Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you.” (Isaiah 35:3-4)
You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Behold your God!” (Isaiah 40:9)
Israelis lacking in faith were feeling a little shaky following an interview that US President Barack Obama gave to an American writer, and which was published overnight Sunday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was winging his way abroad.
Locally the statements made by Obama were seen as a warning directed at Israel’s leader: Blared the headlines in the Times of Israel (March 3, 2014) “For Netanyahu, a bombshell battering by Obama.”
I will not reproduce here the menacing rhetoric the American president (once regarded as the most powerful man in the world) employed in a transparent attempt to turn up the heat on Bibi. I will not quote it, and this article will not react to it.
Netanyahu, though, is ready for whatever reception he might receive at the White House. When he departed Ben Gurion Airport en route to Washington, the Israeli leader set his jaw as he spoke to the cameras at the foot of the gangway:
“In recent years the State of Israel has been under various pressures,” he said. “We have rejected them in the face of the unprecedented storm and unrest in the region and are maintaining stability and security.
“This is what has been and what will be.”
And as he left Israel, the organisation “Women for Israel’s Tomorrow” (WFIT) published an open letter with words of exhortation to strengthen the PM’s resolve.
“He Who turns the wheels of history has presented you with the challenge of your life at an optimum point in time,” it began, sounding reminiscent of the words Mordechai spoke to Esther.
Until now, the letter continued, the prime minister had “maneuvered wisely” through the shark-infested waters of US-led diplomacy vis-à-vis the Jewish state. Now Israel has reached a decisive moment, when it was possible “to strengthen our position.” A realistic “Zionist” alternative could be made to the US-pushed land-for-peace approach: Israel should extend its sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley.
Conceding that such a course of action would not be easy, these women of faith were nonetheless sure that “the difficulties associated with sovereignty are preferable to the physical and spiritual destruction entailed in the establishment of a terrorist Palestinian state in the heart of our Land.”
It is quite certain that the overwhelming majority of people reading that letter would roll their eyebrows at the ‘naïveté’ of it all.
Benjamin Netanyahu, with all his astonishing accomplishments despite the realpolitik universe in which he has to operate, is in no way, shape or form going to act on that advice. Far, far too many currents are at work behind the scenes, currents “ordinary” people know nothing about. Indeed, as a former senior advisor to Netanyahu told me, deceptive diplomacy conceals an unimaginable amount of arm twisting, dark threats, manipulation, and blackmailing of Israeli leaders who pass through the doors of the Oval Office.
Oh, how very much we would want the prime minister to seize the initiative in this war for the security and existence of his people.
But we have no illusions here. Or let me personalize this: I have no illusions.
Over the years he has been in office, my observations of Prime Minister Netanyahu have led me to assess him as the best man for the job and, more importantly, that he was appointed to this position “for such a time as this.”
This does not at all mean that I expect him to be able, in and of himself, to find a way through the serpent’s looped coils,
Not to forget, either, the findings of a national poll published as Netanyahu was packing his suitcase for this trip, according to which 73 percent of Israelis would support the signing of an agreement with PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas. (The leftist press frequently crosses ethical lines to try influence the outcome on the political landscape here.)
But for the same reason that my faith in Israel’s future is not in this man, I do not fear the wily machinations of the officials who have been working around the clock to lay the snare into which they hope to have lured the Israeli. Nor are opinion polls causing me sleepless nights.
On top of that, does Ha’aretz journalist Chemi Shalev really think that people of faith are intimidated by the mocking way in which he sought to pre-empt an assessment of the kind I am making here?
God is fighting for Israel. And as the good Book says: He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.
In His world, and thus in mine, coincidences don’t exist – especially when it comes to the fate of the Jewish people and their land.
Whether through political upheavals and global threats of war, such as the one being witnessed in the Ukraine, by weather systems, like those today smothering Washington DC, or by vainglorious distractions like Sunday night’s Oscar Awards, or in any one of numerous other ways – there is no doubt Who sits on the throne.
And there is no doubting His power.
Or do we really think that He is going to let the Obama administration get away with rolling back the miraculous restoration of the Jews to their land that He has been overseeing now for more than 150 years?
