Book of Daniel Notes – session 08 from 2021 – THIS IS IN PROGRESS FOR 2023 POSTING

Posted on March 13, 2022 by ez3728

This is being posted in late AUGUST 2023 as we are entering a teaching series on the book of Daniel. Much of this is taken from an earlier Daniel teaching in 2021. Bear with me please as I continue on these notes over the next few weeks, updating, tweaking, spell-checking, etc. I did want them available to readers at this time, even prior to their completion….

THESE NOTES WERE ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN 2021, DURING A 20-WEEK TEACHING OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. EDITED A BIT: 2023

These notes remain timely and pertain to some additional current communications. I hope and believe they will assist/inform readers as to how to see what is occurring on earth in these critical days: how to pray, and how to stand strong in our God. He has the plan. It’s His world. Ps 2 – the nations indeed will be raging more and more until His glorious, disruptive, triumphant return.

Psalm 2
1 Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
6 “Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”
7 “I will declare the decree:
The LORD has said to Me,
You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.'”
10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. 

Below are some of my earlier book of Daniel teaching notes, so please pardon some perhaps funky capitalizations, exclamation points, text color changes, etc. They were primarily intended for my own usage while speaking and teaching, and secondarily as follow-along writing for that teaching, which later was published as a podcast.

NOTES: Daniel Session 08 – 2021 – DANIEL Chapter 2 MOSTLY as it relates and introduces us to Critical Chapter 7

Here’s the 2021 podcast link (and once you are on the www.podbean.com site if you like you can locate, download and/or listen to the entire series). Podbean also offers a free downloadable app for iOS and Android.

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-3nknb-1086e54

Besides the Podbean app or www.podbean.com on your computer, you can also access EZ3728 podcasts on Spotify, Itunes Podcasts and some other platforms. Simply search: EZ3728

THE 2021 NOTES:
This (2021) was the third time I’ve taught the book of Daniel. I have never encountered more spiritual resistance to my teaching of any book of scripture, ever – and more so that time – because, I believe, the timeliness of this revelation can be life-changing in taking us into a place of deeper understanding, and more importantly, deeper resolve to be intimate with the Lord and obedient to His purposes. Our understanding of the things of God, and our increased intimacy with the Lord are two components of our faith that our adversary dreads, and therefore we would do well to anticipate resistance, and not draw back.

Week Three of THIS series I taught on Daniel Chapter 02 – Daniel (1.) REVEALING and then (2.) INTERPRETING a troubling dream of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar.

The DREAM centers around a magnificent yet frightening (Hebrew: “yare” – “awesome”) statue that Daniel accurately interprets to be a revelation, by God, to the king – about his own empire (Babylon, represented by the golden head) and the empires that will follow afterward.

As I had been preparing for that Chapter 2 teaching, I managed to get sidetracked and backtracked by some commentary writings, and I presented to my audience what most bible teachers typically offer as being the generally accepted as most accurate interpretation of the legs, feet and toes of the frightening statue.

Meanwhile and most importantly – that most popular interpretation was and remains CONTRARY to what I have come to believe as being far more accurate. So I not only want to go back and address the statue dream interpretation again, but I know that this teaching, positioned prior to addressing chapter 7 – will provide for us a clearer view of the entire book of Daniel – as well as a clearer picture of God’s end-of-age revelation that most closely aligns with virtually all scripture throughout the complete word of God.

That week in 2021 as I prepared for chapter 7 teaching, I went back into my own notes from 2018 and
– I am seeing that the same thing happened to me when I got to chapter 7 in 2018, and at that time I purposely went back to chapter 2 as well. Seriously. I believe these two chapters (chapter 2 and chapter 7) are clearly and most effectively – and in fact likely intended to be taught together or at very least chapter 2 might want to be reread when students of Daniel get to chapter 7.

THINK ABOUT IT – as far as THE PROPHETIC-MESSAGE is involved:
Chapter 2 is PROPHETIC
Chapter 3 is Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego and their unwavering test of faith
Chapter 4 is God dealing with Nebuchadnezzar along his personal journey – seemingly towards his own salvation (at least per scripture – we don’t know how he finished out his life after the chapter 4 testimony). That was the king’s “divine parking lot” experience and testimony.
Chapter 5 is about the handwriting on the wall – the collapse of the kingdom of Babylon, as the Medes-Persians invaded the empire and the first of the Daniel-prophesied (chapter 2) Empire Transitions occurred.
Chapter 6 is Daniel in the lion’s den – God rescuing the prophet and convincing the king of the Medes-Persians, re the sovereignty of the God of Israel as well as the divine favor that Daniel walked in.
Chapter 7 continues the Prophetic Message – functionally presenting itself as the first prophetic message since chapter 2. See the tie-in of chapters 2 and 7?

I wrote the following in 2018 – about this very same conundrum (we’ll get to that conundrum in a moment):
“IMPORTANT AS WE GET INTO CHAPTER SEVEN – there’s something we need to circle back to from WEEK ONE (MY TEACHING IN 2018 WERE TWO HOUR SESSIONS – INFO OVERLOAD) “so that we don’t miss this most critical point of revelation – it may have gotten cloudy in some of my earlier accounting of commentary by some folks – AND it will become more and more critical in this study to understand what I believe to be a very accurate point of view regarding WHO and WHICH NATIONS will be leading the charge against God, and Israel, in the final days of this age.”
I FURTHER WROTE:
“A critical comment from David Pawson coordinates with a strong conviction by Joel Richardson (author of the Mideast Beast) – and something I am at this time very much inclined to agree with – which I further think is CRITICAL to the accurate understanding of what is truly being revealed to us by our great God in these scriptures, and is critical to clarify and understand virtually all eschatological scriptures going forward.”

ALL THAT IS BACKSTORY for the PROPHETIC STORY OF PERFECTLY-COORDINATED CHAPTERS 2 and 7 – chapters that work in concert to take a praying audience into understanding of the purposes and plans of God. That praying audience would be the saints.

The Prophetic Conundrum is the popularity and acceptance by a majority of Western-civilization bible teachers and bible students that a revived Roman Empire will play a key role in the final days of the nations raging against the Savior’s people, and then against the Savior Himself. Prophetically that fourth kingdom – presented both in chapter 2 (as feet) and then as a  fourth beast (chapter 7 – described as a unique and terrible creature) will clearly play a huge and active role in the times just prior to the return of our Lord. Beast #4 may be off your personal radar right now, but we’ll see that this Beast #4 was clearly on Daniel’s radar, because it is on God’s radar for His people to understand. God is the author of these dreams and visions, and they are purposeful. I do believe the more we all press into the prophetic storyline, the more the entire plan of God will be on our radar, as it should be.

I’d also like to assure you that knowing all of the critical intel behind the plans of God would be truly great, but there’s much still to be revealed to us – according to the word of God things remain “sealed up” in varying degrees. Meanwhile, our prayers, even with a certain degree of “un-knowing” can still be most effective. Rabbi Paul tells us this when he writes about a Holy Spirit-infused prayer life, when saints have been baptized in the power of God and are praying in their heavenly language. In essence Paul is saying “you might now exactly know how you ought to be praying, word for word, about the situations on earth that will be forthcoming, but God has purposed you to be filled with the Holy Spirit, praying as they prayed in the Upper Room (Acts 2), speaking out things that defy human understanding because what they were praying/saying was heavenly and was (and will be for us) Spirit-infused and Spirit-led, because with the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the mind of Christ, so that you can pray in alignment with the purposes of heaven”

Paul says it this way: Romans 8:26-27
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

BEFORE WE GET TO DANIEL – The entirety of the Word points to WAY MORE THAN TEN NATIONS (no matter which nations you might think will be “leading the charge” against Israel and the Jewish people, in the final battle to take place in Jerusalem:
Zechariah 12:1-3
1 The burden of the word of the LORD against Israel. Thus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him:
2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.
3 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.

AND:
Joel 3:1-2
1 “For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will also gather all nations,
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
And I will enter into judgment with them there
On account of My people, My heritage Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land.

Joel Richardson, in The Mideast Beast (first few chapters) presents a solid case against us believing the EVERY SINGLE nation on earth will be fully under the control of the Antichrist. Richardson does not rule out the potential for all nations to be represented in the hatred and dark plans against the people of God, and God Himself, during the final days of this age, but Richardson presents a solid case for us to consider that the Middle-Eastern framework of the bible’s writing style and the employment of specific words in critical sections of eschatological prophecy, appear to differentiate between neighboring nations surrounding Israel and the rest of the “whole earth”. I am leaning to agree with Richardson.

MEANWHILE – WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL, FOR US, RE: ARAB NATIONS or A REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE leading the charge?
ANSWER: Everything – as we keep our eyes on the work happening on earth in these days, and also because we are called to be LEARNING HOW TO READ AND UNDERSTAND the entire word of God. AND HOW TO PRAY.
The Word of God is purposeful in all that it says.

The spectacular nature of God’s plan is critical for us to understand so that we might pray w knowledge and understanding. And the more we know of God’s plans, the more amazed we will be with the glory of those plans as they unfold, accurately.

DANIEL is told this at the conclusion of his account – written to us (1 Peter 1:10-11 assures us the Old Testament prophets were writing for the New Testament saints):
Daniel 12:4
4 “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
We, at this time, have lengthier history to confirm the accuracy of the prophetic word of God, and I believe that ongoing prophetic word, looking forward in regards to upcoming events, will also to continue to be 100% accurate, on our watch.

BACK TO Daniel 2 – This chapter pertains to what “EMPIRE” is prophetically represented by the statue’s LEGS and FEET, and that gets more critical when we look into the FOURTH BEAST OF CHAPTER SEVEN.
Let’s read ONE OR TWO VERSES for our understanding:
Daniel 7:7
7 “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.


AND THEN: Daniel 7:21-23
21 “I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them,
22 until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.
23 “Thus he said:
‘The fourth beast shall be
A fourth kingdom on earth,
(THREE CRITICAL DESCRIPTIVES THAT REQUIRE FULFILLMENT):
(a) Which shall be different from all other kingdoms,
(b) And shall devour the whole earth,
(c) Trample it and break it in pieces.

AGAIN IN 2018 – I HAD WRITTEN:
“…I am more inclined than ever to ascribe the MIXED FEET AS DESCRIBING an ISLAMIC/ARAB CONFEDERATION OF PEOPLES.

For the most part, the Western Church has been taught, and has accepted without much question the idea that the fourth beast, and the legs and feet of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue, point to a revived Roman Empire. There is a bit of argument to favor a revived Roman Empire. I, like many, accepted that for many years. But I don’t any more. And in understanding this a little more clearly, digging deeper into scripture, and considering what is happening on earth in the past 100 years including right now, inclines me to see things through a different lens, and in fact allows me to focus my prayer and all that I do to be better in line with what I believe God is doing in these times. I appreciate you might be of different opinion re that.

DANIEL 2 – after the captive-prophet Daniel successfully revealed the entire kingly dream to Nebuchadnezzar, identifying the king as the head of gold:

Daniel 2
39 But after you shall arise another kingdom (#2) inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom (#3) of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth (#4) kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.
41 Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed (NOTE: ARAMAIC WORD OF MIXED: “ARAB” – the mixed people group) with ceramic clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
43 As you saw iron mixed (“ARAB”) with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.
44 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
45 Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.”

DAVID PAWSON – a respected bible commentator (he went home to be w Jesus in 2021) held to TWO THEORIES RE THE FOURTH KINGDOM – BTW Pawson was prior to Joel Richardson writing THE MIDEAST BEAST and agreeing w Pawson.

PAWSON THEORY #1 (most popular in the church world): “After that came the empire of Rome, and how symbolic it was: legs marching, trampling, crushing, and Rome marched through the world and extended the empire greater than ever before—such is the meaning”.

BEFORE WE CONTINUE W PAWSON’S THEORY #2 (RE ANOTHER INTERPRETATION) – let’s read some history from another commentator – Geoffrey King – who believes the two legs DO NOT represent the Roman Empire:
Geoffrey King (supporting THEORY #2) question THEORY #1 (revived Rome):
“….in A.D. 364 the Roman Empire split in two. There was the Eastern Empire with its capital in Constantinople and the Western Empire with its capital in Rome…..If you want to make two parts of the Roman Empire to be represented by the two legs, you are in difficulty because the Western Empire lasted only a few hundred years – (AUG 24, 410 – the Visigoths sacked Rome). The Eastern Empire lasted until 1453 (– until it was over-run by the Muslims.) You have to make this image stand on one leg for most of the time!”

NOTABLE IS THAT ALL OF THE DARK EMPIRES OVERTOOK THE DARK EMPIRE BEFORE IT:

Page 94 – “The Islamic Anti-Christ” – also by Joel Richardson – addresses 8 Beast empires (the eighth coming out of the seventh) also discussed in Rev 17:9-11.
COMMON FEATURES:
All ruled the Middle East.
All defeated, overcame, and replace their predecessor.
All ruled in Jerusalem.
Six (and at the time of John on Patmos during REV) were done, and one – Rome – was currently in place)
1. Egyptian
2. Assyrian
3. Babylonian
4. Persian
5. Greek
6. Roman – clearly A beast empire “is” (per Rev 17) during the days of John and Revelation
7. BIG QUESTION: Which “empire” took out the longer lasting Eastern Roman Empire? – Because THAT Empire, who is #7, will also be the empire from which Empire 8 will emerge.

