Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Arrows from Zion 9/19/2018

Priority Prayer Focus

Haniyah Naftali posted this picture on social media last week during the Ten Days of Awe and right away we recognized that the man standing next to the sign holder was an Israeli Messianic Jewish congregational leader by the name of Joe Shulam who also leads the Netivyah Bible Instruction Ministry. At first I was horrified that Joe Shulam was in this picture and judging by the comments to follow, so were others. But then I got the background story of how this picture came about in Shulam's own words:

This picture is over a year old. I was waiting at Ben-Gurion airport for Marcia to arrive. The flight was late. For more than an hour I see the guy who looks like Gandolf holding this sign and talking to people that just landed. So I got close to him to hear what he was saying.
                He was asking men, “are you the Mashiach?” They would say “NO” and he would say “Mashiach is coming tonight!”
                So it was natural to ask him if he believes in Yeshua. I asked and received a flat “NO!”
                Naturally my idea was there is another case of Jerusalem Syndrome, a nut case. Later I found out that this strange man is a Rabbi in an orthodox synagogue just one short city block from Netivyah. A synagogue that at one time was mostly of Rabbi Shlomo Carlibach’s disciples. He does this to provoke people to think while he waits for his guest to arrive.
                All in all I was not next to this man more than five minutes. Someone, I have no idea who, snapped the picture. It became viral! The Lord can use anyone anytime and any how to bring good news and wake up the people!

As a prayer priority, since the High Holy Days are a prophetic season, appointed by God to be an illuminating picture of Israel's salvation, let us pray that those Jews who are looking for the Messiah and even those who aren't, would have the veil removed to see their Messiah has come.

You can participate by praying on Yom Kippur for an intercessory conference in Jerusalem
hosted by Revive Israel for many congregations.
VIDEO INVITATION | Yom Kippur 2018 Sept 18-19, 2018
Intercede with us for the salvation of Israel.

Arrows from Zion
Summarized from the Weekly Summary of Prayer Requests Israeli Ministries by subscription only donna@israelprayer.com

Yom Kippur 5779 marks a new wave of persecution, and so a new challenge to forgive as we have been forgiven through Yeshua. Bless your enemies by praying for your enemies.

Unfortunately in the very time that Jews all over the world are observing the Ten Days of Awe in which a person is to inspect their own conscience and see if there is anyone they need to seek forgiveness from, we have the report of Israel Pochtar of the Ashdod Beit Hallel congregation that their just remodeled and renovated congregational building was hit hard by religious orthodox vandals causing expensive damages.

This is not the first time the Ashdod congregation has been targeted for persecution, so it is disheartening that the police were not really interested in pursuing the perpetrators until the congregation presented their video evidence of the vandals in action and leaving the scene. They have identified the persons who committed the crime.

According to a KehilaNews article, Pochtar has indicated he does not especially want the religious vandals charged to the full extent of the law, but rather would just like to see them be responsible for the damages to the marble walls, steel doors and windows where they painted the message, "Missionaries are a national danger." Please pray about the situation, for the damages and also that it does not create another outbreak of persecutions nationally.

From Tikkun International several articles from the ministries, like Guy Cohen in Acco The Friendship Paradox | Vakif Khassanov on the Nazareth Kid's Camp, Asher Intrater on Pride, Humility & Spiritual Warfare and the feature on one of Asher's prophetic books written prior to immigration to Israel called The Five Streams. I found this book personally helpful in more fully understanding the vision of Tikkun. As Dan Juster wrote in the foreword, "Keith (Asher) Intrater's book on the five streams is an important reflection of the heart of us at Tikkun Ministries. We desire the unity of the true Church. This is a passion with our leadership team."

From Ron Cantor of Messiah's Mandate, The Sin We Ignore: Splits and Divisions and Unforgiveness: The Most Arrogant Sin. Also the VIDEO The Most Misunderstood verse in the New Testament where Ron takes a look at Galatians 3:38.

