Inside Israel – It’s All About Jerusalem

 

Hi and welcome to a look inside Israel today!  Our dear sis in Jerusalem shares today about that city, the one that God chose to put His name. Thank you and God bless you as you read and pray!  Now, here she is . ..

Beloved sisters and brothers, shalom. (that precious word, shalom!  What incredible BLESSING that we have SHALOM with God The Father through His Son Yeshua the Messiah! May He teach us all just how much of a true blessing this is as ‘shalom’ changes it’s earthly face according to the flesh. 

 

I have very much (even longed) to write but have been pretty ‘pressed out of measure’ (to use Paul’s term) in daily life and family situation, so I asked Him for His space in His time to write, and here it is.  May I glorify Him Alone and be a blessing.

 

Before I share of life here, I feel to present my own ‘invitation’ to you concerning the upcoming IFI (Intercessors for Israel) annual prayer conference that is scheduled to begin here on Jan. 22, 2013.  I will enclose more information on the bottom and a link to the site, or you could email me for complete information. (IPEJ stands for Israel Prayer Conference Jerusalem) Here is a latest entry:  Israeli elections will be held the day after the opening of the IPCJ 2013 on 22^nd January. Thus we will be praying the night before the elections and the week when the coalition negotiations begin. I believe this is a Kairos moment for us. Kairos (καιρός) is an ancient Greek word meaning the right or opportune moment (the supreme moment). You will notice that 2013’s IPCJ is a week earlier than we have had for many years now. 

(note: the date of the conference was set last year not knowing we would have these elections!) I put that at the beginning so that those who don’t usually read to the end will see it too.  J 

 

I am frankly clueless as to what you are hearing about what is going on here.  Oh, maybe not ‘clueless’… some of you listen to ‘fox news’ in the USA which has a bit more sympathy to Israel. But others get BBC or different news papers…many get mail from here or from Christian ministries…but through the emails that I receive I have learned that many of you do only have opportunity to hear distorted reports, and, thanks to The Holy Spirit, you KNOW that, so I felt it is very important to share right now…because after all…

 

IT IS ALL ABOUT JERSUALEM just as it is written…and the time is NOW! 

 

I don’t mean to be ‘dramatic’ or ‘prophetic’…just a ‘witness’ of what is happening right before us.  I am neither a historian nor a reporter. I am a lamb.  I am asking The Holy Spirit to share my portion with you. 

 

JERUSALEM.

 

Mt. Moriah…where Isaac was ‘sacrificed’ and where Abraham was provided with ‘the lamb’…is believed to be Temple Mount, where the Temple was built.  It is not only the belief of the Jews but also of the Moslems who have their ‘dome of the rock’ al-aksa mosque sitting on THE rock that they claim Abraham sacrificed…ISHMAEL on.  That is right…they do NOT believe that it was Isaac who was taken to be sacrificed, but Ishmael. The mosque that sits with the rock in its center has the inscription around the top of the ceiling where it meets the roof “Allah is one and he has NO SON”.  This is why I can NEVER use the name ‘Allah’ as a linguistically ‘correct’ Arabic word for God…as the very NAME Allah implies THAT THERE IS NO JESUS…NO YESHUA…NO SON WHO IS OUR SAVIOUR. I share this to lay just a BIT of the spiritual foundation – a framework – of the battle for THIS SPOT…Jerusalem…the city where God CHOSE to put HIS NAME.  Do I ‘UNDERSTAND’ it?  No way!  It is far too big for my pea brained spirit to comprehend, but what I can embrace of it fills me with a trembling awe at the sheer size of it…and more so… the HUGENESS of WHO GOD IS – for Whom it is HIS battle and not ours.  It is simply being fought out before us – and we all have a part.

 

The UN vote in the General Assembly to upgrade the Palestinians to a non member state had HUGE significance, and grants them many open doors.

INTERESTING FACT:  When Mahmud Abbas returned to the cheering rejoicing crowd in Ramalla, his statement was NOT something like ‘You are now an independent free people with rights, dignity, freedoms and respect!’ It was ‘This week the UN – Next week the Palestinian flag will be flying over Jerusalem!’

 

You see…IT IS ALL ABOUT JERUSALEM.

