The burning of Paris by the Red-Green Revolution

On October 17, 2026 the flames of Islamo-leftist civil war burned brightly, not far from the base of Paris’ Eiffel Tower. Within an hour the world-famous Louvre was barricaded by anarchists and Antifa rioters, while in Toulouse the terrorist flags of Palestine obscured the face of Joan of Arc’s statue. And the bust of Marianne – the symbol of the French Revolution, its Republic and its three ideals of ‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité’ – was toppled in Marseille.

What is happening right now in France? What does it mean? Where is all this going?

The time is right for a palace revolution

In 1968 a British rock group released a major hit ‘Street Fighting Man:’

Everywhere I hear the sound of marching, charging feet, boy

Cuz summer’s here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy . . .

Hey, think the time is right for a palace revolution . . .

Hey, said my name is called Disturbance.

I’ll shout and scream, I’ll kill the king, I’ll rail at all his servants!

The spark that set France aflame began on Thursday September 17, 2026 at the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry high school in the southeastern Parisian suburb of Créteil. Some high school staff and students went on strike, blockading schools and complaining about a lack of teachers and the poor condition of some buildings. Laurent Bessiere, a mathematics teacher and union representative, presented a list of their needs: a mathematics teacher, a French teacher, a teacher of French and history, an assistant principal and half a social worker’s position. Gregg Roman of Middle East Forum explains:

On Monday September 21, students again blocked the gate to the Créteil school, and two National Assembly members (French congressmen) showed up at the gate: Louis Boyard and Clémence Guetté of La France Insoumise (‘France Unbowed’, the quasi-communist and far-left party led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon). On Thursday October 1, the Prime Minister’s office gave a readout to the press from France’s intelligence agencies: “Shared assessment by the intelligence services on the origin of the movement: an operation organized by LFI (La France Insoumise - ‘France Unbowed’) and its proxies on the far left.”

On Friday October 2, French police made 1,747 arrests. By Friday October 9, the French Justice Ministry announced that 6,877 had been arrested, 86 percent of them minors. Hundreds of police officers and hundreds of students and staff were injured.

On Tuesday October 6 President Trump on Truth Social: “What’s happening in France is nothing less than out of control mass migration. This isn’t about schools; this is about Islam wanting to take over a once great Country!”.

On Tuesday October 13, protestors shouted “Only one solution, revolution!” as they arrived at Place Vauban, near both the Rodin Museum and Napoleon’s mausoleum at Les Invalides (central Paris’ historic military complex). “I am extremely proud of French students,” Swedish woke activist Greta Thunberg declared. Her visit was welcomed by Saint-Denis Mayor Bally Bagayoko, a member of the far-left La France Insoumise party, or LFI, who described the city on X as “the capital of resistance and of the convergence of struggles.” Among the demonstrators was Sylvie, age 65, who waved a Palestinian flag. For her, the protest was about the ‘convergence of struggles.’ “Today in Palestine, pupils cannot go to school properly, she declared. “The only solution is LFI in power.”

The beginning of riots and the burning of cities - France’s Kristallnacht

By October 17 the student rebellion had become more intense. Leftist anti-government groups catalyzed the violence until the entire country of France was rocked by a widespread breakout of simultaneous riots – a harbinger of civil war. Volcanic street eruptions were led first by anarchists, and leftist-communists; eventually looters and Islamists joined in to intensify the attacks. Symbols of government were targeted, as well as law enforcement, shopping centers and luxury stores – and there was a specific focus on Jewish-owned shops. Journalist Paul Amar writes that Islamist rioters “came prepared. They had the addresses of town halls. They had addresses of Jewish shop owners. In a street in Marseilles, all businesses owned by Jews were set on fire. Businesses run by Muslims weren’t.”

Over two dozen educational facilities were ransacked or set on fire. Trash bins, cars, and buildings were set ablaze. Protesters hurled fireworks, paving stones, and other projectiles at police. In one case a 15-year-old aimed a makeshift flamethrower at a school staff member. Hydrochloric acid was thrown at officers.

In Paris’ primarily Muslim 19^th arrondissement, the Ohalei Yaakov congregation on the Rue Burnouf was despoiled, with prayer books and tefillin/phylacteries strewn across the floor and the rabbi’s office ransacked. No French mosques were touched by the rioters, but Catholic churches were broken into in Marseille, and the St. Louis Church in Grenoble was desecrated. Parisian convenience stores were looted, but the pork products were left untouched. Rioters were filmed preventing attacks by other Islamic rioters on Muslim shop owners. Selfies were posted in front of spray-painted signs declaring: “Stop gassing us! We are not Jews!” and “Death to Zionists!”

Tobacco shops, opticians, beauty salons, pharmacies, clothing stores and other commercial establishments were damaged. Dozens of additional stores were vandalized near Porte Saint-Denis in the 10th arrondissement, where piles of garbage and burned bicycles were left scattered across sidewalks, with smoke still rising from the wreckage on Sunday morning.

Speaking on October 17 at a Saturday evening news conference, French Minister of the Interior Laurent Nuñez said approximately 550,000 people had taken part in 110 demonstrations across France, including 110,000 in Paris. Confédération générale du travail (CGT - General Confederation of Labor union) said that 800,000 had marched.

Paris police said the violent contingents were far larger than usual: small groups dressed in black pried open shop shutters between République and Bastille, and others fell in behind them to loot. “Entire streets were methodically ravaged,” Parisian Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said to reporters. At Place de la République hundreds of demonstrators chanted “Everyone hates the police!” “Revolution!” and “We are all antifascists!” They also shouted “Louis XVI: We beheaded him. Macron: We can do it again!”

Over the course of the afternoon, groups broke away from the authorized march routes and headed for Place de la Madeleine, Place Vendôme, and the Champs-Élysées, where demonstrations had been banned. On Boulevard Haussmann, looters broke into the Galeries Lafayette department store, in one of the busiest shopping districts in the city. Near the Opéra, tourists were caught in clouds of tear gas as police and demonstrators clashed. Shoppers hurried out of the area, businesses pulled down their metal shutters, and some of the main shopping streets of central Paris looked like ghost towns.

Rioters approached the Louvre art museum and within 20 minutes had blocked access to it with barricades. As soon as the traffic was stopped, the looting of luxury shops began, and Antifa/Anarchy signs were spray-painted. Approximately 400 meters from the Élysée Palace (the official residence of French President Emmanuel Macron), violent clashes erupted after rioters took control of a temporary structure at a construction site. Police stormed the structure using stun grenades, in scenes French media described as resembling “urban guerrilla warfare.”

Audelia Sitbon, a Jewish pharmacist near Paris’ Place de la République, described how rioters smashed their way into her shop, looted her stock and set it ablaze. She was left with empty shelves, shattered glass and worries about how to support her three children.

“We are not dealing with the high school movement,” Laurent Nuñez, Paris Police Chief (and Minister of the Interior) said, accusing “the ultra-left and the radical far left” of exploiting the demonstrations in order to attack police officers, businesses, and public buildings.

Fauda in France

French-Israeli Jewish actress Virginie Khalifa Hag, a star in the Israeli hit series Fauda, described the violence her mother experienced in the shop she manages on a small street near the Champs-Élysées. Her mother opened the store as usual, but rather quickly it became clear that rioting and violence were breaking out. “Suddenly, Free Palestine flags appeared as well” said her mother, who hid inside the shop until she could leave safely. “What’s happening in France is insane, but the writing was on the wall,” said Virginie. “This is not the country I grew up in. My late father always told me, ‘We grew up in Algeria. We’re not afraid.’ But today, Jews are afraid. Paris is burning. It’s really an intifada.”

Khalifa Hag described another frightening experience that a friend of her mother’s (who owns a shop near Place de la République) went through: “Rioters dressed in black suits and masks actually looted her shop, and she couldn’t stop them. There was a lot of smoke in the area.” Asked what advice she would give Jews still living in France, Khalifa Hag did not hesitate. “Be prepared to leave, because you won’t be safe in France anymore,” she said.

Marion Maréchal, the niece of far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen and a politician in her own right, said on Saturday night: “The whole world is watching in astonishment and disbelief as the children of Mélenchon’s ‘New France’ destroy our country.”

A history rooted in riot and revolution

France prides itself as being the country of the French Revolution, which had played itself out on bloody Parisian streets between 1787-1799. A short two hundred years later, in May 1968 a student revolt began in Paris, leading to a general strike involving 10 million French workers. During much of May 1968, Paris was engulfed in the worst rioting since the Popular Front era of the 1930s, and the rest of France was brought to a standstill. On May 29, 1968 the French president, Charles de Gaulle, met secretly in Baden-Baden, West Germany, with General Jacques Massu, chief of the French forces in Germany. The goal of the meeting was to ensure Massu’s support in case his troops were needed to retake Paris from the leftist revolutionaries. from

Here is a warning from Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, President of the Conference of European Rabbis [CER], the primary rabbinical alliance in Europe, on October 22, 2026:

“Defiance of authority is part of the French inheritance. But a line separates a society that challenges its institutions from one that burns them . . . France is the keystone of Europe’s political and economic order. If Paris cannot keep the peace, Europe’s confidence in its own institutions will crack with it.”

On Sunday October 18, 2026, POTUS Trump wrote: “France is burning! The immigration of people from an entirely different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has shattered that once great country. Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!”

Yet French President Macron sidestepped the Rabbi’s and the President’s prophetic warnings, declaring in response on that very day, that problems are simply being exaggerated by unfriendly Americans, and that French citizens are merely upset over rising fuel prices due to the USA’s ‘unjustified war’ on Iran: “We should never mix up peaceful protesters with looters and rioters, because there are people who rightfully feel that fuel prices are going too high. It’s because of the Iran war.”

France’s anti-Semitic foundations – from Voltaire to Dreyfus

Twenty years ago, on March 18, 2006, I was privileged to address a Christian conference in Paris called ‘Embrase Nos Coeurs’ (‘Embrace our hearts!’). The subject was the history of the Jews in France, and how believers can be pro-active in intercession and outreach to the Jewish community in light of that uneven history. As I reviewed French history vis-à-vis the sons and daughters of Jacob, I was struck again how German anti-Semitism and French anti-Semitism were remarkably similar in their ill-treatment of the Jews. The only basic difference between these two countries’ histories was the fact that genocidal concentration camps and gas chambers were found not on French but on German-controlled soil.

The response of the overwhelming majority of conference-goers to my message was very encouraging: nearly the whole crowd (over 1,200) stood up and walked under a huge tallis (Jewish prayer shawl) to symbolize their prayers of repentance and commitment to stand with the Jewish people if and when anti-Semitism would raise its head in France once again. But a few of the top conference leaders were incensed at this turn of events. They angrily informed me that France had already repented, and that there was no need for belaboring any such point! According to them, the Jews were no longer an issue for France, and I should never have raised the matter.

A few brief words on some aspects of French-Jewish history are crucial here, in order to unpack the fact that repentance regarding French treatment and persecution of the Jews is still by and large a ‘non-issue’ for most citizens of La République.

Before the French Revolution, Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet ) in his Philosophical Dictionary fired off a sizzling insult against the Jewish people: “You are calculating animals; try to be thinking animals.” In 1808, Napoleon Bonaparte expressed to his brother Jérome Napoleon: “I have undertaken to reform the Jews, but I have not endeavored to draw more of them into my realm. Far from that, I have avoided doing anything which could show any esteem for the most despicable of mankind.”

After the French Revolution and the August 26^th, 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the issue of Jewish rights was debated in the French National Assembly for three days with no conclusion reached. During the debate, Count Stanislas de Clermont-Tonnerre issued his infamous statement on December 23, 1789:

“The Jews should be denied everything as a nation but granted everything as individuals. They must be citizens… there cannot be one nation within another nation. It is intolerable that the Jews should become a separate political formation or class in the country. Every one of them must individually become a citizen. If they do not want this, they must inform us, and we shall be compelled to expel them.”

Clemont-Tonnerre’s declaration was less than biblically based. Over 3,2000 years prior to his words, Balaam of Mesopotamia had prophesied by the Holy Spirit that God’s heart and strategy was preserve the Jewish people as a distinct people while in exile among the nations – for them to remain a separate people with a prophetic destiny:

And he took up his parable, and said, “Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, ‘Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.’ How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? Or how shall I defy, whom YHVH hath not defied? For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel?” (Numbers 23:7-10)

The reality of God’s heart is expressed in Genesis 12:3 (ESV) where the text reveals how God has created the Jews to be a blessing. He also promises to curse any individual who despises the Jew in his or her own heart. Today those like Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Green or Nick Fuentes curse the Jews, fulfilling Balaam’s original intentions. These malfeasants will eventually reap what they have been sowing.

YHVH commanded the Jewish people in Exile to seek the good of their host country:

“Take wives and father sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may give birth to sons and daughters; and grow in numbers there and do not decrease. Seek the prosperity of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to YHVH in its behalf; for in its prosperity will be your prosperity” (Jeremiah 29:6-7)

The Dreyfus Affair (1894-1906) was a major political scandal in France centered on the wrongful conviction of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish French artillery captain, on the charge of treason. The trial exposed deep-seated antisemitism and legal injustice within the Francophone world. On January 5, 1895, Dreyfus was subjected to a public ceremony of degradation in the Morlan Court of the Military School in Paris. While drums rolled, Dreyfus was accompanied by four artillery officers, who brought him before an officer of the state who declared the judgment. A Republican Guard adjutant then tore off his badges and golden stripes from his military uniform. As he was paraded throughout the streets, the crowds chanted “Death to Judas, death to the Jew.” Theodor Herzl, an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and playwright, was covering Dreyfus’ trial in Paris as a correspondent for the Viennese newspaper Neue Freie Presse. Witnessing the mob’s murderous anti-Jewish hostility, Herzl drew the obvious conclusion that European emancipation had failed. Jews would never be safe or truly accepted in European society; they needed a sovereign nation of their own. Shaken by these events, he wrote The Jewish State, which laid the political groundwork for modern Zionism – the movement for the return of the Jewish people to their ancient and prophesied homeland.

France’s anti-Semitic foundations – Napoleon’s devil’s bargain

As Napoleon Bonaparte deepened his involvement in statecraft, he decided to challenge France’s Jewish community on two scores: one, to erase any national identity they might have, any connection to the Jewish people as a distinct nation; and two, to subject Jewish religious observance to French national oversight and control. The French Revolution had severely weakened the role of Roman Catholicism for French citizens, and Napoleon wanted that same dynamic to apply to Jewish citizens of the Republic as well. So, between February 9, 1807 and April 6 1807 he convened ‘a Great Sanhedrin‘ and demanded of the Jewish community leaders the answer to a handful of pointed questions. Two of them are mentioned here: Do Jews born in France consider it their native country? Are they bound to obey the laws and customs of the land?

The Jewish community leaders realized that Napoleon wanted them to back-pedal their Messianic hope of a national returning to Jerusalem, and to downplay Jewish belief in the immutability of the Torah as God’s word. So they gave an answer carefully and sparingly: “The Israelite is required to consider the land of his birth or adoption as his fatherland, and shall love and defend it when called upon.”

Napoleon’s challenge presented unique dangers for France’s Jews. It could have triggered anti-Jewish pogroms, like the kind which Haman was planning for Persian Jews more than 2,200 years previously. Haman described it to Ahasuerus in this way: “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of all other people and they do not comply with the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain” (Esther 3:8).

The denial of the Jewish people’s national identity is anti-Semitism. The denial of the Jewish people’s connection to their homeland is anti-Zionism. Napoleon had presented the people of Jacob with a Faustian bargain, in exchange for the offer of a French secular identity and a tenuous promise of tolerance. In time, the 1800’s Dreyfus Affair and the 1940-1944 Nazi collaborator Régime de Vichy made it plain to see that assimilation into France was no guarantee that French Jew-hatred would or could be stopped. Though Napoleon may have believed that his machinations with the Grand Sanhedrin were ‘good for the Jews,’ he was touching ‘the apple of God’s eye’ and triggering divine blowback by demeaning the connection between the Jewish people, their land and their calling. His intrigues caused harm to France’s divine destiny. And today Paris is burning.

France’s anti-Semitic foundations – President de Gaulle’s maledictions

French President de Gaulle was a quirky fellow. On the one hand, he denounced the anti-Jewish legislation of the fascist Vichy Regime on October 4, 1941. On the other hand, on Sunday, November 27, 1967 he publicly spoke evil of the Jewish people in the Elysée Palace, describing them as a despicable people: “The Jews, hitherto widely dispersed and who had remained what they had always been, in other words, an elite people, sure of itself and domineering.” Hubert Beuve-Méry, editor of Le Monde (published on Tuesday, November 29, 1967) said that de Gaulle’s comments carried “whiffs of antisemitism.”

Our next newsletter will delve into other French manifestations: Islamist anti-Semitism, Islamist anti-Christian and Islamist anti-French perspectives. The connection between Islamic and Leftist-Communist anti-Semitism will be revealed, and the 50-100 anti-Semitic and leftist organizations catalyzing these riots and attacks will be exposed.

How shall we then pray?

Pray for the people of France to call upon the God of Israel and repent for their centuries-long hatred of Israel
Pray for the political leaders of France – to receive a revelation of these divine realities and respond in obedience to God’s word
Pray for believers in Yeshua everywhere to receive biblical and Spirit-breathed revelation about these matters, and to walk in obedience to these biblical truths
Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth!

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

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Tabernacles – Egypt and the nations versus Jerusalem

The Bible contains some secrets that can only be uncovered by reading the text carefully. One of these secrets concerns the Feast of Tabernacles (also known as the Feast of Booths or Sukkot).

Tabernacles is known as the worldwide feast when all the nations will come up to Jerusalem to worship Yeshua the Messiah of Israel. Zechariah 14:16 indeed proclaims this future prophetic day: “Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations . . . will go up from year to year to worship the King, YHVH of armies, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.”

There are some interesting and surprising nuggets toward the end of the Scroll of Zechariah, which we will look at now.

Present friends are future enemies

Modern politics can remind us of a fast-moving game of musical chairs. Today’s allies may have recently been our enemies, or vice-versa. The fast-spinning plates of democracies guarantee that presidents and prime ministers are replaced with alacrity. Yesterday’s president may have not been warmly disposed to us, and today’s leader may appear to be our dearest friend. But can we guarantee who will be sitting on tomorrow’s throne? Political equilibria never remain constant, so let us take care lest we fall into the temptation of ‘marrying the spirit of the age’ – the zeitgeist – and soon end up as widowers.

Over the decades some of my friends have aligned themselves too closely with leaders who swiftly vanished into the political fog. Presidents and policies shifted, and my friends soon discovered that they had placed their bets on shifting sands. Such dynamics certainly apply to the Middle East, where dictators rise and fall with stunning regularity. Yesterday Iran rocketed Qatar, while today both countries are kissing and making up.

The Scriptures grant us a stable and more sustainable viewpoint. They give us a longer term perspective, allowing us to weigh political Accords (whether they be Abrahamic, Camp David or Oslo) in light of the more sure prophetic word. A deeper look at Zechariah’s take on the Middle East and on the prophetic implications of the Feast of Tabernacles can help us navigate these rapids.

Last night I had the strangest dream

In 1950 American folk-singer Ed McCurdy wrote a ‘peace anthem’, later recorded by Simon & Garfunkel, Joan Baez and Johnny Cash:

Last night I had the strangest dream I ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed to put an end to war
I dreamed I saw a mighty room, and the room was filled with men
And the paper they were signing said they'd never fight again

And when the papers were all signed and a million copies made
They all joined hands end bowed their heads and grateful prayers were prayed
And the people in the streets below were dancing round and round
While swords and gun and uniforms were scattered on the ground

The wish for peace is strong in every age. But when we look at history through YHVH’s eyes, we see that the Hebrew prophets spoke of the sobering realities of ‘war, wars and rumors of war’ all increasing at the end of the age:

“The pronouncement of the word of YHVH concerning Israel: YHVH who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of a person within him, declares: Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes staggering to all the peoples around. And when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. It will come about on that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will injure themselves severely. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.” (Zechariah 12:1-3)

God’s sovereign plan involves breaking the strength of the world’s superpowers: “It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured” (12:3a). This ‘Lord of the Rings’ battle will be intense, and all the nations of the world without exception will gather to attack the Jewish state (Zechariah 12:3). “And on that day, I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem” (Zechariah 12:9).

An international ‘October 7’

Zechariah 14:1-2 takes us a few steps back into the time tunnel, soberly prophesying a terrible day coming when all the nations attack Jerusalem, though the exact time sequence is not tied down. It describes an international military conquest of Jerusalem carried out by a global consortium. Like Hamas’ demonic atrocities of October 7, 2023, this international attack will involve vicious murder, indiscriminate sexual violence, destruction of buildings and houses, and mass exile of half of Jerusalem’s Jewish population (similar to Hamas’ recent cruel taking of hostages).

“Behold, a day is coming for YHVH when the spoils taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be taken, the houses plundered, the women raped, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be eliminated from the city.”

The Spirit and the fountain

Zechariah 12:7 tells us that the God of Jacob will certainly rescue the Jewish people and deliver her armies from the surrounding enemy nations. YHVH will “save the tents of Judah, the House of David and … the inhabitants of Jerusalem” (12:7).

At that time, YHVH will also “pour out on the House of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced. And they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn” (12:10).

This will result in a national spiritual and physical cleansing fountain for the Jewish people, and it will include a repentant recognition and acceptance of Messiah Yeshua: “In that day a fountain will be opened for the House of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity” (13:1).

Zechariah 13:2-6 describes a cleansing that the God of Jacob will then accomplish, removing from the Jewish people spiritual impurity and wickedness associated with idolatry (especially connected to New Age and Eastern religions and connected witchcraft).

The Hebrew army and the Twilight Zone

Zechariah 12-14 sketches out for us how YHVH will actively intervene on behalf of the Jewish people, strengthening them with a victorious warrior-anointing for the onset of battle: “In that day YHVH will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the House of David will be like God, like the Angel of YHVH before them” (12:8).

At that time, the God of Jacob will energize the destructive power of the armies of Israel, and will lead them to victory over their belligerent neighbors: “In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves. So they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples” (12:6; see also the term ‘surrounding peoples’ in Deuteronomy 25:19; Nehemiah 6:16; Ezekiel 16:57; Joel 3:11-12; Amos 3:11).

That day of victory will be a unique ‘Twilight Zone’ – a somber half-light/half-dusk that will cover the whole earth during that intense battle: “In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. For it will be a unique day which is known to YHVH, neither day nor night. But it will come about that at evening time there will be light” (Zechariah 14:6-7).

The Second Coming of Messiah Yeshua

At the height of the battle, Messiah Yeshua will personally return to David’s City as Warrior King, ruling over the nations from Jerusalem, the Jewish world capital: “Then YHVH will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east” (Zechariah 14:3-4)

Immediately after the battle, a brand-new river will gush forth from underneath the Temple Mount, flowing southward toward Jerusalem and then west to the Mediterranean Sea and east to the Dead Sea (making the latter come alive): “And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea. It will be in summer as well as in winter” (Zechariah 14:8; see also Ezekiel 47:7-12).

YHVH’s plague upon the nations who attacked Jerusalem

At the conclusion of that holy battle, the God of Isaac will personally smite all the nations of the world which militarily attacked the Jewish state:

“Now this will be the plague with which YHVH will strike all the peoples that have gone to war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. It will come about in that day that a great panic from YHVH will fall on them. And they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another. Judah also will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance. So also like this plague will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey and all the cattle that will be in those camps” (Zechariah 14:12-15).

Egypt’s coming judgments in light of her anti-Semitic violence

The Hebrew prophets speak specific words of judgment over Egypt (more than over all other nations except Babylon) regarding YHVH’s divine verdict against that nation because of their evil heart-attitude toward Israel and their cruel treatment of the sons of Jacob:

“Egypt will become a wasteland, and Edom will become a desolate wilderness, because of the violence done to the sons of Judah, in whose land they have shed innocent blood” (Joel 3:19)
“The land of Judah will become a cause of shame to Egypt. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in great fear because of the plan of YHVH of armies which He is making against them. On that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to YHVH of armies; one will be called ‘the City of Destruction’” (Isaiah 19:17-18)
“Even Egypt, whose help is vain and empty. Therefore, I have called her ‘Rahab who has been exterminated’” (Isaiah 30:7)

For more resources on Egypt’s prophetic future in the Scriptures, we suggest reading:

Egypt – A Broken Reed in the Middle of the Highway (September 5, 2024)
Egypt’s Prophetic Future (September 7, 2024)
The Isaiah 19 Highway – Prophecies Amidst the Potholes (May 27, 2016)

So you wanna go back to Egypt?

Egypt was the country chosen by God within which Israel would take shelter in the days of Joseph. It was there, in the Land of Ham (see Psalm 105:23,27), that the Jewish people increased from 70 souls (Genesis 46:27; Deuteronomy 10:22) to over three million (based on Numbers 2:32-33).

Egypt was the first nation which tried to commit genocide against the Jewish people (Exodus 1:22). It is described in the Bible as “the House of slavery” (Exodus 13:3) and was known for its harsh and abusive treatment of Israel (Deuteronomy 26:6). It would be the country to which Israel would again be exiled in slavery (Deuteronomy 28:68), an event amazingly fulfilled in 70 AD. It was a country steeped in idolatry, and the Ten Plagues targeted by YHVH were a divine take-down of different Egyptian demonic powers (Exodus 12:12). It was known as a land of “harmful diseases” (Deuteronomy 7:15; 28:27). It was listed as a country of abominations along with the ten other nations of Genesis 15:19-21 (Ezra 9:1).

