Cold love and shaking kingdoms

Senator and historian Publius Cornelius Tacitus (54-117 AD) once commented on political transitions in the Roman Empire: “Dumhactotiusorbismutationefortunaimperiitransit” (“With worldwide convulsion the Imperial power was changing hands”). The recent changeover of political power in the USA might not be global in scope, but the world’s scoop-hungry media has whipped up this national news into tsunami-like dimensions.

Bitter acrimony has infected American social media more quickly than the Stuxnet virus. Public debate is now characterized by rancor and downright nastiness. Disagreements over human sexuality, political affiliation or religious perspectives quickly degenerate into crude language, harsh attacks and coarse behavior. And this conduct has become normalized in all the polarized communities concerned, including among those who confess Yeshua as Messiah.

The Bible certainly speaks clearly to the above-noted religious, political and social issues. But this e-letter approaches the matter from a different angle.

Cold and wicked wind

Messiah Yeshua was sitting on top of the Mount of Olives one day, when His disciples asked Him to explain what signs would characterize the End of the Age (Matthew 24:3). Yeshua’s words were uttered in Hebrew and directed to Jews who believed in Him. He was speaking into the heart of His beloved Jewish nation (Matthew 23:37). He described events which would happen to the Jewish people in their own land of Israel. Some things would take place across the valley on the Temple Mount. Other sons and daughters of Jacob would flee to the hills of Judah or into the Judean desert.

One of the characteristics of the End of the Age, Yeshua prophesied, would involve international hatred of believers in general and of Jewish believers in particular (verse 9). Because of Last Days increasing persecution and violent attacks against followers of Yeshua, “many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other” (verse 10). Messiah sadly comment that “because of the increase of wickedness the love of most will grow cold” (Matthew 24:11).

Believers in the First Century AD were acquainted with a similar dynamic. Yeshua warned the believers in Sardis, “Wake up and strengthen the things that remain” (Revelation 3:3).

Winning arguments and losing the war

When people’s hearts get hardened their speech gets coarse. A famous Rabbi (Judah HaNasi) once said that, in the time just before the coming of Messiah, “the face of that generation would be like the face of a dog.” Another agreed and added: “In the generation when the Son of David comes, the young will insult their elders” (both in TB Sanhedrin 97a).

The spiritual enemy of our souls is interested in turning “five members in one household” against each other (Luke 12:49-53; Matthew 10:21-22) as Micah’s prophecy forewarned (Micah 7:5-6). Let’s remember that arrogance and argumentativeness are not tools of the kingdom.

“For where jealousy andselfish ambition exist,there is disorder and every evil thing.But the wisdomfrom above is firstpure, thenpeaceable,gentle,reasonable,full of mercy and good fruits,unwavering, withoutAnd theseed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peaceby those who make peace” (James 3:16-18)

“Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to beready for every good deed,to malign no one,to be peaceable,gentle,showing every consideration for all men.For we also once were foolish ourselves,disobedient,deceived,enslaved tovarious lusts and pleasures, spending our life inmalice andenvy, hateful, hating one another” (Titus 3:1-3)

The enemy’s strategy involves releasing enmity and striving among all men and women. His goal is to divide and conquer. At this point hatred and rebellion are spreading like wildfire. Angry marchers are giving birth in the spirit to riots and disturbance.

The challenge before intercessors – ask God to hold back evil and to restore sanity before even greater darkness would be unleashed

Keeping perspective during tornado season

Isaiah was commissioned to bring a prophetic message to his Jewish people, though he was warned that his ministry would have nearly zero impact in short-term results (Isaiah 6:9-13). It is difficult to stand one’s ground when the kings of this world (or a majority of their followers) bluster and blow with all their might (like the Big Bad Wolf in the children’s story The Three Little Pigs). The prophet warns us that we need to get serious about our spiritual training and endurance if we are to represent God’s perspective to a rebellious world (Jeremiah 12:5).

