Contingency Plans

Photo of the Sea of Galilee by Zev Sigulim

 The following is my cover story for the May 31, 2024 Arrows from Zion mailing

2024 May 8: Yesterday for the first time ever in my life I packed a GO Bag. I put in Tony’s medications for 7 days, then realized I better put mine in too. I packed critical documents, passwords, a change of clothes, and other things I could take with me in case of need for fleeing our house. I had to grapple with whether making a Go Bag was a lack of faith in God’s protection, or simply wisdom in light of the situation. Then I remembered how one of the Israel ministries wrote recently of their government telling them to make contingency plans of where the family could meet in case of major emergency because of the hostilities increasing from Hezballah in the north. Where there is no vision/plan, the people perish. Prov 29:18
     I stopped wondering if it was a lack of faith to prepare in the face of strong potential of an emergency like we were awakened to in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. Hurricane force winds and torrential rains woke us around 4-5 AM. To me this experience has been a real-life wakeup call beyond the bad weather season we always have this time of year. It was a wakeup call to the spiritual warfare going on in our country that is threatening to become physical warfare. I’m sure many are spiritually aware of the same conditions in your nations also.
     Even with the 75 to 80 mile an hour winds, personally we only suffered minor damage (unless like me you consider all loss of internet & TV major!). Our property was like “the land of Goshen” but all around we saw our neighbors and city took a lot of bad damage. Trees were down everywhere. Fences were down including neighbors across the street, and to our right and left!  It was a mess. We had to go out to vote at the library but their parking lots were jam packed. When we walked in the polling place, there was no one there! All the cars out front were packed in the library using internet & TV.
     I have been wondering for some time what I would do regarding my Israel prayer mailing lists should our communications cease due to uncontrollable forces. This is the second time in the past couple of years that our internet was out for more than a few hours. In years past it would bring me high anxiety for my internet to be down even 24 hours. When we lost our internet for days a couple of years ago, I was determined not to be stopped. That is what enemy attack triggers in me. No matter how much harder it gets to accomplish, I become determined not to let the enemy stop me.
     So I packed up the links and passwords that I needed to access ministry emails sent to me online and to begin to glean from them a makeshift weekly summary to send out. This past week has been a  different set of obstacles because we were not the only ones affected. The library connections became more complicated.  Plus most days this week more heavy storms battered our area. I found I could compile the email with what I had already received during the past couple of weeks even with no internet. So I pushed ahead…with many breaks because of major lighting strike storms rolling in. The thing is though I had peace about it. When our main reason for being is shackled by circumstances beyond our control, we can trust that God will show us a way to move forward.
     I am writing all this because I want subscribers to this weekly prayer list to know that if you have kept your old prayer summaries, they are still a strong valid foundation for praying for the Israeli ministries. Although specific details may change, all of the basic issues they all face remain the same. These are the core issues of their charge from God to being in the sheaves of Israelis coming to faith in Yeshua from the harvest fields of Israel.
      One good thing I hope my subscribers know and that is that the main issues that I have been highlighting weekly in the Israel Prayer emails, are going to be the main issues always. Pray the major themes and you cannot go wrong. Without the weekly specifics it may feel somewhat like you are walking in pitch black darkness which is not a good feeling but there is none more loyal to the calling of God than those who will not give up when darkness makes their path less visible.
     In my view, the major themes to pray over are that more Christians awaken to our duty to support the Israeli ministries work both in prayer and in financial support. The body of Messiah needs to be able to shine brightly in the darkness that Israel is in, not only from attack of enemies all over, but also among the Israeli people who are beginning to lose hope in everything they have been able to put trust in before now. This is key to Israel’s salvation that they are able to see the Light of Yeshua shining brightly in the believing Messianic Jews in Israel, so they will know where our Hope comes from: it comes from the Lord Yeshua, and none other.
     Last night I picked up a book I have had for more than a year by a Christian woman who became a CIA agent right after 9/11/2001. Her Lebanese Christian husband was only 6 months ahead of her in the CIA and they both had done tours of military duty in the Middle East and were Arabic speaking. This was when true patriots were still being hired by the CIA, not Leftists. An entertaining writer, she gave an account of their journey working as a couple in the Middle East at the height of perilous war against Islamic terrorism of the 2000’s. She depended on God providing and protecting her even in situations of great peril she found herself in at times. She admitted she was not as personally cool, calm and collected as she might have appeared when confronting great danger. 
     As I read, I related to her standing in warfare that was above her natural abilities. It made me recognized two things: One is that spiritual warfare is the same as the physical warfare she was standing in the midst of. The second realization is that what she was describing are the conditions my Israeli friends have been living in for a long time – but even more acutely in all these months since October 7^th, 2023. When everything around you is scary, people around you are dying, with rockets and bullets flying past your head – it takes a real trust of God to walk calmly. If you can’t walk calmly, it is much more difficult to hear God’s direction and to act on it.
     The Israeli ministries have say repeatedly over the past 23 years that despite the dangers and reality of enemy strikes, they always get up and continue living their life.
     October 7^th has made it much harder for many Israelis to do that. They have been displaced and removed from their regular lives. We all could be put in that position and like many Israelis we would find the uncertainty of what happens next to be overwhelming to getting on with our lives. Only with a deep trust in God, even when it looks like we have been completely derailed from our lives, our families, our ministries, we can enter an internal peace that passes that understanding because we know God still has us. If we are alive, He still plans on using us. We just have to look around where we are and open our eyes to what He has for us to do.
     The experience of the past week has given me a ‘test run’ on how to respond if things ‘go south’ for a much longer period of time. If I cannot put out my weekly summaries, I hope you realize you have enough information to continue to pray for and support the ministries in Israel. My intention with this prayer list was not to become the source for prayer needs in Israel, but to introduce more Christians with Israeli Ministries so you could connect with directly. I believe I’ve gained a lot of insight about them over the years, but my aim was to be a bridge, not to be replacement for Christians connecting with Israeli ministries. I am confident that God has led me on the right track of the prayer needs for this most significant Remnant of Yeshua’s body in the earth.
     When your own life, your own family, your own country , your own spiritual battleground is in uproar and disarray, I tell you from experience that if you will pray for the Israeli ministries in their situations, God will not ignore the challenges of your life. A prayer for the laborers in the Israeli harvest WILL trigger a release of the same in your harvest fields… your life, your family, your country.

Let All Those Who Hate Zion Be Put To Shame

Psalm 129:5
Let all those who hate Zion
be put to shame and turned back!

Contrary to what some believe, Zionism is NOT extremism! God speaks continually in the scriptures about Zion because it is the spiritual kingdom that is relationship with Him both Jew and all the Gentiles (the nations). God's commitment to Israel and the Jewish people is not superficial, and the Israelis and Jews who can be called Zionists in this spiritual sense - as well as citizens of "the commonwealth of Israel" like me, a gentile Christian - are not extremists either!

