Category: Blog

Since October 7^th, Hezbollah has attacked Israel’s north with thousands of rockets and armed drones where over 100,000 residents have been evacuated. In surrounding areas which do not have evacuation orders, dozens have been killed in the attacks, but the worst came on July 27^th: a massive rocket hit a soccer field in Majdal Shams, a Druze village in the Golan Heights, killing twelve children and injuring many others.

The entire nation was gripped with grief over the massacre, and, in the week after the tragedy, thousands of Israelis made the trip to Majdal Shams to stand in solidarity and express condolences to the bereaved families and the Druze community.

Shosh Navon, Tiferet Yeshua’s official savta (grandmother) at 92-years-old, suggested that we do the same: organize a group from the congregation to make the 4-hour trip to the Golan Heights to share our condolences in person. We tried organizing a visit during the public morning period in the week after the attack, but it did not work out. On August 19^th, six of us set out to Majdal Shams. Our visit was three weeks after the attack, but we would soon find out that God’s timing was perfect.

NAVIGATING WITHOUT GPS

Ever since the start of Hezbollah’s bombing campaign, Israel has scrambled the GPS signals in the north, making it impossible to use navigation apps. Before we left, I looks at the maps and tried to memorize the way to the village though the Golan. As we left, we all prayed that God would guide us and help us remember the way. Amazingly, Tamar was able to keep a GPS signal on her phone almost the whole way, enabling us to get to the village on the small winding mountain roads in the Golan Heights.

A VIP DRUZE CONNECTION

Savta Shosh has connections with people all over Israel from all walks of life, including in the Druze community. On our way up to Majdal Shams, she called a friend of hers in the Druze community of Isafiya on Mt. Carmel (a Druze Sheikh she’s known for years) and told him, “We are driving right now to Majdal Shams to comfort the mourners. Please get me in touch with someone there who can receive us when we arrive.” Shosh’s friend gave us the number of his personal friend in Majdal Shams and instructed her to call him when we arrive.

GOD’S LOVE TOUCHES THE HEART

After a four-hour drive, we arrived at Majdal Shams and called the man whose number Shosh’s friend had given us. He told us how to get to a certain point and instructed us to wait there for him: he would arrive in ten minutes. I pulled over, put on my hazard lights, and we got out of the car to stretch our legs and wait. A  young woman came out of her nearby shop and called to us to come in and have a coffee, she just made a fresh pot. I told her I had to wait with the car because we were awkwardly parked while waiting for someone to meet us, but two of the ladies in our group went over to the woman to talk with her.

They shared with her about who we are  and why we had come. At one point, I noticed that Ma’ayan was praying for the woman; as she prayed, the woman started weeping. Ma’ayan tenderly embraced the woman while she wept, and I went over to ask if everything was ok. The woman told us, “I don’t know what’s happening, but I feel something so strong”. The love of God was powerfully present, and the woman was deeply touched.

“GOD IS WITH YOU”

The woman from the shop was standing with us when the man we were waiting for arrived, and she said, “Ah, this man is our father, he is our Sheikh!” The man with whom were we put in contact turned out to be one of the main village leaders and a prominent political figure in the Druze community. The woman began telling him in Arabic about what had happened when the ladies prayed for her, and he was visibly touched by what she shared.

I introduced myself to the Sheikh and presented to him, “Dr. Shosh Navon, 92-years old, who was willing to drive over four hours to comfort the mourners in Majdal Shams.” The Sheikh was amazed by this and said, “I don’t know who you are, but God is with you.”

The Sheikh then went on to explain that he had made some calls, thinking that he would be able to arrange for us to meet with one of the mourning families. However, he told us that it turned out that all the families of the 12 children were at that very moment in the community center – they had just finished a workshop the education ministry had hosted for them on grief and mourning. “The families are there waiting to meet you,” he told us.

AN INTIMATE MEETING WITH 12 MOURNING FATHERS

We arrived at the community center where the twelve fathers of the murdered children were there waiting for us. We all went and shook each one of their hands, telling them, “We have come to comfort you in your mourning and to tell you that God loves you.” They invited us to come sit with them – they arranged chairs and a table of refreshments for us. We also brought along food and refreshments that we added to the table. They asked us who we are, and I presented Shosh to them so that she could represent us before the mourning fathers. Shosh began speaking to them in such a loving and eloquent way, it was clear that the Holy Spirit was upon her as she spoke. Shosh explained that we are Jews from a Messianic fellowship in Tel Aviv. “If you are interested in learning more about who we are and what we believe, we have brought some brochures where you will find our website.”

When it was my turn to speak, I also briefly shared about our congregation and that several times in our main services we had prayed for their comfort, healing and protection. After several of us had shared, we asked if we could pray for them now in person, and they agreed. It’s hard to explain, but God was there in a powerful way: we spoke simple words of comfort, but the fathers wept there with us and were visibly touched by what we shared and when we prayed. The Shekh who had brought us to this meeting and stayed there throughout kept saying, “Something special is happening here.”

 

 

A COMMUNIUTY THAT INVESTS IN ITS CHILDREN

We stayed with the fathers for nearly an hour, and when it was time to leave, we parted with hugs to all of them. Before we left, one of the mothers who had stayed to listen approached me and began telling me about her 15-year-old daughter who was killed in the attack.

“My daughter was gifted, and she knew four languages.”

I asked her which languages she spoke, and her mother replied, “Arabic, Hebrew, English and German.” “Why German?” I asked her. It turns out that her daughter’s dream was to study at the University of Munich. Two weeks before the attack that killed her daughter, the whole family had been to visit the university of Munich to check out the dorms and meet students.

People in the village we spoke to shared that their community invests in the lives of their children and encourages them to higher education, and many of them go on to work in the medical field.

“I FEEL SOMETHING FROM GOD”

The ladies who were with us embraced this mother and asked if they could pray for her. She agreed, and when they did, she said, “I feel something, something from God!”

Often we heard from the people we met and prayed for at Majdal Shams, “You are bringing us the love of God!” In their brokenness and morning, the precious members of the mourning families and the community at large opened their hearts to us, and God graciously touched them with His love.

