February 2005

Shalom-Shalom, in the Sar Shalom!

All of us were moved by the December 26th tragedy in Southeast Asia, but being individuals, we probably all saw the Tsunami from a slightly different perspective. How many of us saw the Tsunami from God’s perspective? What did God see when the 30 foot wall of water swept over 200,000 people out to sea? We believe that God saw 200,000 souls perishing. Not just bodies, but souls made in His eternal image, many of whom probably never heard the saving message of Yeshua, God’s son. God also saw us, and our reactions to this global tragedy.

The Hebrew word for soul is nephesh (pronounced NEH-fesh) and means a breathing creature. It comes from the primary root naphash which means to breathe. In Genesis 2:7 we find the first use of the word nephesh: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (nephesh)."

In traditional Jewish understanding, the soul is considered to be a Heavenly spark housed in an earthly container. It is the "candle of the Lord" mentioned in Proverbs 20:27. In contemporary Judaism, no clear distinction is usually made between "soul" and "spirit."

According to The Book of Jewish Knowledge (Ausubel), mysticism and vagueness are found in all the Hebrew names for "soul," which besides nephesh include neshamah, ruach and several others. The reality of the soul in Hebrew thought has remained somewhat elusive, especially to the nonreligious. Nevertheless, the Hebrew Scriptures, in which the word nephesh is found 755 times, attest to its great importance. Nephesh appears 144 times in the Psalms alone. Over 100 of these references include the first person suffix "my soul" naph-she (naph-SHE).

The Brit HaDasha (New Covenant) is much more explicit concerning the "soul" and even distinguishes between the soul, the spirit and the body. I Thessalonians 5:23 is an example of this: In closing his first letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul wrote "...I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless..." Most people, especially those who have not yet received Yeshua as their Messiah, do not realize that they have both a soul and a spirit. God wants us to have this awareness so that we can share it with others.

God created man in His own image, therefore man is triune in nature. Each of us, being only ONE person, has three parts: spirit, soul, and body. Before we met the Messiah personally, we had no concept of the "spirit" part of our being, and only a vague notion of our "soul." This is probably the case with the majority of your non-believing friends, neighbors and family members.

The innermost part of a person is the spirit. The spirit is set within the soul and the soul is set within the body. The spirit is the very core of a person. It is the part that is made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26). Our capacity to commune with God is found in our spirit. Dr. Andrew Murray, a well-known Bible expositor, explained the spirit-soul-body distinction as follows: "The spirit is the seat of our God-consciousness; the soul of our self-consciousness; the body of our world-consciousness. In the spirit, God dwells; in the soul, self; in the body, sense."

A question comes to mind: Does God dwell in the spirit of every person? The answer is NO. God desires to dwell in the spirit of every man, woman and child on earth, but something is standing in His way. That something is SIN. The human spirit was ruined by the Fall. When Adam sinned, all men after him suffered the consequences. The full, free communion between the Creator and His Creature was broken. The spirit of man became dead toward God, separated from the life of God. Man became a spiritual orphan, with a spirit that was now open to being inhabited by other spirits than the Spirit of God.

Man’s condition after the Fall is succinctly expressed in The Bible, the Supernatural and the Jews by McCandlish Phillips:

"Man, dead in his spirit and lacking communion with God, carries on in the powers of his soul, which inevitably come under some degree of influence by demons (even in the best of man) or, at worst, he comes under the actual control of evil spirits and therefore spreads chaos and misery in his environment. It is the spirit of man, not the soul, that God intended to govern his life! The soul is not capable of governing the life aright. With the soul in charge, the center of man’s government is misplaced–from God to self."

When we receive Yeshua as our Messiah, our spirit is quickened, made alive. That’s why the phrase "born again" is used. We were dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1), but made alive through the Messiah who reestablishes the intimacy and communication between us and God.

The word soul in the Holy Scriptures is often synonymous with "person." For example, Ezekiel 18:4 reads: "the soul that sinneth, it shall die." The soul here means the person that sins (which includes all of us according to Psalm 14:3 and Romans 3:23). There are many verses where "souls" refers to "people" such as Genesis 12:5 (Abram gathered "souls" in Haran), and Genesis 46:22 (Rachel bore Jacob 14 souls). In Exodus 1:5 "seventy souls" means "seventy persons."

Your soul is the essence of who you are as a person. It is the human being within the body. It is special and unique. The soul includes the mind, will and emotions. It is the seat of personality. Just as there are no two snowflakes alike, there are no two souls alike. Our real self is our soul, yet a soul that has a body. We are a "living soul" (nephesh chayya) with a dead spirit–until we meet the One who is The Life. Yeshua came to save LOST SOULS (Luke 19:10). Lost? Yes, individuals whom God created to be children who commune with and worship their Father, and who delight in His love for them. They have lost their way, like lost sheep. God is seeking them, one soul at a time. He knows them by name. He values their personhood. He even enjoys their personality. We need to ask God to help us see people through His eyes. He will show us precious souls for whom the Messiah died. The value of one soul is made clear in the three parables of Yeshua found in Luke 14 and 15. Read them and you’ll see that there is great joy in Heaven when one lost soul is found.

