"Please pray for the Peace of Israel"  Psalm 122  [Chapter-8] 

                                                                                       Rabbi Eliezer Melamed

Orthodox Rabbi Extols Moral Stature of Christians

“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build a temple for Him at Jerusalem in Judah.  Anyone of His people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD.’”  (Ezra 1:2–3)

               

Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, dean of the Har Bracha Yeshiva and Rabbi of the Samaria town of Har Bracha, created quite a stir recently among the Orthodox Zionist community when he extolled the importance of the support of Christian Zionists for Israel. “It appears that we can say that the American Evangelists are the most important and meaningful group supporting Israel nowadays.  These are about 70 million citizens of the largest superpower in the world, who believe that the words of the Bible hold true today, and that the nation of Israel needs to return to its land and follow its Torah and Mitzvot.  Their moral stature is higher and more exalted than that of Coresh [Persian King Cyrus], who assisted the Return to Zion,” Melamed said. Melamed made the comments in his column in Besheva Magazine, an influential magazine of Israel’s Zionist Orthodox community. In that column, Melamed challenged erroneous claims that the financial donations of Christian Zionists, specifically NIS 36 million (about $10.5 million) to the Ministry of Education’s NIS 260 million fund for operating Israeli summer camps, come with strings attached, mainly the ability to proselytize Jewish children. “It is hard to understand where such a libelous claim sprang from,” the rabbi writes. “As for the claim that this contribution could cause the Jewish masses in Israel to view Evangelists—who are Christians who love Israel—favorably, there is no fault in this, because they deserve recognition for their support for us.  We must battle missionaries, not moral Christians who respect our religion and support us,” he added.

                                                              Christian supporters of Israel march in Jerusalem.

But others, such as the blog writers at Jewish Israel warn that Christian support for Judaism has a long history that has often turned to antisemitism and that Christian outreaches can quickly turn into “an aggressive conversionary agenda.” Melamed responded to these ideas in a column this June. He acknowledged the historical problem of Replacement Theology that has plagued the Church, which is the belief that God has rejected Israel, giving His promises to the Church instead, as well as the belief that the Torah is no longer binding. These unbiblical beliefs have fueled much Christian hatred of the Jews for nearly 2,000 years.  Yet, these issues may be resolving themselves among this new generation of evangelicals. Melamed wrote that “when Christians return to believe that [the children of God] Israel are the Chosen People and all the words of the Torah remain firm and binding, and they pray for Israel’s redemption as the word of God through His prophets, and they even assist in the in-gathering of the exiles and the building of the Land—the serious allegations against such Christians are annulled.  They deserve to be praised for their fine deeds and good thoughts about Israel.”

 

Christian pilgrims gather at the Yardenit on the Jordan River to be

baptized, a Christian rite that originates in the Jewish mikvah or Biblical

ritual cleansing.

Melamed is not the only Israeli who recognizes the Jewish roots of Christianity,,,

Recently, Professor Eyal Regev, the head of the Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology Department at Bar-Ilan University, emphasized the Jewish nature of the writings throughout the Brit Chadashah (New Covenant). "For two generations, a growing number of researchers into early Christianity and the New Testament have acknowledged that Jesus, Paul, and Jesus' disciples were Jews—not only by birth, but in their worldview, their commitment to Jewish ideas, and their ties to other Jews who were not Christians. "Jesus himself read a Torah portion from the Book of Isaiah in synagogue, instructed the leper to be purified by a Temple priest after healing him, and celebrated a Passover Seder in Jerusalem at the Last Supper," he explained.  (Israel HaYom) "The New Testament writings, as bizarre as they might appear to a Jew who does not believe in Jesus, are Jewish compositions.  Anyone researching early Christianity today understands that it cannot be understood without the Judaism of the late Second Temple era, the Qumran scrolls, and even the literature of the Jewish sages." Regev also welcomed the "proliferation of Christians' recognition of their debt to their Jewish roots," a fact that he attributes to the undeniable faithfulness of God to His covenant with the Jewish People. "One of the reasons why Christians have started to appreciate Jews seems to be the blossoming of the state of Israel.  Not only evangelicals, but also many ordinary Christians are accepting that the resurrection of the Jewish people in their own nation is not a matter of chance.  We appear to be witnessing an official recognition that Judaism and Jews have not only deep roots, but also a present and a future," he said.

The Army is Calling up Israeli Jewish Believers (Messianic Jews) to Defend Israel

More than 160s rockets have been fired. Although most have
targeted communities in Israel's south, Color Red warning sirens have been heard as far as Beit Shemesh, Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Caesarea, Gush Etzion and here in the Biblical Capital, the City of David, the Holy City of Jerusalem where Yeshua (Jesus) will return soon. In response to the constant barrage of missiles that have been falling since three Israeli teens were kidnapped on June 12, Israel has launched Operation Protective Shield, targeting missile launching pads and systems, terrorist tunnels, training camps and other terrorist hotspots. They are firing M-75 rockets based on Iranian technology that can reach Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

“Today, the army is sending letters to us to, calling us up to defend Israel.  It’s not just the young Israeli Believers who are age 18-21 soldiers in the army, but they are now calling us up to fight, ones who have already done our army service,” said Avi.  “We are the reservists.” “It’s your average Israeli man, guys in their 20s, 30s and 40s, who are in university, or working, just regular Jewish family men. You could be a teacher, a salesman, a plumber, an accountant, or someone who works for a Messianic ministry, just regular guys who have the responsibilities to their wives and children and who want peace for our country.” There are hundreds of Jewish Believers in Yeshua who serve in the army, some of them telling that they are having tremendous anxiety and fear, so please keep them in your prayers. Please intercede in prayer for this tiny nation. With every missile launched from Gaza, Israelis have only approximately 15 seconds to reach the safety of a bomb shelter.  As well, also pray for the young IDF soldiers who must protect Israelis from this aggression. With the recent Passover Blood Moon (and three more blood moons to follow: Sukkot in a few months and then at Passover and Sukkot next year) that these are YHVH’s signs in the skies and that it is no coincidence that these things are happening NOW. 

Read about Nahama and her children, who live next to Gaza

“Shiri who is 5 years old has been constantly crying, from the constant sounds of the sirens and we have had to go into the bomb shelter constantly over the last two days,” said her mother Nahama who is one of the family members of our ministry staff.”  Living next to Gaza our home has been shelled, the outside of it is riveted with shrapnel from the rockets, and the children are terrified. “We need the moral support from the rest of the world,” because I’m not so sure that Israel can handle this alone, we need the rest of the world’s support, said the mother of three. In 2005 (nine years ago) Israel uprooted hundreds of Israel citizens from their homes in northern Gaza and gave the Land over to the PLO and the Israeli Army left Gaza in return for Peace, based on the commitment that there would be no rocket attacks on Israel. The Arabs did not honor their commitment, and since 2005 more than 12,000 rockets have been fired into Israel!  Did you see that number ? Yes, 12,000 rockets!
So there fore hold people of Israel in our routine prayer, they are the people cannot still ignore, the mind of God is still after them!!!!

"He remembers His covenant forever, the promise He made, for a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the oath He swore to Isaac.  He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: 'To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.'"  (Psalm 105:8–11)