But nowhere in the Bible does the God of Israel classify Egypt as a Semitic country or as an Abrahamic country. Instead, it is a country which considered the Jewish people as aliens (Deuteronomy 23:7). Egypt’s forefather was not Shem but Ham (Genesis 10:6). The biblical context for an ‘Isaiah 19 Highway’ is actually not three Abrahamic nations or three Semitic nations. The only Abrahamic nation listed in Isaiah 19:24-25 is Israel.

Future prophesied war between Egypt and Israel

Isaiah prophesies future battles between Egypt and the Jewish state. “The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of YHVH of armies which He is purposing against them” (Isaiah 19:17). Egypt will soberly commemorate their own defeat at the hand of Israel, and will even have five dedicated cities where Hebrew will be spoken. One of these cities will commemorate the destructive battles of Isaiah 19:18.

In light of this ongoing enmity still in many Egyptian hearts toward the Jewish people (even in our day), Zechariah shows how this will play itself out in the coming Days of Messiah. He connects this future judgment of Egypt to the coming worldwide celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles:

“Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, YHVH of armies, and to celebrate the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles). And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, YHVH of armies, there will be no rain on them. If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them. It will be the plague with which YHVH smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Sukkot. This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Sukkot” (Zechariah 14:16-19).

It is instructive to note that, in this passage, Egypt is used as an example of a recalcitrant nation, one which in days to come will still not have repented of its anti-Jewish heart. “This will be the punishment of Egypt” is the prophetic declaration, though room is left in that future roster for other nations.

The solution to Egypt’s anti-Jewish heart comes through a combination of military defeat/destruction at the hand of Israel, and a heart-felt repentance toward YHVH the God of the Hebrews. This same principle can be applied to all nations in the world, especially to those in the Middle East. It should guide us as we intercede for the Jewish people and their ‘surrounding neighbors.’

Today and in the immediate future, the nations of this world are rapidly turning against Israel. We are not yet at the point where these nations have moved into repentance and have embraced God’s heart for Israel and His restoration of the Jewish people

Cold Egyptian peace, hostile Egyptian heart

The Camp David Peace Accords that followed Sadat’s historic visit to Jerusalem in November 1977 have remained cold. Trade and tourism between the countries have been limited, ideological hostility endures, and over the years the bitter tone of Egyptian rhetoric has even intensified.

IDF Lt. Col. (res.) Eli Dekel, Researcher of Israeli Intelligence and Infrastructure Systems in Arab Countries, states plainly: “It is not really cold peace as Israelis like to define it, but more like a cold war between the countries with no shots being fired. What we are seeing is a marked deterioration in comments made in Egyptian media and by officials. Since the war, the amount of loathing and hate has skyrocketed.”

Mariam Wahba, Research Analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, adds: “Public diplomacy has grown increasingly confrontational, with Cairo adopting sharper rhetoric, pursuing legal and diplomatic pressure against Israel, and expressing concern over the trajectory of the war in Gaza.”

When sabers rattle on the Nile

“From the day the [Camp David] peace agreement was signed, it was temporary in the eyes of the Egyptians,” Lt. Col. (res.) Eli Dekel says. “There are currently four times more forces than agreed to along the border.”

On September 20, 2025 Netanyahu asked U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to persuade Egypt to reverse runway extensions at Egyptian air bases in the Sinai (which would allow them to be used by fighter jets), and to cease from constructing underground facilities which could be used for storing and firing Egyptian missiles – to no avail.

On February 5, 2026 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a closed session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that “the Egyptian army is getting stronger and we need to monitor it” to prevent excessive buildup.

These repeated warnings highlight a longstanding Israeli security principle: the 1979 Camp David peace depends on a carefully managed balance. Any significant military improvement by Egypt, even if it is incorrectly labeled ‘defensive justification,’ is seen in Jerusalem as a gradual dismantling of the Treaty’s demilitarized buffer zone. Egypt’s military preparations contradict the view that this Islamic state is a status-quo player with Israel, driven solely by defense.

Buildup in the Sinai

As Egypt re-arms at an disturbing pace and continues to violate the Camp David treaty’s military annex, weapons smuggling across the border (being carried out with the help of Bedouin networks in the western Negev) has actually intensified.

According to IDF Colonel (res.) Prof. Gabi Siboni and Brig. Gen. (res.) Erez Winner in the October 30, 2025 issue of The Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, October 30 2025:

“Open-source intelligence assessments indicate that Egypt began violating the treaty almost immediately after it was signed. The Egyptian army operated under a defensive doctrine but constructed fortifications, minefields, and bases throughout Sinai; doubled the number of bridging battalions; and established radar stations that cover the entire peninsula—all in breach of the agreement. In doing so, Egypt expanded its military infrastructure well beyond the limits set by the security annex… [Egyptian President] El-Sisi’s rule, beginning in 2014, has been characterized by a dramatic strengthening of Egypt’s armed forces, now numbering some 450,000 regular troops and 800,000 reservists… El-Sisi has ignored the treaty’s limits on the deployment of forces and equipment in Sinai, constructing additional tunnels and bridges across the Suez Canal, expanding the peninsula’s road network – which, though used by civilians, would enable rapid troop movement if required – and reinforcing forces in Zones B and C. In 2025, during a visit by Western Command near the Libyan border, Egypt’s Defense Minister spoke of Cairo’s “readiness to block maritime routes to Israel.” … Since 2020, evidence has mounted that the Egyptian army is shifting from a defensive to an offensive posture in Sinai. Indicators include a 30-percent increase in combat unit strength; the relocation – at great expense – of munitions depots from west of the Nile and the construction of new depots, including underground storage facilities, in Sinai and along the western bank of the Suez Canal. These facilities are capable of storing hundreds of ballistic missiles, including Scuds capable of reaching central Israel … Israel’s willingness to tolerate Egypt’s ongoing and widening violations of the peace treaty’s military annex stems from two main factors: the need to enable Cairo’s fight against ISIS and Egypt’s central role in implementing the agreement with Hamas . . . Still, if there is one lesson from October 7, it is the imperative to be prepared in the face of capabilities of potential adversaries and not to be caught by surprise… [by a] regime that has, for years, systematically violated the peace treaty’s military annex with regard to Sinai. The Egyptian army continues to view the IDF as its benchmark threat in training and planning.”

Egypt’s Octagon – bigger than the Pentagon

A July 8, 2026 article in the Jerusalem Post asks the question: “Should Israel be concerned about Egypt’s massive new ‘Octagon’ military command headquarters?”

On Saturday, July 4, 2026 Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi inaugurated Egypt’s new State Strategic Command Center (known as ‘The Octagon’) in the New Administrative Capital just east of Cairo. This is the headquarters for the Egyptian Ministry of Defense, and is the largest both in the Middle East and in the entire world:

“The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, covers about 29 acres as a building, while the wider Pentagon reservation is also far smaller than the Egyptian complex. The Pentagon has about 6.5 million square feet of floor space. The Octagon has been reported to have about 50.5 million square feet, or roughly 4.6 million square meters, of floor area, making it several times larger by built space and vastly larger by overall site area.”

According to the Al-Ain news agency of the United Arab Emirates, the architecture of the Octagon is influenced by ancient Egyptian architecture, using [support] pillars in a Pharaonic style: “The design was inspired in its architecture by the greatness of ancient Egyptian civilization.”

Balancing our Tabernacles vision

As followers of Messiah Yeshua, we rejoice in the coming fulfilment of prophecy – especially as it applies to Sukkot/Tabernacles. We also accept the sobering context and process which will lead to that fulfilment. We are not talking about a future ‘Middle-East peace process,’ but a Middle-East war process. It will not be a ‘World Union’ of ‘United International States.’ It will not be a ‘Two State solution’, an ‘Oslo solution’ or a ‘UN solution.’ It will not be a jihadi solution or a ‘Shi’ite Crescent’ solution. Only through the decisive and divine defeat of Israel’s enemies, and the destruction of every weapon raised up against Jacob’s people (see Isaiah 54:17) – will there be peace. It is within this prophetic context that the mighty army of Ezekiel 37 (Ezekiel 37:9-11) will fulfil its long-awaited calling. The spiritual zenith of this glorious process will come about when Israel opens her arms to Messiah Yeshua our Deliverer, our Rescuer and our Atonement.

The high point of all the Jewish holidays

Sukkot/Tabernacles/Booths is a multifaceted Jewish holiday, zooming in on two biblical principles:

“So that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am YHVH your God” (Leviticus 23:43)

“You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths for seven days when you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat. And you shall rejoice in your Feast, you, your son and your daughter, and your male and female slaves, and the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow who are in your towns. For seven days you shall celebrate a Feast to YHVH your God in the place which YHVH chooses, because YHVH your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful” (Deuteronomy 16:13-15)

How shall we then pray?

Pray for the people of Egypt to call upon the God of Israel and repent for their centuries-long hatred of Israel
Pray for the political leaders of your own country – that they would receive a revelation of these divine realities and respond in obedience
Pray for believers in Yeshua everywhere to receive biblical and Spirit-breathed revelation about these matters, and to walk in obedience to these biblical truths
Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth!

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

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A Day But No Atonement

Clarity, truth and tradition. We need to unpack these essential elements if we want to know what Yom ha-Kippurim (or the Day of Atonements, as it is called in Hebrew in Leviticus 23:27) is all about. Five questions should be answered:

What does the Bible teach about the holiday known as Yom ha-Kippurim?
What does the biblical term ‘to be cut off’ mean in a Day of Atonements context?
How have rabbinic teachings and traditions shaped Jewish understanding of Yom Kippur?
How can Messianic believers relate to Yom ha-Kippurim in light of Messiah Yeshua?
What’s the prophetic future for Yom ha-Kippurim?

A rabbinic Yom Kippur

Jewish perspectives on the Ten Days of Awe and the Day of Atonements go back to just after the Second Temple was destroyed by Imperial Rome. Hopes for its speedy rebuilding were not fulfilled. Rabbinic Judaism then ‘rebuilt itself,’ establishing non-biblical atonement ceremonies which were not based on Jerusalem-centered animal sacrifices. This massive religious restructuring eventually morphed into what is today called Orthodox Judaism – a step-child of Second Temple Judaism, and one which has departed from the atonement-based biblical foundations of Moses and Messiah Yeshua.

Rabbi Judah son of Shimon ben Gamliel II was born in 135 AD and grew up in the Western Galilee village of Usha. Circa 200 AD he is quoted as stating:

“All are judged on New Year and the separate dooms are sealed each in its time. . . Man is judged on New Year and his doom is sealed on the Day of Atonements” (Babylonian Talmud [TB], Tractate Rosh Hashana 16 a).

Sixty-five years later (circa 265 AD) in the central Lower Galilee town of Sepphoris (Zippori), Rabbi Judah’s pupil Rabbi Yochanan bar Nappaha declared:

“Three scrolls are opened (in heaven) on New Year, one for the thoroughly wicked, one for the thoroughly righteous, and one for the intermediate. The thoroughly righteous are forthwith inscribed definitively in the scroll of life. The thoroughly wicked are forthwith inscribed definitively in the scroll of death. The doom of the intermediate is suspended from New Year till the Day of Atonements. If they deserve well, they are inscribed in the scroll of life. If they do not deserve well, they are inscribed in the scroll of death” (TB, Tractate Rosh Hashana 16b).

Nearly one thousand years later still, the Mikra’ot Gedolot commentary on Leviticus quotes the explanation of Rambam (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon or Maimonides) as to what he thought was the spiritual basis behind Judah’s and Yochanan's decisions. He stated:

“Now Scripture did not explain the reason for this commandment – why [we must do] the blowing [of the horn], and why we need a memorial before God on this day more than on all other days, and why He commanded altogether that this day should be a holy convocation. But because this day comes at the beginning of the month in which the Day of Atonements occurs, it would appear that on the New Year there is a judgment before Him, blessed be He, for by these He judges the peoples: on the New Year He sits upon the throne as the righteous Judge, and afterwards in the course of the next ten days He forgives the transgression of His servants.”

Without biblical warrant, a whole new Judaism was created after the destruction of the Second Temple, and a novel understanding was given to both the Feast of Trumpets and Yom ha-Kippurim. The biblical New Year was moved from Aviv/Nisan in the Springtime to Eitanim/Tishrei in the Fall, and a new creation labeled the ‘Ten Days of Awe’ (the ‘yamim nora’im’) was fashioned, proclaiming that each Jew’s spiritual destiny is to be decided and written down once a year in either the Book of Life (nichtavin l’chayim) or the Book of Death (nichtavin l’mitah). These less-than-biblically based perspectives have been embraced by most Jewish people over the centuries.

Have a happy Yom Kippur!

There is only one verse in the entire Bible which mentions blowing a shofar on Yom ha-Kippurim, and it is in the Book of Leviticus. It’s part of a discussion concerning the Year of Jubilee (a joyous occasion) when, once every fifty years, each individual Israelite gets all his debts forgiven and his ‘spiritual bank account’ balanced:

“And you shall sound the blast of a shofar on the tenth of the month of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonements you shall sound a shofar throughout all your land. You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family” (Leviticus 25:9-10).

Every fifty years the Day of Atonement ended with a shofar blast, declaring the wiping away of the nation’s and of the family’s fiscal debt. In Zechariah 3:1-9 YHVH wipes away the spiritual sins of all Israel on Yom ha-Kippurim, in the same way like He proclaims economic release and freedom to the whole people of Israel on the same day every semicentennial:

“Then he showed me Joshua the High Priest standing before the Angel of YHVH, and Satan standing at his right to accuse him. And YHVH said to Satan, ‘YHVH rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, YHVH who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a log snatched from the fire?’ Now Joshua was clothed in excrement-covered garments and was standing before the Angel. And He responded and said to those who were standing before him, saying, ‘Remove the excrement-covered garments from him.’ Again He said to him, ‘See, I have taken your guilt away from you and will clothe you with festive robes.’ Then I said, ‘Have them put a clean headband on his head.’ So they put the clean headband on his head and clothed him with garments, while the Angel of YHVH was standing by . . . Behold, I am going to engrave an inscription on it,’ declares YHVH of armies, ‘and I will remove the guilt of that land in one day.”

The national response of the Jewish people to this Jubilee removal of economic debt every 50^th Yom ha-Kippurim was seen in their sober and thankful heart, filled with overflowing joy. The national gates of praise swung open as the entire Jewish people began preparations for the upcoming pilgrim feast of Sukkot, the Harvest Feast better known as ‘Tabernacles.’

The exchange-of-life principle

My dear friend Dr. Louis Goldberg (former Professor of Jewish Studies at Moody Bible Institute) often stressed that, at the heart of the sacrificial system in the Mosaic Covenant was something called ‘the exchange-of-life principle.’ When the High Priest would lay his hands on the live sacrificial animal, the sins of the guilty sacrificer would go (as it were) into the innocent animal, and the innocent life of the animal would be accredited to the one laying his hands on the sheep or goat – thus granting him atonement:

“And he shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so that it may be accepted for him to make atonement [the Hebrew root is kaphar/ kippur] on his behalf” (Leviticus 1:4)
“Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the wrongdoings of the sons of Israel and all their unlawful acts regarding all their sins. And he shall place them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands ready” (Leviticus 16:21)

This principle was echoed by the Apostle Paul in reference to Messiah Yeshua’s atoning sacrifice:

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Blood = body and soul

God’s perspective is that blood is what ties body and soul together. It symbolizes life. Indeed, without the existence of blood in the body, there is no life: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls. For it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement . . . For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life. Therefore, I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off’” (Leviticus 17:11,14)

Blood has a special purpose in the Scriptures: It is to be used to honor God who has given us the gift of life. With God as our witness, blood is not to be eaten, but to be used to atone for human sins. According to the Bible, the eating of blood is a serious spiritual offense. YHVH says that the blood and the fat of the sacrifice – the most significant part which represents precious life – belong only to the God of Jacob, and to no other deity or creation (see also Exodus 13:2; Leviticus 17; 27:9,26). To take what God claims as His alone is to rob and plunder the Lord Himself.

“And you are not to eat any blood, either of bird or animal, in any of your dwellings. Any person who eats any blood, that person shall also be cut off from his people” (Leviticus 7:26-27)

The Apostle Paul adds a New Covenant perspective here:

“No, but I say that things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. And I do not want you to become partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we? . . . Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 10:20-22, 27)

These concepts form part of the biblical background for Yom Ha-kippurim, the Day of Atonements.

To be cut off from one’s people

YHVH entrusted the rite of male circumcision on the eighth day after birth to Abraham in Genesis 17:14. Disobedience on this point entailed being cut off from the Abrahamic Covenant and from the Jewish people:

“And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations . . . So My covenant shall be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. But as for an uncircumcised male, one who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people. He has broken My covenant” (Genesis 17:12-14)

The Hebrew term karath used in Genesis 17 means ‘to cut down,’ ‘to cut off’ or ‘to destroy’. It has a secondary meaning ‘to cut’ (as in ‘to make a covenant’). When the term is used with the sense ‘to cut off,’ it can refer to one of three possible meanings:

to be excommunicated by men on earth
to be excommunicated eternally from God
to be physically put to death directly by man or through God’s sovereign outworking

Excommunication from the Jewish nation is the punishment for not keeping Yom ha-Kippurim according to the rules of the Mosaic Covenant: “You shall afflict your souls … For any person who does not afflict his soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people” (Leviticus 23:26-29)

Excommunication from the Jewish nation is the punishment for eating blood: “I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off’” (Leviticus 17:11, 14)

Excommunication from the Body of Messiah is the punishment for rejecting belief in the gospel: “See then the kindness and severity of God: to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; for otherwise you too will be cut off” (Romans 11:22-23)

The following are 14 examples of activities which result in ‘being cut off,’ according to Moses:

kidnapping and slavery (Exodus 21:16)
premeditated murder (Exodus 21:12)
violating the Shabbat (Exodus 31:14-16; see also Numbers 15:32-36)
persistent/high-handed disobedience to God or to one’s parents (b’yad rama) (Leviticus 20:9; see also Numbers 15:30-31 and Deuteronomy 21:20-21)
incest (Leviticus 20:11-14)
homosexuality (Leviticus 20:13)
bestiality (Leviticus 20:15-16)
occult practices (Leviticus 20:27)
blasphemy (Leviticus 24:16; see also 1 Kings 21:10)
being a false prophet (Deuteronomy 13)
idolatry (Deuteronomy 13:6-10)
harlotry (Deuteronomy 22:21)
adultery (Deuteronomy 22:22)
adultery with an engaged woman (Deuteronomy 22:23-24)

Some of these above-listed judgments were capital offences, while other would involve exclusion from the Israelite community – either open-ended or limited in time (a ban). Numbers 27:14 refers to the rebellion at Kadesh, yet YHVH did not destroy Israel. Instead, His discipline entailed a national delay in entering the Promised Land – though most of that generation did die in the wilderness (Numbers 26:65). When the Mosaic Covenant allows no atoning sacrifice for sin, and yet God graciously does not cut our people off, there is definitely room for humble giving of thanks:

“See then the kindness and severity of God: to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; for otherwise you too will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be uninformed of this mystery – so that you will not be wise in your own estimation – that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion. He will remove ungodliness from Jacob . . . This is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’ In relation to the gospel they are enemies on your account, but in relation to God’s choice they are beloved on account of the fathers – for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:22-29)

In 1 Corinthians 5:5 and 11:28-32 Paul points out how God can bring judgment on believers who highhandedly violate biblical commands. Though prosecutable evidence may escape human judges’ detection, God who sees everything will bring His justice about in His own time. The fear of the Lord is meant to have an effect on community behavior, so that all will know that YHVH will not tolerate hypocrisy and hidden sin in Israel’s private lives or in their public worship, praise and celebration (see Jude 1:12).

Messiah our Righteousness is cut off for the sake of His people

Yom ha-Kippurim ties the threat of ‘being cut off’ to each Jewish person’s heart attitude regarding God’s atonement. At the same time, the term ‘to be cut off’ is also used in connection with each Jewish person’s heart-attitude to Messiah Yeshua’s atoning work on behalf of His Jewish people:

“Then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off (Hebrew, yikaret) and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary” (Daniel 9:26).

Isaiah adds a corresponding thought, using a similar Hebrew verb to karath (‘nigzar’): “By oppression and judgment He was taken away. And as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off from the land of the living for the wrongdoing of my people, to whom the blow was due?” (Isaiah 53:8).

God’s redemptive decision to ‘cut off’ the Messiah is the climax in the history of atonement!

“But YHVH was pleased to crush Him, causing Him grief. If He renders Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of YHVH will prosper in His hand” (Isaiah 53:10)

“Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these things, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Messiah did not enter a holy place made by hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the consummation of the ages He has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment, so Messiah also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him” (Hebrews 9:23-28)

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and congregation of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Yeshua, the mediator of a New Covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel” (Hebrews 12:22-24)

“But when Messiah appeared as a high priest of the good things having come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by hands, that is, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the Holy Place once for all time, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:11-14)

Divine thunder

The Bible connects trumpets and shofars to some powerful contexts – past, present and future. The fear-inspiring voice of the God of Israel sounded like a shofar:

“So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because YHVH descended upon it in fire. And its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. YHVH came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, and YHVH called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. Then YHVH spoke to Moses, ‘Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to YHVH to gaze, and many of them perish’” (Exodus 19:16-21)

God’s shofar-like voice was unbearable in power – “The blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them” (Hebrews 12:19)

The Scriptures tell us that the God of Jacob rides upon the highest heavens. He rides on the clouds of heaven and through the desert. He rides on the cherubim: “YHVH of armies, God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim – You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made heaven and earth” (2 Kings 19:15)

In Moses’ Tent of Meeting and Solomon’s Temple, YHVH’s manifest presence hovered or rode above the two cherubim (Psalm 80:1), those golden representations of angels (see Genesis 3:24) who stand before God’s presence at all times:

“Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the Glory of YHVH filled the Tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the Glory of YHVH filled the Tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34-35)

“Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the Glory of YHVH filled the House. And the priests could not enter the House of YHVH because the Glory of YHVH filled YHVH’s House. All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the Glory of YHVH upon the House, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to YHVH” (2 Chronicles 7:1-3; see also 2 Chronicles 5:11-14)

“Yet You are holy – You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel!” (Psalm 22:3)

In the Holy of Holies, on Yom ha-Kippurim, the God of Jacob would actually appear to Aaron (Exodus 30:10; Leviticus 16) and later to the High Priest (both descended through Levi), manifesting His Glory above the gold-covered sacred chest known in Hebrew as the kapōret or place of atonement (translated into Greek as hilastērion – i.e., to appease or make favorable; and into Latin as propriatorium – i.e., a place of reconciling or atoning).

“Then you shall put the kapōret on top of the Ark. And in the Ark, you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. There I will meet with you. And from above the kapōret, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about every commandment that I will give you for the sons of Israel” (Exodus 25:21-22)

“Now when Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the Voice speaking to him from above the kapōret that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim. So He spoke to him” (Numbers 7:89)

A prophetic future for Yom ha-Kippurim

In Zechariah 3:9, in the Holy of Holies on Yom Ha-Kippurim, YHVH of armies prophesies to Joshua the High Priest in the days of Zechariah the prophet. The God of Jacob announces that, in the same way as He takes away all debts from Israel on every 50th Day of Atonements, so will He “will remove the guilt of that [Israeli] land in one [future] day.”

At the very close of his biblical book, the prophet Micah also speaks of what YHVH will do on that Day of Atonements: “He will again have compassion on us. He will trample on our wrongdoings. You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea! (Micah 7:19)

Jeremiah adds his seer’s voice to the prophetic choir:

“They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know YHVH,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares YHVH, for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.” (Jeremiah 31:34)

“In those days and at that time, declares YHVH, search will be made for the wrongdoing of Israel, but there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will forgive those whom I leave as a remnant” (Jeremiah 50:20)

Other prophets of Israel and Judah stress the prophetic reality that the restored Jewish people will be celebrating the following Jewish calendar feasts after their Final Return from Exile: YHVH’s appointed feasts, New Moon celebrations, weekly Shabbatot, etc. (Isaiah 33:20; Isaiah 66:23; Nahum 1:15; Ezekiel 36:38; Ezekiel 44:24; Ezekiel 45:17). Amazing days lie ahead of us!

How can Messianic believers relate to Yom Kippur?

Clearly, we who believe in Yeshua are under the New Covenant; our atonement is through Messiah. We are not looking for our names to be inscribed once yearly in heavenly books, for as Messiah Yeshua said: “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven” (Luke 10:20).

“Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time. And at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued” (Daniel 12:1)

If we choose to fast and to humble our souls, it is not for the purpose of avoiding the God of Jacob’s punishment: it is in intercession for our beloved Jewish people, that they would turn to Messiah Yeshua and receive His atonement – and not that our fasting would atone for our sins. These have already been atoned for by Yeshua.

“But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that your fasting will not be noticed by people but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:17-18).

It may be of interest to note that the Apostle Paul seems to have kept the fast on Yom ha-Kippurim: “When considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even the Fast was already over” (Acts 27:9).

We who follow Messiah are called to confess our sins before God on a daily basis, and to experience our personal Yom ha-Kippurim each day, as the blood of Messiah Yeshua cleanses us from all sin:

“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Yeshua His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:5-10).

As Yom ha-Kippurim draws near, it encourages our souls to remember all these shofar-related events. The shofar gives voice to our praise and to our intercession. It accompanies our request for God to remember Israel in times of war (Numbers 10:9) and to grace our spiritual gatherings with His amazing presence (Numbers 10:7). The shofar blast is His clarion call to the Jewish people, emphasizing that YHVH never forgets a promise.

How shall we then pray?

Pray for Jewish people to receive visitations and revelation about Messiah Yeshua our Atonement during this season

Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth!

