THE CAIN PRINCIPLE

 

After a couple of weeks of warm, spring-like weather, winter returned to Israel this week with a vengeance. On Wednesday the whole country was blanketed in a very dense cloud of dust, courtesy of the Sahara. Late in the afternoon it began to rain lightly here,  coating everything in a thick layer of sticky mud. Only the car wash people were rejoicing! That night and over the next couple of days heavy snow fell in the Golan and northern Galilee, but none here in Jerusalem. Along the coast heavy rain and hail brought flooding in some areas. Again here in Jerusalem, not a drop in spite of the bitter cold and heavy cloud cover. Last night there may have been a shower here. I hope so, as the trees badly needed their leaves washed before summer sets in.

Sunset in the dust storm on the Sharon coast
 

 

 





North Golan Heights (Photo: Avihu Shapira)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4625804,00.html












Alonei Habashan (Photo: Yaske Dekel)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4625804,00.html

In spite of this week's wintery spell there are many signs of spring around. I am sitting on my balcony and in the yard below I can see the birds sipping the nectar of the blossoms on our almond tree. Last weekend I joined thousands of Israelis on our annual 'pilgrimage' to the countryside to see the beautiful displays of wildflowers.  

 

 



Anenomes at Gal Ed

Don't think you are 'getting away from it all"! Note the cars.



Cyclamen at Rakefet Mountain

 













 



THE CAIN PRINCIPLE

In my last blog I spoke about how  Israel is more and more being accused of being the root of the problem in the Middle East, the cause of all the violence. This is a Lie being spread by the Enemy and one that needs to be countered and rejected, especially by those who believe the Word of God, as revealed in the Scriptures.

The State of Israel is not the 'problem'; the problem is man's rebellion against God and His plans for redemption. Indeed, far from being the 'problem', the people and nation of Israel is very much a core part of the solution. It is through the people and nation of Israel, and the Messiah born of that nation, that God is working the ultimate redemption of the whole world.

The hatred and violence of her neighbors against Israel goes far back in history, and we can see its roots in the account about Cain and his brother Abel (though one could argue it goes back even further, to the rebellion of Adam and Eve). In the story of Cain and Abel however we can see a fundamental principle revealed - the one I call the Cain Principle. Below is an excerpt from a book I am currently writing about this very subject.

After Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, Eve gave birth to two sons, Cain the elder and his brother Abel. Abel grew up and became a keeper of sheep and Cain was a farmer, a tiller of the ground. In due course, they brought offerings to the LORD. Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground and Abel brought of the first-born of his flock, and we are told that God respected the offering of Abel, but not that of Cain. Understandably perhaps, Cain felt rejected and angry, but God came to him saying, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Genesis 4: 6-7).

 

In these words lies a fundamental principle, which underlies all God’s dealings with man and which underpins all of human history. Cain brought an unacceptable offering to the Lord. He had not done well, and his offering had been rejected by God. At first glance it seems that Cain had been treated unfairly by God. How was Cain to know what would constitute an acceptable offering? It is not totally clear in the Scripture, but some say that Cain should have known. In Genesis 3:21 we read that after Adam and Eve had sinned and become aware of their nakedness, God had killed some animals and made them tunics of skin. This is the first time that we see in Scripture the necessity of the shedding of blood for the covering of sin. This happened before Cain was born but he would surely have known about it. Perhaps therefore he should have understood that the shedding of blood was required. Be that as it may, there can be no argument that Cain chose to do things ‘his way’ and not God’s way, whether knowingly or not.

 

From the passage quoted above it seems to me that Cain’s incorrect sacrifice was not counted as sin at that point, and God gave him an opportunity to correct his mistake. Cain still had the choice whether or not to let sin enter into his life. He could have simply brought to God the correct sacrifice and found full acceptance. However he chose otherwise. He allowed jealousy and anger to rule over him, and this ultimately led to the murder of his innocent brother.

 

Even after this terrible act, God gave Cain one last chance to repent, when He spoke with him saying, “Where is your brother Abel?”, but Cain refused to take responsibility for what he had done and lied to God (Genesis 4:9-10) thereby increasing the trespass even more. Consequently God cursed him saying, “So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand”. The word, ארור, here translated as ‘cursed’ implies that the very nature of something has changed. It also carries a sense of finality. There will be no more chances. Now Cain has so hardened his heart against God he will no longer listen to Him, nor even to his own conscience. Interestingly enough, if we continue reading in Genesis 4 we see that one of Cain’s descendants, Lamech, was also a murderer and even presumed to claim the ‘mark of Cain’ to protect him from vengeance ‘seventy seventy-fold’ (Genesis 4:23-24). If we harden our hearts against God there is a tendency to slide ever deeper into sin and this tendency is very often passed on down the generations.

