Shalom from Zion,

Early in Jan. 2014, two figureheads in their respective fields died within a day of each other. Ariel Sharon was one of Israel's most heroic military and influential political leaders. A controversial figure most of his life, he did much that was commendable, yet his Gaza withdrawal was a grievous sin against God. His last 8 years were spent in a coma. We often prayed for him to meet Messiah Yeshua before he died. We know God as so merciful and willing to save that there is a good possibility we will see Sharon in glory.

Ken Burnett, the other figure, is now free of this life and forever with Messiah Yeshua, his Lord. A Jewish believer, Ken founded Prayer for Israel - a UK ministry praying especially for the Israeli Messianic Body. This meets a great need, since living today in the center of God's target for fulfilling His prophetic promises draws the ire of the world and the demonic realm. Ken also had his controversial moments, but what he started is still effective internationally and will continue to be used for God's glory. Since these men died within days of each other just as 2014 was starting, we wondered about a spiritual connection.

Consider that Sharon was a father of the settlement movement in Judea and Samaria - those 'occupied territories'. These settlers are a sign that Israel's God is God! They legally rebuilt the ancient ruined cities (Ezek. 36:8-12), but this incensed Satan, our adversary, who might have reasoned something like, The Jews' returning shows God is alive! People will turn to Him! I will cause the world to believe there is no right, no wrong, no accountability, and I will destroy the Church's belief in God's promises to the Jews. I will make the world see the settlers as wicked and use the Palestinians as the excuse to force the Jews to give up their God-given inheritance. Then I can finally cut them off from being a nation, so that the name Israel may be remembered no more, and show the Bible as a fable and God as a fiction! (Psalms 83:4)

This kind of thinking is also seen in a well-known prophecy: Why do the nations rage and peoples meditate on a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers plot together, against YHWH and His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands in two and cast away their cords from us. (Psa. 2:1-3) Yeshua is God's Anointed One, yet God also calls Israel His anointed: When they went from one nation to another…He reproved kings for their sakes, saying, Touch not My anointed, do My prophets no harm. (Psalms 105:13-15) The context clearly refers to the people of Israel!

Ken Burnett stood with a different type of Jewish 'settler', the 'strangers' and 'sojourners' who make up the Israeli Messianic Body (Lev. 25:23; Psa. 39:12; Heb. 11:13). We also can be a thorn in the world's flesh and to some in Israel because we bear the testimony that Christ Jesus, Messiah Yeshua, is King of the Jews, God the Son, Israel's Messiah, the one way to the Father, and that He is returning to Jerusalem soon (Rev. 12:17).

Could these two figures being taken together mark a spiritual sea-change?

This land is our land

Dr. Haim Shine writes, The Jewish people, via the state of Israel, have historical, national, political and legal rights to build everywhere in our land. But there is a problem. The nations of the world are unwilling to recognize these rights and our country does not operate in a diplomatic vacuum…For many, Israel is a sort of nuisance that disrupts their repose. They possess a naïve, sometimes wicked, belief that only if Israel disappeared there would be world peace. Shine sees this as a fruit of anti-Semitism.

If we knew God's plans and could predict the future like Him, we could make decisions without taking other countries into account. But since we are only human, our leaders must make informed decisions and maneuver within reality as it presents itself. Israeli governments since the 6-Day War have maneuvered well, building up Judea and Samaria, the 'occupied territories', with hundreds of thousands of Jews, in all sorts of communities.

Prime Minister [PM] Netanyahu's government recognizes the right of Jews to settle in the land of their forefathers' inheritance and makes great efforts to accomplish this. But responsibility behooves the government to skillfully and boldly maneuver vis-à-vis…a tired jaded world that is not willing to resolutely address fundamental, grave existential issues… ("The race goes to the quiet," Dr. H. Shine, Israel Hayom Op-ed, 14 Nov. 2013)

Be encouraged as we enter 2014

Here are some prophetic promises God is fulfilling today:

