God’s Wakeup Call (Rosh Hashana preparation)

God’s Wakeup Call

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Rabbi Moshe Rothchild in Blog, Weekly Message

On the first day of the Hebrew month of Elul (this past Wednesday),  Jews around the world began blowing the shofar (ram’s horn) in anticipation of Rosh Hashanah which will be celebrated in one month. What is the source of this custom?

Jewish tradition tells us that when Moses climbed Mt. Sinai for a second time after the sin of the Golden Calf, he was accompanied by the sounding of the shofar. Moses ascended to beg for forgiveness for the Jewish people and to receive the second set of tablets. All of this happened on the first day of Elul hence we mark the beginning of God’s forgiveness of the Jewish people by blowing the shofar. We will do so every day until Rosh Hashana.

For the Jewish people this forty day period beginning today and extending to Yom Kippur is a time that has been designated for forgiveness. We do our best to repair our relationship with God and with people. We cannot ask God to forgive us for offenses committed against other people—we must reconcile directly with them.

How did the shofar come to be such a powerful symbol?

Abraham is instructed by God to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. In perhaps the most dramatic moment in human history God tells Abraham to stop just as he is about to plunge the knife in to the neck of Isaac. God teaches us that we are to live for Him and not give up our lives to honor Him. Abraham looks up and caught in the thicket is a ram. Abraham takes the ram and offers him to God as a replacement for Isaac. Abraham has passed the test and demonstrated the depth of his commitment and loyalty to God and at the same time is taught a powerful lesson about life.

The ram’s horn recalls this incredible act of Abraham reminding us of his faith in order to inspire us to higher levels of faith and commitment. We sound the shofar and we are brought back to the great moment where Abraham, the great knight of faith, instructs us.

Another imagery that we find in Jewish literature is the shofar as a kind of spiritual alarm clock. When a person is physically asleep and needs to be up to go to school or work, they set an alarm clock. When a person is spiritually asleep he listens to the sound of the shofar. It is a wakeup call that reminds us not to sleep away our lives in a spiritual slumber. We must arouse ourselves and awaken our souls to God.

Others suggest that the sounds that emanate from the shofar represent the deepest cry of the human being. Crying transcends words. Words can only reach so far but a cry from the soul can open all doors of heaven. Sometimes we simply do not have the words to express ourselves so we cry to God to express the inner emotions and thoughts of our hearts in a way that can never be achieved through the spoken word. This is what the shofar is. Its sounds reach down in to the soul of man and reach up to the highest places in heaven.

The shofar reminds us of Abraham, it is a wakeup call and it is a cry from the depths of our soul.

Finally, the shofar is mentioned everyday three times a day in Jewish prayer. “Sound the great shofar for our freedom…and gather us in from the four corners of the world.” The shofar is the instrument that will announce the redemption.  It will begin an era where the whole world will recognize God and live in peace. Let us pray that we are blessed to hear the sounding of the great shofar!

Editor's note: I added the following photos (just because I love photos!)  Steve Martin

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Derek Prince - Israel: Past, Present & Future (1/6) - How I became Involved with Israel (with Chinese subs)

Derek Prince - Israel: Past, Present & Future (1/6) - How I became Involved with Israel (with Chinese Subs) - Derek Prince Ministries videos: DP161, DP162, DP163

The name Israel occurs about 2,600 times in the Bible. In this comprehensive series, Derek Prince paints a clear picture of God's dealings with Israel — and instruction on how to pray for Israel.

Ruth Prince

TRIBUTE

A 'Prince'ly Legacy

By Cheryl Wilcox and Scott Ross
The 700 Club

CBN.com – It was 1941. The world was at war. In a British army barracks this Cambridge- educated philosopher had a life-changing encounter with God. He simply opened the Bible and read it. He came to the conclusion that Jesus was alive and the Bible was an up-to-date, relevant book. That conviction changed his life forever. His name was Derek Prince.

"I was so ignorant I didn't know you had to go to church to get saved. I mean, I didn't have any spiritual language at all," Derek notes.

Derek was a son of British privilege. Born in India, he was whisked away to boarding school and later Eton.

"I was reading my school reports just two days ago from Eton, I mean years back," says Derek, "and one of my teachers said, 'He had a rather sour outlook on life.'"