 

Incidentally, we are told that Cain went out from the presence of the Lord (Genesis 4:16). This passage does not say that God cast him out from His presence. God had merely told Cain that he would be cursed from the ground, which would no longer yield its strength to him and he would become a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth. Yet Cain exaggerated the situation, and added his own interpretation, saying “I shall be hidden from your Face… and it will happen to me that anyone who finds me will kill me”. His anger and his sense of rejection caused him to perceive his punishment as being worse than God intended, and this just fueled his indignation and intensified his anger. It was this that drove him out from the presence of God. Thus it was Cain who rejected God, not the other way around.

 

Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod to the east of Eden (Genesis 4:16). Where was the land of Nod?  We are told it was east of Eden and some believe it to have been the Arabian Peninsula. The land of Nod may not have been an actual place since this phrase could also be translated as the land of wandering, an allusion to the type of life Cain and his descendants would experience as fugitives and vagabonds.

 

As we continue to read through the historical books of the Old Testament we see this pattern, repeated again and again. Every individual and every nation faces exactly the same choice, then as it is today. Will we do it God’s way, or rebel and go our own way? Will we choose obedience or rebellion, love or murder? Will we accept God or reject him? Will we cooperate with him towards redemption or will we fight against him?

 

This is what I have called the Cain Principle and it underlies all of human history, from the time of the Fall until now. We can see it at work on many levels, but especially we can see it as it relates to the chosen line of the Messiah. The Enemy, Satan, works through mankind trying to bring to naught God’s redemption plan. If he, Satan, can arouse our jealousy and anger towards God’s chosen, he can lead us to murder. This is the root of the ancient enmity, towards God’s chosen, both Israel and the saints in Yeshua (Jesus).

 

Satan, by causing Cain to murder his brother and to go out from the presence of God, tried to break the line of descent that would lead to the Messiah. God however raised up a third brother, Seth (Genesis 4:25), to replace Cain and Abel.  Seth was the beginning of a line of descent through which the promises of God for redemption would be carried until it gave rise to the Messiah, Yeshua (Genesis 5, Luke 3:23-38). At various points of history, Satan tried to break that line in an effort to derail God’s plan. After the Fall in Eden, the next major attack came during the days of Noah....

This is why we are exhorted to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for in Jerusalem and in God's chosen people, Israel, lies all the hope of the world. The people of Israel are as sinful as any other nation, but they are still the chosen of our God. That has never changed in spite of what the preachers of replacement theology claim.

The Apostle Paul addressed this issue very clearly:

I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.  God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew....

 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.  Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,  if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.  For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.  And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
 For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”

 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

  Romans 11: 1-2, 11-15, 25-27, 29 

 We need to pray for Israel, that they may be saved, for as Paul says, their acceptance into the by God into the Kingdom will bring forth life from the dead, the final resurrection and the redemption of the world. Herein lies our only hope.

Sunrise over the mountains of Edom from my balcony

THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS



Sunrise from my balcony this week

“For behold, the day is coming,
Burning like an oven,
And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.
And the day which is coming shall burn them up,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“That will leave them neither root nor branch.
² But to you who fear My name
The Sun of Righteousness shall arise
With healing in His wings;
And you shall go out
And grow fat like stall-fed calves.
³ You shall trample the wicked,
For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet
On the day that I do this,”
Says the Lord of hosts

 

Malachi 4: 1-3

The balcony of my apartment faces southeast directly towards Basra, once the capital of Edom, and from whence will come Yeshua on the Day He judges the enemies of Israel (Isaiah 63:1). I have always felt it significant that the Lord has placed me here, watching and praying for the coming of the Lord. I do not know when that will be, but the signs are that it could be soon, very soon.

