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 —
Give ear…And hear…For I proclaim The Name of The Lord. Ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock. His work is Perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of Truth and without injustice: Righteous and upright is He.”Deuteronomy 32:1-4
“NOW I SAW…AND HE WHO SAT ON HIM WAS CALLED FAITHFUL AND TRUE…”…” AND HIS NAME IS CALLED THE WORD OF GOD…”Revelation 19:11+13
Greetings dear friends, brothers and sisters in Yeshua h’meshiach,
May HE ALONE be glorified and may He be blessed in His body, and may you be blessed and edified.
I hope that the above pieces of verses aren’t too cryptic but this morning it was speaking to me: “GIVE EAR…HEAR…NOW I saw’…NOT what I saw or heard before, but NOW. And is there any doubt in any of our minds that we really need to hear for NOW, minute by minute and day by day? How QUICKLY the changes are coming.
My husband had just come in for lunch because he works directly across the street from our apartment. We suddenly heard a great deal of noise from the street below us. We rushed to the merepesset (balcony) and there were thousands of young people walking with signs, flags and firm determination. “What is this about?” my husband asked.
“Wow! We get to watch them arrive in Jerusalem!” I answered. “These are the young people’s march from the south of the country for normalcy in their lives.”
They were the youth from the Gaza periphery communities who have been living under the daily tension of the fires from incendiary balloons and kites, the daily riots at the Gaza fence and the from-time-to-time rocket attacks throughout the summer. They have had enough.
Amidst the many flags, some of the signs that they carried read in Hebrew: “We need a normal life” or “Peace now” or “The south is burning.” They have been walking all week, these young people, dressed in the national colors of blue and white, and also black for the land burnt throughout the south. They have grit. They are determined to stay but they are all suffering from posttraumatic stress, living under the constant threat of attack, most of them since they were born. They are NOT living in disputed territory (areas taken during the ’67 and ’73 wars). They are living in Israel proper. Territory NOT up for negotiation.
Along the street we all cheer them on, encourage them and look at their faces, bright, young, hopeful. “Lord, reveal Yourself to them,”I pray, staving back my own doubt that there is any power in these prayers of mine. ‘Lord, put YOUR passion into these prayers. YOUR power alone is what saves people.
‘Sherooteem? Yesh lechem sherooteem?’ (Do you have a bathroom?) the girls call to those standing along the street. The kids are packing sleeping bags and camping paraphernalia, but they are in the city right now, the Capital of their nation. People at ground level kindly shuffle them off to bathrooms in apartments along the way.
They are part of the same dilemma that you face in your countries: division, abundance of real problems with no solutions in sight, deep and weighty problems and then there is the anger, polarization, signs of judgment and not of blessing.
They come to a city without a mayor.
My last letter spoke of our regional elections and here in Jerusalem, the city set upon a hill, the city where The Lord CHOSE to put His Name, we have no mayor as yet. There are to be runoff-elections on the 13th. The two candidates are a classic example of what is happening around the world because they are as different from one another as night and day. So WHAT IS THE LORD SAYING? For me, there is no choice. And yet as I listen to my sisters and brothers in The Lord here they feel that they have no choice in the OPPOSITE direction. HUH? LORD, HELP! YOUR MIND! YOUR HEART! YOUR CHOICE, NOT OURS!
Moshe Lion is generally considered “the religious candidate” and Ofer Berkovitz the “secular one.” We have pre-set ideas. Yeshua overturned the moneychangers’ tables, and hated the religious system. That means to many: “DO NOT VOTE RELIGIOUS NO MATTER WHAT”. Berkovitz, 35 years old, is for doing away with Sabbath restrictions: allowing stores – closed on the Sabbath to be open, allowing public transportation on the Sabbath, etc.) and is very pro other liberal rights.
I often wondered after I got saved about the Sabbath. And certain kosher restrictions as well. OH MY, WE ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW, that is for sure! We are free. HE has set us free for HIS glory, but for more than 40 years I wondered why people who would NEVER consider murder, or theft, or lying, or taking The Lord’s Name in vain, WHY when it came to keeping the Sabbath, the Commandment spoken of more than any other throughout scripture except for loving The Lord our God, WHY that was considered an expression of legalism.
Surely there are legalistic ways that it can be enforced, but the Shabbat itself? Commanded by God? Given as a gift? To be cherished? I never understood why it was so controversial.
To me, if God said something was an abomination to Him, I figured that He meant it and that it was an expression of my love and fear of Him to AGREE with Him. So, yes, it troubles me to see a potential mayor of Jerusalem speaking of doing away with the quiet of Shabbat in JERUSALEM.
We are divided. You are divided. The world is divided.
But the body must not be. I’m NOT saying that we all must vote one way, but we all MUST be of One Spirit. HIS SPIRIT ALONE WITHOUT MIXTURE. SEEKING HIM FOR HIS GLORY.
He IS our Shabbat rest.
So…our local elections are continuing and not only in Jerusalem but there are run-offs in other municipalities as well.
Did I mention to you a bit ago about a large stone falling out of the Western Wall? Thankfully, none of those praying below were injured, but I don’t know of anyone who did not take that as a definite pause.
Well this week a large, nonpoisonous SNAKE proceeded to slither out of the wall! Uh, is God speaking? Is it a coincidence? These are NOT common occurrences.
We all have our theologies. We have learned, we have heard, we have read, and by His Mercy we have heard from Him and hidden His promises in our hearts. But my heart does quiver when I see these things, signs, warnings and reminders that HE IS HOLY and that HE sees EVERYTHING and that His great mercy is not without judgment. For He is Righteous.
AND it is DRY! The rains are not yet here…
AND we have measles. LOTS of it! Working at the doctor’s office we get the daily Health Department updates and on Wednesday the cases were nearly 1,300. An 18-month old baby died from complications of measles at the hospital down the road from us on Friday. I was told that signs are posted at the airport for those arriving that Israel is experiencing a measles epidemic. It is cause for concern, not a superstitious concern but “Give ear…and hear…” concern.
And thankfully, we don’t need to rely on signs to tell us if we are walking in His blessing or needing correction. We have His Holy Spirit Who WILL lead us into all Truth and bring to remembrance those things that He has told us, as we fear and reverence Him.
The countries around us continue to be looking for ways to destroy us. We seem generally as blind as ever, BUT THE LORD IS THAT ROCK AND HIS WORD WILL NOT FAIL.
In that I have no doubt!
I must run and make dinner now, but I pray that you will be found worthy and faithful. GOD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU AND MAKE HIS FACE TO SHINE UPON YOU AND GIVE YOU HIS PEACE AND LEAD YOU IN HIS PEACE!
Lovingly,
your sister J
Larry Who 