Open your doors, O Lebanon – that fire may destroy your cedars! (Zechariah 11:1) – Part Two

Our previous newsletter (Part One) presented biblical teaching regarding Lebanon; the origin and theological strategies of the Islamist terror organization Hezbollah; and concluded with a survey of its venomous anti-Jewish, anti-Israeli and anti-American perspectives and goals. This newsletter (Part Two) unpacks Hezbollah’s role as an Iranian proxy and ‘fifth column’ within Lebanon. Part Three will deal with the specifics of its military threat to Israel; and Israel’s probable military response to Lebanon and to Hezbollah, the ‘Rasputin’ of the Land of the Cedars. For a more in-depth look at Lebanon’s spiritual history, see: https://davidstent.org/a-day-of-reckoning-for-the-cedars-of-lebanon/

Exporting the Iranian Revolution

On November 2, 1969 Lebanese Army General Emile Bustani signed ‘The Cairo Agreement’ with Yasser Arafat, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman. This agreement surrendered Lebanese sovereignty to the PLO in districts adjacent to Israel, by removing local Palestinians from the control of Lebanon’s Deuxième Bureau and placing them under the authority of the PLO. After 1969, these Palestinian refugee camps became key bases for the Palestinian terror movement. The Agreement gave the right to Lebanese Palestinians “to join the Palestinians revolution through armed struggle” and become a state within a state in Lebanon. Within five years the Lebanese Army became incapable of controlling PLO activity, especially terror attacks on Israel and PLO attacks on Lebanese Christians. In April, 1975, the Lebanese Civil War broke out between the PLO and the Maronite/Phalange Christians. This led to Lebanese President Suleiman Frangieh asking Syria to intervene from the East in May 1976, while in March 1978 and then again in June 1982 Israel invaded from the South – after bloody PLO attacks on Israeli civilians and diplomats.

The PLO carries the main responsibility for catalyzing and subverting Lebanon, derailing its stability and prosperity and setting the scene for Hezbollah’s advent.

At that time, Iran was going through turmoil which eventually led to the overthrow of the Shah in January, 1979, and the establishment of a Shiite dictatorship under the control of Ayatollah Khomeini. But before that Islamist revolution, anti-Shah activists from Iran began arriving in Lebanon, and promptly received military training from the PLO.

In the early 1980’s, the long hand of the Islamic regime in Iran reached out toward Lebanon and created Hezbollah – a new organizational framework serving as a tool for spreading the Iranian revolution in Lebanon. Khomeini’s Iran persuaded prominent Lebanese Shiite leaders to abandon Amal, the previous leading Shiite organization in Lebanon, and to join Hezbollah’s ranks. Iran quickly became Hezbollah’s main source of economic, military, and political support. They dispatched 2,500 members of the Revolutionary Guards, who arrived in Lebanon in 1982. Two-thirds of them remained in Lebanon in the following years, solidifying Hezbollah’s power. To the present day, the Revolutionary Guards have been the principal channel connecting Iran’s Islamist revolutionary regime with Lebanese Hizbollah.

On November 5, 1989, the Taif Agreement was signed in Saudi Arabia, enabling Hezbollah to remain armed until ‘Israeli withdrawal’ which happened in 2000. Hezbollah then refused to disarm or withdraw, in violation of the Taif Accords.

The Agreement ‘established a framework’ for a complete Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, scheduled for 1991 – though it only came to pass in 2005. The Agreement was supposed to end the 15 year-long Lebanese Civil War and reassert Lebanese governmental authority over South Lebanon. Rafik al-Hariri (later Lebanon’s Prime Minister) was the major catalyst in getting this agreement off the ground. Sixteen years later, in 2005 al-Hariri was assassinated in Beirut by Hezbollah. Seventeen days after signing the Taif Agreement, Lebanon’s President-elect René Moawad was assassinated in a West Beirut car-bombing near the Raml el-Zareef High School in November 22, 1989 as his motorcade returned from Lebanese Independence. Day ceremonies. Syrian Military Intelligence seems to have been involved here.

Iran-Hezbollah communication is conducted through the al-Quds Force, an elite Revolutionary Guards unit whose purpose is to export the Islamic revolution beyond Iran. This secret branch also guides Hezbollah and Hamas. Hezbollah terrorists and paperwork captured by Israel during the Second Lebanon War reveal that the al-Quds Force established and operated a training network to train Hezbollah members in the use of Iranian-supplied advanced weapons – even in Iran itself. This perspective is summed up in Hassan Nasrallah’s recent February 13, 2024 pronouncement: “The front in southern Lebanon is a front of support, assistance, solidarity, and participation in weakening the Israeli enemy until it reaches the point where it is convinced that it must stop its aggression. This front will only stop when the aggression against Gaza stops within an agreement with the Palestinian resistance.”

Iran transformed Hezbollah into a well-oiled, high-powered military machine, supplying tens of thousands of advanced missiles which can reach targets throughout Israel with a high degree of accuracy. Without Hezbollah, Tehran’s ability to deter Israel from operating against Iranian nuclear facilities is highly limited. Hezbollah is extremely important to Tehran.

Subsidizing the Iranian Revolution

In America, the watchmen on the walls include the CIA and the NSA. The majority of those employed at these two august organizations do not see events through a biblical framework, nor do they have a grid for God’s heart and calling on Israel. Nearly no one understands YHVH’s Last Days vision for the Middle East as laid out in the Hebrew prophets. The viewpoint of Robert Baer, former CIA case officer in the Directorate of Operations from 1976 to 1997 (serving in Iraq, Lebanon, Dushanbe, etc.) provides a fair representation of the perspectives that typify the American intelligence community. The movie Syriana starring George Clooney is based on experience Baer gained as a spy:

“In the Middle East, it’s about a people, the Arabs and the Iranians, who feel humiliated from the 19th century . . . [W]e are gradually moving into a war … against Islam – which you don’t want to do. There’s just too many people, there’s too many countries. They own the oil, most of the world’s oil resources, and hope we sidestep this . . . And one side [of this problem] is [our] support for Israel.”

And how important is Israel in American foreign policy? “It’s extremely important . . . We support Israel for those two reasons, the Holocaust and democracy.”

“I don’t agree that Hezbollah itself is a terrorist organization. It delivers powdered milk; it takes care of people. It’s a social organization; it’s a political organization. It fights corruption . . . We can’t label [them] terrorists and fight Hezbollah as an organization in its entirety. We have to isolate the murderers and fight them . . . Hezbollah itself is not a terrorist organization.”

Al Qa’eda and Hezbollah “are isolated individuals which don’t have anything to do with Islam in general.”

“We can only cope with these problems inasmuch as we solve the problem of Israel and Palestine. If we can implement U.N. Resolution 242, we can internationalize Jerusalem, do something about the right of return of Palestinians to Palestine. And then go to the Middle East and say, ‘All right, now it’s time to implement other U.N. resolutions’ . . . But it really does boil down to Israel, in a lot of ways.”

In another interviews, Baer elaborates:

RB - “I think it’s bizarre, in a very pragmatic sense, that America would be so strongly behind Israel. Simply in economic terms, it costs so much. I’m not just talking about direct aid, the billions we’ve given the military.
LT - “So why are we supporting Israel so strongly?”
RB - “I just don’t know, I guess the Judeo-Christian idea. If it’s true that we have 60-90 million Evangelicals that believe that Israel has to exist at the end-times, that’s probably part of it. A part of it is guilt for the Holocaust.”

The fact is that Baer and others in the US intelligence community have a certain sympathy for Iran and Hezbollah. These same perspectives influence both Presidents and State Department officials in their Middle East realpolitik. Quite recently, both POTUS Barak Obama and POTUS Joe Biden released billions of dollars ($71.02 billion according to one investigative reportage) to Iran through deception, money which went straight to Iran’s support of Hezbollah and other terror groups, in a classic case of diplomatic obfuscation and fungibility.

