Shalom Friends,

We covet your prayers and support as we endeavor to be among His watchmen in Jerusalem. One of the words He is fulfilling is happening directly over our heads.

The Lord builds up Jerusalem (Psalm 147:2)

The apartment above us has just been gutted and redone the second time since we've been in the rental below. We've had jack hammering and drilling for months on end, often early in the morning, along with the dirt and stress of having it directly above us. We've also often endured lesser renovations because of living in an older neighborhood where folks want to make major changes before moving in. Most Jerusalem homes are made of concrete and stone, so it's a struggle to live in 'peace' during 'prophetic events' like this.

Long term upheaval is a reality for many Israelis, but it is just one form of discomfort in the midst of prophetic fulfillments. Others: God's current judgments on the nations are disruptive, even deadly, or when Muslims get saved - like in many Islamic nations today - the result is often an increase in persecution. Also, many French and British Jews are immigrating to Israel because of rising anti-Semitism and Islamic Sharia Law in their nations. God's Word becomes reality.

To carry our cross daily, dying to our wants and desires, is often unpleasant as God conforms us to the likeness of His Son (Rom. 8:29). Working out our salvation, by trusting Him to complete His work (Phil. 1:6; 2:12-13), can be accompanied by intense spiritual warfare.

God's Kingdom today and the Middle East [ME]

As we have written before, the Adversary is trying to discredit God by attacking His Name, His reputation and His Word, through global hatred against Israel's restoration.

There is a fierce attack against how a restored Israel fits into 'Christian' theology, by Satan distorting the Word's revelation of God. Just ask yourself, "What does most of the Church really believe about God's relationship with His people Israel?" A Church that does not recognize Yeshua as still the King of the Jews, as well as King of Kings, and that does not see God the Father as still the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, will end up preaching another Jesus and another gospel (2 Cor. 11:4)!

The Accuser's end-time masterpiece is that much of the Church worships a spiritual Christ but not Yeshua, the historic Jew! If salvation has not come from the Jews (John 4:22), if gentile believers do not think they are in debt to the Jewish people (Rom. 15:27), if the gospel is no longer linked with God's initial promise to Abraham (Gen. 12:3; Gal. 3:8), then upon what foundation is the Church based?

Replacement theology says the Church replaces Israel in the plan of God. Is it blasphemy? What would you call a doctrine that lies about God, His Word, His character and His covenant promises? This does not mean that those who believe it or teach it are not saved. The use of 'blasphemy' in Scriptures has a wider meaning than just the 'blasphemy of the Holy Spirit' that many inevitably think of when this word is used. For example, when people call Judea and Samaria the 'occupied territories', God calls it blasphemy (Ezek. 35:12-13)!

End-time deception

While salvation is by grace through trust in Yeshua, maturity and usefulness for His Kingdom require that our thinking line up with His Word (Rom. 12:2; 2 Tim. 2:15). But now the understanding of whole denominations is distorted by their turning against Israel. Religious humanism, where man's logic trumps all, is now seen as God's will. Paul's warning to God's house against worshipping created things rather than the Creator still applies today (Rom. 1:22-25).

Canada's Anglican Church, at its recent General Synod, passed a resolution which included a pledge to explore and challenge theologies and beliefs, such as Christian Zionism in support of Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. ("Canada's Anglicans urged to fight Christian Zionism," ICEJ News, 9 July 2013)

Jewish historian Dan Calic exposes a modern deception, the distorted narrative of the 'Palestinian Church'. In it, Jesus is Savior but He and Mary are now 'Palestinians'.

Last year at the Christ at the Checkpoint Bethlehem conference, Jack Sara, Bethlehem Bible College President and Palestinian Christian, spoke on Ezekiel 37's, 'dry bones': The hand of the Lord was on me. He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of the West Bank…It was full of dry bones… He asked me, Son of Man…Can the Palestinian people live?

Sadly this blatant effort to alter the Bible and promote an anti-Semitic, pro-Palestinian agenda, has many Western Christian leaders' support, some of whom even arrange speaking tours for these deceived, and deceiving, Palestinian Christians.