 

 

THE SHEIKH’S PERSONAL INVITATION

After visiting with the families for nearly five hours (they brought us to the soccer field to see where their children were murdered), I was amazed and blessed but starting to feel tired and thought we should probably get on our way. At the moment, the Sheikh said, “I want to host you at my home; it is important to me to introduce you to my family. I’ve already called, and my daughters are coming with the grandchildren.”

At the Sheikh’s home, a table was set before us with coffee and all kinds of sweets, including fresh cherries and apples from their orchards. The Sheikh introduced his wife and each of his daughters with their children. The Sheikh explained to us that he works as an interfaith and cultural advocate and has had many meetings with different religious groups in Israel. “But you,” he said, “have something different.”

I have to add that I was surprised to discover that three in our group knew Arabic, including Savta Shosh, and they were able to connect in a special way with the family members who did not speak Hebrew. At the Sheikh’s house, God continued to move, providing opportunities through the open and personal conversations we were having with the family and to pray for them. Before we left, I asked the Sheikh if it would be alright with him if I prayed for and blessed his family in the name of Yeshua’s. “Of course,” he said.

PARTING WITH TEARS

When it was time to leave, the Sheikh himself guided us out of the village and explained to us how to get to the Sea of Galilee where our GPS would start working. When he was saying goodbye to us, suddenly he broke into tears. “You are such special people!” he said. “In just these few hours you were with us today I feel a special connection with you.” On our way home, every 45 minutes or so he would call to make sure we were on our way safely. His last call to check on us was at midnight when we were close to Tel Aviv.

THE SHEIKH’S PERSONAL MESSAGE

Late at night, after I arrived home, I saw that the Sheikh had sent me a personal message right after we left. This is what it said:

“We were privileged to receive the visit from amazing people who came to comfort us in the loss of our precious children who were murdered in a painful terror attack, our twelve shining stars whom we will never forget. Despite the pain, you all were ambassadors of peace. You brought something precious, and we were privileged to meet people who are clean and pure. Your visit was a very emotional and special time for us with tears, sympathy and mutual affection. This disaster unified us and transcends all boundaries of religion, politics or language. You are an example of humanity, and you left a precious seal on our hearts. For me and my dear family, your visit has become a treasure. I want to thank you for your initiative and the effort you made to come from so far.”

Please pray for all the precious people we had the incredible privilege to spend time with in Majdal Shams, that God would continue touching their hearts with His love, that He would comfort them and reveal Himself to them as the one who seals ours hearts with His perfect love!

**The Druze are a religious sect which split from Islam in the 10^th century. The Druze are highly integrated in Israeli society, serve with distinction in the IDF, in the highest halls of government and military leadership.**

From the covid crisis to the horrific October 7^th attacks, fear, isolation and trauma are forcing Israelis to look for answers to existential questions, and many of them are looking to the New Testament. Here at Tiferet Yeshua, seekers and new believers reach out to us on a regular basis. Each month, we receive requests for copies of Hebrew New Testaments. I am grateful to be a part of our discipleship team and have the opportunity to meet with and disciple these people whose search for the truth will not be deterred by religious or cultural stigma.

A YOUNG MAN WHO READ THE NEW TESTAMENT SEVERAL TIMES ON HIS OWN

About five months ago, Yaniv started coming to our services. On his first visit, one of our team members spoke to him and discovered that he had read the New Testament several times already and deeply connected with what he found there. Yaniv was put in contact with me and Moti, and we began meeting with him every week.

The process of discipleship with Yaniv was very special: we discovered that God had already revealed deep spiritual truths to him through his reading the New Testament, things which usually take new believers time to understand. Because of this, we were able to delve deeply into the Word and explore important spiritual issues.

We were excited when Yaniv was ready to make his public confession of faith in water immersion at the beginning of August. Many new believers who start discipleship with us are anxious to be immersed in water right away, even before they have a clear understanding of all the foundations of the faith. This is surprising because there is a deep-seated Jewish religious revulsion to what is perceive as “Christian baptism” due to forced baptisms of Jewish children throughout the history of Church persecution (Jewish children would be abducted, baptized and then taken from their families).

Interestingly, though, many Hebrew-speaking Jews who read the New Testament intrinsically understand water immersion (mikveh) as it has been a purification ritual in Judaism for millennia and is the culminating step for anyone converting to Judaism. At Tiferet Yeshua, we make sure that people have a clear understanding of the foundations of the faith and what it means to follow Yeshua before making their decision to be immersed.  Moti and I were honored to be with Yaniv at his immersion along with some of his family members who are not believers but are amazed at the positive transformation they are seeing in Yaniv’s life.

Our part does not end here: as a spiritual family, we are committed to continue meeting with Yaniv and encouraging him as he begins his walk as a new creation in Messiah. Please keep him in prayer that he would grow and be strengthened in his faith and that God would complete the good work of transformation that He has begun in Yaniv!

 

A MAN FROM A RELIGIOUS BACKGROUD SEEKS A CONNECTION WITH GOD

Several months ago, Uriel got in contact with us to ask questions about the New Testament. Uriel is a young man who lives in an orthodox community and is currently serving in a combat unit in the army. Our initial contact was through text messages or short conversations once every two weeks or so. After a while, we began meeting on zoom every couple of weeks to talk about faith in Yeshua. Because Uriel was serving in a reserve combat unit, our communication was not weekly. At the beginning of the Gaza war, he was called up to army reserves, at first to the south and then to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.

What Uriel was looking for most was a personal connection with God. Our conversations centered around his question about how and where to seek God, how to feel His presence and know Him, and how to pray (in orthodox Judaism wrote liturgical prayers are read and recited instead of spontaneous personal prayer).

At first, Uriel was not willing to read the New Testament himself. However, he was willing that I would read to him from the New Testament or send him portions of verses in text messages. But, he refused to touch a New Testament himself.

