I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself. Jeremiah 31: 3
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Photo by Helen Lineen
New Year Convocation: Israel Is Arising, Our Nations Declining By Christine Darg It’s an honour to walk the ramparts of the City of God, to commit the New Year and all of our nations, families and ministry partners to the Lord. Truly we can report that solidarity between Jews and Christians grew as we prayed together at each event. Ten nations were represented in this year’s convocation. God seemed to smile with a solar rainbow over our prayer walk.
Proclamations atop Jaffa Gate with Mt. of Olives in background
London-born Peter Darg (above left) and Patrick Lineen from the UK pray over one of our speakers, Bob O’Dell from Texas, before Bob held a seminar to motivate Orthodox Jews to formulate new start-ups.
Lance Lambert always gives us much food for strategic prayer
Pasha's Throne Room, American Colony Hotel, founded by Horatio Spafford, author of the hymn, “It is Well with My Soul.” In the 1800s, every day at the hour of prayer 3 p.m., the American Colony held a prayer meeting in this room to pray Bible prophecies. General Allenby and Lawrence of Arabia stayed here when it was a hospice and hospital. A sheet from the American Colony was used when the Ottomans surrendered to the British. Because Exploits Ministry held our Throne Room Prayer Fellowship here for 10 years, it is a delight to return for recent convocations. Worship is led by Israeli songwriter Rosalind Hershkovitz.
Delivering warm winter clothing for Christian Syrian refugees
Exploits Ministry Outreaches to Jewish and Arab Communities Photos on this page represent some of the many outreaches that Exploits Ministry delegates and partners funded during our 2014 New Year Watchmen and Women on the Walls Intercessory Prayer Convocation. At right and above, we held an outreach in Bethlehem’s Manger Square, where we distributed Gospel DVDs, gifts and Bibles as team members engaged in sharing the love of Jesus. This is the logo of Be’ad Chaim, Israeli Pro-Life. Our offering of nearly $4,000 will save the lives of two Israeli babies and nurture each of those babies for one year. Below, team member Daniel Harbich of Germany
and delegates ministered during a visit to Holocaust Survivors in Jerusalem. It was a touching time for all of us, including our UK Trustee Barbara Dingle, who posed tenderly with one of the survivors of the 1938 Kindertransport of Jewish children:
Nancy Crowell being besieged during our Bethlehem outreach!
Thanks also to partnersʼ faithful donations, we were able to give a $1,000 offering to Jerusalemʼs Christ Church for beleaguered Christians in Syria. Our delegates also donated toys for the needy family of an Orthodox rabbi who has more than 20 children and grandchildren. More than 100 gifts below were also donated by our team for distribution during the Orthodox Christmas of the Coptic Church founded by St. Mark.
God!s "Chesed! and "Agape! Love By Christine Darg The word “love” appears in the Bible more than 300 times, and God has a lot to teach us about love. As the book of First John reminds us, “God IS love.” So why is the world so full of hate and broken relationships? On a recent visit to Zagreb, Croatia, we were amazed to discover one of the city’s main tourist attractions, the “Museum of Broken Relationships.” Broken-hearted donors from all over the world have contributed small personal items to share their stories of unrequited love. One of the greatest exploits we can do is to help to mend broken hearts! On Valentine’s Day the world makes a big commercial venture out of love, but I’d like to consider a different type of love -- the unending, covenant love of God. What is a covenant? It’s a treaty, a pact, an accord, an agreement, a pledge or a guarantee, a legal contract, a promise not to be broken. In the Bible, God has faithfully vowed to keep his covenant to bless and love his people unto a thousand generations. I do enjoy studying the character of Yehovah, who has revealed himself as a covenantkeeping God. He is never capricious. Valentine’s Day started out as a religious festival observed on February 14 in the Anglican and Lutheran churches to celebrate a saint named Valentine. He was imprisoned under the Roman Empire for ministering to persecuted believers and for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry. In 18th Century England, the tradition evolved into an occasion to present flowers and candy to sweethearts and to send romantic greeting cards. Israel has a holiday of love called Tu B’Av, a minor Jewish holiday occurring in the summer. According to the Babylonian Talmud, Tu B’Av was a joyous holiday in the days of the holy Temple in Jerusalem. Hoping to catch the eye of suitors, unmarried women dressed in white garments and danced in the vineyards. In modern times Tu B’Av has become a Jewish Valentine’s Day, an occasion for marriage proposals, engagement ceremonies, weddings and also vow renewals. In the English language we have basically
This article is my ‘Valentine’ to You & to Israel
