Matthew 7:24-27 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Recently the rain has been coming down in the Negev Desert — we even had snow yesterday and the schools were closed. There are two rainy seasons that occur in Israel, “Yoreh” the early rain and “Malkosh”, the latter rain. Right now, we are in the midst of the Malkosh.
In this passage, Jesus is talking to Jews, of course. They were familiar with the rain and how vigorously it comes down these seasons. They knew not to build their houses on sand — or else they would quickly collapse when the rains came!
The Lord is warning us about building our houses on weak ground. He knew that stormy seasons would come and He wants us to be prepared! We don’t want to be one of the many whose houses will collapse because they were built on fame, fortune and other things of this world. We must be careful to build our house only upon Him. Even building our houses upon seemingly innocent things like family, tradition and good works is dangerous. We want to be of those who’ve established our foundation upon the ROCK of the truth of His Word and who will be able to weather the coming storms because of it!
Are there storms raging about you today? Let’s hurry and examine whether our lives are completely built upon the Rock.
Isaiah 11:11,12 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush (modern day Ethiopia) And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
For centuries in Ethiopia, there have lived a people we now know as the Falashas. They kept all sorts of Biblical traditions and call themselves Beta Yisrael (House of Israel). As experts began to study the matter, it became clear that these were descendants of the Jewish people who came to Africa in ancient times and intermarried. Unbeknownst to many, a percentage of them became believers in Jesus over the years. Jesus (or Yeshua, as they called Him) became a part of their identity as Jewish people. Many Falashan Jews worshipped Jesus as their Messiah and continued to practice Jewish tradition.
Amazingly, in 1975, the Israeli rabbinate officially recognized the Falashas as Jews. In the years to follow, a number of circumstances including famine and civil war caused this group of Jewish people to begin facing extinction. In a wonderful effort to save them, Israel began sending planes into Ethiopia and airlifting thousands of these Falashan Jews to the land that they, too, were promised — the land of Eretz Yisrael.
Today, thousands of Falashas live in the Land, serve in its army, raise their children to speak Hebrew, and take part in every day life here in Israel.
The restoration of the Falashas is not only a prophetic sign for us that God is faithful to His Word, but that He will also be faithful to us! God always keeps His promises…and He is in the business of restoration. It doesn’t matter how cut off we are or how far we may have strayed — we can be restored! With one call to the Lord, He can lift us out of whatever circumstance we may be in — whether it be spiritual, physical, emotional, financial or anything else! With a single touch of His hand He can bring complete restoration to our lives and give to us what He has promised!
Be encouraged. We can never be so far removed that we can’t be restored — our troubles are never so great that we can’t be heard — the Lord’s arm is never too short that it cannot save!
Romans 11:11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
Today marks Holocaust Memorial day here in Israel. Each Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel, war sirens blare throughout the whole Land to call us to remembrance. Cars come to a halt, even on the highways. Pedestrians stop where they are and pause for a couple of moments as the sirens ring to remember the 6,000,000 Jews who died and many more who suffered under the Nazi regime during WW2.
You may know that these atrocities and many more over the years were done in the name of Christianity. Hitler himself said he was a Christian as he murdered millions. Years of torture, abuse and murder have taken a toll on the Jewish people. The few survivors of the Holocaust still living have been battered both physically and emotionally. Even their children and their grandchildren are are bruised and lack understanding of God’s great love for them, especially as it pertains to the idea of Christianity.
We need to be praying for the Jewish people. We need to be pouring out much love upon them. That they would see the truth that our God is a loving God. So loving that he would send His one and only Son to die for our sins and theirs. There’s so much work to be done!
Psalms 138:8 The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.
Many of you know that we’ve been in Israel a little over four years now. I am still trying to adjust to the spiritual atmosphere, culture and language. Those few things, in and of themselves, are enough to become overwhelmed. But if that’s not enough, we are pioneering a new ministry here, trusting totally in God for His provision, trying to raise two young children in a way that is pleasing to Him and all the while, going through our own personal trials.
When we face difficult trials, often we get to feeling sorry for ourselves — we wallow in our self pity, thinking things like “I’m not worthy enough, not strong enough, not able enough, not adequate enough to get through these things — I just can’t do it!”
But hear the truth of God’s word today! HE will perfect that which concerns us! It is not us — it is HE who perfects us! It is HIS great strength and mercy that works through us, that allows us to be worthy, strong, able and adequate!
Let’s start giving to the Lord all those things which concern us. God will have the victory! There’s so much work to be done!!
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Yesterday was a big day for us, but especially for baby Obi. He was circumsized in the presence of our friends and family (many of them not believers) at our congregation in Tel Aviv. We had the chance to share about the false report we got concerning Obi’s health and how the doctors told us to abort him early on. I tied in the faith that Abraham must have had, especially concerning circumcision. There may not have been a dry eye in the house. Thank you God!
Perhaps you’re being tested in ways that you don’t understand. While it’s a good possibilty that we may not understand til we see the Lord, these tests are for our good! They are for the exercising of our faith — and ultimately for our growth and blessing in the Lord!
Let’s not despise the testing of our faith. The Lord is using it to prepare us for greater things ahead! And guess why?! ‘Cause there’s soooooooooo much work to be done!
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