SIZZLING SUMMER HEAT

 

It has been a hot summer here in Israel, with August temperatures breaking records all over the country. What do we do to cool off?  Here is one solution - the pool at Kibbutz Ramat Rachel on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

 

 

It has been three weeks since I have updated my blog, as I have been enjoying my summer vacation and hosting friends from abroad. Now I have been back at work two weeks already and this week classes began. The majority of Israeli schools open on the first of September, and so over the next week many families will be coming home and preparing for the new school year ahead.

 

This summer we have all been rejoicing that we had a summer without a war, in contrast to last summer when we spent most of the time listening for 'code red' alerts and rushing off to our shelters when they sounded. Ironically, one day I went to the pool at Ramat Rachel and was just saying to myself how lovely it was to be able to swim without wondering where I would have to run to should the siren sound, when suddenly the siren went off. We all stopped with beating hearts and prepared to make a run for it, but then the head lifeguard announced that it was just an exercise. Even so, everything went deadly quiet and we all stood still until the siren stopped. I know my pulse was racing and my stomach clenched. Exercise or no, it was a sobering reminder of the reality in which we all live. The thought is always hovering somewhere in the back of our minds that at any instant the peace  and normal life could be shattered and our lives changed forever.

 

How does one live with such a degree of insecurity? On one hand Israelis live for the moment, counting every 'normal' minute a blessing, and trying desperately to get as much  out of life as possible. This creates a vibrant, life-affirming, though somewhat hedonistic, culture. On the other hand, it also causes us to look for comfort and hope in God. Even though Israel is sharply divided between those called 'secular' and those called 'religious', most believe in God, and recognize, to some degree at least,  His hand in our survival as a people and state.  Recent polls showed that 95% of Jewish Israelis own a Bible and 42% study it at least once a week (http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/95-percent-of-Jewish-Israelis-have-Bible-in-home-poll-finds-409250).

 

This last week has highlighted our insecurities. It has been a hot one, in many ways. As the thermometer was hovering in the 40s  all over the country, anger and violence simmered. A spate of terrorist incidents occurred in Jerusalem and the West Bank, in the most part carried out by 'lone-wolf' perpetrators and mobs throwing stones at vehicles. At least some of the unrest was a result of a hunger strike by a Palestinian prisoner, Mohammed Allaan. He had been fasting some 60 days and this week hovered between life and death. An Israeli court ruled that he could be force fed, but instead it was in the end decided to release him, when it became apparent that he had suffered brain damage as a result of his fast. This incident created a severe dilemma for Israel. If he were to die it would unleash a backlash of violence, but if he were released, this could cause many other prisoners to try the same tactic. In any case the whole affair has done nothing to calm the situation here.

Allaan after ending his hunger strike
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4693117,00.html

 

 

 On Thursday, the same day that Britain returned its diplomatic personnel to Iran, 5 rockets were deliberately fired into Israel by Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad from Syrian soil.  

 

 



A fire near Kfar Sold in the Golan caused by rocket fire from Syria
http://www.timesofisrael.com/at-least-one-killed-in-israeli-strikes-on-syrian-targets/
 

Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war a number of stray rockets have landed on the Israeli side of the border with Syria,  but this attack appeared deliberate and planned according to the range and direction of the firing. No one was injured in the attacks, but sirens sounded in the Golan and northern Galilee towns sending residents running into their shelters.  The following day Israel retaliated by attacking an Islamic Jihad cell in Syria killing six and wounding seven. Israel has no intention of ratcheting up the tensions in the north but feels it must send the message that it will not tolerate rocket fire emanating from Syria.

 

Today Iran unveiled its new Fateh-313 surface-to-surface missile which it claims has pin-point accuracy to a range of 500 km. This is a direct violation of UN Resolution 2231 which endorsed the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, led by the US last month, and which contains an arms embargo prohibiting the import and export of conventional weapons by Iran for five years.  Iran has already declared openly that it will not abide by this part of the resolution. Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, in a speech broadcast live on state television in Iran stated that, " We will buy, sell and develop any weapons we need and we will not ask for permission or abide by any resolution for that" (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4693227,00.html ).

 

Last night I walked out onto my balcony feeling that a vast tide of evil was enveloping the world. Everything seemed full of darkness, violence, hatred, suffering, loss and sadness. But then I looked at the night sky with its twinkling stars and the thought came to me - most of the universe is dark, but it is the tiny points of light, the stars and galaxies, that matter. I was encouraged. As dark as the world might become, as long as there are points of light, it is the light that matters and I must endeavor to be one of those points as long as I live. In the end, light will drive out the darkness.

 

This morning I read  Psalm 125 which says,

 

Those who trust in the Lord
Are like Mount Zion,
Which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
² As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.

³ For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
On the land allotted to the righteous,
Lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity.

