Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
As featured in the September issue of the Maoz Israel Report
Today, many believers in the world not only don't understand why they should stand with and support Israel, but openly take a stand against her.
Is our little country perfect? Of course not! But perfection was never a prerequisite for God's love.
Quite the contrary! But that does not preclude God's command to every true believer to stand with Israel, love Israel, pray for the Jewish people and support Israel.
In this special message I am speaking on the biblical feasts of the Lord, that the Jews have faithfully celebrated each year through the centuries. These are annual days that the Lord Himself has given to believers to share along with them.
Yeshua has fulfilled the spring feasts prophetically and will come back again to fulfill the fall feasts in the days to come.
I am thankful to have been taught the significance of the biblical feasts and hope to give you fuller understanding also.
Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).
Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.
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Steve Martin - Arms of Love Message - "Feasts of the Lord"
Speaking on the biblical feasts of the Lord, that the Jews have faithfully celebrated each year through the centuries. These are annual days that the Lord Himself has given to believers. Yeshua has fulfilled the spring feasts prophetically and will fulfill the fall feasts in the days to come.
Recorded Sept. 28, 2017 from Love For His People in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot, Pentecost, Shavuot, Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah, Yeshua, Jesus, feasts of the Lord,
Videos filmed and shared by Steve Martin - to give appreciation to and love for those we support, through Love For His People, Inc.
The end of the world is coming again and people wonder, “Is it true this time?”
This year’s doom’s day prediction is scheduled for September 23rd based on an alignment of the stars called Virgo, the constellation of a woman that will be in position over the moon and under 12 stars. As with most end-time predictions, the date corresponds to this year’s Jewish calendar and believers are saying this rare alignment of stars represents the last days woman found in Revelations chapter 12 with “the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.”
What are we to do? With the Jewish holidays just weeks away, we could spend our remaining days and hours (or until next year’s predictions) trying to calculate what the Bible says about the end of the world and wait to see what happens.
But the truth we so easily ignore, and which is often concealed behind these annual doom’s day predictions, is that the end of the world is coming for all of us - and it could be any day, at any hour. By September 23rd, millions around the world will die in car accidents, disease, overdose or in one of the many hurricanes and natural disasters now visiting the earth. Are you ready?
Can you get ready? The idea that we are at the end of the world can be scary, and if so for you, hold that thought for a minute, and ask yourself, “What am I afraid of?” When you discover the answer, think about what changes you could make in your life, where you might better invest your time and how you can make things right with God, and with yourself. Nobody knows better than you what you need to do to get your house in order.
If you clean your house just once a year it becomes an overwhelming task to face. The time you need to clean it, and the energy you would need is so great that you probably give up before you even start. Our lives are not much different than a dirty house. If it hasn’t been cleaned for a long time it's easy to give up. It would be far better to clean regularly, take the garbage out every day, wash your clothes when they are dirty and fix things when they break. Maintain your life, correct, repair and be ready for the end of your world. It could happen any day.
These end of the world scenarios remind me of the safety exercises that are supposed to make us ready for fires, bomb attacks and earthquakes, so that when the real thing happens we won’t become confused and disorientated and get lost. In the Israeli army we use a saying from Alexander Suvorov, the greatest Russian military strategist: “Hard in training, easy in war.” Practicing to be prepared for the coming of our Messiah, or to meet him sooner than we thought, is always a good idea, even if you wonder about the sign of a 12 starred constellation.
Exercise kindness, unselfishness, sympathy, decency, good will and live an upright life before God in your daily life and perhaps the end of the world (or the end of our world) might not be so terrifying. The only way to cope with the disquieting fact of our pending mortality is to practice daily the skills of faith in God and a moral lifestyle until these become so much a part of who you are that you don’t even have to think, or worry, about it anymore because you are prepared.
The Apostle Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians (chap.13) reminds us that we prophecy in part, but faith, hope and love endure forever (not doom, gloom or red moons). One more thing. Remember Noah. The end of his world came true even as he boldly warned the people through his words and actions. How many believed and repented? How many missed that boat?
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Our Father in heaven is longing for this reconnection. (Flickr )
Why It Is Crucial for Jews and Gentiles to Reconnect Now in the One New Man
Just recently I was asked to write an article for the 10 Days Prayer Movement. This new and exciting Prayer Ministry has a vision to mobilize the church to pray and intercede around the Feasts of the Lord; and it is spreading like wild fire across the United States.
This movement was founded by spiritual leader Jonathan Friz, who has been given this vision to help unite the body of Messiah/Christ into a deeper prayer and intercessory focus, and what better time to do this than around God's Feast dates?
