Shalom from Zion,

What could very well be the birth pangs of the last days seem to be increasing in intensity and frequency. How should we respond? By sharpening our focus on God's nature and His Word. The time is now for the night comes when no man can work. (John 9:4b; Rom. 13:12; 1 Thes. 5:5) To see Him fulfilling His word through events surrounding Israel today is for the eyes of the whole world. What excuse will believers have if we fail to see the signs of the times and respond in prayer and obedience?

O fools and slow of heart

After His resurrection Yeshua said to two of His disciples:

O fools, and slow of heart to believe all the prophets have spoken. Ought not Messiah to have suffered ...and then to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and in all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures [Old Testament - Tanach] the things concerning Himself.

Luke 24:25-27

Would Yeshua say something similar to those of His disciples who are either unaware or dismissive of Israel's end time rebirth - her current restoration in preparation for His return? If He could pull their attention away from all that distracts them from God's Word, would He then point to all the Tanach prophecies coming to pass literally before their eyes?

Later that day, Yeshua explained to all His disciples, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me. (Luke 24:44) True by necessity concerning Israel as well, otherwise God, who promised and literally fulfilled all that He said about the Messiah, would be a liar if He promised and did not literally fulfill all that He said about Israel's resurrection in the last days. Of course this is impossible. God is not a man, that He should lie...Has He spoken, and shall He not make it good? (Num. 23:19)

At IFI's annual prayer conference in Scotland Chuck received this word:

Believing that I am restoring Israel in these days is no longer an option for My Body. Either My Body will support what I am doing with all of My heart and all of My soul (Jer. 32:41) or they will find themselves moving further and further away from Me by various deceptive winds of doctrines. Time is short. Today if you hear My voice harden not your hearts, but stand with Me and witness to the truth of My watching over My word to perform it (Jer. 1:12)!

"When God gives His oath"

Appendix B in Derek Prince's book, Prophetic Destinies, (printed under various titles), lists 46 passages where God has given His oath, to give the land of Israel to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants. Since He repeats this 46 times, there should be no question of His intent. God swearing by an oath, settles any issue. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath: (Heb. 6:17) Yet much of the Church still hops between two opinions (1 Kin. 18:21).

Most of the following verses are in Torah, the Bible's first five books, which are the foundational doctrines for all that follow - including the New Testament. Here is a brief selection.

LORD [YHWH] God of heaven, took me [Abraham] from my father's house...and swore unto me, saying, Unto your seed will I give this land...

Gen. 24:7

To Isaac:

Sojourn in this land. I will be with you, and will bless you; for unto you, and your seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath I swore unto Abraham...

Gen. 26:3

Joseph said to his brethren, I die. God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Gen. 50:24

I will bring [the children of Israel] into the land, which I did swear to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for an heritage: I am LORD.

Exo. 6:8

Moses interceding for Israel says to God:

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, saying... all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.

Exo. 32:13

It is not Israel's righteousness that gets them the land, but God drives out the inhabitants because of their wickedness and that He may perform the word which LORD swore unto your fathers... (Deut. 9:5a)

To Joshua:

"Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people you shall divide for an inheritance the land, which I swore unto their fathers to give them."

Josh. 1:6

The angel of LORD said to Israel, I...have brought you unto the land which I swore unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break My covenant with you.  (Judg. 2:1)

Be mindful always of His covenant; the word He commanded to a thousand generations; even the covenant He made with Abraham, His oath unto Isaac; and confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, Saying, Unto you will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance;

1 Chr. 16:15-18 & Psa. 105:8-11

[You] gave them bread from heaven...brought forth water for them out of the rock...and promised them that they should go in to possess the land You had sworn to give them.

Neh. 9:15

That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I... So be it, O LORD.

Jer. 11:5

In the day that I lifted up My hand [i.e., swore by an oath] unto them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had spied out for them...the glory of all lands:

Ezek. 20:6

A believer who questions what God has so emphatically sworn, can not sufficiently know the God of the Bible, or His Word.

"Jerusalem is above politics"

Elie Weisel, author, Nobel recipient and Holocaust survivor, took out full page ads in major US newspapers, expressing concerns over this city.

For me, the Jew...Jerusalem is above politics. It is mentioned more than 600 times in Scripture and not a single time in the Koran...There is no more moving prayer ...than the one expressing our yearning to return to Jerusalem...It is what binds one Jew to another in a way that remains hard to explain. When a Jew visits Jerusalem for the first time, it is not the first time; it is a homecoming...The anguish over Jerusalem is not about real estate but about memory...Jerusalem is the heart of our heart, the soul of our soul.

