THE DAYS ARE COMING
It is midday and the gardener is pausing in his work to pray as overhead, warplanes are roaring - a normal day in Israel perhaps. Or perhaps not. There are few if any 'normal days' in Israel. We are living in momentous times and great things seem to be happening on a daily basis.
This morning I read again Jeremiah 30, the promise of God's restoration of Israel, which I believe is in the process of being fulfilled in our day.
The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the Lord.” Jeremiah 30: 3
In past times God punished Israel for her sins, which were very grievous. He sent her out of the Promised Land, to be captive among her enemies. Nevertheless, the punishment was not to be forever, for he promised to bring Israel back to her Land, after a time of terrible trouble. God promised,
" I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only in due measure;I will not let you go entirely unpunished."
Jeremiah 30: 11
God also declared,
I will surely save you out of a distant place,
your descendants from the land of their exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security,
and no one will make him afraid.
11
I am with you and will save you,’
declares the Lord.
Jeremiah 30:10
In our times, God has saved the remnant of Israel out of terrible trouble, the Holocaust and the persecution she had suffered in many nations, and brought her back to her Promised Land. In the natural view of things, we have not yet attained 'peace and security' but in the spirit, we do have peace and security in the knowledge that whatever our enemies will attempt to do, God is with us, and will save us. In the end, it is our enemies who will be destroyed,
But all who devour you will be devoured;
all your enemies will go into exile.
Those who plunder you will be plundered;
all who make spoil of you I will despoil
all your enemies will go into exile.
Those who plunder you will be plundered;
all who make spoil of you I will despoil
Jeremiah 30:16
We may be abandoned by all our allies (v. 14), and God may have punished us for our sins, but in the end, God will save Israel,
"But I will restore you to health
and heal your wounds,’declares the Lord,‘because you are called an outcast,Zion for whom no one cares.’“This is what the Lord says:“‘I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents
and have compassion on his dwellings;the city will be rebuilt on her ruins,and the palace will stand in its proper place.From them will come songs of thanksgivingand the sound of rejoicing.I will add to their numbers,and they will not be decreased;I will bring them honor,and they will not be disdained.Their children will be as in days of old,and their community will be established before me"
Jeremiah 30: 17-20
Furthermore, God will 'burst forth' in anger against all those who oppress and plot to destroy Israel.
I will punish all who oppress them...
See, the storm of the Lord
will burst out in wrath,
a driving wind swirling down on the heads
of the wicked.
24
The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back until
he fully accomplishes the
purposes of his heart.
Jeremiah 30: 20, 23-24
Our enemies should take warning. Historically every nation that has risen up against Israel has ultimately been defeated, and it will be so until the end of the world. God has spoken.
As I write many nations and much of the world, even our one-time allies, are speaking against Israel, punishing her economically or threatening her militarily, but the time will come when God will break out in wrath against those nations, businesses, and individuals.
One such nation is the Republic of Iran. For years it has been shouting threats against Israel, again and again threatening to destroy her. This once-proud nation has succumbed to the lies and oppression of militant Islam. Israel has never threatened Iran, never done Iran any harm, so why this hatred directed against us? We have no quarrel with the people of Iran, but their hate-filled leaders are causing them to come up against Israel and our God. It is purely a confrontation between Satan-driven religious spirits and the true God of Israel.
In recent days I have perceived a change in the atmosphere in Israel. For years we have quietly listened to Iran's threats against us. Now Israel is going on the offensive. Our leaders are now threatening Iran. A few weeks ago, on May 10th, Iran crossed a red line. It fired 32 missiles towards Israel. Four were shot down by our anti-missile defense system but the remainder (28) fell short in Syrian territory. In response, Israel attacked some 50 Iranian military installations in Syria, destroying a large part of their preparations intended for a full-scale attack on Israel. Amongst the casualties in this attack, some eleven Iranian military personnel were killed. This successful Israeli operation represents a serious setback for Iran, and came on the heels of the pull-out of the USA from the Iranian nuclear deal and the reimposition of sanctions. Iran is threatening retaliation but so far has not carried out this threat.
This past Thursday night a Hezbollah base containing arms caches was also attacked, probably by Israeli aircraft, and in this instance some eight Iranian personnel died, according to Sky News (1). Today Israel notified Russia that Israel is expanding its 'red lines' to include the whole territory of Syria and not just its southern portions. Israel is determined not to allow Iran to establish bases and operations in Syria, and may indeed be planning more pre-emptive attacks. We will not wait quietly until missiles are raining down on our cities.
