2023 – What a Year!

At our recent Word of Messiah Ministries (WMM) board meeting, I reported to the board the many blessings that the Lord had provided this past year: we conducted 6 conferences, spoke in 40 churches encouraging them to pray for and reach out to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, numerous decisions for the Messiah and two new books from me, Messiah in the End Times, Messiah’s Seven Congregations, and by the time you read this Miriam’s newest book, Messiah: The Healer of Women (vol. 1) will be published. Hopefully my next book, The Messianic Ten Commandments: A Study in the Relationship of Grace and Law will also be out. Soon after the board meeting, I was scheduled to leave for Israel. Then the war broke out.

Following Sage Advice

I and the WMM staff had worked so hard to organize what was intended to be a very jam-packed ministry marathon. I had been advised by my Israeli associates not to mention my trip online so as not to hinder entrance into the Land. Some of you may remember a few years ago when there was also a very ultra-orthodox influence in the Israeli government and I had been arrested, brought through deportation but then miraculously released. With a similar Israeli government at present, I followed their sage advice.

October 7, 2023

For my Israel ministry trip, I was asked 1) to be part of an international conference of ministry leaders in Jerusalem, 2) to conduct a national conference for Messianic Israeli leaders in the Tel Aviv area, and 3) to speak and serve at a local congregation in Beer Sheva, in the Negev. Others had also asked that while I was there if I would come alongside to help with other ministry opportunities. I couldn’t wait! I was to leave October 15th. Then on October 7th, Hamas invaded Israel, committing atrocities not seen since the Nazis produced the Holocaust! The unnatural inhumanity of barbarism seemed evidently demonically inspired. Who commits such carnage against babies, the aged and families as a whole!?

Anti-Semitism Again!

I had hoped and prayed that Israel would act quickly to destroy Hamas and rescue the hostages, for world opinion would not remain sympathetic for long. But the Israeli government wanted to carefully plan and prepare for the invasion of Gaza so that there would be the least amount of civilian casualties among the Palestinians. Whereas biblical justice calls for “an eye for an eye,” Israel did not want to kill Gazan babies, though Hamas thought nothing of beheading Israeli babies. Israel wanted to be as humane as possible in its destruction of Hamas. But the world is not impressed. We’ve quickly seen world opinion turning against Israel. World governments pressure Israel to “pause” while others (Turkey, etc.) want to destroy Israel. Meanwhile, anti-Semitism on US campuses and in the streets has become so threatening to ordinary US Jews that Jews cannot feel safe in the Land of the Free. This has not been seen in my 75 years of living.

What is to be done?

Let your Jewish friends and acquaintances know you are praying for them. All Bible-believing churches must publicly stand up for the Jewish community, especially for those in their own community. Every church must stand up against anti-Semitism! Every church pulpit must “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Ps 122:6) and for “their salvation” (Romans 10:1). Pray for the safe return of the hostages. If your church is not praying for Israel weekly, you should demand to know why!

Every church needs to send humanitarian aid to Israel (Romans 15:27) and you can go to https://wordofmessiah.org/ to see where you can help. For how can you say you have the King of the Jews in your heart and not care for the Jewish people? Messiah still weeps over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41). If Yeshua weeps and your church cannot care less, it is not the Jewish people they are out of touch with –they are not walking closely with their God!

There is no Peace apart from the Prince of Peace

Yes, we are prayerfully going back to Israel. Pray for us, brothers and sisters. Seek the Lord for the open doors from Him, and His provision to walk through them. Petition the Lord as we proclaim Messiah and His finished work this year. Pray as we train more people in evangelism and discipleship this year. Pray as we share Messiah “to the Jew first and also to the Gentile” this year and into the next until He returns. May this coming year bring peace in the Prince of Peace, for there is no peace apart from Him.

Visit https://wordofmessiah.org/bookstore/ for your own copy of Sam and Miriam’s newest books!