Recently in prayer, I sensed the following insight. I present it for your discernment:
The time has come for the Messianic remnant of Israel to take a place of leadership in the greater Body of Messiah worldwide. In previous "waves" of the Holy Spirit, different local bodies in various locations in the world have taken leadership. Each time there was a main theme of revelation, which led the Body of Messiah for a time.
What now will be the leading revelation from the remnant in Israel to bless the rest of the Body? The answer is: The John 17 call for unity. This may come as a surprise to many here in Israel. We were not expecting unity in the international Church to be such a central message for us.
The last part of the worldwide Body of Messiah chronologically to be restored is the Messianic remnant of Israel. Likewise, the ultimate restoration of the Body in general is our unity according to the John 17 prayer. This unity includes divine union with God, glorification by the Holy Spirit, and the final evangelizing of the world.
The John 17 unity is connected to the parable of the Olive Tree in Romans 11. The various parts of the international Church are depicted as branches of different trees being grafted into one olive tree. The grafting causes unity because all the branches are grafted into the same tree. (I wrote of this John 17/Romans 11 connection in the book The Five Streams over 20 years ago.) Note: The Vine of John 15 speaks of a personal spiritual connection, while the Olive Tree of Romans 11 speaks of national historical connection. Together they speak of unity with Yeshua, Israel and the Church.
In order for this unity to take place, the Messianic remnant of Israel needs to "adopt" the worldwide Body, the international Church. God told Abraham that he was to be a "father of many nations" (Genesis 17:4). What is it called when a family takes in a child who is not theirs biologically? Adoption.
God's covenant with Abraham was that he was to adopt the spiritual children of all nations who come to similar faith as his, and to be a blessing to them. The Messianic remnant is called to walk in Abraham's footsteps by "adopting" the international Church and being a blessing to all our spiritual brothers and sisters who believe in the Messiah, Yeshua.
As unified Believers in Yeshua (Jesus), we all must enlarge our hearts (2 Corinthians 6:12, 7:2), embrace the cross, die to ethnic pride, be healed of rejection, have faith to give to others, understand that our calling is to serve the nations, and support the international Ecclesia, the true Body of Messiah.
The international Ecclesia may be seen as a family of families. The remnant of Israel is supposed to be the elder brother of the family. The role of the elder brother or first-born son is to unify the extended family. As Messianic Jews embrace the call of John 17 for unity, we will also embrace our own calling as the Romans 11 remnant.
Editor’s note: Be sure and read Romans 11 to understand who the Messianic remnant is and what they are called to do.
Asher Intrater is the President of Tikkun Global, a messianic family of congregations, leaders and ministries dedicated to the dual restoration of Israel and the Church. He also leads Revive Israel and international prayer ministry in Jerusalem. He is the author of Who Ate Lunch With Abraham? and Covenant Relationships, amongst other titles.
John 17
- Yeshua spoke these things; then, lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, so the Son may glorify You.
- Even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, so may He give eternal life to all those You have given Him.
- And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Yeshua the Messiah, the One You sent.
- I glorified You on earth by finishing the work that You have given Me to do.
- Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world came to be.”
- “I have made Your name known to the men of this world that You gave Me. They were Yours; You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
- Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You.
- The words, which You gave Me, I have given to them. They received them and truly understood that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me.
- I ask on their behalf. Not on behalf of the world do I ask, but on behalf of those You have given Me, for they are Yours.
- All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.
- I am no longer in the world; but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name that You have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are.
- While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name that You have given Me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.
- “But now I am coming to You. I say these words while I am still in the world, so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.
- I have given them Your word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world.
- I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one.
- They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
- “Make them holy in the truth. Your word is truth.
- Just as You sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
- And for their sakes I make Myself holy, so that they also may be made holy in truth.”
- “I pray not on behalf of these only, but also for those who believe in Me through their message,
- that they all may be one. Just as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You, so also may they be one in Us, so the world may believe that You sent Me.
- The glory that You have given to Me I have given to them, that they may be one just as We are one —
- I in them and You in Me — that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them as You loved Me.
- “Father, I also want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory — the glory You gave Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
- Righteous Father, the world did not know You, but I knew You; and these knew that You sent Me.
- I made your Name known to them, and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
