Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. (Daniel 9:3)
Instead of running out and telling everyone about his revelation, Daniel did everything he could to bring the prophecy into its fulfillment through his prayers and fasting.
“God does nothing but in answer to prayer.” (John Wesley)
One of God’s biblical principles is that He longs to partner with believers to bring forth His unfulfilled scriptural prophecies. We pray and fast and then God provides the miraculous power to bring forth the prophecy into its manifestation here on earth.
This is the reason, we need to fast and pray for Israel and Jerusalem now because the days are ticking off God’s calendar before Jesus’ return.
Lord, raise up American believers who are willing to partner with You and Your Word so that Your end-time prophecies for Jerusalem and Israel are fulfilled according to Your plans.
What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you today?
Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for Israel and 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 —
Blessings Dear Sisters and Brothers in The Name of The Lord, Yeshua h’meshiach, Jesus Christ. May He be blessed and glorified and may you be blessed and edified.
Our four-year old Granddaughter surprised us at lunch the other day by quoting verses in Hebrew before we ate. “She learned it in gan,” (pre-school) our daughter told us.
I was blown away. I am still trying to say the whole portion in Hebrew, and she had learned it in a government secular pre-school. Wow!
Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and [a]be careful to observe it,that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’
4 “Hear, O Israel: [b]The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lordyour God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.(Deuteronomy 6:1-9)
This portion of scripture – the Shma– is the main prayer of Judaism. Shma is the command: Hear. However I was surprised to hear our 4 year old repeat it fully.
Israeli state radio begins the 6 a.m. broadcast with the Shma every morning, as do most observant Jews and many traditional Jews. SHMA YISROEL, ADONAI ELOHENU, ADONAI AHAD! HEAR OH ISRAEL, THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE.
This scripture (verses 4-9) along with Deut. 11:13-21, is contained in the mezuzah (the little box affixed to the door frame of Jewish homes). The tefillin box that I described to you recently, also contains these verses along with Exodus 13:1-16. Of course, like my 4 year old Granddaughter, we can put the scriptures in our heads, write them on our doorposts and wrap them around our bodies, but they only change us and glorify The Lord if they are in our hearts and life breathed into action by The Holy Spirit.
None the less, we plant The Word in our hearts and in the hearts of our children knowing that one sows, and another reaps, but only GOD gives the increase.
And here I walk the streets in “the land of The Book” surrounded by and part of the people of The Book. I pray: “LORD! Breathe Your Spirit of LIFE into us all that we would become the testimony that You want us to be, the display of Who You Are”
I asked for prayer for Kinneret in my last letter and many of you responded that The Lord had put her on your heart. So you need to know that the very next day after I sent out the prayer request she told me, “It is really a miracle! My son got an appointment to be interviewed for intensive day treatment at Hadassah Hospital. (One of the best mental health facilities) It is a miracle that he got the appointment so quickly!”
Happily I told her that I had shared some of her story and needs with my praying friends outside of the country by mail. She was amazed and couldn’t imagine such a thing that people would pray for her family. So I do have a further request to tack on, for those of you who are praying for her. Their daughter – Shir – is having her Bat Mitzvah this coming Sunday and her twin brother (the one who is hidden in his room) will not be coming. That is breaking his mother’s heart. She has asked if I would please come to the Bat Mitzvah to be there like a Mother for her.
I told you that her mother has been committed to mental hospital since Kinneret was 5 and it broke my heart. It will be difficult for me to go as it begins at 7:30 p.m. and I work on Monday. But I feel that it is important. If it is The Lord’s open door, will you pray with me that I am able to go?
I cannot tell you how encouraged she is to know that you are praying for them. And the fact that she is glad, encourages me.
I went to the shuk and prayed which way to go. With things so tense in the country these days it is wise to take nothing for granted, but that is always wisdom for each of us anywhere, eh?
I went to an Arab vendor whom I like and asked him how he was. He mumbled “b’seder” (ok, fine) under his breath and continued looking down.
Once again I spoke strongly, my boldness surprising me. “No you are not. What’s wrong?” I demanded.
He looked up at me startled and recognized me. A smile spread across his face. “Ah mah me.” (‘mah’me’ sounds just like mommy and is an affectionate Hebrew term that DOESN’T mean mommy but is a warm sign of friendship.’It’s this FAST! (Ramadan) I’m hungry and tired. I work all day and party all night and then comes the 2 a.m. call to prayer, just as I get to sleep, and then it is 4 a.m. and I have to get up to go to work. It’s hot and I’m HUNGRY! Not sleeping and not eating makes us crazy,” he laughed and I groaned.
