HEAR MY PRAYER

 

Hear my prayer, O Lord,
And let my cry come to You.
² Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble;
Incline Your ear to me;
In the day that I call, answer me speedily.

³ For my days are consumed like smoke,
And my bones are burned like a hearth...

⁸ My enemies reproach me all day long;...
 

¹² But You, O Lord, shall endure forever,
And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.
¹³ You will arise and have mercy on Zion;
For the time to favor her,
Yes, the set time, has come.
¹⁴ For Your servants take pleasure in her stones,
And show favor to her dust.
¹⁵ So the nations shall fear the name of the Lord,
And all the kings of the earth Your glory.
¹⁶ For the Lord shall build up Zion;
He shall appear in His glory.
¹⁷ He shall regard the prayer of the destitute,
And shall not despise their prayer...

 

 

Psalm 102

 

A deceptive quiet lies over Jerusalem and the whole of Israel  at this time, as during the day we tend to hide indoors to escape the summer heat ,or relax at the pool, coming out only in the delightful cool of the evening to stroll, make barbecues with our friends and drink coffee at the cafes. The children are on vacation and many families have gone abroad to visit family or just escape the pressures of life in Israel.

 

How to keep cool in Jerusalem in summer
http://www.jerusalemfoundation.org/media/87403/Jerusalem-Summer-Fun-in-Teddy-Park_500x375.jpg

 

Yet the quiet is an illusion. This week it has been 'business as usual' in Jerusalem and elsewhere in Israel.  On Wednesday a 22 year old Palestinian  woman attempted to kill an IDF soldier by stabbing him in the back at  a military post in the West Bank. The soldier was taken to hospital with light-to-moderate wounds (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4680288,00.html). 

 

At 2 AM on Thursday morning residents of the Ashkelon region scrambled out of bed, grabbed the kids and the dog, and fled to their 'safe rooms' as the code red sirens sounded warning of an incoming medium-range missile  fired from the Gaza Strip. Fortunately it landed in an open field causing no damage or injuries. Later that same morning the Israeli Air Force bombed an infrastructure site in Gaza in retaliation. One passerby was lightly injured. This is just the latest of a number of such attacks in recent weeks. There were six such incidents in the month of June alone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_Israel,_2015 .  In addition, on Friday the 3rd of July, three rockets were fired from the Sinai and two landed in Israel near Eilat, causing no damage or injuries.  An Islamic State affiliated group claimed responsibility. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/07/isil-affiliate-sinai-claims-rocket-attack-israel-150703192810233.html These rocket attacks are not primarily designed to antagonize Israel, but to destabilize the Egyptian regime in the Sinai and the Hamas regime in Gaza, and to promote the power and ideology of the Islamic State (formerly ISIS). Already by last November polls in Gaza showed that some 24% of the population supports the Islamic State either totally or 'to some extent'. http://unitedwithisrael.org/poll-palestinians-greatest-supporters-of-isis-in-middle-east-2/?ios_app=true

 

This week we also learned of two Israelis being held in Gaza. One, a young man of Ethiopian descent, Avera Mengistu, 28, climbed over the fence and entered the Gaza Strip via the adjacent Zikim Beach shortly after the ceasefire with Hamas in September last year. Mengistu is known to the authorities as suffering from psychological issues and is possibly mentally challenged. He may have been drinking when he crossed into Gaza. Whatever the truth he was captured and questioned by Hamas who claim they released him once they ascertained that he was not a soldier. His current whereabouts is unknown, but Israeli officials believe that Hamas is holding him and a second missing Israeli citizen, an unnamed Bedouin Arab, who for unknown reasons also crossed into Gaza. The fear is that these two prisoners, along with the bodies of two soldiers captured during Operation Cast Lead last year, will be used by Hamas to attempt to broker another prisoner exchange, something Israel has already said it will not countenance.

 

A photo of Mengistu from his facebook page
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.663653

 

The big news this week of course is the Iran deal. After 20 months of negotiations the P5+1 group of nations ( the US, UK, France, China and Russia plus Germany)  and Iran have come to an agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),  aimed at scaling down Iran's nuclear capability and easing economic sanctions against it. 

