This week in Israel:
"SPECIAL REPORT"
This week we present you with a report written by our friend Gene Little. We find it to be insightful and timely in its perspective on several issues of great importance in the coming season. -Martin & Norma Sarvis
"And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth..And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."
(Rev 16:1, 12, 15)
Dear Friends and Family:
Living in Jerusalem, gives one a keen appreciation for biblical prophesies and end-time events. The Mount of Olives overshadows the city and constantly reminds me of Zechariah's prophesy of the Lord's return (Zec. 14:4). The Bible literally shouts out as I read it, "He is coming: Soon!" You learn to live with an air of expectancy. Marylois and I want to be like one of those five wise virgins in Jesus parable who had enough oil to last thru the night. We long to hear the cry: "The bridegroom cometh!"
I confess though there was a time in my life when I relegated end-time events to the far distant future. There would still be time. Perhaps God was "keeping dates" via a Jewish calendar, hence, it was only 5769. The Lord surely wouldn't return until 6000, and then take his rest "for a thousand years. Then again, the world helps with this notion, proclaiming its philosophy of "eating, drinking and being merry" with no thought of tomorrow. We were present in Jerusalem for the change of the millennium. The various news networks had sent in some 200 reporters to "look for the Messiah's coming" on the Mount of Olives. They spent all night in the cold, for naught! Some mocked his absence but He surely will come quickly and as a thief!
A Disaster of Biblical Proportions
The severe drought that has afflicted the Middle East has had some disturbing consequences and end-time fulfillments. Newspapers and internet sites have headlined the drying up of the Euphrates River. Reports have heralded rice and wheat fields that have turned into nothing but baked dirt. Photos show abandoned fishing boats sitting on dry land and pumps meant to feed water into treatment plants dangling uselessly in the air. Citrus and date palm orchards in Syria and Iraq are parched, with harvests lost. Iraq has a date shortage. Entire villages fed by the Euphrates waters for thousands of years are deserted. Scientists estimate that the once mighty river will be completely dry in less than ten years.
Aside from the drought, Turkey's aggressive program of building dams across the river has severely diminished the Euphrates flow. Iraq also dug canals to divert the rivers waters, these are now dry. Syria's Baath party decided in the 1960's to turn the nation into a grain exporting country. Shepherds were forced into being wheat farmers. Thousands of legal and illegal wells were dug to water grain fields in an arid land. These wells have now dried up and countless people are homeless and living on Damascus's streets. Most are Kurdish, and thus ignored by the leaders. Political pressures are building up in the entire region, and starting a war often proves to be the easiest solution to solving these problems.
"Naboth's Vineyard"
Syria is once again eyeing its "lost" Golan Heights. The price of peace though for President Assad is the return of the North-Eastern part of the Lake of Galilee. With this "prize" Syria could pump the Lake dry and perhaps irrigate some of its barren fields. There once was another king named Ahab who lusted after a vineyard. Its possession brought him nothing but misery (I Kings 21). The United States is also reaching out to Syria, and is warming up to its demands, so as to bring "peace" to the region. Pray that Israel stand resolute and not give in to Syria's demands. [Editor's Note: Psalm 136:21-22 states that God gave this land (Bashan) "as a heritage to Israel His servant, for His lovingkindness endures forever"].
40,000 rockets aimed at Israel
News reports have also shown this week that Israel's enemies are preparing for another round of warfare. Despite the UN's watchful eye, Lebanon's Hezbollah has rearmed itself with some 40,000 rockets and missiles. Some of these fiery darts can reach Tel-Aviv. Hezbollah is Syria's proxy army.
The 25th FATAH general assembly
The Palestinian Authority's ruling political party FATAH is having its first "general assembly" in some twenty five years. This conference is currently meeting in Bethlehem, with some 2000 delegates attending from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan plus other nations hostile to Israel. Resolutions passed so far, include blaming Israel for Yasser Arafat's death, issuing a call for limited violence against Jewish settlements and continued civil disobedience against Israel. Fatah delegates also want to form an alliance with Iran. Known radical PA treasurer Abu Maher Ghneim also vowed that the struggle would continue "until every grain of Palestinian Land is liberated." Ghneim is considered the next in line to succeed PA President Abbas. Israel readily succumbed to U.S. pressure and even gave permission for hard line Islamic terrorists to attend. One such attendee is Khaled Abu Esa who blew up an Israel bus in 1978. Thirty five Israelis were killed, including twelve children and babies who were burnt alive. Abu Esa" is Arabic for "Father (of) Jesus!" During this conference, President Abbas saluted and praised Abu Esa as being a hero for his terroristic act. "This is the "peace partner" that the World including America is pressuring Israel to accept.