one word for love, but the Greek language of the New Testament has more than one word for love. Agápe, or God’s love, refers to a deeper sense of unconditional love rather than physical attraction. Agape love is selfless; it gives and expects nothing in return. In fact, agape is the word used in the “great love chapter,” 1 Corinthians 13, and is described throughout the New Testament as sacrificial love without any self-benefit. Agape is also used in ancient manuscripts to denote feelings for children and for a spouse. Agape was used by Christians to express the unconditional love of God, the kind of love that God still holds for his ancient people Israel. Éros on the other hand, the Greek word from which we get the English word erotic, is passionate love. Sexual love, eros, is never used in the New Testament. Even marital love is ideally agape in its main expression, as in Ephesians 5:25, where Paul used agape: “Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it.” Philia, a third type of love, is affection for friends, family, things and communities. Many words in English are derived from this Greek word denoting affection, or preference. Philadelphia, a city mentioned in the New Testament, means the “city of brotherly love.” Anglophiles love all things English. Europhiles love European things. A Semitophile is a lover of Jewish culture and people, and so forth. Old Testament Hebrew uses two main words for love, “ahab” and “chesed.” Love in the ahab sense is the closest to the English meaning and refers to love between people or
toward God. Jacob’s willingness to work seven years to obtain Rachel for his wife clearly involved a high degree of ahab romantic love, for Genesis 29:30 says “he loved Rachel more than Leah.” The Hebrew word chesed on the other hand is best translated as loving-kindness. It assumes a hierarchy, where the one at the higher position gives the chesed. That’s why chesed is often used in the sense of God’s kindness extended toward us. Chesed explains so much about Jesus lowering himself to save us because he loved us. God’s boundless loving-kindness is so different from ours. He loves because it’s his nature. The golden verse John 3: 16 says, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believed on him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This kind of love is agape, the highest type of love. In our own strength we cannot love like God loves, but when we are born again, and the Holy Spirit indwells our temples, we are capable of loving by the flow of God’s agape, covenant love. What motivated God to send his only begotten son to this earth to die as an atonement for our sins? Love, pure agape love! This love is universal because God loved each one of us, and therefore all of us. And we are his children when we receive Him. 1 John 3:1 says, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.” The exciting news is that God loves everyone as much as he possibly can! His love was demonstrated to the world on the Cross, and the atoning Blood is enough to cover all of our sins. But the gift of God’s love in Messiah must be received by faith! The Lord has been saving people from all nations for 2,000 years. And now he remembers and demonstrates his faithful chesed, his lovingkindness, to his covenant people, the Jews, by regathering them in their ancient homeland. His chesed is preparing them for the Second Coming of Jesus, when the Lord will rule from Jerusalem for a thousand years. Does God still love the Jews? Oh, yes he
does, and the Apostle Paul makes that fact very clear in the New Testament. God has the power to graft again the Jewish branches into his olive tree who were broken off because of unbelief. I’m not exasperated with Jewish people who don’t believe in Jesus. The Bible clearly teaches that God has legally blinded the Jews in general on matters concerning Yeshua, except for a remnant of Jewish believers who help to compose the “one new man” of Jew and Gentile in the Church Age. (Ephesians 2:15) However, the church DOES make me angry and sorrowful for its blindness to God’s ongoing plan for Israel! The Bible clearly teaches that in the Gentile age (which is rapidly finishing) God has not blinded the church. So why are we obstinately blind to the fact that God is restoring Israel? It is our willful blindness and obstinate jealousy of God’s irrevocable covenant with Israel that makes the Church without excuse! Many in the institutional churches who are not born again will be left behind to suffer God's wrath! Jeremiah 31: 3 is God’s and my personal Valentine to Israel, “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.” I’d also like to send a valentine to the Jews saying, “God loves you unconditionally and He’s waiting to be enquired of by you concerning the identity of Yeshua” (Jesus’ Hebrew name). God has allowed the Jews to become a state again in their own land, and according to the prophecies in Zechariah, he will pour out his Spirit on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Then the Lord’s feet will stand once again on the Mt. of Olives, and he will reign over Israel and all the nations from Jerusalem. All of these prophecies prove the steadfast chesed love of the covenantkeeping God of Israel. Meanwhile, we in the churches must fully comprehend that Israel is
