Open Doors to the Good News in 5778/2018

The Hebrew year 5777 has ended, and we are now in 5778, which some are calling the Year of the Door. This is because Chet, the 8th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, represents the 8 in 5778 and signifies a door. It brings to mind Rav Shaul’s (the apostle Paul’s) words in 1 Corinthians 16:9, regarding how “a great door has opened wide for me, though many are in opposition.”

As we look at the list of upcoming Jewish Voice Ministries Outreaches for 5778/2018, we see six critical doors of opportunity for the healing love and saving power of Yeshua (Jesus) to be made known:

• Ethiopia – March 15-25, 2018
• Zimbabwe – April 19-30, 2018
• Ethiopia – May 24-June 3, 2018
• Southern Africa – July 19-30, 2018
• Zimbabwe – August 23-September 2, 2018
• Ethiopia – October 4-14, 2018

Please join us as we begin to saturate each location with prayer!

Let’s pray:

• Lord, please finalize every detail and give us favor – Your favor, as well as that of the local and national leaders and authorities in each area and in each country
• We listen so carefully for Your will regarding where we should go. We continue to listen, Lord. You see and know what we do not. Close any doors that are not of You, and open any new ones You are calling us to enter
• Father, we have often experienced that open doors entail much opposition. Begin to soften hearts and break down resistance in these places. Stir prayer that moves mountains for each nation You have put before us
• As Believers, congregations and other groups begin to look ahead to 2018, may they purpose to come on Outreaches with us and bring others with them
• Help us – as people of prayer – to have faith to believe You for the future, as we pray through these dates and places that extend well into next year
• Deepen our desire to see all Israel – all the Jewish people of the world – saved, as well as their neighbors, and give us a greater burden for the urgency of the Gospel
• Open the eyes of those we are reaching out to that they may see Yeshua IS the door, the only way to salvation, according to John 10:7. May they see and believe! In Yeshua’s name, AMEN

Thank you, Prayer Partners, for paving the way with your prayers for us to move through the open doors the Lord has for us. May He open doors of favor for you as well!

“But for me, it is good to be near God.” (Psalm 73:28a TLV).

At Sukkot, we celebrate not only God’s presence with the Israelites in the wilderness, but also his presence with us today as His Holy Spirit dwells in all who have professed faith in Messiah Yeshua.

The Lord Almighty is also the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3). He is always present, and, with His presence, He provides us His deep comfort. The Messianic prophecy found in Isaiah 53:3 tells us that Yeshua (Jesus) was a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” Yeshua walked this sin-scarred earth, and He knows the human heart’s need for comfort amid suffering.

In the midst of suffering, we may think that the only effective comfort would be for the pain to go away, the situation to resolve or the hardship to ease. But in the same way He gives us joy, God offers us comfort that extends beyond our circumstances. And He never leaves us without access to His deep love and comfort.

The Bible tells us that there is abundant comfort through Messiah (2 Corinthians 1:5). God comforts the depressed (2 Corinthians 7:6) and the afflicted (2 Corinthians 1:4). His consolations, guidance and protection comfort the soul (Psalm 94:19, Psalm 23:4).

How has God’s presence comforted you in times past? How can He bring you comfort today?

Shout for joy, heavens! Rejoice, earth! Break forth into ringing shouts, O mountains! For Adonai has comforted His people and has compassion on His afflicted” (Isaiah 49:13 TLV).

But for me, it is good to be near God.” (Psalm 73:28a TLV).

At Sukkot, we celebrate not only God’s presence with the Israelites in the wilderness, but also his presence with us today as His Holy Spirit dwells in all who have professed faith in Messiah Yeshua.

We all want to be known – truly known and understood. No one knows us like God. He knows the good and the bad about us, and He understands the hurts and struggles that trip us up. God knows our frailty. “For He knows our frame. He remembers that we are but dust” (Psalm 103:14).

For some, being fully known can be a bit uncomfortable. After all, each of our lives contains a mix of faith and sin, beauty and ugliness. However, the Bible assures us that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Messiah Yeshua” and that nothing can change God’s love for us (Romans 8:1, 37-39). So, being completely known by God offers us a comfort and calm that we can find nowhere else.

God is with you always. Today, may you find rest in being fully known by Him.

“Adonai, You searched me and know me. Whenever I sit down or stand up, You know it. You discern my thinking from afar. You observe my journeying and my resting and You are familiar with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, Adonai, You know all about it” (Psalm 139:1-4 TLV).

The year 2011 began with the release of Jonathan’s second book, A Rabbi Looks at Jesus of Nazareth. In March, Jewish Voice Ministries announced the birth of Hannah Bernis, Jonathan and Elisangela’s second daughter.

As Jonathan’s family was growing, so was the ministry and staff of Jewish Voice. The media department remained at the studio facility, but other departments moved into a new building with space for a chapel, prayer room, a warehouse for product inventory, and ample room for the Global Outreach team’s Medical Clinic preparations.

In the news, Venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil announced they would recognize a Palestinian state with a Jerusalem capital. Jonathan told Jewish Voice Today readers: Standing with Israel has never been popular, and I believe it’s going to become even more divisive issue in the months ahead.

Jewish Voice will always stand with Israel – the Apple of God’s eye – and will inspire and equip you with what you need to stand firm as well. Jewish Voice held a three-night festival in Rosario, Argentina, in August 2011, and 9,500 people attended and enjoyed the lively music and dancing. The festival resulted in 450 people coming to new faith in Yeshua (Jesus) along with 3,000 who filled out cards to receive more information; 300 of those acknowledged being Jewish.

