Author: Gil Afriat

As Jews around the world prepare their hearts to recount the story of how God brought us out of Egypt, God is highlighting new significance in certain elements of the Passover story as we find ourselves in the midst of the Coronavirus crisis which is bringing nations around the world to their knees. In Hebrew we call this time “The Exodus from Egypt”, and I feel that God is bringing His bride, the international ecclesia, through a spiritual “Exodus from Egypt”.

Finding a Clue in the Hebrew Word for Egypt

In Hebrew, the word for Egypt is Meetzraim which literally means a very narrow place. To come out of Egypt, the Children of Israel had to pass through a narrow, difficult way. They were afforded salvation from the curse of death by putting the blood of the Passover lamb over the entrance of their homes. However, in order to come into the Promised Land, they had to go through numerous challenges and difficulties which would test their faith in the God who had just redeemed them from death and freed them from slavery.

Coming through the Narrow Place

I believe that right now during this time of Passover God is bringing the Body of Messiah through a very narrow place—a place of troubles, difficulties and hardships. In order to pass through this “narrow, difficult place”, God is removing from us the excess baggage which hinders and holds us back. In his unfailing love and grace, He is shaping us through these difficult times more into the image of His Son.

The Mixed Multitude in the Narrow Place

“Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. A mixed multitude went up with them also…” Exodus 12:37-38

Passover has deep literal and symbolic meanings for the past, present and future, and the “mixed multitude” coming out of Egypt clearly shows that God’s plan from the beginning was to have a special people from every tribe, tongue and nation (Exodus 19:5-6, I Peter 2:5, Revelation 1:6; 5:10). So, what happens when a large number of people have to go through a narrow place together? They naturally have to get closer to each other! In addition to the many things God is doing in our hearts if we allow Him during this time, He is also calling us to a deeper unity and connection with our brothers and sisters in the faith around us!

2019 was a year of FAITH and GRACE for us at Tiferet Yeshua: God strengthened our faith in His provision for the vision He had given us to update and expand our sanctuary. When the remaining funds we needed finally came through in the spring, He gave us grace in abundance to manage a complex renovation project while continuing our congregational life as usual. Near the end of the year, we faced some daunting challenges, but, at the last minute, God brought us help and support in surprising and unexpected ways!

Now with the incredible blessing of our new and expanded sanctuary, our new media capabilities which will allow us to live-stream our Hebrew services, with new seekers visiting every week, and with our congregation continuing to grow in love and spiritual maturity, we can only marvel at how good and faithful He is!

As we face 2020, we feel this is a year of HEARING HIS VOICE. There is so much noise around us: our smartphones and social media platforms are continually inundating us with notifications and messages which seem so important at the moment.  With so much “noisy content” flooding our lives, we can become easily distracted from the voice of the One—the Lover of our Souls—who wants to lead us onward.  As believers we have access to every kind of worship or the latest message from our favorite preachers, which is not negative in itself. However, hearing about Him is not the same as spending time with Him. When all we do is “hear about Him” from others, we will not know Him or His voice.

How can we hear His voice? It is rather simple. By spending time with Him each day—in prayer and meditation on His Word—we will learn to hear His voice more clearly. The more time we spend with Him, his voice will soon be the one we hear above all others. Also, spending time with Him causes us to hunger for Him more and to hunger for the world less.

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.  As we embark on this New Year of 2020, may we all devote more time to Him and be able to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd leading us onward and upward to our higher calling in Him!

David is a born street evangelist: He’s outgoing, friendly, has a winning smile and a passion to share the Messiah with people—even in the face of physical attacks. Every week you can find him somewhere on the streets of Tel Aviv, witnessing and praying with people. Here’s his story!

Something is Missing

“I grew up in a traditional Jewish home, that is, we kept the religious traditions. For a while my older brother studied in a yeshiva (a religious school) and my mom highly revered the orthodox way of life. She would go to the rabbis for council and did her best to make sure we all went to the synagogue, particularly on high holidays. I would go, but inside I didn’t connect to anything there, and I felt that there must be something deeper than all this—I didn’t know what it was, whether it was God or not, but I knew that something was missing.