 

When Jerusalem miraculously came into Israeli hands in 1967 – it was NOT taken from the Palestinians.  It was in the hands of JORDAN! JORDAN was the state of the Palestinians and JORDAN was who ‘cared for it’. You can easily find photos of it online from pre 1967. It has NEVER BEEN the capital of ANY Arab country, tribe or group.  But it HAS been ours since King David declared it so when God told him that HERE was where He chose to put His Name.

 

I wrote to you during the second intifada about what I was seeing with my eyes.  It is hard to believe that this is now more then 13 years ago!  It was during all of the bombings that Ehud Olmert rammed through the decision to build this Jerusalem Lite Rail, and so the road demolition work began rendering my environment into an indescribable surreal mess: Was it a war zone or a construction site??? One could only shake their heads trying to cross a street…avoiding bombs and construction equipment at the same time. It HAD its humorous side! 

At that time I used to take the number 13 or 20 bus to the Old City. 

It would stop directly across the street from the Jaffa Gate and I could get the bus home just below Jaffa Gate. 

SUDDENLY I found that the bus was diverted…permanently.  I remember well the day that I stood at the gate and surveyed the area and to my HORROR I realized that they were CUTTING OFF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION FROM THE WEST TO THE EAST IN JERUSALEM.  There was a distinct demarcation line being formed between East and West.  I stood there praying for God to open my eyes to what I was seeing and I felt that I understood that they were PLANNING to divide the city!  As the rail was completed some 12 years later I saw just how chillingly accurate this was.  Oh, I can still GET to the Old City… I have a choice: I can either get off the train at City Hall and walk (not bad walking just a block or two into Jaffa Gate… downhill) or I can take the train to…DAMASCAS Gate (in the Moslem Quarter). As I said, it’s just a bit of a walk…but coming BACK UP the hill to City Hall is much more of a challenge and I see less and less older people able to do this.  The only buses that now stop around the Old City are those traveling to Arab areas. There is one ‘religious bus’ left that goes straight down to the Western Wall…a mini bus that takes a very circuitous route. Slowly, slowly we are being cut off along the line where the barbed wire used to separate us from Jordan!

 

IT IS ALL ABOUT JERUSALEM. 

 

JERUSALEM…”And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.”! Says The Lord in Zechariah 12. Jerusalem is mentioned in the Bible 767-792 (I haven’t counted myself but looked it up) times.  It is mentioned in the koran not once, although I read a claim that it is too holy to be mentioned and has a mystical name that mystics can find.  JERUSALEM is central in GOD’S theme and plan…”…for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.” Jesus said in Luke 3:33

 

And so I write to you today from Jerusalem…the undivided capitol of Israel, and tell you that I have learned to ‘observe these things and pray’, but to KEEP MY EYES FIXED ON THE LORD AND KNOW HIS WORD AND THAT IT IS TRUE.  There alone is my stability…but it is enough.  The enemy has no new tactics and nothing takes The Lord by surprise.  “These things I have spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble.”! Jn 16:1

 

So right now the nations are R-E-A-L-L-Y A-N-G-R-Y with us (raging in fact!) because in response to the nations choosing to recognize the PLO as a state, we announced… ‘THE BUILDING OF 3,000 NEW HOUSING UNITS IN JUDEA, SAMARIA AND JERUSALEM!’  There was a cartoon going around for awhile showing war in Syria, bomb factories in Iran, N Korea, Pakistan etc. riots around the world, falling economies and morals …but…it all stops in horror when the Jews build houses!  It’s kind of funny when you really look at it, but we are being faced with icy threats from our ‘friends’ USA, England, France, Sweden, Germany, the UN oh my…the list is LONG!  The pressure is DEFINITELY on my friends!  And the focus is ALL …JERUSALEM!  And, yes.  You can feel it tangibly in the air…the stress…the shift. 

 

Something MAJOR has shifted. 

