall praise the Lord. [19] For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth; [20] To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death; [21] To declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem; [22] When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord. [23] He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days. [24] I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. [25] Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. [26] They shall perish, but thou shall endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as vesture shall thou change them, and they shall be changed: [27] But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. [28] The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.
God has always had an order to His work. Israel has always been the physical barometer for what the Lord did in His spiritual representative – the church. If you want to know what God is up to in the church – look at Israel! Israel is experiencing revival right now. What do you think is right around the corner for the church? PRAISE GOD! The revival will not just be a move here or move there. It will be told of in entire cities, and eventually states. Before it is all over, America will have a revival that will sweep many into the Kingdom. This will be going on in the face of the most severe persecution the American church has ever experienced in her history. We are about to enter into the sufferings of our fellow brethren in other parts of the world that don’t have the blessings or freedom we do. The bottom line is this. Get your seat belt on! The ride we’re about to take is going to get a little bumpy and dangerous but it’s going to be fun in JESUS! PRAISE GOD!
What Can The Gentiles Do To Help Israel?
Some of you reading this have felt the Holy Spirit tug at your heart and deal with you about helping the Jewish people. If that is the case you are a FISHER! We as Gentiles who have a Jewish heart can do a number of things, some practical, some not so practical, to fulfill our destiny as one of the fishers of Jeremiah 16:15-16. Isaiah foretold that in the last days the Gentiles would literally bring the Jewish people back to their homeland and to God in such a way that we would “lick the dust off their shoes.”
Isaiah 49:14-26 - But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. [15] Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee? [16] Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. [17] Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. [18] Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shall surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. [19] For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. [20] The children that thou shall have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, the place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell. [21] Then shall thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been? [22] Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. [23] And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shall know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. [24] Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? [25] But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contends with thee, and I will save thy children. [26] And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
Isaiah 19:22-25 - And the Lord shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them. [23] In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. [24] In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: [25] Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.
Isaiah described the condition of the Jews in the last days as “too narrow by reason of the inhabitants,” “desolate,” “captive,” “removing to and fro,” and “strait.” That describes Israel’s condition right now. The population in Israel right now and the living conditions are so horrible right now because of the economy that words cannot describe it. BUT THE LORD is rising up a generation of Gentiles that are coming to the rescue. They are the “fishers,” of Jeremiah who will literally humble themselves and LICK up the dust off their feet. That’s as humble as it gets but those with the heart of Yeshuah will not feel it is below them to do just that. I would like to think that the work the Lord has done in the heart of myself and my family has created such a heart in us. We’re ready to be fishers!
One thing we can do in these last days as Gentiles to become Isaiah 49 Christians is we can witness to Jewish people. Our friend Ian Norton wrote to us recently and said a middle-aged Jewish couple came into his restaurant drunk the other night in Jerusalem. They were frequent visitors there and usually came in and would just drink for several hours upon end getting as intoxicated as they could. On this night Ian just happened to get to wait on their table and began sharing how Yeshuah had delivered him out of drugs. As he was being called back into the kitchen to help he wrote his website on a piece of napkin paper “Jesus4Junkies.com.” As he left, the woman dived over her husband’s arm, reached out and grabbed his hand and said, “I WANT JESUS.” WOW! These type of stories are going to be told more and more in the days ahead in Jerusalem.
But they are going to be told here in America too. One night recently our family got home from a long trip and just didn’t want to go out so we ordered pizza. The young man who delivered our pizza to the house came to the door and just stared for a minute without saying anything. He then exclaimed, “ARE YOU JEWISH????” He had seen our living room with a Jewish flag, a tabret and other items identifying our home with our Jewish roots. I just smiled and laughed and said “No, we’re not Jewish, we’re just Gentiles who love the Jewish people with all our heart because our Saviour is Jewish.” He just stared at me for a second then smiled again. He told us he had moved to Knoxville about a year ago from Jerusalem and had two other people working with him in his business who were from Jerusalem. Since that time we have stopped in and met the other two individuals and offered them an invitation to return to our home for dinner one night so we can share the love of Jesus with them. Talk about an ordained pizza party! WOW! Friend, these type things are going to escalate to the point that no one will get glory for any of this. There won’t be time to sit and boast about how much we’re “doing” for Jesus. What is coming will be so mind-blowing and powerful that our pride will be laid waste at the foot of the Savior’s cross where NO FLESH CAN GLORY IN HIS PRESENCE! I will glory in the cross, in the cross, lest His sufferings, all be in vain. Praise God, praise God. Friend, the days of the fishers are here! Some of you are hearing the Spirit’s call to you right now to become a fisher!
Second, we need to comfort Israel.
