The Jostling Continues

Two of our grandchildren spent Shabbat with us this weekend.  Images of the escalating violence in Israel were often on our TV screen and we took the time to explain to them what was happening - right now, today - and then took them to this week's Torah portion to help them understand how and when this war started.

Genesis 25:19-23:
This is the account of Abraham's son, Isaac.  Abraham became the father of Isaac and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aamean.  Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren.  The LORD answered his prayer and his wife, Rebekah, became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?"  So she went to inquire of the LORD.  The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger." 

Key words for us to understand in our own day:

• the babies jostled each other
• two nations - two peoples - who will be separated
• the older will serve the younger

We know that Esau was born first, so he was the "older."  Esau (also called Edom) is the father of the Edomites, those who compromise many of the Arabic nations surrounding Israel. Jacob (later re-named Israel by the LORD) is, of course, the father of the 12 tribes of Israel. From their time of wrestling one another in the womb, the Creator prophesied to their mother that they would become two peoples opposed to each other. Oh, what an ancient story this war is! 

Later in the Scripture we get two more clues about these two boys.  Even though they are twins, they have completely different natures and attitudes from the beginning. 
Genesis 25:27-28:
The boys grew up and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents.  From the Hebrew texts we glean much more understanding about these two boys that helps us understand the nations and cultures that spring from their loins.  "A man of the field" refers to someone who was "outside Torah," eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Esau was not keeping the commands of God and had absolutely no interest in his inheritance in the Covenant that God made with his grandfather and his father.  It is important to understand this.
Genesis 25:32-34:
Look, I am bout to die," Esau said, "What good is my birthright to me?" But Jacob said to him, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.  Then Jacob gave Esa some bread and some lentil stew.  He ate and rank, and then got up and left.  So Esau despised his birthright."

• "I am about to die" - this refers to his spiritual, not his physical, condition
• "What good is my birthright?"
•  So Esau despised his birthright

We are told that Jacob, however, was "a quiet man, staying among the tents."  This Hebraic idiom refers to one who is in Torah, and covered by "the tents," which also means covered by the Shadow of El Shaddai.  He is a boy who preferred to stay in the tent and study with his mother, learning the commands of God, and valuing his inheritance in the Covenant.

This helps us greatly to understand the difference between the modern-day Israelites and modern-day Arabs.  One people values their inheritance as sons of the God of Israel, and the other people denies Him altogether, worshiping a false god.  The jostling continues - and will continue - until Messiah Yeshua returns to establish His Kingdom on earth.

On Shabbat we awoke to the sound of John's cell phone and on the front screen it read:
NOVEMBER 17, 7:17.  We both felt it was a message, and I was led immediately to Jeremiah 7:17, which says, "DO YOU NOT SEE WHAT THEY ARE DOING IN THE TOWNS OF JUDAH AND IN THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM?"

Yes, Abba Father, we see, and we lament and we repent on behalf of the sin of Israel and of our own nation and our own families.  And we cry,"Come, Messiah Yeshua!  The Spirit and the Bride say, Come!  Reveal yourself to descendants of Jacob and to descendants of Esau, that many in our day may bow the knee and receive Your cleansing fountain of salvation.

Amen.

Pray for us as we prepare for an entire month of travel to the South. We will be ministering in congregations in Kentucky, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, and possibly Oklahoma.  Your donations will be a great help as we continue to minister in Spirit and in Truth across this nation.
www.doorkeeperministries.com

Shalom!

Let it Shine!

Dear friends in Messiah,
Perhaps you were like me on Tuesday night as the final electoral numbers flashed on the TV screen: speechless.  I had dared to hope it would not go the way it did.  We who are in Messiah Yeshua always dare to hope!  But after all was said and done I realized that that is the point, isn't it?  We dare to hope even in the face of defeat and disappointment because our hope is in no man; it is in HIM.  He is our King and He will NEVER suffer defeat!

However, the days ahead are not looking very bright or encouraging.  I expect that our trials will increase, as will the darkness around us.  As more and more states vote in same-sex marriage, legalize recreational drugs, continue in murdering unborn children, and put their hope and future in government hand-outs, this country will begin to look more and more like Sodom.  And we know that as it says in Ecclesiastes 3:15, "Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God calls back the past." He is responding to America as He responded to Sodom - sending His righteous judgments to call a people to humble themselves, confess their sin, and bow the knee to Yeshua, the Lord Jesus Christ, who loves them and gave Himself for them.  (Please read Romans 1:24-28).

In the meantime, as the darkness surrounds us and His judgments fill us with awe and some trepidation, we must remember how Yeshua told us the Kingdom would come: "Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of birth pains."  Yes, birth pains, my friends!  Our God is not destroying something, He is birthing something - something eternal and beyond our imagining!  He is birthing His Kingdom and it will come through fiery trials and tribulation.  The apostle Peter speaks to us even in our day, "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Messiah, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed!"  Overjoyed!  Yes, as discouraged and disappointed as we may feel today, we must keep our eyes on our True King, who has not abandoned us nor forsaken us. 

I believe He has given this nation over to the Pharoah they desired, even as He allowed King Saul to rule over Israel when the Israelites wanted a king other than their God.  Yet, He has preserved for Himself a remnant of righteous people who will refuse to embrace evil, and will keep His commandments.  The prophet Daniel, speaking of the last days, says: "Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars for ever and ever!"  (Daniel 12:3)

As the world plunges deeper into darkness, the Light of Messiah in you will shine ever brighter!
Ask God for wisdom.
Pray for our nation and for its leaders (especially for courage and boldness for our governors).
Pray for open doors to lead many to righteousness.
And in the midst of the darkness, keep on singing that little song from your childhood:
"Don't let Satan blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!