Hamas is a terrorist organization that has indoctrinated almost the whole population of Gaza with Islamic fundamentalist terroristic propaganda with murderous hatred for Israel and for Jews. That is a vastly different heart and motive than Zionism. Are there radical Jewish nationalists who also act in hatred toward Arabs? YES. Far fewer in number, unacceptable to most Israelis and they not just given free rein to do evil against their Arab neighbors. When they do evil, Israeli authorities step in to stop them. In Gaza the reverse is true. Mothers birth sons in order that they may become "shahid," a martyr in Islam killing Jews.

What some people think they know about Zionism is WRONG. And I boldly ask the LORD to drop their hate-filled words of condemning Zionism to the ground and render them useless!  Don't play a dirge over Zionism because you don't know the truth about what it means. It is not extremist religion, but it is HaTivah, The Hope of God's restoration of Israel alive and burning in the hearts of those who walk by faith in Yeshua, Israel's Messiah with understanding of what God is doing to make us "one new man" in Him.

I wrote this after hearing someone yesterday pray their "last prayer" on the IHOPKC platform before leaving. I am beginning to hear greater understanding of God's plans for Israel in the prayers that are being made here, but of course in a youthful crowd of Christians, there is a lot of room for those that have been led astray in what they have been taught about modern Israel from the perspective of their faith.

When I say younger generations, I am really talking about the generations that have come after the Baby Boomer generation. It is typical in those generations have rejected what they have collectively deemed as bad interpretation of the Bible by their parents and grandparents who support Israel. They thing we are morally-ethically challenged in our misinterpretation of scripture regarding Israel. I have seen this much in the past and it deserves to be addressed because in how they have been indoctrinated, they believe their view of modern Israel as irrelevant to be superior morally and ethically. However, their sense of justice is not aligned with God's heart or Word. To miss God's heart on Israel is an error that will lead to more and more spiritual deception forming in their thinking.

Of course it is not only young people who do not get the truth about God's heart for Israel, many older Christians do not either, and even Christians who have supported Israel for decades, do it with zeal, but not with an understanding of how God desires they express it. He is all about restoring Israel not just as a physical nation, but as a spiritual nation walking in the faith of Yeshua, Jesus, His Son. There are a lot of ideas among Christians about how that is going to unfold, but I tell, it is already unfolding and in Israel, Jews are coming to faith in Yeshua by the witness of Israeli Jews who are a growing bright light in a dark place. That dark place is also growing in this season as Israeli Jews who have returned to the Promised Land over decades, are reeling from the shock, pain and grief of murderous attacks on them and growing hatred of Jews all over the world. This is where the Light of Yeshua is shining brighter and brighter with each passing day from the Remnant in Israel. 

So why in the face of that do we see young people gathering with Islamic fundamentalists chanting genocide Hamas threats against Israel on our college campuses and in our streets? Why are Christians there? And if they aren't there, why do they still condemn "Zionists" as if it were and extremist terror group as Hamas factually is? Why is any Christian hanging on to the idea that the Palestinian cause against Israel is "just" and moral equivalence given to both sides? Because they are indoctrinated by false narratives, that's why. 

Early indications to me of this problem of the false Palestinian narrative showed up in Relevant Magazine. That is the new generation's Charisma Magazine started by the son of the Charisma publisher Steven Strang. Now Charisma is a publication known to support Israel, but not in the pro-active support of the Messianic body of Messiah in Israel. That may have been what put off Cameron Strang when he started his own magazine, Relevant at the age of 24, because there was a distinct departure from the type of Israel-support Charisma promotes.

Granted the kind of support Charisma promotes leans to Christian leaders connecting only with unsaved Jewish politicians, rabbis and humanitarian organizations. There is nothing wrong with doing that as long as it does not pointedly exclude all contact with the 18 to 20,000 Israeli Messianic Jews who bring the Gospel to their own people. There was a time for this type of support for Israel, but that season has moved into the necessity of Christians coming alongside the Israeli Messianic Jews, in support of their ministries in outreach from their congregations and ministries throughout the Land. They are not just providing practical humanitarian aid, they are bringing the witness of salvation to an Israeli population desperate for answers. 

There is major pressure put on Christian ministries, and I daresay on Christian publications like Charisma, not to upset the Jewish people through open support of Israeli Messianic ministries. But I would rather do what God wants than do what those who are opposed to the Gospel want. Yeshua is Israel's Hope! Let the apple carts be upset: do what God calls us to do! 

The traditional Christian approach to Israel is major finances into Israel to the projects of unsaved Israelis. This is an attempt to try to make Israel jealous of Christian faith by our generous giving. Meanwhile these same Christian completely ignore the Israeli Jews who believe in Yeshua Jesus and are doing all the work of the ministry on insufficient funds. It is spiritually anemic vision on the part of Christians in attempting to fulfill God's heart for supporting Israel. It stinks, if I'm honest, but WHOA! That doesn't mean younger generations should not reject Israel. The older Christian Israel-supporters have not awakened to the actual call God has made on us in coming into full support of Israel, but going the opposite direction buying into the LIES of false Palestinian narratives is not the answer either! There are real FACTs involved in Israel's existential battle to survive the Islamic fundamentalist terrorists and nations surrounding them. This is not the David and Goliath story line you have been sold by terrorists and their sympathizers!

Another influence I've seen on younger Christian generations came in the form of some young leaders aligning with the Palestinian Christians who put on "Christ at the Crossroads" who are not reconciled in the least with their Messianic Jewish Israeli brothers. They hold to the 'Victim Theology' that Israel today is 'nothing' to God. This is the same thinking that many Christians have, and the vast number of scriptures that say that is not how God views the Jewish people seems to make any impression on that thinking. It is because it is not only stinking thinking, it is also a hardened heart. Yes, Christians can have hardened hearts too. 

The Palestinians who put on the Christ at the Crossroads conferences believe Jews have no right to be in the place where many Arabs settled while Jews were in exile for the last almost 2,000 years. They give no legitimacy to all the scriptures that tell God would restore the Jews back to the Promised Land and re-establish the modern state of Israel. Human beings just naturally turn a blind eye to anything they don't like and we see that through history as it relates to God's Word. If God does not give us eyes to see, we choose not to see.  

But what ideas do the Christ at the Crossroads Palestinian Christians align themselves with? Foremost it is the nationalistic agenda of Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist terrorists. Even so, several Israeli Messianic Jewish ministry leaders have made great efforts over the years to bridge the gap with the Crossroads Arab Christians, even participating on the Crossroads panels some years, but the efforts have not yielded much.

Why is it that young American Christian leaders who support the Crossroads explanation of being victims of Israel, cannot breakthrough to the facts? Why are so many addicted to the false narrative instead of the facts? This is why I call it 'Victim Theology' because any way of analyzing the facts of a matter gets blown away by claims of victimization. How did we become a people who exalted those with victim mentality over the facts before us? How did we become so blind to the truth?

