Jerusalem, Israel
NOVEMBER 2014 PRAYER UPDATE
Israel and
the Nations
·
There
has been extensive rioting in Jerusalem over the past several months. Tensions
have dramatically increased, with rock-throwing, Molotov cocktails, stabbings,
and shootings by Arabs against Jews. Jerusalem is experiencing signs of a third
Intifada (Uprising). The Temple Mount was shutdown, temporarily, on Thursday, October
30, and re-opened on Friday, the 31st, but with limitations.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared that the
temporary closing of the Temple Mount by Israel was a “declaration of war.”
This incited the Arab population and Jerusalem is now like a powder keg ready
to explode!
This past week, an Arab kitchen worker in a fine restaurant
at Jerusalem’s Menachem Begin Center shot a rabbi as he was standing outside
the front of the Center. The rabbi, Yehuda Glick has undergone several
surgeries for gunshot wounds, and he is struggling for his life at Shaare Zedek
hospital. He was hit by the assassin after giving a lecture on the Temple Mount
at the Center. His lecture encouraged Jews to find ways to be able to pray on
the Mount. The assassin was a former
terrorist who somehow got clearance by the police to work in the restaurant.
This is a serious
escalation in hostilities of Arabs against Jews. Pray for the rabbi to be
healed in Yeshua’s name. Pray for calm to be restored to the city, and
protection over all those who are living and working in and around Jerusalem.
Declare Isaiah 62:1
over Jerusalem: “Because I love Zion, I will not keep still. Because my heart yearns
for Jerusalem, I cannot remain silent. I will not stop praying for her until
her righteousness shines like the dawn, and her salvation blazes like a burning
torch.”
·
Relations
have rapidly deteriorated between the U.S. Obama Administration and the Israeli
government as the deadline of November 24th draws closer for
a nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 nations. Israel has been critical of U.S.
efforts to strike an agreement with Iran that would leave, in place, thousands
of nuclear centrifuges. This would allow Iran to be a nuclear threshold state,
which in turn would be a great threat to Israel. Netanyahu has privately and
publicly vocalized his concerns. This has resulted in senior officials in
Obama’s White House lashing out at Netanyahu, personally, with public insults
and curse words. The behind-the scenes bickering between the two governments has
now become a public concern. The sense is that what cannot be worked out among
leaders privately eventually becomes a public matter.
Most likely, Obama will use American leverage on Israel in
this way: If Netanyahu doesn’t go along
with the November 24th U.S. brokered Iran deal, then Obama will
instruct America’s ambassador to the United Nations to withdraw diplomatic
cover for Israel. So, when it comes to anti-Israel resolutions being brought
before the UN Security Council, the U.S. will not use its future veto power to
protect Israel.
This is a serious
matter that needs vital intercession! For Netanyahu, a bad deal with Iran
affects the national security of Israel. For Obama, no deal with Iran affects
his own legacy. And, this seems to be what the two leaders are fighting about.
One of the ways that the Obama Administration has been
challenging Israel is in the area of human rights. For the first time, senior
U.S. officials have questioned Israel’s adherence to international human rights
law because of Israel’s bombing of a UN building during the Gaza War that Hamas
was using to launch rockets. In the past, the U.S. has sided with Israel in its
war efforts, but now, Obama is using this as leverage to constrain Israel in
order to get the Netanyahu government to comply with his wishes.
The U.S. State Department continues to condemn Israel for
“illegal” housing development in Jerusalem and the West Bank (Judea and
Samaria). This feeds into the Palestinian narrative that Israel is occupying
Palestinian land and oppressing the aspirations of the Palestinian people.
Proclaim that the
people of Israel are not occupiers of Palestinian land, but rightful owners of
the land God promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through His eternal covenant
with the Jewish People. Pray for current Israeli Ambassador to the U.N., Ron
Proser, who recently declared: “The
people of Israel are not occupiers and we are not settlers. Israel is our home
and Jerusalem is our eternal capital of our people.”
Intercede that other
leaders in Israel will have the boldness to state the biblical and historical
truth about the land of Israel.
CRAFTED PRAYER:
Heavenly Father we declare Zechariah 8:22-23, that many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of Hosts
in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord. As You have proclaimed:
'In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew,
saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ “
We proclaim the favor of God over Israel, and that You will
cause the nations to do what is good in Your sight towards Your Chosen People.
May Your truth be revealed as You contend with those who contend with Israel.
May You bring forth her righteousness as the light of the noonday sun, and cause
the United States and other nations to submit to Your Kingdom authority
concerning Your beloved nation. We prophesy over the land of Israel and say to
the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, thus says
the Lord God, 'Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you
have endured the insults of the nations.’ Therefore thus says
the Lord God, 'I have sworn that surely the nations which are around you will
themselves endure their insults. But you, O mountains of Israel, you
will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they
will soon come home.' "
We entreat You Lord to open the gates and let Your people in,
especially the believers, to become citizens of Your great nation Israel. And,
purge all radical elements that would try to harm Israelis who are living and
abiding in their biblical homeland. Continue to raise up prophets who proclaim
the biblical and historical Jewish heritage of this land, in Yeshua’s name.
·
While
Syria has given up its chemical weapons to be destroyed by the international
community, Syrian President Bashir Assad has retained tactical chlorine weapons
for his use. The IDF is training for any future scenario where they will need
to wear protective gear and gas masks in a possible confrontation with Syria.
New defenses are also needed for Israel to act against possible
Hezbollah attacks on Israel’s off-shore natural gas rigs near the coast with
Lebanon. Hezbollah’s large arsenal of long-range missiles gives the terrorist
group the capability of shutting down Ben Gurion Airport or Haifa Airport if it
launches these missiles against Israel in the future. This could also create
economic havoc on the State of Israel.
CRAFTED PRAYER:
According to Psalm 68:1-3, we declare, “Let God arise,
and let His enemies be scattered. Let those who hate Him, and His people
Israel, flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive
Your enemies away. As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish
before You. But, let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God;
Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.”
According to Numbers 10:35 and Judges 5:31,
"Rise up, O Lord! Again, we say, may Your enemies be scattered; may Your
foes flee before You. May all Your enemies perish! But, may all who love You be
like the sun when it rises in its strength. Then the land had peace forty
years.”
CONCLUSION: Darkness is increasing;
the land is being attacked with violence; there are bitter words against Israel’s senior leader. But, the Word of God is our hope and our
deliverance.
It says in Isaiah
60:2-3, that “darkness covers the
earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and
His glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the
brightness of your dawn.”
We declare this over Israel and ask you to do the same!
We declare this over Israel and ask you to do the same!