“And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing” (Gen. 12:3)
“Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified thou has extended it far unto all the ends of the earth. LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out in prayer when thy chastening was upon them” (Is. 26:15-16).
Dear Intercessors for Israel:
Greetings from Jerusalem! The nation of Israel is in a stalemate. The various political parties have been unable to make any progress in the formation of a government. Weeks of aimless, exhausting negotiations have failed to produce a unity government among the differing parties. The only solution at this point, is for the country to hold a third election and hope that a majority can be formed from the results. President Rivlin declared that “Our democracy is in crisis but not in danger.” Rivlin also affirmed Israel’s unique democracy by stating “As long as we can appreciate our political rivals devotion to the State of Israel…even if we completely disagree with their political path, we can come out of this crisis and steer the Israeli ship back to its course” (www.haretz.com 12/5/2019).
Prime Minister Netanyahu is still in power. The indictments he faces have not come before the courts and until he is judged he can remain in office. However he has given his own political party: Likud, permission to hold elections Dec.22nd. Knesset and fellow Likud member Gideon Sa’ar is his chief opponent and could find himself the head of Likud. Yesterday, Prime Minister Netanyahu called for “Direct Elections.” In other words, a vote which would allow the public to directly choose who would be Prime Minister, rather than assembling a coalition from the Knesset.
Pray for Israel and for a unified government to be formed
Pray for person God wants to lead this country.
Pray for God “to increase the nation”, spiritually, governmentally, financially, and with unity.
“Away in A Manger”
A tiny chip of wood that some Christians believe was part of Jesus’ manger arrived last Saturday in Bethlehem 1,400 years after it was sent to Rome as a gift to the pope. Crowds greeted the relic, before it entered the Franciscan Church of St. Catherine next to the Church of the Nativity, where Jesus was born.
Brother Francesco Patton, the custodian of the Franciscan order in the Holy Land, said that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had asked Pope Francis to borrow the entire manger, but the pope decided to send a tiny portion of it to stay permanently in Bethlehem. “It’s a great joy” that the piece returns to its original place, Patton said, according to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency.
A wooden structure that Christians believe was part of the manger where Jesus was born was sent by St. Sophronius, the patriarch of Jerusalem, to Pope Theodore I in the 640s, around the time of the Muslim conquest of the Holy Land. (www.timesofisrael.com 12/5/2019).
Asher Dips His Foot in Oil” (Deut. 33:24)
Leviathan, the nation’s largest natural gas field, will start production for the local market this month and exports to Egypt and Jordan soon after, a senior official at the field’s operator announced last Monday. “Within two to three weeks we will open the wells and start to supply the gas,” said Binyamin Zomer, VP for Regional Affairs at Noble Energy, the US oil and gas explorer that operates and holds a 40 percent stake in the field. “Before the end of the year we will start supplying the domestic market, and in the weeks right after that we will export to Egypt and Jordan.”
The start of production, some nine years after the field was discovered offshore in 2010, will lead the country to energy independence and is considered a milestone in its economic history. The project, the largest funded by private capital in the nation’s history, will pave the way for Israel to become an exporter of natural gas and help promote regional diplomacy.
The Leviathan field, located in the Mediterranean Sea 125 kilometers west of Haifa, is estimated to hold 22 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, and a potential half a million barrels of oil, according to estimates..
Natural gas from the field will be transmitted through two 120-kilometer (75-mile) subsea pipelines directly to the Leviathan platform, where it will be processed. The treated gas will then flow from the platform through a northern entry pipeline connected to the national gas transmission system of Israel Natural Gas Lines. The nearby Tamar field, owned by Noble, Delek and Israeli firm Isramco Negev 2, LP, started producing gas in 2013 and has been supplying Israel with fuel. It holds some 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, half Leviathan’s amount.
There are concerns though that these Oil platforms will become targets for Iranian missiles, rockets and missiles from Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon, and attacks from Hamas in Gaza.
“Allah Akbar” in the Jewish Quarter
The Muslim call to prayer is heard in many neighborhoods in Jerusalem. Five times a day, the cry of “Allah Akbar” or “Allah is greater” is heard throughout the Muslim neighborhoods of the city. We can hear it sound at the House of Peace, although it is distant. Now, a mosque, located in the heart of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City is being re-opened. Directly in front of the recently rebuilt Hurva Synagogue, the Sidna Omar mosque has been undergoing renovations paid for by Jordan. Closed for decades, it is located on the main road to the Western Wall, and near many Jewish synagogues and Yeshivas. Residents of the Jewish Quarter are preparing for widespread protests upon its re-opening. Last month, representatives of a newly established action committee along with rabbis met. They concluded that the “evil decree” must be abolished. The Sidna Omar mosque was built in the 14th century adjacent to the Ramban synagogue and was instrumental in causing the synagogue’s shutdown.
‘What will happen on Yom Kippur and Ramadan?’
Residents of the Jewish Quarter told Tazpit Press Service (TPS) they are outraged at what they say is the incompetence of the Israeli authorities, and especially the Jerusalem municipality, which they said has known about the renovations but has taken no action. Likewise, the police admitted that they knew about the renovations but did not comment or act on the matter, they said.
“It is unthinkable that when tens of thousands of Jewish worshippers come to pray at the Jewish Quarter, prayers will be held in the mosque, especially during Ramadan,” committee members told TPS. One member of the committee asked at the meeting, “What will happen on Yom Kippur and Ramadan prayers?”
A spokesperson for Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs when contacted, showed little concern, telling World Israel News that the renovations are being done by a private company and it has nothing to do with them – “the same as if you needed renovations for your home.” “We certainly have to assume the security risk is greater,” Rabbi Eli Deutsch, a resident of the Jewish Quarter and father of six, told WIN. “In addition to the security factor,” he continued, “we have to ask ourselves why we are proactively assisting those whose clear agenda is our destruction.” Moshe Kempinski, owner of Shorashim Biblical Shop in the Old City, told WIN that the reopening of the mosque is “definitely an attempt to show control. I wouldn’t have any problem with it if they would allow Jews to open a synagogue on the Temple Mount.”
