©19 September 2014 Revive Israel Ministries

Pleased to Crush

By Asher Intrater

A profound statement of Scripture is found in the prophecy of Messiah as suffering servant:

Isaiah 53:10        
"And it pleased YHVH to crush him"

The root word here for "crush" is דכא and is the same as "bruise" in:

Isaiah 53:5
"And he was pierced for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities."

How could it be the will of God to crush or bruise the soul of His righteous servant? 
The Messiah's soul was to be made a "guilt offering" (verse 10) and be "poured out to death" (v. 12).  He suffered anguish in the process of redeeming us of our sins. 

His pure soul had to absorb and feel the negativity, betrayal and hatred of our sins.  The crushing and pain of his soul enabled our souls to be forgiven and purified. He allowed his soul to be crushed.  His emotions were crushed because of us.  His feelings were bruised because of his contact with us. 

This "crushing" of the soul and becoming a "guilt offering" is a mystery.  The "crushing" of a righteous person has redeeming influence.  Yet when one is crushed, there is nothing to do but be crushed. It makes no sense.  It is unfathomable.

Yeshua had to trust his heavenly Father while he was being crushed. He had to believe that his suffering would do good for others.  We see this phenomenon in great heroes of the faith: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Jeremiah, Peter, Paul, John, and many others. 
A crushed soul is free from pride and lust. A crushed soul seems to be totally ineffective.  Yet God can work through a crushed soul as the person holds on to his faith and love.

It is encouraging here to know that the Lord is "pleased."  God is not sadistic.  If He is pleased, it means that He knows that much greater good will be the result.  It is a comfort to know that the Lord can be pleased with us even at the time when everything seems wrong and all we can feel is pain.  We can trust God that somehow a greater good will come out of what we are going through.

If God is pleased to crush us, then we can be pleased to be crushed. In this way we are becoming "conformed to the image of" Yeshua in the process.

Jay Comiskey, Vice President, CBN

On September 8th & 9th, Asher & Betty were guests at CBN in Virginia Beach, to speak with the staff and meet with various leaders.  Asher spoke to the CBN All-Staff Chapel on Coming of Jesus, Israel, and the Kingdom of God.  Afterwards, Asher & Betty had a Q & A time with the CBN employees.  

CBN's vision statement is to prepare the world for the Second Coming of Jesus and to establish the kingdom of God on earth. The Second Coming will take place at Jerusalem, and there will be the capital of His kingdom on earth.

The significance of this message for me was the "missing link" of Israel & the Messianic Remnant being the "key" to making the 2nd Coming and the Kingdom of God a practical reality. "The plugging in connection" is part of the John 17 intercession of Jesus being answered through CBN and Revive Israel.  

Asher and Betty also had a time of sharing personally over lunch with CBN Chairman Gordon Robertson and President Michael Little.  It was a joyful time of making divine “connections” as we all partner together to prepare the nations of the earth for the return of Jesus the Messiah to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

On Tuesday, Asher was interviewed by CBN News.  Check out this 18 minute interview here.

By Eddie Santoro

One of our primary goals in Ahavat Yeshua is raising up the next generation of young Israeli leaders. We have been meeting regularly for some time with many of those who have a calling to future leadership, to disciple and encourage them.

Six months ago, in response to a growing desire in these young adults to take a more active role in leadership, they requested that we start meeting as a group so that they would have the opportunity to give direction and establish programs that they saw as important to the life of the congregation. They dubbed this group the "Do It" group.

Six months later, this group is having a very real impact on the congregation. Already there is a committee that is involved with strengthening and developing the children's program. There is a fresh focus on evangelism and they have recently decided to start establishing more small groups within the congregation. Two of these young people have already been ordained as deacons and have recently started serving on the leadership team of the congregation.
  
Beyond all of this tangible "fruit" there is a growing sense of unity, love and excitement as these young adults increasingly take "ownership" of Ahavat Yeshua. Please keep this “Do It” group in prayer. In a very real way it is transitioning the congregation into its future. Please pray for all of us older leaders who need great wisdom and patience as we give ourselves to this most important process.