Certainly the indoctrination has come in a major way on college campuses. The intersecting alignments of various groups who carry victim mentality - including the fundamentalist Islamist determined strategy for overthrowing American support for Israel - has had a great impact on generations. The Baby Boomer radicals of the 1960's and 1970's became teachers and professors and they have infected the minds of generations ever since. 

As for the rejection that Christian young people have toward support of Israel, it is also their rebellion against their parents who support Israel in every decision "right or wrong." We can be against wrong Israeli decisions without losing sight of our part in supporting God's grand plan for the spiritual restoration of Israel. Many evangelical Christians got stuck on the political advocacy support of Israel, and never considered that God's priority is to bring Israelis into a place where they can see Yeshua for who He is to THEM and be saved. "To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under Heaven."

In this critical season we have a a generation who backs Hamas terrorists in the streets of our cities. It truly is sympathy for the devil. We have them making prayers saying Zionists as extremists like Hamas. That is a wholly distorted view of reality!

It is both idealism and the arrogance of youth to reject and rebel from the paths their parents and grandparents. We Baby Boomers certainly did that too and in the process we advancing many of great ills (sins) we see in our society today. At the time we dismissed sin as being irrelevant to us, and now our hearts break to see how the sins have morphed into our worst nightmare for our children, our gandchilden and even our great grandchildren.  The generations that followed after us have done the same thing in rebellion and rejection of what we stand for...only now we are standing in a climatic season God spoke through all the prophets of Genesis to Revelation. The stakes for the lives of Christians are much higher now. Do they really have decades to return to the integrity of God's Word and the paths of righteousness? 

God says that He is going to bring the prophetic spirit of Elijah in the last days. Malachi 4:5-6 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

So the answer is that the fathers, those who know God's heart for Israel to be spiritually restored, begin to turn their heart toward their children praying for the generations behind us that are flailing around in false narratives that break God's heart.

You may think it is wrong to put Israel at the the top of the list to pray for younger people to come to the knowledge of the truth about, BUT IF THEY GET THEY HEART OF GOD WRONG ABOUT ISRAEL THEN MANY OTHER GRAVE ERRORS WILL ATTACH TO THEM AS WELL. It is a spiritual vulnerability that attracts other evils. This is especially true in the current season.

 

2024 May 24 ARROWS: A Cup of Trembling & A Burdensome Stone

 

The Butcher of Tehren is Dead
& the International Criminal Court seeks arrest warrants
for Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister

They do not take Zechariah’s 12:2-3 prophecy from God about Israel to heart
by Donna Diorio

On Sunday news began to trickle in on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter. News out of Iran was that a helicopter carrying Iranian President Raisi had crashed in an unknown location in a mountainous northwestern region near the Azerbaijan border.
     It wasn’t long after that when an Iranian statement on X was reported by Sky News that the helicopter had been found. The post was quickly deleted. There was also a report by Russian WorldNews24 in the early going that two people on the helicopter had made contact after the crash, implying the crash was not that serious. Much speculation swirled online about the crash and who might have been responsible for it with several suspects, of course including Israel. Meanwhile in Iran, a great many Iranians celebrated the possibility that “the Butcher of Tehran” was dead.
     Several more hours passed before Iran posted officially that the copter had been found and all were dead. It is hard to believe that it took 22 more hours of search for the helicopter since it was traveling with two other copters at the time the copter carrying Raisi crashed into a mountain. Dead in the crash also was and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, along with seven others. Iranian officials claim it took almost 24 hours of searching before finding the wreckage.
     These types of events are always going to swirl with speculations of what nation might have been involved in taking the helicopter down. A review of X posts have shown accusations against, of course Israel, but also France, the United States and others. My pet theory is it could have been on the Aytollah’s orders because of the humiliation of the Iranian missile barrage against Israel that was an abject failure. President Raisi was not only responsible for the executions of thousands of Iranians but he was also expected to be the person most likely to succeed when the current Aytollah died. He was a great friend and ally of the current Aytollah. But the embarrassing failure of the attack on Israel may have been too much failure for the Aytollah to take.
     Whatever the reason for the death of President Raisi and his Foreign Minister, ultimately I believe it was God’s call in a fulfillment of Zechariah 12:2-3.
     “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.”
     What it means to be a cup of trembling is that coming against Jerusalem will be like a drinking from a large goblet of alcohol that causes her enemies to reel as if in drunken intoxication. What it means to make Jerusalem – as the capital of Israel – a burdensome stone, is it that although in the natural it may look easy to remove Israel but she will be as a heavy stone, hard to lift. All who try to lift her out of her place shall be gashed, cut in pieces even though all the nations will be gathered together against it.
     For certain this is what has just happened to Iran’s Butcher of Tehran. It should also be a concern to the ICC, the International Criminal Court at the Hague, Netherlands. The ICC seeks to charge Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant with war crimes for defending itself against the real war criminals, Hamas. No matter if all nations agreed to this, God will have the last Word because He has made it clear He will protect Israel from all who attempt to destroy her.

Read more on this subject in this commentary from Israeli Cookie Schwaeber-Issan in All Israel News: Was Raisi’s death a sovereign act of God?

Arrows from Zion
Summarized from the Weekly Summary of Prayer Requests Israeli Ministries

Betty Intrater of Tikkun Global provides a STRONG prayer list for intercessors:  Unity among government leaders, particularly those in the war cabinet responsible for crucial decisions.| Strength and renewal for these leaders as well as high level army and security officials who face constant criticism, blame and anger. | Anointed decisions as to correct war strategy, whose parameters are constantly changing.| Capture or assassination of top level Hamas leaders, particularly Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Sinwar, and Mohammed Deif, thought to be hiding in the tunnels under Gaza.| Release of hostages captured October 7! There are approximately 90 hostages still held in Gaza plus 40 bodies of those murdered on October 7th. Of the 90 it is not known how many are still alive.| Supernatural protection of IDF soldiers from enemy weapons and booby traps.| Supernatural wisdom to know where danger lurks.| Protection against friendly fire incidents and army accidents which comprise a percentage of the injuries and deaths.| Ability to fight against terrorists without harming civilians. This is difficult because Hamas purposely fights from within populated areas as well as mosques, schools and hospitals.| Adequate prison facilities and staff and correct treatment of detainees and captured terrorists. That Israel would act righteously including toward its enemies.| Ability to adequately distribute humanitarian aid and set up safe relocation centers with basic food and health accommodations. Hamas has repeatedly tried to block these efforts, stealing aid and attacking distribution personnel.| Healing of the wounded. The hospitals are filled with seriously wounded soldiers and others wounded in the October 7 attack who require long term rehabilitation. These include amputations, head/brain injuries, severe limb and inner organ injuries.| Over worked medical staff, finances for extra staff, equipment and expansion of facilities.| Wisdom how to deal with northern front against Hezbollah as well as West Bank, hot spot for terrorist activity.|Displaced citizens from northern and southern communities hanging in limbo, unable to continue with normal lifestyle, work and school.| Extreme financial burden on Israeli economy causing increased price hikes and inflation.| Against lies and fake news in West hiding under mask of pro-Palestinian sentiment, causing surge in antisemitism and hatred of Israel. Incredibly this phenomenon has produced a tie between liberal West and Muslim fundamentalism.| For a revolution in Iran, that a righteous government would overthrow the cruel extremist government whose president God has supernaturally removed!|Pray for all these issues to bring a hunger for God and revelation of Yeshua to Israelis as well as Palestinians and a sweep of revival and salvation to all the world!
     Also from Tikkun: 5/23 Global Broadcast video: This particular session is focused on the Body of Messiah in Israel | VIDEOS A Heavenly Government, The Samaritan Woman and ARTICLE True and False Peace Agreement all three by Asher Intrater | Plus by Leon Mazin: Update from Haifa |and the BOOK by Eitan Shishkoff What About Us? Answering a compelling question that many sincere Christians are asking when it comes to Israel.