He furthered his education at Cambridge and later held a fellowship in ancient and modern philosophy. Then, while defending his majesty's England, he cracked open the Bible.

"I was a professional philosopher before I became a Christian, and philosophers all have problems in their minds," he explains. " I thought, I need something to protect my mind. Then I read in Ephesians 6 'the helmet of salvation,' and being logical by background and by character, I said, 'That's it! The answer for depression is hope.' So I said, 'I'm going to put on the helmet of salvation.' My unit was almost immediately sent out to the Middle East, and I spent the next three years in the desert of the Middle East.

So began the spiritual journey of internationally known Bible scholar Derek Prince.

"In my country people do not know what Coca-Cola is or who the president of the United States is, but they know Derek Prince," says one Siberian national.

On September 24, 2003, Derek died peacefully in his sleep and went home to be with the Father. At age 88, he’d spent nearly six decades in ministry. He had finished his race on the eve of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, or the Feast of Trumpets. His body was buried in Israel, his adopted homeland for more than 20 years. In his last interview with The 700 Club, Derek talked about his deep love for the Jewish people.

"Without the Jewish people, we'd have no patriarchs, no prophets, no apostles, no Bible, and no Savior. How much salvation would we have without that? So we all owe an infinite debt to the Jewish people," he says.

Earlier this month, Derek was memorialized in Charlotte, North Carolina, home of his North American ministry. Family, friends, and co-laborers in Christ celebrated his life and ministry to the nations.

"The name of Derek Prince became a synonym around the world for integrity and for courage, courage to speak on Bible topics that most preachers were afraid to think about, let alone teach," says John Hagee at Derek's memorial service.

"Friends, I am hear to tell you that the same Derek Prince that I lived with at home in Jerusalem was the same man you saw in the pulpit," Barry Segal told the congregation at Derek's memorial service. "He was without guile, and he was without hypocrisy."

"A prolific writer, Derek authored more than 40 books, including his hallmark work, Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting. He recounts the great move of God he witnessed while teaching in Kenya during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

"Prayer and fasting," says Derek, "definitely made an impact for one generation on that nation of Kenya."

Today, Derek's teachings are broadcast by radio around the globe and translated into Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, Malagasy, Mongolian, Russian, Samoan, Spanish, and Tongan.

Grandson Derek Selby recounts what his grandfather told him about his legacy: "It is my desire, and I believe the Lord's desire, that this ministry, Derek Prince Ministries, would continue the work God started through me until Jesus returns."

But Perhaps Derek Prince's teachings, his books, or his ministry to the body of Christ are not his greatest legacy. Instead, it is the extraordinary example of his family life.

"I was married to Lydia for 30 years and to Ruth for 20. And each of them was a happy and successful marriage," says Derek. "The most painful thing in my life has been the death of Lydia, and even more, the death of Ruth. With Lydia, I was a part of a big family, but Ruth and I were, basically, two people on our own. We had that big family, but I have never had such a close, personal relationship with anyone in my life as I had with Ruth, and losing her -- I won't say losing her; the Holy Spirit rebuked me by saying, 'You haven't lost her. She has gone ahead. She will be waiting for you.' But I am just so sorry for people who aren't ready for the issue of death because if it doesn't come to me, it is going to come to my wife. Death is part of life. That is the way it is because of our sin. Thank God Jesus has taken the sting out of death. We are going to have to die, but Paul says that we don't have to mourn like others because we have a glorious expectation."

Derek's passion for fatherhood is also a living legacy to the body of Christ and an example for other leaders to emulate. While on his tour of duty in Palestine, grandson Derek Selby explains, "He came to a children's home that a lot of soldiers would frequent for prayer meetings. That home was run by a Danish woman named Lydia Christinson, who had already been there for 15 years on her own in Jerusalem. The day that Lydia and Derek got married, he immediately became the father of eight adopted daughters. One is British, one is Palestinian Arab, and six of them are Jewish girls."

When Israel declared statehood in 1948, the region erupted in war. Derek Prince and his multi-racial family were forced to flee the country because of threats against their lives.

"In the middle of the night, Derek lead his wife and eight daughters into the streets with nowhere to go and left everything they had in the home, which wasn't much to begin with, to protect his family and get them to safety," says Derek Selby. "That eventually led to them coming back to England, where Derek's preaching ministry really began."

