Dear Friends:
I am grateful for our friends in Israel, Martin and Norma Sarvis, who submit these Israel Prayer Updates. They also include the weekly Torah portion, which is at the close of this email. During our Starting the Year Off Right Conference, I released a prophetic word to watch the highways that would buckle. Obviously, we have all watched the incredible buckling of highways and infrastructure in Haiti, and are praying for the people of that nation. This Prayer Update contains yet another example of "buckling" in Israel. We must continue to SEE what the Lord is showing us through these signs so we can align with His changes in the earth realm.
I also want to remind you about our Passover Gathering in Denton on March 25-28. For some time, the Lord has spoken to me about the importance of seeing a remnant brought together to declare a shift in the timing of the Church that will bring us back into sync with the POWER of the BLOOD and DELIVERANCE! In the early church, Passover was one of the most important times of the year. However, when Constantine "legalized" Christianity, Passover was made illegal. But the Word of God revolves around the Feasts, and the remembrance of these physical events causes us to understand the spiritual significance of what came and what is to come! There is a futility in legalistically keeping the Feasts, but we can honor the Father by remembering Him and receiving from Him at these appointed times (Gal. 3:10).
Our Passover Gathering will be a time to decree that HIS BLOOD will once again be active in the world to redeem mankind. Please make plans to join us for this international and historic gathering on our land. Our desire is to see representatives from every state of this nation as well as many other nations. Go online or call 1-888-965-1099 to register. We will begin on Thursday night at 7:00 PM, meet all day Friday and Saturday, and conclude on Sunday around noon. Hotel accommodations in Denton will be limited during this time, so we encourage you to make your reservations soon. A list of hotels is on our website. You can also register for the webcast which has group rates available.
Blessings,
Chuck D. Pierce
Israel Prayer Update: JANUARY 20, 2010
This week in Israel:
1. RAIN AND BUCKLINGS IN THE DESERT OF KADESH
"The voice of YHVH( the LORD) shakes the desert; YHVH shakes the Desert of Kadesh"
On December 31, 2009, our friend Chuck Pierce released the following prophetic word at a conference in Denton, Texas:
"Watch the highways that begin to buckle. For throughout the states and throughout nations as signs going into this season, I will buckle highways. You will say as My people, 'I can ride the change of the road that is changing ahead of me.' For it will be a spiritual sign to you, but it will be a frightening shaking to others. You will ride the sign of the buckling highways throughout the earth. I AM rearranging the order of the earth so that the covenant with My land can now manifest in a way that was stopped from manifesting in the last season. Watch the road systems for they will now begin to change."
This came forth in conjunction with a word by Cindy Jacobs regarding earthquakes. A few days later we noticed in the news here in Jerusalem where a road leading up ancient Mount Zion in the City of David buckled under the wheels of a passenger bus.
This past Sunday night and Monday more formidable "bucklings" occurred in Israel. What a few days previously had been predicted as "showers" became heavy storms throughout Israel (We would remind you in passing of the call of a Chief Rabbi to corporate fasting and repentance for rain last Thursday)-but especially powerful were the storms in the deserts of the south, both in Israel and the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Eilat, at Israel's southern tip received over an inch (far more than she usually receives in an entire year), and two inches fell in the desert city of Be'er Sheva. The road from the Salt (Dead) Sea southward was closed.
We would mention in particular the little community of Nitzana, 2/3 way up Israel's southwestern border with Egypt. They received 2.75 inches of rain in 24 hours (more than half the annual average), the flooding causing flash floods of a type not seen in the region in decades. The rushing, swirling waters caused the Nitzana Bridge to buckle and collapse, temporarily cutting the area off from the rest of Israel and leaving the inhabitants also cut off from food and water.
This area of Nitzana is in the same vicinity as ancient Kadesh Barnea (In fact, a small modern Israeli community bearing that name is nearby and was also cut off in the flooding). Kadesh Barnea is the place at which Israel came to a crossroads after leaving Mount Sinai-the place where ten spies brought back an evil report of the Land.but Caleb and Joshua a good report (Num. 13:26). It is the place where many years later, Miriam the Prophetess would die and be buried (Numbers 20:1).
The area is also the location mentioned in Psalm 29:8-"The voice of YHVH (the LORD) shakes the desert; the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh." Interestingly, the Hebrew root for the word translated "shakes" is the same as that used in vs. 9, where at the voice of the LORD the deer "gives birth." It means "to cause to whirl, or writhe as in travail" (Brown/Driver/Briggs/Strongs 2342). This same meaning is found in Isaiah 51:2, where those who pursue righteousness are told to "look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain" (NASB). Eventually, this word came also to be used for whirling body movement without the anguish accompanying travail- in Psalm 149:3 and other places it is translated "dance". So the voice of the LORD in this Psalm may cause the desert surrounding Kadesh Barnea to writhe in travail to bring forth His purposes; but the same Voice can bring forth new life, causing the dry place to dance.
