THE FATHER OF LIES

 

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 8:44

 

It is Saturday evening and it is with a heavy heart I sit down to write.  I do not know where to start. So much is happening there is no way I can describe it all, and as fast as I write new events unfold.  Here is a run down of  the events of just the last 24 hours:

• On Friday night widespread rioting broke out in Arab towns across Israel, including Rahat, Nazareth, Kfar Kana, Um el Fahm, Sahknin, Taybeh, in solidarity with Palestinians and expressing anger at the shooting Thursday of a female terrorist in Afula. 
• Rockets are fired at Israel from Gaza but fall short in Gazan territory
• Two religious Jews, aged in their sixties, are stabbed and lightly injured by a 16 year old attacker who was shot dead by security police at the Damascus Gate of the Old City, Jerusalem
• Clashes erupt at the scene between Palestinians and security forces
• A few hours later, at the same place, a Palestinian attacked and stabbed police officers moderately wounding two. A  20 year old police officer was also seriously wounded, and is still fighting for his life, as a result of 'friendly fire' when security forces shot at the assailant. 
• Hundreds of Gazan Palestinians riot at the border fence and succeed in breaking through into Israeli territory. Israeli security forces shoot 7 dead and around 60 are injured. The remainder were forced to return into Gazan territory.    
•  This evening at least 10 Gazan Palestinians break through border fence into Israel. (Ongoing incident)
• Around a 1000 Arabs riot at Kfar Qassem (ongoing)
• Hundreds of Jews demonstrate outside the Prime Ministers home in Jerusalem demanding tougher measures against Palestinian terror (ongoing).
• Missiles fired from Gaza towards Ashkelon shot down by Iron Dome south of the city.

This week in Israel
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4709446,00.html

If you wish to know more I can only recommend you follow the news updates on the web.  http://www.ynetnews.com/home/0,7340,L-3082,00.html

A Palestinian protester waves a knife and his national flag during a demonstration in support of Palestinians in the West Bank and against Jewish groups visiting the al-Aqsa mosque compunds, in Gaza City on October 10, 2015 (AFP Photo/Mahmud Hams)
http://news.yahoo.com/palestinian-stabs-2-israelis-jerusalem-shot-dead-medics-082719844.html

A masked Palestinian hurls rocks towards Israeli soldiers during clashes following the funeral of Mohammed Fares al-Jaabari on October 10, 2015, in the West Bank town of Hebron (AFP Photo/Hazem Bader)
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=100911646940658232#editor/target=post;postID=4420024328621723047;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=0;src=postname

 

The atmosphere in Jerusalem and indeed in all the Land is one of tension and fear. Fear that events are spiraling out of control and we are headed for another Intifada as random knife attacks perpetrated by teenagers become a daily occurrence in our streets, as youths riot and attack security forces and throw rocks and firebombs at passing vehicles, as mobs break through the border fence from Gaza, and rockets are fired into Israel. We are all wondering what will be, as each day it all seems to get worse. 

 

You might be asking what has precipitated this wave of terror? The answer lies with the Father of Lies. Various Muslim clerics and leaders have fabricated and perpetrated the vicious lie that Israel is planning to attack and destroy the Al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount, and are calling for 'good Muslims' to take up arms to protect the Mosque. 

 

The current wave of unrest began when Muslim youths barricaded themselves inside the Mosque and attacked security forces and those coming onto the Temple Mount to pray.  In support of these actions, and the subsequent knifing attacks and riots,  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen),  said on the 16 of September,

“We will not forsake our country and we will keep every inch of our land... Every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem is pure, every shahid [martyr] will reach paradise, and every injured person will be rewarded by God.”The Al-Aqsa Mosque is ours. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is ours as well. They have no right to desecrate the mosque with their dirty feet, we won’t allow them to do that,” http://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-blood-of-martyrs-spilled-on-temple-mount-is-pure/

At the same time, Abbas tries to present a moderate face to the outside world, calling for Palestinian youth not to escalate the situation and instructing his security forces to calm the situation. Tonight however his Fatah (PLO) party is distributing official pamphlets, bearing Abbas' photo alongside that of Yasser Arafat. The pamphlet praises the 16 year old, Ishaq Badran, shot this morning after attacking two Jews calling him a ' hero shahid (martyr)' . The bottom of the pamphlet bears the words  “Eternal life and glory for our shahids” and “Our essence is sacrificing ourselves for al-Aqsa”.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4709292,00.html

 

Digital versions of the pamphlet were also posted on the official Fatah twitter account.

