Join a Wartime Church Service with Joel & Lynn Rosenberg’s Jerusalem Congregation
As I write this, it has been 32 hours since all the cell phones in Israel woke us up at 3 am with a very unusual message:
We are in a State of Extreme National Emergency. Stay near a place of shelter. All gatherings, educational and work activities are cancelled until further notice. We were told to check that our bomb shelters were prepared and stocked with food and water.
In those pre-dawn Friday morning hours, the Israeli Air Force launched “Operation Rising Lion” – a long-planned attack against the nuclear, scientific, and military capabilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The expected response from Iran happened later in the morning on Friday and was followed by three more waves of missiles and drones continuing into early Saturday morning.
Again and again, families ran to their shelters, prayed for protection for the country, and braced for the reports of what damage or death resulted.
Friday night begins the Sabbath here in Israel, and many posted pictures of their dinner tables with candles and challah bread, showing that they would not let earthly fear interrupt the peace of God’s rest. Saturday morning, just a few hours after we returned to bed from our bomb shelters, we gathered for worship with our congregation via Zoom.
Reminiscent of those crazy days of Covid, when we were not allowed to gather in person, our Jerusalem-based congregation turned to technology to meet anyway.
Following the link sent to our WhatsApp group, a little over 100 households logged on to see the strong and smiling face of our pastor. He reminded us that if the sirens sounded during our gathering, we to just leave our computers and phones behind and go to a safe space.
The first exhortation of the day was to “see reality through God’s eyes” and to pray for the people of Iran.
He pointed out that there are many followers of Jesus in Iran, our brothers and sisters, and that the Iranian people are held captive by evil leaders.
Only then did he turn to pray for our children on the front lines of this conflict and for our people, the people of Israel, who are facing existential danger. He mentioned the names of people from our congregation called up for reserve duty.
He mentioned our responsibility to pray for our national leaders.
He told us not to forget our hostages still in Gaza and to pray for their freedom. And finally, we prayed for the workers that our congregation has sent out into other nations to share the gospel. This time of prayer was so right, so biblical.
It was prayer from a strong but humble place, prayer that kept God’s kingdom and glory in mind.
I found my eyes fill with tears of gratitude for such a pastor.
We turned to the weekly Torah portion, the same portion that is part of the reading plan of all Jewish congregations around the world. Today’s portion is from the book of Numbers, chapters 8-12. In his teaching, our pastor pointed out a few particular lessons from these chapters and encouraged us to read the entire portion at home this weekend.
How strengthening is God’s Word, and how it speaks to our hearts in every age! In this week’s portion of Scripture, we see the need to wait for “the command of the Lord” to move in one direction or another. As believers, we can have confidence that God’s very real presence is with us always.
Secondly, we should not be those who are unsatisfied with God’s provision and demand the cravings of our flesh. Those who walk in the Holy Spirit will walk in godly contentment and in the path of life (see John 3 and Romans 8).
These lessons were followed by a time of worship and more teaching from the Bible. After the closing prayer, the older members of the congregation (60+) were invited to the regular gathering of young adults this week to participate in judging a baking contest! That is, of course, if the security restrictions are lifted. Praise God, life will go on.
As I reflect on our pastor’s reassuring, cheerful, and strong leadership this morning, I am grateful for the ways that The Joshua Fund has been honored to serve such men and their families for years through our annual Preach the Word-Shepherd the Flock conferences and through the Tikvah retreats for spiritual refreshment.
At The Joshua Fund, we believe that God’s heart is to build His church, and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. We are grateful to serve the spiritual leaders of Israel, in times of peace and in times of war!
Please stand with Israel and Her Neighbors, now and for the long haul, with a monthly recurring gift. Thank you for helping us!
Written by:
Lynn Rosenberg
Vice President | The Joshua Fund