As some of you may know, those who have read my articles, I truly believe that the Feasts of the Lord are appointed times to come before Him for all of His children, and that during these dates, the heavens are just that much more open and receptive. It is like the openings to the portals of heaven are wider during these times.
Here is the article and the link to the 10 Days Prayer Movement, which commences on Oct. 2 in numerous cities across the country. Please visit the site for more information:
The Hope of Salvation for the Jewish People
As we draw close to the end days before Yeshua/Jesus returns, Israel's salvation becomes paramount in God's plan to glorify His Son upon the earth (Ezek. 36:22-27).
When we read Romans 11 carefully, we can see that the apostle Paul asks three separate questions relating to Israel's plight and journey and in the third question he asks is: "Did they stumble beyond recovery? Not at all." He then goes on to explain how the Gentile part of the family has a significant role to play in Israel's salvation experience, to help draw them to jealousy and to release God's mercy back to them (Rom. 11:11; 30,31).
In fact, I believe that the whole purpose of Romans chapters 9 and 10 is to lay a foundation to help unravel the great complexity of Israel's salvation experience, which apart from the remnant of Jewish believers (Question 1, Rom. 11:1-6), would come down at the end.
This salvation experience has already begun in a number of ways: in the natural realm through the re-establishment of Israel as a nation, with over 7 million Jews already being drawn back to the promised land from over a 100 nations. Spiritually, we have witnessed the beginning of Israel's awakening through the Messianic Movement, which began en masse in the late 1960s after Israel took back the physical domain of Jerusalem.
These Jewish Messianic believers and those in the church now make up the modern remnant of Israel. It's paramount for Gentile believers to reconnect with Messianic believers as one family to help reunite the kingdom between Jew and Gentile (Eph. 2:19). Gentile believers have a role to fully encourage and bless them into their Jewish identity, so they may reflect Yeshua back to their own people as a Jewish faith.
Restoration and Reconnection
If you are willing to accept it, Israel's restoration has begun. But God needs our help to complete it, as we have a most crucial role to play. So we must be willing to make adjustments for this time, just as the Jewish believers did when the Gentiles first started to come in. "Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins" (Rom. 11:25-27; Deut. 30:4-6; Ezek. 36:22-27).
As this happens, God will not take anything away from the Gentile church but rather bring us into the fullness of the harvest through the unveiling of this mystery that is happening before our very eyes, as His covenants toward Israel are fulfilled. This is a key element here to our understanding in God's end-times glory plan and the two are intricately linked together.
This is why we must now spiritually reconnect to our roots and heritage, as we will never fulfill our end time call as a church operating as a separate entity away from Israel. Nor have we replaced them, but rather are a part of them (Eph. 2:19,20). It may have been permissible to act this way during the "time of the Gentiles," but as we move into this season of fulfillment, we need to reconnect spiritually as family in order for this spiritual transaction to properly work through us.
Unity Through Diversity
When the apostle Paul wrote about the unity of The One New Man (Galatians 3:28,29), he never meant to eliminate the distinction between Jew and Gentile.
When the church was first formed, the Gentiles coming in were naturally associated to its Jewish roots and expression without having to follow the law. However, when Rome took over the church it looked to eliminate this influence and set it apart and so its link to Israel was severed. The unfortunate influence of these successionist teachings have affected the church for some 1,600 years and now need to be broken off of us.
Just look at how Paul behaved when he returned to Jerusalem and how apparent it was that the apostles living there were still following Jewish customs (Acts 20:20-26). This is why he used the example of a man and a woman in the same text. As Jewish and Gentile believers, and as men and women, we are now one through Messiah/Christ in the Spirit through our salvation and are now co-heirs; however, we still perform different roles and have different expressions.
This has become apparent through the Messianic movement and their differing expressions of the faith. Gentiles were not called to practice exactly the same way Jews do, which was seen through the Church in Jerusalem, but also now in the way in which Messianic believers worship and celebrate. Yet we are called to be one in Spirit with Israel's Remnant; to love one another as Messiah loves His church. Especially now so our Lord can return to us, we must be re-united as one family; to be able to freely bless each other from within the unity of the one new man.
Our Father in heaven is longing for this reconnection. It is His design and footprint for this time and the very heart of Jesus' prayer in John 17, that His end-times power would be unleashed upon His church through the unity of Jew and Gentile.