Other signs of impending war with Iran include the fact that the Israeli Security Cabinet has moved into a specially-built underground bunker (3). The Security Cabinet is a smaller group of Ministers from within the Cabinet that has powers to streamline decisionmaking in times of national crisis, including wars.
Moves are also being made to streamline the process of declaring war. At present, the entire Parliamentary Cabinet Committee has to approve any declaration of war. A new law was proposed that would allow just the Defense Minister and the Prime Minister to declare war in extreme circumstances requiring urgency. However, following public outcry against this proposal, it has been modified to give the Security Cabinet the power to declare war, as opposed to the full Cabinet. This new version will now have to pass three votes in the Knesset before it becomes law (4).
The Home Front Command is stepping up its preparations especially in the north. Today the Command presented data to the Knesset Finance Committee claiming that some 16,000 homes lying within 9km of the northern border lack bomb shelters. The Committee chairman, MK Gafni, has requested the Treasury to provide 5.5 billion shekels for the building of shelters (5).
This week Paraguay moved its Embassy to Jerusalem bringing to three the nations to have done so, the others being the USA and Guatemala. We are hoping other nations will follow their lead. Already others have expressed interest in doing so, namely Honduras, Romania and the Czech Republic (6). The Czech Republic has already expressed, in December of last year, its position recognizing Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel in its 1967 borders.
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| https://www.timesofisrael.com/paraguay-becomes-third-country-to-open-embassy-in-jerusalem/ |
30 May 2018
Since I started writing this blog update the situation in the south, along the Gaza border, has once again escalated. Over the last 24 hours at least 70 rockets and mortars have been fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip by the Islamic Jihad terror organization. It began with a salvo of some 28 rockets early yesterday morning sending Israeli residents in the area running for their bomb shelters. One mortar landed in the yard of a kindergarten just minutes before the children were due to arrive. The security guard at the kindergarten was lightly wounded by shrapnel but fortunately there were no children there at the time.
During the day there were many more 'code red' sirens sending some 25,000 Israeli citizens running for shelter. Between times, residents were warned to stay within a 15-second radius from their bomb shelters. In spite of the risk, schools and businesses remained open. Some of the rockets were shot down by the Iron Dome anti-missile batteries and others fell in open areas. At least some of these missiles were manufactured in Iran. This morning (30/5) a house was damaged when a missile fell about 1m away. Fortunately, the family was in their bomb shelter and no one was injured. In the last 24 hours about 9 Israelis suffered light to moderate wounds, three soldiers were lightly or moderately injured by shrapnel, one civilian sustained a broken leg while running for shelter and several others were treated for shock or light contusions. There were no Israeli fatalities.
The emotional toll is much higher. Residents of the area have had to live with this threat for many years and many suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. The most affected of course are the children. Adina Ozeri, 34, a mother of five from the town of Sderot had this to say,
Since I started writing this blog update the situation in the south, along the Gaza border, has once again escalated. Over the last 24 hours at least 70 rockets and mortars have been fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip by the Islamic Jihad terror organization. It began with a salvo of some 28 rockets early yesterday morning sending Israeli residents in the area running for their bomb shelters. One mortar landed in the yard of a kindergarten just minutes before the children were due to arrive. The security guard at the kindergarten was lightly wounded by shrapnel but fortunately there were no children there at the time.
 |
| Part of the rocket that landed in the yard of the kindergarten (Prime Ministers Office ) |
During the day there were many more 'code red' sirens sending some 25,000 Israeli citizens running for shelter. Between times, residents were warned to stay within a 15-second radius from their bomb shelters. In spite of the risk, schools and businesses remained open. Some of the rockets were shot down by the Iron Dome anti-missile batteries and others fell in open areas. At least some of these missiles were manufactured in Iran. This morning (30/5) a house was damaged when a missile fell about 1m away. Fortunately, the family was in their bomb shelter and no one was injured. In the last 24 hours about 9 Israelis suffered light to moderate wounds, three soldiers were lightly or moderately injured by shrapnel, one civilian sustained a broken leg while running for shelter and several others were treated for shock or light contusions. There were no Israeli fatalities.