History: In 395 A.D. the Roman Empire divided in two. East and West. Eastern became the Byzantine Roman Empire. Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453, and continued until 1909, and in fact it was not until 1923 that the Islamic caliphate was abolished (by a Muslim leader Ataturk, w Western-culture leanings, he determined the Caliphate was “TOO RADICAL”.

The revival and return of the Caliphate was/is therefore awaited – it’s clearly having its own birth pains in our season.
Notable is that the Ezekiel nation list (chapter 38) – this is a companion prophecy to an end-time gathering of nations against Israel) focuses on Turkey – the birthplace of Gentile Christianity (and the season of the Gentiles, and also the centerpiece of the Turkish Ottoman Empire and core to the Islamic Caliphate.

Page 184 – RE THE TWO LEGS OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S STATUE:
“Mideast Beast”:
“…..this is a perfect description of the global Islamic community, which from its beginnings has been divided between the two sects of Sunni and Sh’a Muslims. It is also a perfect fulfillment of the ancient prophecy declared over Ishmael, the father of the Arab (remember: Aramaic for “mixed”) people, who would forever be in conflict with other men and even his own brothers (Gen 16:12)”

Genesis 16:12
12 He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against every man,
And every man’s hand against him.
And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”

AND BACK TO DAVID PAWSON – THEORY #2:
Now what do the feet mean? (first Pawson mentions the possibility of a European alliance – pointing to a lead-role by a revived Roman Empire and an alliance of nations that for the most have their roots in a ROMANIC CULTURE. But then he (wisely) says this (having written this years ago, before much of what is now occurring throughout the whole world, began it spread):

Pawson: “But there is another possibility….

“When Rome fell, it fell first in the West, but not in the East until a thousand years after Christ. Who took over from Rome? In the area of the world in which God’s purposes are worked out, the area that covers Babylon and Jerusalem, who took over? The answer is the Muslims took over; the Arab world took over. When you think in that direction, a new thought occurs: could it be that the Arabs descended from Abraham could be those who present the final challenge to the God of Israel? And could it be that we should look for ten nations of Arabs uniting together against God’s people and therefore against God, and presenting the final challenge to the world? An uneasy federation of countries, some of which would be the (LEG# 1) iron of dictatorship and (LEG#2) some the clay of democracy, but joined together in a federation to establish world power –could that be also? That again is human opinion.” (PAWSON WASN’T THAT SURE WHEN HE WROTE THAT, YEARS AGO. I BELIEVE WE CAN BE MORE SURE, NOW)

The concept of ARAB (Aramaic: “MIXED”) nations (and the religion of Islam being the fourth “KINGDOM” is presented by David Pawson, and that flies in the face of the classical, convenient and questionably Euro-centered WESTERN LENS OF INTERPRETATION that has proclaimed that a REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE will be the fourth “RESISTANT COMPONENT” – the fourth empire, the fourth beast of further scripture.

Suggestion: read Joel Richardson/ I’ve mentioned him before:
“ISLAMIC ANTICHRIST” – read pages 80-100. “MIDEAST BEAST”. ALSO: “MYSTERY BABYLON”.

Richardson says re Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Mideast Beast, page 65)
“The dream was not intended to reveal the future of America or Europe. Instead the dream was simply showing Nebuchadnezzar those kingdoms that would succeed his own. Let’s briefly review the history of the region”…..(and then he does exactly that).

Richardson contends (and I agree – and here’s the picture again, for convenience):
1. Head of gold – Babylon (most all agree)
2. Chest and arms of silver – Medes-Persians (most all agree)
3. Belly and thighs of Bronze – Greece (most all agree)
4. Legs of iron – Islamic Caliphate.

GOOD QUESTION THEN: WHY is there NO ROMAN EMPIRE portrayed in the Nebuchadnezzar dream statue?
According to Joel Richardson, the Roman Empire for the most part failed to overlay the region of the world dominated by Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian rule, while all the others did, AND also the Caliphate state then, in rising up and taking out the eastern Roman Empire, did likewise.

This map contrasts the position of the Roman Empire (westward, primarily) to the other Empires (Babylon, Mede/Persian, then Greek that functionally OVERLAY each other in their positioning. That is notable when looking into Daniel 7’s vision and, per this study, considering the elimination of Rome as a prophetic participant nation empire in the plan of God (although it is definitely not out of the question that many more nations, if not even all nations, will be joining together in the final conflict, per scripture).

Page 67-68 Richardson: (the dream)….”is a Babylon-centered prophecy”.
“There are actually FIVE pieces of the statue:
1. HEAD: Gold
2. BREAST: Silver
3. BELLY: Brass/Bronze
4. LEGS: Iron (Pawson and Richardson – the historical Caliphate empire)
5. FEET: Part Iron, Part Clay (Richardson – the revived Caliphate empire)

A PRIMARY ARGUMENT AGAINST ISLAM BEING THE FOURTH EMPIRE OF DANIEL 2, OR BEING THE 4th BEAST OF DANIEL 7, is defeated by HISTORY:
Daniel 9:26 -the verse often used to argue in favor of revived Roman empire in last days.
The Arabs who hated the Jews comprised most of the army that attacked and destroyed Jerusalem.

TACITUS’ ACCOUNT:
at the beginning of the first century, Emperor Augustus made a series of sweeping reforms that led to dramatic changes in the ethnic make-up of the Roman armies. After Augustus’s reforms in AD 15, the only portion of the Roman army that continued to consist largely of Italians from Rome proper was the Praetorian Guard, an elite military unit whose job was to specifically guard the emperor and the tents of the generals. The remainder of the army was increasingly composed of anything but Italian soldiers. Instead, they were known as “provincials,” citizens who lived in the provinces—the outer fringes of the Empire, away from the capital of Rome. The “provincialization” of the army was true for all of the Roman legions of this time period, but it was most clearly and markedly the case for the Eastern legions that were used to attack Jerusalem.

“KNOWLEDGE WILL INCREASE” says Daniel.
We now have historical records telling us re TACITUS:

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was both a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire who wrote extensively concerning the specific period that we are now examining. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—have become vital sources of information from this period. Speaking of the Roman attack of Jerusalem, Tacitus detailed the specific legions and the peoples that primarily composed the attacking army: “Titus Caesar … found in Judaea three legions, the 5th, the 10th, and the 15th … To these he added the 12th from Syria, and some men belonging to the 18th and 3rd, whom he had withdrawn from Alexandria. This force was accompanied … by a strong contingent of Arabs, who hated the Jews with the usual hatred of neighbors.”

JOSEPHUS:
Later, Josephus also detailed the specific number of Arab soldiers who joined forces with the invading armies: “Malchus also, the king of Arabia, sent a thousand horsemen, besides five thousand footmen, the greatest part of which were archers; so that the whole army, including the auxiliaries sent by the kings, as well horsemen and footmen, when all were united together, amounted to sixty thousand.”

TO OUR POINT OF OPINION: CALIPHATE ACTIVITY THIS WEEK IN JULY 2021:
(Jay Sekulow emailed this week [2021]):
This heartbreaking situation is really getting out of control. In fact, we just warned the U.N. that if no action is taken, it is turning a blind eye to “genocide.”
Defenseless Christians in Nigeria live in constant fear of deadly violence and unthinkable devastation. Christian children aren’t safe going to school.
One Christian teen, Leah Sharibu, was abducted in 2018 by the Islamic militia, Boko Haram, which threatened to murder or enslave her because she refused to renounce her Christian faith. 18-year-old Leah Sharibu just spent her 4th birthday in captivity, and gave birth to a SECOND CHILD of her captors.
YOUR BLOOD SHOULD BE BOILING.
Enough is enough. We have dramatically expanded our efforts to defend persecuted Christians in Nigeria. In fact, ACLJ Senior Counsel for Global Affairs Mike Pompeo, who placed Nigeria on a U.S. persecution watchlist when he was Secretary of State and credited our work for helping him make that determination, is directly working with us.
Jordan recently delivered an oral intervention to the U.N. And we also just made our 18th U.N. submission demanding action to save Leah and protect Nigeria’s Christians.
Pray for Leah’s safe return to her family, as well as for those babies currently in the clutches of evil, and pray for all of Nigeria’s persecuted Christians.
Be their voice. Take action with us.

Let’s read just a LITTLE from Ezekiel and then read what Joel Richardson tells us – which clearly aligns with what David Pawson theorizes re the “ARAB” (mixed people) component of the end-times warring army campaign.

AS I OFTEN SAY: Don’t get stuck on the mysterious name “GOG” – it appears no place except in scripture, in Ezekiel re end-of-this-age (which we are studying) and then again in Revelation re the end of the 1,000 year millennial reign. BOTH TIMES the terminology is God’s title for the demonic leadership of TWO DIFFERENT rebellions.

Ezekiel 38:1 – 39:9
1 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog (likely Syria – there’s purpose in that conclusion), the prince of Rosh (Hebrew for “head” so perhaps a leader-title), Meshech, and Tubal (both are in Turkey), and prophesy against him,
3 and say, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.
4 I will turn you around (so we see Who is instigating things – it is God and His timing for this conflict and the settlement of all events of rebellion) put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.
5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
6 Gomer (central Turkey) and all its troops; the house of Togarmah (south eastern Turkey, near Syria) from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you.

Do you see a common thread here? Either GEOGRAPHICAL OR SPIRITUAL? Yes to both. These are the nations currently surrounding Israel. These are Muslim nations. These are nations that have chronically and consistently been the enemies of Israel since the beginning.

7 “Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them.
8 After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.
9 You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.”
10 “Thus says the Lord God: ‘On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan:
11 You will say, “I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’—
12 to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land.
(ADDITIONAL NATIONS JOINING THE ASSAULT – and of course there are even verses that point to most if not EVERY nation coming against Israel in the final battle):
13 Sheba (Ethiopia), Dedan (Saudi Arabia), the merchants of Tarshish (Lebanon), and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’ ” ’

Turkey, Persia (Iran), Ethiopia, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Shinar (Iraq – mentioned in Zechariah), and then there’s catch-all phrases like “other nations with you”.

Meanwhile Israel is situated squarely within the growing land mass of Islam.

“THE ISLAMIC ANTI-CHRIST page 92: Joel Richardson says re the nations of Ezekiel’s prophecy:
“Thus in the final assessment, five of the eight nations mentioned by Ezekiel occupy modern Turkey and possibly some of the southern Russian regions near the Caucasus Mountains, as well as some of the Turkic nations of central Asia. Obviously, the Lord directed Ezekiel to significantly highlight Turkey”.

(I’VE BEEN SAYING “KEEP YOUR EYES ON TURKEY” for years)

OF NOTE TO US IS THAT TURKEY is where the Gentile church was fundamentally birthed – the seven churches of the book of Revelation are all there. The failure of that church, the backslid nature of that geographic region, inclines itself to a national fulfillment of this warning to every saint:
Matthew 12:43-45
43 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.
44 Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.
45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

In light of Matt 12:45 you can imagine the dark void that the “withdrawal” of Christianity has created within the region of Turkey.
BACK TO RICHARDSON:
“The other three nations mentioned – Libya, Sudan, and Iran – together with Turkey form a perfect circle around Israel finds herself surrounded on all four sides by the Islamic nations of the Antichrist’s empire”.

NOW BACK TO EZEKIEL 38:
16 You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.”
17 Thus says the Lord God: “Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them?

18 “And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord God, “that My fury will show in My face.
19 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel,

21 I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord God. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother.
22 And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed (re Zech 12-14); I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
23 Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’

The LEGS and FEET of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue MIGHT to some small degree, be equated to ROME and even to the rest of the nations who have joined forces for the final battle INITIATED BY GOD.

BUT WE NOT WANT TO MISS THIS CRITICAL POINT AS WE GET TO DANIEL 7:
7 “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.

The DIFFERENCE between the first three kingdoms and the fourth beast kingdom is that all the others are Geo-Political, inspired and satanically motivated.
BUT….
The FINAL KINGDOM was, is and will be a SPIRITUAL DEMONIC KINGDOM, overtly and blatantly religious in nature, comprised of the MIXED (ARAB) PEOPLES and then joined up w other (perhaps even all) nations:

Zechariah 12:1-3
The burden of the word of the LORD against Israel. Thus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him:
2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.
3 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.

Hebrews 10:24-25
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

PETER ASKS US THIS, IN LIGHT OF THE DESTRUCTION THAT HE PROPHESIES IN THE TIMES OF THE APPEARANCE OF MESSIAH – which:
2 Peter 3:10-13
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

There is way more to this ongoing story.
1. God loves the Muslim people. Their roots are from Abraham and there were and remain promises to them because of that bloodline. So we pray for those people, pray they will encounter, in biblical truth and accuracy, their one and only Messiah, Jesus – which will require a supernatural revelation to divorce them from the counterfeit presentation of “Jesus” from the quran.
2. The scriptures (above and elsewhere) containing blanket statements like “all nations” points to a worldwide confederacy of hatred and animosity towards Israel (which is yet another reason we are told to pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
Psalms 122:6
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.

That peace will only finally come when the Prince of Peace is welcomed in, by His Jewish people.