We are entering a new day in the Spirit, and He is beginning to draw His body together back into the fullness of the one new man so greater unity and power will flow through us to reach a lost and dying world. In this light, there is a huge need for prayer and intercession to help bring this about, not only for Israel's salvation, but also to awaken the church into this end-times role.
Grant Berryis a Jewish believer in Yeshua/Jesus and author of The New Covenant Prophecy and The Ezekiel Generation. He has founded Reconnecting Ministries with the specific focus to help the church reconnect spiritually to Israel and considers it vital to the kingdom of G-d in the last days. His message focuses on the unity, love and healing that the Father wants to bring between Jew and Gentile yet clearly points out the differences and misunderstandings between the two groups. Now is the time to look more carefully into this mystery to make way for healing and reconnection in the Spirit. For more information, please visit reconnectingministries.org.
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An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man walks near ritual booths, known as sukkot, in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood. (Reuters)
What is the Sukkot—and What Does it Mean?
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Sukkot, also known as the Festival of Booths, began this year at sundown Sunday (Sept. 27). What is this holiday that makes Jews eat their meals al fresco? Let us explain ...
Q. Why are my Jewish neighbors eating in a little house in their yard this week?
A. That's a sukkah they've constructed for Sukkot, a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the harvest and commemorates the Israelites' wandering in the desert for 40 years after their liberation from slavery. Sukkahs approximate the temporary dwellings they lived in before they reached the Promised Land.
"For a seven-day period you shall live in booths," God commands in Leviticus 23:42-43. "In order that your ensuing generations should know that I had the children of Israel live in booths when I took them out of the land of Egypt."
Q. Can a sukkah be your garage, tool shed or sun porch?
A: Nope. There are many specific rules about building a sukkah. Among them: It's got to be outdoors under the open sky and it may not stand so tall that it feels like a house. Sukkah builders have plenty of choices for the wall material. But the ancient rabbis required the roof to be made of something natural, such as bamboo, cornstalks or straw. It's known as "sechach," and it must provide shade, but also allow the stars to be seen at night.
The sukkah is purposefully an impermanent structure that reminds Jews of the fragility of earthly creations, as contrasted with the solidity of faith and tradition. It's also supposed to be a joyous place — many are decorated with children's drawings, and sukkah meals are to be shared with guests.
Q: What if you live in an apartment building? How can you build a sukkah?
A: "People build them on balconies," said Rabbi Deborah Bodin Cohen, director of congregational learning at Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac, Md. "If you're in Israel, you'll see this all over the place." No balcony? Apartment-dwelling Jews often build a communal sukkah on the roof or next to the building. "Or you can go to a synagogue's or a friend's sukkah," Cohen said.
Q: Do you have to sleep in there too?
A: Yes but no. The Talmud, the record of Jewish rabbinic teachings, teaches that a man should dwell in the sukkah during Sukkot, making it his home for the holidays. But the obligation is lifted if sleeping there would be uncomfortable. Most Western Jews sleep in their bedrooms during the holiday.
Q: Now my Jewish neighbors are shaking a long green thing and a giant lemon. What is happening here?
A: The green thing is the "lulav," a palm branch that is grouped with myrtle and willow branches and a yellow citrus fruit called an "etrog." Together they make up the four species mentioned in Leviticus 23:40. During Sukkot prayers, they are gathered in the hands and waved — up and down, left and right, forward and back. "It represents God's presence in all directions," said Cohen.
Q: I don't think they sell etrogs at my supermarket.
They probably don't. Jews around the world usually order them and lulavs from Israel.
Q: How can I learn more?
Online resources for adults on Sukkot include those from the Chabad movement and the Union for Reform Judaism. And you can watch an Israeli film that takes place during Sukkot and illustrates the many aspects of the holiday, called "Ushpizin," or "guests," in Hebrew.
Two fun book for kids are "A Watermelon in the Sukkah" by Sylvia A. Rouss and Shannan Rouss, and "Engineer Ari and the Sukkah Express" by Deborah Bodin Cohen.
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We all need to be ready for the fall feasts, no matter what we're anticipating in society. (Flickr )
Some Christian leaders warn that on or about Rosh Hashana (September 13, 2015) the U.S. economy will collapse, global disasters will result, and cataclysmic war against Israel will follow. At the outset, I must forthrightly say God has not told me that shattering life changes will occur in America or on a global level this coming month, this fall, this year or on any specific date.
But to be fair, He hasn't told me He won't change life, as the Western world knows it, in the near future either. In any case, the times are critical by most objective measures. And sin, which is intensifying rapidly on a global level, He must judge.