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

To donate online visit: https://davidstent.org/give

Keeping track of how God tells time

Every day in the synagogue, Jews pick up their Hebrew prayer books (the Siddur) and recite a passage based on God’s ancient declaration to Moses: “Blessed are You YHVH who sanctifies Israel and the times” (‘Baruch Ata YHVH meqadesh Yisrael v’zmanim’).

The original thought behind this prayer is found in Leviticus 23:2-4: “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: ‘YHVH’s appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations – My appointed times are these.’” The God of Jacob repeats that principle again, stressing it in Leviticus 23:44: “So Moses declared to the sons of Israel the appointed times of YHVH.”

But many Jews don’t attend synagogue today. And countless Christians of all stripes consider Jewish feasts, fasts and prayers to be quaint but unimportant. Yet the God of the Bible declares that these feasts and festivals are uniquely His – “My appointed times” as it says in Leviticus 23:2.

What does God’s declaration mean, and what significance does it have for Jews and Gentiles who believe the Bible? What are the implications of YHVH’s declaration for the nations of the world and for their political and religious leaders? How are we all to keep track of how the God of Jacob tells time?

The God of the Bible uses times and seasons as a strategic key to unfold His covenant purposes on earth and in heaven. In doing this, He sanctifies time through what some of us today call ‘the Jewish calendar’ and ‘the Jewish feasts.’ YHVH’s Hebrew calendar declares His sovereignty over all times and all seasons.

God’s sovereignty over darkness and light, the stars and the seasons

King Solomon proclaims: “There is an appointed time for everything, and there is a time for every matter under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). This started with the creation and manifestation of light to our universe: “Then God said, ‘Let there be light!’ And there was light. God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness” (Genesis 1:3-4).

“He counts the number of the stars. He gives names to all of them” (Psalm 147:4). “Praise Him, sun and moon! Praise Him, all stars of light! Praise Him, highest heavens and the waters that are above the heavens! They are to praise the name of YHVH, for He commanded and they were created” (Psalm 148:3-5). The Jewish Siddur again reflects this biblical perspective: “Blessed are You, YHVH our God, King of the universe, who makes distinction between holy and normal, between light and darkness!”

Denying God’s sovereignty, His existence, His seasons

The prophet Jeremiah mourned the lack of spiritual discernment of many in Israel in his day, who did not bow the knee before YHVH’s sovereign creative power, but denied His ways, spurned His calendar and scorned His feasts: “But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart. They have turned aside and departed. They do not say in their heart: ‘Let us now fear YHVH our God, who gives rain in its season, both the autumn rain and the spring rain – who keeps for us the appointed weeks of the harvest” (Jeremiah 5:23-24).

Paul of Tarsus echoes Jeremiah’s words, adding that not only Jews but also Gentiles stand guilty of this same spiritual denial:

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools…” (Romans 1:18-22)

Times and seasons can be changed only by God

Daniel the prophet was a top political advisor to the king of Babylon. He spoke from personal experience when he declared that YHVH “is He who changes the times and the periods. He removes kings and appoints kings. He gives wisdom to wise men, and knowledge to people of understanding” (Daniel 2:21).

Daniel understood that a repudiation of God’s Leviticus 23-based calendar is, at its heart, a denial of God’s sovereignty. Those who make light of the biblical calendar end up mocking the crafter of that calendar – the God of the Jews and the sovereign shaper of history. Daniel notes that it is the anti-Christ/ anti-Messiah spirit which attempts to adulterate those biblical perspectives strongly rooted in the Hebrew calendar. Our day has seen a mushrooming of such attitudes:

“And he [i.e. the anti-Messiah] will speak against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One. And he will intend to make alterations in times and in law” (Daniel 7:25)

The zenith of Creation’s first week is the seventh day

“And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. And so the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their heavenly lights. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 1:31-2:3)

YHVH calls Himself the God of the Jews (see Genesis 26:24; 28:13; 31:42; 32:9; Exodus 3:6,15-16) roots. He entrusted the entire Bible to the Jewish people (see Romans 3:1-2). The God of Jacob tells the Jewish people that the feast days of Leviticus 23 are “your appointed feasts … a reminder before your God” (Numbers 10:10).

The weekly Day of Rest (Hebrew, the Shabbat) begins in Genesis on the seventh day of Creation. YHVH established this day as special and holy from the very beginning (see Genesis 2:3). Thousands of years before Abraham was born, God set His stamp on Shabbat for all time.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of YHVH your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your cattle, or your resident who stays with you. For in six days YHVH made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day. For that reason YHVH blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:8–11).

Moses and the Prophets later communicate that the Lord of Eternity put a divine seal on the Shabbat, crowning it as an especially Jewish sign-day for all the days of time and space:

“Now as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You must keep My Sabbaths. For this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, so that you may know that I am YHVH who sanctifies you’” (Exodus 31:13)

^“Sanctify My Sabbaths. And they shall be a sign between Me and you, so that you may know that I am YHVH your God” (Ezekiel 20:20)

“They shall also keep My teachings and My statutes and all My appointed feasts, and sanctify My Sabbaths” (Ezekiel 44:24, describing the celebration of Shabbat in Jerusalem’s future Millennial kingdom)

God grants to the Sabbath a weekly preeminence and priority

In Leviticus 23 (the biblical chapter which highlights the Jewish year’s complete feast calendar) the God of Jacob emphasizes something that most of us rarely think about when considering the Jewish feasts. The yearly feast-cycle begins with God commanding the celebration of the Shabbat (Leviticus 23:3). The high point of each week is to be the Shabbat, a remembering of YHVH’s sovereign authority over everything that He has created:

YHVH spoke again to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘YHVH’s appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations – My appointed times are these: For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a Sabbath to YHVH in all your dwellings’” (Leviticus 23:1-3).

The Jewish Sabbath in the boxing ring of the Gentile Church

As Roman and Greek Replacement Theologians grasped the Jewish Scriptures with gnarled anti-Semitic hands, they began to perform spiritual plastic surgery on the Bible. The Genesis Shabbat was incrementally morphed into a Gentile-Christian Sunday. And in short order, Sunday-worship became a theological litmus test of Christian orthodoxy. Those who held to a biblical seventh-day Shabbat (like the Jewish apostle Saul of Tarsus; see Acts 13:14, 42-44; Acts 16:13; Acts 17:2; Acts 18:4) were eventually rejected as heretics. Gentile Christians rapidly drained Shabbat-keeping (which had been the practice of the original Jewish apostolic body of Messiah) from church liturgy and observance. Instead, anti-Shabbat and anti-Jewish-feast tendencies were soon to become the church’s theological conviction and religious practice.

The reasons stated by the church for rejecting Jewish feasts and the Jewish Shabbat were not based on any biblical mandate; they were anchored in cold-hearted anti-Jewish attitudes. Here are some dishonorable milestones in that metamorphosis:

Ignatius of Antioch, written between Antioch and Rome, circa 107-110 AD – Epistle to the Magnesians:

“Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in days of idleness … Let every one of you keep the Sabbath after a spiritual manner, rejoicing in meditation on the law, not in relaxation of the body, admiring the workmanship of God, and not eating things prepared the day before, nor using lukewarm drinks, and walking within a prescribed space, nor finding delight in dancing and clapping which have no sense in them. And after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord’s Day [i.e. Sunday] as a festival, the resurrection day, the queen and chief of all the days of the week.”

“It is absurd to profess Christ Jesus, and to Judaize. For Christianity did not embrace Judaism, but Judaism [embraced] Christianity, that so every tongue which believes might be gathered together to God . . . It is absurd to speak of Jesus Christ with the tongue, and to cherish in the mind a Judaism which has now come to an end. For where there is Christianity there cannot be Judaism.”

Justin Martyr, penned in Rome 155 AD – Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, 18, 2:

“The Sabbaths, and in short all the feasts, . . . were enjoined on you [Jews] – namely, on account of your transgressions and the hardness of your heart. . . God enjoined you to keep the Sabbath . . . on account of your unrighteousness and that of your fathers . . ." (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, 18; chapter 21).
“But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples” (Justin Martyr, First Apology, chapter 67: weekly worship of the Christians).

Constantine the Great; written in the Balkans; March 7, 321 AD – Corpus Juris Civilis Cod., lib. 3, lit. 12, 3:

“Let all judges, the people of the cities, and the officials of all the courts rest on the venerable Day of the Sun, and let all workshops be closed. Given on the Nones of March, in the consulship of Crispus.” Flavius Julius Crispus was the eldest son of Emperor Constantine the Great and served as a Roman consul in 318, 321 and 324.

“Let us then have nothing in common with the most hostile rabble of the Jews ... In pursuing this course with a unanimous consent, let us withdraw ourselves, my much honored brethren, from that most odious [Jewish] fellowship” (Constantine the Great, quoted in Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, Isaac Boyle, translator, 1995, p. 52)

Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea Maritima, 335 AD; one of the Fathers of Church History:

“Wherefore as [the Jews] rejected [the Sabbath law], the Word [Christ] translated and transferred the feast of the Sabbath to the morning light by the new covenant, and gave us the symbol of true rest – that is, the saving Lord’s Day, the first [day] of light, in which the Savior of the world, after all His labors among men, obtained the victory over death, and passed the portals of heaven, having achieved a work superior to the six-days creation. On this day, which is the first [day] of light and of the true Sun, we assemble, after an interval of six days, and celebrate holy and spiritual Sabbaths – even all nations redeemed by him throughout the world, and do those things according to the spiritual law, which were decreed for the priests to do on the Sabbath. And all things whatsoever that it was the duty to do on the Sabbath, these we have transferred to the Lord’s Day, as these more appropriately belong to it, because it has a precedence and is first in rank, and more honorable than the Jewish Sabbath” (Eusebius: Commentary on the Psalms, specifically regarding Psalm 92)

The Council of Laodicea, Canon 29; 365 AD : “Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honoring the Lord’s Day, and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be Judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.”

It’s hard to tell time while ignoring God’s Jewish calendar

The Body of Christ got off to a bad start, developing a theology and a Last Days perspective which rejected YHVH’s calling on the Jewish people. It replaced the calling of Jacob with a non-biblical ‘priority of the Gentiles.’ Theological sleight-of-hand moved Shabbat to Sunday and replaced the Jewish biblical feasts with a ‘Christian Calendar’ chock full of newly-created ‘Saint’s Days.’

Something was lost in this ‘Gentilizing’ process. God’s prophetic calendar and His gifts and calling to the Jewish people are not items that can be blithely ignored. The entombment of the truth and light that these Jewish riches could have brought to the body of Christ has weakened the Christian world for ages, depriving it of the full counsel of God and sapping it of spiritual clarity and discernment.

But God and His purposes are not stymied. He is raising up voices which are restoring His truth about the Shabbat. Before he was murdered, Charlie Kirk published a book ‘Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your life’. And 2,700 years ago the prophet Isaiah prophesied of a coming day when Messiah Yeshua will sit on David’s throne in Jerusalem, and the entire planet will once again celebrate YHVH’s appointed times, His feasts and His Sabbaths:

“For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I make, will endure before Me, declares YHVH, so will your descendants and your name endure. And it shall be from new moon to new moon and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all mankind will come to bow down before Me, says YHVH.” (Isaiah 66:22–23).

The rise of the Messianic Jewish movement in the 1800’s and 1900’s is a token of this fast-approaching prophetic day. “Messiah Yeshua is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Loving Passover seders but scorning the Shabbat

Over the past sixty years, many Evangelicals have had the joy of experiencing the richness of a ‘Christ in the Passover’ demonstration. They have discovered how Messiah Yeshua’s Last Supper was truly a Jewish Passover meal, and that those elements lie at the heart of what is today known as ‘communion.’ They have heard about the future Messianic celebration of the Passover, as Yeshua prophesied: “For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes” (Luke 22:17-18).

Yet, while Evangelicals appreciate one or two Jewish feasts, some often have a knee-jerk reaction to the continuing relevance of the Shabbat. Some of this is due to a suspicion or fear of the Mosaic covenant – what could be termed ‘Shabbatophobia.’ The Shabbat was given at the dawn of creation, which means that Adam and Eve kept Shabbat. But later the Shabbat was also made part of the Mosaic covenant (see Exodus 20:1-12; Exodus 31:13-16). Nearly two millennia of anti-Semitism and an anti-Mosaic attitude have taken their toll, and these negative attitudes to Shabbat are often a litmus test of other deeper spiritual infections. It is worth remembering that Isaiah prophesies that the Shabbat will be part of the New Covenant order in days to come (Isaiah 66:22-23).

How shall we then pray?

Pray for the God of Jacob to grant revelation to believers everywhere about the Jewish foundations of His prophetic calendar, and heightened awareness of what is coming down the pike

Pray that YHVH will expose and annul anti-Semitic theology and activism throughout the planet, wherever these snake-like evils raise their virulent heads

Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth!

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

To donate online visit: https://davidstent.org/give

Doing a heart transplant on the Feast of Trumpets

It’s time once again for the sons and daughters of Jacob to gather together – to celebrate and to remember. Sweet and somber traditions mix as Jews attend synagogue to pray and to hear the blast of the shofar. “May you be inscribed and sealed [in the Book of Life] for a Good Year!” (‘L’shanah tovah tikatevu v’teichateimu’).

Once a year the People of the Book assemble to carry out ancient traditions, some of which have biblical foundations. What does the God of Isaac want us to remember and to focus on during Yom Teru’ah, this day of blowing/ trumpeting/ sounding of the shofar/ ram’s horn (see Numbers 29:1)? The time has come to separate the wheat from the chaff.

The Days of awe and judgment

I was taught as a child that these Days of Awe (in Yiddish, yomim noroyim) are a sober season when men’s souls are judged. Rabbinic tradition circa 200 AD states:

“Rabbi Judah says: All are judged on New Year and the separate dooms are sealed each in its time – on Passover in respect of produce, on Pentecost in respect of fruit, on Tabernacles judgment is passed in respect of rain, and man is judged on New Year and his doom is sealed on the Day of Atonement” (Babylonian Talmud [TB], Tractate Rosh Hashana 16a).

Sixty-five years later (circa 265 AD) Rabbi Yochanan bar Nappaha declared:

“Three scrolls are opened (in heaven) on New Year, one for the thoroughly wicked, one for the thoroughly righteous, and one for the intermediate. The thoroughly righteous are forthwith inscribed definitively in the scroll of life. The thoroughly wicked are forthwith inscribed definitively in the scroll of death. The doom of the intermediate is suspended from New Year till the Day of Atonement. If they deserve well, they are inscribed in the scroll of life. If they do not deserve well, they are inscribed in the scroll of death” (TB, Tractate Rosh Hashana 16b).

These post-biblical rabbinic traditions have led the Jewish nation to describe Rosh Hashanah as Yom Ha-Din – ‘the Day of the Judgment.’

Nearly 1,700 years later, a famous Jewish folksinger from Montreal, Eliezer bar Nisan ha-Cohen (known popularly as Leonard Cohen), blended these thoughts with a medieval Jewish Day of Atonement prayer known as ‘U’netanneh Tokef’ (transl. ‘Let us speak of the awesomeness’) and penned the song ‘Who by fire’ at the time of Israel’s October 1973 Yom Kippur War:

“And who by fire, who by water, who in the sunshine, who in the night time – who by high ordeal, who by common trial, who in your merry merry month of May, who by very slow decay… And who shall I say is calling?”

Apples, honey and Bible

Over the centuries, various traditional celebrations have become associated with the Feast of Trumpets/ the Day of the Blowing of the ram’s horn/ shofar. Jews nibble apples and honey, hoping for a sweet year. Round challah loaves are served, symbolizing the continuity of the year, with this holiday being considered the ‘crown’ of the calendar. Synagogues register their highest attendance at the High Holy Days. This season also bring with it a heightened awareness of sin within the Jewish community.

But the Jewish Bible has a perspective on the Feast of Trumpets which is somewhat different from modern Jewish tradition. According to the Tenach, the Jewish New Year does not occur in September; it actually takes place 14 days before the Feast of Passover – on the first day of the first month of Spring, called Aviv in the Bible. “Now YHVH said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ‘This month shall be the beginning of months for you. It is to be the first month of the year for you” (see Exodus 12:1-3; 13:4; Deuteronomy 16:1).

What today is called Rosh Hashanah by most Jewish people is actually the biblical Feast of Trumpets (or the ‘Feast of Blowing’ of shofars/ ram’s horns/ trumpets). It is not the first Feast of the year but the fifth Feast of the biblical calendar (Leviticus 23:23-25). And it occurs in the biblical month which King Solomon used to call ‘Eitanim’ (meaning ‘the strong ones’ in Hebrew – see 1 Kings 8:1-2). The God of Jacob is a stickler for details, and insists through Moses that the Jewish people “shall keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year” (Exodus 13:10).

So how did the Jewish New Year slide from the first month to the seventh month?

Someone once said that it’s easier to get the singer out of Vegas than it is to get Vegas out of the singer. This is is a relevant maxim here regarding both the Jewish people, the Babylonian Exile and the origins of modern Rosh Hashanah.

The twelve Jewish tribes went into Exile between 722 BC (Assyria) and 597/586 BC (Babylon). They took the twelve original names of the Hebrew months with them ‘to the rivers of Babylon’ (Psalm 137:1). These included:

Aviv (the first month, today called Nisan – Exodus 13:4)
Ziv (the second month, today called Iyar – 1 Kings 6:1)
Eitanim (the seventh month, today called Tishrei – 1 Kings 8:2)
Bul (the eighth month, today called Heshvan – 1 Kings 6:38)

Rabbi Hanina bar Hama of Galilean Zippori (d. 250 A.D.) noted that, when the Jewish people returned to Jerusalem from Exile, “the [Babylonian] month-names came up with them [with the exiles] from Babylon” (Jerusalem Talmud, Rosh HaShanah 1:2,56d). These Babylonian names gradually replaced the original Hebrew names, especially after the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. The first month in the Hebrew calendar (Aviv) was renamed Nisan (from the Akkadian nisānu, meaning ‘sanctuary’ or ‘sacrifice’, or possibly from Sumerian nisag meaning ‘first-fruits’). The seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, Eitanim (‘the strong ones’), was renamed Tishrei (from the Akkadian word tašrītu or ‘beginning’).

Today eight of the twelve original Hebrew names of the months have completely vanished. The Babylonian month-names used today are for the most part the names of Babylonian demons, even as most modern Western months are based on the names of Roman deities, and the modern Western secular week-day names are taken from Norse and Germanic gods. Since the Babylonian royal calendar began its year in Tishrei (biblical Eitanim), the Jewish people gradually adapted these month-names into their national calendar, and Rosh Hashanah morphed from a Spring feast into a Fall feast.

Rejecting the Messiah and His biblical New Year

A crucial fork in the road was crossed in 33 AD when Messiah Yeshua was rejected by the majority of Israel’s spiritual authorities, and was handed over to the Roman occupation authorities to be crucified. If Jerusalem’s then spiritual leadership could have made such a terrible decision to reject the Messiah, it does not take a long stretch of the imagination to understand how these same leaders could eventually make similar errant decisions about a host of other issues – including the nature of the New Covenant, the status of the Mosaic covenant, the biblical basis for salvation, the issue of rabbinic authority, etc.

The authority of the Scriptures – and what they teach about Messiah Yeshua – is very much connected to the issue of the Jewish New Year. Today most Jewish people’s spiritual confusion about something as clear and basic as the Biblical teaching concerning when the Jewish New Year falls, reminds us of the Days of the Judges: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). The prophet Jeremiah also stressed this point circa 600 BC: “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters – to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13).

As Babylonian cultural influences strengthened among the sons and daughters of Jacob, the Jewish people gradually weakened in their faithfulness to other biblical patterns and expressions as well. By 200 AD the biblical focus on the Feast of Trumpets had been renamed and refashioned as ‘the New Year.’ The influence of the Exile and our sojourn in Babylon would continue to shape medieval Judaism as well as modern Jewish thought.

But there is a day coming when YHVH will bring about full restoration to His Jewish people. He will renew our ancient feast days, as prophesied in Zechariah 7:1-6 and Zechariah 8:18-19.

YHVH will restore His original calendar, confirming the declaration of Leviticus 23:2: “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘YHVH’s appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations – My appointed times are these…” For, as Paul said, these divine gifts to Jacob and God’s calling on the sons and daughters of Israel “are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29).

YHVH’s shofar – the sound of warfare

For every Jewish man and woman, boy and girl, the sound of the shofar was associated with shouts of victory in war. The shofar blast was connected to overwhelming joy; it was a reminder to the God of Jacob for Him to remember His prophetic promises and protection over His people Israel.

“And when you go to war in your land against the enemy who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you will be thought of by YHVH your God, and be saved from your enemies. Also on the day of your joy and at your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow your [silver] trumpets over your burnt offerings . . . and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am YHVH your God” (Numbers 10:10).

Every Israelite remembered the destructive power of the trumpets at the walls of Jericho: “So the people shouted, and priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city” (Joshua 6:20)

The Hebrew Scriptures repeatedly emphasize that the God of Jacob is soon coming to judge the earth and to vanquish Israel’s enemies. The Hebrew prophets call that day ‘The Day of the Lord,’ and it will be announced by the blowing of a shofar: “Blow a shofar in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the Day of YHVH is coming. Surely it is near” (Joel 2:1)

On that day of judgment, YHVH Himself will blow His heavenly shofar of victory in battle, as He empowers Israel’s mighty army to accomplish His awesome task:

“For I will bend Judah as My bow! I will fill the bow with Ephraim, and I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece. And I will make you like a warrior’s sword. Then YHVH will appear over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. And the Lord YHVH will blow the trumpet, and march in the storm winds of the south” (Zechariah 9:13-14; see also Ezekiel 37:10; Ezekiel 25:14).

The Psalms describe YHVH as a warrior rising above the battlefield with a shofar blast, deafening and defeating His enemies: “God has ascended with a shout, YHVH with the sound of a trumpet” (Psalm 47:5-6)

The shofar’s joyful sound of worship

King David’s worship orchestra incorporated the victory sound of the shofar and the military sound of the silver trumpet as he led the Ark of the Covenant in public parade to the House of YHVH:

“And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the Ark of YHVH to its place which he had prepared for it . . . Then David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their relatives as the singers, with musical instruments, harps, lyres, and cymbals, playing to raise sounds of joy . . . Thus all Israel brought up the Ark of the Covenant of YHVH with shouting, and with sound of the shofar, with [silver] trumpets, with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps and lyres” (1 Chronicles 15:3,16,28)

Psalm 98 links the shofar blast to high praise: “Sing praise-songs to YHVH with the lyre – with the lyre and the sound of praise-songs. With [silver] trumpets and the voice of the shofar shout joyfully before the King, YHVH” (Psalm 98:5-6).

The zenith of the Book of Psalms concludes with the blasting praise of the shofar: “Praise Him with the sounding of the shofar” (Psalm 150:3)!

The great rejoicing that Israel entered into every month at the New Moon celebrations, at the Feast of Trumpets and on the first day of the Feast of Sukkot/Tabernacles, is described in all its glory by Asaph in Psalm 81: “Blow the shofar at the New Moon [see Leviticus 23:23-24], at the full moon [the 15^th day of the Hebrew month – see Leviticus 23:33-35], on our feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob” (Psalm 81:3-4).

The sound of the shofar was associated with joy. It was a reminder to the God of Jacob to remember His prophetic promises: “Also on the day of your joy and at your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow your [silver] trumpets . . . and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am YHVH your God” (Numbers 10:10). The trumpet blast was seen as an intercessory act, reminding YHVH of His promises over His Jewish people.

Shofar show good

The word teru’ah (from the Hebrew root ru’a) has a secondary meaning – a powerful shout-out of rejoicing – as used in the following passages:

“Shout to God with a voice of joy!” (Psalms 47:1)
“Shout joyfully to God, all the earth!” (Psalms 66:1)
“Shout joyfully to the God of Jacob!” (Psalms 81:1)
“Shout joyfully to YHVH, all the earth!” (Psalms 100:1)

The Feast of Trumpets is called zichron teru’ah in Leviticus 23:24. This term can be translated as ‘a memorial of trumpeting’ or ‘a memorial by shouting out.’ Teru’ah can refer to a shofar blast (Leviticus 25:9; Hosea 5:8; Psalm 81:3-4), a great shout of joyous praise (2 Samuel 6:15; Ezra 3:11; Job 8:21; Psalm 27:6), or a resounding cymbal clash (Psalm 150:5). The word speaks of explosive and joyous power, and usually refers to an extremely positive sonic event.

The Bible calls our attention to remember that the Feast of Trumpets is a day of shofar blasts, as well as a day of gathering in public prayer where the faithful crowd shouts in unison, giving high praise to the name of YHVH (see Joshua 6:20 where shofar and shouting are both described)

The Bible does not connect the shofar of the Feast of Trumpets to sadness, mourning, or incipient danger. Numbers 10:10 instead refers to it as “the day of your gladness in your appointed convocations.” These celebrations were actually happy occasions of great joy. Psalm 81:1-3 refers to singing aloud, making a joyful shout, raising up a song by striking the tambourine, harp and lyre – and all this on the Feast of Trumpets!

The shofar blast of revival

A major spiritual revival took place during the Feast of Trumpets in Nehemiah’s day.

“And all the people gathered as one person at the public square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Teaching (Hebrew, Torah) of Moses which YHVH had given to Israel. Then Ezra the priest brought the Torah before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it before the public square which was in front of the Water Gate, from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the Book of the Teaching. Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose” (Nehemiah 8:1-4)

Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to YHVH your God; do not mourn or weep!” For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the Torah. Then he said to them, “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our YHVH. Do not be grieved, for the joy of YHVH is your strength.” So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.” All the people went away to eat, to drink, to send portions and to celebrate a great festival, because they understood the words which had been made known to them (Nehemiah 8:8-12)

The God of Jacob lays it all out for us here: This is not a day for tears or fears. It is not a day to be afraid, to grieve or to mourn. It is a day to eat rich food, to drink sweet-tasting beverages, and to have a huge and joyous celebration. In short, YHVH is calling on His people to have a holy festivity!