Those associated with the revisionist agenda say they promote 'peace, justice and reconciliation'. [Yet] how can delegitimizing Israel and the Jewish people, rewriting biblical scripture, and remaking Jesus into a Palestinian exemplify such noble ideals? ("Jesus a 'Palestinian Martyr?" Dan Calic, Times of Israel Op-ed, 28 May 2013) One positive aspect in this: some unsaved Jews are defending the Jewish Jesus!

The Inheritance of Abraham?A Report on the 'Promised Land', was recently approved at a Church of Scotland [CoS] synod. This once staunch supporter of the right of Jews to their ancient homeland, has now adopted a report that misrepresents God's unconditional promise of the land of Israel to the Jewish people.

It says, Promises about the land of Israel were never intended to be taken literally, or as applying to a defined geographical territory…This 'promised land' can be found, or built, anywhere.

It also says If Jesus is indeed the 'yes' to all God's promises, the promise to Abraham about land is fulfilled through the impact of Jesus, not by restoring land to the Jewish people. But God does promise to restore His land to His people (Ezek. 36). Yet, a deceived Church puts up roadblocks! This is replacement error redone and renamed 'fulfillment theology', yet neither is biblical.

On God's promise to Abraham to make the Land of Israel a home for the Jewish people (Gen. 12:7), the report says a purely literal reading does show this, but the land was given 'conditionally to the Jewish people, on the understanding that the land is God's, given in trust to be cared for and lived in according to God's instruction'. This is a half-truth. In Genesis (28:4,13) God confirmed to Jacob His unconditional promise of the land to Abraham's seed, and then 400 years later, in the Mosaic covenant, He made living in the land conditional, based on obedience to His law. Yet today, as prophesied, He is bringing the Jews home in unbelief, and then will save them (Jer. 32:37-44; 33:7-8; Ezek. 36:24-32; Zech. 12:10, etc.).

The report says the NT radically re-interprets the concepts of 'Israel', 'temple', 'Jerusalem', and 'land'. Wrong! Replacement error re-interprets them; the NT writers only saw them expanding. Even in the OT these physical things had their heavenly reality. God appointed three of these physical symbols by unconditional covenant! Despite Satan's best efforts, the land, the people, and the city (Jer. 17:25; Joel 3:20) have never been totally destroyed. But Satan fools the Church into decisions based on a false either/or scenario and not on God's both/and vision. ("Jews shouldn't take God's promise to Abraham literally," Israel Hayom,3 May 2013)

So how should believers relate to God the Zionist? I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great zeal… YHWH shall yet comfort Zion, and yet choose Jerusalem. (Zech. 1:14, 17; also 8:2; Psa. 78:68; 87:2; 132:13; Isa. 62:1, etc.)

The ME today - a house divided

Analyst Barry Rubin writes, The Arab-Israeli conflict has been largely replaced by the Sunni-Shia Muslim conflict, centered now in Syria. By Islamizing politics …victories of the (Sunni) Muslim Brotherhood [MB] have deepened this division.

Yet when dealing with Iran (the leader of the Shi'ites), the Sunni Muslim bloc is also very much an Arab one. Many Sunnis look on Shi'ites, especially Iranian Persians, as inferior people as well as heretical in terms of Islam…

A report from the Cordoba Foundation, a UK based Sunni research center, recapped discussions of influential Islamic figures. Their conclusion: Prior to the Syrian revolution, there was no consensus on what constitutes the greatest threat to our [Arab/ Sunni] national security, but it has since become evident that the Iranian threat is much bigger than American and Israeli threats… ("ME's Main Battle…Sunni vs. Shia…" B. Rubin, RubinReports, 15 Apr. 2013)

During an IFI prayer meeting, two words/impressions came concerning the current chaotic ME. Many see Psalm 83 describing a war that will occur before the Gog and Magog war (Ezek. 38-39), since the nations and regions described are not in the list of Gog's allies (Ezek. 38:5-6). We assumed Israel would defeat these nations, although Psalm 83 does not specify this. Yet could what we see today be an answer to our Psalm 83 based prayers - Muslim fighting Muslim? God has in the past set Israel's enemies against each other in response to His people's cry (Psa. 83:1-5).

