1. Praise:

   Some very insightful statements about God's nature come from gentiles who perceive His relationship with Israel. Jethro, Balaam, Ruth, Cyrus, and others declare God's unique ties with Israel, giving Him glory. Shabbat's Torah portion contains a wonderful declaration from Rahab the harlot to the two Israelis spies: I know that YHWH has given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land faint before you, for we heard how YHWH dried up the water of the Red Sea for you…and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard, our hearts did melt, neither does there remain any courage [lit: spirit] in any man before you for YHWH your God, He is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath'. (Josh. 2:9-11) Amen!

   • Hallelujah! We rejoice in You, Lord our God, as You always and at all times reign (Rev. 19:6)!

   • We bless You for seeing how Your fear brought revelation truth and salvation to Rahab (Prov. 9:10).

   • We thank You that while the devil is a dangerous foe, he is only a created being whose every action is limited by Your sovereign will (Job 1:8-12; Psa. 103:19; Matt. 4:10-11; Acts 10:36).

   • We praise You for teaching us to live by faith in You and not by what we see or feel (2 Cor. 5:6-8).

   • Thank You for being a living God who hears and answers prayers (Psa. 50:15; Isa. 30:19; 65:24).

   • Because You brought light out of darkness and order out of chaos, we rest in You in the midst of today's turmoil in Israel – and worldwide – to bring good out of it all (Gen. 1:2-5; Rom. 8:28).

2. Government:

   Israel's current coalition voted to dissolve itself. If there are no surprises, this will be affirmed next week and then the current coalition will be finished. This will leave current Foreign Minister Yair Lapid as the "caretaker 'transitional' prime minister with limited powers" until a new government is formed. The earliest the next election can be held is in late October and then there will be all the jockeying of political parties to form a new coalition. So Israel could have Lapid as prime minister for many months. Yet until next week's final vote it is possible for a right-wing government under Bibi Netanyahu to be created within the current Knesset eliminating the need for new elections.

   • You Lord were the One who allowed this government to rule and as we have so often asked You, apparently this is Your time to end it, and we thank You (Prov. 19:21; Dan. 5:18-21).

   • We plead for Your guidance to aid us to pray into Israel's political scene (Psa. 10:17; Luke 18:1).

   • Lord, in mercy, create a right-wing Zionist coalition from within this Knesset without Israel needing new elections – and please let You people know that You have done this (Isa. 41:20).

   • As negotiations to form such a coalition are already proceeding, Lord be present in every meeting, allowing all alliances that are in Your will and blocking all else (Amos 3:3).

   • [We also prayed for Lapid as if he would be the next prime minister.] Turn him from his humanistic left-wing outlook to a more biblical mindset (Psa. 80:3, 7, 19).

   • Limit his ability to draw Israel away from You in any fashion, and instead extend grace and mercy to him to do good for Your people (Prov. 16:9; 2 Cor. 9:8).

   • Guard over and guide Lapid in all his thinking and decisions, especially in relation to his meeting as prime minister with US President Biden – if in fact Biden visits Israel in mid-July (Prov. 21:1).

   • Lord, if Biden does visit, deal with him like You did with Balaam so that only blessings towards Israel comes out of his mouth (Num. 22:12, 20, 35).

   • Do not allow Lapid to approve America's request to open a Palestinian consulate in West Jerusalem, which would in effect re-divide the city, and undo what former President Trump did (Neh. 2:20).

   • We thank You that since the government will be dissolved, Israelis living in Judea and Samaria will remain under civil law – and this is an answer to prayer for which we give You glory (Psa. 50:15).

   • Use this interim period to continue clearing out the dross in the government and bringing in men and women who will lead this nation in righteousness (Isa. 1:25-26).

   • Prepare those who will be in the next coalition for Your ordained positions for them (Psa. 75:6-7).

   • Whatever Your will is for Bibi Netanyahu, Lord humble him and remove all vindictiveness or urges for revenge from his heart (Deut. 8:2-3, 16; Prov. 29:23; Rom. 12:18-20).

   • God of Israel, help the next government to be righteous and stable (Deut. 16:18; Prov. 14:34).

3. Internal security:

   The Torah portion has the story of the 10 spies who brought back an evil report of the Promised Land, causing much weeping, fear and unbelief among the people. We hear similar distorted reports about Israel today – from its enemies, its friends and even Israelis. Yet God has sworn to give His land to His people and no word or entity will overturn His oath.

   • Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel…Num. 13:2

   • Thank You Lord for swearing over 40 times and promising over 200 times to give Your land unto Your people (Gen. 15:18-21; 17:7-8; Num. 14:23, 30; Psa. 105:8-11; Jer. 33:12-14; Ezek. 37:25; etc.).

   • Lord, send an angel to shut the mouths which spread evil reports about Your land (Dan. 6:22).

   • Give courage to Your people today as there are "giants" in the land, yet as Caleb said, and as history has shown, a God-fearing people can conquer them, bringing You much glory (Num. 13:28-32).

   • Spread Your protective shield over all of Israel at this time of political chaos (Deut. 33:29; Psa. 3:3).

   • Continue to press the IDF to aggressively search out terrorists and weapons caches (Eccl. 8:11).

   • Arrange circumstances so that Israel has no choice but to extend its sovereignty over all of the land west of the Jordan River (Psa. 33:10-11; Obad. 1:19-21).

   • Deafen Israel's leaders to the lies and threats from the nations when they do this (Psa. 38:12-15).

   • Guard over all Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria during this time as both Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz are not very settlement-friendly (Amos 9:14-15).

   • Prepare Israel, politically and militarily, for when Palestinian Authority [PA] President Abbas is no longer in charge (Psa. 78:72).

   • [Abbas' decline in power is already seen in increased tension in Judea and Samaria between Hamas and Fatah, Abbas' PLO faction.] Lord God, empower the IDF to guard Israelis in its biblical heartland, yet enable them to avoid interfering as these two enemies of Israel fight it out (Psa. 57:6; Prov. 26:17).

4. IDF:

   What a joy to watch God fulfilling His Word as He creates Israel, resurrected out from the graves of the Holocaust, into that an exceedingly great army of Ezekiel 37:10.

   • Lord God, this is one of the more obvious proofs that this Israel is the one prophesied to be restored before Messiah returns. We thank You for being alive to witness this (Psa. 102:16; Isa. 43:12; 44:8).

   • While we bless You for the IDF, we trust only in You – Israel's Divine Father (Psa. 20:7).

   • We give You the glory for defending Israel, although You often do this by using the IDF to be a powerful force against its/Your enemies (Isa. 41:10-16).

   • We also praise You for then times when You declare that You alone will guard Your nation (Psa. 121:4; Isa. 31:5; Jer. 31:10; Zech. 2:8-9).

   • Promote in Israel's army more mighty men like David had (2 Sam. 23:8-9, 16-17).

   • Let all who serve in its navy see Your mighty works in the deep (Psa. 107:23-31).

   • Let all who are IAF pilots see Your angelic hosts going out with them to protect them (Isa. 31:5).

   • Safeguard and use all believers who serve in any capacity in Israel's security forces (Psa. 91:1-16).

   • Continue to provide Israel's military with accurate actionable intelligence about all of its foes, whither inside or outside of its borders (Eccl. 12:14).

   • May the new defense minister in Israel's next government be Your perfect choice (Prov. 19:21).

   • We pray the same for whomever Gantz appoints as next IDF Chief of Staff who will need to take Aviv Kochavi's place early in 2023 (Dan. 2:21).

5. External security:

   Iran is struggling economically in every area of its society. Also, many of its military and scientific people are dying in suspicious ways. This could mean that Iran is on the verge of planning a massive attack on Israel and/or will soon see a total destruction of its ruling regime.

   • As reports of economic turmoil in Iran increase and spread – please supply for the common Iranian citizen's daily needs, while using this travesty to bring down their evil government (Jer. 49:38).

   • Iran's leaders curse Israel daily; let Your prophesied response come upon them (Num. 23:9b).

   • Send supernatural terror upon all of Iran's anti-Semitic/anti-Zionistic leaders (Deut. 7:10; Gal. 6:7).

   • Lord, totally bankrupt Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp – the enforcers for its leaders.

   • Create a deep divide between Iran and Russia and China – setting them against Iran (Psa. 129:5).

   • Lord, remove within a short time span the PA's President Abbas, Hizbullah's chief Nasrallah and Iran's Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, and let the timing of these events so shake multitudes of Muslims that many of them turn from Allah and seek You (Job 8:22; Psa. 83:16-18)

   • Give the IDF's Iran Command insight, even foreknowledge, of Iran's plots against Israel (Job 42:2).

   • Give Israel's military and political leaders courage to pre-empt any planned attacks against it.

   • Protect all of Israel's intelligence sources from deception and misinformation (Job 12:16).

   • Oversee every aspect of Israel's relationship with Turkey's devious leader Erdogan (Psa. 120:7).