One of Derek Prince's adopted children, Anna Selby, remembers her father affectionately.

"I don't recall when he came to the home in Ramullah," Anna says. "I just remember that he was always there for me, and he has always been there as my daddy. He was a great dad, big supporter. I shall miss him dearly."

Derek and Lydia bonded with their ninth adopted child in Kenya. Her name was Jessica.

"They went to my parents and said, "We heard that you take in children. They are much older now' They said, 'We no longer do that. We are missionaries. We no longer take in children.' They got up to leave, and as they went to the door, my hand went out to my father to say, 'What are you going to do with me?'" says Jessica Sorenson. "What you saw in the pulpit is what you saw at home. He was the same man. He wasn't two different people. What I remember about my father is that he was a loving man. I knew that I was loved by my father, and I think he loved me when others didn't love me. That has always touched me. He loved me and he instilled faith."

Derek Prince: father, friend, and teacher to the nations.

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Thousands of Jews gather at Western Wall to mourn Tisha Be’av

Jerusalem Post    By DANIEL K. EISENBUD

07/15/2013 23:02

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Jews fast to commemorate the destruction of the two temples.

Tisha Be’av at the Western Wall, July 15, 2013. Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

On the eve of Tisha Be’av, thousands of Jews gathered at the Western Wall Monday night to mourn the destruction of the First and Second Temples, pray for the creation of a Third Temple, and express hope for peace.

Tisha Bav in Jerusalem 2013       1 OF 7

Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post 

Tisha Be'av at the Western Wall, Jerusalem, July 15, 2013

Tisha Be’av (the ninth day of the month of Av in the Hebrew calendar) is considered the “saddest day in Jewish history.” Jews fast to commemorate the Temples’ destruction, which occurred on the same day, 655 years apart.

Several other significant tragedies also befell Jews on this day, including their expulsion from England and Spain in 1290 and 1492, respectively; Heinrich Himmler’s presentation of the “Final Solution” in 1940; and the Nazi deportation of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto in 1942.

Gutman Locks, a Torah scholar and teacher originally from New York, helped parishioners wrap teffilin and pray a few meters from the Wall.

“What’s so special about coming here on Tisha Be’av is that this is the location where the Temples were destroyed – just on the other side of the Wall,” Locks said. “And that’s where the third one will be built when the Messiah comes, and that one will not be destroyed.”

“Even though it’s the saddest time of the year, we can see Jews come back to the land again, which was prophesized for thousands of years,” he continued. “We can actually see it happening.”

Indeed, Locks said he viewed Tisha Be’av through a prism of sorrow and hope.

“So, on one side it is very sad what has happened in our history, but now we can anticipate the happiest time of all creation, where the whole world will know God – will know peace,” he added. “We see it now, as more Jews live in Israel than any other place in the world.”

Sarit Berko, a retired, non-observant native Israeli, who came to the Wall to observe Tisha Be’av from her home in Tel Aviv, said she has made the pilgrimage since she turned 10 years old, following the Six Day War.

“My generation is so lucky to be born in Israel and not experience the Holocaust,” she said. “As I get older and more spiritual I believe this is my land and I am so grateful that I can come to mourn at this Wailing Wall, even though I’m not religious.”

Berko also expressed hope that the sorrow Tisha Be’av engenders will one day be transformed into joy.

“During Passover most Jews say ‘Next year in Jerusalem,’” she said. “As an Israeli I pray, ‘Next year may the Third Temple be built and last for eternity.’ We’re going to convert all our mourning into a festival, this is my prayer.”

Rabbi Steven M. Graber, who leads a congregation in Long Island, came to Jerusalem with his wife and two daughters to observe the day of mourning.

“Of course I think about the destruction of the Temples, but I see Jews rebuilding Israel – rebuilding Jerusalem – so it’s not really a sadness I feel, rather a keen awareness of every bit of history that’s gone on here from the time of David to today,” said Graber.

“I feel privileged to be alive at this juncture in history because I can be here as a free Jew and I can extrapolate toward the wondrous future I see in this country for our people,” he added.

Graber’s 19-year-old daughter Leora, a student at Queens College, said she viewed Tisha Be’av as a time for personal reflection.

