Messianic Jewish Alliance of America
Northeast Regional Conference
GO THROUGH THE GATES
Friday Evening, Rabbi Michael Wolf, “Primary Vision of Messianic Judaism”
Isaiah 62:10 is the Messianic mandate: “Go through, go through the gates: prepare the way for the people: cast up, cast up a highway: gather out the stones: lift up a standard for the people.” Verse 12 is the fulfillment of God's promise: “And they shall call them The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and thou shall be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.”) God is using Messianic Judaism to fulfill these verses.
We must go through the gates ourselves to prepare the way for the people. Psalm 118: 19 says, “Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord.” We must go through the gates of righteousness by the experiences of receiving salvation, knowing a first love relationship with God, and being filled with the Holy Spirit. Then we must prepare the way for the people. Our synagogues should be a highway for whole families to come to the Lord. God wants us to be congregations of reconciling our people to God. We must let God deal with deep areas of our lives; the valleys are to be lifted up, the hills brought low. Preparing the way for this is our calling.
We should not become discouraged. Every Jew will one day be a Messianic Jew. The one way to accomplish this calling is through strong intercessory prayer.
We are to begin preparing a highway. We must remove the stones. What are the stones? Yeshua, himself, is a stumbling block according to Isaiah 8:14, but God will turn this around when He removes the scales from their eyes. There are many stones that need to be removed:
• Replacement theology: If there were no Israel , there would be no body of believers because the Olive Tree would be dried up.
• The cross: 2000 years of the Church replacing Israel , persecution.
• Pettiness, self-concern, division, every stumbling block
We need to get reconciled to one another. God is stronger than the divisive traps we fall into.
Lift up the banner for the peoples. A banner can mean a light seen in a distance. We are to lift up Messiah. What is the message to the Daughter of Zion? What is the true vision for Messianic Judaism?
• Is it restoring the Church to its Jewish roots? This vision does not lend itself to reaching out to the Jewish community. It is an easy way to go, but it should not be the main, primary vision. Sometimes the Church begins to see these roots as their own and forgets the living tree which they need to connect with.
• Should the vision be “The One New Man”? The one new man is indeed a doctrine in Scripture (Eph 2:14 ), but it is misunderstood. Paul meant the one new man to be like a marriage, in which a man and woman join together as one yet retain their gender and uniqueness. The one new man speaks of “we both.” Jews do not disappear into an amorphous “one new man.”
• Should it be restoration of the Jewish people to know the Lord? Yes, bringing the message of salvation to our Jewish people should be our the primary vision. (See Romans 1:16.)
Beware of the following distractions to the vision (Rabbi Wolf said he would just deal with each of these distractions briefly tonight.)
• Making everyone keep the Sinai covenant, including all the festivals, and insisting that there should be no keeping of Christmas, Easter, etc. Acts 15 speaks to this issue of what is required of Gentiles for fellowship.
• Looking to establish the “perfect first-century Church.” These are mostly Gentile believers who are wanting to do it “right.” These people will tear up your congregation. This is their vision, not yours.
• “Conversion to Messianic Judaism.” This is not Scriptural and is offensive to both Jews and Gentiles. It is not the vision; it is a rabbit trail.
• The concept of “unrecognized mediation,” which believes that Jewish people who are trying to live good lives may be unconscious believers. The Scriptures are clear: our works cannot save us, only trusting in the atonement of Messiah. Therefore, we need to preach the Good News to them.
• Touting the Talmud as having authority. The rabbinic sages were not believers. We can learn good things from them but should exalt them or look to them in order to be more Jewish. The rabbinic claims about an oral law that goes back to Moses cannot be supported in Scripture. Joshua 8:35 says that there was not a word of Torah that Joshua did not read to the people. If he read everything, it must have all been written.
Our vision is that Yeshua is coming to Israel soon and we must proclaim it. There is coming a time soon when Jewish people will begin to seek us out because we are the first fruits and therefore are holy. Each new creation is like God has made the world anew. Seeking for Jewish persons to become new creations in Messiah is what we must be all about. (See Romans 1:16.)
Shabbat Morning, Rabbi Frank Lowinger, “The Binding of Isaac”
Genesis 20-21 is the story of Abraham and the angels and the binding of Isaac. We can be overwhelmed by the task of reaching the large number of Jews in the Northeast Corridor, because we are such a small number of laborers in the field. However, life from the dead will only come with the inclusion of the House of Israel. We need to rest and be refreshed because the task is great and we need to regain focus and have our vision restored so as not to cause another accident (i.e. Abraham's son of the flesh).
Abraham was willing to trust God in regard to Isaac. How can we so rest in God? The binding of Isaac is central to Rosh Hashanah, to the name of God as “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”, to our asking Him to remember His covenants. Abraham loved God more that the gift which God gave him. Human character shows itself best under fire.
