Recently an article appeared in Prophecy News Watch that arrested my attention. The article is entitled, "The Vatican Wants to Lay Its Hands on Jerusalem." We can go back in history and easily discover that Jerusalem has been the target and prize conquest of many ancient cultures and religions. I suppose what is happening right now concerning the Vatican should not surprise us; but even though it is not surprising, it is heart-wrenching because we know how the Father feels about Jerusalem, His City. In His own words, He tells us, “I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before Me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there" (1 Kings 9:3), and “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever" (1 Kings 21:7).
The eyes and heart of God are set upon Jerusalem, the City where He put His Name, and the place where He established the worship of His people, the tribes of Israel. The Catholic Pope of Rome is greatly confused about the heritage and ownership of this City. The following are direct quotes from this article:
"Peace negotiations in the Middle East must tackle the issue of the status of the holy sites of Jerusalem," Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the Vatican's Council for Interreligious Dialogue, declared several days ago in Rome. The Vatican's former foreign minister asked to place some Israeli holy places under Vatican authority, alluding to the Cenacle on Mount Zion and the garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. The first site also houses what is referred to as King David's Tomb. Vatican officials are now reiterating their demand for control over the religious sites in the ancient and holy city founded by King David as the capital of ancient Israel and now the capital of the reestablished Jewish state. The Vatican's former archbishop in Jerusalem, Michael Sabbah, just promoted an appeal to the European Union and United States to "stop the Hebraization of Jerusalem."
Stop the Hebraization of Jerusalem? So, Jerusalem is not a Hebraic place? It is not the place where God Himself instructed the Hebrews to build a Temple to worship Him? Was King David the King of Rome or the King of Israel?
Satan is the author of confusion!
Please remain in prayer for the Jewish people. Age after age, century after century, their rightful inheritance has been stolen from them. That ancient serpent, the devil, has one goal and one goal only: to wipe out the race of people from whom the Seed, the Messiah, would come! And he knows his days to accomplish this are short. He attempted to complete his mission through Antiochus Epiphanes, through the Roman emperor Titus, through the evil ruler Hitler, and other anti-Messiah types, but he has not yet won that battle. And so he persists today, through the diabolical plans of Islamic rulers and the greed of the Vatican. One final anti-Messiah will soon rise on the scene and sit in a re-built Jewish temple, declaring Himself to be God (see 2 Thessalonians 2:4).
We are on the cusp of another great war today, I believe. But we do not fear or tremble; we know that Jerusalem belongs to the King of the Universe, and He will come again to rule the nations from Jerusalem. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem - to do this is to pray for His soon return. He speaks to us from the pages of His revelation to the Apostle John: "I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem...!" (Revelation 3:11-12). Hallelujah!
(To read the entire article mentioned, you can click on this link):
http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2011/December17/1724.html
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Crossing the Jabbok River
In this week's Torah portion, in Genesis chapter 32, we see Jacob finally leaving Laban and his years of servitude, in order to journey on and meet his brother, Esau. On his way, angels meet and encourage him. What a picture this is of our own faith journey through the mixtures and difficulties of this world! When we finally decide to completely leave behind our old, selfish flesh nature (known in Hebrew as the Olam Hazeh - eating from the Tree of Good and Evil), we arrive at the River Jabbok. Will we have enough strength to cross? We will need angels to meet us there and encourage us!
In Hebrew the word Jabbok (pronounced Yabbok) means "to empty, to pour out." This is the process we must go through - just as Jacob did - in order to take on the new, heavenly nature (Olam Haba - eating from the Tree of Life)! Jacob had to get another man's blessing (Esau), work for another man (Laban), tend his sheep, and do hard labor for 20 years before he was free to take his family and set out on his own. This long time speaks of our own long journeys through the snares of this world. Jacob would not fully enter into the heavenly realm until he had an ultimate encounter with his Creator and wrestled with Him until he came to the end of himself. This struggle leaves him with a mark (a limp) - but it also changes his name!
What is this crossing of the Jabbok? It is not just our salvation - that is only step one! It is the separating out of the old flesh nature from the new heavenly nature. It is our process of sanctification and regeneration by the Holy Spirit (Ruach haKodesh).
Who has become fully holy, born again and set-apart at the moment he accepted Yeshua as Lord? Genesis 12:1-3 and 17:23 make it clear to us that Abraham was uncircumcised when he received the Covenant from God! The circumcision of both his flesh and his heart still had to be walked out. He was still an old wineskin, needing to be tested and tried in the fire, and then filled with new wine (anointing) from the Ruach (see Matthew 9:16-17). Old wineskins cannot be filled with new wine!
Jacob sent over all his possessions before crossing the Jabbok River, the place of self-emptying. This shows that he realized that all his strength, all his possessions and wealth, and his own good name were not enough to save him! Alone and empty in the wilderness, he wrestles with a man until daybreak. We know this man is Yeshua - God in the flesh. When we are in the wilderness, and God begins to deal with us, we have three options:
1) Stand still (no forward movement, resulting in spiritual death
2) Turn back (back to Egypt, back to the world and the flesh)
3) Press through (become sanctified and delivered, entering the Olam Haba
The wilderness is our place of circumcision, the place where God's promise comes to pass in each of us: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. " (Ezekiel 36:26-28)
It is a one-on-one encounter with Yeshua - and in that place, He alone reveals to us our true identity as Israel - and like Jacob, we will leave that place marked by Him, and we will never walk the same again!
In Hebrew the word Jabbok (pronounced Yabbok) means "to empty, to pour out." This is the process we must go through - just as Jacob did - in order to take on the new, heavenly nature (Olam Haba - eating from the Tree of Life)! Jacob had to get another man's blessing (Esau), work for another man (Laban), tend his sheep, and do hard labor for 20 years before he was free to take his family and set out on his own. This long time speaks of our own long journeys through the snares of this world. Jacob would not fully enter into the heavenly realm until he had an ultimate encounter with his Creator and wrestled with Him until he came to the end of himself. This struggle leaves him with a mark (a limp) - but it also changes his name!
What is this crossing of the Jabbok? It is not just our salvation - that is only step one! It is the separating out of the old flesh nature from the new heavenly nature. It is our process of sanctification and regeneration by the Holy Spirit (Ruach haKodesh).
Who has become fully holy, born again and set-apart at the moment he accepted Yeshua as Lord? Genesis 12:1-3 and 17:23 make it clear to us that Abraham was uncircumcised when he received the Covenant from God! The circumcision of both his flesh and his heart still had to be walked out. He was still an old wineskin, needing to be tested and tried in the fire, and then filled with new wine (anointing) from the Ruach (see Matthew 9:16-17). Old wineskins cannot be filled with new wine!
Jacob sent over all his possessions before crossing the Jabbok River, the place of self-emptying. This shows that he realized that all his strength, all his possessions and wealth, and his own good name were not enough to save him! Alone and empty in the wilderness, he wrestles with a man until daybreak. We know this man is Yeshua - God in the flesh. When we are in the wilderness, and God begins to deal with us, we have three options:
1) Stand still (no forward movement, resulting in spiritual death
2) Turn back (back to Egypt, back to the world and the flesh)
3) Press through (become sanctified and delivered, entering the Olam Haba
The wilderness is our place of circumcision, the place where God's promise comes to pass in each of us: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. " (Ezekiel 36:26-28)
It is a one-on-one encounter with Yeshua - and in that place, He alone reveals to us our true identity as Israel - and like Jacob, we will leave that place marked by Him, and we will never walk the same again!
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