“Oy! I understand,”I said.
“It’s almost over,” he continued.
So, when I stopped by his stand today I asked, “Are you less tired and grouchy now,” figuring that Ramadan was over.
“No!” he barked. “Eid-al-Fitr! Just as bad! Two more days!” He shook his head.
Along came an old religious Jew and they began talking happily about a rabbi that they both knew had said and I had to chuckle.
WHAT A MIXTURE!
Burning kites sent by the hundreds across the border from Gaza to set afire the ripening fields of the south of Israel. So what do we do? Kite making camps are held on the Israeli side of the border to teach the kids the beauty of kites so that they won’t be afraid of them. They float beautifully designed back across to Palestinian Gaza.
Meanwhile, as we seek a solution, so much of the land in the south has burned, so many crops and food destroyed. The farmers are dismayed. So many questions and so shockingly much MIS-information on international news.
Israel demolishes 15 homes in our own Gush Etzion village of Netiv HaAvot. One of the homes was the loving home of a friend of mine – a family of six, a secretary whom I used to work with. I heard her speak on the evening news as she can speak English. The land had a claim filed against it and although it is still disputed, the law ruled to destroy the houses. We are a people with a law.
And then there is suddenly rain in June. But it is our dry season and the rains have passed. Yet the desert is closed to trips because of flash flooding. Whereas May was 2 degrees warmer than normal, June so far is 2 degrees cooler.
Over the noise…no, the ROAR, of the world being shaken from its foundation…may the cry go up from our hearts: I WILL LOVE THE LORD MY GOD WITH ALL OF MY HEART AND SOUL AND STRENGTH AND MIGHT! May we each do it, believe it, walk it and share it for His glory.
I am more and more convinced that there is no other way.
Most parents who have more than one child have a special affection for their first child. That’s the one they first doted on, the one they took thousands of photos framing his every move, the one they wanted to make perfect to face the world, the one they planned their lives around, the one they pinned their hopes to, and so forth.
Does God feel the same way about His first son?
Then you shall say to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son.” (Exodus 4:22)
Israel is certainly not Jesus, but it is the nation that God chose to place His first son status upon. This means that Israel receives a double portion of inheritance as compared to other nations.
Now, lest other nations get jealous about Israel receiving a double portion of blessings, Israel also receives a double portion of judgments, chastisements, rebukes, and corrections to prepare it for its destiny in God’s eternal plans.
My prayer today:
Lord, help American Christians to stand in faith for Israel in the days ahead, whether the nation is walking with God or in total rebellion, believing that You are able to bring Israel into the fulfillment of all Your promises for the nation.
What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you today?
Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for Israel and Jerusalem.
The main storyline of the Bible from the book of Genesis to the book of Revelation revolves around the nation of Israel and God’s covenant people – the Jews. There are side narratives, allowing Gentiles to be grafted into the main storyline, which believers like me are thankful for. Yet even so, the Apostle Paul warns Gentiles not to think of ourselves as being superior to the Jews, but to be grateful and to fear God. Paul also states that the calling of God on Israel is irrevocable. (China and Israel: My End-Times Teachers)
If we believe we’re in the last days, then we need to start praying and interceding for Israel. As John Wesley wrote: “God does nothing except through prayer.”
My prayer today:
Lord, give us Your love and zeal for Israel and Jerusalem. Help us to open our mouths to defend and to pray for them until Your righteousness and salvation is fulfilled in their midst. (Based on Isaiah 62:1)
What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you today?
Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for Israel and 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 —
To HIM Who is Wonderful, Counselor, Almighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace, The Creator. TO HIM be all glory and may HE be blessed. May you all be encouraged and blessed and know that you are loved.
GREETINGS!
How incredibly thankful I am that I know Him Who never changes and can’t be moved, because everything around us changes so rapidly and all that can shake surely is being shaken. Although I do know that some of you get all sorts of reports and know quite well what is happening here, I also know that MANY others of you have told me that you hear nothing and would like to know, so for this second group, I will share some of the things going on as I see it at the end of this letter perhaps…
BUT!
This letter is more to share the path that I am walking and the fruit along the way. It’s just how wonderful how He can open surprise doors and streams in the desert…and I get to share with you, not one, but TWO such opportunities to rejoice. NOT to rejoice in me for getting the opportunities, but in the fact that HE does such marvelous things.
