“Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.”

3 John 1:2 (NIV)
 

Shalom!

Weeks ago, before the words “coronavirus,” “pandemic” and “social distancing” became part of our daily language, you could turn on the news at any time and hear what was going on in Israel. Now, everyone is so focused on their own slice of the world that Israel barely gets a mention.

We at Jewish Voice are still paying close attention to Israel and what is happening there. Last week, before the start of Passover, Ezra Benjamin and Carly Berna, two of our Jewish Voice staff members, conducted video interviews with four people very familiar with Israel to get an inside look at the situation.

I strongly encourage you to watch these interviews and learn what is taking place in Israel so you know how you can be praying for the Jewish people in this time of great turmoil - and great opportunity.

Yeshua declares He is our Hope and has Overcome.

“The revelation of Yeshua the Messiah, which God gave Him to show to His servants the things that must soon take place.”

            —Revelation 1:1 TLV

In Revelation chapter 1, we find that God is revealing and has revealed Yeshua our salvation, but he wants us to see Yeshua as not just the suffering servant, but also as the King of kings and Lord of lords. Look how John describes Yeshua and how Yeshua reveals himself to John in this chapter.

John says…

“…Messiah Yeshua, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the Earth. To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom, kohanim (priest) to His God and Father—to Him be glory and power forever! Amen!”

            —Revelation 1:5-6 TLV

Yeshua then reveals Himself as…

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says Adonai Elohim, “Who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty!”

            —Revelation 1:8 TLV

Next, John begins to describe the revealing of the glorified Messiah…

“I saw One like a Son of Man, clothed in a robe down to His feet, with a golden belt wrapped around His chest. His head and His hair were white like wool, white like snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire. His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of rushing waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came forth a sharp, two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at full strength.”

            —Revelation 1:13-16 TLV

John is stunned and even says that he wants to fall down like a dead man, but Yeshua gives John hope, encouragement and inspiration to overcome! Look at what Yeshua says…

“Do not be afraid! I am the First and the Last, and the One who lives. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever! Moreover, I hold the keys of death and Sheol (Hell).”

            —Revelation 1:17b-18 TLV

WOW! Look at how Yeshua teaches us:

• Don't Be Afraid!
• He Lives Forever!
• He holds the keys of death and Sheol!

Yeshua gives us the ultimate way to find hope, encouragement, and the path to overcoming by revealing to us that He lives forever and has all authority in Heaven and on Earth. Yeshua shepherds our lives and hearts by encouraging us to look at His overcoming work! My encouragement to you is, “Don’t be Afraid!” We are in unchartered times in history right now, but that doesn’t mean we need to be fearful or that we do not have a hope; our hope is in Him…He has overcome!

I hope this dive into the beginning of Revelation has inspired and encouraged you.

Now take some time to carefully reflect on the questions below and journal your answers.

1. What is God saying through His Word?
2. What is God saying to me?
3. How should/can I respond?

When we face times of trial or uncertainty in the world as Believers we should first turn to the Scriptures and prayer. We often look at the scriptures as our source of hope, encouragement or to be inspired to overcome. We tend to look in lots of places in the Scriptures other than the book of Revelation as a source of hope. However, I think you can find encouragement and should take time to use this book as a source of inspiration.

In the book of Revelation, we find the world to be in the most dramatic and unique time of history –at the end of the age. Yet the book of Revelation shows when Believers are faced with great adversity, they OVERCOME! If you want to find hope and inspiration for the days we live in now then we should look at the future and apply that wisdom today.

Over the next seven days we will cover:

• Revelation 1 - He is our Hope and Overcomer - Yeshua declares He is our Hope and has Overcome
• Revelation 4 - Finding Hope and Overcoming through Praise and Proclamation
• Revelation 12 - Overcoming by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of our Testimony
• Revelation 15 - Finding Hope and Overcoming through Worship
• Revelation 19 - We have been invited to the Wedding Banquet of the Lamb - Be Encouraged!
• Revelation 22 - Hope and Encouragement found in the Tree of Life
• Revelation 22 - The Spirit and Bride say Come! “Bo Yeshua Bo” (Come Jesus Come)

Join me as we find Hope, Encouragement, and How to Overcome from the Book of Revelation.

Pesach, or Passover, is steeped in biblical history, practice and significance. It is one of the three Feasts for which Jewish men are told to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread following it are a time of remembering God’s deliverance, ceasing from labor and experiencing refreshment. Modern-day celebrations include families and friends gathering not only to share in the Passover Seder but also for traveling, visiting and recreation.

The Passover recorded in the book of Exodus was a very different event. The enslaved, work-weary members of each Jewish household sheltered inside their home that night. They’d shut the door as soon as they’d followed the Lord’s protective mandate to apply the blood of a lamb on their doorframe. Each family in their own home gathered around the table and ate their Passover meal together – while outside, the death angel passed through with one final plague in judgment on Egypt.

This year’s Passover bears eerie yet profound similarities to that long-ago event. All over Israel – in fact, throughout the world – Jewish people will celebrate this Passover limited to their homes. Absent of the usual guests and extended family, members of their households alone will sit around their Seder tables. It will be a very different observance of this familiar Feast.

This, of course, is due to the coronavirus and ensuing mandates that so many nations and cities have established ordering people to “stay home” or “shelter in place.” Virtually all the world will be behind closed doors on Passover, waiting for the threat of death to pass.

