Harvest of Asher Congregation - Akko, Israel
In the midst of these difficult times, God is still in control! He is like the chess grandmaster who knows all the moves and when to make them. God has a master plan, and it is being revealed before our eyes. The plan even encompasses things like money and food. We read in Psalm 37:25 of God’s promise to those who are righteous. God will provide for them and their descendants. They will have their daily bread – just as Yeshua guided us to pray in Matthew 6:11, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Dream of Economic Crisis
The night before I wrote this, I had a detailed dream. In the dream, I entered a grocery store with a long line of people waiting to buy bread in the corner of the store. I purchased three loaves, one white loaf and two brown, for 20,000 shekels ($6,000); and I gave them 5 checks in payment. Then I realized this was the wrong thing to do so I returned the bread, took back the checks and left the long line of people waiting behind me. The exaggerated cost of bread in my dream recalls Revelation 6:6 where John heard, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages…” For comparison, in Israel today, this quantity of wheat flour costs only a few minutes of wages. In times of desperate economic crisis, when starving, people will be willing to give their gold just for a loaf of bread.
At the beginning of Revelation 6, we see four horses: white, red, black and pale. Why is the white horse the FIRST and not the last? Our answer can be found in Yeshua’s words in Matthew 24:14. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” We are called to FIRST be God’s messengers throughout the world, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, reaching out in every area of need. The red horse symbolizes an absence of peace, brother turning against brother to the point of killing each other. The black horse symbolizes economic crisis. The poor will be poorer while the rich get richer. The pale horse will herald death by sword, by hunger and by the beasts of the earth – with power over a fourth of the earth. Where does this put us?
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35). We can be assured that God’s Word will be fulfilled. He has put us here for this time, each of us according to His purpose. We are the ones who carry the Gospel, the Word of God.
One way to be God’s hand and feet is to serve those in need. Currently our congregation is working to help people affected by the war in Ukraine through a local ministry there. Here in Israel we are also working with the aliyah office to provide whatever we can for the new immigrants and refugees expected to arrive in Akko and the surrounding areas of the Western Galilee.
In these hard times let’s shine with His light. May we remain faithful as He is faithful, doing the work He has given us to do.
