This morning I had an email
from Yonit Klein of Emmaus Way in the Galilee. She was commenting on my cover
story last week in Arrows From Zion. Yonit wrote:
"I have never heard
anyone else say this, but to me it is so obvious: how can we possibly
understand Matthew 1:21 if we don't know His Hebrew name and what it means???
It was always a mystery to me what in the world that verse meant!"
This is what the angel told
Joseph in Matthew 1:21 and the way most Bible translations relate His name: "She will give birth to a Son, and you
shall give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their
sins."
But that is not what the angel actually said. How do I know that? because the name
"Jesus" does not mean anything whatsoever. It is merely the Greek way
of saying the Hebrew name Yeshua, which means Salvation.
Do you see this?
We have stripped the meaning of His name by so clinging to the Greek form of
the Lord's name and rejecting His real name as if it is some kind of bid to
bring us into legalism. It's not that! It's about being so disconnected from
our own root of faith and defending our disconnection. That's crazy.
After I got Yonit's email I
looked up "the meaning of the name Jesus" on google. There is NO
MEANING apart from the name Yeshua. Wikipedia notes it is "the Greek form
of the Hebrew name Yeshua. As its roots lie in the name Yeshua, it is
etymologically related to another biblical name, Joshua."
So who was Joshua?
He was the one to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land conquering
the pagan tribes that God had not already cleared out before their arrival. I
know that upsets the social justice sensitivities of our day, but God was
setting apart a people for Himself - to be a people untainted by pagan beliefs
and practices, influenced wholly by His own goodness, justice and
righteousness.
Any study of the tribes of
Canaan (Israel pre-Chosen People) reveals pagan tribes who committed
"wickedness" and "detestable practices" - "Even the land was defiled; so I
punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants"
(Leviticus 18:24-25, also see Deuteronomy 9:4-6 and 18:12.
So, in order to create a
nation of set apart people for Himself, God made it clear that the people who
were defiling the land with their sins, had to be conquered and removed. God
even removed some of the inhabitants Himself prior to their entry, Sodom and
Gomorrah are noteworthy examples.
So, having started with being disconnected from the name of Yeshua,
how did we get here?
It is because the name
Yeshua, or Salvation, in Hebrew is related to the name of Joshua, or Yehoshua.
Joshua, who conquered the wickedness of the Canaanites clearing the land as God
instructed him, was a type and shadow pointing to what Yeshua/Jesus would do
spiritually in our lives: Yeshua would come into our lives to drive out the
wickedness and detestable practices that defile our individual lives, so He can
make us a people set apart for God Himself.
Many people including the
social justice warriors today, think the God of the Old Testament is just a
grumpy old God and that their own sense of justice, love and righteousness is
far superior. It is only because they do not understand God, or the context of
the Bible. They (we) are cut off at so many points from the root of even their
own Christian faith and we don't even realize it because it has been going on
so long.
Even something as simple as
understanding and embracing the real name of Yeshua has the potential to right
the ship of understanding that God has not changed, we have just become
un-tethered from anchoring truths of our faith.
I'm not pushing for anyone
to drop calling Yeshua by the name of "Jesus" - but it would be
helpful if every Christian were familiar with His real name and not treat
the name of Yeshua as if it is some cultic way to refer to Israel's Messiah and
the Salvation - by name - of the world.
If any Christian believes
that God has had any intention in replacing Israel with us, let this New
Testament verse settle that for you: "He
will rule over the house of Jacob forever and His kingdom will never end."
Luke 1:33
Also remember what Paul said
in his letter to the Romans 11:18 "...do
not boast over those (natural) branches. If you do, remember this: You do not
support the root, but the root supports you."
All of history is pointing us in one direction, and that direction is
the RE-CONNECTION to the ROOT. That is why the whole world is fighting against
the people of God from recognizing that direction.