Here’s a sobering image comparo: The illustrated beasts of Daniel’s vision, compared to the recently installed statue outside the United Nations in New York City:

All scripture NKJV

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Who is supposed to get dismayed? And when is the big Dismay?

Posted on February 24, 2022 by ez3728

The prophet Jeremiah ministered to the Jewish people during some seriously tough times. I’d recommend anyone/everyone read at least the first 9 chapters of this prophetic book.

By Chapter 10 things were still heating up and would shortly be tougher still. The Jews were facing imminent invasion and captivity, not because God was unable to protect His people, but instead because His covenant people had:
(a.) refused to hear and
(b.) refused to heed the word of the Lord.

Jeremiah 10:2
2 Thus says the LORD:
“Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;
Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven,
For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.

Unpacking Jer 10:2
First, our God admonishes/advises the people of God to not learn the way of the Gentiles, for all sorts of reasons revealed throughout scripture. We are not meant to fit in. We’re in fact divinely purposed to be visible lights in a world we’re assured will be growing darker, particularly in the times in which we are living. (re Isa 60:1-2)

Second, our God tells/advises the people of God to not be dismayed by the signs of heaven.

At the end of that one verse we’re told that Dismay will be the reaction of the Gentiles – the ones unaware or ignorant of the word of the Lord and the plans that the Lord has revealed to “whosoever will” himself/herself purpose to hear, open, read and then tremble at the word of God – all of which will be fulfilled, no matter who might choose to speak, preach, teach, sing, prophesy or proclaim otherwise – by the end of chapter 14 the Lord, via Jeremiah, addresses all those futile scenarios.

Meanwhile, Someone else later mentions signs of heaven. Jesus.

Luke 21:25-28
(Signs in the heavens)
25 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;
(Dismay, failing hearts, fear – a fulfillment of the Haggai 2:6-7 God-shaking work that’s also spoken of in Hebrews 2:27 – a work timed to occur towards the conclusion of the age, just prior to our Savior’s return – the intent being to get the attention of the Gentiles, as well as the full attention of the saints).
26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
(Below we’re told “Then” meaning: “At that time” – so we’d do well to ditch the biblically unsupported teachings re these words in Luke 21 having been fulfilled as a result of the 70AD temple destruction…
27 Then (at that time) they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
(So what are the people of God, on earth in those days, to do instead of succumbing to dismay and panic, the result be failing hearts?)
28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

(NKJV)

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Systemic Sin

Posted on November 23, 2021 by ez3728

Haggai 2:6-9
6 “For thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land;
7 and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts.
8 ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the LORD of hosts.
9 The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the LORD of hosts.”

Our great God, revealing Himself via the prophet Haggai, identifies Himself in this timely prophecy as “Lord of Hosts”. Yahweh Ts’va-ot, aka: Warrior God. Commander and Chief of the armies of heaven. It is one title of our Lord that invites our understanding recognition that He is on the Divine Warpath. These verses point to the conclusion of the age, when our returning Lord will, to restore peace and glory to their proper state, necessarily, forcefully overthrow all of the rebelling nations and set things right. (Zech 12, Isa 30, elsewhere). Verse 6 speaks of God’s intended shaking work, purposed to get the attention of the people of the world, all of us, particularly His saints. That shaking work is beginning on our watch. The prophetic math provides us a timeline to understand some of the WHENS of God. There’s a search facility on the www.ez3728.com website where you can access other supportive writings.

All that to say: The many troubling events on earth in these days – locally, nationally, and globally, are in large part part of that shaking. Biblical history confirms more folks come to their Lord when there’s discomfort rather than when there’s comfort. Without a sober, prayerful, biblical God-grid of understanding, the world (individuals, people groups, govts) look to decry, blame, accuse march, riot, loot, even kill others who are in disagreement w their perspective or cause or complaint, or skin color or ethnicity or social status (high or low). Meanwhile the problem is not any one symptom in particular. It is the daily-increasing fullness of the sin-state on earth that will eventually climax in an environment completely contrary to the holiness of God. And then our Lord will return.

The saints are told this by the One who has saved us:
Luke 21:25-28
25 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;
26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

The issue is SYSTEMIC SIN. It began in the Garden. It’s flourished throughout the millennia because mankind for the most part, continues to be unkind (man-unkind?) one to another, and then stems from disobedience a holy God – a holy God Who will not change, adjust, diminish, evolve, in His holiness to become “relevant” to our devolving culture.

It is not systemic racism (although racism needs to be addressed in a holy manner)
It is not systemic governmental corruption (although that too is a grievous evil)
It is not systemic anything in particular. It is systemic sin.

In some ways, the people of God bear much of the responsibility for not preaching (of course, in love) against sin.
The salt of the earth has dropped the ball on being the salt of the earth, and the earth has and continues to going rotten without that prophetic preservative: Spiritual Salt.

Saints – our only safe place is repentance, surrender and holiness. Isa 60:1-2 – two conditions at the same time: Light coming upon the people of God. Darkness covering the whole earth. Awake to righteousness. It is no time for any compromise. “Having done all to stand” (Ephesians), says Rabbi Paul.
Not-Yet Saints – your only safe place is repentance and surrender and holiness. Your own good deeds are insufficient to attain to holiness. Holiness is in our Savior.
Stubborn Sinners – God loves you so much He even promises to increase the shaking the work, troubling you and the world until all who would finally surrender, will surrender. And sadly we’re told many will never surrender, and instead will even cry for the rocks to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb:
Revelation 6:15-17
15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains,
16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

SYSTEMIC SIN is the problem, and that takes on many forms.
Meanwhile: Sin will never solve the sin crisis.
More laws of man will not be the remedy.

The saints ought to know better. It’s all in the Book.
Don’t let the issues (real or not) be THE ISSUE.
THE ISSUE is the upcoming return of the Lord.

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God’s promise to Abraham, His friend, forever. Including now.

Posted on May 12, 2021 by ez3728

The first decade (maybe two) of my own salvation, this former living-in-abject-darkeness Jewish hippie pretty much considered himself a Christian, someone who had been saved, redeemed, delivered by Jesus Christ. And all that is true and remains true. My being Jewish was sort of regarded, by me, as what I had been born into, but now I was moving on to Christianity.

Meanwhile, as I pressed into learning the word of the Lord (and learning from the Lord), it became more and more apparent that my own “Jewish-thing” wasn’t simply a family culture or bloodline, and that the biblical story of the “Jewish-thing” was not simply overwritten by a savior with a Greek name: Jesus Christ.

Jesus is Greek for Y’Shua/Joshua, and “Christ” is Greek for Meschiach/Messiah.

And it runs way deeper than that. The roots of our Christian faith are addressed throughout the New Testament. A solid read is this excerpt by Rabbi Paul to the Romans:

Romans 11:12-27

12 Now if their (the Jewish people’s) fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!

13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,

14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. 15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

16 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree,

18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.”

20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.

21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.

22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.

23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,

And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;

SOMETHING CRITICAL FOR US ALL: Abraham has a God-encounter and receives a promise from the Creator of the universe – I’ve written about this before but it’s timely to mention this again:

Genesis 12:3 (the LORD speaking to Abraham):

3 “I will bless those who bless you,

And I will curse him who curses you;

And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

That verse is sadly not given justice by “I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you”. The Hebrew establishes a higher bar of accountability for the “those”.

The Hebrew actually says:
I will BARUCH those who BARUCH you;

And I will ARAR those who QALAL you”

 BARUCH indeed means blessing. Accurate.

But looking at line two anyone can see that the original text presents takes the false liberty to present two distinct words as “curse”.

WORD ONE: “ARAR” means “CURSE”. (FYI: When the ark safely landed after the destruction of the world by a flood, the CURSE was REVERSED. It was a start-over initiated for society, by God, by way of global judgment. Noah named the mountain “CURSE-REVERSED”. ARARAT.)

WORD TWO: “QALAL” means to brush-off, to treat lightly – basically saying failure to treat something as critically important as it may be.

God was promising His friend (Isa 41:8) Abraham that the bar by which Abraham’s descendants were to be acknowledged and treated was WAY HIGHER than not simply not cursing them. In essence the Lord was warning the world (particularly, I believe, those who would be reading the words of scripture) that failure to regard the Jewish people and even the Jewish state –  even during their 2,000 year season of partial blindness – will result in a curse. Just sayin’.

The prophetic plan of the upcoming times deserves and in fact demans our understanding of both the heart of God and the plans of God, so that we might be effective in His will.

Zechariah 12:1-4

1 The burden of the word of the LORD against Israel. Thus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him:

2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.

3 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.

Here’s today’s Fox News account (and it’s still better than other accounts)

https://www.foxnews.com/us/protests-break-out-across-u-s-as-violence-escalates-between-israel-and-hamas

And here’s truth worth listening to, from a man who loves God and loves Israel. It’s my understanding this was recorded 11 May 2021.

https://fb.watch/5qJT9sbud8/

Pray for Israel, saints. Pray for safety for the innocents. Pray that their eyes are opened to the desperate need for their one and only Savior Y’Shua/Jesus. Pray for the praying saints who are in Israel at this time. I spoke with a family today. They are pressing in to the Lord, knowing these are the days of harvest as well as days of troubles and shakings.

Scripture NKJV

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The spiritual storyline is not Covid or Jeff Bezos’ yacht. Ground Zero is Israel. Keep your eyes there.

Posted on May 10, 2021 by ez3728

Apologies for the vast amount of time without a post directly to this site. I have been called into and therefore have been busy teaching topics and books of the Bible that have (and continue to) deserve and demand a good deal of research and writing as well as my prayer and meditation focus, and although this blog has been neglected, writings and ministry have not. I am planning to perhaps post links to those writings, later, on this site. Meanwhile there’s a podcast available for listening or download at www.podbean.com or itunes podcast. In either, search: EZ3728.

The past few weeks in particular I have been specifically pressed upon by the Lord to be praying for Israel. Avner Boskey’s justifiably lengthy and (as always expected from him)  biblically accurate blog was in my inbox this AM.  I want to share that, along with a link to a newsarticle from the FoxNews site. That article sat below the far-less critical “news” about The Gates divorce, Jeff Bezo’s yacht and even the ongoing world plague/political football called Covid.

It is important for us to understand the plans of our Lord in these days prior to His return. The Haggai 2:6-7 shaking is for the saved and unsaved alike – to wake up, draw attention, draw to intimacy, call to repentance. High on His priority list, our faithful-God is going hard after His beloved people, the Jewish people, and their Jewish land. Our Savior’s feet will stand on the Mount of Olives. There will be a new temple. Our Savior will rule and reign from that place. THAT has been the theme and topics of my personal teaching and ministry these past few years, particularly this past season.

My beloved friend Avner Boskey: His and his family’s life and ministry is literally prophetic boots on the ground in Israel. Besides praying for Israel itself, please keep him, his family, and other like him lifted up in prayer during these critical days. Our adversary despises truth. Israel is being condemned for their current actions. That actually makes prophetic sense as well. And here’s what it is leading up to:

Zechariah 12:1-3

1 The burden of the word of the LORD against Israel. Thus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him:

2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.

3 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.

AND ALSO:

Zechariah 14:1-4

1 Behold, the day of the LORD is coming,

And your spoil will be divided in your midst.

2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem;…

3 Then the LORD will go forth

And fight against those nations,

As He fights in the day of battle.

4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,

Which faces Jerusalem on the east.

And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,

From east to west,

Making a very large valley;

Half of the mountain shall move toward the north

And half of it toward the south.

(NKJV)

The FoxNews article (link below) is “reporting” – some of it is accurate. Other news sites are far worse, clearly only speaking lies. The Avner Boskey article is truthful.

Pray saints.

THE FOXNEWS ARTICLE THIS AM:

https://www.foxnews.com/world/israeli-police-palestinians-clash-at-jerusalem-holy-site

AVNER’S POST:

The flames of jihad on the Temple Mount

Posted on by Avner Boskey

World media are filling their screens and blogs with violence – pictures of explosions and fire on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount; videos clips of Israeli SWAT teams pushing back rioters who are assaulting the police with Molotov gasoline bombs, rocks, fireworks, boulders and clubs. World power diplomats are calling on Israel to exercise maximum restraint, and cluck their tongues in disapproval at Israel’s ‘disruption of peaceful Muslim worship.’ These events may be on the news, but they are not new. The following is a brief reminder of history and context regarding riots on the Temple Mount.

The origin of connections between the Temple Mount and Islamic tradition

Muhammad actually never set foot on the soil of the Promised Land, dying in Medina in 632 AD.  Sixty years after his death in 691-692 AD the now-golden Dome of the Rock was constructed in Jerusalem, while the black-domed al-Aqsa mosque was completed in 701 AD. In later years an Islamist tradition developed that in the year 620 AD Muhammad rode a mythical horse named al-Buraq, taking his legendary ‘night journey and ascension’ (in Arabic  al-’Isrā’ wal-Mi‘rāj) to the ‘distant masjid or mosque’ (in Arabic  al-Masjidi ‘l-’Aqṣá); Quran 17:1, Surat al-Isrā’). But in 620 AD Islamist jihadi forces had not yet invaded any country, including Israel. Jihadi battles were happening only in what is today called Saudi Arabia. In 633 AD Syria was invaded, and only in 638 A.D. was Israel conquered by jihadi armies. The al-Aqsa mosque never existed in Muhammad’s day. What it represents is a form of Islamist Replacement Theology spin, where Islamic people and purported Islamic events were artificially injected into Jewish sites, replacing them with a false Islamist identity. The Islamist attempt to destroy and invalidate Jewish connections to the Temple Mount is at the heart of this age-old conflict. It is Replacement Theology on steroids, backed up by jihadi invasion, conquest and oppression.