The following quote is from Hassan Mneimneh’s October 29, 2020 article ‘Iran in Lebanon: A Fatal Occupation’:

Iran’s financing of Hezbollah’s military and social services enables the group to solidify its role as the protector and provider of Lebanon’s Shi’a community. In the years prior to the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which rescued Iran’s economy from the brink of calamity with an infusion of $50-100 billion in previously frozen assets, Iran provided Hezbollah with an estimated $200 million per year for both its militant and social/political activities. Immediately preceding the JCPOA, international sanctions and falling oil prices led Iran toreportedly cut its monetary support to Hezbollah by 40% in 2015, with the cuts primarily coming from Hezbollah’s health and social services rather than military budget. The lifeline provided by the JCPOA has allowed Iran to drastically escalate its funding of Hezbollah. In June 2016, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah proclaimed that, “We are open about the fact thatHezbollah's budget, its income, its expenses, everything it eats and drinks, its weapons and rockets, are from the Islamic Republic of Iran . . . As long as Iran has money, we have money.” In 2017, Iran reportedly quadrupled its pre-JCPOA funding of Hezbollah, upping its aid to $830 million per year. According to the U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2019, in recent years, Iran’s annual financial backing to Hezbollah has been estimated at $700 million, which accounts for the overwhelming majority of the group’s annual budget. In addition, Hezbollah supplements its Iranian aid through its fundraising and criminal activities in Europe, Africa, and Latin America.

Much of Iran’s largesse goes to providing salaries and social services to Hezbollah members and fighters, incentivizing young Lebanese Shi’ites to join the organization and their families to embrace it. Hezbollah pays its Lebanese conscripts between $500 and $2000 a month, a substantial and alluring amount for young men which has enabled the organization to overcome recruiting shortages and supply manpower for the brutal fighting in Syria. Hezbollah also operates a Martyr’s Foundation, which provides financial assistance to the families of fallen soldiers in Syria ranging between $25,000 and $45,000, as well as health and social services. The most important Iranian aid organization operating in Lebanon is the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee(IKRC), whose Lebanese branch was designated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in 2010 for “for being owned or controlled by Hezbollah and for providing financial and material support to Hezbollah.” The IKRC’s assets are controlled by Supreme Leader Khamenei, while its $2 billion budget is supplied primarily by the Iranian government, with about 25% coming from public donations and fundraising abroad.

Hezbollah’s totalitarianism is of a practical transactional character. Its subjects are attended to from the cradle to the grave, and beyond. They study in Hezbollah schools, get medical care in Hezbollah hospitals and clinics, train with Hezbollah troops then search for regular forces programs, work in Hezbollah enterprises, fight in Hezbollah wars, are provided compensations by Hezbollah civil defense for material losses endured as a result of hostilities, die in Hezbollah service, and have their families supported and cared for after their death by Hezbollah institutions. Most is done and rendered promptly and efficiently, with deliberate attention to dignified provision. This takes place in clear contradistinction to the rampant corruption and dysfunction across Lebanon and the region.

Encouraging the Iranian Revolution

The current events roiling the Middle East are mostly connected to Iran’s ravenous hunger to once again rule this region. It has carefully crafted a strategy which requires much patience. The strategy of encircling Israel – based on the Arabic term ‘Wahdat al-Saha’at’ (unity of the arenas) – lies behind Iran’s effort to gather its allies and all armed Islamist forces arrayed against Israel under a single Persian umbrella. Today Iran controls a contiguous area of control stretching from Syria’s Quneitra Province adjoining the Golan Heights, through southern Syria and into Iraq, where Tehran dominates the government and controls the Kata’ib Hezbollah Shiite paramilitary jihadi forces, and the Quwwāt al-Ḥashd ash-Shaʿbī or Popular Mobilization Units. Add to this the Houthi jihadi pirates in Yemen, and the picture sharpens in clarity.

Hamas’ and Hezbollah’s gnarled hands may be what the media and the diplomats see, but the voice is the voice of Iran (see Genesis 27:22). The policies taken by Western diplomats which dovetail with Hamas’ war strategies show a criminal lack of understanding in dealing with these jihadi forces and their cunning built up over the centuries. Though it seems that these are simply appeals for humanitarian aid, or mock horror at Hamas/civilian casualties, or the flipping of facts in accusing Israel of cruelty and genocide – these feckless political moves pour fuel on the jihadi fire and encourage the gray eminences of the Iranian Revolution.

One such example is Western diplomatic efforts to strike a deal with Hezbollah, allowing de-escalation of military tensions. Such a deal was signed on August 11, 2006; it is called UN Security Council Resolution 1701. It insisted that Hezbollah withdraw northward 18 miles from the Israeli border to the Litani River, and that it demilitarize. How did that work out? No part of the resolution was ever carried out by Hezbollah, while Israel fulfilled its obligation one-sidedly.

After the October 7, 2023 Hamas pogrom on Israeli civilians living in kibbutzim near Gaza, jihadi groups in southern Lebanon (including Hezbollah and Hamas) have been routinely firing rockets at Israeli cities and on IDF positions on the Israel-Lebanon border. On November 21, 2023, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen warned the UNSC that a regional war was likely if UNSCR 1701 was not fully implemented. On January 8, 2024, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib called for a diplomatic solution to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict through “full implementation” of the Resolution 1701 . . .

Resisting the Iranian Revolution

Those Lebanese who resisted Iran’s salami-slice annexation of Lebanon often paid with their lives for their bravery. Bachir Gemayal, Lebanese Forces Supreme Commander and later President of Lebanon, was assassinated in Eastern Beirut on September 14, 1982 by a member of the Syrian Nationalist Party. It is conjectured that Syria’s President Hafez al-Assad was party to the planning and execution of Gemayel. Phalange Christian response to the assassination was the massacre of Lebanese Palestinians in Beirut’s Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.

On August 13, 2023, Lebanon’s top Christian cleric, Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai spoke guardedly in his Sunday sermon, rebuking Hezbollah as a ‘state within a state,’ an irresponsible actor causing damage to Lebanon: “It is not possible to live on one land with more than one state, more than one legitimate army, more than one authority, and more than one sovereignty.”

On August 13, 2023 Samy Gemayel, the leader of the Lebanese opposition al-Kataib Party, said in a al-Hadath TV interview that “the Lebanese state has surrendered to Hezbollah. There is a green light for Hezbollah to transport weapons, also via residential areas. There is a great danger. What if the truck had contained explosives and the incident led to a huge explosion and hundreds of people were killed? We are not prepared to coexist with an armed militia in Lebanon, and this will be followed by practical steps, opposition meetings, and decisions.”

In October 2023 MP Fadi Karam of the Lebanese Forces party on told Radio Free Lebanon: "The decision on war [in Lebanon] is currently in the hands of Iran. [Iran’s principle of] 'the unity of the fronts' means revoking the sovereignty and the independence of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.”

On November 1, 2021, Saudi Arabia banned all imports from Lebanon. Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, said his country’s disengagement from Lebanon was prompted by “Hezbollah’s continuing dominance of the political scene.” Over that weekend, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain asked the Lebanese ambassadors in their capitals to leave as well. “Lebanon has been captured,” Ali Shihabi, a commentator close to the Saudi government, said about Riyadh’s thinking. “Nothing can be done except cut Lebanon off so its people also see the price of Iranian domination.”

How should we then pray?

