The Word Of The King

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Every year, at the start of the year, I pray for a word or words for that year. The word may be a personal one, or one for the ministry and congregation, Beth Israel, the Jerusalem Center, or Hope of the World. Sometimes the word concerns the world. As I was looking at the word I had received for the year 2017, the word I shared to the congregation at the start of the year, I was amazed.
The word concerned a world leader, a king who had risen to power with his own agenda, but whom God would use to accomplish His will. So 2017 would be the year that saw a man who would rise to power to the American presidency with his own agenda, and yet, God would have His own plans. I went on with the word: the king (from the Bible) would make an historic declaration that would concern the Jewish people. So before the year was out, Donald Trump would issue an historic declaration that would also concern the Jewish people.
The ancient declaration would concern the dwelling of the Jewish people in the land of Israel after returning from their exile. So the declaration of Donald Trump would also concern the dwelling of the Jewish people in the land of Israel, a dwelling that had come after their two thousand year old exile. The ancient declaration specifically concerned the city of Jerusalem and would recognize the city as the capital of the Jewish nation. So too, before the year's end, the American president recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The ancient king was the Persian monarch Cyrus. He was arguably the most powerful man in the world. And yet, he was entirely subject to the will and purposes of God. So it was with America's president. It's not about the king or the power that is used, it is about the will and purposes of God. The geographic center of end-time prophecy is Jerusalem. From the oracles of Isaiah to the Book of Revelation, Jerusalem is the focal point of God's purposes and the place where the age must come to its culmination.
It's for that very same reason, that Jerusalem is the most controversial city on our planet - the only city that the nations of the world refuse to recognize - the most fought over city in world history - and the center of more United Nations resolutions and condemnations than any other city. It not only represents the end of the present order, but the beginning of the next, the city from which Messiah will reign and the kingdom of God begins. It is not that Donald Trump was thinking of any of these things when he issued the Jerusalem Declaration. But that's the point. Neither was Cyrus. The point is God is over all things. We may not, and often don't see what God is doing, but in the end, His purposes will be accomplished in the world, in the nations, and in the lives of His people. So too, it is with your life. If you're living your life in the Lord and walking in His will, then you'll see His hand, you'll know His victory, and you will prevail. Be confident in this, and this month be strong in that confidence as you walk in the footsteps of the King. And may God greatly bless you as you do!

Your brother and co-laborer
in His love and service,
Jonathan

See Message: Word for the Year 2018