Urgent Prayer Request!

I sense it is extremely urgent and necessary to interrupt our continuing series on the Future Of Israel. We all need to be praying with our whole hearts and minds concerning an incident last week in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk. Jews leaving a Synagogue were given leaflets ordering them to provide a list of properties owned and pay a registration fee to continue their citizenship.

These tactics are a carbon copy of the tactics used against the Jews in Nazi-Germany before and during the Holocaust. Pro-Nazi groups are surfacing regularly with acts of Anti-Semitism. After the shootings in Kansas City with three people killed at Jewish Centers, the gunman shouted "Heil Hitler." Additionally, this week a Synagogue in Nikolayeu, Ukraine was fire bombed. Joel Rosenberg reveals in a poll taken recently that 80.2% of Americans believe there will be a second Holocaust against the Jews.

Our calling, especially now, is to be in constant prayer! How do we pray? Pray for our Lord God's hand of protection for His covenant people throughout the world expecially now in the Ukraine. Let us also pray "Thy Kingdom Come And Thy Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven." 1Samuel 12:22-23 says "The Lord will not forsake His people for His great name's sake, for it has pleased Him to make you a people for Himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against The Lord by ceasing to pray for you."

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

Frank  

The Future Of Israel - Part Three

This week's message is part three of a continuing series of messages about Israel's future all based on the book of Ezekiel. Previous messages have shown us our Lord God is Israel's True Shepherd; He will judge those who mistreat Israel; He is bringing His covenant people back to the mountains of Israel (Judea and Samaria) and He is jealous over the land of Israel.

Our Lord God says in Ezekiel 36:8 "But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My People Israel, for they are about to come." After the Jewish people were scattered throughout the world in 70 AD and 135 AD, the land of Israel was left void and desolate for nearly 2,000 years. However, our Lord God is true to His Word concerning verses 8 and 9. During the 20th century, 256 million trees were planted in Israel. Today, orange and grapefruit trees are abundant and flowers and vegtables grow in fertile fields. Praise The Lord!

Ezekiel 36:11 says "I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bear young; I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. Then you shall know that I am The Lord." This verse and many others in the Word of God show us The Lord is bringing back His people to the Promised Land and will continue this process until He returns to earth. Over 700 verses in the Word of God proclaim this continuing event. Notice our Lord God says "I will do better for you in the future. . . .you shall know I am The Lord." Hallelujah! 

"Nor will I let you hear the taunts of the nations anymore, nor bear the reproach of the peoples anymore." Ezekiel 36:15. What an uplifting and exhilerating promise by Our Lord God to His covenant people. The day is coming when they will not hear the "taunts of nations or the reproach of peoples." However, in the meantime, we who love Israel and the Jewish people need to fervently pray verse 15 into existence now and in the future. Israeli Disaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett said recently "an atmosphere of Anti-Semitism swept the globe in 2013." Additionally, news headlines this week announced a terror attack with three people killed at a Jewish Center in Kansas.

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

Frank

The Future Of Israel Part Two

This week's message is part two of a continuing series of messages about the future of Israel with the book of Ezekiel as the main source. Last week we learned The Lord is bringing His people back to their own land; He is their True Shepherd and a time of true peace is coming. This week, we study a prophesy to the Mountains of Israel (Judea and Samaria) in chapter 36.

"Thus says The Lord God: 'Because the enemy has said of you, aha! The ancient heights have become our possession, therefore prophesy, and say, thus says The Lord God: because they made you desolate and swallowed you up on every side, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations.'" Ezekiel 36:2-3. This prophesy is now history. In early 1950, Jordanian King Abdullah annexed the districts of Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem. In order to reduce Jewish claims to the area, the King dropped the Biblical names Judea and Samaria and announced that the annexed land would be known as the West Bank. Jordan occupied Judea and Samaria from 1948 to 1967.

