THE BLESSED PEOPLE

 

How can I curse
    those whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce
    those whom the Lord has not denounced?...

 

No misfortune is seen in Jacob,
    no misery observed in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them;
    the shout of the King is among them.
²² God brought them out of Egypt;
    they have the strength of a wild ox.
²³ There is no divination against Jacob,
    no evil omens against Israel.
It will now be said of Jacob
    and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’

 

Numbers 23:  8, 21-23

Living in Jerusalem one can never forget that we are living in the very front line of the great spiritual battle between the LORD and Satan. Periodically Satan tries to destroy the work of the LORD and to bring a curse upon the people of Israel, just as Balak, King of Tzipor, tried to do when Israel was about to enter into the Promised Land after the Exodus. Balak hired a diviner or sorcerer, Balaam, to bring down a curse upon Israel, but to no avail. The LORD God of Israel, spoke to Balaam and told him that the  People of Israel were under God's protection and blessing, no curse of man (or Satan) would prevail against that.

Nothing has changed since Balaam's time. Today Israel is standing again at the Jordan, poised to enter into the 'promised land' of redemption and eternal salvation. And Satan is still trying to prevent that by bringing curses upon us, but he will not prevail.  He uses many tactics.  This week in Jerusalem we have seen two major spiritual assaults aimed at destroying Israel, but many have joined us in fervent prayer and  I do not believe these assaults will succeed.

On Thursday the annual Gay Pride Parade was held in the streets of Jerusalem. It is estimated that 25,000 people participated, the largest number yet. This is a terrible affront to God in this Holy City. The Bible clearly states that homosexuality is an abomination before God.

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. ²³ You shall not have sexual relations with any animal and defile yourself with it, nor shall any woman give herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it: it is perversion.

 

 

Leviticus 18:22- 23
 

If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them. 
 

Leviticus 20:13



Marchers (Photo Gil Yohanan)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4831631,00.html

This evening a second event, the "Tomorrowland" electronic music festival, is scheduled to take place in the new Payis stadium in Jerusalem (yes, the one that last year banned the ICEJ and all other evangelical or messianic organizations and events). This stadium can accommodate up to 15,000 people and is expected to be fully booked.  This festival will feature live streaming of the Tomorrowland festival in Belgium, and its organizers say they will create the 'very specific atmosphere' of the Belgium festival. This atmosphere is clearly occult and pagan in nature. The hypnotic rhythms of the music, the flashing lights and frenetic activity make rational thought and judgment impossible, and leaves people vulnerable to suggestion and evil influences.

I
 

http://photogallery.indiatimes.com/photo/21454200.cms

  

It seems significant that this evil festival is being held on this day, the 17th day of the Hebrew month of Tammuz, which is a fast day commemorating, among other disasters, the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem by the Roman army in 70AD.  We need to pray that the spiritual walls of Jerusalem will not be breached today. Pray, that as in Balaam's day, Israel will be covered by God's blessing. I take comfort in God's words to Abraham regarding Sodom and Gomorrah, when he said that He would not destroy those wicked cities if even 10 righteous men were found in them (Genesis 18). I know there are more than 10 righteous in Jerusalem today and therefore believe God will spare the city, though perhaps through many trials (as is prophesied). Please pray that the righteous in Jerusalem will stand strong and resolute in the face of the constant attacks we all experience.

It is very tragic that our city fathers have bowed down before the gods of this age and allowed these abominations to take place here in the Holy City. However it is far more tragic that the young people of Israel are being drawn into the  spirit and values of the increasingly pagan world of our times. One of the reasons I believe is that young people in Israel are presented with only two options. One is the medieval world of religious Judaism which focusses on myriads of man-made rules and prohibitions, and often comes across as narrow and intolerant. We saw that  in its most extreme form last year when a young 16-year-old girl was murdered during the Gay Pride Parade by a religious Jew. This world of religious Judaism is also permeated by superstitions and the occult. The other option is the hedonistic and tolerant world of New Age, a westernized version of pagan Hinduism,  and which appears much more attractive to a young person. How tragic it is that the average Israeli has little knowledge of their God and the treasures of the Bible, which offer a far better way. I was heartened yesterday to hear of one very courageous Messianic believer who, in her wheelchair, went to the Gay Pride Parade with a banner proclaiming God's love. She said she had many conversations with people who were curious about her message.  Please pray that more of us will have the courage to proclaim God's love and the 'better way' to the people of Israel.

What else has been happening in Jerusalem this week?
Last Sunday a major terror attack was thwarted in Jerusalem. Security personnel spotted a man acting suspiciously and discovered that he was carrying an explosive device and knives, and intended an attack on the Light Rail train on Jaffa Road. The man was arrested and the bomb defused.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4829354,00.html 

This week the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, released its situation report on the current terror wave. Since October 2015 there have ben over 300 attacks (not including Molotov cocktail attacks), of which 180 were stabbings, 90 were shootings and about 30 were car rammings. The majority of these attacks were 'lone wolf' attacks.  