The emotional toll is much higher. Residents of the area have had to live with this threat for many years and many suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. The most affected of course are the children. Adina Ozeri, 34, a mother of five from the town of Sderot had this to say,
"Even if no one is hurt, and even if Hamas stops the rockets, this period is still causing the kids regression ... The safe room is a place of strength, an island of stability and safety for the children in such times. We're not sinking into depression or feeling like life had stopped, but we are doing everything we can to feel safe and sane in an insane reality" (8).
In response to this latest attack on Israel, the IDF has attacked more than 35 Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip, destroying military compounds, weapons factories and stores, naval targets and other military installations. Also destroyed was a tunnel stretching from the southern border area of the Gaza Strip, through Eygptian territory and reaching some 900m into Israel. This tunnel had two functions - the smuggling of arms from Egypt and infiltration into Israel. This is the 10th such tunnel the IDF has destroyed since October 2017.
In response to this latest attack on Israel, the IDF has attacked more than 35 Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip, destroying military compounds, weapons factories and stores, naval targets and other military installations. Also destroyed was a tunnel stretching from the southern border area of the Gaza Strip, through Eygptian territory and reaching some 900m into Israel. This tunnel had two functions - the smuggling of arms from Egypt and infiltration into Israel. This is the 10th such tunnel the IDF has destroyed since October 2017.
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| Route of the terror tunnel destroyed by IDF yesterday https://www.idf.il/en/minisites/hamas/israel-under-fire/ |
The southern portion of the Gaza Strip was left without electricity last night when a high tension power line, which brings electricity from Israel to the Strip, was hit by mortar fire originating in Gaza. Once more it is the civilian population of the Strip which is bearing the greatest suffering, thanks to the ongoing actions of its Hamas 'government' more concerned with destroying Israel than protecting and serving their own populace.
The rain of rockets, the worst since the 2014 Gaza War, continued until around 5AM this morning when Hamas and Islamic Jihad instituted a cease-fire. The area has been quiet since then and we hope calm has been restored.
When such things happen I am always interested to see how it is being reported in the media abroad. Today I was astonished to find that there was almost a total absence of reports in the world media. There was no mention of it on either the CNN or BBC TV world news this morning. Has the world forgotten we exist or do they just not care? Perhaps they are tired of the whole situation in the Middle East and have 'switched off'. If this is so, it is a dangerous sign. What happens here will affect the rest of the world. We cannot afford to grow 'tired'.
The online BBC world news carried an article about the attacks but the headlines read "Israel Strikes Gaza after Heaviest Mortar Barrage in Years", which though factually correct, gives the impression that Israel is the aggressor (9). The Washington Post published a more accurate article entitled "Tensions rise as Gaza militants fire more than 50 mortars, rockets into Israel" (10). The NZ Herald earlier today carried a very biased article which quoted only Hamas sources. This article has since been taken down and replaced by a slightly less biased article, which still relies heavily on Gazan sources and implies that Israel was at least equally responsible for this latest round of fire. Even the Headline is factually incorrect "Gaza's Hamas rulers say cease-fire reached with Israel" (11). Hamas sources want to make it look like they had talks with Israel to stop the escalation, when in fact it was Egypt which pressured them (Hamas and Islamic Jihad) to stop their aggression against Israel. Israel was not party to any ceasefire agreement.
On a more positive note, representatives of both the EU and the UN have condemned the attacks on Israel, calling them unacceptable (12).
No doubt this is not the end of the story. The situation in Gaza is untenable and it is more and more obvious to everyone that Hamas has failed as a government and is responsible for prolonging and exacerbating the suffering of the Gazan people. I fear that Hamas, in its death throes, and in an effort to retain support, will continue to allow its proxies, such as Islamic Jihad, to provoke Israel into an all-out war, a war it can only lose. This would be a calamity for the already stretched people of the Strip. Israel does not want war, nor does it want to occupy the Strip.
Prayer points:
1. Pray for all the believers in Yeshua in the Middle East, especially those in Israel, Syria, Iran, Gaza and the Palestinian Authority (West Bank), that we may stand as lights in the darkness. The Enemy is in full-on attack mode trying to bring us down, especially attacking our physical health and marriages.
2. Pray for your own countries, that they will stand with God and Israel, so that they will be blessed and not cursed.
3. Pray that God will continue to protect Israel, our soldiers and our civilians, from all the attacks from our enemies, on our borders and within our borders.
4. Pray for our leaders that they will call on God for wisdom and that God's Will will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
5. Give thanks that in our day God is bringing to pass all that He has promised.
The rain of rockets, the worst since the 2014 Gaza War, continued until around 5AM this morning when Hamas and Islamic Jihad instituted a cease-fire. The area has been quiet since then and we hope calm has been restored.