Maoz Israel’s Kobi & Shani Ferguson have set the eyes on the need for trained believer counselors to deal with Restoring Mental Health in Israel. “The affect this trauma will have on the culture of our nation for decades to come is daunting. Therefore, the sooner we address this issue, the higher our chances in bringing healing and restoration to the people of our land—both Jewish and Arab.
     In all this, one cannot overstate the importance of addressing spiritual needs alongside psychological needs. And that is something we as believers can address. Access to trained believing counselors is currently limited in Israel, but we do have a number of such trained professionals and Maoz would like to get behind their efforts to reach and care for as many Israelis as possible. To learn more, listen to the article here and pray about investing into this desire to help trained professional believers being to minister to the many devastated souls in Israel.

DONNA: I don’t want to belabor this point, but I started this weekly prayer summary in August 2001 not only to raise prayers for the Messianic Jewish Ministries laboring in the spiritual harvest field of Israel. It was also to attempt to bring understanding to our “duty” to minister to their material needs in bringing this harvest in. Many misplaced beliefs block Christians from understanding our duty is not only to support Israel, but our duty is first to the Israeli household of faith who are bringing the Good News of Messiah to their countrymen.      Especially since October 7th these weeks of publishing the needs that the Israeli Ministries have set themselves to in ministering to the people of their nation, I have asked myself the question, If Christians cannot see this need to fulfill in Israel through those Israeli citizens who bear the witness and testimony of Jesus in their own lives, when will Christians ever see it?      The need to put financial resources into the hands of the Israeli Body of Messiah is like the blessing of the loaves and fishes which multiplied to fill the needs and more. In this case physical needs are met and the “more” is the spiritual discovery of who the Messiah is. Through allowing the body of Yeshua in Israel to carry both material and spiritual help to their fellow Israelis right now, it will do more than all Christian donations to every other humanitarian outreach to Israelis that has ever existed, or ever will exist. The Israeli believers have the anointing and calling from God to accomplish bringing in the harvest far beyond the benefits of any Christian humanitarian giving delivered over to unsaved distributors.

Jackie Santoro of Zion’s Glory and Ahavat Yeshua congregation in Jerusalem writes eloquently of Israel’s Memorial Day and “the high price we have paid for our existence. . . . This year is the first year in the history of this country that Memorial Day and Independence Day are occurring while we are fighting a war.  It is so clear as we walk through these days as a nation that Israelis love life and grieve death. So different from the evil Hamas spirit which emulates death and cares nothing for life. May the world see the truth! . . . . all of Israel was overwhelmed with disbelief by President Biden's statement that much needed arms were being held back in order to discourage the government from continuing its plans to enter Rafah. Sanctioning arms to Israel by the USA has never happened in our history and no Israeli ever imagined it could or would happen. . . . PM Netanyahu issued a response … that the war would continue until we achieve our objectives, even if we have to go it alone and fight "with our fingernails".  . . . The work of the enemy seems so clear to us but most are blind to it. Before our very eyes, the whole world is turning against us just as the Bible has foretold. Deception is like a mist covering the eyes and hearts of people and nations. The rise in antisemitism around the world and the pro-Hamas demonstrations are painful for us to watch. Good is being portrayed as evil and evil as good - even to the degree that even those who should know better are getting confused.  May the terrorist spirit be exposed and may the demonic blindness on the young people who are aligning with Hamas be dissipated. May Truth prevail. . . . For those of us who live here, we can see the DNA of God himself in the fabric of this place. From this nation came the Messiah, and to this nation He will return. And so as the time draws near, the attacks intensify.”
     “. . . . In the midst of these days, though it is hard to leave. I am planning a trip to New York and Florida. I will be traveling with my son, Evan (station manager of ShelanuTV) and we trust that we will be a light shining in a dark place and hope to be a witness wherever we go proclaiming the truth of all that is going on. We would appreciate so very much your prayers for our safe travel, divine appointments and that we would be a blessing to friends and family and all those we meet along the way. Pray that we would return refreshed and strengthened as we continue to fight the good fight of faith in our personal lives, and for this nation and its people that we love so deeply. Thank you so much for your support and encouragement as we press on in these difficult days of birth pains. 

More new Divine Appointments from Ronit Bender, whose daily life is surrendered to the LORD as a personal evangelist in northern Israel. Born in Israel, Ronit moves easily in her life with Jews, Arabs, Druze, Internationals – listening closely to the instruction of the Holy Spirit with the people she meets. Her faith is bold to befriend, to give, to pray, to be a love letter from Yeshua to the people who cross her path. This letter she writes of praying for an Arab woman from Nazareth who came into a nail salon in terrible pain. After Ronit asked if she could pray for her and did, the woman screamed out, "What did you do to me?" The Lord had healed her on the spot. Another day at the nail salon, a Druze lady walks in and the Spirit spoke to Ronit. She approached the woman, told her “that God ~ my God ~ has spoken to me about her. Her eyes opened wide and all the ears of the women in the nail salon leaned in to hear what came next!  I told her I would like to take her to my hairdresser and God would pay for it. She burst out crying. I found out she was recently divorced, left with 3 young children, and only the night before she prayed to God and asked Him how will she ever be able to go to a hairdresser with so little money she has as a manicurist?  …. A is an elderly lady I met at the hair salon. She does not believe in God, "too brainy" as she called it. I gave her my testimony on YouTube. She was glued to it. Before she left, she told me she needs to think it through. Let's pray she does not take too long, as she is in her 80's. Pray for her salvation. . . . On my first day to the pool yesterday I met M. She was mean at first, but after swimming she sat next to me and we talked. I did a lot of listening, which is ok. The next day, I brought her a new bathing suit and some nice clothes. Pray with me she and other members of the kibbutz will have open hearts and get saved. I never stop being amazed at how many Divine appointments a day the Lord provides for us.”  Donna: If these things do not inspire you, you might be un-inspirable! [To contribute to support this "personal evangelist" in Israel email her or direct into her PayPal account: trbender@gmail.com ] I hope you understand this is how evangelism is done so effectively in Israel, people being touched by other Israelis filled with the Spirit.

