I (Enoch), my Mum and our 83 year old friend Anne travelled to Israel for 12 days from 31st of December until the 12th of January 2015. It was our first trip to Israel, and we were going on our own and not on a tour. I had done lots of homework beforehand about places to stay and how to get around, but we still had plenty to learn.
On the 3rd of Jan, we visited a church near Mt. Carmel. Before we left, we were asked the question about why Jezebel did not join the prophets of Baal at the contest with Elijah at Mt Carmel. Having been there myself, I now understand a very practical reason why not – it is super steep terrain. I thought driving up Mt. Dandenong in Melbourne was bad, but the road to Mt. Carmel was exceedingly steep with almost 360 degree sharp hairpin turns in the road. No wonder Jezebel decided to stay home!
At the beginning of this road was a sign warning us to look out for falling rocks. We were instantly reminded of a picture Faith from our home church ECCC had for us before we left. She saw rocks falling all around us, but in her picture we were not the least concerned. As we drove up the mountain, we were not really comforted by that word – as we did not want any rocks to start falling down anywhere near us, thank you! Thankfully, no rocks fell and we were safe.
A few weeks before we left for Israel, Melissa from our church saw a picture of a weary looking man with high cheek bones when praying for our time in Israel. Mum reminded me of this when we saw a weary looking Christian leader sitting during worship and I could feel a wave of intercession come on me for him. I met him briefly in the bathroom and briefly told him that we are praying for him for strength and he was appreciative.
Afterwards, Melissa gave us more details of what she saw – and it was amazingly accurate. She described the tiles of the floor (which are creamy white) and I showed her a photo that matched her description. She was excited to see this confirmation, but cautioned that she saw the walls in the same tile – which of course is the case at this building! When she saw him in the vision, she knew he was a leader – and she described his manner of speech perfectly by saying it was a bit halting.
We were later able to send a message to the Pastor about this via email and they were greatly encouraged to hear that God is raising up intercessors for them who do not even know their ministry. It was encouraging to see how God was raising up prayer for a needy pastor from a prayer group at the other end of the earth – and used us as messengers to bring the encouragement to this pastor.
When going through difficult times, my Mum often prays – ‘God raise up intercessors for me/us’. God faithfully answers those prayers and raises up others to stand with us in times of need. May we too be the kind of intercessors who will hear the call to pray and will stand with others in their time of need.
Enoch Lavender was born in Australia, raised in Norway, spent time living in China and is now based in Melbourne, Australia. He has been studying Hebrew and the Jewish roots of our faith for the past decade, and has a keen interest in the Middle East from a Bible prophecy perspective.