("...Jerusalem is Above Politics," Arutz 7, 18 Apr. 2010)

Weisel wrote the above because Jerusalem has become the epicenter of a major diplomatic storm precipitating a crisis with Israel's most important ally [America].

Under the Bush and Clinton administrations, the US essentially ignored building in large, established, national-consensus Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem where about 200,000 Jews live. The Obama administration changed tack..., insisting Israel stop all building in those areas.

The Palestinian Authority [PA] took advantage of this new US policy to increase pressure on Israel. At an Arab League meeting in March, PA President Abbas said, Jerusalem and its environs are a trust of Allah... Saving it from the settlement monster and the danger of Judaization is a personal commandment incumbent on all of us. ("Clarity on Jerusalem Day," JP Editorial, 11 May 2010)

Israeli Prime Minister [PM] Bibi Netanyahu, at a Jerusalem Day rally, quoted Isaiah 62:1, For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest... Then he said,

The battle for Jerusalem is a battle for truth... There can be no justice without truth and if there is a perversion of justice [as to] our city and nation, it means truth has been perverted, because the truth is Jerusalem is our city... We will continue to build Jerusalem...

("Netanyahu at...Jerusalem Day Celebration," Arutz 7, 12 May 2010)

Senior PA negotiator Saeb Erekat did not like Bibi's use of the Bible to link Israel's ties with Jerusalem. He accused him of using religion to incite hatred and fear. ("PA Finds Bibi's Biblical Reference 'Distasteful'," Arutz 7, 14 May 2010)

Jeremiah's lament over this city is still true today. ...all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies. (Lam. 1:2)

The "Freedom Flotilla" fiasco

In late May, a flotilla of ships from Turkey, using "humanitarian aid" as a front, tried to break Israel's sea blockade of the Gaza Strip. It is in place, according to international law, to prevent Gaza's Hamas rulers, whose stated aim is Israel's destruction, from smuggling in weapons to accomplish this goal. One ship, the Mavi Marmara, had terrorists waiting to attack any Israeli soldiers who came aboard. Many soldiers were injured before nine terrorists were killed. Most of the world instantly blamed Israel - except for America, who waited for the facts to come in.

After the Security Council passed a quick resolution condemning Israel, Israeli Foreign Minister A. Lieberman spoke with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, pointing out that in the past month alone 500 people were killed in various incidents in Thailand, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and India, and the international community remained silent and passive...[yet] Israel is condemned for unmistakably defensive actions. ("FM Lieberman to UN Secretary General...," Foreign Minister's Bureau, 1 Jun 2010)

Netanyahu said, again, Israel faces hypocrisy and a biased rush to judgment... Last year, Israel acted to stop Hamas from firing thousands of rockets into Israel's towns and cities... Yet it was Israel, not Hamas, that was accused by the UN of war crimes. Regrettably, the same thing appears to be happening now...

Hamas is smuggling thousands of Iranian rockets, missiles and other weaponry, with ranges that put many of Israel's cities at risk. Under international law, under common sense and common decency, Israel has every right to interdict this weaponry and to inspect ships that might be transporting them... We have already interdicted vessels bound for Hezbollah, and for Hamas from Iran, containing hundreds of tons of weapons...

He said that neither Israel nor the international community can permit or afford for Iran to acquire a port on the Mediterranean, and continued, Israel is told it has a right to defend itself but is condemned every time it exercises that right...[A] right that you cannot exercise is meaningless...Israel regrets the loss of life. But we will never apologize for defending ourselves. ("No Love Boat," Statement by PM Netanyahu, PMO, 2 June 2010)

David Harris looked at the twisted world view in this situation, writing that Hamas, is an Iranian-funded, jihadist group, whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel, and the establishment of a fundamentalist Islamic State. Both the US and EU see Hamas as a terrorist organization. Yet it is Israel, seeking to exercise its right of self-defense... which today provokes howls of protest... ("Strutting from Teheran to Damascus...," D. Harris, JP Blogs, 1 June 2010)

Alan Dershowitz agreed. In a world in which N. Korea sinks a S. Korean naval vessel killing dozens, Iran arms terrorists who kill hundreds, Russia bombs Chechnya, killing thousands, and the US and [UK], while targeting al Qaida and Taliban, kill an indeterminate number of civilians, only Israel is subjected to international 'investigations'... Why only Israel? (Singling out Israel ..." A. Dershowitz, JP Blogs, 6 June 2010) Do you have the answer?

The Rabbinical Council of Judea and Samaria had one answer, saying the world's reaction sounds like the biblical description of the Gog and Magog process where the world is against us, but which ends with the third and final redemption.