Plant Hope Israel’s Jennifer Guetta, the Biblical archaeologist, delivered from Kaballah, saved and anointed as a prophet in Israel writes, “As the battle intensifies, people are desperately calling out to God for help... and this is needed. For our trust must not be in weapons or in armies, but only in God and in Yeshua. As people call out to Him the veil is removed and people come to know the Messiah Yeshua. Therefore revival often comes in the midst of the darkness. Many people all over the world are praying for revival during this time. But the question is: are we ready for revival when it comes? This week, the Lord showed me we should also pray for the body of Messiah, in Israel and abroad, to prepare their hearts. . . . revival often comes together with persecution. When God's Spirit is poured out, every demon gets upset and starts reacting. In the spirit realm, it causes a major clash between the Kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. Demons inside people start to react and try to stop it from happening, religious spirits come against it, and every one finds out about it. During revival it is impossible to stay hidden because Gods Spirit naturally attracts people and demons start to flee and get upset. In the last generations, many believers in Yeshua have been living hidden lives, safely building their lives in the world. . . . n these end times, I believe the Lord is going to pour out His Spirit in the midst of the storm. But it will mean that we will no longer be hidden, and persecution comes along side of it. So please pray for the body of Messiah, especially in Israel, that they will be ready for the revival when it comes.
     Project Water to Wine | Plant Hope Israel helps facilitate movements of the Holy Spirit and the Presence of God in Israel. Israel is a dry country but God has made many promises for this land, that He will pour out His Spirit again and let the Living Water of Yeshua flow (Joel 2:28). Plant Hope Israel Ministries longs to see the Holy Spirit released in the lives of people so many people can be set free. Click Here for more info about our project Water to Wine.
     Sponsor Jennifer’s testimony book, Awestruck by Glory in Hebrew. Learn more here. | ALSO Testimonies from Israel| Every Wednesday night 7pm Israel time we are interviewing new believers in Israel about their testimony to show you that God is doing great miracles in Israel. Come join us for an incredible time of faith building and hope. Zoom Meeting ID: 3293756307 Passcode: 283902 | AND
Watcher on the walls: Pray! | If you want to pray for Israel, you can join us every day between 7-9PM Israel time on Zoom. Zoom Meeting ID: 3293756307 Passcode: 283902  

From the Hamaayan Congregation led by Tony & Orna Sperandeo, excerpt from the special commemoration of Israel’s Independence in the congregation, written by congregants Dany and Tamy, “. . . . We were called to be a light to the nations. We can see with our own eyes how dark the world is in which we live, and the greater the hand of the devil and the powers of darkness are, so must our light shine brighter and stronger, like a lamp shining in the dark. . . .Do we not see prophecy coming true in front of our eyes? One of the signs given to us that Yeshua is soon to return is that all nations will turn against Jerusalem. Is that not what is happening now? Is this the beginning of those prophecies coming true? Even our friends are threatening us. . . . If so, what reason have we to celebrate? We have reason! We are in the hands of the Lord, Who said: “I will not leave you nor forsake you… I shall be with you… be strong and of good courage” (Joshua 1:5-9), and we are more than conquerors because we, the children of the Lord, know the responsibility the Lord has designated for us and we certainly do have a future and a hope, not like our people, who do not know the Light. We see the Light anew every morning, not just the light at the end of the tunnel. . . . Let us also stick to our principles, the principles of the Messiah and the perfect plans of the Lord for the people of Israel. Our independence is in the Lord and our citizenship is in heaven. Therefore we are allowed to celebrate our independence as the Lord blessed us and we cry out from the depths of our hearts to our beloved country: “‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!” (Ezekiel 15:6). During this very difficult time, we appreciate your prayers 

Joel Jelski at Fields of Wheat writes an update after the additional 48 days of reserve duty he just came back from. “For now, we were told we won’t be called up again until 2025 for further reserve duty unless war breaks out in Lebanon; in this case, we would be called up once again.” Joel tells about his experience as part of a tank team stationed outside of Ashkelon guarding the border that there be no further incursions by terrorists into Israel. One of the highlights he shares is how “from the outbreak of war on October 7 until I went back to the reserves, Fields of Wheat continuously supplied believing soldiers (and sometimes their entire units) with urgently needed equipment. The lion’s share of this hard work was done by our staff member, Ruby. Over the next few weeks, we will supply more fireproof uniforms (which are life-saving!), and other material help for Messianic soldiers. My own unit was blessed by our ministry, which helped provide a fireproof uniform for each soldier. The uniforms are $500 a piece! So, the timely generosity of God’s people provided these hi-tech uniforms for my entire unit to the tune of $25,000. This equipment is not cheap, but it saves lives. This has been proven repeatedly in other units that have survived attacks by RPGs or mines/explosives. Since I joined my unit, the army has had a hard time providing reserve soldiers like me with these uniforms. They are required for tank duty. I had a uniform for months that didn’t actually fit me and another one that was torn. Many of my fellow soldiers were in similar situations. You made it possible for me to equip my unit with practical, immediately needed equipment.”
     Joel also reports, “During this demanding time of serving in our country’s defense force, I have been able to have many long conversations about my faith in Messiah. And the best part - I didn’t initiate any of them. . . . Please pray for our friends who are in Gaza right now. Pray for wisdom and protection and for them to be a light to their fellow soldiers.| Pray for our ministry as we resume the vital work of equipping Israel’s youth and young adults to respond to the growing spiritual hunger in this society.| Both Ruby and I (with my wife, Teresa, and our two boys) are potentially headed to the States over the summer. We don’t have any details yet, but we will update as things come together. For me, it will depend on what happens with Lebanon, so any plans I make cannot be set in stone. Please pray for clarity for us — how to plan the next few months. I need wisdom to plan and balance family and ministry If we are to travel and what that will look like. | Our teen summer camp is already just 3 months away. . . . Support Katzir Youth Camp! Help our youth experience the change of a lifetime! Your contribution to these national youth camps not only changes lives but it also enables these Israeli teens to become workers in Yeshua's final harvest! Give HERE!