One of the ways that Ari and Shira Sorko-Ram ministries have made themselves invaluable to the Israeli body of Messiah is with their book translating & publishing. How great is it to have biblical ministry resources in your own language? Beyond priceless. Learn more about the many great translating & publishing projects they are doing each year and Give today to our Hebrew Book Publishing. This you be the part you play in reaching Israel with the unconditional love of the Father!

Since the High Holy Days are keeping everyone in Israel stretched thin with activities, there are not as many ministry letters as usual, which gives me an opportunity to go into greater depth in the Weekly Summary of Prayer Requests from Israeli Ministries with several we heard from. If you are subscribed to that list also, you can see full versions of the excellent resource the Caspari Media Review, which watches the Hebrew-only news media for articles of specific interest to us of the faith. In this weekly issue there are 6 articles related to "Christians in Israel, Israel, and Anti-Missionary Activity"

Another full weekly letter included in this issue of the Weekly Summary of Prayer Requests from Israeli Ministries, is the full email from Martin Sarvis in Jerusalem. Normally I do not publish Martin Sarvis' entire email containing the Torah portions and teaching on the same, for the reason that this email in not focused on teachings from the scriptures, but rather on providing our readers with a greater understanding of the body in Israel, their significance to Israel and the prayer requests on their hearts. This week however, seeing how the volume of Israeli ministry letters is down due the intense busy-ness of everyone with the High Holy Days, i wanted to give you a better idea of Martin's weekly email which is especially enlightening as it goes in-depth into the Yom Kippur, Day of Atonement. It is in the Weekly Summary...which you may sign up for if you are not already subscribing by emailing me at donna@israelprayer.com

The God's Vineyard (Kerem-El) congregation is an offspring of the HaCarmel congregation in northern Israel. They are rejoicing with two baptisms at the end of August - one an older Jewish man who was brought to faith by an Arab believer, and another, a woman. They talk about how baptism is a huge step for Jews since it is seen as a "Christian" thing. But in fact it is a very Jewish ceremony.

Other news from their community sounds like a really wonderful idea since Israel is such a melting pot of immigrants from all sorts of backgrounds and ethnicities. They put on a "Culture Night" to share with each other food, games and clothes that represent the different countries they came from. At the entrance people received a passport where they needed to collect stamps from all the different "countries" they visited and answered some trivia questions. "It was a great experience for everyone as cultures from all over the world were represented, from New Zealand to Guatemala, the UK to Kazakhstan and Iraq to Lebanon." Sounds like great fun, doesn't it?

Other subjects covered in the Kerem-El ministry letter involved their Young Adults hang out meetings, the weekly Women's Prayer Meetings, a summer teaching series called "Foxes in the Vineyard" and these prayer requests:

1) For the new believers who were baptised - that their faith would continue to grow strong and their lives would bear fruit for the Kingdom of God.

2) For a deeper level of prayer and sanctification among us. That we will be prompted to prayer together more often and more intensively to see breakthroughs and the Lord's will being done.

3) For all the seekers who come weekly to our meetings. That the seeds sown in their hearts more stir them to faith and to accept Yeshua as their Lord and Saviour!

4) For the new school year, that our children would be successful in their studies, but most importantly, that they would be salt and light wherever they may be and keep themselves from the unclean influences of the world.

Also from the Revive Team in the Insider Team Edition: "A new arrival in Israel commented on the beauty of the Ramat HaNadiv Gardens near Zichron Yaakov and how they fulfill Biblical prophecy concerning Israel’s “wasteland” becoming like the “Garden of the Lord” (Isaiah 51:3). His friend responded that the miracle required a lot of hard work to achieve. An even greater promise is that one day, “All Israel will be saved” Romans 11:25. Again, there is much work to be done before that promise is realized. So please continue to pray together with us for the salvation and peace of Zion."