In Nehemiah this party follows immediately on the heels of a national revival. The people had just heard the words of Deuteronomy 27-28. They understood that there was a good reason for the punishment of Exile, and they immediately repented of their national rejection of His prophets.

Today that same national call stands before our Jewish people – to realize that our Exile to America, England, France, Argentina, Russia, South Africa etc. – is due to our leaders’ rejection of the message of the Prophets and of Messiah Yeshua (Matthew 23:34-39; Mark 12:1-12). And we as a nation have followed our leaders in their despicable decision. The need of the hour for us is national repentance. The need of the hour is to wake up and realize that our existence in the Exile is like that of a bird in a gilded cage. The God of our Fathers is calling us home – home to Him and home to our homeland!

The shofar blast announces major upcoming prophetic events

The End of the Jewish Exile will be accompanied by a shofar blast:

“It will come about also in that day that a great shofar will be sounded. And those who were perishing in the Land of Ashur and who were scattered in the Land of Egypt will come and worship YHVH in the holy mountain at Jerusalem” (Isaiah 27:13)

Messiah Yeshua will gather together Israel’s scattered flock from across the face of the whole planet, sending out angels who will blow a great shofar:

- “And He will send forth His angels with a great shofar and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other” (Matthew 24:31).

The resurrection of the dead will be accompanied by the sound of the shofar:

“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52; the Greek equivalent word for shofar/trumpet used here is σάλπιγξ - salpigx).

The return of Messiah Yeshua to Israel will be signaled by a shofar blast:

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Messiah will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

How shall we then pray?

Pray for God to bring revelation and alignment to believers everywhere concerning His times and seasons (Daniel 2:21; Genesis 1:14-18)
Pray for Messiah’s body (especially for Bible teachers, pastors and teachers) to become even more attuned to how the God of Jacob is using His calendar as a catalyst and a holy milestone in bringing forth the salvation of Israel as well as life from the dead for the world
Pray for the nation of Israel to receive a revelation of their God who both hears our prayers (mingled with the call of the shofar) and answers us (accompanied by His divine shofar blast) during this season of heightened spiritual focus
Pray for those who have given their lives to communicating the message of Messiah Yeshua’s atonement to His own precious people – that they might be encouraged, receive needed provision, and experience God’s enabling presence
Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth!

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

To donate online visit: https://davidstent.org/give

Spinning round and round in the circle game

For forty years the sons and daughters of Israel plodded across the Sinai Desert, following their own tracks which disappeared quickly in the blowing sands. Moses’ Exodus journey should have taken one week, but it ended up taking over 2,000 weeks. Finally, Joshua’s Jewish feet splashed into the waters of the Jordan River.

In modern parlance, one could call this 40-year process a ‘40-year Redux’ (from the Latin reducere, ‘to bring back’) – ‘a re-doing’ or repetition of the Exodus. The Middle East has seen many such ‘circle games’ in recent days.

Lebanon Redux

Twenty years ago, on July 12, 2006 the Hezbollah terror group killed eight IDF soldiers and kidnapped two others on the Lebanese border. Simultaneously, Katyusha rockets were launched against Israeli communities, hitting 6,000 homes, displacing 300,000 residents and forcing more than a million Israelis to live in shelters. Almost a third of Israel’s population - over two million people - were directly exposed to this jihadi threat. More than a thousand rockets hit the Kiryat Shmona area, 808 rockets landed near Nahariya, 471 near Safed, 176 near Carmiel, 106 near Akko, 93 in the Haifa vicinity and 81 near Tiberias. 4,262 civilians were treated in hospitals for injuries. From July 12 until August 14, 2006, when a cease-fire went into effect, 43 Israeli civilians and 117 IDF soldiers were killed. This 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War also touched our immediate family: my two eldest sons served in the IDF on the northern border during that conflict.

The IDF was positively overwhelmed by the spontaneous and whole-hearted response of Israeli men and women rushing to the Lebanese front, mounting their tanks and APCs and manning their artillery positions. I was reminded at that time of the prophetic future described in Psalm 110:3: “Your people will volunteer freely on the day of Your power! In holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew.”

Over the next few weeks, every soldier in my son’s unit was injured, and one of his friends was killed by high-explosive, armor-piercing ammunition fired at close quarters from a Soviet anti-aircraft cannon. Yet in just under 30 days, American and French power brokers had forced Israel to withdraw, leaving Hezbollah terrorists armed and in place, as per UN Security Council Resolution 1701. I remember the agony and the anger I felt when this happened. Most Israelis realized that Western super-power pressure had merely postponed jihadi hostilities to a coming conflict, and that Iran’s Lebanese proxy would live to fight another day against the sons and daughters of Jacob.

This same ‘circle game dynamic’ – indecisive attacks on the enemy followed by inconclusive results – has raised its grizzled head over the decades for American troops in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan – and currently in the Gulf States and Iran. The IDF has been tangling with similar dynamics in Gaza’s ‘Hamastan’ and Lebanon’s Iranian proxy Hezbollah.

“Trust us! It will never happen again!”

‘Circle-game dynamics’ pop up from time to time like the weasel in the child’s nursery rhyme, as the West attempts to bulldoze impossible peace scenarios into existence between Israel and its jihadi neighbors. The latest such example comes from senior US officials on Thursday July 30, 2026 as they attempt to transfer Hamas’ jihadi weapons to the terror gangs of the PLO/PA: “When we met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and his team,” said these US officials, “we said, ‘We . . . need to also make sure that this [the October 7 massacre] never happens again.”

Some Israelis had high hopes in July 2006 when IDF tanks rolled into Lebanon. Today some American diplomats are similarly declaring “Certainly this time we’re going to succeed in blunting the forces of both Hamas and Hezbollah!” But Ezekiel’s prophetic rebuke echoes down the corridors of time: “It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash!” (Ezekiel 13:10).

Wars and rumors of war – but the end is not yet

Messiah Yeshua reminds us that, as we near the Last Battle, we “will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end” (Matthew 24:6). The Rapture may not be the next item on the world’s prophetic timeline. But let’s remember that one can never go wrong by concentrating on YHVH’s priority focus: the full restoration of the Jewish people to their God and to their Promised Land. Satan’s frantic anti-Semitic thrashings are a clear and present indication to us all of how near the fulfilment is for these restoration promises to Israel.

The collapse of the West

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘Ring Trilogy,’ (Lord of the Rings’ Two Towers), King Théoden utters his sobering soliloquy just before the Battle of Helm’s Deep: “The days have gone down in the West, behind the hills, into shadow. How did it come to this?” As the light fades in the West, as the world totters on the cusp of darkness, it is imperative that we understand the times and be prepared for the challenges coming quickly down the pike. It was said of the warriors in Issachar’s ancient tribe, that they were “men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do” (1 Chronicles 12:32). So should we also be.

As some rage against the dying of the light, Gandalf’s words of wisdom come to mind:

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us” (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, page 50).

To reject the Jewish people is to reject the Bible and the Messiah

Over 2,700 years ago, Isaiah prophesied: “The earth is also defiled by its inhabitants, for they violated laws, altered statutes, and broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer for their guilt” (Isaiah 24:5-6).

Today media talking-heads like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens crassly reject YHVH’s calling on Israel and His abiding love for that people (see Romans 11:28-29; Jeremiah 2:2-3; Isaiah 63:9). They despise the God of Jacob’s calling on the descendants of Isaac (Genesis 26:1-5) and dishonor the Jewish people. In doing so, they are bringing upon themselves the curse of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:3). They have missed the biblical mark, and have rejected God’s strategic love for Israel. As well, they have failed to proactively discern Satan’s demonic hatred for Jacob’s seed. Anti-Jew is anti-Christ!

This has left much of the West defenseless and exposed to the influence of Islamist hatred, to Muslim Replacement Theology, and to genocidal Sunni and Shi’ite strategies against Israel. Their burning desire is to destroy the ongoing restoration of the Jewish people to their Promised Homeland. Without a solid grasp of these biblical realities, the supposedly ‘Christian West’ is moving toward a hardline opposition to the restoration of Jacob’s seed back to Abraham’s land.

During the first half of the 20^th century, the UK and the US adamantly opposed the establishment of a Jewish state. Now that Tel Aviv, Haifa and a united Jerusalem have managed to survive and even to thrive, Western opposition has turned its focus (in a ‘circle game’ dynamic) to opposing international recognition of Jewish sovereignty in East Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, Gaza and the rest of YHVH’s biblically mandated borders. This perspective – which does not recognize the hand of God in preserving and restoring Israel, or give credit to the One who accomplishes these things – was recently inadvertently exposed when US POTUS spoke from the heart on Air Force One this past Monday, July 26, 2026:

“You know who wouldn’t survive without us? Israel! If I didn’t get involved, and I didn’t blow up those nuclear, essentially, soon to be nuclear weapons to dust, Israel would have been terminated months ago.”

Rioting anti-Semitism exploded only one day after October 7, 2023 and has since spread like prairie fire throughout the world – staggering proof of how Satan is multi-tasking his Jew-hatred as his end draws closer.

International Jihad crushes Post-Christian blindness

From the 1930’s to the 1970’s, Russia-based Communism made significant inroads into the Western world in general, and into American society in particular. ’Back in the USSR’ may have been a tongue-in-cheek song for the Beatles, but many Americans, Brits and Frenchmen were blind to this silent Stalinist threat. The same was true of Nazi influence in the 1930’s and 1940’s in the West. Today a significant portion of the West has bowed the knee to ‘woke-ism’ and has jettisoned biblically rooted faith, spurning scriptural morality and sexuality. This has also led to a denial of the biblical teachings about the gifts and calling Jacob’s people, and to a significant rapprochement with Islamo-positive perspectives which target Israel the people and Israel the state.

When diplomatic spectacles find themselves getting filmy with smudged petroleum, Western diplomats start focusing on ‘memoranda of understanding’ to be signed with jihadi terrorists from Iran, Qatar, Syria and Gaza. Top American politicians begin to morph into apologeticists for those who would hold the US back from battlefield victories, As the Islamist rubber hits the Post-Christian road, one can see how the West is quickly transforming into a ‘dhimmi’ (slave-like) society.

The question can be asked with justification: “What kind of government makes peace treaties with jihadis? POTUS Trump recently declared that the Iranians “always want to talk, but they break their word so often. And they’ll go out and they’ll say, ‘We never discussed nuclear.’ And I say why, why do they say that? All they do is make me angry. You know, they just make me angry.” It’s true that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps break their word as a matter of pride. But the truth here is made of sterner stuff. The real question here is” Why does the West refuse to take jihadi strategies seriously, and why does it continually act surprised by Iran’s and Qatar’s duplicity.

The current world news-cycle reminds us once again of ‘the circle game’ dynamic. What follows are six quick takes on how various countries appraise the current situation in the Persian Gulf.

US strategies

Trump’s Iran strategy over the past months has involved repeated ‘circle games’ – threats of massive attack against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and their armed forces, followed by short skirmishes lasting for a few days. Then temporary stand-downs have been proclaimed to discuss potential though imaginary ceasefires. In recent weeks there have been two major moves toward a highly coordinated military face-off (in cooperation with the IDF) against Iran, both of which were called off at the very last minute. The on-again-off-again nature of these clashes has created uncertainty among pro-Western Gulf States and disquiet among Israeli leaders. What conclusions can be drawn from these ‘circle games’ regarding American intentions? The following perspectives are being discussed behind the closed doors of Western world forums.

Washington has assessed that diplomatic moves have failed and will fail to produce hoped-for results. The Strait of Hormuz will not be successfully re-opened by American forces any time soon, and Iran’s drive to obtain nuclear weapons will not be successfully blocked by US strategic policies – at least, not by the strategies now being pursued.

US Armed forces have not achieved the decisive results they had planned for. It is not that the combination of air and missile strikes have exhausted their abilities or target banks, but rather that American decisions have been made to adopt a ‘hands off’ policy, a strategic choice not to target or degrade Iranian energy infrastructure – oil, electricity or water grids. Direct action against Iran’s nuclear program itself has halted, leaving indecisive results. The Strait of Hormuz has yet to see a resolute Western offensive against Iranian capabilities – the full destruction of anti-ship missile batteries, the IRGC Navy’s fast-attack craft and mine stocks, and coastal radar and drone sites. The American conclusion seems to be that, within some months, another significant military confrontation will be required if the goal of soundly defeating Iranian forces is to be achieved. Israel’s participation will be a much-needed necessity for such a decisive victory to take place.

But President Trump has domestic considerations to deal with as well: He wants to avoid a rise in U.S. gasoline prices above $4 a gallon at the pump, as well as to avoid the political fallout of a potential global energy crisis. A retriggering of a war with Iran – a broad confrontation or a sharp deterioration in the fighting – would be unpopular among a significant percentage of American voters, especially coming just before the U.S. midterm elections in early November. For opposite polling results, though, see McLaughlin & Associates.

There is also a military calculation: available missile-interceptor inventories have fallen to dangerous levels. According to CNN and Reuters, close to 80% of total US interceptors for its THAAD anti-ballistic missile defense system and approximately 50% of its Patriot interceptors have been fired. US Army’s surface-to-surface weapons, known as Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) have been virtually exhausted. A little over half of US global Tomahawk missiles inventories are still available. Though the military slack could be taken up by using more manned warplanes, a breathing space for munitions resupply would be strategically helpful for the US Armed Forces. Further preparations for an upcoming wider confrontation with Iran are a pressing priority. For now, the White House is pursuing a limited maritime and economic blockade, which it sees as a real threat to the Iranian regime’s ability to govern and supply its population’s basic needs.

POTUS Trump has posted a few times on his Truth Social site that that he has “agreed to a request from Tehran and other Middle Eastern countries” asking him to refrain from planned large-scale attacks, provided that a deal can be reached quickly. “The country of Israel joins me in this commitment,” he wrote, though Israel released no official comment.

At present, US strategy seems to involve a multi-faceted approach – saber rattling, gunboat diplomacy, calling off strikes and brinksmanship.

Similar ‘circle game’ dynamics have happened before in US history. POTUS Lyndon B. Johnson and Israeli Ambassador Abba Eban faced them just before the Six-Day War in June 1967, when the POTUS struggled between honoring the Rogers Plan American diplomatic agreements with Israel, and the pressures of upcoming elections. POTUS Nixon faced similar electoral unrest during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when Watergate disclosures and Arab oil embargoes were exploding on the front pages of US newspapers. Nixon’s bravery revealed itself in Operation Nickel Grass, where the POTUS stood with his Israeli ally, facing down the combined forces of the USSR, Egypt and Syria.

Iranian strategies

U.S. intelligence officials note that Iran’s military and IRGC have been unable to pay salaries for several months because of falling oil revenues. The country is also experiencing repeated power outages as the Iranian rial continues to fall against the dollar. Signs of civil unrest are already visible, including a hunger strike by about 1,500 death-row prisoners at a Tehran-area jail, and protest gatherings by taxi drivers and merchants, the Iranian social strata considered to be bellweathers of national stability. A recent acceleration in executions of participants who took part in the recent January 2026 Iran-wide popular protests has also raised public anger.

Iran has just released Mafia-like threats to be carried out by Iranian precision missiles, calling out specific potential targets located in neighboring Gulf States – unless these principalities bow low and kiss the hand of the Persian Godfather:

Saudi Arabia - Ghawar oil field, Abqaiq and Khurais processing plants
United Arab Emirates - Ruwais refinery and Zakum offshore field
Kuwait - Burgan oil field
Bahrain - Sitra refinery and Ma’ameer facilities
Qatar - North Field gas reserve and Ras Laffan LNG terminal
Israel - Leviathan and Tamar offshore natural gas fields

Iran’s current strategies include draining US interceptor stocks, attacking Gulf and US bases, and deepening the region’s energy and refugee crisis. On July 24, 2026, Al-Khanadeq, a Lebanese website affiliated with Hezbollah, published an article titled ‘The American Electricity Network in the Crosshairs of the Confrontation,’ warning that the U.S. military’s reliance on civilian power grids is a critical vulnerability affecting bases both on the U.S. mainland and in the Persian Gulf region. The US has concluded that intense American military action would likely allow the Iranian regime to divert Iranian public attention from domestic hardship. America’s leadership now prefers the course of maintaining and expanding the economic blockade against Iran, even if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed in the meantime. The Iranians have discerned this American tactic and are attempting to drag the US into a wider confrontation, based on the assumption that U.S. military casualties and higher gasoline prices will force Trump to accept a ceasefire on Tehran’s terms. Iran is also activating its proxies in the region, including Yemen’s Houthis and Iraq’s Kata’eb Hezbollah Shiite militias.

Popular Iranian perspectives

Iranian Crown Prince-in-exile Reza Pahlavi announced on July 26, 2026: “Thousands of Iranians have recently been killed,” he said, referring to the recent violent suppression of protests in the Islamic Republic. “They did not die so that a strait would remain open or for the sake of a nuclear deal. They died for freedom.”

Sunni leadership perspectives

America’s biggest partners in the Arabian Gulf (including the Saudis) have privately expressed that they fear Iran more than they trust America. Israeli commentator Ya’akov Bardugo of Channel 14 notes:

“These same sources made it clear that their countries are not prepared to pay the price of an Iranian response, and that they are not convinced that the United States can protect them or shape a new regional reality the day after. This also explains the pressure being exerted on President Donald Trump. The Gulf states have made it clear to him that they are not prepared to absorb Tehran’s response in the name of an American attack. They fear the missiles, the drones, and the possibility that the campaign will quickly slide towards their energy facilities and cities.”

Some Western Evangelical-charismatic perspectives

From time to time, I run into comments from Evangelicals and charismatics, emphasizing that the War of Gog and Magog and the Rapture seem to be only moments away. Though it may be true that these events are imminent, it is also true that an obsessive focus on such prophetic events can have the effect of drawing attention away from the main thing that the God of Israel is focusing on right now – restoring the Jewish people to their land, raising up the Ezekiel 37 army, and preparing to bring judgment on the nations who embrace the latest virulent form of satanic anti-Semitism.

As the tremblings of WWIII come upon us, let us stay balanced in our focus, aware of these Last Days birthpangs, and tracking with all that the God of Jacob is accomplishing!

Israeli strategies

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been focusing on some important matters

World anti-Semitic dynamics, as has happened throughout much of Jewish history, are spinning out of control. This includes virulent anti-Jewish social and political movements in both America and the West. We say in Hebrew ‘Kol ha’olam negdenu’ ('All the world is against us')
Remember that by and large the world is not kindly disposed either to Israel or to the Jewish people. Prepare accordingly
Do not ignore the enemy, Contain him and degrade his forces. Respond pre-emptively to your enemies with first strikes whenever possible (remember the June 1967 Six Day War)
Active deterrence is essential, while passivity and the ignoring of incoming threats (in Hebrew: havlaga) are unacceptable and intolerable behavior

How shall we then pray?

Pray for the political and military leaders of America and Israel, that their discernment courage and boldness would be attenuated and sharpened

Pray that the God of Israel will activate believers everywhere to discern the Satanic weapon of anti-semitism and receive divine pro-active downloads on how to oppose it

Pray for the entire people of Israel to be protected and preserved from their enemies (see Luke 1:68-75), and that they would seek and find salvation in Messiah Yeshua

Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth!

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

To donate online visit: https://davidstent.org/give

Wheeling and Dealing in the Middle East

In 1987 Tony Schwartz (with Donald J. Trump listed as co-author) released a ghost-written book called ‘The Art of the Deal.’ Part business-advice and part memoir, it reached #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. Trump’s subsequent hit reality television show, The Apprentice, opened with a line based on that book: “I’ve mastered the art of the deal . . . And as the master, I want to pass my knowledge along to somebody else.”

What happens when the ‘master of the American deal’ confronts perhaps the ultimate geopolitical ‘wheeler-dealer’ – modern-day Iran (ancient Persia)? On Sunday June 14, 2026, POTUS Trump announced: “The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all!” An Iranian-American ‘Peace Deal’ (MOU, or Memorandum of Understanding) was digitally signed privately on Sunday June 14, and will be publicly signed in Switzerland on Friday June 19, 2026.

Will this ‘Iranian Deal’ end up solving Middle Eastern problems – or will it end up dissolving Trump’s government and turning the POTUS’ heart away from the God of Jacob and His Jewish people?

History of ages past

One of the first Persian deals recorded in history concerns the Peloponnesian War (431 to 404 BC). It was fought in the Eastern Mediterranean between two Greek armies – the Athens-led Delian League and the Sparta-led Peloponnesian League. Winner takes all: the prize was who would control Greece. Persia’s Achaemenid Empire acted as the ultimate broker between Athens and Sparta. By selectively funding Spartan general Lysander’s navy, Persia effectively depleted the resources of both Greek city-states, ensuring neither army could pose a unified threat to the Persian frontier. By the year 413 BC (with Persian support) Sparta decisively defeated Athens, asserting its hegemony over Greece.

Crossing the Silk Road on the great Persian Land Bridge

Persia’s geographic location made it an indispensable land bridge between Europe and Asia. Persia’s control of vital overland trade routes brought in fat customs charges through the taxation of both Roman buyers and Chinese merchants.

During the Byzantine-Sasanian wars (572-628 AD), Persia tightly regulated the market flow of Chinese silk, forcing the Byzantine Empire situated in today’s Turkey to pay punitive taxes for these luxury items.

The Great Game – Britain, France, Russia and the USA

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Persia found itself squeezed between two aggressive superpowers: the British Empire and Imperial Russia. Persian shahs skillfully survived by playing one superpower against the other, preventing either one from gaining total control.

Following the 1951 nationalization of Iranian oil, and up to the end of the 20th-century, Iran continuously leveraged its control over the Strait of Hormuz (a critical global oil chokepoint), pivoting its trade agreements between Western nations, Russia, and China.

Masters of the bluff and masters of the proposition

In ‘Slow Train Comin,’ Bob Dylan wryly comments:

“All that foreign oil controlling American soil. Look around you, it’s just bound to make you embarrassed. Sheiks walkin’ around like kings wearing fancy jewels and nose rings, deciding America’s future from Amsterdam and to Paris. And there’s a slow, slow train comin’ up around the bend . . . Big-time negotiators, . . . Masters of the bluff and masters of the proposition.”

In Persian culture, negotiations are a deeply rooted art. The nation’s bazaars are chock full of veteran merchants haggling with refined skill day in and day out. Iran’s highly effective endurance-based, bazaar-style approach to diplomacy (characterized by deliberate ambiguity, strategic patience, and repetitive bargaining) does not aim for rapid, comprehensive capitulation. Iran has learned how to play geostrategic chess; it does not follow the rules of the Harvard Business School.

Tehran utilizes protracted negotiations as a tool to delay pressure, to probe adversary resolve, and to survive crises – endless talks in which the end game is to avoid strategic capitulation rather than to generate lasting peace or economic normalization.

Negotiations – Persian-style principles

Here are a handful of ‘bazaar principles’, honed over centuries, which Iran has used over the past decades in negotiating with the USA:

The ‘Bazaar’ or Haggling Method: Start high. Concede slow. Cloak intentions in false ceremonial politeness (Persian/Arabic, taarof). Enter into detailed negotiations even on issues that may not be deliverable, as a way to test the other side and gather information. Promise vague future rewards to keep talks alive without offering anything concrete. Negotiating is viewed as a marathon where the party that first gets tired and impatient is the one who loses. Iran’s diplomats start with ambitious, maximalist demands and concede only marginally or reluctantly, outlasting their opponents to secure the best possible terms.

Elegant Ambiguity: Iranian diplomats tend to rely on meticulously crafted, vague language in hammering out agreements. This provides for plausible deniability while allowing each party to interpret the text in his own favor. The overarching strategy is to stay far away from clear commitments. This concept of zerangi (cunning, cleverness or street smarts) is highly valued in Iran. The bāzār culture reads a situation, understands what the other party actually wants, and reaches a deal through indirect channels rather than through straightforward transaction. The person who can manipulate such negotiations is called a zerang. However, the person who ‘takes the list price at face value’ is mocked in Iran and is considered a simpleton. Iranians use manipulation, threats, bluffing, and disinformation as legitimate negotiating tactics. They may even issue exaggerated threats to paralyze tough policymakers. The demonstration of such rhetorical skill and the outmaneuvering of opponents is considered a source of pride and social status in Iran.

Strategic Patience: History has taught Persians and Shi’ites to use the tactic of leveraging time as a primary strategy. By dragging out the diplomatic process, Iran’s leaders shield themselves from external pressure. This weakens the efficacy of enemy sanctions, while Persian potentates simply wait for favorable shifts in global or domestic politics. The Persian proverb “Muddy the waters, and you’ll be able to catch the fish” illustrates a common Iranian negotiation tactic: prolong discussions, obscure intentions, and exhaust the other party’s patience before reaching an agreement. The delaying of action, the offering of superficial gestures to avoid real consequences – these tactics gain the upper hand by wearing opponents down and maximizing concessions. This strategy can also be called ‘running down the clock.’

Good Cop, Bad Cop: Exploit the illusion of political pluralism within your own camp. Create a false tension for your enemy between supposed ‘moderates’ vs. ‘hard-liners’ in order to extract concessions – even though all power ultimately lies with the Shi’ite Supreme Leader.

The Art of ‘Not Breaking’: Tehran goes for agreements that do not box them in. They actively work to prevent adversaries from achieving a clear, visible victory, often offering cosmetic concessions that do not fundamentally alter their long-term ideological or nuclear goals.