 

Napoleon versus the British Mandate

Napoleon Bonaparte declared on April 20, 1799:

  • “Rightful [Jewish] heirs of Palestine! The great nation [France] . . . calls on you . . . to take over that which has been conquered and, with that nation’s support, to remain master of it against all comers . . . Hasten! Now is the moment, which may not return for thousands of years, to claim the restoration of civic rights among the population of the universe which had been shamefully withheld from you for thousands of years, your political existence as a nation among the nations, and the unlimited natural right to worship in accordance with your faith, publicly and most probably forever!”

Yet when England occupied those territories, it had a distinctly different vision. Article 13 of the League of Nations Mandatory Charter given to Britain in 1922 denied the United Kingdom’s right to interfere with the Temple Mount site or with the administration of ‘purely Muslim holy places:’ “Nothing in this mandate shall be construed as conferring upon the Mandatory authority to interfere with the fabric or the management of purely Moslem sacred shrines, the immunities of which are guaranteed.’ The King’s Order-in-Council issued by the government authorities of Mandatory Palestine in 1934 also confirmed the Ottoman religious status quo. Jews were forbidden from accessing the Temple Mount, which was now considered by Christians to be an exclusively Muslim holy place.

The Mountain which had been conquered by jihad and made Judenrein by the sword of Islam was now having its anti-Jewish ‘Islamist Replacement Theology status’ validated by Britain, the fast-fading heir to a Christian and Protestant empire. A British Christian writer expressed his anger at Britain’s realpolitik submissiveness to Islam in 1922: “To permit a false religion to hold sway in ‘the city of the Lord’ (Matt. 5:35), or any other portion of the Holy Land, would be to thwart and countermine God’s set purpose, and be altogether contrary to His plans regarding the earth and man upon it” (Frank G. Jannaway, Palestine and the World; London: Maranatha Press, 1922; pages 232-233).

 

The Grand Mufti al-Husseini and the al-Aqsa pogroms

Starting in the 1920’s and continuing up to the present Islamist leaders have falsely charged that there is a national Jewish goal of seizing the Temple Mount and rebuilding a Jewish Temple there.

  • Haj Amin al-Husseini was one of the main instigators of the April 1920 Nebi Musa riots outside of Jerusalem, virulently renouncing the 1917 Balfour Declaration (which was favorable to the establishment of a Jewish national home).  Six Jews were murdered and 216 Jews injured (of them 18 critically) in that riot by Arab mobs. About 300 Jews were evacuated from the Old City of Jerusalem at that time. Al-Husseini was charged by the British with inciting Jerusalem’s Arab crowds and was sentenced in absentia to 10-years imprisonment by a military court. He fled to Syria after the riots, but was welcomed back by the British and appointed as Grand Mufti of Jerusalem in 1921.

 

  • A 1922 Arabic leaflet penned by Sheikh Abd al-Qadir al-Muzaffar entitled Public Call to the Muslim People from your Brethren, the Muslims of Jerusalem and the Rest of Palestine: “The Zionist body which is trying to create a Jewish kingdom in Palestine, dreams of taking from us the al-Aqsa Mosque, built upon the ruins of Solomon’s temple, and of reconstructing their temple…”  (An Aesthetic Occupation: The Immediacy of Architecture and the Palestine Conflict, by Daniel Bertand Monk, Duke University Press, 2002, page 83).

 

  • On Yom Kippur, September 1928, ten armed thugs dispatched by Islamist leadership attack Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall, shouting “Death to the Jewish dogs!” and “Strike, strike!”

 

  • In September-October 1928 al-Husseini began to distribute leaflets throughout Mandatory Palestine and the Arab world claimed that the Jews were planning to take over the al-Aqsa Mosque. The leaflet stated that the British Mandatory Government was “responsible for any consequences of any measures which the Moslems may adopt for the purpose of defending the holy Buraq themselves in the event of the failure of the Government.” The Moslem Supreme Council stated in a memorandum, “Having realized by bitter experience the unlimited greedy aspirations of the Jews in this respect, Moslems believe that the Jews’ aim is to take possession of the Mosque of al-Aqsa gradually on the pretense that it is the Temple.” and it advised the Jews “to stop this hostile propaganda which will naturally engender a parallel action in the whole Moslem world, the responsibility for which will rest with the Jews.”

 

  • On Thursday August 15 1929, a commemoration of the Jewish Fast of the Ninth of Av occurred at the Wailing Wall. On Friday August 16 (the Islamic day of prayer), the mawlid (Arabic for the birth) or mawsin an-nabi (Arabic for ‘the feast of the prophet’) – that is, the birth of Muhammad – was celebrated on the esplanade of the Temple Mount, As the crowd came down from the Mount, they attacked the Jewish prayer area, burning prayer books, Torah scroll arks and cupboards, and destroying paper prayer notes left in the cracks of the Wall. Rioting quickly spread to the Jewish commercial area of town.

 

  • On Friday August 23, 1929 thousands of Arab villagers who had been incited by bloodthirsty preaching in local mosques streamed into Jerusalem from the surrounding countryside to pray on the Temple Mount, many armed with sticks and knives. For five days violent Muslim mobs attacked Jewish communities in Jerusalem, Motza, Jaffa, Haifa and Safed. Approximately 135 Jews were murdered and 340 wounded during that period.

 

  • On Saturday August 24, 1929 Arab mobs attacked the ancient Jewish Quarter of Hebron killing and raping men, women and children and looting Jewish property. Over 65 Jews were killed and 58 were wounded. Many of the victims were mutilated, others were tortured. Most of the 116 Arab fatalities and 232 wounded throughout the British Mandate during those five days were as a result of military confrontation with British security forces.

 

  • In all the above cases the Muslim population had been stirred up by false rumors that the Jews were attempting to seize the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.

The British Shaw Commission of Enquiry concluded, “The outbreak in Jerusalem on the 23rd of August was from the beginning an attack by Arabs on Jews for which no excuse in the form of earlier murders by Jews has been established . . . The fundamental cause, without which in our opinion disturbances either would not occurred or would not have been little more than a local riot, is the Arab feeling of animosity and hostility towards the Jews” (Report of the Commission on the disturbances of August 1929, Command paper 3530; Shaw Commission report; 1930).

 

Husseini, Hamas, Hitler and Hassan

Haj Amin Al-Husseini later spearheaded the Arab Revolt (1936-39) which led to the death of over 300 Jews and the destruction of many Jewish farms and orchards.

Al-Husseini co-operated with three forces which have played a strong role in genocidal attacks against the Jewish people:

  • Hassan al-Banna (founder of the Muslim Brotherhood)
  • Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam (founder of the anti-Zionist and anti-British Black Hand [al-Kaff al-Aswad], and spiritual doyen of Hamas
  • Adolf Hitler (whom he met on November 28, 1941 where they collaborated on planning a Holocaust of all Jews in the Promised Land)

In close cooperation with Adolf Eichmann and an Einsatzkommando (Special Operations force and mobile killing squad) under the control of SS Obersturmbannführer Walther Rauff,  the Mufti Al-Husseini planned to build crematoriums for the Jews in the Dothan Valley of Samaria. The testimony of Faiz Bay Idrisi, a senior Arab officer in the British Mandatory police, stated, “I remember what was said in police circles and among supporters of the Mufti in those months . . . Haj Amin al-Husseini’s master plan was to establish in the Dothan Valley, close to Shechem, giant crematoriums like Auschwitz, into which would be brought the Jews of Palestine, Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, and even North Africa, in order to slaughter them with the methods of the S.S. who operated in the death camps in Europe.”

When Muhammad’s descendent occupied al-Aqsa

Jordan’s King Abdullah I bin Al-Hussein was a 38th generation direct descendant of Muhammad through the House of Hashim [Hashemite]. As conqueror of the Temple Mount in May 1948, he oversaw the following:

  • the exile of all Jews from Jordanian-controlled Jerusalem
  • the settling of Arabs in their place
  • the demolishing and destruction of fifty-eight synagogues in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City
  • the systematic destruction of 38,000 ancient Jewish graves on the Mount of Olives
  • the transformation of the Old City of Jerusalem into a Judenrein city (a Nazi term meaning ‘cleansed of Jews’)
  • the transformation of the Western Wall into an exclusively Islamic holy site.

For more information see Jerusalem Divided: the Armistice Regime, 1947-1967, by Raphael Israeli, Psychology Press, 2002,  page 24.

 

What happened in June 1967?

On June 7, 1967 the Israel Defense Forces captured the Old City of Jerusalem. After nearly 2,000 years the Temple Mount was once again in Jewish hands. On June 17, 1967 then-Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan met Islamic religious authorities on the Temple Mount. It was decided to permit the Jordanian Awqaf  (waqf) Ministry to continue to administer the site. Jews and Christians were given the right to visit the Temple Mount provided that they respected Muslims’ religious sensibilities, but they were not allowed to pray there. Only the Western Wall was to be recognized as the Jewish place of prayer. Muslim were in charge of ‘religious sovereignty’ on the Temple Mount, while ‘overall sovereignty’ became Israel’s.  Israel would be responsible for security around the perimeter of the site, while the Jordanian-controlled Jerusalem Waqf would be responsible for events within the compound. Today, the Jerusalem Waqf controls the Temple Mount, schools, orphanages, Islamic libraries and museums, mosques, the Shari’a courts as well as many residential and commercial properties in greater Jerusalem.

‘Al Aqsa is in danger!’ October 1990

In early October 1990 a small Jewish extremist religious group (the ‘Temple Mount Faithful’) stated that they were going to lay a cornerstone for a Third Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.  On 8 October 1990, mosque loudspeakers in the Kidron Valley and on the Mount of Olives proclaimed that “al-Aqsa was in danger.” The immediate result was an Islamic riot where 17-20 Palestinians were killed and over 100 others injured (after they attacked Israeli Border Police on the Temple Mount).

According to the Israeli Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Events on Temple Mount on 8 October 1990, “The members of the Waqf knew that the High Court had refused the Temple Mount Faithful petition to lay the cornerstone of the Third Temple, and did not respond to requests by Israel Police officers on the morning of the incident to calm the crowd. This, even after the police informed the Waqf that they would also prevent the Temple Mount Faithful, and anyone else, from visiting the area, though such visits are allowed by law… The incident itself began when, suddenly, violent and threatening calls were sounded over the loudspeakers “Allahu Akbar” [Allah is Greater], “Jihad” [Holy War], “Itbah al-Yahud” [Slaughter the Jews]). Immediately afterwards, enormous amounts of rocks, construction materials and metal objects were thrown at Israeli policemen who were present at the site. Many in the incited, rioting mob threw stones and metal objects from a very short range, and some even wielded knives. The actions of the rioters, and certainly the inciters, constituted a threat to the lives of the police, the thousands of worshippers at the Western Wall and to themselves. This was a serious criminal offense committed by masses who were incited by preachers over loudspeakers, and this is what led to the tragic chain of events . . . Nineteen policemen were injured as well as nine Western Wall worshippers. According to Police statistics, 20 people were killed and 52 injured on the Temple Mount.”

“A new Israeli temple in the place of al Aqsa mosque” – September 1996

On September 24, 1996 a new archeological exhibit called ‘the Rabbinic tunnel’ was opened to both the Israeli public and international tourists. It was the culmination of nearly 30 years of archeological excavations outside of the Temple Mount’s external buttress walls. A tunnel was dug outside of these supporting walls which had been constructed by Herod the Great in order to expand the workable surface of the Temple Mount. The tunnel and the retaining walls were not part of any Temple at any period in history.

Even though the tunnel was more than two football fields away from the al-Aqsa mosque and totally outside the Islamic precincts, the head of the PLO Yasser Arafat declared that the opening of the tunnel was a “big crime against our religious and holy places.” Palestinian Authority spokesman Sa’eb Erekat declared, “Well, the thing is … it was the Israelis who announced that they will open this tunnel in order to build … a new temple now in the place of the Al-Aqsa Mosque” (CNN, September 29, 1996).

On September 24, 1996 Voice of Palestine radio urged listeners to “move immediately and effectively to face this serious criminal scheme. We appeal to them all to shoulder their religious and national responsibilities in these serious circumstances and to confront these painful incidents and tragic dangers facing holy Jerusalem” (Voice of Palestine radio from Jericho monitored by BBC, September 24, 1996, 1050 GMT).

On September 25, the Palestinian Authority and Arafat’s Fatah faction brought busloads of Bir Zeit University students to attack Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint outside Ramallah. Molotov cocktails and rocks were thrown at the IDF who initially repulsed them with rubber bullets and tear gas. Whereas at other times PA police had previously prevented crowds from approaching Israeli checkpoints, this time they stood aside. As the rioting spiraled out of control, PA police joined in, firing on Israeli soldiers.

In a speech in Gaza at that time, Arafat invoked Islamic references to war, reminding the crowd that “to the believers who fight for Allah, kill and are killed, heaven is promised” (quoted in The New York Times, Oct. 4, 1996).