Our Lord God restored Judea and Samaria to His covenant people through the War of 1967. Why? Ezekiel 36:5-6 say "Therefore thus says The Lord God: Surely I have spoken in My burning jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom. . .thus says The Lord God: Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and My fury, because you have borne the shame of the nations." Notice that The Lord twice speaks of His jealousy over this land for it is His land that He gave to His people. He is not about to give it up now or any time in the future. Hallelujah!

Our Lord God speaks a warning of judgement upon those nations which would bring harm to Israel. Chapters 35-36 mention Edom specifically who shamefully mistreated Israel and currently does not even exist. Lastly, current news reports illustrate the Peace Talks once again appear to be in trouble not able to reach goals previously set. I believe The Lord has spoken clearly! Let us continue to pray "Thy Kingdom come and Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."

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

Frank     

The Future Of Israel - Part One

Last week's message validated in detail that the land of Israel was given by our Lord God to His covenant people through the lineage of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I believe I am being led by The Lord to start a series of messages about the future of Israel which will prove over and over again who the land belongs to and its future. The book of Ezekiel will be the primary source of these messages.

A quick overview of the book of Ezekiel reveals the prophet Ezekiel was speaking during the seventy year period of the Babylonian captivity. The judgement of captivity would be followed by the future glory of The Lord. Chapters 4 - 24 reveal the judgement on Judah but God promises that Judah's judgement will be followed by restoration. Ezekiel also shows the full circle of judgement on the nations that surround Judah in chapters 25 - 32.

Our message today concentrates on chapter 34 which reveals our Lord God as the "true shepherd." Our Lord God says "I will seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered. And I will bring them from the peoples and gather them from the countries; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel." Chapter 34:12-14. Notice The Lord is bringing His covenant people back to Israel from all over the world. This has been going on for many, many years and will continue until The Lord comes back to earth. Additionally, these verses reveal The Lord is bringing them back to the mountains of Israel which is Judea and Samaria. Ladies and Gentlemen, how can The Lord bring His covenant people back to Judea and Samaria when the enemies of Israel claim this same land as theirs?

Verses 25 - 31 reveal a time of true peace in the future of Israel when God reveals Himself as their Shepherd and they are His flock. "I will make a covenant of peace with them. . . .they shall be safe in their land and they shall know that I am The Lord. . . .and they shall no longer be a prey for the nations. . . .thus they shall know that I, The Lord their God, am with them." Hallelujah, a time of true peace is coming for Israel when they will no longer be attacked and persecuted by their enemies when The Lord reveals Himself as their "True Shepherd." Let us pray these days come very soon!

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

Frank 

  

The Land Issue

A recent article in the Levitt Letter raised the question "Is Land For Peace Biblical?" The issue of who is the rightful owner of the Land of Israel has been the core issue of the Mideast conflict for many decades. As always, in trying to ascertain a solution, we have to measure the opinions of the enemies of Israel and the world media against the Word of Our Lord God!

The Levitt Letter article illustrated to us that the land of Israel is filled with Jewish artifacts going back 3,000 years.  Abraham was buried at Hebron 2,500 years before Mohammed's birth, and King Solomon built the Western Wall of the Temple before anyone on earth ever used the term "Muslim." Additionally, the term "Palestinians" are simply people who moved to Palestine while the Jews were scattered around the world. They formed a terrorist group called the PLO who shot Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games in Munich, raided villages, machine-gunned women and children in addition to attacking beachfront hotels with explosives. These are the people the majority of the world and its media support.

The Word of our Lord God is crystal clear concerning to whom He gave His Land. Genesis 15:18 shows our God saying to Abram "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates." Additionally, as the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land, our Lord God spoke to Joshua saying, "Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them-the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you." Joshua 1:2-3.

Finally, our Lord God speaking through the Prophet Ezekiel shows us in the book of Ezekiel, chapters 40-48, that the future of the land of Israel includes the rebuilding of the Temple, the exact divisions of the land among the Tribes and most importantly the return of the Glory of The Lord to the Temple.

One last point, United States Secretary of State Kerry has established April 30th as the deadline for the Peace Talks. Let us pray boldly that the land of Israel stays in the hands of its rightful owners!

