Monthly Archives: July 2015

The Shuk in Jerusalem

Once again, it’s time to hear from our sister in Jerusalem about what she is witnessing there as a believer in Yeshua. Put your prayer shawls on and pray for Israel and Sister J. Now here she is …

Greetings, dearest sisters and brothers!  I greet you because we are His. May He be glorified and blessed and may you be blessed and edified.

As I walk through the streets, the air is hot and still. It reflects well the sense that I’m getting from the Israelis around me right now.  Tisha b’av, or the ninth of the month of Av, is again approaching with fasting from the end of Shabat on this Saturday until sundown Sunday.

On Wednesday the air raid sirens were tested.  The siren, when sounded for war or danger is a rising and lowering (undulating) sound, rather then the steady wail of the memorial blast that calls us to a minute or two of silence.

Both are eerie.  Both signify something way bigger then we are.

The test that occurred on Wednesday was announced ahead of time, but not widely, so it took many by surprise.  Although the signing of the pact with Iran and the resulting strained relations that we now have with the USA is giving the far left in Israel reason to complain about our government’s handling of the problem, their protests are weak. Most Israelis know that this is way bigger then we are and that no matter WHAT they think of our Prime Minister, they really can’t accuse him of having been too quiet.

And as the snow ball effect grabs hold of the incredible world shifts, and events move at an ever increasing speed, my sense of it is that most of the country is drawing together as one, knowing that we can not be divided.

With this backdrop, Tisha b’av approaches.

Judaism has a number of “fast days,” but I believe that the main ones are Yom Kippur in the fall of the year, (the day of atonement – a time for personal soul searching and repentance) and Tisha b’av, which I feel is more of a day of collective repentance.

I was given the opportunity on Wednesday to speak up at my work right after the siren test ended.  Everyone began talking about our situation and the restructuring of our defense forces, which is called “the Gideon Plan.”

“I was just reading in Judges this morning about Gideon,” I announced to them.

“You read the scriptures just to read them?” a rabbi’s wife asked.

“Yep.  And I’m thrilled with the new name of the Gideon Plan because God told Gideon that if there were too many men going to battle with him, Israel would take the credit for the victory instead of giving the glory to God. That made me think about our pride and why it is that the rabbis say that it is sinat chinam (baseless hatred) that brought about the judgments upon us when it is so MANY sins that we have committed?”

All heads shook up and down and turned toward me, so I kept going. “What about pride and…”

The list got long, but everyone was in agreement.

But let me back up a bit.  Hopefully, if you have been reading my letters for a while, you remember that Tisha b’av commemorates the destruction of BOTH the first and second temples, the dispersion (the judgment upon Israel according to the blessings and curses written in Deuteronomy and throughout the Prophets) and the uncanny coincidental disasters befalling the Jews on the same date throughout history.  However as I was thinking about how to write this letter today I realized that the SIGNIFICANCE of the temple and its destruction to the Jews might be illusive to many of you. I’m not sure that I can explain it, but I am asking The Lord to help me to try:

Remember when The Lord God Almighty FILLED the temple, both first and second one?  His Presence…His Shekinah glory FILLED the temple, even though He said to David in 2Samuel 7 − “Would you build a house for Me to dwell in?” and yet He humbled Himself to dwell amongst the people in the temple that He granted Solomon to build.

Then again in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra.  THIS was “God with us…Emanuel” to His people.

WE who believe, have entered into the understanding of Heb. 10:5 − “Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.’” (see also Ps. 40:7)

To the Jews: GOD dwelling in a body seems impossible.  Indeed the entire book of Hebrews sometimes seems to me to be written to transition the understanding that the temple is no longer needed. (It is an AMAZING book to read when you look at it as almost a revelation of transition from His Presence in the temple to His Presence with us −The Living Lord.)

Okay, do you get a taste of the idea?

Here I go teaching again, and please forgive me, I am NOT a teacher, but Tisha b’av would mean so little if you thought that it was a building that we fast for and mourn about or if you thought that the temple mount that is the center of the world’s conflict were a piece of property and the western wall as a shrine.  But to understand that this is a people mourning and anguishing for The Shekinah Glory − the Presence of The Living God. EVEN if not yet with the revelation of knowing Who He Is, at least it is the MEMORY tucked away that GOD WAS WITH US, even though our sin had separated us.