 

This outbreak of violence is not at all unexpected as an increasingly disaffected generation of Palestinians loses hope of a better future for their people. The Peace Process has stalled (who can talk peace with Abbas?) and the Palestinian youth has been poisoned from the cradle with hatred, rage and lies about the Jews. Add in the libel about the Al Aqsa mosque, rabid incitement by religious and political leaders, and violence is inevitable. It doesn't help that the world's press is quick to report the Palestinian version of events, and reports incidents in a very biased way, thus feeding a growing anti-Israel sentiment worldwide.

 

 An example of the kind of anti-Israel bias in reporting was exposed earlier this month when the BBC ran this headline: "Palestinian shot dead after Jerusalem attack kills two". Although factually correct, on the surface, notice how the wording emphasizes the shooting dead of a Palestinian rather than the fact that the Palestinian in question had just killed two innocent Jews. The headline thus effectively turned the terrorist into the victim, whilst sanitizing the killing of the Jews by depersonalizing the attack with the words "Jerusalem attack". Jerusalem did not attack the victims, the Palestinian terrorist attacked them!

 

Here are another couple of examples from the digital version of The Guardian newspaper, " In another attack, 19-year-old Palestinian Muhammad Saed Ali, from Shuafat refugee camp, in east Jerusalem , was shot dead after Israeli police alleged that he stabbed two police officers",  and "Earlier on Saturday, two Israeli men in their sixties were wounded when Israeli police said they were stabbed by Ishaq Badran, a 16-year-old Palestinian" . http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/10/israel-protests-three-palestinians-killed-five-wounded-violence-escalates. Again these reports appear accurate but notice the words "alleged"  and "Israeli police said they were stabbed...". Such phrasing casts doubt on the veracity of the statements, thus undermining the legitimacy of the shooting of these terrorists by Israeli police.

 

 

It is difficult for people outside of Israel to weed out the truth from all the lies in the media. However it is important to read the newspapers and reports online with a discerning mind, and a Bible in one's hand. The Bible provides an anchor for truth, an absolute and infallible 'take' on events. True it is sometimes difficult to discern right from wrong, especially in the current conflicts which arise from extremely complex historical, political and religious perspectives, but nevertheless the Lord's perspective is clear and obvious to all who wish to know. Israel is a sinful nation, a stiff-necked people, who have rejected God's beloved son and Messiah, but nevertheless they are His Chosen people and the 'apple of His eye' (Zechariah 2:8). God again and again promises to protect Israel and destroy all those who rise up against her. He has never revoked those promises and he will honor them in the end. We cannot know what the immediate future might hold for Israel, but we do know her end. God will fight on her side and all her enemies will be destroyed.  The prophet Ezekiel spoke of the judgment that would come upon the descendants of Edom (Esau) for shedding the blood of the children of Jacob (Israel)

Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir; prophesy against it ³ and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you and make you a desolate waste. ⁴ I will turn your towns into ruins and you will be desolate. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
⁵ “‘Because you harbored an ancient hostility and delivered the Israelites over to the sword at the time of their calamity, the time their punishment reached its climax, ⁶ therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will give you over to bloodshed and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. ⁷ I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste and cut off from it all who come and go. ⁸ I will fill your mountains with the slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines. ⁹ I will make you desolate forever; your towns will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

Ezekiel 35 : 1-9  

 

And again the prophet Obadiah says these words against Edom,

“The day of the Lord is near
    for all nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
    your deeds will return upon your own head.¹⁶ Just as you drank on my holy hill,
    so all the nations will drink continually;
they will drink and drink
    and be as if they had never been.
¹⁷ But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;
    it will be holy,
    and Jacob will possess his inheritance.
¹⁸ Jacob will be a fire
    and Joseph a flame;
Esau will be stubble,
    and they will set him on fire and destroy him.
There will be no survivors
    from Esau.”
The Lord has spoken

Obadiah 15-18

 

 

 

Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.² For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb...

 

For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall inherit the earth.¹⁰ For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
Indeed, you will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.
¹¹ But the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

¹² The wicked plots against the just,
And gnashes at him with his teeth.
¹³ The Lord laughs at him,
For He sees that his day is coming.

Psalm 37

Please remember us all here in your prayers. Prayer is effective and is greater than the sword (or a Kalashnikov). Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem and the safety of all her inhabitants, Jew, Arab and Gentile alike. Pray especially for the Palestinian youth who are being led as lambs to the slaughter by their leaders, who are inciting them to greater and greater violence, which can only bring calamity upon the Palestinian people. These 'great' leaders sit safely in their homes and send children to fight soldiers and cut down innocent old men, women and children. Then they call them 'brave martyrs' and 'heroes'. Above all pray for the salvation of many, Jew and Arab, that they might find the true peace of Yeshua, the only solution to the conflict. May the Lies of the Enemy be exposed and many turn to the way of Truth.