Since January this year the Shin Bet and the Israeli security services have prevented 240 major terror attacks, including stopping 11 suicide bombers, 10 kidnapping attacks and more than 60 other attacks similar in nature to the Sarona Market attack in Tel Aviv.  Most of these attacks were planned by Hamas.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4829502,00.html

Another feature of the  current terror wave is the large number of attacks carried out by women. The report revealed that more than 40 women carried out, or attempted to carry out, terror attacks. In almost every case they were doing it to restore family honor, in order to atone for something they had done to bring their families shame. In some cases male family members brought these women to the site of the attack. This is a sad new twist to the old problem of honor killings of women in Arab society.
 
 Yesterday news came in of yet another Israeli child who died as a result of inadvertently being left in a car. In our heat it takes little time for a child to die in such situations, and just this summer alone, 4 children have died in this tragic way.  In figures released by  the organization 'Beterem - Safe Kids Israel', there have been 400 such cases, involving 449 children, in the last 8 years. Twenty two of these incidents ended in at least one death. One must ask why this type of accident is so prevalent here in Israel? These are not bad or negligent parents or caregivers,  in most cases, but perhaps just overstressed and overly busy ones. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4831911,00.html


 The situation on our northern border continues to be tense. On Sunday the sirens sounded in the Golan Heights as a Syrian drone penetrated Israeli airspace.  Patriot missiles were fired but failed to bring down the drone which returned to Syria.



Contrail of Patriot missile fired from Safed (Photo: Safed Municipality)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4829556,00.html

Now to end with some good news.  Recently the Messianic  Pro-Life organization, Baad Haim, was presented with an award from the Israeli Government  for its “significant contribution to the protection of mothers and children.” It is a great honor to receive such an award and it is a significant indication that Messianic organizations are beginning to become an accepted part of Israeli life.  Perhaps one day soon our message will also be accepted!


  Leaders of Baad Haim receiving the award in the Knesset.  http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/29610/Default.aspx 

After all, as Balaam the prophet said:

The Lord their God is with them;
    the shout of the King is among them.

Numbers 23:21

 

The word translated here as 'shout of the King' is " truat melech" (וּתְרוּעַ֥ת מֶ֖לֶךְ)  which could be better translated as 'the trumpet proclamation of a king'. In Balaam's day Israel had no king so this is clearly a reference to a future time when the trumpet or shofar will proclaim the coming of a king, the King, melech Israel, Yeshua HaMasiach.

 

HALLELUJAH!

SIMMERING SUMMER
 

Summer is now in full swing in Jerusalem. The schools are on vacation and the streets are full of tourists, while the locals are flocking to the pools or the cool shopping mall, or just hiding from the heat indoors. However if you do venture into the city streets you are in for a delight. Many of the streets are brightly decorated with fun and colorful displays. Here are some of the things you might see:

 

Colorful parasols decorate a Jerusalem street

https://rjstreets.com/

 

https://rjstreets.com/2016/07/06/have-you-seen-jerusalems-new-colors/ben-yehuda-decorated-028b/#main

Jerusalem is a city full of quirky imagination, creativity, color and the joy of life.





A kind of quiet settles over Jerusalem  in summer as the heat drives us indoors. Many of the city's inhabitants travel abroad to visit family, take vacations or just to flee the heat. Tourist numbers drop. As a result Jerusalem takes on the appearance of a sleepy, peaceful town. However we can never forget that just below the surface violence is simmering away and could at any moment boil over.

This week I read an article which claimed that Israel's real enemy was not Iran or the Palestinians but the idea of 'the Crisis' itself. It pointed out that,

"serious indignation is reserved only for the one true topic worthy of attention: The Crisis, a perpetual feeling of imminent doom that dominates the hearts and minds of leftists and rightists alike".

