ICEJ Feast of Tabernacles Israel 2017
Shalom Pillars!
I was recently invited by Jerry and Judy Ball of Breaker of Dawn Ministries International to be one of fifteen generals on a team of intercessors for the ICEJ Feast of Tabernacles 2017 Celebration in Jerusalem, Israel. After praying for a few days about going, I heard clearly from the Lord that I was to go. It was an amazing experience and honor to be there as a delegate representing the United States of America, and it would not have been possible without my good friend, Janice Sturkie, who was instrumental in my meeting the Balls. Thank you dear sister, and God Bless America!
And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain.
Zechariah 14:17 NKJV
The above passage clearly states that when we are obedient to keep the commands of the Lord to observe the Feast of Tabernacles, there is a blessing that is released to the people and nations that go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord during Tabernacles. Rain is symbolic of blessing, but to get a better understanding of exactly what that means, let me break it down for you. Rain is symbolic of the following:
Replenishing
Cleansing
God’s blessings
An outpouring or shower of God’s Spirit or the Word to bring forth life and fruitfulness
The manifestation of the Holy Spirit
Spiritual teachings
To give or spread profusely
To hear and see rain falling symbolizes the presence of God, “The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God.” Psalm 68:8
Abundant blessings
His Word, forgiveness and grace
God’s blessings being poured out, revival, growth
Rain symbolizes a preparation for revival, judgment, fertility or fruitfulness and renewal
If you are rained on it indicates receiving spiritual teaching, cleansing from your troubles and the washing away of your problems
A spiritual downpour of ideas coming to fruition in your mind
That’s quite a list! We can see that rain means more than just blessings that are material. In fact, it is vital that we understand clearly what it means or we will miss out on what God has so richly and generously prepared for His children to receive during Tabernacles. Simply put, it means to expand and increase naturally and spiritually in all areas….if you can believe it to receive it.
One added blessing to this year’s Feast of Tabernacles is that we are also in a Jubilee year. The Jubilee year is observed after seven cycles of Sabbatical years or every fiftieth year, which happens to be this year. Jubilee means to shout, shout for joy, victory cry, and liberty. During the Jubilee year God instructed that slaves and prisoners were to be freed and returned to the homes and families, debts would be forgiven, the mercies of God and miracles would be particularly manifested in abundance and that land would be returned to its original owners! This is huge when you think of the spiritual implications. Need to be delivered and set free from something? Debts canceled? Land restored? Well if you do, then shout for joy and release your victory cry!
It was decreed and declared there in Jerusalem that God would perform many miracles in our lives this year. We will see the supernatural hand of God moving mightily and a great harvest of souls will come into the Kingdom this year! It was also decreed that territory lost would be restored to us and much more. If you are not familiar with the Feasts of the Lord, or the Lord’s Jubilee, I would highly encourage you to do a little reading on it, and according to your faith, so be it.
So back to the delegates. The team I was in Israel with were delegates to represent the United States. We received the blessing poured out in Jerusalem by God and have returned as overflowing cups to release the blessing here in America. If you are reading this blog post, you are connected to Smashing Pillars International, and by faith I release the rain of God to you and into every area of your life! I have faith enough for you and me both to be blessed. Ah-men!
I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Genesis 12:3
Jerry and Judy Ball of Breaker of Dawn encouraged the team by releasing a prophetic word to us that the Lord was sending us as the two fish and five loaves Jesus used to perform the miracle of feeding thousands by blessing and supernaturally multiplying them after He gave thanks to the Father. She told us God would use us in much the same way to be the supernatural food the people in Israel needed in order to see and know Messiah. She prophesied miracles, miracles, miracles would take place as Jesus would begin to breakout and be the Breaker that would go before us. He did just that! She said the Lord was going to put the Law back into the hearts of man during Tabernacles and out of Zion the Law would go forth once again into the uttermost parts of the world.