By the beginning of 2012, the world had already been chattering for some time about the ancient Mayan calendar that went no further than 2012. As the world panicked wondering if this was a prophecy of the world’s end, Jonathan Bernis encouraged Believers saying, “Though the world around us may be reeling with uncertainty, we have ‘put our hope in the living God’ (1 Timothy 4:10).” That same year, the organization introduced its Jewish Voice Today readers to perhaps some of the most difficult-to-reach Jewish people, those living right here in the United States. In his opening letter of the March/April issue, Jonathan explained: Generally speaking, American Jews are not as open to the Gospel as Jewish communities in Ethiopia or India.

The Western Jew may be put off by Christian terminology, which harkens back to a 2,000-year legacy of persecution in the name of Christ and Christianity. The Western Jew may not see his need for a savior or [may] have an entirely different expectation of Messiah, if any at all. Yet, the biblical call remains the same: “To the Jew first” (Romans 1:16). We must be willing to answer the call and take the Good News not only to the Jews scattered around the world, but to those here in America as well. Jewish Voice Ministries worked to prepare for the launch of a television special that was three years in the making.

The following year, the ministry would share the miraculous story of Israel and reach out to American Jewish people with the message of the Messiah. In September, 22,700 people attended the Mexico City Hear O’ Israel Festival of Jewish Music & Dance held in the Auditorio Nacional. A big part of each festival is the street ministry that takes place the week before the events.

As team members distributed invitations on the streets of Mexico City, they also led 302 people to faith in Yeshua. In all, 773 people accepted the Messiah, and Outreach partners planted Gospel seeds among tens of thousands. Also in 2012, Jewish Voice conducted its first Medical Outreach to a newly encountered group of Jewish people with clear ties to the ancient Levites – the Lemba of Zimbabwe. That first Clinic would launch an explosion of new Messianic Believers, leaders and congregations in Zimbabwe.

Find out more about the Lemba in next month’s edition of our JVMI 50th Anniversary blog series.

Join us on the Jewish Voice Blog each month in 2017 as we unfold the Jewish Voice story and show how two ministries with the same heart merged and became Jewish Voice Ministries International as you know it today.

Check out Flashback Fridays on our Facebook page, where you’ll see glimpses of our 50-year journey.

Discover the entire inspiring JVMI story with our beautiful, full-color coffee table book, Jewish Voice: A Look at 50 Years.

Through more than 200 photographs, it chronicles 50 years of ministry, including biographies, stories and reflections from television guests, partners and staff.

Previous JVMI 50th Anniversary blog posts:

Meet Louis and Chira Kaplan

The Early Years - Jewish Voice Broadcasts

Jonathan Bernis

Hear O’ Israel Ministries

Meeting, Partnering, and Merging

Jewish Voice Ministries International

Called to Ethiopia

JVMI: 2008–2010

The Feast of Sukkot is the only biblical festival in which God commands Israel to rejoice (Leviticus 23:40).

Sukkot is a feast of many names. Sukkot (soo-KOTE) is the Hebrew word for “booths,” also referred to as “tabernacles.” Therefore, the festival is also called The Feast of Booths and the Feast of Tabernacles. Sukkot is also sometimes called the Feast of Ingathering because it is celebrated following the last harvest before winter.

God’s instructions for observing Sukkot are found in the Torah in Leviticus 23, Numbers 29 and Deuteronomy 16.

The eight-day Feast of Sukkot is highlighted by God’s command to build booths, temporary structures, and dwell in them for seven days. The Feast begins and ends with a Sabbath. The first day includes a Sabbath rest as well as a sacred assembly where a lulav (LOO-lahv), a bundle of four specific types of vegetation, is waved before the Lord. The lulav celebration developed from Leviticus 23:40 where God instructed Israel to take these branches “and rejoice before the Lord.”

Today, Messianic Jews and other Jewish people around the world celebrate the Feast of Sukkot in the same way. Each family builds a sukkah (SOUH-kah) in the backyard, or on a patio or balcony if they live in an apartment or condominium. Meals are eaten in the sukkah, and friends are often invited to visit. While not all choose to sleep in the sukkah, many do.

Here are three reasons we can rejoice during Sukkot.

God’s Provision

The booths of Sukkot remind us of God’s provision for our ancestors who lived in tents in the wilderness for 40 years. God protected them, provided for their needs and supplied food each day. He made water spring from rocks, and He supernaturally prevented their clothes and sandals from wearing out through all that time. Living in a sukkah (SUH-kah) for seven days each year offers a vivid reminder of how God continues to care for us today.

God’s Promise

As Jewish people look up at the evening sky through the leafy roof of their sukkot, they remember God’s promise to make Abraham’s descendants as numerous as the stars of the heavens. God is faithful. He keeps His covenants. Sukkot celebrates His steadfast love and commitment to His people.

God’s Presence

God was with Israel when they wandered in the wilderness. First, He was present with them in the pillars of cloud by day and fire by night. His presence dwelled in the Tabernacle. Moses prayed, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here” (Exodus 33:15 NIV). Reflecting on Israel’s years in the Sinai desert reminds us of how important God’s presence was and is today.

When Messianic Jews and other Believers placed their faith in Yeshua the Messiah, God sent His Spirit to dwell within us (1 Corinthians 3:16). Psalm 16:11 says, “…abundance of joys are in Your presence, eternal pleasures at Your right hand.” At Sukkot, we rejoice in God’s presence.

Each of the biblical Feasts of the Lord foreshadow God’s redemptive plan for mankind. Sukkot looks ahead to Yeshua’s Second Coming when He will dwell with Believers in His eternal Kingdom.

Applying Sukkot to Your Life

• How has God provided for you recently?

• How has God blessed you through His biblical promises?

• How have you recently enjoyed God’s presence?