Callie Mitchell, SAVED News International Correspondent • Jerusalem, Israel • Ca****@sa*******.com
After a recent visit to Israel, a friend, author Sandra Teplinsky, commented in an article, “There is far less focus in the churches on end times countdowns than in the West. While most Messianic Jews in Jerusalem believe the end of the age is near, they give greater attention to righteous living, evangelism and prayer than to prophecy calculations or date setting.”
I think her observation is right on. Last year, my email was blessedly buzzing with questions from friends in the United States about the blood moons and the Shemitah year. (And please, email me! I love it!). Surprisingly to many in my responses, I explained that the Messianic Leadership we sit under never even broached theses subjects from the pulpit. Instead, our pastor, in particular, brought scriptural oriented teachings on themes such as fighting the good fight, enduring to the end, not letting our hearts grow hard; all about living out God’s word with victory in the midst of trials.
1 Peter 2:4 tells us, “The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.”
Whether or not we are at the end of the age is not in dispute within the local Messianic body. I’m reminded of the times simply by seeing the Mount of Olives, where Yeshua’s feet will touch down upon His return, everyday on my bus route. Likewise, we feel the spiritual tension of the last days in our daily lives, lately in this wave of terrorism. It’s trying, and we need straightforward truth from God’s word to help us live as more than conquerors. As the verse above says, we need to be of sound judgment and sober spirit during this time when we could be ruled by fear. Ultimately, that soundness of mind is going to come from filling up on the meat of God’s word, and being able to put it into action, not matter what circumstances we face.
We need this soundness, according to the verse above, “for the purpose of prayer.”
One significant event of the last days is that the Lord will pour out a “spirit of grace and supplication” on Jerusalem (Zech 12:10). “Supplication” is prayer, and corporately, we pray fervently for the Salvation of Israel. I don’t believe we have seen that passage in its fullness yet, but I can say that travailing in intercessory prayer is a distinctive characteristic of the believers in Jerusalem.
There’s much to glean from the local body in Israel on this issue of being a last day’s church. We have the blessing through our difficulties to be pressed into living out God’s word, rather than being preoccupied with a clock. Knowing a perfect time line of prophetic events will be of little help if we don’t know how to live through trials and tribulations. Be a student of prophecy, but don’t stay there. Let the nearness of Yeshua’s return serve as an encouragement to be doers of the word (James 1:22), daily picking up our crosses and following Him! (Matt 16:24)
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