The name "Nitzana" itself means "bud". One reporter ended her report on the situation this way, "Ramat Negev [i.e. the region surrounding the flooded area] has gone through a very stormy experience but [there is] hope that the strong rains will bring many people from around the country to tour the area over the weekend and will also result in a beautiful blossoming" (Adva Lloyd for Mayor Shmuel Rifman; Quoted in "Flooding cuts Off Nitzana from Rest of Israel": Boulder Jewish News, 19 January 2010).
PLEASE PRAY:
*Thanksgiving for the merciful rains which have poured into Israel, in the south earlier this week-in the north today.
*Grace for those in these areas to endure the "shakings" which are accompanying this outpouring.
*Grace for illumination in Israel of the "spiritual signs" displayed in the buckling of old roads and highways in Israel. Pray for those to rise with a different spirit like Caleb and Joshua to understand and tell the people what God is doing.
*For a resurrection of the gifting of Miriam the Prophetess among her descendants in Israel-that God awaken prophetesses like Miriam, Deborah and Huldah who will release through music and dance, wise judgment and instruction "what the Spirit is saying to the congregations" (It is interesting that next week's Torah and Haftarah portions-see bottom of this Update-will contain both the account of the Prophetess Miriam with her tambourine leading the women of Israel in dance; and the prophetic judge Deborah with the warrior Barak leading in song!)
*That the Desert of Kadesh will hear and respond to the travailing shaking of the LORD and bud and blossom physically and spiritually "in a way that was stopped from manifesting in the last season."
2. A HISTORIC VISIT TO BERLIN
This week Prime Minister Netanyahu and his Cabinet are in Germany, where Monday for the first time an Israeli government was convened in Berlin. This comes after an historic visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel with her Cabinet in 2008 when a joint-session of the two governments was convened in Jerusalem. At that time Chancellor Merkel addressed the Israeli Knesset in German, expressing shame over the Holocaust. Since establishing diplomatic relations in 1965, Germany "has become perhaps Israel's strongest ally in Europe.[her] third-largest trade partner after the US and China" ("Netanyahu and cabinet in Berlin for session with Merkel's gov't": The Jerusalem Post: Online Edition; Jan 18, 2010.").
PLEASE PRAY:
*That God would continue to bless and strengthen the friendly relationship between Israel and Germany. That Angela Merkel would be granted wisdom and integrity and the fear of the Lord in leading her nation and influencing it for good in relation to Israel. That Israel will be a blessing to Germany.
*For grace over the many intercessors who visit Israel throughout the year to pray for and bless her. That what was devoured by the locusts in the past century would be restored and that believers in both countries would move forward strongly arm in arm in the purposes of the Lord.
3. AN ISRAELI PRESENCE FOR COMPASSION IN A STRICKEN LAND
As we write, another powerful earthquake has just stricken Haiti. Israel was quick to respond with aid for the horrific earthquake which struck the nation a week ago. She set up a field hospital (the only one in operation) with "40 doctors, 25 nurses, paramedics, a pharmacy, a children's ward, a radiology department, an intensive care unit, an emergency room, two operating rooms, a surgical department, an internal department and a maternity ward" ("Huckabee Praises US Aid to Haiti, World Ignores Israel's": by Hillel Fendel; Arutz-7: Daily Israel Report, Jan 18, 2010). Today the Israel Defense Force reported that the Israeli rescue team will remain for at least another month in order to oversee the field hospital. So far it has assisted in the rescue and treatment of hundreds, as well as assisting other aid groups in the midst of overwhelming conditions of suffering. Since Saturday, three IDF rescue squads have been out on the streets, stopping people and asking them to take them to homes where people may be trapped. Monday the Israelis pulled out a student trapped for six days beneath his collapsed University building. And the night before, a resident of Port-au-Prince gave birth to a boy at the Israeli field hospital. In appreciation and gratitude, his mother decided to name her new son "Israel" in honor of the country that helped her" (Ibid.).
PLEASE PRAY:
For strength in body, soul and spirit and angelic assistance for the team manning the field hospital and the rescue squads. For nearness of the Spirit - an awareness of the supernatural presence of Yeshua (the LORD is Salvation) to open Israeli spirits to the One who is "Av haRahamim, Elohei kol nehama-the Father of Mercies, God of all comfort."