Pray for followers of Yeshua worldwide to understand Iran’s destructive plans and strategies in using Hezbollah to sow destruction throughout the Middle East

Pray for the physical rescue of the approximately 120 Israeli hostages (including babies) kidnapped by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and PFLP/PLO. At this moment some hostages are being tortured, raped and starved (this based on testimonies of recently released hostages). Sadly, many of these hostages are dead; Hamas is holding on to the corpses of Israeli citizens in cold storage to be used by them as bargaining chips

Pray for Hamas’ cruel terror dictatorship in Gaza to be decisively shattered and for all chains broken off the Palestinians living there, and for Iran’s role in jihadi deception, dissimulation and anti-Semitism to be exposed and opposed by world leaders

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

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

Open your doors, O Lebanon – that fire may destroy your cedars! (Zechariah 11:1) – Part One

The world’s media is focusing a fear-filled spotlight on the tinder-box of Lebanon. Those who turn on the nightly news are shown to a ringside seat and where they can gaze at what may well be a coming bloody confrontation. Even some Christian sites are engaging in a measure of prophetic voyeurism about what may happen on the Israel-Lebanon border. Here are questions currently being raised on TV:

Will this tension explode into regional or even world war?

Will Iran and America get involved?

How many people might die – Lebanese and Israelis?

Some Christian media are asking if this is the opening shot of the Gog and Magog campaign (Ezekiel 38-39), or perhaps the lead-up to Armageddon (Revelation 16:14-16)

Do these fast-paced events have biblical or apocalyptic significance?

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel once stated: “Wir lernen aus der Geschichte, dass wir überhaupt nichts lernen” (‘We learn from history, that we mostly learn nothing at all’). Yet some things can be learned from history, from understanding religious motivations, and from mining biblical and military strategic contexts.

“From the River to the Sea”

The popular war-chant (‘from the River to the Sea’) which has been shouted at violent pro-terrorist demonstrations on US campuses in recent months, is a direct counterfeit of what the Bible declares to be true.

In Deuteronomy 4:44-46, Moses coaches the Jewish people, recounting to them the entire Mosaic Covenant as they camp in modern Jordan, waiting to invade and conquer Canaan. Moses pronounces to Israel, on the authority of the God of Jacob, that “every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Your territory shall be from the [Negev] desert to the Lebanon and from the River – the river Euphrates – to the western [Mediterranean] Sea” (Deuteronomy 11:24). According to the God of Jacob, ‘from the River to the Sea’ means the borders of the Promised Land that YHVH gave to the Jewish people – from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. No other people has sovereign and divine right to those territories. These territories include Gaza (Joshua 15.47), what is known today as the West Bank (Numbers 34:1-12), northern Jordan (Deuteronomy 3:11-18), a large section of modern Lebanon (Joshua 12:7) and part of modern Syria (Genesis 15:18; Joshua 13:1-5).

Claims by Hamas or the Palestinian Authority to Gaza or to the West Bank, and claims by Hezbollah to southern Lebanon – these flagrantly violate YHVH’s word regarding the biblical borders of the Promised Land. These are the vain imaginings of the nations that Psalm 2:1 mentions, and they run roughshod over God’s prophetic promises to His Jewish people:

Therefore ADONAI YHVH says this: “Certainly in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with contempt of soul, in order to make its pastureland plunder.” Therefore prophesy in regard to the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, “This is what ADONIA YHVH says: ‘Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have endured the insults of the nations’” (Ezekiel 36:5-6)

In light of the fast-paced events now happening in Israel and the Middle East, it’s worth remembering that the Bible does not ask the question: “How does Israel fit in with superpower strategies or Islamist jihadi plans?” Rather, the question that the Bible raises is: “How do all these superpowers and Islamist nations fit in to YHVH’s good plans for Israel?”

Psalm 83 notes prophetically that, at the End of Days, Lebanon (Gebal and Tyre) will be actively at war with Israel. Lebanon will join Edom, Ammon and Moab (Jordan and the West Bank), the Ishmaelites and Hagrites (Egyptian Sinai, Saudi Arabia), the Philistines (the region of Gaza), and Assyria (northern Iraq) in an attempt to commit genocide against the Jewish people:

“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 83:1-8)

“They make shrewd plans against Your people” (Psalm 83:3)

The present jihadi army in Lebanon is called Hezbollah (in Arabic, Ḥizbu 'llāh; the Party of Allah). It is also known as al-Muqāwamah Al-Islāmīyah fī Lubnān (‘The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon’). Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist jihadi group with two wings – a paramilitary/terrorist Jihad Council and a political party in the Lebanese Parliament known as the ‘Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc.’ The Secretary-General of Hezbollah is Hassan Nasrallah. The group was founded around 1982, toward the close of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990). That war was waged primarily between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Lebanese Christian Maronites. Hezbollah’s administrative center gradually situated itself in south Beirut’s Shiite Dahieh neighborhood. Hezbollah’s training grounds eventually were located in the Bekaa Valley. And South Lebanon became their operational ground, from where attacks were made against Israel and the IDF.

Beirut was once known as ‘the Jewel of the Mediterranean’ or ‘the Paris of the Middle East.’ But the 15 year-long Lebanese Civil War reaped a grisly harvest of over approximately 150,000 dead Lebanese. Sniping, ambushes, kidnappings, car bombs and IEDs – life in Beirut gradually became a nightmare for many. Daily life in Beirut was characterized by cruelty and violence, and Hezbollah flourished and blossomed in that bloody soil.

The most famous/infamous terror operative associated with Hezbollah was Imad Mughniyeh, born in 1962 in the Lebanese village of Tayr Debba, not far from Tyre. He joined Yasser Arafat’s Force 17 special forces as a teenager and fought against Lebanese Christian and Druze forces in the 1970’s and early 1980’s. After Israel expelled the PLO from Beirut to Tunisia in August 1982, Mughniyeh and four others helped found the Islamic Jihad Organization, a Shiite terror arm of Hezbollah under the tutelage of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (Pasdaran), in the Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley. He was directly involved in or had responsibility for the following terror acts, often working as a team with Mustafa Badreddine. The two men were known professionally as ‘the ghosts of Beirut:’

The first Hezbollah suicide bombing, at the IDF Tyre HQ (November 1, 1982) – 89-102 casualties, 55 wounded

Suicide attack on U.S. Embassy Beirut (April 18 1983) – 63 murdered (including 6 of the C.I.A.’s top Middle East agents, including Robert Ames)

Bombing of U.S. Marine Barracks, Beirut (October 23 1983) – 241 casualties. These two events caused U.S. forces to retreat from Lebanon

Bombing of French Multinational Forces paratroop barracks, Beirut – (October 23 1983) – 58 casualties

Bombing of U.S. Embassy Annex, Beirut (September 20, 1984) – 23 casualties

Kidnapping, 15 month torture and then the murder of Lt. Col. William F. Buckley, CIA station chief in Beirut and possibly Iran – March 1984 through June 1985. This led to the Iran-Contra affair. Buckley’s kidnapping was depicted into a scene in the film ‘Syriana’ starring George Clooney.

Kidnapping and six-year imprisonment of Associated Press chief Mideast correspondent Terry Anderson, Beirut – March 1985

Hijacking of TWA Flight 847; torture and murder of U.S. Navy Seabee diver Robert Stetham, Beirut – June 15 1985. Mughniyeh was indicted by the U.S. with a $25 million bounty on his head

Kidnapping of more than 50 foreigners, including Terry Waite (special envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury), British journalist John McCarthy, Malcolm H. Kerr, Father Lawrence Jenco, Rev. Benjamin Weir, American University President David Jacobsen, etc. – Beirut, 1984 and following

Kidnapping, torture and murder of Colonel William R. Higgins USMC, Chief, UN Observer Group, Lebanon, Beirut – February 1988 through July 31, 1989

Bombing of Israeli Embassy, Buenos Aires, Argentina (March 17 1992) – 29 killed, 242 injured

Bombing of AMIA (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina – Argentine Israelite [i.e., Jewish] Mutual Association) building in Buenos Aires (July 18, 1994) – 87 killed, 250 injured

Bombing of Khobar Towers, Saudi Arabia (residence for USAF and families) (June 25, 1996) – 20 killed, 372 injured. This event was depicted in a scene in the recent film ‘The Kingdom’ starring Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner

Kidnapping of Colonel Elhanan Tannenbaum (IDF Reserves), kidnapping and murder of three Israeli soldiers Adi Avitan, Benny Avraham, Omar Sawaid.- October 2000

Oversight of PLO/Hezbollah joint weapons ship Karine A, captured by Israeli Special Forces Shayetet 13 (IDF Seals) – January 3, 2002

Kidnapping and murder of 2 Israeli reserve soldiers (Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev) on jeep patrol (July 12, 2006). This event triggered the Second Lebanese War.