Avner Boskey, David’s Tent, They Make Shrewd Plans Against Your People | ....Yom HaZikaron in Hebrew, its official name in English is the Memorial Day for Israel’s Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Hostile Acts. . . .As the nation mourns, Psalm 83 is usually read aloud. This psalm of Asaph recounts how Middle Eastern enemies have sought our annihilation for over 3,000 years. The Palestinian terror groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad are new names for ancient foes. . . .These  Middle Eastern enemies, like their fellow-travelers (the rioting students on Western campuses), are wise in their own eyes and see themselves as cunning in their conspiracies. Their cries “to wipe Israel out as a nation, so that its name will be no longer be remembered” have been modernized – morphed – into “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be Jew-free.” The God of Jacob notes that, in attacking the Jewish people and the Jewish state, they are also conspiring together against YHVH the Warrior God (see Exodus 15:3). And the Psalmist calls on the Power of Deep Heaven to “terrify them with Your storm, and fill their faces with dishonor . . .” Read in full online

Restoration from Zion – a quick Health Update from Dan Juster | Two weeks ago on Friday morning I experienced a medical emergency. … I arose from my chair to get the laundry. … felt myself getting dizzy …. stepped into the hall … steadied myself by the shoe case in the hall. Patty …heard me fall and came running. … saw me laying on the floor unresponsive with my eyes open, she thought that I had had a heart attack. She screamed upstairs where Simcha and Jonathan live, and they came running … Simcha was able to rouse me while Johnathan called the emergency service. The next thing I knew I was waking up with the EMT looking over me. … said I needed to take the ambulance to the hospital to be checked out further. Simcha drove to meet me there. The EKG, chest x-ray and other tests were normal however the brain CT scan showed a slight brain bleed. Apparently, I received a concussion when my head hit the shoe case and the floor. The hospital staff and a cardiologist friend said it was due to my already having a slow pulse and low blood pressure and then taking a beta blocker for A-fib which I started having after Covid. This made my heart slower. I also took another medication that had as one of the side effects dizziness. I was told by several of my Facebook friends that they had had similar experiences. So now I make sure that I get up slowly and wait before launching out. The second CT was done early Saturday morning and there was no more bleeding. I was released the next day after being in the hospital 49 hours. The incident could have been so much worse, so we are praising God for his mercy. However, the incident left me weak, and the doctors had me cancel my trip to Rome.  Hopefully I will be able to travel to the States for our summer itinerary. Thank you for your prayers.  UPDATED 5/19 Good news. Today I had a new CT scan. It should almost all of the blood bleed in the brain resolved. The neurosurgeon read the scan and cleared me to fly to the United States tonight. He also cleared me to return to the gym to lift weights.  I felt the best today of any day in two weeks and no headache all day. So we are looking forward to the summer itinerary. Thank you so so much all of you who prayed or me. It was a scare especially for Patty and my daughter Simcha. We are so, so deeply in love that the thought of living without the other is just too hard to contemplate though we are not spring chickens anymore. 

Israel Pochtar, pastor of Beit Hallel in Ashdod and Voice of Judah ministries has a great series on Understanding the Power of Pentecost – Blessing to Be a Blessing, Part 3, Part 2 & Part 1 | also his Shavuot Evangelism: “To the Jew First” | Contantine’s Testimony: Letting Go | Evangelism work is so complex and nuanced. It requires a great deal of sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, as well as great logistics in place to ensure that when our evangelism outreach events end, people’s journey with Jesus only begins.| WATCH VIDEO The Harvest is Ready “Shavuot is coming up in June and God is calling us to share the good news just as the Disciples did after faithfully waiting those 50 days. While we await the return of the Messiah, we are called to share the same Good News with those who yearn to know Him. We know God will use our Shavuot evangelism event to draw even more to Him! Consider investing in Israel’s salvation in this historic and prophetic time by supporting our evangelism work. Your giving will make an eternal difference!  Donation information
     How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! – Romans 10:14

David Silver of Out of Zion Ministries gives some figures of the price Israelis have paid for their 76 Years of existence as the Modern State of Israel in his article you can read in full here. “| Last Monday was Memorial Day in Israel as the nation remembered more than 25,000 soldiers who lost their lives in wars, including the current war with Hamas, and 5100 civilians who have died in terror attacks since the rebirth of Israel on May 14th 1948. This year thousands more Israelis mourned their personal loss of families members, neighbors and friends who died on October 7, or during the 7 months of war since that tragic day. . . . Because the majority of Jewish Israelis serve in the military, almost everyone knows a family that has lost at least one loved one, or lost a close friend, neighbor or co-worker. . . .     Apart from Messianic Jews and perhaps some of the religious Jews, most of the other Israelis who celebrate lndependence Day every year are missing the most important aspect of the day - that we are celebrating one of the greatest miracles of all time. Read in full at the link above, which also includes prayer points.

Cookie Schwaeber-Issan in the Jerusalem Post 5/23/24 | Unpacking  the ICC’as absurdity | Why did the ICC take seven months to publicly state that Israel’s prime minister and defense minister were retroactively guilty of crimes against humanity?

Donna: Last week at the last minute before sending out these lists, I received information on Facebook from a Messianic Jew I knew of previously requesting prayers for “a massive hostage rescue operation going on right now.” His information was accurate, even though it was not yet picked up by Israeli news media. I made a judgment call to report it and ask for the “urgent prayers” he was pleaded for over a classified brigade who he said had found hostages and were “fighting neck to neck victory in getting hostages alive.”
     We now know that fight was taking place in the Gaza town of Jabaliya and there were seven hostage bodies recovered who were killed Oct 7^th. The IDF has retrieved 16 hostage bodies from Gaza, and “125 Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, of whom 40 have already been declared deceased by Israeli authorities,” according to AllIsraelNews. That means there are up to 85 hostages, whether dead or alive is unknown, remaining in captivity by the brutal Hamas captors. Pray for the IDF to continue to get accurate intel on the places Israeli hostages are being held, and given Divine strategies for rescue and recovery of them all, in Yeshua’s name & the Father’s great compassion on Israel.

The Song of Moses Reveals God's Prophetic Intentions for Israel

It is every bit as instructive 
as the Apostle Paul's Romans 9-11

In Romans 12:19 Paul writes, "Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God's wrath. For it is written: "Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord." It is from the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32:34-36: “Have I not stored up these things, sealed up within My vaults? Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.' For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and there is no one left who can restrain or restore."

    In verse 3 of the Song of Moses it is written, “For I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Ascribe greatness to our God! 4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; ALL HIS WAYS ARE JUST. A GOD OF FAITHFULNESS WITHOUT INJUSTICE, righteous and upright is He.”

     This is not speaking that we are to be passive as a doormat (1 Cor 10:13) or that God does not allow Israel to wage war against those who attack her. This is speaking on personal motivations of individual actions, and corporately forbidding REVENGE taken by God’s people.

