Part Four: Thousands of Christians Join the Annual Jerusalem March

A highlight of my Jerusalem Sukkot Celebration was to participate in the 3-mile march in the heart of Jerusalem. It was estimated that 80 nations were represented in the thousands of Christians who marched. This yearly event originated in 1980 when a couple from Canada, Merv and Merla Watson, began the festive celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) to show solidarity with the State of Israel. Thirteen countries had withdrawn their embassies in reaction to Israel's declaration of Jerusalem as their eternal capital that year. The International Christian Embassy was established in response to the hurt the Jewish people felt, and the Christian celebration of the Feast has become a yearly event.  I was blessed to meet the Watsons, who are outstanding professional musicians. Merla has written 500 songs, and I knew some of them, such as "Jehovah Jireh" and "Awake, O Israel." She plays the violin and viola beautifully, and they both have excellent voices, leading in worship. Our group was treated to a concert, and Merla gave her testimony of a miracle healing after a grand piano fell on her hand and crushed it! She showed me the scars.

Doris and I had come prepared to march in our American flag kimonos, but we decided it would be better to give the visibility to our Cry for Zion T-shirts. We gave out little American flags and candy to the children who clamored for them along the parade route. We soon gave out of our supply, but we still had our wide smiles, and we waved to the enthusiastic Israelis lining the streets, sometimes engaging them in quick conversation. I told them we were praying for them. They loved us, and we loved them. It was awesome!

Maybe we can wear our kimonas on the Fourth of July! Ha!

Waiting in the park to line up for the March - Nancy talking to an Israeli

The Asian nations were very well represented!

Yea! We completed the March!

"And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem (battle of Armageddon) shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles" (Zech. 14:16). Here we are, rehearsing!

Part Three: Cry for Zion Prayer Rally

An outstanding part of my experience in Jerusalem in October was the Cry for Zion prayer rally.

 Doron Keidar

 John Enarson, Nancy, and Doron

 Our Cry for Zion shirt

 Our banner for the Jerusalem March

John Enarson and Nancy

Doron Keidar, Lars and Harriet Enarson's son-in-law, is the Executive Director of the Cry for Zion ministry. John Enarson, Lars and Harriet's son, is the Christian Relation Director. Their purpose is advocating for freedom of worship on the Temple Mount, the holiest spot on the face of the earth! The Jews have had two temples there, but on October 13th, UNESCO, the cultural arm of the U.N., passed a resolution stating that there is no Jewish connection to the Temple Mount! The Supreme Court of Israel has ruled that the Jews can pray on the Temple Mount, but this ruling is not enforced. A Jew is forbidden to bring a Bible or a prayer book there, and if a Jew even moves his lips in silent prayer, the Israeli police will remove him from the Mount! The security situation is very tense. The Muslim Waqf  are the custodians. Israel has sovereignty over the Mount but does not enforce it. If you want to add your voice to the cause of freedom of worship on Mt. Zion, go to this site - Cry for Zion

Our group had a prayer rally at the Goldman Promenade, the hill across from the Old City and the Temple Mount. In our first teaching session earlier, Lars Enarson likened Israel to God's timepiece in the countdown to the return of the Lord. Lars said that the rebirth of Israel in 1948 was the hour hand on the clock. The reuniting of the city of Jerusalem and regaining the Temple Mount and Western Wall in the Six Days War of  1967 was the minute hand on the clock. At the present time what happens concerning the Temple Mount is the second hand on the clock!

Doris Murdoch and Nancy at the Cry for Zion prayer rally

Our group walked the ramparts of the Old City and prayed (Isa. 62:6-7). A woman named Elly gave a testimony of how the Holy Spirit gave her a burden to pray and ask God's forgiveness for Israel when they gave the Temple Mount back to the Muslims right after they obtained it in the Six Days War of 1967. She was weeping profusely during her encounter with the Spirit.

