Shalom from Zion,

This was a very difficult WFJ to finish up. The war continues against Hamas, Gaza's terrorist overlords, as does the hypocrisy of the nations against Israel trying to defend itself. Anti-Israel protests in Western cities confirm Martin Luther King Jr.'s statement that what is anti-Zionist is inherently anti-Semitic… Cries of 'Death to the Jews', signs of 'Hitler was right', and attacks on synagogues, Jewish homes and businesses are shocking, yet prophesied. Jeremiah 16:16's hunters are released! Jews in exile must wake up and come home quickly.

Are we seeing Zechariah 12 come to pass? Nations are coming against Jerusalem, which in context is also symbolic of all Israel. It's happening politically, economically, and physically as Hamas and many Muslims in both Israel and in the Palestinian Authority [PA] attack this land and its people.

"I, YHWH, will hasten it in its time" (Isaiah 60:22b)

Isaiah 60 is a prophecy of Israel's last-days restoration. As "the darkness" begins to cover the earth (v.2) Gentile believers help Jews return to Israel (vv. 5-6, 9) and help build up the land (vv. 10-11). Also violence will be heard no more in this land (v. 18). 'Violence', in Hebrew is hamas! While the Gaza terror group's name is an Arabic acronym, still, how appropriate!

Consider these major changes which have suddenly occured. America is no longer as respected or feared; Russia has reclaimed lost territory; Iraq is divided; Syria is a bloodbath; a new terrorist 'Caliphate' has risen under IS [aka ISIS] – the "Islamic State"; Egypt's new Sisi regime is one of Israel's strongest allies in the fight against Islamic terror; anti-Semitism is infecting 25% of the globe [see below] and aliyah , the return of Jews out of exile and back to Israel is increasing; floods; earthquakes; droughts; plagues; and multitudes are being saved – except in the West. Then there is the unusual pattern of four Blood Moons on Biblical feast days with a solar eclipse in the middle over the next two years. All we know is that God has given the heavenly bodies for signs (Gen. 1:14) and prophesied them as well.

Are we experiencing God's 'suddenlies'? Here are some verses showing that God sometimes moves suddenly: Dt. 7:4; 2 Chr. 29:36; Ecc. 9:12; Is. 30:13; 48:3; Mal. 3:1; Mk. 13:35-37; Acts 2:2; 16:26; Rev. 18:10, 17, 19.

Messiah's return also takes place suddenly (Mt. 24:27). Also, Revelation 22:20 actually reads, He who testifies these things says, Yes, I am coming suddenly. Amen. Come, Lord Yeshua.

Operation Protective Edge [Heb. = Strong Cliff]

As we write, ceasefire talks in Cairo are in off-again-on-again mode, and Israel's army, the IDF, is back on our side of the Gaza border. Who is Israel fighting?

Last April, Israel stopped all peace negotiations when Abbas and the Palestinian Authority [PA] formed a 'unity government' with Hamas. When an Israeli official said that Hamas is a world-recognized terrorist organization that calls for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews, Abbas replied, Hamas is an inseparable part of the Palestinian nation [sic]. Now what does that say about that 'nation'? ("PM: Abbas must choose between Hamas & Israel," Israel Hayom , 23 Apr. 2014)

Here are excerpts from Hamas' Charter: Israel will exist… until Islam obliterates it (Preamble); The Day of Judgment will not come until Muslims fight Jews [not just Israelis or Zionists] and kill them (Art. 7); There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad [holy war] (Art. 13).

Just because fewer Jews than Palestinians were killed, the accusation is made that Israel has responded disproportionately to Hamas' 12,000 missile attacks since 2004, including more than 3,500 the past month. This charge is so twisted that, these days, many actually believe it! Romans 13:3-4 says that a godly government protects the innocent and terrorizes evil.