May Yeshua come soon!

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

WE SHALL REJOICE

 

Today marks the last day of  Succot, the Feast of Tabernacles, known as Hoshannah Rabah ( The Great Salvation), and  it is a day in which we are commanded to rejoice in the LORD.

 

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁴ “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. ³⁵ On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. ³⁶ For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.....Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. ⁴⁰ And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹ You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. ⁴² You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, ⁴³ that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’”

Leviticus 23: 33-36 and 39-43

Here in Jerusalem, all who are able, build succot (temporary shelters) and eat together in them, celebrating the goodness of the provision of the Lord. This time is also a kind of harvest festival, celebrating the ingathering of the Fall harvest.

Friends celebrating in a Succa

http://news.colgate.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Sukkot.jpg

 Here in Israel this day is also Simchat Torah (outside the Land it is tomorrow), the day in which the cycle of Torah readings is completed and the new cycle begun. It is a day of rejoicing which, in traditional Jewish circles, is marked by unbridled joy surpassing even that of the joy of Succot.

Today also marks the official beginning of the rainy season and from today until Passover prayers will be made each day for abundant rain in Israel. I was so thrilled this morning to feel that freshness in the air, and the stirring of the breeze, which precedes the first rains. Rain is indeed forecast to arrive later this week, according to the meteorological service. You have to live through a hot Israeli summer (and this year it has been hotter than most) and 8 months without a drop of rain to break the heat or settle the dust, to truly appreciate the blessing of rain. When the first rains fall it is not uncommon to see adults and children alike rushing outdoors and dancing in the streets rejoicing in the rain. 

As I was browsing the 'net' looking for a suitable illustration I came across this one, which so sums up life in Israel I felt I must copy it here.



https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/19/b1/3a/19b13ac7c5976891327d9e5d79363558.jpg

How apt it is. This year, in this most joyful of holidays, we have once again been stricken with horror and sadness and loss. The week has been  marked by an escalation of terror and unrest especially here in Jerusalem and in the surrounding areas.

Four days ago, a young Jewish couple,  Eitam and Na'ama Henkin were driving back from a class reunion with four of their six children in the back of their station wagon. As they drove past the Palestinian village of Beit Furik, gunmen affiliated with the PLO approached their car and shot both adults to death at point blank range,  in front of the children aged between 9 years and 4 months. The children were physically unharmed but no doubt will be scarred for life. Eitam was a doctoral student at Tel Aviv University, where he had won the prestigious Natan Rotenstreich Scholarship, and his wife, Na'ama was a graphic designer who ran her own studio. What now will become of their six children after such a horrific trauma?


Eitam and Na'ama Henkin and the car in which they were brutally murdered.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4706203,00.html

On Saturday night  Aaron Bennett and his wife Adele and their two children were on the way to the Western Wall to pray when they were attacked by a knife wielding terrorist.  Aaron was killed, his wife seriously injured, his infant son lightly injured and their baby daughter physically unharmed in the attack. A second man, Rabbi Nechami Lavi, was also stabbed and  killed when he rushed from his home to try and help the Bennett family. He leaves behind a wife and seven children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aaron Bennett (left) and Rabbi Nechamia Lavi victims of terror

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4706876,00.html

 

The terrorist who carried out this cowardly attack was Mohammed Halabi who was shot dead by security forces at the scene.

 

Just a few hours later another Palestinian terrorist, Fadi Aloun, stabbed and wounded an 18 year old Israeli teenager near the Damascus Gate in the Old City. This terrorist too was shot dead by security forces. The attacker was a resident of East Jerusalem's Issawiya neighborhood and he had earlier written on his Facebook page  "Either martyrdom or victory." http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4706801,00.html 

 

 On the Eve of Rosh Hashanah another man, Alexander Levlovitz, returning from celebrations, was stoned by Arab youths  right here in my neighborhood of East Talpiot. His  car to veered off the road into a ditch and hit a pole, killing him and lightly injuring the other occupants of the car. Four youths from the neighboring village of Sur Baher have been arrested.  

