“And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by the blood out of every kindred and tongue, and people, and nation:  And hast made us into our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth…And every creature…heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.”
Revelation 5: 9-10, 13b

Dear Intercessors for Israel:

Greetings from Jerusalem.  This week we have been “in the glory” praising the Lord, and experiencing His presence.  We have been gathering together to seek His face in the Jerusalem Summons, a series of meetings held in the Jerusalem Prayer Tower.  With Sharon and Philip Buss, Pastor Mark Bristow, Eva Dooley, Claren McQueen, and other speakers, we have worshiped, prayed and have received anointed teachings.  We will be holding other events in the next few days, encouraging and strengthening the body here. Please pray for these meetings, that many lives would be touched through signs and wonders and the preaching of the Word.

The House of Peace has been full these last few weeks.  We have had guests from the nations here, with at least five languages/nations being represented.  Ester Wahrer from Japan was with us as well as Lillian from Taiwan, Nidia from Argentina, as well as Arabic and Hebrew visitors.  Everyone here celebrated their unity and love for Jesus, being redeemed by his blood.

Prayer Points
We share these prayer points from Intercessors for Israel and Israel Prayer Update this week. Benjamin Netanyahu is set to break a record, this week by becoming Israel’s longest consecutive Prime Minister.  As of this Friday, he has served 2,788 days in office over three terms having been re-elected three times in 2009, 2013 and 2015.  Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion holds the record for non-consecutive time in Office serving some 4,872 days.  The next elections are scheduled for November 5, 2019, allowing PM Netanyahu to break Ben-Gurion’s record.  The latest “scandals” are to do with a purchase of three more submarines from Germany and the State Comptroller’s report on the terror tunnels during the last Gaza conflict. So far charges have no merit but prayer is needed for Netanyahu’s enemies in the government and media.
Lord, we want the truth to be revealed, and You are the only One who can truly do this. He reveals the deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him. (Daniel 2:22)
Ask the LORD to place this Psalm in Netanyahu’s heart:  Lord, how my foes have increased! Many are they who rise up against me. Many say of my soul, There is no deliverance for him in God. Selah. But You, God, are a shield for me; my glory, the One who lifts up my head. (Psalms 3:1-3)

Amona Crisis
Ten years ago, a group of Jewish families founded a new settlement called Amona. Its name is derived from Joshua 18:24, where it is named Kfar HaAmmonai, or  literally, Village of the Amonites.The Amona outpost, on a hill near Ramallah in the central West Bank, is home to about 40 families. It is the largest of about 100 unauthorized outposts — built without permission but generally tolerated by the government — that dot the West Bank.  The Israeli Supreme Court has ordered the removal and destruction of this community by December 25th, the first day of Hanukkah.  The land Amona is built upon has been judged to be private Palestinian land.
The Likud coalition in the Knesset along with other political parties are looking for ways to save Amona, such as rewriting current laws, as the area could be viewed as being absentee property.  Right-wing lawmakers have been seeking a legal loophole to prevent an evacuation with a bill that would formally recognize West Bank outposts. But their legislation was previously deemed unconstitutional and a likely violation of international law by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who told the government there may not be legal grounds on which to defend it when it faces an all-but-certain appeal to the High Court.
Amona has put Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a complicated position. The impending evacuation threatens to destabilize his coalition.    A partial evacuation a decade ago sparked violent clashes between residents and security forces and it is feared a new evacuation could trigger another showdown.  On Monday, the High Court of Justice rejected a request by the government to postpone Amona’s demolition and evacuation.  Pray Amos 9:15 for the 200 residents of Amona: “And I will plant them (the Jewish people) on their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them.”
Israel is in the midst of a “land war” with its communities in Judea and Samaria being legally attacked by non-government agencies, sponsored by foreign nations hostile to Israel.  They fund legal moves by the Palestinian Government, the U.N., the E.U. and other nations to drive out Israel’s communities through Israel’s own system of courts.  Pray that the LORD would interview to cut off those who seek to steal the land away from Israel’s people. Please pray for the settlers in Amona and for the rest of this nation. (Psalm 44:26).

From Martin Sarvis – Israel Prayer Update
1.  IN PRAYING FOR ALIYAH,  IT IS IMPORTANT TO PRAY ALSO FOR ABSORPTION…AND FOR SPACE.
As we have shared over the past few years, we believe we have moved into a season in which it is extremely important to pray for Jews to make aliyah (“immigrate”) to Israel.  God is calling His people back to the land promised to them through the Fathers (see Genesis 12:7, from last week’s Torah Portion). At present, it is still possible for Jews to come with many of the “possessions that they have gathered” (Gen 12:5).  But the forces of anti-Semitic persecution are rising.  For those who do not choose to come now, the time may soon arrive when they will find themselves fortunate to be able to do so with much more than the clothes on their backs (Jeremiah 16:16).