Prime Minister [PM] Bibi Netanyahu's courage to speak truth is an answer to prayer. Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza shoot rockets at Israeli cities. No country on earth would remain passive in dealing with this. Hamas deliberately puts Gazans in danger, embedding its terrorists in hospitals, schools, mosques and homes, thus committing a double war crime: it targets Israeli civilians, while hiding behind Palestinian civilians… ("Watch your words," JP Editorial, 10 July 2014)

Batya Medad sees Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system as a life-saver, preventing more damage, death and injuries in Israel. Yet it also distorts the real picture. Since so few Israelis die, many think that Israel is not in danger, that Hamas does not have potentially damaging weapons. This delusion causes them to cry 'disproportional' at Israel's response. ("The Iron Dome, Pros and Cons," B. Medad, Arutz 7 Op-ed , 14 July 2014)

Charles Krauthammer said that while Hamas deliberately aims rockets at civilians, Israel has gone out of its way to warn them – telephoning, texting, dropping leaflets, etc. Rarely does international politics present a moment of such moral clarity. Yet we routinely hear this Israel-Gaza fighting described as a morally equivalent 'cycle of violence'. Ridiculous! Everyone knows the proudly self-declared raison d'etre of Hamas: the eradication of Israel and its Jews.

Nine years ago Israel totally withdrew from Gaza. To help the Gaza economy, Israel gave Palestinians its 3,000 greenhouses that produced fruit and flowers for export. It opened border crossings and encouraged commerce…

Gazans responded by demolishing the greenhouses, and electing Hamas, who instead of state-building, turned Gaza into a massive military base, brimming with terror weapons, to annihilate Israel. Instead of building roads and houses with the concrete the world insisted Israel let in, they built miles of underground tunnels to hide weapons and…military commanders. They spent millions obtaining weapons, storing them in civilian areas, thus exposing their people to an Israeli counter-attack. Why? Hamas knows it cannot inflict serious damage on Israel. Yet as a JP editorial said, The whole point is to draw Israeli counter fire, to present dead Palestinians for international media consumption.

To deliberately wage war so that your own people can be telegenically killed is indeed moral and tactical insanity. But it rests on a very rational premise: Given the Orwellian state of the world's treatment of Israel…fueled by a mix of classic anti-Semitism, near-total historical ignorance, and reflexive sympathy for the ostensible 3^rd World underdog, these eruptions featuring Palestinian casualties ultimately undermine support for Israel's legitimacy and right to self-defense. In our ethically-challenged world, Hamas' depravity makes sense and works. ("Moral clarity in Gaza," C. Krauthammer, The Washington Post Op-ed, 17 July 2014)

ME cease-fire = Israel ceases. Hamas fires! Denis MacEoin says, Hamas does not care a fig for Western initiatives based on secular theories of international law. Hamas only honors Islam's sharia law of jihad, which their charter says is the only solution to the Palestinian problem. So how will a piece of paper, made by mere men, and not by Allah, [be able] to stop them? Only total defeat will prevent renewed hostilities in the future. ("There Must Not Be a Ceasefire," D. MacEoin, Gatestone Institute, 25 July 2014)

Israel's detractors use the disproportionate number of deaths in Gaza as proof that Israel indiscriminately kills Palestinians. Yet Al Jazeera, the Arab news giant allied with Hamas, had a running tally of those killed, which points out the lie and deception of these charges. An analysis of the data showed that most of Gaza's fatalities were males of fighting age.

For example, The number of children killed is around 18% of the total, which is amazing, as census figures have Gazans under 14 as 50% of the population. Among male casualties, more than 70% were between the ages of 18 to 48. The large number in this age range suggests they were specifically targeted by Israel. This data supports Israel's claims to be going out of its way to avoid casualties among innocent civilians… (Gaza Casualty Data Doesn't Support Massacre Claims," Israel Today, 22 July 2014)

Does the world take this into account? Is there recognition that the deaths in Gaza are not Israel's fault? Not today. Most nations and international groups blame Israel for these deaths, basically telling the Jewish State to stop defending its civilians so that civilians living under Hamas do not get hurt. This is wickedness. Yes, the world honors dead Jews, with Holocaust memorials, ceremonies and museums. But when living Jews refuse to die…?

