The following was originally written in February 2018, as an equipping piece to prepare intercessors for upcoming battles. It was written as I discerned the deceptive statements made by President Abbas and other Muslim leaders who are publicly perpetuating the monstrous lie from Satan that the Jewish people and Judaism do not have any present, historic, or spiritual ties to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.
I know this is a lengthy article, but it is one in which I expose Satan’s strategies and make suggestions as to how we are called to prepare ourselves for our role as intercessors for participating in the Father’s End Times plans for fulfilling the Great Commission and restoration of all things (Acts 3:17-21).
Taking Part in the Father’s End Times Restoration Plans
I believe the Lord is calling us as intercessors into a special prayer project of cooperating with the Holy Spirit in fulfillment of the biblical promises of God, concerning the city of Jerusalem. We are entering into different phases and multiple battle spaces in this prayer and spiritual warfare work.
We are also moving into a time of heightening conflict with Iran setting up forward bases in Syria from which to attack Israel.
I have asked Messianic Jewish Rabbi Mark Rantz (a Tikkun partner with our ministry) to join Martin Boardman and myself in discerning and writing this Discerning The Times.
The points I will cover in this Discerning the Times are as follows:
- How we need to “decloak” or expose Satan’s plans in Radical Islam.
- President Trump and Vice President Pence’s actions and statements are consistent biblical promises for Israel, Jerusalem, and the Jewish people. God is using these words and actions to advance His Kingdom plans.
- When the Kingdom of God advances, demons are forced to manifest their plans. We are seeing this President Abbas and other Muslim leaders in denial of any Jewish ties to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.
- Satan’s scheme is exposed – Abbas’ statement that Jerusalem is a Christian and Muslim City but not a Jewish city intended to divide Christians.
- To avoid being deceived and to prepare for the battles ahead we must deal with any “replacement theology” and antisemitism that may give ground for Satan.
Decloaking and Exposing Satan’s Plans in Radical Islam
I know this is a long and complicated Discerning the Times but it is I believe essential preparation for the next phases of the prayer work that is ahead.
The Call to Expose the Tactics of Satan in President Mahmoud Abbas’ words, “that Jerusalem is a city for Muslims and Christians,” omitting any mention of the Jewish people or historical and present-day Judaism.
We have been praying together for years that the Holy Spirit would pierce the darkness cloaking Satan’s hidden plans with regards to the demonic strongholds of Radical Islam.
Satan works out his plans through demonic strongholds which he builds among people and human systems. The reasons for these strongholds is so that the Adversary might attempt to effectively obstruct the advance of the Kingdom of God.
With this in mind, one way the Lord answers our prayers is to decloak Satan’s plans by calling us to perform faith-filled prophetic acts. Such acts represent the Holy Spirit’s coordinated moves—first in the heavenlies, and secondly on earth for the purpose of promoting our heavenly Father’s redemptive plans through Yeshua (Jesus) in creation.
The Holy Spirit often uses our prayers and prophetic acts to drive out and expose Satan’s high-level demons and their activities. This is the first step in receiving further guidance from the Lord as to how to prevent these supernatural entities from manifesting their presence and carrying out their assignments. Experience shows the uncloaking often happens when a deceived human agent serving these high-level demons takes off a mask, thus exposing alignment with Satan. Right now, this unmasking is happening within Islam, one of the greatest demonic strongholds in the world today!
The Speeches and Actions of President Trump and Vice President Pence are Consistent with God’s Plans for Israel, Jerusalem, and the Jewish People as Revealed in the Bible.
In recent months both President Trump and Vice President Pence have delivered speeches and taken official actions related to Israel and the Jewish people that I believe are in accord with God’s end-time kingdom plans as revealed in the Bible.
Our privilege as intercessors is to pray that God will use their speeches and actions to create a future consistent with the plans of Adonai in the earth. (Matthew 6:10)
President Trump has spoken blessings to both the Jewish people and to the Palestinians. He also affirmed Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and ordered that the U.S. Embassy be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Likewise, he has also affirmed that Jerusalem “is holy to Muslims, Christians, and Jews” alike.