We’re sure that the Lord is trying to speak to us through the recent Tsunami. First of all, as Newsweek magazine (Jan. 10, 2005) put it: "The waters that rose up from the deep last week, drowning tens of thousands of people across a wide area of South and Southeast Asia, were a cataclysm of Biblical proportions." The Tsunami could be connected to the Biblical prediction which says that in the End Times there will be "earthquakes in various places (Matthew 24:7)." No one anticipated an underwater earthquake on the floor of the Indian Ocean, and certainly not one with waves moving at 500 mph, reaching 3,000 miles away in less than 7 hours.

Not only are there "earthquakes in various places," but the quantity of earthquakes has increased dramatically in the last ten years. According to the United States Geological Service’s website (www.earthquake.usgs.gov), the number of earthquakes worldwide has increased 43.6 % in the years 2000 through 2004 when compared to 1990 through 1994.

As we wrote in our January newsletter (written before the Dec. 26 Tsunami), there is a major shaking taking place in the earth and in the Kingdom of God. Waves of evil are flooding our land. So many are being afflicted with deadly cancers. Some are departing from the faith. Divorce among believers is rampant. Waves of despair are washing over souls, echoing King David’s 69th Psalm in which he cried out to God: "Save me, O God; for the waters are come up to my nephesh (literally soul). I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me." The only hope in the midst of the spiritual tsunamis is the ARK of our salvation: Yeshua. He is the refuge, the high tower, the shelter that we must run to in order to be saved. A sign in the Pacific was pictured in Newsweek. It reads: "Tsunami Hazard Zone. In case of earthquake, go to high ground or inland." We need to go to HIGH GROUND. It’s time to go up another level in God. We spent some time last month praying and fasting with this desire on our hearts.

What about the ark? Do you remember the story of Noah? The waters rose upon an evil generation and the only safety was in the ark that Noah had built at God’s command. Yeshua the Messiah is the ark of our salvation! When we are in Him (Colossians 3:3), we are eternally safe, regardless of the physical circumstances. Yeshua made an interesting statement about Noah and the ark that is worth contemplating as the spiritual tsunamis roll in with increasing frequency: "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be" (Matthew 24:37-39). Suddenly!

Take heed. The tsunamis, both physical and spiritual, are a sign of the times. Enter the ark. Let God shut you in. Stay close to Him. Invest in souls. Share the Good News of Yeshua unashamedly. Follow Him, and He will make you a fisher of (the souls of) men (Matthew 4:19).

May the God of Israel be glorified through this effort, and may fruit, precious souls, be saved as the Word of God goes forth over the airwaves into millions of homes in the U.S., Europe, Australia, and even Israel!!

We feel that the Lord is leading us back to Israel for another "Mercy Mission" this year. The dates have been tentatively set for October 15 to 25, and will be finalized by the end of this month. Last year’s trip included Mercy Missions at a Rehabilitation Center in Tel Aviv, a home for holocaust survivors in Jerusalem, a center for the families of victims of terror in Afula, ministry to Ethiopian immigrant families, and a luncheon for bus drivers. We are praying about where and to whom the Lord would have us minister His love this year. Whatever God has in store for us will be a blessing to us as well as many needy Israelis.

In addition to the Mercy Missions, we will tour the land of Israel with stops at prominent Biblical sites in Jerusalem and in the Galilee. We will also be participating in a Succot conference with believers from many other nations which will be held at Kibbutz Ramat Rachel in Jerusalem.

Our November 2004 newsletter was devoted to a detailed report of last year’s Mission. You can read the full report, including photos, on our website at www.jewishjewels.org.

We are inviting 28 people to join us for this life giving and life changing experience. You may request a brochure describing the Mercy Mission if you think God is calling you to join us.

We have selected some excellent tested materials to help you reach out to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. If you have always wanted to know how to share your faith with a Jewish person, be sure to order Witnessing to Jews. Moishe Rosen, founder of Jews for Jesus, has written a proven practical collection of ways to help you share your faith with Jewish people. If this is what God has put on your heart you won’t go wrong with Witnessing to Jews.

We have assembled an Evangelism Pak to give to Jewish people who are open to hearing the Good News. This Pak contains an audio tape: "The Jewish Case for Jesus," a book: I Have a Friend Who’s Jewish, and a testimony booklet: Hineni. Each item gives a simple explanation and invitation to faith in Yeshua.

If the Jewish person God has put on your heart happens to be in the medical field, be sure to order Jewish Doctors Meet the Great Physician by Ruth Rosen. This collection of 15 testimonies is an excellent gift. You may need to order a copy for yourself!

Standing on the Word of God which pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,

Neil and Jamie