Here's an idea. As for the grudging, oft-repeated banality that Israel has the right to defend itself, might I suggest a more accurate and appropriate formulation would be that Israel has the obligation to defend itself against any terrorist government that uses every foul ruse it can muster in order to kill Israelis, including the sacrificing of its own people… ("Israel might have won; Hamas certainly lost," D. Horovitz, Times of Israel Editorial, 7 Aug. 2014)

God's sovereign protection

The war had started after Hamas kidnapped three Israeli teens in Judea. The nation was praying for the boys to be found alive, and was devastated to find their bodies. Jewish terrorists revenge-killed an Arab teen and riots ensued. Rocket barrages from Gaza began. Weeks later, as IDF soldiers in Gaza were switched out to rest, one told this story. I and my friends captured a number of Hamas terrorists. When they were interrogated, we asked them, if you have so many tunnels that come into Israel…why until now have you never used any of them for terrorist attacks?

One answered, For 12 years we've been building these tunnels, waiting for the right moment, when we were trained and ready. We decided the time would be this year on Rosh Hashana, [late Sept.]… As most soldiers go home, there aren't a lot on guard duty, and it's a two day holiday… In every tunnel we'd send two, three dozen armed terrorists, kidnap civilians, women, children and bring them back to Gaza through the tunnels. Israel couldn't bomb the tunnels because of all the Israeli civilians inside. So we could occupy the entire country, rule Israel and kill all Zionists. For years we were planning this. It was going to happen in two months. Your attacks on Gaza destroyed our plans.

God had heard His people's cries. Because the war started… Israel was saved from a terrible massacre. All the things we have seen this summer are one miracle after the next. Continue to pray and strengthen each other. And give thanks to God who watched over the Jewish people in the land He promised them. ("Whoa. Did G-d really answer our prayers for the three boys?" Naomi Ragen Facebook post, 28 July 2014)

No Moral Equivalence

The response to the initial murders reveals a total lack of moral equivalence between Israeli-Jews compared with Israeli and PA Muslims.

David Weinberg notes that, Israeli terrorists are few and far between… Yet a list of Islamic terrorists is huge and growing, as is a list of their victims. Israeli terrorists are denounced roundly and emphatically by Israeli society, caught quickly, jailed fast. They are not seen as heroes, but Muslim terrorists are celebrated widely by [their] society, feted by [its] leadership, sheltered… from justice, and rewarded generously.

Israeli society expressed deep shame…and spoke out …in fierce denunciation of the revenge-killing. But among Palestinian Muslims there was triumphant jubilation and defiance for the triple murder.

Weinberg ends, saying you judge a society not by the crimes of a few, but by how that society deals with its criminals and whom it celebrates as heroes. In such a tally, there is no moral symmetry whatsoever between Israeli and Palestinian societies. ("No moral symmetry," D. M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom Op-ed, 7 July 2014)

Palestinian society worships death

Mark Silverberg, the foreign policy analyst at Ariel University's Policy Research Center, said, The mother of…one of the accused kidnapper/murderers of the Israeli teens, told Israel's Channel 10 news: If he did the kidnapping, I'll be proud of him until my final day. I raised my children on the knees of the [Islamic] religion… and their goal is to bring the victory of Islam. This mindset permeates Palestinian Muslim society.

Since Oslo, Abbas and the PA have encouraged a…culture that glorifies terror and terrorists, indoctrinates Palestinians through a culture of hatred and violence against Israel and Jews, calling them scum, and seeking their annihilation. The Hamas Charter sees the murder of all Jews as necessary.

This message is spread through schools, the media, in mosques and in summer camps. Not only are they taught that Jews have no right to live, they are also encouraged to murder them…

Almost 2,000 Israelis have been slaughtered in terror attacks since the PA was established. Hostage taking, a recognized war crime elsewhere, they see as a major victory, which is why many Palestinian Muslims celebrated the kidnapping and murder of the three Jewish teens.

According to the 2003 US Senate Committee Hearing on Palestinian Education, almost 75% of the PA's children yearn to die as martyrs. Until this culture of death-worship has been expunged …Palestinian statehood must never be granted. ("Palestinian Statehood Revisited," M. Silverberg, Arutz 7 Op-ed, 6 July 2014)

Nadav Shragai says the innocents killed in Gaza were sentenced to death by Hamas, which turned them into human flak jackets. Their culture of death, is not merely a theocratic-religious and ideological matter. In 2008, Hamas' Interior Minister said death for them has become an industry… They have created a human shield of women, children, elderly and jihadists to confront…the Zionist enemy…("Civilian blood, on Hamas' hands," N. Shragai, Israel Hayom Op-ed , 23 July 2014)

M. Hassan Yousef, son of Hamas' founder, Sheikh H. Yousef, told CNN, Hamas does not care about the lives of Palestinians… They don't care about their own lives. They consider dying for the sake of their ideology as a way of worship.

