Author: Gil Afriat

The fall biblical holidays are upon us, the first of which is the Day of Trumpeting, commonly known as Rosh HaShanah. All the biblical holidays point us to Yeshua, no less this important holy day. God commands the children of Israel to observe this day this way:

“‘On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets.” ~Numbers 29:1

“‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.” ~Leviticus 23:24

As the bible passages describe, the Day of Trumpeting begins on the first day of the 7^th month of the Hebrew calendar, not the first—meaning this day is actually not Rosh HaShanah (the New Year). The biblical New Year is in the spring on the first of the Hebrew month of Nissan. The tradition of calling The Day of Trumpeting the New Year (Rosh Hashanah) was a later unrelated rabbinic addition.

The bible describes the Day of Trumpeting (YOM TRUAH) as a holy day which is to be a day of trumpeting and a memorial of trumpeting. Beyond those descriptions, God does not give us a lot of information about this holiday.

Because this is the information we are given, let’s try to understand the meaning of “trumpeting” and “a memorial of trumpeting”

Insights into Trumpeting: Numbers 10:1-7

“The Lord said to Moses: ^‘Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling the community together and for having the camps set out.’” ~Numbers 10:1-2

This passage lays out that there are two different kinds of trumpeting:

Trumpet calls (T’KIAH) are to gather the camp together at the entrance of the Tabernacle. Trumpeting blasts (TRUAH) were to send out the camps on their way.

Another Meaning of Trumpeting (TRUAH – trumpet blasts):  

“When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets (TRUAH). Then you will be remembered by the Lord your God and rescued from your enemies.”  ~Numbers 10:9

In this passage, God tells us that when the enemy comes against our land, we should sound the trumpet to be remembered before the LORD our God, and He will send us rescue and salvation. This brings us back to how the bible originallydescribes this holiday: Trumpeting(TRUAH ) and a memorial of trumpeting (ZIKARON TRUAH).

We know that all the biblical holidays point to the Lord Yeshua. The spring biblical holidays are connected to the events surrounding His first coming.

Passover – Yeshua was sacrificed as the perfect Passover Lamb

Shavuot (Pentecost, Festival of First Fruits ) – the Holy Spirit was poured out on the first believers in Jerusalem, the first fruits.

With the clue from the passage in Numbers about sounding the trumpet when the enemy comes against our land, we can connect The Day of Trumpeting with the return of the Lord.

The Fall Holidays and the Second Coming

The fall holidays, first and foremost the Day of Trumpeting, are connected to the Lord’s second coming. The Bible informs us that in the end times the antichrist will arise to oppress all the nations and force them to worship him as God. We also know that he will gather many armies to attack Israel.

Joel 2:1-2 describes this:

Blow the trumpet in Zion;
    sound the alarm on my holy hill.

Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming.
It is close at hand—
     a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was in ancient times
nor ever will be in ages to come.

 

Further on in this passage, the prophet describes the antichrist armies coming upon the Land of Israel like a burning fire. Before them, the land is like Eden, behind them, it is desolation. When this happens, the prophet tells us to blow the trumpet (shofar) in Zion, to call out to God for deliverance and salvation. A memorial of trumpeting – this is what this holiday is pointing to: trumpeting to call for deliverance and salvation from our enemies.

 

There’s something else that is connected to TRUAH (trumpeting) if you recall we discovered in Numbers 10: sending out the camps. What camps will begin moving in response to our trumpeting on this holiday? The camps of the host of heaven under the leadership of Yeshua, the Commander of the hosts of heaven, will begin to move on this day when the Trumpet is sounded in Zion as a cry to God for help.

 

The Heavenly Armies on the Move: Revelation 19:11-21

“I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war… The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.” ~Revelation 19:11, 14-15

 

In Revelation 19:11-21 we see a clear picture of Yeshua leading hosts of heaven to destroy the antichrist, the kings of the earth and the armies they lead.  Where will this great battle take place? In Jerusalem. The bible tells us that the Lord will descend upon the Mount of Olives to destroy the armies of the antichrist encamped against the city in Zechariah 14:

 

^“I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped…Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. ⁴ On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.”