As you recall, I reported previously on this in https://discernwith.us/a-call-to-prayer-following-presidents-trumps-announced-move-of-the-us-embassy-to-jesuralem
Vice President Pence’s speech to the Israeli Knesset on January 22, 2018, was filled with words of shalom (peace) and blessings for both Jews, Christians, and to the Muslim community. The Jerusalem Post also reported in affirmation of the Vice President’s profound biblical affirmation of Israel.
In reviewing these events it is clear to see the VP Pence’s speech (recorded and televised on CSPAN) casts for us a biblical vision of shalom from a biblical view of reality. For a world leader to speak as a man of God is amazing! In watching these events, I was not only amazed at the words of our Vice President, but also at the positive reactions he received from many others.
Here is a report from the Opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal titled “Pence Visits Israel’s Capital: Multitudes of gentiles are also Zionists. That has no precedent in the Jews’ millennia-long history” by Rabbi Soloveichik. (January 24, 2018, WSJ print edition.)
As I walked out of the Knesset following Vice President Mike Pence’s Monday afternoon address, an Israeli cameraman turned to me with a jovial expression. Speaking in Hebrew, he asked me about the man whose speech he had just heard: “Was that the messiah, or the vice president of the United States?” He was, perhaps, referring to the rapturous reception Mr. Pence had received from the Knesset members and the hundreds of spectators in the gallery. Yet the cameraman was also probably struck by how religious, and Biblically based, the speech was. Mr. Pence threaded his remarks with references to Scripture, a rhetorical technique Knesset audiences have rarely heard from a political leader since Menachem Begin resigned as prime minister in 1983.
Mr. Pence’s address was one of the most Zionist speeches ever given by a non-Jew in the Knesset. The vice president is a devout evangelical Christian, and he said that in the birth of the modern state of Israel, we see nothing less than a fulfillment of the biblical promises of God. The speech was a milestone in American-Israeli relations, and a window into the heart of many American Christians who, like Mr. Pence, observe Israel’s emergence with wonder and reverence.
As a believer in Jesus Christ (Yeshua), I believe we intercessors are called to pray into reality the biblical vision that VP Pence has so boldly spoken out. Please listen to the speech so that you might hear Pence’s vision for yourself.
The True Heart of Islam and the Demonic Powers Rejecting Peace with Israel are Forced to Manifest
When the Kingdom of God advances among people, the demonic in turn will manifest their presence for the purpose of revealing their malignant goals and schemes. (Matthew 12:22-32) The Holy Spirit forces the demons to manifest by shining the light on their strongholds. Their revealed entrenchment and reactions in opposition to God’s kingdom is, therefore, a confirmation that the Kingdom of God is advancing. This revelation is an invitation to believers in Yeshua (Jesus) as intercessors to engage in advancing the Kingdom of God.
In the case of Radical Islam, the counter-reaction of Islamic leaders to President Trump and Vice President Pence’s words and actions affirms that God’s Kingdom purposes are being advanced in these Last-Days. The truth about the evil behind Radical Islam is therefore exposed through the Islamists’ death threats against Jews, Christians, and all who would not submit to the deceptions and bondage of Islam and the Qur’an and Hadiths. This is revealed in the following statements:
Satan’s schemes exposed in Statements made by Abbas and other Muslim leaders in denial of any Jewish ties to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount
Here is a very revealing news headline:
In a two-and-a-half-hour speech, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas rejected any Jewish ties to the Holy Land, described Israel as a colonial project unconnected to Judaism, and asserted that European Jews chose to die in the Holocaust rather than go to Palestine.
This speech is consistent with the PA leadership’s incitement to violence, praise of terrorism, and payment of terrorist salaries.