I received a similar word from the Lord before leaving Houston. He said He would change the character of the nation of Israel and the nature of Jewish people to be more like His during this appointed time of Tabernacles, but not only those who live in Israel would be changed, He specifically said the character and nature of the team I was with would be changed. I can say He held true to His word and fulfilled it, but that story will have to be shared in another post.
We were chosen and sent by God to be His overflowing cups of blessing to release and impart to the people of Israel. As the scripture says, we are blessed when we bless and stand with Israel. I decree and declare our mission was accomplished. We were a blessing to Israel and the people of Israel in every way possible. We blessed, prayed and sowed financially into the people and ministries there. These dear brothers and sisters in Christ took us into their homes and ministries, worshiped the Lord God with us, and prayed with us. We prayed, blessed and encouraged them in return. We are believing God to move mightily on their behalf to provide provision, resources, open doors and opportunities to share the Gospel of the Kingdom there in Israel, and to win a mighty harvest of souls for the Kingdom of God. God is so good!
There are so many powerful testimonies from the trip to share, but if I were to blog them all on this post you would be reading a very thick book! For this reason, I will share a few of them and some pictures to go along.
The United States Delegates Team Members
Left to right: Janice Sturkie, Samuel Ramos, Cheri Addicks, Kevin Thompson, Sandra Hiatt, Judy Ball, Jerry Ball, Sharon Gilbert, Mark McDaniel, Samuel McCreery, Teresa Hudson, Sarah McCreery and Anne McCreery
Left to right: Kay Kimball and Nellie Rusk
There is one other member of the team and that was our driver and guide Shabtay of Shabtay Tours. I do not have a picture of him for some reason, but he is a believer and loves his brethren. If you are ever in Israel and need a driver or guide look him up. You can call him at 050-2228414 or email him at shabibus1@gmail.com. His is very knowledgeable about the history of Israel and makes you feel as you are family.
We love you Shabtay!
Testimonies
As for the testimonies, the Lord spoke very clearly to me during the flight to Israel and said He would open the hearts of the Jewish people to receive prophetic ministry, and He did just that. I personally ministered to so many people that I lost count and stopped journaling the encounters… I give God the glory.
I will say however that at least eighty percent of the people I ministered to were orthodox Jewish believers, but they still allowed me to pray with and for them, and the Spirit of God manifested every time with His tangible presence releasing words of knowledge and words of wisdom that just broke yokes and chains off of them! Many of them visibly had their countenances transformed right before our eyes. It was a huge blessing and honor to pray with them and see their tears falling from the touch of God they were experiencing. I was prayed for by some of them and a Rabbi blessed me mightily just before I left to return to Houston. Out of respect for those prayed for who were of the Jewish faith, I will not publish any of the pictures or their names. Please pray for them though that the seed sown into their hearts will take root and produce much fruit for the Kingdom of Heaven. They are beginning to see and receive their soon returning Messiah. Hallelujah.
Mount of Precipice – The Leaping Mountain
We had several shofar ministries in our group so we went to this high place to release decrees and to sound the shofars over all Israel. Rising above the southern part of the Nazareth Mountain of Mt. of Precipice (397 meters) look out over Nazareth, Mt. Tabor and the Yizrael Valley at its foot. Mt. Precipice is also known as “The Leaping Mountain” according to old tradition, Jesus jumped from this mountain when fleeing His pursuers. We decided to decree the Ten Commandments with a blast of the shofars after each commandment. Then at the decree of the last commandment all were to sound their shofars in all directions to call the nation of Israel to awaken to the dawning of a new day. Wow!
There were three Arab young men there observing us very curiously and one asked what we were doing. I explained we were decreeing the Word of God over Israel and that the shofars were releasing the sound in the spirit. He thought about it for a moment and said, so it’s a message you are releasing! We said yes. Their names were Achmed, Achmed and Jimmy. Go figure.
ICEJ Feast of Tabernacles – Parade of Nations
Pais Arena – Jerusalem
During the first night of the Tabernacles Celebration at the PAIS Arena in Jerusalem, we were able to pray with many of the delegate representatives while they were waiting backstage to be announced in the arena. It just so happened that a few of us from the team were headed to the floor of the arena when we saw the nations just standing backstage waiting. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go pray for them. It was as if the Lord has positioned them and had them waiting for us!