On the ramparts - Elly testifying

On our way up to the Temple Mount, I came face-to-face with a strong advocate for freedom of worship on the Temple Mount, Rabbi Yehuda Glick, who is now a minister in the Knesset. He made aliyah from America and was the Director of the Temple Institute, as well as a tour guide. I knew that he had sustained four gunshot wounds to the chest at close range by a terrorist about two years ago. I told him that I had prayed for him and was glad to see him looking so well! He wanted to know what I do. I told him I taught the church about our Jewish roots and had written a book, Why Christians Should Care About Their Jewish Roots. He was interested and wanted me to email him. He handed me his card, and I handed him mine. We noticed he had body guards! Pray for this man.

MK Rabbi Yehuda Glick talking to Nancy

Doron, John, and Yehuda Glick

Stay tuned for continuing blogs on my eighth trip to Israel for the Jerusalem Sukkot Celebration.

Part 2 - Celebrating and Giving Thanks Like the Pilgrims Did

 John Enarson teaching the men how to wave the lulav.

Our beautiful sukkah after we decorated it.

 The sukkah is in the courtyard of the AMI Center in the heart of Jerusalem.

Three new friends, Kathy Markward of Tennessee, a lady from Texas, and Joke de Vos from Holland.

Nancy and Doris sat at the head table with Lars & Harriet Enarson and Henry from Canada.

Lars offering thanks for the bread.

Lars and Harriet Enarson, our hosts.

Doris Murdoch and Nancy.

The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) is the final feast of the seven annual "feasts of the Lord" (Lev. 23:34-43), and its fulfillment will be in the reign of King Jesus on the earth. It lasts for seven days, and it is to commemorate God's provision and protection in the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites on their way to the Promised Land. The Israelites were commanded to build sukkot (booths or tabernacles). The event I attended was unique in that our group had our own sukkah. We decorated it, and we had meals and celebrated in it. Another biblical aspect of our enactment of the feast, besides dwelling in the sukkah, was the waving of the lulav, which consists of the etrog (fragrant lemon-like fruit of the beautiful tree), and branches of the palm, myrtle and willow trees (Lev. 23:40). John Enarson taught the men the proper way of waving the lulav, which he said was like a rehearsal for welcoming the Lord on His arrival in Jerusalem! At His first coming palm branches were waved before Jesus as He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey (Matt. 21:7-9).

John saw "a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands" (Rev. 7:9). Did you know that all nations will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles every year when Jesus is on His throne in the New Jerusalem? Here is what the prophet Zechariah declared: "And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations [after Armageddon] which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles" (Zech. 14:16).  So we were rehearsing!

Did you know that the Pilgrims likely fashioned their first Thanksgiving on the model of the biblical Feast of Tabernacles? They saw themselves as new Israelites in a new promised land. I found a wonderful article about this, Here is an excerpt:

In Jewish tradition, the Festival of Sukkot is a joyous occasion to give thanks and praise to the Source of Creation for the bounty we enjoy. In fact, we are told that during Sukkot, "you shall have nothing but joy." [Deut. 16:15] Jews erect a sukkah, a harvest booth, in which they eat their meals, and sometimes sleep, during the festival. It is a reminder of the booths in which their ancestors are said to have dwelled during their forty-year Sinai sojourn. It is also precisely the kind of structure farmers in the Middle East still construct at the edges of their fields as crops come ripe and the need to rise early for harvesting makes it prudent to sleep nearby.... The sukkah is a temporary structure, hung with fruits and symbols of the harvest season. Its roof is thinly covered with branches, admitting sunlight, starlight, wind, and rain, reminding of us the precariousness of our existence in the face of the forces of nature. ... There is a strong thread which runs from the Israelite wilderness experience to that of the Pilgrims and the harsh years they endured as they strove to sink roots in this new land. Like the ancient Israelites of whom they read in the Bible, they were people of great faith who believed themselves to be sustained through God's great mercy and beneficence.

That they should rejoice and give thanks at harvest time was as natural an impulse for the Pilgrims as it was for the ancient Israelites.  By Rabbi Elias Lieberman

PERSONAL BLOG: My Experience in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles

I was blessed to speak at my church last night and show 72 pictures of my experience in Jerusalem for Lars Enarson's Jerusalem Sukkot Celebration, October 14-15, 2016. I packed all I could into 50 minutes, but there is still a lot to tell. My blog so far has been a teaching site, but I now would like to change it to a personal blog, another way to fulfill my calling as a "Mizpah" for Israel. I hope you will stay with me as I relate my experiences during my EIGHTH TRIP TO ISRAEL. My new friend, Doris Murdoch, and I had an exciting time!