The Encounter

In 2002, after serving in a combat unit in the IDF for three years, I flew to the US and began selling Dead Sea products at a mall. I was making great money and living large: parties, drinking, drugs, all the pleasures that the world can offer. Despite living what I thought was the good life, I wasn’t experiencing real happiness. In my heart I felt something was missing, but I didn’t know what. Then one day at work, I met a Jewish customer who told me something every interesting; he said that he loved to feel God in his life every day. And then he asked me a very interesting question: “Have you ever felt God in your life?” My answer was no, but I wondered to myself, “How can you actually feel God?” When I went home that evening, his question kept nagging me. Finally, I said to God, “I want to know from You what the truth is!” I decided to do something about it: I started reading the Bible.

I was reading in Psalm 22 where it’s written, “My God my God why have You forsaken Me?” and “they pierce my hands and my feet” about someone who’s being tortured and mocked. The moment I read this, I was afraid that it was talking about Yeshu the Notzri (a derogatory name given Him by the rabbis). So, I did what any good son would do: I called my mom! She knows a lot about religion and tradition, and I thought if I read the verse to her she could help me understand it. When she heard what I read, she was as startled as I was and warned me, “That’s a gentile book. We are forbidden to read it.” She thought I was reading something to her from the New Testament! I told her, “Mom, this is from the Hebrew Bible, it’s Psalms!”

A Picture on the Internet

In my search for answers, I started reading and searching on the internet. I always had wondered about the all the sacrifices in the Old Testament, and, in particular, I had wondered why God would ask Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac.  I’ll never forget this moment: one day while I was looking up information about the sacrifice of Isaac on the internet, I found a picture which showed Abraham offering Isaac as a sacrifice to God, and above it was a picture of Yeshua on the cross—God offering His Son as a sacrifice for us. When I saw this picture, I felt warmth all over my body, and I cried out to God. I felt that Yeshua was right there next to me. That was the moment that I can say that my whole journey with God truly began.

Another Revelation

As soon as I accepted Yeshua into my heart, I began devouring the Word. One day I was reading in Isaiah 44 where it’s written in verse 6 that God says, “I am the first and the last.” Not long after that I was reading in Revelation where Yeshua says, “I am the first and the last”, and suddenly I realized that Yeshua is also God. No one had told me! It was a revelation that came straight from Him through His Word. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I was so amazed that I spent the rest of the evening just worshipping Yeshua.

The moment that you believe that Yeshua is God and you cling to Him as God and King, your connection with Him grows much deeper. He’s not just the Savior, the suffering servant Isaiah talks about. He is God and King. Here in Israel many people will say, “Ok, Yeshua is the Messiah. He’s Lord, but He’s not God.” It takes a revelation from God for Jews to get over the hurdle of accepting that the Messiah is also God. Like Yeshua said in John 8 when the Pharisees were challenging Him: I told you that you would die in your sins if you do not believe that I am he. Isaiah 43:10 says, “Understand that I am He…I, even I, am the LORD and Beside Me there is no savior”. Saying, “I am He” to a religious Jewish audience means one thing: I am God.

But, putting the New Testament aside for a moment—the Hebrew Bible itself says that the Messiah is God. Jeremiah 23 says, “I will raise up for David a righteous Branch…This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.” In Zechariah 12 the LORD says, “They will look on Me whom they have pierced”. Isaiah 9:6 says that the child born to us will be called “Mighty God, Everlasting Father”. This revelation of Yeshua as God is so important. I have seen that those who have the full revelation of Yeshua as God experience a deeper relationship with Him because they have the fullness of who He really is.

The Change

The more I learned, the more Yeshua won my heart and I just fell in love with Him. When I came to faith in Yeshua, you could say that I was a typical Israeli “punk”: I smoked all the time, cigarettes, nargila (middle eastern water pipes), e-cigarettes. You name it, I smoked it. But as I grew in my faith, I would talk to Yeshua all the time. Once while I was talking to Him, I had an e-cigarette in my hand, and I suddenly I felt disgusted by it and threw it away from me. From then on, I gave it all up. I had been an impatient, hot-tempered person before I came to faith. I come from a Moroccan Jewish background, and Moroccans are known in Israel for their warm but explosive temperaments—that was me. You couldn’t have a normal conversation with me: I’d cut you off. I’d swear. I was prideful and impatient. All of that began to change as I grew in my relationship with Yeshua: He was what I was missing my whole life. His peace touched my heart and changed me for good.

You’ve Betrayed Your People and Your Heritage!