More Muslim sites in the Old City?
The nation of Jordan intends to renovate more Muslim sites in the Old City, assisted by the Al Quds Commission, which is sponsored by the King of Morocco, including the Yaaqubi Mosque and the Omar Ben-Khatab Mosque adjacent to the Holy Sepulcher. Political relations between Israel and Jordan have reached an historical low point in recent months, and this re-opening of a long dis-used mosque in the heart of the Jewish Quarter may be a direct result of this “fall-out.” Israel is at times also its own worst enemy. Its “overwhelming tolerance” and fear of offending Islam actually becomes the root cause of many of its own problems.
Chaim Silberstein the founder of Keep Jerusalem, “a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded to educate the public at large as to the importance of a United Jerusalem under Israeli Sovereignty,” according to its website.“ Silberstein told WIN. “There is a surplus of mosques and religious institutions in the areas where the Muslims live in the Old City and elsewhere. There are no Muslims living in the immediate area this mosque. “It is a blatant effort by bad-intentioned Muslims to stir up religious tensions and challenge Israeli sovereignty and legitimacy in the Old City. This must be stopped immediately, and if not, we will be witness to further acts of aggression and challenges to our sovereignty,” Silberstein continued. “ If this is unchecked it will inevitably bring about clashes and violence and bloodshed, which is their goal in the first place. In short, this is religious terror, and Israel would be smart to nip it in the bud right now,” he warned. (www.worldisraelnews.com 11/26/2019)
Pray that this mosque would not be re-opened. Pray that Jerusalem’s municipal leadership would arise and stop this advance by Islam into the Jewish Quarter.
Pancreatic Cancer cure
A new treatment developed by Tel Aviv University could lead to the destruction of pancreatic cancer cells. This treatment could destroy up to 90 per cent of cancerous cells after two weeks of daily injections of a small molecule known as PJ34.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the hardest cancers to treat. Most people who are diagnosed with the disease do not even live five years after being diagnosed. In 2018, it caused a total of 432,242 deaths, being ranked the 11th most common cancer in the world.(www.worldisraelnews.com
The study, led by Prof. Malka Cohen-Armon and her team at TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, in collaboration with Dr. Talia Golan’s team at the Cancer Research Center at Sheba Medical Center, was recently published in the journal Oncotarget. Specifically, the study found that PJ34, when injected intravenously, causes the self-destruction of human cancer cells during mitosis, the scientific term for cell division. (www.jpost.com 12/5/2019)
Isaiah prophesies that “Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel, from the LORD of hosts which dwelleth in mount Zion” (Is. 8:18). These “children” of a future generation have blessed Israel and the world with this discovery.
December Activities
This month has been full of activity at the House of Peace with many guests coming and going and ministry happening every night, as we gather around our table. This week we are hosting a prayer team “Strike Force” led by Bruce and Cheryl Lindley from the Apostolic Resource Center located on the Gold Coast of Australia. Accompanied by three other intercessors, they have already prayed on site for the government and the Supreme Court.
We also have been having some powerful prayer meetings, calling on God to “increase the nation” and bring his people back. The house has been full with those who have a heart to pray. Intercessions have been made for the government of Israel, as well as Britain and the United States. We have been praying for God’s will to be manifest in all three nations.
Greg Kuske, a fellow laborer and I were able to distribute 150 boxes of used clothing to the needy in Bethlehem, Bethany, and Jabel Mukaber. One little girl was so excited upon seeing these “new clothes” that she started trying on dresses, finally settling for beautiful pink one, her size. It brought tears to our eyes, since she had nothing “new” before.
Peter Jones. and I recently tore out the old rug in the loft (25 years old) and completely retiled the floor. The “upper room” look beautiful. Nidia D, our handmaiden from Cordova, Argentina, also recovered eight of our dining room chairs and then sewed new curtains for the loft. Thank you Nidia!
We were also able to gift the Alliance Cemetery with two lemon trees and a pomegranate tree as well as a climbing rose bush in memory of one of our prayer attendees Sarah, who was recently “promoted to glory.”
Christmas Giving
Marylois and I would ask that you pray about making an offering to the House of Peace during this season of giving. We have initiated a new project, where we are replacing the old windows and doors at the House. Some are warped, while others swing inward, presenting a danger to the guests. Recently a guest hit their head on one of these windows. We can replace them with modern sliding windows, which are sealed and do not allow the cold air to blow in. We have 13 windows, costing between $275 to $500 to replace. Consider gifting the House of Peace with a new window this Christmas,
We also have 15 wooden doors as well as strike plates that need replacement. Years of the wind blowing them shut, one 5.5 earthquake and prayer meetings, and general wear and tear, have them showing their age. Each door is about $200.00. Please help us in this “open door” ministry.
Another future project is to place a glass barrier on the staircase leading up to the loft. This glass would prevent anyone from falling through the open stairs and down one floor to the tile below. The cost of this preventive barrier is $1000.
We are also looking to “spruce up” the yard at the House of Peace. One idea is to get rid of the ivy and plant bougainvillea. This would be a Spring project.
Marylois and I would be so grateful if you would like to help us in these projects. We also want to thank those already who have given into the House and its ministry, and for those who have helped us personally. We can only pray that the LORD would bless you and give you a double portion in return.
Please send your gifts to ETH&S, P.O. Box 447, Jasper AR 72641. Mark them either “windows or doors”, House of Peace
Shalom from Jerusalem
Gene and Marylois/House of Peace