(#50 5983) Back to the Kairos Now

FIRST POSTED ON 15 AUGUST 2020. (Updates in BLUE)

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my Shabbat blog!

As we conclude with this final session, I want to leave you with these 3 key takeaways:

ONE, we are fast approaching the end - we are in the twilight of the Sixth Day of Creation before the Seventh Day arrives at sunset, the end of the summer harvest before the Fall Feasts begin, the 70th Jubilee from the time Israel possessed the Promised Land and 40th Jubilee from the time of Jesus’ first coming and birth of the Church, and the final generation that will witness His return.

TWO, we will be tested in unprecedented ways - Israel and the Church share a common prophetic destiny according to God’s eternal will. Israel’s rejection of Jesus at His first coming was part of the mystery of God’s will opening the way for the salvation of the Gentile nations through the Body of Christ. However, once the fullness of the Gentiles have come in, the keys of the Kingdom will be handed back to the Jews as the Church falls into deception and apostasy and this apostate Church ultimately rejects Christ in favour of the Antichrist. We who are the true Gentile children of God will join in the sufferings of our Jewish brethren as God refines both them and us as one Body in Him in preparation for His coming.

THREE, we need to equip ourselves and others in the Body of Christ - in view of the coming flood and fire of apostasy and persecution, we need to uphold one another within our own fellowship groups and beyond to (1) keep the Faith, (2) persevere in Hope, and (3) Love the Body. We can only stand (and withstand) individually when we stand together with fellow saints of God, being one in Spirit as we look past our local church, denomination and the Church as a whole to embrace our Jewish brothers and sisters in ushering in God’s Kingdom.

If you recall, we spoke of how, when David was rallying for support from the people to bring Israel under his rule following the death of King Saul, the men of the tribe of Issachar acted decisively to join him because they understood the times - meaning, God’s will for the nation then - and knew what Israel should do. They looked past the interests of their own tribe to join together with the other tribes of Israel to usher in God’s Kingdom rule through David.

In this Kairos Now, we believe that God is again speaking and releasing a similar message to His people. We, like the men of Issachar, need to hear, understand and act decisively in light of God’s Rhema and will to repair, rebuild and rescue His people and to release His prophetic word for this Kairos moment. We need to look past the interests of our own narrow “tribes” as it were to stand together with other like-minded saints and especially our Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ to rally behind and usher in the Kingdom of the Son of David, Jesus Christ. We do this “not by might nor by power” (Zech 4:6) as the world does, but by His Word (Rhema), Spirit and People that enables us to be overcomers in Faith, Hope and Love.

With this, we come to the end of our current study cycle and the end of another Jewish year. I hope you will join me here again in the new Jewish year (2 October 2024) as we begin a fresh cycle of faithfully hearing, understanding and acting on God’s Rhema until He returns to bring us back to eternity. Until then, may God’s Rhema and Spirit transform you into such future and Christ-ready fellowships in His Kairos. Amen!

Link to presentation.

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Annual Introduction - AM 5983 (15 September 2023 - 2 October 2024)

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to the Issachar B7D Fellowship!

Jews celebrate the Feast of Trumpets at sunset today by blowing the Shofar to mark the beginning of a Jewish New Year. We are another year closer to the end of the Sixth Millennium before Jesus (Yeshua) returns to usher in His Millennial Sabbath Rule as symbolized by the Seventh Day of the original Creation account. Until then, we pray for the day when Israel will celebrate this Feast recognizing Yeshua as their promised Messiah who will return at the Last Trumpet.

Last year, I spoke about the coming of the four horsemen described in Revelation 6. They represent the breaking of the first four of seven seals by Yeshua the Passover Lamb marking the beginning of God’s final act to redeem His Creation from evil. We know that Yeshua had similarly spoken of the coming deception, wars, famines and earthquakes as the “beginning of the ‘birth-pains’” (Mt 24:3-8). In the book of Romans, we also learn that Creation is “groaning as with the pains of childbirth” as it “waits eagerly for the sons of God to be revealed” (Rom 8:19-22). We see this being fulfilled right before our eyes in the climate change crisis.

Today, we are living in the period of birth pains. As every mother knows, the pain comes and goes but the frequency will grow more and more intense until the joyful day when she sees her newborn child. Last year, I spoke of the need for us to keep the faith, persevere in hope, and love the Body of Messiah as Yeshua’s return draws nearer. I know many of us are fearful of the trials to come. But take heart! God is with us and will be our strength. And more than that, we look forward to the “glory that will be revealed to us in the future” (Rom 8:18) just as a mother endures childbirth in anticipation of seeing her beloved.

With this in mind, let us continue to love, support and encourage one another so that we can rejoice together in God’s presence at the birth of His new Creation.

God bless you,

Stephen & Wei Ling Lim

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Annual Introduction - AM 5982 (25 September 2022 - 13 September 2023)

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to the Issachar B7D Fellowship!

Jews celebrate the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah - “Day of Trumpets”) at sunset today (Sunday, 25 September 2022) by blowing the Shofar (Ram’s horn) to mark the beginning of a Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah - “head of the year”). We are another year closer to the end of the Sixth Millennium (according to the rough estimate used in my study, we are entering the year AM 5982) before Jesus returns to usher in His Millennial Sabbath Rule as symbolized by the Seventh Day of the original Creation account. Until then, we pray for the day when Israel will celebrate this Feast recognizing Jesus as their promised Messiah who will return at the Last Trumpet.

When I started these YouTube podcasts four years ago, it was to keep the flame of God’s Truth alive even as the world grew darker. Indeed, with the information age and rise of social media, we live in an era where the first horseman of the apocalypse rules. He conquers not by might or violence but by overwhelming us with information overload and eroding truth with fake news and deceptive views. You could say this is the first wave of truly global proportions.

Then Covid-19 hit in 2020. Initially, I had thought that this second wave would pass quickly and we would move into a new normal, that this was a “fire-drill” from God to shake us up. I am not so sure today. As the world continues to struggle with the pandemic and prepares for the ultimate “Disease X”, this is looking more and more like the fourth horseman. I am reminded of the words of a good friend - “what if this is not a fire-drill, but the beginning of the end?”

This year, we hear the distant hoofs of the second and third horsemen as the pandemic and Ukraine war aggravate geopolitical tensions and divisions and lead to rising inflation. Russia has threatened a Third World War while many are warning of an imminent global recession of an unprecedented scale. For the first time in human history, we see all four horsemen coming together to wreak havoc in almost every part of the world due to globalisation. The Bible tells us in the verse above that they will be “given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth” (Revelation 6:8b).

As we look forward to our Lord’s soon return, let us keep the faith. Let us run this race of life well. After all, that is all that matters, because we cannot bring any other worldly belonging to heaven. Let us persevere in hope. We know that the world will grow darker and challenges will abound. In fact, some of you may already be facing all sorts of trials. But let us not give up. God is sovereign over all things and will give us the strength to prevail. Lastly, let us love the Body of Christ. God brings fellow believers into our lives as He knows we cannot complete the journey alone. We need to love, support and encourage one another so that when we finally cross the finish line, we can celebrate our victory together in God’s presence. To be honest, both Wei Ling and I are far from being able to accomplish any of these well. We need your love, support and prayers for us even as God equips us through this Fellowship to be a blessing to others both near and far.

God bless you,

Stephen & Wei Ling Lim

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