In three days of violence 14 Israeli soldiers and 44 Palestinians were killed. The violence had been stirred up by the Palestinian Authority. It spread a poisonously false charge that al-Aqsa was under attack. It created out-of-control violent attacks by Palestinian Arabs on Israeli troops and civilians. This was a repeat of the Islamist violence against Jews which had exploded in 1920, 1928-29, 1936 and 1990.

 

The rose of Sharon and the rise of Sharon – September 2000

On September 28, 2000, then-opposition leader of Israel Ariel Sharon visited the al-Aqsa compound accompanied by a large number of armed security guards. After Sharon left, a violent Palestinian demonstration erupted with people throwing stones and other projectiles at Israeli riot police. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the crowd, injuring 24 people. On September 29, 2000, Israel deployed 2,000 riot police to the mosque. After Friday prayers Muslims hurled stones at the police and at Jewish worshippers gathered at the Western Wall. The police then stormed the compound, firing both rubber bullets and live ammunition at the rioting Palestinians (4 killed and 200 wounded).

Israeli Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh reported on September 19, 2002, that the rioting and the official reason behind it were planned and fabricated in advance by the Palestinian leadership:

  • Imad Faluji, the PA Communications Minister, admitted on October 11, 2001, that the violence had been planned in July, far in advance of Sharon’s ‘provocation.’ He said: “Whoever thinks that the intifada broke out because of the despised Sharon’s visit to Al-Aksa Mosque, is wrong, even if this visit was the straw that broke the back of the Palestinian people. This intifada was planned in advance, ever since President Arafat’s return from the Camp David negotiations . . .”

 

  • More than a year later, on the first anniversary of the intifada, West Bank Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti gave an interview on October 22, 2001 to the London-based Arabic newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat in which he admitted that he had played a direct role in igniting the intifada. He said: “I knew that . . . when Sharon reached al-Aksa Mosque, this was the most appropriate moment for the outbreak of the intifada . . . The night prior to Sharon’s visit, I participated in a panel on a local television station and I seized the opportunity to call on the public to go to al-Aksa Mosque in the morning . . . We tried to create clashes without success because of the differences of opinion that emerged with others in al-Aksa compound at the time . . . After Sharon left, I remained for two hours in the presence of other people, we discussed the manner of response and how it was possible to react in all the cities and not just in Jerusalem. We contacted all [the Palestinian] factions” (How the war began, Khaled Abu Toameh, September 19, 2002)

 

Close to 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis were killed in these clashes, which lasted five years.

Once again, the 2000 AD Islamist violence was deliberately triggered against Jews. The fig leaf was a supposed Jewish attack on al-Aqsa mosque, but the real reasons were more sinister and had to do with another goal – jihadi destruction of the Jewish people’s state.

To view how Islamists perceive these events, watch Al Jazeera’s program.

 

The Ramadan riots – July 2017

On July 14, 2017 three Islamist terrorists attacked and murdered two Arab Israeli policemen at the conclusion of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan.  Within a very short time their terrorist attack was being justified in Islamic circles (surprise, surprise) as a noble response to a ‘Jewish attack on the sanctity of al-Aqsa mosque.’ This false charge exploded like fireworks on a haystack, spreading like wildfire throughout the world’s media outlets. British commentator Melanie Phillips has written an excellent commentary on this dynamic – Incitement, lies and the strange eclipse of the Dome of the Rock.

Note the declarations of the most prominent Islamist leaders at the time of these riots, and how they echo the bloodthirsty cries of Haj Amin al-Husseini and his comrades:

  • Mahmoud Al-Habbash, PA chief shari’a justice and religious affairs advisor to ‘Abbas,: “Responsibility for the Al-Aqsa mosque is the exclusive right of the Palestinians, and Israeli intervention in the affairs of Al-Aqsa constitutes aggression against the Muslims’ religious and political rights”

 

  • The Fatah Revolutionary Council “calls for holding demonstrations headed toward Jerusalem from the adjacent cities, villages, and refugee camps, and extends congratulations, commendation, and pride to our people in Jerusalem who guard Al-Aqsa mosque like the apple of their eye”

 

  • PLO executive committee member and Jerusalem Affairs department head Ahmad Qurei warned “The government of Israel and its executive branches are continuing to harm the Al-Aqsa mosque, pilfer its contents, and forcibly lay their hands on the mosque’s entire noble compound”

 

  • Fatah Revolutionary Council member and spokesman Osama Al-Qawasmeh emphasized: “The Fatah movement will never allow the Israeli plan for emptying the Al-Aqsa mosque and Jerusalem’s Old City of its original inhabitants, the Palestinian people, to pass . . . Jerusalem and its centerpiece, Al-Aqsa mosque, represent a red line in the fullest and deepest sense of the words, and that there will be no peace and stability unless Jerusalem is restored to its Palestinian owners.”

 

  • Hamas political bureau head Isma’il Haniya said: “Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem are a red line . . . The occupation’s plots will be carried out over our dead bodies”

 

  • Sheikh Raed Alah, leader of the northern branch of the Islamic movement in Israel, wrote: “As long as Al-Aqsa mosque is occupied, it is in constant danger. This danger will pass only if the Israeli occupation is removed. This means that the Israeli occupation is the source of the danger threatening Al-Aqsa mosque . . . and the attacks against it will intensify as long as it [remains] occupied . . .”

 

  • Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars and a prominent religious leader for the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and the Islamic Movement in Israel, tweeted: “Standing at the battlefront and at the head of the jihad in the land of prophecies and the place where the Prophet arrived in the Night Journey [i.e. Al-Aqsa] will continue until Allah alone declares victory and fulfills his promise.” “The existence of the Zionists is alien, oppressive, aggressive, and criminal. It is inconceivable for it to persist. It is undoubtedly [destined for] perdition”

 

Those who love Israel and believe in God’s divine hand accomplishing her restoration in our day – need to be aware of these dark machinations on the part of those who oversee the waqf of al-Aqsa and those who stir up violence among Palestinian and Muslims worldwide.

 

The current round of Ramadan riots – May 2021

When Ramadan began in late April 2021, Israeli police put up anti-riot barriers beside Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate, preventing young Arabs from gathering in the evenings. At the same time, violent videos were being posted on TikTok of Muslims attacking religious Jews in Jerusalem. Simultaneously, an Israeli court decision from 1973 evicting Arab squatters from property (originally Jewish owned in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrach area) was finally about to be actualized. On April 22, a far-right Jewish group clashed with Muslims in front of the Damascus Gate, with some wounded on each side.

The Hamas terror organization in Gaza declared that Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque were being threatened, and avowed that the “gates of hell” (an Arabic euphemism for ‘total war’) would be opened. Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Lebanon’s Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah simultaneously began banging warm drums and threatening hostilities. Jerusalem Post reporter Seth Frantzman explains: “The statements by Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran are not isolated. They occurred as a coordinated message . . . preparing the ground for further violence . . . This is also a Hamas ploy for power in Jerusalem, a city it has had a foothold in but in where it has had difficulty raising its head. It is a Hamas ploy for power in the West Bank after the Palestinian Authority postponed elections. It is also a way for Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas to appear relevant. They also want to drive a wedge between Israel and its new peace partners in the Gulf, knowing that the violence in Jerusalem will pressure Bahrain, the UAE and others to make statements . . .  The bubbling crisis could now affect Israeli relations with the Gulf and may also spark the interest of Washington and Europe.”

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) Spokesman Abdel-Latif Al-Qanua stated that Israeli actions “represent an escalation of aggression against our people, a flagrant breach of their legitimate rights, and a blatant violation of the freedom of worship . . . The continuation of these racist measures, vandalism in Al-Aqsa Mosque, restrictions on our people, and the pursuit of worshipers will result in a massive uprising against the occupier and its racist plans that target Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Israeli politician Mansour Abbas (RA’AM party) condemned Israeli security forces, using language eerily similar to the words of Haj Amin al-Husseini: “I wholeheartedly condemn the violent assault on the holiness of the al-Aqsa mosque and the worshippers. Al-Aqsa mosque is for us a red line. Muslim control over the Temple Mount and the mosque is total/exclusive” he tweeted.

Attacks by mostly young Muslims against Israeli Police and IDF Border Patrol triggered riot-control measures and resulted in some wounded. When rioters attacked Police from within the al-Aqsa mosque, Israeli security forces entered the mosque and arrested rioters. Busloads of rioters on their way to Jerusalem were prevented from entering the city.

 

The rocket’s red glare

Over the past 27 hours, Islamist rockets have been fired from Gaza against Israeli kibbutzim and cities. They have either been intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-rocket network or have fallen in uninhabited areas. Some mortars have also been fired at Israeli targets.

Israel has long planned specific military exercises in the coming week focusing on simultaneous enemy attacks from Gaza and Lebanon. The exercise is appropriately named ‘Chariots of Fire’ (see 2 Kings 6:17; 13:14).

 

How should we then pray?

  • Pray for the frustrating and ceasing of Islamist rocket fire, and for divine wisdom for IDF strategic leadership
  • Pray for those who disseminate lies and violence about the Temple Mount – that they would receive a revelation of their sinful deeds and the gift of repentance which leads to everlasting life
  • Pray for diplomats to receive gifts of truth and courage to become forces for good and not for evil
  • Pray specifically for Arabic-speaking believers in Yeshua across the Islamic world to receive God’s perspective on these issues, as well as bravery to declare these truths clearly and unapologetically
  • Pray for Israelis to receive a revelation about what is actually happening on the Temple Mount, as well as an anointing of courage to explain to others what is happening
  • Pray for world leaders to receive a spirit of revelation and repentance about these matters, that they might come into alignment with God’s word and heart (Ephesians 3:14-19)

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

 

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Posted in End Times Related, Everything, God's Word, Israel, Movement of God, Peace, Timing, Tribulation, Word Of God | Leave a comment

Is God a Republican or a Democrat?

Posted on August 5, 2020 by ez3728

The title of this writing is presented as a multiple choice question.
Is God:
A. A Republican?; OR
B. A Democrat?
The answer, however, is a YES/NO answer. And the correct answer is NO. It’s NEITHER.

This kind of question-and-answer conundrum is also evident as Joshua stood outside the walled city of Jericho and asked a multiple choice question to a warrior angel:

Joshua 5:13-15
13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”
14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.”
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”
15 Then the Commander of the LORD’S army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot,  for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Had Jericho been in the will of God (and Israel out of the will of God) the angel would have been for Jericho.
Had Israel been in the will of God (and Jericho out of the will of God – which was the case) the angel would be for Israel.
Had both nations been in the will of God, there would have been no upcoming conflict, so there would simply be a condition of corporate blessing. It’s called unity.
Had neither nation been in the will of God, there would likely have been bloodshed and violence (because that’s how unrestrained people are), and an angel of the Lord would have favored neither nation.

The angel at Jericho correctly responded to Joshua’s A/B question and said “NO – I, like all the other angels remaining in the presence and favor of God, choose to be in alignment with God first, and then in alignment with the people who will align themselves with God.

God is neither a Republican or a Democrat. God is holy. His purposes are holy. His angels are holy.

Five times in Leviticus, God presented a “be holy” commandment to His people, and Peter – after profoundly having revealed (1 Peter 1:10-14) that the OLD Testament was written for the NEW Testament saints, then confirmed that the “be holy” commandment is inarguably alive and well forever and at all times, including under the grace of the New Testament:
1 Peter 1:13-16
13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;
15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

God is neither a Republican or a Democrat.
Either political party has sufficient evidence to condemn the other party. For the most part we have increasingly become a defiant and proud nation out of the purposes and plans of God, in fact and in truth (read the news) we are a covenant nation clearly under the thumb of the Lord’s correction at this time of total global shaking.

Americans find ourselves living inside a spiritual test-tube experiment called a “democracy” and/or a “republic”, and by design of those governmental structures, we (at least for now continue to) have a say in the future government of our nation.

First and foremost, we need to repent of our national sins – and btw woe to the spiritual leaders of our nation who fail to address and proclaim that most-timely truth.
Reference: Amos 3. It will only get worse without our holy response.
We ought not expect a whole lot of mercy from on high as we continue in sin.
“God bless America” deserves the heavenly response: “Why?”

Read Daniel 9, it’s a good place to start, and a great place to start praying accurately.

God meanwhile, in His mercy, understands the weakness of all mankind and promises things like this:
Psalms 103:8-13
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father pities his children,
So the LORD pities those who fear Him.

It does come back to us as a nation coming back to Him, in repentance, and coming back to the place of holy fear of the One worthy of fear.

Again – a New Testament confirmation by our Lord:
Matthew 10:28
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

And while God is neither a Republican nor a Democrat, the scriptures (Kings, Chronicles, etc.) are replete with examples of God extending mercy if and when even imperfect leadership AT LEAST takes some effort to minimize the sins of the nation.

An important biblical point to note is that although all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, there are particular sins that the Lord has revealed to us as being abominations, a “higher-level” stench to His nostrils and particularly provocative in inciting the Lord to wrath.
The shedding of innocent blood. RE: Sacrificing infants and newborns to Chemosh in the Old Testament. What might that look like today?
Sexual sin between people of the same gender. RE: Sodom and Gomorrah in the Old Testament. We know what that looks like today. .

