©July 26, 2013 Revive Israel Ministries

Perfect Balance

By Asher Intrater

There is a perfect balance in the teaching of Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation. The Word of God is a "two-edged sword" – Hebrews 4:12. It cuts in two directions. If we teach on the love and mercy of God, we should also teach on the fear of God and holiness. If we rebuke others of sin, we must also repent of our own sins. As God promises to provide all our needs, He also warns against greed.

Immature Bible teachers usually teach enthusiastically on one side of the sword. This may start well, but years later their congregations may become heretical or cultic because only one side of biblical truth was "overtaught."    

In Hebraic thought, there is the concept of "measure against measure". Yeshua spoke of this: "By the measure in which you measure, it will be measured unto you" – Matthew 7:2, Mark 4:24.  So is it found in biblical justice: "Soul for soul, eye for eye, tooth for tooth" – Exodus 21:23-24.

There is perfect balance between the humanity of Yeshua and His divinity. He is "seed of David" and "son of God" – Romans 1:3-4. He is "King of Israel" – John 12:13, and "head of the Church" – Ephesians 1:21.  The balance between these two roles also makes for a balance between God's plan for Israel and for the Church. All Israel will be saved and all the Church will be grafted into Israel (Romans 11:17, 26).

The Church tends to see the heavenly aspect of the kingdom of God, while Israel sees the earthly side. Both are true. Through Yeshua, all things will be brought into one, both in heaven and on earth (Ephesians 1:10).

The Old Covenant scriptures were written in Hebrew, from right to left.  The New Covenant was written in Greek, from left to right. Classic Hebraic and Greek thinking are opposite to one another. We have two sides of the brain: right for creative thinking and left for analytical. We have two eyes for seeing. With just one, our vision is limited. But when both work together, we have depth perception and equilibrium.

The cross is a geometric symbol of balance: up and down; left and right. It offers forgiveness by the Savior's grace and demands submission to the King's authority. It reconciles heaven and earth, and reaches out from East to West. In physics and chemistry, to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

In one of our prayer sessions, I saw a picture in my heart of an eagle gliding in the air with his wings spread. If the balance was tilted even slightly, he would start to fall. As he remained perfectly balanced, he could glide on the wind almost effortlessly.  So should we be perfectly balanced in the Word and the Spirit.

The first vote in the Israeli Knesset approved the new law requiring equality in army enlistment, including the ultra-Orthodox.

Religious Jews in Israel are divided on whether to serve in the army. Those who most oppose are Haredi-Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox. Two of their Knesset members, Meir Porush and Moshe Gafni, demonstrated against the bill. Porush chained himself to the Knesset podium and Gafni tore his shirt as if in mourning.

Many Israelis felt this demonstration was inappropriate and hypocritical. Pray for a reaction that will cause our people to search for the real truth and faith. 

Adapted from Maariv, June 23

This week the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem gave in to pressure from Palestinian factions and dismissed Father Nadaf of Nazareth.  Nadaf has received many death threats as a result of his support to recruit Christian Arabs into the IDF. Nadaf says, "There is an attempt here to frighten our youth and prevent them from assimilating into Israeli society."

This group of Israeli Christian Arabs is in the process of redefining their identity.  In spite of intimidation, the number of Christian Arabs choosing to join the army is on the increase.

Alon and Hannah were born in Colombia. They immigrated to Israel and became part of our community.  A few years ago, Alon's older brother in Columbia was murdered in cold blood on the street, shot by masked men.

About six months ago, his dear niece was shot on the street, again by masked assailants. The closely knit family was devastated.

Last month came yet another call. Alon’s younger brother, leaving his business at the end of the day, was shot in cold blood.

Alon, a burly man, broke down and cried. As a community we decided to help Alon and Hannah fly to Columbia to visit the family.

Hannah shares "As we visited family members, Alon proclaimed the kingdom of God and exhorted them to repent. He explained that only Yeshua can stop these tragedies."

Repeatedly, individual family members would call and ask to speak with Alon. Their hearts had been softened. By the end of the trip all 60 extended family members had prayed to receive the Lord!

"A touching moment was visiting the family of the brother who was recently murdered. The wife and daughter were distraught, and the son bitter and vengeful. However, upon hearing the good news, all three prayed with Alon, and the son melted in his arms. Yeshua had replaced the anger with healing love."

Alon and Hannah came back to Israel with joy in their hearts. Although the healing will take time, the Lord turned a devastating tragedy into victory.

Living Stones Television

Asher was featured last Thursday in the premier of a unique Christian TV program series that exclusively shines a spotlight on the Messianic Jewish ministries of Israel called Living Stones Television.  LSTV finally broke the series into Christian broadcasting thanks to the Christian Television Network in Florida (CTN) which reaches 45 million households in the U.S., Asia, Europe, Africa and Australia via Direct TV, Dish Network and Thaicom 5 satellite (also streaming live on CTN's website). If you missed the premier,you can watch Asher's excellent segment about the believers in Israel online anytime: Episode 1 at View LSTV Episodes.  LSTV airs weekly Thursday 9 PM EST on ctnonline.com