How the Revive Team is engaging and praying for the West Bank believer families who were formerly Muslim | the superb response in Israel to the 24/7 evangelistic TV channel Yeshua Chai (yeshualive.tv) | Tel Aviv congregation Tiferet Yeshua recently baptized 9 believers in a single service with over 20 new believers in the past year! | A prayer request for the New Immigrants: 27,000 Jews immigrated, or made Aliyah, to Israel in 2017. Of these a small percentage are already believers in the Messiah of Israel, Yeshua. However, the government department for internal affairs is dominated by religious Jews and often persecutes believing immigrants, seeking to stop them entering and to revoke their visas if they do manage to enter. One believer commented recently that it is easier for satanists or criminals to enter the country, despite the fact that believers integrate and contribute well. However, we sense an imminent shift in this situation and ask you to pray with us for a dramatic turn around. There are hundreds of thousands of Jews who believe in Yeshua and are yet to return to fulfil the prophecy of Micah 2:12: “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel”. If you would like personal prayer for your own Aliyah, please do contact us and we will pray for you.

Finally from Revive: Yom Kippur | Did you know that during Israel’s holiest day, the Autumn fast of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), all traffic stops? Starting at Jewish New Year, Rosh HaShanah, right up to Yom Kippur are the 10 ‘Days of Awe’, a time of soul searching and repentance before the Lord and reconciliation between people. For believers we understand this not as a means of salvation, but in the context of Yeshua’s atoning work on the cross. During Yom Kippur, Revive Israel holds an annual event for congregations to join together in repentance and supplication before the Lord as we anticipate Yeshua’s imminent return. This overnight gathering on Yom Kippur itself is immensely significant as a demonstration of unity in Yeshua across congregations.

Lastly, from KehilaNews.com

Why American Jews are tuning out on their faith | Cookie Schwaeber-Issan
Israel advocate, father killed in terror attack | Kehila News Israel Staff
With return of Syrian regime, IDF ends humanitarian mission to Syria | Kehila News Israel Staff

Urgent HEALING Needs: Life and Death is in the power of the tongue

Please keep in prayer these Israeli ministry leaders and believers with urgent health needs

We have no new update from Elisheva, but urge CONTINUED URGENT PRAYER FOR JACOB DAMKANI and prayer for continued decreasing cancer in EDDIE SANTORO's brain | Albert a Messianic leader from southern Israel, has had a successful surgery and an amazing recovery details in Howard Bass' ministry letter | Rania Sayegh asks for prayer of restoration of strength, energy, and complete healing.| Rachel Netanel took a fall and has broken her leg. Pray for quick healing. In April she learned she had a polyp on her vocal cords. Please pray for complete healing for this evangelist in Israel. | Olga Bikas continues to suffer from chronic, acute back pain. She is getting medication and physiotherapeutic treatments but without any substantial improvement | Ruth Nessim appears to be on the repair and currently out of the country with her son after suffering from severe Gastro-Enteritis which she had 5 attacks of within a 2-month period. Con't prayers |
Sensitive Information I cannot share names of several who have asked for prayers for the last several months for certain of their grandchildren who are afflicted, even tormented. The enemy not only strikes at us through our children, but also our through our grandchildren. Please pray for these Israeli grandmothers crying out to God silently for their grandchildren.

Pray also for Israel intercessors/supporters in other nations with urgent health needs: Jeurgen at ICEJ, Karen and Yonit in Israel. Also for Israel intercessors: Cecelia Toth, Arlene Stucki, Una Gere, Mo Murray, also from our friend Steve in the UK for his wife Elizabeth. A special appeal for prayers for Israel intercessor Debra Koen Abernethy

Teaching Articles

Martin Sarvis shares about Yom Kippur and the Torah readings for this week in the Weekly Summary. To subscribe write me at donna@israelprayer.com

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Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Arrows from Zion 9/12/2018

Karen Davis with Ruth Fazal at All Nations Convocation Feast of Trumpets in Jerusalem

Priority Prayer Focus

The Ten Days of Awe between the Feast of Trumpets and the Feast of Tabernacles is viewed in the Messianic community as the period of repentance for Israel before the Lord. It is viewed in the traditional Judaism observance also as a time to repent before God seals the decrees made at Rosh Hashanah (the Feast of Trumpets) in His "Book of Life" at Tabernacles. The term Ten Days of Awe is not in the Bible and the word awe itself is only mentioned three times. Each time awe is mentioned it is with a different Hebrew word, but with each word carries a connotation of trembling in fear, reverence or dread.