Youssef, now a Christian, sees no way for Israel to reach any kind of compromise with Hamas, whose very charter calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and whose leaders repeatedly call for the extermination of the Jewish people. ("Son of Hamas Founder: They Consider Dying as a Form of Worship," Arutz 7 , 30 July 2014)

Dror Eydar said that because of devastation caused by the IDF in Gaza, Hamas TV hosted an 'expert', who reminded the Gazans, It was not long ago you cried out: Death for the sake of Allah is our most exalted desire (part of the Muslim Brotherhood creed). Well, you got the death you wished for. Every Muslim mother must nurse her children with hatred for the sons of Zion… We will plant that seed in [our children's] souls, to raise a generation that will remove them from the earth. Eydar: Nice, isn't it?

Islamic doctrine teaches that martyrs are rewarded in paradise, and the Hamas charter states, There is no compromise possible with the enemies of Allah. Believing this, they freely use their people as human shields. Yet human rights groups and the media still blame the Jews when Gazans die.

They want us to recognize, respect, engage in dialogue, so on and so forth [with terrorists], but these are just flaccid slogans that mirror the weakness of the liberal elite that dominated the West in the 1930s. They scorn us and our blind rationalism. Contrary to the West's delusion, Israel is not alone in its battle against radical Islam. It is a war facing the entire free world. ("Culture of death," D. Eydar, Israel Hayom Op-ed, 6 Aug. 2014)

Israeli-Arab Christians held a rally in solidarity with their persecuted Christian brothers and sisters in Iraq, and in support of the IDF's battle against the same Muslim extremism in Gaza.

S. Khalloul, a spokesman for the Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum, which encourages young Christian Arabs to join the IDF, was interviewed on Israel's Channel One . He said Iraqi Christians are being ethnically cleansed by the IS, whose ideology matches Hamas. Christians either convert or die. It is hypocrisy that the West, doing nothing to aid ME Christians, condemns Israel for defending its people against the very same horrors…Everyone should be thanking the IDF for being the only one to fight this kind of murderous terror. ("Israeli Christian Spokesman: Enough with Western Hypocrisy!" Israel Today , 30 July 2014)

The 'Peace' Zombie

With Hamas being in a unity government with Abbas and the PA we hoped and prayed that this war would write 'Dead!' over recent 'peace negotiations'. Yet as soon as cease-fire talks began in Cairo, voices in the West and in Israel urged for a renewal of talks to create a 'Palestine'. 'Zombification' is a fairly good label for this push to revive a murdered peace, one still alive and feeding on people's brains!

The NY Times, interviewing Obama, asked about pressing Israel and the PA to make peace. Obama said Bibi's polls were too high, being greatly boosted by the war in Gaza… So if he doesn't feel some internal pressure, it's hard to see him being able to make very difficult compromises… In some ways, Bibi is too strong [and Abbas] is too weak to bring them together… ("Obama on the World," Thomas Friedman, NY Times Op-ed , 8 Aug. 2014)

This arrogant serial-abuser of his position, who passes laws by presidential edict, bypassing the US Congress and the people who voted for them, can't even hope he will be as highly regarded as Bibi is in Israel. America is sliding deeper into God's valley of judgment (Joel 3:1-2). Only American believers, praying, asking God for mercy, can mitigate America's fall (Ezek. 22:30-31).

David Horovitz, The Times of Israel editor, said Netanyahu's press conference on July 11^th, (Day 4 of the Gaza war), clarified what Bibi truly thinks about a 'two-state solution'. While desiring some kind of accommodation with and separation from the Palestinians, he stressed that this could not extend to full Palestinian sovereignty… With the advance of Islamic extremism in the ME, Israel cannot risk giving up control over territory…to its east, including its border with Jordan.

