Newsletter Vol. 47

HAMAS = LAWLESSNESS, VIOLENCE AND CRUELTY

“For the violence- done to your brother Jacob (i.e. the Jews), shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth, and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem YOU WERE LIKE ONE OF THEM.”

Actually, the Word of G-d has a lot to say about “châmâç”, in Hebrew written , that is “Hamas”. It is not a new word or phenomenon. It existed even before the Flood.

For already in Noah’s days the “earth was filled with “”, wherefore G-d determined to make an end of all FLESH because the earth was filled with violence and lawlessness – – through them.

The Word informs us that “the L-RD tests the righteous and the wicked, and His soul hates him that loves /châmâç.”

Furthermore, “Pride is the necklace of the wicked, and /châmâç covers them as a garment.” Indeed, the almost daily marches of Hamas fighters and suicide bombers in Gaza shows them literally ‘clothed in Hamas garments, garments of violence’, headbands identifying them as members of .

Finally, Asaph appeals to G-d to “Remember this, O L-RD, how the enemy scoffs, and an impious people reviles Your name. O L-RD, save your people. Protect your turtledove and save your beloved people from these wild beasts. Have regard for Your covenant, because the dark places of the land (or earth) are full of the habitations of /châmâç, of cruel men. O L-RD, don’t let Your downtrodden people be constantly insulted. Give cause for these poor and needy ones to praise Your Name.”³

And the Holy One of Israel answers Asaph’s appeal with this promise in Isaiah 60:18:

“Violence//Hamas shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.”

At last we discover that the origin of this “châmâç”-“ “ is of Satan, for in Ezekiel 28:16 we learn that it was the multitude of his trafficking that eventually filled him with lawlessness and violence, namely , and he sinned, and was cast out as a profane thing from the mountain of G-d.

May none of us who call upon the Name of the Lord Yeshua be found in support of this “” against the people and land of G-d by the name of Israel.

On Wednesday, February 11, I was walking our two dogs under blue and sunny skies, unaware of events beneath my feet. A phone call from our grandchildren’s teacher informed me that while they were frolicking in the snow on top of Mt. Hermon, an earthquake struck, killing two soldiers and injuring others.

People inside buildings felt the earthquake, while those outside did not. That day, it was as if “Israel” were divided into two groups — those who were ‘inside’ and aware of danger, and those who were ‘outside’ and oblivious to it.

Perhaps this situation tells us something. Did not Yeshua warn us that His Coming would be like the days of Noah, when people were going about their daily business, unaware of impending doom until it was too late? Likewise, those saints who are looking for His Return will recognize the warning signals and be prepared for Him, while others who are unconcerned will fail to see those same signals or ignore them and be caught off-guard by His Coming.

Surely, this earthquake was a message from G-d to Israeli leaders as well! For in the very room where the Cabinet’s decision-making takes place, a huge crack appeared right above the long, shiny wood table, as well as over the entrance. What an omen!(see page 6)

Sharon’s plan of unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, Judea and Samaria doubtlessly displeases and angers G-d! For Jewish families will be uprooted from their homes and land covenanted by G-d to Israel ?. Curiously, I have had no word of either warning or exhortation from the Lord for Arik Sharon, just as I had no word for Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak — a trio of Prime Minister’s evidently not affirmed by the Lord.

Arik Sharon was Israel’s “man of steel”, the “iron warrior”, the “strong man.” He condemned negotiations with the Palestinians and the signing of agreements “under fire” and assured the nation that he would not do this. He staunchly defended the settlements, insisting Israel never give up one inch of land. He often brought American congressmen and senators and other foreigners to the hills of Judea and Samaria, showing them the frailty of our security and the necessity of keeping the “Westbank” under Israeli control.

After former Prime Minister Ehud Barak withdrew unilaterally from the Lebanon security zone and suggested giving up much land which would include suburbs of Jerusalem, the nation yearned for a ‘man of steel’ who would stand under American and European pressure. The nation voted ‘Arik’ Sharon into office.

But G-d remained silent. And I know at last, why. An earthquake became His messenger. For the crack above the entrance to the cabinet’s meeting room and above the table of the cabinet members speaks loud and clear.

It would seem, though, that Arik Sharon has not taken notice of it.

I have called the saints to stand in the gap for Israel at this time, having posted prayers on page 4 of “The Watchmen”⁴. With the assassination of Sheik Yassin and of Rantissi the danger to Israel’s citizens has heightened tremendously, as the Iranian supported Hizbullah and Osama Bin-Laden’s Al Quaida will most likely join Hamas-“” in the “struggle” against Israel.

Fasting in sackcloth and “ashes” (alias dirt on the head) and praying the Word will be a most effective weapon against these forces, as the apostle Paul already stated in Ephesians 6:12, that “we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Jonathan Pollard and Mordechai Vanunu – Two Jewish Spies

“They even mock the Holy One of Israel and dare the Lord to punish them,” Isaiah notes discomfitedly. Whilst he spoke of his own generation, his words fit this present one like a glove.

