Lights in Darkness
The Mysterious Ways of God
by Donna Diorio
Several times in scripture God says that He closed the eyes and ears of the
Jews so they could not perceive His miracles and understand what it meant. (Deuteronomy
29:2-4 for example). Then, again in Isaiah 6:10 "Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and
shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and
understand with their heart, and return/be restored and be healed."
Why would God do such a thing as
make the Jewish people incapable of seeing and hearing and understanding with
their heart the miracles God performed for their sakes? Why make it nearly
impossible for Israel to perceive her own Messiah? I cannot begin to explain
God’s thinking on this, but I will say what God’s Word tells me: it was done to
create a channel to open salvation to all nations and all peoples, and not just
to the Jews. Israel had to reject the
Messiah for a season to make the way for God to open the eyes and ears of the
rest of the peoples of the world. God’s heart is and remains for ALL peoples,
including the Jews.
It is important to know that God moved early in His dealings with Israel
to create the channel of opening salvation beyond just Israel and the Jewish
people. God did not speak a “partial blindness” on Israel because He had come
to hate the stubbornly sinful Jews like so many have supposed. Truth be told
ALL of humankind is stubbornly sinful but God had a rescue plan – a plan to
rescue all of us from ourselves and it was a plan He set in motion FROM THE
BEGINNING.
God’s plan called for choosing out a
BLOOD line of people in the earth to be God's people. To them He would give all
His instructions in righteousness (The Torah). To them He would give the line
of succession to the King of the whole earth: Yeshua. To them He would make an
everlasting covenant and promises that are still in force today. To them He
would return in the fullness of time to restore this people to Himself in His
Son. To ALL, however, to be reconciled to God, we must come through the BLOOD
line of the sacrificial death of Yeshua. No exemptions. Yeshua died once for
ALL.
Over the 2,000 year period of Christianity, it has been widely
misunderstood that putting a veil of blindness over the eyes and deafness to
hearing and understanding the Gospel of the Jews was always in God’s plan from
the beginning. It was not Plan B, it was always Plan A. Even so a REMNANT of Jews responded to seeing
and hearing Yeshua in His earthly ministry and after He ascended to the Father.
If not, dear Christian, you would not be
saved today because it was an Israeli Messianic Jewish Remnant saved by grace
in Messiah Yeshua who carried the Gospel out to the four corners of the earth! Once again in our day there is an Israeli
Messianic Jewish Remnant of around 20,000 who are carrying the Gospel within
Israel. They are citizens, not tourists, not visitors. They are fully invested
in the State of Israel and in the Kingdom of our dear LORD.
Since the reestablishment of Jews to
the Holy Land and the reestablishment of the State of Israel among the nations,
Jews across the world are again seeing with their eyes, and hearing with their
ears, and understanding with their heart, returning to God through Yeshua and being
restored and healed. This "remnant" of believing Jews exist today in
an ocean of unbelieving Jews and we must discern between their two different
spiritual states: Jewish believers
differ from unbelieving Jews. But we also must remember that God has designs on
the unbelieving Jews too. Believers are our spiritual relatives by shared faith
in Yeshua/Jesus.
We are not “Blood-related” to
unbeliever Jews…yet! We don’t love the one and hate the other, but we already
have a Jesus-bond with every single Messianic Jew in the world and we do not
share that family bond with unbelieving Jews.
So there is a certain tension to
balance between our understanding that an unbelieving Jew is an enemy of the
Gospel who might even try to harm us because of our faith (one example is
identified below), and the necessity to remember how God wants unbelieving Jews
to come to faith. We are not to be a stumbling block to them coming to faith, but
we also don't regard unbelieving Jews as already having faith. Jews do not have
some other kind of covenant with God that makes Yeshua unnecessary for them to
be reconciled through. We must always recognize God wants Jews to be restored through
the Blood of Yeshua too. He is the ONLY Door to salvation. Scripture is crystal
clear on that point.
Even though we are seeing more and more Jews awakening and coming to
faith in Yeshua, the majority of Jews in the world today continue to be as
described by Isaiah —blind
and deaf to the way of Salvation. So it is important for us not to lose sight
of that reality, because of what the apostle Paul wrote to the Romans which is
still true today: "And so all Israel
will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will
remove godlessness from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them when I take
away their sins.” REGARDING THE GOSPEL, THEY ARE ENEMIES (dia) for your sakes;
but regarding election, they are loved on account of the patriarchs."