Horovitz noted that a "no" to a fully sovereign 'Palestine', means "no" also to Abbas' demands, to Obama's demands, to the [world's] demands. In plain words, Netanyahu wasn't saying that he doesn't support a two-state solution. He was saying that it's impossible. Thank You God for illustrating so clearly Proverbs 21:1!

Netanyahu rejects the counsel that says, holding onto territory for security purposes is less critical in the modern technological era… Bibi: [The] closer your enemies are, physically, to your borders, the more they'll try to tunnel under those borders and fire rockets over them.

He stressed the huge error that Israel made in withdrawing from Gaza, saying that what Hamas had been doing in Gaza …would be replicated in the West Bank were Israel so foolish as to give the Islamists the opportunity. On the 14-km. border between Egypt and Gaza alone, there were 1,200 tunnels which Egypt has sealed, and Bibi noted that Judea and Samaria are 20 times the size of Gaza. ("Netanyahu finally speaks his mind," D. Horowitz, The Times of Israel, 13 July 2014)

Obama said in the context of a final status peace agreement… he will press for Gaza's disarmament. But this was already a key PLO obligation in the 1993 Oslo Accords! By trying to resell this to Israel, Obama has given further proof to many Israelis that the American government cannot be trusted to honor or guarantee any agreement signed by the Jewish state. ("Obama Using Hamas Terror as Leverage against Israel," Israel Today , 29 July 2014)

PM Netanyahu re: Iran – No Second Holocaust

Speaking on Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day in late April, Netanyahu compared the existential danger posed to Israel by Iran with the Nazi war machine and vowed that a Holocaust will not take place again.

He asked why most national and Jewish leaders were blind to that Nazi threat. In retrospect, all the warning signs were there… Were they blind because they did not want to see and then have to face the consequences of that truth?

In the 1930s, the trauma of the Great War was still fresh, so for Western leaders the goal was, to avoid another war at all costs. Yet this laid the foundation for the most terrible war in history. As information accumulated about the capabilities and intentions of the Nazi regime, the picture became clearer, yet as Bibi so aptly quoted from Psalm 115:5b-6a, They have eyes, but cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear.

By refusing to see reality, it can be denied. This is what leaders in the West did, ignoring the murderous Nazi rhetoric as internal German politics; downplaying the threat of a Nazi military build-up, claiming it was the result of the natural will of a proud nation … By the time they finally acted, their people paid a terrible price. WWII claimed not 16 million, like WWI, but 60 million, including a third of the Jewish people.

Has the world learned from mistakes of the past? Today, we are again facing clear facts and a tangible threat. Iran is calling for our destruction. It is developing nuclear weapons…building underground bunkers for enrichment of uranium, and developing long range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads globally.

Today, like then, there are those who dismiss Iran's extreme rhetoric as one that serves domestic purposes…who view Iran's nuclear ambitions as the result of the natural will of a proud nation …And just like then, those making these claims are deluded.

Yet today, there is one major difference – the sovereign Jewish state. As prime minister of Israel, I do not hesitate to speak truth to the world, even when faced with so many blind eyes and deaf ears. Before the Holocaust, many Jews did not raise an alarm, fearing that the war against the Nazis would become a Jewish problem. Others believed if they kept silent, the danger would pass…Today, we are not afraid to speak the truth to the world, as is written…: I will speak of your testimonies before kings, and will not be ashamed…I will speak noble thoughts…my lips will reveal right things. [Ps. 119:46; Pr. 8:6]

Today, I say to all those who sought to destroy us, to all those who still seek to destroy us: you have failed and you will fail. ("Netanyahu Vows: No 2^nd Holocaust," Arutz 7, 28 Apr. 2014)

Anti-Semitism's persistence

An Anti-Defamation League sponsored study on anti-Semitism (53,100 adults; 102 nations) exposed that this evil spirit remains prevalent around the world, as 25% of adults asked have some anti-Jewish sentiment… Half of all Muslims and 24% of all Christians hold on to anti-Semitic stereotypes. ("1/4 of adults worldwide hold anti-Jewish views…" Israel Hayom , 14 May 2014)

Prophetic foreshadows?