Abbas is no longer watching his words. His message is loud and clear, communicating what his ideology has always been and revealing how little the PA actually wants peace.
Another profoundly revealing article, this one exposing not just the attitude of the PA leadership, but also Satan’s ultimate plans to divide Christians over the issue of Jerusalem, God’s holy city.
“US Envoy Slams Abbas for Denying Jewish Ties to Jerusalem”
American Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt derided Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ failure to mention the Jewish people’s connection to Jerusalem in a speech this week.
By: Ezra Stone, United with Israel
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas repeatedly told participants of the Jerusalem Capital of Muslim Youth 2018 festival in Ramallah on Tuesday that Jerusalem is a city for Muslims and Christians, omitting any mention of Jews or Judaism.
“Pres. Abbas states about Jerusalem: ‘it is Arab, Muslim, and Christian.’ And makes no mention of any Jewish ties.Nothing peaceful or productive can come from statements like this,” Greenblatt pointed out on Twitter.
“Lasting peace will not be achieved by denying Judaism’s thousands of years of ties to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is holy to Muslims, Christians, and Jews,” the US envoy explained, referring to President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017.
Satan is Using these Words as Curses to Negate and Overturn the Blessings spoken by President Trump and Vice President Pence.
Dear brothers and sisters, do you see the curses that Satan is speaking through President Abbas to overturn the blessings that were spoken by President Trump and Vice President Pence? At some point, we as intercessors may well be called by the Holy Spirit to take part in overturning and reversing those curses with God’s blessings. But at this time in the battle, I am convinced that we are not to engage those powers and principalities of evil. Rather, in this Discerning The Times, we are seeking to provide instruction on exposing Satan’s strategy to bring division within the body of Messiah (Christ) on these critical end-time issues. We must also prepare ourselves spiritually for the battle that is ahead through repentance and healing these ancient wounds.
Satan’s Ploy to Divide Christians
I do not know whether this is an intentional tactic of President Mahmoud Abbas or not, but it may certainly be a strategy Satan is using to divide Christians over this vital issue of God’s plans for Jerusalem as revealed in the Bible. The danger is that President Abbas’s denial that the Jews have any tie to Jerusalem will be received by those Christians who have been deceived into embracing the error of “Supersessionism,” or Replacement Theology.
I believe Satan is presently using this Replacement Theology deception as he has for eighteen hundred years, for the purpose of driving a wedge between Messianic Jews and Gentile believers. Especially vulnerable to this tactic are those denominations in the UK, USA, and Canada who are presently under deception by liberal progressivism who in turn have replaced biblical doctrines of justice with a twisted form of social justice based on the anti-biblical ideology of Marxism. These denominations have also discarded the authority of the Bible and embraced a worldview which denies the Jewish roots of our biblical faith. In many cases, these are the denominations that have embraced the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Israel movement.
To affirm the Muslim and Christian ties to Jerusalem while in the same breath, denying any Jewish claim to Jerusalem is the same tactic that Satan used with such deadly effects in the Edict of Milan in 313.
As such, this edict which was formulated under the Roman emperors Constantine and Licinius, proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire for Christians but not for the Jewish believers in Yeshua (Jesus). This meant that those Jews who followed Yeshua (and there were many) were forced to give up being Jewish or continue to be persecuted. Such demonic attacks sought to destroy the Acts 15 vision of the body Messiah (Christ) consisting of born-again Messianic Jews and born-again Gentile believers, without losing either or replacing one another.
The edict of Milan also had the tragic consequence of Rome, as the seat of the Pope, replacing Jerusalem as the center of God’s plans. This cut the Church of Jesus Christ off not only from its Jewish roots but also from the seeing that the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, including the return of Christ, are all centered in Jerusalem. (This is not saying that other great cities like Rome, Constantinople, Geneva, London, Edinburgh, Amsterdam and others have not played important roles in advancing the Kingdom of God–they have, but from the perspective of the Bible, God’s plans revolve around Jerusalem.)