 

The Lord will descend upon the Mount of Olives, it will be split in two, its halves moving north and south, opening up a valley where the refugees of Jerusalem will flee, and He will destroy all the armies of the antichrist.

Zechariah 14:5

“Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.”

Notice that not only are all the armies of heaven are with the LORD Yeshua. He is also accompanied by the “holy ones”, believers who have been raptured will return together with Him to rescue Jerusalem and the people of Israel.

Zechariah 14:9

“The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.”

That will be the day that the blessed thousand-year reign of the Messiah will begin here on earth, His kingdom of justice, truth, and peace, when all creation will surrender to the love and righteous of our Lord God and to Yeshua the Messiah. He will be enthroned on the Temple Mount and will reign over Israel and the whole earth from Jerusalem.

 

The Day of Trumpeting – A prophetic act until that day comes

Each year when we observe the day of trumpeting, we are prophetically calling out “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD”. As we observe the Day of Trumpeting, we are prophetically declaring that day when all the inhabitants of Jerusalem will see Yeshua coming in the clouds and cry out to Him whom they have pierced (Zechariah 12), the Son of David and the Son of God! May our hearts seek Him in this season and be sensitive to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Bride: God wants to prepare us to live in deeper levels of love and holiness, to be His witnesses now in these challenging times and in periods of greater trials and tribulations that will come upon us in the last days.

 

 

On Sunday, August 15th Tiferet Yeshua’s WhatsApp women’s group exploded with messages: a fire was raging out of control in the Jerusalem hills and a dear family from Tiferet Yeshua with five children, plus grandparents living with them, was stranded in their village because the fire had cut off all access roads. The wife was in Jerusalem when the fire broke out and her husband was at home with all five children and the grandparents. “They are waiting for the rescue services to evacuate them by helicopter,” was the voice message she sent in the WhatsApp group. You could hear in her voice the shock of the reality that she as a mother and wife was facing at that moment: everything most precious to her in the world was surrounded by flames with no way out. She was in constant contact with her husband, but there was no way for her reach them. All she could do was pray and wait. 

In the meantime, people were sharing pictures of eerily smoke-darkened skies from Jerusalem all the way to the Jordan River Valley near the Dead Sea. Another hour went by and still the family had not been evacuated. 

Finally later in the evening we got word that the family had been successfully rescued by helicopter. It’s hard to imagine your children from ages one to fourteen are being evacuated by helicopter from a fire that’s burning out of control. Hours after the whole ordeal began, at midnight, the children were finally reunited with their mother. The father stayed behind because he is a volunteer firefighter with their village fire brigade. He said that when they left their village, the fire was a meter from their house and shrubs in their yard were starting to catch fire. “In ten minutes,” he thought, “we won’t have a house left.”

(scenes of devastation around the family’s village)

The next day the Lord put on our hearts this verse from Psalm 125:2

יְרוּשָׁלִַם הָרִים סָבִיב לָהּ וַיהוָה סָבִיב לְעַמּוֹ מֵעַתָּה וְעַד-עוֹלָם

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people,

both now and forevermore. 

As we were standing in prayer for this family and all the people having to flee for their lives from the flames, this verse encouraged us that God would surround them in protection, just as the mountains around Jerusalem, where this fire was raging, surround her. This family is beloved in Tiferet Yeshua and has the gift of “bringing in guests” to their home: many of us have been graciously and warmly hosted for wonderful Shabbat and holiday dinners. Their village is nestled on the top of forested rise in the Jerusalem Hills, and the views from their home are breathtaking – pine covered hills in every direction. 

The next day after their dramatic rescue from the fire, the father sent word that not only had their house survived, but the trees surrounding their home were not touched by the fire. When they look out from their windows, they still see green. Another family of believers in their neighborhood experienced the same thing.