Background: Curtis and I have known Lars & Harriet Enarson and their children, Josefin, Johanna, and John, since they moved from Sweden to Columbus, Mississippi, where we were pastoring, in 1992. Lars greatly influenced me in my understanding of Scripture in relation to Israel, my Jewish Messiah, and the Jewish people. His world-wide prayer ministry, the Elijah Prayer Army and The Watchman International (thewatchman.org), began to develop while they were in Columbus.

Curtis took six of us from the church to Israel in 1994. After returning, I began to study modern Hebrew, and my first teacher was the Swedish tutor who had come to provide schooling for the Enarson children. God called me as a Mizpah (watchman and witness) for Israel in 1995.  In 1996, I led a mission to Jerusalem with Curtis and four other church members. The Enarsons moved to Israel in 1997. I went by myself to Israel in 1998 and did volunteer work in Jerusalem, staying with two different couples, one of them being Roy and Mary Kendall (more on them later). Then I went to Haifa to visit the Enarsons.  In 2002, I went with two sisters from Huntsville, Alabama, to Israel for Lars Enarson's Passover Prayer Tour -Convocation- and outreach conference. In 2003, my Messianic Jewish friend, Janice Bell, and I were given checks for $3,333.33 each by an anonymous donor for a trip to Israel!! Then in 2007, Janice and I took our husbands, Jack and Curtis, to Israel, on another self-designed tour. You can read about my adventures on all these trips in my book (see sidebar), Jewish Roots Journey: Memoirs of a Mizpah.  In 2012, my friend, June White, and I went to Israel and stayed with Roy and Mary Kendall.

How I got my traveling companion: I really wanted to go to Lars Enarson's Jerusalem Sukkot Celebration this year, but I knew my husband Curtis was in such bad health that I couldn't leave him. After Curtis went to be with the Lord in April, I began to consider it again. (Although Curtis refused to renew his passport three years before, he insisted that I renew mine. He was looking ahead for me, bless his heart!) Strangely, the desire to go to Israel again had faded, and I didn't want to go. However, I prayed that if the Lord wanted me to go, I would do it. I gave Him one condition: I must have someone to go with me!

It wasn't long until I got an email from my publisher at Energion Publications, Henry Neufeld. He said one of his authors, Doris Murdoch, wanted to contact me. Because of my love for Israel, she thought I might provide the answer to a question she had. Doris and I began corresponding, and one day I wrote her and asked if she would like to go to Israel with me. She replied that she had just been to Israel in January, so it would be too soon to go back. Then later she wrote again and said when she told her husband Jerry about my invitation, he said she really needed to think about it! She thought about it and decided to go!

It looked like God had answered my prayer. Yes, He wanted me to go to Israel again. I wanted to be double sure that Doris and I would be compatible, so on a trip through Florida, Janice and I paid her and Jerry a visit at their home in Live Oak. She was a marvelous hostess, and we had great conversation. I felt right about us traveling together to Israel. That was in August. In September, Jerry and Doris visited me in Petrey. On October 13th, Doris and I flew out of Atlanta to Israel! The adventure began.

I could not have had a better traveling companion than Doris. Please continue to check this site for the unfolding of my adventures in Israel!

JESUS WEPT

“Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it” (Luke 19:41).

            Jesus was acclaimed as the Son of David and the King of Israel as He made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem the week He was crucified. The crowds shouted hosannas to Him and welcomed Him as their Messiah (Matt. 21:9; John 12:12-13). Bartimaeus also acclaimed Him as such, when he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:46-47). Jesus, likewise, identified Himself as the Son of David, in His final words of Holy Scripture: “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star” (Rev. 22:16).

