“Aliyah” is holy to the Lord

"Aliyah" is the term used to describe the return of
the Jewish people to Israel.  In Hebrew the word 'Aliyah'  means to
'go up'. That is what a Jew does when they return home - they go up to
Israel.  Some go up to Ashdod, some go up to Tel Aviv, some go up to Haifa,
and some go all the way up to Jerusalem.  Once you have arrived in
Jerusalem, there is no place you can go more 'up ' to - apart from Heaven that
is !

Aliyah is holy to the Lord.  It is His idea. 
Throughout the books of the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and
Ezekiel, the Lord speaks about Aliyah.  There are literally hundreds of
verses that speak about it.  Here are but a few examples.

Isaiah 5:26  He will lift up a banner to the nations
from afar, and will whistle to them from the end of the earth; surely they shall
come with speed, swiftly.   (miraculously, more than 5 million
Jews have returned to Israel in the last 100 years. )

Through these verses we can see that He is not just talking
about the Russian Jews, the Ethiopians, and a few from the West thrown in for
good measure.  The Lord means for ALL the Jews to come home from
every nation.  There are other verses that confirm this.

Aliyah is a banner, a sign.  It is a sign that the
return of the Lord is very close. Yeshua (Jesus) is coming back to reign for
1000 years, not from Palestine, but from Israel.  To Jerusalem under Jewish
control, and to the Jewish people, dwelling back in the land that God covenanted
to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Psalm 105:6-11).  The Messiah will only
return to a people who are ready to welcome Him home to Jerusalem with these
words, "Baruch Ha Bah B'Shem Adonai"  (Blessed is
He who comes in the Name of the Lord.)  These are the words that will open
the gates of Heaven to release Yeshua to return to the Earth. (Acts 3:21 /
Matthew 23:39) 

The process is well under way.  Israel is back as a
nation, more than 5 million Jews are home. Even in the face of danger from
terror attacks and outright war, an average of 800 Jews come home every week.
The number of Messianic Jewish believers in Israel is also growing steadily.
Today there are more than 100 Messianic congregations in Israel who sing that
song with those very important words - Baruch Ha Bah B'Shem Adonai.

Remember the Lord says that the regathering of
the Jews is a " banner ", a sign of the times.  Not a sign for
the Jews, but a sign to the nations.

Aliyah is a sign to the world that the Son of God is about to
return to rule the whole earth from Jerusalem. That is why the devil opposes
Aliyah.  That is why much of the world and sadly many Christians are
opposing the return of the Jews to the land that is rightfully theirs.  The
areas that the world and the UN calls " the occupied territories" were
given to the Jewish people by God as an eternal promise.

This is a symptom of the root problem in the Middle East. The
root problem is the reaction of Evil to the sovereignty of God. He chose the
Jewish people to bring forth the Messiah to save all the world. His covenant
with Israel continues. The Jewish nation located on her ancient soil, is a sign
of God's eternal faithfulness to His Word. All Hell stands against the
descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob because of Israel's role in breaking
Satan's hold on the human race.

If Christians really mean it when they say
"Maranatha" (Come Lord Jesus),  then they must  get
involved in Aliyah.  It is the plan of God for Gentile Christians to
work with Him as He brings the Jews home.  In fact it is part of your
calling as a Gentile Christian.

Many Christians are already involved.  Organisations
like Ebenezer, Exobus, the ICEJ, Exodus, CFI and others have literally brought
hundreds of thousands of Jews home to Israel over the last 25 years.  
If you are not involved, I want to encourage you to pray and seek the Lord as to
how He wants you involved. Satan is preparing another Holocaust.  The last
few months have seen a dramatic increase in anti-Semitism all over the world.

Christians must wake up to Aliyah, but so must many
Messianic Jews.  There are hundreds of thousands of Messianic Jews all over
the world who are very comfortable living where they are.  They may pray
for Israel and they may send financial assistance to Israel, but the Lord wants
them living in the Land.  Sadly, many have no vision for Aliyah. 

Many pastors also lack vision for Aliyah.  Naturally,
pastors are happy to see new Jewish believers coming into their congregations,
but they do not want to see them leave for Israel.  Of all the Jewish
people, Messianic Jews should cognizant that God wants us back where we belong -
in ISRAEL.  If God is, in fact, calling Messianic Jews home to Israel, to
serve in the great end-time revival, could it be that Messianic congregations
are to become "staging bases, places of preparation for departure for the
homeland.

Finally there is another Aliyah issue that requires the
intercessory involvement of the Church.  It has to do with the return to
Israel of Jewish people who have accepted Yeshua ( Jesus ) as the Messiah. 
Legally, any person who can prove they have a Jewish mother or grandparent is
deemed to be Jew.  However, as the result of a controversial 1989 Supreme
Court decision (see below), current Israeli law states that if a Jew believes in
Jesus, they have changed religions and are no longer eligible to be granted
citizenship. 

A few years ago many Jewish people believed that a New
York  rabbi  was the Messiah.  Believing in this man or any other
false messiah does not disqualify a Jewish person from making Aliyah.  Nor
does professing to be an Atheist, a Buddhist, a Hindu, or even a Satanist. So
why does believing that the Messiah is a certain Jew who was born in Bethlehem,
grew up in Nazareth, who lived and taught as a Torah abiding rabbi, merit
disqualification for Israeli citizenship? The answer is clear. Hell believes
that there is much to lose from Messianic Jews becoming Israeli citizens. This
should alert us to the importance of this issue.

Several years ago, a South African family challenged the
legal status preventing  Messianic Jews making Aliyah.  Their case was
lost, as was the subsequent appeal.  This decision cast a shadow on
Messianic Aliyah which remains to this day. In addition, all immigration is
governed by the Ministry of Interior, which is largely controlled by the
Orthodox Jews. It is they who are against the Messianic Jews.  For the
secular Israelis (80% of the population ) it is not an issue.  For the
majority of Israelis, if you are born of Jewish parents, then you are
Jewish.  Even a tiny amount of Jewish blood flowing in the veins was enough
for Hitler to consign the person to the gas chambers. The original guidelines
for acceptance as a citizen in Israel were drawn up to create a haven for those
who had survived the Nazi ovens.

The last word regarding Aliyah should come from the Lord
Himself.  As we have seen from the scriptures, it is His will that ALL the
House of Israel come home to the land He promised to Abraham.   As His
servants and 'co-laborers',  we must align ourselves with His plans and
purposes.  The purpose of this article is bring to the attention of the
Church,  the importance of Aliyah, and to highlight the plight of Messianic
Jews who are being prevented from fulfilling the Heavenly call to return
'home'.  

If Aliyah is holy to God, then it should be holy to all who
claim to be His sons and daughters.  Now is the time to make these issues
priority points in our personal and corporate prayer times.  Please stand
in the gap with us to intercede and prepare the way for many more Jews to return
to the land of their forefathers, and for justice and victory for the persecuted
Messianic Jews to have the right of citizenship in Israel.

David Silver is a New Zealand born Messianic Jewish
evangelist, now living on Mt. Carmel in northern Israel. He is the founder
director of Out of Zion Ministries, a ministry called to the Jewish people and
the Church.

www.out-of-zion.com