Millennia ago, when the Israelites were standing shaking in fear on the shores of the Red Sea as Pharaoh his chariots and his horsemen raced furiously towards them, a strong voice – filled with unreasonable and unshakeable faith – called reassuringly to them:
“Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.” (Exodus 14:13)
In this way we who believe in the God of Israel can encourage His people today.
“Don’t fear or be anxious, Israel. Just stand and watch Him at work. He is your God, mighty to save.”
Shalom Stan.. well said and keep up the good work
Stan, I have just studied the Exodus again, where G-d used just his Prophet and the elements to bring down the superpower of its day. He destroyed their water supply, their year’s food supply, their transport animals, their beaurocratic network, their king and heir and their army, weakened their people and opened them up to invasion. Despite theories, that arrogant Pharaoh has suffered the worst of fates, his name is erased from history; he is forgotten. I stand on a watchtower and observe!
As for Obama
Revelation 16:14 (KJV)
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
“Zion is the city of David”. 2 Samuel 5:7 – Thank you Stan, I know you see as God see’s,. Everyone that truly love’s the Lord, should be praying King David’s prayer, and reading Isaiah’s words often……
Psalm 51:1-4 “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned….”
Isaiah 51:1-5 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: …; look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was only one man, and I blessed him and increased him. The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins.\, he will make her deserts like Eden,…. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing. Listen to me, my people; hear me, my nation: Instruction will go out from me; my justice will become a light to the nations. My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations.
Oh, if only Mr Netanyahu would read the text below and would act like this, and with him the beloved people of Israel. What great wonders would happen. But the LORD is doing it anyway!!
Is there anyone who can bring this at Mr. Netanyahu’s attention??
1 Kings 19
Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: “LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, LORD, and hear; open your eyes, LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. “It is true, LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, LORD, are God.”
God answers:
This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him (Sennacherib): “‘Virgin Daughter Zion despises you and mocks you. The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.
Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! By your messengers you have ridiculed the Lord.
“‘But I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me. Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.’ “The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
“Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: “‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the LORD.
I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’”
Thank you for your comment, Evn. But that’s just it. I am NOT trusting Prime Minister Netanyahu for anything. Not that I by any means agree with all the conspiratorial stuff swirling around concerning him, much less all the slander. I have been an extremely close follower of his leadership since his first “crowning” when we were literally next-door neighbours and my then still brand-new wife enjoyed a ride in his car. Not suggesting that he knows me – he doesn’t of course. But I have observed how much he is hated and pilloried from both sides – how while the shock of the Rabin assassination was still palpable in Israel and the left wing was blaming everyone on the right, and Jews everywhere were wondering how it could have come to that – a Jew killing a Jew – that the left’s hatred for Netanyahu was palpable and even expressed to me in terms of wanting to assassinate HIM. I WAS close to his top advisor during his first term, the late David Bar-Ilan, and he spelled out very clearly to me the levels of political blackmail that were brought to bear against Netanyahu at Wye River, which brought him to agree to the Hebron handover. Fact is there is so much more than we know, but what I DO know, is that Israel’s safety and existence does not lie primarily in the hands of its political leadership, but in the hands of the One who installed them in office. I pray for Bibi and I will continue to pray that – perhaps in his lonely hours when he feels nearly crushed by the weight of the responsibility he carries – this nation’s future in an increasingly Jew-hating world – the prime minister will call upon the Fear of Isaac – the God of his fathers. I know He will hear him.
Don’t trust Netanyahu. Always remember, he is the one who moved heaven and earth to give most of the heart of the heartland of Israel, Hebron, to the Muslims.
He is a grandstander, but his red lines erode so easily, viz. the 14 he’d set for agreeing with the disengagement from Gush Katif and the northern Shomron.
Note what a spoiler he is in every nationalistic move, viz. to curb the power of the Masonic Supreme Court of Israel – because he is a high level Mason himself.
In the end he is not loyal to Israel, but executes to agenda of the CFR.
Note that he is not building outside the ten selltlement blocks, in which he builds to accommodate settlers outside these blocks. In the end he aims to unilaterally withdraw from all of Judea and Samaria outside these settlement blocks.
