1. Praise:

   Jeremiah 17:14 in the prophetic portion combines God's healing grace with His saving grace, which results in the prophet declaring that God Himself is his praise! Heal me O YHWH and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for You are my praise. (Jer. 17:14)

   • We praise and bless You for all that You are to us – both now and in the future (Mal. 3:6).

   • Thank You that even in the Tanach healing was seen as coming from You (Psa. 103:2-3; 147:3).

   • We note with great interest, and we bless You, that the very first time "praise" is mentioned in Your Word it is associated with Judah's name, Jacob's fourth son with his wife Leah (Gen. 29:35).

   • Lord Yeshua, You have now become our praise and our God by the awesome things which You have done – not just with Israel, but also with us (Deut. 10:21; Rom. 15:11; Eph. 1:6, 12, 14).

   • Messiah Yeshua, we bless You that it is recorded in the gospels that often when You did miraculous healings – the result was that the people praised and glorified God the Father (Luke 5:25; 18:43).

   • It is eye-opening to read in Revelation chapter 4:8-11 and 5:9-13 how the heavenly hosts praised You, God our Father, and then praised Your Son using basically the same words. Hallelujah!

   • Thank You for giving us a beautiful example of offering You a sacrifice of praise in Acts 16:25.

   • Whoever offers [the sacrifice of] praise, glorifies me… (Psa. 50:23) Praise You for this privilege.

   • As Your Word is established upon Your name, Your essential nature, it is faithful, truth, trustworthy and eternal just like You (Psa. 138:2; "above" is better translated as "upon"!).

2. IDF's Operation Shield & Arrow is ongoing as of this writing. Its aim is to target the ability of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad [PIJ] to strike at Israel with rockets and mortars. PIJ is Iran's main proxy inside of Israeli territory, as Gaza is still part of Judah's inheritance (Josh. 15:1, 47; Judg. 1:18).

   • Thank You for this Operation, and its effectiveness with Israel eliminating at least five top leaders of PIJ, and destroying many weapons factories and storage depots (Jer. 48:41; Ezek. 37:10).

   • We do not take Your protection for granted, but give You the praise that even though Israel has been targeted by close to 900 rockets and mortars, only one Israeli has been killed (Psa. 121:4).

   • Yet we pray for Your comfort on the many Israeli's, especially the children, who have been mentally and emotionally traumatized, and physically injured, by these Islamic-driven attacks (Isa. 35:3-4).

   • Use the precise intelligence Israel has on its enemies to fill Hamas and PIJ leaders and foot-soldiers with such paranoia that they end up being extremely suspicious of each other (2 Kin. 6:11-12).

   • Guide Israel to not only start or respond against its enemies effectively, but to also strive to win the victory over them, resulting with Your fear on them and security for Israelis (2 Chr. 17:10).

   • As Muslims see the miraculous efficiency of the IDF, let them reject their god who does not protect them, and come to You – the Almighty God of Israel (Psa. 83:16-18).

3. Internal security:

   One of the most powerful verses against a "land-for-peace" peace process is in this Shabbat's Torah portion: The land shall not be sold forever: for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me. (Lev. 25:23)

   • Lord, we confess in line with Your Word that the land of Israel is first and foremost Your land (Isa. 14:2; Jer. 2:7; Ezek. 36:5; Hos. 9:3; Joel 3:2).

   • We thank You for giving it to Your people to possess as it is all for Your glory's sake (Lev. 25:23; Deut. 1:21; 6:1; Psa. 44:3; 115:1-3).

   • Thank You for this second time when You are gathering Your people from exile (Isa. 11:11-12), and that now You have planted them in their land, never to be uprooted again (Amos 9:14-15).

   • Lord, make Israel's coalition aware of the above prophetic fulfillment and then make it become more biblically oriented in line with Your will and the will of the people who voted it in office (Ex. 18:21).

   • Create in them a God-given stubbornness and encourage them to "Just say No!" to all the unbiblical demands of the nations and the global NGOs (Psa. 102:13-15; Isa. 24:21; Isa. 49:23).

   • Lord God, protect all of Israel's roads against both terror attacks and car accidents (Psa. 121:8).

   • Sow division between the various Palestinian terror factions within Israel (Psa. 55:9).

   • Give great success to Israel's security forces as they fight against the various terrorist groups in all of Judea and Samaria (Psa. 44:1-5).

   • Protect Israel's young soldiers – mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually (Psa. 3:3-8).

   • Use the believers in the IDF as salt and light to those around them (Matt. 5:13-16), and let each one be paired up with at least one other believer (Mark 6:7).

   • Grant National Security Minister Ben-Gvir's request to increase the size of Israel's police force and improve their salaries (Luke 10:7).

