Jerusalem, Israel
FEBRUARY 2014 PRAYER UPDATE
Israel and the Middle East
Currently, Israel is losing the battle in the diplomatic
arena. There are boycotts, divestments, and an attempt to isolate the Jewish
State by taking action against settlements in the West Bank (Judea and
Samaria). Economic sanctions and new restrictive trade policies, especially on
the part of European nations, are being used as threats against Israel, in the
event that the Israeli government refuses to accept new demands for peace.
These European policies are meant to hurt Israel’s global standing. It is also
an attempt at promoting fear in Israel, especially within the business
community.
Anti-Semitism is on the rise, worldwide, including a
confrontational spirit on the part of lawmakers in Denmark and Tunisia who
performed the quenelle (a type of Nazi salute) when speaking in Parliament.
About 250,000 European Jews do not visit Jewish sites or wear clothing or
symbols that identify them as Jews, fearing an anti-Semitic attack. There have
been increases in attacks against Jewish people, recently, living in Kiev and
Paris.
The worst cases of incitement against Israel and the Jewish
People is found within the Palestinian territories – in school textbooks, and
on state-sponsored television. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas treats
prisoners released from Israeli jails as heroes, and names streets after
terrorists who have died after launching attacks against Israel. Despite Israel’s pleas for
Abbas to stop the incitement, he has done nothing.
If the current peace process fails, Abbas is already putting into
place new preparations for a diplomatic Intifada. What Abbas is planning, is to try and gain
international recognition at the United Nations for a state of
“Palestine.” He is hoping to convince the
world community that the Jewish People do not have ties to the land here, and
that Israelis have no legitimate reason to settle here.
This diplomatic offensive could be accompanied by a third
violent Uprising on the part of the Palestinians, which might include attacks
from jihadists operating in the West Bank, and on Israel’s
borders (Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Egypt, and the Sinai).
Already, there are calls within the Palestinian leadership
for a renewal of armed resistance
against Israel. One of those leaders, Jibril Rajoub, said, “The year 2014 is
the year of decision; we either go to a state or to a confrontation.”
The Shin Bet recently arrested 16 Israeli Arabs that had
formed a Hamas cell in Jerusalem and were in charge of causing
disruptions on the Temple Mount. Police said there has been an increase in
radicalism in East Jerusalem.
Last month, Israel discovered three Al Qaeda recruits in
Jerusalem who were planning multiple terrorist attacks inside the country. Al
Qaeda sympathizers are also operating in the West Bank. Al
Qaeda has taken advantage of the vacuum in Syria to strength its forces there,
and is spreading its influence into Lebanon, which it sees as another gateway
into Israel.
During the past few months there has been a dramatic increase
in rocket attacks against Israel. In Gaza, Islamic Jihad and PLO terrorists
were responsible, along with Hamas, for launching 14 rockets at Israeli towns
in January alone! Explosive devices
planted along the security fence were meant to harm soldiers guarding Israeli
border communities. Sinai-based jihadists along with Al Qaeda operatives from
Egypt, have also hit Eilat with rockets. The IDF is losing its deterrence
capabilities in the south.
The most pressing issue that occupies Israeli leaders is the
threat of Iran becoming a nuclear superpower in order to fulfill its plans for world
dominance. The interim agreement, signed in late January between six world
powers and Iran, still allows Iranian leaders to keep their centrifuges in
place. It permits them to research and build more advanced centrifuges, as
well. If talks towards a permanent agreement fail, these centrifuges will be
ready for placement in nuclear facilities, and could quickly enrich enough
uranium for a “nuclear breakout” – which would give Iran the short time it
needs to build several nuclear bombs.
With all these actions that are a threat to the survival of
the Jewish State, we are not hearing much about how Israel plans to fight its
battles should peace talks between the U.S., Israel, and the Palestinians fail;
and, if negotiations between the six world powers and Iran fail.
The only plans that are being reported is that the Israeli
government wants to cut back on defense spending instead of increasing it!
In the meantime, there is great pressure on Netanyahu and his
peace negotiating team to give up the covenant land God has promised to the
Jewish People.
Canadian PM
Harper said something profound during his January Knesset speech: “We Canadians understand that Israelis live with this
impossible calculus: If you act to defend yourselves, you will suffer
widespread condemnation over and over again. But should you fail to act, you
alone will suffer the consequence of your inaction and that consequence will be
final. It will be your destruction.”
Harper understood Israel’s suffering and the country’s need
to defend itself. There is a frustration among pro-Israel supporters because
the world community refuses to accept Israel’s biblical and historical rights
to the land. International leaders, as
well as leftists in Israel, do not want to engage in a military conflict or war
in order to keep Israel’s line of defense and the nation’s deterrence in place.
Appeasement is the name of the game!