The other word that came forth is from Luke 11:17: Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; a house divided against a house falls. Seeing this, we ask God to bring the whole house of Islam down as a fruit of the current not-so-civil ME war between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims.

To avoid the danger of directly confronting the principality over Islam, ask God to do it. For example, Lord, increase the division that we are now seeing in the house of Islam (Psa. 55:9). Foil all their plans against Israel and fill their faces with shame that they may seek Your name, YHWH (Psa. 83:16). God, have mercy on Muslims! Rescue many from Satan's dominion and transfer them into Yeshua's kingdom (Col. 1:12-13).

Peace not possible between Israel and Islam

Harold Rhodes, writing for the Gatestone Institute, says, In the ME, leaders almost never admit they made mistakes: doing so would bring shame upon them. Western politicians miss this because they do not see that their idea of compromise, with each side conceding on certain issues so as to reach an agreement, does not exist in the ME. What is paramount is preserving one's honor. People do almost anything to avoid shame, including going to jail, risking death or killing family members (usually females), because the consequences of dishonor are always permanent and always collective…This battle against being shamed regardless of the cost is why Arab leaders have not, nor can they, back down. It is a spirit of pride.

Since the West sees by mirror-imaging, and assumes people are alike, so that what they say resembles what we say, Western leaders don't really grasp what ME leaders mean. Israel's leaders understand this, yet often their knowledgeable advice is spurned. This impacts 'peace' negotiations

No Palestinian Authority [PA] leader can sign an agreement to end the conflict and recognize Israel as a Jewish state. In 2000, then-Israeli Prime Minster [PM] Barak offered Arafat 97% of all he wanted. Yet if Arafat had signed, backing down from a confrontation he would have been shamed, seen as a traitor…and most likely killed…

Compromise is not a ME goal; we have win-lose/lose-win resolutions, with winner talking all and loser losing all. ("Honor & Compromise in ME Leadership," H. Rhode, Gatestone Institute, 10 July 2013)

In Washington the day after Israeli-Palestinian talks to see if negotiations could be restarted, US Sec. of State Kerry boasted, Our objective is to achieve a final status agreement over the next nine months, with all issues, from Jerusalem to borders to 'refugees' on the table, the goal being to end the conflict and settle all claims.

He then said, [R]easonable principled compromise in the name of peace means everybody stands to gain. Each side has a stake in the other's success, and everyone can benefit…A viable two-state solution is the only way this conflict can end, and there is not much time to achieve it… ("Israelis, Palestinians argue over which issues come up first," Israel Hayom, 31 July 2013) Kerry is dangerously ignoring the Arab ME mindset.

ME expert Yoram Ettinger points to another stone of stumbling on the 'peace' path - taqiyya: Islam-sanctioned dissimulation, deception and concealment of inconvenient data, aimed at shielding Islam and 'believers' from 'infidels' and hostile Muslims. This tactic is used at times of strategic inferiority, intended to achieve provisional accords, only to be abrogated once conditions are ripe for vanquishing adversity. This means smiling and shaking hands until it's time to kill.

All sects of fundamentalist Islam use taqiyya based on the Quran. Sura 3:28: Muslims may appease 'infidels' with their lips but not their hearts. Sura 3:54, 8:30, and 10:21 say, Allah is the best schemer… Sura 16:106 permits Muslims to pretend to forsake Islamic ideals and goals in order to pacify 'infidels'.

Taqiyya enables Arab leaders to lie to Western media, while saying what they really believe only in Arabic. PA leaders use it all the time, double-talking to Israelis and Americans… while hate-educating Palestinian youngsters and inciting Palestinians via the Abbas-controlled media and mosques.

Foundational to taqiyya is Mohammad's 628 A.D. Hudaybiyyah Treaty, when he made a ten year truce with 'infidels', and then broke his word two years later after gathering sufficient force to overwhelm the enemy in Allah's name.

According to Sharia law, deception is not only permitted in certain situations but may be deemed obligatory in others. ("Illusive ME agreements - the taqiyya concept," Y. Ettinger, Israel Hayom Op-ed, 12 July 2013) How can Israel ever trust anything Muslims faithful to Islam say or promise?