All along this great gateway in the Northeast Corridor there are three million Jews. We need an outpouring of the Holy Spirit or the task is impossible. Abraham believed in an impossible situation; we must too. God has promised to bring Israel into their own land, to cleanse them and to give them a new heart. Also, the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, but later all Israel will be saved; God will send a Deliverer. We have had these promises for many centuries. God will have the final say, and He is faithful. This enables us to overcome discouragement.
In Acts 7:23, Steven cites how God had put it into Moses' heart that he would deliver his people. He was in the right position. He supposed that his brethren would understand that he would be the agent to do this. They did not understand. It would take time. He fled in disillusionment and fear. Belief in Yeshua carries so many misrepresentations that our brethren do not understand us, despite the fact that our intent is pure. It seems so simple, but belief in Yeshua eludes the scholars. The Orthodox persecute believers. There is a fine line between understanding and darkness. Revelation can come in an instant. Though his brothers had rejected him and sold him into slavery, in an instant, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers and they recognized him. Like Joseph and Moses Yeshua has been misunderstood and rejected by his own people, but the day is coming when they will suddenly recognize him.
Today we can go through the gates, not in our own strength, but in trusting God for a breakthrough in the oneness that we share. We need to go ahead fully. We need a fresh wind of the Ruach to cause the fine line to be crossed over. Our people rejected their deliverers the first time, but accepted them the next time. This is why we chose to come to this place.
Seminar, Shabbat P.M. DEAD BONES LIVE, Rabbitzim Carol Calise
Read Ezekiel 36-37, and notice the background before the vision. The promise of restoration was hard for them to receive. There was still much division between them. They couldn't receive it and were in a hopeless situation of despair, destruction and death. God says, I will, and you will recognize me. I am Adonai.
Some of this has been literally fulfilled, but there is more to come. It is a “rhema” word for today here in New York . Her congregation has been in New York for 22 years. There has been discouragement from trying to reach out, but God's promises are “yea and amen”. Revival is coming. We need to hear the Word of the Lord for today and for the region, as well as for our personal lives. We need three things for the dead bones to live. God wants to bring life into this Northeast Corridor and to have a harvest of Jews.
• There needs to be a revelation of God to people. He wants us to see as He sees. Why does God call attention in this passage to the fact that the bones were very dry? This means that it was hopeless, but not with God. He wants us to see beyond the natural, beyond our limitations. Jewish revival hasn't happened here yet although there has been some fruit, but it will come . God asks, “Can these bones live?” We tend to only be able to focus on the dead bones. Are we moved by the natural or the physical as to our faith? Are we able to see in the spiritual more than in the natural? My vision is to see 3000 Jews come to faith in one day. I don't listen to those who see only in the natural. We need to grab hold of the revelation. These principles are true even for our individual lives.
• There is a revelation God wants to bring. We need to first hear the Word of the Lord, then begin to speak these things. His Word does not return void.
• God uses people to accomplish his purposes. This is the usual principle. For every Pharaoh there is a Moses, for every Goliath, there is a David, and so on. People must be willing not to live in compromise, but in obedience to the Lord. Revival can't be pretended or manufactured. Doubt and unbelief will quench the Spirit and prevent revival. We must take authority over this. When Ezekiel spoke in obedience, something happened! When something happens in the spiritual realm, there will be a manifestation in the natural…sometimes it will be delayed, but it will happen. The area we are in should have the largest congregation of Jewish believers in the world.
• The word “ruach” is used 10 times in this passage. The Holy Spirit is central to revival. We need to prophetically call in the harvest: “Come Holy Spirit and breathe life. Blow through this place.” The breath of God alone brings life. The word only brought the bones together. The Holy Spirit is waiting to be active in our lives and in our region. If Ezekiel had stopped with only the bones coming together, they would not have lived. We tend to stop here. We need to see as God sees and to trust for the things that are beyond us. Rise up men of faith! Wherever there is a large concentration of Jews, there is major spiritual warfare. Pray for the Holy Spirit to brood over the Northeast.
Seminar, Shabbat P.M., THE EXPERINCE AND TRANSFORMING POWER OF GRACE, Rabbi Glenn Blank
Grace is expressed in the Old Testament even when faith was not perfect. The hint is that God would give more grace if the people would allow it. Right in the middle of the Torah is the Aaronic benediction which pronounces “and be gracious unto you”. Yeshua is the ultimate picture of grace.
We need to break down barriers to grace. What is grace? The usual definition is that it is “unmerited favor,” but this does not capture it all. From God's perspective, grace is indeed an undeserved gift. From our perspective grace it is also something we experience with God that transforms us into the image of God more and more. Grace is an experience of God's complete acceptance, mercy and love for us.
In the middle of the Greek word for grace charis is another Greek word chairo meaning “rejoice”. People usually experience grace as supernatural joy. For example, Zakkai welcomed Yeshua joyfully (Luke 19:6). The Spirit rejoices with us when we experience grace. Another way that we experience grace is guidance, gently showing the way we should go (see Isaiah 30:21, ). We need to more clearly see and understand what grace is so that we can trust it more.