As a consequence a whole plethora of serious internal social issues are overlooked or ignored, and this has the potential of destroying Israel from inside. Some of the issues the article mentioned were :

" the soldiers in the asbestos-ridden tanks; the young Arab women and children in Umm al-Fahm, pushed by stupid neglect right into the arms of Islamic fundamentalists; the barely functioning police; the medical interns who are struggling with 26-hour shifts when their colleagues in Europe and America typically work between 12 and 16 hours at a time; the students down south who, unlike their peers in wealthier communities elsewhere in Israel, are repeatedly falling behind in math and other core subjects; the 150,000 toddlers who attend unsupervised day-care centers and receive abysmally unhealthy lunches; the residents of Jerusalem, many of whom are Arabs or fervently Orthodox Jews, more than half of whom are currently unemployed; the tens of thousands of Arab and Bedouin children in the Galilee and the Negev who benefited from three mobile libraries that the Ministry of Culture, for some reason, chose to shut down". 

http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/204146/israels-enemy-is-crisis-itself

And I could add many more neglected social issues - the fact that 1/3 of Israeli children still go to bed hungry, the gulf between the rich and the poor, the neglect of the elderly, the sick and the handicapped, the failure to get reparations to the desperately needy holocaust survivors, the teachers who get paid a pittance while being expected to teach 30-40 children in the classroom, the understaffed hospitals run by exhausted and underpaid doctors and nurses, and so on.
 
I think this article made a good point that perhaps one of the important consequences of terror and war is that important social issues are overlooked. Its the tyranny of the urgent over the important, or the immediate threat over the one we can push off to another day. It is however also true that in spite of the ever present 'Crisis' Israel has accomplished much. Take a drive around the country and you will see growing towns, green fields and vibrant agriculture, burgeoning industry, and a lot of happy and healthy people enjoying life. 




A Tel Aviv beach in Summer
https://www.facebook.com/ynetenglish/photos/a.384316348269521.94744.129653250402500/1204468559587625/?type=3&theater

 

I read just this week about the new Tel Aviv - Jerusalem railway that is currently being constructed.  When it opens, in about 2  years time, it will carry trains travelling at 160 km/h, departing 4 times an hour, bringing passengers between TA and Jerusalem in only 28 minutes. The dual track will pass over Israel's largest bridge ( 1,250 m long), its highest bridge (95m) and the longest  tunnel (11.6 km) in the Middle East. It also incorporates a nuclear fallout shelter for 2000 people at its Jerusalem end (may we never need it!). Not a bad effort for a tiny country living in the shadow of constant Crisis!http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4825986,00.html  

The longest bridge

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4825986,00.html

That said, it is inescapable that we must always put our national security first. We can have no social stability or improvement without it. I fear that as a nation we are suffering somewhat from crisis fatigue. We have heard for so many years about the Iranian threat, the threats from our neighboring countries, the threats from Hezbollah, Hamas and ISIS,  and the threat of ongoing terror, and as a result we have become a little complacent and disinterested. This is natural. One cannot live in  constant state of anxiety and fear. One becomes to some extent habituated, as you do to an unpleasant odor or sound. I do fear however the risk of becoming complacent and failing to prepare for the 'next war'.

For years we have been listening to the rhetoric of Iranian leaders, and their constant threats to destroy Israel. Its like an annoying background hum that you eventually just tune out.  It is tempting just to ignore it, to get lulled thinking it will never happen. However just this last Friday, during violent anti-Israel demonstrations in Iran on their Al-Kuds (Jerusalem)  Day, the Deputy Commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, General Hossein Salami, proclaimed that,

“Hezbollah has 100,000 missiles that are ready to hit Israel to liberate the occupied Palestinian territories if the Zionist regime repeats its past mistakes,”. He continued saying, "Today, the grounds for the annihilation and collapse of the Zionist regime are [present] more than ever". And he boasted "tens of thousands of destructive long-range missiles” are aimed at Israel from Islamic territories".

http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/71142/iranian-commander-100000-missiles-poised-strike-israel-arab-world/#1fO3OOxQXdsyw4Cp.97

A statue depicting the US Statue of Liberty decorated with a Star of David on its head is set ablaze by Iranian protestors during a parade marking al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day in Tehran on July 1, 2016. (Atta Kenare/AFP
http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-holds-annual-anti-israel-rallies-to-mark-al-quds-day/

There are no grounds for complacency in the face of such rhetoric. The IDF is busy planning for the next war and last Sunday realistic drills were held recreating a massive missile attack on civilian areas in the north and in the south.  Since the War of Independence in 1948 there have been very few civilian casualties in the many wars we have fought, for example in the 1967 Yom Kippur War there were no civilian casualties (though 2,500 soldiers died) and in the 2014 Gaza war only 6 civilians were killed. Even the Scud Missiles of the 1991 Gulf war killed only two Israelis directly (though another 11 died from heart attacks or the incorrect use of the gas masks).

An Israeli family in a Safe Room during a scud attack in the 1991 Gulf War
http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/History/Pages/The%20Gulf%20War%20-%201991.aspx

We all know that in the next war however,  if Hezbollah succeeds in releasing even a portion of its massive arsenal of missiles and rockets, we can expect massive civilian casualties and the IDF are putting evacuation and defense plans in place for the population in the north and south especially. However these will inevitably be sadly inadequate. Many, many homes in  Israel do not  yet even have safe rooms or bomb shelters within reach.  