Isaiah 40:1 - Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Simply put, we must stand with Israel in any way possible. There are many evangelical Christians who have loved Israel in the past but have gone about trying to witness to them without understanding the hurt that rests in the heart of so many. Christian religion has been against Israel in the past and the scars of that do not go away with the handing out of a tract. We must LOVE them in deed and in truth. There is a wall we must climb over to get to their hearts. Isaiah tells us to remove the stumbling block that hinders love:
Isaiah 57:14 - And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.
The stumbling block between the Gentile and the Jew is simple. It is years of hatred perpetrated against the Jewish people in the name of Christianity. Words like “cross,” “Christian,” and “Christ,” that we use without thinking in the Gentile church are words that were used to justify the slaughter of millions in the Holocaust. The Crusaders of old took Jews and locked them into a synagogue, then burned them alive inside chanting, “Christ, Christ, we adore thee” while carrying the banner of a cross. When the Nazis started the gassing of millions in the work camps many Jews went to their death hearing their tormentors scream, “we’re doing this because you killed CHRIST.” Hitler used the symbol of the cross to turn something holy and just into something wicked, demented and perverse. “Christian” fathers such as Tertullian and Origen and then later on Martin Luther, used venom instead of love to reach out to the Jewish race. Hitler used many of Martin Luther’s writings to justify his actions. Many may say, “well that in itself shouldn’t put that big a wall up,” but friend you’re not a JEW! Those scars DO exist and if we in the Christian church do not cease trying to act like a bunch of used car salesmen in our witnessing techniques to Jews we are going to miss out on the great opportunity of ministry this world has ever seen.
No, the Jewish people don’t need our western techniques of evangelism. They need our love and COMFORT. Every Jewish person in the world needs all the love they can get. No amount of good we do now will ever repay all the evil that has been done in the past (and more evil is going to be done in the future). God says we need to “comfort His people.” His people are the Jewish race.
Thirdly, as we stated earlier, we need to encourage as many Jewish people as we can to return to their land. Part of the promised New Covenant in Jeremiah includes other promises that Israel will once again inhabit the land God have her. If our country continues to persist in this insidious idea we can pressure Israel to bargain off her land for peace with the Arabs, we are deceived!
Fourthly, we need to pray for the Jewish people!
Daniel 9:3-4 - And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: [4] And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
Israel is afraid right now. Her citizens live under a daily threat of violence, suicide bombings and murder. They need protection from the Almighty above. We as American Christians and Gentile believers need to unite with our fellow Jewish believers and pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for her protection.
Fifthly, we must lift up YESHUAH, not our religion. The Jewish people right now are ripe for Yeshuah’s love, not our “brand” of Christianity we so seek to feed them. They find Christianity “boring,” to be quite honest and I can’t say I blame them. Our goal as Gentiles is to “provoke” the Jew to jealousy by allowing the love of Jesus to burn in us so brightly that they become so “JEALOUS” of that that they want HIM TOO! What they see though are dead church services that have less life in them than the local mortuary. The Jew requires a SIGN. Signs, wonders and miracles are part of God’s plan for the last days’ harvest. So if you are one of those uncomfortable with “signs” and “wonders,” I’m afraid you will be left out in the cold in the coming move of God. It’s not about being “Baptist,” or “Pentecostal.” Friend, if we can’t get together on the gifts of the Spirit and tongues, how will we EVER come together in true unity to see the ETERNAL purposes of God fulfilled? We need to get it together!
I heard a recent lady share how that most “mission boards,” fail miserably in witnessing to Jewish people in Israel. They send missionaries over their without a burden. These missionaries are only after “numbers,” and fail to see God’s bigger picture in the salvation of the Jewish race. We must get a heart like Yeshuah if we are going to see this take place. Time is running so short it isn’t funny and we need to make ready for the harvest!
Finally, we need to support Israel financially.
Romans 15:26 - For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. Romans 15:27-32 It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things. [28] When therefore I have performed this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain. [29] And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. [30] Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; [31] That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints; [32] That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.
There are an escalating number of ministries seeking to minister to the Jewish people with their finances. I’m not just talking about “religious” causes, but through “secular” causes as well. Israeli children live in apartments in Jerusalem that are so very small it begs description. There are a great number of causes out there that can help in this. Email us and we will give you that information. We need to minister to them our “carnal” things! Why? Because we as Gentiles have been made partakers of their “spiritual” things. You may ask “what spiritual things?” The answer is, for starters, their Messiah and our LORD! Their prophets and their GOD became OUR GOD through the blood of Yeshuah. So as we see them suffer in the physical, we need to minister to them in the physical because through them we have been blessed in the spiritual!