Israel’s past prime ministers and foreign ministers have not
been focused on how much God wants to protect His land and their lives from
destruction, according to the biblical scriptures. Therefore, these leaders
have been willing to concede to pressure; willing to give up part of their
birthright, as Esau did, for a pot of porridge!
But, there is a remnant in Israel who are standing in the
gap, calling out to God to preserve their land. Thousands of Israelis gathered
at the Western Wall recently to pray. Their
purpose was “to unite the community of those who love the Torah and the Land of
Israel against an agreement with an enemy that does not want peace but seeks to
destroy the Jewish People.” One of the
organizers of the rally declared, “We have to rouse the people through prayer
against this tragedy and against the expulsion of Jews from their homes.”
According to the report (Jerusalem Post,
1/31/2014), prayers were read fervently over the loud speakers at the Wall,
accompanied by trumpet blasts. Rabbis encouraged the people to cry from their
hearts to God!
On a political level, conservative Israeli government leaders
are taking issue with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s diplomatic and
military pressure on the Jewish State.
His ultimatums are not getting a positive response in Israel. Netanyahu’s government is on the verge of
collapse because of major differences between political parties. There are
those who want peace so bad they are willing to accept Kerry’s future peace
plan without even seeing it. And, there are those who are already strongly
opposed to whatever compromises Kerry is bringing to the peace table. These
divisions are shattering the unity of Netanyahu’s coalition.
All the more reason why
we ask you to stand in the gap, interceding at a time when Israeli government
leaders have to make tough decisions!
PRAYER POINTS:
Please study and pray
through the scriptures that involve the Lord’s covenant land promises to
Israel. Then, remind the Lord, and speak over Israel, those covenant promises
to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants… which are the descendants
living in the land today and in the future!
(Read Genesis 12:7; Genesis 13:15-17;
Genesis 15:18; Genesis 17:7-8; Genesis 26:3-4; Genesis 28:13-14).
Intercede that leaders
here will walk in the wisdom of the Lord, and not concede to the demands of
men:
Proverbs 4:25-27: “Look straight
ahead and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for
your feet; then, stick to the path and stay safe. Don’t get sidetracked; keep
your feet from following evil.”
This is a crucial time
in the history of the modern Jewish State. Please pray against all fear about
economic sanctions. Declare that Israelis will be blessed with prosperity as
they hold on to God’s Word and continue to steward His land properly.
We need rain in Israel.
January was a dry and warm month! Ask for the rain and proclaim the Lord’s
Covenant of Peace with Israel:
Ezekiel 34:25-26: “I will make a covenant of peace
with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and, they will dwell
safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. I will make them and the
places around My hill a blessing; and, I will cause showers to come down in
their season; there shall be showers of blessing.”
Declare God’s glory
over Israel, that the Jewish People will appreciate and be grateful for His
devotion to them:
Deuteronomy 4:7-8: “For what nation is there so great, that has God so near unto them,
as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is there so great, that has statutes and judgments
so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?”
Intercede that the
people of Israel will not walk in fear of the enemy, but trust in the
Lord:
1 Samuel 12:22-24: “For the Lord will
not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the
Lord to make you His people. Moreover, as for me, far be it for me to sin
against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you. But, I will teach you the good and
right way. Only, fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth and with all
your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.”
Pray that Israeli
political and defense leaders, members of the Knesset, and those in Netanyahu’s
government coalition, will see God’s hand on the Jewish State to protect it,
defend it, and use it to judge the nations:
Jeremiah 51:20: “You are My battle-ax and weapons of war. For
with you, I will break the nations in pieces; with you, I will destroy
kingdoms.”
Romans
8:31: “What,
then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be
against us?
As a pro-Israel
supporter, stand on behalf of Israel, that she will stop being cursed by the
nations, but instead, be a blessing to the nations. Proclaim that Israel will
be saved, redeemed, and favored by the Lord:
Zechariah 8:13: “And, it shall come to pass that just as
you were a curse among the nations, O House of Judah and House of Israel, so I
will save you, and you shall be a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be
strong.”
Intercede for
reconciliation and healing to come between Netanyahu and Israeli leader,
Naftali Bennett. Pray that Bennett will show respect for Netanyahu’s leadership
while still lifting up God’s standard of righteousness and justice in His
beloved land.
Intercede for the Lord to give Bennett wisdom and timing in
voicing his concerns. Pray that God continues to use Bennett as a biblical
mouthpiece to speak His truths.
Ask the Lord to expose all evil intent by those
involved in these current peace talks.
Intercede for God to strengthen
Netanyahu’s political backbone so he will not compromise land for peace.
Thank the Lord for those members in Bennett’s Bayit
Yehudi (Land of Israel) party who are not willing to give an inch of the land
away, while proclaiming Israel’s biblical right to preserve it:
Matthew 7:24: "Anyone who listens to My teaching and
follows it, is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.”