Feast of Trumpets 2009 Part Two
©September 20, 2009 Asher Intrater

Something good is happening in the body of Messiah here in Israel; something healthy. Today on the Feast of Trumpets, leaders and members of more than 20 congregations met together to celebrate the feast outdoors at Kibbutz Yad Hashmona. (Special thanks to our brother Avi Mizrachi, who coordinated the event.) 

We all worshiped together. Then the pastors came forward and knelt together to lead in repentance. The mutual submission and humility of the pastors was touching. Think of that: the leadership of the body in Israel, repenting, unified. and celebrating the biblical feasts. And all was done in Hebrew. As we sang in worship "Pour Out Your Grace like Rain”, the heavens opened and a soft shower fell on us.

We took the Lord's Supper together. Then we interceded in prayer that "All Israel will be saved" (Romans 11:26). I prayed that the body here would receive the same burden and anointing for intercession that Saul (Apostle Paul) had, being willing to give our lives for our people's salvation (Romans 9:1-3).

Toward the end, I shared that one of the meanings of the trumpet blast in the Bible is to declare a certain man as king. It is an act of "Hamlachah." a Hebrew word meaning, "to make someone king." In response we shouted seven times, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, Yeshua, King of Israel" (Matthew 23:39). Then everyone blew shofars and made a joyful noise unto the Lord.

I believe we are at a spiritual turning point, and I see the following trends over the next few years:

1. The body of Messiah in Israel will gradually take a place of leadership in the international body of Christ. 
2. This place for the Israeli Messianic remnant will be part of a general move of God bringing unity in the body worldwide.
3. Israel as a nation will actually become stronger and stronger.
1. Economy – The collapse of the western banking system was due partly to the extending of unreliable loans. The banks in Israel, because of the financial difficulties due to the wars, have always been much more conservative in giving loans. Therefore the economy here, although hit very hard like the rest of the world, is already starting to rebound.
2. Government – These past couple of years have seen a wave of prosecutions against Israeli government officials. Although the crimes were relatively light compared to what happens in other countries, a new standard has been set against corruption. Prime Minister Netanyahu is doing a good job so far and his government is stable.
3. Military – Asaf Ramon, son of Ilan Ramon – the Israeli astronaut who was killed in the Columbia space shuttle in 2003 – was killed this week in the crash of his F-16 fighter jet. The Israeli public went into shock and mourning. Yet all the hardships our people have been through have made them ready to deal with military confrontations in the future. Because the rest of the world is trying so hard to avoid or ignore the threat of Jihad, they will fall easy prey to it.
4. Islamic Jihad – Because of the weakness of the international community to confront Islamic terrorism, the Jihad movement is likely to grow stronger. Last week Netanyahu flew secretly to Russia to confront them on their proposed sale of S-300 missiles to Iran. Although the liberal Israeli press tried to make a scandal out of Netanyahu's "covert" activities, it was obviously an attempt to protect national and international security. Imagine the fanatic ayatollah regime in Iran equipped with both nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
5. International Anti-Israel movement – The West is not only not willing to fight Islamic Jihad, it is bending over backwards to appease it. This week the UN commission of human rights issued the Goldstone report condemning Israel for war crimes in Gaza. That accusation is hypocritical and biased. Israel refused to cooperate with the investigation because the commission stated as one of its goals to condemn Israeli for war crimes, before the investigation even started. In 2005 Israel ripped all 9,000 of her citizens living in Gaza out of their homes. Not one Israeli was left in Gaza. Yet since then, thousands of rockets have been shot from Gaza into Israel, purposely aimed at population centers. Israel had no choice but to attack in retaliation. Israeli army instructions were to attack only military targets. Terrorist strategy of shooting rockets out of civilian homes and using citizens as human shields resulted in hundreds of innocent Gazans being killed.

The shofars or trumpets of the Feast of Trumpets are prophetic symbols pointing to the prophecies of the end times. The trends we see in Israel, in the Church, and in the world were all described in the Bible two to three thousand years ago. Now is the time for true followers of Yeshua everywhere to wake up to end times' prophecies, which are beginning to take place before our very eyes. Teaching concerning "Israel, the Church, and the End Times" will become a centrally important issue for the whole body in the years to come.