The tide of darkness around us is gathering strength. The enemies of Israel are preparing a monstrous arsenal of weapons for the coming war and boasting of Israel's imminent destruction. To the east the forces of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) this week reached a new level of depravity and barbarism when they released on the social media footage of the burning to death of the captured Jordanian pilot, Moaz al-Kasasbeh

Moaz al-Kassasbeh in the cage in which he was burned to death

As if that wasn't monstrous enough, they then executed by firing squad two Imams, and beheaded in public four Syrian civilians who dared to condemn the immolation of the Jordanian pilot. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2940990/ISIS-beheads-four-Syrians-took-Facebook-condemn-burning-Jordanian-pilot-death-two-Muslim-clerics-criticised-murder-shot-firing-squad.html

To the south, the "State of Sinai", a jihadist group linked to the Islamic State and previously named Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis, targeted 10 Egyptian military installations in three different cities, El Arish, Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid, at the same time, leaving more than  35 military personnel dead and 70 others wounded.
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/02/04/violence-escalates-in-sinai-as-isis-linked-group-attacks-kill-dozens/

 http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/02/egypt-sinai-wilaya-attacks-army.html##ixzz3QxBdXqfT

Meanwhile also in the south, Hamas is preparing for the next round of aggression against Israel. Last week some  10,000 youngsters, aged 15 -21,  graduated from a week-long military camp run by the al Kassam Brigade, the Gaza based military wing of Hamas. These youths underwent intensive military training, including the use of sniper rifles, simulated tunnel attacks, physical combat training and naval commando operations. The minds of the next generation have already been poisoned with hatred and violence.


http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4619982,00.html

In the north, Iran backed Hezbollah forces in Lebanon are busy amassing rockets and missiles, including long-range missiles capable of hitting any target in Israel. Last week two Israeli soldiers, Captain Yohai Kalangel and Sergeant Dor Nini, were killed and 7 injured when Hezbollah fired a rocket at their unarmoured vehicle on Mt Dov in the Golan. This attack was in revenge for an earlier attack, attributed to Israel, on a convoy bringing missiles from Iran to Hezbollah killing 12, including Jihad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah's commander of the Syrian Golan sector and the son of master terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, Imad Mughniyeh Mohammed Issa, the head of Hezbollah's operation in Syria and Iraq, along with five other Hezbollah fighters and six Iranian military personnel - including Iranian General Mohammed Ali Allah Dadi of Iran's Revolutionary Guard (see my previous blog page). 

The commander of Iran's Basij force, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Reza Naqdi, has been quoted as saying that Israel should await a crushing response from Iran and that "they [the Zionists] should remain fully alerted until complete annihilation of the Zionist regime.”
This week an Iranian website, Shia Online, this week published an article calling for the assassination of the sons of Benyamin Netanyahu, Yair and Avner, and also the sons of former Prime Ministers, Ehud Olmert and Ariel Sharon.

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iranian-website-threatens-top-Israeli-officials-posts-family-pic-of-PM-389204
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2931549/Iran-encourages-terror-groups-assassinate-children-Benjamin-Netanyahu-following-Israeli-airstrike-killed-key-Hezbollah-leaders.html


On the stage of the world's press Israel is more and more being scapegoated as the cause of the turmoil in the Middle East. Israel is being blamed for everything from the 9/11 attacks in the USA, the recent attacks in Paris and even the Ebola outbreak in Africa!   Iran's Press TV reported the  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in a meeting this Monday with Jordan’s new ambassador to Tehran, Abdullah Sulaiman Abdullah Abu Romman, saying  that the Israeli “occupation” of Palestinian territories is the root cause of problems in the Middle East.http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iranian-website-threatens-top-Israeli-officials-posts-family-pic-of-PM-389204.  This Lie is gaining strength everywhere and hardly a day passes where it is not expressed in the Press somewhere.  Sadly even in the Church worldwide many are buying into this Lie.  

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a local and relatively minor component of the wider unrest in the Middle East. Historically the conflict with Israel is not based so much on the geo-political  Palestinian issue but on a much deeper clash between Islam and the Judeo/Christian world view.

Although some Muslim clerics, notably Sheikh Muhammad Al-Hussaini, claim that the Koran legitimizes Israel's rights to the Holy Land, the mainstream Islamic view is that it rightly belongs to the Muslim Waqf, an inalienable religious endowment,  and therefore no non-Muslim can be permitted to buy or otherwise usurp that land from the hegemony of Islam. That is the crux of the issue. According to Islam, the purchase of land by Jews from Muslims is anathema. The very existence of the Jewish State is anathema. The Muslim world as a whole does not really care about the plight, tragic as it is, of the Palestinian people themselves.  One could ask why the Palestinian refugees of 1948, and their descendants, are still living in refugee camps in spite of the billions of dollars of aid that has been donated to better their lives. It suits the cause of Jihad to use the Palestinians cynically as a publicity tool and a justification for attacking Israel.

