Shalom friends,

Events in the Middle East [ME] draw the ire and anxiety of the world, pushed on by Satan's forces, bent upon preventing Israel from possessing her possessions (Obad. 1:17). Yet the goal of this war is not against the nation of Israel or the Jewish people or the Church. It is Satan's last-ditch effort to prevent Messiah Yeshua's return by destroying God's Name, His Word and His kingdom. The father of lies (John 8:44) wants to show that what God is and says is a lie. Look at the attack against His Name.

What's really at stake in the ME? God's Name

'Name' in biblical Hebrew is figuratively used to imply a person's nature or reputation. Satan's assault against Israel is an attempt to destroy both by proving that God is not faithful or able to do what He said.

I see a rod of an almond tree, said Jeremiah as God showed him a vision. God replied, You have seen well; for I will watch over My Word to perform it. (Jer. 1:11-12) In Hebrew it is a play on words; 'almond tree' and 'watch over' come from the same root. The almond tree is the earliest tree in Israel to blossom - yet it is one of the last to bear fruit. God is saying that His prophetic word has gone forth, yet it often takes patience to see it 'bear fruit'. This is the heart of faith. For the vision is still for an appointed time, but it speaks to the end, and it does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it; because it will surely come. It will not tarry. Behold…the just shall live by his faith. (Hab. 2:3-4)

Scripture declares God will do what He has spoken. God is not a man that should lie, neither the son of man that should repent. Has He said, and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken, and shall He not make it good? (Num. 23:19; cp. Num. 11:23; Psa. 33:10-11; Isa. 14:24; 46:9-10; 48:3; 55:11)

Yeshua affirms this, saying the Scripture cannot be broken; (John 10:35b). In His day, 'the Scripture' was the Old Testament. So despite replacement theology, verses like those that follow will be fulfilled because God is faithful and true (Rev. 3:14; 19:11).

Thus says YHWH, who gives the sun for a light by day and the laws of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who divides the sea when its waves roar; YHWH of Hosts is His name; if those ordinances depart from Me…the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me forever. (Jer. 31:35-36)

Therefore say to the house of Israel…I am not doing this for your sake…but for My holy name's sake, which you profaned among the nations where you went. I will sanctify My great name…and the nations shall know that I am YHWH…when I shall be sanctified in you [Israel!] before their eyes. (Ezek. 36:22-23)

And the Apostle Paul writes, Messiah Yeshua has become a minister [servant] of the circumcision [the Jews] for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers [Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, etc.]. (Romans 15:8)

So is YHWH God, the God of the Bible, or is Allah? Maybe there are many gods - or no God - and we should worship man? Who has declared this of old?…Is it not I, YHWH? There is no other God besides Me; a just God and a Savior; there is none besides Me. Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. (Isaiah 45:21-22; cp. 44:6-8)

Riding the roller coaster in these last days

We are amazed at how quickly major events concerning Israel are occurring since late last year. Here is a brief rundown:

• Nov. 14-21, 2012 The IDF's Operation Pillar of Defense against incessant rocket fire from Gaza.

• Nov. 29, 2012 The UN General Assembly [UNGA] votes 138 to 9 with 41 abstentions to upgrade the Palestinian Authority's [PA] status to non-member state, basically recognizing 'Palestine' as a nation among the nations.

• Nov. 30, 2012 Israel responds to this PA violation of the 1993 Oslo Accords in a Zionist way - approving plans to build homes in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.

• Dec. 2012 to today: The world has a fit, condemning Israel for destroying the 'peace process'. Yet Israel's God responds, I am YHWH who creates all things…who frustrates the signs of liars…who turns wise men back, and makes their knowledge foolish; who confirms His servants' word, and performs His messengers' counsel; who says to Jerusalem, You shall be inhabited; to the cities of Judah, You shall be built. (Isa. 44:24b-26a)

• Dec. 3, 2012 The UNGA votes 174 to 6 approving a resolution that Israel is to open up its nuclear facilities to IAEA inspection.

