As part of Prophecy Today UK’s opening season we have been celebrating its rich heritage, looking back over its 30-year history of boldly proclaiming the word of God. One of the most foundational events in this history was the Carmel/Jerusalem Gathering in 1986. Here we have re-printed one of the articles published in Prophecy Today (Vol 2, Issue 2) just prior to this vital meeting.
"He asked me, 'What do you see?' I answered, 'I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” He said to me, 'This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.'" (Zech 4:2-6)
During the last visit to Jerusalem of the international leadership team making final arrangements for the Easter Gathering the significance of the olive tree was highlighted for us. Once again we were led to the Gospel account of the experience of Jesus in Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives.
Mount of Anointing
The olive tree lives to a great age and some of the trees in the Garden of Gethsemane are more than two thousand years old. They were there when our Lord led the disciples there from the Upper Room on the night he was betrayed. These trees have seen so much history, so much violence from invading armies, so much bloodshed and so many shed tears.
It was here that David walked weeping away from Jerusalem after his son Absalom had revolted against him. These trees have weathered great storms and earthquakes. They have seen men of all races and nationalities. They have grown old and twisted and gnarled. They are no longer beautiful to behold like the young trees and saplings. But they have a dignity and a strength, and despite their great age – they continue to bear fruit!!
The fruit of the olive tree has been greatly valued in Israel for thousands of years. Until this century it was the main source of energy providing oil for lamps and cooking as well as giving food. But above all, the olive was used for anointing, e.g. Samuel anointed David, king of Israel. In Hebrew the word ‘olive’ comes from the same root as the word ‘Messiah’, or ‘Anointed One’. Thus the Mount of Olives in Hebrew is the ‘Mount of Anointing’.
Jesus wept
Amid the changing centuries empires have come and gone from Jerusalem and invading armies have set up camp on the Mount of Olives overlooking the Old City. Assyrian, Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Ottoman; and Turks, Crusaders, British, Jordanians, Jews and Moslems have fought there. Yet all of the blood and sweat and tears shed among the olive trees of Gethsemane none has been so meaningful and so fragrant as those of Jesus on the night of his agony.
Jesus wept, not for himself, but for the plight of Jerusalem that symbolised the plight of the world. When Jesus came into Jerusalem at the beginning of the final week he did not pray for the city, for he already knew the hardness of men’s hearts despite the palms and hosannas. Jesus wept. He wept because he longed to embrace the people he loved and to save them from what was coming upon them. He wept because Jerusalem’s rejection of their Messiah symbolised man’s rejection of God and rebellion against his good purposes and all he longs to do in Fatherly love.
‘Watch and Pray’
The Easter Gathering in Jerusalem takes place against the same background of man’s rebellion against God in which the Lord of the Church is saying to his people, ‘Watch and pray that you do not enter into temptation’. Watch and pray as the time of great enemy activity draws near. God is wanting his people to watch – to have vision – to see what is happening in the world and what he is doing so that we may rightly interpret his word and clearly proclaim it among the nations. He is wanting us to be a praying as well as a watching people so that we may hear from him and receive his power.
His plans
Being part of the international team has for each of us been both a painful and an enriching spiritual experience. Each time we have run ahead of the Lord or done things in our own wisdom we have been stopped. We have made what appeared to be good plans and done so in good faith only to see them come to nothing. Then when we have surrendered everything to the Lord he has revealed his own plans and we have been left amazed at the doors that have opened and the clear way we have been directed. This has given us great confidence that God is calling his people to gather in Jerusalem this Easter for a special purpose.
Unity in Christ
A further encouragement has been the growing support of the churches in Israel; Anglicans, Baptists, Pentecostals, Messianic Jews and Arab Christian leaders have all expressed support and are demonstrating this in many practical ways. Many local believers and ex-patriots working in Israel, including fifty young people from Project Kibbutz, have registered to attend the meetings in the Binyanei Ha’Ooma.
This may have great significance for the future of Christian evangelism in Israel since for most Arab Christians it will be their first visit to the BHO which is the Israeli National Convention Centre and is in the heart of the Jewish area of West Jerusalem. There are very few occasions when Arab and Jewish believers meet and we have been told that this is the first large-scale event ever to be supported by both Christian communities.
Dividing Wall Broken
In the present tense climate of Arab/Israeli relations it is a triumph of the Gospel to see the ‘middle wall of partition’ broken down. Paul foresees the time when this will happen as it has already begun at Ephesus when those who ‘were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise…have been brought near through the blood of Christ…who have made the two one and has destroyed the dividing wall of hostility…his purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two’ (Eph 2:12-15).