Apart from that, much of the current turmoil is being generated within the different factions of Islam itself, especially between the so-called moderate mainstream and the radical, fundamentalist jihadis. In addition there remains the age-old violent enmity between the Sunni and the Shiite streams of Islam. One could also argue that the so-called Arab Spring, the overthrow by popular uprisings of the regimes set up after WWII , such as that which occurred in Egypt, is the result of misrule and corruption by the leaders of those countries and the consequent poverty of a large discontented underclass - nothing to do with Israel at all.

The Middle East is an incredibly complex region with a long history of violence and warfare going back far into history, and beyond. To try and blame Israel for the current violence is simplistic and not based on any historical or current reality, much less a Biblical perspective. It is rather a resurgence of the type of anti-Semitism that lead to World War II and the Holocaust. Many of the Nazi leaders fled to the Middle East after the fall of the Third Reich and their influence can be seen in much of the rhetoric coming out of the Muslim world. Even the cartoons are adapted from typical Nazi propaganda.

We, who are followers of Yeshua, need to have His perspective on events. To get that we need to study the Bible and ask Him to interpret it to us through the Holy Spirit. We need to be lovers of the Truth and actively pursue Truth. We need to test everything we are taught by man (including every word I write in my blogs), or read or hear, to see if it is truly of the Truth and measure it up against Scripture, for if we do not love the Truth, we may be caught up in the Lie. Yeshua himself spoke of a falling away in the end times, because 'they believed the lie':

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,  not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.  Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,   who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?  

 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.   For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.   The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,  and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.   And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,   that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

    2 Thessalonians 2: 1- 12

THE BOY NEXT DOOR .....

Hamza Muhammed Hassan Matrouk
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4617622,00.html
 

... OR A BLOOD CRAZED MURDERER?

On Wednesday this week Hamza Muhammed Hassan Matrouk, aged 23,  woke early in his home in Tulkarem,  and decided that he would go into Tel Aviv, board a bus and kill as many Jews as he could. In the middle of the morning rush hour, when buses are packed with people going to work and children going to school, Hamza Matrouk boarded a number 40 bus on Begin Boulevard, close to the old bus station, and started stabbing its passengers with a knife. The first person he attacked was the bus driver, Herzl Biton, 55, who while trying to fight off the attacker, managed to open the bus doors to allow some of the passengers to escape. Biton sustained life-threatening stab wounds to his chest and 11 others were also stabbed by Matrouk, three critically (all those injured are in recovery).  CCTV  footage shows Matrouk running off down the street and stabbing a woman pedestrian as he passed. A group of prison guards who were travelling in a car near the scene of the attack pursued Matrouk and shot him in the leg before arresting him.

What motivates a young man, like Matrouk, to commit such a heinous act? He said it was because of Operation Protective Edge (Israel's 50 day war with Hamas in Gaza this past summer), the events on the Temple Mount and the promise of receiving 70 virgins in Paradise.  How tragic and sad is that?  Jesus said we should pray for our enemies. Pray for this young man, who will be spending many years in an Israeli prison, alongside other terrorists, who will continue to feed him lies and incite him to further violence. Pray that the Lord will somehow be able to reach him and show him a better way, a way of love, forgiveness, healing and hope.

The real villians behind these kinds of acts are not so much the young men and women like Matrouk, but those who feed them the lies. Israeli leaders were quick to lay the blame at the feet of those Palestinian leaders who condone and incite violence, and feed their people lies. Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said that this terror attack was the " direct result of the Palestinian Authority's venomous incitement against the Jews and their state. The same terror tries to hurt us in Paris, Brussels and everywhere." He added " Hamas, Abbas's partners in unity government, hurried to welcome this act - the same Hamas that announced it will sue Israel in the ICC "(for supposed war crimes during the Gaza War).



Within minutes Palestinian cartoonists had posted cartoons celebrating the attack on the social media, Facebook and Twitter. The first, drawn by cartoonist Bahaa Yaseen, shows a smiling terrorist holding a bloody knife, a bus with blood pouring out of it,  and the number 10, which was the number of people believed to have been injured in the attack at the time. The second cartoon, also drawn by Yaseen, and posted by the Palestinian Shehab Agency, shows blood dripping off a smiling knife with the colors of the Palestinian flag on it, and lying on the ground behind, a blood covered Israeli flag. Both these cartoons have since been removed from Facebook and Twitter.
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Palestinian-cartoons-praise-Tel-Aviv-stabbing-attack-388440

Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, and forms the unity government with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, did not claim responsibility for the attack, but praised it as 'brave and heroic'. What is so brave and heroic about attacking defenseless women and children? It is nothing but a cowardly and despicable act.