…in relation to Israel

The Lord is building Jerusalem (Psa. 147:2); Children, old men and women fill her streets again (Zech. 8:4-5); Jews are returning from all over of the earth (Isa. 43:5-7; Zech. 8:7-8); Jews are resettling the Golan - biblical Bashan (Jer. 50:19; Mic. 7:14); The physical land has become fruitful (Isa. 35:1, 6; Ezek. 36:8-12); The Israeli Defense Force is one of the world's top armies (Isa. 41:14-16; Jer. 51:20-23; Ezek. 37:10; Mic. 4:11-13; Zech. 9:13-15; 10:5-8; 12:6); God's Word goes forth from Zion as the local Israeli believers minister internationally (Isa. 2:2-4; Mic. 4:1-3);

Non-Jews, especially Christians, are helping to build Jerusalem's walls and care for Israel's 'flocks' (Isa. 60:10; 61:5); Christians are physically and financially contributing to the return of the Jews and the restoration of this nation (Isa. 49:22; 60:5, 11).

YHWH said to me, You have seen well; for I will watch over My Word to perform it. (Jer. 1:12)

…in general

Nations are gathering against God, His Messiah, His Word and His people (Psa. 2:1-5; 83:1-5); Nations are offended by God restoring Israel (Jer. 33:9; Zech. 12:2-3); They are being judged by how they deal with His people and land (Joel 3:1-2; Zech. 2:8-9); Satan hates God's children, both Israel and the true Church (Rev. 12:17); Egypt is in turmoil (Isa. 19:1-14); Syria is in turmoil (Jer. 49:23-27)

Arise, O God, judge the earth; for You shall inherit all nations.

Psalms 82:8

…in relation to the Church

Multitudes are coming to know Messiah Yeshua, especially in the Middle East [ME] and Far East (Isa. 42:6; 45:22; 49:6; Matt. 24:14; Rev. 7:9-10); Iranians are being saved (Jer. 49:38a); but many believers are being deceived by false miracles and false prophets (Matt.24:4-5, 11, 23-25; 2 Thes. 2:3-12). While we believe in real miracles, when the NT talks about 'signs' and 'prophets' in the end times, almost all of it is warning against deception.

A Muslim vs. Islamic anti-Semitism

Ali Salim writes, No matter how hard or how often we Muslims try, we are unable, as a society and religion, to break free of our addiction to Jew-hatred. We treat Jews the way rabid Christian anti-Semites treated them in the Middle Ages, blaming them for every illness, tragedy, and misfortune, blaming them for Islam's failures, yet the fault lies largely with the Muslims.

This worldview gives the Jews a Satanic power in our minds. We end up believing they can manipulate world events and are historically responsible for…every evil that exists…

This obsession is a national mental illness in Islam. We accuse the Jews of wanting to rule the world, but one of the causes of our illness is that we expect Islam to take over the world. Yet while Islam dreams of a global caliphate, most Middle East [ME] Muslims wallow in disease and poverty, and most Islamic nations still live in the Dark Ages.

He views many Europeans, including EU leaders, as still fundamentally and militantly anti-Semitic. Instead of attacking the Jews head-on the way their ancestors did, they use political correctness, misinformation and propaganda to attack Israel. Yes, ancient, inbred anti-Semitism still smolders. Salim knows that in some Christians, Jew-hatred is so basic and well rooted that they are willing to support Muslims in almost anything, as long as it harms the Jews in some way.

Muslims think Europeans care about them, especially Palestinians. Wrong! They just hate Jews more than they hate and fear us. The bitter truth is that Europeans usually intervene in a crisis only if it gives them opportunity for Jew-bashing. When Muslims massacre Muslims, as in Syria or Iraq, apathetic EU leaders do nothing, yet they are obsessed…to condemn, sanction and boycott Jewish settlements…

Salim ends, To my great sorrow, everywhere in the world where there are Muslims there is murder, mass bloodshed and terrorist attacks. We should leave the Jews alone. They are not responsible for our tragedies and hating them will not cure the Nation of Islam or bring it successfully into the 21^st century. ("Hatred of Jews," Ali Salim, Gatestone Institute, 16 Sept. 2013)

The 'peace' idol

They neither know nor understand; they walk on in darkness…

Psalms 82:5a

Caroline Glick writes that any 'peace' plans must provide Israel with a real chance of living in both peace and security. Yet today, Israel can no longer trust the US administration, because of their deal with Iran. After five years of promising they had Israel's back, only to stab Israel in the back in relation to the most acute threat facing the Jewish state, there is nothing they can say about their commitment to Israel's security.