Why political peace tarries

Hamas' annual summer camps in Gaza provide an estimated 10,000 children (ages 6-16) with summer-fun activities such as learning to shoot live assault rifles, eluding security forces and kidnapping Israelis. The UK's Daily Mail's said the camps are designed to mold … the terrorists of tomorrow. Included are workshops on Islam and how to be a martyr for Allah. ("Summer camp in Gaza: Kids learn to abduct Israelis," Israel Today, 14 June 2013)

In Islamic Jihad's camps, also in Gaza, the camps' leader said, We have full confidence that [our children] will be able to carry weapons and open fire against the enemy because we have planted hatred of the enemy in their hearts.

Golda Meir was right, saying, We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us. ("Gaza's children and educating hatred," Seth Mandell, JP Op-ed, 24 June 2013)

"Peace, peace…when there is no peace" (Jer. 8:11)

Kerry is obsessed with peace between Israel and the Arabs. While recent polls show most Palestinians want to destroy Israel, and all of Israel's neighbors are in massive turmoil, Kerry ignores reality, pressuring Israel toward his goal.

Columnist Ruthie Blum says, despite the hatred being taught in Palestinian schools and the world-dominating and anti-Semitic nature of Islamic theology, Kerry remains optimistic. Blum: This is a case of cognitive dissonance… After the jihadist Boston bombings, Kerry said terror anywhere in the world against any country is unacceptable. And after a young British soldier was butchered on a London street, the UK's PM Cameron said, This country will be absolutely resolute in its stand against violent extremism and terror. President Obama added, The US stands resolute with the UK…against violent extremism and terror.

When Abbas honors terrorists by naming streets and camps after them and insists Israel release some of the worst terrorists before he will talk, Kerry wants Israel to capitulate. ("Peace pushers & cognitive dissonance," R. Blum, Israel Hayom Op-ed, 24 May 2013)

Kerry had the nerve to say, Israel's prosperity is an impediment to peace… [Israelis] aren't waking up every day and wondering if tomorrow there will be peace, because there is a sense of security…of accomplishment and of prosperity. S. Bryen asks if Kerry really believes it would be better for Israel to approach negotiations from a position of precarious poverty? Does he think Israel's quest for security in an unstable, over-armed, hostile region would be better received if Israel were a needy, insecure supplicant to Palestinian and Arab interests?… The entire Zionist enterprise is designed precisely to ensure that Jews in the State of Israel are able to wake up every day with a 'sense of security' and determine their own interests. The fact that Israelis also wake up with a hard-earned and well-deserved 'sense of accomplishment and prosperity' is icing on the cake.

Kerry says it is a pivotal moment for Israel. But Bryen notes, Israel is a stable, educated, increasingly energy independent, democratic, prosperous country with a military… willing and able to defend it. And this is 'the moment' Israel should feel a pressing imperative to…cut a deal with a Palestinian polity bifurcated between a kleptocratic, autocratic, openly anti-Semitic West Bank ruled by a man whose sole elected term ended in 2009, and a corrupt, Islamist, Gaza under Hamas terrorist rule? ("US: Israel's Prosperity a Problem," S. Bryen, Gatestone Institute, 24 May 2013)

Charles Jacobs notes the two-state idea requires Israel to abandon any claim to the Jordan Valley. This means the 'West Bank' would extend…to the Jordan border, creating an Arab continuum all the way from Baghdad… Jordanian Iraqi and Syrian armies could saunter into Jerusalem… never leaving Arab land. ("Obama - Bootlicks Putin," C. Jacobs, FrontPage Mag, 22 July 2013)

While Kerry was with Israeli and PA negotiators in America, Abbas was in Cairo sharing his vision of 'peace' with Egyptian journalists. In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli, civilian or soldier, on our lands. Just like Hitler's Judenrein goal for the 3^rd Reich. ("As peace talks begin, Abbas rules out any Israeli presence in [Palestine]," Israel Hayom, 30 July 2013)

Egypt's chaos exposes Islam's heart

Christian ex-Muslim Nonie Darwish sees Egypt's current chaos as symptomatic of the core problem in most Muslim nations: the difficult choice between a civilian, military 'infidel' government, or a totalitarian Islamic theocracy. Egyptians see themselves as Muslims and lovers of democracy, but refuse to see that Islam and freedom cannot co-exist. Sharia law outlaws freedom of speech and religion… [a] free, independent judiciary, and equal rights for women, minorities, and non-Muslims.