Not long ago the world watched in horror as Islamist militant 'lone-wolves' carried out terror attacks in Sydney and in Paris. This brought home to the inhabitants of those cities the reality of this new (to them) kind of terror, when anyone on the street can pull out a knife, a gun or activate a bomb and kill innocent people just going about their daily lives. This is the kind of terror that we here in Israel have been living with for years. As we set off for work, climb on a bus, drive down the road, go to a movie, we never know if the person next to us, who looks just like any other, might not be a terrorist about to kill us. The tragedy is this state of affairs has become 'normal' to us. It hardly raises an eyebrow these days.

Even more disturbing is the rise of a Jewish backlash. When any Arab could be a terrorist every Arab becomes a threat. Fear breeds violence. On Thursday, the day after the Tel Aviv attack, a group of about 10 Jewish young men, wearing kipas (skullcaps),  attacked a young Druse man, Tommy Hasson (21) in central Jerusalem, reportedly because they heard him speaking Arabic. Hasson was hospitalized for head wounds sustained in the attack, when the youths broke a bottle over him. What these Jewish louts did not know that only 3 months ago, Tommy Hasson, finished his national service in the Israeli Army where he served in a combat unit and later protecting the President's residence. Hasson had recently moved to Jerusalem to study music. President Rivlin, who knows Hasson from when he guarded his home,  called Hasson's father, Ramzi,  to express his support, and in the course of their conversation Ramzi had this to say, 

"On a personal level I believed up until now that this is one nation – I never saw a difference between a Jew and a Druze. I believed and I will continue to believe in the future that this is the land of the Jewish nation – it has a right to live here. There was never doubt about this. I blame myself (and) I blame my Jewish friends for not doing enough to educate. To speak Arabic is not shameful – it does not make you a potential terrorist" .

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4618430,00.html

TENSION IN THE NORTH

"Someone threw a match into a powder keg and is now waiting to see whether it will explode or not" 

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4616568,00.html

Last Sunday, in the Syrian Golan border region, a helicopter and two missiles attacked a convoy of Hezbollah and Iranian military personnel  transferring missiles from Iran to Hezbollah. In the attack, twelve were killed, including Jihad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah's commander of the Syrian Golan sector and the son of master terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, Imad Mughniyeh Mohammed Issa, the head of Hezbollah's operation in Syria and Iraq, along with five other Hezbollah fighters and six Iranian military personnel - including Iranian General Mohammed Ali Allah Dadi of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. 
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4617222,00.html
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Quneitra-Rashomon-388657

Jihad Mughniyeh meets with Ayatollah Khamenei
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4617222,00.html

Although the Israel has not admitted responsibility for the attack, the Arab world clearly blames Israel. The Fars News Agency reported that the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said "These martyrdoms proved the need to stick with jihad. The Zionists must await ruinous thunderbolts" .
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Report-Iranian-general-was-killed-in-Israeli-strike-because-he-didnt-turn-off-his-phone-388779
 
All of Israel is now waiting  to see what those 'ruinous thunderbolts' might be. Residents in the north are going about their business as normal but some farmers have been told to stay out of their fields along the border and some border roads have been closed. That Hezbollah, backed by Iran, has the capability of serving Israel with 'ruinous thunderbolts' is beyond doubt. They boast of having 500,000 missiles, including many long range missiles, capable of striking any target within Israel. Will they launch a massive attack at this time? This is open to debate. IDF analysts believe they will not, for they will want to save them for the day that Israel attacks the nuclear facilities in Iran. Whether they are right or not, only time will tell. It does seem likely however that they will carry out some sort of attack either on Israel itself, or on Israeli or Jewish targets abroad, in the near future. They will want some kind of revenge. Anticipating this the IDF has been moving military equipment and personnel, including Iron Dome anti-missile batteries into the northern border region.


THE ALMONDS IN BLOOM

Yesterday was a glorious, warm sunny day and I decided to take myself off to the coast and take a walk on the beach. On my way I was astounded to see that the almond trees in the hills around Jerusalem are already beginning to blossom. Almonds are the first of the trees to bloom and they begin to bloom even in the depths of winter, when all is still cold and dark, and periodic storms thrash the land. I see this as deeply symbolic.