Imagine how meaningful this must be for the Jewish people, especially those in the Land of Israel. In a time typically characterized by great celebration and fellowship, this confinement offers an opportunity for a deeper reflection than perhaps ever before on what their ancestors experienced.

Here are a few ways we can pray for the Jewish people during this year’s unique version of a familiar annual event. Please pray for:

• Jewish people to reflect on the meaning of Passover and receive revelation of Yeshua (Jesus) as the Lamb of God
• Believers who will be spending extra time this Passover under the same roof as unsaved household members, that they will be bold in sharing their faith and drawing parallels with the stories of deliverance and redemption found in the book of Exodus and the Gospels
• Believers in Israel and around the world to reach out to Jewish family and friends by phone and online to share the hope of salvation during Passover and this time of isolation
• Jewish people searching for an online Passover experience to encounter live-streamed Messianic Passover Seders and other resources that will point them to Jesus as their deliverer and the way to the Father
• Heart-felt conversations – spurred by any challenges of this time, such as fear, isolation or sickness – to arise about life, death and salvation through God’s appointed sacrifice Yeshua
• Special protection upon the elderly, frail and desperate, as well as front-line caregivers, that God would be merciful, spare lives, and bring about new life through the Good News

Let’s pray:

Father, we are in an unprecedented season for our generation, but You are still the God of miracles. We have heard of Your fame and renown, as in Your deliverance of Your people at Passover. Oh, Lord, renew Your miracles and wonders today, through the healing of nations and individuals, and the spreading of Your Good News worldwide. May revelation of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, as the Lamb of God and Savior spread globally, bringing revival and many, many Jewish people and their neighbors to salvation. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.

“The Egyptians will know that I am Adonai, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt, and bring out Bnei-Yisrael from among them” (Exodus 7:5).

There are far more unbelievers in the world today than Believers. Everything from complacency to cynicism keeps people from searching for God. Many, like the Egyptians who enslaved Israel, fail to recognize the one true God due to their loyalty to false gods. As God works in our lives, sustaining us through trials or supernaturally protecting us from them, He shows Himself to a disbelieving world that He loves.

The world is watching Believers. Some may look on eager to catch us in hypocrisy in order to discount God and justify their refusal of Him. Others may observe us with the desperate hope of seeing more evidence that God is true and good, giving them the courage to trust Him with their own lives.

As God works in our lives to sometimes rescue us from and sometimes sustain us through various difficulties, He reveals Himself to a world that urgently needs Him. As others see His faithfulness to you in your trails and your trust in Him, let us pray that many will be drawn to Him in faith.

God brings us out and through to show the world who He is so that many more can be saved.

“He has put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in Him” (Psalm 40:3 NIV).

“…so you may know that I am Adonai” (Exodus 10:2).

Living in this physical world as we do, sometimes we need reminders of just who our invisible, spiritual God is.

Exodus chapter 10 tells us that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that He could perform more signs before him and his officials – so that Israel would know their God. He told Moses that it was also to enable the Jewish people to share with their children and grandchildren the mighty things God did in the process of rescuing them from centuries of bondage.

When God brings us out of or through various trials in our lives, we have the opportunity to see with fresh eyes who He is. His care and attention to what concerns us are testimonies of His grace and love toward us. When He provides, He reminds us that nothing in our lives is too big for Him to handle.

As He shows us more of who He is – or reminds us of what we have forgotten about Him – through our present-day trials, our faith in Him grows. We learn more deeply that we can fully trust Him to take care of our needs and meet us in our sorrows.

God brings us out and through to show us who He is, creating faith-landmarks for us to remember in the future and encouragement to pass on to others.

“Come and listen, all you who fear God. I will tell you what He has done for my soul” (Psalm 66:16).

From Exodus 12:13: And when I see the blood I will pass over you

I love celebrating Passover every year. But when I was a teenager the biblical account of the Passover became meaningful in a way that touches me to this day. The Lord used that story to help me understand the gift of salvation through Yeshua through a simple Gospel pamphlet. It was about how the children of Israel by faith applied the blood of a spotless lamb on their doorposts and lintels, and once that had been done, the people inside that home were safe. I was struggling with fear that I wouldn’t be able to believe big enough to truly be saved; but this little booklet helped me see that it wasn’t about what I could accomplish. What had already been done through the blood was what mattered and made the difference. Through faith in what Yeshua, the Lamb of God, accomplished through the shedding of His blood, I was safe – and saved!

The story of the Passover is one of the most meaningful in Scripture. It reflects back to the Garden of Eden and the need for Adam and Eve to be covered by the skins of animals that were killed. It reminds us of Abraham not having to sacrifice Isaac because God provided a ram. It tells us about God’s deliverance of His children from cruelty and slavery. And it points forward to the ultimate remedy and provision for sin and death through the sacrifice and resurrection of our Savior, Deliverer and Messiah, Yeshua.  

Doesn’t that fill you with gratitude and hope?  Doesn’t that make you want to TELL SOMEBODY?

Where in the Word: Exodus 12:1–16

Finding hope:

• PONDER: Where do you see yourself in the story of the Passover? Would you be confident or fearful? Why? Where do you see yourself in the story of the Good News?
• PRAY: If you have not received God’s gift of salvation through Yeshua’s sacrifice, talk with God about that now! If you have received Him, pray for someone else who needs to know this Good News.
• RESPOND: Is the Lord asking you to share the amazing story of Passover and the gift of salvation to which it points with someone? Who? Ask God for an opportunity and take it.

Something more to talk about with God, family and friends: Exodus 12:46; Isaiah 53; John 19:33–37; John 1:29