still God’s chosen nation, that God loves the people of Israel with covenant love just as much as he loves the Church. God chose and prepared the nation of Israel to be the platform from which his love would be demonstrated and made available to the entire world at the Cross. Scripture explains this in Galatians 3:8-9, “The scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” God promised all nations would be blessed through Abraham’s descendants. In the New Testament, Jesus’ genealogy records his descent from Abraham and also from King David. Jesus himself said in John 4: 22 that salvation proceeds from the Jewish nation. What did Jesus mean? He meant that Israel was chosen as the vehicle for the Savior to come to us. So Israel is certainly unique. Through their most favored native son Jesus, all nations are able to be saved who will put their trust in Him. Because God is God, he has the right to choose whom he wants. And if we love Him, we don’t question, or resent, his sovereign choices. Romans 8: 28 teaches that God is coordinating everything for good. So we must learn that Israel as a nation is still holy to God, even though right now Israel is suspended in unbelief ….abortions are happening, corruptions, injustices. God’s covenant love will fix Israel’s sins. They may have broken covenant with him, but God will never break covenant with them. Understand the truth of Deuteronomy 7: 6- 8: “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession…..” So God’s plan long ago was to love and bless the world through Israel. Already He has done so by sending the Jewish Saviour, and in the fullness of time Isaiah 27:6 is coming to pass: “Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit.” Never forget that our Bible is a Jewish Book, and our Savior is a Jewish Savior. Let us not neglect to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for the prosperity of God’s chosen people.
Although Israel is a secular nation, nevertheless “…at the present time there is a remnant [of Jews] chosen by grace.” (Romans 11:5) As an elect remnant, some Jews are always being saved and are continually becoming members of the “One New Man” in Messiah. St. Paul testified in Romans 11 that for the sake of the patriarchs, the Jewish race are eternally beloved. Another practical reason for believers to align ourselves with the nation of Israel is because of the Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis 12: 2-3, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you…I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” This promise of blessings and curses is repeated in Genesis 27:29 and Numbers 24: 9. So do you want to be blessed? Bless Israel. This is what the Bible teaches. And if you want to be cursed, God forbid, curse Israel. Presently Israel is increasing and Britain and the United States are decreasing. We prayed much about the decline of our nations in our New Year prayer convocation in Jerusalem. One of our speakers outlined America’s past record of blessing individual Jews and befriending Israel. The United Sates has committed many sins deserving judgment, but as a nation, the USA has been Israel’s main benefactor. In 1948, President Truman helped persuade the UN to recognize Israel. Since then, the USA has contributed billions of dollars in aid to Israel but her loyalty is sadly changing. Britain started out well helping the Jews to regain their homeland, but sadly Britain betrayed trust and is no longer Great Britain. The facts speak for themselves. Throughout history nations have been judged severely because of negative dealings with God’s chosen people. Therefore it is self-benefiting that we should give support and pray for the ancient people of God! This is not to say that we should condone all of Israel’s dealings with her Arab neighbors. But the Bible did forewarn that enmity and conflict would continue between the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael until Jesus returns to reign from Jerusalem in peace. I’m always trying to encourage believers
THE KADURI PROPHECIES: Many believers who study Bible prophecy timeline are concerned that the prophecy of the late Rabbi Kaduri is setting up Israel to receive the anti-Christ. [Kaduri prophesied that after Sharon's passing Messiah will be revealed.] Rabbi Kaduri's prophecy IS true in so much as Messiah WILL be revealed sooner or later. Anti-Christ is set to be revealed before Yeshua returns physically to reign on earth. Speaking of the Man of Sin, Yeshua said to Israel in John 5:43, "I have come in the Father's name and you have not received me. Another will come in his own name, and him you will receive." But keep in mind that Anti-Christ's deception, although deeply tragic, will be relatively short in duration, and many Israelis will NOT accept the anti-Messiah because of faithful warnings from Bible-believing evangelicals and for other reasons (such as Jewish aversion to receiving marks, as in Holocaust tattoos). In the meantime Kaduri's prophecy about the name of Messiah should not be dismissed, although he prophesied only in part. Kaduri deposited into the Israeli national consciousness that Messiah’s name is indeed Yeshua. Israel will remember his prophecy at the right time. to see the bigger picture with a biblical, not a politically correct, perspective. We certainly do not blindly salute everything Israel does, but we definitely should stand up for Israel’s right to exist! I can assure you, based upon the faithfulness of the chesed love of a covenant keeping God, that the Lord will fulfill all of his promises and covenants with Israel. So God still has a plan for Israel; he has not forgotten his people. He is a wounded lover, and they are
RESURRECTION SUNDAY on both Gregorian and Julian calendars converge this year with Passover to proclaim the slain Lamb is risen indeed! We are not going overboard with predictions about the Blood Moons, but the Lord did tell us to watch for portents in the skies as well as in the earth concerning his Second Coming. We believe our 17th Passover Convocation will be an awesome time to convene in the City of God to pray as watchmen for his eternal purposes. Our prophetic Passover seders are orchestrated by the Holy Spirit in strategic places. Go to our website at exploits.tv or visit our travel agent amitravel.com for details!
