The Glory of Jerusalem in this Age
One of the questions that has come up regarding Tikkun’s teaching is connected to the glory of Jerusalem in this present age. There is no question that there are biblical prophecies about the coming glory over the Holy City. The question is, how much of that will be fulfilled before the coming of Yeshua in His glorious kingdom, and how much it will be fulfilled afterwards, in His Millennial reign? If we look at Isaiah 61:1-3, it appears that His glory is over Jerusalem comes when darkness is over the rest of the world:
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
It speaks of people in darkness coming to the light in Jerusalem. Is that an awakening coming from Jerusalem in the end-times (Rom. 11:12), when the world is in darkness or is that after Yeshua’s return? I think a case could be made for either. I see three possibilities.
The darkness is the Great Tribulation period, and the gospel goes forth from Jerusalem in the midst of great darkness.
The darkness is the initial condition of the world after Yeshua returns.
Truth in both.
Watchmen ion Your Walls, Jerusalem
My is view is umber three and I think I can make a very strong case. In Isaiah 62:6, God says, “I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem.” They are to give themselves no rest and give God no rest, until he makes Jerusalem “the praise of all the earth” (vs. 6-7). Who are the watchmen? Clearly, end-time believers—possibly Gentiles intercessors who have had a revelation of Romans 11 and are now seeking to provoke Israel to jealousy. Who would be commissioned by God to watch over Jerusalem before the Second Coming, if not prophetic intercessors?
Yes, this takes place before Yeshua returns. We know that for two reasons: 1) Jerusalem is clearly not yet the praise of all the earth. And 2) v. 11b clearly points to the second coming.
“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.’”
The question is, why would believers in this age be praying with such passion and tenacity for something that will clearly happen by the will and hand of God Almighty in the age to come? Could it be that Jerusalem, in some partial way, becomes the praise of the all the earth, even as the antichrist seeks to destroy her?
144,000 and 2 Witnesses
It appears from Bible prophecy that the antichrist will take over the rebuilt temple and declare himself to be God (1 Thess. 2:4). Two witnesses will arise for the last 3 1/2 years (Rev. 11) and it appears they drive the antichrist out of Jerusalem along with his armies, by breathing fire against their enemies (v.5). (Very cool!) This is why we see judgment on Jerusalem only at the very end of the Great Tribulation (Zech. 14:1-2), after the two witnesses have been killed, resurrected and ascended.
From Jerusalem these two prophets prophesy to the entire world—probably making use of modern technology. They call the world to repentance, one would assume, and to not follow the antichrist or to take the mark of the beast. The question is, will there be some physical sign of glory over Jerusalem during this time even as the world is going through the Great Tribulation? It is open for debate. Isaiah 60 seems to say when darkness is over the earth, there will be an attracting light and glory over Jerusalem.
It is from Mt. Zion, during the Great Tribulation, that the Lamb of God, Jesus himself, anoints 144,000 Jews and gives them a new song to sing, commissioning them with the eternal gospel (Rev. 14:1-6). It is hard to imagine such a scene without the glory of God resting on the city in some way.
However, let’s be very clear, this will pale in comparison to the glory that will come at the appearing of our Lord Yeshua and Messiah.
Rapture Trap
Some claim that the church will no longer be here during this time, having been raptured. But in His Olivet Discourse, Yeshua uses the word “you”, when speaking to his followers:
Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matt: 24:4-13)
You will hear of wars. You must not be alarmed. You must not be deceived. You will be handed over to be persecuted. You will be hated. And He tells them to stand firm until the end. To whom is He speaking, if His followers are not here?
Then he says,
“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. (Matt. 24:30-31)
When are the elect gathered? At His coming. 1 Corinthians 15:52 calls it the last trumpet—not the trumpet that sounds seven years before His coming, but the last one. While He is still “coming on the clouds of heaven” we will be gathered with Him, and “will be caught up together, with them to meet the Lord in the air,” (1 Thess. 4:17) and “changed, in a twinkling of an eye.”
The Apostolic Elephant in the Room
Having said that, I imagine the heart of this concern is regarding Apostolic leadership. Do we believe there will be apostles and prophets at this time? Yes, just as there are right now—working in fivefold ministry teams with pastors, evangelists and teachers. Keep in mind, not all Apostolic leaders use such language. Even the first overseers, after the original apostles, called themselves bishops, not feeling worthy of using the same term as the first apostles. There are many who use the title, senior pastor today who are not merciful shepherds, but are but are great leaders. That’s Apostolic.
There is a concern that through human effort we would seek to elevate apostles and prophets and coordinate the gospel from Jerusalem. As stated before, we can do nothing but pray for and obey that which is written. Any type of restoration must come through The Holy Spirit, not human effort—though we play a role (Romans 10:14-15). Our job is to keep proclaiming Yeshua, planting New Testament congregations, raising up leaders and discipling new believers.
And as for the gospel being coordinated from Jerusalem, it seems that the chief Apostle himself, the Lamb, takes charge of that from Mount Zion in Revelation 14.
I do understand the concerns; if you look at some of the quotes provided and not at source materials in context, it is easy to paint a wrong picture of Tikkun. We are just one network in the body, one of many ministries, all over Israel, all seeking to serve the Lord in sincerity. We do not seek, nor will we ever seek, to forcibly bring any other movement, congregation or believer under our authority. We’ve never even had a conversation about such a preposterous idea. An apostle is only an apostle to those who see him that way and he is submitted the ministry team around him. Even Paul told the Corinthians, “Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.” He had no authority over others outside of his domain. And neither do we. The authority that we do have us to serve, support and strengthen other leaders, not to “rule over them”.
