I recently read an article on Charisma News by Ron Cantor, a Messianic Jew living and ministering in Israel of how Jews are starting to accept Christ as their Messiah.
Israel has a population of just over nine million people with nearly 75% Jewish, 17% Muslim and the remainder a mixture of Christian 2%, Druze 1.7% (Arab non-Muslims) and others.
According to Cantor, there are about 200 Messianic congregations in Israel with over 20,000 people attending. These are Jews who believe Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and are in addition to non-Jewish Christians living in Israel.
But the purpose of Cantor’s article was to report on a shift he believes is taking place in Israel.
Cantor points out that Paul writes in Romans 11:25 that there was a “partial hardening” of the Jew’s heart, that led to a powerful move of God among the gentiles.
During Paul’s ministry, there came a moment when he purposefully shifted his ministry to the gentiles. That took place at Corinth. When Paul arrived, as was his tradition, he went to the synagogue to preach that Jesus is the Messiah.
But when the Jews resisted Paul’s message and actually began to insult Christ, at that moment Paul knew it was time to take the gospel to the gentiles:
6 But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
Acts 18:6 NASV
It was just a partial hardening as there were still Jews who believed, in fact we are told in the next verse that the leader of the Corinthian synagogue believed that Jesus was the Messiah.
But from this moment Paul’s thrust was now to the gentiles and the church exploded among the gentile populations in Asia.
But Cantor points out there has been a noticeable change in the spiritual climate of Israel, not only is God moving with power, but there is an openness among Jews to accepting the message of Christ.
Cantor is training Messianic Jews to go into the streets of Israel to pray for the sick because God is healing people in public, just like we see in the Book of Acts.
He recounted one story of how he inadvertently ended up in a mall pharmacy. While there he noticed a woman talking to the pharmacist and pointing to her back indicating pain.
Cantor believed that God orchestrated circumstances, so he would end up at the pharmacy at the moment.
When the woman left the pharmacy, Cantor approached her in the busy mall hallway asking if he could pray for her, saying he had overheard the discussion on her back issues. Though taken aback by the request, the woman agreed.
He said there were people milling around in the mall as he prayed for her, and she was instantly healed.
How did he know?
First, she admitted it in front of the strangers who were watching.
Secondly, Cantor had no tracts or information on him but had material in his car. He asked the woman to wait as he went back to his vehicle to get information.
When Cantor left it would have been the opportune moment for the woman to slip away in the busy mall. But when he returned, she was still waiting for him and took his information.
Cantor says this is starting to happen across Israel. After praying for the healing of five people working at a hotel he was staying at, as he was booking out the front desk manager, who had a knee injury, asked if he was the man who prayed for healing. The workers were obviously telling others about their miracles.
He wonders if the days that Paul spoke about when there would be a massive acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah among the Jews may now be underway:
25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written,
“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
Romans 11:25-27 NASV
He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.”
27 “This is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”
Sources:
OpentheWord.org 