All eyes and ears are on the Land of Israel. Believers and nonbelievers alike are wondering what is going to happen to this place that many call the “Holy Land”. Many are looking to the news media to give them answers concerning what is taking place in the Land where the God of Israel has put His Name (I Kings 11:36; II Chronicles 6:6). The difficulty is that if we only get our information from secular media sources, we are not getting the whole truth concerning current events and we can easily lose sight of the awesome Plan that God has for His Land and His People.

One of the dangers of only getting our information from television and/or newspapers is that it could lead us to judge matters with earthly wisdom instead of by the Spirit of Almighty God. We need to go to the only true and reliable source and get our facts and that is the Word of God. For the Word of the Almighty is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12 NAS).  Now let us take a look at what the Word says about Israel.

From the beginning of Creation, in Genesis, we find the struggle over inheritance between Abraham’s two sons; the battle then and now is between Isaac, the son of   promise and Ishmael, the son of the slave women, (Genesis 15 & 16; Galatians 4:21-31). The covenant that God gave to Abraham says:

Psalm 105:6-11
O seed of Abraham, His servant, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth. He has remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac. Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan As the portion of your inheritance." (NAS)

Amos 9:14-15
"Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, And make gardens and eat their fruit.”  “I will also plant them on their land, and they will not again be rooted out from their land which I have given them," Says the LORD your God. (NAS)

The fight through history, even through this present time, has always been over who will inherit the Promised Land. We find in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible which expound Gods teaching and instructions) a prophetic picture of what will happen to Israel -- past, present and future. Deuteronomy foretold of what would happen to the Land of Israel.

Deuteronomy 29:22-24
 Now the generation to come, your sons who rise up after you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land, when they see the plagues of the land and the diseases with which the LORD has afflicted it, will say, "All its land is brimstone and salt, a burning waste, unsown and unproductive, and no grass grows in it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger and in His wrath." (NAS).

The Promise Land today is exactly like it was described in Deuteronomy. The land is desolate and a barren wasteland compared to the land that was flowing with milk and honey when the children of Israel crossed over the Jordan River. Why did this happen?

Why was the Land laid waste?

Deuteronomy 29: 25-29
Then men will say, "Because they forsook the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt."

"They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they have not known and whom He had not allotted to them. "Therefore, the anger of the LORD burned against that land, to bring upon it every curse which is written in this book; and the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger and in fury and in great wrath, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.' ""The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law. (NAS) 

Israel sinned against God, they chose cursing instead of blessings. They were disobedient to God and the covenant He made with them on Mt. Sinai. They defiled the land with their idols, and they were dispersed among the nations. They were scattered among the ethnos (nations) and had no place to call their own. They were cast into other lands until this very day.     

We find that the God of Israel is a forgiving God. 

Ezekiel 36:21-24
""But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went. ""Therefore say to the house of Israel, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. ""I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. ""For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. (NAS)

God is going to act on behalf of the people for His Name’s sake. He will prove Himself Holy among them as He brings them back from the nations and gathers back His people called by His Name (Israel) returning them to the land Israel.

Can the world legislate peace to the nation Israel?

Zechariah 14:1-9
Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!

In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. For it will be a unique day which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light. And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter. And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one. (NAS)

We see that the Lord is going to fight this battle and His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives and HE will be KING over all the earth!

There is a stirring in the hearts of the believers for Israel; the land, and His people, because the Lord is coming soon! The Father is calling us to be watchmen on the walls (Isaiah 62:1-7; 52:8-10; Jeremiah 31:6).

Isaiah 62:6-7
On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; All day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the LORD, take no rest for yourselves; and give Him no rest until He establishes And makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. (NAS)

We have a responsibility as believers in Israel’s redeemer, Yeshua Ha Machiach  (Jesus the Messiah), to pray and intercede for God’s people, to proclaim what God is doing on the earth.