Throughout these past few weeks God has had my eyes focused
on two themes: the Dis-Connect and the Re-Connect of the Church and the body of
Messiah in Israel. I will be writing more about the historical Dis-Connect, but
just this week here is more evidence that the Re-Connect is in progress:
Israeli Ministry leaders who are actively connecting deeply with the ministry leaders from the nations are now leading forth with great penetrating spiritual insight into the conflicts going on in those nations - like Shira Sorko-Ram's prayer perspective today on Venezuela, or Asher Intrater's teachings on "Beast Nations" like China, or Arni Klein's insights on Brexit. Because international ministry leaders are being drawn to join their hearts with the body of Messiah in Israel, the heart to heart connection is giving many of the Messianic spiritual leaders in Israel a unique spiritual & practical insight into the situations in the nations. This equips them to be able to direct powerful prayers over nations in peril such as Venezuela - for such a time as this! This is Israel through the Messianic Jewish believers in Yeshua, arising to be a light to bless the world, fulfilling God's promises: "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." (Gen 22:18). And "Nations come to your light, kings to your bright light (Isaiah 60:3)
Israeli Ministry leaders who are actively connecting deeply with the ministry leaders from the nations are now leading forth with great penetrating spiritual insight into the conflicts going on in those nations - like Shira Sorko-Ram's prayer perspective today on Venezuela, or Asher Intrater's teachings on "Beast Nations" like China, or Arni Klein's insights on Brexit. Because international ministry leaders are being drawn to join their hearts with the body of Messiah in Israel, the heart to heart connection is giving many of the Messianic spiritual leaders in Israel a unique spiritual & practical insight into the situations in the nations. This equips them to be able to direct powerful prayers over nations in peril such as Venezuela - for such a time as this! This is Israel through the Messianic Jewish believers in Yeshua, arising to be a light to bless the world, fulfilling God's promises: "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." (Gen 22:18). And "Nations come to your light, kings to your bright light (Isaiah 60:3)
Arrows from Zion
Summarized from the Weekly Summary of Prayer Requests Israeli Ministries by subscription only donna@israelprayer.com
Summarized from the Weekly Summary of Prayer Requests Israeli Ministries by subscription only donna@israelprayer.com
Starting off this week with Arni Klein of
Emmaus Way who has a prophetic context message about Brexit, Timing, Germany
& believers in the nations seeing events from the spiritual perspective of
what God intends for Israel. This message resonates strongly with me. Read it
in full in the Weekly Summary subscription, if you have that - or here on Fruit
of the Fig Tree So many quotable statements in this article, but I will
leave you with a few:
"As the British believers are looking to God to bring them out, perhaps their lining up with God’s purpose might have a bearing on the outcome." And "God’s ultimate purpose is the same, whether pertaining to individuals or nations. ...His calling on the nations is connected with His calling on Israel. The meaning of being grafted in, becoming part of the commonwealth of Israel, i.e. commonly sharing and bearing all things with them" And "... as written in Romans 11:11, that the gentiles became custodians of the revelation of salvation for the ultimate purpose of the salvation of Israel."
"As the British believers are looking to God to bring them out, perhaps their lining up with God’s purpose might have a bearing on the outcome." And "God’s ultimate purpose is the same, whether pertaining to individuals or nations. ...His calling on the nations is connected with His calling on Israel. The meaning of being grafted in, becoming part of the commonwealth of Israel, i.e. commonly sharing and bearing all things with them" And "... as written in Romans 11:11, that the gentiles became custodians of the revelation of salvation for the ultimate purpose of the salvation of Israel."
Switching gears, next up are the Christian
Arab pastors in Haifa of Immanuel Church & Outreaches, Pastor Najeeb and
Elizabeth Atteih. They have had to let the Bible Bookshop go to another
Christian organization, but forge ahead in their outreaches to Heart to Heart Ministry to Refugees and
the Christian Soldier Center Ministry.
In the ministry to refugees, they find a strong need for discipleship
going beyond what churches are currently offering in Sunday services and
mid-week Bible studies. What the families need is more heart to heart
connection to lift them out of sorrow, discouragement and depression.
In the Christian Soldier Center, you must realize that they are
speaking about a ministry to ARAB Christians serving in the Israeli Defense
Forces. Their son Tino is one of these
and has risen into leadership ministering to the soldiers. It was a natural for
Pastor Atteih to be moved to provide more via the Center. They have a very
challenging situation with a young Arab Christian soldier who is in legal jeopardy
for protecting himself against villagers who didn't like his IDF service. The
ministry could use your help in their outreaches. If you have a Weekly Summary
subscription, read more there. If not reach out to the ministry directly to be
put on their mailing list.