Leveraging Coercion and Diplomacy Simultaneously: In our day, Iran expertly weaponizes the negotiation process by maintaining aggressive proxy networks or ramping up nuclear capabilities simultaneously, using these threats as direct leverage to extract concessions while framing the talks as the only alternative to military escalation.

Divide and Conquer: Cause rifts within Western alliances and exploit them – between the U.S. and Europe and between the U.S. and Israel (n.b. VP Vance’s veiled public threats to Israel).

Unfortunately, while the Iranians are gold medal Olympic champions at this game, the Western world in general (and the USA in particular) are for the most part stuck back at the starting block.

Drowning the devil in his own words

Oded Ailam is former head of Mossad’s Counterterrorism Division and is currently researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs. He quotes Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, one of the key figures in the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the United States, regarding his modus operandi in these talks: “Like Ayatollah Khomeini once said, ‘Drown the devil in words.’ The goal is never to break off talks completely, but rather to create manageable crises – just as [we] did in 2015.” This Persian perspective is essential for understanding Iran’s gameplan in dealing with American diplomatic and military efforts.

A strong horse with no name

Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Mordechai Kedar, senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, served for 25 years in IDF military intelligence specializing in Syria, Arab political discourse and mass media, Islamic groups and Israeli Arabs. Kedar’s take on Middle Eastern ‘warfare through negotiations’ is worth reading: “Only a powerful, well organized, highly determined and militarily invincible Israel can stand a chance of surviving in its violent and merciless neighborhood.”

This is known as ‘the strong horse’ principle. In mid-November 2001, Osama Bin Laden spoke to a room of his supporters, discussing the September 11th terrorist attacks: “When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature, they will like the strong horse. This is [the] only goal … following the doctrine of Muhammad.” Bin Laden saw Islam as the strong horse, and viewed Christian America as the weak one.

Journalist Lee Smith based the name of his book The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations on Osama bin Laden’s above-mentioned quote. In this work, Smith states that strength or “violence is central to the politics, society, and culture of the Arabic-speaking Middle East, and that Arab politics is driven by the ‘strong horse’ principle.” “Bin Ladenism is not drawn from the extremist fringe but represents the political and social norm [of the Arabic-speaking Middle East].” According to T. Edward Donselm (in the Arab Studies Quarterly), Smith sees a revived modern Islamism as an effort to employ the 1,400-year-old political institution of jihad as a tool to restore Sunni Islam to the supremacism it once enjoyed at Islam’s beginning.

Agreeing with Dr. Kedar’s appraisal, Daniel Pipes (director of the Middle East Forum and Taube distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University) applies Bin Laden’s ‘strong horse’ principle to Israel’s role in the Middle East. Israel serves as ‘a proxy strong horse’ for both the United States and the Saudi-Egyptian bloc in the latter two nations’ Cold War-type rivalry with Iran.

Pipes specifically outlines the policies of non-Arab actors (like Iranians or Israelis) in the Arab world: unless they are forceful and show true staying power, they lose. “Being nice – say, withdrawing unilaterally from southern Lebanon and Gaza – leads to inevitable failure. More broadly, when the U.S. government flinches, others (e.g., the Iranian leadership) have an opportunity to ‘force their own order on the region.’ Walid Jumblatt, a Lebanese Druze leader, has half-seriously suggested that Washington [should] ‘send car bombs to Damascus’ to get its message across and signal its understanding of Arab ways.”

Pipes concludes that Lee Smith’s ‘strong horse’ paradigm helps us to comprehend the Islamic worlds’ cult of death, honor killings, terrorist attacks, despotism and warfare. Pipes acknowledges that the strong-horse principle may strike Westerners as ineffably crude, but he correctly insists on its being a cold reality that outsiders must recognize, take into account, and respond to.

Trump may have been a master dealer in the real-estate world, but effectively grasping the above-described Middle Eastern ways and mindsets is a totally different kettle of fish. The Iranian dictatorship has been testing the POTUS. If they can get away with missile attacks on Israel, on the Gulf States or on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz – if they can violate ceasefire with impunity, and they see that Trump is not eager to make a big deal out of it – they will simply up their ante. The Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps leadership already has ample proof that POTUS Trump cares more about the cost of gasoline at the American pump, about Republicans holding on to Congress in the 2026 midterm elections, and about how ‘ceasefires’ and ‘peace deals’ come across on mass media, than about the blunting of Iran’s jihadi and expansionist goals in the Middle East.

The entire Islamic world is carefully watching the West, and especially America. It watches – and concludes (at least at the negotiating table) that America is no longer the strong horse it used to be. Iran in particular watches with patience and shrewd humor as America tries to out-haggle the Persians at the nuclear bazaar.

The War’s Three Big Goals

POTUS Trump declared on February 28, 2026 that there were approximately four major war goals. He posted these in an eight-minute video on his Truth Social:

“The United States military is undertaking a massive and ongoing operation to prevent this very wicked, radical dictatorship from threatening America and our core national security interests. We’re going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally again obliterated. We’re going to annihilate their navy. We’re going to ensure that the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces . . . And we will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. It’s a very simple message. They will never have a nuclear weapon.”

On March 4, 2026 White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt rehearsed this list:

At the beginning of Operation Epic Fury, launched last weekend, President Trump laid out clear objectives to the American people on what the U.S. military seeks to accomplish through these major combat operations. Number one, destroy the regime’s deadly ballistic missiles and completely raze their missile industry to the ground. Number two, annihilate the Iranian regime’s navy. Number three, Operation Epic Fury will ensure the regime’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the free world and attack our armed forces. Number four, this mission will guarantee Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon.”

Have these goals been achieved?

US military assessments: Iran has retained perhaps 50% of its ballistic missile armory (missiles, launchers) and 50% (thousands) of its drone arsenals. Israeli assessments are closer to 25%, based on its evaluations of strikes on Iranian underground ‘missile cities.’ According to US Army intelligence, possibly 30% of Iran’s missile factories are still functioning, and 3,000 missiles are still available to be fired. In the meantime, China is helping Iran to rebuild its missile and drone capabilities

The neutralizing of Iran’s naval capabilities: US attacks destroyed 161 naval vessels and 90% of Iran’s stockpile of 8,000 mines, yet Iran’s capacity to disrupt ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz is not weakened due to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) fleet of hundreds to thousands of fast boats and land-based missile launchers which still serve as the primary threat to international shipping

The attempted destruction of Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile, permanently preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons: This fissile material at the end of February 2026 stood at: nearly 8,500 kg of 3.5 to 5% low-enriched uranium; roughly 1,000 kg of 20% enriched uranium; and over 440 kg of 60% enriched uranium. To add it all up, Iran possesses a total enriched uranium stockpile of roughly 10,000 kg, which includes over 440 kg of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity (very close to bomb quality). Iran’s nuclear program has been significantly set back by US and Israeli attacks, but it is not permanently dismantled

The ending of Iran’s ability to arm and finance allied proxy jihadi terror groups across the Middle East (proxy disruption, counterterrorism operations): Facts on the ground: Iran-supported Hezbollah drone and UAV attacks from Lebanon continue, hitting Israeli civilian towns, kibbutzim and farms in Upper Galilee, Nazareth, Haifa, the Carmel and the Lake of Galilee regions – most through fiber-optic wire-guided drones. US-Iran negotiations have avoided discussion of Iran’s military and financial support for its proxy groups across the Middle East (Gazan Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah, Iraqi Kata’eb Hezbollah, and the Yemenite Houthis). These groups still pose a threat to Israel, to U.S. forces in the region and to international shipping routes

A final point in the war goals was originally trumpeted by the American President in his February 28, 2026 video, but the current Memo of Understanding between the USA and Iran does not touch it – the savage oppression of the Iranian people.

“Finally, to the great proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand. Stay sheltered. Don’t leave your home. It’s very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations. For many years, you have asked for America’s help. But you never got it. No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is giving you what you want. So let’s see how you respond. America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force. Now is the time to seize control of your destiny, and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach. This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass.”

The new America-Iran agreement simply sidesteps the IRGC’s mass murder of Iranian civilians. It draws a blank regarding Trump’s offer to back a civilian uprising against the Ayatollahs. This diplomatic avoidance of the issue of jihadi mass-murder leaves a black stain on America’s credibility throughout the entire Middle East. It is similar to how England’s Prime Minister Chamberlain made light of Nazi atrocities prior to WWII. Middle Eastern countries like Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (as well as the Kurdish and Iranian peoples) are sitting up and taking notice: Who is the weak horse here and who is the strong horse in this equation?

With this in mind, the emerging agreement is a betrayal of the Iranian people. Iranians took to the streets in an effort to overthrow the ayatollahs' regime and gain a measure of freedom. Trump encouraged them to continue their struggle. He promised that help was on the way. They listened. They marched. And tens of thousands were murdered. But now, as a result of this new Iran-America agreement, the future of the Middle East in general and of the Iranian people in particular has never seemed so hopeless. It is no longer clear whether moral values still have any significance in Middle Eastern/international affairs. Iranian citizens have been abandoned, as have the Lebanese. They also had begun to feel that they might finally be freeing themselves from Iranian domination, which, through Hezbollah, has devastated Lebanon over recent decades and driven it into bankruptcy.

A new survey by the Israeli Democracy Institute (IDI) found a sharp decline in the share of Jewish Israelis who believe that POTUS Trump views Israel’s security as a significant consideration. Only 41% of Jewish respondents said Israel’s security is a central consideration for Trump, down from 64% in March. Only 32% said they expect an agreement to eliminate Iran’s ballistic missile threat, while 28% believe it would weaken the regime.

A deal has just been digitally signed. Iran’s Shi’ite dictatorship is standing. America’s enemy, though weakened and still very dangerous, is declaring victory. It is about to receive a financial booster-shot which will revive its jihadi proxies. Iran is turning its own military defeat into diplomatic gains – with America’s help.

To speak plainly: America has failed to defeat the IRGC. The Islamic Republic of Iran has stood up to what it sees as a lame duck US Presidency. Iran has survived the military clash and is now achieving its geostrategic goals – first and foremost of them being the blunting of US supremacy in the Middle East. Iran is now the up-and-coming superpower in the Persian Gulf – not Saudi Arabia and not Israel. The Master of ‘The Art of the Deal’ has been bested at the Persian bazaar.

Israel – God’s sifter of nations and YHVH’s threshing sledge

It’s not easy being the President of the United States. In many ways it is a thankless job. Moses had some wise words for aspiring kings in Deuteronomy 17:15-20; A solid ruler bases his rule on the solid Word of God. He who believes and follows YHVH’s words will see his nation flourish:

“You shall in fact appoint a king over you whom YHVH your God chooses. One from among your countrymen you shall appoint as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves, anyone who is not your countryman. In any case, he is not to acquire many horses for himself, nor shall he make the people return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since YHVH has said to you, ‘You shall never again return that way.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, so that his heart does not turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself. Now it shall come about, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this Torah on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he will learn to fear YHVH his God, by carefully following all the words of this Teaching and these statutes, so that his heart will not be haughty toward his countrymen, and that he will not turn away from the commandment to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may live long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.”

A leader, even one who rules over an amazing superpower like the United States, needs to make it his business to know what the God of Jacob thinks about the Jewish people, their calling, their gifts and their restoration as the key to world revival and restoration. Genesis 12:1-3 is major point here, as it deals with the blessing and cursing of all nations and every individual – based on their treatment of and heart-attitude to Israel. Other passages include Isaiah 41:15 and Micah 4:13, where the Jewish people are prophetically described as a threshing sledge that YHVH will use to judge and defeat all nations.

F-bombing one’s way up the pilgrim’s highway to Jerusalem

President Richard Nixon was the darling of many American Evangelicals until the waves of Watergate crashed onto the back desk of the Washington Post. When the tapes Nixon had secretly recorded in the Oval Office became public domain, Bible believers like Billy Graham were shocked, and the former President himself was humiliated, confessing that the public exposure of his “foul words was the worst part of Watergate.”

Times have changed. One example: over the past year POTUS Trump has f-bombed the Israeli Prime Minister repeatedly on live telephone calls, and has proudly admitted these various occasions to the media (here, here, here [“If there wasn’t me, there would be no Israel”] and here). Trump’s intemperate language reveals a carnal heart, and definitely crosses the boundary lines into cursing.

On June 24, 2025 Iran launched missiles into Israeli airspace after a Trump-brokered truce was supposed to have taken effect. Trump’s response was to blame jihadi Iran and Israel equally: “You know what, we basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard they don’t know what the f*** they’re doing. Do you understand that?” For the POTUS to draw a moral equivalence between jihadis and those opposing jihad in the same breath, indicates a profound lack of Middle Eastern understanding, and a spiritual dullness to boot.

On June 8, 2026 Trump gave an interview to The Financial Times, expressing anger at Israel’s reprisal response to Iranian strikes: “But they [the missile strikes on Israel] were attacks that did not kick at all. It’s one of those things that’s been going for 3,000 years, or 47 years, depending on how you count.” Trump falsely ascribed the Iran-Israel conflict to 3,000-year-old dynamics. But that is just ‘fake news.’ The facts are rather different here: Iran and Israel had a highly positive relationship between 1967 and 1979, when Ayatollah Khomeini’s jihadi revolution pushed Iran into the spiritual meat-grinder. Trump communicated to AXIOS news site later that day that he was about to call Bibi and order him not to retaliate against Iran, as Washington’s priority was the closing of a deal with the Ayatollahs.

“Are you f***ing crazy. What are you f***ing doing? You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this!” Trump acknowledged that Hezbollah had attacked Israel first, but stressed that the jihadi attacks had caused no real damage and that no one had been killed. He then spoke with a reporter, continuing to using foul language: “Why did Bibi have to do a f***ing attack? I was so p**sed off. I let him know. He has no f***ing judgement. I let him know that.” Through that day Trump continued to curse Netanyahu over Israel’s justified reprisals against Hezbollah and IRGC’s jihadi attacks against Israeli civilians. Trump was angry that such justifiable reprisals might nevertheless explode the fragile ‘Peace Deal’ that he was trying to cobble together – even as the jihadi terror groups kept firing at Jewish people living in Israel.

Although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials did not publicly comment on the situation at the time, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Yehiel Leiter, wrote on 𝕏: “Iran fired 11 ballistic missiles at Israel today. Each one of those missiles can level an entire neighborhood and kill hundreds. No self-respecting country in the world would tolerate such an attack, and neither will Israel.”

On Tuesday June 16, 2026, speaking at the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, alongside Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Trump boasted like Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:30 and Daniel 5:20: “Without the United States, there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel, because no other president was willing to do what I did. Israel would have been blown up a long time ago, had I not gotten involved.”

Such foul and prideful language reveals that the POTUS is not being guided by the God of Jacob’s heart and values when it comes to issues regarding Israel, the apple of His eye (see Zechariah 2:8).

Also at today’s G7 Summit, Trump attacked Israel publicly and with great malice, accusing the Jewish state of genocidal behavior in Lebanon. Trump spoke approvingly of Syria’s former al-Qaeda leader, declaring that Syria is a more reliable partner than Israel.

Simultaneously, on Tuesday June 16, 2026 rumors have been quickly disseminated across media platforms by anonymous State Department sources, broadly hinting that Trump will soon be firing both his Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and his CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Both men have raised doubts (based on concrete NSA and CIA intercepts) that senior Iranian officials are not intending to comply with nuclear commitments, even if a final agreement is signed. Recorded SIGINT discussions between Iranian diplomats reveal strategies inconsistent with Iranian messages being conveyed to US negotiators.

A massive Iranian bazaar-deception operation against POTUS Trump is in motion. Retired four-star Army General Jack Keene (former commander of the 101^st Airborne Division) spoke on FOX NEWS on Monday June 15, 2026, stating that America is getting played by a regime that has been lying and killing US citizens, terrorizing its way through the Middle East for decades – and now it looks like America is about to reward the IRGC for it.

It seems that Iran has managed to use Persian bazaar techniques – this time ‘divide and conquer’ – to fragment the highest echelons of American political power.

According to the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) researcher Beni Sabti, Trump’s foul-mouthed rebuke of PM Netanyahu “sends a message of Iranian victory, both on the battlefield and in terms of perception. The President of the United States is becoming an advocate for the Iranian regime. Iranian hubris is growing and growing. They see that the United States is stopping Israel, rebuking it, and not allowing it to attack. Hezbollah has suddenly recovered, and it turns out they have also created a split between Israel and the United States. This is a kind of enormous Iranian achievement. Israel is paying for the negotiations. There is no doubt that this is not good, but I am only putting things in context: beyond the statements and beyond the big, high rhetoric in Iran, what is happening right now is very heavy pressure.”

Here are three recent statements from the US Presidential team, revealing a quickly developing State Department trend to distance the USA from Israel when it comes to areas of Iranian influence in the Middle East. America is also sending a clear warning to Israel that upcoming American agreements with Iran will quite likely damage Israel’s security:

Trump responded casually to those who were concerned about what type of deal he would achieve with Iran: “Just sit back and relax. It will all work out in the end. It always does!” the POTUS wrote on his Truth Social.

US President Donald Trump told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday June 7, 2026 that Bibi “won’t have any choice” but to accept whatever agreement Washington may reach with Iran, in an interview with The Financial Times. “He won’t have any choice. I call the shots. I call all the shots. He [Netanyahu] doesn’t call the shots.”

US VP JD Vance spoke on FOX NEWS on Monday June 8, 2026, announcing that POTUS Trump will be declaring a settlement between Iran and America which will most probably not assure Israel that her security needs are being met: “Over the last year and a half, we’ve created the space necessary where the president believes – and I think that he’s right – that we can get the long-term settlement to Iran’s nuclear deal. Now, Israel may like that, they may not like that, but fundamentally, we think this is in the best interest of the United States of America.”

On June 8, 2026 POTUS Trump told Israeli Channel 12: “I told Bibi, you'd better be careful what you do, because you could be left alone against Iran very soon.”

As anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism wildcat within American society and in Western Europe, it is troubling to see how Iran has succeeded in driving a wedge between the USA and the Jewish state of Israel. And if (as it now seems to be happening) that Trump is truly committed to getting a deal with Iran resembling Obama’s disastrously weak 2015 the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), that divisive wedge may get larger. Iran’s clearly stated purpose is both Israel’s destruction and an endless war on the West. Diplomacy that is based on tolerating or trusting Iran’s leaders to keep their word on nuclear or on any other issues is a trap that wise policymakers should avoid.

Until quite recently, Trump has been the strongest pro-Israel President ever. If any President should be defending Israel against the growing ‘genocide in Gaza’ slander, it’s Trump. Yet incrementally Trump seems to be quickly approaching the type of ‘blame Israel for defending itself’ rhetoric expected from someone like Rashida Tlaib or the European Union. The sound of a ticking clock is being heard again, but this time it is in Washington D.C.

Some of us hoped that the budding relationship between Netanyahu and Trump would lead to unprecedented coordination – which recently happened on the tactical level. The joint strikes against Iran were a stunning military achievement, but tactical cooperation did not translate into strategic alignment.

Israel has clearly declared it is not a party to the US-Iran deal, yet officials in Jerusalem fear that Trump’s MOU could restrict the IDF’s freedom of action against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Member of Knesset Itamar Ben-Gvir speaks for the majority of Israelis when he says:

“Trump’s agreement does not bind us. Israel is obligated to defend its citizens and soldiers. Israel is not subordinate to the United States — we are an independent and sovereign country. My position is clear: we are not partners to this agreement, which does not ensure our security, and it is not binding upon us in any way. We must not compromise on anything less than the dismantling of Hezbollah; we must not withdraw from any territory our fighters have captured and cleared of terrorist infrastructure; we must not return to a situation where thousands of terrorists sit on the fences of northern communities; and we must certainly not remain silent in the face of any fire directed at the State of Israel.”

“Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?”

POTUS Trump, VP JD Vance, and special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are all on board the ‘Peace Train,’ and they have announced: “The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all!” Yet there are some other voices who express major concerns and doubts about Iran’s reliability and credibility. These include CIA Director John Ratcliffe who told Donald Trump and other senior officials that evidence gathered by U.S. intelligence agencies raises serious doubts about Iran’s willingness to make the nuclear concessions the U.S. is seeking in any final deal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth both expressed concerns and raised questions about the memorandum of understanding. “The intelligence reflects that the Iranian intentions are not in line with their commitments under the deal,” said a source present at those discussions. “I am somewhat concerned that Iran’s view of the agreement seems different than what the American negotiating team is claiming,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Axios.

Washington’s overriding priority

Washington’s overriding priority is not the disarmament of Hezbollah, nor the preservation of Israeli deterrence along its northern border. It is not the rolling back of jihadi terror armies like Hamas, Hezbollah, Kata’eb Hezbollah in Iraq, or the Yemenite Houthis. It is not even the liberation of the Lebanese and Iranian civilians from their jihadi slave-masters. America’s dominant priority is the prevention of a scenario where the Hormuz Strait and the Bab al-Mandab Strait are closed by Iran, sending crude oil prices beyond $150 a barrel – especially just before an election or in the middle of a fragile economic recovery. Every other consideration pales in comparison.

In the not-too-distant future, a new administration will be coming to Washington. As former POTUS Obama declared in 2014, “I’ve got a pen, and I’ve got a phone!” Perhaps the sunniest days of the America-Israel alliance are now behind us.

The God of Jacob – the holy Master of the Deal

The Hebrew Bible is well aware of the craftiness of men and women, and how the lure of the market blinds even the best of hearts:

“It’s a bad deal; It’s a bad deal!” says the buyer – and then goes off and boasts about the purchase (Proverbs 20:14, my translation)

“Behold, I have found only this, that God made people upright, but they have sought out many schemes” (Ecclesiastes 7:29)

It is impossible to ‘pull a fast one’ on the God of Israel. He sees the plots of the dealers, whether they be businessmen or diplomats, and He always has ‘something up His sleeve’ – especially when it comes to those who intend to cause harm to His Jewish people:

“To the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the devious You show Yourself shrewd” (Psalm 18:26)

“Let all the earth fear YHVH! Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood firm. YHVH nullifies the plan of nations; He frustrates the plans of peoples. The plan of YHVH stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation” (Psalm 33:8-11)

“He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. He frustrates the schemes of the shrewd, so that their hands cannot attain success. He captures the wise by their own cleverness, and the advice of the cunning is quickly thwarted. He frustrates the schemes of the shrewd, so that their hands cannot attain success” (Job 5:11-13)

When the Prince of Persia meets the King of Israel

The Scriptures draw back the veil and reveal to us what is going on behind the scenes, especially in the realm of the spirit. Lurking behind the rulers of Iran is an ancient demonic principality – the Prince of Persia. The Angel Gabriel conveys this revelation to Daniel the prophet, explaining that the machinations of Persia/Iran are a strategic part of spiritual warfare on this planet. What is transpiring in Tehran and in Washington is also part of God’s Last Days hook, as Ezekiel tells us:

“But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing in my way for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia” (Daniel 10:13)

Then he said, “Do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am leaving, and behold, the prince of Greece is about to come” (Daniel 10:20)

Now the word of YHVH came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, ‘This is what ADONAI YHVH says: “Behold, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. So I will turn you around and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them magnificently dressed, a great contingent with shield and buckler, all of them wielding swords; Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with buckler and helmet” (Ezekiel 38:1-5)

More than most countries, Iran is ‘notorious’ in biblical prophecy. As the Cambridge Dictionary explains, ‘notorious’ is the state of being widely known or famous, specifically for a negative reason, such as a scandalous event, immoral behavior, or a notorious crime. ‘Notoriety’ implies a person or thing is famously infamous.

Present interactions between Iran and America have ominous significance.

When the prophet Ezekiel describes the famous End of Days battle known as the ‘War of Gog and Magog,’ he names the nations involved which come against Israel in a vain attempt to crush and destroy the Jewish state. Ezekiel 38:5 begins the list with the nation of Persia. Modern Iran holds a priority place on the apocalyptic list of YHVH’s enemies. Handle with care and with prayer!

How shall we then pray?

Pray that the God of Jacob will break through to America’s leadership and grant them revelation to successfully recognize, confront and block jihadi and Prince of Persia evils

Pray that spiritual deception will be broken and nullified over America’s leadership, some who seem to be choosing to side with the jihadi anti-Israel forces of Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Qatar and Iran

Pray for the entire people of Israel to be protected and preserved from their enemies (see Luke 1:68-75), and that they would seek and find salvation in Messiah Yeshua

Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth!

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

To donate online visit: https://davidstent.org/give

Horsing around with the Persian Godfather

In a scene from Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, mafia Don Vito Corleone declares that he would extend “an offer he can’t refuse” to a corrupt movie producer, in order to get him to cast Corleone’s godson in an upcoming movie. This Hollywood mogul did not agree to the Don’s suggestion.

The producer had recently bought a prize racehorse – a Triple-Crown winner named ‘Khartoum’ – for $600,000, and was quite attached to the animal. So the Godfather sent one of his heavies to decapitate the horse and to delicately place the detached head under the satin sheets of the Hollywood producer’s gold-lamé-covered bed. The bloody horse’s head would serve as ‘an encouragement’ for that mogul to hire the Godfather’s godson. This is an outstanding Hollywood example of what can happen when one horses around with a Godfather.

Similar dynamics are occurring today in the Persian Gulf involving Iran, the Houthis and Lebanese Hezbollah on one side, and the US and Israel on the other.

‘Don Corleone’ of the Persian Gulf

On May 17, 1900, Ruhollah (Arabic for ‘Spirit of allah’) Mostafavi Musavi Khomeini was born in Khomeyn, part of the ethnically Persian Markazi province, into a family of merchants, small land owners and clerics. Prior to 1921 his family patronymic was ‘Hindi’ (‘from India’), because his ancestors had migrated to Kintoor, Uttar Pradesh province, India in the late 1700’s. Ruhollah’s grandfather returned to Persia/Iran in 1839.