That word "dia" is translated several ways, "on your
account" or "for your benefit" or “for your advantage” but what
it really means is that the Jews were made enemies of the Gospel "denoting
the channel of an act." So the
blinding the Jews to restoration to God through Messiah Yeshua is the act which
God imposed in order to open a channel of salvation to all the nations. Jews
were made “enemies of the Gospel” and it is almost as if God gave the
Christians in all the nations the ultimate test of our hearts with them. Are
our hearts sacrificed to the will of His heart? Are we being transformed to His
likeness to the point that even the “enemies of the Gospel” we can view from
His eyes of compassion?
God is removing the blindness of the Jews in our day and it will reach
its peak in Him removing the blindness so that "all Israel shall be saved."
But between now and then, do not consider it strange to see Jewish
enemies of the Gospel causing real trouble for believers. Our test is to keep the
natural reality and spiritual reality of our relationship with Jews in light
Romans 11:28 in Divine balance.
Now a "remnant" of believing Jews exists already - one million
plus worldwide - but there are 14 million Jews worldwide; 20 million when
counting those that are partially Jewish. Even though Jews are continually and
increasingly coming to faith, the majority are still enemies of the Gospel.
Some are quite zealously enemies of the Gospel even while keeping a seemingly
tolerant face on for Christians. Few keep a tolerant face on for Messianic Jews
and that is a meaningful reality to understand.
Many Christian Zionists have a hard
time comprehending that because so many unbelieving Jews welcome Christian
alliances with Israel. Christians often don't quite 'get it' that their Jewish
friends are actually vehemently opposed to ANY Jew professing faith in Yeshua. Some
even major Christian Zionist ministries have been convinced that their good
Jewish friends have good reasons for despising Messianic Jews and those reasons
are based on something other than just their faith in Yeshua.
This is a common pitfall to some Christian
Zionists who have not quite worked out the balance we must strike as Christians
toward Jews. Some of them have even set
themselves apart from and even in opposition to the Messianic Jews of Israel. As Christians we have to wrestle with all the
spiritual realities here and find ourselves in the will of God. It is NOT God’s
heart for Christians to place their own good standing with unbelieving Israel
ABOVE our BOOD relationship with Israeli Messianic Jews who are our spiritual
family. It is also not God’s heart that Christians devote themselves to a
friendship with Israel that compromises those who are preaching the Gospel in
Israel. These are the Jews scripture is referring to bringing the Gospel to
Israelis, "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of
peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” Friendship can only go so far,
the Gospel has to be shared.
Earlier I said I would give an example of how
unbelieving Jews might put us to the test in walking out the tension between
understanding that they are “enemies of the Gospel” who might try to cause us
harm, and the reality that God wants them reconciled to Him. Here is that
example:
This week I saw a report that PayPal
has hired the "hyper-partisan" the ADL (Anti-Defamation League)
"to lay out criteria that will allow that payment-services giant to
essentially shut down any group it labels 'extremist'.” That means that every
Messianic ministry and every Christian organization advocating for the Israeli
Messianic believers are in almost certain jeopardy if relying on PayPal for
electronic donations. There
is pushback from American politically conservative Jews but most American Jews
are not conservative, and even so, targeting Messianic-oriented ministries is
not going to raise many Jewish voices in protest.
This is but one example, and we
really have to “Guard our heart with all
diligence” so we are not tempted to harbor animosity against the
(unbeliever) Jewish role in some things that are happening politically. Let’s
face it: there is an increasing spirit of persecution against people of faith.
It is not hostility based on race or other excuses; it is based on the
spiritual state of unbelievers versus believers.
If you have been depending on PayPal for ministry donations, you may
want to begin to look for another means of electronic transfers. I am going to
be checking out TransferWise which is a cheaper alternative to
PayPal for international transfers. Here
also are The Best 17 PayPal Alternatives: Top
Solutions Reviewed (July 2021)
The days we are entering into are bound to create a tension in issues
that arise like the ones described in this article. God wants the unbeliever to
come to faith. We want what God wants for them. Standing as a channel of Jewish
restoration to faith through salvation in Yeshua is our way forward and the
priority for us is in funding the Gospel-bearing Israeli Messianic Jews. When
Israel comes to faith, the whole world will see there is something to this
Yeshua. It will mean “life from the dead” worldwide.