 



The Negotiating Team
http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/07/economist-explains-11

Iran has three uranium mines and the ore from these must be enriched before it can be used. Natural uranium consists of two isotopes U-235 and U-238. Only U-235 can be used for fueling power stations or for making nuclear warheads or bombs. Natural uranium is only about 0.711% U-235.  For fuel purposes the uranium must be enriched so that it is about 3-4% U-235, and for a warhead or bomb it must be enriched to 90%. Enrichment is done by feeding uranium hexafluoride gas into centrifuges and spinning it so that the heavier U-238 sinks to the bottom and the lighter U-235 rises. It can then be separated out. There are currently two enrichment facilities operating, the main one at Natanz and another at Fordo.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33521655

 

With this background let us look more closely at the JCPOA deal. There are 8 main points:

 

• At present Iran has 19,500 centrifuges at their main enrichment facility at Natanz. Under the new agreement only 5060 of these, will be allowed to operate over the next 10 years, and these will all be first-generation centrifuges, which can only produce low-enriched uranium suitable for fueling power stations and for medical, agricultural, industrial and scientific purposes.  

• At the second enrichment facility, at Fordo, all enrichment will cease and no enriched uranium will be produced for at least 15 years. The facility will be turned into a physics research center.

• Iran's current stockpile of low-enriched uranium (which could potentially be spun into weapons-grade material) must be reduced 98%, from 9,000 kg to 300 kg for the next 15 years.

• The heavy-water reactor at Arak will be redesigned and its original core, which would have produced significant quantities of weapons-grade plutonium, will be removed and destroyed. No other heavy-water reactor will be built for 15 years.

• Inspectors from the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) will be able to inspect any facility, declared or otherwise, as long as it is deemed to be “suspicious”.

• If Iran refuses access to a military site, a joint commission made up of representatives of the parties to the agreement will quickly rule on whether it must open the facility up. If it still refuses, Iran would then be in violation of the agreement and might face the re-imposition of sanctions.

• The IAEA will also have access to every part of Iran’s nuclear supply chain to ensure that nothing is being channeled to a clandestine facility. Such powers for the IAEA, which will remain in place indefinitely, are more sweeping than those it had under the normal safeguard agreements that had previously applied to Iran under the NPT.

• Iran will address the IAEA’s concerns about what it calls the Possible Military Dimensions of its nuclear program.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33521655

http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/07/economist-explains-11#5

 



Is this a 'good deal'? Will it hold? Will the deal be ratified and implemented by all nations concerned? Can Iran be trusted, given its past track record and continued threats against Israel and the USA? Is the IAEA really able to monitor what Iran is doing in its large, mountainous country? Does the world have the will to re-impose sanctions should Iran fail to keep its word? What will happen after the 10 - 15 years are up? These are all questions that only time will tell and history will judge.

 

Perhaps the Deal will buy us a little time, if it can be implemented and enforced ( and that is a big 'if'). But then what?  At the end of the 10 year period Iran will have a legitimate right under international law to reactivate its centrifuges and rebuild its enriched uranium stockpiles. They already boast that they can have as many as 190,000 centrifuges up and running within weeks and, in the same time frame, quickly produce nuclear warheads to load onto the missiles they are continuing to buy from Russia and are producing themselves on a large scale, missiles capable of reaching targets in the Middle East, Europe and even the USA. The Deal does not address Iran's conventional weapon development and proliferation. Nor does it address the risk of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Other Middle Eastern states are already saying that if Iran is allowed to produce nuclear weapons they too must do so.

 

Furthermore, even with the current sanctions imposed against it ,Iran is managing to fund, train and arm many terror organizations including  the Taliban in Pakistan, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank, Islamic Jihad in Iraq, Gaza and elsewhere, and the Houthis currently overrunning Yemen. The US State department considers Iran the world's most active state sponsor of terrorism, and former Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice described it as " the country that has been in many ways a kind of central banker for terrorism".  http://www.cfr.org/iran/state-sponsors-iran/p9362 .  Under the Deal, Iran will receive at least $US100 billion when sanctions are lifted. Even if it does not channel this money directly into terrorist organizations, an economically stronger Iran will be able to pour even more money into funding terrorism, which is directed at destroying the US and Western influence  worldwide (the 'Big Satan') and Israel (the "Little Satan) . The Deal does not address this issue in any way. No wonder the Iranian delegate to the P5+1 negotiations, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, went home with a smile on his faces (more a Freudian slip than a typo!).  And Kerry prayed....