Ruhollah trained at the Shi’ite seminaries of Arak and Qom, becoming a leading scholar and lecturer at Qom and Najaf (considered perhaps the holiest city in Shi’ite Islam). After a prolonged exile in Turkey and France, Khomeini returned to Iran in 1979, becoming Leader of the Revolution on February 4 of that year, and then First Supreme Leader (rahbar-e mo’azzam) of Iran on December 3, 1979,

Here is some of the historical heritage of ‘Don Khomeini’: He supported the taking of American hostages in November 1979. He issued a February 14, 1989 Islamic fatwa calling for the murder of Indian-born British novelist Salman Rushdie. He labeled the United States as the ‘Great Satan‘, the Soviet Union as the ‘Lesser Satan‘ and Israel as the ‘Little Satan‘.

On September 22, 1980, the Iran-Iraq War broke out, catalyzed by a snap Iraqi invasion of Iranian territory. Over 500,000 deaths were caused in total, making it the deadliest conventional war ever fought between regular armies of developing countries.

The Iraqi government – led by President Saddam Hussein – had various goals in mind here: to prevent Ruhollah Khomeini from exporting his Shi’ite anti-Sunni revolution to Iraq, which might conceivably have caused its Shia majority to rebel against ‘the Butcher of Baghdad.’ Iraq also wanted to dislodge Iran from becoming the most powerful leader of the Arab-Islamic world as well as the main military power in the Persian Gulf. Saddam Hussein also wanted to seize and occupy Iran’s adjacent oil-rich province of Khuzestan.

After 18 months of fighting, Iran had managed to regain all territory lost to Iraq up to that point. Khomeini then refused an Iraqi offer of a truce, and demanded both Iraqi reparations and the toppling of Saddam Hussein. By March 1984 two million of Iran’s most educated citizens had left the country. The collateral damage of the war which ended on August 20, 1988, was (for Iran) nearly 250,000 Iranian casualties and a cost of over US $300 billion.

At the close of that war, Khomeini insisted that Iran’s clash with Iraq had not been a mistake. In his ‘Letter to Clergy’ radio broadcast of July 20, 1988, he wrote that “we do not repent, nor are we sorry for even a single moment for our performance during the war. Have we forgotten that we fought to fulfill our religious duty and that the result is a marginal issue?”

Behind Khomeini’s words lay a strong jihadi world view: He believed that Shi’ite Iran needed to conquer Sunni-controlled Iraq and annex its Shi’ite majority. Iran’s Supreme Leader saw this as a critical first step in the fulfilment of Shi’ite eschatological expectations. Khomeini believed that it is Shi’ite destiny first to conquer Sunni Islam and cleanse Mecca; then to destroy Israel; and after that to bring the entire world under the domination of a Shi’ite dictatorship. Both of his successors, Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei and the present Ayatollah Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, also subscribed to this Shi’ite End of Days eschatology.

Khomeini knew that any agreement which would leave Saddam in power, as the 1988 pact did, would delay the Last Days realization of this Shi’ite religious destiny. Today’s leaders in Iran believe much the same about the need to crush and conquer Israel.

Death of a Don

Khomeini’s iron rule over Iran was infamous for its blood-drenched Shi’ite ‘revival’; for its anti-Western policies and murderous anti-Semitism; for its crushing anti-democratic suppressions, and for its massive human rights violations. These included the Iranian Cultural Revolution purges; the 1981–1982 Iran massacres; the 1988 mass executions of Iranian political prisoners; and for using suicide child soldiers extensively during the Iran–Iraq War in human wave attacks. In May 1979 ‘Don’ Khomeini established what is today the world’s largest terrorist organization – The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Pasdaran.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini died on June 3, 1989 from stomach cancer, after suffering five consecutive heart attacks in ten days. At his initial and interrupted funeral, at least 10 mourners were trampled to death, over 400 were badly hurt, and several thousand were treated for riot-caused injuries.

At his second funeral, the gathered crowds pushed past makeshift barriers on the way to the cemetery, and at that point the authorities lost control of the event. According to journalist John Kifner of The New York Times, here is a graphic description of the burial of Iran’s Godfather:

“The crowd, much of it made up of Revolutionary Guards detailed to maintain order, pulled the coffin from the helicopter and began parading it around the makeshift compound surrounding the gravesite. As the excitement grew, the body of the Ayatollah, wrapped in a white burial shroud, fell out of the flimsy wooden coffin, and in a mad scene people in the crowd reached to touch the shroud. The soldiers pushed and wrestled, finally firing warning shots, to get the body back. Ayatollah Khomeini’s son, Ahmad, was knocked from his feet. But even as the soldiers pushed the body back into the helicopter, the crowd swarmed over the craft, dragging it back down as it tried to take off. Others jumped into the hole dug for the Ayatollah’s body. The troops drove the crowd back, finally clearing the compound enough to allow the helicopter to take off, its rotors scattering more mourners.”

“It was not until more than five hours later that the Ayatollah was buried. A succession of camouflage-painted helicopters touched down and lifted off from the now-cleared area. Finally, one of the Shah’s old American-supplied Huey helicopters, carrying the Speaker of Parliament, Hojatolislam Hashemi Rafsanjani, landed, quickly followed by two more. Ahmed Khomeini, in his black clerical turban, emerged from the third helicopter, and then the Ayatollah’s body, held in a metal box resembling an airline shipping container, was carried out.”

Horses’ heads and Persian strategies

Subsequent to the outbreak of hostilities between Iran, the US and Israel on February 28, 2026, the world’s media have been catching up on battlefield results and on decoding Iranian strategies. Here is some background updated information:

Back in 2014, IRGC Qods Force Chief Qassem Suleimani had outlined an Iranian revolutionary strategy of toppling Sunni Arab governments, through Shi’ite military movements funded and controlled by by Iran. Suleimani stated that Iran’s goal was to occupy “80 percent of the world’s oil.”:

“The revival of Shia under the leadership of Iran creates a polarity and power for Iran, which has a political dimension and also a security dimension and also an economic dimension . . . We know that three countries Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq contain the most oil in the world. [Saudi] Arabia is first, Iran and Iraq are second and third, and that approximately…about 80 percent is where the Shia live . . . The political leadership of Shi’ism exponentially adds to Iran’s ethnic power.”

The wise writer of Proverbs counsels generals: “Prepare plans by consultation, and make war by wise guidance” (Proverbs 20:18).

It may surprise some of us to discover that Iran struck the United Arab Emirates nearly as much as it struck Israel during hostilities. The facts show that UAE and Saudi Arabia are considered the most pro-Western and strategically friendly to the USA among the Gulf States. Iran struck them as a warning to all Gulf States, in a similar way to how Don Corleone had ‘encouraged’ the Hollywood mogul – by decapitating his prize race-horse Khartoum – ‘to make the right decision’.

Since February 28, 2026 the UAE has been hit by 537 ballistic missiles, 26 cruise missiles and 2,256 drones. Jordan was hit by 204 missiles and drones during that season. Qatar was stuck by 203 missiles and 87 drones, while Bahrain was hit by 132 missiles and 234 drones. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was struck by 38 ballistic missiles, 26 cruise missiles and 435 drones.

From February 28 to April 8, 2026, Israel was the recipient of 650 missile and over 1,000 drone attacks from Iran, the majority of which carried cluster munitions. About 16 of the missiles that made it past Israeli missile defenses carried conventional warheads, while 50 had cluster munitions. The attacks killed a total of 24 people, all of them civilians, and resulted in approximately 7,000 injuries. Of the 24 civilians killed, 14 were struck by warheads with conventional explosive warheads and 10 were victims of cluster submunitions; two of the deaths were inside a sheltered space, with the other 22 fatalities being people in unprotected areas.

Godfather tactics indeed!

Some battle losses caused by Iran

Iran was able to destroy some significant American ground assets during the first week of the war (February-March 2026). These included at least 47 USAF fighter jets, UAV drones, refueling tankers and surveillance planes. To be more specific, these included four F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets, one F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter, an A-10 Thunderbolt II ‘warthog’ attack aircraft, seven KC-135 Stratotanker refueling planes, an E-3 Sentry AWACS surveillance aircraft, two MC-130J Commando II special operations aircraft, a HH-60W Jolly Green II rescue helicopter, 24 MQ-9 Reaper drones and an MQ-4C Triton high-altitude surveillance drone.

As well, 20 major US radar facilities were taken out by Iranian missile and drone attacks:

The largest American radar in the Gulf is the AN/FPS-132 Upgraded Early Warning Radar, valued at $1.1 billion. It is a fixed radar system designed to detect drones, jet fighters and missiles. Located at al Udeid Air Base, Umm Dahal in Qatar, it was hit with a Iranian missile on Saturday, February 28, 2026 and was irretrievably damaged.
Raytheon’s AN/TPY-2 transportable x-band radar is the radar component of America’s THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) system. On Sunday March 1 or Monday March 2, Iran hit this x-band radar which was deployed at al-Ruwais Industrial City in the United Arab Emirates. The destroyed radar component is estimated to be worth $500 million. N.R. Jenzen-Jones, a munitions specialist and director of the research company Armament Research Services (ARES), told CNN the radar cannot be easily replaced and called it a significant loss. “The AN-TPY/2 radar is essentially the heart of the THAAD battery, enabling the launch of interceptor missiles and contributing to a networked air defense picture. It also happens to be an incredibly expensive piece of kit. The loss of even a single radar of this type would be an operationally significant event.”
Two other THAAD AN/TPY-2 x-band radar systems were also hit by Iran – one at Prince Sultan AFB al-Kharj in Saudi Arabia, and one in Jordan at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base.

Twenty-one ISRAEL UAV drones were destroyed by Iran in this 40-day war. Two UAVs from the United Arab Emirates were destroyed, as well as three Italian drones, one Saudi and one Qatari UAV. A geo-strategic aspect of this battle connects to Russia, which supplied intelligence information to Iran in real time, detailing locations of US fighter jets, warships and radar installations.

Wake up and smell the hummus

Iran’s new strategic ‘Godfather’ thrust in this past round of hostilities has involved major attacks on its Arab Sunni neighbors. This new targeting resurrects old specters of Sunni-Shia clashes, events which go back to the dawn of Islam. The Sunni-led countries of Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Azerbaijan were all targeted by Iranian missiles and UAVs. The Gulf States, known up until now for being awash in petrodollars and gold-plated Lamborghinis, discovered that none of their gleaming skyscrapers and palaces have bomb shelters – no-one thought there was any need for such trifles. Their citizens were left defenseless in the face of incoming Iranian Shi’ite missiles.

The Saudis never expected that their core energy infrastructure would become a missile target in this conflict. But the Saudi Ras Tanura refinery was hit on March 2, 2026 and again on March 19, 2026, while on the night of April 7-8 (shortly after the announcement of a ceasefire between the US and Iran) the following petroleum facilities were hit by Iranian attacks: ARAMCO’s East-West pipeline, its Manifa oil field, and its refineries in SATORP (jointly operated with TotalEnergies), Yanbu/SAMREF (ExxonMobil and ARAMCO) and Riyadh, as well as its Juaymah facility (a massive Saudi Aramco hydrocarbon processing and export hub for processing and shipping Liquefied Petroleum Gas [LPG] and Natural Gas Liquids [NGL]). This has contributed to a staggering $33.5 billion first-quarter deficit in Saudi Arabia, married to financially destabilizing oil tanker backups in the Strait of Hormuz.

Another strategic Iranian ‘Godfather’ goal is to throttle and threaten Western economies by blocking shipping lanes for oil exporters. The mining and closing of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran’s navy (fast attack and missile boats), combined with its Houthi proxy closing off the Bab al-Mandab (Arabic for ‘Gate of Grief’), has the potential of shutting off 20% of the world’s petroleum supply and 25% of the global seaborne oil trade – approximately 20 million barrels per day, as well as most commercial activity coming out of the Gulf States. The Bab al-Mandab is a critical maritime chokepoint situated between Yemen (on the Arabian Peninsula) and Djibouti and Eritrea (on the Horn of Africa). It serves as the southern gateway to the Red Sea, connecting the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden to the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal.

IRGC is leveraging its tactical geographical location to control and profit from taxes on all trade coming through international waters in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab (through its Houthi proxy). This would threaten the economy of the entire Middle East, Israel, and Europe, placing their prosperity and survival in the hands of a maniacal jihadi revolutionary dictatorship. Add to this equation Iran’s willingness to attack its Arabic-speaking neighbors with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, UAV drones and (potentially) with nuclear weapons, and it becomes rather clear what the Iranian Godfather has in mind: taking over the Middle Eastern ‘hood’ and committing genocide against its Jewish inhabitants.

The current tactics of the Persian Godfather – the Iranian Hitler – involve stalling American and Israeli attempts to crush its plans for Middle East domination and worldwide Islamist take-over. This includes getting POTUS Trump to defer all unresolved issues to the foggy future; to flip the entire sequencing of ‘peace talks’ by refusing to make any nuclear-related commitments or concessions regarding stockpiling at this stage; to demand immediate economic rewards from the US, including the unfreezing of blocked assets (which would then be immediately used to bolster the terrorist armies of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iraq’s Kata’eb Hezbollah); and to condition the entire agreement on an ‘all fronts ceasefire’ that would effectively force Washington to strip Israel of its freedom of action against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee posted June 8, 2026 on Twitter, a statement that sums up the Iranian Godfather’s goals and recent activities: “Iran and its proxy agents of evil want to incinerate America & Israel. Mothership of Satan is in Tehran.”

How shall we then pray?

Pray that the God of Jacob will break through to America’s leadership and grant them counter-strategies which will reveal, successfully confront and block these jihadi evils

Pray for the wisdom and revelation of the God of Jacob to be given to Arab leaders in the Gulf States – instructing them on how to stand for God’s heart-purposes for the Middle East in general and for Israel in particular

Pray for the entire people of Israel to be protected and preserved from their enemies (see Luke 1:68-75), and that they would seek and find salvation in Messiah Yeshua

Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth!

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

To donate online visit: https://davidstent.org/give

Making the crooked plain in the Middle East

During the fog of war, a clear grasp of battlefield realities is more precious than gold. How can we make sense of the torrent of media information streaming at us non-stop regarding fast-paced Middle East events? The next few newsletters will offer some helpful guidelines.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards – Hitler’s spiritual descendants

On January 29, 2002 POTUS George W. Bush trumpeted a warning about the Iranian ‘axis of evil’:

[Iran] “aggressively pursues these weapons [of mass destruction] and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people’s hope for freedom . . . States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger . . . They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic . . . We will work closely with our coalition to deny terrorists and their state sponsors the materials, technology, and expertise to make and deliver weapons of mass destruction . . . I will not stand by, as peril draws closer and closer. The United States of America will not permit the world’s most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world’s most destructive weapons.”

Three years later, in 2005, President George W. Bush popularized another term, ‘Islamo-fascism.’ When one blends these two concepts together regarding Iran – ‘axis of evil’ and ‘Islamo-fascism’ (think ‘Hitler with nukes’) – this may help us to better comprehend the nature of the menace facing both the Western world and Israel. Imagine, if you would, Nazi documents charting out a Middle Eastern ‘Final Solution’ for Jacob’s sons and daughters – but written in flowery Arabic calligraphy. Iran’s jihadi dream is such a dictatorship, one with Hitlerian proportions.

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was not in touch with reality when he believed that he could achieve “peace for our time” with Hitler. Other major world leaders today seem to believe that they will be able to clinch a similar deal with the Shiite dictators of the Islamic Republic of Iran in our day.

Understanding Jihad 101

The Western world is for the most part deaf, dumb and blind when it comes to comprehending Islam’s Last Days jihadi vision. The yawning gap here between Middle Eastern jihadi values and Western ‘just war’ principles is immense. Islamic standards are based not on the writings of Cicero, Augustine of Hippo or Thomas Aquinas. Neither are they anchored in the US Constitution or the Bill of Rights. Islamic laws of war are firmly grounded on Mohammad’s example in prosecuting Muslim wars of conquest – a zealous jihadi foundation indeed.

Islam’s military triumph over all other religions is classic End of Days Muslim belief. When wars have broken out throughout history between Islamic warriors and the Christian West (or in our day with the Israeli army), the Muslim operating definition of what constitutes victory or success is totally different from what Westerners envision.

The Islamic perspective sees it this way: if military clashes end, and any Islamic warriors physically survive, this is seen as divine proof that ultimate jihadi victory is assured. Why is this, you may ask? Muslim theologians would answer: This is because the path of allah is of course the only right path, and allah will ultimately grant triumph to Jaish-e-Muhammad (the armies of Muhammad). From this viewpoint, what counts in the end is simply the Last Battle and Islam’s final victory.

It doesn’t matter, in the meantime, if there are temporary setbacks – if unbelievers conquer Islamic territory, destroy Islamic infrastructure or houses, take Muslims prisoner, or successfully assassinate high-level jihadi targets. According to classical Islamic principles, these actions do not signal defeat for the jihadi warrior and his leaders. Those mujahidin (jihad warriors) who survive such battles – they (or their children) will live to fight another day. When that day comes, they will ultimately crush the skulls of the infidel and vanquish the armies of the sheitan (Satan). In this final Islamist reckoning, what matters is the final Muslim conquest and the ultimate Islamic caliph, the Amir al-Mu’minin (the Commander of the Faithful) – the one who will subdue and humble all the unbelieving nations.

Western leaders need to understand that Islamist leaders who adhere to Muhammad’s example and teaching will never cease prosecuting jihad and making war on the West and on Israel. Peace between Dar al-Islam (the world of Islam) and Dar al-Harb (the world of war who refuse to bow the knee to Islam) is not a realistic and acceptable solution according to classical Islamist views.

Strategic deception as a weapon of war

After the Western world makes war, it makes peace (known as Jus post bellum, in Catholic theology). Countries formerly at war sign peace treaties and non-belligerency pacts, and even disarm. But these concepts are Western inventions; they are not realties which blossom on Middle Eastern soil. Islamist theology teaches something very different, a concept called ‘taqiyya’ – where the weaker party will agree to a treaty as a strategic deception, in order to survive, knowing that the time will come when he will break the treaty and conquer his now-weaker enemy. For a fuller discussion, see ‘How Taqiyya Alters Islam’s Rules of War’ by Raymond Ibrahim, Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2010).

The 48^th sura (chapter) of the Quran (Al-Fatḥ), describes in detail something called ‘the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah,’ a ten-year pact established in March 628 AD between Mohammad and the Arabian tribe of Quraysh. Mohammad broke that treaty two years later, in January 630 AD, when his jihadi forces – having re-armed and grown strong during the interim – subjugated the Quraysh tribe, and then moved on to conquer Mecca.

PLO leader Yasir Arafat cited this Islamic precedent a number of times when signing the Oslo Accords with the Jewish state. It was his justification for ‘supposedly recognizing’ Israel and ‘supposedly renouncing’ terrorist activities. The following quote from the Arabic-language newspaper al-Quds, published in Jerusalem on May 10, 1998, illustrates Arafat’s strategy:

Question: “Do you feel sometimes that you made a mistake in agreeing to Oslo?” Arafat: “No – no! Allah's messenger Mohammad accepted the al-Hudaybiyyah peace treaty and Salah a-Din accepted the peace agreement with Richard the Lion-Hearted” (n.b.: Salah a-Din was the Muslim leader who, after a cease-fire, declared a jihad against the Crusaders and captured Jerusalem).

Helpful background on Arafat’s deception of the US State Department can be seen here in our November 9, 2023 newsletter.

Western leaders who attempt to manipulate jihadi governments into signing and certifying ‘peace agreements’ are ignoring 1400 years of Islamist realpolitik. They are getting dragged into an Islamist desert illusion, a mirage, whose ultimate goal is to destroy the Christian West and Israel.

Kamikaze in the Persian Gulf

The importance of avoiding battlefield casualties – whether military or civilian – is a Western military value. But the Islamic Middle East sees the matter differently. Muslim theology teaches that it is the final triumph of jihad which is the ultimate value, no matter what the cost it takes to get there in soldiers’ or civilians’ lives.

The practice of strategic taqiyya deception can be clearly seen in the way Hamas has brazenly used Gazan civilians as human shields while shooting its jihadi rockets at Israeli civilians located in kibbutzim, villages and cities. Hamas is quite willing to destroy their own people if, by doing this, they can also destroy the Jewish state.

Iran’s use of taqiyya deception is also patently clear in the IRGC’s repeated declarations that they are not seeking nuclear weapons – while secretly moving full speed ahead to do just that.

On October 25, 1944 the first 24 kamikaze (‘divine wind’) volunteer suicide bombers of the Japanese 201^st Navy Air Group attacked American naval vessels, killing 100 Americans and taking down 34 ships. This willingness to die in pursuit of military aims is also very much a part of the jihadi mentality, as Mohammed taught on numerous occasions in the Hadith:

“Truly allah has purchased of the believers their lives and their properties; for theirs (in return) is Paradise. They fight in his cause, so they kill (others) and are killed” (Sahih al-Bukhari 51:1)

“So narrated Al-Mughira bin Shu’ba, ‘Our prophet told us about the message of allah that “whoever amongst us is killed will go to Paradise” (Sahih al-Bukhari 51:2)

“So narrated Anas bin Malik, ‘The prophet said, “Nobody who dies and finds good from allah… would wish to come back to this world even if he were given the whole world and whatever is in it – except the martyr who, on seeing the superiority of martyrdom, would like to come back to the world and get killed again” (Sahih al-Bukhari 51:6)

Westerners find it hard to understand the dogmatic nature of this murderous hatred. They find it difficult to grasp that Muslims who accept the literal words of the Quran believe in a ‘jihad without end’ – a process that must continue until all non-Muslims either bow, are put to death or are enslaved. Many in the West respond in shock, saying “Surely there must be some other way to change Islamic minds and to modernize their world-view!”

But the truth is unappetizingly simple: If one doesn’t take jihad seriously, one can’t understand the Middle East. And to take it a step further: to weigh the Abraham Accords from the perspective of taqiyya, one would have to conclude that its Western formulators are blind to classic Islamic realities. Those in the West who sign on the dotted line of such deceptive accords (and that would include the businessmen who initialed both Camp David and Oslo) are unfortunately what Russians call ‘useful idiots’ (полезные дураки, polezniye duraki).

How should we then pray?

Pray that POTUS and Israel’s leaders will receive clear understanding that no agreement signed with those who practice taqiyya is worth the paper it is written on

Pray for POTUS and Israel’s leaders to receive clear understanding of the absolute and insidious nature of jihad as a deal-breaker which is forever at war with the West and the Jewish State. May they receive revelation to stand on guard for God’s purposes on the earth here, including the security and the survival of the Jewish people

Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth!

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

To donate online visit: https://davidstent.org/give

IT'S TIME FOR E37

Dear Friends,

We are so excited! At long last our Ezekiel 37 Institute is being launched this month, starting today, on social media platforms!

For the full story of E37, see our beautiful E37 page on our brand-new website:

https://davidstent.org/e37/

Starting today -- and during the month of June -- we are introducing E37 through a series of static posts, videos and shorts.

These will be uploaded to all of our media channels -- including the Promo (June 7), the Trailer (June 17), and the Introduction to the E37 series (June 28). Throughout the next year, from June 2026 to late 2027, full-length video lessons will be regularly platformed on our media channels.

On our E37 page you can find:

"What is the Ezekiel 37 Institute?" -- the story and explanation
"Seasons Overview" -- each season described
"Testimonials" -- what are people saying about E37
"Featuring" -- who are the teachers
"Behind the Scenes" -- fun shots from the filming process
"Check Out More Resources" -- links to other messages online

To go deeper, we invite you to enroll for free in the E37 Institute, an on-line Bible school.

You can receive lesson outlines, ask questions, leave comments, hear from us and receive updates about new videos.

See the 'ENROLL FOR FREE' button on our E37 page. Here is a screenshot of what you will find when you ENROLL:

Why did we establish the E37 Institute?

We know that the Lord is bringing the Jewish people to a face-to-face encounter with Him (Zechariah 12:10).

Many prophecies in the Word of God tell us that Israel and the Jewish people encounter increasingly troubled times at the approaching return of Messiah Yeshua. But that's not the whole story, by far!

We who cling to the God of Israel and to His beloved people, are being challenged to hold on tight to His prophecies and promises for the Jewish people until "all Israel will be saved" (Romans 11:26).

Furthermore: "So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army” Ezekiel 37:10

In our E37 Institute Series we discuss the "Who, What, Where, When and How" of this promise, as well as learning about hundreds of other Scriptures dealing with Israel, the history and culture of the Jewish people, related theological and spiritual issues, prophecy and the end times, and what part we have in these unprecedented times.

Our decades-long desire is to partner with the Lord and His people as He moves powerfully in the final chapters of history.

The E37 Institute has been carefully and lovingly crafted to help believers and to encourage people to be aware and ready.

You can receive helpful updates by following any or all of our media channels:

‘E37 Project’ on YouTube, Rumble
‘David’s Tent Israel’ on Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter

Please visit our home page to see more of what we are doing: https://davidstent.org/

We are so encouraged to be at this moment, at this day and this time after 3-1/2 years of investing our energies and lives in this project.
We are forever thankful for you dear friends, for your love, care, friendship, support and prayers.
Your prayers and support hold up our arms in the work the Lord has called us to do.
Shalom and love in Messiah Yeshua,

Rachel Boskey, for Avner, Daniel, David and the E37 team

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

To donate online visit: https://davidstent.org/give

Israel the Key to World Revival in New Translations

It is our privilege to make our book ISRAEL THE KEY TO WORLD REVIVAL available as a free digital download in the following six languages: Spanish, Italian, Polish, Russian, German and Greek versions at https://davidstent.org/product/israel-the-key-to-world-revival/.