This tactic by Satan has resulted in nearly eighteen hundred years of persecution of Jews by Christians. Such has been calamitous for the Jewish people, posing huge blocks of hatred and persecution for them to come to faith in Yeshua the Messiah. As tragic as this is, such a legacy has also spiritually impoverished the church of Jesus Christ by rejecting its own Jewish root, while cutting off from the body of Messiah, those Jews who received Yeshua as the Messiah while continuing to remain Jewish.
The result has been a deep schism within the body of Messiah (Christ) which has robbed us of the unity needed to defeat Satan’s strongholds aligned against the Kingdom of God and fulfill Acts 1:4-8. Greater still, this profound historical error has also negatively affected the Gospel of Christ going out to ALL nations (beginning in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria) and it has hindered the expansion of the Kingdom for the sake of the Restoration to Israel as foretold in Scripture.
God is calling us to grow into an army of intercessors who not only hear God’s voice but also have learned to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the moment. To accomplish this, we must be able to get past Satan’s cloaking to see the reality of the oppression from the Radical Left, the Radical Right, and Radical Islam—all of whom hold a hatred for God and the Jewish people.
Whether one is a Gentile-believer in Christ or a Messianic Jew, we all must grow in love and unity as one body if we are to fulfill our last-days calling as the Lord’s intercessors. Likewise, we have to equally understand the proper nature of equipping before we move into intercession and spiritual warfare with these strongholds. Because of this, we must examine ourselves, our heart motives and intents. In the end, the path of the true intercessor is the path of biblical humility and receptivity to hearing God’s voice.
President Mahmoud Abbas repeated statements that “Jerusalem is a city for Muslims and Christians, omitting any mention of Jews or Judaism” fits into Satan’s goal of dividing the body of Messiah (Christ). These words have the potential to take root in those Christians already deceived by replacement theology. It will also fall on the fertile ground of those who may have a genuine concern for justice for Palestinians, but have at the same time rejected the biblical and historical basis for the Jewish claims to the Land of Israel and to Jerusalem.
We must, in the realm of the Spirit, remove the ground yielded to Satan that provides those curses that Jews have no ties to Jerusalem a place to land.
Frankly, it is urgent that we undertake this preparation right away as there seems to be a heightening of conflict in the human as well as in the spiritual realms. We must be prepared to move into high-level spiritual warfare, as Satan unleashes the next phases of his battle plans.
These are intended to block the great waves of the Holy Spirit returning to Jerusalem. And to prevent the fulfillment of God the Father’s promises given in Jeremiah 3:17 of, “Jerusalem the throne of Adonai, and all the nations will gather into it.” (Jeremiah 3:17, TLV)
How We Can Prepare
To prepare for impending battle, it is urgent that we as intercessors do the following:
First, for those of us who are non-Jewish, we need to gain a clear understanding of the Old Testament (Tanakh) and the Jewish roots of our own Christian Biblical faith.
Second, many of us must get past some streams of theology that are contrary to the Bible’s view of the role of the Jews in the history of salvation. In this we must especially understand what the Holy Spirit is telling us through Paul in Ephesians 2:11-19 about the “one new man,” Romans chapters 9, 10, and 11 concerning the final restoration of the Jewish people through their coming to faith in Yeshua. We must understand that we Gentiles have not replaced the original root, but have been grafted in; and that we are joined with those Jews—the original root—who through faith in Yeshua are also grafted back in. (See Roman 11:17-24) This is not just about having the right biblical doctrine; it is about taking part in fulfilling the Kingdom of God today. Or, from the Messianic Jewish perspective, the “restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21)
(To help those in PRMI and the Dunamis Fellowship international to grow in our understanding of our biblical faith, Doug McMurry and I are revising our Dunamis Project, “Gateways to Empowered Ministry” teaching manual for use in Messianic congregations here and in Israel. This will enrich the Dunamis Project for all of us.)
