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Comfort Ye My People

As I was in prayer early this morning for the Israeli people and troops in Gaza, the Holy Spirit directed by mind to Isaiah 4:1-2, “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”

This call of the Holy Spirit to the people of Israel was written by the prophet Isaiah 2,700 years ago. This call has echoed down through the ages to our time and admonishes those whose hearts are with God to cry out for His people. The Jewish people have perhaps suffered more than any other ethnic group of people in the history of mankind. Countless millions of Jewish people since Isaiah penned these words have endured persecution, character assassinations, expulsions, threats, wars, terrorism, and violence in ways unimaginable to most people. They suffered these things because they are God’s chosen people. While speaking of these last days, Jesus said to His Jewish disciples, “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and they shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake” (Matthew 24:9).

It is chilling to think that at this hour millions are marching and demonstrating in support of the monster terrorist group called Hamas. The word “Hamas” in Hebrew means “violence.” A little over a month ago these murderers invaded Israel, and like savage beasts, they raped, tortured, dismembered, and beheaded babies, children, mothers, and the elderly. They did this to these people for one reason – their victims were all Jews. The righteous mind struggles to grasp this kind of hatred and vicious wicked spirit! Yet, millions are supporting Hamas’s war against God’s people. Not all, but a greater majority of the Palestinian people are all praising Hamas and are calling for the annihilation of Israel. The overwhelming majority of people in the world want to give God’s Promised Land to a people who hate God and His chosen people. Friends, our world is ripe for the vengeance of God. Isaiah spoke of the Tribulation Period as “the day of the LORD’s vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion” (Isaiah 34:8).

Friends, these events should send a global warning that the end of days, the final rebellion against God, has just about arrived. What can we do? Look at the call of the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 40:1-2. We need to pray for and identify with the Jewish people. These are Christ’s “brethren” (Matthew 25:31-46).

The Jewish people are about to suffer more than any other nation in all of human history! Speaking of the Tribulation Period, the prophet Daniel wrote, “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book” (Daniel 12:1). We need to pray for them. We need to weep with them. We need to support them in their war effort.

We also need to comfort them. We need to remind them that the God of Israel loves them and is about to save them from their sins. Just a few days ago, I was watching a video recording of a battalion of Jewish soldiers standing at the corridor of Gaza. In concert, they were passionately shouting, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” Show me another army in the world that would honor and glorify God with words like these as they about to engage combat for their home, their families, their nation!

We need to comfort them with the hope of the physical and spiritual redemption of the nation of Israel. The Lord is coming to rescue them from the storm of hate that is coming against them. At the end of the Tribulation, the church will return from heaven with Jesus to Jerusalem, and we will witness the final blow against the nations that have aided Satan and his attack upon Israel. Of that day, Zechariah wrote, “Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought un the day of battle” (Zechariah 14:3).

I believe that God is at work in Israel. I believe these are the days of spiritual preparation of Jewish hearts. A mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit is about to take place among God’s chosen people.

To the church – prepare to meet the Lord! He is coming for us soon!

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They are Fighting for Us

Israel is not only fighting against Hamas, but also against hundreds of thousands of supporters of racial Islam around the world. According to their incessant chants and according to the prophetic Word of God, their global target at the end of this age are Jews and Christians. Israel is currently on the front line of this war.

Israel 365 News reports, “Over 500,000 brave people – 18-year-olds, young fathers and even men in their forties – are currently fighting in the IDF, the Israeli Defense Forces, putting their lives on the line to defend Israel’s right to exist and to protect Jews and Christians worldwide. … Israel’s army is waging a righteous war in fulfillment of the biblical principles of justice and security. Israel is at the front line of the Western world’s battle against Islamic terrorism, fighting on behalf of all of us. When you stand with Israel, you are actively helping Israel destroy the evil of terrorism. Your support means so much to our brave soldiers, and to all of us here in Israel. They will fight because the LORD is with them, and they will put the enemy horsemen to shame (Zechariah 10:5)” (Israel 365 News, November 10, 2023).

These Israeli soldiers deserve our prayers and support. Go to www.israel365charity.com and make your donation today.

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Standing on the Right Side of Good and Evil

Life is full of choices. The Bible continually warns us to make good choices. That is because there are consequences for every choice we make. It is like sowing seeds. What we plant comes up (Galatians 6:7-9).

God has exhorted us, “Depart from evil, and do good, and dwell forevermore” (Psalm 37:27). Good stands on the side of God, life, truth, righteousness, and justice. Evil promotes Satan, death, lies, wickedness and injustice. To confuse good and evil is deadly (Isaiah 5:20).

When we stand with Israel we are standing on the side with God, and that is always “good.” Israel is not the aggressor in this present conflict. They are defending their people from a genocidal enemy. That what God expects them to do! Israel does not target civilians in Gaza. They have tried to avoid the death of civilians. Their attack is against Hamas.

The same cannot be said for Hamas. They train and aim at Israeli civilians. They especially aim to harm and kill Israeli children. They proved that on October 7th. That is evil! Speaking about children, Jesus said, “It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones” (Luke 17:2).