This week's Torah Portion:
From ancient times there has been a weekly portion from the five books of Moses (The Torah) and from the prophets (Haftarah-final reading) read on the Sabbath in synagogues around the world. This portion is given a Hebrew name taken from the opening words of the passage. An illustration of this practice appears to have been recorded in Luke 4:16 where Yeshua (Jesus) arrived in the synagogue in Nazareth and was asked to read the Haftarah portion (Isaiah 61) from the Prophets. We have found that in perusing these weekly readings, not only are we provided opportunity to identify in the context of God's Word with millions of Jewish people around the world, but very often the Holy Spirit will illumine specific passages pertinent that week in our intercession for the Land and people of Israel. While it is not within the scope of this Prayer Update to supply a "commentary" on these readings, we will here and there draw attention to certain points which may prove helpful in informing our intercession. All texts are those of English translations of the Scriptures.
The readings for January 17-23 are called Bo ("YHWH said to Moshe, 'Come [Bo] to Pharaoh! For I have made his heart and the heart of his servants heavy-with-stubbornness. (Translation: Everett Fox)" and include:
TORAH: Exodus 10:1-13:16
HAFTARAH: Jeremiah 46:13-28
*Exodus 10:3. "Thus says YHVH Elohei-ha'Ivrim (YHVH the Hebrews-God): 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Send My people that they may serve Me.'"
As in Ex. 9:1, the LORD here identifies his Name (YHVH) and godhead (Elohim) with the Hebrews as a race-a people going back many generations before the fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with whom He had identified Himself to Moses in the Burning Bush. He is also the God of the race which Pharaoh's father had tried to exterminate 80 years before (Ex 1:16). PLEASE PRAY for an awakened awareness in Israel that it is this same God who identified Himself by Name with the Hebrew race to Pharaoh.who has miraculously kept it in existence for over 4000 years-and who still chooses to identify Himself with this race for good and not evil.
*Exodus 10:28-29. "Then Pharaoh said to him, 'Get away from me! Take heed to yourself and see my face no more! For in the day you see my face you shall die!" So Moses said, 'You have spoken well. I will never see your face again.'"
In Ex 7:1, the LORD says, "See, I have made you Elohim to Pharaoh." The concept of finding light, victory and salvation in the LORD's face runs throughout the Hebrew Scriptures (See Psalms 44:3, 80:3,7,19). Often, the word "face" is synonymous with the word "presence". In Psalm 27:8-9, David's response to the admonition "Bakshu-Phanai!-Seek My Face!" is a heartfelt, "Your face O LORD will I seek.Do not hide your face from me." By rejecting Moses' face, Pharaoh was rejecting the presence and life and hope of Moses' God.and eventually God allowed him to be granted his request. PLEASE PRAY: For secular, religious, Orthodox, and ultra-Orthodox Jews to hear and respond to the call which God places in the hearts of all men, "Bakshu-Phanai!-Seek my Face!"
*Exodus 10:21-23. "Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings."
"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world" (John 1:4-5,9). PLEASE PRAY: that the darkness will be felt and hated-and that the true Light will shine into both Egypt and Israel, bringing illumination, hope and security to the inner dwellings of both of these peoples.
*Exodus 12:2. "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you."
The "number" of the year in the Hebrew calendar (This year 5770) comes with the Feast of Trumpets in the Fall and is traditionally related to the season associated with the creation of the world. However, this month of "Aviv" (Deut. 16:1; also called "Nisan") marks the "beginning of months" on the Hebrew religious calendar. This year it will begin on 16 March.
*Exodus 12:12-13. "For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment; I am YHVH. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt."
At the very beginning (see Ex. 4:22-23) YHVH had warned Pharaoh that refusal to release His "firstborn" Israel to serve Him, would result in the killing of his own firstborn. It was the LORD, not a mere 'angel', Who would pass through (Heb: avar) the land executing judgment; however, the word translated "pass over" in verse 13 (pasach) means to "skip" or "step over"-thus sparing them the judgment coming on all the other firstborn. PLEASE PRAY: That this weekend when this passage will be read in synagogues-and at the Seder tables in March when it is read again in homes-that the message of the BLOOD of the Lamb which covers and diverts judgment would be imbued with supernatural revelation to Jews around the world. Pray that the Holy Spirit would move hearts to recognize the "Lamb of God, who carries away the sin of the world"-the Pesach Lamb who was "stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.He was wounded for our transgressions.and by His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:4-5).
*Jeremiah 47:27. "'But do not fear, O My servant Jacob, and do not be dismayed, O Israel! For behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity; Jacob shall return, have rest and be at ease; No one shall make him afraid. Do not fear, O Jacob My servant,' says the LORD, 'For I am with you.'"
[The Torah and Haftarah portions for next week (24-30 January, "B'Shalach") will be: Exodus 13:17-17:16; Judges 4:4-5:31.]