Demons are only finally destroyed when the Lord finally returns in flaming fire. The book of Revelation confirms that. The rest of the scriptures disclose national renaming and, “rebranding” of particular demons during different seasons in the history of man. Those demons have rebranded themselves in our season. And they remain provocative abominations to our holy God.

Personally and being fully cognizant of many of the sins on both sides of our nation’s political aisle, I am convicted and committed, as a follower of God, to cast my vote for a  (granted, quite imperfect) political party that:

A. Supports and defends Israel
Zechariah 2:7-8
7 “Up, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.”
8 For thus says the LORD of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.

B. Supports and defends the innocent and the unborn (FYI: half of all the unborn are female, and a disproportionate number of the murdered unborn are of color)
Jeremiah 7:31
31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart.

C. Supports and defends the God-ordained genders of male and female.
Romans 1:26-27
26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

D. Supports and defends the God-ordained and declared holiness of marriage between two people, one of each gender.
Genesis 2:24
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Anything a praying saint of the Lord might choose to align with that contradicts and wars against the holiness of the Lord and clear directives of His word, is a very poor choice, always with consequences.

2 Chronicles 15:1 – 16:14
1 Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded.
2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
3 For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law;
4 but when in their trouble they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them.
5 And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands.
TROUBLED BY GOD
6 So nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity.
7 But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”
THE CLEAN-UP AND THE BLESSING
8 And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the LORD that was before the vestibule of the LORD.
9 Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

(v10-13 speak of the people coming into a good covenant and also describe harsh Old Testament ways of dealing with folks who would not serve the Lord. Here’s grace for us. I am glad to be in New Testament times, as should our brethren)

14 Then they took an oath before the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams’ horns.
15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all around.
16 Also he removed Maachah, the mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah; and Asa cut down her obscene image, then crushed and burned it by the Brook Kidron.

STILL NOT PERFECT
17 But the high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days.

SOME GOOD WORKS
18 He also brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated and that he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and utensils.

PEACE IN HOLINESS AND REPENTANCE
19 And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

1 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

THE FREAK-OUT AND THE SELL-OUT TO THE WORLD ORDER….
2 Then Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying,
3 “Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you silver and gold; come, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
4 So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.
5 Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work.

… AND WHAT APPEARED TO BE A REWARD FOR TERRIBLE COMPROMISE
6 Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.

MESSAGE FROM GOD VIA A MAN OF GOD
7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.
8 Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand.

THE BIG REVEAL
9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”

NO REPENTANCE AND “SHOOT THE MESSENGER”
10 Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.

ASA’S SAD FINAL END
11 Note that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
12 And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians.
13 So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign.

RECAP:
A seer from God is sent to king in Judah who had made some very poor choices.
The message speaks of God’s proactivity towards those who are loyal to Him, and also speaks of the increased troubles ascribed to those who live contrary to holy loyalty to God and His word. Sadly this brief story ends here with the Asa the king punishing the messenger. Not much has changed, over the years.
Make very good choices, saints. God watches His people.
The future of America is at stake.
Our personal futures are at stake.

2 Chronicles 16:9A
9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him….

All scripture NKJV)

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A Re-Post of a critical article by Avner Boskey

Posted on June 28, 2020 by ez3728

This is timely critical reading, friends. And a prayerful response is called for.
The culmination of our Lord’s plans for this Age center around Israel, as they should. All of the current shakings of this turbulent year, and forward, are pointing to the same thing: the imminent visible and dramatic return of the Savior of the world to rescue, to vindicate, to establish His rule and reign on earth, to judge. And Israel is key. God is jealous for His people and for His land.
Leviticus 25:23
23 “The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me.
AND:
Ezekiel 36:8-10
8 But you, (THE LAND) O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to (HIS PEOPLE) My people Israel, for they are about to come.
9 For indeed I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown.
10 I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.

Too many dangling prophetic participles at this juncture remain dangling for sober students of scripture to conclude our Lord’s return will be right now. It does not appear all that far off but frankly right now it is too early and also quite frankly according to scripture still too calm on earth. But the call is to those with ears to hear to be praying, to be pressing in, to be crying out, to be warning every man, to be worshiping the only One worthy of worship, to be bowing the knee to the only One worthy of bowing to, to be lifting up the name of the one and only Savior – so that the nations might know precisely Who is the Desire of the Nations (Hag 2:6&7). Pray for Israel.

Even with the veil for the most part still covering their spiritual eyes, the decisions and actions being taken by Israel are being utilized by our amazing God to accomplish His complex and magnificent and righteous purposes.

Yet again: Thank you Avner for this most timely word. Well written, well-documented. And personally I am a sucker for the rock n roll references. Music indeed is a window to the soul of man. And we will appreciate that yet more as we press into the prophetic worship that will take down Assyria with tambourines. Isaiah 30. What an amazing God. What an amazing plan!

Annexation for dummies

Posted on by Avner Boskey

Years ago Steve Stills penned a song in response to the November 1966 protest-riots on Sunset Strip. One of rock’s classic protest songs, its first line goes, “There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear . . .  You better stop! Hey, what’s that sound? Everybody look what going down.”

A lot is going down. COVID-19 has morphed into protests/riots in major American cities. Riots then mutated, vandalizing America’s cultural icons. “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring).

Bounding toward us down the primrose path is the fast approaching date of July 1, 2020. On May 4, 2020 Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and Alternate PM Benny Gantz signed a coalition agreement. Paragraph 29 of that agreement reads: “After discussions and consultations are conducted between the Prime Minister and the Alternate Prime Minister based on the principles outlined above, the Prime Minister will be able to bring forward the agreement reached with the United States on the application of sovereignty for debate by the cabinet and government and for approval by the government and/or the Knesset as of July 1, 2020.”

July 1, 2020 has become a ground-zero date. What will happen on that date? Will Israel annex up to 30% of the West Bank (including Jewish cities and towns in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley) according to the guidelines of President Trump’s ‘deal of the century?’ Will the PLO then establish a Palestinian state in the remaining 70% of Judea and Samaria aka the West Bank?  Is this process a dividing up of the Land of Israel spoken of in the warnings given by the Hebrew prophets? Does the Bible shed any light about how this relates to Israel, the Middle East and the future? What follows is rough seven-point sketch of the issues involved.

 

Biblical milestones

Today no modern country bases its foreign policy on the Bible (see Deuteronomy 17:18-20). What carries the day for most politicians is realpolitik –  a German word referring to diplomacy based on pragmatic considerations of given circumstances, rather than on moral and ethical premises. But the Scriptures have much to say regarding the Land of Israel and its borders:

  • The Land of Israel is YHVH’s gift to the Jewish people as a divine patrimony exclusively and forever (Genesis 15:18; Numbers 33:52-54; 2 Chronicles 6:24-25, 36-39; Amos 9:14-15, ; Romans 11:28-29; etc.)
  • YHVH promises to regather the Jewish people to their homeland after a long Exile and then transform them into a mighty army (Jeremiah 30:1-3, 18-20; Ezekiel 37:9-14; 39:27-29, etc.)
  • At Messiah Yeshua’s return He will judge the nations for attempting to divide up the Land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem (Joel 3:1-2; Zechariah 14:1-5; etc.)

Based on these signposts, all nations – including the Jewish nation – should stay far away from dividing up any part of the Land of Israel. They should instead champion her God-given borders (Genesis 15:18; 17:8; Numbers 34:1-15; Deuteronomy 11:24; Joshua 15:1-12; etc.)

 

Waltzing without a partner

Politically correct wisdom at the United Nations and the European Union declares that the Israel-Palestinian conflict will only be solved by face-to-face negotiations between the two parties. But the unappetizing fact is that there is no trustworthy Palestinian negotiating partner available. All Palestinian groups either refuse to negotiate with Israel (Hamas, Islamic Jihad) or refuse to accept any Israeli offers (PLO, PA). The Palestinian bare minimum would still result in Israel’s fatal dismemberment. Negotiations with all of the Palestinian groups are a non-starter.

Two lucid examples of this reality:

On July 1, 1994 Yasir Arafat crossed from Egypt into Gaza after signing the Oslo Accords. His ‘peace entourage’ of limousines was simultaneously smuggling terrorists into Gaza (Mamduh Nawfal, Jihad Amarin, etc.) who had the blood of many Israelis on their hands. Unregistered weapons and night vision scopes were hidden in the same vehicles:

 Throughout the Oslo Accords period (1993-2000) PLO President Arafat repeatedly declared that violent Islamic jihad would continue, and that the Palestinians would eventually destroy and replace the Jewish state. Stipends to terrorists (the ‘pay to slay’ martyr’s fund) increased during this period:

The goal of Palestinian terror – Israel’s destruction – continues to this day:

Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Zalman Shoval once said that “the Palestinians have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” The Palestinians are now missing a ‘golden opportunity’ – this time under U.S. auspices – to receive 70% of the West Bank. U.S. conditions in ‘the deal of the century’ insist that the Palestinians must abandon terror and violence for the deal to go forward. Similar conditions were blatantly violated by the PLO and Hamas during the period of the Oslo Accords. These conditions will not be followed by the Palestinians at this present time either.

What the Palestinian Authority leadership is counting on is European and Arab pressure to significantly alter Trump’s plan. Instead of 30% of the West Bank going to Israel, Europe would push for the Jewish state receiving less than 10%. The Europeans would not insist on a realistic end to Palestinian terror. The nations of the world are pressuring Israel with malice to hand over 90% of the West Bank to Palestinian terrorists sworn to bring about the Jewish people’s destruction. America (on the other hand) is cajoling Israel to hand over 70% of the West Bank to Palestinians who (they hope) will change their spots and begin to sing kumbaya.

 

When your neighbor is of the jihadi persuasion

Israel is surrounded by Islamic countries on all sides. Two of them (Egypt and Jordan) have peace treaties with the Jewish state. Nevertheless, strong jihadi Muslim Brotherhood movements fester just below the surface in those countries, waiting to overthrow those governments:

Jihadi forces move about and operate effectively between the countries of Libya, Egypt, Gaza, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Iran.  These are serious people, highly motivated in desiring to destroy Israel. Both Sunni and Shi’ite, they also have plans to overthrow pro-Western Sunni Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Jordan, etc. Some of the abovementioned countries pay protection money to the jihadis to keep the Islamists off their backs. Others (like Qatar) play both sides of the coin. These kingdoms live in fear of being bulldozed by Iran’s jihadi Revolutionary Guards. At present, Sunni countries are willing to secretly cooperate with Israel because their fear of Shi’ite Iran overshadows their own Sunni desire to see Israel’s destruction.

Israel cannot afford to let down its guard in the face of these threats. Were Hamas jihadis given the chance to run in West Bank elections, they would soundly defeat the Palestinian Authority (PLO) and establish a new Hamastan in Ramallah, Jenin and Hebron. The presence of so many jihadi groupings in such a close proximity to Israel illuminates why, for Israel, having truly defensible borders is not merely an intellectual or philosophical exercise. It is a matter of survival.

 

Iran and ISIS

Iran’s jihadi ‘Shi’ite crescent’ is spreading, wrapping its cold revolutionary fingers around Iraq, Syria, Lebanon (Hezbollah), Yemen, Gaza (Hamas) and Egyptian Sinai. ISIS (the Sunni jihadi movement) is waiting in the wings, working toward the establishment of its own jihadi caliphate in Syria and Iraq, while infiltrating into North Africa and other countries. The dangers facing Israel are increasing. Establishing a Palestinian state on 70% of the West Bank (America’s idea) or on 90% of the West Bank (Europe’s idea) at this time is a very bad idea indeed.

 

Auschwitz borders

Abba Eban once referred to the U.N.’s efforts to shrink Israel back to its 1948 borders/cease-fire lines as a move to return the Jewish state to ‘Auschwitz borders’ – indefensible front lines that could lead to its annihilation.  Yet at this very moment the vast majority of the nations insist that Israel must abandon large chunks of its biblical and historical homeland or face punitive international sanctions, both political and economic. Most nations are opposed to the U.S. annexation plan which calls for a Palestinian state on 70% of the West Bank. Instead, they want Israel to hand over at least 90% of Judea and Samaria (aka the West Bank) to Palestinian terror-diplomats.

Some Israelis argue (based on this pressure) that it would be better not to move forward with American annexation plans at this time:

 On the other hand, Israelis on the Right and among the religious believe that now is the time for reclaiming the Jewish people’s heritage even if only in part:

Israeli statesman Abba Eban adds a thoughtful comment: “Nobody does Israel any service by proclaiming its ‘right to exist.’ Israel’s right to exist, like that of the United States, Saudi Arabia and 152 other states, is axiomatic and unreserved. Israel’s legitimacy is not suspended in midair awaiting acknowledgement . . . There is certainly no other state, big or small, young or old, that would consider mere recognition of its ‘right to exist’ a favor, or a negotiable concession” (New York Times, November 18, 1981).

The obsessive fixation of the nations of the world on shrinking Israel’s borders has dark echoes of Joel 3:2: “I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and they have divided up My land.”

 

Tremblings in a distant land

U.S. President Trump is considered by Israelis to be the most pro-Israel President in recent history. Here are some of the reasons:

One of President Trump’s goals has been to “do the deal of the century” – to achieve a peace treaty between Israel and Palestinians that no other President has managed to pull off.