We have just witnessed the release of Mordechai Vanunu from Israeli prison, a Maroccon Jewish immigrant who divulged secrets about Israel’s nuclear project. He not only betrayed people and country when he exposed Israel’s secret defense capabilities, but by so doing also demonstrated his utter disregard for Israel’s wars forced upon her by her mortal enemies surrounding her. Vanunu should not have been released from prison.

Yet he was greeted by self-hating Jews and Israel-bashing liberals as a great hero and a martyr who risked his freedom for a “good cause” — to have Israel stripped of its nuclear defense capabilities to ultimately dismantle the State of Israel.

In contrast, Jonathan Jay Pollard ⁶ (an American Jew who cares for Israel’s safety) languishes already 19 years in a U.S. prison for a much minor offense. All appeals for parole have been denied him. Although the average sentence for his offense – warning Israel of Saddam Hussein’s plan to hit her with weapons of mass destruction (a vital information that was being purposely withheld from Israel by the U.S., Israel’s closest ally) is 2 to 4 years, Jonathan Pollard received a life sentence without trial as a result of a plea bargain which he honored and the U.S. government violated.

For more information, see the “Jonathan Pollard Web site.

But Vanunu, bitter and unrepentant, walked out of prison on Wednesday, April 21, after serving 18 years for exposing Israel’s nuclear secrets. Defiant of Israeli restrictions he held an impromptu news conference with international media, flashed victory signs and waved to hundreds of cheering supporters saying he was proud of his actions.

“To all those who are calling me traitor, I am saying I am proud, I am proud and happy to do what I did,” Vanunu said⁷.

On Monday (April 19th) Israelis heard the 50-year-old’s voice for the first time in a tape recording of a recent interrogation in which he defended his actions. Many listeners were incensed when Vanunu said the Dimona nuclear reactor where he worked should be destroyed and Israel should not exist.

“We don’t need a Jewish state. There needs to be a Palestinian state,” he said on the tape (Vanunu’s brother Meir, however, called into question the veracity of the tape).

Asked if he was a hero, Vanunu said “all those who are standing behind me, supporting me … all are heroes.”

His revelations and imprisonment made him a hero to international peace activists, and dozens of supporters, including British actress Susannah York and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland, greeted him upon his release⁸.

Vanunu, who was raised as an Orthodox Jew, converted to Christianity in the mid-1980s⁹, and spent his first night of partial freedom in an Anglican church in Jerusalem. Vanunu will live in a luxury apartment complex in Jaffa (who is paying for it?), an old seaport and today part of Tel Aviv. Jaffa has both Arab and Jewish residents.

One wonders — what makes Vanunu a celebrated “hero” and Pollard a “villain”? Vanunu turned against his own nation, compromising her safety and capability of self-defense against a hostile environment, yet he walked out a free man.

Pollard, on the other hand, contributed to Israel’s safety without compromising U.S. security. He did not spy against the United States. He was never indicted for intent to harm the United States, nor for treason, yet received a sentence far harsher than most enemy spies. Only Jonathan Pollard, a Jew who spied for America’s friend and ally, the Jewish State Israel, remains in prison with no end in sight¹⁰.

Iraq – Quicksand of the Middle East

Ecclesiastes summarizes the matter of timing so very clearly, saying “For EVERYTHING there is a season, and a time for EVERY MATTER under heaven.”

This second endeavor of going to war against Saddam Hussein with coalition forces missed the appointed TIME! And Iraq is quickly turning into quicksand, gradually swallowing up both allied troops and Iraqis alike. On Wednesday, April 21, suicide attackers detonated five car bombs – all but one of them simultaneously – killing 50, including 20 children, and wounding many, some critically¹¹. The attack targeted police buildings in Iraq’s second largest city, Basra, striking rush-hour crowds¹².

Basra is overwhelmingly Shiite.

Woefully, the American Western/Christian mindset cannot appreciate the differences between itself and the Arab/Muslim mindset. The ‘fatalism’ that characterizes the Arab/Muslim (and Oriental) mindset is totally foreign to Americans who neither believe in nor understand fatalism – “whatever will be will be.” Americans believe man charts his own course and destiny. Muslim fatalism is the diametrical opposite — it surrenders to “fate”, whatever that might be.

America’s military might is impotent vis-a-vis this deeply entrenched mindset: who could understand the Japanese harakiri pilots? Only the bomb on Hiroshima stopped the Japanese nation from carrying on this war indefinitely. It also is the main reason why the U.S. could not secure victory in Vietnam.

For the Arab/Islamic culture it is a sought-after honor to give one’s life for the “jihad”, for “the cause”, whatever that may be. As Islamic clerics fan religious fervor among the people, this “war” of terror, ambushes and suicide bombings carries on and on with no end in sight, just as in the case against Israel.

How long can Washington withstand these Islamic forces? How long will the troops’ morale hold up until they themselves ask what they are still doing in Iraq, thousands of miles away from home, fighting a “war” against whom? While believing they are bringing freedom and prosperity to Iraq, they find themselves loathed, cursed, attacked, and killed, with hardly any Iraqi expression of gratitude for America’s “war of liberation.”

