NRB Chronicles - 2017 Classic - HaYovel Serving Israel's Farmers

We are live on the floor of the National Religious Broadcasters' Convention today, and how fun is this? We get to see how God takes people's passion. Everybody comes around the corner. It's just new and exciting. And the name of the National Religious Broadcasters' Convention this year is Proclaimed 2017.

So these people are all proclaiming Christ in a different, unique way, and this is one of the more unique ways that I know of. And we have Zach Waller. He is with a ministry to Israel, the Agricultural Ministry in Israel. And Zach, tell us about your ministry.

Sure. Thank you so much for having me on the show. Yeah, we've been so blessed. We actually have been going back and forth to Israel for the last 12 years. And the ministry is called Hayovel, which is a Hebrew word that means the Jubilee. And basically our story is that my dad actually started the ministry, and he made his first trip to Israel in 2004. And when he went as a farmer from Tennessee and met the farmers in Israel, I quickly connected. They started making a farmer talk about the soil and the plants. And then this Israeli farmer took my dad out to his vineyard and showed him the vines.

And he opened up the Bible to Jeremiah 31.5, where it says, You will again plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria, on the mountains of Ephraim. And dad was just blown away. He was like, wow, could it be possible that these 3,000-year-old prophecies are actually happening today, right now in our time? And it really just took him back.

He was like, wow. Because I think a lot of times within Christianity, we tend to think of things in a very spiritual way, that everything's kind of spiritualized. But the reality is, these prophetic things that happen, Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem. It was actually a very physical thing, physical prophecies that had to be fulfilled in order for us to know that he was the Messiah. So today, we're actually seeing physical things happen in the land of Israel that shows God's restoration happening right now. And it's an incredible thing to actually stand in a vineyard and hold a cluster that probably the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah and these guys saw in their vision of, one day when they talked about Israel being restored, these prophets actually saw these visions of these people coming from the nations. And actually Isaiah says that, that foreigners, people from outside the land of Israel, would come in and be a part of this redemption process of Israel blossoming and blooming. And so Dad was really just blown away, like wow, this is an incredible thing that's happening in Israel. So he went back and he just knew right away that our family was called to go to Israel to serve the Jewish people.

And I think probably more than the prophetic thing, the biggest thing for Dad was he wanted to just bless and serve the Jewish people. Because one thing that we weren't very well educated about prior to going to Israel was the depth of the wound that the Jewish people carry. That for the last 2,000 years, there's been some really horrible things done to the Jewish people in the name of Christianity. Obviously as Christians and believers, we believe that those people weren't true Christians because of the fruit of what they did. But from the Jewish perspective, these guys were proclaiming Jesus' name. They were Christians, they called themselves Christians. When the Crusaders came in, they had a big red cross on their shield and they're coming in saying, you know, kiss the cross or die. Like these terrible things happened in the name of Jesus. And so to the Jewish people, they're very, very, very, you know, they don't trust Christians.

They don't trust us for very, very good reason. And so Dad realized, wow, there's an opportunity to go in and one, bring reparation to the relationship between the Jewish people and the Christians. And to bring reparation to Jesus' name because it's been so defamed in Israel. The reality is most Israelis won't even say the name Jesus because it brings back all those terrible things that happened.

You know, the Crusades, the Holocaust, all these horrific, terrible, terrible things that happened in history. So Dad wanted to just go in and bless and serve and show them love instead of all of the horrible things that they had seen in the past. So that was really the first thing. Dad wanted to go and show them love and two, to be connected to the prophetic things. And so we brought that message back to the U.S. and started bringing our friends and family. People started coming in and joining us and pretty soon we had hundreds of volunteers coming.

We've actually had volunteers from 20 different countries come in and bless and serve and be a part of this volunteer work. And from there we realized, wow, there's a huge educational opportunity because these people are coming from the nations and they're visiting the heartland of Israel. Because we actually work in Judea and Samaria, what some people would call the West Bank. Well, what biblically is Judea and Samaria, where actually 85% of the Bible was actually written or took place right there in that area. So we're bringing them, we're going to places like Elan Morai, where in Genesis 12 God spoke to Abraham and said, hey, this is the land that I'm going to give to you and your descendants. In Beit El, where Jacob has his dream and God confirms the covenant. In Shiloh, where the tabernacle actually stood for 369 years. So we have the temple built by Solomon later, but people don't realize in Shiloh that the tabernacle actually stood there for 369 years right there in that place. So all these biblical places our volunteers get to go to. So basically what we do is we go and volunteer for four days and then two days every week we go out and visit these different places and help people connect to the land and the people. So it's become a huge educational opportunity for people to actually go, you know, with all of the misinformation that's being put out, to actually see what's really going on there in Israel and to realize the good, the prophetic things that are happening and that God is actually, after 2000 years of desolation, flipped on the restoration switch and that these miracles are happening right now in the land of Israel. So it's been such an amazing, miraculous opportunity for us to be able to be there and be a part of it and also bring other people.

to be a part of it as well. Wow, that was a mouthful. There's a lot more I could share. Yeah, you can tell. He has a passion.