Rabbi Eli Kavon of Florida warned that as the US declines, so does American Jewry. I do not write as a Zionist ideologue… I am a realist and a student of history. This is about survival…

He said all the prayers and rallies in the US Jewish community for the abducted Israeli teens, while admirable and inspiring, were basically exercises in making us feel good about ourselves, and heighten our paternalistic self-importance. Would it not be more effective to begin a mass movement of aliyah of American Jews in response to the threats Israel faces? He has shared this in his synagogue and with US Jews involved in Israel-advocacy. The response has not been enthusiastic.

US college campuses are hotbeds of hatred of Israel. This demonization of the Jewish state and Jews is producing a generation of Americans being fed a libel that will not go away.

Also, Islam's growth will impact Washington's attitude toward Jerusalem, if it has not done so already…

Perhaps we should start thinking of raising our families in Israel. We all know life in Israel can be a tremendous challenge, especially when we want to maintain an American standard of living. That standard, however, is eroding each day. We here in America are headed for 'rough waters'. ("The truth from America," E. Kavon, JP Op-ed, 2 July 2014)

Italian journalist Giulio Meotti says the Jewish nation is holding the free world's destiny in its hand. Yet it is alone in its fight for freedom against satanically-inspired Islamic forces. Since 1948, more than 60,000 rockets have fallen on Israel… One is too many!

For many Westerners, an independent Jewish State bearing the name 'Israel,' with Jerusalem as its capital, a renewal of life in the land of the Bible, a vital Jewish people restored after 2,000 years to its own holy land, has raised unresolved questions and disturbing conclusions.

Israelis know how to live in the present and make this present worth living, while the West has drained its people's souls and made their lives meaningless, with only shallow-minded hedonism and materialism remaining. This is why Gentiles often hate the Jews. ("Israel Holds the Free World's Destiny in Her Hands," G. Meotti, Arutz 7 Op-ed , 20 July 2014)

In May, Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics published data on the 'religious identity' of Israelis as they define themselves. 20% see themselves as religious; 40% as religious-traditional; 40% as secular. Yet 80% of the secular say they believe in the God of Israel! ("A believing nation," D. Weinberg, Israel Hayom Op-ed, 27 June 2014)

Which version did Yeshua use?

When Chuck teaches that the only version of the Scriptures Yeshua used was the Hebrew Old Testament – the Tanach , many believers seem surprised. Yeshua never read a word of the New Testament! He never memorized a NT verse, preached a NT sermon or quoted from any of Paul's letters. He did not need the NT to prove His doctrinal statements. Everything He said was backed up by what was already in the Tanach, or as He called it, the truth of God (Jn. 17:17).

Why are so many blind to this? Is it because they read their Bible backwards, which is the fruit of teachers saying that the NT interprets the OT? While the New does clarify certain Tanach statements, the Tanach was – and still is – the foundational Scripture for the NT. Only by keeping this in mind can we really understand what the NT is saying as it talks about issues like the Torah/Law, who Messiah was to be, and what God's relationship is with the nation of Israel and the Jewish people after the Cross and Resurrection.

While Israel's God gives "progressive revelation", there is no "abrogation". Muslim scholars cheat, using this enshrined technique to say Allah changed his mind, so that later Quranic 'revelations' do away with conflicting former ones. Yet this is exactly what Replacement Theory does, by saying that God made a covenant with the Jews in the OT, but once Jesus Christ came, and the Jews rejected Him all of God's promises to Israel and the Jewish people were transferred to/inherited by the Church, or fulfilled in Christ. Just don't read Acts, chapters 1-10, or this absurdity falls to pieces. Such a distortion gives an anti-biblical and blasphemous picture of God's nature. A man-made god either lies or does not know the future! Is that the God of the Bible? Is that your God?

Yet the truth of the Tanach is now being abrogated, superseded, ignored in the Church and is the reason why so many Western believers are anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian. Once you really see that the only Bible Yeshua read and preached from is the Tanach, then all questions of whether Israel's current rebirth is of God or not dissipate. The Jews are returning. The nation of Israel is being restored. Hebrew is heard again. The government, the ecology, the economy and the army are living proofs of prophetic fulfillments. And so is the rage of the world against all that God is doing.

And when these things begin to happen, then look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near.

Luke 21:28

Chuck & Karen Cohen