By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.....Hebrews 7:22
March 2017 Ministry Update
Shalom,

This past month I was reading through Daniel which laid a burden on my heart to pray more diligently for this land and lost people:  
Daniel 9:3-4; 16-17: And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;  O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake .

The key purpose of being here is to bring the gospel to the Jewish People.  I, like Paul, have a desire to reach our people with the glorious gospel of our precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – Yeshua Ha’Mashiach – the Jewish Messiah to the world. I don’t want to preach the gospel out of compulsion but rather out of love for my Savior and my brethren.  I want to have a heart and burden like Paul and many others who have gone before me to see the Jewish people return to their God.  I want to be bold and yet sympathetic to those we hope to share the gospel with.  One of the best ways to do this is through the ministry of prayer.  Living only minutes from the Western Wall affords me a tremendous opportunity to pray and read the scriptures at one of the most dynamic places for the Jewish people.  The Western Wall allows me to see some of the most zealous Jewish people who are yet without knowledge.  I want to learn to love and identify with this wayward nation in order to bring the saving message of the gospel with an empathetic heart.  I believe if I truly love them my message will mean so much more to the hearers.  Like the saying goes, “people will care about what you have to say if they know you care about them”.  

I have committed to try and take at least one day a week to pray over and for this people, this land, and this nation that they may come to a saving knowledge of their own Messiah whom they, as a nation, have missed to this point.  The Scriptures tell of a glorious future coming to this nation but until then we must labor to love a stiff-necked and rebellious people.  We, who are sinners saved by grace, know all too well of our own rebellious nature and if it weren’t for the grace of God and someone who cared enough to tell us of the gospel we too could still be lost.  This past month I have been praying through chapter 9 of Daniel. In this chapter, we see the heart of a prophet who, although a true believer that didn’t rebel, identified with his wayward brethren.  He prayed for their return to the land and their hearts to return to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He prayed for the restoration of the glory of the temple and the coming King of Kings.  Please pray for me that God would give me the heart and boldness of men like Paul and Daniel.  Pray also that others would see me praying over the scriptures and not a rote prayer book. My hope is they will see my heart and ask me about the hope that is within me.

Daniel 9:18-19 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name .

Abby & Heather in Hezekiah's tunnel in the city of David.
Met a group of believers from Kentucky at church and invited them over for an evening of fellowship around the word. 
Had a blessed time with the Ross family who ministers the word in Northern Israel.
Beth and Abby with our newest members of the family.
O pportunities to share the gospel...
The reason we are here...  

Over the past couple of months, on two separate occasions, I have met a couple of young men who converted to Rabbinic Judaism named Eliahu and Yochanan. Neither of these gentlemen knew each other and yet have very similar stories.  Eli & Yochanan are like many people who are disillusioned with life and shallow “religion”.  In separate discussions, both told me how they grew up in “Christian” homes and never saw a heart for God or righteousness.  They saw order and outward “righteousness” in Judaism.  They are like many others who have become disillusioned with the shallowness of Neo-evangelical “Christianity” and are turning to false, work-based religions like Rabbinic Judaism, Catholicism and even Islam to find hope and substance.

I challenged them on where they find righteousness – in Christ alone!  I explained to them unless their righteousness is found outside themselves and in Christ they will never be justified before a Holy God.  I told them to read the Old Testament with a discerning eye and see how far away they are from keeping the Mosaic law.  I pointed them to Abraham and how he was justified some 430 years prior to the giving of the law.  They, like all practicing Jews, put a greater emphasis on the Talmud and other teachings rather than the Bible alone; I challenged them to read Exodus 4:22 about the importance of not adding or subtracting from the Word of God and Leviticus 16 on the Atonement.  My question to them and everyone else depending on self-righteousness is “do you live to appease or please God?” If a person lives to appease God through his own efforts and self-righteousness he hasn’t yet come to God on God’s terms which depends on Christ’s imputed righteousness and gives us a new life now lived to please God out of a motive of love! Please pray for Eli and Yochanan that they would find true peace and righteousness in Christ alone.

Besides meeting many Jewish people who need the gospel, Ulpan has also given me the opportunity to meet a few other believers who want to bring the gospel to the lost here in Israel.  Many of them are young and zealous but novice believers who have not had a firm foundation of sound teaching in whole counsel of God.  In my discussions, I see the influence of neo-evangelicalism taking hold of these young people.  Many have put a greater emphasis on so-called “Christian” unity which can become ecumenicalism, inward feelings and the spreading of social gospel devoid of the preached Word of God depending solely on the power of the Spirit and the authority of God’s Word alone.  Like our Lord Jesus told the Samaritan women in John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth , I too want to remind them of this all-important truth.  True unity and worship must be found only in the truth of God’s Word!  My heart would be to influence these young believers to depend on the Spirit of God and authority of the preached Word of God.  I figure if they are going to be representing our Savior and if they are willing to learn then I would commit to teaching on the authority of God’s word.  I have been given much from men who have gone before me and I figure it’s a chance to give back to those who want to learn.  I am starting a Friday morning Bible study at my house.  We have two couples and a couple of young men who have committed to come.  Please pray for me as I am planning on teaching through 1 Corinthians.  Pray they would be receptive in learning and more effective ministers of the gospel. Pray also for Beth that she would be able to forge relationships with the young ladies and have an influence in their lives.       
Life in the Land...
This past month the Jewish people celebrated the feast of Lots or what is translated in English from Hebrew as Purim.  Purim is a holiday to remember the preservation of God’s people and the preserving of the line of the Messiah.  In the book of Esther 9:21-22;28 it says Purim is: To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor; And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.