• During this same period, Egypt passed an Islamic constitution approved by less than 10% of all Egyptians, proving again that a radical minority willing to kill and be killed can easily take over nations. Recent historical examples include the Nazis in Germany, the Communists in Russia and radical Shiites in Iran.

• The Syrian government murders Syrians, as the West begins to back the rebels. But the rebels are being taken over by Muslim fundamentalists, who execute Syrian Christians they capture.

Will 2013 be equally eventful? On January 22^nd, Israelis will elect a new government. We are praying for Israeli Prime Minister [PM] Bibi Netanyahu and his party to continue to lead this nation.

In America, re-elected President Obama has appointed several anti-Israel members to his administration: Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel; Secretary of State John Kerry; CIA Chief John Brennan. But maybe most dangerous for US Jews is Obama's choice for Treasury Secretary - Jack Lew, an Orthodox Jew. If America's economy goes under, guess who gets blamed? Yet this could be one way of God answering our prayers for more US Jews to come home to Israel! Behold, I will save My people from the east country, and from the west country. I will bring them, and they shall dwell in…Jerusalem, and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness. (Zechariah 8:7-8)

The world votes 'yes' for 'Palestine'

Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket…All nations before Him are as nothing… (Isa. 40:15a, 17a; cp. Psa. 2:1ff; 33:10-11)

The PA asked the UNGA to recognize 'Palestine' on Nov. 29, the same day the UN recognized Israel as a state in 1947. They have co-opted so many Jewish and Israeli symbols in the past, that the co-opting of Nov. 29 fits right in with that, said Moshe Siebel, a history scholar.

On this date, the UN officially partitioned Palestine, declaring that part of the soon-to-be-defunct British Mandate for Palestine be reserved for a Jewish state…UN Resolution 181 was the first official recognition of the national rights of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel in the modern age, going farther than the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which recognized Mandatory Palestine as a 'national home' for the Jewish people. Although the Partition Plan…reserved only a small part of western Palestine for the Jews, and did not include Jerusalem, which was to be internationalized, the Jewish community and its institutions embraced it.

The Arabs rejected it, vowing to destroy the newborn Jewish state. This was attempted in May 1948, after David Ben-Gurion declared the State of Israel. Armies from seven Arab countries attacked Israel, but were miraculously beaten back, with [Israel] capturing important land areas that, had the Arabs agreed to the Partition Plan, would have been a part of an Arab state.

For Jews, November 29, 1947, was a very emotional day…the rebirth of the Jewish people after the horrors of the Holocaust. It was also God fulfilling Ezekiel 37, as the dry bones came out of their graves and became a mighty army (37:1-14).

Siebel says the PA's statehood bid on this date is a historical injustice…It is similar to the PA's declaration of the Temple Mount as a holy place in Islam that must be defended with life and limb from the 'evil Zionists,' even though [it] is never mentioned in the Koran…Neither is Jerusalem mentioned in their texts, and never in history did Arabs give the city the status of a capital. But all of a sudden because [the Jews] are here, Jerusalem has become the eternal capital of the Palestinian people. The UN statehood bid is just another attempt by the Arabs to push us out of our land, and our history…and the countries that support this are once again showing their anti-Semitism and hypocrisy. ("With UN Bid, Arabs Once Again Try to Steal Israel's Heritage," Arutz 7, 29 Nov. 2012)

Netanyahu told Israelis this UN decision will not advance the establishment of a Palestinian state… as it does not deal with Israel's security or position as a Jewish state, or a declaration to end the conflict…These are a few of the reasons we reject this bid… ("PM: Ignore the Sound of UN Applause," Arutz 7, 29 Nov. 2012)

Israel's Cabinet did vote to reject it, with its resolution reading in part, The Jewish People have a natural, historical and legal right to its homeland with its eternal capital Jerusalem. The State of Israel as the state of the Jewish People has rights and claims to areas that are under dispute in the Land of Israel. This UN decision does not detract in any way from the right of the State of Israel and the Jewish People to those disputed areas, all of which were restored to Israel in defensive wars. ("Israel 'Completely Rejects' UN Approval of New PA Status," Arutz 7, 2 Dec. 2012)

The PA's Mr. 'Moderate' Abbas spews hatred

After President Abbas' UN speech, garnering overwhelming support for his bid to gain non-member observer state status, Netanyahu said, The world watched a poisonous, hate-driven speech, full of misleading propaganda against the IDF and the citizens of Israel.