Now in recent decades Christian teachers have tried to distance the concept of "fear" in relation to God. It has been said, 'That's the Old Testament God, not the New Testament God.' There is no such thing of course, as James 1:17 notes, God is "the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. " Anyone in their right mind would have a healthy "fear of the LORD" who holds their next breath in His power. That fear goes beyond the reverence that many Christian teachers have preached instead. But many of us came to the LORD trembling in fear and dread at our own personal situations, bowed down with a fearful reverence to the hope that God would grant mercy to us delivering us from evil. Often that was the evil of our own making.

At this appointed season of God - in these 10 days between Trumpets and Tabernacles, all of Israel stands before God as commanded to repent. Let us pray that this is the season that God will grant many mercy to see the ultimate sacrifice for sins has been made in His Son Yeshua, that they might truly be written in the Book of Life once and for all.

Arrows from Zion
Summarized from the Weekly Summary of Prayer Requests Israeli Ministries by subscription only donna@israelprayer.com

See what Israelis have to say when Ron Cantor asks them on the street about Rosh Hashannah/Feast of Trumpets in this video. Also Ron explains how the Feast of Trumpets became the Jewish New Year in Come Yeshua, Come! What should I do on Rosh Hashanah?

Israel Pochtar sends the holiday greetings, plus the follow up report on the Awake Youth Conference and their Back to School Humanitarian Project where they were able to bless 200 children with school supplies. These children are new immigrants and the underprivileged so this assistance makes a big difference in their families. Israel says, "I just want you to know how much we appreciate you, your prayers and love. It sustains us and our work in more ways than you know."

Jim Schutz who directs the Joseph Project humanitarian aid also sends a report about a fun day at the waterpark for 2,000 Jewish and Arab children which also included gift boxes of clothes for the kids and mothers donated by Samaritan's Purse. Watch the video! Other aid from Joseph Project has gone to provide homes for the "lone soldiers" who are "A very unique group of people serving in the Israeli army are the 'lone soldiers,' young Jewish women and men who serve in the army but have no family or home in Israel to return to on weekends or holidays." Also they supplied back to school backpacks.

One outreach of the Joseph Project I would like to highlight is their aid to the war-displaced Syrians. Israel has taken an active role in assisting the fleeing, war torn Syrians and Joseph Project has been alongside with humanitarian aid and medical equipment. They were told that Israel was the enemy, but untold numbers of Syrians have found them to be friends in their tragic civil war.

From the Tikkun Israel's Restoration email, Cody Archer's article 4 Key Ingredients to Discipleship, Daniel Juster's article, Influence in Our Society vs Passion for His Return and the Tents of Mercy congregation writes about organizing, sponsoring the Katzir youth camp in A Taste & A Test Flight

The IFI (Intercessors for Israel) in Jerusalem sent a synopsis of their Friday prayer issues and prayer points from last Friday including the beginning of the Fall Feasts, the fact that Jerusalem is a prime target of the enemy during the Feasts, upcoming city elections in Jerusalem, Iran-Turkey-Russian meetings on Syria, Israel's borders & a concrete wall for Lebanon, Hezballah & Gaza terror potential and prayers about US peace proposal. Also prayers for new govt persecution of Christians in China; the rescinding of the Paraguay embassy move, and prayers for their ministry friend Steve Lightle who underwent heart valve surgery on 9/11.

In the Maoz monthly, Shira Sorko-Ram has a fascinating article about knowing Ehud Ben Yehuda personally in the early 1970's. Ben Yehuda is the Father of the Modern Hebrew Language PT 1. Also from Moti Cohen An Orthodox Israeli Woman Follows Yeshua, a married couple, 28-yr old teachers write What the MJAA Conference Meant to Me, and Maoz completed 5 New Faith Books in Hebrew this year

The congregational letter of Hamaayan in Kfar Saba, led by Tony & Orna Sperandeo is available online & includes reports on Children's Summer programs, the growth of their congregation, a Kingdom First Restoration experience, blessing soldiers, update on war and rumors of war, plus the Fall Feasts and prayer requests.