Third, we must also overcome Satan’s strategy to keep Jews and Christians antagonistic toward one another. One of the most pernicious schemes of the Adversary (Satan) over the centuries has been the evils of anti-Semitism. This hatred of the Jewish people by Christians has been one of Satan’s most effective means of keeping Jews from knowing Jesus as their Messiah. Satan has also used this hatred as the cement to construct demonic strongholds to bring death to the Jewish people, and deception and bondage to Christians who embrace hate and indifference for God’s Chosen People. If we are to walk in integrity and be honest, we must face this terrible part of our own spiritual history. During the High Holy Days in Judaism, a term, “teshuvah,” is used to describe one’s need to return to the Lord in perfect repentance. In like manner, we as fellow Christians must search our own hearts and ask the Lord to bring into the light any such attitudes in us, so that we might confess them and repent—so that we may walk in wholeness.
Fourth, we may be called to renounce and break the spiritual ties to those in our denominational streams who have passed on a theology and lifestyle of hatred for Jews. For those of us in the Reformed stream, we must renounce those terrible expressions of hatred to the Jewish people made by the reformer Martin Luther, and to a lesser extent in the Presbyterian and Reformed stream, of John Calvin. (Here is a very enlightening article about the positive effects of John Calvin in relationship to the Jews. The Huguenots, the Jews, and Me—A tale of French philo-Semitism By Armand Laferrere)
I believe that the Lord may be calling some of us into a form of representative teshuvah (repentance) of the words spoken by the great reformer and champion of justification by faith alone—Martin Luther.
If you are moved by the Holy Spirit to do this, you may find Luther’s calumnies against the Jewish people are found in his treatise, “On the Jews and Their Lies.” A summary may be found in Wikipedia:
Although we may not have wanted to admit it, Martin Luther’s words have been like a virus set loose within the Body of Christ; and as a disease, such sentiments of hate still have the power to infect us today.
At the same time that Christians were hating Jews and committing atrocities against them, the Jewish rabbis were also warning Jews of the evils of the Gentiles who sought their destruction. You can read some of this here in this article entitled: Immoral, Weak, Abusive, Untrustworthy, and Murderous: What Talmudic Sages thought of the pagan Gentiles of their day is disturbingly paranoid and hostile by Adam Kirsch.
Obviously, there is the urgent need for deep healing of the past. Both Jews and Gentiles are in dire need of healing and forgiveness and have a need to forgive one another. For many of our generation (here in America, Canada and the United Kingdom) we took part in none of these past hatreds or atrocities. Nevertheless, our role may be to undertake representative repentance for the sins of the past, committed in the name of Christ. It may still be good to ask the Holy Spirit to examine us and bring into the light any seeds of hatred that may be hidden within us.
As the Holy Spirit has led me into connecting with the Jewish Messianic ligament, the Lord has also led me into times of repentance for the replacement theology that I picked up in seminary. I also had to undergo and to embrace representative repentance for the sins of the past, especially for the Church’s complicity in the Holocaust.
In summary, I believe the Lord is calling us to pray and work toward the healing of this most fundamental breach in the body of Jesus Christ.
From repentance, we must also pray for healing. I urge all of us who are Christians to ask Jesus to search our hearts and reveal anything in us that may be used by Satan to continue this tragic division at the very root, concerning the Jews, God’s covenantal people. This is an important condition for being able to take part this intercessory prayer work of advancing the Gospel. I know that this may sound rather harsh! But before we can move forward in breaking these curses being spoken and be called to engage the high-level demonic spirits behind all this, we must be sure that we are ourselves walking in the light. (Isaiah 2:5)
In Christ,
Brad Long along with Rabbi Mark Rantz and Martin Boardman
Learn More: Presbyterian Reformed Ministries International
A call for Sallie and me to go deeper in our intercessory focus. This rings true in our spirit as we are reading through the OT together each morning. Count on us to participate in intercessory prayer under your guidance. To God be the glory.