From 2020 to 2022, as God disrupted our agendas through Covid-19, He initiated His prophetic timeline through a series of yearly events. Like never before, the Lord was directing His global Body to His heart and His End-Time storyline that prominently features Israel and nations in the Middle East.
April 2020…
Much of the world was in lockdown. Countless Passion Week outreach events and Good Friday plans had been cancelled or drastically modified. Many believers could not gather physically together to commemorate our Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection.
The same was faced by many Jewish people across nations. The Feast of Passover coincided with Passion Week, and they too could not gather in their communities.
However, due to this inability to gather physically, something unprecedented took place. A global gathering (the 2020 Global Alignment of Passover and Last Supper) was held online with believers — both Messianic and Gentile — from all across the world.
Through this, the Lord directed us to the prophecy in Isaiah 19 regarding Egypt and Assyria’s role in the End Times.
At that gathering, Arabic believers from Egypt and across the Middle East also pledged that they would stand with their Jewish Messianic brothers as One in Christ, in the presence of the rest of the international Gentile Church.
This had never happened before!
April 2021…
Lou Engle, a spiritual giant in the faith, was awakened by the Lord to call for a 40-day Yeshua Fast to pray for the nation of Israel. The Lord had given him what he called a “global paradigm shift”. He realised that the issues of abortion and homosexuality that he had been contending fervently for in prayer were simply the training ground for him to be ready for the work of interceding and raising up global prayer for Israel.
Through this fast, many Gentile believers were awakened and directed to pray for the nation of Israel for the first time.
May 2022…
God sovereignly orchestrated a gathering — The Send — amongst His Body of Christ in America for 14 May 2022 at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, USA. (These gatherings were originally planned for 2020 but they were rescheduled because of Covid-19.)
For a few days leading up to it, intercession for the nation of Israel on former President Harry S. Truman’s property took place.
This was a historic event.
Not only did the gathering fall on the same date as the day Israel became independent (14 May 1948), it was a prophetic down payment of a promise given almost 40 years ago to the International House of Prayer, Kansas City. The promise was that there would one day be 5000 intercessors interceding 24/7 for Israel on that property.
Why are these events so significant?
Why is God emphasising the nation of Israel now?
How does this affect us as Gentile believers?
Israel’s Role in God’s Story of Redemption
These are highly significant events because the nation of Israel features prominently in our Lord’s eternal redemptive plan for mankind and as a prophetic signpost in End-Time prophecy.
While this is a vast and huge topic that cannot be fully fleshed out here, suffice it to say that the Lord is not finished with the nation of Israel! Indeed, Scripture says that God’s call for her is irrevocable (Rom. 11:29). God’s redemptive story for humanity has and will always include the nation of Israel. He has no “plan B”!
Scripture has much to say about the nation of Israel and her destiny. This is only a brief snapshot:
- Neither Israel’s role nor calling has been replaced by the Gentile Church (Rom. 11:29);
- Her current state of blindness and rejection of Jesus as Messiah is neither total nor final (Rom. 11:25);
- God is filled with great zeal for her (Zech. 8:2);
- The New Covenant was made with the nation of Israel (Jer. 31:31, Matt. 15:24);
- She is God’s prophetic signpost in His timeline for End-of-the-Age events (Dan. 9:24–27; Matt. 24:32–35);
- Jesus prophesies that Israel and her leaders will acknowledge Him as their Messiah at His Second Coming (Matt. 23:39);
- Israel will play a governmental role to extend Jesus’ rule over nations in the Millennial Kingdom (Book of Isaiah).
Scripture is so filled with promises and prophecies regarding Israel that if we were to remove all that were related to her, we would have very little left of the Bible!
It is also because of her role that Israel will increasingly be persecuted as the kingdom of darkness seeks to thwart God’s redemption plan.
The Isaiah 42:23 Summons to His Gentile Believers in this Hour
In 2021, the Lord spoke to us from Isaiah 42:23:
Who will listen and hear for the time to come?”
The context of this verse specifically refers to a time when Israel will face immense persecution and be utterly plundered by her enemies (Isa. 42:22, 24–25). The Lord highlighted that by the time we enter the New Era of the 2030’s, Israel will become a major point of contention globally.While Israel’s return to her land has always been a divisive issue since it happened in 1948, there will be an acceleration in hostility towards Israel during this decade.
Already, antisemitism is on the rise worldwide and there are even advocates around the world who promote the view that the Holocaust of World War II did not actually happen!
The time is nearer than we think when we will see Biblical End-Time prophecies about Israel’s persecution coming to pass.
Thus, the God of Israel is summoning us as believers in Him to prepare for the time that is to come. He is inviting us to unite our hearts in oneness with His for the apple of His eye. From that place of alignment with Him, He is calling us to stand with her in prayer and for her as an advocate (Isa. 62:6–7).
Indeed, this is not an option! Even when the pressures mount and it is against societal norms to do so, we, as the people of God, are to remain faithful.
The Upcoming Isaiah 62 Fast
What the Lord initiated in 2020 through that online global gathering shows no signs of stopping.
In this Sovereign Appointed Time, He has stirred thousands of believers worldwide to arise and commit to praying for Israel in a 21-Day Global Isaiah 62 Solemn Assembly from May 7 to 28 this year.
This kind of prayer for her is unprecedented in its scope and intensity.
For the first time in history, prayer for Israel will arise to the Lord’s throne unceasingly for 21 days. For the first time in history, hundreds of thousands of believers worldwide will be fasting and praying for her.
The Lord is on the move! One more time, He is issuing the Mordecai call to Gentile believers globally not to remain silent, but to align with the Lord’s heart for Israel and to begin to pray regularly, intentionally, and fervently for her, until Jerusalem is established as a praise in the earth (Esth. 4:14; Isa. 62:6–7)!
Will you respond to His divine summons and His call in such a time as this?
Visit our Loving Israel Mandate webpage for resources to equip yourself in understanding God’s heart for Israel and how to pray for her.
We will be uploading more resources to this page as we approach the Isaiah 62 Fast so do check back regularly!