So, my hand hurts. No, actually it’s been “killing me big time” for about 2 months. And it’s my right hand, the one that I use all the time for everything. Suddenly it really hurt to write, to cut veggies, to do dishes, and forget opening bottles.
My tea cup fell from my hand. The pain went right up through my elbow and shoulder and I kept thinking that it would either go away or well, maybe you know, the body is getting older and things sometimes hurt. Kudos to you who ALWAYS get healed. I have had miraculous healings. Some very dramatic, and my GOD DOES HEAL, but He also is Truth and the truth is that it hurt and wasn’t healed yet.
My doctor sent me to our health fund’s occupational therapist. (In Hebrew that is ‘rapooie h’eesook’ רפוי בעסוק.) I was unfamiliar with this service and was pleasantly surprised to spend an hour with one fun lady from Canada who soaked my hand in hot wax. She made me a brace that fits and has helped wonderfully.
Of course, we talked about where we came from and why and although I lifted it before The Lord, there was no opening that I found to share there as yet.
BUT OUTSIDE WAS THE SECRETARY! She was a lovely sabra (native born Israeli) with many of the characteristics of a sabra that I have shared before. She was DIRECT. There just is NO TIME for beating around the bush with her. But it was a funny conversation that went something like this when I tried to make my next appointment:
“OH! You speak Hebrew? I heard you speaking English. Why were you speaking English?” she demanded.
I told her, “Well Ruthie is from Canada and English is our mother tongue so it was easy for both of us.”
That was only a door. She continued, “She’s been here 30 years and you speak better than she does!”
NOT! I thought, but thank you.
Then the clincher – “Where do you come from?” she asked.
When she heard, me say, “Alaska,” she lost it.
“ALASKA? WHERE IS THAT? ISN’T IT COLD THERE?”
“It’s pretty there,” I replied.
“WHY DID YOU COME HERE? WE HAVE SO MUCH STRESS!” she exclaimed.
The more of my story that I shared the more she shot questions at me, especially when she heard that my Husband is not Jewish.
“We HAVE to be here! We are Jewish and we have no choice but WHY IN THE WORLD would anyone who doesn’t have to be here be here?”
Oh my she was intrigued and quite demonstrative about it all.
“Well, you know that it is written in Yeshi’aho (Isaiah) that we Jews will be brought home from the ends of the earth and someone had to come from there. So it is us,”I told her.
To my amazement her answer was: “Well at least did you bring Messiah with you?”
Let that question settle a moment. I didn’t HAVE a moment as she continued to shoot questions.
I answered “Yes…as a matter of fact…yes I did.”
But she didn’t take notice of my answer and I’m glad. Perhaps because I don’t think that she was ready to hear the full answer but I have her to pray for now. That her heart would be prepared and that HE would remove the scales.
For me though, it was enough to excite me by way of memory that I MUST be ready in season and out of season to give an answer to those who ask. And perhaps that prepared me for today’s encounter with Kinneret, the secretary along side of me who works for the other doctor. She is the one who replaced Mali. I have asked you to pray for her before, so perhaps He is answering YOUR prayers?
Kinneret, the mother of 5, has a heart-wrenching story. I shared some of it 5 months ago when she began working with me, but have learned more since. Her 16 year-old twins have mental problems. Perhaps you remember that her mother has been in a mental hospital since Kinneret was about 5. She is schizophrenic and Kinneret has the dark fear that she has passed the genes down to her children.
Now her son (twin) who has not left the house in a year says that he is homosexual and so ashamed that he wants to die. As she tearfully shared these griefs with me, how she tries so hard and nothing she puts her hand to succeeds, she has such a broken heart and so much fear. AND she is religious, an orthodox woman.
SUDDENLY The Holy Spirit said, “NOW! SHARE MY NAME WITH HER NOW!‘
“YES LORD!’”
And so I did. With not enough Hebrew (she speaks no English), there at work, with work to do, but through the door that He was opening, I shared what I could. I shared how He came to me and how He changed me, NOT by works that I did but by coming IN and living inside of me and bringing me His peace. She wept and listened and asked some questions. We spoke for about an hour.
Will you pray for her and her family? Will you pray for HIM ALONE TO BE SEEN AND GLORIFIED?
Yesterday we heard a wonderful message in kehila reminding us about WHO IT IS to Whom we pray and WHO it Is Who leads us through the wilderness, where we grumble for meat when He has given us manna, where we accuse Him of bringing us to death when He is bringing us to LIFE. And just when you least expect it, HE appears.
And opens a door or two.
Very briefly, an opinion from your sister-of-NO-expertise.
