Honouring our older brother

Two weeks ago, I was in Hong Kong for the Homecoming Conference, an awesome meeting of 20,000 believers (10,000 of whom are mainland Chinese) gathered together to worship God, and seek His heart for our generation. It was a tremendous time of worship, intercession, repentance, restoration and blessing among the 35 nations there. We laughed, danced, wept and marvelled at the work God did among us. I was truly blessed. 

Perhaps it was because I was in a predominantly Chinese setting, whilst there, God gave me downloads in Mandarin. And one area He spoke to me deeply about is the role of the older brother. As I reflected on it, there was a realisation that Jesus is our older brother (Matt 12:47-49), we also have older brothers in nation terms. 

It started one particular morning when worship was a struggle. It felt like I was in the outer court and unlike previous days, struggled to enter into the Holy of Holies. Until ... the worship leader sang Kadosh, or Holy, a Hebrew song. All of a sudden, it felt like we were led right into the presence of God. Then God gave me understanding about why this was the case. Israel, He said to me, is the eldest son and hence the vanguard. He said to me, as the oldest son, Israel possesses an authority we do not have. This is why there is a special anointing when the Jews stand with us in worship, or spiritual warfare. There is a special anointing when they bless us, their younger sibling, the Gentile nations. There will be a special anointing when they are saved, because God caused me to understand that his blessing on them will also be our blessing, and his favor on them will our favour. It made me deeply long for my older brother Israel to be saved, because I could totally see how much more the Gentile church will be truly blessed when they come to Christ. There will be a fullness we aren't yet seeing today. 

Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.' (Zechariah 8:23) 

At the conference, we also took time to honour the Koreans. I had always been intrigued by the 1907 revival in Pyongyang, which The Lord spoke to me about some years back. But it was only two weeks ago in Hong Kong that I realised the implications of Korea's revival on the Chinese. At the conference, a Chinese pastor shared that she spent some time living in Korea with a host family. And since this Korean Christian family had daily 4am prayer meetings, living under their roof, she had to join them. At her first meeting, she met a Korean believer who was delighted to meet her. He told her, for the last 30 years, I have been praying for the rise of the Chinese church, and today, I am finally meeting a Chinese believer face to face. When she heard that, she was very moved in her heart. And so was I. At that moment, I realised that the Chinese church are coming into our destiny, that we are being saved, because our older brother, the Koreans, have been praying for us all these years. Korea is Asia's first missionary sending nation and they have been faithfully fulfilling the Great Commission in the nations and interceding for us. Having been to the Korean prayer mountains, I know the blessing and legacy that this nation has left behind. So wow, as a Chinese church, we honoured them.

Then last week, I had the privilege of dining with a Welsh pastor and his wife. They shared that many Koreans pray for Wales because the first Protestant missionary to Pyongyang was beheaded there. He gave his life for the gospel and as he was being killed for his faith, continued to hand out bibles to those around him. About 40 years later, Pyongyang 1907 happened. The blood of the martyrs ... Recognising their spiritual roots and the debt they owe the Welsh, today, many Koreans pray for God to revive the Welsh nation once again. That sharing blew my mind. If we, the Chinese church owe a debt to the Koreans for praying for us, we likewise trace our spiritual heritage back to the Welsh.

Closer to home, I now recognise that Malaysia is the older brother to Singapore. I now believe when God sends revival there, that we in Singapore will be blessed.

God has been moving in the nations and the connections over the last 150 years are incredible. As a Chinese believer, I now thank God for the faithfulness of the saints over the generations from nations other than my own. It was they who paved the way for us to come to faith. Thank you Daddy for older brothers!