The famous ‘Flying Scotsman’ Eric Liddell was a British Olympian and evangelist made famous by the movie Chariots of Fire. One powerful scene is Liddell’s sermon on Isaiah 40, where he declares God’s sovereignty over the fading glory of the nations.

“Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales. Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust . . . All the nations are as nothing before Him. They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless” (Isaiah 40:15-17).

“It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers . . It is He who reduces rulers to nothing, who make the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sown, scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth but He merely blows on them and they wither and the storm carries them away like stubble” (Isaiah 40:22-24).

In the Middle East no merchant in the outdoor market pays attention to the weight of a drop of water on the side of his wooden bucket. Neither will he be concerned about how much a speck of dust weighs on his scales. It’s totally insignificant. In the same way the Lord God of Israel declares that superpower machinations are insignificant to Him. He is in no way frightened or stampeded by opposition to His plans.

He is the only great God. And He commands His followers to take no rest and to give Him no rest until He makes Israel great again.

“On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen. All day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind YHVH, take no rest for yourselves and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth” (Isaiah 62:6-8).

Kingdoms rise, kingdoms fall

Amos clues us in on a divine strategy. God will judge and even bring down powerful nations but He will never do that to the Jewish people: “Behold, the eyes of YHVH God are on the sinful kingdom and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Nevertheless, I will not totally destroy the House of Jacob” (Amos 9:8).

Jeremiah adds an important coda: “O Jacob My servant do not fear, declares YHVH, for I am with you. For I shall make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you, yet I shall not make a full end of you” (Jeremiah 46:28).

The Mighty One of Israel “has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their throne, and has exalted those who were humble . . . He has given help to Israel His servant in remembrance of His covenant faithfulness, as He spoke to our Fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever” (Luke 1:49-55).

Shaking the shakeable

In Haggai 2:6 the prophet speaks of a day when the God of Jacob will shake all foundations on earth and in the heavens – spiritual, political and social. Hebrew 12:25-28 tells us that He is doing this in order that only the unshakeable things may remain.

As the Western world is shaken, who is on the Lord’s side (Exodus 32:26)? God is shaking the whole world and He is shaking Israel (Amos 9:9). He is shaking Israel in order to bring her into the fullness of her calling. And He is shaking the nations in order that they would cry out to the God of Israel in repentance and ask God to make the Jewish people ‘a torch that is burning’ (Isaiah 62:7).

How should we then pray?

Pray for the leaders of the nations to receive divine revelation regarding Israel and then to obey God’s Word

Pray for believers in the West to turn away from wickedness of speech and be purified and refined like gold and silver

Pray for the protection, strengthening, revelation and salvation of the Jewish people, and that they may lean on Him who can keep them from all evil and all destruction

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal) through: www.davidstent.org

Sweeping away the refuge of lies (Isaiah 28:16-17)

Yesterday (Sunday January 15, 2017) in the early evening a rooster crowed in Paris. A small droplet of victory fell from Heaven. The “Conférence pour la Paix au Proche-Orient” (Conference for Peace in the Near East) decided not to approve its original detailed pre-conference communiqué which would have been an evil decree ratcheting up ‘lawfare’ against the Jewish state.

Over the past week believers worldwide have called out to Jacob’s God, interceding for their own nations and for the nation of Israel. A commentator for the Israeli Haaretz paper described the final private diplomatic discussions, “There’s complete chaos over the phrasing of the statement. Some of the participants want more details on several points, while others want to set up a monitoring mechanism for after the conference.”

Whereas the delegates to that conference were gathered to “speak lies … and conceive mischief” (Isaiah 59:4), God allowed a temporary confusion of their communications (Genesis 11:17). YHVH granted a temporary reprieve for His people.

In the end the conference adopted a blander declaration, though one which still is not a friendly one for Israelis (www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/full-text-of-middle-east-peace-conference-joint-declaration/). The declaration chose to highlight recent UN Security Council Resolution 2334 (which affirms that Jewish settlements are illegal, and that East Jerusalem, the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and the Temple Mount are Arab sites which belong to the Islamic/Arab world).

