We were about 53 in number celebrating the Passover on Friday evening (Erev Shabbat). Besides our own fellowship those gathered included Christians seeking to learn the Hebrew roots of their faith and to keep the feasts of the LORD, a couple of Messianic Jews, a secular Jew who does not know the Messiah or keep the faith, a pastor/evangelist from Denver who ministers to the inner-city homeless and has founded churches around the world, and a brand new believer in Messiah! The celebration was covered and anointed by the Ruach haKodesh (Holy Spirit); the worship was powerful, and the dancing was joyful! But what struck me the most deeply was the closing. After we had washed every hand and anointed every person as a priest of Elohim -after we had told the story of our redemption through the Red Sea, and we had drunk from the four cups of salvation, plagues, redemption and praise - after we had feasted on the bounty of the land and the fruit of the vine - four people came forward to blow the shofars to the four corners of the earth. One was about 73 years old, one about 45, one was 8 years old and one was 4! I stared in wonder and awe at these four people, all skilled at blowing the ram's horn, all understanding that they were calling forth the scattered ones of Israel to reunite again as one Kingdom under Messiah Yahshua - and I saw the family! I saw the future! I saw what Yahshua meant when He shared that last Passover Supper with his own "family" of disciples and He said, "I tell you I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's Kingdom." (Matthew 26:29)Yahshua will not return again to physically sit down at the table with His family until Israel is finally restored as one united Kingdom again, in the City of the Great King. When all the scattered tribes finally awaken to know who they are as part of the Restored Israel, and cry out, "Baruch haba b'Shem Adonai!" (blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord) - He promises He will return to rule and reign in His Kingdom in Jerusalem, once again lifting the cup and drinking of the fruit of the vine with His family.
Each year for thousands of years from their exile the Jewish people have ended their Passover celebration by crying out, "Next year in Jerusalem!" Why? Because they have kept alive in their hearts the hope and the prayer that one day they would all be reunited in Jerusalem to keep the feast. But there is a much greater cry coming from our hearts today. Do you feel it? It is the tension we feel between the "He is coming soon!" and the "not yet."
This morning I heard two bird calls from my bedroom window. First I head the mourning doves who have a nesting home on the roof of my house. I listened to their mournful calls, and realized my heart has been mourning, groaning also. Then I heard the melodic chirps of a mocking bird bursting forth in rejoicing! Somewhere between the two there was silence. "We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth, right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" (Romans 8:22-23).
The birth pains are getting closer and closer together, and we feel squeezed in the birth canal between the pushing and the "not yet." We feel caught somewhere between the mourning and yearning and the rejoicing. We are, like the ancient Israelites, in the wilderness between the glorious mikveh and redemption through the Red Sea, and the entrance into the Promised Land.
And so when I cried out with my brothers and sisters , "Next year in Jerusalem!" I prayed with all my heart that next year we would literally be in the City of God, sharing the Cups of Salvation (Yahshua) and Hallel (Praise) with our Messiah and King! It is soon...but not yet.