Abbas lies included accusing Israel of an intensification of military assaults…settlement activities and ethnic cleansing, particularly in occupied [sic] east Jerusalem, mass arrests, attacks by settlers and other practices by which this Israeli occupation is becoming synonymous with an apartheid system of colonial occupation, which institutionalizes the plague of racism and entrenches hatred and incitement. Apartheid? Racist? Arabs serve in the Knesset, attend Israeli universities, are doctors and patients in its hospitals, and some serve in the IDF.

Netanyahu spokesman M. Regev said, Instead of speaking the language of peace and reconciliation [Abbas] came out with a litany of libelous charges…and perverted historic truth. It's Israel that wants peace…that is ready to accept Palestinian statehood…[But] it is the Palestinian side that up to today refuses to accept the legitimacy of the Jewish state.

After the UN vote, Israel's UN Ambassador Ron Prosor gave a strong rebuttal, saying he represented a state built in the Jewish people's ancient homeland; with its eternal capital Jerusalem as its beating heart…No decision by the UN can break the 4,000-year-old bond between the people of Israel and the land of Israel.

He criticized Abbas for ignoring history, reminding all that when the UN voted to partition the land into a Jewish and Arab state, Israel accepted it, but the Arabs rejected it and launched a war of annihilation… He noted that from 1948-67, when Jordan ruled the West Bank and Egypt ruled Gaza, Arab states did not lift a finger to create a Palestinian state. Instead they sought Israel's destruction, and were joined by newly formed Palestinian terrorist organizations. In 2000 at Camp David and in 2008 at Annapolis, Israeli leaders made far-reaching offers for peace, [which] were met by rejection, evasion, even terrorism.

In another attempt to advance peace, in 2005 Israel dismantled entire communities and uprooted thousands of people from their homes in the Gaza Strip. Rather than use this opportunity to build a peaceful future, Palestinians turned Gaza into an Iranian terror base, from which thousands of rockets were fired into Israeli cities…Time after time, the Palestinian leadership…refused to make the tough decisions for peace. ("Israel slams Abbas for 'poisonous, hate-driven' speech," Israel Hayom, 30 Nov. 2012)

Writing in Israel Hayom, Dror Eydar says that Mr. 'Moderate' Abbas gave a very Hamas-like speech, laced with words from radical-Left, Holocaust denial and anti-Semitic circles, including 'ethnic cleansing,' 'war crimes,' 'apartheid,' 'racism'…Abbas repeated the phrase 'the Israeli aggression' dozens of times.

Yet not one word about the terror perpetrated by Palestinians…the protection Israel provides to the PA from Hamas [in Judea and Samaria]…the Fatah and Hamas charter, both of which reject the right of the Jewish people to sustain a Jewish state on any part of the Land of Israel. Also the phrases 'the Jewish people' or 'a Jewish state' never passed Abbas' lips.

He concluded, The applause elicited by Abbas' speech, as well as the UN's very approval of his request, is another aspect of the international community's decadence, approving the biggest lie of the last 100 years. Europe abandoned Israel and reverted to its past behavior: sacrificing Jews on the altar of imagined peace. Just as in the 1930s, and other historic junctions, the West wants peace (or quiet), but it will end up getting both dishonor and war. ("The biggest lie," D. Eydar, Israel Hayom Op-ed, 30 Nov. 2012) This sounds like the description of the last days found in 1 Thes. 5:1-3.