Last night’s declaration falls in lockstep with long-term PLO strategic goals at the UN, as well as those of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_of_Islamic_Cooperation). These include:

support for Islamist terrorism
delegitimizing the Jewish state and its counter-terror self-defense efforts
pushing for economic and political boycotts against Israel
threatening to cut ties with any state that recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel or that relocates its embassy to that area

So was the downgraded French declaration a win or a loss? Is Israel home free? How are we to understand what just happened? And how can believers continue to intercede in a pro-active way?

Wearing down the saints (Daniel 7:25)

The prophet Daniel tells us that at the End of Days there will be an evil king (popularly called the anti-Christ) who will wear down the saints of God. The enemy uses this same strategy against us in our day as well – causing hopelessness and weariness among believers who stand firm in God’s truth. As in the epic battles that characterize Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, we face simultaneous clashes on multiple fronts.

The Book of Judges describes repeated historical cycles of forty years. Israel’s enemies kept rising up to wipe us out and needed to be defeated “in every generation.” The same is true here. The attempts of the PLO, Hamas, the Islamist world and the secular nations to strike the sword out of Jewish hands and to throw our people into gladiatorial arenas in front of cheering crowds – this is where we Jews often find ourselves. This scenario certainly is the cherished dream of our enemies.

“But the people who know their God will display strength and take action” (Daniel 11:32).

One main challenge is to press in to know the Lord and His word (Isaiah 8:20), especially the End Time prophecies in the Scriptures

We need to get our biblical-prophetic radar up and running if we are to wrestle with fast-breaking Middle Eastern events – in order that we may stand victorious at the end of the day.

Let us drill deep into the riches of His revelation: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15).

Let’s commit to walking in balance so that we can help bring balance to others: “From childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Messiah Yeshua. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:15-17).

Let’s consider three factors that will help us to understand the context of what just went down in Paris:

the Trump factor
the PLO strategy
straight talk about ‘Palestinians’

The shadow of Trump

The entire Paris conference kept glancing furtively over its shoulder at ‘the elephant in the room’ – that unmentionable ‘Trump factor’ that has everyone concerned. The freshly minted ‘Twelve French Ambassadors’ letter’ (see https://davidstent.com/the-crumbling-of-europa/) makes repeated references to the US President-elect as a negative force whose influence must quickly be thwarted. Repeated spoken hints and sly comments by the media on France 24, Al Jazeera, Skye News and CNN bolster the fact that this conference was an attempt to block the incoming US government’s freedom to manoeuver – to tie Trump’s hands regarding Israel, Jerusalem, the UN and the Arab inhabitants of the West Bank and Gaza.

Only the United Kingdom snubbed the conference (albeit in understated diplomatic fashion), sending junior diplomats and then refusing to sign the final declaration. Whitehall understood that the timing of this conference was chosen by France in collusion with the outgoing Obama Administration in an attempt to give a double black eye – one to the Trump administration and the other to Israel.

In the twilight of the Obama years, the outgoing US administration is acting in an undignified manner. One such example is the passage of recent UN Security Council Resolution 2334 (rushed through at the last minute before the onset of two Jewish holidays as well as Christmas Eve – what Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish would call a ‘Hail Mary pass’). It is of the same cloth as the time-honored black arts of diplomats. Both its timing and its ‘State Department deniability’ (exposed as lies by British, Egyptian and Israeli intelligence) show a vindictiveness toward the Jewish state that Israelis have understood and internalized (as recent Israeli opinion polls reflect).

An outgoing US President is not supposed to be involved in political shenanigans. After his party’s candidate loses an election, the sitting POTUS usually sets down both his pen and his phone, taking a low-key and conciliatory stance in political matters. He does not shove through maverick policies harmful to US allies in defiance of the incoming President’s stated goals.