When I first told my parents about my faith in Yeshua, they did not take it well at all. They told me that I had betrayed my religion and my people. My mom, in particular, had a very difficult time. I told her about my new faith during a time when there had been some tragedies in my family, and this news that I had, in her eyes, betrayed my people and my faith, was very difficult for her. She even blamed my believing in Yeshua for the bad things that were happening in the family.

When I moved back to Israel, my parents began to see the changes that had taken place in me. They saw that I was suddenly a serious, responsible person whereas before I was just interested in having fun. They saw that I didn’t have the same bad temper as before, that I wasn’t smoking anymore—they knew how addicted I had been to smoking and drugs. It didn’t take long for them to realize that all these changes in me were because of what God had done for me through his Son. Praise God they now know that He’s not Yeshu the Notzri but Yeshua the Jew who came for all of us—first for the Jews and then for the rest of the world. It’s just that we, the Jewish nation, rejected Him when He came. It’s my heart’s cry that my people would discover their savior and King, Yeshua the Messiah!

The Calling of an Evangelist

When I first came to Tiferet Yeshua, there was a couple who would go out every week to witness on the streets who invited me to join them. We prayed together before we went out and then headed to the streets. At first, I was afaid, and I would let them approach people while I’d stand aside to see if it ended up in punches. After awhile, though, God gave me grace and it came more naturally to me. It’s not easy talking to people about Yeshua, and many Israelis don’t want to hear about Him. But, I feel called to bring the message of the Jewish Messiah to the people of Israel—to ask people, “Why are you here? What does God want from you? What does the Bible say about it?” It’s my prayer that what I share, the questions I ask them will have the same effect on them as that one question someone asked me all those years ago in America, and that they would open their hearts to God and say, “Show me who you are!”

If you look at the Sea of Galilee, you see a lake that is full of life—there is lush vegetation around the banks of the Sea, and, as the New Testament stories make clear, it is full of fish. It also serves as a source of fresh drinking water for Israel. About a hundred kilometers south of the Sea of Galilee is the Dead Sea: it is an extraordinary place but it is quite literally dead. What’s the difference between these two seas? The living thriving Sea of Galilee has streams of water feeding it and streams of water flowing out of it. The Dead Sea only has water flowing into it: nothing flows out. Ron Cantor, an elder at Tiferet Yeshua, shared this analogy with us in the past: when a believer, or a congregation, for that matter, doesn’t have an “outflow”, it is in danger of becoming what the Dead Sea is.

The Dead Sea

Believers can become like the Dead Sea if they are self-focused in their faith, seeking only to receive from God, from their congregation and from others, whether it be encouragement, help, attention, love or support. When there is no genuine outflow of wanting to bless God and others, no desire to serve and give of themselves to God and to others, the lives of the “self-centered” end up producing very little “fruit of the Spirit”. Yeshua does not mince words when it comes to trees that do not produce fruit – a sober warning to us all for genuine soul searching (Matt. 7:19, Lk. 13:7 ). God fills us not so that we can stay put but in order that we can become life-giving rivers of water to those around us.

Congregations can also be self-focused and end up like the Dead Sea too. The Lord Yeshua called us to be fishers of men, to make disciples, and to care for the poor and needy in our communities. When congregations do not engage in outreach, do not participate with other congregations or invest in other ministries, a “bunker” mentality can set in: leaders become overly protective and jealous of their flock, their flock does not increase or grow, and there ends up not being a surplus which could be sown into outreaches or other ministries.

The Living Sea

It is fitting that Yeshua began His ministry around the Sea of Galilee – Israel’s only living sea. It is a reflection of who He is. We, in turn, are called to be like our Master: He kept His eyes on the Father and was the servant of all. Individually and corporately, when we focus on what God wants and on what we can do for others as an impulse of love, the “rivers of living waters” from the Holy Spirit within us will abound all the more. Corporately the same thing happens.

When the Tiferet Yeshua leadership sat down in 2013 to define the vision of the congregation, the elders agreed that the most concise declaration of our values (i.e., the first and second most important commandments in proper order) is to:

“love God, love one another, and love our city.”

Since then, we have made it a point to not only have ongoing ministry to the poor and needy in our community through our weekly Feed Tel Aviv outreach, but we also lead monthly outreaches in the streets of Tel Aviv. We also realized that practical generosity must also be constant and ongoing. Therefore 10 percent of our overall budget is designated to giving to believers in need and supporting other ministries. In times of pleanty, we are overjoyed to be able to bless other ministries in Israel in the way God has blessed us by others in times of need. What we have seen in the ten years of having these values firmly in place is simply God’s promise for growth and life come to pass, firstly in people and also in finances.