Samuel & Samuel
I paired with the other Samuel on our team to pray for the delegates and the nations they represented. Let me tell you a little about Samuel McCreery. This young brother has such an amazing family that loves God. He came with his mother, and his sister, and grandmother to Israel. They are all prayer warriors. Samuel was very excited about learning to minister prophetically and so we became very good friends during the few days we were together. We had so much fun praying for people. We introduced ourselves to a couple of people we were about to pray for as Samuel and Samuel, God’s double-portion. It was so funny, but anointed and a great ice-breaker.
Samuel, Charles & Samuel
Samuel and I were walking around the arena looking for people to pray for when we ran into the brother named Charles from Canada. We asked if we could pray for him and God touched his body and healed him of back pain. There were also several words of wisdom and knowledge we received for Charles that he said were spot on. It was so beautiful to see his face glowing. He has been in touch with me since then from his home in Canada. We plan to visit each other as the Lord leads. Praise God.
Another testimony, but this one happened after we returned to the hotel for the night. Everyone said goodnight in the lobby and went to their rooms. I was just kicking my boots off when the Lord told me to go back downstairs and wait for Him in the lobby, so I did as He said. I waited in the lobby for 45 minutes and there was hardly anyone that came by during that time. It was like a ghost town. I had just made up my mind that I was not going anywhere until the Lord showed up when suddenly I heard a big “Shalom!” It was a Jewish brother who stepped out from behind a large column the sofa I was sitting on was leaning against. He asked if it was my first time to Israel. I said to him no, it is my fifth time. He was excited and said, God bless you! God bless you! God bless you! He then asked why I was in Israel. I told him to celebrate Tabernacles. He said, God bless you! God bless you! God bless you! He then asked why I kept coming to Israel. I said because I love Israel and the people of Israel. Immediately, he grabbed me by my hand and pulled me to my feet. He said, Get up! When you love and bless Israel and the Jewish people, GOD HIMSELF will bless you from heaven, he said. I asked if I could pray for him and he said yes, but then he would pray for me. I got a word of knowledge for him about a vision or assignment God gave him a few years ago, but he never completed it because he did know how to do it. God told me to tell him to BELIEVE AGAIN because He was going to stir up the same assignment and vision in his heart, and this time he would fulfill the mission. He then said he was going to pray for me and he proceeded to pray Hebraic blessings over me. I received a power impartation!
Afterwards, he told me that I heard correctly about the assignment God gave him that he never completed and that he believed again and that God would fulfill it this time. He told me he was a rabbi with a ministry in Jerusalem to the poor and needy. He told me the assignment God gave him was to build a bridge between the Jew and Christian in order to bring them together to be one. Wow! I said to him that truly I believed the construction has begun this night. Then he said if I returned to Israel he would like to have me contact him so that we could do ministry together, there in Jerusalem! God is amazing. We exchanged contact information. If the Lord is willing, we will see each other next year in Jerusalem!
One last story
I was in Israel for Tabernacles 2014. I met an IDF soldier at the Jerusalem March named Mark. I explained to him how the Lord sent me to Israel specifically to encourage the soldiers and to tell them they were loved and prayed for by Christians all over the world. He then reached out to me and said, "I love you brother!", and tearfully bear hugged me. We spoke briefly and took a couple of pictures of him and his battalion. He asked me if he gave his email address to me if would I send him the pictures and I said yes. One of the pictures below.
Mark is the brother with the sunglasses on his head
Since then (2014) we’ve stayed in touch through our Instagram account and have become brothers in the Lord. While in Israel this year, we were able to meet my last day there. We spent the whole evening and most of the night fellowshipping and talking about everything under the sun, family, friends, careers and religion. We prayed together for each other before he had to leave to catch the last bus before midnight. We are planning to meet again next time I am there. He will take me meet a family in Israel I became connected with through the death of their son, Gal Gabriel Kobi. I believe this relationship with Mark is a very strategic one the Lord is developing for something greater in the days ahead and a One New Man destiny is the engine driving it. To God be the glory.