To me, this is the POTENTIAL of Tisha b’av. 

If you are challenged to grasp it, then you might want to read the book of Hebrews along with other portions concerning the building of and FILLING of the temple.  Isn’t this what we ALL long for: EMANUEL?  GOD WITH US?

And so, I continue to walk the streets of Jerusalem daily, riding the bus, the train, walking through the shuk and working in the doctor’s office, trying to find a way to glorify Him in the midst.  The people ARE more tense.

It is not a nervous fear, more of a resolve.  Around us ISIS battles the Iranian backed militant terror groups for who will lead the way into Jerusalem − Shiite or Sunni. That is all that it is.

We don’t see one as moderate and one as extreme.  They BOTH want the prize and that is Israel.  They speak it openly, making it very clear.  ISIS has been challenging Hamas in the Gaza Strip (yes, there is a mini terror war there that you likely don’t hear about) saying that Hamas is too friendly to Israel and ISIS will take over and conquer us. They are trying. It’s time to look up and everyone here knows it. Sadly they just are not sure HOW!

It has been a beautiful cool summer until now, but it has turned hot since the day that the pact was signed.  As I walk the two short, lovely blocks from the main street to the street where I work, the grapes and the pomegranates are quickly ripening in such a majestic way that it catches my breath.  When I see the grapes and the pomegranates swelling I remember that Sukkot (feast of tabernacles) is approaching, and that reminds me that His cycles continue.

The summer fruits and vegetables fill the shuk (at double the price for some reason) and the Arab and Jewish vendors continue to get along with no problem.  We walk through our days, only with slightly more vigilance and slightly raised eyebrows.  What a season we live in and how quickly it is all moving, at least from my perspective.

And then I remember that some of you do live in lovely and peaceful places.  That makes me happy.  Because I also know that His Spirit lives within you and allows you and I to join into one temple before Him for His purposes and to worship Him in His glory.  Wow!  What a privilege!

Well, I’m sorry that this isn’t my usual sharing but it is almost Tisha b’av. Thanks so much for being my friends.  Thank you for your prayers for us and for this nation.  I send love.

Your sis in Jerusalem,

J

The Shuk in Jerusalem

Once again, it’s time to hear from our sister in Jerusalem about what she is witnessing there as a believer in Yeshua. Put your prayer shawls on and pray for Israel and Sister J. Now here she is …

So on April 17 the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. It was sent to the king’s highest officers, the governors of the respective provinces, and the nobles of each province in their own scripts and languages. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. Dispatches were sent by swift messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Jews—young and old, including women and children—must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen on March 7 of the next year.The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them. A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that they would be ready to do their duty on the appointed day. At the king’s command, the decree went out by swift messengers, and it was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa fell into confusion. When Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went out into the city, crying with a loud and bitter wail. He went as far as the gate of the palace, for no one was allowed to enter the palace gate while wearing clothes of mourning. And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes. (Esther 3:12 – 4:3 NLT) 

Greetings Dear Sisters and Brothers in The precious Name of Yeshua h’Meshiach, King of kings and Lord of lords.  May He be blessed and glorified and guide my writing and may you be edified and blessed.

The 13^th of July was the 21-year anniversary of my first setting eyes on our “new/ancient homeland,” having never been here before that date.  By the 18th of that first month, we were full citizens.  Today, writing to you between those dates, it is nothing short of a wonder and a miracle still.

I don’t know HOW it looks from where you sit so please take what I share as from my vantage point, weighing it ALL in scripture and His Spirit. As I write from my seat here in Jerusalem, the scripture above seems to perfectly fit the situation today as we see it.  I’m referring, of course, to the world’s most powerful nations newly signed agreement with Iran (Persia).

You may remember in the book of Daniel that Michael (the guardian angel of Israel) said that he was delayed in coming to Daniel because he had to fight the prince of Persia.  That fight has continued through the ages, and here we are today.

As you well know, our Prime Minister has been making quite a nuisance of himself, trying to expose the plans of Iran and attempting to get the leaders of the world to take what Iranian leaders openly say, seriously.  Today, as I read a cross section of news pieces, the mocking of our Prime Minister and nation has definitely taken on new proportions.

