Jerusalem, Israel
OCTOBER 1, 2022 PRAYER UPDATE
Israel and the Nations
*THE BIBLICAL FALL FEASTS AND FESTIVALS OF ISRAEL:
Sunday, August 28, 2022, began the Hebrew month of Elul. Religious Jews started a process of repentance, forgiveness, and an evaluation of their sins, as the biblical Fall Feasts drew closer. The month of Elul culminated on the eve of the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Ha Teruah), September 25, 2022. The secular new year of Rosh Hashanah began that eve, and was also observed on September 26. It brought in the biblical year 5783, starting with the month of Tishrei.
The Feast of Trumpets began the countdown to the 10 Days of Awe, which take us into the Day of Atonement. This year, the observance begins on the eve of October 4 until the eve of October 5. On the Hebrew calendar it starts on the eve of Tishrei 9, with a full fast of 25 hours, culminating on the eve of Tishrei 10. It is called Yom Kippur, and represents the most Holy Day on the Hebrew calendar.
During these 10 Days of Awe, thousands of Jews are making their pilgrimage to the Western Wall, entering into what is called the “Slichot” prayers. It’s a time of honoring God, and continuing in the process of introspection and asking forgiveness for sin. It’s also a time of reaching out to others in an attempt at reconciliation.
On the eve and the next full day of Yom Kippur, the Jewish People, worldwide, usually enter into a water only fast. In Israel, there is no traffic on the roads. Businesses are closed, and people spend their time praying and repenting in synagogue. It’s a “collective” repentance as the community of Israel asks forgiveness of sins for the whole nation.
At the end of Yom Kippur, the Jewish People begin to build “succa’s” or “booths” to commemorate the Feast of Succot (also called the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths). It is celebrated for seven days (beginning on the eve of Tishri 14). It’s recorded in John Chapter 7 that Yeshua (Jesus) taught during this time.
The last day of the Fall Feasts is called Simchat Torah, and it means, “Rejoicing in the Torah” (Law). This ends the cycle of the reading of the Torah Portion every week among the Jewish People, and begins the new cycle. There is great joy in the celebration, with young men and old men carrying and dancing with the “sefer Torah” throughout the parks and synagogues in Israel.
(Some scriptures regarding the celebration of the Fall Feasts: Leviticus 23:23-25; Leviticus 23:27-28; Leviticus 23:34-43; Leviticus 16:3-34; Exodus 23:16; Exodus 34:22; Numbers 29:12-40).
Jeremiah 31:35-37: “This is what the LORD says, He who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD Almighty is His name: ‘Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,’ declares the LORD, ‘will Israel ever cease being a nation before me.’ ”
*PRAY FOR THE SALVATION OF JEWISH FRIENDS AND FAMILY DURING THE 10 DAYS OF AWE, AND THROUGH THE DAY OF ATONEMENT:
Scripture declarations:
ROMANS 10:1: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved,”
PSALM 28:9: “Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.”
PSALM 14:7: “Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD brings back the captivity of His people, Let Jacob rejoice, and Israel be glad.”
PSALM 25:22: “Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.”
ISAIAH 40:11: “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.”
ZECHARIAH 12:10: “And I will pour out on the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on Me, the One they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
Remember the whole Household of Israel in your prayers:
Ashkenazi; Sephardic; secular and Orthodox; and modern Orthodox; right and left; politicians and diplomats; Israel’s current president, prime minister; foreign minister, defense minister; members of the current coalition; members of the Knesset; members of a new coalition that will, hopefully, be formed in the coming November 1st election; children and parents; young adults; the elderly; Holocaust Survivors – 1st and 2nd generation, etc.
*ELECTIONS IN ISRAEL AND IN THE U.S. – WHO WILL DIVIDE THE LAND IF PRESSURED BY THE NATIONS?
Some Israeli politicians talk about a two-state solution more than others, but every politician that has a possibility of becoming prime minister in Israel’s November elections has declared a willingness to divide the land. They have accepted the two-state solution.
Israel needs to repent, according to Leviticus 25:23: “The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is Mine and you reside in My land as foreigners and strangers.”
Pray that the nations do not cause Israel to stumble and fall:
JOEL 3:2: “I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to My inheritance, My people Israel, because they scattered My people among the nations and divided up my land.”
*PRAY FOR RUSSIAN ALIYAH:
It is in danger because of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mobilization decree. All men from ages 18-65 must report to the Russian Defense Ministry, and get approval, before leaving the country. At least 300,000 soldiers are being mobilized to fight in Ukraine and help Putin hold on to territory that he wants to annex from Ukraine. This is causing world unrest and threatening Aliyah!
Pray and seek God’s heart for Aliyah from the north, with these scripture declarations:
JEREMIAH 16:14-15: “Yet behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they will no longer say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of Egypt.’ Instead, they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the people of Israel back to their own land from the land of the north and from all the countries to which He had exiled them.’ For I will bring them back to this land that I gave their ancestors.”
JEREMIAH 31:8: “See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers, and women in labor; a great throng will return.”
ISAIAH 43:6-7: “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth— everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made.”