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03249/kerry-zarif_3249914b.jpg

 

And a  worried Netanyahu prayed too....

 

http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/v2_article_large/public/2015/04/05/netanyahu-iran.JPG

So what can we do? What is our responsibility in all of these things as believers in the Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus)? In my last post I wrote of our responsibility as a 'kingdom of priests'. What is the role of a priest? There are many functions and I will write more about that another time, but one of the main functions is as an intercessor - a 'go-between' between God and the people.  First and foremost we must pray about all these things. God is working out his redemption plan and we need to be working alongside and with Him. This begs the question, "How must we pray?" It is hard to know sometimes, but we can always pray in the Spirit with sighs deeper than words, and allow the Holy Spirit in us to interpret these cries. And God hears our cries. They are effective and they matter. By our prayers we participate in the  working out of the redemption of the world. As I quoted from Psalm 102 verse 17 above,  

He shall regard the prayer of the destitute,And shall not despise their prayer...

We are often 'destitute' as we pray, in that we do not have the understanding to know how to pray, nor the power to change anything ourselves, but the LORD will not despise our prayers . They are a pleasing incense rising to the Him (Revelation 5:8).  He will work it all out and one day, perhaps not so very far in the future, we will see all the nations bowing down to Him - Iran, Israel, the USA and every nation of the Earth. 

Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.

Even so, Amen.

 

Revelation 1: 17

THE FEAST OF WEEKS

 

This last Sunday we here in Israel, and Jews all over the world, celebrated Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks (also known as Pentecost,  the Feast of First Fruits, or the Harvest Festival). It is one of the three pilgrimage feasts in which God commanded all Israel to come up to Jerusalem for a 'holy convocation'. It is counted exactly  50 days from the Day of the Wave Offering, (also known as the Feast of First Fruits) hence the name the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost. Yeshua (Jesus) rose on the day of the Wave Offering (also known as the Feast of First Fruits) and ascended to heaven forty days later. According to Jewish tradition Shavuot is regarded as the day in which the LORD gave Moses the Torah, and according to the New Testament, it is the day in which the Holy Spirit was given to those who followed Yeshua (Jesus). It is therefore a day of double celebration for Messianic believers.

 

 

 

This year, taking advantage of a long weekend, I chose to celebrate Shavuot with friends down in Netanya. When I walked into my hotel, imagine my surprise when I saw this painting on the wall right beside my room. This is a copy of a large applique wall hanging I made for Shavuot celebrations about 25 years ago!!! The wall hanging had hung in the messianic congregation's meeting place for some time, but then was damaged by water during a storm. I do not know what happened to it but it has probably been thrown away by now. However to my joy someone had made an oil painting of it.  It depicts all the people bringing their first fruit offerings, with great rejoicing, up to the city of Jerusalem where they are all received into the open arms of the LORD.

And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. ¹⁶ Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. ¹⁷ You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord. ¹⁸ And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. ¹⁹ Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. ²⁰ The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. ²¹ And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.²² ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’

Leviticus 23: 15-22 

In ancient times the Festival of Shavuot marked the beginning of the spring grain harvest and a grain offering was to be brought to the Temple as first fruits to the LORD.  It is in this context that God commands the people to leave the corners of the field for the poor and stranger in the land to glean. It is perhaps because of this that the Book of Ruth is traditionally read at Shavuot. However it is also recorded that Ruth and Naomi arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest- in other words, at the time of Shavuot.  

So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.   Ruth 1: 22

Barley harvest in Bethlehem
https://lentengallery.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/reaping.jpg

 I love the story of Ruth and Naomi because it is a reminder that even Ruth, who was of a nation, the Moabites, excluded and cursed by God to the 10th generation, was accepted by God and blessed when she chose the God of Israel, even becoming the grandmother of King David, and a forbearer of the Messiah himself. So too it is for anyone, no matter what evil they may have committed in the past. No one is too sinful to receive God's acceptance and blessing, if he repents of that sin and choses the LORD God of Israel. What a great God we worship.

