©4 July 2014 Revive Israel Ministries

In Memory

Our hearts are torn at the murder of the three teenage boys, Ayal, Gilad and Naftali, at the hands of Hamas terrorists. During the past three weeks, both secular and religious were united in a cry of prayer through public readings of the Psalms. This Scripture meditation is written in their memory, and the Messianic hope of our people.

By Asher Intrater

There is a short phrase in Psalm 118:26 that has taken on major significance both in the Jewish and Christian world. In Hebrew the phrase is - ברוך הבא , baruch haba, "Blessed is he who comes…"

Yeshua and his disciples refer to "Baruch haba" twice: once at His entrance into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:9), and once at the end of His long rebuke of the religious leaders (Matthew 23:39).

At Yeshua's entrance into Jerusalem, He rode on a donkey in fulfillment of the prophecy in Zecharirah 9:9. His disciples lined the streets as He rode in. This declaration was an invitation which was not fulfilled at that time - for Him to take His place as King Messiah in Jerusalem.

Matthew 21:9
The crowd of people went before Him and after Him, crying, "Hoshana to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of YHVH."

The second use of "Baruch Haba" was in Yeshua's prophecy of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and its future rebuilding.  Here Yeshua rebuked the Pharisees for rejecting Him, and also promised that He would return when the people cried out "Baruch Haba."

Matthew 23:37-39
O Jerusalem,  …Your house is left to you desolate;  …You shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of YHVH.'

Amongs modern Jews, this phrase was made famous in the 1990's by the Lubavitcher Hassidim in proclaiming that their rabbi, Menachem Schneerson, was the Messiah.   He passed away in June 1994 (20 years ago last month).  His followers continue to fill Jerusalem and Israel with posters of his picture and the title: Blessed is he who comes, King Messiah. 

They interpret Psalm 118 as referring to the Messiah, just as it is understood in the gospels (except of course switching their "candidate" for messiah).

Religious Jews read Psalms during the biblical holy days.  In Israel Psalms are also read out loud during times of crisis and special needs.  Thus a public reading of Psalm 118 could be readily imagined at a future national crisis.

In the Matthew version, Yeshua refers to another verse in Psalm 118 during His entrance to Jerusalem  - "The stone which the builders rejected became the chief cornerstone" - Matthew 21:42.   Psalm 118 demands that whoever would be welcomed into Jerusalem as messiah must first become like a "stone" rejected by the "builders" (religious and political leaders). – First rejected--then welcomed.  

Yeshua's entrance into Jerusalem was only a partial fulfillment. There will come another day in which He will enter Jerusalem again.  This is likely to occur in a time of national crisis on a biblical holy day with a public reading of the Psalms, crying out "Baruch Haba."

By Rachel & Gilad Netanel

Recently we hosted some friends for Shabbat dinner. One of them (H., a music teacher) invited us to come to a music festival she was hosting at her school.  We enjoyed the festival and met her parents there.  Shortly after this we visited them again during Shavuot.  

The father asked us, ‘How do Messianic believers pray and what do they do?’  I explained that we are Jews who are returning to the roots of Judaism in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible).  'What about the mitzvot  (commandments) and the Shabbat?’ I said that we keep commandments according to the Tenach, as described by the Prophet Jeremiah (31:31, 33): "I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah... and I will write My Torah on their hearts.”

 The brother (who had formerly been involved in an orthodox Yeshiva) asked, “How did you come to the conclusion that Yeshua is the Messiah?"  At this point he began recording our conversation as I pointed out prophecies from the Bible.  Our conversation continued on for three hours.  Please continue to pray for us as we share the gospel with our fellow Israelis. 

From Ayellet Ronen, executive secretary

Two years ago our kibbutz suffered a setback after being sued by Lesbians for not allowing them to hold a "wedding" on our property. Recently our appeal was denied, and since then, an unprecedented new wave of attacks has come against us on email, internet, Ynet, Mako and social networks.

Other homo-lesbians are demanding to hold events here, which in effect may force us to close our facilities and fire the staff. We have a sense that God may be calling us to redefine our facilities more clearly as a religious organization, which would change the legal status concerning homo-lesbian events. We have been hesitant in the past to do this because we enjoy being open to the broader public and being free from the need to fundraise as a non-profit.
An interesting side note is that we have been contacted by orthodox Jewish religious organizations, who although they oppose us because of our faith in Yeshua, they want to support us against the attacks from the homo-lesbians. One rabbi told me, "They are attacking you now, but we know we will be next in line; so we want to stand with you."

In this short video Brigitte Gabriel answers a question by a Muslim college student concerning "moderate Muslims."  Brigitte replies that while 80% of Muslims are not radical, the remaining 20% of radical Muslims are more than enough to kill and massacre. The peaceful majority are irrelevant! To watch in English, click HERE!