Just in the last year, three Israelis came to faith, went through discipleship, devoted their lives to Yeshua in water immersion and are becoming living members at Tiferet Yeshua (connecting with other believers and serving). Praise God! This is indeed the greatest blessing of life for us. God alone is faithful and biblical principles are tried and true when we just have the faith to live by them.

November 13, 2019

Update: Israel under Attack

In the pre-dawn hours this Tuesday, Israel successfully carried out a surgical assignation strike against Baha Abu al-Ata, a senior military leader of Islamic Jihad, killing him and his wife in the Gaza Strip. In retaliation for his death, Islamic Jihad, a militant Islamic terrorist organization supported by Iran, began a rocket barrage against the communities in Israel’s south and central areas, bringing everyday life to a standstill (schools were closed, all non-essential personnel instructed to stay at home).

As of this evening, over 350 rockets have been fired at Israel which continue to put the Gaza border communities in Israel’s south in complete lock-down.  Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system has intercepted close to 90% of the rockets fired from Gaza, but there have been several close calls, including a rocket which hit a retirement community in Ashkelon today, lightly injuring a woman, and a direct hit on a highway yesterday in which, amazingly, no one was hurt.

Netanyahu Updates the Nation on the Situation

After meeting with top officials and military leaders today, Netanyahu announced: “We have not set our faces to escalation, however, we will do all that is necessary to return to quiet and security.” Netanyahu also said that the success of the assassination of al-Ata signals “a huge change in the equation” between Israel and her enemies, stating that, “It robs [the terrorists] of the feeling that they can act against us, against our citizens, while hiding behind their citizens…They now know that we can get to them in their hideouts with surgical exactness.”

Israel had its eyes on Al-Ata for quite a while: he was responsible for most of the rocket attacks against Israel in the last year and was constantly undermining attempts to establish calm with the Gaza government. Having already survived several assignation attempts, it is said that Abu al-Ata would surround himself with his wives and children at all times in order to protect himself from further assassination attempts.

Iran’s Presence Looms Large

In the past, Hamas, the fundamentalist Islamic organization governing the Gaza Strip, led the major conflicts between Israel and the Gaza. However, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group supported by Iran, initiated this latest volley of rocket attacks which Hamas has chosen in the meantime not to join: Hamas’ approval ratings have plunged due to the carnage to its economy and infrastructure from its destructive wars with Israel, high unemployment, high taxes. If Hamas stays out of the fray, this round of violence will most likely be short-lived.

For all intents and purposes, by killing Baha Abu al-Ata, Israel was taking out Iran’s man in the Gaza Strip. Iran’s has its tentacles in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and the Gaza Strip where it gladly exports its militant brand of Islam. In every place where Iran exerts its influence, there is an escalation of chaos, conflict and suffering.

Please pray for continued protection over Israel, wisdom and guidance for our leaders as they navigate the complicated and deadly political landscape of the Middle East, and that the eyes of many Muslims will be opened to the ruthlessness of Islam and their hearts opened to a revelation of salvation through Yeshua!

The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.’ (Leviticus 23:23-25)

The Day of Trumpeting: back to the original meaning

Of all the biblical feasts, this is the only one we don’t refer to using its biblical name. It is also a holiday that has had subsequent traditions superimposed on it, obscuring its original prophetic meaning. The biblically holiday we celebrate as the first of the fall high holidays is not called Rosh Hashanah (New Years) by the Bible but rather the Day of Trumpeting. The Bible mandates this holiday take place on the first day of the 7^th month of the biblical year—not the first—which is Nissan, the month of Passover. The reason this holiday meant to be commemorated by trumpet blasts came to be known as the New Year (Rosh Hashanah) dates back to the Babylonian exile: during their time in Babylon, the Jewish exiles were influenced by the Babylonian culture around them, and, as a result, they adopted Akkadian\Babylonia month names and practices. That’s right, all the Hebrew month names are Babylonian in origin.