One wonders why the U.S. is so desirous of these hardliners being in attendance. Middle East reporting site www.debka.com stated that Prime Minister Netanyahu was persuaded to grant Abu Esa admittance last week by US Middle East envoy George Mitchell and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. They explained that Abbas needed all the help he could get to make the conference a success or else he and the Middle East peace process were done for. If this is what it takes to make "peace" who needs it. Why should Israel be beholding to the whims of such terrorists?
Please pray against all plots, plans and strategies devised against Israel by her enemies. Pray that they will not be allowed to prosper (Ps. 121:7).
God's Grand Finale
We are one step closer to God's grand finale, with the giant river Euphrates drying up. The way for the "kings of the east" is being prepared. Israel may soon be again surrounded by armies. But lest anyone despair over the darkness of these days, remember Jesus' words "Look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh." One world shaking event will swiftly flow into another. There will even be a time when Egypt, Israel and Assyria will be one through the Isaiah 19 highway.
Joyously waiting for His coming, "Bo Yeshua Bo" (Come Jesus, come!)
This week's Torah Portion:
From ancient times there has been a weekly portion from the first five books of Moses (The Torah) and from the prophets (Haftarah) 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 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. All texts are those of English translations of the Scriptures.
The reading for 9-15 August 2009 is entitled: R'eh-See! "See, I set before you today a blessing and a curse".
Torah: Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17
Haftarah: Isaiah 54:11-55:5
*Deuteronomy 12:2, 5. "You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods." "But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go."
Twelve times in this Torah portion (12:5, 11, 18, 21; 14:23, 24, 25; 16:2, 6, 11, 15, 16) this 'place' (singular) is mentioned, where Israel's One God YHVH would choose to put His name and to dwell. -this, as compared to the "places" where the multiple gods of Canaan were worshipped. The "place" God would choose to dwell was, of course, Jerusalem. It had first been mentioned prophetically by Moses 40 years before in his Song, just after the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 15:17). PLEASE PRAY: For the peace of Jerusalem.that God's glory would return there.that the believing Body of Messiah would be established in maturity and unity there.that God would raise up wise and anointed Messianic leaders to be Elders in the Gates of Zion. That as God would "choose" Jerusalem when He first returned Israel to the land following the Exodus, He would now, with the return of His people from around the world, "take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem" (Zechariah 2:12).
*Deuteronomy 14:2. "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be for Him a specially treasured people of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth."
Isaiah 54:11: "O you afflicted one, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, and lay your foundations with sapphires." PLEASE PRAY: That Israel's sense of identity be restored-not an identity related to her rejection, suffering, persecution and the Holocaust, but rather an identity of a people chosen to be set apart as a special treasure of the God Who created the Universe.
*Isaiah 54:13-14. "All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children." PLEASE PRAY: For the present generation of Israeli children.that God would be jealous over them.cut through the evil values being taught in so many homes and schools in Israel, awakening a zeal for Truth; that they would respond to the Holy Spirit and ask for the ancient paths where they will find rest for their souls (Jeremiah 6:16).
*Isaiah 54:14. "In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you." For Israel to be delivered from terrorism she must first become established in righteousness. "He made Him who knew no sing to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (II Corinthians 5:21 NASB). PLEASE PRAY: That in God's mercy the Spirit which was sent to convict the world concerning Sin and Righteousness and Judgment (John 16:8) will move strongly across all of Israel.
*Isaiah 54:17. "No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from Me," says the LORD."
*Isaiah 55:3. "Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live." PLEASE PRAY: "That Israeli ears will be opened to hear the living Word. There are many "winds" blowing in Israel right now (In Hebrew "wind" and "spirit" are the same word). Pray that believers in Israel will "have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the congregations."
*Isaiah 55:5b. ".For He has glorified you." The Hebrew word for "glorified" here might better be rendered "beautified you." It is the verb form of the same word used in Isaiah 61:3, where the Spirit anoints the Messiah to give those who mourn in Zion "beauty for ashes." PLEASE PRAY: For Israel to come to realize that the one she has been resisting for 2000 years is the very One who longs to make her beautiful.and will!
