WHY ISRAEL? by Derek Prince

WHY ISRAEL?

BY DERECK PRINCE

One of the best ways we can begin to repay that debt of love is by prayer and intercession.  As our awareness of Israel’s place in God’s plans grows, let’s open the Scriptures to gain a clearer understanding of the significance of the land and the people of Israel.

 To pray effectively for Israel and the Jews, we need to be informed about them. The information we need does not come from the world’s perspective or from the media. It comes from God’s viewpoint, which we find in the Bible.

Chapter 1

  The name Israel describes the nation descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember that Jacob was renamed Israel, and from his twelve sons are derived the twelve tribes of Israel. Later on, the people of Israel were called Jews. So really, Jews and Israel today are synonymous.

  In the New Testament, the name Israel occurs seventy-seven times, and these references are never, never applied to the Church. Please hear that again very clearly—the name Israel occurs seventy-seven times in the New Testament and never once is it a description of the Church. The word “Jew” occurs seventy-five times in the Old Testament and one hundred eighty-eight times in the New Testament. On the other hand, the term “Christian” occurs only three times in the New Testament. These numbers indicate the significance the Lord has placed on the people and nation of Israel.

A Unique People

 I want to emphasize in this first chapter that Israel is a unique people. There is no one else like Israel. As we consider the uniqueness of Israel, let’s begin by examining what is stated by David in 1 Chronicles 17:21. Praying to the Lord, David says:

  • Who is like Your people Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people—to make for Yourself a name by great and awesome deeds, by driving out nations from before Your people whom You redeemed from Egypt?

In this prayer, David is saying there is no other nation whom God set out to redeem. He portrays Israel as a nation set apart from other nations. One unchallengeable fact emerges from this text: Israel is unique. The remarkable fact is that Israel did not choose this uniqueness; God chose it. This means if we pray for them just like we pray for any other nation, we are not praying with insight or understanding. In other words, we would not be praying in line with Scripture.

 Let us look at the previous verse, verse 20, which states the uniqueness of Israel. I realized for the first time in a recent study how directly verse 21 relates to the previous verse. It is important to recognize that the uniqueness of Israel springs out of the uniqueness of God.

Verse 20 says,

  • “O LORD, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. And who is like Your people Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people.”

We cannot pray effectively for Israel if we classify them with other nations. They are a unique people with a unique destiny expressing the uniqueness of their God. We cannot pray effectively if we pray a general prayer for all nations, including Israel. The facts of Scripture bear out their uniqueness.

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WHAT WILL THE LORD DO? – WHAT WILL YOU DO?

WHAT WILL THE LORD DO? –
WHAT WILL YOU DO?

BY JOHN PROSSER, PRESIDENT, OEUSA

Know therefore this day that the Lord your God is He Who goes over before you as a devouring fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall dispossess them and make them perish quickly, as the Lord has promised you.

Deuteronomy 9:3 AMPC

As I write this article, Israel is at war! It is under attack by formidable enemies whose sole mission is to annihilate Israel. Militant terrorists have carried out the deadliest attack in Israel’s history, perpetrating barbaric acts of violence against Jewish men, women, and innocent children. The Jewish people have not witnessed such violence and loss of life since the Holocaust. This act of war against Israel has propelled the world to great instability and great danger. These are indeed perilous times. 

This is the time. This is the day. This is the hour for “we the people” – those who believe and trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – to stand and raise their voices in prayer and support for the Jewish people and for their nation – Israel. Just as God called Moses and chose him to be an instrument in His hand to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, to free them from slavery and lead them into their Promised Land, we too must stand in intercession for the Israelites. We must plead with the LORD for the sparing of His people as we read in Deuteronomy 9:26: “And I prayed to the LORD, O LORD God, do not destroy Your people and Your heritage, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.” (AMPC) Our intercession must be like Moses’ cry before God. We must identify with their suffering and pray that they will cry out to their God to save them! The LORD is faithful to answer their cries!

We are witnessing the buildup of world events that will bring about the culmination of the second exodus. The mighty Hand of God orchestrated the first exodus, and He is orchestrating a mass Aliyah to bring His people home to their Promised Land – Israel. Today, many are asking, “What will Israel do?” to defend itself against its mortal enemies? I believe the most crucial question to ask now is, “What will the LORD do? What is His plan?” We have full confidence, and we trust that the God of Israel will deliver His people from this present-day enemy – for His great Name’s sake! “For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself.” (1 Samuel 12:22 ESV) 

This is a time for action to help God’s people as they face the perils of this wicked war. Our personal responses to the LORD’s call to service will greatly impact our own personal lives and the lives of our Jewish friends. The needs will be great, and we will work together with Ebenezer Operation Exodus International to provide help and relief to Jewish people in new and unique ways!