 

After my girls left I was heart sick, and one morning while I was praying and repenting for the depression that I had come into through wrong focus I felt that The Lord was telling me to now reach out to the young women of the body as an older woman.  I got excited.  Was this The Lord?  I immediately received 2 confirmations in the way of ‘gifts to share with others’ although I had intended to do it on my own, and this Sunday I had my first opportunity to walk this out.  The first young mother from our fellowship that I invited out to a nice lunch was ‘C’. She and her husband are both lovely Israeli believers (he is Jewish and she is not) and they have a son of about 2 whom my older daughter helped deliver as their doula. I prayed for her and asked The Lord to give me ways to bless her and to see HER needs. I knew that she was concerned about her husband being called to the reserves during the war, and that she was so thankful he hadn’t been.  As we sat there together I asked her how she had handled the siren and the bombs in Jerusalem.  Her eyes got big and watery. ‘Thank you for asking…No one has asked me…it was hard…it was eerie…I was alone with my son and we went to the shelter…I wondered if I was doing enough to protect him…when my husband came home he acted like it was no big thing, but to me it was…I read Psalm 91 and it calmed me.’ Ofcourse!  I hadn’t really thought of all of the young mothers – and how many were new immigrants…didn’t speak Hebrew…were scared and alone?  We talked and prayed and I she said ‘I had been wondering where the older women are to teach the younger and here you are…OH!  I am NOT saying you are o-l-d!’ I burst out laughing as she was embarrassed.  I told her that was EXACTLY the scripture that came to me when it was planted in my heart to do this sort of thing and that I didn’t MIND being ‘old’!  May I be a source of His comfort and strength to the young women here.  She looked at me soberly and said ‘It isn’t over yet, is it…the war I mean.  I feel as if it was a prelude to something MUCH bigger.’

 

And that is it in a nutshell.  I do agree…’bigger’ is coming.

 

Well…this day is moving along and I promise I will tell you what is going on on the bus and train NEXT time, but for now I must close with much love!

 

And please…if this IS the time that YOU are supposed to come to Jerusalem and pray for our nation HERE…I know He will make a way…please pray about it?  Here is their website, or contact me   http://www.ifi.org.il/  

God bless you and encourage you in Him.  Lovingly, your sister here in Jerusalem

ani b’derek

Inside Israel – Rosh – h’shana

Hello!

Welcome to another look inside Israel today with J of Jerusalem sharing with us. Thank you for your prayers for Israel, J and her family!
Now, here’s J . . .

“SHANA TOVA OMEVORACH!” (good and blessed new year) “AMEN! VAY L’COL BEIT YISRAEL!” (Amen, and to all of the house of Israel) “AMEN VEY AMEN!” (amen and amen) This greeting has rung through the air as gifts and greetings are exchanged with friends and strangers, and as scouts give out apples dipped in honey and gifts and flowers are seen in everyone’s bundles as they scurry to run last minute errands. The stores have literally emptied their shelves of food as this year Rosh h’shana won’t end until sunset between Friday and Saturday…shabat… so nothing will open at least until Saturday night, but more likely Sunday morning…and Lord knows, we might just starve by then if we didn’t have lots and lots of food in the house! The houses are scrubbed clean and the streets are aromatic with cooking smells…but more then that, there is a solemn feeling…hearts ARE being prepared.

The Rosh h’shana shofar calls to and speaks of a ‘personal repentance’ and time of soul searching and cleaning and marks the approach Yom Kippur…the MOST solemn day of the year…of corporate fasting and repentance in a week’s time.

Soon the sun will go down. Already the streets are quiet except for a few people rushing home. Shops are closed and public transportation has ground to a halt. It is such a special kind of ‘hush’ that descends upon this city…Jerusalem…as a ‘high holiday’ approaches. The shofarim are out and polished, ready to sound loudly following the prayers that usher in the new year 5772. More then a million food baskets have been given out to the poorest of the population by the many non profit organizations; less then usual because giving of donations is down reflecting the economy. There are many large public meals to gather in those who might not have a table to go to.

And there is an air of anticipation as well…what WILL this coming year hold. For those of us who believe…who know Yeshua, are known of Him and know His Word, there is peace; but for those who long for and look for peace in this world? For those of us who know Him there is a KNOWING of His ‘provision’, but for others who don’t know how they will pay the rent of set out the next meal? What a blessing to be free of the anxiety and intensity that is too often ‘normal life’ here. He is so good to us, but our prayers are, of course, for our brothers and sisters after the flesh…and so often our own family members.