The wife said she felt God’s grace surrounding her in the moments of sheer terror over her family, and that grace upon grace has been been carrying them through the whole ordeal day by day. While they have not been allowed back into their home, they asked us to share the story of the amazing grace the Lord has been pouring out on them during this whole ordeal – that even when flames of terror are surrounding us, the Lord surrounds us with His protection and grace.

In mid-May this year a war broke out with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. While rocket barrages were raining down on Israeli cities, a wave of mob violence between Arabs and Jews tore through several of Israel’s cities where Jews and Arabs live side-by-side. For many Israelis, dealing with air-raid sirens and bombs slamming into their communities is something they are prepared for. On the other hand, the hatred and violence that erupted in previously peaceful communities was deeply shocking and traumatic for Israelis. Arab mobs lynched Jews and torched businesses, homes and synagogues. Jewish mobs attacked Arabs. It was a terrifying reminder that a deep hatred and animosity is simmering just beneath the surface and which can erupt with murderous violence.

As believers, we know that our war is not with flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12), and during the period around the riots, we could feel the demonic charge in the atmosphere. At the same time, we realized that our most powerful weapon for pulling down strongholds is the same weapon Yeshua used two-thousand years ago: love. In the aftermath of the war, Jewish believers in communities where there had been violence and rioting felt the Lord leading them to take a stand in love and unity with Arab believers in their communities.

Changing the Spiritual Atmosphere over our Cities

On July 20^th, Pastors Gil and Moti joined a group of Arab and Christian leaders in Tel Aviv\Yafo, an area where there had been much violence and bloodshed during the war with Gaza. The Jewish and Arab leaders began with a time of fellowship and taking the Lord’s supper together and afterward, they went to the areas of the city that had suffered racial violence to pray and take a stand in forgiveness, love and unity. Jewish and Arab believers came together in the same way in other cities that had suffered racial violence during the war with Gaza in May. Those leaders shared with us that after they felt a shift in the spiritual atmosphere over their cities after they took a bold stand of forgiveness and love with their Arab brothers.

Tearing down the Wall of Enmity

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”

-Ephesians 2:14-16

That same week, we invited Maroon, an Arab pastor, to come share his testimony in our main service. Maroon grew up in the Old City of Jerusalem during the eighties when there was a violent Arab uprising against Israel. By his own admission, Maroon was filled with hatred for the Jews. In his teenage years, he started using drugs and eventually found himself on the streets.

At one point, one of Maroon’s friends disappeared for a while only to show up again months later, drug free. He told Maroon what had happened: he had been at a drug rehabilitation program where he said, “Jesus set me free.” Eventually, Maroon’s friend convinced him to go to the same rehab program at House of Victory in Haifa, the first bible-based drug rehabilitation program in Israel. What Maroon did not know about this program was that it was run by Jews for both Jewish and Arab drug addicts.

God put Maroon on a path of confrontation with one of the most defining elements of his character: hatred of the Jews. At rehab, it took Maroon a few days to realize that there were Jews on the staff ministering to them as well, and he almost left. However, God met with Maroon in a powerful way when a Jewish man laid hands on him and prayed for him. He said it was like waves of love washing over him. God’s love completely transformed Maroon’s heart and set him free from a deep hatred that had held him hostage for years. Today Maroon ministers as a pastor in several Arab congregations, including one here in Jaffa not far from Tiferet Yeshua.

Maroon gets a Surprise from the Past at Tiferet Yeshua

Pastor Moti who leads our Feed Tel Aviv outreach to the poor in south Tel Aviv had invited Samira (not her real name), an Arab woman he knows, to come hear the testimony of Pastor Maroon. Samira is a believer who works at an outreach ministry for prostitutes located next to the soup kitchen facility where Moti serves each week. When Moti invited Samira, he had no idea that she knew the Arab pastor who would be sharing. Samira had no idea either.

When Samira arrived, she felt shy and nervous about coming into the building of a Jewish congregation and hesitated a few minutes outside the entrance. Then one of our congregation members saw her there on their way in, asked her if she was looking for Tiferet Yeshua and warmly invited her in. Some of us had met Samira before while volunteering at the ministry where she works, and we all happened to be standing next to the entrance the moment she came though the door where she was showered her with hugs and warm greetings.