One of the hidden reasons for this conference is that France, the European Union, the Arab League and the OIC are using “diplomacy to wage war by other means” against Israel and the upcoming US Administration

The PLO strategy – hijacking the West

The UN, the EU, the Quartet, the G20, the OIC, the Arab League and the US – all of these nations and organizations have drunk the poison Kool-Aid freely dispensed at the PLO lemonade stand. Few of these nations understand how deeply they have been systematically lied to and deceived regarding Israel and the Palestinians. This section takes a brief look at that brainwashing process.

Back in 1960 the Soviet Union was able to pass a UN Resolution which supported anti-Western guerilla warfare and terrorism (www.un.org/en/decolonization/declaration.shtml). Within a few years the word ‘terrorism’ was redefined. Now Israeli self-defense and counterterrorism operations were considered terrorism, while PLO violence against Jewish civilians was defined as a national liberation movement combatting colonialism.

Since the combined military forces of the Arab world were not able to crush Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973, a strategic decision was taken to move the struggle to the UN. It has been said that diplomacy is war by other means, so perhaps Israel could be defeated at the UN through ‘collective delegitimization’ and lawfare. First the Arab refugees would be labeled an indigenous native people who were victims of colonialism – ‘the Palestinian people’ – while Israel was transformed into a ‘colonialist, imperialist and racist state which occupies another people’s land.’

The PLO’s Palestinian National Covenant (1964, amended 1968) was gradually incorporated into various UN General Assembly resolutions. This Covenant is still legal and very much in force (https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/plocov.asp; https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/288BEE5ACF03674985256F55006DD36B). Here are some of its highlights:

Palestine’s borders include the entire state of Israel (Articles 1 and 2)
Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine. This is overall strategy, not merely a tactical phase (Article 9)
The aim of the PLO is the elimination of Zionism in Palestine (Article 15)
The 1947 UN Partition Plan is illegal and inconsistent with the UN Charter, particularly the right to self-determination (Article 19)
The Balfour Declaration is deemed null and void. The Jews have no historical or religious ties to Palestine (Article 20)
The PLO rejects any solution less than the total liberation of Palestine though armed revolution (Article 21)
Zionism is imperialism, racist, colonial and fascist. Israel is a constant source of threat vis-a-vis peace in the Middle East and the whole world (Article 22)

It is chilling to see how the Paris declaration of this past Sunday restates many of these PLO points:

Jewish presence must be eliminated in Palestinian areas
Jewish settlement is illegal in Palestine
Jews have no historical or religious ties to the Temple Mount, the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem, the City of David, etc.
Jewish settlement in Palestine is colonialist
Israel’s intransigence is a constant threat vis-à-vis peace in the Middle East

Dining with Hitler – Palestinian Replacement Theology

The UN often refers to the ‘inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.” Yet that concept is a rather new one for the UN. Resolution 242 of November 22, 1967 makes no reference to Palestinians, only to ‘the refugee problem’ (https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/7D35E1F729DF491C85256EE700686136). Between 1948 and 1967 neither Jordan, Egypt nor Syria ever recognized a Palestinian state or a Palestinian people – neither did any other Arab or Islamic state.

It was only in December 1969 (five years after the PLO was founded) that the UN first spoke of the “problem of the Palestine Arab refugees” and the “inalienable rights of the people of Palestine” (https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/41F2C6DCE4DAA765852560DF004E0AC8).

In point of historical fact there has never been a country called ‘Palestine’ and there has never been a ‘Palestinian’ citizenship. The world has been manipulated into accepting a virtual reality called ‘the Palestinian people.’

Though politicians may focus on the contrast between direct negotiations (Israel and West Banks/Gazans) and international conferences (foreign supervision), some simple and foundational facts are usually overlooked:

The leadership of the Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza is corrupt, violent toward its own people, terrorist and not known for telling the truth. Israel does not have a partner for peace, and no agreement the PLO signs can be trusted.

