Thus saith the Lord!

The Prophets bring us to the end of the Old Testament.

Jesus frequently referred to the Scriptures of His day (i.e., the Old Testament) as the "Law and the Prophets". While the Law was received by Moses directly from God, the prophets were mere men who were divinely inspired to proclaim God's Rhema word in His Kairos time, often to a rebellious nation and people, as they proclaimed the coming Messiah.

Ever since the birth of the Church, those who accept Jesus Christ by faith receive the Law in their hearts directly from God through the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Although we remain mere men while still here on earth, we are nonetheless called to "eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy" (1 Cor 14:1) - i.e. to receive the divine gift of proclaiming God's Rhema word in His Kairos time. May we rise up and step out in faith and boldness to do His will, knowing that - like the prophets of the past - we will also face rebellious nations and peoples as we proclaim the soon return of our Messiah ... for "thus saith the Lord!"

We are (truly) Online!

We are currently in the season of Hanukkah (12-20 Dec), where Jews would celebrate the eight-day Festival of Lights through a nightly lighting of the menorah.

We are also into the advent season of Christmas (3-24 Dec), where some Christians would traditionally celebrate the coming birth of Jesus Christ our Greater Light through the lighting of the advent candles.

We are therefore especially overjoyed and humbled at this Kairos moment to be able to announce the "going live" of the Issachar B7D Fellowship website with its new dedicated domain name (www.issacharb7d.com), which should allow for easier search online by those whom the Lord calls. May the Lord use this little flame to set His people on fire for Him!

Wishing everyone a blessed Hanukkah and Christmas grounded in the liberating truth of His Holy Word and His Word made flesh - our Messiah, Lord and King Jesus Christ.

Reformation 500 - Repair, Rebuild, Rescue

On 31 October, the Protestant world celebrated 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg that led to the start of the Protestant Reformation. In a later treatise, Luther pointed out that just as the Jews were carried away from Jerusalem into captivity under the tyranny of the Babylonian Empire, so in Europe during his time Christians had been carried away from the Scriptures and made subject to the tyranny of the Roman Catholic Papacy through the misuse of the sacraments.

As we continue our study of "Israel the Kingdom of God," we will examine how the history of Israel - in particular, its division, exile and return in the run-up to the advent of Jesus Christ - is prophetic of the historical development of the Church as we look forward to our Lord's return.

If the original motto of the Reformation is the 3 Solas (Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia), then we would describe this lesson in terms of the 3 Res - to Repair, Rebuild, and Rescue.