   • Prepare the police to put down quickly any Israeli-Arab riots in mixed Israeli cities (Eccl. 8:11).

4. External security:

   Iran is Israel's #1 external threat. Yet the UN, the EU and most Western nations are also dangerous as they constantly condemn all Israeli moves in line with God's Word.

   • Lord, use the negative effect of the continuous demonstrations in Iran, and deep dissatisfaction of its general population, to cause their wicked government to implode suddenly and soon (Jer. 49:38b).

   • Move upon China and Russia to break off all relations with Iran (Prov. 11:21; 16:5).

   • Prevent Iran from advancing its plans to destroy Israel and develop nuclear weapons (Psa. 83:1-18).

   • Expose all intelligence Israel is not privy to at this time concerning the above, as well as anything Iran is plotting in Lebanon with Hizbullah or with any of its other Middle East proxies (Job 12:22).

   • Reinforce Israel's plans to defeat Iran's multi-front war against it with Your hosts (Psa. 68:17).

   • Dry up Israel's trust in any international or American support (2 Kin. 18:21), and turn their eyes and heart to look to, and trust in, You alone (2 Sam. 22:3, 31; Prov. 3:5).

   • With Syria being welcomed back into the Arab League, make it possible for Israel to maintain its freedom to act against Iranian activity in Syria (Psa. 41:11).

   • Show the Arab nations that Iran in Syria is as dangerous to them as it is to Israel (Psa. 58:4a).

   • God Almighty, intervene in the Turkish national elections this coming Sunday and remove Erdogan replacing him with someone better for both Israel, the Kurds and the Turks themselves (Psa. 75:5-7).

   • We bless You for Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan and ask You to continually give him wisdom and Your Words as he defends Your nation in that anti-God organization (Psa. 37:30; Luke 21:15).

5. Government & society:

   No matter how slowly the judicial reforms move forward, leaders of the anti-government demonstrations continue to find new reasons to demonstrate. They ignore the fact that in democratically held elections, a majority voted for parties who would support Bibi Netanyahu as the next prime minister.

   • Lord, while we do not agree 100% with all that Bibi Netanyahu has done and is doing, still we give You praise for setting him up to be Israel's leader at this time in history (Jer. 27:5; Dan. 2:21).

   • God, please fulfill Proverbs 16:9 and 21:1 in Netanyahu's mind and heart.

   • Help him not to be threatened by younger politicians, but to mentor them so that when it is time to hand the reigns of the government over to others, they will be well trained (Gen. 14:14; Prov. 22:6).

   • We pray that all the coalition's decisions which line up with Your priorities for Israel today would be approved, while any that do not will be struck down (Job 9:12; Psa. 33:10-11).

   • Provide godly advisors for every coalition minister and then give each of them ears to hear all advice that is from Your throne while deafening them to all advice that is not of You (Prov. 8:14-16; 11:14).

   • Watch over the judicial reforms so that with whatever modifications they need, they are passed and limit the power of Israel's Supreme Court to have the final say in every area of society (Isa. 1:25-26).

   • Anoint Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to complete the budget before the end May (Ex. 31:2-3).

   • Show him ways to deal effectively with Israel's high cost of living and to not be hindered by other politicians' manipulation or blackmail, but instead God, use Your Word in the Torah reading to humble every heart: You shall not oppress one another; but shall fear your God… (Lev. 25:17a)

   • God of the impossible – let the coalition pass a righteous ultra-Orthodox draft law (Jer. 32:17, 27).

   • Thank You for answering prayer as US Ambassador to Israel Nides is leaving soon (Psa. 50:15).

   • Lord, replace him with a person who will be a blessing to both Israel and America (Prov. 13:17).

6. Aliyah:

   In Leviticus 26, in the Torah portion, God lists His judgments against Israel for its disobedience when it lived in His land, with the final judgment being exile. Then He says this: Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them: for I am YHWH their God. But for their sakes I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations that I might be their God: I am YHWH. (Lev. 26:44-45)

   • Lord, we see You watching over this word as today, even after 2,000 years in exile, Your people are still a distinct race and nation – and for this we bless You (Num. 23:9b; Ezek. 11:16-17).

   • Thank You for bringing 18,600 new immigrants [olim] to Israel during the first three months of this year – a 24% increase over 2022 – with 75% of them coming out of Russia (Jer. 31:8-9).

   • Lord, whatever it takes, yet with as much mercy as possible, make the Jews in the rest of the world, especially in the West, extremely uncomfortable with living in exile (Psa. 69:20; 77:2).

   • Roar to them, indicating that today is the day to return to Zion (Jer. 31:3; Joel 3:16; Zech. 8:1-7).

   • Bring back whole communities being led by their spiritual leaders going before them (Jer. 23:3-4).