He's used it to build the kingdom. We're speaking with Zach Waller. He is with, and I'm not going to attempt it, Havel? Hi-yo-vel. Hi-yo-vel. And I heard you a minute ago, you know, most people I hear talk about the tribe of Ephraim. They don't say it the way you said it, which was really cool by the way. Say it, because obviously you've now spent yourself a lot of time there and they wouldn't know how to say it since it's their tribe.

How do they say it? Yeah, so it's been a really educational opportunity to learn some Hebrew and the Bible comes so much more alive. So Ephraim, and Israeli could say it a lot better with the great Hebrew accent, but Ephraim is the way that they would say it. You also have places like, we would say Shiloh, where actually in Hebrew they say Shiloh.

So there's several different places that are very similar, but there's a little bit different. But yeah, so it's been great to actually learn the real names and, or the Hebrew names. Yeah, or the way that, you know, and the neat thing is that God has protected that language.

Yeah. For, you know, all these many centuries, you know, there was no English back then. There was no, you know, the one language that has, you know, been, you know, provided to us from antiquity is Hebrew. And there you have a group that still can read it and understand it the way it was written back then.

Yeah, it's an incredible story. There's a guy named Eliezer Ben Yehuda who basically wrote the Hebrew dictionary. Because you have the biblical Hebrew was preserved in some ways. The Jewish people use it in their prayers, but basically it wasn't a spoken language. So it was the first time, so it may be sort of like Latin or something like that where it's just a studied language.

I used to have a really close friend who was in there, grew up in Israel and his family had amazing stories and he was still Jewish. But the way he put it to me and said, Robbie, it's kind of like when you guys read your King James Bible and you really don't, you know, some of us have struggled with that translation. Right. That when you're reading, if you're a Hebrew and you're reading the Bible, the words are not the same as your everyday words that you commonly use. So there's a dictionary now that they write.

Yeah. So he basically wrote, you know, because there weren't words like airplane and bicycle and all these modern inventions. They didn't have words. So but Hebrew is really complex because even the letters actually spell out what the word. So like, for instance, father, the word for father in Hebrew is Abba.

Right. And so the letters that you use to make that word are Aleph and Beit. And Aleph means like head or strength and Beit means house. So like the father is like the strength in the home.

He's like the head of the household. So even if within the letters of the Hebrew language, you have depth and greater definition. What's interesting is that they're actually a picture that when you look at the at the letter itself, that it was a picture. Somebody is drawing a picture in the right.

Sure. Is illustrating the actual piece of the alphabet that it's right. So this guy had a huge job to actually, you know, so what do you do when you have a bicycle? So he actually would like go back and relate it and like the letters have to be the certain way and like is a pretty huge job. But he miraculously was able to put it together.

He had a newspaper he would send out with new words every week. And so, yeah. And if you look back in the book of Zephaniah, it actually talks about I think it's in chapter three. It actually says that that God is speaking through Zephaniah says, I will restore a pure language to people like in that day.

So it's actually prophesied. And what's really cool about that verse is the verse before has every single Hebrew letter of the alphabet. Like all the letters of the alphabet are included in that verse. And so it's like this build up to the verse. And then the very next verse is I will restore a pure language. So there's no other verse in the Bible that has every single Hebrew letter except that one right before. So it's like a guarantee. It's like it's like a proof that, OK, there's going to be a pure language and it's Hebrew. Here's all the letters.

And then, boom, I'm going to restore a pure language. The other thing. The last time I had a chance to talk with folks from your ministry was that when you guys talk about a cluster of grapes. You know, we saw those, you know, we're picturing the grapes, but you guys, you're in the promised land.

And these are different kind of vegetables and stuff like this. This is truly unique agriculture, right? Yeah, it's been incredible physically touching the restoration that's happening.

Yeah. So, I mean, the reality is the place where we're at in the scripture that I quoted from Jeremiah, it talks about the vineyards being planted and the grapes growing there. The reality is 30 years ago, there weren't any vineyards on that area and those mountains. And just last year, we had about 500 volunteers came over and we harvested 450 tons of grapes from those mountains. So 30 years ago, there was none.