“For me, I’d say that putting all historical reasons [to mourn] aside, this is more of a time to reflect on yourself as a Jew and to be a part of a larger community,” she said. “I think that’s why we’re here – to identify with our own Judaism and with each other.”

Meanwhile, Morrie and Millie Kaporovski of Netanya, who made aliya 29 years ago from Montreal, expressed conflicting feelings of hope and frustration regarding the lack of tolerance among Jews.

“Today means commemorating all the horrendous deeds that were done in the name of religion to the Jews,” said Millie, a grandmother. “All kinds of horrible things happened on Tisha Be’av, so we’re so lucky to have our country. It is our home and no one will take it away from us again.”

Morrie said he was troubled by a lack of tolerance among Jews in general, and in Jerusalem specifically.

“For me, I mourn for our own people – that we haven’t learned a thing in the last 5,000 years about how to be tolerant of other Jews,” he said. “Because it’s Tisha Be’av it’s a sad day and I’m [also] saddened by the fact that I am fast learning how to dislike the city of Jerusalem because of the lack of tolerance and acceptance of different ways of being Jewish.”

Still, Millie said that despite unpleasant infighting, she was heartened to live an unrivaled degree of freedom never experienced by her Jewish predecessors.  

“Just looking at the Kotel brings tears to my eyes because of all the Jews who haven’t been able to come here,” she said. “For us to be here, it’s a dream come true.”

Fasting for Tisha Be’av ends Tuesday night at 8:15 pm in Jerusalem and 8:18 pm in the Tel Aviv area.

Jerusalem Post website

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Derek Prince - 'WHEN You Fast, not IF' (sermon)

Derek Prince teaching the Church

Derek Prince sharing the Word

Peter Derek Vaughan Prince (Bangalore, August 14, 1915 - Jerusalem, September 24, 2003) was an international Bible teacher. He is buried in Jerusalem, where he lived the past 20+ years. His first wife Lydia, who passed on before him, is buried in the same cemetery, as is Ruth, his second wife. His nine adopted daughters live in various countries, including the USA, England and New Zealand.

His whose daily radio program, Derek Prince Legacy Radio, continues to broadcast to half the population of the world in various languages. These languages include English, Arabic, Spanish, Croatian, Russian, Malagasy, Tongan, Samoan and four dialects of Chinese. 

He was probably most noted for his teachings about deliverance from demonic oppression and about Israel. 

(Editor note: His little booklet, "Our Debt To Israel", changed my life, as it ignited my heart's love for Israel and the Jewish people.  I will send you one free if you request it. Steve Martin)

 He was best known in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles, although his teaching is distinctly non-denominational, a fact that has long been emphasized by his worldwide ministry.

Derek Prince Ministries operated under the slogan "Reaching the Unreached and Teaching the Untaught" for several decades.

Today the mission statement is "Derek Prince Ministries exists to develop disciples of Jesus Christ, through the Bible teaching of Derek Prince." 

The vision is to reach the peoples of the world, in a language they understand, with the Bible teaching of Derek Prince, using every type of media and all forms of distribution, regardless of the economic means of the recipients. There are over 14 offices worldwide.

Derek liked to use his hand to emphasize a point.

One of the best Bible teacher I knew, and sat under.

His teaching tools were the Bible and Strong's Concordance.

Making a point...

...with out stretched arm.

King of Kings in Christchurch, New Zealand

I had the privilege of working with the staff of Derek Prince Ministries, first in Fort Lauderdale, Fl from 1987-1990 as the Financial Supervisor, and then in Charlotte, NC from 2001-2005 as the Director of Operations and Finance. 

What Derek taught during his life is as relevant today as it was then. Even more so, as the day draws nearer.

David Selby, Derek's son-in-law, carried the major responsibility of the USA ministry office, and served also as the International Director. I was most blessed to have had David as my boss for those eight years total.

When Derek and Ruth visited the office once or twice a year, limited by his extensive worldwide travel, we rejoiced to be with them.

I bless those currently on staff in the Charlotte, NC office. Many have served there for over 20 years, and have remained very faithful in their tasks.

As Derek loved to say, "God is Faithful". We are very thankful for his life laid down for our Faithful and True God, the Living God of Israel.

Steve Martin

Love For His People

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