⁴ Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
And to those who are upright in their hearts.

⁵ As for such as turn aside to their crooked ways,
The Lord shall lead them away
With the workers of iniquity.

Peace be upon Israel!

 

Last week I visited the site of Beit Shean in the Jezreel Valley with some friends. We participated in a night tour of the archaeological excavations there. We were astounded by the size and magnificence of the Roman city that once existed there, one of the wealthiest and largest of the ancient world. We were told by the guide that the city had been completely destroyed in the 8th Century of the Common Era (AD) by a catastrophic earthquake. Considering the size and strength of the massive Roman columns, and the solid construction of the buildings, it must have been a massive earthquake to have brought them down. All except one of the many the columns now standing were found lying on the ground.  I also remembered how when I first visited the site, some 35 years ago, there was little evidence of the ruins below ground -  just  a few columns protruding from the grassy mound. How reduced is this once proud and wealthy city and the Empire it belonged to. 

Bet Shean by night

 

 

Today too I saw a TV program about the restoration work currently taking place at Babylon in Iraq. All that remains of that once proud civilization are dusty and crumbling rocks.  

 

Sadam Hussein's palace overlooking the ruins of Babylon.
http://globalheritagefund.org/images/uploads/blogs/hotw_babylon1.jpg

These great Empires once sought to destroy Israel, but Israel still stands today while they are lost in the dust of time.  So too will be the fate of all who come against Israel as the LORD has promised. The LORD surrounds his people, as mountains surround Jerusalem.

 

As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMEN

The ancient city of Jerusalem, Mt Moriah and Mt Zion,  completely surrounded by mountains.

 

 

 

 

 

 





SPEAK COMFORT TO MY PEOPLE

 

"Comfort, yes, comfort My people!”
Says your God.
 “Speak comfort to Jerusalem,

and cry out to her,
That her warfare is ended,
That her iniquity is pardoned;
For she has received from the Lord’s hand
Double for all her sins.

Isaiah 40 : 1-2

 

Last Saturday night  Jews all over the world observed the solemn fast day of Tisha B'Av (the Ninth of Av), considered the saddest day of the Jewish year. Tisha B'Av  is a day of solemn mourning because according to Rabbinic tradition it was on this day of the year that both the First and the Second Temples were destroyed, 656 years apart. In addition to these two major events, a number of other tragedies have also occurred on this day:

• According to Rabbinic tradition it was on Tisha B'Av that God rendered his judgment against the People of Israel that, except for Calev and Joshua, the entire generation living at that time would not enter the Promised Land but wander 40 years in the searing desert.

 

• The Romans crushed Bar Kokhba's revolt and destroyed the city of Betar, killing over 100,000 Jews, on Tisha B'Av in 132 AD

 

• Following the siege of Jerusalem, the Romans soldiers plowed the site of the Temple and the surrounding area, on Tisha B'Av in 133 AD 

 

• The First Crusade was declared by Pope Urban II on Tisha B'Av in 1095, killing 10,000 Jews in its first month and destroying Jewish communities in France and the Rhineland 

• The edict was given to expel the Jews from England in 1290 on Tisha B'Av.

• The Jews were expelled from France on  Tisha B'Av 1306

• The edict was given to expel the Jews from Spain in 1492 on Tisha B'Av

• World War I broke out on Tisha B'Av 1914

 

• On August 2, 1941, Tisha B'Av,  SS commander  Heinrich Himmler formally received approval from the Nazi Party for "The Final Solution". As a result, the  Holocaust began during which almost one third of the world's Jewish population perished.

 

• The mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto, en route to the death camp of Treblinka began on the eve of Tisha B'Av 1942.

 

• The Jewish community center in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 86 and wounding 300 others, on Tisha B'Av 1994

 

• On Tisha B'Av in 2005 Israel began the evacuation of all Jews from the settlements in the Gaza Strip

 Surely, the People of Israel has received double for all her sins. However that is not the end of the story, for the very next verses in Isaiah 40 go like this:

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;
⁵ The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Isaiah 40 : 3-5 

 



  God has punished Israel, double for all her sins,  but he will in the last days, bind her up, speak words of comfort to her and bring her into the Promised Land victorious. And all flesh will see it together. So now, through the Prophet Isaiah, he exhorts us all , who bear the good tidings of Zion, to speak comfort to his People. And how can we bring comfort? The Psalm goes on to say (verse 9),

O Zion,
You who bring good tidings,
Get up into the high mountain;
O Jerusalem,
You who bring good tidings,
Lift up your voice with strength,
Lift it up, be not afraid;
Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”

In Hebrew these verses are:

 עַ֣ל הַר־גָּבֹ֤הַ עֲלִי־לָךְ֙ מְבַשֶּׂ֣רֶת צִיּ֔וֹן הָרִ֤ימִי בַכֹּ֙חַ֙ קוֹלֵ֔ךְ מְבַשֶּׂ֖רֶת יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑ם הָרִ֙ימִי֙ אַל־תִּירָ֔אִי אִמְרִי֙ לְעָרֵ֣י יְהוּדָ֔ה הִנֵּ֖ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃

 

Translated literally, it says "Go up onto a high mountain, preacher of good news of Zion, lift up with strength your voice, preacher of good news of Jerusalem, lift it up, do not be afraid, say to the cities of Judah "Here is your God".