‘Hajj Radwan’ (Mughniyeh’s professional alias) had his fateful encounter with divine justice on February 12, 2008, at approximately 22:15 hours. This master Hezbollah terrorist was blown up as he approached his Mitsubishi Pajero on a dark Damascus street in the fashionable Kafr Soussa neighborhood, not far from an Iranian school, a Syrian police station and a Syrian Intelligence office.

“They conspire together against Your treasured ones” (Psalm 83:3)

The goals and strategies of Hezbollah are based on their philosophy and principles. These have been clearly stated by the organization from the outset: “These are our objectives and these our enemies.” On February 16, 1986 Sheikh Ibrahim al-Amin publicly read the document ‘The Hizballah Program’ at the al-Ouzai mosque in West Beirut. It was simultaneously published in as-Safir, a leading Arabic-language daily newspaper in Beirut. The article was titled ‘The Hizballah Program, an open letter to all the Oppressed in Lebanon and the World.’ An English pamphlet was published in 1987. Here are some selections from the CIA translation of that document:

We are moving in the direction of fighting the roots of vice and the first root of vice is America, All the endeavors to drag us into marginal action will be futile when compared with the confrontation against the United States. Imam Khomeyni [Iran’s Supreme Leader the Ayatollah Khomeini] has repeatedly stressed that America is the reason for all our catastrophes and the source of all malice. By fighting it, we are only exercising our legitimate right to defend our Islam.

For the sake of the truth, we declare that the sons of Hizballah’s nation have come to know well their basic enemies in the area: Israel, America, France and the Phalange.

Our objectives: Our sons are now in a state of ever-escalating confrontation against these enemies until the following objectives are achieved Israel’s final departure from Lebanon as a prelude to its final obliteration from existence and the liberation of venerable Jerusalem from the talons of occupation.

The unabridged version of the Hezbollah Program includes the following instructive paragraphs:

Necessity for the Destruction of Israel: We see in Israel the vanguard of the United States in our Islamic world. It is the hated enemy that must be fought until the hated ones get what they deserve. This enemy is the greatest danger to our future generations and to the destiny of our lands, particularly as it glorifies the ideas of settlement and expansion, initiated in Palestine, and yearning outward to the extension of the Great Israel, from the Euphrates to the Nile.

Our primary assumption in our fight against Israel states that the Zionist entity is aggressive from its inception, and built on lands wrested from their owners, at the expense of the rights of the Muslim people. Therefore our struggle will end only when this entity is obliterated. We recognize no treaty with it, no cease fire, and no peace agreements, whether separate or consolidated. We vigorously condemn all plans for negotiation with Israel, and regard all negotiators as enemies, for the reason that such negotiation is nothing but the recognition of the legitimacy of the Zionist occupation of Palestine. Therefore we oppose and reject the Camp David Agreements, the proposals of King Fahd, the Fez and Reagan plan, Brezhnev's and the French-Egyptian proposals, and all other programs that include the recognition (even the implied recognition) of the Zionist entity.

“The mouth speaks from that which fills the heart” (Matthew 12:34)

Hezbollah’s heart-attitudes (see Genesis 12:3) towards Israel reveal a virulent anti-Semitism rooted in classic Islamist texts.

In July, 1985, Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah (the spiritual mentor of Hezbollah) stated in an interview: “We believe there is no difference between the United States and Israel; the latter is a mere extension of the former. The United States is ready to fight the whole world to defend Israel's existence and security. The two countries are working in complete harmony.”

According to a video posted on Saudi news channel al-Arabiya, Nasrallah declared in a 1988 speech Hezbollah’s commitment to a worldwide Shiite Islamist Caliphate dictatorship: “Our plan, to which we, as faithful believers, have no alternative, is to establish an Islamic state under the rule of Islam . . . Lebanon should not be an Islamic republic on its own, but rather, part of the Greater Islamic Republic, governed by the Master of Time [the Shiite messianic figure known as the Mahdi], and his rightful deputy, the Jurisprudent Ruler [Persian: Velâyat-e Faqih] Imam [Ayatollah] Khomeini.”

In a 1998 speech marking the Shiite Day of Ashura, Nasrallah’s official website quoted him referring to Israel as “the state of the grandsons of apes and pigs – the Zionist Jews” and described the sons of Jacob as “the murderers of the prophets.”

Speaking at the Shi'ite Day of Ashura flagellation ceremony (tatbir) on April 9, 2000, Hassan Nasrallah declared: “The Jews invented the legend of the Nazi atrocities. It is clear that the numbers they talk about are greatly exaggerated. They can speak of fabricated or exaggerated massacres that occurred during the Second World War.”

On May 26, 2000, Nasrallah gave a speech in the Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil, from where the IDF had withdrawn a few days previously. Nasrallah crowed: “Several hundred Hezbollah fighters forced the strongest state in the Middle East to raise the flag of defeat . . . The age in which the Zionists frightened the Lebanese and the Arabs has ended . . . Israel, which possesses nuclear weapons and the most powerful air force in the region – this Israel is weaker than a spider's web.”

On September 4, 2002, Hezbollah-affiliated Ayatollah Fadlallah stated to the British newspaper ‘The Telegraph’: “I was not the one who launched the idea of so-called suicide bombings ... but I have certainly argued in favor of them.”

On September 27, 2002, Nasrallah spoke on al-Manar (Lebanese Hezbollah TV), proclaiming: “Let the entire world hear me. Our hostility to the Great Satan [America] is absolute . . . I conclude my speech with the slogan that will continue to reverberate on all occasions so that nobody will think that we have weakened. Regardless of how the world has changed after 11 September, Death to America will remain our reverberating and powerful slogan: Death to America!”

In an October 23, 2002 article in the Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star, journalist Badih Chayban quoted Nasrallah saying, “Among the signs . . . and signals which guide us, in the Islamic prophecies and not only in the Jewish prophecies, is that this State [of Israel] will be established, and that the Jews will gather from all parts of the world into occupied Palestine, not in order to bring about the anti-Christ (i.e., al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl) and the end of the world, but rather that Allah the Glorified and Most High wants to save you from having to go to the ends of the world, for they have gathered in one place, and there the final and decisive battle will take place.” Nasrallah’s speech is available in Arabic on Hezbollah's website. More recently, the relevant excerpt from the speech, along with Arabic transcription and English translation, have been published online.

In Jeffrey Goldberg’s October 14, 2002 article in ‘The New Yorker’ titled ‘In the Party of God’, Hezbollah spokesman Ibrahim Mousawi states that the “Jews are a lesion of the forehead of history.”

On February 18 and 19, 2005, Hezbollah-connected TV al-Manar aired Nasrallah’s speech of February 2, where he stated: “Israel is our enemy. This is an aggressive, illegal, and illegitimate entity, which has no future in our land. Its destiny is manifested in our motto: ‘Death to Israel!’”

In 2006, Sheikh Nasrallah said: “There is no solution to the conflict in this region except with the disappearance of Israel.”