wounded lovers, and both parties are surely reuniting! You and I are the merciful matchmakers, for Paul said in Romans 11:31, “It is through your mercy that they shall obtain mercy.” I adore being a part of this ancient love story, don’t you? To be a minister of reconciliation is a gift of love and the high calling of Exploits Ministry. Thank you for being a part of it with your support!
Why Was Jacob’s Only Daughter Raped? By Christine Darg defilement of Dinah was Even in the best of purposefully included in the families great tragedies can Torah teachings by Moses to happen! Because of original sin, demonstrate the potential families are dysfunctional from danger of women venturing one degree to another, and none is into the public sphere (as immune from troubles. But God opposed to remaining does promise to guide and protect obscure and relatively safe at us as we honour his precepts. home). In many parts of the world, Being at the right place rape is rarely reported, due to the at the right time does bring extreme social stigma cast on rewards, and being at the women who have been raped, or wrong place no doubt can the fear of being disowned, or result in consequences. Dinah watercolor circa 1896 by James Tissot being subjected to so-called honor Could the rape tragedy be a killings. The indifferent, harsh or consequence of Jacob’s judgmental attitudes of police in many countries failure (or delay) to go to Bethel to pay his vow? often discourage victims from reporting rape. Many years previously, Jacob had vowed a vow When Jacob returned to the Promised to God at Bethel when fleeing from his brother Land with his wives and children, it was a Esau after stealing the family birthright. singular tragedy that his only daughter Dinah (Genesis 28: 10-22) Now settling his clan in was raped by a Canaanite prince at Shechem. Shechem was a diversion and a neglect of his Why did this great tragedy happen to the only duty to God. One Bible commentary quotes the daughter of Leah and Jacob? The tragedy was principle of Scripture by saying, “When we have exacerbated when Dinah’s brothers Simeon and vowed a vow to God, it is best not to defer the Levi went on a murderous rampage of revenge payment of it.” under the cover of deception. It was only after the debacle at Shechem God does bring good out of evil, and [the rape of Dinah and the consequent according to rabbinic literature, Dinah’s child as barbarous slaughter of the local men by her the result of rape became Asenath, the wife of brothers], that Jacob rallied and came to his Joseph in Egypt. It’s an apocryphal pedigree but senses. The Lord also intervened by giving nevertheless it’s interesting to contemplate that direction in a dream. Asenath was not just any pagan but could have Greatly humbled by the entire incident been descended in part from patriarchal lineage. and its spiralling-out-of-control consequences, Today blame is often put on the female Jacob took command. He demanded that the victim for being raped. Christian commentators, family bury their foreign gods under a tree in including St. Jerome, assign some of the blame Shechem before moving on to Bethel, the place to Dinah. Genesis 34:1 states that she ventured of his vow. (Genesis 35: 2-5) out to visit the women of Shechem. If she went Referring to this incident, the great out to visit only the females, as Scripture clearly Bible commentator Matthew Henry noted: states, Dinah did not behave like a harlot. “God governs the world more by secret terrors Scholars postulate that the account of the on men’s minds than we are aware of.”
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