They add that while secular Zionism wants Israel to be loved by the world, the legitimacy of our people is not derived from the nations... rather from the Torah which teaches us that [Israel] is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. (Num. 23:9) ("Rabbis: Flotilla Clash Similar to Gog & Magog Prophecy," Israel National News, 3 June 2010)

Gaza, Hamas and Western foolishness

Israel bowed to Western pressure, created a committee to investigate the incident, and lifted import restrictions on most items while maintaining its sea blockade. Efraim Inbar, a political studies professor at Bar-Ilan University, wrote that the lifting of restrictions makes no strategic sense because it helps Hamas, an ally of revolutionary Islamist Iran. Both are anti-Western forces focused on destroying the Jewish state.

...Since Gaza is an enemy country, it does not deserve any special treatment from Israel beyond its legitimate steps taken in pursuit of self-defense. Israel, like any other sovereign state, has every right to close its border with a belligerent neighbor.

("Why aid the enemy?" E. Inbar, JP Op-ed, 29 June 2010)

In June, US President Obama said the situation in Gaza was unsustainable...it demands fundamental change. Barry Rubin said, One would expect the words 'unsustainable' and 'demands fundamental change' to mean the president demands the overthrow of the Hamas regime. In fact, it signifies the exact opposite: He demands that regime's stabilization.

Rubin asked, Does the US want the long-term existence of a revolutionary Islamist mini-state on the Mediterranean, spreading terrorism and anti-Semitism, eager to go to war with Israel... expelling Christians, oppressing women and subverting moderate Arab states? Apparently so. Obama plans to give $200 million, to the people of Gaza... ("Legitimizing Hamas rule," B. Rubin,JP Op-ed, 27 June 2010)

An Egyptian journalist confirmed what a small handful of Western reporters have had the integrity to reveal of late: that Gaza really isn't under siege, and any oppression felt by local Palestinians is caused by fellow Arabs, and not Israel.

Ashraf Abu al-Houl wrote that, a sense of absolute prosperity prevails...the sight of the merchandise and luxuries filling Gaza shops amazed me. He even found most goods in Gaza are much cheaper than in Egypt.

He did find widespread poverty, but it is because around 20% of Gazans control nearly all the wealth and nearly all are closely linked with Hamas. But for the rest of the people, unemployment is approximately 45%. Those are the Gazans constantly featured by Western media as products of so-called 'Israeli oppression'. The world then pours in even more aid, which going through the hands of the wealthy, ultimately just makes them richer... ("Arab journalist: Gaza's problem is not Israel," Israel Today, 30 July 2010)

"If Israel goes down - we all go down"

José María Aznar, Spain's prime minister from 1996-2004, wrote a response to all of the anti-Israel reaction after the flotilla fiasco.

For far too long it has been unfashionable in Europe to speak up for Israel. In the wake of the recent incident... it is hard to think of a more unpopular cause to champion...

Yet he tried, writing that the truth concerning Israel must be declared.

First, the state of Israel was created by a decision of the UN. Its legitimacy...should not be in question...

Second, owing to its roots, history, and values, Israel is a fully fledged Western nation. Indeed, it is a normal Western nation, but one confronted by abnormal circumstances...the only democracy whose very existence has been questioned since its inception.

Attacked initially by conventional weapons, then terrorism, and now by a campaign of delegitimization through international law and diplomacy, sixty-two years after its creation, Israel is still fighting for its very survival...

Aznar sees that the real threat to regional stability is not the lack of peace between Israel and Palestinians, but the rise of a radical Islamism which sees Israel's destruction as the fulfillment of its religious destiny...

It is easy to blame Israel for all the evils in the Middle East. Some even act and talk as if a new understanding with the Muslim world could be achieved if only we were prepared to sacrifice the Jewish state on the altar. This would be folly...

If Israel goes down, we all go down. To defend Israel's right to exist in peace, within secure borders, requires a degree of moral and strategic clarity that too often seems to have disappeared in Europe. The US shows worrying signs of heading in the same direction.

The West is going through a period of confusion... caused by a kind of masochistic self-doubt over our own identity; by the rule of political correctness; by a multiculturalism that forces us to our knees before others; by a secularism which... blinds us even when we are confronted by jihadis promoting the most fanatical incarnation of their faith. To abandon Israel...would merely serve to illustrate how far we have sunk and how inexorable our decline now appears.

This cannot be allowed to happen...Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is upturned and Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Whether we like it or not, our fate is inextricably intertwined.