On August 2, 2013, Nasrallah spoke on Quds Day in Beirut, saying that Israel was “a cancerous growth that must be eradicated . . . The only solution is to destroy it without giving it the opportunity to surrender . . The elimination of Israel is not only a Palestinian interest. It is the interest of the entire Muslim world and the entire Arab world.”

On August 14, 2014, Nasrallah gave an interview to the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar, stating that: “Israel is an illegitimate entity and it is a threat to the region. It is a constant threat to the whole region. We cannot coexist with this threat. That is why the ultimate goal of the [Arab and Islamic] nation is to end Israel’s existence irrespective of the problems, sensitivities and everything that has happened and could happen between Palestinians and non-Palestinians, Shia and Sunni, Muslims and Christians.”

On November 30, 2009 Nasrallah announced Hezbollah’s new ‘Manifesto’ at a live press conference in Beirut, 24 years after the publishing of its original ‘Hezbollah Program.’ The scholar and Neubauer Research Fellow Benedetta Berti at INSS, explains that “Hizbollah shows complete continuity both regarding its worldview and its strategic goals” in both documents.

“Certainly in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations!” (Ezekiel 36:5)

The prophet Jeremiah spoke forcefully about the divine judgment which will fall on every nation who disparages or dismisses YHVH’s calling on Israel and His love for His own Jewish people:

“Therefore all who devour you will be devoured. And all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity. And those who plunder you will become plunder, and all who plunder you I will turn into plunder. For I will restore you to health and I will heal you of your wounds, declares YHVH, because they have called you an outcast, saying: ‘It is Zion; no one cares for her”’ (Jeremiah 30:16-17).

Hezbollah and Iran are not the first groups to find themselves blacklisted in the Bible. The divine gavel is about to come crashing down in the courthouse of the Most High.

How should we then pray?

Pray for followers of Yeshua worldwide to understand these evil and destructive thoughts and plans of Hezbollah and Iran, and to pray for the Middle East in light of them

Pray for the physical rescue of the approximately 120 Israeli hostages (including babies) kidnapped by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and PFLP/PLO. At this moment some hostages are being tortured, raped and starved (this based on testimonies of recently released hostages). Sadly, many of these hostages are dead; Hamas is holding on to the corpses of Israeli citizens in cold storage to be used by them as bargaining chips

Pray for Hamas’ cruel terror dictatorship in Gaza to be decisively shattered and for all chains broken off the Palestinians living there, and for Iran’s role in jihadi deception, dissimulation and anti-Semitism to be exposed and opposed by world leaders

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

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

The elephant and the flea

Sometimes the stout-hearted can learn from history. There are certainly enough examples which might grant wisdom to those who so desire. Indeed, the present superpower machinations and intrigue surrounding the Middle East – with the focus here on jihadi forces versus Israel – have some sobering lessons to impart, for those who have eyes to see.

But to take instruction, one has to clean out one’s ears and polish one’s spectacles. Preconceived ideas of which world powers are the heroes and which are only partly heroic – these perspectives may need to be deposited in the cubicles at the doors of the classroom, in order to more clearly discern what is truly taking place. Under the glare of history’s microscope, heroes sometimes turn out to be anti-heroes, while those who are universally castigated often turn out to be the true champions.

This newsletter examines five such cases:

former US President Lyndon B. Johnson and his perspectives on Greece and Cyprus in 1965

former American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and his realpolitik towards Cyprus and Turkey in 1974

former American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and his realpolitik towards Israel in 1975

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and his fateful decisions regarding Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia and Adolf Hitler in 1938

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and his ‘bagman’ activities regarding the shaping of Israeli strategic and American domestic politics between 2020-2024

“America is an elephant - Cyprus is a flea – Greece is a flea”

At one point in the career of the rough-talking Texan who became POTUS, Lyndon Baines Johnson addressed some fiery words to Alexander Matsas, Greece’s Ambassador to Washington. The context was a June 1964 US-Greek disagreement concerning the fate of Cyprus (as quoted in ‘I Should Have Died’ (1977), Philip Deane, pp. 113-114):

“Then listen to me, Mr. Ambassador: F*** your parliament and your constitution. America is an elephant. Cyprus is a flea. Greece is a flea. If these two fleas continue itching the elephant, they may just get whacked good . . . We pay a lot of good American dollars to the Greeks, Mr. Ambassador. If your Prime Minister gives me talk about democracy, parliament and constitution, he, his parliament and his constitution may not last long.”

On April 21, 1967, a military junta led by three Greek Generals took over Greece in a coup. The CIA was certainly involved in encouraging these leaders, and LBJ’s earlier comments take on a more menacing air in this context.

“There is no American reason why the Turks should not have one-third of Cyprus”

In 1974, a fascinating document archived at the US National Security Advisor’s Memoranda of Conversation Collection (situated at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan) throws light on how the United States government views power politics and warlike moves against its own allies. The US at that time related to the Greek military dictatorship as an ally. Yet they also stationed nuclear weapons at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey after 1958. Today there are purportedly 90 B61 gravity bombs on site. The US strategic game-plan involved dealing simultaneously with two mortal enemies – Turkey and Greece. Yet ultimately, the American cards were stacked in favor of the Turks.

In Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s discussion with the POTUS Ford, Kissinger stated quite flatly:

“We would have our hands full to keep the Greeks from going to war. The Turks right now are extremely nationalistic. For a few years ago, the Turkish tactics are right – grab what they want and then negotiate on the basis of possession . . . But if the Turks run loose on Cyprus, the Greeks could come unglued. We certainly do not want a war between the two, but if it came to that, Turkey is more important to us . . . There is no American reason why the Turks should not have one-third of Cyprus.”

American public avowals of loyalty do not always stand the test of a good crisis. All allies of the US should remind themselves of this unappetizing fact on a daily basis.

“We can reduce Israel’s size to historic proportions”

The long-term heart and strategy of the US State Department regarding its end-game for Israel is no secret. On December 17, 1975 US Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger met S’adun Hammadi, Iraq’s Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Iraqi Ambassador’s residence on Rue d’Andigne, Paris. In that meeting Kissinger communicated a ‘no-nonsense’ US foreign policy regarding Israel:

“Israel does us more harm than good in the Arab world”

“We can’t negotiate about the existence of Israel but we can reduce its size to historical proportions”

“So I think in ten to fifteen years Israel will be like Lebanon – struggling for existence, with no influence in the Arab world”

“If the issue is the existence of Israel, we can’t cooperate. But if the issue is more normal borders, we can cooperate”

“I think the Palestinian identity has to be recognized in some form … (It) will be a tremendous fight … (but) no solution is possible without it”

This State Department realpolitik position still informs the thinking of American diplomats and politicians today: Israel’s borders must be shrunk in order to weaken its military and political standing in the Middle East, and a Palestinian state needs to be established on land which has been pried away from Israeli control. An awareness of these anti-biblical schemes can help intercessors to pray for leaders and diplomats in the US and elsewhere, for these talking points are part and parcel of British, European and Russian strategies as well.

The betrayal by the West

Adolf Hitler had plans to swallow up Europe piece by piece. One of the largest initial pieces was the Sudetenland – territories in Czechoslovakia to where a significant number of Germans laborers had moved, seeking work and new opportunities. The Führer threatened Continental Europe with war if Sudetenland were not given to him in appeasement.

Chamberlain believed that negotiations with Hitler could avoid a World War. His impression was that Hitler could turn out to be a man of peace. “In spite of the hardness and ruthlessness I thought I saw in his face, I got the impression that here was a man who could be relied upon when he had given his word.”