An almond in blossom in the snow in Jerusalem, January 2014
 

Israel is under threat as never before. Our enemies surround us with bigger and better weapons than we have ever faced before, and the support of our friends seems to be waning. Internally the gap between the rich and poor is threatening to erupt into internal strife, and we are facing early elections and a time of political uncertainty and change. All seems very dark. But even in the depths of this 'winter' there are signs of spring approaching. Small signs but significant. One such is the greater freedom young Israel believers are feeling towards proclaiming their faith in Yeshua. For example a group of Israeli believers have published a Hebrew-language website, under the banner "We are Israel",  which is aimed at making the point that " a Jew who believes in Yeshua is a Jew, period.” You can see their video presentation on YouTube - in Hebrew with English subtitles:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-cl=84503534&x-yt-ts=1421914688&v=Jz9rVpwVxXA#t=70.

One young Israeli believer, Shai Sol, is participating in a popular TV competition called " Kochav Haba", which means 'The Next Star". Prior to her initial audition Shai openly proclaimed her faith in Yeshua on National TV. This prompted Israel's leading media group, Keshet, to publish a weekend article in its online portal, Mako, in which it asked readers to take a closer look at Israel’s 15,000 Messianic Jews and to be more welcoming toward those who believe in Yeshua (Jesus). Significantly the article used Jesus' real name, Yeshua, rather than the acronym 'Yeshu' usually used in Israel which actually means ' may his name and memory be erased'. The fact that a mainstream news group ran such a positive article about Israel's Messianic Jews is a sign that Israeli society in general is becoming more open to our existence, and even openly curious about what we believe.

Shai Sol
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/25724/Default.aspx

Another sign that a spiritual 'spring' may be drawing near is the recent initiative, called project 929 which aims to get all Israelis to read the Tenach (Old Testament). Project 929 (the number of chapters in the Tenach) was  initiated by Deputy Education Minister Avi Wortzman and Rabbi Benny Lau, the cousin of Chief Askenazi Rabbi, David Lau. A survey conducted prior to the launching of the project found that 93% of Israelis have a Bible in their home but very few ever read it. This initiative aims to create the largest Bible study community in the world by means of a cycle of daily Bible readings that will finish in three years and seven months, on the day of Israel's 70th Anniversary. In spite of the fact that some Israeli rabbis have recently come out against some of the interpretations of Scripture put forward, my hope is that many Israeli's will participate, read the Bible for themselves, and call upon God for His interpretation as quickened by the Holy Spirit.

President Reuvin Rivlin and his wife, Nechama, regularly host a Bible circle, as have done his predecessors. Rivlin is participating in Project 929 and  according to Ynetnews, he said that he was excited at the prospect http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4608007,00.html . We can pray that God will reveal himself in truth with power to Rivlin and all others who are participating in this project.

This project could well be a significant step towards national repentance. Perhaps the veil over the eyes of the Jewish people is beginning to lift. The New Testament teaches us that when a Jew turns to Yeshua the veil is removed. When Jews  begin to open their hearts to Yeshua, God will reveal the truth about his nature and identity.

But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.  But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.   Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

2 Corinthians 3: 14 - 16

Today I read the following verses in Psalm 102:

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...

 

My enemies reproach me all day long;
Those who deride me swear an oath against me...

 

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...

 

For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary;
From heaven the Lord viewed the earth,
²⁰ To hear the groaning of the prisoner,
To release those appointed to death,
²¹ To declare the name of the Lord in Zion,
And His praise in Jerusalem,
²² When the peoples are gathered together,
And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord

 

Let us, who are known by your name, o lord, take pleasure in the very stones and dust of zion, and call out fervently for her salvation.

 

 

 

 