After a while, I finally told Uriel, “Listen, you need to read the New Testament yourself. You need to get to know it yourself, not through me.” I thought that this might put an end to our meetings and discussions, but he surprised me by saying, “Ok, where should I start?” Staring in Matthew, Uriel began reading the New Testament, and suddenly our conversations changed. He was anxious to discuss what he was reading, and I could see that God was touching his heart in a powerful way.

Please pray for Uriel, that God would continue touching him with a revelation of Himself through His Word, that He would give Uriel his heart’s deep desire to experience a real personal connection with God. This is what Uriel is seeking with all his heart, and he openly says he has not been able to find it in the orthodox community or the traditional religious framework. Please pray with us that God would remove any hindrances or fears in his heart, that the Holy Spirit would guide him in all truth, and that he would accept and experience that Yeshua is the way, the truth and the life, and that no one comes to the Father but by Him.

 

by Katy Sorsher Smith

For as long as I can remember, worship at Tiferet Yeshua Congregation has been a special experience. In fact, when I first walked into the “meeting hall” in the basement of congregation founders, Ari and Shira Sorko-Ram, in a Tel Aviv suburb in 1996, God met me as soon as the music started. With tears flowing down my face, I welcomed the Jewish Messiah Yeshua into my heart.

DEFINING GENERATIONS

Throughout history, but especially since the development of recording technology, music is one of the primary things that defines each generation. By listening to songs from each decade, one can feel the mood and even character of nations during that time.

Naturally, this is true for both secular and biblical music. Biblical music, what we call praise or worship today, is, I believe, the quintessential expression of music intended by the One who created it. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that when God created the heavens and the earth, not only did He SPEAK everything into existence, but that there was MUSIC accompanying every act of creation. The Words hints at this when God rebukes Job by pointing out his absence at the creation of the heavens and the earth:

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
…On what were its foundations set, or who laid its cornerstone while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

(Job 38:4, 6-7)

In Judaism, the tradition of singing the Word which began in the Temple has been preserved throughout the generations. In every synagogue in the world, when the Torah scrolls are rolled open on the platform, each word is sung out with beautiful melodies, some of which have been passed down for  generations.

KING DAVID KNEW IT

One of the people who understood the preeminence of worship in God’s order was King David, an understanding he didn’t receive once he became king. It was there, an integral part of his heart for God, as he tended his father’s sheep in his youth. Even King Saul’s servants knew the power of music, advising him to call on a skillful musician whenever he was distressed by an evil spirit so that he could experience relief. The musician they called on, of course, was none other than David himself, “a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and the Lord is with him.'” (I Samuel 16:18)

 

Once David became king, he dedicated his life to building a dwelling place for the Lord, even after realizing he would not see it in person. David, called a man after God’s own heart, was perhaps first and foremost a worshipper: he continued writing songs his whole life, taught them to others, invented new musical instruments, and prepared instructions for Temple worship.

Praise the Lord with the harp;
Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
(Psalm 33:2-3)

 

A DESPRATE NEED FOR A DEEPER RELATIONSHIP

Since October 7, there has been a noticeable shift in our praise and worship at Tiferet Yeshua as the Lord has been allowing us to enter deeper into His glorious presence. People who come each week are more hungry and thirsty for the fellowship of the Holy Spirit than ever before, and they are being filled just as the Yeshua promised:

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.”

(John 7:37)

The struggles brought on by the violence, uncertainty and confusion we experienced in the wake of the October 7^th attack are forcing us to fight daily spiritual battles to maintain our faith, courage, joy and peace. By the end of the week, as we gather on Friday afternoons, we often feel the heaviness of the battle that rages around us. Yet, once music begins to play, within moments the atmosphere changes. It is as if the entire sanctuary is transported into a different dimension, separated from this world, and filled with joy, comfort, love, peace and adoration for our Creator and Savior.

As the atmosphere changes, our hearts change, allowing the Spirit of God to move in power with words of wisdom and encouragement, with healing and deliverance, creating our little piece of the Garden of Eden where, if only for a little while, we can escape into God’s presence through worshipping Him in spirit and in truth.

Of course, this escape into worship (for what else can you do in God’s presence but remain in awe of His goodness, mercy, grace and beauty all-around) cannot be a once-a-week occurrence. For me, this is the “secret place” we are to continuously seek to dwell in, being in this world but not of this world – as if we are in a different, protected dimension under God’s wings and in His shadow.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

(Psalm 91:1)

 

***Katy has served for years on worship teams at Tiferet Yeshua, studied Worship and Technical Arts at Christ for the Nations in Dallas TX. Today Katy serves at Tiferet Yeshua with her many talents as a worship leader, songwriter, writer, and office manager.***

The word of the Lord came to me again: “What do you see?”

“I see a pot that is boiling,” I answered. “It is tilting toward us from the north.”

-Jeremiah 1:13

Today, Israel is in a precarious position: while we continue fighting an incredibly difficult war in the south with an enemy embedded in densely populated civilian areas in the Gaza Strip, the winds of war are blowing more fiercely from the north. Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terrorist army which exerts de facto control over Lebanon, has been increasingly aggressive and provocative in its bombing against Israel’s north.

The Northern Threat

Hezbollah poses a much greater threat to Israel than Hamas. It is perhaps the most powerful terrorist army in the Middle East, and it is sitting on Israel’s northern border. Hezbollah manufactures and possesses a massive arsenal of deadly precision weapons, and, with the help of North Korea, it has invested in digging a vast network of terror tunnels considered much more dangerous than the Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip.

While it is much more powerful than Hamas, Hezbollah shares similar ideologies and modes of operation with Hamas: it openly states its goal to destroy Israel and does not care about endangering Lebanese civilians in achieving its war goals. Like Hamas, Hezbollah embeds its military infrastructures in populated civilian areas and stores weapons and deadly chemicals in schools, homes and civilian infrastructure all over Lebanon, including at the Beirut international airport.

Multi-Front War

Israel is in a dilemma and our enemies know it. For the past two decades, our top military commanders have been operating under the brilliant idea of turning the IDF into a “small and smart” army. Since the deadly October 7^th attack, we have discovered what “small and smart” really means: the IDF is unable to fight on more than one active front.

