How to pray for Israel
By Susan Michael
ICEJ USA director

Abraham’s life and calling are, in many ways, a shadow of the calling of his descendants through Isaac and Jacob—the people of Israel. Abraham was promised a land and a nation of descendants with a mission that would bless the world. But he did not enter the promised land until He was 75 years old and was 100 before his son Isaac was born.

Israel has turned 75 this year, and she also finds herself at a critical and complex juncture. She needs our prayers more than ever, and Dr. Juergen Buehler’s article in this month’s Word From Jerusalem magazine explains the many facets of modern Israel that need our intercession to help shape her future. Our prayer is that she will enter into the fulness of her calling and see all of God’s promises to her forefathers fulfilled.

Our Prophetic Roadmap
In addition to the pattern of Abraham’s life, we have been given a prophetic roadmap of events to come through God’s calendar of appointed times or what we call “feasts.” In Leviticus 23 God said that these appointments are “My” feasts, and He gave them to Israel with great purpose.

While much of Christian history was void of an understanding of these feasts, there has been an awakening within many Christians to their significance. The ICEJ was born at the very first international Christian celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, held in Jerusalem in 1980. Since that first celebration, an understanding of the fall feasts has mushroomed around the world, and many churches now study and acknowledge their meaning.

In fact, once you chart out all seven annual feasts, a pattern of world history begins to emerge. The first four feasts were fulfilled in Jesus’ death, resurrection, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the early believers, while the fall feasts are forward-looking to be fulfilled at His second coming and reign upon the earth.

This month’s magazine contains ICEJ USA Managing Editor Karen Engle’s introduction to this fascinating subject—the first of 12 monthly articles over the coming year. I am certain you will enjoy this series.

In the meantime, I hope you will attend this year’s Feast of Tabernacles celebration in Israel. The first two nights will be held on the Sea of Galilee, followed by four nights in Jerusalem and the final day in the south of the country. We still have a few places on our ICEJ USA tour of Israel for the Feast and invite you to sign up today. Please see the back cover of this month’s magazine for more information.

Israel’s Critical Needs
Of course, the annual Feast of Tabernacles is only one facet of the ICEJ’s prophetic and cutting-edge ministry. Another major project is assisting in the return of the Jewish people to their promised land—Aliyah in Hebrew.

The ICEJ is being called upon every month to assist with Aliyah more because Israel is experiencing the highest surge in Jewish immigration in 30 years, and it is still building. While these rising numbers are exciting, they are also concerning because they reflect urgent crises driving the Jews home. Over 100,000 new immigrants have arrived in Israel since January 2022: 60,000 from Russia, 20,000 from Ukraine, and the remaining 20,000 from other countries.

The security situation in Israel is also heating up, and we are being asked to place more bomb shelters—not just in Southern Israel but all over the country.

We want to thank you for your faithful prayers and support of Israel in partnership with the ICEJ, and we ask for an extra gift during these summer months when income usually slows down. Considering the critical situations Israel is facing, we cannot afford to slow down our assistance and ask that you send an extra gift this month to help meet these growing needs.

Thank you so much. I pray God blesses you and yours for all you are doing to bless the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the children of Israel.

如何為以色列禱告
由Susan Michael撰寫
ICEJ分會總幹事

亞伯拉罕的一生和呼召在很多方面都是他的後裔以撒和雅各——以色列人——呼召的影子。 亞伯拉罕被應許擁有一塊土地和一個後裔國家，肩負著造福世界的使命。但他直到 75 歲時才進入應許之地，他的兒子以撒出生前已經 100 歲了。

以色列今年已經75歲了，她也發現自己正處於一個關鍵而復雜的時刻。 她比以往任何時候都更需要我們的祈禱，尤根布勒博士在本月的《從耶路撒冷而來話語》雜誌上發表的文章解釋了現代以色列的許多方面需要我們的代禱來幫助塑造她的未來。 我們祈禱她能充分履行她的召喚，並看到上帝對她祖先的所有應許都得以實現。

我們的預言路線圖
除了亞伯拉罕的生活模式之外，我們還獲得了一份預言性的事件路線圖，這些事件將通過上帝日曆中的指定時間或我們所說的「節期」來實現。 在利未記第 23 章中，神說這些指定是「我的」節期，祂將這些節期賜給以色列是有偉大目的的。

雖然基督教歷史的大部分內容都缺乏對這些節期的理解，但許多基督徒已經意識到它們的重要性。 ICEJ 於 1980 年在耶路撒冷舉行的首屆耶路撒冷國際基督徒住棚節慶祝活動中誕生。自第一次慶祝活動以來，世界各地對秋季節期的理解如雨後春筍般湧現，許多教會現在正在研究並承認其含義。

事實上，一旦你列出了所有七個年度節期慶典，世界歷史的模式就開始出現。前四個節期是在耶穌的死、復活和聖靈澆灌在早期信徒身上而應驗的，而秋季節期則是前瞻性的，要在祂第二次降臨並統治全地時應驗。

本月的雜誌包含 ICEJ USA 總編輯 Karen Engle 對這一引人入勝的主題的介紹，這是來年 12 篇月刊文章中的第一篇。我確信您會喜歡這個系列。

同時，我希望您能參加今年在以色列舉行的住棚節慶祝活動。前兩晚將在加利利海舉行，隨後四晚在耶路撒冷舉行，最後一天在該國南部舉行。 我們的 ICEJ美國分會以色列節期之旅仍有幾個席位，邀請您今天報名。請參閱本月雜誌的封底了解更多信息。

以色列的迫切需求
當然，一年一度的住棚節只是 ICEJ 預言性和前瞻事工的一個方面。 另一個重大項目是協助猶太人返回他們的應許之地——希伯來語的“Aliyah”。

由於以色列正在經歷 30 年來最大規模的猶太移民激增，而且還在不斷增加，因此每個月都要求 ICEJ 為回歸提供更多援助。 雖然這些不斷上升的數字令人興奮，但也令人擔憂，因為它們反映了迫使猶太人回家的緊急危機。自2022 年 1 月以來，已有超過 10 萬新移民抵達以色列：其中 6 萬人來自俄羅斯，2 萬人來自烏克蘭，其餘 2 萬人來自其他國家。

以色列的安全局勢也在升溫，我們被要求設置更多的防空洞——不僅在以色列南部，而且在全國各地。

我們感謝您！