The Arab leadership of the West Bank and Gaza is divided between jihadi Hamas in Gaza (whose covenant calls for Israel’s total destruction) and the Islamic PLO in Judea and Samaria (whose covenant calls for Israel’s total destruction).

Both wings of what is called ‘the Palestinian movement’ are terrorist enemies of Israel. Both seek its destruction. Terrorists do not make good peace partners.

PLO President Abbas finished his 4 year term 8 years ago and still continues as President. Hamas kneecapped and tortured PLO agents as soon as it won democratic elections in Gaza. Neither Hamas nor the PLO are democratic institutions. Gaza is under Shari’a Islamic dictatorship, while 81% of all West Bankers see the PLO leadership as being irrevocably corrupt (Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey poll, June 21, 2016 - www.pcpsr.org/en/node/658).

The absence of democracy and the deep corruption in the PLO mean that no dependable peace agreement can signed.

The methods of the Nazis (boycotting of Jewish businesses, Brown shirt terror attacks on Jewish civilians, blitzkrieg military attacks on Jewish towns) are being actively imitated by PLO and Hamas today. Rocket attacks on Israeli towns, cities and farms; individual terror attacks with trucks, knives, pistols, rifles and bombs; Arab and Leftist calls for BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) – as it was in the days of Adolf, so the same onslaught is happening in our day.

The focus of both Arab terror and Nazi terror is on the Jewish people. Both terror groups bring forth the same bloody results

Many years ago the God of Israel asked a telling question: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good who are accustomed to doing evil” (Jeremiah 13:23). Today this question needs to be directed at the Arab leadership of the West Bank and Gaza.

At this point, barring a massive spiritual repentance on the part of PLO and Hamas leaders, there is no one for the Israelis to sit down with to discuss peace. There is also nothing to talk about. The so-called ‘peace process’ is shot full of lies. The two-state solution can only give birth to an Arab state which is terrorist, Islamist and fascist. Western attempts to force Israel into acquiescing in the illegitimate birth of such a state are evil. These nations are actually ‘aiding and abetting’ a criminal political scheme.

Man of Peace

One of the goals of the Paris Conference was to create momentum, to start a ‘Palestinian State' snowball rolling which would not be easily stopped. The original communiqué of that Conference, the subsequent letter of the Twelve French Ambassadors, UN Security Council Resolution 2334, the Palestinian National Covenant, the Hamas Covenant (https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp) – all these are milestones and weathervanes. They portend international precedents and political directions which are shifting the world agenda solidly against the Jewish people and the Jewish state.

Bob Dylan says it well: “He got a sweet gift of gab, he got a harmonious tongue. He knows every song of love that ever has been sung. Good intentions can be evil. Both hands can be full of grease. You know that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace” (“Man of Peace”, words and music Bob Dylan © 1983 by Special Rider Music).

How should we then pray?

Pray for the leaders of the nations to have deception broken off of them regarding the ‘Palestine’ question and for them to make righteous choices

Pray that God’s heart for His Jewish people would be transplanted into the heart of your nation’s leaders

Pray for the leaders of Israel to have deception and fear broken off of them and for them to make courageous choices

Pray for the protection, strengthening, revelation and salvation of the Jewish people, and that they may lean on Him who can keep them from all evil and all destruction

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal) through: www.davidstent.org

The crumbling of Europa

Is Paris burning? The flames are not visible to the naked eye, but they roar nevertheless in the realm of the spirit.

On Sunday January 15, 2017 more than seventy nations and organizations will gather in the ‘City of Lights’ (named because it was one of the first European cities to have gas-burning street lamps). There the nations will bang nails into a coffin that actually contains the disintegrating remains of what was once Christian Europe. The “Conférence pour la Paix au Proche-Orient” (Conference for Peace in the Near East) will bring together the Quartet (UN, USA, EU and Russia), the five Permanent Members of the UN Security Council (USA, Russia, UK, France and China), the G20, the rest of the European Union, Arab partners and assorted well-wishers.

