Obeying The Lord God

The following is a true story taken from the Levitt Letter of May, 2014.

Rose was the youngest child of nine siblings when she was chosen by her parents at 12 years old to be sent to the United States to live with relatives. Rose and her family lived in Poland in 1911 where life was very difficult with constant hunger. As Rose's father said goodbye to her as she was boarding the ship he said "Rose, my child, God is watching over you. Remember His laws and keep them and remember more than the Jews keeping the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept the Jews. Don't forget who you are. Keep the Sabbath - no matter what sacrifice you must make."

In New York, Rose's relatives welcomed her into their home. It was not long before Rose found a job as a sewing machine operator.However Rose's relatives insisted religion was an unnecessary accessory in America. Each week, Rose came up with a new excuse to miss work on Saturday to keep the Sabbath. After three weeks, the foreman called her over and said "Rose, either you come to work Saturday or you can look for a new job."

When Saturday arrived, Rose started to work but instead went to a park where she celebrated the Sabbath by singing traditional songs with tears in her eyes. When the Sabbath ended Rose returned home where her cousin Joe shouted, "Rose, you're here! Where were you? There was a fire in the factory and 190 workers died." This is in reference to the infamous TriangleShirtwaist Factory fire on Saturday, March 25, 1911. Rose had obeyed and kept the Sabbath and the Sabbath kept her just as her father said would happen.

This story of Rose obeying her Lord is a wonderful example for all of us. It raises a question whether we are consistant with our support of Israel. For example, are we blessing Israel, are we praying continually for the peace of Jerusalem and are we sharing our financial resources with Israel?

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You In His Care This Day And Each Day,

Frank

High State Of Alert

Since its emergence as a nation in 1948, Israel has had to live in a state of perpetual high alert. This is a statement illustrating how the state of Israel must function as a result of being totally surrounded by enemies. Today's message will illustrate just a few examples of actions by Israel's enemies and some defensive measures taken by Israel.

Last Thursday, three teenage Yeshiva students were kidnapped in Judea or Samaria and are not rescued to date. The reactions around the world are very curious.

Israel is outraged and is searching every structure in Judea and Samaria and arresting Hamas operatives in the process. The Palestinians are celebrating and the United Nations and the Palestinians even question whether the event took place. Meanwhile, rockets continue to be fired into Southern Israel from Hamas in Gaza and the Israeli Air Force responds by attempting to destroy the rocket launchers. A devastating civil war continues in Syria with terrorist forces in control of half of Syria and now a terror group I.S.I.S. has gained control of Northern Iraq.

The following are just a few examples of measures taken by Israel to be constantly in a state of High Alert. For a number of years, all Israeli military aircraft have been equipped with an infra-red system to combat missiles. The laser system targets and deflects a missile from its intended flight path. El Al aircraft will also have these devices installed. During the Second Lebanon War in 2006 Hizbullah rockets were fired at hospitals in Haifa. As a result, a three story underground state of the art facility has been built in Haifa. It is designed to protect patients and staff from conventional, chemical and biological attacks. These measures must be taken to continually protect the Israeli people.

Psalm 23 indicates how David had learned to want for nothing as The Lord protected him from a lion, a bear and a giant. David had no fear as he walked "through the valley of the shadow of death" in verse four. He knew that God would be with him and protect him. We should all have similar faith and trust in our God especially now for the Israelis.

May The Lord Bless And Keep You In His Care This Day And Each Day,

Frank   

Unity Government? - Part Two

A headline this week in The Jerusalem Post stated "Odds of a major war in the heart of Israel have gone up tremendously." This headline was part of the numerous reactions to the announcement of the new Palestinian government which is now comprised of Fatah, the moderate Palestinian entity, and the terror organization Hamas. For example, what now will happen if Hamas fires a rocket at Jerusalem from Ramallah or at an Israeli civilian in Judea and Samaria? "The relative calm" between the Israelis and the Palestinians has suddenly become very, very tense.

We all need to understand that the 1988 Hamas Charter explicitly commits the Palestinian terror group to the murdering of the Jewish people. To complicate the situation further, the United States government supports Fatah to the tune of 440 million dollars each year. As a result, United States taxpayers are now supporting a terror group. Also, this week the Israeli government has urged the United States and other nations not to recognize or fund this new government. Members of the U.S. Congress have gone so far as to recommend the suspension of funding the Palestinians.

John Kerry has proclaimed the new Palestinian government "Is committed to previous agreements." The Oslo Accords called for complete Palestinian Demilitarization and the destroying of thousands of missiles in Gaza. Both of these events obviously have not taken place to date.

There are numerous questions concerning the functioning of this new Palestinian government and how it will affect the safety of Israeli citizens. I just studied a teaching letter from Bridges For Peace Ministry in Jerusalem titled "God's Walls Of Protection." Our Lord God's Word mentions "walls" over one hundred times concerning the defensive walls of a city. Israeli leaders must have taken this to heart and have built a defensive wall around Jerusalem which has significally lowered the number of terror attacks. We also know Praise and Worship are ways to sustain the Walls of Protection we receive on a regular basis from Our Lord. Let us all be very active in sustaining this protection for all of God's people especially Israelis at this perilous time.

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You In His Care This Day And Each Day,

Frank

Unity Government?

If a person stayed current with news headlines this past week, they would notice a number of challenging events took place concerning Israel. Primarily, this past Monday the leader of Fatah, Malmoud Abbas, announced that he has made official the Unity Government between Fatah and the terror organization Hamas. Other headlines illustrate the reactions of the Israeli and United States governments.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called an emergency Cabinet meeting which resulted in reduced financial support for Fatah and the announcement stating that Israel will no longer participate in peace negotiations since the new Unity Government now includes terrorists.

The U.S. government then announces it recognizes the new Unity Government and invites its leaders to meet with President Obama and Congress. This came as quite a surprise to Israel. Part of the U.S. recognition includes the stipulation that the new Unity Government must recognize Israel and refrain from violence.

I do not want to be immediately critical of this event before it even has a chance to function. However, all we need to do is observe other news headlines of the tactics of Israel's enemies at the same time this Unity Government was forming. This past week Hamas announces it is improving ties with Iran; Palestinians riot on the Temple Mount in connection with the celebration of Jerusalem Day and this past Sunday and Monday Hamas fires rockets into Southern Israel from the Gaza.

The United Government has already announced that Fatah and Hamas will  function with a "Common Cause." The key question is - what is this Common Cause? Is the Common Cause peace or the destruction of Israel? We also need to realize that Ramallah (headquarters of the Unity Government) is located just a few miles from Jerusalem. As a result, a terror orginaztion is now officially functioning on Jerusalem's doorstep.

Psalm 87 is entitled "Glorious Zion, City Of God" and verses 1-3 state "His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, O City of God!" Numerous verses of the Word of God illustrate how much He loves Israel and Jerusalem and is always in the process of protecting them. We need to pray these types of Scriptures into effect on a regular basis.

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You In His Care This Day And Each Day,

Frank