From the Revive Israel ministry the revised & newly updated book by Asher Intrater is featured, Covenant Relationships. Plus an article by Revive Team member Malek Gavris, Standing Between Two Worlds; two videos (1) Cody Archer with Bassam Adranly in Israel Through the Eyes of a Palestinian Christian; and Daniel Juster's The Elijah Prophecy about family reconciliation. Lastly this VIDEO INVITATION | Yom Kippur 2018 our annual Day of Atonement in the Jerusalem area. Sept 18-19, 2018 Intercede with us for the salvation of Israel. To learn more click here.

Eddie & Jackie Santoro in Jerusalem write about the Fall Feasts and "We bless you on this day as we join together to remember all that God has done for his people. May we feel his love in increasing measure and may each of us shine brighter each day in our unsaved nations, as we declare the wonder of Yeshua in all of our lives."

Howard and Randi Bass at Yeshua's Inheritance congregation in Beer Sheva also writing about the Fall Feasts, "Harvest is past, summer is ended, And we are not saved." (Jer 8:20) | This is the tired longing of the Jewish people in their long-suffering distress. But Help from another Place is on the way; the upcoming holy-days of YHVH, which He gave to Israel as a prophetic historic overview of His redemptive plan, give hope to those who already know the Lord, and remain a testimony of God's covenant faithfulness to Israel, and to the rest of mankind."

Howard shares a couple of recent teachings: The Communion of the New Covenant in Yeshua's Blood and The New Moon of the 7th Month: God Remembers His Covenant with Israel and asks for prayers concerning the health of these brothers and sisters: Albert, Pau, Berta and Lili. Also, there are the evangelistic teams in India and in Peru until mid October: Eddy, Dani and Miri

From David's Tent, Avner Boskey's newest article, Raiders of the Lost Jewish New Year, Plus an opportunity to help them expand the reach of their ministry through video productions including new music videos, videos of Avner’s teaching, and videos of the Ezekiel 37 Institute classes in English. Here are two of their latest videos on YouTube Dry Bones Boogie and Favor. They are seeking donor support for the purchase of camera equipment (telephoto, wide-angle and portrait lenses, another camera body, etc.) which total approximately $12,000 USD for future productions to bless more seekers.

Kobi and Shani Ferguson write about "Israel is once again taken on its annual journey of declaring blessings over the new year on Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets), soul-searching and repenting for the past year on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) and culminating with celebration and fellowship on Sukkoth (Feast of Tabernacles)" Continue reading online

Michael and Dina Beener minister to the hard hit community of Sderot near Gaza and share about their summer under attack. The population is emotionally suffering from the terror on the attacks and suffering PTSD. This led them to offer the elderly a "Spa Day" at the Yoav Hot Springs, where they could find a peaceful, relaxing day away from all the stress of their city which has been under fire for the past 17 years by Hamas in Gaza. They write extensively about the trauma of the citizens, including the 86.6 percent of Sderot children aged 12-14 are suffering from symptoms of post-traumatic-stress disorder (PTSD). Please pray for the citizens of Sderot and consider helping the Beener's to minister to them.

There are laws in Israel which do not allow humanitarian aid to be distributed with strings attached that are an enticement to religious conversion. However, it does matter very much that the Messianic congregations are engaged in humanitarian outreach - this is part and parcel of our faith to have compassion and mercy on those who are suffering and in need. It is a key characteristic of our true faith, that we are moved to compassion to help. So my advice to all Christians wanting to give to Israel humanitarian aid: choose those who are distributing to the need out of the compassion of Jesus within them. This is a far better conduit for your seed gifts.

From KehilaNews.com here are several articles and one video message we chose to share with you this week: This Sukkot, Vision for Israel to highlight local believers We are very happy to see Barry & Batya Segal's Vision for Israel humanitarian aid turn their focus this year upon the local Israeli believers in their annual Feast of Tabernacles Jerusalem event. This is a significant re-prioritizing that we hope other humanitarian and Feast events follow suit in greater emphasis on the body of Messiah in Israel.

Also from Kehila, the Carmel congregation pastor Dani Sayag VIDEO : Gifts for the building of the Body, Israel welcomes US move to close PLO’s DC office and Reuven Doron's article on Can you hear the trumpets?

