To the Jew First
by Ari Sorko-Ram
(Ari is a Messianic Jew who has been living full time
in Israel since 1976, and leads both a congregation in Tel Aviv and
MAOZ Israel Ministries)
2008
A WORD FOR THE NATIONS
The reason I am bringing this message is not to tell you
to ignore or do less in your individual calling. I only suggest that
you always keep the big picture in mind. If you have a call to something
or somewhere, you of course must never sacrifice the call. But make
Israel a part of your life so that your opportunities and successes
will be according to Gods standards and intentions.
The Kingdom of God is not about doing less. Its
about doing more of what God wants us to do!
When I was praying a few years ago, I asked the Lord to
give me a word of encouragement to the nations concerning Israel. I
was earnestly seeking God with fasting and prayer, and finally the Lord
gave me this Scripture:
Isaiah 49:22-23
Thus says the Lord God:
Behold, I will lift up My hand in an oath to the nations,
And set up My standard for the peoples;
They shall bring your sons [Israel] in their arms,
And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders;
Kings [mature believers in the nations] shall be your foster fathers,
And their queens your nursing mothers;
They [the nations] shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth,
And lick up the dust of your feet.
Then you [Israel] will know that I am the Lord,
For they shall not be ashamed who wait
for Me.
I was somewhat embarrassed to bring these Scriptures to
believers among the nations as a Jew. So I said, Lord, give me
another Scripture! In my eyes this was not a nice thing to say
to my fellow brothers and sisters among the nations. So I prayed and
fasted more, Oh God, give me another Scripture! But this
was the only Scripture He gave me. As I continued to pray I was troubled
and said, I am not going to the nations to give this word.
But I realized that the Lord was trying to tell me something that I
was not yet grasping.
Then the Lord reminded me of an incident that happened
with my son, Ayal, when he was about six months old. We were about to
go to a meeting one Shabbat morning. I was dressed up for the service,
wearing a nice shirt and tie. My wife Shira was not yet ready, and asked
me if I could change the babys diaper while she was finishing
up. I said, Sure, sweetheart, and put Ayal on the bed to
change him.
Ayal was lying there, just looking up at me, smiling,
and I was smiling down at him saying, Thats my boy!
I was just so proud of him my boy was already six months old.
So I took the diaper off, washed him and powdered him, and as I got
ready to put the clean diaper on, he tinkled all over my tie. And all
the while he was just smiling up at me and I was still smiling down
at him. I wasnt offended. I was just glad everything was working!
I took my tie off, and I washed him and powdered him again, and when
I was finished I kissed Ayal on his toe.
I realized that what I was doing all this time was bowing
down with my face to the ground because thats how you minister
to a baby. You dont minister to an infant while standing up proudly.
No, you humble yourself before your child. You bow down with your face
to the ground because the child cant get up. It doesnt matter
if you are the queen or the king of a nation, you will bow down with
your face to the ground when you minister to a baby.
And why did I kiss Ayals toe? I kissed his toe because
he couldnt come up any higher by himself. If he could have stood
up, I would have kissed him on his forehead. But I kissed him on his
toe. I did it because I love him thats my baby, thats
my boy! I was proud of him. I wasnt ashamed to meet his needs.
It was the time for me to serve him.
Now Ayal is 66 tall. He can pick me
up in his arms. My hug is underneath his arm now! He wants to minister
to me and bless me because I ministered to him when he was a child.
So Israel has now been rebirthed as a nation but is still a
spiritual child with all that includes.
This is Gods plan and way. This is why he said,
The nations will lift up your sons in their arms. They will carry
your daughters upon their shoulders. The kings and queens are
the people who know who they are in God and are not ashamed to humble
themselves and minister to a child.
You are kings and queens of the Kingdom! You are the mighty
ones in God! Only those who have real authority and power in God can
show mercy to those who are in need of mercy. The Lord continues to
say the kings will be as foster fathers and queens as nursing mothers
to Israel. What do foster fathers do? They are there to help the children
find their way, their destiny. The nursing mothers give the nourishment
that babies need, bowing down with their faces to the ground. They change
diapers. They kiss babies on their toes.
What is the result of this service? Then you
will know that I am the Lord.
When kings and queens do this, Israel will know why they
do it - because the nations are not ashamed to wait for the Lord. The
nations know that God has a plan Plan A. They know that God has
a purpose for Israel as a nation, and joyfully obey as kings and queens
in Gods service. They take the authority they have been given.
They take the inheritance they received and invest in Israel, lifting
it up to return it to its place in Gods plan.