The best thing that Obama can do for Israel and the United States{and for everyone else}is to RESIGN — and the sooner the better!!
Well done, Stan. While there is no way we can know how it’s all going to be played out, we do know that it will be done A/ for the glory of God, and B/ for the good of His people. And this must be our desire and the core of our praying as Believers. And of course we need to pray the He will guide Bibi in this meeting, giving him the wisdom he needs. And Paul assures us that “All Israel will be saved” – and that is totally saved, spiritually and physicallly.
PTL GOD is in control. Well said Stan
I appreciate your comment Simantov – though I disagree with your statement about what lies ahead for Israel. I have absolutely no doubt that, while the Lord will continue to punish Israel in measure for her sins (Jeremiah 30:11) until the day she turns fully back to Him, the most painful time in HER history is now behind her. She’s has had her great tribulation (Matthew 24:21), has paid over the last 2000 years – beginning with the holocaust under the Romans and ending with the Holocaust under Hitler – double for all her sins, and we are to comfort her. (Isaiah 40:1-2). Now the Lord is to take the cup out of her hand and put in the hand of those who have afflicted her (Isaiah 51:21-23). As the light of the Lord’s mercy and favour is rising to shine over Zion, terrible darkness is descending on the gentile nations – our nations. (Isaiah 60:1-3) And the nation and kingdom that does not serve Israel shall perish and be utterly ruined (Isaiah 60:12). Please see my article here for further insight if you care to. And please continue to keep this nation in prayer. May the Lord who chose Jerusalem bless you out of Zion!
There are many that depict Netanyahu as a hero for Israel. There is no question he is in this position because The Lord has put him there, but many do not understand that the ultimate prophetic fulfillment Bibi is to bring is division of the land and it’s people. Read Zechariah chapters 12 to 14′ we are today living this time. The prophet Joel also saw this time many years ago as recorded in the first verses of chapter three. You are watching the foundation of the most painful time in Israel’s history being laid right now!
Well said, well written. The hand of God is in it! We will continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Great job (as usual) Stan! I, too, believe Bibi is in his position for a reason at this time. Perhaps it is to perservere only – but that is saying a lot in today’s world. When we keep our eyes upon the Lord, it makes many things much more tolerable. The Lord holds it all in His hands, even when we think it doesn’t look like it.
Jane said it best, and I also agree with Paula, we are in big trouble. I’d rather be in Israel.
And now, the world will begin to blame The Jews for all the trouble/turmoil in Crimea and Ukraine.
You watch as it’s broadcast “The Jews are conspirators in all this!” “In GOD, some of us still trust!”
Amen?
Great commentary as always Stan and great comments also. Bibi is G-d’s man for this very hour for His Chosen and is always at least 10 steps ahead of the Islamic Usurper in the White House. Israel is in Safe Hands, both on the ground and in The Kingdom. We are honoured and humbled to have been blessed in being grafted into His Vine! Shalom.
Watch. Obama is speaking judgement to himself and the US. Every curse upon Israel will be turned around. Gen. 12:3. Ps. 129:5.
Please know that all Americans are not in Obama’s camp. There are believers all over this nation who are on their knees daily praying for Israel and Bibi. When the time comes, God Himself will protect Israel and no one will be able to withstand God’s power when He brings Israel’s enemies to their knees. I, among a vast number of Americans are ashamed of this tool of satan who is in power. We are being punished for our national sins and we deserve what we get. The America I grew up in is no more and never will be again. My trust is in the Lord who made heaven and earth!
I agree with Mr. Shook! God is in control, but I pray daily for Bibi and for Israel!!
You say it well, Stan. I have to keep reminding myself that this isn’t between Netanyahu and Obama, or Israel against the US and Europe, but the bottom line is that it’s between Satan and God. Just as Satan tried to stop Moses by causing all the murder of all the Hebrew babies, and just as he tried to stop Yeshua (Jesus) by again causing the deaths of the infants, just as Satan tried to stop God’s plan of restoring Israel by murdering six million Jews — it remains that there is NOTHING Satan can do to stop the restoration of Israel. I hate, though, sitting in the country whose leader is currently playing Satan’s part. It’s us we have to worry about, not Israel!
One Jew plus God is a majority.