Arrows from Zion
Summarized
from the Weekly Summary of Prayer
Requests Israeli Ministries
Right off the bat we have urgent prayers for many of the greatly effective
ministry leaders in northern Israel and youth from across Israel who despite
all precautions, over 60 were infected with the Covid virus at the
Katzir/Harvest Youth Camp last week. So far as of the last hour (noon/Thurs/5th)
we have confirmed covid in Eitan Shishkoff, Leon Mazin (who is hospitalized)
and his family, Joel Jelski, Cody, Liat and Hallel Archer, Rami, youth leader
at Acco Harvest of Asher along with three of their youth, the adult married daughter of Avi & Chaim
Mizrachi OrEl. All of the above have families so please cover the families from
spread of Covid. All participants were tested prior to the event, however one
teen attended another event after the test and prior to camp start. I like the
prayer request Liat made: “Pray for healing, wisdom and grace for everyone
involved. Pray also that what God did this week in the lives of the youth would
not be overshadowed by this situation.”
Pray Isaiah 54:16-17 over them all! Remember this camp things were
done in the Spirit for the teens – it is not just covid that happened.
I don't think it takes a genius to figure out
this is an ATTACK OF THE ENEMY on Eitan, the Acco and Haifa ministries
associated with Tents of Mercy, on the
Katzir Youth Camp, on the Fields of Wheat ministry team and vision for
Equipping for the Harvest. Not only have the Katzir camps for the past couple
of decades under Eitan's direction been equipping young people to live and walk
strong in the LORD, the vision is on the verge of going into a greater level of
impact. The expanded vision of Fields of
Wheat is a powerful spiritual
investment in generations of Israeli Messianic believers as the spiritual
harvest in Israel ramps up in earnest. It reminded me when I first heard of Eitan
Shishkoff because in 1997 his congregation was firebombed by anti-Messianic
Orthodox Jews. The place was gutted but God took what was meant to harm
Eitan’s ministry work and turned it into a blessing because as news of the
event spread, there was an outpouring of donations that allowed the
congregation to obtain an even better facility. As I remember this, I urge
you to pray that God would answer this attack of Covid on Eitan and the Fields
of Wheat Vision, by opening the way in
every way to complete the property purchase in the most perfect land space.
God owns the cattle on a thousand
hills, so He must own the hills
too! (Psalm 50:10)
“With All Your Heart is a book born out of affection for young people. From leading a faith-based group of underprivileged boy scouts in the 1970s, to overseeing dozens of teen camps in Israel, I’ve always been drawn to youth – and moved by their raw honesty. Interacting with them over the decades has challenged me to respond to their needs – and make God more than just a word they hear in congregational services.
“I’m also
a grandfather. So, I wrote this book for my grandchildren (ages 1 to 22), to
impart my heart – hopefully in a way
that will leave a lasting deposit of what it really means to live FULLY from
one’s heart, connected with God’s heart.”
On sale at Amazon. I just bought a copy that happens to arrive on my
70th birthday. Looking forward to reading my present to myself.
Joel Jelski filed a report too because he has to put his planned trip to the US
on hold (8/26-9/13) as he waits out exposure to Covid. After no travel lockdowns, donations among
the ministries has dwindled – acutely! So, since he cannot travel please
consider helping anyway: Click here to view the ways you can
donate now to the Fields of Wheat vision including supporting the Jelski and
Archer ministry team. Joel sent testimonies of teens from the camp
writing, “Each one is Gold to us, and exactly the reason we
sacrifice and work to make these camps possible.”
S - On
the first night I felt frustrated. I kept seeking the Lord but felt stuck. On
the second night, I felt led by the spirit to kneel. As I knelt and prayer, I
saw a bright white light. At first, I thought it was someone with a camera. I
looked, and everything was dark. I then understood God was shining his light
into my heart and the Lord wanted to do some new things in my life.
P -- for the longest time I felt alone, like I
didn't belong. For the first time after this camp, I feel like I belong, like
i'm not alone. That God can bring freedom and breakthrough into my life.
M - On
the second day, I felt the Lord move me deeply in a way I had never felt
before. I repented and gave my life to the Lord.