After Maroon’s message, Samira came up to Maroon and asked, “Do you remember me?” It took a moment – thirty years had passed since the last time they had seen each other. Samira turned to Moti and said, “The last time I saw him, we were doing drugs together on the street.” Samira said that Maroon had been so full of anger and hatred that nobody wanted to be around him, even his fellow Arab drug addicts. “The transformation in this man is amazing,” she said. “Only God can do that.”

 

 

Victoria, our office manager, received an interesting call last week. The call came in when she wasn’t supposed to be in the office: it was during our Friday evening services, and she was getting something for the children’s ministry when the phone rang. She answered, and the man on the line asked, “Is this a Christian church? I am looking for a church.” With teachers waiting and children running around, Victoria quickly answered, “Actually, we are a Messianic Jewish congregation. I would be happy to have one of our team members get back to you if you would leave your information.” The man gave his name (M.) and telephone number, and the following week we got back to him.

It turns out that M. was working construction in the US when he fell from a building, suffering traumatic brain injury. He was in a coma, declared brain damaged when he woke up, and then put in a nursing home. There in the nursing home, M. had a revelation of Yeshua as the Messiah and says, “Yeshua healed me!” He improved so much that he was able to call his family and ask them to come get him out of the nursing home.

When M. was finally able to get back to Israel, he told his family that is was Yeshua who healed him. Their response was, “You’re not thinking right. That’s the brain damage talking.” But he knew that he was not crazy. Apparently a woman from the nursing home staff who understood that M. had an experience with the Lord had began mentoring him and stayed in touch even after he returned to Israel. M.’s friend encouraged him to get connected with a local church, and she sent him the name, address and phone number of an English-speaking Christian church in Tel Aviv. The interesting thing is that the phone number of the church that she gave him was not the actual phone number of that church. It was Tiferet Yeshua’s phone number!

Moti and Kosta are meeting with M. each week for discipleship, and this last week he joined us for our Friday evening service for the first time. Sometimes when someone is experiencing a service for the first time, they don’t quite know what to do with themselves, especially during worship. Not M. It looked like he had come home – with eyes closed and hands raised he worshipped the Lord together with us. After the service, he sat together with a large group of Israelis just like himself in our fellowship hall, sharing his testimony and hearing the stories of others who, like him, had been healed and set free by Yeshua. One connection in particular was special for M.: a young woman who is a deeply committed believer for years shared her testimony of how Yeshua healed her of traumatic brain and physical injury from a car crash six years ago.

Please keep M. in your prayers as he continues learning about Yeshua, the one who saved him, growing in his faith, and connecting to Jewish Israelis like himself whose faith is in Yeshua!

This week as we sat in our team meeting, I received a call from our lawyer who had unexpected and wonderful news for us: the Israeli Supreme Court had just ruled in our favor in our eight year-long battle to receive non-profit tax status as a religious non-profit organization. This is a huge and meaningful victory for several reasons.

 

by Gil Afriat

The past six months, we have been experiencing what we can only call a harvest that God has been bringing in. Israelis from all different backgrounds have been reaching out to us in numbers we have never before experienced. Some have been searching and found information about Yeshua and the New Testament online. Some started searching because of a powerful dream or vision they had. Some we have met during street outreach. No matter the story, they all have one thing in common: they have a hunger and an openness to the gospel that we have never seen before. Clearly, God is stirring up the hearts of His people! Here are some of their stories (their names have been changed to protect their privacy):

A Scene from the New Testament appears to a man in a dream:

Yaron, a man from a secular background who never really searched for God or spiritual meaning in His life, had a dream about Yeshua. In the dream, he saw Yeshua teaching on a mountain surrounded by a great crowd of people. Yaron could see that there were people who received what Yeshua was teaching and believed, while, at the same time there were others who did not believe, and it caused a division among them. Yaron knew nothing about Yeshua or the New Testament (which is amazing because the dream is a scene straight from the New Testament!) The dream stuck with him, and he began searching for information about Yeshua online and was connected with Tiferet Yeshua through a local outreach ministry. Yaron is now studying with us weekly and growing in his faith. He wants to be connected with a local congregation or home group (he lives in the south). There are a couple congregations in his area, but they cater to Russian and English speakers. We are praying for a Hebrew-speaking, culturally Israeli home group in this area where Yaron can connect!  