In the 1948, 1967 and 1973 wars, Israel had at least three active fronts. Right now, military experts are saying that we cannot open a war with Hezbollah in the north while we are still actively engaged in fighting in the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, they are saying that our troops are tired after months of intense fighting in Gaza and are not ready to jump into a war with Hezbollah in the north. Israel’s government is currently doing its best to come to a negotiated settlement in which Hezbollah withdraws from our northern border, and we both agree to fight on another day. Whether that will happen is anyone’s guess. What Israelis are left with is the feeling that the “boiling pot” in the north is tilting dangerously toward us, and a broader more catastrophic war with Hezbollah and Iran could break out at any moment.

But we are forgetting something important: we have faced and overcome, by God’s grace alone, much more dangerous, existential threats in the past.

Small and Surrounded

In 1967, Israel was a smaller, weaker and younger country than it is today. In May of that year, Egypt’s President Nasser evicted UN peacekeeping forces in the Sinai Peninsula, blocked the Straits of Tiran to cut Israel off from Red Sea commerce (an act of war), and deployed his troops on Israel’s southern border. At the same time, Syrian and Jordanian armies, in conjunction with Egypt, amassed on Israel’s eastern and northern borders. It looked as if Israel was poised on the eve of a multi-front invasion which it had no hope of overcoming.

International leaders warned Israel not to pre-emptively strike any of the Arab armies deployed on its borders, even though for months Nasser had been warning that they would wipe Israel off the map and throw all the Jews into the sea. Israel’s top military commanders were pushing for a pre-emptive strike, but the government was fearful and wanted to avoid war.

The Miraculous Outcome  

Finally, despite their fear and reservations, Israel’s government gave the green light for a pre-emptive strike. The result was nothing less than a jaw-dropping miracle: in six days, Israel prevailed over the armies of three of its most powerful neighbors against all odds. Not only that, it gained control of the Golan Heights (from which Syrian snipers had been constantly shelling Israeli farms), Judea and Samaria, and, most importantly, Israel’s capitol, Jerusalem.

Overnight, Israel went from being a small, weak country on the verge of annihilation to being the most powerful force in the Middle East – and not because it was receiving large amounts of the most modern armaments from its big brother, the United States. In fact, up until 1967, France had been Israel’s reluctant supplier of arms which it stopped just before the 1967 war. Israel’s startling victory was nothing less than God’s miraculous intervention – just like in 1948 with Israel’s miraculous War of Independence.

Victory in the Physical, Revival in the Spiritual

It is not a coincidence that right after Jerusalem came under Jewish control for the first time in over two thousand years a major revival broke out among Jewish youth in the counter-culture movement in the west at the end of the sixties and early seventies. Almost every major Jewish outreach ministry in existence today was established by Jews who came to faith in Messiah after 1967, including Ari and Shira Sorko-Ram who founded Tiferet Yeshua congregation.

The End-Time Northern Enemy

Ezekiel 38 gives a clear description of the antichrist [called Gog] leading his armies from the north against Israel, “a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate.” (Ez. 38:8) As horrible as the October 7th Hamas attack from the south was, we know that “[f]rom the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land.” (Jer. 1:14).  The threats of a more dangerous and disasterous war coming from Iran through Hezbollah on Israel’s norther border has some wondering, “Is this that war?”  Ezekiel 38 which speaks of the antichrist coming against a re-gathered Israel gives us some clear indications that such a war is not immediately imminent:

 “

 In the latter years you [Gog] will enter a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and all now dwell securely…

You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will come against a tranquil people who dwell securely, all of them living without walls or bars or gates…”

-Ezekiel 38:8, 11

Right now Israel is at war, on high alert and ready for a potential strike or is actively preparing to strike its enemies pre-emptively. That is a far-cry from being “a land recovered from war”.  Furthermore, after the October 7th attack in which peaceful, unsuspecting villages and towns were intfiltrated by hoards of murderous terrorists, towns and villages all across Israel began establishing armed civilian guard units, something only border communities or settlements in Judea and Samaria had in the past – the opposite of the “unprepared” villages in Ezekiel 38 without defences. 

Additionally, the Apostle Paul gives us further context that the Day of the Lord – when Messiah Himself comes to judge the nations and defeat the armies of the antichrist in Jerusalem – will come at a time when people are saying “peace and security”. (1 Thess. 5:1-7) No one in Israel today would describe our current reality as either peaceful or secure.

A Possible Broader War and How to Pray

If Israel ends up going to war with Hezbollah\Iran in the coming months, it is possible that another “Six Day War” miracle could happen – a situation in which Iran and all of its proxies are defeated, ushering in a period of calm and, ultimately, grace – time for more Jews and Arabs in the Middle East to discover and choose to follow the true Prince of Peace!

We ask that you pray together with us that God will give wisdom and courage to our leaders to make bold decisions like He gave to Israel’s leaders in 1948 and 1967, and that He would pour out the Spirit of revelation on the Middle East unto a great harvest before the coming of the great Day of the Lord. That day will ultimately come, but it will not come upon us as believers “as a thief in the night” if we reamain awake, steadfast and sober like Paul exhorts us. Until that day, may we all have our hearts and eyes focused on Him to become light- and love-filled witnesses to His holy name!

 

Every year right after Passover, there is a somber week during which Israelis observe Holocaust Remembrance Day, Memorial Day and Independence Day. This year, in light of the October 7th massacre, the ensuing war against Hamas and the dramatic rise of global antisemitism, Israelis are experiencing this week of memorials from fresh wounds of tragedy, loss, increasing antisemitism and global isolation.

In particular, we are seeing some haunting similarities between 1948 and 2024 through which we feel God challenging and encouraging us with meaningful lessons from the past.

The Context of Israel’s Declaration of Independence

To give some context to the developments leading up to the moment the fledgling Jewish settlement in their ancient homeland bravely announced their independence, it is important to know that from 1920 to 1948 the British controlled the area called “Palestine” after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire at the end of WWI.