When such things happen I am always interested to see how it is being reported in the media abroad. Today I was astonished to find that there was almost a total absence of reports in the world media. There was no mention of it on either the CNN or BBC TV world news this morning. Has the world forgotten we exist or do they just not care? Perhaps they are tired of the whole situation in the Middle East and have 'switched off'. If this is so, it is a dangerous sign. What happens here will affect the rest of the world. We cannot afford to grow 'tired'.
The online BBC world news carried an article about the attacks but the headlines read "Israel Strikes Gaza after Heaviest Mortar Barrage in Years", which though factually correct, gives the impression that Israel is the aggressor (9). The Washington Post published a more accurate article entitled "Tensions rise as Gaza militants fire more than 50 mortars, rockets into Israel" (10). The NZ Herald earlier today carried a very biased article which quoted only Hamas sources. This article has since been taken down and replaced by a slightly less biased article, which still relies heavily on Gazan sources and implies that Israel was at least equally responsible for this latest round of fire. Even the Headline is factually incorrect "Gaza's Hamas rulers say cease-fire reached with Israel" (11). Hamas sources want to make it look like they had talks with Israel to stop the escalation, when in fact it was Egypt which pressured them (Hamas and Islamic Jihad) to stop their aggression against Israel. Israel was not party to any ceasefire agreement.
On a more positive note, representatives of both the EU and the UN have condemned the attacks on Israel, calling them unacceptable (12).
No doubt this is not the end of the story. The situation in Gaza is untenable and it is more and more obvious to everyone that Hamas has failed as a government and is responsible for prolonging and exacerbating the suffering of the Gazan people. I fear that Hamas, in its death throes, and in an effort to retain support, will continue to allow its proxies, such as Islamic Jihad, to provoke Israel into an all-out war, a war it can only lose. This would be a calamity for the already stretched people of the Strip. Israel does not want war, nor does it want to occupy the Strip.
Prayer points:
1. Pray for all the believers in Yeshua in the Middle East, especially those in Israel, Syria, Iran, Gaza and the Palestinian Authority (West Bank), that we may stand as lights in the darkness. The Enemy is in full-on attack mode trying to bring us down, especially attacking our physical health and marriages.
2. Pray for your own countries, that they will stand with God and Israel, so that they will be blessed and not cursed.
3. Pray that God will continue to protect Israel, our soldiers and our civilians, from all the attacks from our enemies, on our borders and within our borders.
4. Pray for our leaders that they will call on God for wisdom and that God's Will will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
5. Give thanks that in our day God is bringing to pass all that He has promised.
But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever;
your renown endures through all generations.
13
You will arise and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to show favor to her;
the appointed time has come.
14
For her stones are dear to your servants;
her very dust moves them to pity.
15
The nations will fear the name of the Lord,
all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.
16
For the Lord will rebuild Zion
and appear in his glory.
17
He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;
he will not despise their plea.
Psalm 102
References:
1. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5271573,00.html
2. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5271573,00.html
3. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-cabinet-bunker/israeli-security-cabinet-convening-in-underground-bunker-media-idUSKCN1IN2Q9
4. https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Govt-backtracks-on-law-allowing-PM-defense-minister-declare-war-558213
5. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5266864,00.html
6. https://www.timesofisrael.com/paraguay-president-lands-in-israel-for-jerusalem-embassy-opening/
7. https://www.mzv.cz/jnp/en/issues_and_press/mfa_statements/x2018_04_25_statement_of_the_mfa_of_the_czech.html
8. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5274583,00.html
9. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-44287594
10. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/tensions-rise-as-gaza-militants-fire-more-than-30-mortars-into-israel/2018/05/29/72672ff6-6335-11e8-99d2-0d678ec08c2f_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.debade6d33cb
11. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12061547
12. https://www.timesofisrael.com/eu-condemns-unacceptable-indiscriminate-attack-on-israel-from-gaza/
8. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5274583,00.html
9. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-44287594
10. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/tensions-rise-as-gaza-militants-fire-more-than-30-mortars-into-israel/2018/05/29/72672ff6-6335-11e8-99d2-0d678ec08c2f_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.debade6d33cb
11. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12061547
12. https://www.timesofisrael.com/eu-condemns-unacceptable-indiscriminate-attack-on-israel-from-gaza/