Israel Today reported on the PA's victory ceremony after the UN vote. Abbas told the crowd, One day, a young Palestinian will raise [our] flag over Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the state of Palestine. Some Israeli leaders in the past have mentioned dividing Jerusalem, yet most Israelis reject the idea, and insist the city must remain united under Israeli sovereignty. For both Israelis and Palestinians, Jerusalem is a red line and a major stumbling block to the world's efforts to solve the ME conflict. Bible-believers will recognize this…as being foretold: In that day I will make Jerusalem a stumbling block for all people; all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth gather against it. (Zech. 12:3) ("…Abbas: We'll take Jerusalem, too," Israel Today, 3 Dec. 2012)

In mid-January, after Abbas met with Hamas politburo chief K. Mashaal in Cairo, attempting once again to reconcile Fatah and Hamas, Netanyahu said, Abbas embraces the head of a terrorist organization that declared just one month ago that Israel needs to be wiped off the map [see below]…That is not how someone with their eyes toward peace behaves. ("PM: Abbas does not seek peace," Israel Hayom, 11 Jan. 2013)

The real meaning of the UN vote

Why did Abbas take this UN path? Dan Calic says, It's no secret that direct negotiations…have failed to produce a breakthrough. While several issues have made this difficult to achieve, there is one which rises above all…refusal of the Palestinians to accept the Jewish state of Israel… Abbas has said often and openly, that he will never accept Israel as a Jewish state. As any peace treaty between the PA and Israel which comes as a result of direct negotiations, will require that, he avoids it. So his hope rests with an anti-Israel UN, which has passed no less than 33 resolutions critical of Israel since 2006. No other country has had more than one resolution passed against it…

With recognition of non-member status Abbas achieves worldwide legitimacy of Palestine as a state, without making a single concession… Now he wants to restart direct negotiations using the just passed resolution which requires Israel to return to pre-1967 borders to bolster his position. With de-facto statehood he may even attempt to bring charges against Israel in the International Criminal Court.

Palestine's recognition is also tantamount to the UN accepting several other disturbing elements on the part of the Palestinians. For example…on several occasions Abbas has named public places after 'martyred' terrorists who murdered Israeli civilians…

More disturbing is the Fatah party's charter, which includes the following: Article 12: Complete liberation of Palestine, and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence; Article 17: Armed public revolution is the inevitable method of liberating Palestine; Article 19: …this struggle will not cease unless the Zionist state is demolished and Palestine completely liberated. These reflect an avowed commitment to the destruction of…Israel, which the UN is certainly aware of.

By voting 'yes' the UN has embraced an official permanent observer which is bound by a charter requiring the destruction of a member nation to sit in the GA. Since the very nature of the UN is supposed to foster peace among nations…their action is not only reprehensible, it's blatantly hypocritical…and tantamount to acquiescence with terrorism. ("Real meaning of UN vote," D. Calic, Ynetnews Op-ed, 12 Dec. 2012)

In early 2013, Abbas' Fatah again clarified its true intentions as Palestinian Media Watch noted that it used its 48^th anniversary to post messages on its Facebook page that incite hatred, glorify terrorism and envision a world without the State of Israel… The page has images of children brandishing weapons…promising that this will be the year Palestinians breach the Temple Mount and other Palestinian holy lands held by the Zionist regime. ("On Facebook, Fatah incites terror against Israel," Israel Hayom, 2 Jan. 2013)

Israel's most dangerous weapon - Jewish homes!

Israel warned that it would respond if the PA upgraded its UN status. Yet when Israel responded by approving the building of more homes for Israelis in Jerusalem, PA leaders, using their new UN status, told Security Council officials to force Israel to cancel its plans. Building the E1 corridor, connecting Jerusalem with Ma'ale Adumim, a city of some 40,000 in Judea that will remain as part of Israel regardless of any peace deals, drew much fire.

The PA called this settlement expansion 'war crimes', and Egypt summoned Israel's ambassador, rebuking Israel's decision. The PA Foreign Minister said, We must take advantage of this anger against Israel and work to form a united international front that will determinedly oppose Israel. ("PA petitions UN against Israeli 'war crimes'," Israel Hayom, 5 Dec. 2012)

The world also reacted. Europe is more worked up over Jews building communities in their ancient homeland than over the massacre of tens of thousands of Syrians. Israeli ambassadors were summoned to explain why, for the love of God, Jews were insisting on settling their land. As the ME descends into a bunch of quasi-states disintegrating into tiny pieces, it is the act of settlement, by the only stable country in the region, that manages to turn refined European stomachs. ("The Left summons its friends," D. Eydar, Israel Hayom, 4 Dec. 2012)

