What Is the Church’s Prophetic Role in the End Times?
As we come into the period of the fullness of the Gentiles and the spiritual awakening of Israel that the apostle Paul wrote about in Romans 11, there is a shift that is taking place in the family of G-d that will bring much greater unity between both groups.
As a result, I believe that our generation, and the ones that tarry before the Messiah returns, have a greater responsibility to play than other generations that may have preceded us in the church. This is why the message of the reconnection in G-d’s family between Jew and Gentile and receiving the Father’s heart is so relevant for us at this time.
The fact that we could be born at this time in history could place us into one of the most exciting spiritual times that has ever existed. Could you imagine being the very generation that is taken up to meet the L-rd, ruling and reigning with Him upon the earth as a nation of priests? OMG! (See Revelation 5:9-10, Isaiah 61:4 and Isaiah 62:1-12.)
Because of this, I truly believe with all my heart that G-d is looking for His church (Jewish and Gentile believers) to begin to involve itself more than ever before with His end-time plans to establish His kingdom upon the earth.
G-d’s heart is that Jew and Gentile would be one, His spiritual family dwelling together in unity. In addition, if we in the church are in fact the vessels of mercy that He has chosen to help win Israel back to faith (Rom. 11:30-31), then we must have full confidence in our rights so that we are fully secure to come into the Father’s heart to help win back the rest of our spiritual family. We should know that there is nothing to lose and everything to gain through Israel’s spiritual awakening, which will ultimately bring about our L-rd’s return, where we reign together with Christ (Rev. 3:21-22). Wow! How powerful is that?
For it now pleases the Father to use the church in this capacity, that His supernatural love and mercy would flow through us to help awaken Israel. However, we must also fully recognize that rebirthing Israel is like unlocking the golden key—the key of David that once again reopens Israel’s door to its spiritual restoration.
What an honor G-d has actually bestowed upon the church in His end-time plan, for He has already given us the key of David. But we must learn to place it in the right door, along with the power, which is still to be loosed upon us as we make this connection (Matt. 16:19).
Sometimes I think about this whole story like a L-rd of the Rings movie, with the different spiritual forces on both sides opposing each other. And believe me, this is the part of the movie script where the battle is ferocious. Therefore, Israel’s significance as a group of people and its spiritual awakening is not only vital but crucial to the advancement of the kingdom of G-d upon the earth, and we must begin to see it as such. The battle will definitely intensify as we get closer to the end, of this I have no doubt.
The Church’s Role
In contrast to this, we must also begin recognize the distinctive role that G-d is calling the church into, that we have the great honor to help the G-d of heaven rebirth His other children into the kingdom of G-d. The question we need to ask ourselves is: Do we want our Father in heaven and His blessed Son, Jesus, to be glorified in all the earth? For if the answer to that question is yes, which is obvious, then we need to start thinking about the changes we need to make in our spiritual ilks and theology, as well as some of our activities, and especially prayer and intercession to help bring this about. Taking the golden key and turning it in that heavenly door will not only unlock all the power that we need to reach a lost and dying world, but it will also unleash the greatest spiritual awakening that we have ever witnessed (Joel 2:28-32; Rom. 11:15).
A good deal of the charismatic church is already moving in the glory cloud, but there is still an integral piece of the puzzle missing that G-d is waiting for us to catch in this reconnection in G-d’s family, so that resurrection power can be loosed upon us (Rom. 11:15). For the fullness of the glory will only come through this spiritual reconnection, and we must begin to recognize this!
Our role here is to come into agreement with the G-d of Abraham to rebirth Israel and to restore the church’s apostolic roots, which is also vital to help the L-rd get the job finished and crucial for His kingdom to come and be established upon the earth. So we cry out, “Come, L-rd Jesus!” But He cannot return until they are awakened, and up to this time in history, we have not yet recognized this most crucial role, and the devil has done everything in his power to keep us away from it. However, now is the time for him to be exposed!
The Kingdom Is Jewish
Belief in Jesus is not a Gentile concept, even though He is currently portrayed in this manner by most of the church. I hope you understand me here. It is as if Christianity is a separate religion from a Jewish perspective, although it is truly the only real extension of Judaism. And our own reconnection to the roots of our faith will dramatically help us during these days as the L-rd begins to unite His body for His return. But what will the church look like at this time? For when He returns, He will come as a Jew, as the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5).