Y - for the few years before this camp, I was not walking with the Lord. On one of the nights, I felt led to kneel. As I knelt, I began to weep, not understanding why. I became angry at God because I could not hear him. As I talked and prayed with my small group leader, I understood that my sin and rebellion had built a barrier between me and God. I repented, gave my life back to the Lord, and realized that all of my running after the world and my desires were not better than the plan God had for my life.
Guy Cohen also wrote for
prayers over those affected by the virus noting also that Lebanon is of great
concern, nearing financial collapse and incidents of firing rockets into
Israel. “May Israel operate with
compassion toward her neighbors; may God use the situation turning what the
enemy intends for evil to good.” Also there is a massive forest fire in
Jerusalem “extreme heat and threat of rocket attack from Gaza or Lebanon each
are cause for concern to ignite the region in flames of fire or war. Your
prayers are appreciated.”
From the Hasdey Yeshua congregation in Arab they compare what three groups of locals are diligently teaching their children. The Messianic congregation is being taught the Word of God with an emphasis on loving others, even those who aren’t like themselves, and they’re learning to pray for their enemies. The Hassidic ultra-Orthodox children are being taught by example “to hate anyone who is not like themselves, especially Messianic Jews.” (“Please pray for the deliverance of the Gur. They think they’re serving God but they’re very far from it.”) And, “The Bedouin of all ages are in bondage to the teachings of Muhammad and the traditions surrounding those teachings. But glimmers of light are breaking through.” They shared how their Bedouin worker is seeing openings o flight breaking through.
From Israel Pochtar of Beit Hallel and Voice of Judah
ministries: VIDEO & ARTICLE Eilat — A
Southern Gem in the Middle of the Desert | VIDEO Eilat: The
Gold of King Solomon and the King’s Red Sea Project | Eilat
Congregation Update | Bearing
Fruit in Seasons of Drought | Supporting a
Child in Need through our Back-to-School Project | Summer for
God Discipleship - Our Youth visit Jerusalem |
Out of Zion Ministries’ David Silver for his Midweek Update Video July 27, 2021 and Aug 3, 2021 | Plus the Out of Zion Prayer for Israel Zoom meeting every Tuesday 9 pm Israel time - 7 pm UK - 2 pm EST - 6 am NZ | Go to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82351582826 (Passcode: 146188)
Good report from Evan Levine of HaTikva Projects: “…because of your incredible generosity, $76,781 was raised. We have already been able to do so much this summer as we continue to serve the Israeli people.” Like HaTikva Families reno completed & staff family moved in | HaTikva Dental new dentist and dental assistant hired for Haifa clinic, Jerusalem clinic expanded to larger downtown space | HaTikva Aid | Because of donor support, Reut VaTikva (Hope and Companionship) is ready to launch in August! Home visits will begin for 20 Jerusalem seniors who will continue to receive in-home support from HaTikva Project teams on a monthly basis. (Evan & family on much needed sabbatical until Sept)
Revive Israel’s Asher
Intrater writes on Transition
Principles and gives short video teaching First
Prophecy, Last Prophecy. Also
Dan Juster’s writing Jewish
Suffering. Plus a reports from Kenya Tikkun
Africa and the VIDEO Global
Broadcast | Praise, Prophecy, Prayer,
and Preaching from our team in Israel.
This week, Ariel Blumenthal ministered the message. Here’s how to Partner with the Revive Israel Team
Michael Beener in Sderot’s City of Life congregation is seeking to help needy families with Back To School Project which provides school supplies & backpacks. Before summer ends they are also helping to restore Sderot’s children (PTSD) with a fun day at the water park in Children Recovery Day. Another new way they are just starting to help needy families Kick-starting our Clothing Project with a new Container-room. Let me encourage you that if you are sending humanitarian aid to Israel through some organization that are not even believers, that you QUIT THAT and begin to send to the Israeli Messianic congregations to distribute to the needy in their cities. Let Jesus really get the credit for your desire to help Israel.
