Isaiah had a tremendous meeting with the Lord and at the end of it the Lord asked, “Whom shall I send and who will go for Us?” (Isaiah 6:8).¹ And that is the challenge God is putting before us. What is our willingness to really be instruments in the hand of God to execute His will and speak His Word in this hour? Once God works in us the willingness, then He is going to be faithful to impart the equipping necessary for us to be His instruments in the earth. The Father did it with Christ; He did it with the disciples. But we are not going out as superheroes to save the world. That is not the way it works. Yeshua (Jesus) came as a child, so we know that He had to mature and go through the same processes we go through (Luke 2:52). He was equipped by the Father to do the job. And God is not going to send us out without tidings ready (2 Samuel 18:22, KJV).

After the cross and resurrection, the disciples went through a tremendous transition as the Lord started equipping them for something new. For forty days, Yeshua appeared to the apostles and to all those who had followed Him as disciples (Acts 1:3; 1 Corinthians 15:4–7). Many people had walked with Yeshua, including the one hundred twenty and His mother who was there through everything that went on. They heard the teaching and were being prepared during this time. So we think, “Well, after three and a half years, they should have been really equipped and ready to be His witnesses.” But witnesses of what? Why did Yeshua hold them back, commanding them “not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised” (Acts 1:4)? Go back to verse three: Yeshua had to impart to them “the things concerning the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).

When we talk about being witnesses, it is broader than witnessing salvation to people. Remember the true reality of salvation is to be reconciled to the Father. Yeshua said, “No one knows the Father except Me” (see Matthew 11:27). The greatest treasure in Christ is the knowledge of the Father. Yeshua said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you” (see John 16:13–15). Christ’s only purpose was to reveal the Father (John 14:9–13). The disciples did not know the Father, so they needed that equipping. Likewise, if we are willing to go, then we must be equipped; but we are not yet equipped as we need to be. There is a level of the Holy Spirit that we are still waiting to see imparted to us that will bring about this true knowledge and unfolding of a relationship with the Father.

During this time before Pentecost, Yeshua is saying, “Wait in Jerusalem until something happens.” It is necessary that He imparts to us the knowledge of the Father and brings us into that relationship with Him that honestly is available through Yeshua our Lord and Messiah. Lord, make us Your ambassadors; equip us and send us out. There must be power behind what we say. The Holy Spirit is the voice of God that brings the conviction of sin and righteousness and judgment against everything satan has been doing to hold people in captivity (John 16:8). So we cry, “Lord, equip Your saints! Release us to be Your witnesses in the power of the Holy Spirit.” We expect to be equipped and sent in the name of the Lord.

¹ All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995).