            The Son of David is returning one day to Jerusalem, the Jewish capital, the city He wept over when the Jewish leaders rejected Him (Luke 13:34-35; 19:41). Jesus also wept when his friend Lazarus died (John 11:35). He was not only crying because of empathy with Mary and Martha in their grief, but He likely was crying about the unbelief of the crowd. He already knew that He would raise up Lazarus, and He already knows that one day He will raise up the nation of Israel! On that day “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:25-27). But until that day comes, He weeps over His beloved chosen people.

            How sad that “a child was born unto them, a Son was given … a Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6), and Israel rejected Him! But, wait! There is a silver lining to that cloud. “For if their casting Yeshua aside means reconciliation for the world, what will their accepting Him mean? It will be life from the dead!” (Rom. 11:15, Complete Jewish Bible). In other words, if Israel’s rejection of Yeshua as Messiah resulted in the gospel going to the Gentiles, then their acceptance of Him will bring world-wide revival! Isn’t that what we all want? But how have we been praying for it?

            King David wrote, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who love you” (Psalm 122:6). That is tantamount to praying for the salvation of the Jewish people, that their eyes will be opened, like Bartimaeus, to see the Son of David, their Messiah! Our own prosperity, spiritually and every other way, is tied up with this imperative. Will we be obedient?

            The tears of our Lord poured out on His people, and now we Gentiles who know Him as Savior and Lord are His people, too. We should have our prayers mixed with tears of repentance for what the Church has done to the Jewish people throughout history to harden them against their own Messiah! The Church is suffering from a case of mistaken identity! Jesus is weeping about it as He intercedes for the eyes of His Church to be opened!

IDENTITY

(Based on Romans 11)

So, what is my identity now that I am saved?

I have a Jewish Lord, so how should I behave?

I was graciously grafted into a Jewish olive tree,

I was a wild branch when Jesus set me free.

The Seed of Abraham was planted in the ground –

They’d nailed Him to a tree when I was not around.

But He was resurrected as the Jewish Scriptures said,

And offered all salvation by His blood He had shed.

I later heard the story, first told by Jewish men –

The Apostles, Paul, and all the church were Jewish, all of them.

But when the message got to me, the Jewish roots were cut!

Yeshua wept, because the door to heaven for Jews was shut!

The Jews now think of Jesus as a God who’s not for them –

The veil over their eyes has made their eyesight dim.

But we can make them jealous if we restore His Jewish identity,

Support the Jews and the Jewish nation; for them we must have affinity.

And we must know our history, horrible things the Church has done,

Identify with them in their pain, that’s how their hearts are won.

We must repent for atrocities done in the name of our Jewish King.

Forgive us, Lord, we did not know it was such an evil thing.

By Nancy Petrey ~ June 18, 2016

            Most Christians are not aware of the anti-Semitic history of the Church. I recommend three resources: (1) Our Hands are Stained with Blood: the Tragic Story of the “Church” and the Jewish People, by Dr. Michael Brown. (2) How the Cross Became a Sword by Richard Booker (small booklet). (3) Why Christians Should Care About Their Jewish Roots by Nancy Petrey (40-page book). In praying for revival and preparing for the coming of the Lord, these are indispensable tools. I urge you to read one of them. You will be spellbound and shell-shocked! But at least you will be equipped for these end times.

            PRAYER: Dear Father, cause us to weep over Your chosen people like Jesus did. Give us a heart of compassion to pray for their salvation. Cause us to be more grateful that Jesus came to us through the Jewish people and that our beloved Scriptures were penned and preserved by them. May we be moved to action on their behalf, speeding the day when Yeshua the Messiah will return to Jerusalem and set up His kingdom.

ISRAEL TRYING TO MAKE FRIENDS

Israel, God's miracle nation, is only in existence today because God is watching over her in the midst of hostile nations. May the Jewish people affirm the declaration made by King David, Israel's greatest king: "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They have bowed down and fallen, but we have risen and stand upright" (Psalm 20:7-8).

Israel has not given up trying to make peace with her neighbors, but Scripture declares that one day the whole world will make war on her (Zech. 12). This week Israeli diplomats met in Cairo with the Egyptians and agreed on re-starting the peace process. On August 24, Egyptian President al-Sissi said Russian President Vladimir Putin would host negotiations in Moscow between Netanyahu and Abbas. M-mm!