Egypt is now back to square one; a military dictatorship is, for now, the only way to preserve and sustain a certain level of secularism in the face of the constant Islamic assault against human rights, freedom of religion and democracy. ("The Problem at Heart of Egypt's Revolutions," N. Darwish, Gatestone Institute, 9 July 2013)

Is Israel a 'racist, apartheid' state?

Racism accusations are refuted by Lt.-Col. Mazarib, the highest ranking Israeli Bedouin [not Jewish] army tracker… He said the Israeli Arabs lifestyle is so much better as compared with other ME nations, it's in a different league.

The article noted that despite their Arab Muslim background… Bedouin trackers are the 'gatekeepers' of the Jewish state…[They] guard against infiltrations and guide every Jewish-dominated military patrol defending the borders. There are thousands of Israeli Bedouin serving in the IDF risking their lives to protect the Jewish state. ("Standard of living for Arabs in Israel in a 'different league," Israel Today, 26 Apr. 2013)

Is Iran's new president 'moderate'?

PM Netanyahu, not impressed by new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's 'moderate' media label, reminded world leaders that Iran's real ruler, the Ayatollah Khamenei, disqualified hundreds of candidates not in line with his extreme worldview and from the six who were left, the one seen as least identified with the regime was elected. But we are still speaking about someone [Rouhani] who calls Israel the great Zionist Satan. Ultimately, Khamenei determines Iran's nuclear policy… ("Netanyahu warns: Don't be fooled by new Iranian president," JP, 16 June 2013)

On CBS Face the Nation, Netanyahu said Iran is closer…to the bomb. He hinted at unilateral action by Israel, saying, Our clocks are ticking at a different pace. We're closer than the US. We're more vulnerable. Therefore, we'll have to address this question of how to stop Iran, perhaps before the US does.

Rouhani criticized his predecessor Ahmadinejad, Bibi said, for being a wolf in wolf's clothing. His strategy is to be a wolf in sheep's clothing. Smile and build a bomb. ("Israel May Attack Iran before US, PM Warns," Arutz 7, 14 July 2013)

Europe vs. God

The EU has approved legislation that divides God's land, locking Israel into the 1949 Armistice borders. This is rebellion against His revealed will (Lev. 25:23; Joel 3:1-2). The only hope is if the true Church in Europe stands in the gap, confesses this sin of its arrogant national and Church leaders, and pleads for mercy in the face of God's increasing judgments (Ezek. 22:30; Hab. 3:2).

Netanyahu denounced the EU's new guidelines that forbid EU member states from cooperating, transferring funds, giving scholarships or research grants to bodies in Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem, and the Golan. ("…We Will Not Accept External Dictates on Borders," Arutz 76, 16 July 2013)

Tom Wilson reveals why Jews being in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria upsets Europe. First, the Zionist national revival in general sits squarely counter to the post-nationalist universalism of the European project and the progressive march toward…a world government that many EUrocrats espouse.

Europeans have also consistently rejected any Israeli claim to a capital in Jerusalem because of its biblical connotations. Then the 1967 miracle: In fending off its attackers not only did Israel establish its military preeminence in the region but all of Jerusalem…and the biblical heartlands of Judea and Samaria had fallen to Jewish Sovereignty…No Palestinian Arab State had been extinguished; Jordanian occupiers [for 19 years] had simply been replaced by Israeli forces. Yet the nations, previously untroubled by the Jordanian seizure of these areas, were outraged by the Jewish presence there and immediately called for an Israeli withdrawal.

