The LORD showed us many years ago that the Middle East conflict cannot be understood just in traditional terms of wars, history, refugees and borders. We need to understand that it is a huge spiritual battle. It is probably the biggest spiritual battle in the world. It’s a battle for Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, it is a battle for the Temple Mount. Ultimately, it is a battle for who will be worshiped on God’s holy hill.
Last November, the United Nations voted 138-9 to declare Palestine a (nonmember observer) state with East Jerusalem as its capital. If you are a Bible-believer, you MUST come to terms with the truth that Israel is God’s land and he gave it to Abraham and his descendants through Isaac. While the Land has been divided throughout history under various circumstances, we have a unique situation that begs our attention. The world has voted to divide Jerusalem. God is clear. There are consequences for dividing the Land and for exploiting and persecuting the Jews.
Many who pray for Israel are not aware that abortion is widespread here. In fact, the government offers two free abortions to each young woman serving her two years in the Israeli Defense Forces. Be’ad Chaim, a Messianic pro-life ministry in Israel, estimates that every fourth pregnancy in Israel is terminated by abortion. Could this infanticide be tied to the ancient worship of an abominable god?
On June 7, 1967 — 19 years after the nation of Israel had been reborn — Israel regained ancient Jerusalem and reunited it with modern Jerusalem. And so the ancient capital of Israel was made whole and under Israeli control for the first time since the Maccabees, 1,900 years since the Romans destroyed the Temple. Why does this matter? Because the re-formation of Israel as a nation is a fulfillment of prophesy.
Thursday, by a vote of 138-9, the United Nations declared Palestine a (nonmember observer) state with East Jerusalem as its capital (read official UN document). Forty-one nations abstained from voting.
Before the 20th century, the Biblical prophesies of all the nations gathering against Jerusalem seemed far-fetched as the city was perceived by most as merely a backwater town of the Ottoman Empire. Now, in 2012, you can hardly turn on a news channel without some headline about Israel and Jerusalem. News media, activists and even some Christians argue that the Middle East conflict is about land, refugees and borders. However, we need to be aware that it is primarily a spiritual battle.
Sunday was the 28th of Iyar on the Jewish calendar, the 45th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem — Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day. So many — but mostly “national religious” teenagers — filled the streets of Jerusalem to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the restoration of all of Jerusalem into Jewish control.
This weekend, the moon was the closest to the earth during it’s fullest phase, giving us a “super moon.” While in North America the full moon was Saturday night, in Jerusalem it was at its fullest on Sunday night. Next time I’ve got to get higher so I can get the moon lower on the [...]I joined the crowds last night and rejoiced with Israel for 64 years of independence, 64 years of having a homeland once again. God is not a man that He should lie. He has his reasons for tarrying. Israel waited and waited for their own country, and in 1948 the LORD finally restored it to them.
God is faithful to perform that which He has promised, even if it seems like we’ve been waiting so long.
There is a real sense of acceleration here in Jerusalem. As the violence continues in Syria and the world talks Iran, I want to share some of what the LORD has been speaking to us at Succat Hallel. Here are three prayer points particularly for intercessors with a burden for Israel and the Middle
East.