To avoid war, France and the United Kingdom permitted Nazi Germany to incorporate the Sudetenland. In meetings at the Munich Conference with Hitler on September 15^th (Berchtesgaden, Bavaria), 22^nd (Rheinhotel Dreesen, Rüngsdorf, Bad Godesberg) and 29^th (the Führerbau, Munich), Chamberlain was manipulated and bullied into finally abandoning England’s Czechoslovak ally to the tender mercies of the Nazi juggernaut. The representatives of Czechoslovakia were not allowed to take part in any negotiations due to Hitler’s refusal to allow their participation, as their homeland was drawn and quartered by Europe’s Great Powers. Up to that point the Czechs had refused to bow to any form of diplomatic surgery, preferring to trust in their small though well-trained army and in their political alliances with France and the Soviet Union.

The Munich Agreement was signed at 01:30 on September 30, 1938 by Hitler, British PM Sir Neville Chamberlain, Italian Fascist PM Benito Mussolini and French PM Édouard Daladier. This Quartet’s meeting was known as the ‘Four-Power Conference.’ It sanctioned the immediate Nazi invasion and annexation of Czech Sudetenland. A few hours after having signed away Czechoslovakia, Chamberlain took a light nap, arose and asked Hitler to sign a peace treaty between the United Kingdom and Germany. Hitler happily agreed. The German High Command’s plot to stop Hitler was shelved, and Europe tumbled slowly into the abyss.

Czech politicians joined the newspapers in regularly using the term The Betrayal by the West (Czech: zrada Západu). All of the Czechoslovak border fortifications (the only viable defense against German invasion) were now in Nazi hands. Poland seized Trans-Olza; Hungary annexed and occupied the remainder of Carpathian Ruthenia. Chamberlain returned to Britain claiming he had established peace in our time. However, within a year of the agreement World War II had started. Czech poet František Halas published a poem with verse about the “ringing bell of betrayal” that occurred at Munich. MP Winston Churchill was said to have declared that “Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonor. They chose dishonor. They will have war.” To this day, the terms ‘Munich’, Sudetenland,’ Chamberlain and ‘peace for our time’ convey betrayal and diplomatic duplicity.

After Munich, Hitler no longer had any fear that the West would oppose his genocidal plans. His comments about Chamberlain and Daladier were telling on this point: “I did not think it possible that Czechoslovakia would be virtually served up to me on a plate by her friends.” Even more telling was Hitler’s conclusion: “Our enemies are little worms. I saw them at Munich” (“Unsere Gegner sind kleine Würmchen. Ich sah sie in München”). In March 1939 Hitler invaded and conquered the rest of Czechoslovakia.

On Friday October 5, 2001 Israeli PM Ariel Sharon gave an evening press conference where he said:

“We can rely only on ourselves…Today Israel suffered another murderous Palestinian terrorist attack which took a heavy toll. All of our efforts to reach a cease-fire have been torpedoed by the Palestinians. Fire did not cease, not even for one day. We are currently in the midst of a complex and difficult diplomatic campaign. I turn to the Western democracies, first and foremost the leader of the free world, the United States. Do not repeat the dreadful mistake of 1938, when the enlightened democracies of Europe decided to sacrifice Czechoslovakia for the sake of a temporary, convenient solution. Don’t try to appease the Arabs at our expense. We will not accept this. Israel will not be Czechoslovakia. Israel will fight terror.”

In a blunt response on October 6, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said: “The President believes that these remarks are unacceptable. Israel could have no better or stronger friend that the United States and no better friend than President Bush.” Yet the American push to get Israel to retreat from Gaza, the Golan, the West Bank and the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem continued full press from that day onward.

A banana republic in the desert

The present US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has been active in communicating State Department wishes and Presidential orders to Israel throughout the past eight months of the Israel-Hamas war. Little is known by most people about Blinken’s political role prior to his current office.

Blinken was functioning as Biden’s principal foreign policy advisor and spokesman for his 2020 presidential campaign. As senior campaign official, he reached out to acting CIA Director Mike Morell on or before October 17, 2020, and triggered him to organize 50 colleagues in the intelligence community to sign a letter “falsely claiming that damning emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop [just] published by The [New York]Post were Russian disinformation.” At 10:53 pm that night, “Blinken emailed Morell a USA Today article” dealing with the same theme. Over the next two days, Morell “gathered signatures from 51 former intelligence officials, including himself and four other former CIA directors, including John Brennan and Leon Panetta.” Morell also testified “that he sent an email telling Nick Shapiro, former chief of staff to Brennan, that the Biden campaign wanted the statement to go to a particular reporter at the Washington Post.” Morell testified that “he received a call from Steve Ricchetti, chairman of the Biden campaign, to thank him for writing the statement.”

Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio), chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, wrote to Blinken on April 20, 2023, requesting his assistance because they “have learned that you played a role in the inception of this statement while serving as a Biden campaign advisor. This concerted effort to minimize and suppress public dissemination of the serious allegations about the Biden family was a grave disservice to all American citizens’ informed participation in our democracy.”

When asked about Blinken’s role in the disinformation letter sent out by CIA acting Director Morell (according to his sworn testimony to the House Judiciary Committee), State Department spokesman Vedant Patel refused to answer directly, only stating that “It is not a State Department issue, and I don’t really have a comment on this from the State Department.” Morell was not a State Department employee, and at that time neither was Anthony Blinken.

Since moving to the State Department, Blinken’s statement and policies have raised concerns regarding his strategic perspectives on Israel-related issues.

On June 11, 2024, Blinken lectured Israel, telling them that they do not have to and should not respond to Hezbollah rocket and anti-tank missile attacks from jihadi Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon: “The situation in northern Israel is definitely complex, but Israel does not have to respond to every launch of a UAV or rocket by Hezbollah.” So far, 31 Israelis have been killed, and 96,000 Israelis have had to move away from the border due to Hezbollah over-the-border attacks. Which of those attacks are the ones that Israel does not have to respond to?

On June 10-12, 2024 “Secretary of State Blinken is expected to arrive in Israel today to meet with the Israeli leadership in order to put pressure on Israel to reach a deal with Hamas . . . The Biden administration sees this as a major goal, against the background of the upcoming elections.” “A senior administration official told NBC News that the Israeli raid to free the four hostages Saturday will likely make Blinken’s efforts to achieve an agreement and release the remaining hostages even more difficult.” It seems that short term results which could affect the coming US elections are more important to the American powers-that-be than freeing Israeli hostages.

Blinken’s boss, POTUS Biden, said at an event for influencers at the White House last week: “I am pressuring the Israelis to withdraw . . . I have made very clear to the Israelis what they have to do in the near term and if they don’t, what’s going to happen.” A withdrawal by the IDF would leave Hamas alive and well, ready to retake the Gaza Strip and carry out more ‘October 7-type pogroms, rapes, murders and kidnappings.

State Department officials who carry out the policies of Secretary of State Blinken leaked on June 10, 2024 that they are considering having the US make a separate deal with Hamas to free hostages with dual citizenship. The talks wouldn’t include Israel and would take place via Qatari mediators, two current senior U.S. officials and two former ones told NBC. The officials said they didn’t know what the United States could exchange for the hostages, but that Hamas might agree to a deal to “strain relations between the U.S. and Israel and put additional domestic political pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.” Blinken seems to be using his office to create cracks in a US-Israel alliance as well as to fan the flames of a fire which will remove Israel’s current Prime Minster, Benjamin Netanyahu, from leading the country. This is only one of several banana-republic type actions being taken by the State Department.