And last year we harvested 450 tons. So it's like an obvious, you know, show and tell of God's love and the prophetic things coming to pass, just like he said that they would in the Bible. It's happening right now, today, before our eyes.

There's no question. I mean, there's like 50 prophecies in the Bible that talk about the Jewish people returning. And from all the countries of the world, the Jewish people are pouring into Israel. There's like 8 million Jewish people living there now. And it makes sense if the Jewish people are going to return to the land, the land has to also be restored in order to support the people. And so we're seeing that happen right now. So yeah, the produce is amazing.

There's like all kinds of beautiful, beautiful produce. And it's like touching God because like he's causing this restoration to come to pass. Wow. Again, thank you, Zach. Your ministry is more than amazing.

Say it again for our listeners. Yeah. So the name is Hayovel.

It's H-A-Y-O-V-E-L. And it means the Jubilee. And you guys are out here recruiting folks to come join you, right? You want people to want to go.

Yeah. We're trying to spread the word. If there's people who want to come and volunteer, if you go to our website, just Hayovel.com, you can click on the volunteer page and get signed up to come over. We've got trips planned all through the summer. And we actually have a really special trip this year because this year is the 50th year of the liberation of Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria.

So it really is a Jubilee year. We're celebrating the 50th anniversary and we have a special trip this year on Jerusalem Day, which is the end of May that is more of an educational type of thing. So if you want to come for a shorter trip, like a two week trip and really get on the education, then go to our website and check that out. It's going to be a really, really incredible trip just to learn and to find, you know, we don't call it a tour because it's not like we're going to see all the holy sites or whatever. We're actually going to dig in and be educated.

So it's an educated change your life kind of an experience. Well, if you could ask our listeners to pray for something for your ministry, what would that be? I think I would ask there, you know, there's a biblical mandate in the psalm that says pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And at first that may sound kind of strange because, you know, God created the whole world. So why is he singling out Jerusalem that we would pray for the peace of it?

Why didn't he say pray for the peace of the whole world? And what we've come to realize through our work there is that God wants to see salvation for the whole world. Right. But Israel is used as the theater, as the platform for salvation. Right. We know the Messiah came to Israel and Israel rejected the Messiah and sent the message of salvation to the world. That's why we believe in him.

Right. And so but then in the end that all of Israel will be saved, everybody in Israel will come to the knowledge of salvation and will accept the Messiah when he returns. And so when we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, we're not just praying for the peace of Jerusalem. We're actually praying for the peace of the whole world, because when there's peace in Jerusalem, when the Messiah is seated on his throne there and ruling over the world, then there's peace for the world.

Just a little bonus coverage here time-wise. That scripture, it says pray for the peace of Jerusalem, but this gets back to your Zephaniah passage, that there's a language barrier here that people, when they hear the word peace, they don't understand shalom, which is a different concept altogether. And what he actually said we're supposed to be praying for is the shalom of Jerusalem. And with shalom comes more than just peace.

It's a measure of completeness. And so when you're praying for shalom, you're not just praying that the Palestinians will get along with the people, the Israelis. What you're praying is that God's plan will be completed. Right? Right, right.

Yeah, that's what's so incredible. Like you said, shalom. There's a whole big study you could do on the word and how it means, like you said, completeness or fullness, or yeah, that type of an idea. And so, yeah, so when we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, we're praying for its wholeness, for it to become complete for the Isaiah system. And inside the Jerusalem word itself is shalom. Right, yeah, Jerusalem.

And so, yeah, it's right there inside of it. And so there's this idea that I think anybody who's familiar with the scriptures is that, you know, the Lord's going to come back to the Mount of Olives and this is where it's happening. And all the world, you know, comes to him, you know, through that kind of thing. So there's a completeness that, what a cool thing when you think about it, that it's kind of like when the disciples came to Jesus and said, teach me to pray, what's the very first thing he said? Our Father in the heart and heaven, elevated in thy kingdom, come.

Well, when you're praying for the peace of Jerusalem, are you not in fact praying the Lord's prayer? Right, right, yeah, exactly. And I think a lot of people miss that. I think I mentioned a little bit earlier about how we tend to spiritualize things and we don't realize how God is also in the physical. He's right here with us. So like the Lord's prayer, your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. You know, so it's like bringing his presence here. It's not just about some sort of, you know, high in the sky thing. He wants to be involved in our everyday lives right here with us, not just, you know, on Sunday in church or just, you know, certain times or days of the week in our prayer service.

He wants everything we do to be according to his will and bring his kingdom on earth, on earth, physical reality as it is in heaven. Wow, thank you, Zach. God bless you. Amen.

What a great word. Thank you so much for having me on the show. I appreciate it. You're welcome. Shalom. Oh, perfect.