It is worth knowing the source of the name “Palestine”: it does not have roots in the identity of the local Arab tribes living in the area under Ottoman rule but rather in the Roman occupation of Judea in the 1st century. In 135 AD after the second Jewish revolt, the Romans replaced the name Judea with “Palestina” in order to erase Jewish connection to the Land and to spite the Jews by naming their homeland and namesake, Judea, after their ancient enemies, the Philistines. Interestingly, the Philistine’s core settlement was located in the area that encompasses today’s Gaza Strip.

On November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly approved a plan that would partition British Mandate Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. The Jews accepted the plan but the Arabs rejected it out of hand and immediately began attacking Jewish Settlements. Caught in an increasingly violent conflict between the Jews and Arabs, the British were intent on ending their colonial responsibilities in Palestine and, in April 1948, announced that the official termination of British Mandate Palestine would happen on May 14th, 1948. It wasn’t the British withdrawal that made that date meaningful. The fame and importance of this day come from the fact that it was the date when Ben Gurion made the declaration of the Independent State of Israel. One day later, on Saturday May 15th 1948, five Arab armies invaded the day-old Israel.

 

 

The Declaration of Independence – An Act of Faith, Bravery or Insanity?

During their time ruling “Palestine”, the British were actively engaged in disarming Jewish militias up until the last day of their mandate on May 14, 1948. The Jewish paramilitary groups, which ultimately formed into the Israeli Defense Forces just two weeks after the Declaration of Independence, were highly motivated but poorly armed. While doing their best to find and seize Jewish weapons, the British were training and arming professional armies in Jordan and Egypt with modern armaments. The French Colonial powers were doing the same in Syria.

When the five Arab armies invaded the day-old State of Israel, these were armies that had been trained and armed by British and French colonial administrations. Of course it had not been their intent to train these forces in order that they would attack and prevail against the “illegal” Jewish State. However, the fact of the matter remains that when the British pulled out and the Arab armies attacked, the imbalance of firepower between the newly-formed IDF and the Arab armies was staggering: the Arab armies had much greater firepower with modern guns, tanks and even air forces. At the moment of the Declaration of Independence on May 14th, the Jewish State had guns and Molotov cocktails.  By May 18, the only heavy weaponry the IDF had were four old-fashioned howitzers used by the French army in the Franco-Prussian war.

 

 

Consequently, due to increasing violence and tensions in the Middle East, the United States, Britain and the United Nations enacted arms embargos against Israel and the Arab countries in Middle East. While the arms embargo was applied equally to the fledgling Jewish state and the Arab states, the Jewish state was in a woeful position as far as weapons while the Arab armies were fully armed. Over the course of Israel’s war of independence, Israel would be able to slowly procure weapons from Europe, much of which was World War I weaponry or even older. Czechoslovakia was the only government to flout the US, British and UN arms embargo to help Israel.

 

 

Against All Odds – the place where miracles happen

Looking at the image of IDF warriors using a 48-year-old cannon to fight in the War of Independence, I am in awe. I know that they weren’t just fighting for their independence. They were fighting for their survival, even if it meant using forty-year-old cannons or Molotov cocktails. They knew that defeat at the hands of the Arab armies would mean a complete massacre of the Jewish settlement – October 7th- style. Today in Israel, we have the most advanced and cutting edge weaponry supplied by the US, and we can’t imagine facing the hostile Muslim armies around us without being armed to the teeth with it. On October 7th, Israel felt assured in its military, its state of the art border fence around the Gaza Strip and its first class intelligence gathering – and in that moment it was actually never weaker.

Threats of Embargos and International Pressure

On May 9th, US President Jo Biden announced that the US would halt the delivery of bombs and artillery shells to Israel if it invaded Rafa in the Gaza Strip, causing many in Israel to panic and Israel’s enemies, Iran included, to applaud with glee. For three months, the fighting against the Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip has been paused, and Israelis and pundits alike have been wondering, “What are we waiting for? When are we going to invade Rafa and finish the job?” When Israeli forces finally entered Rafa, the American threat of even a partial embargo frightened many in Israel.

It has become obvious that the Netanyahu government has been holding off invading Rafa, the last Hamas stronghold in the Gaza Strip, because of American pressure. The Biden government is being steamrolled by the extremist left and Free-Palestinian mobs in an election year. In Israel there is a sickening feeling that we are losing heart and losing momentum while Hamas gains support around the world and gets to play for time with never-ending sham hostage negations.

We of course know that God was involved in the miracle of the birth of the state of Israel in 1948 against all odds – a nation born out of the ashes of the Holocaust and a prevailing climate of deep-seated antisemitism in most countries and governments. Back in 1948, President Truman who was in support of the Jewish State, ultimately gave in to an anti-Zionist and even anti-Semitic State Department and influential politicians who were interested in good relations with Arab oil states.

Today, I believe that the horrific attack on October 7th, the success and scope of which is mind-boggling, was God’s judgment against us in Israel in order to wake us up to seek Him and to make us get our priorities straight. At the same time, whenever God brings judgement upon Israel, He is also testing the nations as well as to how they will treat Israel in that moment. Right now, open rage and hatred of Israel and Jews is being expressed in ways we never imagined seeing again.

1948 and 2024 – a calendar convergence

Israel observes its national and biblical holidays with the Hebrew lunar calendar which moves by several days from year to year, even more in leap years like this year. The solar Gregorian calendar does not move in the same way so that, for instance, the first night of Passover 2023 fell on April 5th, and in 2024 it fell on April 22nd. This year, the Day of Independence, which is on the 5th of Iyar of the Hebrew calendar, falls on May 14th of the Gregorian calendar. In 1948, the 5th of Iyar fell on May 14th as well. This calendar convergence is not going unnoticed in Israel at a times she finds herself after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and in the greatest existential threat since the Yom Kippur war – the 50th anniversary of which fell on…October 7th of 2023.