Times are changing here. Even the silence is different. SOMETHING is happening and Iran is involved. When the intense rocket fire of last week ended suddenly with a ceasefire that Hamas declared, I thought, “Huh…I don’t think so….”
Friday we were back to “from the river to the sea we are taking back the land,” along with the fires being set by the kites loaded with incendiaries and then again last night we had more rockets from Gaza into S. Israel.
By the way, the rockets and mortars that we have retrieved were made in Iran. On our North there has been much tension, and yes, the weather has been mighty strange.
BUT!! OUR GOD IS! And OUR GOD IS WHOM WE FOLLOW WHEREVER HE LEADS IS WHERE I WANT TO BE.
THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR PRAYERS FOR HIS PURPOSES AND HEART FOR JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL AND FOR OUR FAMILY.
My new weekly column entitled, “Harry Truman and the Jewish Haberdasher,”can be read by clicking here.
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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 —
May the Lord be glorified.
It is2:30 amand I should be asleep. I need to worktomorrow,Sunday, Jerusalem Day, and I love to write about Jerusalem and Jerusalem Day in particular. But this prayer request is pressing me to write. Perhaps prayer request is the wrong word – it is more of a call to pray!
I told you that this week would possibly be pivotal here and for all of the Middle East and the world. You probably know by now that Israel struck some 70 mostly Iranian bases in Syria this week after 20 missiles from Syria were fired at us. It was a major confrontation. That wasThursday.
On Fridaywas the continuation of the Hamas Gaza “days of rage” dubbed “the march of return.”It has gained momentum because of much false news reporting.
TUESDAY 15TH OF MAY(please note that we are some 8-12 hours ahead of North America according to the clock) the call has gone out to Palestinians and their supporters worldwide to come to the borders of Israel and storm them…tear them down.This Fridaysaw some 15,000 rioters at the borders causing fires, even setting their own gas pipe line on fire, along the fence and setting wheat fields in Israel aflame using kites with incendiaries attached into Israel.
I understand that there are gatherings at the borders of Lebanon and possibly Jordan as well. Also within the Hamas-run Palestinian cities in Judea and Samaria there is definitely the strong possibility of participation.
The15th of Mayis called by the Palestinians –Nakba Day (catastrophe day). They call it a day of rage that commemorates the birth of the modern State of Israel according to the Gregorian Calendar. Hamas has fanned it into a major day over the past 10 years.
So today, Sunday 13th of May is Jerusalem Day.
Tomorrow, Monday the 14th of May, is the day that the US Embassy is formally opening in Jerusalem.
Tuesday the 15th of Mayis the day set to be “the mother of all days of rage” with the storming of the borders of Israel from all sides and within led by the Gaza Hamas leadership.
Wednesday the 16th of Maybegins the month of the Ramadan fast.
“The burdenof the word of theLordagainst Israel. Thus says theLord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him:“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.In that day,” says theLord, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness;…”ZECHARIAH 12:1-3 (of course, great promises follow this section)
There is NO FEAR, and surely without a doubt, we have many promises that HE WILL BE GLORIFIED and that ALL OF ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED. But we also see that many, many things will first happen and many waters will be passed through.
BUT HE HAS TOLD US TO PRAY. AND TO WATCH AND PRAY. Habakkuk prayed without apology“Oh Lord, in wrath remember mercy.”It is time to pray the scriptures on our faces.
PLEASE enter your closets and pray before Him Who hears, those of you who are called as watchmen for the Lord on the walls of Jerusalem. I believe that we are entering that time.
In my take of things, we are a body, but individually all rather little and simple. We are not called to leave the battle to the spiritual giants whoever they are, but to each do our part. It is not up to us to decide how small and insignificant it is. I think of the disciples told to feed the multitude and they said, “Lord! I have NOTHING! Only this small insignificant amount!,” but HE took it…HE blessed it …HE broke it…and it was MORE THAN ENOUGH.
Each of us has our portion. Be it big guns or a piece of bread and a small fish. We can pray…even a little.
As I said, I felt that this call to prayer had to go outnow. I hope that we see no need ultimately. I will now try to sleep. May The Lord be glorified on the borders of Israel and in Jerusalem…and in each of us!
The United States moves its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem next week in defiance of the Palestinians and most of the world, likely further heightening tensions at a time of tumult in the region.
US President Donald Trump is set to make good on his pledge in December when he broke with decades of precedent and recognised the disputed city as Israel’s capital to global outcry.