Ron Cantor of Messiah's Mandate made a heart connection with a pastor
in Nepal who is about to hand over the
ministry to his apprentice, and desires to bring his 12 main disciples to
Israel before wrapping up his service in Nepal. Ron desires to make that dream
a reality and is raising funds for these
pastors who have very little income. To
help www.standwithmmi.org and choose “Nepal
Pastors’ Israel Trip.”
Also among the news from Ron Cantor over the last week or so, this article
The Secret Jewish Holiday, No One is Talking About! and video of the second interview with Israel's
i24 News about how Messianic Jews celebrate Passover. Here is the Passover
interview and also the first
interview. This is a big deal, as Ron writes, "This is the first time
(that I know of) that an Israeli news outlet has given free rein to a Messianic
Jew to explain his or her faith." The door is opening in Israel for
Israeli believers to share their faith.
Kobi and Shani Ferguson & Family will be
spending some of the summer months touring the West coast of the US and in
Dallas. "We begin our trip the end of June at a conference in San Diego
and plan to make it all the way up to Vancouver, Canada. We will also be in the
Dallas area the last two weeks of July.... If you are interested in having us
come please reply to this email: info@yeshuaisrael.com
From KehilaNews.com , here are a couple of items
shared recently: A new heart: Grace and truth in biblical counseling by Dr. Katherine Snyder | VIDEO: Brad Show interview with Shira Sorko-Ram – “How Israeli
politics affect the Middle East”. News from Kehila is they will soon
be launching the new web site.
From the Maoz Ministries weekly prayer letter, Katy Smith writes about
the troubles Netanyahu is having forming a government coalition - convincing
political rivals to compromise for the sake of the nation. This is a major
prayer issue because if Netanyahu is stuck with religious party coalition that
will mean more aggressive persecution against the believers in Israel. Also raise the prayer alert level to counter
threats from Israel's external enemies and that the Israeli govt & military
will be prepared to meet all threats. "For the
body of believers in Israel, and believers persecuted for their faith. Pray
also that, in spite of heavy opposition, the Lord would make a way for believers
in Yeshua to make aliyah. For our Arab brothers and sisters in Messiah. For
Israel's salvation." Pray for all the Maoz ministry projects and personnel
Avi Tekel who leads the Tents of Mercy
congregation in northern Israel sends us a praise report about their Passover
outreach in their community: Please enjoy our 2nd VIDEO
from our Passover distribution and join us in
more projects like these.
Hasdey Yeshua congregation in Arad is asking
for prayer over their search for a permanent meeting place. They write that "In
many Orthodox homes there is so much attention to detail (at Passover) that the
big picture is hidden." Which is why they share the VIDEO Yeshua is Our Passover Lamb! Please feel free to share the video (video is in
English), especially with your Jewish friends who don’t yet know their Messiah.
It is a clear presentation from a very Jewish perspective.
The congregation, whose name means "The
Mercy of Yeshua" also shares a testimony of one of the workers in their
ministry to the Bedouin. One of the Bedouin towns they minister in are known to
be ethnically Jewish. They ask for prayer for their Arab Bedouin ministry, as
well as the Hidden Jews among them.
From Revive Israel, Asher Intrater release
there 2 prayer requests on Facebook Prayer Requests from Asher on meetings with Jews,
Arabs & Internationals One is taking
place right now and immediately afterwards Asher is flying to Ukraine for meetings.
Also his articles Restoring the Kingdom to Israel (Part 1)
and Tisha B’Av On The Lebanese Border.
Asher's VIDEO The Love of God - Full Message and Cody Archer with Bassem Adranly VIDEO Islam & Christianity's Cultural & Political
Clash
Israel Pochtar of Beit Hallel files a super report on Passover in the desert - April 2019, a 1700 people evangelism event in the Galilee that took 33 buses to transport all the participants to, and a successful youth camp with teens hiking in the desert for 3 days. At the evangelism event , "They had a chance to hear the gospel in a powerful way, receive prayer and close to 70% stood up to pray Sinner's Prayer," he writes. Pray for all these souls to grow in the knowledge of the Lord and faith as the ministry will now turn to followup.