So what does this convergence mean, if anything at all? For me, it is a stark reminder that our fate as a nation is in God’s hands, not our own and not in the amount or the quality of the weaponry we have. It is also a reminder that even if all our allies abandon us, God will not abandon us. When we realize that we are reliant on Him alone, the stress and anxiety of what the world is doing melts away. This Independence Day I am encouraged by the story of the victory God gave us in 1948 against all odds. We know that He did not return us to this land miraculously, in fulfilment of biblical prophecy, in order to destroy us. Though the nations will rage against us, it will get to the point where Messiah Himself will come and fight on our behalf.

A Great Need for Prayer

The starkest difference I see between Israel in 1948 and Israel today is the quality in her leadership. David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, was an extraordinary, single-minded, hard-working, no-nonsense man devoted to the State of Israel. He lived simply and worked hard. It is rare that political leaders have that quality, and doubtless they are men for the hour, just like Winston Churchill was in WWII Europe. Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government were beleaguered and compromised before October 7th, and now they are under immense pressure from within and without. Israelis know that Netanyahu has difficulty with making bold, critical decisions and withstanding international pressure. Please join us in prayer the God would guide and strengthen Prime Minister Netanyahu and his war cabinet to make bold decisions without fear and that their hearts would be instructed by the fear of the Lord instead!

Immediately following Passover, after rejoicing in God’s deliverance of our people and celebrating His mercy and miracles, we enter a very somber season. First, we mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, and, a week later, Memorial Day which then culminates in Israel’s Independence Day celebrations only 24 hours later – making us all feel a little bit like being on an emotional roller-coaster.

These “ups and downs” are extremely difficult to explain to someone who has never experienced them in such proximity.  Yet for Israelis it is a part of life, as even on the saddest days we draw strength from stories of bravery and resilience, acknowledging the fact that no matter what troubles we have encountered along the way, we are still here… still strong… and are not going anywhere.

When I do, however, attempt to explain how we can endure this rollercoaster every year, Psalm 30 immediately comes to mind.

Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning.

-Psalm 30:4-5

Since October 7, Israelis have been struggling with continuous loss, worry for hostages and soldiers, and darkness intertwined with the joys of life – not only national holidays, but also family celebrations of birthdays, newborns, weddings, and the general appreciation of being alive.

From the first verse of Psalm 30 until the last, these moments of rising and falling are intertwined with continuous thanksgiving and praise to our Lord – the one who lifts us up when we cry out, the one who heals us, the one whose anger is for a moment yet whose favor is for life, the one who hides His face but then turns towards us and transforms our mourning into dancing and gladness.

Most Israelis have what I believe is a God-given belief that we will rise up stronger than before – how else could we survive living in this country “pressed on every side”?

It is interesting that already in October right after the attacks, one of the top internet searches in Israel was “Tehillim” – Psalms. Religious or secular, willingly or not-so-willingly, Jews are connected to this land and to our God, the God of Israel, and, as a result, we tend to seek Him in times of trouble.

I believe this is exactly the reason why Paul states with such confidence in Romans 11:26 that “all Israel will be saved.” As Israeli believers we pray this verse daily over our nation, and we invite you to do the same as part of God’s olive tree.

One day, God will wipe away every tear, and sorrow will be no more – this hope is lifting us up during our present struggles, and it is our prayer that this hope will encourage and lift you up in any sorrows or loss you may be enduring.

by Katy Sorsher Smith

 

Lately, one of my favorite pastime amusements is “name that Bible verse”. I came up with this game myself: someone quotes a Bible verse in English and I try to quote it in Hebrew from memory (I am a native Hebrew speaker and English is a second language to me). I have made many amusing discoveries through this game, like guessing what the Bible translator intended or my surprise at realizing how much I didn’t understand the original Hebrew. However, the most interesting thing I discovered through this game is actually a treasure: the word “presence” in the context of the presence of God:

The excavation of this treasure actually began when I was thinking about the Hebrew translation of the well-known worship song “I Will Exalt” by Amanda Cook which we often sing and are blessed to worship God with at Tiferet Yeshua. The two opening words of the song are “Your Presence”, two words which easily bring to mind a number of Bible verses from memory….in English. However, those words in modern Hebrew (nochechutcha) would not bring to mind any bible verses.

Of course, if Moses spoke English, he would have said:

“If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here”

(Exodus 33:15 NKJ)

In Hebrew, however, it is written:

“If Your face does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.”

(Exodus 33:15)

The biblical word “panecha” (Your face) in Hebrew is rendered in English as “presence”. In the Hebrew translation of the above-mentioned song, we did not use the biblical Hebrew original in relation to the word “presence” but rather translated the word literally, using the modern Hebrew word instead.

The definition of “nochechut” (presence) in modern Hebrew is “residing or being in a certain place”. For me, this definition might call to mind being in a boring work meeting in which I can’t actually claim being “present” just because I am physically in the conference room with my co-workers.

However, when we say “face” in spoken modern Hebrew, in most contexts the definition is “the front part of the human or animal head, from the forehead to the chin”. In said work meetings, more often than not my “face” is actually turned toward the cell phone in my hand. So, am I actually present in the meeting?

It follows then that I can suggest that the word “face” adds to the word “presence” the meaning of attention and eyes intently focused.

Take a look at the word “face” in the biblical Hebrew which is translated as “presence” in the following verses:

 

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob

(Psalm 114:7 BSB)

מִלִּפְנֵי אָדוֹן חוּלִי אָרֶץ מִלִּפְנֵי אֱלוֹהַּ יַעֲקֹב (תהילים 114:7)

 

Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him in song.

(Psalms 95:2 BSB)

נְקַדְּמָה פָנָיו בְּתוֹדָה בִּזְמִרוֹת נָרִיעַ לוֹ (תהילים 95:2)

Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

(Jonah 1:3)

וַיָּקָם יוֹנָה לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְשִׁישָׁה, מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה (יונה 1:3)

Isn’t that a wonderful meaning of the word “presence”? God’s face, His eyes turned towards us, His focused attention which His face expresses.

The root of the modern Hebrew word for presence “נ.כ.ח” (N.K.H) comes from a word which appears in the Bible, mostly in context to location, as alternatives to the words “face”, “opposite of”, or “in front of”. For example:

For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths.