 

 

 

The scene of the car crash September 13, 2015 resulting from a rock-throwing attack in East Talpiot, Jerusalem in which Alexander Levlovitz, 64 [inset] was killed. (Arik Abulof/ Jerusalem Fire and Rescue Services/Courtesy)

http://www.timesofisrael.com/man-killed-in-jerusalem-rock-throwing-attack-named-as-alexander-levlovitz/

 

For some time now there have been ongoing riots on the Temple Mount where youths have barricaded themselves in the El Aksar Mosque and from there attack worshippers and the security forces with rocks and firebombs. Rioting is also occurring elsewhere in the city on a daily basis, mainly in the Arab villages of East Jerusalem. In the face of the rising tensions and unrest the Old City was closed down on Friday for all but Israeli citizens and tourists.

In addition to this escalating tension and the possibility of a Third Intifada, there have been a series of rocket and missile attacks coming out of Gaza. On September 18 two missiles were shot down over the city of Ashkelon and a rocket landed in the city of Sderot. Last night too a rocket was fired from Gaza, sending residents of nearby town scrambling for their shelters, but the rocket fell short landing inside the Gaza Strip. This brings to around 14 the number of rockets and missiles fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip since the 'ceasefire' of August 2014.

Stray rocket fire has also spilled over the border from Syria from time to time. In my last blog update I wrote about the setting up of Russian air bases in Syria. This week Russia has begun bombing missions inside Syria aimed at destroying  all opposition to the Assad regime, attacking both 'moderate' rebel groups  and the more rabid Day'ish militias. Russia tried to enlist the support of the USA in this operation but there is a fundamental difference of opinion in that the US does not want to see Assad in power at the end.

With all that is going on here and in our neighboring lands we could be forgiven for not feeling very festive at this time. Yet we are a people who specialize in 'dancing in the rain'. We will not allow our enemies to stop us from living life to the full and rejoicing in it.  Yesterday I did a little shopping in a local Mall and was impressed by the happy holiday atmosphere there, in spite of the heavy things happening in the city.  The Mall was heaving with smiling, laughing children, and their equally happy looking parents and grandparents. The Mall even permitted free parking for the holiday.

This year the Muslim holiday Eid el Adha coincided with the Feast of Succot. Last weekend our congregation went for a retreat for two nights at a kibbutz. On the Saturday we all went to the water park run by the kibbutz hoping for a quiet lazy day at the pool. It was not to be!! The water park was packed to capacity as busloads of Arabs from the West Bank and elsewhere arrived to celebrate too. We had a giggle about how far from the 'apartheid state' Israel really is as we rubbed shoulders with hijab clad Muslims and celebrated our respective holidays together without any sign of friction or tension.

 

 

 Such are the ironies of life in Israel: tension and tolerance, violence and peace, hatred and respect. We will go on and we will choose life, and we will 'dance in the rain'. And what is more we choose to celebrate life and rejoice in the LORD.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

 

Philippians 4:4

 

 

 

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have set themselves against me all around.

Psalm 3:6

 

 

No, its not a case of Cold War paranoia, but its 2015, and the Russians are really coming - to the Middle East.  Whilst America is executing its policy of withdrawal and non-involvement in the Middle East, and Europe is busy trying to figure out what to do with the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing ISIS or other extremist Salafist butchers, Russia and Iran are quietly filling the power vacuum in the Middle East.



The Russians have established a base on the Mediterranean coast of Syria at Latakia (see map below) a mere 420 km from Jerusalem (as the fighter jet flies!).

 



http://www.affarinternazionali.it/IMAGE/syria.jpg



According to American sources there are now some 28 Russian fighter jets in Syria and at least 12 support aircraft, transporters and helicopters. Russian drones are already being used for surveillance purposes, and there are plans to send some 2000 Russian military personnel to this new airbase, in the 'first phase' (!) of its development.   It is likely that they are also sending surface-to-air missiles to the base, since this is an integral part of the defense of any air base.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4703202,00.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11880974/Russia-begins-military-operations-in-Syria-as-Putin-sends-28-jets.html
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/95971a4e-607d-11e5-a28b-50226830d644.html#axzz3mRoQZkWM

Netanyahu meets Putin

http://theaviationist.com/2015/09/20/su-30sm-exposed-on-the-ground-latakia/

A satellite photo taken on September 20 shows at least 16 Russian combat aircraft stationed at the Bassel al Assad air base near the Syrian town of Latakia Photo: Stratfor/Reuters http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11880974/Russia-begins-military-operations-in-Syria-as-Putin-sends-28-jets.html

Earlier this month, Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's elite Quds Force, met with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and as a result hundreds of Iranian ground soldiers were also sent into Syria. This cooperative effort between Russia and Iran is intended to shore up Syrian President Assad's crumbling regime which now controls  only  25-30% of Syria, mainly along the coastline. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4699809,00.html