     If you consider the history of pogroms against Jews in the Diaspora, you see that the Jews never became a force of revenge. At times they fought back to preserve their lives in the Diaspora, as they do now in the restored State of Israel against implacable enemies, but they do not fight in revenge. That is important to all believers on an individual personal level and it is a significant ethic that God imprinted upon His children corporately. Israel was set apart by the corporate ethical expectations of their Father God. Although they failed in many ways, God did imprint the children of Israel with His own Divine boundaries of justice. 

     This is demonstrated even today in the ethical way Israel has dealt with their implacable enemies for the past 76 years of the modern State. There may be pockets of Israelis who take revenge on the Palestinians, but the corporate ethic is not revenge, but self-defense. That is a powerful statement of the Divine DNA of the children of Israel, and Christians are to learn from that example.  Many believers make the mistake in thinking they have the “right” to seek their own vengeance on those that have harmed them. God says to His children: Don't do it. Allow me because only I can execute pure judgment. You cannot because you yourself are not pure enough to judge what that is.

     The Song of Moses is Prophetic | The Song of Moses is an incredible chapter that explains what God's intentions for Israel are. As the apostle Paul explained it to Christians in Romans 9 through 11, the Song of Moses predicts everything that has played out in history. It is a comprehensive view of God's perspective of what He is doing with Israel. It spans from the time He singled them out to be "a chosen people" to the very end when He vindicates them. He vindicates them from their enemies because His own name is placed on them. He says if Israel's enemies wipe them out, they will think they not only had prevailed against Israel, but against God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob. (DT 32:26-27)

     In this chapter God expresses his anger with Israel because in their prosperity, they forgot all about Him and adopted other gods, mere idols. In Romans 11:17-20 the Apostle Paul warns Christians along the same lines. Christians are not to disdain the Jewish people, but to recognize we stand on their spiritual shoulders. Israel was only set aside by God for a season in order that Salvation (Yeshua) could be extended to all the nations.

     If we do not have that in right understanding, we think it is okay to seek revenge on Israel, calling them “Christ killers” and rejected of God. We better heed Paul’s warning or we are in danger of being cut off by God in a time when there is no recourse left to repent. It is the time that God returns to the natural restoration of the Promised Land and the spiritual restoration of the Chosen People, the People of the Book who “for better or for worse” have born the name of the LORD since He first singled them out for that purpose.

     God said prophetically about the idolatry in the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 32:19-21: "When the LORD saw this, He rejected them, provoked to anger by His sons and daughters. He said: “I will hide My face from them; I will see what will be their end. For they are a perverse generation—children of unfaithfulness.

     21 They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.

     This "nation without understanding" is nāḇāl goy. Goy means nations that are not Israel. So goy refers to all the nations that Salvation (Yeshua) was opened up to by the setting aside of Israel. Now nāḇāl means foolish, which also means “with no perception of ethical and religious” boundaries. In other words, God laid out His ethical and religious boundaries to the Chosen People, but the peoples of the nations that came to Salvation by faith in Yeshua/Jesus did not have any perception of those things. In great part, many still do not because they reject the Hebrew scriptures of the Bible as having any significance to them. Big mistake. 

     In fact, in Acts 15:21, the Apostles express an expectation that Gentiles coming to faith will be taught what God’s ethical and religious boundaries are saying they will not lay a lot of rules on the Gentile believers because, "For [the books of] Moses has been proclaimed in every city from ancient times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.” What that means is the Torah, or the Instruction which are the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. This was the Apostolic expectation that Christians would continue in learning God’s standards of righteousness and ethical conduct, and the Holy Spirit would convict us of how we are falling short of that. Impossible to let the work of the Holy Spirit have full access to our hearts and minds if we fail to regard the Old Testament as having nothing to do with Christianity.

     Making Israel Jealous: Will God make the Jews jealous or will Christians with no regard for Israel’s Jewish followers of Jesus?  | Christians who believe it will only be Gentile Christians who make Israel "jealous" enough to come to faith, do not take into account God's original explanation of the jealousy in the Song of Moses.

     First off, many of us think we as Gentile Christians have done so much better than Israel did at being a called out people, when the truth is that we have failed just as completely as Israel has according to God’s prophetic complaints lodged against Israel touched on in this Song of Moses.

     Christians are not a people but are from all the other nations in the world. Israel was made a nation, a special people set aside by God to cultivate as His own, and made to be a chosen people bearing the name of God like no other people on the earth. We Christians separated from the Messianic Jewish body and understanding the instructions received by Israel as God’s ethical and religious boundaries. Imperfect as they have been, Israel has borne the name of God continuously, and corporately they have carried the ethical and religious imprint of God too. That is why there is so much hatred toward them and why they have been persecuted by all the nations - Christians included - because we are jealous of them!  We Christians are a nation without understanding of the ethical and religious boundaries as God, by our faith in Yeshua/Jesus, or that He has set us into His family and kingdom, "the commonwealth of Israel" (Ephesians 2:12-14). We do not live in Israel, but we are citizens of Israel, in the sense of “the commonwealth.”

     It is an important distinction to grasp because so many Christians to this day do not understand that God did not institute a new "Chosen People" but He adopted us into the original Chosen People. It is a familial place where we stand alongside all Jews from the first century to the present day of Jews standing before God by faith in the Messiah of Israel, Yeshua of Nazareth.

     In the Song of Moses, God clearly says that for the sake of Israel's enemies not thinking they can prevail over Israel and the Jewish homeland off the face of the earth, a genocide of the People of the Book, upon whom the name of the One True God has been placed, that His MESSIAH will return to rescue them definitively. Also we Christians from all the nations that remain at that time will need His rescue too. We Christians are not ‘just another religion’ that a mad and evil world of antichrists despise, but Christians are the adopted family members into the family line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It makes us citizens of the commonwealth of Israel who do not live in Israel but are of the Messiah’s kingdom.

     The timing of this is indicated in the Song of Moses – DT 32:36 For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is exhausted and there is no one left who can restrain, rescue or restore.

     37 He will say: “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, 38 which ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up and help you; let them give you shelter!  39 SEE NOW that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.  40 For I lift up My hand to heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever, 41 when I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me.

     In verse 36, I believe that God is telling us when He is going to have compassion on Israel - when their strength is exhausted and there are none who can rise up to save them. It is how many of us come to faith personally, and it is how many in Israel have been coming to faith increasingly since 1948 - and at this time like never before. When we think we can do it ourselves, that is what we depend on ourselves and not God; but when we come to the end of ourselves, that is when our spirit finally opens to our great need for salvation. That is when we get over our trust only in ourselves and gladly grasp the Hand of the One who can restore our life to us.

     In verse 39 God makes a declaration "SEE NOW that I am He; there is no God besides Me." The declaration God makes over each of us, and over Israel to is "SEE NOW that I am He." Our faith is possible by His command that removes the veil from our eyes, so we can see.

     The Song of Moses is an amazing outline of God's intentions and anyone who reads it searching for the truth from God's lips should be able to see none of are "all that" in ourselves, but only as He sees fit.