If you want to learn more about the feast of Shavuot I would recommend watching the teaching videos of my good friend, Hannah, on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4bnZRyEd_Y&index=1&list=PLA7A802173B783E57

Since the Feast of Shavuot another week has passed and it has been an eventful one in Israel (as most weeks are here!).  Spring made itself felt mid-week with a severe sharav heatwave which sent the temperatures soaring into the 40's over much of the country. A number of fires broke out, and in the town of Tel Mond, near Netanya, three homes were destroyed. Closer to Jerusalem, at the Atarot Industrial Park on the outskirts of Ramallah, even as firemen were trying to put out fires around the factories there, arsonists were busy lighting more. Towards the end of the week the temperatures plummeted again to around 25 degrees and in the north today it even rained, a rare event this late in May.

On Tuesday night a mid-range missile was fired from Gaza into Israel landing close to the town of  Gan Yavne, causing no physical damage but considerable trauma to the local residents. This is the 5th violation of the August 2014 ceasefire, and the first involving a mid-range  missile. It is likely that the rocket was fired by some 'errant Palestinian faction' (ISIS has since claimed responsibility) but the Israeli defense establishment regards everything that happens in Gaza as being the responsibility of Hamas. Consequently ,on Wednesday, the IAF attacked four Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4661655,00.html



Missile fired from Gaza
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Sirens-sound-in-Ashdod-as-rockets-fired-into-Israel-404168

Meanwhile it is no secret that Hamas is continuing to reconstruct tunnels and underground military installations throughout the Gaza Strip, and last week the Knesset Minister Omer Bar-Lev, a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, warned,

"Hamas has returned to digging tunnels and one or more of them may have crossed the border fence, attacking the sovereignty of the State of Israel. We can't default to (the situation) on the eve of Protective Edge. The hesitancy in government and security of the Prime Minster harms the IDF's deterrence capabilities and abandons the fate of the residents who live near Gaza to the whims of Hamas."  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4658445,00.html

Also on Wednesday, Ynetnews reported that a  road is being constructed about 300 m  from the Gazan side of the border fence and this construction work is being protected by 'armed uniformed men' http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4661863,00.html. On Friday the former Hamas interior minister, Fathi Hamad, admitted that the new dirt road "the terror organization's military wing is paving along the Gaza-Israel border is preparation for a "window of opportunity to attack." http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4662927,00.html

In the north the picture is just as disturbing. According to a Lebanese newspaper with ties to Hezbollah, that organization  "has built a vast network of advanced tunnels along the border with Israel for use in a future war, using them to conceal tens of thousands of rockets aimed at the Jewish state." According to a senior Israeli intelligence official, Hezbollah "has an estimated 100,000 short-range rockets capable of striking northern Israel, several thousand missiles that can reach Tel Aviv and central Israel and hundreds more that can strike the entire country."http://www.timesofisrael.com/hezbollah-flaunts-advanced-tunnel-network-on-israeli-border/ 

Hezbollah is also gaining more and more control in Syria. Many voices are predicting an imminent collapse of Assad's overstretched government forces, which have lost over 50% of their manpower through desertions and casualties. http://www.businessinsider.com/the-syrian-military-is-on-the-verge-of-collapse-2015-4. In addition most of the regime’s natural resources, such as the phosphate and oil mines, have fallen into rebel or ISIS hands and this is seriously undermining the Syrian economic base. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/195991#.VWoKRpv75LM Currently the Assad regime is being propped up by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which might also collapse if Assad's regime collapses. Iran however might see this as an opportunity to wrest control of Syria and Lebanon, but a more likely scenario is that ISIS will take over control of most of the country. With its capture of the city of Palmyra this last week it now has open roads to the Syrian capital Damascas and the city of Homs.( see map on  http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/21/middleeast/syria-palmyra-watson/ ). As much as we here in Israel hate the Assad regime, its collapse would inevitably bring ISIS to our very border, and also threaten Jordan. This situation is very worrying.  

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwjW1ZNuhvxYbvzZIMRIsahOuuhGnxXp9w6oQ8uHc9U8GbdicbfWUrRDbGjP4sNDe7r8sCaSJPxyHXKULl6H-g6oADMjpItLmxqJnIj2GomN3Ha7_GtfTDbwQmi-rRrL6mtdOJRcttRBM/s1600/ISIS+Sanctuary+20+may+hi+res-01.png

Is all this causing Israelis to call out to our LORD God for deliverance? Alas, no. Of course there is always a remnant that is faithful, but many are very far from God.  I have just been reading in Ezekiel the condition of the people of Judah immediately before the Babylonian Exile. They were smug in their sense of invulnerability and felt that God did not see what they were doing behind closed doors. Even in the hidden rooms of the Temple itself, they were worshipping and sacrificing to pagan gods, and in the streets and homes committing terrible abominations. But nothing is hidden from God. He saw and he judged. Their wickedness resulted in the conquest of Judah, the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile and scattering of the people until this day.

Still today many people feel that God is far from them and they are looking to find answers in paganism and other ungodly places.  Last week 6000 people formed a temporary city in the desert, near Sde Boker, for the Burning Man Festival. This New Age festival began in the USA as a celebration of the Summer Solstice and has clear pagan roots.



Last year's 'Burning Man"

http://igoogledisrael.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/BurningManIsrael-300x194.jpg

 



This coming Sunday(the 7th) will mark the beginning of Gay Pride Week in Tel Aviv, and on the Friday of that week (12th) the Gay Pride Parade will pass through the streets of the city.



Last years parade in Tel Aviv
http://cdn.timesofisrael.com/uploads/2014/06/F140613YS03-e1402655179410.jpg

Does God see? Of course he does.

A day of trouble is near,
And not of rejoicing in the mountains.
⁸ Now upon you I will soon pour out My fury,
And spend My anger upon you;
I will judge you according to your ways,
And I will repay you for all your abominations.

Ezekiel 7:7-8 

Just as God was not blind to Israel's trespasses in the days of Ezekiel, neither is he blind today. He will judge Israel and there is coming on Israel a terrible time of great suffering as is prophesied. All the nations of the world will come up against Jerusalem, and many lives will be lost, but this great battle will lead to a national repentance and the ultimate salvation of all  the remnant of Israel .(Zechariah 12 - see below). 

More and more, Israel is being blamed for all the ills of the world. We are astounded here by the credence given to the wild and outrageous claims of our enemies.  Many seem all to ready to believe the worst of Israel. Just this week the Palestinians tried to oust Israel from FIFA, the world soccer organization, on the basis of our occupation of Palestine. That such an organization, which prides itself on its a-political stance, should even countenance such a proposal is preposterous. Anti-Semitism is once more becoming socially acceptable and espoused by states, in a way very reminiscent of the pre-Nazi era. There is much talk of isolation, boycotts and sanctions against Israel. We feel like we are becoming a pariah nation in the eyes of much of the world.  The scenario pictured in the prophesies of Zechariah no longer seems far off. It all seems oh so possible. It seems like it could come to pass very soon.

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. ³ And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it...  ⁷ “The Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. ⁸ In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them. ⁹ It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
¹⁰ “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. ¹¹ In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo... all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.

Zechariah 12: 1-14 


Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.”’ ¹⁷ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’ ¹⁸ And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. ¹⁹ Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them,^[a] and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, ²⁰ that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. ²¹ But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.
Ezekiel 11: 10-21

Then as now, there is a remnant of those in Israel who sigh and cry over all the sins of the people.

 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; ⁴ and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” Ezekiel 9:3-4
 

God has called many people to this Land just so that they will stand in the breaches (of the walls) and cry out on behalf of the People. There are even more, like many of my readers, who are faithful in prayer for the nation of Israel. Be encouraged, for God hears every prayer and they do make a difference.  Pray for Israel's protection and deliverance from her enemies, and for that Day when she will recognize her Messiah and bow down to Him.   Events seem to be gathering pace now, the scene is being set, and this Day is drawing close.