 

 

 



Soleimani (left) and Putin (right) have both put boots on the ground in Syria. (Photo: AP, Fars, EPA)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4699809,00.html

 

 

 

The question of course arises - why? Why are Russia and Iran so keen to support the crumbling Assad regime? What are their interests? Do they really care about the Syrian people, and an end to the Syrian civil war? Do they really want to support Assad, a cruel and despotic leader who massacres his own people? I suspect not.  As Middle Eastern regimes shake and self-destruct in the so-called 'Arab Spring', a power vacuum is being created. America and Europe have lost the will to fill such a vacuum. Iran and Russia have not. They both have the ideological drive and military might to move in. Though both Russia and Iran have an interest in defeating the advances of Dai'ish (ISIS), such an event would also conveniently serve their empire building goals allowing them to get a much stronger foot-hold in the Middle East, and the possession of very significant oilfields and uranium mines.

Although the Russian and Iranian presence in Syria is not ostensibly directed towards any  attack against Israel, it is nevertheless of great concern to us here. This week Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, travelled to Moscow for direct talks with the Russian President, Putin, aimed at reducing the possibility of  'misunderstandings' and inadvertent clashes between Israeli and Russian forces in the area, particularly in dealing with arms shipments from Iran to Hezbollah through Syria.  http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-putin-agree-plan-avoid-syria-clashes-081802449.html 

The long term risks are not so clear. It appears that as Iran has increased its direct presence in Syria, their proxy, the Shiite Hezbollah militias, are pulling out. Hezbollah has lost an estimated 1000 fighters in its efforts to support Assad against Dai'ish (ISIS) and as long as it has been so tied up in Syria, it has not had the resources to open a front with Israel. Why is it pulling out now? It may be merely to make way for its 'big brother' Iran, but it may equally be intended to allow Hezbollah to rearm and prepare for a new confrontation with Israel. Russia's involvement with Iran is also very worrying. We have already seen their readiness to supply Iran with sophisticated long-range surface-to-surface missiles in the wake of the lifting of the boycott against Iran. What is Putin's long-term agenda?  Is there a wolf in sheep's clothing in our midst? Although we would welcome the defeat of the military forces of Dai'ish, we fear it may be at the cost of installing an even greater threat to Israel, the Middle East and the World, a Russian-Iranian coalition, extending from the Mediterranean to the North Sea and the eastern borders of Iran.

Once again I would cry out to the USA and the European Nations to wake up to the threat that confronts us. From our perspective they seem increasingly weak and ineffectual. The USA has lost the will to be the world's 'policeman' and Europe is busy putting its finger in the hole in the dyke, in the face of a mass migration from Northern Africa and the Middle East, instead of trying to stop the source of the flood. One day soon the dyke might crumble and then it will be too late.

We who pray to the God of Israel, and of the whole world, we need to cry out now to the LORD. Although we know God is ultimately in control and He is working out his redemption plan, we are called as a 'holy priesthood' (Revelation 1:5-6; I Peter 2: 4-5) to intercede for the lost at this time. We need to be faithful in praying for our leaders, and the leaders of our enemies too, that "God's Will be done in Earth" in our days.  

Today is Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar. It ends the Days of Awe when Jews search their hearts, ask forgiveness of one another for wrongs committed, and seek God's forgiveness for their sins. On this day they pray that their names will be written in the Book of Life for the coming year.  In a desire to obey the Biblical injunction to 'afflict your souls'  on this day (Leviticus 23: 26-28) most Jews totally abstain from any work, food or drink or other pleasurable activity for 25 hours. TV and radio stations are silent and all shops, businesses and places of entertainment are closed. In Israel all traffic on the roads stop and an eerie hush descends upon the Land, broken only by the cries of happy children riding their bicycles and skateboards along the traffic free highways and streets, and the occasional ambulance siren.

Messianic believers also observe this solemn day. Many of us use it as an opportunity to fast and pray, not only for ourselves, but especially for our People. While we can rejoice that we have the sure knowledge that our names are written indelibly in the Book of Life for ever (Revelation 3:5), we are very conscious that in Judaism today there is no such certainty for even the most observant of Jews. They can only hope, at best,  that they will be found worthy to be sealed in the Book for the next year. Only in Yeshua can we have any certainty of eternal life and freedom from the second death. We long to see all people blessed with that knowledge and to find true eternal life in Yeshua.

 

Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!
Many are they who rise up against me.
² Many are they who say of me,
“There is no help for him in God.” Selah

³ But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
⁴ I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah

⁵ I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.
⁶ I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have set themselves against me all around.