This war also has the potential to bring dire consequences to America, placing Jewish people in grave danger. They need our prayers and support as never before as anti-Semitism continues to increase radically and grow louder throughout our nation. Are you prepared to answer God’s call to serve Him and His chosen people in perilous times? Let us join our voices to the LORD in thanksgiving and praise! “Sing to ADONAI! Praise ADONAI! For he rescues those in need from the clutches of evildoers.” Jeremiah 20:13 CJ 

THE LORD’S APPOINTED TIME TO FAVOR ZION

THE LORD’S APPOINTED TIME TO FAVOR ZION

BY JAMES MACLEAN, BOARD DIRECTOR, OEUSA

But You, ADONAI, sit enthroned forever. Your renown is from generation to generation.
You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her,for the appointed time has come, for her stones are dear to Your servants, and they cherish her dust. So the nations will fear ADONAI’s Name and all the kings of the earth Your glory.

Psalm 102:13-16 TLV

As Israel celebrates the 75th anniversary of her rebirth, we see her former desolation now cultivated, vineyards are flourishing on the hills of Samaria, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited by the exiles who have been regathered to the Land. In His mercy, God has arisen to fulfill His prophetic promises and to display to the world that His appointed time to favor Zion has come. This past May, God initiated a move that has brought into focus His everlasting love story with Jacob. If properly stewarded, this move will intensify and accelerate His parallel plans for the restorations of Israel and the Church – both of whom He has declared as holy nations set apart for Himself.

For the three weeks preceding Shavuot (Pentecost), many in the worldwide Church responded to a call to fast and pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the fulfillment of God’s covenant to redeem and restore Israel. Isaiah 62, the foundational Scripture for this call, details God’s plan for the restoration of the Land and His people, as well as the pivotal role the Church is to play in advancing His purposes. In this passage, the Church is depicted as fulfilling its call to administer God’s government in the earth through intercession. The intercessors’ relentless Israel’s glorious restoration is complete.

The hope of restoration rests not upon the faithfulness of the people, but upon the perfect faithfulness of a covenant-keeping God. He has staked the holiness of His name upon His triumphant restoration of all things. When He initiates something, its birth is exciting, but its maturity is His purpose. We see Him imparting to His Church His love for Israel – the Land to which He is married – and His people in whom He delights. Simultaneously, we see Him imparting to the heart of His Church its desperate need for His government. The maturity of these parallel initiatives will yield Isaiah 62’s fulfillment – His Church with His heart for His people, aligned with His purposes, establishing His Word in the earth under His authority.

How does a people who by nature seek to self-govern according to their ways and thoughts be transformed into the administrative assembly of God’s government according to His ways and His thoughts? Let us consider the declaration of the psalmist: “How precious is Your loving kindness, O God! The sons of man take shelter in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your delights.” Psalm 36:7-9

To whom does this offer of shelter apply? “Sons of man” indicates that all who bear the nature of man are included. It is not exclusive. These sons and daughters can come with their thoughts and their ways to Him and take refuge under the protections His government affords. He draws the sons of man to abide in the shadow of the Almighty, where His impenetrable wings protect against every external force. However,  a far more glorious provision than just protection is offered. He affords all that He has and all who He is to those who choose to partake from the abundance of His house and the river of His delights (or pleasures). There, He desires to share Himself – His delights, His purposes, His ways, His thoughts, His character, His righteousness, and His peace.

By necessity and by call, God is leading His Church to take refuge in Him, abide there, be sustained there, and be transformed there. Let us yield to His drawing and avail ourselves of His banquet table. There, we partake of His nature and cultivate a sophisticated palate able to discern the delicacies of His Kingdom and prepared to reject the cheap imitation. As He shares from the river of His delights, we encounter that which delights Him – what He loves, who He loves, and to what He remains zealous.

The Blood of His covenant has set us free from the wells that never satisfy. Let us take hope in the increase of His government, return, and abide in the shelter of His wings. Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord by feasting on the abundance of His house and drinking from the river of His delights. Let us press past the repetition of repentance that stalls at refreshing, and yield to the restoration to which He has committed the glory of His name.

These past 75 years have demonstrated that these are the days God has appointed to favor Zion. The Isaiah 62 prayer movement calls for the Church’s restoration to be established through its yielded participation in the restoration of Israel. He is imparting to His servants His love for her stones as He rebuilds them, and His compassion on His people born of her dust, who in His acceptance are restored to life from the dead. He is calling His Church to incline their hearts and minds to His call to active alignment with His revealed promise of restoration. This Isaiah 62 prayer movement indicates that now is the appointed time for the Church to arise in harmony with Her King to favor Zion.