Native Spanish speakers total 519 million while total Spanish speakers are 636 million
Native Russian speakers total 143 million, while total Russian speakers are 255 million
Native German speakers total 83 million, while total German speakers are 135 million
Native Italian speakers total 59 million, while total Italian speakers are 85 million
Native Polish speakers total 40 million while total Polish speakers are 45 million
Native Greek speakers total 11 million, while total Greek speakers are 13.5 million

We want the biblical and foundational teachings of this book to get into many hands – believers in Yeshua and those who are not yet there – so that many people’s understanding about God’s heart and strategies for the Jewish people will be transformed. This is all the more important as Israel and the Jewish people are moving into center-place in the minds and hearts of the nations – though the focus is usually poisonous and anti-Semitic.

These translations were brought to fruition through the prayers and gifts of many. They are being made available for free on our website. Please feel free to send the above link to friends who speak and read these languages.

We also hope to have this book translated and made available in Hebrew and French as God grants favor and ability. If you would like to help make either of these projects a reality, feel free to help through prayer and giving.

Blessings to you as the days get darker and the Light gets brighter!

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

To donate online visit: https://davidstent.org/give

Jewish traditions, kosher traditions and Messianic traditions

Gentiles have traditions and, as Tevye of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ says, Jews also have ‘Tradition!’ Jewish traditions reflect our wanderings through Eastern Europe, Spain, Morocco and Babylon. Some traditions reflect biblical emphases, but others are more tinsel-like in nature. Let’s look at Shavuot (in Greek, Pentecost) for some helpful perspective at this season.

The harvest festivals

The first agricultural harvest of the biblical New Year (which occurs at Passover time, according to Exodus 12:1-2) is the barley and flax harvest (see Exodus 9:31). The Book of Ruth takes place during the season of Passover, during the barley harvest (ktzir se’orim’; Ruth 1:22)

The second harvest comes approximately fifty days later, and it is the wheat harvest (‘bikurei ktzir hittim’; see Exodus 34:22; Leviticus 23:15-21; Deuteronomy 16:9-12). The Feast of Shavuot/Pentecost celebrates the wheat harvest. In the Hebrew Scriptures fifty days separate between the barley and the wheat harvests. Shavuot is also called the ‘Feast of the Reaping’ (‘hag hakatzir’) in Exodus 23:16. There the Jewish people are told to celebrate “the reaping of the first fruits of your labors which you have sown in the field” (also seeNumbers 28:2, 26, where the feast is called ‘hag habikurim’ – First fruits Festival).

The third and last harvest (Exodus 23:16) is called ‘Hag ha-Sukkot’ (Tabernacles or Booths), the final harvest of the threshing floor and the wine vat – “all your produce and all the work of your hands” (Deuteronomy 16:13-15).

What happens at Shavuot?

In the Books of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, God communicates to Moses His threefold focus on the Feast of Shavuot:

an agricultural festival, celebrating the beginnings of the yearly produce and harvest (Exodus 34:22; Numbers 28:26; Deuteronomy 16:9-10), as well as an offering of first fruits grain and blood sacrifices (qorban, isheh, hatat and shlemim)
a day of holy gathering and complete rest(Leviticus 23:21; Numbers 28:26)
a feast of celebration and rejoicing (Deuteronomy 16:10-11) coupled with a pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Exodus 34:22-24). The celebrations of joy were thankfulness for God’s harvest blessings, and Israel’s thankfulness for the Exodus from Egyptian slavery

Moses adds another event here: all Jewish men needed to come up to Jerusalem three times a year, to appear before YHVH’s presence with offerings (Exodus 23:14-17; 34:23; Deuteronomy 16:16). Shavuot was thus considered one of the shalosh regalim (sholesh regolim in Yiddish) – the three pilgrim feasts.

On this day, fifty days after Pesach/Passover (Leviticus 23:16), the counting of the ‘omer’ (a peck measurement and first-fruits prophetic promise of a coming full harvest) was completed with the entire nation of Jewish farmers gathered on the Temple Mount, declaring their thanksgiving to the God of their fathers as enscripturated in Deuteronomy 16:1-11.

That is all that Moses said about Shavuot – no more and no less. In the Hebrew Scriptures Shavuot is not linked to any other Biblical occurrence or date.

How did the Apostles celebrate Shavuot?

When I studied Second Temple Jewish History at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, my professor Dr. Menahem Stern (the top world scholar of that discipline) pointed out how Acts 2:5-11 was an accurate description of the extent of the Jewish Diaspora in those days – the countries to which Israel had been exiled and still remained in Exile:

Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs – we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God!”

At Shavuot, Jews from all over the world would come up to Jerusalem to honor the commandment. It is true that a few proselytes (Gentile converts to Judaism) also came up, but the ethnic component was 99% Jewish – Jews from Arabia to Asia, and from Egypt to Elam –all got together for a national Thanksgiving Day celebration in Jerusalem. This Feast occurred every year – Jewish people celebrating a Jewish feast in a Jewish city. Even the Jewish Paul the Apostle had this Feast marked down on his personal calendar, reminding himself to come up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Day of Shavuot/Pentecost (Acts 20:16). Paul’s national identity and his apostolic faith were recognizably Jewish and remained so – from birth to death (Acts 21:24; 28:17).

When YHVH speaks, He does not stutter

The God of Jacob gave to Moses specific days on which the sons of Isaac were celebrate His feasts (see Leviticus 23:2). Here are some of those festive dates:

The biblical Jewish New Year is on the first day of the month of Aviv (Exodus 12:2)
The Passover is on the 14th day of the month of Aviv (Exodus 12:6, 14; 34:18; Leviticus 23:5)
Trumpets is on the first day of the seventh month (Leviticus 23:24; Numbers 29:1)
The Day of Atonement on the 10^thday of the seventh month (Leviticus 23:26; 16:29; 25:9; Numbers 29:7)
The Feast of Tabernacles on the 15th day of the seventh month (Leviticus 23:34; Deuteronomy 16:13)

But when it comes to the exact date when the Mosaic Covenant was given, the biblical text is totally silent. The God of Israel does not even command the Jewish people to celebrate that day as a Feast. Why is this?

In search of the lost date

The Scriptures do not give an exact date for when the Mosaic Covenant was given to Moses. That event happened somewhere within a two-month period, but the Bible does not specify when. It’s a little like the date of Christmas. December 24/25 was chosen not because of a specific date given in the Gospel accounts; it was based on pre-existing pagan Roman traditions. But people have a tendency to focus on dates and, when the Bible is silent about such things, folks tend to choose dates anyway.

Here is the timeline given in the Bible of the events which transpired between the first Passover in Egypt and the Giving of the Decalogue in the Sinai Desert:

Exodus 16:1 – On the 15th day of the second month after the Exodus, Israel arrives at the wilderness of Sin
Exodus 19:1 – On the third month after the Exodus, Israel arrives at the wilderness of Sinai
Exodus 19:16 – After various activities, they arrive and camp. Moses goes up to meet God who instructs him, and then Moses comes down. Then there comes a time called “three days later”
Exodus 24:1-11 – Moses takes 70 elders to a banquet where they eat with God
Exodus 24:16 – Six days later, Moses goes up to see God and in verse 18, stays there for 40 days
Exodus 31:18 – Moses receives the two tablets at some time during those 40 days
Exodus 32:19 – Moses destroys the two tablets after the 40 days

This biblical timeline reveals that it’s impossible to state with certainty when the Giving of the Tablets happened. So why is it that Orthodox Jews are taught that Shavuot is the date of Matan Torah (the Giving of the Sinai Covenant)? Good question! Let’s first look at how the Greek loan-word ‘Pentecost’ got involved in the whole mix.

Pentecost – it’s all Greek to me!

Over one hundred years before the birth of Yeshua, Jewish scribes in Egypt translated the Bible from Hebrew into Greek. This translation, known as the ‘Septuagint’ (or ‘the Seventy’, referring to the traditional seventy translator-scribes) made use of the word Pentēkostē (πεντηκοστὸν) in Leviticus 25:10, to refer to ‘the fiftieth’ – in this case the 50^th year of Jubilee. In Yeshua’s day Hebrew-speaking Jews would call the Feast of Reaping ‘Shavuot’ in Hebrew, while Greek-speaking Jews would call the same Feast Pentēkostē (‘Pentecost’ in modern English).

The 50-day reckoning is based on Leviticus 23:

“You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering. There shall be seven complete sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath. Then you shall present a new grain offering to YHVH” (Leviticus 23:15-16).

The most dynamic Jewish harvest-feast ever in Jerusalem

In Acts 1:3 Luke recounts that Messiah Yeshua ascended to heaven 40 days after the crucifixion:

“He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the Kingdom of God.”

Ten days later, after Messiah Yeshua’s ascension on the 40^th day after Passover (making it 50 days total), “when the Day of Shavuot/Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place” (Acts 2:1). The Ruach Hakodesh (Holy Spirit) came upon these gathered Messianic Jews all of a sudden and with great power:

“And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues” (Acts 2:2-4).

Flaming tongues of fire danced on these believers’ heads, and they all began to speak in unlearned languages – the languages of the countries of the Jewish Exile (Acts 2:6-8). The good news of Messiah Yeshua and His resurrection were being proclaimed in the very heart of Jerusalem. The result of this supernatural visitation let to a huge Messianic harvest of salvation – the ingathering of over 3,000 Jewish men into the Body of Messiah. Shimon Kaipha’s message was bold and evangelistic and spoken to all the Jewish men gathered for the Feast of Shavuot:

“Therefore let all the House of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Messiah – this Yeshua! . . . Repent, and each of you be immersed in the name of Messiah Yeshua for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.’ And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, ‘Be saved from this perverse generation!’ So then, those who had received his word were immersed. And that day there were added about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:36, 38-41).

These 3,000 men were all followers of the Mosaic covenant, as were all Jews in those days. Jerusalem’s Messianic leaders reflected this reality when they later told Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Teaching” (ed. of the Mosaic covenant; see the context of Acts 21:20).

These men had just been inaugurated into what Messiah Yeshua called ‘the New Covenant’ in Luke 22:20. In the words of Jeremiah, this New Covenant was different from the Mosaic covenant: it would not be “like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, says YHVH” (Jeremiah 31:32).

Tongues of fire accompanied by the heavenly sound of a mighty and rushing wind filled the house wherein the disciples were praying. The inauguration of the New Covenant was kicked into gear by the Holy Spirit of Israel, with signs following in a very Jewish context.

Peter said that these amazing manifestations peered into the future, to the time prophesied by Joel. He declared that at the very End of Days, earthquakes, world-shaking signs and the outpouring of the Ruach Hakodesh would occur. Peter spoke by the Holy Spirit, declaring that this pouring out of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 was a down payment, a promise that Joel’s prophesied events would one day come to pass, and in that day the entire Jewish nation would be filled with the Spirit of YHVH.

But not all Jews believed in Yeshua on Shavuot

Even though 3,000 Jewish men boldly accepted the atonement of Messiah Yeshua on Shavuot/Pentecost, the majority of Israel’s spiritual leaders continued to spurn Yeshua and the ‘quiet waters of the Shiloah spring’ (see Isaiah 8:6). They despised and rejected David’s Messianic Son. Our nation followed our leaders, turning our faces from Him and not esteeming Him, as Isaiah had prophesied (Isaiah 53:3). Abandoning the Fountain of living waters, we hewed for ourselves “cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13). These ‘broken cisterns’ are synonymous with the rabbinic system which calls for obedience to its own interpretations of the Mosaic covenant, while rejecting the Messianic New Covenant of which Moses and Yeshua spoke.

Ruth’s Rabbi

My dear friend, Dr. Louis Goldberg (former Professor of Jewish Studies at Moody Bible Institute) often taught that the rabbis connected Shavuot/Pentecost to the giving of the Mosaic covenant on Mount Sinai – not based on biblical information, but on their desire to shift focus away from the amazing events of Acts 2 – especially regarding the New Covenant, the Messiahship of Yeshua, and the offer of salvation to non-Jews.

Acts 2 clearly connects Shavuot/Pentecost with the inauguration of the New Covenant. This New Covenant would eventually spread into Europe and Asia, proclaiming that Gentiles could also be included into the Jewish Body of Messiah (called ‘the commonwealth of Israel’ in Ephesians 2:12 ESV) through faith in Yeshua alone.

This business of allowing Gentiles to have access to Jewish blessings (see Romans 15:27) and to have equal fellowship with the God of Israel alongside of Jews – this was shocking to many Pharisees of that time. Most Jewish religious leaders feared that this new upstart Messianic movement, by allowing Gentiles in, would overwhelm rabbinic Judaism’s role as ‘watchman on the Mosaic walls.’

The glorious and flame-tongued New Covenant was rejected by the rabbis and, in its place, a multi-faceted rabbinic interpretation of the Mosaic covenant was substituted. Instead of the gospel offer of salvation to Jews and Gentiles, the rabbis stressed that Yeshua was a false Messiah and that Gentiles seeking God’s would be better served by converting to the Covenant of Moses and by submitting to rabbinic authority. The ‘poster girl’ for this conversion process became Ruth the Moabite – even though the Bible describes no conversion process for Gentiles, and the Book of Ruth itself continues to the very end of the book to refer to Ruth as a Moabite (see Ruth 4:10).

Rabbinic Judaism had performed plastic surgery on the humble Moabitess. Her story (which had occurred at the time of the Passover barley harvest story) would now be morphed into a Shavuot wheat-harvest narrative. Some rabbis even stated that three kosher rabbis actually were witnesses officiating at Ruth’s (fictional) conversion to rabbinic Judaism on the threshing floor – even though the office of ‘rabbi’ only appeared on the scene 1,500 years after Ruth’s day.

Ruth herself was made to do double duty: She would now be presented as a convert to the rabbinic stream of Mosaic Judaism, and Shavuot would be highlighted as the day of the Giving of the Mosaic covenant.

Most Jews are ignorant of this counter-response to Acts 2. They accept the Orthodox Jewish tradition that the Giving of the Mosaic Teaching occurred on the Feast of Shavuot. Regrettably, this ‘fake news’ has become a traditional understanding for many Messianic Jews as well, much like how twinkling trees and Yule eggnog have become a cherished part of Christmas traditions.

In light of all of the above-cited biblical and historical information, it needs to be clearly stated: the rabbinic emphasis tying Shavuot/Pentecost to the Mosaic Covenant is actually a distraction from what the Bible teaches. It is undercutting what the God of Jacob communicates throughout the Holy Scriptures. Its focus de-emphasizes precisely what YHVH wants us to understand.

“There is no New Covenant – it’s simply a refurbished Mosaic Covenant!”

The rabbis who had fellowshipped with Saul prior to his Damascus Road roller-coaster experience had even more serious objections to the new apostolic Messianic teaching. Though Paul’s lifestyle was Mosaic in practice (see Acts 28:17) as was the pattern of all Messianic Jews at that time (see Acts 22:3; 23:6; 26:1-7), Paul taught that one of the main purposes of the Mosaic covenant teachings (Torah in Hebrew means ‘teaching’) was to lead the Jewish people to Messiah Yeshua.

Paul teaches that when the Jewish people come to Messiah Yeshua, they are no longer under the guardianship of the Mosaic covenant. Paul describes the Mosaic Covenant using the Greek term paidagogos (παιδαγωγὸς) – a bodyguard who would take the child from his home through the rough Greek streets to school, protecting him and bringing him safely to the Greek school, and then home again (παιδαγωγὸς; Galatians 3:24; translated as ‘a bodyguard’). The Mosaic Covenant was God’s appointed bodyguard who would lead Israel safely to Messiah and to Yeshua’s New Covenant:

“Why the Torah then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the Seed would come to whom the promise had been made . . . But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Torah, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore, the Torah has become our paidagogos to lead us to Messiah, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a paidagogos” (Galatians 3:19, 23-25)

The Pharisees of Paul’s day understood that the Apostle was interpreting the Hebrew of Jeremiah 31:31-34 literally – exegetically – to mean that the New Covenant was ‘not like’ the Mosaic covenant. And they wanted to close down any open Jewish discussion of Jeremiah 31, by insisting that Jeremiah could have only meant ‘a renewed covenant.’

But this rabbinic perspective violates the peshat, the clear exegetical meaning of Jeremiah 31:32, which states: “not like the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the Land of Egypt.” Jeremiah was clearly prophesying that this New Covenant is also a Jewish covenant, and that this New Covenant is in some ways not like the Mosaic covenant.

Without scriptural warrant, authority or proof, rabbinic leaders tweaked the biblical emphasis of Shavuot from thankful celebration for the wheat harvest to a Mosaic-rabbinic focus. It is as if they said, “Let’s make sure to leave out the New Covenant, leave out Messiah Yeshua, and let’s make sure that there are no Gentiles sneaking in the back door into a Jewish kingdom!”

Many Jews and Gentiles, unaware of the Biblical and historical facts here, have embraced this rabbinic ‘fake news’. It is also not unusual to see many dear believing brothers and sisters unknowingly swallowing this less-than-biblical propaganda.

Not everything Messianic is kosher

In today’s Messianic movement, we need to be aware that sometimes our theological formulations are more tentative and less accurate that we might think. Some Messianic leaders and teachers have been taught by their own Messianic leaders and teachers that the rabbinic perspectives regarding the Mosaic covenant’s supposed connection to Shavuot are kosher. I have dear Messianic friends and leaders who deny that the New Covenant is actually a New Covenant. Instead, they teach that it is simply a new and improved Mosaic Covenant. I have dear Messianic friends who also believe that Ruth is the poster child for philosemitic Gentiles, who would be making a wise choice to convert to rabbinic Judaism.

It is my conviction that these dear friends err (see Matthew 22:29) not knowing what the Scriptures say. They may be unaware of both Jewish and rabbinic history – and probably also unaware of the early clashes between Messianic apostolic teaching and that of the rabbis on these points.

The heart of Ruth

Though the story of Ruth is connected to the Passover barley harvest and not to the wheat-harvest time of Shavuot, there is a wonderfully encouraging message for us in the Book of Ruth – one which can strengthen our hearts regarding the relationship between Jews and Gentiles.

Ruth was a descendent of Lot’s incestuous union with his daughters after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:36-37). In Deuteronomy 23:3 the God of Jacob forbids male Moabites (the ‘seed’) from entering even the outer courtyards of the House of YHVH. This proscription was to last for ten full generations after intermarriage. Ruth was not a Moabite male, and as such was not under this scriptural ban. But the social reality was that few Jewish men would have wanted to take a Moabite woman as a bride.

What was so special about Ruth? What caused her to stand in God’s spotlight and to be joyously included into the destiny of the Jewish people – without hiding her Moabite origins?

She had a heart of faith. She recognized God’s heart for Israel and His covenant connections with the Jewish people. She understood that the calling of Israel was a ‘done deal’ – and that to follow the God of the Jews meant to be forever linked with the Jewish people.
She had the heart of a servant. She poured out her life and strength to bless her Jewish mother-in-law Naomi, and willingly bound her destiny to that of Judah’s descendant Boaz. Her reward included being the great-grandmother of King David as well as being found in the precious lineage of Messiah Yeshua!

Let us rejoice in the great Harvest Feast of Shavuot/Pentecost, as we thank God for His rains coming down on the face of the earth, and the outpouring rain of His Holy Spirit coming down on our hearts! And let’s look forward to the soon-coming prophesied mighty harvest – when Israel will bring much greater riches to the nations and life from the dead to the entire world! (Romans 11:12, 15)

How should we then pray?

Pray for an increased understanding to come to the Messianic Jewish movement about the authentic biblical meaning of Shavuot, and not to get misled by certain inaccurate rabbinic traditions
Pray for Messianic Jews to embrace the fiery prophetic fullness of the Holy Spirit, the key power-source for Ezekiel 37’s army
Pray for revelation to come to many hungry Jewish hearts about Messiah Yeshua and His New Covenantal gift of the Holy Spirit and salvation
Pray for the whole body of Messiah worldwide to lay hold of the Jewish and Holy Spirit roots of Shavuot/Pentecost and to make these two elements a prophetic part of their celebration. Shavuot is the Jewish Feast which celebrates the Giving of the Holy Spirit!
Pray for believers worldwide to receive a revelation and impartation of God’s heart for Israel. Pray specifically for Arabic-speaking believers across the Islamic world to embrace Ruth’s heart for Israel and openly show their commitment to the Jewish people’s calling in new ways
Pray for the equipping of harvesters for both Jewish people and Gentiles for God’s great final harvest

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

To donate online visit: https://davidstent.org/give

Boskey personal update on the Ezekiel 37 Institute

Dear friends!

Thank you for your kindness, support, prayers and faithful friendship. Thank you for helping us to keep on doing what the Lord is calling us to do!

Today it is time for us to give you an update on our Ezekiel 37 Institute. We are happy, excited, encouraged and expectant!

Today, like many days, Avner and Daniel and I had a ‘put our heads together’ meeting on the status, progress, needs and plans for E37. As always, we prayed together. We are happy to report good news!

We are a few weeks away from the release of E37 on multiple media platforms. Today it really struck me that we are birthing something that could be described as a full-fledged and unique media company. We are about to launch a huge amount of top-notch teaching on multiple media platforms – about Israel, the end times, the Bible, Jewish history past and present, prophecy and more. These will be full-length videos, short-form videos, graphics, texts, links and other updates.

We have actually created an on-line Bible school – for those with ears to hear, eyes to see, hearts to learn and spirits willing to appropriate foundational truths for the challenges ahead.

Enroll for free

We’ve just about got all our ‘ducks in a row’ as we launch E37.

For the last nine months we have been working with a media team, a US-based website developer company, ’Emery Marketing.’ The Emery team has completely recreated our davidstent.org website. The gifted members of this team have had the foresight and wisdom to help us establish a user-friendly platform on our website for learning and interaction with us. Users will be able to enroll for free in the E37 program in order to receive lesson outlines, ask questions and receive updates.

We are about to unveil the ‘E37’ page on our website. It is hidden at this moment, but it will shortly be a live page. This E37 page will be the major focus of our website. The E37 page will be one primary platform where the E37 content can be viewed.

Here are some more facts on the ground

In addition to the team at Emery, we have also invited two Israeli believers to help Daniel with content curation – the gathering of materials and images which are being incorporated into the lessons. We are very thankful that these two believers have the exact skill sets needed to help us shape the E37 content and we are delighted by their valuable help!

We are now close to ending a two-week period in which a pilot group has been testing the E37 page, the ‘enroll for free’ function and all other related pages.

Daniel has been able, by the grace of God, over the last three years, to be the ‘chief cook and bottle washer,’ the ‘little red hen,’ doing 95% of the many tasks involved in building Ezekiel 37 Institute. He is extremely gifted as an artist and super-savvy in using the many tools needed to create the videos. I have worked alongside him with encouragement, feedback and some content curation – but he has done virtually all the work himself. And that work is actually too much for one person. So the Lord has directed us to add other team members, because the scope of this vision requires more helpers. This is not a job for a ‘mom-and-pop-and-sons’ company anymore. This vision is expanding and we are delighted that this is happening.

At this very time, we are also dialoguing with a well-established and capable local Israeli social media management team. Lord-willing, this team will be overseeing the uploading of our content onto multiple media platforms. Social media management is a major part of how the E37 content will be uploaded and managed on multiple platforms. The task is too big for us to do it only by ourselves – we need additional team members.

Both the scope of our team and the reach we believe we will have, are increasing. We are trusting the Lord for expanding resources so that the message can go out to many.

I am thoroughly delighted to see our sons carrying the vision we have been given. Daniel is the videographer, designer, producer and overall media manager. David Boskey is one of the main teachers in this series, teaching 13 lessons. Avner teaches 19 lessons, and Daniel will be teaching two lessons.

So, our team is now four people in the US and more than eight people in Israel: Daniel, Avner, David, Rachel, J, M, O, A, S and Lord-willing a group of individuals working with the Israeli social media management team.

I see that the Lord Himself is expanding what we are doing

We want to clearly make our needs known to you. Our operating costs have increased by $8,000 to $10,000 per month. We are moving forward in full confidence that the Lord is the One who is leading us. We are looking to Him and to His provision as we step out into uncharted territory.

It’s clear that the coming days are dark. Messiah Yeshua’s return is not far off. The onslaught of evil and the precipitous increase of hatred toward the Jewish people and toward Israel are clear signs of the end times.

“When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3

“And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” Matthew 24:12

We believe that the Lord has ordained that we step into the fray, into the gap, and lift up the standard of His unfailing Word regarding Israel, His covenants and promises for the Jewish people, the affections of His heart for Jacob’s children and His plan for salvation for them.

Your prayers for the Ezekiel 37 Institute are much appreciated:

For such a time as this
For provision for the increasing scope of our work
For Israel’s salvation
For the truth to restrain lies
For blessing to the nations
For the glory of God
For life from the dead

Here’s a short clip of Daniel speaking about E37 during our April journey in North America:

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BmAd2TgUT/

Many people have told us they eagerly anticipate learning from the E37 course. Here are some testimonies from a number of friends who have seen some of the E37 content:

“I am very excited about this; it is precisely the right timing. I strongly sense that things are about to change in the coming months and believers must be equipped to face the shift that is going to occur. The household of faith must be adequately equipped to face the last days. I believe the Ezekiel 37 Institute will be an important and effective equipping instrument in the hands of the Lord. More than two decades ago, I felt the Lord gave me a scripture concerning Avner from Isaiah 58:11-12 ... ‘And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt, you shall raise up the foundations of many generations, you shall be called repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.’”