 

 

Psalm 3: 1-6

https://dailydeposit.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/psalm-63-4.jpg



CHOOSE FAITH

 

 

It is a beautiful Shabbat morning here in Jerusalem. It is so quiet I can hear a man talking down in the valley below me.  The sky is a clear blue and, from my balcony, I can just make out the hills of Jordan across the Dead Sea, a far cry from last week when I couldn't even see to the other side of my neighborhood, because of the thick blanket of dust.

 

That week, we had the worst dust storm in recorded history in Israel as a NE wind picked up dust from Iraq and Syria, and carried it over the whole land, where it hovered in the still air for 4 or more days. At its worst, on the Wednesday, the particulate matter in the air  in Jerusalem was over 170 times worse than its normal readings. Those who suffer from asthma and other respiratory diseases were at great risk and our hospitals treated hundreds of patients having breathing difficulties. Thankfully however we recorded no deaths unlike in Lebanon and Jordan where several people died. The dust was combined with temperatures in the high 30s and even reaching in to the 40s at times, humidity levels reaching the 90s along the coast, and not a breath of breeze to blow the dust away. It settled on everything turning the whole landscape to yellow. One morning I awoke and looked out my window and thought it had been snowing. All the trees were covered in a thick whitish layer of dust. 

 

The view from the Promenade over the Jerusalem. The Temple Mount is totally obscured by dust (and this was taken after the worst of the dust had settled)

Approximately the same view on a normal day.

 

Thankfully the temperatures have now returned to more-or-less normal temps (30ish in the day and 20ish at night)  for this time of year. We even had some rain one night, but it mainly fell in the north and in the southern deserts. Here we just had a few drops for 10 minutes or so. I did enjoy the lightning though which was spectacular.  

 

 

 



http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4700653,00.html
Floods in the Negev this week



The weather may have settled (for now anyway) but not so the city. This week has been marked by increasing violence. Even this morning the quiet has been periodically broken by the 'thub thub' of police helicopters circling overhead, a sure sign that there is trouble in the city. On the way home from work on Thursday I saw that the police had once more put the huge concrete blocks across the road that leads up into the neighboring Arab village of Sur Baher, and the intersection was littered with large stones and concrete blocks, and the road was stained black from Molotov cocktails that had been thrown at passing cars.  Multiple such incidents have been occurring all over the eastern part of the city this week and on the Temple Mount. On the Eve of Rosh Hashanah a Jewish man was killed when his car crashed off the road into a ditch after it was pelted with stones. A bus driver was lightly injured on Thursday when his bus was stoned. Elsewhere in the city, on the same night, another bus was attacked and burned, but the driver managed to escape unhurt. For several days now, Arab youths have barricaded themselves in the Mosque of Omar on the Temple Mount  and have been throwing rocks and firebombs at security forces. One of the firebombs set fire to some wooden beams sending billows of smoke above the Mount.

 

Smoke billows from the Temple Mount this week
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4701596,00.html

 

 

Bus on fire in Jerusalem on Thursday
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4701596,00.html

Yesterday afternoon, as the riots continued not much more than 500 m away, our congregation met for a picnic in a park. It was idyllic - lush green grass under shady horse chestnut trees, and the children playing happily in the little stream.

 

What a contrast! But that is the nature of our city - a city of great beauty and great ugliness, peaceful and violent, ancient and new, full of light and great darkness, a city of tremendous contradictions and contrasts.

 

Perhaps that is the nature of life itself.  Sometimes I look around and see so much suffering, violence and distress. The cancerous ideology of ISIS and its consequences threaten the stability of the whole world. Thousands of refugees fleeing its violence, and that of similar extremist Muslim groups in Africa and Syria, flood Europe. Other refugees are stuck in no-man's land with winter approaching. An earthquake and tsunami strikes Chile. Iran is still enriching uranium and plotting the overthrow of the Western world unchecked. North Korea threatens to fire nuclear warhead armed missiles at the USA,. The brutal civil war in Syria continues, and Russian and Iranian troops are now on Israel's doorstep in Syria.

 

What is more, I look around my friends and I see them all battling illness and other traumas in their lives, and I myself have not been spared. It can be depressing. It can lead to despair and a failure of faith. This morning I woke feeling a bit like Job - just one attack after another, and no end in sight. Job in the midst of his distress cried out to God, saying

 

What is man, that You should exalt him,
That You should set Your heart on him,
 That You should visit him every morning,
And test him every moment?
 How long?

