Recently Malek and Susanne Gavris traveled with Betty and me to Brazil. It was a joy to be with them, and to demonstrate our love as Messianic Jews and Arab Christians. Malek and Suzanne serve with us on the Revive Israel team. They are dear “spiritual children” to us and part of Revive’s extended ministry family.
At one point, Malek shared a “prophetic revelation,” which he called “the third kind of love.” In Deuteronomy 6:5, we are commanded, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart.” In Leviticus 19:18 we are commanded, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Yet Yeshua taught about a third kind of love, much harder to comprehend. In Matthew 5:44, He said, “Love your enemies.”
“Loving one’s enemy” has deep significance for Arabs and Jews, both in terms of evangelism and reconciliation. Our peoples have seen themselves as enemies for almost four millennia. Yet through the sacrificial love of Yeshua, we are able to overcome the enormous racial and political obstacles, in order to love one another. Only that love can bring true and lasting peace (see Luke 2:14).
“Beat[ing] [our] swords into plowshares” (Is. 2:4b) does not start with a political agreement but with a change of heart. Frankly, we don’t think there is any political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, whether one state or two. Our message is first spiritual.
Through the gospel, we can know the love of God. That love can change our hearts and overcome any situation. There is no other message, no other power, no other person, who can change hearts enough to cause previous enemies to love one another. {eoa}
Asher Intrater is the founder and apostolic leader of Revive Israel Ministries and oversees Ahavat Yeshua Congregation in Jerusalem and Tiferet Yeshua Congregation in Tel Aviv. Asher was one of the founders of Tikkun International with Dan Juster and Eitan Shishkoff and serves on the board of the Messianic Alliance of Israel and Aglow International. He and his wife and full-time partner in ministry, Betty, have a passion for personal prayer and devotion, local evangelism and discipleship in Hebrew and unity of the body of believers worldwide.
This article originally appeared at reviveisrael.org.