Can America afford to “lose face” in Iraq as she did in Vietnam? The Arab/Muslim world would view a retreat from Iraq as a sublime victory over the ‘great satan’, and a veritable tide of terror would be unleashed against American cities and infrastructures.

Already Spain has been bullied into retreat. What will America do if forsaken by the others as well?

Will the very powers which for decades have sought Israel’s destruction now turn against America? For rather than standing with Israel against those forces of lawlessness, America encouraged them by negotiating with them and applying relentless pressure on Israel.

‘What we sow is what we will reap,’ says G-d’s Kingdom law; and ‘the violence we plan for others will come upon ourselves.’

President Bush said, spontaneously, on his first campaign for President that “It is high time to act as a true friend and ally of Israel.” May he remember his words and know that because he did the very opposite of that, America is headed for trouble.

Some people who support Israel, strongly support President Bush as well. They claim him to be a man of faith who seeks G-d’s counsel and begins each day with prayer and reading the Bible. How is it, then, that the President does not know what G-d says concerning Israel and the Jewish people, and fails to heed the divine warning in regard to dividing up His Land¹³? How is it, then, that President Bush has not heard from G-d not to touch the apple of His eye, and not to burden himself with negotiations over Jerusalem?

If President Bush were indeed honestly seeking G-d for guidance and counsel, then the Holy One of Israel would answer his prayers and order his steps and decision making. G-d has not changed but is the same yesterday, today and forever. Who then has changed?

What will it take to end the Iraqi nightmare? Will it drag on until the appointed time for those terrible four angels to be released at the Euphrates? One third of mankind is marked to perish in that war ¹⁴. Did America unleash its horror before the time?

After the first Gulf war, the Lord said to “keep watching because this is not over!” When He warned about the ‘EAST WIND’ blowing against the shores of America ,”¹⁵ I did not imagine a literal fulfillment of planes flying in the wind, piloted by men from the East, literally blowing up the twin towers in the ‘Great City’on America’s most important and vulnerable shore.

When will the shepherds of G-d’s churches finally wake up? U John the Baptist was clothed in camel hair garments (not $ 500 suits), lived in caves (not in mansions) and ate locusts and honey. I am not implying that G-d’s prophets must live spartan lives. But I am saying that saints are looking in the wrong direction, seeking that which is impressive according to world standards. Yet the King of kings came to us in a lowly manger and as a humble carpenter.

We must be on our guard where to look lest we miss the Lord’s messengers and His signals.

Always you are in my heart and prayers. May Yeshua’s steadfast love and great faithfulness guard and keep you from evil and all harm.

Yours in Him,

Knesset Shaken By Earthquake

Several cracks were also found along walls and ceilings in the building, including one above the exit to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Knesset office. All of the damage within the building was superficial.

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin suspended the morning session of the legislature while engineering staff inspected the assembly room. Rivlin said he wanted to wait to ensure there would be no aftershocks before convening MKs.

A reported crack in one of the decorative beams that are suspended above the seats of MKs was not found, according to a report filed to the Speaker’s Office by the Knesset’s safety and engineering consultant.

Rivlin, who opened the session after an hour-and-a-half delay, said he had feared that the beams could have been a “guillotine” for the ministers table and seats of senior MKs.

Knesset Spokesman Giora Pordes said the plenum was in the same condition after the quake as it was before the event.

Heavy soundproof glass panels that serve as a barrier to the public gallery were inspected to ensure that none had come loose. Walls in the faction rooms of Shas and the National Religious Party had cracks in surface cement, with the Shas crack falling next to pictures of the party’s spiritual mentors.

MK Ran Cohen demands the fortification of thousands of building at risk

MK Ran Cohen (Meretz) intends to raise legislation next week that would require the fortification of between 3,700 and 7,800 buildings that are at risk of collapsing in a quake. Most of the buildings at risk are those built up on pillars with parking on the ground floor.

Interior Committee chairman Yuri Stern (National Union) summoned an “emergency meeting” on Monday to discuss what he said is the “crime” by authorities for being unprepared for a possible mass disaster. He said the government’s inter-ministerial committee on earthquake preparedness has not been functional for two years.

But Science and Technology Committee chair Meli Polishook-Bloch (Shinui) attacked Stern for calling a meeting as a result of the earthquake, calling him an “opportunist.” She noted that in two weeks a joint meeting of the committees on earthquake preparedness was already planned before Wednesday’s quake.

Polishook warned that Wednesday’s earthquake had sent signs that the Knesset building is in danger of collapsing in a stronger quake. She said the quake is also a warning light to the possible disaster around the rest of the country.

MK Yisrael Eichler (United Torah Judaism) said it had been a “great miracle” that the quake had not caused any casualties.

MK Ayoub Kara (Likud) was especially shaken by the tremor, which he said was his first. Kara, who fled from the Knesset Finance Committee, complained to Rivlin that there are no emergency exists in the Knesset to evacuate MKs.