“We’re so excited about the Ezekiel 37 Institute and we’re watching it this morning! I’ve done the first two lessons and wow wow wow! The topics are so well organized and thorough and complete! Love how Avner and David teach/share in a way that the listener can grasp and apply. This is a gift beyond words for this hour. We said just this morning how incredible it is that you all finished this in the midst of war. We are praying that the same anointing impacts the root of the hearts of our children and grandchildren, the legacy you’re bringing forth to the Messianic and Gentile Body of the one New Man. Only the Lord knows all y’all have gone through to produce such a quality product!”

“I’m crying listening to Avner offer the intro to E37. The clarity and simplicity of the presentation will make the course appealing to many, I pray.”

“E37 has the same high level of Biblical excellence but a higher quality of graphics and music and a deeper, more complete understanding of God’s heart for Israel, His Jewish People and how to prepare ourselves personally and share with others.”

“The E37 Institute is an answer to our hearts cry to hear Avner’s in-depth teachings on God’s heart for Israel in English to grow deeper ourselves in His Word and to share it with others. The graphics are just incredible with vivid color, and love the background music! Avner and David do an amazing job presenting the material in a clear and concise manner for the listener to absorb and apply.”

“I strongly believe you’re being led by the Holy Spirit to spread all these truths to many people out here.”

“We are so very grateful and indebted to you for the way you pour yourselves out for those who have ears to hear and hearts that tremble at His word. Thank you for the time and labor of love you spend to educate and inspire the many. Many will be taking hold of your teachings. Looking forward to the wisdom and revelation to come. May He richly bless you and your family.”

“Please do keep us informed when you launch! Just watching the trailer recently gave me such an amazing witness!! We need this institute!!!! Thank you for all you are doing.”

“The format and length were good. I remained engaged, and the content was relevant and helpful. I have taken a number of online courses over the years, and I would place this among the most thoughtful and professionally executed that I have experienced. What stood out to me was not only the quality of the production and organization of the material but also the clarity, depth, and spiritual maturity of the teaching itself. The content felt both academically solid and deeply pastoral, which is a rare combination.”

“The content was concise, well structured, and easy to follow. The video was very interactive, illustrated sermon points without being invasive, and beautiful from a visual standpoint. I really appreciated the sermon outline, and used it to keep up with the teaching. Very personal compared to other courses. I felt like the teaching was prepared for me intentionally, almost like it was a live zoom call, instead of an afterthought like a sermon posted online.”

THANK YOU!

Dear friends, we thank you for your partnership of many years, through your prayer, giving and faithful encouragement.

We are now making our needs known for increased support so that we can do the work the Lord has given us.

In addition we would be greatly encouraged if you would follow or subscribe to our newly created channels where the E37 Institute will be platformed shortly:

‘E37 Project’ on YouTube
‘E37 Project’ on Rumble
‘David’s Tent Israel’ on Facebook
‘David’s Tent Israel’ on Instagram
‘David’s Tent Israel’ on X/Twitter

As I mentioned above, our website ‘E37’ page is the primary platform for people who desire to go deeper in learning from the E37 Institute series. Very shortly we will write to you again, letting you know when the E37 page is open to the public. You will be able to enroll for free, and receive lesson outlines, interact with us and get updates through our E37 page.

To sum it all up:

We are asking the Lord for increased provision through His people
Please pray for us
Please consider subscribing/following E37 on our media platforms

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,

Rachel Boskey, for Avner, Daniel, David and the E37 team

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

To donate online visit: https://davidstent.org/give

Standing in a divided nation with an undivided heart

David’s prayer – the gift of an undivided heart

David calls out to YHVH in his distress, asking for a divine work to be done in his own heart: “Give me an undivided heart that I may fear Your name!” (Psalm 86:11 NIV). The greatest commandment in the Scriptures involves serving the God of Jacob with an undivided heart (see Matthew 22:35-38), the SHMA: “And now, Israel, what does YHVH your God require of you, but to fear YHVH your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve YHVH your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12).

King David’s commandos – brave warriors with an undivided heart

Some of King David’s top soldiers came from the tribe of Issachar – warriors who had a clear prophetic “understanding of the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do” (1 Chronicles 12:32). Right after them are mentioned the magnificent special forces of Zebulun – men who could handle all types of weapons, and who followed David with an undivided heart: “From Zebulun, there were fifty thousand who went out in the army, who could draw up in battle formation with all kinds of weapons of war and helped David with an undivided heart” (1 Chronicles 12:33). ‘Semper fi,’ as the US Marines would say.

Israel’s prophetic future – an entire nation with an undivided heart

The God of Jacob promises that a day is coming when He will pour out His Spirit on the entire nation of Israel – after He gathers them back from their planet-wide Exile. At that time He will do spiritual heart-surgery on the Jewish people, giving them an undivided heart:

“Therefore say: ‘This is what ADONAI YHVH says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.’ Therefore say: ‘This is what ADONAI YHVH says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again. They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 11:16-19).

God’s true saints long for this hour to come! Join us in earnest prayer, that the God of Isaac will accomplish this prophetic promise for His people Israel – speedily and in our day!

The world has a divided heart toward the Jewish people and their God

The Bible waxes eloquent about how the nations hate both Zion (the Jewish people) and their God:

“Why are the nations restless and the peoples plotting in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers conspire together against YHVH and against His Anointed (Hebrew, Mashiach), saying, “Let’s tear their shackles apart and throw their ropes away from us!” (Psalm 2:1-3)

“May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward! May they be like grass upon the housetops, which withers before it grows up” (Psalm 129:5-6)

“God, do not remain quiet! Do not be silent and, God, do not be still! For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, and those who hate You have exalted themselves. They make shrewd plans against Your people, and conspire together against Your treasured ones. They have said, ‘Come, and let’s wipe them out as a nation, so that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered.’ For they have conspired together with one mind; They make a covenant against You” (Psalm 83:1-5)

A divided heart sees the Jewish people’s existence as a thorn to be uprooted

The Great Powers of the early 20^th Century for the most part spoke with one voice regarding the hopes of Jacob’s children to re-establish a Jewish state and homeland. To paraphrase Gandalf’s iconic dictum when confronting the Balrog on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm: “You shall not pass!”

This newsletter limits the following comments to a brief sketch of American State Department officials’ declarations on the subject – their support for what can be described as ‘The Arab Lobby.’ See also my October 16, 2024 newsletter – ‘Military Witchcraft.’ The quotes below reveal not only a divided heart estranged from the Bible’s prophetic promises to Israel, but also no small dose of anti-Semitism as well.

In US POTUS Truman’s personal memoirs (Volume Two: Years of Trial and Hope; 1956), he noted: “The Department of State’s specialists on Near East were almost without exception unfriendly to the idea of a Jewish State. Like most of the British diplomats, some thought the Arabs on account of their number and because of the fact that they control such immense oil resources should be appeased. I am sorry to say that there were some among them who were also inclined to be anti-Semitic.”

On August 28, 1919, Charles Crane (later US Ambassador to China) headed up the King-Crane Commission, having been appointed by POTUS Woodrow Wilson. That official US Report concluded:

“Not only you as president but the American people as a whole should realize that if the American government decided to support the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, they are committing the American people to the use of force in that area, since only by force can a Jewish state in Palestine be established or maintained . . . We recommend, in the fifth place, serious modification of the extreme Zionist Program for Palestine of unlimited immigration of Jews, looking finally to making Palestine distinctly a Jewish State . . . In view of all these considerations, and with a deep sense of sympathy for the Jewish cause, the Commissioners feel bound to recommend that only a greatly reduced Zionist program be attempted by the Peace Conference, and even that, only very gradually initiated. This would have to mean that Jewish immigration should be definitely limited, and that the project for making Palestine distinctly a Jewish commonwealth should be given up . . . There would then be no reason why Palestine could not be included in a united Syrian State, just as other portions of the country, the holy places being cared for by an International and Inter-religious Commission, somewhat as at present, under the oversight and approval of the Mandatory and of the League of Nations. The Jews, of course, would have representation upon this Commission.”

US Secretary of the Navy (1944) and Secretary of Defense (1947) James V. Forrestal reveals in his The Forrestal Diaries (1951) his opposition to American support for a Jewish state. He states: ‘No group in this country should be permitted to influence our policy to the point where it could endanger our national security’. A number of oil companies were suspending investments in the Middle East, he claimed, ‘because of the disturbed condition in Palestine.’

On August 24, 1945, Loy W. Henderson, Director of the State Department’s Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs, wrote a memo to US Secretary of State James F. Byrnes warning: “The active support by the Government of the United States of a policy favoring the setting up of a Jewish State in Palestine would be contrary to the wishes of a large majority of the local inhabitants with respect to their form of government. Furthermore, it would have a strongly adverse effect upon American interests throughout the Near and Middle East” Henderson added in a letter of March 20, 1976: “I did, however, oppose the United States playing a leading role in the establishing of a Zionist State in Palestine by force against the will of the inhabitants.”

On May 12, 1948 US Secretary of State George C. Marshall, the renowned World War II General and author of the Marshall Plan, attacked a move to recognize the Jewish state: “ The transparent dodge to win a few votes would not in fact achieve this purpose. The great dignity of the office of the President would be seriously diminished … based on domestic political considerations, while the problem which confronted us was international. I said bluntly that if the President were to follow Mr. Clifford’s advice and if in the elections I were to vote, I would vote against the President.”

Kermit ‘Kim’ Roosevelt Jr. was Teddy Roosevelt’s nephew and the first head of CIA covert action in the Middle East. He also played a leading role in the CIA’s overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. On November 24, 1948 Roosevelt gave a lecture at the National War College in Washington, DC, while serving a Secretary of the anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist Committee for Peace and Justice in the Holy Land. Here is a quote from that lecture:

“The process by which Zionist Jews have been able to promote American support for the partition of Palestine demonstrates the vital need of a foreign policy based on national rather than partisan interests… Only when the national interests of the United States, in their highest terms, take precedence over all other considerations, can a logical, farseeing foreign policy be evolved. No American political leader has the right to compromise American interests to gain partisan vote.”

William A. Stoltzfus Jr, a 27-year veteran of the US Foreign Service and US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates, stated in a private interview to Robert D. Kaplan (author of ‘The Arabists: The Romance of an American Elite’, 1993), that the establishment of a Jewish homeland goes against American values and interests: “And it’s pretty clear to me that the powerful, vested interest of a certain group of people, concentrated in the big cities in big states, determines our Middle East policy. If you’re looking for some kind of a plot, that’s where to look.”

On April 18, 1989 Marshall W. Wiley, former US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Oman), was interviewed by the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training: Foreign Affairs Oral History Project. Here is one question asked and Wiley’s answer:

Q: “One can say one is close to the Israelis, and looking at this as a retired Foreign Service Officer, it's difficult to see what vital interest we have in Israel. Is this purely a political matter, being the Israeli lobby, which often is translated as being the Jewish voter, as sort of a rather cohesive body? Is it purely political, or is there another reason that you can see for such strong support of Israel”

WILEY: “In my view, it is strictly a reaction to the strength of the domestic lobby, the Israeli lobby. The argument that Israel is a strategic asset to the United States, is essentially a rationalization for the domestic political pressures, because, in fact, they're not an asset, they're a liability. Our relationship with Israel has gotten in the way of much more important strategic relationships that we should have with Saudi Arabia, with the gulf countries, where our real interests lie in the populations, and in the wealth of the area, which is in the oil fields, primarily. Israel is only about 2 percent of the population, and because of our support for that 2 percent, we're willing to alienate the good will of the other 98 percent, which have most of the land area and most of the resources, which, I think, in terms of our national interest, is a mistake.”

These above-quoted poisonous and twisted spiritual roots, rabidly anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli, have lately been sprouting again – like mushrooms after the rain – on the podcasts of American media pundits like Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens and Megyn Kelly. The heart of America’s diplomats is divided. This is a matter for prayer!

When a nation has a divided heart

An April 7, 2026 survey published by Pew Research Center reveals that 60% of US adults have an unfavorable view of Israel, up from 53% last year. In both political parties, majorities of adults under 50 rated Israel negatively, while 28% of all adults polled rated Israel very unfavorably. On the Democratic side of the aisle, 80% of all Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents polled expressed an unfavorable view of Israel, as opposed to 69% in 2022. Democrats under 50 expressed a very unfavorable view of Israel (47%).

It is time to discern the times, as did the men of Issachar ” (1 Chronicles 12:32). What is the spread of anti-Semitism pointing to? What are we facing? The spirit of the dragon, Satan himself, is flexing his muscles and preparing for the final showdown – à la Revelation 12. When Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn are attacked by Islamist marches shouting genocidal Islamist chants, and when Jewish houses of worship like Park East Synagogue on 67^th Street in Manhattan are attacked by terrorist mobs attempting to storm police barricades, the divided heart of America is on global view in all its violence,

Where there is no prophetic vision the people mourn (Proverbs 29:18)

The Scriptures tell us that, without a biblical foundation, a nation’s leaders will always make the wrong choices. They could be diplomats, politicians or intelligence agents. They could be capitalists or oligarchs. All of these will always make the wrong choices regarding the Middle East and Israel – unless they are guided by the Bible, God’s touchstone of national and individual blessing and protection.

As Senator Ted Cruz attempted to communicate to Tucker Carlson in a recent interview, Genesis 12:3 is the touchstone: those who bless the Jewish people and their nation will be blessed, but the one who dismisses, dishonors, mocks or scorns Israel and her calling will be directly cursed by the God of Jacob. This is how the God of the Bible deals with nations – whether obedient ones or rebellious ones.

Israel – God’s touchstone which reveals the heart

Michael T. Benson is an American historian and the 27th president of West Virginia University. He is the author of ‘Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel,’ where he notes: ‘Truman’s support for the Zionist cause…was due to attitudes Truman developed as a young man in Missouri as a result of an upbringing heavily influenced by the Bible’ – a matter of relevance, perhaps, at an underlying level of psychic predisposition, as with Balfour and Lloyd George before him.”

US Under Secretary of State Dean Acheson once made reference to those same biblical truths which touched President Truman’s heart, though Acheson simultaneously scorned and belittled their eternal value:

“From Justice Brandeis, whom I revered, and from Felix Frankfurter, my intimate friend, I had learned to understand, but not to share the mystical emotion of the Jews to return to Palestine and end the Diaspora. In urging Zionism as an American governmental policy they had allowed, so I thought, their emotion to obscure the totality of American interests. Zionism was the only topic that Felix and I had by mutual consent excluded from our far-ranging daily talks." (Acheson, pp. 231-32, American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati, Ohio).

Four solid legs on which to stand

Here are four biblical principles which can guide us to respond to these challenges, according to God’s heart, with an undivided heart:

Romans 1:16 (evangelistic priority to the Jewish people in our outreach)
Isaiah 62:1-7 (focus our prayers on God’s prophetic promises to Israel - terminus ad quem)
Matthew 25 (reach out to strengthen and rescue the Jewish brothers and sisters of Messiah Yeshua through works of rescue)
Genesis 12:3 (let your undivided heart overflow with blessing to Jacob)

How shall we then pray?

Pray that the God of Israel will fulfil His prophetic promises to the Jewish people

Pray for the entire people of Israel to be protected and preserved from their enemies (see Luke 1:68-75), and that they would seek and find salvation in Messiah Yeshua

Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth!

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

To donate online visit: https://davidstent.org/give

Agent Smith and Amalek

“My name is Legion, for we are many”

“They came to the other side of the sea, into the region of the Gerasenes. When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him. He lived among the tombs; and no one was able to bind him anymore, not even with a chain, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces; and no one was strong enough to subdue him. Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and cutting himself with stones. Seeing Yeshua from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; and shouting with a loud voice, he said, ‘What business do You have with me, Yeshua, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!’ For He had already been saying to him, ‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!’ And He was asking him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said to Him, ‘My name is Legion, for we are many.’ And he begged Him earnestly not to send them out of the region. Now there was a large herd of pigs feeding nearby on the mountain. And the demons begged Him, saying, ‘Send us into the pigs so that we may enter them.’ Yeshua gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the pigs; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea” (Mark 5:1-13)

In the days of Yeshua, a Roman legion was composed of nine cohorts of 480 foot-soldiers each, and the tenth cohort (called ‘the first’) was composed of another 800 men. Approximately 120 auxiliary troops were also added to this main group of 5,280 warriors. The lead unclean spirit who possessed that demonized Gerasene/Gadarene (see Matthew 8:28), was in charge of a company of thousands of lesser demons – according to the text, about 2,000 in total. Both he and his demonic legion were expelled by Messiah Yeshua. They violently entered into 2,000 pigs, whom they then drowned in the waters of the Lake of Galilee. It’s worth noting that the Gadarene inhabitants were not Jewish, since being a hog farmer was not a typical Israeli occupation in those days.

In the same way as Satan’s hordes could move from one living thing to another in Gospel times, in our day the demonic spirits of anti-Semitism are flitting back and forth among many – be they media spokesmen and politicians, jihadi legions and world leaders, pastors, imams and theologians – or even next-door neighbors.

The flowers of evil

In his phantasy of a protest song ‘Ballad of a Thin Man,’ Bob Dylan said: “Something is happening but ya’ don’t know what it is – do you, Mister Jones?” Spiritual blindness is not uncommon – it raises its fuzzy head in every generation. Sometimes it manifests itself through materialism, at other times through narcissism. In our day it has chosen the red-black-and-green banner of anti-Semitism which is sweeping its way across international borders.

Hatred of the Jewish people and their homeland are poisonous weeds which are sprouting up all across the planet. The spiritual forces which led to the rise of the Third Reich have come back ‘from the dead’ and are spreading like the plague across the Western world.

The Age of anti-Semitism is here again; this Frankenstein’s monster is back for a second round in the ring.

If you had the opportunity in 1936 to take out Adolf Hitler – as Lieutenant Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and others (including Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer) attempted to do in Operation Valkyrie on July 20, 1944 – would you have joined the conspiracy? Was it acceptable to take down a messenger of the anti-Messiah in that day? Is it acceptable to do something similar in our day, when murderously anti-Jewish jihad aims its missiles and drones at Jewish civilians in the Jewish state of Israel? And what happens when the movie character similar to ‘Agent Smith’ of ‘Matrix’ fame takes over bodies and minds like the Gadarene demoniac – and then morphs into anti-Semites who proudly label themselves ‘Christians’ and ‘American patriots.’ Jew-haters are popping up on the right and on the left, like mushrooms after the rain.

‘Imagine’ everlasting hatred

When I was a young Jewish man, I learned that some famous Church Fathers hated the Jewish people and called for their persecution and destruction. Names like Justin Martyr, Origen, Augustine, Chrysostom, Torquemada the Grand Inquisitor, the Crusaders, Martin Luther – even the arch-terrorist George Habash (a Greek Orthodox Arab from Lod) who participated in the PLO’s Black September terror attacks at the 1972 Munich Olympics – to me these people represented an anti-Semitic core within Christianity. After I came to faith, I realized that there are other Christians who love the Jewish people – and I was (and am) deeply thankful for these brothers and sisters.

Yet, as anti-Semitic and anti-Israel voices rise in the West, dripping their acrid and deceitful insinuations on myriads of gullible people through internet propaganda, I have been forced to take a step backward, and to realize that the ghosts of anti-Semitic Church Fathers and leaders are unfortunately ‘still alive and well.’ Their malevolent messages surface hundreds of times a day on my computer screen and cell-phone, and millions are getting poisoned,. As it happened in the days of Adolf, so it is happening today.

John Lennon’s hippie idealism in his 1971 peace-anthem ‘Imagine’ is not the message of the moment on Planet Earth. Instead of Ringo Starr’s two-fingered peace sign, the world (especially jihadis in the Middle East) is shaking a one-finger sign at the Jewish people. Ezekiel prophesies that everlasting hatred from enemy nations toward Israel is actually the current and Last Days dynamic. It will be vanquished only by force of arms (see Psalm 149 and Psalm 139:21-22) and by the return of Messiah Yeshua:

“This is what ADONAI YHVH says: ‘Because the Philistines have acted in revenge, and have taken vengeance with malice in their souls to destroy with everlasting hostility …’” (Ezekiel 25:15-16)

“Since you have had everlasting hostility and have turned over the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their disaster, at the time of the punishment of the end …” (Ezekiel 35:5)

“And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following [Yeshua] on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty” (Revelation 19:14-15)

A counterfeit river brings a real reward

The pro-jihad, pro-Hamas, pro-Hezbollah and pro-Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) violent anti-Jewish and anti-American demonstrations shout their hate-chants “Free, free Palestine!” and “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!” Their championing of jihadi slaughter of the Jewish people has been taken up by leftists and rightists, in a horseshoe dynamic where anti-Semitic evil joins to anti-Semitic evil, even when the demonstrators come from the opposite sides of the political spectrum.

Genesis 12:3 speaks out a prophetic promise to the nations at the very beginning of the Biblical narrative: the one who who dismisses, disregards or dishonors the Jewish people will be cursed directly by YHVH the God of Israel. That is the meaning of the Hebrew verb ‘meqalelecha’ italicized above. As anti-Semitism rises and sits at the head table of the public sphere, its very permitted presence catalyzes a curse on the nation which permits it to survive and flourish. There is a ‘reward’ for cursing the Chosen People: a curse falls on that country, coming straight from the hand of God of Jacob.

Jean Améry, Austrian writer and Holocaust survivor, has stated that “anti-Zionism contains anti-Semitism like a cloud contains a storm.” He warned of the coming of “a revived anti-Semitism, often under the cover of anti-Zionism.” Amery called anti-Zionism “the respectable anti-Semitism.” This anti-Semitism is seemingly not directed against the Jews but “only against Zionists,” as it were. A day would come, said Améry, when anti-Semitism would no longer hide itself covertly in the shadows, but would once again rise to become a threatening presence in the public sphere.

Do you believe in the God of Joshua?

David was a poet and a warrior. The women of all the cities of Israel came out to welcome him when he arrived at Gibeah (see 1 Samuel 22:6) bearing Goliath’s sword and skull (see 1 Samuel 17:51-54; 1 Samuel 21:9). 1 Samuel 18:6-7 tells us that the women were “singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy and with other musical instruments. The women sang as they played, and said, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.’”

Many modern followers of Yeshua have great difficulty rejoicing in victory over one’s mortal enemies. Anti-Semitic talking heads like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens call such military joy 'anti-Christian' and opposed to the New Testament. These pundits reject that the God of Joshua is the same as the God of Jacob.

Back to the Bible

Carlson continues to speak in highly negative terms against the Jewish people, the State of Israel, the IDF and Prime Minister Netanyahu when positive reference is made to the Biblical teaching about God’s eternal war against Amalek:

“Then Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.’ Joshua did just as Moses told him, and fought against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. So it came about, when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed; but when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. And Moses’ hands were heavy. So they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. So his hands were steady until the sun set. And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Then YHVH said to Moses, ‘Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly wipe out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.’ And Moses built an altar and named it ‘YHVH is my Banner’. And he said, ‘Because YHVH has sworn, YHVH will have war against Amalek from generation to generation’” (Exodus 17:8-16)

[Moses said]: “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you came out of Egypt, how he confronted you on the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. So it shall come about, when YHVH your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies in the land which YHVH your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, that you shall wipe out the mention of the name Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget!” (Deuteronomy 25:17-19)

[The Prophet Samuel said]: “And YHVH sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are eliminated’” (1 Samuel 15:18)

The above Scripture passages are direct quotes from YHVH the God of Israel (see Psalm 119:160 and Proverbs 30:5), from Moses, described by Joshua as greatest prophet in Israel in his day (Deuteronomy 34:10), and from Samuel the Prophet (1 Samuel 3:19). According to Carlson, the Gospel does away with these words of YHVH. But this theological perspective is called ‘Marcionism’ – a heresy (according to church leaders is the Second Century AD. To call the words of the God of Israel ‘anti-Christian’ is to follow in the same steps as this anti-Semitic Church Father.

There are many today who see the Hebrew Scriptures as somewhat less than the word of God, and who cannot relate to YHVH as Lord of the battle or as Warrior God (see Deuteronomy 20:10-13; 1 Samuel 18:17; 25:28; Psalm 24:8; Psalm 144:1). And they do not believe that God fights for Israel and publicly identifies with her. Since the Word of God must be our foundation on these issues, it is telling to see that Carlson describes his own Christian upbringing and knowledge of the Bible as shallow and bereft of theological foundation (watch his address at the 50^th Anniversary celebration of the Heritage Foundation, at 00:50-01:01).

“I should say at the outset that I’m Episcopalian, so don’t take any theological advice from me because I don’t have any. I grew up in the shallowest faith tradition that’s ever been invented. It’s not even a Christian religion at this point.”

Sheep and goat Christians

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left” (Matthew 25:31-33)

Messiah Yeshua speaks here of judging the nations at His return. Joel 3:1-2 explains more about this event. The nations of the world will be judged in a face-to-face encounter with Israel’s God. They will render accountability for their anti-Semitic words, thoughts and deeds. It seems that some of the people facing that judgment will be called ‘Christians’ yet their hearts are dismissive of Jacob’s people. They disregard and dishonor the nation of Israel. The separation between ‘sheep’ and ‘goat’ Christians will have reference to such individuals as well.

As we consider these coming events, and as we survey the poisonous rise of anti-Semitism across the globe, it is worth asking ourselves: How do we respond to this Satanic flowering of evil? Are our hearts connected to God’s heart, as it says in Isaiah 63:9: “In all [the Jewish people’s] afflictions He [YHVH] was afflicted!” As we examine the prophetic chessboard that the Bible lays out for us, could it be that have we constructed a chessboard that has no place for God’s tears – and for our intercessory tears?

How shall we then pray?

Pray that the God of Israel will activate believers everywhere to discern the Satanic weapon of anti-semitism and receive divine pro-active downloads on how to oppose it

Pray for the entire people of Israel to be protected and preserved from their enemies (see Luke 1:68-75), and that they would seek and find salvation in Messiah Yeshua

Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth!

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

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