FROM PASTOR TIM JOHNSON:
What a great time it was to dig into God’s word and see how the feasts from Leviticus 23 are still relevant for today. Some said they were not aware of how important the feasts still are in Jewish culture, let alone to Christians.
The Bible tells us there will be an incredible harvest, or Ingathering of Jews when Jesus returns. It will be stupendous, but a few, myself included, were stunned by Jeremiah’s prophecy that God’s last act will render the Exodus event small by comparison. Seriously, that is a breath-taking pronouncement.
As a result of that future event, God will fulfill His promise to Abraham to make him a blessing to the nations. In that day, every knee will indeed bow down and confess that Jesus is Lord.
As we see world events shaping up, we see Jews streaming to Israel, as God said He’d “hunt” and “fish” them to bring them to the land. And, we see acutely heightened tensions to the north of Israel in Syria as Turkey and Russia are intimately involved with the affairs of Syria; and they are no friends of Israel.
God is moving, shaping and preparing. But while He’s doing His work, we are called to tell others about Jesus so that through faith they too might participate in the Ingathering that will first feature the Jews, but then also the Gentiles. It’s God’s sequence of events; to the Jew first, then the Greek.
Do note that this sequence is for both salvation and for punishment (see both Romans 1:16 and 2:9). While it is important to keep our eyes on what’s happening in Israel, it is critical to not gaze there so much that we lose sight of our calling to tell others in our own spheres of influence.
My goal in all of this teaching is to try and help us see what I believe to be God’s plan so that we can be blessed by seeing it unfold, but also to be involved by fulfilling the Great Commission in our own world.
With my eyes on Christ….ever waiting…
Pastor Tim