“Who among you will give ear to this?
Who will listen and hear for the time to come?”
(Isa. 42:23)
In the previous issue, we talked about how the Lord is summoning the global Body of Christ to pay attention to what is ahead for Israel according to His Biblical narrative. It is crucial to hear God’s heart concerning Israel and know what we ought to do as friends who will stand fast with Him (1 Chr. 12:32).
One of the things He is unveiling right now is the mystery of Israel. Mysteries in the Bible refer to hidden truths that God reveals in His own timing. As the Day of His return draws nearer, the Lord is especially revealing the mystery of Israel now. In His zeal for us to fully understand and not be ignorant of this mystery, the Holy Spirit is in this decade of historic transition, directing His Gentile Church to Romans 11 and shining His spotlight on this passage.
Do not be Ignorant of this Mystery
With the focus on Israel and antisemitism escalating as a result of the current Israel-Hamas war, the Holy Spirit is indeed shouting to the Church that this is not the time to stay at the place of ignorance! His zeal is for His Church to fully understand this mystery and not to be ignorant about this matter.
Scripture clearly reveals the burden of God’s heart for New Covenant believers through Apostle Paul. With great fervour, Paul warned the Gentile Church that we should not be ignorant of the mystery of Israel, because of the drastic consequences that could follow (Rom. 11:20–25). If Paul already had to address this with Gentile believers in first century Rome, how much more would this apply to us living in a time where we will see the fullness of Psalm 2?
Romans 11 tells us that if we camp at the place of ignorance, it will lead to passive resistance against the Lord and His plans for Israel, and eventually to active resistance against Him. If this continues, we could very well end up in antisemitism and ultimately apostasy (Rom. 11:18–25)!
Could this really be the case? Was Paul being hyperbolic? Or did Paul understand something that many of us yet do not — that if we stay ignorant of this mystery of Israel, our faith could eventually be in jeopardy.
Aligning with God’s Heart and Sovereign Choice of Israel
For many centuries, very few in the Church have understood God’s heart concerning Israel. The Gentile Church has largely viewed the Jewish people as enemies of the cross due to their rejection and crucifixion of Jesus. Additionally, with God’s judgement on Israel through the siege of Jerusalem, the temple’s destruction, and the loss of a Jewish homeland in AD 70, the Church had even more impetus to embrace Replacement Theology and wrongly assume that we have replaced Israel.
Over centuries, whether blatantly or subtly, this misguided theology has become entrenched in the Church.
However, in His mercy, God is reconnecting the Gentile Church back to our Jewish roots in this time. He is unveiling the mystery of Israel to us. He is restoring the Gentile Church to a Biblical understanding of the roots of our faith and His sovereign choice of Israel as the vehicle of salvation and redemption for nations. It is so important to align in this because the issue of Israel is ultimately about God’s sovereignty — His very right to choose how to bring the fullness of redemption to humanity.
Thus, just as Paul exhorted the Roman believers, now is not the time to be wise in our own opinions. Now is not the time to align with the narrative and wisdom of the world. Now is not the time to be in opposition with Him. Instead, it is now the time to give ear, listen, and align with the only opinion that matters — God’s!
Five Dimensions of the Mystery of Israel
Romans 11 reveals five dimensions of the mystery of Israel. Lest we believe that the Church has replaced Israel, these five dimensions show that nothing could be further from the truth! Beyond giving Replacement Theology no solid Biblical ground to stand on, this chapter reveals the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God in His redemptive plan for Israel and the Gentile nations!
The five dimensions of the mystery of Israel are:
- God’s calling for Israel is irrevocable (Rom. 11:29). God has not written Israel off in spite of her rebellion towards Him as He is faithful to His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He has elected the Jewish people from among other nations to be His vehicle of salvation to the earth based entirely on His love for her. Thus, Israel is still the beloved of God (Rom. 11:28) and He is zealous for her to step into her fullness.
- The partial blindness that has come upon Israel is partly pre-ordained by God (Rom. 11:25). In His sovereignty, this blindness upon Israel has caused the Gospel to go to the Gentiles. It is also partly due to Israel’s rejection of the Messiah that God has blinded her.
- This blindness will be lifted when the Gentile Church steps into her fullness and provokes Israel to jealousy (Rom. 11:11, 25). This blindness is neither total nor final, and now as the Gospel is making its way back to Jerusalem, Gentile believers have a role to play to cause Israel to see her Messiah, Yeshua, rightly.
- The entire nation of Israel will be saved (Rom. 11:26) after the “fullness of Gentiles” has come in and at the return of the Lord Jesus (Rom. 11:26; Zech. 13:9). Paul meant this literally and not just metaphorically — all of Israel will be saved.
- The fullness of Israel during the Millennial Kingdom will lead to God’s glory spreading to nations and filling the millennial earth (Rom. 11:15). This is the culmination and fullness of God’s redemptive plan for humanity! Habakkuk 2:14 will no longer be a prophecy but a reality!
Wow! What a marvellous plan God has for Israel and the Gentile nations! How high are His ways compared to ours! In His great wisdom, He has woven and intertwined our destinies — both Gentile and Jewish — together.
God is On the Move!
The 20th Century saw the sovereign hand of God move with regard to Israel. At the turn of the century, Jewish people began to return to the land of Palestine in increasing numbers. In 1948, the modern State of Israel was born, and in 1967, the city of Jerusalem was restored back into the hands of the Jewish people.
The 1970s then saw the beginning of the Messianic Jewish movement and increasing numbers of salvation among the Jewish people. In 1999, there were around 5000 Messianic Jewish believers in Israel. By 2020, this number is estimated to have tripled to around 15,000.
