Every generation needs to have men and women who 'Understand the Times' as did the men of Issachar in the time of King David. This book provides a biblical overview of 'Understanding the Times' from the Hebrew Prophets to the ministry of Jesus. It then looks at the changes that have taken place in recent history from the 1980s to the present day in the ministry exercised by Clifford and Monica Hill .
The book gives a rounded overview and is divided into 3 sections - Biblical including all references to the name of Issachar, Historical including the concepts of Issachar Ministries and Facing the Future showing the relevance of its teaching for today. In the final section there are important chapters from the current leaders of Issachar Ministries as well as from the book’s editors, Monica and Clifford Hill.
Background History
Writing up the history of this emphasis in their ministry was motivated by the Corona Virus lockdown events that started in 2019 and most of the book was written while on retreat in 2022. By this time the Ministry was already responding to the needs of many older Christians who were feeling rather alienated from traditional church structures and the way the ‘church’ was failing in its response to their needs for biblical teaching. In 2020 Sunday Afternoon online gatherings were established along with prayer and teaching support groups and the internet was being maximised for providing teaching through webinars. Since then, Issachar Ministries current leadership have based their strategic planning for the future building up of IM in the final section and have produced several updated versions of this as a booklet called ‘Crossing Over’.