[Correction re: last alert: The Chanukah battle vs. the Greeks was around 165 BC and not 185 BC.]

  1. Praise: How incredible is it to know that You, Lord Yeshua, God the Son, became the Son of Man so that we – by Your grace and the gift of faith – can become children of the Living God!

    • Thank You for humbling Yourself to become a man and even dying for us (Phil. 2:5-8).

    • Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name Emmanuel. (Isa. 7:14) While You were never called Emmanuel while on earth, yet since "name" in Hebraic thinking often means essential nature, hallelujah, You are Emmanuel – God with us!

    • Abba, we praise You for Miriam, Yeshua's mother, who said "Yes" to You (Luke 1:38).

    • We rejoice as we recognize that the Incarnation is a major part of the fulfillment of Your promises to Abraham and his descendants (Luke 1:54-54, 68-73; 2:32).

    • We bless You that the wise men who searched for You, proclaimed You as the King of the Jews, (Matt. 2:1-2), that at Your crucifixion You also died as the King of the Jews (John 19:19), and today in heaven You are still declared to be a Jew – the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5).

    • With awe, we consider that Your return as King of Kings draws closer every day (Rev. 19: 16).

    • Thank You for the certainty that today, in all of the upheaval and confusion of these times – You have already crushed the serpent's head (Gen. 3:15; Col. 2:14-15; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8b)

  2. The Body of Messiah: Many believers struggle with this season, whether for theological or for personal and emotional reasons.

    • While we recognize the struggles some believers have with the whole Christmas season, still we want to thank and praise You for the truth of Your Incarnation (Matt. 1:18-25).

    • May believers not be distracted by all the glitter, but actually be drawn closer to You (Jer. 31:3).

    • For those who do celebrate Your birth, remind them that when invited to a birthday party, they are expected to bring a gift. Show us what we can personally give to You at this season (Acts 20:35).

    • The angels who announced Your birth sang Glory to God in the highest, (Luke 2:14) and we echo that as the goal of everything we say, and do and pray (Psa. 115:1-3).

    • We lift up all our brothers and sisters in Messiah who will be alone at this season – especially those separated from family and friends because of coronavirus. Comfort them all (Isa. 61:1-3).

    • For those who are grieving over lost loved ones who are no longer with them, be that father of the fatherless, and the defender of widows, that we read about in Psalm 68:5.

  3. Salvation: We are amazed at how the Christmas season provokes many Israelis to want to find out what all the excitement is about.

    • Messiah Yeshua, we pray that many Israelis come to You during this time (Isa. 9:7; Luke 2:25-32).

    • As Israelis listen to the Christmas carols, even if this year it needs to be via the internet, open their hearts to the good news (Luke 2:10-14; Ezek. 36:24-28).

    • Shabbat's Torah portion relates how Joseph sent all Egyptians out, and then revealed himself to his brothers. Lord, please do the same at this time of coronavirus isolation; reveal Yourself in a very personally way to many of Your Jewish brothers and sisters (Gen. 45:1-8; Zech. 12:10; Matt. 24:30).

    • In line with Shabbat's prophetic reading, Lord Yeshua, redeem all Israel on Your land so that the many gentiles see that You are the Lord God Almighty (Ezek. 37:21-28).

    • Thus says YHWH, the Redeemer of Israel, and His Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors, to a Servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of YHWH who is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and He shall choose You. (Isa. 49:7)

  4. Aliyah: While many Jews are unafraid to examine the reason for the season once they have moved to Israel, many Jews in exile feel threatened by it. We asked God to use this to speak to His people about returning to Zion.

    • May this season confront Jews living in exile with the reality of the Exile (Psa. 137:4).

    • Please show many Messianic Jews that the exile is over and that their default position is to plan on come home – unless Yeshua specifically tells them to remain in "Babylon" (Isa. 35:10; 51:11).

    • Prevent those who escape their birth nation from going to any nation other than Israel (Amos 5:19).

    • Provide an abundance of riches, from both the Church and from wealthy Jews, so that Jews who return from less wealthy nations, will not be hindered from coming home (Ezra 1:4; Isa. 60:3-11)

    • Bless those who have made aliyah at this time and root them deeply in Your land, so that they can fill the world with a witness of what You are doing today (Isa. 27:6; Jer. 31:10; Amos 9:13-15).

    • Provide employment, homes, language skills, and whatever other help is needed to acclimatize.

    • Open up the way for all those Jews and Jewish families who have started the aliyah process but have been blocked from returning by all the various Covid-19 restrictions (Isa. 43:15-21).

    • Use the EU court's approval of banning the kosher slaughter of animals to show European Jews that Europe cares more for animals than Jews and will only allow Jews to live among them – as long as they do not insist on living there as Jews (Jer. 50:17-20)!

  5. Government - elections: Israel will hold new elections on March 23rd, 2021, a few days before Passover. Since we have asked the Lord repeatedly to be the One to determine if there were to be new elections or not, we look on this as His answer. Now for the fourth time in two years, we need to re-enter the prayer battle over an election campaign that could be very ugly. Lord, have mercy!

    • Encourage us and send from heaven a fresh burden to pray again into a new election (Prov. 3:5-6).

