Yahweh has been talking to me about His people Israel for many
years, from my first introduction to Yahshua in 1967.
Shortly after I received the holy Spirit, I was decorating a room, and praying.
I began thinking about Jerusalem and Israel, and felt a tremendous sadness. I prayed
without, at that time, a great deal of understanding. I found myself praying that the people of
Israel would be restored, and that they would know their God Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel. It was much later when
I discovered how that their restoration was one of the great themes of Biblical history.
During the years following I attended a congregation where the importance of Israel to Yahweh (God)
was honoured.
This understanding brought life to my spirit and I was inspired to write many songs, some of which concerned Israel,
as in the one on this page.
Years later I was working in Northumberland, and one day I was sitting praying on the beach,
when a large group of Orthodox Jews came and spent the afternoon there with their
families, not far from where I was sitting.
I observed their ‘family-ness’ and their quiet togetherness,
the little boys with their caps on,
playing. I noticed the women quietly chatting and laughing together,
their modesty and joy, and I thought of their importance
to Yahweh.
I found a great longing rising within me to be a part of their community. I guess I was feeling
a little jealous, thinking they were somehow in a closer relationship than I.
At that time in my life I was unaware of the scripture I now understand in
Isa 11:13 "The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah
shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim." I indeed
was at that time 'envious' of Judah.
Shortly afterwards I returned home and busied myself with my
daily work. I was still thinking about the Jewish people I had seen on
the beach, and wishing I had been born Jewish in order to be a part of their wonderful community,
when suddenly, I began to feel an overwhelming Presence of Yahweh (God) all around me,
and what I later understood to be His wonderful Spirit
of adoption.
I felt these words resounding from Him to me. "You, too, are my Israel!"
Into my heart flooded the understanding that
I, too, was a daughter of Abraham through faith.Gal 3:7 "Know ye therefore
that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham." I felt the Presence
of the King close to me, surrounding me. (only those who have felt His Presence
in this way will understand what I mean) I felt loved,
and close to Him. I knew I
was His own, and somehow part of the people I had seen.
I did not fully understand what He was saying to me,
but I knew, deep down, that I belonged to Him in a special way, and to them,
and that I too was a part of Israel. In John 14:21 it says "He that hath My Commandments and
keeps them, he it is that loveth Me and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and
I will love him and will
manifest Myself to him." The Commandments were given to Israel.
Was YHWH telling me that my ancestry stemmed from one of the actual tribes
of Israel? especially as He had given me the name "Josephs" when I changed my surname many years
before, (and certainly not with Israel in mind) or was He saying that in Yahshua the Mediator of
the New Covenant I was
grafted into the root of
Israel? It doesn't
really matter,
as in Him we are all made one. In Galatians 3:28 the writer stated that
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor
female, for all are made one in Yahshua, and if you belong to Yahshua then you are Abraham's offspring
and heirs according
to promise." The important thing is to know that we are in fact accepted by Him. Also, as a Gentile,
we are grafted in, and made a part of the Commonwealth of Israel.
One in Christ
Eph 2:11-19 "... ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh... being aliens from the commonwealth of
Israel, and strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world
But now in Yahshua (Jesus) the Messiah, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh...that he might reconcile
both unto Yahweh in one body by the cross...Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of
the household of Yahweh."
That day I had a wonderfully enlightening experience, which helped me to realise that I wasn't a
'second class' citizen
in the Kingdom,
always to feel a little inferior to my brother the Jew. I felt 'ten feet tall!'
It is exciting to think that some Gentile
believers who love
Israel could in fact stem from the lost Tribes, but we need to keep a balanced view as there is a danger
of a doctrine called
"Replacement Theology" which believes that the Church has replaced Israel.
This could never be, as Israel has been and is and
always will be Yahweh's choice with a great future ahead of them.
On another occasion, after I had been going through a particularly
difficult time. I was truly exhausted, working sometimes 24/7 so to speak in Church and Mission activities,
and although it is a delight to
serve the Community, one eventually becomes as I was, quite ‘empty’
spiritually. I felt I had nothing left to give, and went down to
a rocky outcrop on the beach, and wept.
I called out to Yahweh my Father, and asked,
"Would You mind very much if I gave up this calling,
which I am finding so difficult, so demanding and exhausting?"
His answer was prompt in my heart,
"But what about My people Israel?" He asked me.
I had my answer, and even though I perhaps interpreted it
in an imperfect way, the words kept me on track, knowing that
somehow my destiny revolved round Israel. The answer wasn't to give up, but to find a way
of restoring my energies to find a way forward, which I did.