Urgent HEALING Needs: Life and Death is in the power of the tongue

Please keep in prayer these Israeli ministry leaders and believers with urgent health needs

Keep praying for CONTINUED URGENT PRAYER FOR JACOB DAMKANI and prayer for continued decreasing cancer in EDDIE SANTORO's brain | Albert a Messianic leader from southern Israel, has had a successful surgery and an amazing recovery details in Howard Bass' ministry letter | Rania Sayegh asks for prayer of restoration of strength, energy, and complete healing.| Rachel Netanel took a fall and has broken her leg. Pray for quick healing. In April she learned she had a polyp on her vocal cords. Please pray for complete healing for this evangelist in Israel. | Olga Bikas continues to suffer from chronic, acute back pain. She is getting medication and physiotherapeutic treatments but without any substantial improvement | Ruth Nessim appears to be on the repair and currently out of the country with her son after suffering from severe Gastro-Enteritis which she had 5 attacks of within a 2-month period. Con't prayers |
Sensitive Information I cannot share names of several who have asked for prayers for the last several months for certain of their grandchildren who are afflicted, even tormented. The enemy not only strikes at us through our children, but also our through our grandchildren. Please pray for these Israeli grandmothers crying out to God silently for their grandchildren.

An update from Elisheva on Jacob Damkani 7-9-18: As I am pondering here on our situation, the next few steps we are to take, Jacob's condition, the progress he makes and the prognosis the doctors give, I feel this is the hardest update I had to write so far. The good news first.

Jacob is doing well. He is out of the ICU, which is great. It was a bit scary in the beginning, suddenly I could not see his blood pressure, pulse or oxygen level, he is not connected anymore to anything that checks all those... but I quickly got used to it, enjoying my friend, who has more freedom now as almost no cables are around him now. It's easier to hug, sit him up...Jacob has many more and much longer times he is opening his eyes, aware of his surrounding, watching everyone, moving his head into all possible directions, looking at different visitors, one by one; moving everything he can move; much of the time, day and night. In these moments he looks awake, almost. He still can't make a real connection to us though. It's one more little step to come back into this world I believe and I try to encourage him to take that step. Every day I tell him today would be the perfect day to wake up, in my opinion that is...

Now, as I am looking for a place where Jacob can go after the hospital, reality hits. It was always clear to me that would be a place for rehabilitation, a place where he can be helped to take the necessary steps back to real life. But talking to doctors and the insurance I understand that is not what they think. They don't think he meets the criteria for rehabilitation. What the doctors think of and what the insurance is willing to pay for is a nursing home. A nursing home! The insurance is not willing to pay for anything else. When that finally downed on me, I needed some time to digest. Suddenly many things that I see here in hospital make sense. I often feel that Jacob is not getting the attention and treatment he needs. I need to ask for so many things for Jacob that should be normal for any patient to receive. He doesn't even get enough food I think and is still losing weight. Now I understand. They simply don't believe he will make it back to life. That realization hit me. It hit hard!

We thought we prepared well. We said good bye, blessed one another, trying to get ready that Jacob might go to be with the Lord. And we hoped that he would come back after the surgery. We thought that was a good preparation, being ready for those two options. That was all we could imagine to happen. But there was another possibility. We didn't prepare for that. We didn't even think of it! Surviving but not being able to come back to life right away... I am so thankful to know that the Lord knew. ...For me, for Jacob, a nursing home is not an option. No way! There they would just try to keep his status but with that his condition would become worse every day. I won't let this happen. Not if I can prevent it and I believe I can. After the first shock, when this reality hit me really hard, I decided to one more time look for the reality that is defined and created there at the throne of God. Didn't the whole staff in the operation room think Jacob would die in that room, and didn't the Lord bring him out of there alive - against all odds? And didn't most doctors believe that the complications in the days after that surprisingly successful surgery were too much to overcome and didn't the Lord perform one miracle after the other to help Jacob overcome every single one of them? Most of them were life threatening and I heard of many people that died just of one of them. Jacob went through so many! My beloved continues to do everything to the extreme, even now.