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Messianic Jews

Israel’s leading media group, Keshet, has taken a keen interest in the nation’s Messianic Jewish community after one of its flagship television shows, the popular singing competition Kochav Haba (“The Next Star”), featured a Messianic Jewish contestant.
Keshet’s online news and entertainment portal, Mako, published a weekend story asking readers to take a closer look at Israel’s 15,000 Messianic Jews and to be more welcoming toward those who believe in Yeshua (Jesus).
The article opened by highlighting some of the hostile comments made after openly-Messianic songstress Shai Sol scored a spot in Kochav Haba’s second round following a mesmerizing audition performance.
The negative responses by some to Shai’s appearance were, as the article noted, characteristic of the typical mainstream attitude toward Messianic Jews. But the fact that Mako ran such a sympathetic piece is further evidence that much of Israeli society is not only increasingly tolerant of Messianic Jews, but is also growing more curious about what they believe, and why.
First, it should be noted that the Mako article used the name “Yeshua,” rather than the derogatory “Yeshu,” an acronym used by most Orthodox Jews meaning “may his name and memory be erased.”
Shai was asked by Mako to explain in greater depth what it means to be a Messianic Jew, a subject she briefly touched on in her Kochav Haba pre-audition interview.
“It is a stream of Judaism… We light Shabbat candles and worship God, read the Scriptures and learn the Bible,” replied Shai, noting that the one major difference with mainstream Judaism is that “we believe in both the Tanakh and the New Testament.”
Asked if that means Messianic Jews celebrate Christmas, Shai stated, “Absolutely not. We celebrate only the Jewish festivals. This is not Christianity, this is Messianic Judaism. After all, Yeshua was a Jew.”
The conversation inevitably turned toward “conversion” and “missionary activity.” The interviewer said that for her and many Jews, “when I hear ‘Messianic Jew’ I immediately think of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
Shai said there was no connection. “The title ‘Messianic Jew’ always brings up negative connotations of Christians, of a cult, of missionaries. We are not missionaries walking around trying to compel people.”
The young singer explained that if someone like her interviewer was interested, “I would tell you about Yeshua and show you some [supporting] scriptures. I would invite you to a meeting at a [Messianic] congregation.”
Shai further clarified that Messianic faith is first and foremost “humanitarian” in nature, and that one cannot be compelled to accept Yeshua, who “after all [taught us] to spread love. He healed the sick and did many other social works.”
Shai said that many in the Messianic community had expressed support and satisfaction over the fact that a fellow believer had taken the national stage and in so doing had been boldly open about her faith.
“I have received a lot of messages from Messianic youth who are usually afraid to speak about [their faith],” said Shai. “They see in my ‘coming out’ an act of bravery, but I see it as natural.”
The interviewer noted that Shai has a great desire to be “a pioneer for the community, [part of] a Messianic vanguard that builds the bridge between Israeli society and Messianic Judaism.”
Shai will certainly have an opportunity to do that as she has started work on her first CD, and is scheduled to appear again soon on Kochav Haba, where critics rate her among the top contestants.


http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/25724/Default.aspx

FROM MIDDLE EARTH TO THE MIDDLE OF THE EARTH

O Lord, how great are Your works!
Your thoughts are very deep.
A senseless man does not know,
Nor does a fool understand this.
 When the wicked spring up like grass,
And when all the workers of iniquity flourish,
It is that they may be destroyed forever.

 But You, Lord, are on high forevermore.
 For behold, Your enemies, O Lord,
For behold, Your enemies shall perish;
All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.

 

Psalm 92:6-9

 

Wellington Airport



This week I made a four day journey from "Middle Earth" (New Zealand) to the Middle of the Earth (Israel), as I returned home from saying a final goodbye to my mother who passed away on Boxing Day. 

In New Zealand Middle Earth mania is rampant as tourists flock to the country to see the stunning sets and landscapes used to film the Lord of the Rings trilogy and, more recently, the two Hobbit movies. Needless to say, the tourist industry and the country as a whole is playing up the association of New Zealand with Middle Earth, and especially "The Shire".  For example, air passengers arriving in the capital, Wellington, are greeted by a sign on the terminal building welcoming them to "The Middle of Middle Earth" (see above).   Inside the terminal they will find huge sculptures of Gandalf and the Giant Eagles suspended from the ceiling, and of Gollum and other characters from the films scattered here and there around the concourse.
 

Air New Zealand?  in Wellington Airport

As strange as it may seem, I couldn't help but think the parallel between New Zealand and the Shire, the home of the Hobbits, peculiarly appropriate. New Zealand, far from the center of things on our planet, actually about as far as you can get, is still an island of peace and tranquility, where people live a simple yet abundant life valuing the good things of domesticity and stability. There is an appealing innocence about it which is so like that of  home of the Hobbits in the Shire.

However as I set forth on the first leg of my journey, a flight from Dunedin to Auckland, I was astounded by the almost total lack of airport security. I just walked into the terminal and onto the plane. No searches, questions or even x-ray machines. I could have been carrying a Kalashnikov under my coat, and no one would have noticed. Delayed for six hours in the Auckland airport I was further shocked  by the repeated announcements asking the owners of various unattended suitcases and parcels to come and claim them. New Zealanders just do not seem to understand the threats involved in international travel in these days. When I commented on this to a fellow traveler, he just said, "Well we don't need all that security here". No? I hoped he was right, but I feared that one day that particular bubble may burst.

 

Surely even in New Zealand people read the papers and see the news? There are many worrying signs of encroaching darkness and evil, but what will it take to make this nation wake up to the threat to its treasured way of life? Less than two weeks earlier Australia was experiencing its first jihadi-related terrorist attack in which two hostages were killed. As I arrived back in Israel, France was under a series of attacks in which 17 people were killed by jihadi terrorists (see more on this below). Nowhere is safe anymore. The darkness is spreading and is even at the very borders of the 'Shire'.