Their goal (speaking from a biblical viewpoint) is to divide the Land of Israel. They phrase it differently – “to facilitate the establishment of a Palestinian state” smack dab in the middle of the Land promised by God to Jacob and his children.

The Conference is offering a carrot to the Palestinians (concrete economic measures and political support). A recalcitrant Jewish state will be threatened with a big stick (warlike measures which include international boycotts, sanctions and treatment as a pariah state).

“Let me make you an offer you can’t refuse!”

Like Mafia dons, Pierre Vimont (French Foreign Minister) and Jean-Marc Ayrault (Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development) called together a meeting of international senior diplomats in Paris on January 6, 2017. The first draft of the conference’s summary communiqué was presented for feedback and tweaking before its world release on January 15 (www.infoequitable.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Document-Quai-dOrsay.pdf; www.dreuz.info/2017/01/11/dreuz-sest-procure-le-texte-deja-redige-des-conclusions-de-la-conference-pour-la-paix-de-paris-du-15-janvier-2017/).

The document outlines and declares the goals and strategies of the Conference:

Dividing the Land of Israel into two states, Israel and Palestine, as the only way to achieve peace
Condemning all Jewish construction and settlement activity (including in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City) based on recent UN Security Resolution 2334
Jewish building of homes across the Green Line is equated as being on par with terrorist violence
Israelis are called upon to disavow their own official government if it rejects the division of the Land of Israel
Israel’s government is called upon to stop building in all territory liberated by the IDF in June 1967’s Six-Day War
The seventy nations do not accept the results of Israel’s June 1967 Six-Day War victory and insist that Israel withdraw from all territory liberated by the IDF

If Israel agrees to these points, they could also possibly expect “the potential for security, stability and prosperity…in the areas of economic incentives.”

The rest of the news

On Monday January 9, 2017 (three days after the release of the draft communiqué) the ‘rest of the news’ came out. Twelve French Ambassadors issued a public letter (similar to another letter they issued on March 2, 2016) – a Cosa Nostra-type threat spelling out the legal warfare (‘lawfare’) which will be directed against Israel if it refuses to sign on the dotted line (only in French - www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2016/02/03/paris-et-bruxelles-doivent-agir-pour-sauver-l-etat-palestinien_4858462_3232.html; www.france-palestine.org/La-France-doit-reconnaitre-l-Etat-palestinien-avant-qu-il-ne-soit-trop-tard).

Here are Israel’s faults, according to the letter:

Israeli construction is simply colonialization and it must be immediately stopped
Israel is an apartheid state
Israel has no right to the Land based on ‘religious messianism’ (Scripture-based religious convictions)
Israel has too much and disproportionate military strength

Here are the ambassadors’ reasons to apply immediate pressure on Israel:

Arab public opinion resents the Western world which they accuse of complicity with Israel
Israel’s refusal to attend the Paris conference shows the necessity for international pressure on Israel
A Palestinian state cannot arise without international pressure on Israel
President-Elect Trump’s accession on January 20 2017 will make the possibility of a Palestinian state disappear for years to come

Here are the benefits for France and Europe:

France must step forward in honor and in service of peace, liberty and the rights of man to create a new dynamic whose political and moral significance is incontestable
France and the European Union need to move into engagement quickly before it is too late (cut-off date January 20, 2017)
Forcing Israel to withdraw is to repair a historical injustice. There must be an immediate end of Israel’s June 1967 occupation

Here are the necessary steps against Israel which (the ambassadors advocate) should be taken:

The immediate recognition of a Palestinian state (a concerted declaration with UK, Spain, Italy and Greece)
The immediate suspension of association agreements between the European Union and Israel
The immediate end of economic, scientific and academic cooperation between the EU and Israel
The immediate labelling and potential boycotting of all products coming from Jerusalem (Jewish Quarter, South, North and East areas), Ma’ale Adumim, Ariel, Jordan Valley, Golan, etc. (this last point is already well under way)

The twelve French ambassadors who signed this public letter have floated a trial balloon, letting those who are listening understand where things are headed as of January 15, 2017. They warn Israel at the conclusion of the letter that the Jewish state is in a perilous and vulnerable situation if it does not cave in to these pressures immediately. Their language puts the lie to the Conference’s bland declaration that the nature of its communiqué “is not intended to impose terms” on Israel.

