The World Jewish-Adventist Center organized its world congress in Paris July 13-16, 2016. This made it possible for 135 people to attend conferences, workshops and enriching debates on the theme of "worship". These participants represented 18 countries (Germany, England, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, the US, France, Holland, Hungary, Israel, Jamaica, Reunion Island previously "Bourbon Island", New Zealand, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Ukraine, and Venezuela).
"Let Us Adore Him" was the central theme taken from Revelation, a well-known passage to church members: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven; having the everlasting gospel to preach to the inhabitants of the earth, to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. Saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment is come; and worship him that made heaven, earth, the sea, and the fountains of waters" (Revelation 14: 6-7).
This text describes the peculiar message to be preached in the last days to the whole world (the inhabitants of the earth, to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people). This message is the eternal message of the Bible called "the everlasting gospel." It is an invitation to reverence God, to give glory and worship Him. But the text also highlights a distinct call to worship the creator God, "the One who made heaven and earth, the sea, and the fountains of waters". An interesting detail of this text is that this sequence of words is literally taken from the fourth commandment (Exodus 20: 8-11) which orders the observance of the Seventh-day, as a day of rest, the Sabbath. This feature brings Seventh-day Adventists closer to the Jewish people with a special bond while respecting this day of Biblical rest.
Thus during this congress the participants unanimously voted on a declaration to reaffirm common values and friendship with the Jewish people. They have so often been persecuted and martyred because of their loyalty to the divine law.
The speakers who came from around the world addressed very specific topics in their presentations, the relationship between the message in Revelation 14 and the Adventist and Jewish eschatology (Clifford Goldstein), the harmony between the words of Revelation and the biblical concept of creation (Kwabena Donkor). Biblical Worship and Missions (Gary Krause), Worship and Missions in the book of Daniel (Imre Tokics) and in the book of Revelation (Ralph Ringer), the Hebrew principles of worship (Ivan Milanov), integration of family worship into Jewish-Adventist worship (Roger Lang), how to contextualize the Jewish-Adventist worship (Richard Elofer).
Alexander Bolotnikov led the delegates in the steps of rabbinical Judaism, learning from these writings concerning worship. Yvette du Mesgnil d’Engente developed the topic of freedom in diversity of worship. Jaques Doukhan concluded by establishing the link of the 3 messages of Revelation 14, the concept of judgment, creation and the Seventh-day Adventist Church, recalling the structure of the book of Revelation, which according to his study, is structured around the feasts of the Lord as found in Leviticus chapter 23.
The highlights were of course the Sabbath hours with a "kabbalat Shabbat" (beginning of the Sabbath) and a Shabbat morning service led by Joseph Mesgnil d’Engente. We heard a sermon by Pastor David Shalom, who came from Israel and shared with us the verses in the book of Numbers that the Jews read in the synagogue every week. He was a very dynamic speaker including his many experiences in Israel. For Sabbath morning we had the privilege of listening to the preaching of Jacques Doukhan, who needs no introduction to the French-speaking audience. He also began his sermon with the book of Numbers that the Jews read in the synagogue, and made a link to the book of Daniel and Revelation 14. It fascinated everyone at the meeting.
We also had the privilege to watch two videos prepared by the General Conference Communications Department, one was a 20-minute speech of Ted Wilson, the General Conference President who gave his full support to the Friendship Global Centre Ministry between Jews and Adventists and introduced the congress quoting many references from the Bible and selections from Ellen G. White.
The second video was projected exclusively for world-view by Williams Costa Jr., Director of the General Conference Communications Department, it is the first video in a series that this department wants to produce on the life of Jesus. This video depicts Jesus’ childhood when he returned to Nazareth, Israel.
This congress has truly been a blessing to all the participants, many expressed delight saying that they had never attended this kind of meeting before, very oriented towards missions after such a long time and this has strengthened their faith.
"I congratulate you for this great Jewish-Adventist Congress. I think the hand of God guided you in its organization because the Jews are indeed our brothers and sisters, this mission is significant and we must encourage this return to our roots" said D'Adrian, one of delegates from the Caribbean Union. "I pray that God may bless this ministry and that it will inspire other Jews to join us in a reconciliation of heart and mind."
Jean-Jack commented: "Thank you for organizing this conference. I think it will benefit many. Moreover, it was an opportunity to put the spotlight on this part of the Adventist world."
"The Lord blessed this congress. A new era has begun for ministry to the Jews. It has reached a point of maturity and is developing into a separate field of studies on missions." said Pastor Samuel, in charge of one of the Adventist world church divisions. "God has rewarded your dedication to the service and to us all. ... We need to change our perspectives on Adventist Missions."
Richard Elofer, coordinator of the event, concluded the conference with these words: "Attending this conference was an opportunity for many Adventist professors of Theology and Missions to come together and reflect on the special relationship between the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Jewish community by the similarities between the two communities".
To learn more about the World Jewish-Adventist Center, please connect here.