   • We pray the same concerning Israel's relations with Saudi Arabia and Lebanon (Heb. 4:13).

   • [Israel has remained neutral in the Russia-Ukraine war, yet both nations have severely and publically condemned Israel as if it is a major reason why the war is still ongoing! Yet Israel's non-military aid to Ukraine and its taking in of some 25,000 Ukrainian non-Jewish refugees is proportionately more than most nations have done.] God, You hear these false and hypocritical accusations from these two warring nations. We ask You to defend Israel as it treads lightly in order to take care of its primary God-given responsibility – the security of its own citizens (Psa. 35:1-3; Isa. 54:17; Rom. 13:1-4).

6. Aliyah:

   Often summertime is when Jewish families make aliyah as they need not pull their children out of school. And with the increase in anti-Semitism globally, as well as the almost daily mass-shootings in America, Jews should understand by now that for them and their families, Israel is much safer than continuing to live in today's crumbling Babylon – the West.

   • Coronavirus; anti-Semitic attacks openly on the streets; Russia invading Ukraine, and much more and still most Jews remain in the West. Lord, for Your holy name's sake, please do whatever else it takes to shake them out of their false comfort zones and bring them home, (Ezek. 36:22-24).

   • As Covid-19 opened the way for more people to work from home, show many Jews in the West that they can make aliyah and still work remotely (Psa. 104:23-24).

   • Change mindsets and adjust expectations of immigrants [olim] from western nations, showing them that they are transplanting their lives, and not necessarily their life-styles (Gen. 19:14-16).

   • Release Your trapped people in nations such as Iran, Venezuela and China (Ex. 8:1; Isa. 43:5-7).

   • May You alone – and not the rabbinic authorities – be the One Who opens or closes Israel's gates for those whom You see as Jews and as a part of Your nation (Isa. 22:22).

   • Do not allow the upheaval in Israel's current political scene hinder aliyah in anyway (Jer. 31:8-9).

   • Regardless of who makes up the next government, let affordable housing for the olim, as well as the available of jobs and other societal support be made a priority – unto Your praise (Isa. 43:21).

   • God, root and ground all new olim, letting them then bear fruit for Your glory (Isa. 27:6; 37:31).

   • Enable Israel's current Minister of Aliyah and Integration, Pnina Tamano-Shata, to remain in her position in the new government – and continue to use her to bless Your nation (Prov. 11:16).

   • Move on more believers in Your Body to be yoked with You on this issue of aliyah, which is one of the most important things in Your heart that You are doing in these days (Jer. 32:41).

7. Salvation:

   The Torah portion again emphasizes the need for a mediator between the people and God. In biblical times, it was the high-priest and the priesthood, but in our day there is only One Mediator between God and man, the Man Messiah Yeshua (1 Tim. 2:5).

   • As many Jews read Numbers 15:25-26, let them wonder where the priest is for them today – the one who we read about in these verses, who makes atonement for both the Jew and the believing gentile.

   • Bring forth a harvest from all the good news seeds planted in Jewish hearts (1 Cor. 3:6-7).

   • Lord Messiah, show Your Body that Romans 1:16 is still Your correct priority for today.

   • Remove all rabbinic and humanistic arguments against Yeshua's Messiahship and open the eyes of Your people to all the Tanach prophecies that Yeshua fulfills (Isa. 9:6-7; Matt. 1:1, 23; 2:4-5, etc.).

8. The Body of Messiah:

   Shabbat's Torah portion has an excellent example of totally trusting in God regardless of the very real giants in the way in the response of Joshua and Caleb to the evil report of the other spies.

   • Enable those whom You have called to intercession to grow into believers who can be like Joshua and Caleb and trust You even while facing many giants (Num. 14:7-9).

   • Remind all members of the Body that faith is not our goal, but our faith, our trust, must be in You, Lord Yeshua, as You are both the author and the finisher of our faith (Heb. 11:1-6; 12:1-2).

   • In the face of the onslaught against the reliability of Your Word, Lord remove all doubt in the hearts of Your people (Psa. 19:7-11; 2 Tim. 3:16).

9. IFI:

   As we read Moses' intercession in the Torah portion for a rebellious Israel, it affirms IFI's calling, while God's answer helps us to focus on the main goal – His glory. YHWH said, 'I have pardoned according to your word [Moses' intercession], but as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of YHWH. (Num. 14:20-21) Thank you for your prayers for us, as well as your support both financially and with words of encouragement. All of that helps us to press on to finish the race that He has set before us.

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Zion

For the IFI team

2 Thess. 3:16