Since it is a Biblical statute to have a couple of days a year of feasting and joy the Jewish people love this holiday. Unfortunately, Rabbinic Judaism sadly took a blessing and turned it into a time of drunkenness and revelry.  Rabbinic Jews considered it a mitzvah or law commanded to get drunk during Purim.  In the Talmudic (book of the so-called oral law) tractate Megillah (7b): Rava said: A person is obligated to drink on Purim until he does not know the difference between "cursed be Haman" and "blessed be Mordechai"

The Jewish people, who were to be lights to the world and a kingdom of priests, should know better than to act so ungodly; but since the Rabbinics are not true believers in the Messiah they would rather please the flesh than please God.  As Romans 2:24-25 says: For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.  For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.

The unbelieving Jewish people have taken the name of God in vain and the Rabbinic system has brought reproach upon the true believing Jew and Gentile and their God.  This should not cause us to lose hope or curse the Jewish people for this is the time prophesied; but in due time God will cause His people to return unto Him and mourn over Him whom they pierced! Until then we should pray for and be faithful to show them the true way of God through our life and the giving of the gospel.  For Isaiah 40:1-2 reminds us to preach the good news and look forward to that day… Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins .

March has been lively with many opportunities to have people over and share our faith and the love of Christ to both believers and unbelievers alike. 

  • We had two Chick Fil-A owners from America, Tim and Randy, visit for a couple of days.  They are believers who have a heart for Israel and want to help the believing Jewish community through development of internship programs.  We were very blessed by their heart and commitment to help the Jewish People. We are looking forward to seeing them again here in the Land and back in the States this summer as Tim’s restaurant is in Northern Virginia and he will be catering our son Casey’s rehearsal dinner.  

  • We have enjoyed having our friend Heather here this past month.  It has encouraged us to look forward to the future and the development of an intern program where we can have believers come and experience the land and assist us in our efforts of getting the Word out to the nation of Israel.   

  • We booked airline tickets for the month of late June to mid-July to the US as we will be attending the wedding of our son Casey to his fiancé Anne.  We are going to try and see as many supporters and new churches as possible. We have churches in CO, CA, and FL we will be speaking at.  We would stay longer but we need to be back for Abby’s graduation from IDF Ulpan.   

  • BTW -- With the birth of our new granddaughter, it has really made us miss having little ones around so the Lord gave us kittens – not much of a bargain but it will have to do, ha ha. Our adopted cat, or should we say the cat that adopted us, had 5 kittens. It’s been a fun experience for the family to see new life.  How could anyone say there is no God!  All you must do is see life even in the animal world and know there is a great Creator.
"Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter." D.L. Moody


Bl essings,

Scott, Beth, Abigail, David, Mark, Levi
לוי   ,מארק    ,דוד    ,אביגיל   ,ג'יין   ,סקוט  

Prayer Requests, Praises & Updates 
  • Please continue to pray for the Western Wall prayer ministry.  Thank you all for your much needed prayers.
  • Pray for our ministry that we would continue to understand the Lord's vision and be faithful to the mission, specifically where He will have us establish a future congregation.
  • Pray for the development of mission and an intern ministry.
  • Continue to pray for Abby and David as they prepare to serve in the IDF for safety, boldness, and the opportunity for the gospel. 
  • Continue to pray for our adult children in the US --Robert and Ashley as the raise their new born baby girl Juliet. Robert has started a second job to help pay the bills for his growing family.  Casey has performed very well in his job and continues to have opportunities to advance and give the gospel.  Pray especially for Casey and Anne's wedding preparations. Thomas has completed training for the bank and has started a second job to stay busy, pay the bills and have more opportunities for the gospel.     
  • Pray for David, Mark and Levi that they will have the time and the concentration to catch up in school. Especially for David as he is doing full time language studies and full time school. 
  • Continue to pray for those we will and already have had the opportunity to minister the Word to, that they may have prepared hearts to receive the gospel.  
  • Pray for our home Bible study as I have opportunity to preach the gospel and teach the brethren; that I would accurately divide the Word of Truth and lean on the Spirit to deliver the message of God's wonderful Word.
  • Pray for Beth that she would be strengthened and encouraged. She has a lot on her plate with homeschooling, hospitality and keeping our busy home in order. 
  • Pray for the other believers in country that we would be unified in truth and not compromise no matter the cost.
  • As always, pray for the peace of Jerusalem -- Sha’alu Shalom Yerushalim Psalm 122:6 but especially now with the appointment of the new ambassador, who ironically is named David Friedman.  Ambassador Friedman is a big supporter of Israel and has indicated he is in favor of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.  I am in favor of the move but I know many of our uninformed neighbors may not think so which could cause a spike in violence.  

    1 Peter 3:15
    But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

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Copyright Scott Friedman | The Road to Emmaus | P | 808-280-1407 | Email | scott@rtemmaus.com