Indeed, we are seeing Romans 11 coming to pass! We are seeing the progressive lifting of the blindness from the eyes of the Jewish people even as Gentiles are reaching their fullness!
The Set Time of Israel’s Favour
“You will arise and have mercy over Zion;
For the time to favour her, yes, the set time, has come.”
(Ps. 102:13)
At the start of the Global Isaiah 62 Solemn Assembly for Israel in May 2023, the Lord trumpeted forth Psalm 102:13. He is declaring that this is the set time to favour Israel. However, more than that, He wants to show forth His mercy and favour to Israel through His Gentile Church. Out of His zeal, He desires us Gentiles to be more than just mere spectators in His story. He desires us to step into and live out the role He has for us as part of this mystery of Israel — to be a vessel of His mercy and favour to her. And now is the set time — the kairos hour for the Gentile Church to do so!
How do we show forth God’s mercy and favour to Israel?
Romans 11, Isaiah 62, and Matthew 25:31–46 reveal that the Lord wants us to stand with Israel, pray for Israel and provoke her to jealousy so that she will come to know the Lord (Rom. 11:11,14).
Stand with Israel
This does not mean that we agree with everything that Israel does, but that we take a stand with God regarding His heart for her and as a result, stand with her when no one else does. This can be expressed through blessing the Jewish people, whether locally or abroad. This includes financial blessings, serving them through meeting their needs, or sharing our faith with unbelieving Jewish people. The Lord could even lead us to visit a local Messianic congregation to partner them in prayer and be a friend in the midst of an increasingly hostile world.
Pray for Israel
This is one of the key ways to stand with Israel — to pray for the nation and Jewish people regularly. We want to pray in accordance with God’s heart and plans for her, and should do so both in our personal prayer life and corporate prayer sessions. As we “climb up onto her walls” and step into the place of intercession for Jerusalem, we are fulfilling the zeal of God’s heart and His promise in Isaiah 62:6–7 to set watchmen on her walls until He returns and makes her a praise in the earth.
Besides praying, we can also sing and prophetically declare over her God’s destiny for her from His Word. There is nothing more powerful than using what God has written in His unchanging Word to pray and prophesy over her.
Provoke Israel to Jealousy
We are called to provoke Israel to jealousy by moving in signs and wonders, in the prophetic spirit, and through standing sacrificially with the Jewish people.
When we move in the greater works of Jesus and the Jewish people see the powerful miracles, provision and deliverance of God in their time of trouble, their hearts will be stirred — these signs will remind them of Yahweh their God who moved powerfully through Moses and Elijah.
When we move in the greater love of Jesus and lay down our lives sacrificially for them, it will provoke them to ask why. This is when the door is opened to share about Yeshua — the ultimate Passover Lamb who was slain for them — and to trust the Spirit of conviction to move mightily in their hearts!
Israel as God’s Litmus Test for the Gentiles in the End Times
What many Gentile believers do not realise, but is critical for us to know, is that God has set Israel up as a litmus test — a decisive factor — for the fate of nations at the End of the Age.
During the Great Tribulation, many Jewish people will flee from the land of Israel because of Antichrist’s persecution (Matt. 24:15–20). As they run to the surrounding nations, Gentile believers who understand and are aligned with God’s heart for Israel will take fleeing Jewish people into their homes to shelter them, even at the risk of losing their own lives.
This is the context for Jesus’ teaching on the Judgement of the Sheep and Goats in Matthew 25:31–46. Jesus’ “brethren” refer specifically to the Jewish people who would be fleeing from the Antichrist. He emphatically said that if we reject them and do not feed, clothe or shelter them, we are actually rejecting Jesus Himself!
Jesus’ judgement upon the “goats” — those who reject His Jewish brethren — is very strong. Rejecting the Jewish people will be tantamount to going against God, and thus the fate of those who do so will be the lake of fire (Matt. 25:40–46). This is in complete alignment with God’s promise to Abraham that those who bless His descendants will be blessed, and those who curse her will be cursed (Gen. 12:3).
Understanding this passage should put the fear of the Lord in our hearts!
Undoubtedly, the Lord has set Israel as the litmus test through which Gentiles express our love for Him by aligning to Him in His sovereign election of Israel as a vehicle to bring salvation and blessing to the nations.
Thus, in these final hours of human history, Jesus is asking the Gentile Church,
“Are you for Me or against Me?”
“Will you align fully with Me?”
He is emphasising the necessity to stand with and love Israel with a loyalty to Jesus that could cost us our lives.
Thus, this is the time to acquire understanding and conviction. This is the time to decide, align, and prepare ourselves, so that we can stand strong and firm when the intensities and pressures of unprecedented antisemitism are unleashed upon the nations of the world.
When Gentile believers obey the Lord and step into our fullness, we will provoke the Jewish people to jealousy and they will call upon the name of Yeshua. Ultimately, all of Israel will be saved, and Israel stepping into her fullness will lead to the glory of God filling the earth!
Wow!
Like Paul, we will worship and proclaim,
“Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable His judgements and His ways past finding out!”
(Rom. 11:33)
The Book of Zechariah | Teaching Series
In early 2023, the Lord directed us to revisit the Book of Zechariah in order to understand His End-Time plan for Israel. We invite you to watch and listen to the series, especially sessions 10 to 13.
Introductory Series on Understanding Israel
For an introduction to the topic of Israel, what Scripture says, and how Gentile believers are not to be ignorant about this mystery, watch our Introductory Series on Understanding Israel.