The PLO/PA Ambassador to France Salman al-Harfi stated that this “initiative will move forward regardless of Jerusalem’s opposition.” Hamas and Islamic Jihad (who control the Gaza Strip and threaten the PLO’s control of the West Bank in many areas) totally reject the Conference’s position of even talking with Israel and of offering it anything at all.

Getting into the express line

Whereas French cuisine is known for its high quality and unrushed service, this conference definitely looks much more like an American fast-food hamburger joint. If France can get this declaration approved by the EU and the Quartet (before Trump takes office on January 20), then it can be brought to a UN Security Council debate on the Israel-Palestine issue scheduled for January 17, 2017. If the US abstains once again, this would hopefully (for France and its partners) create a snowball effect leading toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.

One of the goals here is to create international political momentum which would block any new American initiatives or re-evaluations regarding the Middle East and Israel.

Crocodile tears and kisses

The communiqué declares that all 70 countries or organizations are warmly supportive of Israel’s destiny, that Israel will be the primary beneficiary of having a Palestinian state as its neighbor, and that France is Israel’s friend. Such ‘loving declarations’ have been made in times past to other Middle Eastern nations (like the Free Syrian Army, Mubarak’s Egypt, Lebanon’s Christians, Iran’s and Turkey’s democratic forces). There truly is a credibility gap here between European avowals of love and the harsh reality of Islamist terror.

The ambassadorial letter weeps that Israel must be saved from itself, since its ‘apartheid’ policies will cause the Jewish state to lose its soul. Just a few lines before that the twelve diplomats challenge Europe, saying that if the EU can unite to oppose Islamic State, they can certainly band together to foil the Jewish state.

The fire of God’s jealousy

As God is watching over His chosen people and bringing them home to their Promised Land, seventy nations are about to go on record as opposing the restoration of the Jewish people to the land of Israel and to the city of Jerusalem. These machinations arouse the burning zeal of the God of Jacob, whose fire is in Zion, and whose furnace is in Jerusalem (Isaiah 31:9).

“Therefore thus says YHVH God, ‘Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn of soul’” (Ezekiel 36:5).

“For behold, in those days and at that time when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance Israel whom they have scattered among the nations and they have divided up My land” (Joel 3:1-2).

Step-by-step Islamist agenda

Bat Ye’or (a pseudonym) is a world-renowned French scholar of Islamic history and its relationship with Jews and Christians. Her book “Eurabia: the Euro-Arab axis” charts how Islamic strategies have focused for decades on turning Europe into a Shari’a-friendly puppet which will push for Islamist policies against the Jewish state. Her recent article (www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9725/security-council-resolution-israel) may help the reader to grasp other aspects currently transpiring here.

As well, world-class scholar on Islam and the Middle East Dr. Daniel Pipes offers helpful suggestions in his recent article “The Way to Peace: Israeli Victory, Palestinian Defeat” (www.danielpipes.org/17110/the-way-to-peace-israeli-victory-palestinian).

How should we then pray?

Pray for God to speak to the leaders of the nations gathered in Paris and reveal His heart to them

Pray for God to protect His Jewish people form the evil plans of evil men and evil nations

Pray for a spirit of identificational repentance to sweep through French believers as they intercede for their nation

Pray for the protection, strengthening, revelation and salvation of the Jewish people, and that they may lean on Him who can keep them from all evil and all destruction

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal) through: www.davidstent.org