   • Give Your people a strong desire to come home and a persistence to keep moving towards that goal based on Your promises to them (Gen. 28:15; Isa. 43:5-7).

   • Speak clearly to the current Israeli coalition to keep the gates to Israel wide open for Your people, regardless of their religious affinity, their financial situation or their skin color (Isa. 62:10).

   • Show the government the necessity to settle new olim throughout Your land (Jer. 32:41-44).

   • Use the illegally built houses in Area C – financed by the EU – to fulfill Deuteronomy 6:10-11.

   • Open the hearts of many more born-again believers to intercede for the aliyah (Ezek. 36:37).

   • Wake up more of them to help in other ways as well – including financially (Isa. 49:22; 60:3-12).

7. Salvation:

   Many Israelis are fearful of the ultra-Orthodox [the Haredi] tendency to have large families will lead them to eventually ruling the nation according to Rabbinic tradition. [Most rabbis today agree that Rabbinic Judaism is not biblical Judaism since there is no Temple, so that in the place of blood sacrifices for the atonement of sins (Lev. 17:11), they have substituted works that a Jew can do to attain forgiveness, which reminds us of Pauls' complaint against his people in Romans 10:1-11.] Yet the solution to this Haredi dilemma is simple: praying for them to be saved.

   • [Messiah Yeshua was angry at times with the religious leaders of His day, yet after His resurrection many priests and Jewish leaders became believers (Acts 13:43; 18:8; 21:20; 28:17-24).] Lord, we ask You to move in mighty power and save many of Israel's Jewish religious leaders (Acts 4:30).

   • Place a holy dissatisfaction with rabbinic tradition in the younger generation of Haredi and then a desire to really know You – and not just to know about You (Psa. 40:16; Jer. 31:31-34).

   • Abba, remove the fences that the rabbis have placed around Your Word and draw many Haredi and other religious Jews to Your pure Word which is able to save their soul (Acts 11:14; Jam. 1:21).

   • Use biblical verses in Jewish prayer books to deeply impact the readers and fulfill Isaiah 55:11.

   • Let Haredi believers witness of You and provoke many other Haredim to jealousy (Rom. 11:14).

   • Help the Israeli Body of Messiah to see the Haredi as neighbors and to love them (Lev. 19:18b).

   • Lord, save many other Jews, especially in Israel, as You say in the Torah portion: For the children of Israel are…My servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt… (Lev. 25:55) Save Your people, the remnant of Israel (Jer. 31:7b; John 4:35): politicians and aides; judges and lawyers; IDF soldiers and officers; police and other security personnel, including in the Mossad; members of Israeli crime syndicates; taxi and bus drivers; teachers and university professors; medical professionals; scientists; Holocaust survivors and families; terror attack survivors and families; Jews seeking for truth using the occult, drugs, etc.; settlers on Israel's mountains; unsaved loved ones of believers.

8. The Body of Messiah:

   Jeremiah 16:19-21 in the prophetic portion prophesies that one day gentiles will bow the knee to the God of Israel. We see this being fulfilled today in the global Body of Messiah. Yet many born-again gentiles reject God's Word in the Tanach as speaking to them today, opening them up to being deceived about who God really is and especially about the place of Israel and the Jews in God's mind and heart.

   • Lord, open the eyes of Your Body to see the wondrous things contained in the Tanach (Psa. 119:18).

   • Let believers understand that the foundation of the New Testament is the Tanach and not the other way around (Matt. 5:17-18; 22:31-32, 36-45; 26:56; John 10:35b; Gal. 3:8; 2 Tim. 3:15-17).

   • While doing this, replace Replacement Theology in the thinking of Your children (Isa. 29:18).

   • Thank You that by knowing the Tanach we have insight into some of the things You did, such as writing names of religious hypocrites in the ground as a warning to them (Jer. 17:13; cp. John 8:6-8).

   • Show the Body that in order to know what You are doing today, they should know what You said You would be doing in the last days (Isa. 34:1-8; Joel 3:1-2; Zech. 12:2-3; plus many other verses all of which center on Israel's restoration for His glory and His judgment on all who oppose it).

   • Lord, speak to Your Body to guard the unity of the Spirit (Eph. 4:3) – but to reject all man-centered unity which we read about at the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9) and see at the UN today (Psa. 2:1-3).

9. IFI:

   In the midst of the spiritual warfare that seems to be increasing in intensity, God's grace and His peace seem to be increasing in us as well. We see this as a major result of your prayers for us and this ministry and for that we bless and thank you. It is wonderful to know that we are not in this battle alone. To God be the glory for the great things He has done, is doing, and will do!

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Israel

Chuck Cohen, for the IFI team

2 Thess. 2:16-17