We need to give this some serious thought, because what we are currently presenting in the majority of the church is still so separate from our Jewish roots and heritage that the New Covenant (which actually authorizes Gentile believers to join into Israel’s covenants) now appears totally Gentile, when in reality it is Jewish. Are we not children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Have we not become freed from the law through Christ? Do we not become a part of the commonwealth of Israel? Are we not grafted into their vine, even though they are temporarily cut off (Eph. 2:12)?
For such a time as this, with our calling and role in the church to help Israel reconnect with its Messiah, we must seriously begin to rethink how we present the gospel to our Jewish family, which will dramatically change the way they perceive us. This is especially true when we fully sanction their own unique calling to live as Jews from within the church.
Let’s not forget that the church was founded by the G-d of Israel, a Jewish carpenter and His Jewish apostles, who is coming back to sit on a Jewish throne to reign in a Jewish city and a Jewish country, one on whose heavenly gates will be written the names of the 12 Jewish tribes of Israel and the 12 Jewish apostles. For during the time of the Gentiles (Rom. 11:25), the focus has obviously been on the rest of G-d’s children throughout the nations. But as Israel now awakens to the presence of G-d, we need to rethink our reconnection to Israel, not just in the Spirit, but also in the natural, so that both groups can fulfill their destinies upon the earth.
I am not proposing for one moment here that Gentile believers become Jewish. Please do not misunderstand me, as both Jew and Gentile believers have different roles from within the unity of the Spirit. However, as we look to reconnect as brethren and family, which is what we are, we must fully embrace their rights to live in their calling as Jews, which was apparent in the first century and the beginning of the church before it broke away from its roots.
In acknowledging the differences between our roles, we must begin to loose our blessings upon Jewish believers, fully supporting their right to live as covenant children as they return to their G-d. We must not only enjoy their reconnection as Jews, but also desire to see them fully awakened to their calling.
This was very much my own experience, recognizing my completion as a Jewish believer, which you can read in my book The New Covenant Prophecy, which tells the story of my own Jewish testimony. Indeed, let us keep in mind that the vine we now live in is still Jewish, and they are still Jews as they return to faith and begin to move into the New Covenant.
I believe G-d not only wants us to bless them in this, but also to help strengthen them in the Spirit. Just like Aaron and Hur, the priests of G-d who held up Moses’s hands so that the Amalekites could be defeated (Ex. 17:8-16), I believe G-d is calling us to lift up Israel’s hands and strengthen them as they enter into the New Covenant.
As a result of this, many of us in the church who walk with the Spirit can actually help to strengthen the Messianic body in the deeper things of the faith. As I have noted as a Jewish believer, I have learned from my Gentile believing brothers and sisters how to move and operate in the things of the Spirit. For I can tell you as a Messianic believer that the Jewish believing body is in great need of help and maturity in these areas, although many might not admit it.
It is also true to say that even as the church needs to reconnect to the believing Jewish body, a good deal of the Messianic movement also needs to reconnect with the church. They are often guilty of the same separation as we in the church and are in need of their own repentance in this place. This is all the more reason for us now in the church to get it right and allow G-d to transition us into this time of the uniting of His family so we are able to glorify His kingdom upon the earth.
Could it be, like the apostles themselves, that we in the church need our own Jerusalem Council (Acts 15)? Except this time, instead of the Jews meeting to embrace the Gentiles, the Gentiles could meet to re-embrace the Jews back into their own vine. But how can we possibly help bring them back into their own vine, to draw them to envy as we are commanded to do through the apostle Paul (Rom. 11:15), when we have made the vine so Gentile, so separate and so foreign for them as Jews to even consider? Are we willing to make some changes and adjustments like the apostles did to accept the church?
Could the prophetic role of the church, the other sheep in G-d’s family to help release the breath of G-d back into our firstborn brethren, be the greatest prophetic role the church has ever played?
To be continued …
Grant Berry is a Jewish believer in Yeshua/Jesus and author of The New Covenant Prophecy and The Ezekiel Generation. He has founded Reconnecting Ministries with the specific focus to help the church reconnect spiritually to Israel and considers it vital to the kingdom of G-d in the last days. His message focuses on the unity, love and healing that the Father wants to bring between Jew and Gentile yet clearly points out the differences and misunderstandings between the two groups. Now is the time to look more carefully into this mystery to make way for healing and reconnection in the Spirit. For more information, please visit reconnectingministries.org.