Even if the US were totally reliable, all Palestinian leaders remain committed to Israel's destruction. For example, recently the PA's chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, speaking to foreign allies, said the Palestinians will never accept Israel's right to exist.

Polls show that most Israelis are willing to make peace…and pay a price in territory for doing so. But they also show that most Israelis believe the Palestinians want to eradicate Israel, and they do not see that people like Abbas, who praise mass murderers of Jews…have a real desire to achieve peace. Also, after the deal with Iran, most Israelis no longer trust the US government. ("The politics of subversion," C. Glick, JP Op-ed, 5 Dec. 2013)

Defense Minister [DM] Ya'alon at December's Globes Israel Business Conference said Israel does not have a peace partner, as there are no Palestinian leaders who are willing to recognize us as the state for the Jewish people.

He added, When will we be convinced we have someone to speak with?…When they stop educating [their children] to strap on explosive belts, when Tel Aviv appears on [PA] maps… ("Kerry: Peace is close; Ya'alon…No it isn't," Israel Hayom, 8 Dec. 2013)

Dr. Reuven Berko writes, At a time when fragile Arab states are disintegrating along tribal lines, countries of the world insist on creating a belligerent, ill-willed Palestinian state next to Israel, which denounces its existence and strives to drown it underneath waves of returning Palestinian refugees. These are the same countries that reached an agreement with Iran without requiring it to rescind its declared goal of destroying Israel. ("Between negotiations & reality," Dr. R. Berko, Israel Hayom Op-ed, 10 Dec. 2013)

How is Secretary of State Kerry's 'peace' proposal progressing? According to leaks from the…negotiations, after 20 rounds of talks, the Palestinians have not budged from positions they have held for the past 50 years. They do not accept Israel's right to exist. They do not recognize the existence of the Jewish people. They do not believe that Jews have the right to freedom or self-determination. They insist on taking control of our 3,000 year old capital. They demand that we surrender our ability to defend ourselves from foreign aggression and Palestinian attacks and infiltration from the east. ("Kerry forces Israel's moment of decision," C. Glick, JP Op-ed, 16 Dec. 2013)

The PA and Kerry pressed Israel to release over 100 terrorist-murderers from jail, just so the PA would sit and talk with Israel. Glick declares, A society that insists on release from prison of its worst, most prolific murderers is not a society with any interest in making peace with the society targeted and victimized by their crimes. And US support for this is total hypocrisy, as the Obama administration was very upset recently with Afghanistan's leader who freed Taliban terrorists-murderers of Americans. So why is it good to release terrorist-murderers of Israeli-Jews? ("Empowering Palestinians who reject Israel's right to exist," C. Glick, JP Op-ed, 30 Dec. 2013)

In January, Netanyahu said to Kerry, there's growing doubt in Israel that [PA leaders] are committed to peace. About the PA's recent victory gala over released terrorists, he asked, How can President Abbas say that he stands against terrorism when he embraces [them]…and glorifies them as heroes?

He noted that in recent weeks Israel has been subjected to a growing wave of terrorist attacks, yet Abbas has not condemned any, and in the midst of the talks, the PA continues its unabated incitement against the State of Israel. PA leaders are simply not interested in peace. ("Netanyahu: Time for Abbas to Stop Celebrating with Terrorists," Arutz 7, 3 Jan. 2014)

Strategic Affairs Minister Steinitz, in a report to the cabinet on that ongoing incitement, exposed that the PA's education system is rife with it, teaching their children, Israel has no right to exist… Israel's disappearance is inevitable and soon. Jews are subhuman creatures and should be treated appropriately. All forms of conflict, including terrorism, are legitimate. ("PA incitement continues: 'Jews are subhuman'," Israel Hayom, 6 Jan. 2014)

Overdosing on Kerry

Analysts Daniel Pipes writes, Despite all that's going on in the ME - the Iranian nuclear buildup, the violence in Iraq, the shaking of Erdoğan's rule in Turkey, civil war in Syria, Egypt and Yemen in melt-down mode, Libya unraveling, Tunisia in political crisis, Kerry only has eyes for a Palestinian-Israeli accord.

