For Such A Time As This!

For Such a Time As This!

As the season of Purim approaches, I am gripped by the intensity of events in the Middle East.  The story of Mordecai, Esther and Haman is one of the seminal illustrations of God’s commitment to His people. It is especially meaningful for me. My given name is Mordecai. I am named after my maternal Grandfather, Max (Mordecai) Cohen.

By His grace, the Lord Yeshua has called me to help awaken believers to their destiny! You, ( the members of the ZLM community) are a modern day Esther, the bride of the King, with Jewish roots, interceding for His people. A modern Haman, Ahmadinejad, has made his intentions clear. To “wipe Israel off the map” is his plan. Now the Mullahs, along with the president of Iran, defy the weak attempts of the community of nations to hinder their acquisition of nuclear weapons. Always, it is the Jews who are the target of this demonic rage. The lukewarm nations are being sifted, and they will shortly make decisions that will seal their future. Anti-Semitism is arising in a manner reminiscent of Europe in 1938, not only surrounding Israel, but all around the world. More than once we have heard that had we believed Hitler, from his own speeches and writing, we could have stopped him sooner.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran

So much of history involves the changes brought to this little planet by a small group of people whose reward in this life has often been harassment, torture and death. Is that same fate shaping up again in this era? We Jews have survived Haman, Herod, Hitler, and Hamas…with the net effect being more blessing for all the world.

God has been faithful to preserve our people throughout the centuries, in order to fulfill his word to Abraham:

Genesis 12:

1 “Now the LORD had said to Abram:“Get out of your country,

From your family, And from your father’s house,

To a land that I will show you.

2 I will make you a great nation;

I will bless you

And make your name great;

And you shall be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,

And I will curse him who curses you;

And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

What a promise! And how powerfully it has been fulfilled! First and foremost through the line of Mashiach – choosing our Jewish people to birth the Savior of the world, Jesus. God is so kind that He didn’t stop there. After continually delivering us from the hands of our enemies, He blessed us with a respect for His Torah (although we weren’t always so good at obeying it). The teachings of the scriptures form the background for all the achievements in science, medicine, economics, and social change wrought at the hands of the Jewish people. When these descend from the moral teachings of the Tanach (Hebrew scriptures) the result has been positive progress for all of humanity.  Even in warfare, Jewish cyber technology is having a profound effect at stalling the Iranian nuclear march. Let’s pray that the cyber war continues to hinder the maniacal march to Armageddon.

My sons and I recently saw the movie, “Defiance” which recounts the story of the Bielski brothers and their guerilla war against the Nazis in the frozen Eastern European woods. Their commitment to survival is perhaps theatrically portrayed, but the essence of the story is this –the Jews (and, by inference, the church!) are co-laboring with the Lord to see his purposes accomplished. Here at ZLM, we take this mandate seriously – to survive, yes, but beyond survival, to see the life-giving gospel go, “to the Jew first!” (Romans 1:16)

–Myles