Now also many nations have gathered against you, who say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD, nor do they understand His counsel; for He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor.

Micah 4:11-12

The nations continue in their rush toward judgment. While the Middle East is burning, regimes are shaking - even imploding - and people are dying, the focus of a sick and decaying world remains on Israel and the so called Israeli - Palestinian problem. This obsession with Israel in the midst of worldwide turmoil is not natural, but demonically inspired. The rebellion and unrest in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with Israel. However tyrants worldwide have, throughout history, tried to refocus their populations' rage against themselves by lifting up the specter of the "other". And today Israel is the ultimate "other," just as historically the Jewish people have always been the "other." Although, Israel being the "other", as a nation that dwells alone (Numbers 23:9), is God-ordained for the benefit of the gentiles (Genesis 12:3b) the enemy has turned this around and used this as a constant accusation against the Jews - and now against Israel.

While this obsessive attitude in the Arab/Moslem world is almost understandable, the same obsession in western nations is a sign of a very deep sickness of soul and spirit that heralds the death of Western Civilization as we have known it - the one that had been founded on the Bible and its ethics and priorities.

The Lord has not promised us a peaceful time as His return is prepared. On the contrary, He has warned us of tumultuous times, as He said, And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near. (Luke 21:25-28)

This invitation is being written quite early this year. It is not even the middle of April 2011 - a week before the Passover Holiday. What a parallel we have here. Israel was being delivered from the hands of an evil civilization - literally being redeemed by the blood of the lamb. In the midst of redemption and the promise of entering into the Land of Israel, a land flowing with milk and honey, there was fear, complaints and even a loud cry to return to the bondage of Egypt. Though life in Egypt was brutal slavery it was something the People of Israel knew and it seemed less threatening than the adventure of redemption. Mankind has not changed much over the centuries.

Are our hearts failing from the fear and expectation of those things which are coming on the earth? I trust not, for we have the Word of God and His Spirit within us. He has given us warnings of the times we have entered into and surely Israel is both His timepiece and His "attitude checker" for all nations and people in relationship to His Word.

As we look back over the last 26 years of the Intercessory Prayer Conference, Jerusalem, it seems that often what the Lord led us to pray in January was a foretaste of how the year was going to work out. In 2011, in the midst of our prayer week, Egypt's government fell and we were led to spend quality time in intercession concerning that. We have not yet seen the full consequences of that so called Arab Spring. What 2012 will bring we don't know in detail. Will the "Arab Spring" lead to an Islamic Winter? We can be assured that the pressure on Israel will increase, as she is hemmed in on all sides by bloodthirsty enemies and pummeled by most of the nations to submit to the division of our promised land.

In parallel the Church too will be under growing pressure to compromise on the Word of God and compromise sound doctrine to the vagaries of political correctness.

We invite you to stand with the Lord and with us in Jerusalem knowing assuredly that however difficult the battle, God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and shall He not do it? Has He spoken, and shall He not make it good? (Numbers 23:19)

For the Team:
Eliyahu Ben-Haim