Chuck Cohen of Intercessors for Israel Jerusalem writes about the US Pres Biden’s dealings with Israel being “alarming—for America!” Meaning “dealing anti-biblically with Israel brings a curse.” He gives prayer points for this and many other topics Friday Prayer Points for July 30, 2021
Aliyah Return Center’s Chaim Malespin WATCH: He who Gathers. Chaim is in the US for the last leg of this trip: August 8 at 6pm @ Leesburg Nazarene / 2100 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Leesburg, FL | Aug 11 7pm @ Treasure Coast Victory Center/ Fort Pierce FL | Aug 15 10am @ Crossroads Christian Church / 1050 Girdle Rd. East Aurora, New York 14052 | Watch this VIDEO Ambassador Academy
Congrats to the Rotem & Joseph on their 4th
child, Howard and Randi Bass’ 5th grandchild. Also happy birthday to
Randi on 8/12 as she reaches her 70th birthday. (Me too, Randi, 70 on
the 7th). Howard writes about the desire in Beer Sheva to have city
wide pastors prayer meetings, but have the wrinkle about not all speaking
Hebrew – there is a language barrier in some cases but the desire is there
because as Howard writes, “This would also
present a stronger witness and testimony for evangelism, when those 'outside'
see that those 'inside' love each other despite all of the 'reasons' not to. The love of God in Christ is stronger! PLEASE PRAY WITH US TOWARD THIS END, WHICH I
ASSUME IS A PRAYER THAT YOU CAN ALL RELATE TO WHERE YOU LIVE.”
From Kehila News Israel This article by Cookie
Schwaeber-Issan was originally published in the Jerusalem Post 7/28/21 Why does
Israel reject ethnic Jews as legitimate Jews? |
Also click to Dan Juster’s evaluation of Critical Theory and Critical Race
Theory in Biblical
Anti-Racism (“My conclusion is that CRT is profoundly contrary to the
Biblical World View. . . .
Though there are movements for
equality and equity not based on biblical norms and some contrary to biblical
norms, I don't believe due to the
sinfulness of fallen humans that such movements will succeed. Again, such
equality movements are only in nations that have biblical influence in their
history. In rebellion against God, these movements are bound to lead to failure
and more despair.)
Urgent HEALING Needs: Life and Death is
in the power of the tongue
Please keep in prayer
the Israeli believers who are fighting for their lives or other urgent health
needs:
Please Pray for Eitan Shishkoff, Leon Mazin (hospitalized)
& family, Cody & Liat Archer & family,
several in the Acco youth, Joel Jelski (Fields
of Wheat), and OrEl,
married daughter of Avi and Chaya
Mizrachi, plus others who were infected with Covid at the Youth Katzir Camp
last week. Pray for each to recover fully and quickly with no harm and no
spreading to families and others. | Claude Ezagouri of the Morning Star
Fellowship who has started a treatment that is due to last at least 6 months
for a medical problem he has been suffering from. Believe in prayer with them as they look to
the Lord for complete healing and for
prompt recovery from some other ailments. Hallel Goldman, daughter of Yariv Goldman, Hallel ministers to young
people coming out of an Orthodox life. Hallel appears to have some kind
of heart infection. Pray for her healing. Also pray for her dad, Yariv,
unspoken prayer. | Ronit Bender finally
has seen a new cardiologist she likes because he is caring, she’s taking new
meds, feels better but still asks for our prayers | Pray for Carolyn Hyde whose left hand is so
pained she can no longer play guitar and it is also sometimes painful to play
piano | Silvers: David's knees and Josie's back pain | Rachel Netanel is still recovering
from a broken ankle. She asks for healing & for the pain to subside. Her
ankles were weak already, so the process is slow and painful| A prayer request
for Naomi, for a dear
family that is a part of Israel Pochtar's pastoral team, who was diagnosed with
colon cancer. "Despite what this battle entails, we are confident in God’s
unfailing Word and promises." Read in her
own words| Please continue to pray for Jacob Damkani for the LORD's mercies over Jacob and his dear wife, Elisheva | Dov Bikas
– I have been very
tired these days: probably as a result of a combination of factors: my age,
stress of the days of running to the bomb shelter, work load in the ministry,
etc. Olga is getting better slowly, but
still has a long way before her, so please keep praying.
Thank you for donating
to my ministry if it is a blessing to you.
"The Lord is for me among those who help
me." Psalm
118:7
PayPalMe/DonnaDiorio or search PayPal
for: donna@israelprayer.com
By postal mail make donations payable
to the order of Donna
Diorio P O Box 111302 Carrollton, Texas
75006 |
I do not have tax exempt status.