(Provers 5:21 BSB)

כִּי נֹכַח עֵינֵי ה’ דַּרְכֵי אִישׁ וְכָל מַעְגְּלֹתָיו מְפַלֵּס (משלי 5:21)

Let’s remember that the word “presence” in biblical Hebrew is “face”, and therefore the presence of God is His face. To be in the presence of God is to be in the gaze of His face, His illuminating, holy face. When we are in front of His face, we cannot but be aware of the focus of His eyes upon us, and we cannot but look back at Him and worship Him.

-Shlomit Goldman

 

The Gospels tell us that, immediately after Yeshua’s last breath, the veil in the Temple separating the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place was torn from top to bottom. Even though the Gospels do not explain the significance of this event, we view it as a declaration by God that every believer is now allowed into His holy presence, as beforehand only the High Priest was allowed in once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The Apostle Paul describes it in this way:

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain of His body…let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith…” –(Heb. 10:19-20, 22)

Since I first became a believer, I saw the rending of the veil as an expression of God’s mercy towards us, a consequence of Yeshua’s last words, “It is finished.”

Just recently, however, God gave me a glimpse into His side of the story.

As I was pondering the outline of a teaching I would like to present to Tiferet Yeshua Congregation,  I came to the part of the torn veil, and God gave me a vision of a cemetery: I saw a family burying a loved one – something we are unfortunately used to these days due to over 600 soldiers who have lost their lives in the war— and one of the cemetery’s rabbis (serving as a priest) made a  cut on the clothes of the immediate family, from top to bottom, as a symbol of mourning.

Kriah, the Jewish tradition of tearing of one’s clothes from top to bottom as a sign of mourning, is mentioned numerous times in the Bible. When the Patriarch Jacob thought his son Joseph was dead, he tore his garments (Gen. 37:34). David and his men rent their clothing upon hearing about the deaths of King Saul and Jonathan (II Sam. 1:11). Job, grieving the death of his children, stood up and tore his clothing (Job 1:20).

The Lord opened my eyes, and I realized that the rending of the veil in the Temple which we see as a sign of God’s mercy towards us was, in fact, God Himself tearing His clothes as a sign of mourning for His Only Son.  In that moment, God lost a part of Himself, and, though He knew it would not be for long, it was His time to grieve. As the prophet Daniel prophesied, God the Father experienced having His own Son cut off from Him:

” …the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing.” (Dan. 9:26)

This Passover, as we remember Yeshua’s death as a Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world, let us also remember the unbelievable cost God Himself had to pay to give us that forgiveness and the access into His presence.

by Katy Sorsher

 

Five months have passed since the horrific Hamas attack against Israel on October 7th. In that time, the world has moved on, and the majority of international public opinion has settled on the narrative that “Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza” while ignoring or being ignorant of the basic facts, context and history of this conflict.

Here are a few of those basic facts many in the world need an education on right now:

• Free Palestine? Israel was not occupying the Gaza Strip! In 2005, Israel completely withdrew from the Gaza Strip after dramatically dismantling Jewish settlements there. A year later, Hamas was elected, and Gaza has effectively been a “Palestinian State” since then.

 

• Israeli Aggression? Rather: Israeli restraint! In response to the constant rocket attacks coming from the “Palestinian state” of Gaza, Israel invested in an advanced rocket defense system rather than launching a full-scale ground war, opting for surgical precision strikes against Hamas military targets to avoid civilian causalities.

 

• Israeli Genocide in Gaza? The world press and world leaders, including US President Biden, have been quoting the Hamas health ministry causality report numbers which are extremely high. Respected statistical studies of those reports reveal that Hamas numbers are, in all likelihood, highly exaggerated. Considering the number of Hamas combatants killed which Israel reported in the context of statistical data from other urban conflicts, Israel is actually doing a remarkable job limiting the number of civilian deaths while fighting a cruel enemy hiding behind its citizens.

In the years since 2006 when Hamas started launching rocket attacks against Israel’s southern communities from the “liberated” Gaza Strip, I remember Israeli politicians and political pundits wrangled back and forth over the Gaza conundrum: invading the Strip would include civilian causalities due to the nature of urban warfare in a densely populated area like the Gaza Strip and the reality of Hama’s evil nature to hide behind its own civilians. Analysts also knew that many Israeli soldiers would lose their lives in a Gaza ground-offensive invasion (which they have); during those years Israel became overly protective of its soldiers. All of that changed on October 7^th.

After the mind-blowing brutality against our innocent civilians, all of the fog surrounding the “Gaza Conundrum” became startlingly clear. It is our national and moral obligation to destroy Hamas.

 

HOW ARE WE DOING NOW?

For us in Israel, we are living a different reality than the rest of the world. In the immediate weeks and months following the Hamas attack, everyone, on one level or another, was still dealing with trauma (fear, anxiety, depression). What added insult to injury was witnessing the growing Jew hatred around the world and mind-boggling criticism and hatred of Israel.

God’s love and grace and the passing of time continue to heal, help and encourage us. As a nation, we are also experiencing a great level of solidarity. As a congregation, we are seeing a deeper level of spiritual maturity and togetherness. However, we are still living in a reality of:

• mourning for the loss of so much life, for the lives of many soldiers who are continuing to fall in the line of duty in Gaza, and for the 130 hostages still held by Hamas in abominable conditions

 

• fear, anxiety, pressure anticipating the very real possibility that an all-out war with Hezbollah may break out in the coming weeks\ months. Israeli authorities have been preparing and directing citizens in certain areas to prepare for a war in which a). the entire country will be covered in rocket\armed drone attacks b). we will possibly be spending days and weeks on end in safe rooms and bomb shelters c). there’s a high possibility that we will be without electricity and water

 

• sadness, depression over the entire situation, realizing and coming to terms with (or not) the fact that antisemitism is alive and growing in a way we never imagined.

It is hard to convey how Israelis feel when we see how willingly and vigorously so many in the world latch onto misleading or blatantly false statements and ideas about Israel and the situation we are in. When you are publicly lied about and defamed, it is painful, distressing, and even traumatic. All Israelis are feeling that right now.