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

Frank 

  

"Four Blood Moons"

John Hagee who is the Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas with 20,000 active members and the founder of Christians United For Israel recently authored a book entitled "Four Blood Moons - Something Is About To Change." Pastor Hagee, at the suggestion of a Pastoral friend, studied in depth Joel 2:30-31 illustrating The Lord saying, "I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of The Lord."

The information in our message for this week is all taken from Pastor Hagee's new book. Three times in history there has occurred "Blood - Red" total lunar eclipses and each time significant events pertaining to Israel have also occurred. The Lunar Eclipses happened on four consecutive Feast Days of the Jewish calendar.

The first of the Four Blood Moon events happened in 1493 and 1494 following a significant event concerning the Jewish people in Spain. The Monarchy in Spain headed by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella on March 30, 1492 signed a decree ordering the Jews to leave Spain. This was known as the Edict of Expulsion which banished all Jewish people from Spain who refused to convert to Catholicism. This resulted in 200,000 Jews being expelled from Spain with no where to go.

The second appearance of the Four Blood Moon events occurred during the rebirth of the State of Israel, beginning in 1948. The Jewish people of the Diaspora were brought back to Israel as prophesied by Old Testament Prophets. It was in 1948 that Israel was declared a nation.  The land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. The Four Blood Moons occurred on four consecutive Feast Days of 1949-50.

The third occurrence of Four Blood Moons happened in 1967-68. During 1967   the city of Jerusalem was reunited with the Jewish people for the first time in nineteen hundred years. The Arab nations were committed to driving the Jewish people into the sea. On May 15th as Israel celebrated their Independence Day, Arab forces of 465,000 troops, 2,800 tanks and 800 aircraft surrounded Israel. However, the Six - Day War was a war of miracles. There was no military reason for an Israeli victory, it was simply the hand of God! The Blood Moons occurred on four consecutive Feast Days in 1967-68.

The next occurrence of Four Blood Moons will occur on Passover, April 15, 2014: Feast of Tabernacles, October 8, 2014: Passover, April 4, 2015: Feast of Tabernacles, September 28, 2015. Only our Lord God knows what events might occur concerning Israel in relation to these next Four Blood Moon events. Let us be those who pray "Thy Kingdom Come And Thy Will Be Done" in support and protection for the Jewish people worldwide during these next two years.

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

Frank

  



Gog And Magog?

Until recently, Israel had no choice but to import all its energy whether oil, gas, or coal. Golda Meir often joked that God led the Jewish people to the only land in the Middle East without oil. To date, little on-shore oil has been found.

However, this picture has changed dramatically. Recently, a Houston company known as Noble Energy along with the Israeli Delek Group has found several gas fields in the Israeli waters under the Mediterranean Sea. Today, Israel's known gas reserves are 30 trillion cubic feet, with twice that amount still to be discovered. This will exceed Israeli's energy needs for the next 30 - 50 years. Praise The Lord!

Obviously, this discovery will greatly strengthen Israel's economy and go a long way to eliminate pressing needs in housing and helping the poor. Another issue or question resulting from the discovery. . . could this set the stage for the Battle of Gog and Magog as illustrated in Ezekiel 38 - 39?

This battle describes a coalition of nations including Russia, Turkey, Iran, Libya, Algeria, Sudan and Ethiopia who invade Israel and do battle on the mountains of Israel. The leader of this coalition is described as Gog, Prince of Rosh, which is modern day Russia.

A question in theological circles has always been - what would prompt Russia to invade Israel? Current news reports show that Russia already has  economic and military ties to the nations in the Gog - Magog coalition. Additionally, Israeli's newly found gas deposits threaten Russia's hold over the natural gas supply lines.

The good news is our Lord God wins a mighty victory for the residents of Israel as described in Ezekiel 38:21 "I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all my mountains," says The Lord God.  Let us be those who provide love and support to the residents of Israel by reciting portions of Psalm 23 as a prayer, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You This Day And Each Day,

Frank