What follows is an e-mail from a Jewish brother from the Mountains of Elon Moreh, an Orthodox Jewish settlement in the heart of Judea and Samaria, just a few days after the Feast of Tabernacles Celebration (Sukkot):

It has been a long and difficult two weeks, - I am sure that you saw the funeral of Rabbi Hillel Leiberman, the lynch and the shootings on our houses and cars. I know that you all are worried about the situation here, so this is a short update for you. As it has been during the last 25 years, we here in the villages in Judea and Samaria, are at the front of the battle. The PLO, with the armaments that our governments gave them, are now using them against us.  One does not know, when rocks will be thrown at you or bullets shot at you while traveling the roads in our area.  Our villages that are close to Arab towns and cities have been fired on. We had a meeting with the local commander of the reserves last night, who is also head of one of the Yeshivot (Jewish school).  He told us to prepare for a long and difficult time.  He added that each generation gets their opportunity for mesirut nefesh (total dedication) for Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel).  Thank Hashem (God), we have a lot of them! This update is being continued on the day after Sukkot.  It was a difficult Sukkot to be happy on - during the Chag (Holiday), Rabbi Herling was murdered on Har Eval. And to make the feeling even worse, after building our Sukka, it started raining.  Many of us could not have our meal in the Sukka (booth). Yet, Even with this "new" situation, we are doing well.  The Simchat (Joy of the Torah) did come and hundreds of thousands danced all over our country during the Chag and on Shmeni Atzeret - Simchat Torah. We are strong in body and belief.  We are sure, that Hashem has a great plan going on. Every day we see nisim (miracles)- bombs under buses explode and no one is hurt - cars are fired into and everyone is fine. More and more of the Ami (people) are realizing the huge disaster that our leaders are taking us through and are demanding a change. One has to thank Hashem - the "Good Lord."  Since 1986, we have been warning our people that there is no peace with murderers and there will never be peace without Eretz Yisrael in our hands. Yet, we are a people that so much wants peace, that a good percentage of us are willing to believe in almost anyone who promises us peace.  Had the present outbreak not happened, it is possible that our government would have signed a "final peace agreement" with the PLO murderers.  In that agreement we would have agreed to give away some 95% of Yehuda and Shomron (Judea and Samaria) and part of Yerushalayim. Can one imagine, if what is happening today had happened in 5 years from now, with the PLO in charge of so much more Land?  And with a larger standing army than today? In steps Hashem and just like with Pharaoh, Hashem "hardened" Yassers heart. A limited war breaks out and now ... Eretz Yisrael was once again saved. As you can imagine, the tourist industry has taken a real blow and many of my fellow guides were without work at all for the Chag.  Tomorrow, I leave for 3 days with a Yeshiva to the Negev - a great place to tour and hike now. What started out to be a short update has become a Megila, but I hope that you have received a real picture of what is going on. Many of you have asked me in your E - Mail, how you can help - to that I shall respond in my next update. Shalom, From Eretz Yisrael

How can we help our brothers in the land of Israel? We, the believers in the Redeemer, Yeshua (God Is Our Salvation), have a big part to play in all this because we also are part of Israel. We are the lost sheep and we can lay claim to the covenants and promises of Abraham. Galatians 3:29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise. (NAS) 

Ephesians2:11-13  
Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called ""Uncircumcision'' by the so-called ""Circumcision,'' which is performed in the flesh by human hands remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Eph 2:19 –22) So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. (NAS)

Our New Covenant was written to two houses: the House of Judah and the House of Israel. Which house do you belong?

Hebrews 8:8-10
For finding fault with them, He says, ""BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH; NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD. "" FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. (NAS)

If we as the believers in Yeshua (Jesus) are not one of these two houses, then we are no part of the New Covenant. If you notice, a little further down in the verse, you see it is speaking to the House of Israel by proclaiming a future event. At the time this was written, the two houses of Israel were not united and still are not (Ezekiel 37). It has only been in recent years that we have begun to see a forming of a united Israel. The modern nation of Israel, composed mostly of Jews from the house of Judah, did not come into existence until 1948.

Since 1948, many Christians have gone to visit the Land of Israel. Some have even moved over there, while still others are building ties with the Jewish people throughout the world. A united house of Israel will be comprised of the two houses united together and standing together as one.

We as the church have to awaken to our identity (who we really are in Christ). The true roots of our faith. Do we worship the God of our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Let us not just stand back and do nothing as our brothers are fighting for the land of our forefathers.  We have gone to Israel many times and talked to the people in the land, mainly our Jewish brothers. They all say that the next war that Israel fights, will be fought by God. They know that it will be beyond their ability. They are truly a people of faith to stand and fight for what God has promised them.

There are three things we have been commanded to pray for in scriptures, pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalms 122:6-9), pray for our enemies  (Matthew 5:44) and pray for those in authority over us (1Timothy 2:1-2). This would be a great place to start to help in the restoration of all Israel Gods ultimate plan!

Deuteronomy 32:43
"Rejoice, O nations, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, and will render vengeance on His adversaries, and will atone for His land and His people." (NAS)