Fair-weather friends and erratic allies

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, president of the International American Council on the Middle East, and a board member of Harvard International Review, has published an incisive June 15, 2024 article: “As US Is Being Encircled by Enemies, the US Administration Wants Israel to Surrender to Terrorists.” Here are a few selected quotes:

While Russian warships, including a nuclear submarine, this week docked in Cuba, and with China building a major deep-water port in Peru that could serve the Chinese military, the US administration is pressuring only Israel to allow the Iran-backed terrorist group Hamas to win the war it launched against Israel on October 7. Instead of supporting Israel's right to defend itself against coordinated and sustained attacks, the Biden administration's public wavering suggests a pro-terrorist shift in US policy away from Israel. This shift represents a betrayal that leaves Israel in the no-win position of either rejecting US proposals, or allowing Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and other Iranian-backed terrorist groups to keep trying to advance their goal of ultimately destroying Israel.

When an ally is attacked by terrorists, the fundamental principle of an alliance dictates that the victim must be provided unwavering support to defeat the terrorists and dismantle the terror infrastructure completely, ensuring that the terrorists cannot regroup to launch further attacks. Without such a commitment, the trust between allies erodes, and terrorists are emboldened. The situation has become particularly dire for Israel, which has been facing brutal attacks on multiple fronts. Despite these assaults, the Biden Administration has not only failed consistently to support Israel after it was invaded on October 7, 2023, accompanied by thousands of missiles, but has also pressed for policies favoring Hamas and its sponsors and enablers, Qatar and Iran.

After yet another of Iran's other proxy terrorist militias, Hezbollah, not only joined Hamas in attacking Israel but has kept escalating its attacks, the response from the Biden administration has been to warn – not Hezbollah or Iran against warmongering – but Israel. Asking Israel to do nothing against Hamas and Hezbollah after eight months of escalating aggression is akin to asking the United States, after the 9/11 attacks, to leave Al Qaeda untouched and allow it to remain in power. Would the U.S. have listened to such a recommendation?

This policy muddle raises serious questions about the reliability of the United States as a steadfast ally. By not taking decisive action to support Israel, the administration is also sending a warning of inconsistency and weakness to all prospective allies, and encouraging them to rely on America's adversaries instead. The consequences of this approach are unfortunately far-reaching. They affect not only the immediate security of Israel but also the credibility of the United States on the global stage, the broader stability of the region, and the very preservation of the US, which is currently being encircled by enemies.

How should we then pray?

Pray for followers of Yeshua worldwide to understand these superpower strategies, and to pray for the Middle East in light of them

Pray for the physical rescue of the approximately 120 Israeli hostages (including babies) kidnapped by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and PFLP/PLO. At this moment some hostages are being tortured, raped and starved (this based on testimonies of recently released hostages). Sadly, many of these hostages are dead; Hamas is holding on to the corpses of Israeli citizens in cold storage to be used by them as bargaining chips

Pray for Hamas’ cruel terror dictatorship in Gaza to be decisively shattered and for all chains broken off the Palestinians living there, and for Iran’s role in jihadi deception, dissimulation and anti-Semitism to be exposed and opposed by world leaders

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

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

When the sons of Adam put God on trial

The spinner of the Narnia tales, British author C.S. Lewis once said:

“The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man, the roles are quite reversed. He is the judge; God is in the dock. [Man] is quite a kindly judge; if God should have a reasonable defense for being the god who permits war, poverty, and disease, [Man] is ready to listen to it. The trial may even end in God’s acquittal. But the important thing is that man is [sitting] on the [Judge’s] bench and God is in the dock.” (C.S. Lewis; 1970; God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics; Chapter 12)

Repaying Babylon

The modern world has a primitive understanding of the God of Jacob. Instead of acknowledging divine justice, today’s humanity treats evil murderers with kid gloves, while scoffing at Him who gave us the covenants. Yet even now, YHVH leaves a trail of Scriptural breadcrumbs for us, detailing how what He thinks about Israel’s enemies, and how His vengeance will soon erupt against them.

“I shall also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down, with no one to make you afraid. I shall also eliminate harmful animals from the land, and no sword will pass through your land. Instead, you will chase your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword; five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand; and your enemies will fall before you by the sword” (Leviticus 26:6-8)

“Raise your battle cry against her on every side! She has given herself up, her towers have fallen! Her walls have been torn down! For this is the vengeance of YHVH. Take vengeance on her; As she has done to others, so do to her” (Jeremiah 50:15)

“But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares YHVH (Jeremiah 51:24)

The inhabitant of Zion will say: “May the violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon!” and, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea!” Jerusalem will say. therefore this is what YHVH says: “Behold, I am going to plead your case and take vengeance for you. And I will dry up her sea and make her fountain dry” (Jeremiah 51:35-36)

“Indeed, Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel, as the slain of all the earth have also fallen for Babylon” (Jeremiah 51:49)

“Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her” (Revelation 18:6)

“Daughter of Babylon, you devastated one! Blessed will be one who repays you with the retribution with which you have repaid us!” (Psalm 137:8-9).

This divine viewpoint and these God-breathed values are rejected on a daily basis by the UN, the EU, the UK and the US, And it is no wonder: that is because, by and large, the world rejects both the Author of the Bible and His perspectives: The Prophet put it succinctly: “To the Teaching [Torah] and to the Testimony! If they do not speak in accordance with this word, it is because they have no dawn!” (Isaiah 8:20).

Over the past eight months, the world’s media and street demonstrators have justified Hamas’ atrocities (its rape, torture, murder and kidnapping of the children of Israel) while throwing an accusatory spotlight against the IDF for its defensive actions (its attempts to free its hostages, stop rocket fire against its citizens, and destroy the jihadi armies attempting to burn and crush the Jewish state from all sides). As man puts YHVH and His Jewish people ‘in the dock’ – on trial, whether at the International Court of Justice at The Hague or at the United Nations in New York – the Bible puts the entire planet on notice: the curses of Genesis 12:3 are already descending on superpower and micro-state alike. This is YHVH’s prophesied response to the nations’ cold and cruel heart attitudes to both the Jewish people and their state.

The nations of Moses’ day – conquered and conquerors

The nations of the Middle East in Moses’ day were used to the reality that invading nations would conquer other peoples. The conquered nations then faded off the pages of history. YHVH Himself explained this realpolitik to Moses: the God of Jacob gave certain nations the command to conquer, dispossess and destroy other nations who were to be judged for their sins (see Genesis 15:16; Leviticus 18:24-28). In Deuteronomy 2, YHVH lists five nations which were to be conquered, dispossessed and destroyed at His divine command. Five other nations would do the invading, the conquering and the destroying.

“Then YHVH said to me, Do not attack Moab, nor provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot as a possession.’ The Emim lived there previously, a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim. Like the Anakim, they too are regarded as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. The Horites previously lived in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and settled in their place; just as Israel did to the land of their possession which YHVH gave them” (Deuteronomy 2:9-12)

“YHVH spoke to me, saying, ‘Today you shall cross over Ar, the border of Moab. When you come opposite the sons of Ammon, do not attack them nor provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot as a possession.’ It is also regarded as the land of the Rephaim, because the Rephaim previously lived in it, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummin, a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim; but YHVH destroyed them before them. And they dispossessed them and settled in their place, just as He did for the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them; they dispossessed them and settled in their place, where they remain even to this day. And as for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim (who came from Caphtor) destroyed them and lived in their place. [YHVH said], ‘Arise, set out, and pass through the Valley of Arnon. Look! I have handed over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Start taking possession and plunge into battle with him. This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the faces of people everywhere who, when they hear the news of you, will tremble and be in anguish because of you!’ (Deuteronomy 2:17-25)

This YHVH may not be a ‘politically correct’ God, but He is the One whom we serve:

“Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not; As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be!” (Lamentations 3 :22-23).
“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow” (James 1:17)

“In relation to God’s choice, the Jewish people are beloved on account of the Patriarchs, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:28-29)

Moses and Joshua, the commanders of Israel’s armies – on trial before the World Court?