Job 7:17-19 

 

 

How long must all this suffering go on?  Why does God allow it? Why are men so evil and cruel, inflicting such terrible things on each other? Why is nature so treacherous?

 

These were the questions on my heart this morning as I pondered these things. Such questions can bring us down to the depths of despair and lead to a loss of faith. A few years ago I was suffering from such black thoughts and began to question, not God's existence, but his goodness.  Have you ever done the same? It is a scary place to be, because only in God's goodness is there any light, or hope in the world. I teetered on the brink of losing my faith. One day I poured out my heart to a wise friend, and she said, "Faith is something you choose". And I knew this was my answer, just as it was the answer that Job received so long ago.  God never answered his anguished questions, but He challenged Job to think upon God's majesty and power. 

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:

² “Who is this who darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?
³ Now prepare yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer Me.

⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
⁵ Who determined its measurements?
Surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
⁶ To what were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
⁷ When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?...

 



Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
And caused the dawn to know its place,...

 

Have you entered the springs of the sea?
Or have you walked in search of the depths?
¹⁷ Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?
¹⁸ Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?...

 

    Job 38

 

God confronts Job with his puniness and contrasts it with His own greatness and power. Who is man to question God, who has created us and the whole Universe?  Yes there are questions, legitimate questions, but for now anyway God will not or cannot give us the answers. We have only a choice, Despair or Faith. And what is more,   without uncertainty and doubt, there can be no Faith.  

 

Having said that Faith is not blind. Faith is based on fact, logic and our own experience of the world. When we chose faith we do not throw away our brain. We use our brain to build faith. When I begin to doubt or lose my peace in God, I turn my thoughts to the revelation of His nature in Scripture, in my past experiences of His goodness and in the beauty of Nature. Paul in the letter to the Philippians said this

:

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.   The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

 

Philippians 4: 8-9

 

If we chose Faith, we may not find the answers to all our questions, but we will find peace - the peace that passes all understanding.

 

"Love in the Mist" Netanya Winter Pond

 

 



 

BE STILL ...

Be still, and know that I am God...

Psalm 46: 10

 

הַרְפּ֣וּ וּ֭דְעוּ כִּי־אָנֹכִ֣י אֱלֹהִ֑ים

http://www.jpost.com/HttpHandlers/ShowImage.ashx?ID=252434

This week the summer vacation ended for Israel's schoolchildren and their teachers, and schools opened their doors for the 2015-16 school year. Our school began earlier, and I returned to work a month ago. Already I feel exhausted. Each day, six days a week, I hit the ground running at 5:30 in the morning, and I don't stop until I collapse in a heap at the end of the day.  It is madness, this ceaseless round of frantic activity and stress. There is no time for rest, relaxation, fun or friends.  For the last two weeks I have been sick  and I cannot even stop long enough to let my body heal. Yet I, like most people in Israel, feel trapped in this madness. A friend this week likened it to a hamster in his wheel, running, running, running, and getting absolutely nowhere.

One of the characteristics of Israeli life is this frantic busyness, which at least in part is driven by the determination to live every minute of life to the full. It may be a reaction to the Holocaust and the centuries of persecution, destruction and death, and a sense that we who have survived must live for all those who perished. Or then again, it might just be a bad case of 21st Century-itis.  Whatever the cause, the pace of life here in Israel is insane. I believe that one of the reasons that Israelis are so impatient and irritable is due to a chronic lack of sleep. I once sat with a group of neighbors who, over coffee, were trying to outcompete each other boasting of how little sleep they could live on. They saw sleep as a waste of time. On another occasion I surveyed the high school students in my school and found that, during the week, the average number of hours they slept per night was 4!!! . Tel Aviv proudly advertises itself as the 'City that Never Sleeps'.

I feel like that hamster running in its wheel, and I long to get off, but how? The bills keep coming in and I must work to pay them.  Yet, I keep thinking, that God does not want us to live like this. Did he not promise a Sabbath rest to all those who are born again in Yeshua? Did he not warn us to beware of failing to enter into that rest?

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 

Hebrews 4:1  

 

Of course the rest spoken of here is a spiritual rest, the rest from trying to save ourselves by our works. But should that not also result in a physical rest? God's Sabbath, the weekly day of rest  commanded by the LORD, is after all physical, and not just a spiritual metaphor. Must we inevitably be caught up in the whirlpool of the world? It seems that this is all a clever ploy of the Enemy, Satan. If he can keep mankind so frantically busy and constantly exhausted, then we cannot not stop, be still and know God.