A spiritually hungry man we met on the street: When we were doing street outreach, we met David. Not only was he open to talking to us, but he was happy to take a New Testament. He has been delving into the New Testament and meeting with us a couple times a month for discipleship.

A man overheard a conversation about Yeshua at work and was intrigued: About eight months ago, one of our congregation members was sharing the gospel with someone in a store, and Pinchas, who worked in the store, came up to him and asked him, “Are you talking about Yeshua? For years I have felt drawn to him!” The man from our congregation connected Pinchas to Kosta from our team who is devoting his time solely to discipling new believers. Pinchas, a Jewish immigrant from South America, has been studying the New Testament with Kosta every week, joining weekly meetings, and is growing in his faith. The Lord is touching him and setting him free from his old lifestyle of sin in powerful ways.

A Religious man finds answers in Yeshua:  Eitan grew up in a religious family and went to a religious school. From a young age he asked questions about traditions and faith but was never satisfied we the answers he was given. He began searching outside the traditional Jewish religious world he grew up in, and he came across outreach videos online. Eitan began reading the New Testament online and fell in love with Yeshua, and even committed his life to Him before reaching out to us online. Eitan is deeply committed in his faith and is preparing for water immersion next week.

A Yeshiva student wants to learn about Yeshua seeks someone to study the New Testament with: just last week, a woman at Tiferet Yeshua who has a Facebook outreach profile received a call from an unknown number. Yossi, a young man from Jerusalem, wanted to join Tiferet Yeshua’s prayer and worship meeting. It turns out he is from Jerusalem and studies at a Yeshiva. Devorah, the woman who received the call, was unprepared for the call, but the Holy Spirit led the conversation, and this young man who has been reading the New Testament online prayed with her to invite Yeshua into his heart. He told her that he would be in touch with her in the morning to study the New Testament together, and he called the next day! Please pray for Yossi and for Devorah whom the Lord is using to disciple him!

A man sees a New Testament at his friend’s house: When Tomer sees a New Testament on the coffee table at his friend’s house, he asks her, “Are you a Messianic Jew? I’ve been reading the New Testament and I’m interested in learning more with someone.” Tomer’s friend connected him with Kosta at Tiferet Yeshua. This week, Tomer met with Kosta in person, and he gave his heart to the Lord. Please keep him in prayer as he commits himself to discipleship and growing in his faith.

Without healthy, local congregations, there would be no place for these seekers to connect, to be discipled and continue to grow in their faith. Please consider partnering with what the Lord is doing here in Israel by supporting Tiferet Yeshua.

 

 

 

 

In the first nine months of the covid-19 pandemic, it seemed like our congregation was being protected from the covid-19 virus. Yes, it was challenging for all of us being in long-term quarantines, not being able to meet in person, and trying to care for those who had suffered either financial or emotional difficulties. However, we were all so thankful that only two people from our congregation contracted the disease and both recovered quickly and without major symptoms.

Hope and Fear

Starting late December, just as Israel was beginning to vaccinate its citizens, more serious cases of the virus started to arise in our congregation. The Israeli government’s massive vaccination campaign caused responses on opposite ends of the spectrum in the community of believers and in society at large – hope and fear. Some felt hope that the vaccination was grace from God to allow us to start making our way out of this pandemic. Others, however, were gripped with fear—some legitimate concerns about the vaccine were engulfed by a tidal wave of conspiracies about the vaccination. To this day, fear continues to cloud the decision-making of many believers, causing much confusion.

Covid Hits Tiferet Yeshua

Then on February 2^nd, we heard from a dear family in our congregation that the whole family was sick with covid, and the father, Orel, had been admitted to the hospital with breathing difficulties.