Though recent events in the U.S.A. have weakened Trump’s power, many Evangelicals strongly support him in the ‘deal of the century.’

Trump’s deal is based on the presupposition that both Israel and the Palestinians will sit down to negotiate. Israel has been willing to talk, but the Palestinian Authority has refused to meet. In the likely event of such a zero-sum scenario, the shapers of the deal gave Israel the right to unilaterally apply Israeli law on up to 30% of its ancestral homeland in the West Bank. The other 70% of those territories would then be earmarked for a Palestinian state, and Israel would be forbidden from building or operating there.

Technically it is not accurate to define Israel’s move here as an annexation for three simple reasons:

Many Orthodox Jews (including the settler movement) and many Christian evangelicals are hesitant about any moves to establish a Palestinian state under any circumstances, based on three reasons – the Bible’s teaching; the refusal of all Palestinian groups to recognize Israel as a Jewish state; and Palestinian refusal to turn away from terrorism.

Ironically at this juncture the most positive pro-Israel U.S. government in history is also pushing for a dividing up of the land of Israel. The Hebrew prophet Zechariah warns all nations to be careful about these matters:  “It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured” (Zechariah 12:3).

Could the increasing divisions happening right now in U.S. society be a Genesis 12:3 result of America’s pressure (even if enacted with finesse) to divide the Land of Israel?

 

What will the nations say?

Jewish people in Exile always found themselves at the mercy of the nations. Every important decision (and many less important ones) needed to be weighed against the potential negative consequences that unfriendly Gentiles might aim against Jacob’s family. In the same way as one would not want to annoy a hungry bear, so it was important not to irritate non-Jewish kings and princes.

Prime Minister Ben Gurion went against conventional wisdom when he said, “It matters not what the Goyim (the non-Jews) say, but what the Jews do” (The Windsor Star, Canada, December 3, 1973). Ben Gurion meant that the Jewish people could probably count on Gentile opposition to Jewish restoration. In light of this, his counsel to the resurgent Jewish nation in her soon-to-be-sovereign homeland was that she would need to make decisions based on prophetic vision and not on fear.

The climate of fear is very present in many discussions concerning applying Israeli law to portions of the West Bank. The following questions are raised: What happens if Trump is not elected? Will Biden and the Democrats then take revenge on Israel? Will the European Union boycott and apply bone-crushing sanctions against Israel? Will the fledgling under-the-table connections with Arab Gulf states evaporate in the hot desert sands? Even some Zionists who acknowledge the age-old connection between the Jewish people and their ancient cities and farms in the West Bank are deeply concerned that this whole scenario could easily turn the world against us – kol ha’olam negdenu, as it is said in Hebrew.

In 1948 there were many learned voices who urged Ben Gurion NOT to proclaim the Jewish state. Annihilation at the hands of foreign armies was a real possibility. The combination of international pressures, the after-effects of Nazi mass murder, and British cold-heartedness were all too real. But in the end David Ben Gurion proclaimed the Jewish state on May 14, 1948. The rest is history.

 

Physical and political abuse

A woman who has suffered physical abuse from her husband is afraid of doing anything which might trigger more beatings. Similarly, Israelis realize that an international consortium could arise and do damage to the Jewish state if we try to hold onto our historic homeland. More than anything else, this dynamic reveals that the Hebrew prophets’ End of Days vision is not so far-fetched after all.

Pray with us about all these above points. Lay them before the God of Jacob in earnest prayer. Ask Him to establish His purposes over His Jewish people and His Promised Land in these matters, speedily and in our day. And let’s stay away from dividing God’s Promised Land!

 

How should we then pray?

  • Pray for God’s discernment and wisdom to be given to Israeli and U.S. leaders regarding His Land
  • Pray for revelation to be given to all those responsible for Israel’s security as they prepare for what’s coming down
  • Pray for the spirit of grace and supplications à la Zechariah 12:10 to be poured out on the Jewish people
  • Pray for the raising up of the Ezekiel 37 prophetic army among the Jewish people

 

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

 

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal or credit card) through: www.davidstent.org

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TIMING: Crucifixion. Ascension. Pentecost and Now. Outpouring Of The Spirit. Darkness and Light. God’s Great Paradox.

Posted on May 22, 2020 by ez3728


par·a·dox
/ˈperəˌdäks/

noun
noun: paradox; plural noun: paradoxes
1. a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.

Here’s the “self-contradictory” truth of scripture:
Isaiah 60:1-3
(FOR THE SAINTS)
1 Arise, shine; For your light has come!
And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.
(AND MEANWHILE)
2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the LORD will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.
(PART BUT SURELY NOT ALL OF THE PROMISED BLESSING)
3 The Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.

Isaiah 60 is alive and quite radioactive, activating on earth in these very days.
While the world shakes in hopelessness and confusion, the redeemed of the Lord are called to higher ground, and the higher the ground the greater our stability in Him. And the greater the light of Christ is upon us.

Below my post is a profound post by Peter Robertson (on FB, from yesterday) that ought not get overlooked. In fact it ought to get studied and pondered and prayed into. The Ps 67 blessing in and of itself is profound in that it sits in OT scripture position, inviting and empowering every reader to pronounce a priestly blessing, while (seemingly another paradox) the Jewish scriptures emphasize the sacred and even exclusive position and authority of the Jewish priests and their functions. Wow.

The prophetic implication of Ps 67 speaking forward to readers (with ears to hear and hearts to respond) inviting any and all to be reciting a priestly blessing – is that our Lord intended this psalm for activation in days forward. Ps 67 has been waiting, if you will, for days and times when the apostle Peter’s and the apostle John’s written pronouncement of dual-mantle king/priest anointing upon the saints illuminates. Like our days. Makes total sense. Daniel (8:26, 9:24, 12:4), Isa 2:2, Jer 23:20 etc all project references to things sealed up for release, activation and/or understanding, later. It is becoming “later” quickly, in these days, right now. Sure some prophecies await the glorious feet of our Lord standing on the Mount of Olives, and after that. But some are for now.

Myself being taken by the Lord to study eschatological events and writings in Scripture, I admit the first time I heard the recently released “Blessing Song” I was sort of thinking “Hey, these are tough and serious biblically spoken-of days, and here’s yet more happy/smiley denial-of-Haggai-2-actuality Christian singing”. That was until I (thankfully!) quickly sensed the thick and rich presence of our Lord all over and through that song. And when has it been released and activated? Not only during the covid pandemic, but during the season between the crucifixion of our Lord and the Pentecost outpouring of the Holy Spirit. These “just happen” to be those days.

It is His time to release this kind of empowering blessing upon His saints, for His purposes. Isa 60:1-2 again – darkness covers the earth and absolutely simultaneously the illumination and anointing from heaven shines upon the ones who hear the call to arise. His joy and His presence are our strength. Strength for trust, for great exploits. Thank You Lord for Your magnificent plans and perfect timing. Thank you Kari and Cody. And thank you Peter Robertson. Assyria comes down with tambourines.

PETER ROBERTSON’S POST FROM 5/21/2020
Peter Robertson
13 hrs ·

Today is the 27th day of the second month of the Biblical calendar and it is the 40th day of the counting period between the wave offerings of the grain harvest.
It was on this day of that count that Yeshua ascended from Bethany on the Mount of Olives to heaven, leaving His disciples standing there on the mountain staring up at the sky.
I think that it is very significant that the last thing that he did, before ascending, was to lift His hands and bless His disciples.

I used to think of it as a nice thing for him to do, but now I see this final act of blessing in a different light. I think it was an absolutely essential thing for him to do to prepare the way for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit, ten days later. Furthermore, though the text does not elaborate and is silent on the precise words that he spoke, I believe that he most likely invoked the priestly blessing over them found in the book of Numbers.

“Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy;”

“So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’”

So Yeshua’s final act on earth before ascending to Heaven was to bless His disciples and he did so as the great high priest, about to enter the Heavenly Holy of Holies.

It is possibly significant that for many centuries Psalm 67 has been recited each day of the counting period, between the Feast of the First Omer and the Feast of Weeks. I have tried to research this to determine the origins of this traditional Scripture reading, but have been unable to determine so.
Perhaps, it was in place during the first century and even farther back in time.

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, SELAH, that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. SELAH! Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us. May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him.”

This Psalm looks back to the promise of blessing over Abraham and his descendants, who were promised that they would be blessed by God in order to become a source of blessing to all the families of the earth. God would bless Abraham (and his posterity) in order to make them a blessing.
“Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’”
“YHVH spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, “Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them, ‘YHVH bless you and keep you; YHVH make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; YHVH lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.’”
So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.’”

Yeshua’s act of blessing his disciples is reminiscent of Aaron’s blessing the people on the eighth day of dedicating the tabernacle, just before entering the holy place and the subsequent manifestation of God’s glory.

“Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them; and he came down after sacrificing the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the offering of well-being. Moses and Aaron entered the tent of meeting, and then came out and blessed the people; and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people.”

In a similar manner, Yeshua blessed his disciples before entering the heavenly sanctuary and the subsequent outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He lifted his hands and blessed them and then ascended into Heaven as great high priest.

I have already mentioned the daily reading of Psalm 67, during this interim period, between First Omer and Firstfruits. This Psalm begins, “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, SELAH, that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.”
It is an inspired prayer that recalls the priestly blessing, so that God’s ways and his “yeshuah” (saving power) would be known among all nations.

I believe Yeshua blessed his disciples on the Mount of Olives on the occasion of His ascension, so that His ways would be known throughout the earth and His saving power among all nations (“goyim”).
He had just told them, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Now, interestingly and likely more than coincidentally, Kari Jobe and three others wrote a song at the very end of February, which she sang for the first time leading worship on March first. It is called “The Blessing” and is based on the priestly blessing of Numbers 6. During the intervening period since, while people all over the world have been in social isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic, this song has gone totally viral (pun intended).

It has been recorded all over the world by a great many people, almost as the thematic hymn of this trying period, which has overlapped with the period of counting of the days between the wave offerings.
I did a quick search on YouTube only to find that I could not scroll to the end of the numbers of versions of this song that have been posted in this short season.

It almost as if something that has formerly been peripheral has now become central and in a sense restored to the Body of Messiah across the nations, the practice of blessing one another, with this divinely prescribed, specific blessing from Scripture.

The priestly blessing was intended in its original context for Israel, but Psalm 67 expands its impact to all the nations of the earth, and the apostle elsewhere told us that all the promises of God are yes and amen to us, in Messiah.

“For in him every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes.’ For this reason it is through him that we say the ‘Amen,’ to the glory of God.”
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.”
“In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”

I am posting the lyrics of “The Blessing” below, in the comments thread of this post.
I have illustrated this post with some older and more recent photos of Bethany and the Mount of Olives and an artist’s depiction of what Bethany might have looked like in ancient times.

In conclusion, I proclaim over you, on this anniversary of Messiah Yeshua’s ascension, in his name, and as one of his representatives,
“Y’varekh’kha ADONAI v’yishmerekha.
(May ADONAI bless you and keep you.)
Ya’er ADONAI panav eleikha vichunekka.
(May ADONAI make his face shine on you and show you his favor.)
Yissa ADONAI panav eleikha v’yasem l’kha shalom.
(May ADONAI lift up his face toward you and give you peace.)”
Amen!

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Latter Rain. He Reigns. Ring-Time.

Posted on May 13, 2020 by ez3728


Years ago while in Israel, I contacted and then contracted an Israeli jeweler to fashion a ring for me w the inscription of Zech 10:1 – “Ask the Lord for rain in the time of latter rain”.

The jeweler stopped in his tracks and was noticeably moved after I handed him the scripture which he read in front of me, saying to me: “That is the most powerful word I have ever read in the Book”. Perhaps he says that to all his clients, but I don’t think so.

I wore the ring for a several years and then took it off. The Lord has recently been speaking to me it is now time to wear that ring.

Although things are obviously accelerating on earth, still much has to be accomplished by our Lord on earth and in heaven (Haggai 2 says both) prior to Messiah’s return, and that return will be in perfect alignment w every jot and tittle of the eternal Word, notably Ezek 38:1-17. Zech 12:1-14. Matt 24.

That work includes troubling, shaking, dynamic and glorious outpourings of supernatural power and authority and revelation, etc. – and much of the whole plan understandably focuses on and in Israel, His covenant people and in fact His covenant place. Ezek 36:1-16.

Even the divine luring-in of the nations for the final conflict and holy victory will want Israel to be walking in abundance and blessing, to the point of burning jealousy by the nations, for the “booty”. Only our great God could orchestrate so amazing a plan to:
A. Conclude the age,
B. Bring as many souls to salvation as will respond and come – both Jew and Gentile – through Messiah, and
C. Fulfill the words of Rev 15:3 and 4:
Revelation 15:3-4
They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:
“Great and marvelous are Your works,
Lord God Almighty!
Just and true are Your ways,
O King of the saints!
4 Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy.
For all nations shall come and worship before You,
For Your judgments have been manifested.”
(NKJV Strong’s)

Below is Avner Boskey’s good and most timely word.
Toda raba, amigo

The latter rain
Posted on May 13, 2020 by Avner Boskey
Once upon a time there was no rain. Moses tells us that “YHVH God had not sent rain upon the earth . . . but a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground” (Genesis 2:5-6).
But then God gave rain on the earth and sent water on the fields (see Job 5:10). “Who has cleft a channel for the flood or a way for the thunderbolt, to bring rain on a land without people, on a desert without a man in it – to satisfy the waste and desolate land and to make the seeds of grass to sprout? Has the rain a father?” (Job 38:25-28) The Bible describes God as the Great Rainmaker.
Paul declared in Lystra (modern Turkey) that the God of all nations “did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17).
Messiah Yeshua taught us that the rains are a spiritual example to us, “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45).

