Gathering Israel Unto the Lord
We are living in the last days, and many of the prophecies in God’s Word about Israel have been fulfilled. One of these main prophecies is in our reading in Jeremiah today.
The prophet Jeremiah speaks of a time when Israel will no longer say, “‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ but ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’ I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers” (Jer. 16:15).
We had the joy of hosting a couple who have had a ministry in Israel for fourteen years. They began a ministry in Jerusalem called “Friends of Israel.” Friends of Israel have a distribution center for immigrants coming into Israel. Sharon, the wife of the couple, shared they are expecting triple the number of Jewish immigrants this year compared to other years. Recently the millionth Jewish immigrant entered Israel.
Alijah (the return to the land of Israel) is happening in mammoth proportions as the God of Israel gathers His chicks to the country that surrounds Jerusalem. What is God’s plan? As we see this great ingathering, we understand the fulfilment of the prophecy in Zechariah 12. This prophecy will happen when the Lord returns.
“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication, then they shall look on Me whom they have pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn” (Zech. 12:10).
God is gathering the children of Israel as a mother gathers her chickens, because all Israel will be saved in that great day when Jesus returns and sets His foot on the Mount of Olives. The Jewish people in Israel will see Him, and they will repent. God promises to open a fountain of cleansing for this holy remnant that will remain and believe.
Don’t give up praying for your Jewish friends. Pray that God will reveal Jesus to them as their Messiah even today.
Father, I pray for the protection of the Jewish people left in Russia and for all those You have chosen to return to the land of Israel. As you gather Your chosen from the four corners of the earth, I ask humbly that You would gather those Jewish people I know into Your loving arms and introduce them to Jesus, Your Son and their Messiah. I ask this in the name of Jesus.
READ: Jeremiah 14:11-16:15; 1 Thessalonians 2:9-3:13; Psalm 80:1-19; Proverbs 25:1-5