So! My decision today is to look to the Lord and trust Him. There is no other way here....This verse from Psalm 116:2 is so encouraging: Because He bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath. ....Beloved friends, thank you so much for your prayers, they have a big part in the joy and faith the Lord gives me, freely, without me having to fight. With much love and a thankful heart, Elisheva

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Monday, September 10, 2018

Prophetic Meaning of the Hebrew Year 5779

Erin Cunningham photo of Jerusalem Sunrise

Prophetic Meaning
of the Hebrew Year 5779

At sundown last night the Hebrew year of 5779 commenced. I don't want to get too far into the weeds on this but here are a few thoughts. First the letters of the Hebrew alpha-bet have numerical values so the year just entered, 5779 is:

Hey which is 5,000
Tav which is 400
Shin which is 300
Ayin is 70
and Tet is 9
= 5779

We want to note that this is also the 70th anniversary of the modern state of Israel, so we know that there is a heavy prophetic significance attached to that. As Asher Intrater was sharing in a short video several days ago ("Spirit of Grace and Favor") there is a dual prophetic meaning to this year of Israel's 70th birthday.

As God's Word says in Zechariah 12:2-3, "I will make Jerusalem a stone of offense" which is, Asher pointed out, exactly what is taking place right now as Jerusalem is dividing people and nations in terms of where do you see yourself in relation to Jerusalem? You are either for Jerusalem (Israel) or against.

So the 70th part of 5779 that is part of the 70th year of the prophetic reemergence of Israel as a nation is a dividing line for the world. It is blessing or cursing, everyone has free will to choose: are we going to join the offended over Jerusalem or are we going to join the blessing of Jerusalem?

Asher also points out that just a few verses later in Zechariah 12:10 there is a very positive promise made by God that is connected to the same time frame and that is, “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. And they will look on Me whom they have pierced ."

So at the same time God is making Jerusalem a stumbling block to the world, He is also pouring out on the house of David a spirit of grace and supplication. We see in the same time frame there is cursing, but there is also blessing.

Asher notes in this video that even though there are still small numbers of Messianic believers in Israel, there is also something changing among the population and that is that more people are open to hear about Yeshua. That is a sign of the spirit of grace being poured out by God on Israel.

Now, there are many things that can be said about what the prophetic significance of the year 5779 is and I am not saying what I'm seeing wipes out what anyone else sees, but in relation to the meaning of the 70th anniversary of the State of Israel, I believe that there is something of the dual prophetic about this year of 5779.

One thing about the letter "TET" (the number 9) is that it is the least used letter of the Hebrew alphabet but the first time it is used is in Genesis 1:4 where God looks upon His creation of light, sees that it is "good" and then separates the good from the darkness. So the Hebrew letter TET has connotations of goodness, yet as written in classical Hebrew script, it's described as resembling the appearance of a coiled snake. Again we see the dual timing of good and evil in the year 5779.

I believe this speaks of the battle of light and darkness that is upon our world and Jerusalem, Israel is the epicenter of that battle. We who are the disciples of Yeshua know we are in that battle in every nation of the world, but also that how we stand on Jerusalem - that nation that is accused of offending the whole world - is critical to us individually and to our nations whether for blessing or cursing.

In a message a couple of years back, Asher noted that according to the Hebrew calendar, in just a little over two decades, between the years 2039 and 2040, we arrive at the last two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, Tav Tav.

"If we are still here," he said, "we are going to see false prophets arise in Israel like crazy and the same goes for charismatic crazies who are also going to freak out."

"How can it not happen?" he asks adding, "This is not prophecy, it is just highly likely to increase as we get close to the end of the Hebrew alphabet in the counting of the years."

So in this year of 5779, I believe we need to be prepared to see both evil and goodness ahead. We should not focus entirely on the evil, nor can we focus entirely on the good. We must look at both honestly, and in faith with the knowledge that the Creator of all things has purpose in bringing the harvest of both good and evil to maturity in the same time frame.

Let's not be dismayed at the rise of evil, nor fail to see the grace and favor being poured out on us from God.