The Two-State solution had been dying a slow death. Most Jews and Palestinians don't want it. Only 46% Israelis and 39% Palestinians favor the deal that would return the Jewish State to her pre-1967 borders, allow 100,000 Palestinian refugees to return, and make West Jerusalem the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of Palestine. And get this - neither trust the U.S. and the European Union to broker the deal, but they do trust the Arab states! M-mm!

Israel is trying its best to make friends with Turkey and the African nations. Netanyahu is praising Turkey's parliament for ratifying their reconciliation deal, which means a mutual return of their ambassadors. "Relations with our neighbors are better than they've ever been," said Israeli deputy minister of regional cooperation.

More good news is that in July, Netanyahu toured East Africa, and afterward, the Republic of Guinea, a Muslim-majority nation, restored diplomatic ties with Israel after a 49-year break! Also, Israel's top diplomat, Dr. Dore Gold, secretly visited an unnamed Muslim nation last Monday that has no formal ties with Jerusalem. But his team stayed only a few hours due to the uncertain security situation! M-mm!

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu will meet with African leaders in New York in September when he comes to attend the United Nations General Assembly, hoping that his effort will finally change the "automatic majority against Israel" in the U.N. Will he achieve this?

As you might expect, the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, is doing all he can to try to stop an Israeli breakthrough in Africa. In July, he met with Sudanese President, Omar al-Badhir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and genocide! He would be the ideal accomplice with Abbas to try to counter Israel's diplomatic successes in Africa! M-mm! Wonder what they are cooking up?

Lovers of Israel, keep praying for "the peace of Jerusalem," meaning the salvation of the Jewish people. In these end times, their only true friends will be true Christians who love their Jewish roots in the Jewish Messiah. May Israelis and Jews everywhere come to realize that Yeshua HaMashiach is their only hope, their Friend who sticks closer than a brother!

RUSSIA, IRAN, AND ISIS WANT TO ANNIHILATE ISRAEL!

Today I read an article, "Middle East Update," from the Jonathan Bernis' Jewish Voice Ministries. Iran has allowed Russia to have a military base within the country. A few days ago Russian bombers flew a mission into Syria from that Iranian base! "Iran’s unwavering commitment to annihilate Israel joined with their emboldened nuclear development, the acquisition of this new air defense system [from Russia], and the presence of a Russian-Iranian cooperative just over Israel’s northern border are all reasons of concern for Israel." After reading that article, I couldn't help but think of the end times scenario described in Scripture. I felt compelling to put my thoughts into poetic form:

YOU SHOULD CARE

Israel in the end times – does anybody care?

The place of Jesus’ birth and death,

And soon He’s coming there.

The wise men called Him King of the Jews,

And so did Pilate, too.

His title written above His head

Who died for me and you.

Before He comes the nations will rage –

God sits in the heavens and laughs!

His Son will be King on Zion’s hill;

It will surely come to pass.

Russia may bellow, and Iran may boast,

And ISIS may threaten to conquer,

But missiles and rockets and nuclear bombs

The angels can use for fodder!

Till Jesus comes for the final war,

The battle of Armageddon,

The land of Israel is His focus,

The Jews in the midst of bedlam!

His feet will touch down on the Mount of Olives,

A quake will split the earth open.

His chosen ones will escape through the valley –

Zechariah the prophet has spoken!

So don’t be distracted by Olympics and elections

And find yourself unprepared.

We’re told to pray for Jerusalem,

And the Gospel must be shared.

So, yes! You should care about Israel –

God will keep every promise to her,

And the whole world will know that He is the Lord

And fear His wrath to incur.

Till heaven and earth shall pass away,

Not one of His words will fail.

So bow down to Jesus, the Jewish Messiah,

His love and His truth you must tell.

(Psalm 2; Zech. 14:4-5; Psalm 122:6; Ezek. 37:28; 38:23; Matt. 5:18)

By Nancy Petrey ~ August 19, 2016