("If Israel goes down, we all go down," J. M. Aznar, The Times [UK], 17 June 2010)

The seduction of "peace" (Ezek. 13:10b)

Many see the "peace" process between Israel and the Palestinians as the cure for all the world's ills. This blindness and foolishness on the part of otherwise smart people might be because they do not receive the love of the truth. God then sends a strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (2 Thessalonians 2:9-11)

Khaled Abu Toameh, the JP's Arab affairs reporter, said that the US administration needed to ask itself some hard questions about the "peace" talks, such as,

1. Is there a majority of Palestinians who are prepared to make far-reaching concessions in the context of a peace treaty with Israel?

2. Is there a Palestinian leader... willing to make compromises on...Jerusalem, settlements and the 'right of return'?

3. Could Abbas persuade most Palestinians living in refugee camps in the Arab world to accept any peace agreement...that would exclude them from returning to their original villages in pre-'48 Israel...? No Palestinian leader has thus far dared to publicly make the slightest concession on this.

4. Do Abbas and PM Fayyad have enough credibility and support among Palestinians to be able to sell to a majority of them a peace deal with Israel?"

After showing that the answer to all these is "No," he asks why the world continues the "peace" negotiations, yet ignores the fact that Abbas is not able to deliver his side of an agreement?

Finally, why does the world ignore that Palestinians already have two states, Gaza under Hamas and in the West Bank under Fatah?

Perhaps before we search for ways to make peace between Jews and Palestinians, we need first to find a way to achieve peace between Palestinians and Palestinians.

("Proximity Talks: Questions For Washington," K. Abu Toameh, Arutz 7, 1 July 2010)

On July 6^th the PA's official daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida revealed that Abbas, during that Arab League Summit in March, told the Arab leaders, If you want war, and if all of you will fight Israel, we are in favor. But Palestinians will not fight alone because they don't have the ability to do it. ("PA leader calls for Arab invasion of Israel," Israel Today, 8 July 2010)

In Cairo in late July, Abbas attended a special meeting of Arab League foreign ministers, to discuss the possibility of starting direct negotiations. Despite pressure from the US and the EU, Abbas and his Fatah faction said they will not enter direct talks until Israel stops all settlement construction, all construction in east Jerusalem, and commits itself to the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the June 4, 1967, lines. They will not negotiate. They will only demand guarantees.

Because the PA has decided to seek the support of Arab countries in every step it takes regarding the peace process, Israel is actually facing negotiations with the whole Arab world. ("Abbas seeks Arab backing to nix talks," JP, 28 July 2010)

The Arab foreign ministers decided to throw the decision back in Abbas' lap. He can negotiate directly when he thinks the timing is right. So the Arabs stay in good standing with the US and EU and Abbas is left on his own. Palestinians are pawns used by the Arab world as a weapon against Israel.

Iran's shadow covers the world

A former Iranian law student, who graduated with honors from Iranian prisons where he was tortured for his student activism, said about Iran's current rulers,

Since they took over 30 years ago... when the regime acquired rocks, they stoned our women; when they acquired rope they hung our men; when they acquired guns they used them on our streets... Does anyone doubt what this illegitimate regime would do if it acquired nuclear weapons?

("Iran's President is defiant & our diplomacy looks foolish, A. Cooper & H. Brackman, Fox News Op-ed, 4 May 2010)

In July, Netanyahu spoke at a Council on Foreign Relations meeting. Here are some of his remarks about Iran. He said most of the world leaders, including Arabs, now realize that if the world's greatest sponsor of terror gets the world's most dangerous weapon, it is a threat to... the entire world.

But how do we move from understanding into action. We must ask whether the world can live with a nuclear Iran. He then says that many influential people compare a nuclear-armed Iran with the old USSR. After all, the Soviets had nuclear weapons. They were contained. So, too, it is argued, a nuclear-armed Iran could be also contained.

But the Soviets were different. They had global, ideological ambitions, but in international affairs, they acted with supreme rationality. Every time they were faced with a choice between their ideology and their survival, they chose survival...

The Iranian regime is... driven by a militant ideology... based on an entirely different set of values... that may seem entirely irrational to us but is pervasive, and very powerful...

Bibi said Iran already denies the Holocaust, openly calls for Israel's destruction, supplies Hezbollah and Hamas with rockets, sends saboteurs and terrorist squads into Egypt, and Yemen and threatens Saudi Arabia directly.

This is what they do today when they don't have nuclear weapons. Think of what they will do tomorrow... We must not allow the world's most dangerous regimes to possess the world's most dangerous weapons.