The Big Picture | Eternal Passover and Global Intifada

 The Cover Story for Arrows from Zion this week are excerpts from an article by Israeli Reuven Doron called The Eternal Celebration. This article can be shared from its permanent link on Facebook. Also I would highly recommend Reuven Doron’s 1993 book “One New Man” available on Amazon & elsewhere. This book was groundbreaking in recognition of God’s plan for the end time unity of Jewish and Gentile believers in Yeshua/Jesus. This book had the most powerful impact in setting me on the path of alignment with the Israeli Messianic body and God’s intentions for them and for us. 

The Big Picture | Eternal Passover and Global Intifada

Now that the Passover is behind us, we can consider the feast’s eternal significance that the Lord hinted about when He sealed this first historical communion held in the Upper Room. Opening a window into the far future, Jesus concluded His Communion directive saying to His disciples, “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26)

     Was He talking about a future, eternal Passover, that is awaiting His people in heaven as some think? Probably not, since the Lord Himself already IS OUR PASSOVER! As the Apostle wrote, “… purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Messiah, our Passover, was sacrificed for us…” (I-Corinthians 5:7).

     The Lord was not hinting that we will celebrate Passover in heaven. Biblically, the Feast of Tabernacles is the ONLY feast (of the Seven Feasts of the Lord) which will continue into the Millennial Kingdom. Addressing the end of the age with God’s restoration of Zion and His judgments over her enemies, Zechariah prophesied, saying, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.” (Zechariah 14:16).

      At the time Jesus made His cryptic comment regarding drinking wine again, He was not talking about a future Passover, but was looking forward to a future celebration in heaven with His people. When the plan of God is fulfilled and all His redeemed are gathered to Him in perfect union, the Word of God says that then there will be a great celebration in heaven — the marriage supper of the Lamb.

     “And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, ‘Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ‘Write, ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb…’’” (Revelation 19).

       As we pilgrim on through these trying times of turmoil and harvest, let us fix our eyes on the great and eternal blessings awaiting all those who love the Lord and prepare for His coming. We are grateful for friends who share in our labors during this season of war and harvest. The needs are substantial, as are the opportunities to serve the Lord. To learn how you can support this ministry and God’s work in Israel, email us at reuvendoron@gmail.com

     We are in Judgment | Confusion and disorientation seem to characterize Israel’s policies and the execution of the war with Hamas. With increasing American and western pressures and manipulations to minimize “civilian suffering” and maximize “humanitarian aid” for the “innocents” in Gaza, Israel’s military campaign is floundering. All this while our northern borders remain an active battle zone with tens of thousands of Israelis driven from their homes and communities which are under Hezbollah fire.

     Our government, which is deeply compromised, divided, and shallow in genuine Faith in the Lord God of Israel, is unable to deliver clear leadership. In fact, as a nation, we have been “wrestling with God” for decades, as Jacob did long ago, awaiting our inevitable encounter with the “Angel of the Lord” who will transform us from a JACOB into an ISRAEL. Thank God Israel’s destiny does not depend upon our politicians. Please pray for our leaders.

     While endless “talking heads” and media experts seek to analyze past events, decipher the chaotic present, and predict the future, none of them can produce anything more than hot air. We are in judgment! By His great wisdom and love for His children, our Heavenly Father is allowing some of the consequences of our national and personal faithlessness and infidelity to catch up with us. The goal is to awaken, mature, and equip the saints to be set apart from the world and abide in the Lord alone. As the Apostle told us long ago, “… the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (I-John 2:17).

     Be Strengthened | As chaos and turmoil spread around the world, God’s people are finding greater and greater grace to return to the foundations of the early Ecclesia. This first Jewish/Gentile community of faith that spearheaded what historians call the Church Age was founded on the Lord’s living presence and His Word. Her foundations were profoundly simple and doable. The Bible says that the early community of faith in Jerusalem “… continued steadfastly in (1) the apostles’ doctrine and (2) fellowship, in the (3) breaking of bread, and in (4) prayers.” (Acts 2:42).

     These four foundations of the apostles’ doctrines; fellowship; communion; and prayer are becoming our daily bread here in Israel. They will carry all of us to the end, no matter how frazzled the societies around us may become. In fact, with the Passover story still fresh in our minds, we should take courage from the history of the early Israelites in Egypt who were spared HALF OF THE PLAGUES that destroyed the world’s greatest empire. Not only were the Hebrews spared the plagues of flies, livestock disease, hail, and the death of the first born, but as the tangible and unexplainable DARKNESS covered Egypt for three consecutive days, the sons of Israel enjoyed uninterrupted LIGHT.

      As it is written, “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.’ So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.” (Exodus 10). We pray the Light of God, His love, truth, and ample provisions to shine upon all who love the Lord, call upon His name, and take shelter under His blood sacrifice as did the Hebrews of the first Passover.

     The Big Picture | What is taking place in and around Israel these days is gradually “spreading” into the rest of the world, beyond what most of the media reveals. Principally, what the humanistic world fails to realize and internalize is that the October 7 Hamas massacre is understood by many Muslims around the world as a return to Islam’s foundational principles and “glory days” of military invasions and territorial expansion. The Seventh Century is breaking out into our 21st Century, and Israel is the first line of defense while most of the humanistic West is slumbering in its comforts and drunk in its carnality.

     Following centuries of Islamic inferiority and subjugation to western powers, many Muslims now feel empowered and exhilarated toward a new renaissance. We addressed in past Prayer Reports the fast growing Islamization of Europe, and we now see the first fruits of Islam’s belligerence and aggression showing up on American campuses and academia. For many Muslims, the October 7 Hamas attack was not only justifiable, it is a MODEL to follow; a FORMULA to repeat for the great cause of a global Islamic Caliphate (kingdom).

     Hamas is part of a global network of Islamic militias who will now seek to repeat and replicate the October 7th model. Most European major cities already have “No Go Zones” where local Law Enforcement never enter. These neighborhoods are run by armed Islamic militias who serve both as crime networks and enforcers of Islam over their captive populations.

     Members of these militias are already perfecting the practice of launching surprise assaults, coming out of their enclaves to rob, terrorize, and do as they want to the “infidels” outside. They then return to the safety of their “Gaza” where they are protected from the law of the land. Israel is the only nation so far that, having been painfully awakened from its own slumber, is struggling to face its problem and do what is right and needed. Watch and pray for your own people, and thank you for your prayers for Israel.

     We are grateful for friends who share in our labors during this season of war and harvest. The needs are substantial, as are the opportunities to serve the Lord.

     May God have mercy on those who are blind to the truth, and may He give grace and strength to all who have eyes to discern the “… revelation of the righteous judgment of God who will render to each one according to his deeds, eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 2). Blessed Sabbath to you and to all who love the Lord. Thank you for your prayers.