Senior Israeli officials are fed-up with him, as anonymous quotes in Israel Hayom show. Israel is forced to cooperate with the American plan, mainly out of concern that if we reject it, the US will blame Israel for the failure of the negotiations.

They view Kerry's conduct as 'obsessive', as well as dangerous, because he does not understand the ME mindset. His plans are superficial, not serious. There is no connection between what is said in public about progress of negotiations and what is actually happening. He does not comprehend the roots of the conflict, nor know how to create real solutions and does not even demonstrate proficiency in reading maps that are presented to him. ("Kerry Is Just Not in Touch with Reality," Daniel Pipes, http://es.danielpipes.org/blog, 9 Jan. 2014)

Recently it was reported that in closed conversations, DM Ya'alon said the US security plan is not worth the paper it was written on. It contains neither security nor peace. Only our continued presence in Judea and Samaria and [along] the Jordan River will guarantee that Ben Gurion Airport and [Israeli cities] …do not become targets for missiles from every direction.

He also said that a very determined Kerry, who operates based upon an unfathomable obsession and a messianic feeling, cannot teach me anything about the Palestinians.

He is worried that Abbas will push the US to pressure Israel to release more jailed terrorists, and to freeze construction in Judea and Samaria. We have given enough and received nothing…Let us say to our American friends: enough is enough. ("DM: Kerry is 'Obsessive and Messianic'," Arutz 7, 14 Jan. 2014)

JP's Herb Keinon, writing on this Ya'alon-Kerry flare-up, said that in the headline-grabbing demand of the US State Dept. for an apology, and Israel's left-wing opposition and media blowing this out of proportion to blacken the Netanyahu government, what is being lost is that what Ya'alon said is true: that Kerry is obsessed with the Israeli-Palestinian issue; that he approaches it like someone on a messianic mission; that the negotiations are being conducted not between Israel and the Palestinians, but by each side with the Americans… and that security arrangements the US is recommending are simply not acceptable.

…Ya'alon's sentiments are neither illegitimate nor crazy… Many have asked why Kerry seems to be focusing… on the Israel-Palestinian situation, when there are so many other, more pressing issues, in the region…

As to Ya'alon's remark about the unacceptability of the US security plan for the day after an agreement is signed, is it not his job, as defense minister, to voice his reservations?…

What Ya'alon said rather inelegantly, many other Israelis, both inside and outside the corridors of power, are thinking. ("Lessons to be learned from Kerry-Ya'alon incident," H. Keinon, JP Analysis, 16 Jan. 2014)

Palestinians shooting themselves in the foot

Khaled Abu Toameh writes, Given Hamas's announcement that it would not honor or recognize any deal signed between the PA and Israel, a peace agreement will not end the conflict. Even if Abbas gets 100% of his demands, Hamas, which represents a substantial part of the Palestinian population, will continue to fight to liberate the rest of Palestine… ("Why Isn't Kerry Listening to What the Radicals Are Saying?" K. Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, 10 Dec. 2013)

Political Science Prof. Ephraim Inbar, and Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies said Abbas has rejected Kerry's peace proposals, by reiterating his complete opposition to the demand to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, declaring this a redline the Palestinians would not cross. Yet this is the heart of the conflict, as the PA position amounts to denying the Jews the right to establish their state in their own homeland. director,

The concept of Jews being foreign invaders of Palestine is a fundamental widespread Palestinian attitude… PA media efforts to negate the Jewish past and historic links to the Temple Mount and even the Western Wall, indicate the ideological commitment to rewrite history…Even Koranic sources mentioning the links of the Jews to the Land of Israel are ignored… ("Palestinian red line," Prof. E. Inbar, Israel Hayom Op-ed, 16 Dec. 2013)

Abbas spoke to Arab foreign ministers in late December about his rejection of Kerry's ideas, and won the Arab League's support. Abu Toameh sees, So it is not only the Palestinians who are now saying no to Kerry, but Arab countries too. This is a severe blow to Kerry's ongoing efforts to persuade the PA to accept his ideas. Having won the backing of the Arab countries, Abbas now feels more confident to say no…

Abbas is also abiding by demands that openly contradict most Israeli and American demands…No to a demilitarized Palestinian state; No to recognizing Israel as a Jewish state; No to a solution that does not include all of East Jerusalem as [Palestine's] capital … No to the presence of any Israeli soldiers in the Jordan Valley.