Israel writes, " These type of events are an incredibly hard task, beyond the logistical challenges, the resources needed to lift a project of this magnitude, in Israel no less, it also requires long months of working with people through our diverse social outreach programs, cultivate these connections through genuine care, just so we can have the opportunity to bring them to an event we organize specifically for them. All with one goal in mind: to help each one encounter Yeshua and experience His redeeming grace and salvation. We are so thankful for your prayers! They are like God's powerful glue that often keeps everything together for us. Hallelujah!" Plus the good news that their long awaited permit to move into their newly renovated building has been granted!
Martin Sarvis also writes about the anti-Semitic
cartoon that has sent shock waves through the U.S. and Israel —indeed to all
places where Jews & the Christians who love them live. Martin's article is Ancient Tropes of Anti-Semitism Are
surfacing in High Places. Among the paryer points offered are:
* That public and governmental outcry against pernicious publications such as the anti-Semitic cartoon in the NY Times will be so strong that they and other media in the U.S. will be forced to refrain from sanctioning them.
* That public and governmental outcry against pernicious publications such as the anti-Semitic cartoon in the NY Times will be so strong that they and other media in the U.S. will be forced to refrain from sanctioning them.
* That those nations which are
moving towards allying with God’s purposes for Israel will be encouraged to do
so. That intercessors of those nations
will come into unity in praying that their leaders be not daunted leading them in a direction of blessing.
* That as ancient anti-Semitism
has cloaked itself in intellectual circles as “anti-Zionism”, an awakening will
take place among Believers that God has Himself promised to again bless and
bring comfort to Zion. That in blessing
Zion, we are blessing the destinies of the very locales within which we live!
Urgent HEALING Needs: Life and Death is in the power of the
tongue
Please keep in prayer these Israeli ministry
leaders and believers with urgent health needs
CONTINUED
FERVENT PRAYER for EDDIE SANTORO A troubling update does
not stop us from believing for total healing in our brother /see update above;
and Elisheva's good report last week
for Jacob Damkani's rehab | Ronit
Bender is home from the hospital and being watched for more definitive
evidence of the leaking heart valve. Please pray that no weapon formed against
all three of these shall prosper & that miracles of healing will flow. Ruth Nessim has several health issues, one of
the most critical is her EYES which has sent her to the hospital many times.
Please pray for Ruth in Nahariya| Olga
Bikas’s health condition that seems
to have become chronic, with no hope from the doctors for any improvement in
the future. This, no doubt, puts an additional emotional and physical burden on
our family. Please pray for her acute back pain. | Albert a
Messianic leader from southern Israel, has had a successful surgery and an
amazing recovery but keep praying for total restoration | Rania Sayegh asks for prayer of
restoration of strength, energy, and complete healing.
Praying the Headlines | Israeli News
The Jewish Roots of the New York Times' Anti-Israel
Bias | David Lazarus, Israel Today | What most people don’t know is that the
Times’ predisposition to unjustly criticizing Israel goes back 120 years, when
a Reformed Jew bought the newspaper....feared that building a Jewish nation
would call into question the loyalty of American Jews to the United States, and
thereby foment antisemitism. They wanted Judaism to be an unobtrusive,
non-confrontational religion, and to never become politically-involved or even
associated with a national Jewish identity in a Jewish state.
Prophetic/Prayer Insight for Current Events Related to Israel
Signs
of the times – connecting the dots by Avner Boskey,
David's Tent
The present fast-developing explosion of multifaceted religious and political anti-Semitism indicates that history has moved up a notch to a new level – one which will morph into the most virulent of all expressions of Jew-hatred. ...The rise of unbridled anti-Jewish evil will not be easily stuffed back into the genie’s bottle. These are challenging days.
Donna Diorio
donna@israelprayer.com or donna@d10r10.com
Please note change in PayPal donations:
paypal.me/DonnaDiorio
Or 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.