“To every thing, turn, turn, turn” (The Byrds)
“There is an appointed time for everything, and there is a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1; see the Byrds video – www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPbR3uovtf8). Farmers can tell you that it’s not just that rain is needed. Showers need to come at the right time and in the right amount. “He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil” (Deuteronomy 11:14). The blessing of God is seen in the fact that rains come like clockwork and in due season: “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains” (James 5:7).

The regulated certainty of God’s seasons was a baseline for the Hebrew prophets, as reflected in Israel’s cry: “So let us know, let us press on to know YHVH. His going forth is as certain as the dawn. And He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth” (Hosea 6:3).

The nearness of God’s rain is (for) my good
Mankind needs rain to survive. The God of Isaac knows that. He is like a father who loves to give good gifts to his children, as Moses reveals to Israel: “YHVH will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand” (Deuteronomy 28:12). Here YHVH is proving the irrevocable nature of His gifts and calling on Israel à la Romans 11:28-29: “You shed abroad a plentiful rain, O God! You confirmed Your inheritance when it was parched” (Psalm 68:9).
God’s rains are a manifestation of His desire to bring blessing to Jerusalem: “Then He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be rich and plenteous. On that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture” (Isaiah 30:23).

In a dry and weary land
The mighty Nile has been called the lifeblood and the gift of Egypt. Farmers who lived close to the river used water wheels (sakia; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakia) or operated small canals controlled by a foot-operated wooden sluice gate which opened and closed, allowing the canal-borne river waters to flood the fields:
• www.sutori.com/item/this-is-an-example-of-ancient-egypt-irrigation-system-4a3c
• https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/589628
• https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/nilometers-in-the-land-of-israel/
The Jewish people in Moses’ day knew how to use their feet based on traditional Egyptian agriculture. But the Promised Land would bring in a totally different way of doing things:
• For the land, into which you are entering to possess it, is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you used to sow your seed and water it with your foot like a vegetable garden. But the land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which YHVH your God cares. The eyes of YHVH your God are always on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year (Deuteronomy 11:10-12)
YHVH waxed poetic to the Jewish people, explaining to them that the Land of Canaan has very few perennial water sources or rivers: it “drinks water from the rain of heaven.” This was a divine setup: if the children of Israel obeyed YHVH and followed their calling, they received rain. If not, withering drought would appear.
• Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods and worship them, or the anger of YHVH will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit. And you will perish quickly from the good land which YHVH is giving you. (Deuteronomy 11:16-17)
Solomon proclaimed the same at his dedication of the magnificent Temple in Jerusalem:
• When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain, because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name and turn from their sin when You afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and of Your people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land, which You have given Your people for an inheritance. (1 Kings 8:35-36)

A hard rain’s gonna fall
Modern folk wince when the subject of God as Judge arises. It’s true that the prophets (like Ezekiel 14:21) and Moses (Leviticus 26) who knew God personally, described Him as a judge who uses war, plagues, wild beasts and drought against rebellious nations and individuals. But most Westerners get antsy dealing with such concepts. The God of the West is seen rather as a well-behaved gentleman with some excellent moral suggestions.
The God of Jacob is different.
• He harnesses the storms of nature for His purposes. “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or have you seen the storehouses of the hail which I have reserved for the time of distress, for the day of war and battle?” (Job 38:22-23; see also Jeremiah 10:13)
• He brings a world extinction event through a pre-planned 40 days and nights of rain in order to “blot out from the face of the earth every living things” that He created (Genesis 7:4)
• He rains brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah as well as hail on Egypt (Genesis 19:24; Exodus 9:23, 33)
• He destroys an entire wheat harvest in Israel by a huge thunder-rain storm (1 Samuel 12:16-18)
• He totally withholds rain from Israel through Elijah’s three-year long drought (1 Kings 17:1)
• He brings selective drought on specific areas due to local sins (Amos 4:7)
• The God of Jacob prophesies massive destruction on the armies of Gog and Magog through torrential rain, hailstones, fire, brimstone, plagues and blood (Ezekiel 38:22)
• The two witnesses will strike the earth with drought, plagues and the ability to turn potable water into blood, as often as they choose (Revelation 11:6)
• In the Messianic kingdom, Egypt will be struck with the curse of drought because of its bad attitude toward Israel (Zechariah 14:17-19)
God has not changed. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. The real issue here is mankind’s sin and rebellion: “Behold, YHVH’s hand is not so short that it cannot save, nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God” (Isaiah 59:1-2).

Vindication by water
The prophet Joel lets us in on a spiritual secret concerning His End of Days dealings with Israel. Just prior to the final outpouring of God’s Spirit (“it will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit”; Joel 2:28 in English), YHVH announces to the Jewish people that He will pour out “the early rain for your vindication . . . the early and latter rains” (Joel 2:23; the Hebrew words are moreh/yoreh and malqosh, the two yearly periods of rain in October/November and March/April).
YHVH announces that this pre-revival rain is a sign of His favor. Huge agricultural bumper crops of wine and oil will result. All Israel “will have plenty to eat and be satisfied and praise the name of YHVH . . . who has dealt wondrously with” Israel (Joel 2:24-26). The God of Jacob stresses two times in a row, “My people will never be put to shame” (Joel 2:26-27)!
When God opens the physical heavens and pours out His rains, Scripture lets us know that this is a sign to the nations that He still loves Israel, He still favors Jacob, and He is still pressing forward with sovereign resolve to restore Israel.

Lord willing and the creek (don’t) rise
Over many recent years Israel has been suffering bone-crushing seasons of drought. Lawns have gone brown, showers had to be timed, and forest fires ravaged ancient hills. At the same time the nation of Israel has not yet seen a massive spiritual swing to revival. Sexual sins, demonic spiritualities and hard-heartedness characterize too many people here. Based on the cumulative teaching of the Scriptures looked at so far, one might assume that Israel would be overcome by massive drought.
Yet something very different is happening in the Promised Land. Southern Israel has broken a 76 year record for increased rainfall, while northern Israel has broken a 50 year record. The Lake of Galilee (which had of late been sporting some new bald-headed mini-islands emerging close to the shore-line) is now less than 10 millimeters from being totally topped off. This is so astounding that every Israeli is aware of this mini-miracle, and there is wonder in the air about it.
• www.jpost.com/israel-news/israel-breaks-50-year-record-for-most-rainfall-613693
• https://hamodia.com/2020/02/03/last-month-nearly-wettest-january-ever/
• www.timesofisrael.com/israel-battered-with-unseasonal-spring-thunderstorms-hail-flooding/
Why is God blessing Israel when we are not deserving of it? Why is the country overflowing with rain and water when we have not yet entered into deep national repentance? Do these rains violate His holy character or His immutable word?
Part of the reason can be found in a simple word – ‘grace.’ The word has the sense of ‘unmerited favor.’ God is treating Israel with amazing unmerited favor. That’s the same pattern in Ezekiel 37:9-14: God brings the Jewish people back to the Land of Israel while most of us are spiritually insensate; He breathes His Spirit into us, makes us come alive through a New Covenant revelation of Yeshua, and turns us into His mighty army. It’s all based on grace and it’s all activated while we’re still undeserving.
This ‘gospel for the undeserving’ is a challenge to some believers. But is it not true that every believer in Yeshua is saved “by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:7-9)?
The national salvation of Israel is being crystallized through a process similar to that which every Gentile believer undergoes – a magnificent work of God dripping in grace.
The Hebrew word for grace is hesed. It spotlights God’s faithfulness to His covenant promises. Israel’s psalmist confesses, “Had it not been YHVH who was on our side when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive when their anger was kindled against us” (Psalm 124:1-3). If YHVH were not faithful to His promises, we the Jewish people would be up a creek without a paddle. Jeremiah laments our spiritual condition in Exile: “Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land: ‘Is YHVH not in Zion? Is her King not within her . . . Harvest is past, summer is ended, and we are not saved’” (Jeremiah 8:19-20).
The rescue and salvation of the Jewish people is an unattainable goal – unless YHVH pours out His spirit of grace and of supplications on our people Israel (see Zechariah 12:10). At some point in history God has to move us beyond labor pains and into full birth: “As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. ‘Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery? says YHVH. Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb? says your God’” (Isaiah 66:8-9).
The present rains reveal to Israel and to the world God’s unchanging and overwhelming love for Jacob. They challenge us to chew on the amazing scriptural promises of restoration yet to come for Isaac’s children.

It’s time to favor Zion
What time is it in the Spirit? It’s time to consider the words of the psalmist: “You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to be gracious to her, for the appointed time has come” (Psalm 102:13).
There are those who say that the time is not yet to favor Zion and to show compassion on Israel. Some say that what is needed to bring Israel face-to-face with Messiah is earth-shaking desolation on Israel and nearly total destruction of the Jewish state. This stance may sound uncompromising and courageous, but in light of the scriptures we have looked at, it sounds like something foundational is missing – and that something is called grace/covenant faithfulness.
Yes, there have been and there will be some hard times comin,’ not only for Israel but for the entire planet. But let’s keep on track with God’s enscripturated promises to restore and comfort Zion, to bring her back to the Land and to pour early and latter rains upon her. We are all eyewitnesses to these events. Now it’s time for each one of us to wrestle in prayer and be involved in works of restoration for the fulfillment of all of Jacob’s promises!

How should we then pray?
• Pray for a revelation about God’s grace for Israel, His covenant faithfulness and restoration purposes for Jacob, to increase among believers worldwide
• Pray for the anointing of Zechariah 12:10 to cover the hearts, souls and minds of Jacob’s sons and daughters
• Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army
Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.
In Messiah Yeshua,
Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:
FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES
BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA
Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal or credit card) through: www.davidstent.org

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1. What Might 2 Tim 2&3 look like? 2. Where are we to be looking?

Posted on May 8, 2020 by ez3728

2 Timothy 3:12 – 4:4

CONFIRMATION OF REALITY. ALL. NO COUNTRY-BOUNDARY BUBBLES OF SAFETY
12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

ONGOING AND PROGRESSIVELY INCREASING, AND CONTAGIOUS DECEPTION.
13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

SO WHAT ARE WE TO DO – GET CAUGHT UP IN THE DECEPTIONS, AND/OR OBSESSED WITH POINTING THEM OUT?
14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,

INSTEAD, HERE’S WHAT TO BE OBSESSED WITH – THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. Smith Wigglesworth (funny name, serious man of God, who raised the dead) said: “Consume the word of God until it consumes you”
15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

NOT JUST THE EASY STUFF. ALL SCRIPTURE – THE TOUGH STUFF IS REQUIRED FOR THE TOUGH TIMES
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

THE DIVINE PURPOSES OF ALL SCRIPTURE
17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

OUR CHARGE, TIMOTHY’S CHARGE, AND WHAT JESUS WILL DO, AND WHEN..
1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:

WHAT WE ARE TO BE FOUND DOING
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

AND DON’T BE SURPRISED WHEN….
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

RE – THE DECEPTIONS AND THE LIES AND THE CONDITIONS ON EARTH: Like many others, I’ve recently been sent countless video exposés. Last night I was sent a video exposé exposing a video exposé. It is getting darker. Isaiah told us that before the Paul was born and later wrote to Timothy.

Is the investigation into darkness a career the Lord has called us all into? Maybe He’s called some, or maybe not. For us all – hasn’t He called us to greater intimacy, greater time in His word, and to deeper places of prayer and worship? That is how Assyria will come down (Isa 30).

I do believe it’s quite fine to look into the ongoing crazy stuff, in part for our own understanding and in part to have sober talking points for conversation to the searching and the desperate ones the Lord puts in our path.

But the conspiracies and the dark plans are not to be our focus. Rick Joyner (years ago): “The issues are not the issue. The issue is Jesus”. We’re to be looking through the clouds of darkness, up into the fire of God from the heavenly realms. When I look, I see that glory. I wan to be struck by the lightning of God.

Our challenge, especially in these challenging days, is to most intentionally keep our eyes above the dark clouds of news, scandal, lies and deceptions, as well as above the increasing noise of life. Our mind is to be fixed on our Savior. The power and authority and anointing fire from heaven cannot and will not be stopped by the dark clouds of man’s increasingly loud and arrogant and futile noise. Likewise, our attention and focus must not stop and stare (or obsessively digitally forward, or verbally parrot) the thunderings from clouds of trouble. It becomes a deception and distraction of its own.

We are, in fact, to be looking at a cloud, on our way up to be looking to Jesus:
Hebrews 12:1-2
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Colossians 3:1-4
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

All scripture NKJV

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Posted in Anointing, Apocalypse, End Times Related, Everything, False Teachers, Hearing God, Holy Spirit, New Testament, Prophecy, Revelation(s), Suffering, Testing, Tribulation, Understanding & Knowing God | Leave a comment