Senior PA officials are now attacking Kerry's ideas harshly. The PLO's Secretary-General, said on Voice of Palestine radio, the US does not have the right to determine where our borders would be… We won't allow Israel to slice off any parts of our land. ("What Palestinians & Arabs Think of Kerry's New Ideas," K. Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, 27 Dec. 2013)

This January, Abbas said in a speech, Palestinians will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state…There will be no deal unless E. Jerusalem becomes the capital of a future Palestinian state and the right of return for Palestinian refugees is left in their own hands.

This speech reminds one of the 1967 Khartoum Resolution, after the 6-Day War, when the Arab League declared Three 'No's: no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it. ("Abbas defiant in speech of '3 noes'," Israel Hayom, 14 Jan. 2014)

The Palestinian 'anti-aliyah' of return of the 'refugees and descendants' from the 1948 War of Independence, would be over five million Muslims entering into whatever is left of Israel after a peace deal (we say "Muslims" because Christian Arabs, who fled in 1948 to Syria, and their descendants, are being slaughtered there by their 'brother' Arabs who are Muslims).

An Israel official quoted Netanyahu saying, It is a nonstarter. It is not going to happen, adding that this demand is not right, not justified, and not legitimate. The expectation that Israel should deal with Arab refugees that were created by the 1948 war that the Arabs started against Israel was preposterous.

Referring to Abbas's speech, one official said it was a repeat of a whole series of maximalist claims that everyone understands will make a negotiated peace impossible… Yet the PA says no peace unless all of their demands are met. ("Netanyahu on Palestinian 'right of return': There is no room for maneuver," JP, 16 Jan. 2014)

Iran - the continuing saga

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, wrote to President Rouhani, praising the Geneva interim deal with the P5+1 nations [US, UK, France, Russia, China + Germany]. He said the deal recognized Iran's nuclear rights as it allowed Iran to continue to enrich uranium. Rouhani bragged to reporters in Teheran that Iran had won against 'Iranophobia'. Is that anything like 'Naziphobia'? ("Iranian Leaders Exultant in their 'Victory'," ICEJ News, 25 Nov. 2013)

Nobel peace laureate and Holocaust survivor, Prof. Eli Wiesel, took out full-page NY Times and Wall St. Journal ads, saying, Should the civilized nations of the world trust a regime whose supreme leader said yet again last month that Israel is 'doomed to annihilation' and referred to my fellow Jewish Zionists as rabid dogs?… [History] has taught us to trust the threats of our enemies more than the promises of our friends. Our enemies are making serious threats. It is time to take them seriously. It is time for our friends to keep their promises. ("…'Iran must not be allowed to remain nuclear'," Israel Hayom, 19 Dec. 2013)

Israel's former US ambassador, historian Michael Oren, in an interview by The Times of Israel, discussed how Israel and the US have different views of Iran. The US is a big country, far from the ME. It's not threatened with national annihilation. It has much bigger capabilities. Israel is small and in Iran's backyard. We are threatened with national annihilation, and we have fewer capabilities. That difference is seen in the risks the US is willing to take. Yet Israel has zero margin for error with Iran.

Oren sees an Iranian nuclear weapon as a multiple existential threat. First, Iran can place a nuke on one of their many missiles and hit any Israeli city. Second, there will be a ME nuclear arms race. Third, Iran is the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism. Once Iran gets a military nuclear capability, you not only worry about a missile, but also about a nuke in a shipping container, or terrorists getting hold of a 'dirty bomb'.

He said, Israel has the most to gain from a diplomatic solution, and the most to lose from [its] failure…But the meaning of Jewish sovereignty is that you don't outsource your fundamental security …This is our responsibility. ("Iran doesn't take Obama's military option seriously… Oren," David Horovitz, The Times of Israel, Interview, 30 Dec. 2013)

K.T. McFarland, a Fox News National Security analyst, wrote that Rouhani tweeted about the Geneva deal: world powers… surrendered to Iranian nation's will. She asks, Is this the same agreement…[Obama and Kerry] say will freeze and then roll back Iran's nuclear program?