A Haifa building damaged in a rocket attack during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. Nir Kafri
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.72971

 

 

 

Analysts say that in the next Lebanon War

Israel could see 1,500-2,000 rockets shot across its borders per day, compared to the 150-180 per day  we experienced in the Second Lebanon War of 2006. Todays rockets and missiles are more sophisticated, can be aimed more accurately and reach much greater distances - reaching every part of Israel - than those we saw in the Second Lebanon War.

Israel has also greatly increased its attack and defense preparedness but there is no way we could stop a barrage of rockets of such dimensions, and massive civilian casualties are expected. 

 

 Reports are coming in that Hezbollah forces have already amassed along the Israeli border taking over civilian homes in which they have hidden military equipment and weapons. http://observer.com/2016/07/third-lebanon-israel-war-not-if-but-when/. It is believed that Hezbollah now maintains a sizeable army of 40,000 to 45,000 soldiers evenly divided between conscripts and reservists.

 http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/JPost-Editorial-Ten-years-later-459790

 

 

 

 

Homes in southern Lebanon occupied by Hezbollah forces and separated from Israel only by this wire fence
http://observer.com/2016/07/third-lebanon-israel-war-not-if-but-when/

It is important to understand that Hezbollah is essentially the striking arm of Iran. A colonel and brigade commander of the IDF put it this way,

"You also have to realize, that Hezbollah is the outpost of the Iranian empire. Iran does not govern Lebanon, but it controls Lebanon. Don’t be fooled.   This, out here, [pointing to Lebanon] is not Lebanon—it’s Iran.”

Earlier this month, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Hossein Salami declared at a sermon  “Today, more than ever, there is fertile ground—with the grace of God—for the annihilation, the wiping out, and the collapse of the Zionist regime. In Lebanon alone, over 100,000 missiles are ready to be launched.”  When it serves Iran's interests the command will be given and these missiles will “pierce through space, and will strike at the heart of the Zionist regime,” preparing the ground for its great collapse in the new era.”  He also said that  “Tens of thousands of other high-precision, long-range missiles … have been placed in various places throughout the Islamic world. They are just waiting for the command, so that when the trigger is pulled, the accursed black dot [Israel] will be wiped off the geopolitical map of the world, once and for all.”

http://observer.com/2016/07/third-lebanon-israel-war-not-if-but-when/

 

At the same time as war preparations are being made in the north of Israel so too is the tension along the Gaza border continuing to build. Just this week a rocket hit a kindergarten in one of the southern towns. Fortunately no one was in the building at the time and only two people were slightly wounded. Hamas however is continuing to dig tunnels, arm and train its forces preparing for the next Gaza war.

 

Meanwhile civil unrest is growing in both Gaza and the West Bank as various factions express dissatisfaction with the current regimes. This could result in a chaotic situation in the Palestinian areas as warring factions vie for power such as we see in Syria today. http://www.brecorder.com/market-data/rates-a-schedules/118/65012/ 

 

All in all there is no room for complacency. Please pray for Israel. Our enemies outnumber and outgun us enormously but we have the LORD God Almighty on our side.

 

 

For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near;
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
Your reprisal shall return upon your own head.
¹⁶ For as you drank on My holy mountain,
So shall all the nations drink continually;
Yes, they shall drink, and swallow,
And they shall be as though they had never been.

 

But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance,
And there shall be holiness;
The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
¹⁸ The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
And the house of Joseph a flame;
But the house of Esau shall be stubble;
They shall kindle them and devour them,
And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,”
For the Lord has spoken.

¹⁹ The South shall possess the mountains of Esau,
And the Lowland shall possess Philistia.
They shall possess the fields of Ephraim
And the fields of Samaria.
Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
²⁰ And the captives of this host of the children of Israel
Shall possess the land of the Canaanites
As far as Zarephath.
The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
Shall possess the cities of the South.
²¹ Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion
To judge the mountains of Esau,
And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

 

Obadiah 1: 15-21

 Finally: here are some links to some interesting videos and articles you may be interested in seeing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYMviMHH0nc  "Inventing the Palestinian People"- video about the origin of the Palestinians.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zNcXMXy1Jw  "Palestine Festival for Childhood and Education" - video about the hate education and brainwashing of Palestinian children.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSwifGaSYaA  Philistine Cemetery found at Ashkelon - archaeological discovery

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4826103,00.html   Israel trauma center "Natal" - overwhelmed by those needing trauma counseling and help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKEgjeCbgWQ  video about Jerusalem


http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/CNN-explains-U-turn-to-list-Tel-Aviv-terror-attack-in-graphic-459772 - article about biased reporting by CNN


http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4826913,00.html  - Talpiot bus terrorist sentenced