Prayer Groups
During the past year there has been a significant growth of intercession groups throughout Israel. These resulted from a prayer conference in January 1985 attended by more than a hundred believers. This was led by Johannes Facius, Danish leader of Intercessors International, and last month he and the Swedish evangelist Kjell Sjoberg trekked from town to town across Israel in prayer/preparation for the Easter gathering. They met and prayed with local Christians in each place they visited, Arab and Jewish believers, encouraging the brethren and strengthening their hands with the word of God and with prayer.
Outdoor Meetings
Prayer will be a major emphasis of the Jerusalem Gathering especially for the outdoor meetings. In addition to praying on the Mount of Olives, for which the Russian Orthodox Church have kindly given us permission to use their convent church and grounds at the Garden of Gethsemane, there will be a number of other prayer visits in and around the Old City. These will include praying for the historic churches and praying for the city around the walls of Jerusalem in accordance with Isaiah 62:6 and 7.
Conference Centre
Indoor meetings will take place in the BHO, there being no church large enough to take the expected numbers. It has fine facilities for both large and small meetings. This enables us to hold seminars for smaller groups as well as large meetings for worship and the proclamation of the Word of God. Seminars will be on a variety of subjects, linked with the main theme of ‘The Word of God for our Times’.
They will include sessions on ‘Intercession and Spiritual Warfare’, ‘Biblical teaching on Prophecy: Ministry and Gift’, ‘God’s Word on Contemporary World Issues’, ‘Repentance and Reconciliation’ and ‘Israel and the Nations’. These will be led by well-known international speakers and Bible teachers. Tapes of these meetings will be available afterwards in Jerusalem and in England from the PWM Tape Ministry.
Alpha and Omega
One of the highlights of the evening meetings in Jerusalem will be the world premiere of a new biblical musical by the young singer and composer Adrian Snell. It has a strong prophetic theme with words from Isaiah, Joel and the Gospels. I wrote the first draft of the biblical themes which were worked into song lyrics by Phil Thompson and the whole work has been brilliantly set to music by Adrian. There is a clear anointing of the Holy Spirit upon this work which all of us in the international leadership group have recognised and we are anticipating that God will use it significantly at the Gathering.
Mount Carmel
For six days during the week prior to Easter Week Mount Carmel will be the meeting place of men and women from many countries with prophetic ministries together with their intercessors. We are expecting 120 and their meeting will take place in the area where Elijah rebuilt the altar of the Lord in Israel.
There is no fixed agenda for this meeting and there are no set speakers. The purpose is two-fold- to give opportunity to share what God is saying to his people in different parts of the world, and to seek the face of the Lord together in prayer and waiting upon him.
It would be presumptuous to try to anticipate any results of these six days. We cannot command the Lord to speak. Indeed we may receive nothing – apart from the blessing of meeting with new brothers and sisters in Chris and receiving the spiritual enrichment of a time of prayer and worship together. But we meet in simple faith, each of us aware of the critical days of world history in which we live and the awareness that the nations are being driven close and close to the point where judgement becomes inevitable.
But we are also aware that our God is a God of love and mercy and his purpose in sending Jesus was not to condemn the world but to save mankind. So we will beseech him on behalf of the nations to have mercy upon us – to show us the way to proclaim his word with power and authority in the nations.
Third World Evangelists
There has already been a surprise in those coming to Carmel. We had expected more men and women from the Western world and a few from the East and from Third World countries. God has turned this upside down! One after another of those we were expecting from America have dropped out.
This is similar to the low number of Americans expected in Jerusalem and may be a result of the fear in the USA following recent hi-jackings and President Reagan’s TV warning not to go to the Mediterranean area. (Tour agents in Israel say the bottom has dropped out of the American market and hardly any are coming now – but the European tourist trade has increased).
Holy Spirit Revival
By contrast, as the Americans have dropped out, men from the Third World have booked in. The exciting thing is that many of these are coming from countries where Holy Spirit revival – or spiritual awakening on a massive scale – is taking place. Some of the outstanding Christian leaders who have led the fresh movement of the Spirit in their countries will be at Carmel and then in Jerusalem. They are men who are daily witnessing the power of the Holy Spirit and seeing the signs and wonders of his presence.
We are wondering what God will do among us through them, for surely his purpose is for the outpouring of his Spirit upon ALL the nations, that all peoples may have the opportunity of hearing the Gospel and receiving Jesus the Messiah as their personal Lord and Saviour, that the whole of mankind may hear the Word of God for our times and the whole world may see the glory of God.