The religious and historical significance of Jerusalem…Judea and Samaria are not lost on many Israelis or on others. At anti-Israel gatherings in Europe one hears shrill speeches decrying the 'Judaization of Jerusalem', a phrase uttered in genuine angst rather than with any sense of irony. Today, Europeans have thrown off the much resented restraints of their Churches, so that the idea of anyone taking the Bible seriously enough to let it influence how they live… [or] determine where they live is a serious affront to the modern European mind…

The return of Jews and Jewish sovereignty to such religiously sensitive areas as Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria all begins to look horrifically like happenings envisaged by the Bible. For post-Judeo-Christian Europe it is difficult to overstate just how catastrophic it would be for anything to appear to give any kind of validation to biblical claims. Europeans have spent a century or more trying to free themselves of the frustrating limits that biblical morality placed on their appetites…

The EU's latest directive against 'settlements' has no shortage of unfortunate historical connotations. Not only are Europeans once more telling Jews where they can and can't live but it smacks of a futile colonialism whereby Europeans are again recklessly attempting to draw other people's borders for them. Similarly, boycotts are a longstanding tactic in the war against Jews, advocated in early Medieval England just as they were also the first anti-Jewish policy enforced in Nazi Germany. ("The European Obsession with Judea & Samaria," Tom Wilson, Arutz 7 Op-ed, 19 July 2013)

Prophetic signposts

Last year, China inked a deal with Israel to build an inland port in Eilat and a 180-km. freight railway to connect Eilat to Israel's Mediterranean ports… The goal is to have in Israel an alternative to the Suez Canal. The Chinese…see Egypt is a failed state… The future of shipping along the Suez Canal is in doubt with riots in [Egypt] occurring on a regular basis.

Yet, Israel is a stable, prosperous, successful democracy that keeps moving from strength to strength. When the freight line is completed, as far as the global economy is concerned, Israel will become the most strategically important country in the region.

This spring, Israel became energy independent…when the Tamar offshore gas field began pumping natural gas to Israel. In a few years, the Leviathan gas field comes online, and Israel will become one of the world's most important producers of natural gas. Also, Israel should begin extracting commercial quantities of oil from its massive oil shale deposits near Beit Shemesh, in 2017. Geologists assess that field alone contains some 250 billion barrels of oil, giving Israel oil parity with Saudi Arabia.

All of this has vast prophetic implications, especially, as this reduces European dependence on Russia, and removes OPEC's ability to dictate world oil prices through supply manipulation. ("Israel: The happy little country," Caroline Glick, JP Op-ed, 18 Apr. 2013) Is this why Gog and his allies attack Israel, to take a spoil (Ezek. 38:12-13), and to prevent Israel from ruining their financial stranglehold on the West?

Land of the Free - Home of the Brave

Many Israeli Arab Christians in Nazareth serve in the IDF and encourage their children to do the same… As a result, they are coming under increasing attack, as Israeli Arab politicians vehemently oppose Arab participation in Israeli national service for fear it will legitimize the existence of the Jewish state…

Yet pro-Israel Arab Christians are fed up with these hypocritical politicans and even held a public gathering in June to celebrate the achievements of their new forum whose goal is convincing more young Arabs to join the army… A spokesman said, We don't live in Syria, where Christians are not allowed to speak…or in Iraq, where churches are bombed. We live in a Jewish state, which is democratic and free. As Israeli Christians we see ourselves as part of this state, not as part of those who oppose it.

A forum organizer said local Arabs see the chaos in the ME and realize Israel is the only place where Christians feel safe and belong. That's why more and more of us are realizing that there is no other country here that is worth fighting for!

An Arab Christian 12^th grader who will join the IDF, was asked why by an Israeli newspaper. Ultimately, from a religious point of view, we are one. Jesus was a Jew, his mother was a Jew, his 12 disciples were Jews. ("Arab Christians: Israel only state worth fighting for," Israel Today, 3 July 2013) Can we get him to speak to the Church of Scotland?

Are we the problem?

Lance Lambert recently shared an alternative translation of Psalm 11:3 that shines a light on the current moral and spiritual situation in the West. The usual reading is, If the foundations are destroyed what can the righteous do? Yet the Hebrew can also be translated, If the foundations are destroyed, what have the righteous done? [Jewish Publications Society, Young's Literal Translation]

Chuck & Karen Cohen