 

One of my favorite Bible verses is the one quoted above: Be still and know that I am God.... This verse loses something in its translation into English. The Hebrew  word for 'Be still' is 'harpu' הַרְפּ֣וּ which is an active form implying an action, not a passive lack of action. It would perhaps be better translated as 'still yourself' or 'make yourself still'.  In addition the word for 'know' here is d'u      דְעוּ

This is not the word usually used for knowing a person, but rather the word used in the Bible to denote sexual intercourse, as in Abraham knew Sarah.  This degree of intimacy and knowing is not possible without spending time and investing in a deep relationship. How can we know God like that if we do not stop rushing about?

 

This ceaseless activity combined with all the other stressors of life in Israel (economic problems, the constant terrorism, the threat of war just to name a few) has a very negative effect on the life of all believers in the Land. Not only are many of us exhausted, sick and 'burned out', but it makes meeting together for encouragement and support almost impossible. It is hard to find the time to build friendships, to sit and talk, to pray together, to lend a hand or comfort someone in need. Consequently many feel isolated and very few feel they have the strength to reach out and minister to others. It is difficult to maintain any semblance of congregational life. It leads to a weakened Body and undermines our witness to the unbelieving. 


What to do? How can we get off the wheel?  Are we in disobedience when we allow ourselves to get caught up in the world's busyness? Does it come from lack of faith?

And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? ¹⁹ So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. 

Hebrews 3:18

 

Can I not trust God to provide for all my needs without having to work myself to exhaustion? Perhaps we just need to pause, reconsider how we live, learn to live according to the LORD's economic system and not the world's? I am not sure how we can do that but my sense is that somehow we have to find the way or the Enemy will suck us dry. Perhaps this is why the end times church is described in the Book of Revelation as being 'lukewarm';

 

 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. ¹⁷ Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. ¹⁹ As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

Revelation 3:16-19

 

Next week the High Holy Days of the Hebrew calendar begin, a period including Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and the Feast of Tabernacles. This is a time set aside for reflection, repentance and atonement. Sadly, far too often, the preparations for these holy days just add to the busyness, as we shop, cook, clean and entertain family and friends till we drop. I pray that this year will be different. Please pray with me that we all will stop, spend time in quiet reflection, repent of our busyness, and find time to find God and His rest. Perhaps he will show us all a better way. 

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Matthew 11: 28-30 

The Blood Moon controversy.

This brings me to the current controversy in the Body, and also amongst some Jewish scholars, regarding the significance of the sequence of four lunar eclipses (blood moons) and a solar eclipse and their coincidence with the Jewish festival cycle this year. As some are predicting a significant event for Israel occurring on the 28th of this month, a number of people have asked me my opinion. I therefore feel constrained to comment.

Let us not be easily swayed, 'tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine' (Ephesians 4:14) but rooted on solid rock. Scripture is indeed the word of God, and I believe that every word is significant, however our interpretation of that Word is easily flawed. One can read into Scripture just about anything you want. In my now nearly 47 years as a believer there have been many interpretations of end time prophecies that have failed to come to pass. Remember the Y2K fiasco?  It makes one rather cynical when yet another arises. What is more, when these things fail to come to pass, it makes us all look rather silly and undermines the power of our witness.  I prefer to take a 'wait and see' attitude. I believe the end time prophecies will be clear to all at the time the events actually take place,  and they are given to us to comfort us and give us hope.  

Someone once taught me that if someone is putting a time on the day of the second coming of the Lord then you can be sure He will not come on that day, because it is written that He will come suddenly like a thief in the night, when we are least expecting it.

But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.

I Thessalonians 5:2

True, Paul then goes on to say, "But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. ⁵ You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.... (v. 4),  but he does not say that we will therefore know the times and the seasons, but rather that we should be always be ready -  "be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and a helmet the hope of salvation" (v. 8)

Although no one, as far as I know, is saying that the Lord will return on the 28th of September, the principle remains. It is my belief we should all be sober and not easily swayed by each and every interpretation we hear. We need to be solidly founded on the Word of God and prayerful that he will lead us by His Spirit to interpret it correctly.  As for something significant happening on the 28th? It could well be so, since scarcely a day passes that something significant for Israel does not occur!

For a more thorough examination of this matter I would recommend the excellent article written by Mike Moore on

http://fromthetopcom.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/blood-moon-rising_20.html

I want to wish you all a Shana Tova u'Metucha (a Sweet and Good New Year) and may we all find rest in Yeshua from all our busyness.

The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
  He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul.

Psalm 23: 1-3

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/d3/99/95/d399952676d48d046aa06f3c99994a97.jpg