Annual Introduction - AM 5985 (22 September 2025 - 11 September 2026)

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 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.  

This year marks my seventh annual introduction since 2019. I think all of us agree that the world is getting darker, where order has given way to chaos, logic to madness, where wrong is now right and right is now wrong, and everything just seems to be totally upside down. And the darkness is not just out there. To be honest, this has been a dark season in my (Stephen’s) life, both professionally and personally. Even now, I struggle to pen down this short introduction, to be faithful and authentic in what is said.

But through all this, there is a quiet assurance and peace within me that God is in control. He always is. He is the God who never fails. His word and His will always come to pass. In Isaiah 55:10-11, God reminds us that “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” God’s Rhema as shared here does not depend on me, but on Him alone. It is His word. 

And I also know that God will never fail in my own life, regardless of how bleak it seems right now in my eyes. I am reminded to “be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified … for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deut 31:6). When I was fifteen, a brother who had prayed for me before I left Malaysia for studies in Singapore received a vision of someone walking down a flight of stairs into darkness, but he was accompanied by a Man who held a book and a shepherd’s staff. I was immediately reminded of Psalm 23, that “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” It has been over forty years since that vision was given to me, and the journey has not been easy to say the least. But I want to declare like the Psalmist, “my flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps 73:26). 

This year’s introduction is not about the signs of the times around us. It is dedicated to those who are currently in a dark place, who are struggling and in despair, where there seems to be no light and hope ahead. You are not alone. You are not abandoned. You belong to a God who never fails. There will come the appointed day when love, peace and joy will rule in our lives. 

God bless you and God bless Israel,

Stephen & Wei Ling Lim

Song credit - Yamma Ensemble (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnkb7...)

Link to e-Book - https://5722a1c4-623d-4701-a1bb-fc17c...

Bible through the 7 Days of Creation in Brief

lom Aleichem and welcome to the Issachar B7D Fellowship!

For those of you who follow my Shabbat blog, you will know that I have spent the past fifty Shabbats unpacking how God has an urgent word for His people today so that, like the men of Issachar, we understand the times and know what we should do. As we journeyed through the Bible together, we discovered how what God wants to speak to us is apparent in His Word when considered through the perspective of the 7 Days of Creation. My prayer is that you have been richly blessed for spending your precious time with me as the Holy Spirit illuminates your mind and convicts your heart of what is to come and how we are to respond in obedience to Him.

For those of you who are new to my blog, I pray that you will be stirred in your heart to discover God's truth for yourself by journeying through these short Shabbat sessions (numbered #1-50), most of which are just 5-8 minutes long. However, if you are hard-pressed for time or you want to have an overview first to discern if this is truly of God before delving into it in detail, you can view this 40-minute video instead. I encourage you to pray for God's protection and for the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth. And for those who have journeyed with me, you can also view this video as a refresher of sorts to be able to see the entire picture in one sitting.

I look forward to seeing you all again in the Jewish New Year, as we faithfully prepare and await for our Lord's soon return.

Link to presentation.

Read the book.

(#50 5984) Back to the Kairos Now

ST 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 (22 September 2025) 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.

Read the e-Book.