We want to thank you for your love, care and concern for all of us during this time. We also thank you for committing to standing in the gap for Israel during this critical time.

A WAVE OF SPIRITUAL AWAKENING

Please also pray for the advancement of the gospel in Muslim nations. We are hearing amazing reports of the Body of Messiah growing by leaps and bounds in places like Iran and Afghanistan. A wave of spiritual awakening is sweeping the Middle East, and we believe it’s on its way to us!

As people of faith and a part of this nation, we are keenly aware that throughout our history God has used our enemies to bring judgement against us and return us to Him. The book of Judges is a template of how God used Israel’s enemies to chasten the fledgling nation dwelling in the Promised Land whenever they lost sight of their identity as His chosen people and began worshipping other gods, thus enacting the covenant curses He enumerated in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. Today, the lines of this curse speak to new, deep wounds in our souls which they describe:

The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven…

You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and rape her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it…

 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand…

The sights you see will drive you mad. -Deuteronomy 28:25, 30, 32, 34

In response to enemy attack, ancient Israel would repent and cry out to God to save them, and He would raise up a deliverer. Israel continued in this sad cycle throughout her ancient history until God began sending His prophets to warn and call the people to repent and return to God, lest He bring destruction and exile upon them. Finally, God sent the great Prophet, Yeshua Himself, who stood overlooking Jerusalem and sorrowfully declared her impending judgement that would result in an exile lasting nearly two-thousand years…until 1948.

THE CHASTENING OF MODERN ISRAEL

Since the establishment of the modern state of Israel (a miracle and fulfillment of biblical prophecy), Israel has experienced two main instances of God’s chastening through our enemies: the Yom Kippur War which began on October 6^th, 1973 and again, fifty years later (according to the Gregorian calendar), on October 7^th, 2023—a day which fell on another biblical holy day (according to the lunar calendar), the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles when we celebrate the Word of God given by Moses to the Israelites.

The surprise attacks Israel experienced in 1973 and 2023 have a number of elements in common. In both instances, Israel’s government and military were completely caught off guard. In the wake of each attack, the entire nation, including our leaders, was struck by the terror that this attack could be a third “chorban bait” which refers to the destruction of the two temples: in other words, national destruction.

In the months since October 7^th and the years since the Yom Kippur War, it became apparent that pride and arrogance in the government and security agencies caused a great institutional blindness to the many warning signs of an attack. Indeed, the failures in each instance are so egregious that is clear God struck our leaders with blindness.

Finally, each of these terrible blows against modern Israel came on two of our most significant biblical holidays: Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles). Understanding that as a nation, we are in the template of blessings and curses God established in the Torah, today we must tune our ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to us. The voices of the prophets who spoke to this nation in ancient days and foreshadowed our present regathered nation echo the same message time and again:

My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water. -Jeremiah 2:13

OCTOBER 7TH: A FIERCER JUDGEMENT

The attack we suffered on October 7^th was far worse than what struck us fifty years earlier. On Yom Kippur 1973, Arab armies attacked us from vast open territory in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights. Yom Kippur war battles were fought between the military forces outside of population centers. On the early morning of October 7^th, a Sabbath and a holiday, Hamas terrorists crossed a matter of a few kilometers to attack defenseless farms, villages and cities where many were still asleep in their beds; they entered homes and perpetrated massacres that defy description. They massacred our people completely unhindered for most of the day because the army and security forces were in utter confusion and disarray.

JUDGEMENT OVER WHAT?

One of the greatest massacres on October 7^th took place at Nova, the desert rave where terrorists paraglided into the middle of partygoers. In one of the news broadcasts, I saw in the central pavilion set up for the party, the partygoers had erected a giant statue of Buddha around which they danced all night. My heart broke when I saw that. Many in Israel who saw that blatant display of idolatry did the quick arithmetic of “God is judging the hedonistic, secular Israelis for the sin of idolatry.” On many social media sites, Israelis lamented “the sin of the golden calf” at the Nova festival. But what I saw at that party were the lost sheep of Israel.

BROKEN CISTERNS

When Jews who have left orthodox Judaism seek spiritual meaning, they seek it in mysticism and eastern religions which they see as the only options open to them. Due to the legacy of Christian\western antisemitism which culminated in the holocaust and rabbinic teaching that the New Testament is a forbidden, dangerous Christian book a great barrier exists between even secular Israelis and the revelation of Yeshua as the Messiah.  While many, including many believers here in the Land, indeed saw October 7^th as God’s judgment on the sins of secular Israel – abortion, immorality and materialism—I felt strongly that the judgement of the Lord was against the spiritual shepherds of Israel who had rejected Him, the source of living waters, hindering anyone else from Him:

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD. Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away….” -Jeremiah 23:1-2

THE MESSAGE OF THE LAST DAY OF SUKKOT

In February we shared the prophetic word that our brother Oren received just weeks before the October 7^th attack. In the word, the Lord said that He would bring great suffering on our people in order to break the shell of religion which is keeping them in spiritual exile and hindering them from coming to Yeshua, the source of living waters.

In the days and weeks after the attack, while we were processing everything that had happened in the light of the word that the Lord had graciously given us, we realized that there was a deep and important message in the fact that the attack came on the last day of Sukkot, traditionally called Simchat Torah when we celebrate the giving of the Word of God. We realized with awe that our Lord, the Word of God made flesh, stood in the Temple two thousand years ago on the very same day and cried out:

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” -John 7:37-38

We believe that Yeshua’s cry to come to Him, the source of living waters and the living Word of God, is going out to our people right now in a more powerful way than ever. Our people have been led to broken cisterns (rabbinic Judaism) or have been fleeing to other broken cisterns (secularism, mysticism), but we believe that through this great tragedy that God allowed to strike us, many are seeking for truth more earnestly than ever and, in His faithfulness and mercy, He is drawing them to Him. Please stand in prayer with the people of Israel in this hour of trial that the shell of religion would shatter and release the people of Israel to come to their Messiah, the source of living waters.