Orel and Monica Obreja are parents of nine children, making the seriousness of Orel’s condition feel more dire. They are also a well-known and beloved family in Tiferet Yeshua: we are a small congregation that feels very much like a large spiritual family. While Orel was in the hospital, Monica was so weak that she could not even stand on her feet. When she finally started improving a week later, two of her teenage sons were admitted to the hospital with breathing difficulties. That same week, Olga, one of our team members, and her whole family contracted the virus. Then we got word that the doctors had decided to put Orel in an induced coma in order to intubate him, which meant that his condition was dire.

The Valley of the Shadow

The following week, Orel’s condition took a turn for the worse, and Monica called us in tears: the doctors had told her that he only had a few days to live. A week later, our sister and co-laborer in the ministry, Olga, was admitted to the hospital with breathing difficulties. Then we learned that the music leaders of our worship team, a husband and wife team, were also infected with the virus. It felt like illness was all around us and death was knocking on the doors.

We did all that we knew to do: we prayed non-stop. We asked our international friends and partners to pray as well. Without having to ask or organize anything, the congregation came together and provided food and groceries for Orel’s family. Olga’s family was provided for as well. We felt like all the challenges we faced up until this point through the last year were nothing in the light of this struggle.

Battling in Prayer

For two weeks, the whole congregation was praying, fasting, and trying to help care for the immediate needs of our families who were hit with covid. We were encouraged with updates from Monica that the doctors were amazed that Orel was still alive. Then by the week of February 21st, we had news that his condition had slightly improved. We knew it would be a long process of healing for Orel and that we would have to organize long-term support for the Obreja family, but we were also hopeful that soon we would celebrate Orel’s healing.

Purim’s Death Knell

As we approached Purim that week, we learned that our worship leader couple was now bedridden with covid and that another woman from our congregation was also very sick with covid. As a pastor of a small flock, the attack on the lives of our people felt raw and deeply personal. Purim, a holiday of joy, celebration and divine turn-arounds, was on Friday that week, the day of our services (which we still hold on zoom), and we were preparing to hear a message of faith and hope for that day. Two hours before our service was to begin, however, Monica called to tell me that Orel had passed away.

I felt broken and confused, and yet I had to find a way to lead the service, to share with everyone the devastating news and point them, somehow, in the direction of His comfort and healing—one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I should have known, though, that it had nothing to do with me—Holy Spirit arranged the service in such an intimate and special way. It was healing and encouraging to everyone, me included.

God is Sovereign

This season of trials has taught me much. The greatest lesson I have learned is that the more I grow in my faith, the closer I draw to God and the more I understand about Him, at the same time I am discovering how little I know about Him and His ways as well. All I need to know in these challenging times is that God is sovereign, and He causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him (Rom. 8:28) – even suffering and the untimely death of a loved one.

Beauty for Ashes

We barely see one step in front of us, but God sees the end from the beginning and where each event will ultimately lead us. Along the way, God’s Word prepares us for these moments: when we pass through the valley of the shadow of death, He is with us (Ps. 23). We are actually blessed when we mourn because He will comfort us (Matt. 5:4). We consider ourselves happy to endure in sufferings (James 5:11). We discover Him intimately close to us when we are the most broken and vulnerable. In that place, He promises us beauty for ashes, oil of joy instead of mourning (Isa. 61:3), that if we sow in tears, we will reap in joy (Ps. 126:5). We are holding onto all these promises that He will bring about a rich harvest in each one of us of being closer to Him, more dependent upon Him, and filled with a joy that not even death can steal.

The Bible is clear that God will judge the earth in the end times and that His judgments begin with His household (1 Peter 4:17). Judgement is a word that makes most cringe, but in God’s economy, judgment is an act of grace to remove the things in and around us that hinder His love. In the beginning of the pandemic last year, I felt one of the things that God was doing through this global shaking was to wake up sleeping believers and to cause complacent non-believers to seek Him. I still believe that continues to be an essential part of God’s plan through this pandemic. Throughout the trials and difficulties of the covid crisis, we have seen believers growing in spiritual maturity and committment in our congregation. We have also seen an unprecedented number of Israelis reaching out to us online seeking information about Yeshua. Praise God!