I, rather passionately (for it was passionate) requested prayer last week for the situation concerning the UN vote concerning a Palestinian state carved out of Israel. Several friends forwarded to me a letter that they received (I would love to be in touch with whoever wrote it if any of you know) which I will include at the end as it is the most encouraging thing I have read in so long and perhaps someone has not seen it and will also be encouraged. (It is a humbly written prayer journal of someone who went to NYC to pray concerning this debate) Several of you have asked me to share a bit more about what is going on right now here and what my I assessment was of the speeches. It is so complicated that I do it with much fear and trembling. May The Lord help me to share what is helpful toward prayer, and an accurate description:

First, let me share that according to our newly released end of the year census our population has grown to 7,797,400. Note that the year of the Hebrew calendar is 5,772. That counting was begun when the commandments were given at Sinai to Moses and yet the battle over that very fact is was what I witnessed as I watched the UN speeches and listened to the subsequent commentaries and debates in the media. The legitimacy of the state of Israel and our increasing ‘intransigence’ (as they put it) in the eyes of the world is what is being questioned. My personal assessment (as some of you asked for) of the speeches made me wonder if the reporters and diplomats heard the same men speaking. What I saw was a passionate, enraged Mahmud Abbas accusing Israel of the most outrageous lies (‘this apartheid state is killing thousands of our people every day with impunity!’) greeted with standing ovations and deafening cheers from a full audience. My prayer, and perhaps most of yours, was for Binyamin Netanyahu to speak Truth as he had said that he would, and that was what I heard with my ears. My opinion of what I saw (and I continued to pray as we watched) was a nearly broken and humble (not the way our Prime Minister is usually characterized) man speaking Truth to such a degree that it HAD to have taken supernatural grace. (again, I can send copies of both or either speech to anyone who would like) He spoke to a half empty, mostly bored looking auditorium with occasional sounds of light applause (the commentator said that it came mostly from the gallery and not from the delegates, some of whom walked out in the middle. This did not happen with Abbas). I was interested and blessed to see one member of the Palestinian delegation remain and listen and the delegation from Lebanon also appeared to be listening. We had prayed for those with a hunger for Truth to receive mercy to hear. I continue to pray for them.

Following the speeches I turned to a French station that reports in English. In the past, they seem to have been more sympathetic and less virile then British BBC or Sky, or European CNN that are available to us in English. Fox news (also available from the US) was not covering it. To my surprise (and I had to guard my heart from breaking and to remind myself that this is the eyes of the world) they had a round table discussion to debate the speeches and had NOTHING positive to say about us, and only praise for the Abbas speech. As I said, it was difficult to keep from weeping. I could only believe that what I was witnessing was what I had prayed about; the difference between Truth and lies and the fact that Truth can be robbed, twisted and mocked…as it was in The Face of Yeshua on this earth. And that is what I thought of…Yeshua…Truth…crucified. It renewed in me the ‘awe of the cross’ that I had when, more then 30 years ago, I first caught a glimpse of it…when Truth was murdered…oh praise Him that He rose again!! ‘Truth’ has been such a sacred Name to me as I was so very long a prisoner of lies and a child of the father of lies.

And though the world may rejoice at murdering Truth we KNOW that Truth will triumph, and even though we do NOT know what path this will all take(although some claim to…I trust His Perfect Hands to bring it all to a just finale in His Perfect time)and what we may have to walk through and witness, we KNOW that He really DOES, and that The King of Glory, The Just and True Judge, The One and Only Merciful God, will keep each and every one of His promises… and NOT according to OUR understanding, but according to His. (and least any of you think that I am ‘fearful’, please believe me, I am NOT)

How is this playing out ‘on the ground’? Well…the Palestinians have been greatly emboldened and inflamed in general. It feels like being near a bunch of simmering pots. The saddest thing that happened (have ANY of you heard about this??) was a father (about 26 years old) and his less then a year old son who were stoned. Their death was first reported as a car accident (even more tragic since the 25 year old wife is pregnant with their second child) but then, as the wreck was examined, rock holes was found and blood stained rocks within. The bodies were exhumed by the army for autopsy and found that they had been killed by stones. Last night rocket fire resumed from Gaza against our south.

INTERESTINGLY? The UN security council debates begin on Rosh h’shana.
And now, the sun is going down and I will pack the food that we are taking to our daughter’s house. What a blessing! The shofar will sound as it has for 5772 years. He is faithful…may we be found faithful as well.

I am writing this to faithful friend. I send you my love. May His blessing to each of you be found in the Sweetness of His Presence. I am encouraged each time I hear from one of you. God bless you. Your sis here.

(I will post the letter J is talking about next Sunday! Blessings and love, in His name.)