The embassy inauguration due to take place Monday caps his decision but comes at a particularly fevered time, after weeks of deadly protests and clashes along the Gaza Strip’s border with Israel. (Rest of article can be seen here.)
My prayer today:
Lord, I pray for Your peace to rest upon Jerusalem and for Your blessings to fall upon President Trump for his boldness in moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. May Your Spirit continue to strengthen President Trump’s resolve to defy world opinion by his backing of Israel. (Based on Psalm 122:6)
What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you today?
Join with me on Thursdays to fast and pray for America.
I know that it is perhaps too soon since my last letter, but I did want to share what I have seen and heard while it is yet fresh in my heart. May you be encouraged and blessed and may THE LORD alone be glorified and edified!
“for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it”. MATTHEW 13:17
I suspected that Israel turning 70 would be dramatic even though I am always amazed when I walk around Jerusalem. The city is a clear example of The Lord’s ability and faithfulness to fulfill His own promises.
The grieving that I began to describe in the letter that I sent you on Remembrance Day, seemed deeper this year. How was that possible? It is terribly deep EVERY year. As I watched films and saw photos of soldiers and families, it hit me afresh that not one picture was taken on foreign soil but all HERE…in our neighborhoods, around the corner and down the block in this very tiny country…because these, our sons and daughters, husbands and wives really are defending the land that is in front of their houses, our houses. I
It is all so personal and all so in your face ALL the time. There are no faceless people, even though the population of the country is approaching 9 million. They are daily on the train with me. Many are soldiers whom I laugh with and pray for and whose packs I trip over as it is strewn in the aisle. I tell a sleepy soldier to mind his bullets as they are slipping out, or another that his phone is ringing.
But then it happened: the crowds gravitated back to Har Herzl (Mount Herzl). Streams flowing into rivers and then becoming an ocean of people. I watched and then turned on the television. I like to watch the ceremony (“tekes” in Hebrew). It is truly like having a finger on the pulse of a patient. It is only in Hebrew and I can understand much of it, and so it means a lot to me.
Always it seems as though it is IMPOSSIBLE to go in a hair’s breadth from deep and real mourning into rejoicing, but now I have come to expect that they will pull it off, AGAIN. Nevertheless, I lift up a prayer because there is the heart and morale of this people who still do not know Him at stake.
And this is the 70th year!
The Biblical significance of the numbers do not go unnoticed here. Seventy is perfection, completeness, I could go on and on. Most of you know, and this country knows, and seems to me to be looking up with expectation. Everyone is excited. Everyone over 70 remembers…
The ceremonies are opened and the prayers are spoken and embraced. The trumpet sounds its minor notes and moves to the major ones and the flag is raised. The eyes look upward. The ceremonies are intermingled with song, prayer, poems, speeches and a theatrical show in lights and dance. This years was spectacular. The story of our people from the beginning.
How in the world did they do this: turn the stage into Mt. Sinai one minute and a flood of the words of all of the prophets in Hebrew in the next? Drones flew over adding displays to the sky.
But it is NOT the ceremony – dramatic and emotional though it was – that I want to describe to and share with you. Not the speeches that moved the heart and inspired and brought tears again and again: Not the memories that reminded us that THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE, BUT IT IS!
Let me share with you a few things that turned my head.
I am moved by our national anthem, HaTikvah. I waited for it at the end of the ceremonies and there in my living room alone when it began I stood to my feet to sing http://www.hebrewsongs.com/?song=hatikva . When it ended, I turned off the television to go out into the streets and I STILL heard HaTikvah being sung loudly.
I checked the TV and radio and they were off. So I went out onto my merepesset and there across, the street and spilling over into the street and all around, hundreds of people stood straight and tall singing with one voice raised spontaneously. “Eretz zion, vey Yerushaleyem…”
It was one of those defining those moments! A moment of deep deep transported emotion, transported into the full knowing that INDEED GOD IS DOING THIS.
And you might roll your eyes at that statement, thinking it is just fleshly emotion, if you did not KNOW The Word and He Who gave The Word and made the promises, but I know that I am speaking to people who have also read and been quickened by The Holy Spirit to KNOW that GOD IS FULFILLING HIS WORD. GOD IS BRINGING HIS PEOPLE BACK TO REVEAL HIMSELF for the last days HAVE been written about and…well…here we are!
At work yesterday, each patient shared about their day and their wonder at it all. I asked people and heard many stories. Twice I was in for a personal shock. Tova told me that she was a baby in 1948 when her family arrived from Romania. They went to Jerusalem which was shortly besieged by Arab armies, and there was no food.