We stand alone as the laughing stock of the world (paraphrasing one article from abroad) now that this powerful PEACE ACCORD has been signed. “New winds blowing”…”change”…but there is nothing new under the sun, as King Solomon said.  Amazing that this was signed during Ramadan and during our 3 weeks of mourning…

The mood in the country is sober.  Saudi Arabia is reaching out to us in a new way, while Turkey and Syria are rejoicing with Iran.  New alliances are being forged in secret corners of the Middle East. The people are listening. They are under no illusions.  Even criticism toward the government is toned down as the people sense gathering clouds and know that we MUST stand together in unity.

I think of the cloud and the pillar of fire by which The Lord revealed Himself as a Guide, Protector and Comforter through the book of Exodus. A terror to the Egyptians but a comfort and guide to the children of Israel.  I think of that as well whenever I read Revelation: His judgment is True and Righteous in the eyes of His children, but great fear to those whose hearts are hardened against Him.

Israel right now is in the midst of the 3 weeks of mourning (as I mentioned above) before ‘tisha b’av’ (the 9^th of the month of Av). This is a day of fasting, repentance and soul-searching as we remember the destruction of both the first and second temples. Interestingly enough, both happened on the same day.

God DOES speak in times and seasons, although not always as we interpret Him.  ‘Tisha b’av’ is also a date when a shocking amount of disasters befell the Jewish people and nation. We DO see them as God’s judgment and we know that He means what He says. So, Tisha b’av is approaching.

I love listening to the discussions that go on during this time of year. Soul searching, heart searching.  Current rabbinical wisdom says that the temples were destroyed and that Israel is usually judged because of animosity (or hatred) among the brethren. Bickering, cheating, backbiting, not looking out lovingly for one another.

That does go along with what Yeshua said when He said that the entire law could be summed up in Mark 12:31, 32

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Right now there is a trickle of a demonstration of this as people read portions of scripture including Jeremiah and Lamentations. There is a seeking, by our own strength, to live this humble, selfless love.  I think of how we as believers with the Holy Spirit working within us so often fall short. What will it be like when all of these people come to know Him?

At the shuk, the prices are shockingly high, but people need to eat one way of another.  I run into Dalia regularly (the demon possessed woman whom I’ve asked prayer for) and we talk. She has many worries and I talk to her about God but during the times we talk I am constantly asking Him to prepare her heart to hear HIS NAME and receive HIS delivering power into her life. Yet I still get a check to walk carefully. So I wait to share more.  I share some temporal wealth with her but long to share the TRUE riches.  She hugs me and people look at us with interest because most people are scared of her as she is rather fearsome. Then she goes off to scream and yell at others.

When I fret about “what am I really DOING for YOU Lord…to make YOU known?” I will find the vendors lighting up when they see me and I must trust that is because His Light is somehow seen and it is precious even to those who don’t yet know His Name.

The train has become one of the great summer vacation outings and every day as I come home from work, it is filled with families. These families have 5 or 10 children all dressed alike and excited to be riding on the train.  They run up to the window to get a glimpse of the bridge of strings (glorified overpass) as the train passes over it for all of 7 seconds.

“Is that ALL?” they ask their parents, but they are still in wonder.

The city has provided many street activities and everyone with children is busy about enriching their summer and keeping their minds free from worry.  In the south, there are increasing rockets from Gaza again and that doubly impacts the children.

I don’t really have much to share, so won’t waste your time, but I do hope that those of you who pray for Israel are seeking Him as to how to pray into all of this change. I personally believe that we MUST hear from The Holy Spirit HOW to pray and that He will be specific.  I feel my heart resisting suggestions given by others as to how to pray and am waiting on Him to lead me. Some of His leadings have been very interesting.  I challenge you with that.

I want to add 2 websites of English news from here that I use now, if you care to look into our news.  They are:

Israel hayom (Israel Today)

The Times of Israel

I also want to thank you for your prayers for me and for my family.  I have been very tired. His Strength is such a wonderful promise that keeps me going.  He is just so very good and is more then enough for every need.  I send much love,

Your sis J