Isaiah Saw The Gentiles Carrying Israel And Her People In The Last Days
As stated before, Isaiah saw the Gentiles licking the dust off the feet of the Jewish people in the last days. The person with a servant’s heart will be the fishers of the last days. The fishers will be people who will proclaim to the Jewish people – “Your God is my God.” “Your prophets are MY prophets.” “YOUR Messiah is MY Messiah,” and as a result we are ONE IN HIM! As the Gentile Moabitess Ruth proclaimed to the Jewish Naomi so long ago, “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God; wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge, I will lodge and where you rest I will rest.” THE ONLY WAY TO A JEWISH PERSON’S HEART IS ‘HOW CAN I SERVE YOU?’
The servant’s call is a call God puts on EVERY believer. But the call of the fisher is a call God will only put on those who have asked Him to do so. It’s not a call about character because if it was, NONE of us would be called. We have all failed God in our past. God’s calling is after the foolish things of this world that will confound the wise. That’s why not many mighty, not many noble are called. That’s why the call of God on our lives today is a call that not too many will answer. The Lord said through Isaiah that He would ‘set them in their own land,’ and STRANGERS would be joined with them and would CLEAVE to them. That’s the heart of a FISHER! These “fishers,” will take them and bring them to their place. It may not seem like it now but the day is coming when Israel will RULE over her oppressors. That day is ahead of us.
Isaiah 14:1-2 - For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. [2] And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
Another prophetic word from Isaiah says that the “forces of the Gentiles” will come to Israel. It will happen at a time ‘great darkness’ shall cover the earth. Can anyone argue we’re not living in that time right now? I think not. Friend, we are in that time right now! And out of this darkness will come the hunters after the fishers. But while there is time, we need to ask God to make us a FISHER for the Jewish race. We need a heart like Yeshuah. Our light is about to shine, Gentile! But the light that is coming upon us is for a reason and for a season – to minister to the Jewish people and stand side by side with Israel in these latter days. That’s the call of the Church in these hours.
Isaiah 60:1-19 - Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. [2] For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. [3] And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. [4] Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. [5] Then thou shall see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. [6] The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord. [7] All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. [8] Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? [9] Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. [10] And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. [11] Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought.
Isaiah 61:4-5 - And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. [5] And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
The stranger Isaiah speaks of is no one other than we Gentiles. We are going to “stand and feed” their (the Jewish people) flocks. We shall help them “repair the waste cities,” and the “desolations of many generations.” This cannot happen overnight nor can it happen just with the Jewish people. They need our help. The “desolations of many generations,” must be overcome. I recently heard of a group of German ladies who lived during the “generation of Hitler,” and had moved to Israel. Their motive was not to “preach” the gospel but to merely “do good.” And good is what they did for many years. These ladies baked cakes, fed the hungry, clothed the poor, and showed hospitality where hospitality was needed and did everything they could to just minister GOOD to those whom their forefathers brutalized. That is a great start but more is needed! We as the Gentile arm of the church need to reach out and minister to our Jewish brethren in the faith and show love to the Jewish race.
Paul said in Galatians that the “blessing of Abraham,” has come on the Gentiles through Jesus. This blessing is the promise of the Holy Spirit we receive when we accept Yeshuah (Hebrew for Jesus) by faith. It is interesting that we in the Western Church love proclaiming a prosperity message using this passage when many of the people we minister too don’t even like the “seed of Abraham.” To receive the blessing of Abraham, we must embrace and minister to Abraham’s seed! Prophetic prosperity is found in Psalm 122:6 where David wrote that we who pray for the peace of Jerusalem and love her will prosper! When we sow peace, we will reap peace. And friend in the coming days, peace will be at a premium for most people. They may have material goods and possessions, but in the end the greatest thing we will want to have is SHALOM in Yeshuah!
Galatians 3:14-28 - That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. [15] Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; though it is but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. [16] Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. [17] And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. [18] For if the inheritance were of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. [19] Wherefore then serves the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and angels in the hand of a mediator ordained it. [20] Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. [21] Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. [22] But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. [23] But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith that should afterwards be revealed. [24] Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. [25] But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. [26] For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. [27] For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. [28] There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
A Warning From God
Isaiah 60:12 - For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. [13] The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. [14] The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. [15] Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. [16] Thou shall also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. [17] For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. [18] Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. [19] The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.
Isaiah proclaims that any nation or “kingdom” that does not serve the Jewish people “shall be utterly wasted,” and “destroyed.” Friend, that is a choice we as a nation must make. If we are going to survive the coming storms that are ahead for Planet Earth, our help and ministry to Israel will play an ETERNAL role! For those who refuse to be fishers will wind up being hunters. The question is which one are you?
Because It's Getting Late Neighbor
This Journal Is Continued In “The Fishers And The Hunters Part Two: The Hunters”