In prayerfully seeking Bible-based and Spirit-sensitive insight on the fall feast season from a Messianic Jewish perspective, here's the sum of what I've learned: God's gracious call to surrender more fully to Him is now urgent. If commotion about calendar convergence is what it takes for us to surrender to Him more fully, then that is what He'll use. Meanwhile, it is good that followers of Yeshua gain sensitivity to His calendar, the biblical calendar maintained faithfully by the Jewish people.
If you and I respond to God's call to surrender and something cataclysmic happens very soon, He will have prepared us. If we respond and nothing happens, He will still have had His way with us. We will still be better prepared for the future by being more conformed to the likeness of Yeshua.
In that spirit, I hope this article offers some clarity, biblical mooring and recalibration to believers who may be worried or troubled about the coming fall feasts.
5 'To-Dos' (Each begins with an "R" for ease in remembrance.)
1. Remember Who God is. To rightly engage with what God will do, we must first remember Who God is. Because He is holy and just, God judges sin. Because He is loving, He does what's best for us. Because He is merciful, He forgives when we turn to Him. Because He is sovereign, He's always in control. Because He's redemptive, He wants all humanity saved. Because He's victorious, He gives us peace. Because He's gracious, He provides what we need. Because He's covenant-keeping, He's passionately engaged with Israel. Our response to any future, major life change should derive from and reflect God's character (Exodus 3:13-14).
2. Remain in the Word. This point can't be overstated! Make time, if you don't have it, to abide in the cleansing vitality of God's Word. Humble yourself with fresh expectancy to be shown truth. From Scripture, God will prepare and empower you for whatever life brings, whenever (John 16:33).
3. Repent, personally. Ask the Holy Spirit to graciously reveal your own sin. And don't forget the sin of fearing the future! Not all, but many of the prophetic warnings about the fall feasts seem more fear-driven than divinely-driven. Focus less on personal survival and more on public revival. Humbly but boldly intercede for a nationwide spirit of repentance, that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
4. Rejoice in the fall feasts. Rosh Hashana, known more accurately as the Feast of Trumpets or Day of Judgment, should be welcomed, not dreaded. The biblical name for the holiday is Yom Teruah, literally meaning Day of Blasting. It is a day to blow trumpets, awakening God's people from spiritual slumber. Yom Teruah sounds an alarm to prepare us for reckoning and judgment ten days later on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement or Day of Covering). It is God's gracious call to judge ourselves so that He needn't do so. As we turn to Him we rejoice in His righteous judgments that will restore all things. We rejoice in the atoning sacrifice of His Son, Messiah Yeshua. We celebrate His dwelling with us forever, foreshadowed in the Feast of Tabernacles five days later (1 Corinthians 11:31).
5. Readiness. Get re-filled daily with the Holy Spirit. Shift from a defensive posture to the offensive! You and I are in a joyful war for souls. When crisis shakes complacency, opportunity results. Be ready to give the reason for the hope that's in you. It's reasonable, by the way, for readiness to involve the natural as well as supernatural. It's good, if you can, to store a few essentials for your family and others in need. The goal is not to selfishly hoard but selflessly help. Exactly how to make ready on a tangible level varies from person to person and place to place. But in every instance, we're told to do all from love, even as God's love will enable us to stand firm to the end (Luke 17:33, Matthew 24:12-13).
Sandra Teplinsky has been in the Messianic Jewish ministry since 1979. She is president ofLight of Zion, an outreach to Israel and the church based in Southern California and Jerusalem. She is an ordained minister and prophetic conference speaker, and has written several books and articles about Israel and the church.
For All, Here is God's Redemptive Plan in the Feasts of Israel
Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur and the Feast of Tabernacles should be celebrated by Jews and Gentiles alike.
In preparation for the fall feasts of Israel, let's take a step back and look at the feasts as a whole. Are they merely fascinating historical occurrences, or do they hold deeper relevance for believers in Yeshua (Jesus) today, whether you're Jewish or Gentile?
Throughout the ages, God has sought after the people of Israel, in order to bless them and to make them a blessing to many peoples (Gen. 12:2-3). He also gave Israel a sacred trust—to bear His Name and to be the nation from which His redemptive plan for the world would go forth (John 4:22). This plan is illustrated in the feasts He ordained.
These annual feasts are called "moedim" in Hebrew, meaning, "appointments." In a sense, these "appointed times of the Lord" (Lev. 23:4) constitute God's agenda with His redeemed people. Ultimately, they provide a Biblical and historical foundation for faith in Yeshua.
