by Esther Korson
Between 1980 and 1985, in the old Andropov and Brezhnev days, I used to travel to the former Soviet Union. Travelling there alone (but with a great big God), I would stay each year for three weeks so that I could be in Moscow, Kiev and Leningrad respectively for the High Holy Days, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and then Simchat Torah. While there, I did lots of things that could have been potentially dangerous, to be sure. The first time, however, that someone commented that I was really brave, that statement shocked me to the core. “I’m not brave at all!” I exclaimed. “I’d rather be in the Soviet Union doing dangerous things in God’s will—than anywhere else in the world outside of His will! The place of safety is in doing what God asks us to do!” And I meant that with all my heart.
One of His purposes in sending me behind the Iron Curtain was to bring a message of hope to the Jewish people there. Based on the simple Scripture, “I will say to the North, give up”(Isaiah 43:5-6)—in the Lord’s Biblical description of His hand in bringing His people home to Israel once again from the ends of the earth—He wanted me to tell His people there something simple. “Tell them that I will soon open the door for them to come home to Israel, and that when I do it, they are to know that it is God and that they should leave at once…”To be honest, it seemed impossible. The government was powerful and it was strong and it considered anyone who wanted to leave the country to be a traitor to the Soviet way. The Jewish people in those days who so courageously applied for permission to immigrate to Israel were seriously persecuted by the KGB. As improbable as it seemed, however, I knew that it was truly the Word of God and that He would find a way for His people to come home!
Whenever I would tell people as they bravely gathered at the synagogues during those holidays, they were really filled with joy! And then they would invariably ask, “But how will He do it?” to which I replied, “I don’t know.” And then they would ask, “When will He do it?” to which I also replied, “I don’t know. I only know that He WILL do it!”
We all know now, that even though it was such a tiny Scripture, when it truly was His timing to say “Give up!” the communist countries fell like dominoes and the Jewish people came home. More than a million of them arrived in miniscule Israel from the former Soviet Union!
So now He has a message for all of you, not based on one tiny Word in the Scriptures, but on many promises throughout the Bible! It is on His heart that the nation of Israel will soon at long, long last, come to recognize Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah and their King. For this, the Scriptures are numerous, and I will list just a few of them today. How will He do it? I don’t know. When will He do it? Very, very soon. (Many Messianic Believers here in the land are sensing that the fulfillment of these promises is very much on the Father’s heart, now).
“And it will come about in that day that I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son…” Zechariah 12: 9-10
“Therefore, say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God, ‘It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went; ‘…Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,’ declares the Lord God, ‘when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land. ‘Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols… Moreover, I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36: 22-27
“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, “Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, declares the Lord. “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord, “I will put my law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbour, and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Jeremiah 31:31-34
“Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you many live.” Deuteronomy 30:6
“In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.” Zechariah 13: 1
“And thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob, This is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’” Romans 11: 26-27
And finally for today, here is God’s Word about His Word!
“So shall My Word be which goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55: 6-11
When God fulfills these wonderful promises and Israel will at last come to know Yeshua as Redeemer and King, you will see a joy unparalleled in the world in this little land. Plus, be sure that the nations of the world will hate us more than ever when we claim ‘Jesus’—Yeshua—as our own! Wonderful, awesome days are coming, dear ones! For this we can earnestly pray…
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Jacqui Biggadyke says
Praise God for His Promises! I love reading your articles. It makes me feel a bit closer to Israel. I pray for Peace In Jerusalem, and I am so excited that Jesus will be recognised as King. by all of Israel. Our Lord God is Amazing!!