God is now taking things to a deeper level: as this pandemic crisis continues, causing turmoil in the physical, emotional, economic and political realms worldwide, God’s judgement has been exposing weakness and darkness in the corporate Body of Messiah so that we can repent, be sanctified and become the spotless Bride He is calling us to be. The goal is glorious, but the process is painful.

Heart Exposure

One of the great shakings of this pandemic has been political instability around the world as governments struggle to deal with the challenges of the pandemic, particularly in democratic countries. In the United States, the 2020 presidential elections were possibly the most contentious, divisive elections in that nation’s history, and people around the world closely followed the tumultuous unfolding of the elections and their fallout. On November 8^th, just five days after the election, Ron Cantor, our friend and elder at Tiferet Yeshua, publicly shared a word about the election on his Facebook page: Ron felt the Lord speak to him that the election would go to democratic candidate Joe Biden largely because of the idolatry on the part of many believers toward Donald Trump. (You can read Ron’s full word here). In response, Ron received a barrage of vicious attacks from professing Christians, some even cursing him and telling him to go to hell. At that time, Ron was the only public voice not prophesying a victory for Trump, which is what all the public platform prophets were doing.

On January 7^th, Jeremiah Johnson, one of those voices which had been prophesying victory for Donald Trump, posted a public apology for inaccurately prophesying a second Trump term (You can read Johnson’s apology here). Though he expected a backlash, Johnson said he never could have imagined the attack that came his way in response. On his Facebook page Johnson shared the following:

“Over the last 72 hours, I have received multiple death threats and thousands upon thousands of emails from Christians saying the nastiest and most vulgar things I have ever heard toward my family and ministry. I have been labeled a coward, sellout, a traitor to the Holy Spirit, and cussed out at least 500 times. We have lost ministry partners every hour and counting.” (for the full post)

I share these stories only to highlight the exposure the Lord is causing to these things in all of us. We asked a family member of ours living in the US how things felt there after all the turmoil and violence surrounding the elections, and he said one verse has been going though his mind a lot recently: the love of many will grow cold. (Matthew 24:12) I firmly believe that God is calling all of us to take a long hard look at ourselves instead of pointing the finger at others, and to look at where our hearts, thoughts, and speech are reflecting the world’s values rather than God’s, whether it be in our daily lives or how we express ourselves on social media. Where have we allowed our love to grow cold?

Another end-time warning from Matthew is 24:10-11 God has put on my heart during this season:

“And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.” 

This verse talks about brothers in the faith betraying one another and hating one another. No, I do not think that what we have seen in this last season is the full end-time fulfillment of this verse. However, seeing brothers in the faith hatefully attacking each other over perceived “loyalty” to a political leader or to the “words of the prophets” is troubling and should be a wake-up call to us all.

The Love Litmus Test

The Word of God is clear about the standard:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

~John 13:34-35

But what about  Matthew 22:39 where Yeshua already stated that to love our neighbor as ourselves is the second great command? Actually, Yeshua’s command to His disciples in John 13 is different because He is setting a new standard for love: His selfless and sacrificial love is the standard. For the perfect list of the qualities of Yeshua’s love, we should study 1 Corinthians 13. We should make it our litmus test!

It may seem like an impossible task, and it is if we try to do it in our own strength. We can succeed to love others the way He loves us only if we receive, comprehend and experience God’s unending love for us and His unending grace for our mistakes and failures. When we internalize that, His kind of love will naturally flow out of us. And we will show love to more than our brothers and sisters in the faith; we will  love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. (Matthew 5:44) That is real spiritual warfare!

I have hope and faith God is doing something great in His Body in this season, that God is cleansing us from the ways of the world, and that we will see the Bride rising up in love and holiness to be a witness to a world that is growing darker and more confused by the day.