She told me about being a small child in war and starvation and then she said, “I am sure that we would have starved to death except for these things: care packages. They kept us alive.”
I began to shake. Do you know how the stirring of a childhood memory can cause you to shake? Perhaps it just touches something so tender but there I was shaking. “Tova, I was born in NYC in 1946 and brought home EVERY DAY from the time that I was in kindergarten. We would pack those care packages with our own hands. I brought around a can to my neighbors and said, ‘Pennies for Israel!’ And yes Tova, I DO know about those boxes. My young heart really DID care as we packed them!”
We stared at each other and hugged with tears. What a strangely intense moment.
A little later I was sharing that experience with Binyamin and Sylvia. They are in their 80s and 90s and seemed like typical New Yorkers to me so it never occurred to me that perhaps they had immigrated first to the US as children. But they had, from the war. And it startled me when Binyamin started recounting the awful times that this world has seen and referred to the great depression.
I had always heard about it from my parents who grew up in it and were greatly impacted by it, but it always seemed to me as if the war overshadowed even that. Suddenly Binyamin explained something I never understood before. “You know, there was NO FOOD in THE WORLD! Do you realize that we lost our 6 million, but 42 million people died in the war. The earth was scorched. There was no one to farm the land that wasn’t burned and there were no farmers. The animals had no food and died. The factories were burned and gone. THERE WAS NO FOOD EXCEPT IN AMERICA!”
Growing up in America, if I had learned about that I didn’t understand it fully. It never hit me, but it DID hit me that moment as I watched him describe the world wide hunger and starvation after the war. And again I shook. “THANK YOU LORD FOR OUR DAILY BREAD.”
I have one more vivid experience to share before sending this and running off into a way too busy day:
We, once again, joined our kehila (congregation) at the home of dear brother and sister who live in the hills above Modi’en to share barbeque (‘mangel’ in Hebrew) fellowship, song, and testimony. As we left, one of the young soldiers asked for a ride back to Latrune where he was meeting other believing soldiers. Happily we took him and as we stopped at the bus stop in Latrune to let him off, a young woman at the bus stop, tanned and sporting a huge backpack, ran up and asked if we were going to Jerusalem and if she could have a ride. As the door swung open to let her in, a second young woman with several backpacks ran up and asked the same question. This one in accented English, so we took her as well.
As we asked each one about themselves and how their celebration had been, the second one took over. She did not speak Hebrew as she was a 19-year old German tourist from Berlin who did not know WHY she came to Israel. “Probably for the weather.”
My husband asked her if this had been her first Passover and she burst out, “Oh YES! Do you KNOW that they don’t eat bread for a whole week? I have never heard of such a thing! It was awful! AND they have this thing called Shabbat when the buses do not run. Amazing!”
I asked her, “Have you ever read the Bible? All of these things are written about in there.”
She laughed, “Oh no! I have never even seen one but I will likely read one now, after the Quran, of course! They have some interesting stories I hear…”
We did not have much time, but I admit to being shocked that this German girl from Berlin knew nothing about the Jews. I thought that the Holocaust was taught extensively in Germany and assumed that the basics of who the Jews were would also be understood. And this young woman had never even SEEN a Bible…
HOW QUICKLY I FORGOT MY OWN IGNORANCE! How can I be truly thankful until I remember how MUCH GOD HAS TAUGHT ME AND the way that HE has lead me in my ignorance.
AND YET HE CONTINUES TO LEADS. (IF we will let Him). You, me, this nation and yours. May we glorify HIM and may this, our 70th year be the year of revelation and of revival.
Lord, help American believers to actually believe Your Word enough to wholeheartedly pray for the peace of Jerusalem until it becomes an actuality. (Based on Psalm 122:6)
Just a reminder: on May 14, 2018, the new American embassy will open in Jerusalem. Let’s continue praying for America to continue forward on this.
What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you today?
Join with me on Thursdays to fast and pray for America.
Larry Who 
Harry Truman and the Jewish Haberdasher
My new weekly column entitled, “Harry Truman and the Jewish Haberdasher,”can be read by clicking here.
If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can perhaps read it better by using the Chrome browser rather than Safari. Also, you can go to the app store and download a free app called: WND.
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Filed under America, Christianity, Commentary, Israel, Jerusalem, Kingdom of God, Prayer, spiritual warfare, World Net Daily
Tagged as Christianity, Israel, Jerusalem, Prayer, Commentary, WND