An EU foreign ministers' statement strongly condemned Israel's building in the 'settlements' and affirmed that all EU agreements with Israel apply only to the pre-67 lines, adding another layer to the EU's tacit recognition of a Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The EU refuses to recognize Israel's biblical homeland, seeing these areas as occupied by Israel in 1967… ("EU; Agreements Only Apply To Pre-'67 Israel," ICEJ News, 11 Dec. 2012)

Peter Martino opined, Iran is building nuclear weapons, Syria is slaughtering its citizens, Libya is being taken over by al-Qaeda, Egypt is threatened with another Pharaoh, Turkey is working toward rebuilding the Ottoman Empire, and Christians are being massacred, in many ME and African nations, but the European Commission summoned Israel's EU Ambassador over its plan to build 3,000 new homes in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem, plans which were in response to the UN vote to upgrade the PA's status, in direct violation of [UN] Resolutions 242, 338, and 1850 - an overruling that the UN Charter specifically forbids…

The EU wants the project annulled: it is said to be 'an obstacle to peace.' Not the PLO or Hamas Charters, which call for Israel's destruction, or the hundreds of rockets fired into Israel over the last month, or Iran's continual and illegal - under both the UN's own Charter and the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide - calls for genocide in 'wiping Israel out…: No, no, no these are not threats to peace worth mentioning or bothering about. ("The Real 'Obstacle to Peace'," Peter Martino, Gatestone Institute, www.gatestoneinstitute.org, 12 Dec. 2012)

Knesset Speaker R. Rivlin, a Likud moderate, sent a strongly worded message to his fellow heads of parliaments in the nations. Israel refuses to accept the fact that mere weeks after rockets were fired from Gaza into Tel Aviv and Jerusalem there are still those who see Israel's decision to hold on to strategic territory surrounding Jerusalem, and to build within its capital, as the biggest obstacle standing in the way of peace. He said Israelis sense that most EU nations are more interested in establishing a Palestinian state than in ensuring the safety and existence of the Jewish state.

Rivlin also wrote, for many Israelis it was unbearable to hear Hamas leaders calling for war and for wiping out the Jewish state on one side, and the world condemning Israel for taking steps to protect its security and existence on the other side, adding that under any future diplomatic arrangement…Jerusalem, including every one of its neighborhoods, will remain the capital of Israel, and construction there is not negotiable. ("Construction in Jerusalem is not negotiable," Israel Hayom, 18 Dec. 2012)

Clifford May explains that the E1 corridor covers all of 4.6 sq. miles/11.9 sq. kms., and is located in what used to be called the Judean Desert. Might Jews think they have a legitimate historical claim to the Judean Desert?

Israel has traded land for peace, including land acquired in defensive wars, but Israelis want something in exchange: An end to the long conflict they have been fighting against those who insist that the Jewish people, uniquely, have no right to self-determination, no right to independence, and no right to self-rule within their ancient and ancestral homeland. ("Jews in the Judean Desert?" C. D. May, Israel Hayom Op-ed, 20 Dec. 2012)

A very upset Netanyahu said, The Western Wall is not occupied territory. I don't care what the UN says. We are living in the Jewish State. The capital…for 3,000 years has been Jerusalem…Since 1967 we have been building in Jerusalem despite world opinion. ("Israel Will Build despite International Criticism," United With Israel, unitedwithisrael.org, 23 Dec. 2012)

Thus speaketh Hamas

After Mashaal spoke at Hamas' 25^th anniversary celebrations, Bibi told his cabinet, We glimpsed once again the true face of our enemies. They have no intention to compromise with us; they want to destroy our country…

Mashaal had told a huge rally he would never recognize Israel, vowing to free the land of Palestine inch by inch. Palestine is ours, from the river to the sea, referring to all the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, including Jerusalem.