    • While at this time, we do not see how this election will turn out different than the last three, yet we offer You a sacrifice of praise – and declare that You do reign over all (Psa. 103:19; Heb. 13:15).

    • Lord, work in the hearts of PM Bibi Netanyahu, Yamina's Naftali Bennet and New Hope's Gideon Sa'ar to make them willing to work together after the election for the good of Your nation (Jer. 32:17).

    • Raise up a government that is that much closer to You will for this nation today (Prov. 14:34).

    • Raise up a government that will be one step closer to Your kingdom's coming and Your will being done here on earth as it is already being dome in heave (Luke 11:2).

    • Use the election to continue to remove the dross from Israel's political scene (Isa. 1:25-26).

  6. The current government: Israel started vaccinating against Covid-19 thousands of its people this last week. Despite how chaotic the government has been and how much pressure Bibi has been under – Israel has done relatively well during the virus crisis. While there are sectors of society which are hurting, yet Israel has weathered the storm with a minimal amount of deaths and has continued to guard against outside enemies. Also, Israel's diplomatic outreach has been nothing short of miraculous with all of the new diplomatic relations with many Arab and other nations.

    • In Shabbat's Torah portion we are reminded of Your overriding sovereignty even in the midst of a betrayal and rejection of Joseph by his brothers (Gen. 45:5-7).

    • We trust You to continue to be that same God today (Mal. 3:6).

    • Thank You for answering prayer and actually using the current dysfunctional government in many amazing ways (Jam. 5:16b-18; 1 John 5:14-15).

    • We bless You for PM Bibi Netanyahu's stubbornness to push forward and get millions of vaccines as well as in new diplomatic ties in the Middle East and Northern Africa (Prov. 21:1).

    • Do not allow a new election campaign infringe on Bibi's ability to run the nation (Jam. 1:8).

    • Sustain all current leaders with health and protection until a new government is formed (Neh. 9:21).

    • Shut the ears of all responsible leaders to any advice that is not of You – but let a light go on when they do hear advice that is from Your throne (Prov. 11:14; 15:22).

    • Comfort all Israelis who have lost family, homes, jobs and any other things of worth during this past year (2 Cor. 1:3)

    • As the corona cabinet meets again, guide every decision that they make (Prov. 19:21).

    • May they be able to balance just being alive against the dignity of life.

    • Block anyone in the government or in the Health Ministry from making decisions based on political expediency and not on what is best for the people (Isa. 32:1b; 60:17b; Ezek. 37:24-25).

    • Prevent division in communities, families and congregations over the taking or not taking of the vaccine. May love prevail (1 Cor. 13:1-13).

    • Restrain Israelis from rebelling against all reasonable government decrees (Tit. 3:1-2).

    • Yet if there are any decrees that are not of You, then let Israelis stand with You (Dan. 3:16-18).

    • As Israel moves forward in developing its own vaccine, grant great success (Psa. 90:17).

    • Lord, this virus is still a mystery for the world to deal with – yet it is not a mystery for You. Please use it to accomplish all that You have in mind and then let it pass away suddenly (Rom. 8:28).

  7. Security – internal: Israel's leaders will likely be double-minded in leading the nation through the Covid-19 crisis while also focusing on their election campaigns, yet Israel's internal security has just become very tense. A mother of six was just murdered in a terrorist attack in Samaria, and the Palestinians all of a sudden want the world to pressure Israel to restart peace negotiations when they are the ones who refused to negotiate for the past twelve years – under both Obama and Trump.

    • Provide Israel's security forces with accurate intelligence (Job 36:3-4).

    • Pour out a huge spirit of discouragement on all Palestinians who are planning evil (Psa. 35:4).

    • Use the increase in deployment of IDF soldiers into these areas to contribute to that discouragement.

    • Lead the IDF to know where to place each soldier and also all of its equipment (Prov. 21:31).

    • Give the soldiers very clear rules of engagement.

    • Train them when to shoot and when to be cautious (Eccl. 8:11).

    • Block all distractions from them when they are on guard (Psa. 32:8-9).

    • Allow those at check posts to discern behind the corona masks (1 Kin. 3:9).

    • Lord, bless the current government to be bold and to legalize all settlements in Judea and Samaria while Trump is still US President. Please speak clearly to them to do this (Jer. 50:19; Obad. 1:17).

  8. IFI: We thank you for praying for this ministry during this past month. As this is the last alert in 2020, we wanted to end it by thanking God for His goodness and mercy to us.

    • Thank You Lord, for sustaining us over this year, even as we had to face it without our dear friend and co-worker, the previous Chairman of IFI, Eliyahu Ben Haim (Psa. 116:15).

    • Bless You for the shield You placed around us against discouragement (Psa. 3:1-8).

    • Help us to know that Your yoke is easy and Your burden light and when we feel that that is not the case, thank You for showing us that we need to adjust and not You (Matt. 11:30; Phil. 2:12b-13).

    • We are grateful for all those who have helped to contribute to the financial stability of this ministry this past year. Bless them abundantly (Phil. 4:15-19).

    • Lord, we ask and expect Your continued financial supply as we continue to do Your will.

    • In advance, we thank You for fresh oil for the prayer battles that lie ahead of us (Psa. 23:1-6).

Thank you for standing with Israel and with us this past year.

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Zion,

For the IFI team