Yet, many do not realize how important it is to pray for Israel to become ready for them, and for their “absorption” into the society after they get here.  The joy of arriving in the Promised Land can soon be drained away as immigrants begin seeking to put their feet down here.  There is presently no great surfeit of jobs in Israel.  Most of those arriving here have little or no Hebrew; it will take several years to begin to gain any kind of fluency.  For someone 35 or older, the changes of soon getting into a job corresponding to the one left behind is almost nil. The Ministry of Absorption offers benefits to try and make the change easier—three months of free Hebrew lessons, some economic benefits for a while, some early tax breaks.  But no matter—it is difficult, extremely difficult.  During the first great Russian aliyah of 30 years ago, within a few years, depression, despondency, and alcoholism was rife.  Many simply couldn’t find work.  Those olim who rise to the top are usually the next generation, the children, who quickly pick up the culture and language.  Those from countries where the difficulties were severe, for the most part stay.  Where things were more bearable, there can be great temptation after a few years to return.  This was exemplified in a short article published this week in ynetnews.com.  It describes how the aliyah from France appears to be experiencing a decline.  Only about 4,500 Jews have immigrated so far in 2016, compared to 8000 last year.  Although around 43% of France’s 5-600,000 Jews have expressed a desire to immigrate to Israel, yet “their poor employment prospects in Israel and the country’s grinding bureaucracy are deterring most of them from making the move” (“Sharp decline in French Immigration to Israel”: ynetnews.com (Jewish World), 13 Nov 16, 12:43).  Although Israeli authorities have promised to make changes to the situation, really, very little has been done.  There is an awakening concern that if things do not change soon, many of the French olim already in Israel may eventually despair of the country and return to France (Ibid.).

But jobs and absorption into the societal system already here is not the only thing—Israel is very crowded already.  There is simply not space within the borders of the land currently recognized as Israel to accommodate the millions still to come.  Any minute expansion of Jewish communities in lands taken from Jordan in 1967 is immediately greeted with angry condemnation from an international community, which for the most part strongly questions Israel’s right to have any presence in that land in the first place.  In Ezekiel 36 of the Hebrew Scriptures, the LORD had the prophet speak to the “mountains of Israel” (i.e. current “West Bank”) which had come under the claimed possession of other nations (vs 3), prophesying over that area, that it would “shoot forth its branches, yielding fruit for His people, who are about to come” (vs 8)—“Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, My people Israel; they shall take possession of you, and you shall be their inheritance; no more shall you bereave them of children” (vs 12).  Through the prophet Zechariah, God declared, “Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; I will bring them back, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem (8:7-8).  And in Zechariah 10:10, He promises that after they return, he will bring them “into the land of Gilead (current Kingdom of Jordan, formerly territories of the Hebrew tribes of Reuven and Gad), and Lebanon (The territories of the tribes of Asher and Naphtali once extended up into modern-day south-western Lebanon to the Litani River north of Tyre).

And so, it would seem, the territory—the “space” to accommodate returning Jews—will eventually include Jerusalem, all of Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”), and portions of the present-day Kingdom of Jordan and south-western Lebanon.  This can only be accomplished by the Lord of the Whole Earth!  How He will do it, and exactly when, we do not know.  What we do know is that He has, in accordance with His Word, begun during the past 120 or so years, bringing the Hebrew seed of Abraham back to the Land—and once started, that Word will not return to Him until it has accomplished all for which He sent it forth.  Our part is to pray—that His will, His desire, will be realized on earth – as it is in Heaven!

PLEASE PRAY:
*  That God’s preserving mercies will be over all those Jews He has brought back and is bringing back into His land.  That He will release courage, strength, and resolve into them—and lead them into a way in which they and their children will prosper in the land.
*  That there will be a spirit of brother-hood released in Israel—to receive and assist and nurture these kindred coming in from the outside.  That grace would counter selfishness. That God will give strategies for accommodating those making Aliyah.
*  That those who have come and are coming will stay—and will not be deceived into thinking that a better life awaits them in the land from which they came.  Hebrews 12 says of Abraham himself that, “If he had called to mind that country from which he had come out, he would have had opportunity to return”  But that returning would have been at the expense of the very life and destiny for which God had first called him out.
*  That God “make beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11) the fulfillment of His promises connecting His people Israel to the territories He destined to accommodate them and to reside under their oversight.  These will include Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, parts of western Jordan and southern Lebanon.
*  That President-Elect Trump will move in the reverent fear and wisdom of the LORD in his dealings with Israel as regards these territories.  For the past eight years the policies of his predecessor have been a great distress on Israel.  There is great hope in our present government that relations between the US and Israel will move into a new place of friendship and cooperation.
Shabbat Shalom from House of Peace,
Gene and Marylois