Hamas does not care about the Palestinians. The Palestinians are suffering because of Hamas. If the world really cares about the Palestinian people, they would be cheering for Israel at this hour. Daniel Pipes, the president for the Middle East Forum, writes, “Hamas actively wants Gaza residents to be bombed, hungry, suffering, homeless, injured and killed. It bases troops and missiles in mosques, churches, schools, hospitals, and homes. An Emirati political figure, Dirar Belhoul al-Falasi, explains that ‘Hamas fired a rocket from the hospital’s roof, so that Israel would bomb this hospital.’ It calls on Gaza residents to serve as shields. It parks vehicles on the roads to block civilians from moving southward, out of harm’s way. It even shoots these fleeing civilians.

The U.S. government has long noted this pattern of behavior. In 2014, the diplomat Dennis Ross commented that the people of Gaza paid a ‘staggering’ price for Hamas’ aggression, but its leaders ‘have never been concerned about that. For them, Palestinians’ pain and suffering are tools to exploit, not conditions to end.’

Douglas Feith, a former high-ranking Pentagon official, correctly finds it ‘unprecedented for a party to adopt a war strategy to maximize civilian deaths on its own side.’ He dubs this ‘not a human shield strategy [but] a human sacrifice strategy.’

Of course, Hamas digs into its Islamist ideology to justify this practice. One official blithely explains that Palestinians ‘sacrifice ourselves. We consider our dead to be martyrs. The thing any Palestinian desires the most is to be martyred for the sake of Allah, defending his land.’

Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of a founding Hamas leader, puts it another way: ‘I was born at the heart of Hamas leadership … and I know them very well. They don’t care for the Palestinian people. They do not regard human life. I saw their brutality firsthand’” (The Middle East Forum, November 8, 2023).

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At War with God

The nations of the world are at war with God. Their attempt to remove the Jewish people from the Holy Land is an exercise of futility. The Bible declares that one of God’s major purposes for the end times is the return of the Jewish people from the nations back to their ancient homeland. God said in Ezekiel 36:24, “For I will take you from among the heathen [nations] and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.” This is the will of the sovereign Lord God of Israel. God is moving them in, and the world wants to cast them out.

For hundreds of years the Gaza area was a stronghold of the Philistines, one of Israel’s most powerful enemies. However, God promised His people that the sea coastal area of Philistines was a part of the land He was giving them. In Exodus 23:31, God said, “And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.” Israel struggled in their war with the Philistines for 400 years until this area was finally conquered by David. 1 Kings 4:21 states, “And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt …”

The United States’ administration is dictating to Israel that when this war is over, the Gaza area must not be occupied by Israel again. Furthermore, they are demanding that the Palestinian Authority on the West Bank be given control over Gaza. This shows that the American leaders do not understand the situation in the Middle East. The leaders on the West Bank are the same in their religious ideology that calls for the destruction of Israel. The Palestinians on the West Bank (biblical Judea and Samaria) teach their children to hate and kill Jews. Hamas represents hundreds of thousand of radical Muslims who are calling for the destruction of Israel.

The Bible promises the Jewish people that in the last days they will occupy the area of Gaza (Obadiah 15-19; Zephaniah 2:1-7). What God has determined will happen just as He has said. “The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: … This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?” (Isaiah 14:24, 26-27)

Israel is a sovereign democratic nation. The world needs to let them care for their people and land. Let them alone and let God perform His eternal plan. Those who oppose God will bring a curse upon themselves.

Israel’s war with its enemies will not cease until the Prince of Peace, the Messiah (Jesus), returns to establish His kingdom of peace. Until that time comes, let us keep praying for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6). Pray for Israel as they fight for peace, while their enemies love war (Psalm 120:7).

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Israelis Calling Out to God

It is reported that 95 percent of Israelis are living in fear. As they await the outcome of this very difficult war in Gaza, soldiers, and their families and friends back at home are all crying out to God for help. They are broken as they express their complete dependence upon God for their victory.

The nation is focused upon Psalm 120-135. Most of these psalms were written by King Hezekiah while Israel faced an impossible war with the Assyrians in 700 B.C. The Assyrians were very much like Hamas. Their war tactics were inhuman. They were the terrorists of the ancient world (Ezekiel 32:22-23).

It is apparent from the holy prophetic Scriptures that one of God’s main purposes for allowing Israel to suffer so much in the last days is that it will lead to their salvation (Daniel 12:1). God says that He will refine them in the fiery trials of the Tribulation. And “they shall call on my name, and I will hear them,: I will say, it is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God” (Zechariah 13:9). See Jeremiah 30:1-7.

During the approaching Tribulation Period, the Jewish people will experience a powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit, leading thousands to salvation (Joel 2:27-32; Revelation 7:4-8; 14:1-5). I believe that God is preparing their hearts now for this moment of great salvation.

This has been the longing of the heart of the heavenly Father (Isaiah 59:19-60:1; 62:1-7). As Israelis cry out to God, He will hear their cry and ultimately salvation will come to Israel. Let us pray for the glory of God to be seen by them and all nations, as He destroys the enemies of Israel (Ezekiel 38:16-23; 39:22-29). These passages are about to be fulfilled.

However, the church will not be here to witness these events. When the church is complete and called out in the Rapture, then salvation will come to Israel (Romans 11:25-26).