While the celebrations of this holiday mainly focus on the new year aspect, the traditions observed in this holiday harken back to the original biblical meaning for this somewhat mysterious holiday—mysterious because the bible gives surprisingly little information about the holiday other than the ordinance to observe it as a Sabbath, to blow the shofar (trumpet), and to make offerings and sacrifices. The blessings recited during the holiday meal repeatedly call for God’s deliverance from Israel’s enemies and implore God’s mercy in judging His people. Rabbinic literature refers to this holiday as the day of judgement, the day on which the people pass as sheep before God, the great shepherd.

Trumpeting: what does it mean?

As this day is called Yom Teruah (the day of trumpeting), and blowing the trumpet is the integral commandment of this day, it would make sense to understand what the Bible has to say about the purpose for trumpeting. Numbers 10: 1-9 gives a clear four-fold meaning for the “lasting ordinance” to blow the trumpets:

• To assemble the community together
• To signal the camps to move out
• To call for God’s help when going into battle in the Land against an oppressive enemy
• For heralding times of rejoicing

New Testament References to Trumpeting

The New Testament also references the sounding of trumpets, and that is in relation to end time events. The book of Revelation describes a series of 7 seals and 7 trumpets which are then followed by 7 bowls of wrath, all of which relating to phases of God’s releasing His judgement on the earth.

Other New Testament accounts reveal an important emphasis on the last trumpet in particular. Since Revelation is the only place in the Old and New Testaments which gives a numbered series of trumpets, the last trumpet in Revelation must correlate to end time events, as the other references reveal:

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (I Corinthians 15:51-52)

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. (I Thessalonians 4:16)

The New Testament makes abundantly clear that the “last trumpet” heralds the rapture of the saints, the imminent return of the Lord and the wrath of the Lord poured out on the earth before His return. The question remains: do these end time trumpets have anything to do with the Day of Trumpeting mandated in the Law? While the spring biblical feasts (Passover, Pentecost, and Weeks) foreshadowed the first coming of the Messiah as the suffering servant and initiated His kingdom in the hearts of men, is it possible that the fall feasts (the Day of Trumpeting, the Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles) coincide with the Lord’s second coming as a judge and the coming of His literal, physical kingdom to the earth in Jerusalem?

The Joel 2 and the End Time Connection

When lining up the end-time events described in the book of Revelation with the description of end time events in the book of Joel, it becomes clear that the fall feats mirror exactly the progression of the great and terrible day of the Lord just before His return when the armies of the antichrist descend upon the land of Israel and surround Jerusalem.

Joel 2: 1-11 (Day of Trumpeting)

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…

In this passage, the prophet Joel describes the sounding of the trumpet to assemble the people together because a horrible and fierce enemy has invaded the land (remember back to the Rosh HaShanah meal blessings calling for deliverance from enemies). This is also the moment that the Lord Yeshua appears in the sky with the voice of the trumpet and the dead in Messiah are raised and those still alive are raptured.

Joel 2:12-17 (Day of Atonement)

“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

This passage in Joel 2 clearly mirrors the Day of Atonement, a time the Lord mandated the Israelites to fast and torture their souls in repentance; here the prophet Joel calls all the people, young and old, men and women, to declare a holy fast and call a sacred assembly to weep, mourn and cry out to the Lord to save them.

Interestingly, Joel 2:15 calls for a fast, which is the Day of Atonement, but it also calls for a trumpet to be blown in Zion, which makes us think that it might also mean the Day of Trumpeting since there are no trumpets blown on the Day of Atonement. However, trumpets are indeed blown on the Day of Atonement every Jubilee year, that is, every 50^th year, which brings in an additional level of prophetic meaning to this “last” Day of Atonement—liberation and restoration. (Leviticus 25:9)

All Israel Will Be Saved

The scene that Joel 2:12-17 describes brings to mind another end time prophesy which describes a day when all the nations of the earth are gathered against Judah and Jerusalem and the people cry out in mourning before God:

 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves…” (Zechariah 12:10-12)

This is the moment that Paul’s prophetic declaration in Romans 11:26 that all Israel will be saved comes to pass. The Bible teaches that Israel will go through terrible tribulation and suffering, but Israel will also be the only nation that collectively receives a simultaneous revelation of Him, accepts Him and is saved, just as Peter in Acts 2 quotes Joel 2 describing that final moment: “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” So, if the season of the Day of Trumpeting marks the rapture and the Lord’s appearing in the sky, and the Day of Atonement marks Israel’s calling a fast and solemn assembly to weep and mourn over “the one they have pierced”, then Tabernacles can be none other than Yeshua’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem where He will tabernacle with His people!