Messiah Yeshua was to be the fulfillment of the feasts; indeed, He is the purpose for their existence. "These (Feasts, Sabbath day ...) are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Messiah" (Col. 2:17). Even as all Scripture is inspired and profitable, these "shadows" are relevant for followers of Messiah today because they never stop pointing to Him! (2 Tim. 3:16).
So, what are these feasts and how do they outline God's redemptive program? God's seven annual appointed times are laid out in Leviticus 23. The first three feasts—Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits—are celebrated in the springtime. These feasts illustrate the redemption accomplished in Yeshua's first coming, when He became the "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world," (John 1:29) and through His resurrection, our "Firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Cor. 15:20).
The fourth feast, Pentecost (or "Feast of Weeks"), speaks of the establishment of the Body of Messiah when the Holy Spirit was poured out at this feast's fulfillment (Acts 2:1).
The final three feasts come in the fall, during the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. As the biblically significant number seven indicates, the fall feasts point to a time of completion and paint a prophetic picture of the coming fulfillment of God's redemptive program.
The Feast of Trumpets (Lev. 23:23-25) is commonly called Rosh HaShanah or the Jewish New Year. When the Jewish people came out of Babylonian captivity, they adopted the Babylonian civil New Year as their own.
Even though it falls on the first day of the seventh month, it is called New Year's Day. Because there is very little biblical information on this mysterious feast, Jewish tradition teaches that the blowing of trumpets, or shofars, during this feast recalls the ram's horns Joshua and the Israelites used at Jericho, and of the ram that Abraham sacrificed in place of Isaac.
Scripture notes a time when Israel is gathered back to the land by the "blowing of a great ram's horn" (Is. 27:13), and in the New Covenant, Paul explains this mystery as a time when all believers will be gathered to Messiah (1 Cor. 15:51,52; 1 Thess. 4:16-18). And because none of us know the exact time of this future "blowing of the trumpet," the Feast of Trumpets should motivate us to readiness and service.
The next fall feast is the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). In Jewish tradition, this day is for Jewish individuals to "get right" with God. Biblically, it was a day for Israel to be restored to God as a servant nation (Lev 16, 23:26-32). Prophetically, it points to the time when Israel as a nation will be gathered to Messiah Yeshua.
At the end of the coming tribulation period, Israel as a nation will "look on Me (Messiah) whom they have pierced and mourn for Him as one mourns for a firstborn son" (Zech. 12:10). In that day, Israel will receive "cleansing from sin and impurity" (Zech 13:1), be grafted back into "their own olive tree," and "thus all Israel will be saved!" (Rom. 11:23-26). The Day of Atonement reminds us that this national gathering of Israel is coming, motivating us to share the Good News of Messiah "to the Jew first and also to the Gentile" (Rom. 1:16).
Finally comes the Feast of Tabernacles (or the "Feast of Booths"). This harvest festival is called "Booths" because God commanded Israel to live in booths each year during this feast, to remember the time in the wilderness and how the Lord alone is our protection and security. This feast is also called the "Feast of Ingathering" (Ex. 23:16).
Today it is celebrated as a final harvest festival, accompanied by great joy in the provision of God for His people. Zechariah prophesied that the nations will one day be "ingathered" to Messiah. One day all surviving nations which had once attacked Israel will honor the King of Kings, the Messiah of Israel, by celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem each year (Zech. 14:16-18).
We see the seventh month as pointing to the time when God will complete His redemptive plan, by gathering the Body of Messiah (the Feast of Trumpets), gathering the nation of Israel (the Day of Atonement), and gathering all nations (the Feast of Tabernacles) to Himself.
I hope that this article has given you a clearer picture of the amazing, incomprehensible love of God as you consider His redemptive plan in the context of His appointed times.
The Feasts of Israel are special times for all who trust in the One that they speak of, as we remember the great salvation He has provided for us, anticipate His glorious coming, and use them to share His great love and plan with Jewish and non-Jewish people who don't yet know Him!
Dr. Sam Nadleris a Jewish believer in Jesus and has been in Messianic Jewish ministry for over 40 years. Sam is the president of Word of Messiah Ministries, which is bringing the Good News to the Jew first but not to the Jew only, and planting Messianic Congregations in Jewish communities worldwide. To equip the Body of Messiah in our shared calling, Sam has written multiple books on Jewish evangelism, discipleship, and the Feasts of Israel. Sam mentors Messianic leaders around the world, and regularly holds leadership conferences to train and encourage congregation planters in their vital ministry. For more information and resources, visit: www.wordofmessiah.org.
The Hope of Salvation for the Jewish People