 

That said I must say I enjoyed my brief stay in 'Middle Earth' in spite of the sadness and grief of my mother's passing.  New Zealand is a beautiful country with stunning landscapes, friendly, peace-loving people,  and a prosperous way of life. How lovely it was to be able to walk alone around my brother's little town late into the long summer twilight and feel totally safe! It made me long for the day when the Messiah, Yeshua, will return to destroy the rule of evil and establish peace on Earth.

 

Here are some more views of 'Middle Earth':

 

Lupins in the Hollyford Valley



Mitre Peak, Milford Sound



Mirror Lakes

  Too soon, it was time to return to a more familiar reality,  the stresses of daily life in the Middle of the Earth, Israel. I arrived in the middle of a winter storm which brought high winds, flooding and snow to the whole region. Though the snowfall in Jerusalem wasn't as severe as last year's record breaking storm, it was enough to close the schools and bring the city to a standstill for three days.

Children play in the snow in Jerusalem (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4613109,00.html



Sport in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4613109,00.html

Flooding in Kiryat Yam 
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4613109,00.html



It was a bit of a shock for me coming from pleasant summer temperatures in the high 20s Celsius in New Zealand to a maximum daytime temperature of only 1degree, snow and frosts during the night here in Jerusalem. I haven't felt warm since my return, but I am grateful to have a warm, dry house, electricity and everything else I needed to weather the storm. So many people in our region are trying to cope with it in tents and makeshift shelters. My heart goes out to them.



 A Syrian refugee hangs her laundry outside a tent at a refugee camp in Zahleh town, Bekaa valley, east Lebanon. http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2059291.1420740822!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/box_620_330/image.jpg

 

TERROR IN PARIS

 

Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that it shall no more be said, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’  but, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’ For I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers.

 “Behold, I will send for many fishermen,” says the Lord, “and they shall fish them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

 

Jeremiah 16:14-16

 

This past week the people of France and indeed of the whole world have been horrified by the vicious attacks, first on the Charlie Hebdo offices and then on the kosher supermarket in Paris which left 17 innocent people dead. We were horrified yes, but not surprised - the writing has been on the wall for a long time. French Jews,  the largest Jewish population in Europe, have been facing an increase in anti-Semitic rhetoric and actual attacks on their persons and properties both from the neo-Nazi right and from the increasingly radicalized jihadi - Islamic fringe.

 

Once numbering around half a million in number the Jewish population in France has decreased considerably in recent years as many have left the country to move to the UK, North America and to Israel.

 

Ynetnews reports that figures from the Immigrant Absorption Ministry corroborate claims that Jews are fleeing France. In 2014 a record number of 6,600  French Jews moved to Israel, a 32% increase over the previous year. French Jews are now the largest group of immigrants coming to Israel. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4613620,00.html

 

Israeli absorption services are now busy gearing up to receive a new influx of French immigrants following the Paris attacks. Many French Jews are expressing the perception that a line has been crossed and their future in France is now untenable in the face of the growing, and increasingly violent, anti-Semitism there.

 

I believe that in the coming years more and more of the Jews of Europe will flee. Europe has an enormous and powerful Muslim population, which is becoming increasingly radicalized, and the liberal, democratic governments are powerless to effectively fight the threat of terror. Other threats too are arising, such as the recent Russian invasion of the Ukraine which also sent many Jews fleeing.

 

We should not be surprised. As the prophecy in Jeremiah clearly says, God will bring back the children of Israel from all the lands to which they had been driven. First he would send out the 'fishermen', who would seek to convince them to come back to Israel.  For many years now those fishermen have been faithfully going out into the nations of Europe with their message, but there has been little response, especially from the more prosperous, western nations. Now however it appears the time of the hunters has come. I believe the Jews of Europe will soon be forced to flee for their lives.  Many may initially flee to other countries, such as the USA, Canada or Australia, but there too the hunters are gaining strength, and ultimately the only place they will find a welcome is here in Israel.

 

In those days Israel will come to know their God once again. Israel, already rebirthed physically, will eventually also be rebirthed spiritually and know their Messiah and the hand of God. The prophecy of Jeremiah 16 concludes with these words:

 

“Therefore behold, I will this once cause them to know,
I will cause them to know
My hand and My might;
And they shall know that My name is the Lord."

 

Jeremiah 16: 21

 

hallelujah and amen!