 

 

 

 At the end of 2019 we published an article about looking ahead to 2020:

“The path before us may seem clear, but we might be continuing on it without listening for direction from Him: He may be calling us off the ‘main highway’ to something we never imagined.”

Little did we know how much we would be going off the main highway in 2020 into something we could never have imagined!

In 2019, we had just finished our major sanctuary renovation and were getting ready to install livestream technology. When Israel went into total lockdown in March, we had been meeting in our newly renovated sanctuary for about six months. As of the writing of this article, we are in another strict lockdown, and our new sanctuary has sat empty and almost completely unused for the majority of 2020.

THE BUILDING NOT MADE BY HANDS

How does a congregation survive without being able to physically congregate? Like many other congregations around the world, Tiferet Yeshua went online when the pandemic hit. Despite the many challenges we faced through this pandemic, we can say that, by God’s amazing grace, Tiferet Yeshua has continued to thrive and even grow—becoming more God’s building (1 Cor. 3:9). Beyond that, this year we have experienced financial breakthrough and expansion of our ministry here in Israel.

THE AMAZING YEAR OF 2020 FOR TIFERET YESHUA

The end of 2020 is the first time that we are not finishing out the year barely above budget red line —this is a huge breakthrough! We feel God’s hand on us through this crisis, supplying and encouraging us to continue forward and prepare for bigger things to come. We even found ourselves in the amazing position of being able to bless those in need more than ever and to help other congregations and ministries here in Israel because of generous international support.

• Covid Crisis Help – we were able to provide financial support to families and individuals in our congregation who suffered economic loss because of the covid-19 crisis.
• Special grants – We were able to give special financial grants to widows, single mothers, and orphans who suffered disproportionately from the economic crisis
• Mercy Ministries Support – in addition to being able to continue funding our own Feed Tel Aviv outreach ministry, we were able to support other fantastic ministries of Messianic believers in Israel such as: The Red Carpet (an outreach for women enslaved in the sex industry in south Tel Aviv), The Drug Rehabilitation Center in Netanya, and Adullam Outreach Center in Jerusalem.
• Homeless Winter Outreach – we were able to address the immediate challenges the homeless face during the winter months by providing jackets, thermoses, hats and gloves, sleeping bags, and warm winter clothes.
• Covid Grocery Outreach – during Israel’s first and second lockdowns, we provided over one hundred weekly food packages to those in need within our congregation and to people in the community at large. We also brought weekly groceries to single mothers in our congregation.
• Congregations in Need – we were able to give support to a couple congregations in need, one Ethiopian congregation in particular which offers a place of worship for the many undocumented workers and refugees from Africa living in Tel Aviv.
• Little Hearts Preschool – we were able to give a grant to an amazing little preschool in Jerusalem, one of the only Messianic Jewish preschools in Israel!

MEDIA EXPANSION

This year became the year of online outreach all over the world, making our ability to livestream an important asset! In 2020, Israelis found themselves in home quarantine and spending lots of time online while looking for answers to the questions the pandemic has caused many people to ask. This year we were able to hire a professional to redesign our Hebrew website and YouTube channel to improve our online media outreach. Additionally, we invested in critical technology for our livestream and hired a professional soundman.

OUTREACH AND DISCIPLESHIP

In March this year Kosta joined our team in order to focus on outreach and discipleship. Kosta has led street outreach during which he and his team have had many conversations with open and seeking Israelis, handed out many Hebrew, Arabic, and Russian New Testaments and booklets with Old Testament messianic prophesies.  He has also been investing in keeping in contact with people who are interested in learning more about faith in Yeshua, in discipleship of new believers, and staying in touch with new congregation members. In short, Kosta has been an enormous asset to our team!

AN ENORMOUS THANK YOU

Despite and through the pressures of this challenging year, God is doing amazing things, and we cannot thank all our supporters enough for standing with us and supporting us. God is always faithful, and He always provides for our needs in surprising ways; but this year, He went out of His way to surprise and bless us through the love and generosity of the international family we are honored and blessed to have. May the Lord bless you with knowing Him more intimately this coming year and leading you into the surprises HE has for you in 2021!