("A Conversation with B. Netanyahu," Council on Foreign Relations, 8 July 2010)

An Iranian Revolutionary Guard defector who was also a CIA spy, said,

Sanctions are a fantasy, an illusion. Stop dreaming... You're not dealing with rational people.

He said most Iranians do not have anything against Israel, and cared very little about the Palestinians, yet the Revolutionary Guards use hatred of Israel as a driving cause.

He also mentioned that many Iranians get their news from Israel Radio's Persian service. They trust the radio of Israel more than the BBC and definitely more than the Voice of America. ("Sanctions on Iran are 'a fantasy'," JP, 11 July 2010)

July 1, President Obama, signing the US Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, said, ...the US and the international community are determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

July 12, Russia's President Medvedev, in an unusually strong statement...said Iran is getting closer to having the potential to build a nuclear weapon...

This escalation in rhetoric comes with a message of stronger than ever support for sanctions from many directions, with some hints even of possible appetite for military action against Iran...

The message, 'an Iranian bomb is worse than bombing Iran,' is starting to crop up in statements...attributed to officials in some Arab Gulf states as well.

("Iran: The course is almost run," E. Asculai & E. Landau, JP Op-ed, 20 July 2010)

On Iranian TV in late July, Ahmadinejad accused the US of plans to attack at least two countries in the region within the next three months. This is a very dangerous game Iran is playing as they try to divert the recent pressure. If they start a war, such as releasing Hizbullah to attack Israel - as in 2006 - they will be able to say, We told you so. It is not us, but America and Israel. And right now, tension is very high on Israel's northern border. ("...US New Psychological Plot vs. Iran," [Iran's] Fars News Agency, 27 July 2010)

Prophetic Foreshadows

Ayatollah Kharrazi, head of Hizbullah's Iranian branch and a potential candidate in Iran's next presidential elections, called for the creation of a "Greater Iran," stretching from Afghanistan to Israel, as a precursor of the coming of Islam's messiah. He said Iran would have to destroy Israel, all Sunni Muslim kingdoms in that area, such as Saudi Arabia, any secular parties like the Ba'athists in Iraq and Syria, and all Christian Arab populations. ("Iranian cleric calls for creating 'Greater Iran'," ICEJ News, 17 May 2010)

The bond between Iran, Syria and Turkey is growing stronger in what could be a prophetic alignment. In May, Turkish and Syrian troops held joint military drills, and Iran and Syria want to form a regional economic bloc, with Turkey and Iraq...

Iran's Ahmadinejad boasted that protecting regional security and efforts aimed at influencing the new world order are the most important duties of Iran and Turkey. ("Iran, Syria, Turkey Cementing Ties," Arutz 7, 3 May 2010)

Ahmadinejad the Arrogant said that Jews only appear to be human. He sees his regime as acting to change the world order and spelled out his government's new mission - to liberate the American nation from the 'undemocratic and bullying' regime that oppresses it. ("Ahmadinejad: Jews Only Seem Human...We Will Act to Deliver American People...," MEMRI, 18 June 2010)

In June Bibi told a meeting of his Likud party to prepare for difficult days...We find ourselves in the midst of a difficult, continuous battle [for] the State of Israel. ("Netanyahu Warns: Dark Days Ahead," Ynetnews, 14 June 2010)

Prayer alert: September 2010

September is often a month when God shakes things. A Stratfor report recently said, The world continues to resonate from the twin shocks of Sept. '01 and Sept. '08: the US-jihadist war and the global financial crisis. (Third Quarter Forecast, Stratfor.com, 12 July 2010). And those dates are exactly seven years apart.

This September hosts all of the Lord's fall Feasts (Lev. 23:23ff): Rosh Hashanah [9^th], Yom Kippur [18^th], Sukkot [23^rd-30^th].

There are several other events to keep your eyes on:

• Turkey assumes the presidency of the UN Security Council.

• A referendum on major changes in Turkey's constitution that, if approved, would give more power to the forces of radical Islam.

• Ramadan, Islam's holy month ends September 9^th this year.

• Spain, whose economy is almost as bad as Greece, votes on their 2011 budget. Any problems could trigger another severe EU economic crisis.

• Iran restarts talks with the UN Security Council permanent members plus Germany concerning its nuclear program.

• Iran's first nuclear power plant is scheduled to go on line.

• Israel's 10 month settlement freeze ends (God willing!).

God's feasts are appointments that He sets with His people. Is the convergence of all these events a coincidence? We encourage you to watch and pray. (Mark 13:33)

But the end of all things is at hand: be therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

1 Peter 4:7

Chuck & Karen Cohen