Hosea 3:4-5 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. Afterward, the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days.
On the Hebrew calendar, we're at the end of the month of Elul. This particular month the shofar is sounded once a day as a call for the people to repent as we approach the Hebrew month of Tishri.
Interestingly enough, Yom Teruah [Hebrew for "Day of the (shofar) blast"] known in modern times as Rosh HaShanah (Hebrew for "Head of the Year") falls on the 1st day of Tishri (beginning this Monday night) which is also the seventh month of the year -- yet it has been designated as the New Year. This season is also known as the season of "teshuva". In Hebrew, "teshuva" means "repentance", and yet it also means "return".
So, ironically, the beginning of the year is connected to the end of the harvest year. The beginning is connected to the end. And the end is connected to the beginning. Thus, a cyclical pattern emerges: the gospel message was delivered by the Jewish people whose Messiah Yeshua appeared at the beginning of this age. This message has gone to the nations for nearly 2000 years and is now returning to its source, Israel and the Jewish people, whose return to their homeland signals the completion of the cycle culminating in the spiritual resurrection of the nation. We are certainly witnessing the beginning of this fulfillment at the end of the age with Messianic believers multiplying and proclaiming faith in the true Messiah to their own Jewish people.
In this season of repentance ("teshuva"), as we ourselves turn to the Lord, please remember to be praying for the Jewish people -- not only for their return to their homeland, the physical restoration -- but for their repentance and faith in the only Name given under heaven by which we must be saved -- the spiritual restoration which signals the coming of King Messiah Yeshua.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]As Joshua led the children of Israel into the promised land it seemed that God had given them an impossible assignment -- to conquer a foreign and hostile land with fortified cities and armies greater than their own. They had to go forth only on the basis of God's promise. They had to walk by faith and not by sight!
Over the weekend, the ministry lost a dear brother who suddenly died of a heart attack. In times of mourning, the realization dawned (once again) that this life is utterly fleeting ... a vapor in the wind ... and these frail human bodies in which we dwell are mortal dust. We are living in the land of the dead and dying, and only those of us who truly know and are known by the Messiah, upon our death, will enter the land of the truly living!
Counselors, encouragers, and people who offer care to others often encounter those whose past failures threaten to define them and hinder their development, healing, and sanctification. Our enemy capitalizes on our failures and regrets, pressing home the current influence of what we could have, would have, or should have done, if only we were wiser, more courageous, honest, or godly.
During World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific Island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades. Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves.
The apostle John quotes Isaiah 53:1, saying to whom has the z’roah [arm] of the Lord been revealed? It’s a question that God answers throughout the rest of Isaiah 53, describing in detail the life of Yeshua (Jesus) and the ultimate price He would pay for the sins of the world.
An ancient story in Church history tells of the apostle John. He would constantly repeat the words, "Little children, love one another." And his disciples became weary of the phrase. Finally, in his old age, as John was being carried to their assembly, the disciples asked him, "Why do you always repeat these same words?" "Because friends," John replied, "it is the Lord's commandment -- and if only this one were fulfilled, it would be enough."
The great evangelist and teacher Charles Spurgeon had a plaque on his bedroom with the words written on it, "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction."