OPERATION BREAKING DAWN

I was woken this morning by the distinctive sound of rockets exploding nearby. One of my friends who lives nearby shot this photo of the Iron Dome shooting down two of the rockets overhead. There was no reported damage or casualties.  The sirens did not go off here in Mevaseret but sirens sounded in about 10 of the local villages and moshavs immediately to our west. When the terror organizations claim to be targetting Jerusalem, they seem to deliberately aim a little to the left (that is to say, towards us) because, after all, they cannot risk harming their beloved Al Aksa mosque. The rockets and missiles currently being fired at us are not very sophisticated and cannot be aimed accurately.

Today (07 Aug 2022) is the third day of the current round of fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization in the Gaza Strip. This exchange of fire has been named Operation Breaking Dawn. 

About two weeks ago, Israel captured the leader of the PIJ in the West Bank city of Jenin, and this resulted in threats from the PIJ to fire missiles into Israel.  For four days the residents in the Israeli towns and kibbutzim near to the Gaza Strip were in lockdown bringing all industry, businesses and normal activities to a standstill. All the people were told to remain beside their bomb shelters (they only get a few seconds warning). All the roads and public transport into or out of the area were closed due to the fear of an attack.  Clearly this situation could not continue indefinitely. 

 Israel therefore started a pre-emptive attack on Islamic Jihad positions and infrastructure on Friday (5th). This is a new tactic, striking pre-emptively rather than waiting for the rockets to come flying and then retaliating. No doubt people who are not living with hundreds, if not thousands, of rockets aimed at them, will criticize Israel for doing so. Israel has made it clear that it is only interested in attacking the PIJ and has been careful not to get Hamas involved. So far, Hamas has also restrained itself from involvement. Just as I wrote that news just came in that the third most powerful terrorist faction in Gaza, the Committees of Popular Resistance (PRC), has joined the fighting.  

So far at least 600 missiles have been fired into Israel, most being short range rockets intended for the settlements around the Gaza Strip and Ashkelon, but there have been a few longer-range missiles fired reaching as far north as the southern suburbs of Tel Aviv and Modiin (NW of Jerusalem). Two homes scored a direct hit and the Strauss Ice Cream factory in Sderot was also hit. Fortunately there were no casualties in either of these strikes. Miraculously only about 25 Israelis have been brought to hospitals, most with minor injuries due to falls while running for shelter, and with panic attacks. 

As I write there has been a direct hit on what appears to be an apartment building in Ashkelon.  No news yet of casualties. 

Many, perhaps upwards of 50% of the rockets fired at Israel fall short and land in the Gaza Strip itself, endangering the civilian population far more than the pin-point attacks of the IDF. Israel even phones people in houses near the PIJ targets to warn them to evacuate before they attack. The IDF will even hold fire if they see civilians in the area.  So far, about 25 people have been killed in the Strip, mainly PIJ operatives, including a senior PIJ leader, Khaled Mansour the Islamic Jihad's Southern Gaza Division Commander. Reports coming out of the Gaza Strip claim that 4 children were killed by Israeli fire on Friday.  The IDF claims it was not attacking Gaza at that time and that these children were killed by a rogue rocket that fell in the Jebalia refugee camp where they lived. As you can see  in the radar tracking map below nearly all the rockets in this volley fell short (the blue dots), inside the Strip! The green circle indicates the rocket that killed the children.  The a orange circle is the site of the last IDF attack before that time-  some 2 hours earlier - nowhere near where the children died.  

Today is Tisha B'Av, the 9th Day of the Hebrew month of Av. For the observant it is a day of deep mourning. (I just heard a boom - another strike in Ashkelon it seems). Tisha B'Av was the date on which both the First and Second Temples were destroyed, 656 years apart but on the same date! It is also the date of many other terrible events in Jewish history. Here is a list of just some of the things that happened on this date: 

• According to the Rabbis, the ten spies came back with an evil report of the land on Tisha B'av, resulting in them wandering in the wilderness for 38 years.
• The Romans crushed Bar Kokhba's revolt and destroyed the city of Betar, killing over 100,000 Jews, in 132 AD
•  Following the Roman siege of Jerusalem, Roman commander Turnus Rufus plowed the site of the Temple and the surrounding area, in 133 AD
• The First Crusade was declared by Pope Urban II 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
•  The edict was given to expel the Jews from Spain in 1492
•  World War I broke out on Tisha B'Av 1914 (August 1, 1914)
•  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
• In 2005 all Jews were expelled from the Gaza Strip  - 1,700 families. This opened the way for the influx of terrorist organizations which to this day continually attack Israel. 

This year on Tisha B'Av we are holding our collective breath. What will happen today? Traditionally the observant gather in synagogues and read the books of Job and Lamentations. Others express deep mourning at the Western Wall. 

Mourners at the Western Wall on Tisha B'Av

In recent years a small but increasing number of Jewish zealots have gone up onto the Temple Mount to pray on Tisha B'Av, and they plan to do so again today. This is forbidden by most rabbis and the government as it is not only a violation of the 'status quo' agreement of 196, there is also a risk of desecrating the site of the Temple. It also represents a provocation for the Muslims, who always interpret such actions as a threat to their mosque, Al Aqsa, which situated on the southern end of the Temple Mount, even though there is no such threat. Such an act today will undoubtedly result in riots, and condemnation from Muslim countries, even those 'friendly' ones, and may well escalate the situation with Operation Breaking Dawn. 

Today the government is also beginning an evacuation of those residents of the Otef Gaza (the settlements around Gaza Strip) who want to go north for respite from the shelling. This is risky as transport may represent a tempting target for the PIJ. Please pray that those who want to leave, mainly women with children, the elderly, and those suffering from PTSD, can do so safely. Many in central and northern towns are opening their homes for these people, and others will be accommodated in hotels at the government's expense. 

Pray also for the citizens of the Gaza Strip. They are still recovering from last year's round of fighting and I am sure they are suffering in the extreme. Since the beginning of the Israeli operation the only  power plant  in Gaza is working at very low capacity because fuel cannot be brought in since the borders with Israel closed. From 12 hours of electricity a day the situation has already deteriorated to only 4 hours of electricity a day. Any day now electricity supply could stop completely. Reports are coming in that Israel agreed to an Egyptian and UN proposal for a humanitarian ceasefire to allow fuel to be brought in for the power station, but the PIJ has refused. 

 The already tottering Gazan economy must also be suffering. Of late, 15,000 Palestinian day-workers have been allowed to enter Israel, but now they cannot enter. This means these 15,000 households now will have no income. Their situation is dire, and no one wants this, but there will be no improvement until the terror organizations are cleared out of the Strip and some form of legitimate government is put in place, one that actually cares about its people, and doesn't use all its funds on trying to destroy Israel. 

I will stop writing at this point although every minute the situation is changing. I will update again soon. Please pray for us all here, for safety and protection, but most of all for repentance. Pray for God's compassion for all men, Jew, Arab and other Gentiles.

For the Lord will not cast off forever.

32 

Though He causes grief,

Yet He will show compassion

According to the multitude of His mercies.

33 

For He does not afflict willingly,

Nor grieve the children of men.

Lamentations 3: 31-33

P.S. the latest message from my newsfeed - what a crazy world!!!  

"The Gaza ceasefire will be announced at 17:00 and go into effect at 22:00. During this time the terrorist factions are expected to fire heavily on Israeli cities".

 

Heat Wave

HEAT WAVE

It is deliciously cool today (21/07) here on my Judean mountaintop, a welcome relief from the heat of this past week. There is a lovely fresh wind coming off the Mediterranean and even a few fluffy clouds in the sky. This is not normal for an Israeli summer, but then nothing is normal this summer. It has been a hotter than normal summer so far, with maximum daily temperatures reaching 3-4 degrees Celsius above normal. 

Gaza

In contrast to today's pleasant weather,  it has been a very hot week, not just in terms of the weather, but also in terms of the security situation. On Friday, 13 June, in a continuation of the 3-month long "March of Return" protests, thousands of Palestinians rioted in several locations along the Gaza border, burning tires and hurling grenades, explosive devices, and firebombs towards the security fence and IDF troops. An Israeli officer was injured by a grenade. An attempt was also made to breach the security fence and infiltrate Israel. The IDF responded by firing towards (but not at) the terrorists (1).

The IDF has adopted a policy of restraint in the face of these threats and has avoided firing live ammunition at rioters, or those launching incendiary balloons or kites into Israel, because many are women and children. However this situation is becoming intolerable. With an average of 21 fires being started each day, and repeated 'code red'  (incoming rocket) sirens sounding in the communities around the Gaza border area, there is growing public pressure, especially from the people of those communities, for the government to deal with this situation once and for all. 

The following day, Saturday 14th July, the IDF responded to Friday's rioting by attacking a tunnel in southern Gaza, a Hamas training site, and several complexes used to prepare the arson attacks. Hamas responded by firing 31 rockets and mortars into Israeli settlements. In response, the IDF targeted dozens of military installations including a Hamas battalion headquarters (1). The Israeli Air Force also struck an uncompleted high rise building in the Al Shati Refugee Camp in northern Gaza that was being used by Hamas to train its fighters, and which also had a tunnel dug underneath it. Hamas then fired a further 160  rockets and mortars into Israel. This brought to around 200 missiles fired into Israel, 30 of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile batteries, and 173 'red alerts' (incoming missile sirens) in the space of just 24 hours (1). Four members of the same Israeli family were injured, one seriously, when a rocket struck their home. A children's playground and a synagogue were also hit, but there were no additional casualties. 

https://www.idf.il/en/minisites/hamas/hamas-fires-200-rockets-at-israel-in-just-24-hours/

A family runs for cover as siren sounds for a rocket attack in the southern city of Sderot, July 14.
https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Israel-warns-Hamas-after-rocket-barrage-as-UN-Egypt-push-cease-fire-562517

Later that Saturday night Hamas and Islamic Jihad agreed to a truce after pressure was applied by Egypt, the UN and other international bodies. The missiles stopped falling but next day four more fires were started in Israel by incendiary devices. As the week passed more and more incendiary devices flew into Israel until by the end of the week they were once more averaging around 20 per day. One day last week a dead falcon was found that had had incendiary material tied to its feet. How low can these terrorists stoop? 

Yesterday two incendiary balloons were found in the Jerusalem suburb of Gilo. It is not known if they were released locally or had blown in the wind from Gaza. It is a worrying development nevertheless. The Jerusalem hills are covered by beautiful but tinder-dry pine and cypress forests interspersed with many settlements. If local Palestinians were to start using incendiary balloons and kites in this area it would be a disaster, and a phenomenon very difficult to stop. 

Yesterday, Friday the 20th July, rioting along the Gaza border erupted once more, and there were several infiltration attempts. Explosive devices and shots were fired at Israeli troops and an IDF soldier was killed by direct sniper fire, the first to be killed in active duty on the Gaza front since Operation Protective Edge in 2014. A line was crossed! 

Staff Sergeant Aviv Levi, killed on Friday by sniper fire from Gaza
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5314447,00.html

Last night (21/7) the IDF attacked some 60 targets in the Gaza Strip, including 4 battalion headquarters, training facilities, observation posts, command and control rooms, weapon caches, a storage facility for unmanned aircraft and a factory for making tunnel infrastructure.  During this time Israeli residents in the Gaza border area were instructed to stay within 15 seconds of their safe rooms and to avoid mass gatherings. In the face of the fierce Israeli barrage, Hamas managed to fire off only three rockets into Israel during this time, and there was no damage or injuries.  

Around midnight last night Eygpt and the UN again brokered a ceasefire with Hamas and Islamic Jihad and so far it appears to be holding. Only time will tell if it lasts. Going on past 'ceasefires' I don't have a lot of faith. It seems that Hamas is inevitably dragging us into greater and greater responses, and sooner or later we will have to enter into all-out war. No one here wants that but what else can we do? 

The situation is intolerable and no nation on earth would have shown the restraint we have shown in recent months, but there is a limit, and we are fast approaching that line. Over the last week the IDF has carried out widespread training exercises involving both front-line troops and home front preparations for a potential attack and invasion of the Gaza Strip. The Iron Dome anti-missile defense systems around major towns and cities have been strengthened. This is intended as a warning for Hamas, but is also preparing for what could happen should Hamas not heed that warning. 

The Gaza Strip was once part of the Philistine territory and Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron were the five Philistine cities.  As the Babylonian Empire was spreading towards Israel, the Prophet Zephaniah said this:

Gaza will be abandoned

    and Ashkelon left in ruins.

At midday Ashdod will be emptied

    and Ekron uprooted.

5 

Woe to you who live by the sea,

    you Kerethite people;

the word of the Lord is against you,

    Canaan, land of the Philistines.

He says, “I will destroy you,

    and none will be left.”

6 

The land by the sea will become pastures

    having wells for shepherds

    and pens for flocks.

7 

That land will belong

    to the remnant of the people of Judah;

    there they will find pasture.

In the evening they will lie down

    in the houses of Ashkelon.

The Lord their God will care for them;

    he will restore their fortunes.

Zephaniah 2: 4-7

Ekron today
http://www.aiar.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/AirView-Tel-Miqne-1.jpg

 This prophecy has already been partially fulfilled. The Babylonians totally razed the city of Ekron,  and the Philistines fled or were captured leaving Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Gath abandoned. Today Israel occupies Ashkelon, and Ashdod but Gath and Ekron are still just ruins. According to this prophecy, one day Gaza too will belong to the remnant of the people of Judah.  Will Israel be forced into capturing Gaza in the near future? I don't know. I do know that we do not want war nor do we want to occupy the Gaza Strip. What would we do with the nearly 2 million Gazan Palestinians, many of whom hate us and want only our destruction? On the other hand it seems like Hamas is on its way out. The present confrontations are its death throes, and a desperate attempt to gain the favor of its citizens. It has however spectacularly failed the people of Gaza, who are more and more expressing their dissatisfaction.  How much longer will they tolerate Hamas rule? But who else will rule them? The Palestinian Authority is weak and has its own problems in the West Bank, Egypt doesn't want them and the Gazan people are neither sufficiently organized nor capable of self-rule at this point of time. The situation seems insoluble. 

Syria

Meanwhile in the north, the Syrian Army continues to push towards the south and west, drawing ever closer to the Israeli border. So far Assad's army has recaptured large areas of this region which had been partly under the control of the rebel Free Syrian Army and partly under the control of Islamic State affiliated Khalid Ibn al-Walid Army.  A heavy bombardment by Russian and Syrian forces of the Yarmouk Basin led to a large number of civilians fleeing the area towards the Israeli border.  On Thursday the previous week (12/07) the rebel army in Daraa surrendered to Assad's forces in return for assurances of safe passage to Idlib province for the fighters and their families. Yesterday these refugees were put onto buses for the transfer. During the operation a number of refugees were killed when a bus crushed them. Daraa lies on the main highway between Damascus and Jordan and is the cradle of the rebel uprising that began in 2011. 

According to the UN some 120,000 Syrians have fled the area  but many have nowhere to go since both Israel and Jordan are denying them entry. Camped out near the borders they are without adequate food, water or shelter. Last Tuesday dozens of Syrian refugees, waving white flags, approached the Israeli border begging for entry to the Golan Heights, where many of them have relatives. Israel made it clear to them that they would not permit them to enter Israeli territory but would do everything it could to assist them with humanitarian aid. Israel has treated between 4000-4500 Syrian war casualties and some 3000 others requiring medical treatment since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war 5 years ago (2). In addition it has provided tents, food, clothing and children's toys for Syrian refugees near the Israeli border. 

After taking Daraa Assad's forces turned their attention to the region of Quneitra which lies adjacent to the Israeli Golan Heights. On Thursday (19/07)  Assad's forces, with the help of Russian troops, fired some 800 missiles into the area. 

On Saturday night, even while the IDF was busy fighting in Gaza, it also carried out a daring rescue of some 450 of Syria's volunteer civil defense group, the White Helmets, whose lives were at immediate risk, and who were trapped in Quneitra.  The IDF did this at the request of the US and European countries. The White Helmets are credited with saving hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in rubble or caught up in the fighting, and incurred the wrath of Assad's regime by reporting the use of gas against civilians. They were taken to Jordan but it is intended that these refugees will be resettled in the UK, Canada and Germany. 

Rescue workers work at the site of airstrikes in the al-Sakhour neighborhood of the rebel-held part of eastern Aleppo, Syria, September 21, 2016. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-evacuates-800-of-syrias-white-helmets-and-their-families-to-jordan/

Tisha B'Av

Today is Tisha B'Av, the 9th Day of the Jewish Month of Av, and it is a day of mourning and fasting which commemorates the destruction of both the first and second Temples, which occurred on this day. In addition there is a long list of other historical calamities which occurred on this date: 
- the spies sent out to spy out the promised land returned to the people with their bad report and on the 9th of Av the people cried out that they would rather go back to Egypt than be slaughtered by the Canaanites. God was displeased and on this date sent them into the desert for 40 years of wandering. 
- on this date the Jewish rebels under Simon Bar Kochba were brutally defeated by the Roman Army at Betar, spelling the end of the rebel uprising and their Messianic expectations.  
- a year after the rebel defeat the Romans plowed over the site of the Temple
- in 1290 CE (AD) the Jews were expelled from England
- in 1492 CE the Jews were expelled from Spain
- both World Wars started on this day (3).

In Israel it is observed as a day of mourning by mainly the religious community, and most places of entertainment are closed, but for over half of Israelis is it considered 'just another day' (4)

LGBT demonstrations

This year Tisha B'Av is being marked by large demonstrations nationwide as thousands protest the exclusion of gay couples right to have children by surrogacy in the new surrogacy law passed this week. Demonstrations have blocked roads in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other places around the country and this evening a mass rally event will take place in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv (5) . 

