It has been a great honor to be in relationship with Tikkun and Revive Israel over the last number of years. While recently reading Acts 3, I was thrilled to again discover this key “Tikkun” passage:
“Repent therefore and turn to God, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ… whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration [TIKKUN] of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets” (Acts 3:19-21).
The first realization that came to me was simple but also wonderful. I think we all consider the Book of Acts and the Early Church to be the model for us all. We desire to experience the Book of Acts again today. We look to the Early Church as the example of how to build the Church. I realized that the same message of Acts 3 spoken so long ago in Jerusalem is again being spoken by our Tikkun Jewish brethren in the land of Israel today. Some of what we see in the Early Church in the Book of Acts is happening again today.
I was also encouraged that the three distinct characteristics we read above are also three of the core messages of the Tikkun Global Movement. These three powerful messages especially endear me to Tikkun.
1. A Passion to share the gospel to the Jewish people, especially in Israel.
“Repent therefore, and turn to God, that your sins may be blotted out.”
In a passage in Romans 1:16 we read a very important truth about the gospel.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, TO THE JEW FIRST and also to the Greek.”
How grateful we are that the gospel is for “Everyone who believes.” But we must never forget that the gospel of Christ will always be “TO THE JEW FIRST.”
I was moved to read Ron Cantor’s recent “I AM WITH ISRAEL” report concerning Revive Israel’s Discipleship program when Ron wrote, “Our passion at Revive Israel is to raise up fiery young Israeli witnesses to share the good news of Yeshua with their fellow Israelis.” And I never get tired of hearing testimonies from the Messianic Congregations in Israel concerning Israelis who are coming to faith in their Messiah.
2. A Vision for world wide revival, including in the land of Israel.
“…so that times of refreshing [reviving] may come from the presence of the Lord”
My first exposure to Tikkun was when I was introduced to the teachings of Dan Juster and Asher Intrater. How excited I was to hear these Messianic leaders in Israel boldly teach about a mighty end time revival that would sweep the nations of the world, including Israel, before the coming of the Lord.
I was born and raised in Japan. My parents served the Lord in Japan for 67 years planting and pastoring various churches in Japan. From the time of my earliest memories, my parents continually spoke to us of a national revival coming to Japan. This is our vision and this is our continual hope for Japan.
To hear the same message coming out of Israel of a mighty end time revival is what drew me.
3. A Theology of restoration prior to the Second Coming of Christ.
“..whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration [TIKKUN] of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets.”
As described in the vision statement, Tikkun Global Family is “A worldwide movement for revival and restoration.”
I am inspired to hear the glorious theology of restoration, especially in relation to end time events prior to Christ’s second coming. We understand that the Bible teaches of great difficulty and tribulation the closer we get to the end. But what a message of hope that in the midst of unprecedented turmoil, we will also see God’s powerful work of restoration both in the Church world-wide and also in the nation of Israel.
One of the central messages of Tikkun that I have grown to love is the restoration of the “One New Man”. The continual emphasis in the Tikkun movement on Jesus’ longing for unity in John 17, is beautiful – Messianic believers and Gentile believes world-wide being united in mutual love and honor. When that is fulfilled we will see Jesus return for His glorious Church.
These three truths seen in Acts 3:19-21 are what I have especially seen and love about the Tikkun Global Movement.