My Jewish brother Mark to
Here is a list of the ministries visited. Some of the following information is taken directly from their websites links are provided.
Dugit Messianic Outreach Center in Tel Aviv
Avi Mizrachi is Senior Pastor of ‘Adonai Roi’, a Messianic Jewish, Hebrew speaking Congregation. Adonai Roi is Hebrew for ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’. Avi and Chaya founded the Congregation in the summer of 1996 with a few people meeting in a private home. The small group grew as the Lord added to their numbers and is now a vibrant congregation in the heart of Tel Aviv. Adonai Roi welcomes visitors from around the world. Continue Reading
Sea of Galilee Worship Boats LTD
Daniel Carmal is a Jewish Israeli believer in Jesus and is the owner-operator of Sea of Galilee Worship Boats. He founded the company with the sole purpose of providing his guests with a remarkable and unforgettable worship experience on the Sea of Galilee. Daniel is also a worshiper and has several CDs available online for purchase. Daniel has a powerful testimony of how he got his business started. Follow the link below to his site to read his story. Continue Reading
Heart of G-d Ministries
HEART OF G-D MINISTRIES is actively engaged in sharing the Good News in Israel to people from all walks of life, promoting Aliyah (the Biblical return of the Jewish people to Israel), helping to plant Messianic Congregations, and encouraging and equipping Christians to fulfill their Biblical calling toward the Jewish people. Continue Reading
Kehilat HaCarmel – Restoring the altar of the Lord on Mount Carmel
Worship Watch with Karen Davis, a Messianic music singer who is the worship leader of Kehilat HaCarmel. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob called the people of Israel back to the land of their inheritance. Emerging in the midst of the re-gathered nation of Israel is a remnant of believers in Yeshua, the Messiah. Continue Reading
Avner and Rachel Boskey of Final Frontier Ministries: David's Tent
Avner and Rachel Boskey live in the Beersheva region of Israel and are dedicated to stirring up the creative arts, worship, intercession, evangelism and the prophetic gifts within a Jewish and Israeli matrix. Continue Reading
Pastor Naim Khory – First Baptist Church in Bethlehem
In 1980 we laid the foundation for a 20th Century miracle in Bethlehem, the city of Jesus' birth. This is when First Baptist Church in Bethlehem was born, its purpose to lift up, proclaim and glorify Jesus the Lord, God incarnate, born as a baby over 2000 years ago. Continue Reading
Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund – David Rubin
The Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund was established by former Shiloh mayor David Rubin and friends of Israel in the United States to support therapeutic, educational, and recreational projects for children in the Biblical heartland of Israel – particularly in the Shiloh bloc of communities where the children have suffered terribly from the terrorism of the past few years. Continue Reading
Be’ad Chaim-Israel Prolife
Be’ad Chaim is a non-profit organization with a mission from God to stop the shedding of innocent blood through abortion in Israel. 2 MILLION Israeli babies have died from abortions since the birth of the nation in 1948. Continue Reading
These are anointed ministries with a call to Israel. Smashing Pillars International sowed financial seed into every one of these ministries except for one, and only because I ran out of seed! Hallelujah! That is a good problem to have. I left it all in Israel and you are blessed because of your financial support and prayers. The Lord will bless you and protect you assets…rebuke the devourer for your sakes. Ah-men!
Please feel free to share this post and as always, receive this blessing:
Blessed are you by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
And blessed be God Most High,
Who has defeated your enemies for you.
Shalom,
Samuel
Smashing Pillars…raising sons…
If this ministry has blessing and has encouraged you, please sow a seed into the word you have received and been blessed by. Thank you for supporting this ministry. Smashing Pillars, a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. I appreciate you and pray for you daily and for the seed you have sown. Again, thank you for supporting SPI! If you prefer to mail in a donation, tithe or offering, please send it to:
Smashing Pillars International 14403 Walters Rd, #681601, Houston, Texas 77014