She sees the deal as making it plain the US will exit the ME. Iran is now poised to become…the dominant economic, military and political power in the region that controls the world's exported oil…Thanks to the agreement, Iran's economy will boom. Iran's coffers will soon be plump enough to resume funding for terrorist groups…Iran's nuclear program will continue and its neighbors will treat Iran as a de facto nuclear weapons state.

Then she asks if Iran has agreed to give up its nuclear weapons program? According to Obama, yes. According to Rouhani, no… ("Is Rouhani right?…" K.T. McFarland, FoxNews.com, 14 Jan. 2014)

PA lies trigger an Israeli defense of Yeshua

At Christmas, PA President Abbas called Yeshua a Palestinian messenger who would become a guiding light for millions around the world. An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman responded, He should have read the Gospels before uttering such offensive nonsense, but we will forgive him because he doesn't know what he's doing…

Jonathan Feldstein said, I'm no theologian and as an Orthodox Jew certainly no expert in Christianity or the Gospels. However, I know a dangerous and offensive ambush on both Judaism and Christianity when I see it, and when…Palestinians today erase and rewrite whole sections of scripture that are the foundation of Judaism and Christianity, it must be called what it is: a dangerous lie that is a hybrid between Palestinian nationalism and the ultimate Islamic replacement theology. ("Was Jesus a Palestinian?" J. Feldstein, JP Op-ed, 30 Dec. 2013)

Encouragement for Intercessors

A friend wrote, In the past few weeks, I have heard from several intercessors which are battling with doubts about the effectiveness and necessity of their prayers…

We all trust deeply in the goodness and faithfulness of YHVH. We know that He hears our prayers…Yet intercessors can slip into a consumer mindset…as if we have a service contract with the Lord. We do the praying and expect Him to produce whatever meets our expectations and desires in the immediate outcome… We like to have guarantees that support our anticipations about how problems should be resolved…We love to have our timetables be the Lord's timetable. Yet we forget that He is the Sovereign Lord, who only decides how to answer our prayers. ("Insight for Intercessors," In the Cleft of the Rock Ministries, Int'l, 18 Dec. 2013)

The civilized world needs Israel

Dror Eydar views the boycotts of Israel, the censure of products from Judea and Samaria, the resistance of accepting its God-given borders, and calling it racist, fascist or an apartheid state, as all the outworking of Israel's God-given call to be 'a nation that dwells alone'. (Num. 23:9) The return to Zion is the Jewish nation's return to history, to life as a sovereign people in its ancient homeland. Boycotts were called before the 1948 birth of Israel, but only from extremist groups. The Anti-Zionist movement became mainstream only after 1967 when we came back to the cradle of our nationhood, to the historical places most closely connected with our identity. Most important, we came back to Jerusalem…The fight against Israel…is evidence of how hard it is for Israel's opponents to deal with the Jews' return to life after having been in a state of living death for so long…This is our adversaries' way of saying: You are not one of us…

The current battle is against Israel's possession of those parts of the land that are most important to its identity. The Palestinians are the point of the spear in this global fight of those who oppose the return to Zion…

But even as Europeans think they are getting peace and quiet, they are on the verge of a crisis…In an act of historical irony, Europe expelled Jews, and Muslims came instead. Now, Europe stands helpless. The institution of political correctness has left it powerless and has paralyzed the West's early-warning system…

But for Israel, all is not lost. The West, too, has a mighty force - tens of millions of people who understand that the danger they face affects not only the Jews, but also their own existence as a civilization. In this fight, Israel serves as a front-line post against the collapse of the West…The dispute over the Land of Israel has nothing to do with territory. If it did, we would have resolved the conflict long ago. This is a fight over identity. The return to Zion is not our hope only; it is the hope of the entire free world. ("Why Israel is boycotted," D. Eydar, Israel Hayom Op-ed, 13 Dec. 2013)

Let the heavens and earth praise Him, the seas, and everything that moves in them. For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah; so that they may dwell there, and possess it.

Psalms 69:34-35

Chuck & Karen Cohen