Rabbi Blank said that he often heard the Lord say to him, “I love you”. Finally he asked, “Is that you?” The Lord answered, “Can you trust me on that?” Then he began to experience His grace and love more.
In 2 Corinthians 12:9, He says, “My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness.” We need the power of grace to transform and to perform. By grace we are both justified and sanctified. The Lord commands us to “be holy”, but how can we be holy? At the end of these words, He says, “I will make you holy.” The grace of the Torah is all the laws that show you how, and the sacrifices that pay the price for your failures. We are a work in progress. We are only to do what God tells us and He will make us holy. We are His workmanship. We can release the purpose of His grace as we cooperate with Him.
There are several ways of resisting and cutting off the flow of grace in our lives.
Offense will hinder grace if we let ourselves get stuck there and not forgive.
See John Bevere's book, The Bait of Satan , in which he describes the trap of offense.
Pride: Proverbs 3 says that “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Proverbs 8:18 says that God hates pride. Pride is a barrier and takes many forms.
• Skepticism is the pride of intellect, whether your own or someone else's. Solomon warned about the vanity of being wise in your own eyes or in the wisdom of the world. Skepticisms raises all sorts of objections like “What about science and evolution?” Or “What about the holocaust?” Or “What about all the Buddhists in China —what happens to them?” Or “What would my mother think?” Or “Jews just don't believe in Jesus.” People need to trust less in what got put in their heads and trust more in what the Spirit of God is speaking in their hearts. See Isaiah 55:7, “ Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” When you humbly turn from your own thoughts and yield to His, grace is released.
• Self-sufficiency says “It's OK, I can handle it myself,” the pride of self-reliance and self-importance, the vanity of the man who stored up his wealth in earthly barns, only to discover suddenly that you can't take it with you. See Deut 8:17 -18. When God releases grace through us, we are able to do what we must do.
• Stubbornness digs in its heels, refusing God's grace, still wanting to do things our way. If you refuse God's grace, it will flow around you; you won't recognize prosperity when it comes (Jeremiah 17:6).
God gives grace to the humble. Humility is not the same as humiliation or self-abasement. Humiliation and pride have much in common—both are when you believe a lie about yourself, distorting who you really are, in God's sight. You are created in God's image, you really are worth dying for.
Sunday, Rabbi David Levine, “The Stewardship of Our Desires”
We need caretakers, stewards, over the process of bringing into reality our desires. In James 1:14 it says that we are tempted and drawn away by desires. Rabbi Levine had ministered in Ukraine . He came back to America when he felt he could be fruitful here, not because it would be easier here. That would make him lazy. He is expecting God to do something with the Messianic movement more than he has. He prayed with us for the renewal of vision and for victory over discouragement and laziness.
In Genesis 12, it was in the going that God accomplished His purposes for Abraham. He promised to bless Abraham. All of Abraham's blessings would be sourced in God. Deuteronomy 28:2 speaks of the blessings overtaking the one who would listen to the voice of God. Many today are not receiving blessing because they are looking for blessings from another source. Also they don't realize we are not to pursue the blessings, but blessings are to overtake us.
Some translations say, (Gen. 12:2)“You will be a blessing”, but the Hebrew is in the imperative mood, “Be a blessing.” God's blessings pursue us, but we must pursue in order to be a blessing. It says, “All the families of the earth will bless themselves in you.” They will learn how to do this and will engage themselves in this.
In chapter 15, the Lord says to Abraham, “Fear not, I am your shield, your exceeding great reward.” Abraham's expression of faith was to dialogue with God regarding a promise (i.e. If you are my shield, etc., how are you going to reward me with a son so as to fulfill the promise of making me a nation?)
We are wanting God to say, “Amen” to our prayers, but God's kind of prayer is to look for someone to say, “Amen” to what He wants. Intercession is a prayer of agreement with God. It is the prayer of someone who already has apprehended what God wants.
In the parable of the soils, we see four different responses to desires: not having perseverance, being distracted, having different desires, holding on to the desire and bearing fruit. We need to ask for the thing we desire . In Genesis 18, the desire for the fulfillment rose up in Abraham and became concrete. It was then that the angel told of the specific time that a son would be born. In Genesis 21, God brought it to pass, and faith was confirmed.
In John 15:7, we are told four conditions to receive our desires:
• If you abide in Me
• If my words abide in you (These two change us.)
• Ask what you desire (Command form) so that you can receive it for God's glory.
• It will be done for you. We don't need presumptive prayers that try to manipulate God (i.e. Ask only once and then say it is done.)
“By this (referring to these four things) my Father is glorified.” When our yearnings are what God wants, the Father is glorified and we bear much fruit. “Ask what you will”—this is our part. We need to ask well. That is, we need to ask specifically what God has put in our heart. We need to adjust our praying when we miss the mark, and to continue in the asking. This will become refined as we draw closer to God.
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