Netanyahu also criticized Abbas, who is working toward reunification with Hamas…He didn't condemn the calls to wipe out Israel, just like he didn't condemn the rockets that were fired [from Gaza] at Israel. God says about Abbas: He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the just, even both of them are hateful to YHWH. (Prov. 17:15)

Bibi's spokesman Regev condemned Mashaal's words as a message that says no to peace, no to reconciliation…that says every Israeli man, woman and child is a legitimate target. He pointedly asked Abbas, If you see Hamas as a political partner, what does that say about your dedication to peace.

Mashaal entering Gaza kissed the ground, saying, Allah be blessed…We will not stop at the '67 borders; we will continue to the '48 borders, until the liberation of occupied Palestine… ("Our enemies want to destroy us…," Israel Hayom, 9 Dec. 2012)

Speaking to foreign reporters, Netanyahu accused the nations of double standards, condemning not-yet-built settlements yet not saying a word when Mashaal declares to throngs of supporters to destroy Israel. Where was the outrage? Where were the UN resolutions?…Why weren't Palestinian diplomats summoned to European and other capitals to explain why [Abbas] not only refused to condemn this but actually declared his intention to unite with Hamas. There was nothing, there was silence and it was deafening… ("…Netanyahu has angry words for international community," AP, 10 Dec. 2012)

Prophetic Possibility

Derek Prince thought the Anti-Christ might come from Turkey where Rev. 2:13 locates Satan's throne. With that in mind this next report is fascinating. Ceylan Ozbudak, a female Turkish TV show host told an Israeli right-wing news program about a unique and controversial idea for peace: Turkey will take charge of the region. She works with Islamic leader Adnan Harun Yahya Oktar. One of his goals is to build a temple for all religions on Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

Ozbudak said Turkey can mediate between Israel, the PA, Egypt, and other surrounding countries for peace, and Turkey would protect the Jewish people's right to live in Israel under its banner - basically a resurrection of the Islamic Ottoman Empire that ruled the ME for 400 years.

She and several other young Turkish women host the TV show, Building Bridges, on which they say ME peace can only be done through a Turkish Islamic Union, where all countries will be independent…[yet] under one roof. Turkey will be the spiritual leader… The show's website says its goal is to build up love, justice and solidarity among people and our main aim is being a pioneer for peace all over the world by using the unifying policy of Turkish Islamic Union. ("Peace through a Turkish Islamic Union?" Arutz 7, 1 Jan. 2013)

The scythe & the sword

As 2013 began, D. Eydar asks, Is there hope?…The question pops up as a defiant challenge whenever we reach the logical conclusion that in light of the geopolitical situation, which is changing before our eyes, and after 20 years during which the Palestinians have avoided making peace with us, we see no chance for real peace with our neighbors. Contrary to the usual propaganda, the dispute with them is not territorial, but much deeper…the religious disagreement between us and the Muslims.

As far as Islam is concerned, Jews have no right to sovereignty over even part of the Land of Israel, which they consider wakf - sacred Muslim land. Even the moderate Ahmad Tibi was heard saying this week he did not recognize the concept of the 'Land of Israel.' So where is the hope?

Maybe this is where the fixing starts. For 2,000 years we held onto the hope of returning to our ancestral land and resuming life here as a free nation living in security on our own soil. During that time, there were those who gave up and vanished into the current of history. Those who believed kept on living as Jews in the shadow of death among various peoples and nations, and waited.

We have been given a privilege that our ancestors never had. In the timeline of Jewish history, the State of Israel is still in its infancy. The return to Zion is not a matter of a generation or two. It is a long profound process of brushing the dust of the exile off the body of our nation and restoring our national spirit.

Peace will not come through instant, magical solutions. [He actually said Israel needs faith and patience!] Meanwhile, we will keep on doing what Zionism has done from the time it was first established and what the returnees to Zion did during the Second Temple era - build our nation and protect it. Plant it and guard it. The scythe and the sword. ("The scythe & the sword," Dror Eydar, Israel Hayom Op-ed, 4 Jan. 2013)

That's God's plan for the growth of His Kingdom as well. We proclaim the good news of peace between God and man through Messiah Yeshua (Acts 10:36; Rom. 10:15) - while dressed in the armor of God, ready for battle (2 Cor. 10:3-6; Eph. 6:10-18).

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and is safe.

Proverbs 18:10