National Law

Another potentially divisive issue is that of the Nation-State Law passed by the Knesset this week. Intended as a state constitution it seeks to put into law the existing principle of a Jewish State. The wording of the Law has provoked considerable controversy and anger as it is seen by some as downgrading the status of Arabs and other minorities while promoting Jewish settlement and the segregation of ethnic and religious communities. You can read the full text of the law in this link: https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Read-the-full-Jewish-Nation-State-Law-562923

Tourism

Now for some good news! In spite of all the tensions in the Land, both external and internal, Israel has seen a record 2.1 million of tourists in just the first half of this year (6).  Tourism is one of the mainstays of the Israeli economy. Most of these tourists are Christians and this is a fact appreciated by many Israelis. If you haven't yet visited this fascinating and dynamic country I strongly encourage you to do so. It is safe and full of fun things to do and see, whatever your age, state of health or interests. I would not however recommend a visit in the summer months which are extremely hot. The rest of the year however is very pleasant. 

Bible Reading Project

This last Sunday marked the beginning of the second round of the 929 Bible Reading Project here in Israel and this time it has an English language option as well as Hebrew. In 2014 Rabbi Lau, a modern orthodox rabbi in Jerusalem, began this project in which participants commit to reading one chapter of Scripture every day, five days a week. 929 is the number of chapters in the Jewish Bible (the Old Testament). Rabbi Lau and hundreds of other teachers give classes on the chapters all around the country and there are audio and video lessons on line and a weekly radio broadcast. Rabbi Lau's vision is to bring the Bible back to the people, something which has been lost through the centuries, largely through the emphasis of the religious teachers on the Talmud to the exclusion of the Bible, and also the secularization of a large portion of the population, both in the Diaspora and in Israel itself. In Israel the Bible is taught in schools but in secular schools, at least, it is taught only as history. Its spiritual message and principals are ignored. The first round was hugely successful with over one quarter of a million people participating and 75% of them not religious  (8). Please pray that this project will bear much spiritual fruit and turn the people back to a living faith in God and direct them to the true Messiah. 

Idol Worship
I want to finish this blog with something that is happening not in Israel but across the other side of the world, in New Zealand. I was shocked and horrified to read that there are plans to erect a gigantic statue of Papatuanuku, the Earth Mother who is believed to give birth to all things, according to Maori tradition. If completed this statue would be 30-50 meters high (about the same size as the Statue of Liberty in the USA) and would stand on Bastion Point/Takaparawhau at the entrance to Auckland Harbour and would be visible from most of the city. This project was proposed by the local Maori tribe, Ngati Whātua Ōrākei, and would be partially funded by the Auckland City Council. Auckland Mayor, Phil Goff, said it " has the potential to be an iconic symbol of Auckland". I am grieved that a nation that was founded on strong Christian principles would even consider erecting a pagan idol as its symbol. If you live in New Zealand and are a Christian, pray against this atrocity and speak out to the government, for the sake of your nation. 

Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman?

    Or an image that teaches lies?

Habbukuk 2: 18

I will sweep away both man and beast;

    I will sweep away the birds in the sky

    and the fish in the sea—

    and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble

Zephaniah 1 : 3

The Lord is in his holy temple;
    let all the earth be silent before him

Habbukuk 2:20

Be silent before the Sovereign Lord,

 for the Day of the Lord is near. 

Zephaniah 1: 7

References:  
1. https://www.idf.il/en/minisites/hamas/hamas-fires-200-rockets-at-israel-in-just-24-hours/

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5309502,00.html

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5309645,00.html   

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5310440,00.html  

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5310629,00.html

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5311533,00.html

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-deploys-iron-dome-in-tel-aviv-area-following-gaza-escalation-1.6271716

2. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5308281,00.html

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5310480,00.html

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/syria/dozens-of-syrian-refugees-approach-israeli-border-1.6287950

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-evacuates-800-of-syrias-white-helmets-and-their-families-to-jordan/

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5308524,00.html

3. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/946703/jewish/What-Happened-on-the-Ninth-of-Av.htm?

4. https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-over-half-of-israelis-tisha-bav-is-just-another-day/

5. https://www.timesofisrael.com/protesters-block-tel-aviv-highway-as-lgbt-strike-begins-over-surrogacy-law/

6. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-compromise-reached-on-jews-only-communities-clause-1.6271813

7. http://www.jerusalemonline.com/tourism/record-2.1-million-tourists-visit-israel-in-first-half-of-2018-36305

8. https://www.timesofisrael.com/launching-in-english-chapter-a-day-project-looks-to-bring-bible-back-to-masses/


9. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12088430 

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.)