“We have six million Jews in Israel, and six million Jews in the rest of the world. We don’t have enough Jews!” This was an observation made recently by Sagiv Assulin, a member of Israel’s Likud party, and the Knesset Leader of the Young.

How many Jews does it take to make enough Jews?

Since the present Jewish state elected to call their new nation Israel, Sagiv and the vast majority of Jews do not have a problem with being referred to as Israelis or Israelites. The word Jew is used 10 times in the First Covenant, 8 times in the book of Esther, once in Jeremiah and once in Zechariah, while Israel is used 2,497 times. Let us therefore rephrase the question: How many Israelites, or people of Israel, does it take to make enough Israelites or people of Israel?

Moses’s answer to this question was over two billion!

YHVH, your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number. May YHVH the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand-fold more than you are and bless you, just as He has promised you! (Deu 1:10-11).

Moses made this statement to the people after forty years in the wilderness, as they were preparing to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land. We know that 603,550 men over the age of 20 marched out of Egypt and (if women and children are counted) it is estimated that the total number of Israelites who departed Egypt was over two million. With the exception of Joshua and Caleb, the other men died in the wilderness. Yet we know they were replaced by another 603,550 men (Num 1:45). It is reasonable to assume that the number of Israelites that Moses was addressing numbered over two million.

YHVH made quite a promise when he said that at some point in the future, the people of Israel alive on earth would number some two billion (2,000,000,0000). But back then, it was also hard to imagine that there would come a day when over six billion people would be alive on earth at one time. The Encyclopedia Britannica 2008 Book of the Year lists the earth’s population at 6,615,847,000. Of this number, 2,199,847,000 are listed as Christians, and 14,956,000 are listed as Jews. While YHVH, unlike Britannica, knows His sheep, it is interesting that Britannica’s figures fulfill Moses’s prophecy (Eze 34:10-12, 31; John 10:27). In fact this is the first generation (1996 - 2034) in history in which that was true.

If we are the generation that has been given the numbers to fulfill one of the most extraordinary prophecies in Scripture, it is only reasonable to assume that YHVH has some extraordinary expectations for our generation. As we consider what those expectations may be, let us take another look at what Moses said, “...you are this day like the stars of heaven in number” (Deu 1:10-11). Why did Moses use “like the stars,” rather than sand or dust, which are often used in Scripture to describe the multitude of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?

My friend Ephraim Frank gave an excellent and very timely answer to this question in his April 4, 2008 posting of his continuation of YHVH's redemptive plan and Israel's role in it.

The promise to the forefathers [was] that their seed, Israel, would be like the stars of heaven. Could this be more than a mere reference to numbers, being an indication that they were also to become a light and governing influence in this spiritual realm of darkness? And what's more, that they, like the stars, would be used for signs and for seasons in YHVH's Redemption timetable.

Ephraim is right – we are more than mere numbers – YHVH anticipates that our lights will shine forth. We will become a governing influence in this realm of darkness with which Satan attempts to cloth this world. It takes a lot of stars to light up the sky, and it is going to take a lot of Israelite stars to light up the way home for the lost sheep of the whole house of Israel.

In Psalm 43 David echoed the cry of every lost sheep to the Shepherd of Israel. “O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your dwelling places.” We are that light.

You are the light of the world... let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Mat 5:12-16).

What better good works can there be than to glorify our Father who is in heaven, by taking His light to His lost sheep and leading them back to their own soil where He will be there God and they will be His people (Jer 23:1-8; Eze 37:27)?

Be assured if your daily prayer is, “Show me Father through your Ruach haKodesh, how today I can best shine my light before men, in such a way as to further Your desire to have a people for your own possession,” you won’t want for opportunities.

Several excellent opportunities that could help answer your prayers are outlined in The Stimulus Campaign.

Tonight, take time to look up at the sky. Imagine, a star-filled sky, with each star representing an Israelite and every one of them is shining. When that happens it will surely be a heavenly sign that the Bright and Morning Star will quickly appear, and a new age will begin (Rev 21:61-21).