The People of Israel today need to hear words of comfort today more than ever. Many have fallen into despair. They have given up on the Messiah as he seems to tarry. They feel that God has forgotten Israel.  This is driving some, more unstable personalities, to take judgment into their own hands. 

 

 We are all reeling from two events that took place this week .

 

On Thursday a Haredi (ultra-orthodox) Jewish man, Yishai Shlissel,  stabbed 6 people during a Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem. One of them, a 16 year old girl, remains in a life-threatening condition, two others were seriously injured and the rest lightly. This man had just been released from prison, ironically 'for good behavior', three weeks earlier having served only 10 years of a 12 year sentence for doing exactly the same thing in 2005, on that occasion stabbing 3 people during the Gay Pride Parade.  This time he had told people what he had planned to do, and the security forces had been informed, which raises the question  - why did they not watch  him more closely and so prevent this attack?

 

Yishai Shlissel moments before the stabbing attack. (Photo: AP)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4685917,00.html

 



On the same day, Jewish extremists, firebombed an Arab home in Duma, near Nablus, killing an 18 month old baby, and seriously injuring his parents and his 4 year old brother. His mother has suffered third degree burns on 90% of her body and her life still hangs in the balance. The others suffered burns over more than 70% of their bodies. Written in Hebrew on the walls of their house were the words: "Long Live the Messiah the King" and "Revenge".

 



Ali Dawabsheh, the baby killed in the fire, and the damaged home
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4686046,00.html

How it must grieve our Messiah King and the LORD God that such terrible things are being done in His name. Whatever we might think about the Gay Rights Parade in the Holy City (of all places), or the Palestinian occupation of the Holy Land, violence and the killing of the innocent violates God's Law, "Thou shalt not murder". There is no justification for such acts.

In the wake of the killing of this innocent baby we can expect now a wave of unrest. Hamas immediately called for demonstrations. Yesterday there were confrontations between Palestinian rioters and police in several places in Jerusalem and the West Bank. Two Jewish men were shot at as they travelled through the West Bank on the Jordan Valley Road towards Jerusalem. They were uninjured but their car was damaged. Arsonists set a fire near the settlement of Yitzar but fire crews quickly managed to bring it under control. These attacks may just be the beginning of a new wave of trouble.

No wonder some fall into despair, when God seems to tarry and we feel trapped in this ever-cycling spiral of violence. Yet we, who know the LORD, know that He will come at the right time, and that time may well be very soon, and He will judge all those who do evil.. He will bring justice and will establish peace on Earth in the end. This is our good news of hope to this generation.

Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand,
And His arm shall rule for Him;
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His work before Him.
¹¹ He will feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young....

All nations before Him are as nothing,
And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless....

He brings the princes to nothing;
He makes the judges of the earth useless....

Why do you say, O Jacob,
And speak, O Israel:
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
And my just claim is passed over by my God”?
²⁸ Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
²⁹ He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
³⁰ Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
³¹ But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

 

Isaiah 40 : 10-11,17, 23, 27 -31

 

 

http://allpicts.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/free-animal-pictures-to-download-with-flying-eagle-at-sky-500x333.jpg



 

 

So let us not grow weary in the preaching of the good news and in our prayers. I want to finish by sharing an example of the effectiveness of prayer. In my last blog I wrote of a forest fire that raged and threatened several towns near Beit Shemesh. What I didn't know then was that the warehouse of the Joseph Project, a Messianic charity ministry, lay in its path. The fire was halted just one mile short of the warehouse. Also in the path of the fire lay the settlement of Mesilat Zion, where the pastor of one of the local Messianic congregations lives, with his family. The residents were told that they needed to prepare for evacuation and the pastor immediately sent out an urgent prayer request to his prayer supporters. At least one hundred of those rose up in prayer and before long the residents of the settlement were told that the fire was no longer threatening the settlement and they did not need to evacuate.  Hallelujah!

 

Our prayers matter. Every one of them, so please do not grow weary. Please pray for the comfort of Zion, and the comforting of Jerusalem and all Israel, and that soon every eye will see our Savior coming in power bringing justice and peace to the whole world.

 

Amen.

 

(Many thanks to my friend Hannah Nesher who inspired this blog with her weekly email letter on the Parashat Hashavua.)