This morning Lebanon shelled Tzfat, one of the four Holy Cities in Israel. A building collapsed and killed one woman and wounded 8. Israel started an intended air strike in Lebanon as a response.
Heavy, stormy rain fell afterwards and in my email box appeared the following letter from the believers in Israel. I felt that my readers would be interested in this news and plans of fasting and prayers for our nation and country. After I received permission from our Senior Pastor, I copied the entire letter as it was written.
God bless you and keep you in His hand.
CALL TO THE BODY OF MESSIAH IN ISRAEL FOR THREE DAYS OF REPENTANCE, FASTING AND PRAYER FOR OUR NATION, 25-27 FEBRUARY
Oh, that my head
were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I may weep day and
night for the slain of the daughter of my people.
For My people
have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the fountain of
living waters, and have hewn themselves, cisterns – broken cisterns
that can hold no water.
Cursed is the man who trusts in man and
makes flesh his strength. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
and whose hope is in the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:1, 2:13, 17:5,7)
Our
nation is passing through, what could be, the most critical hour that
we have faced in our history since our establishment as a modern
State in 1948. We are confronted with war on multiple fronts, within
and without the present borders of Israel. We have been fighting a
war in Gaza for months and have suffered great losses and casualties,
whether it be the deaths and severe wounding of many of our civilians
and soldiers or the deaths and inhuman humiliations of many of our
hostages. The unexpected invasion of Hamas on Shemini Atzeret and the
invasion of our unprotected security barrier by thousands of
terrorists resulted in the first nightmarish holocaust on the soil of
Israel. This happened, not by coincidence, one day after the
50th anniversary
of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, which also took Israel by surprise.
The unprotected southern border of Israel was a reflection of an
ominous spiritual reality that our spiritual gates were open and
unprotected so that Satan could bitterly attack us because of sin in
our Land.
We are facing a desperate situation that challenges us
as never before in our modern history. All human solutions are feeble
in the face of the multiple dilemmas and quandaries that face us
concerning internal and external battles that threaten our existence
as a nation. The sinister pressures and demands of the US and other
nations that are weighing upon Israel, if conceded to, are sure
guarantees of future disaster. If we do not submit to this outside
pressure, we could well find ourselves fully isolated from the world
community of nations. Before us, remain the unresolved questions of
war with Hezbollah in Lebanon and an ever-increasing possible future
atomic war with Iran and her proxies in the nations that surround
us.
If ever there was a time when we, the indigenous Body of
Messiah in Israel, needed to take our place as a priesthood before
the throne of God on behalf of our nation, it is now! There have been
several calls to prayer in Israel by the religious establishment, but
we as a Body have not yet gathered together to humble ourselves
before heaven on behalf of our nation, beseeching God that His mercy,
forgiveness, protection, and divine intervention be extended to us.
There has been prayer in the individual congregations, but we have
failed as a Body to be united as one Voice before heaven, in fasting
and prayer as a priesthood on behalf of our people. There was one
joint Zoom prayer meeting at the beginning of the war and another
meeting of approximately 100 leaders, Jews, and Arabs, who prayed and
repented before the Lord.
The sin in the Land has opened spiritual
gates for this present disaster to come upon our land and people. The
divisions and enmity within the nation and its leadership, the hatred
without cause, the shedding of innocent blood through abortions, the
advocacy of immorality and sexual perversion, the idolatry and pride,
and the great sin of rejecting the sovereignty of the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob over this land and its people - have all worked to
remove God’s covering of blessing and a great measure of His
protection from upon us. The Nova party, at which our youth were
dancing around a large statue of Shiva was reminiscent of the sin of
the Golden Calf and a clear warning of its consequences. We do mourn
with all those who have suffered and lost their loved ones at this
event.
We have indeed failed as a Body to beseech the Lord in
unity and unison for His mercy for Israel and to stand in the gap
before Him in asking Him to forgive us of our many sins against Him
and each other. But before we can effectively stand in confession and
the humbling of our hearts before God for Israel, we must first begin
with ourselves. We, the undersigned, in deep agreement and conviction
of heart, believe that it is time to seek the Lord and to call the
Body of Messiah in the Land to three days of fasting and prayer with
a main emphasis upon Repentance.
The following is our
understanding of how we are to seek the Lord during these three days,
from the 25-27 February:
The first day of the 25th is to be a day of personal repentance of each individual believer, for sins against the Lord and one another. Repentance must first begin with each individual human heart before God.
The second day of the 26th is to be a day of repentance and prayer for the Body of Messiah in the Land. We have been delinquent in our priesthood as was clearly revealed during the period of the coronavirus pandemic when we could not meet together as a Body in prayer and repentance before God for our sins and the sins of our people. There is hardness of heart within the Body, and unresolved and unrepented issues between brethren which include unforgiveness, divisions, a lack of confession of sin, and a poverty of grace and love. This refers to unresolved issues within the various congregations, unresolved issues between different congregations, and unresolved matters between the leadership of different congregations. Judgment begins in the House of God and so we must humble ourselves for these matters and other serious issues within the Body.
The third day of the 27th is to be a day that we stand before God together for the many sins of our nation as mentioned above, according to the call of Joel 2:12-19. We beseech God to have mercy and to forgive our people of our sins, of our turning to the arm of flesh rather than to Him, the living God of Israel. We will bring the sins of our nation before Him and remind Him of His covenantal promises to Israel and pray that His Name would be honored and His glory revealed amongst us.
It is our understanding that the leadership of each congregation that agrees to commit itself to this Call, should lead their people during these three days as the Lord would direct them. Rather than calling for joint meetings on Zoom, it would be better for the leadership of each congregation would gather its people together and help their congregations to relate to these specific issues together. Congregational leaders should orient their preaching of the Word before these days, to prepare the hearts of their congregants for this time of repentance, fasting, and prayer.
The
Lord has long waited for us to come before Him together and He is
faithful to do a deep work in our hearts as we humble ourselves
before Him. If we come to Him in an attitude of mourning and sincere
faith, He will surely hear our prayers for Israel and respond to our
cry for mercy on behalf of our people. Our only true hope,
legitimacy, and destiny as a nation is in the Lord Yeshua and His
Word. Our only confidence is that as we honor, exalt, and enthrone
our King through our lives as His Kehilah in His land, in faith and
in lowliness of heart, the Lord will have pity on His people, will
answer us and will be zealous for His Land (Joel 2:18).
In the
true bond of His fellowship, love, and faith, your brothers.
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