The writer of the Book of Deuteronomy tells us: “Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom YHVH knew face to face, for all the signs and wonders which YHVH sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land – and for all the mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel” (Deuteronomy 34:10-12).

Moses’ commission to Joshua was to destroy all the nations living in Canaan and to dispossess them. One of the last things Moses ever said to all the people of Israel was the following: “I am 120 years old today; I am no longer able to go out and come in, and YHVH has told me, ‘You shall not cross this Jordan.’ It is YHVH your God who is going to cross ahead of you. He Himself will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them! Joshua is the one who is going to cross ahead of you, just as YHVH has spoken” (Deuteronomy 31:2-3).

Moses passed this divine commission on to Joshua, who carried it out faithfully, as the Scriptures bear witness: “So Joshua struck all the land, the Hill Country and the Negev and the Shephelah [Lowland] and the slopes, and all their kings. He left no survivor, but he utterly destroyed all who breathed, just as YHVH, the God of Israel, had commanded” (Joshua 10:40).

The only exception was the case of the inhabitants of Gibeon. The Gibeonites, a Hivite tribe living just north of Jerusalem (see Joshua 9:1-2,7), craftily deceived Joshua and his armies, pretending that they were ‘from a very distant country’ (see Joshua 9:9): “So they answered Joshua and said, ‘Since your servants were fully informed that YHVH your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you, we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and did this thing’” (Joshua 9 :24).

How does God describe Moses, his commission and his leading of the armies of Israel against Egypt and the desert tribes? “Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom YHVH knew face to face, for all the signs and wonders which YHVH sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land – and for all the mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel!” (Deuteronomy 34:10-12).

Jephthah the Judge facing the Court of Ammon

The Palestinian desire to destroy the Jewish people and their state is not a new dynamic. Over 3,300 years ago the Ammonites of modern Jordan joined battle against the Jewish people, attempting to conquer, destroy and dispossess the Jewish people from formerly Amorite (and not Ammonite) lands. In their pre-combat negotiations with Jephthah the Judge, they claimed that the Jewish people had occupied territories which should rightly belong to the Ammonites. Jephthah’s envoys explained in semitic ‘diplomatese’ that these Ammonite assertions were actually ‘fake news,’ and that Israel had never conquered territories given by YHVH to the Ammonite (who were in fact distant relatives to the sons of Israel through Abraham’s nephew Lot). Jephthah’s diplomats rehearse recent 300-year-old Middle Eastern history to clarify this point:

So Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, “What conflict do you and I have, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” And the king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, “It is because Israel took my land when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and the Jordan; so return them peaceably now.” But Jephthah sent messengers once again to the king of the sons of Ammon, and they said to him, “This is what Jephthah says: ‘Israel did not take the land of Moab nor the land of the sons of Ammon . . . And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, “Please let us pass through your land to our place.” But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people and camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel. And YHVH, the God of Israel, handed Sihon and all his people over to Israel, and they defeated them; so Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. So they possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan. And now YHVH, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from His people Israel; so should you possess it? Do you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever YHVH our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess it . . . So I have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by making war against me. May YHVH, the Judge, judge today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.’” But the king of the sons of Ammon disregarded the message which Jephthah sent him. (Judges 11:12-28)

The king of the Ammonites refused to accept the historical facts of the situation (like the Palestinians also refuse to do), and went to war against Israel. The battle was decisively won by the Jewish people, for YHVH had handed the Ammonites over to the sons of Jacob: “So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them. And YHVH handed them over to him. He inflicted a very great defeat on them from Aro’er to the entrance of Minnit, twenty cities, and as far as Abel Kramim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel” (Judges 11:32-33).

Samuel the Judge rules on Amalek and Agag

Balaam of Mesopotamia had prophesied by the Holy Spirit in Moses’ day that “Amalek was the first of the nations, but his end shall be destruction” (Numbers 24:20). Balaam also prophesied about Judah’s coming Messiah, proclaiming that he would be even greater than King Agag of the ruling dynasty of Amalek:

Water will flow from his buckets, and his seed will be by many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. God brings him out of Egypt. He is for him like the horns of the wild ox. He will devour the nations who are his adversaries, and will crush their bones, and smash them with his arrows. (Numbers 24:7-8)

Four hundred years later, an Amalekite King also named Agag (probably a dynastic descendant of the Agag mentioned in Numbers 24) is spotlighted by the God of Israel. King Saul was given his first assignment in the days of Samuel the Judge, and the task was a similar one to those given to Moses, Joshua and Jephthah. Saul was to totally conquer, destroy and dispossess both the nation of Amalek and its king Agag. But the Bible reveals that Saul failed to carry out YHVH’s prophesied judgments – judgments which reflected God’s international guidelines as per Genesis 12:3: “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse:”

Then Samuel said to Saul, “YHVH sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of YHVH. This is what YHVH of armies says: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, in that he obstructed him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and completely destroy everything that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey’”. . . “Then Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah going toward Shur, which is east of Egypt. He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive completely destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the more valuable animals, the lambs, and everything that was good, and were unwilling to destroy them completely; but everything despicable and weak, that they completely destroyed. Then the word of YHVH came to Samuel, saying, ‘I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.’ . . . Samuel said, ‘Does YHVH have as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of YHVH? Behold, to obey is better than a sacrifice, and to pay attention is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as reprehensible as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as reprehensible as false religion and idolatry. Since you have rejected the word of YHVH, He has also rejected you from being king” . . . Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is gone!” But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel cut Agag to pieces before YHVH at Gilgal. (1 Samuel 15:1-33)

The God whom we serve, the God of Moses, Joshua, Jephthah and Samuel, is deadly serious about His justice coming to pass, and about bringing vengeance on those who harm the Jewish people. He sometimes waits patiently for the right time for His judgments to be carried out, as in the Days of Noah, or regarding the generation in the desert, or the years between the crucifixion and the destruction of the Second Temple. The microscope with which we consider rapidly moving present-day events needs to have a biblical view of time here – a marathon-man perspective.

Repaying Babylon for all the evil they have done in Zion

We live in a day which mocks divine retribution and foams at the mouth with murderous hatred whenever the Jewish state makes war against its destroyers. World media shapes people’s thought and attitudes, shaping anti-Semitism and anti-Israel movements. These satanic minefields are even now exploding across the earth. Let us be on guard: YHVH’s vengeance against all nations who raise their hand to harm Israel is soon coming.

“And I will inflict My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel. Therefore, they will act in Edom in accordance with My anger and My wrath; so they will know My vengeance declares YHVH God” (Ezekiel 25:14)

“For YHVH has a Day of vengeance, a Year of retribution for the cause of Zion” (Isaiah 34:8)

“For the Day of vengeance was in My heart, and My Year of redemption has come” (Isaiah 63:4)

“To proclaim the favorable Year of YHVH and the day of vengeance of our God” (Isaiah 61:2)

How should we then pray?

Pray for followers of Yeshua worldwide to understand these biblical and foundational truths, and to make sense of present Middle Eastern realities in light of them

Pray for the physical rescue of the approximately 120 Israeli hostages (including babies) kidnapped by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and PFLP/PLO. At this moment some hostages are being tortured, raped and starved (this based on testimonies of recently released hostages). Sadly, many of these hostages are dead; Hamas is holding on to the corpses of Israeli citizens in cold storage to be used by them as bargaining chips

Pray for Hamas’ cruel terror dictatorship in Gaza to be decisively shattered and for all chains broken off the Palestinians living there, and for Iran’s role in jihadi deception, dissimulation and anti-Semitism to be exposed and opposed by world leaders

Pray that Israel’s leadership be granted justice, clarity, moral courage, discernment and divine strategies in utterly destroying the jihadi threat in all of its aspects, and for minimal loss of life for Israel’s defense forces and for those Gazans who are truly innocent

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

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

Pulling a Messianic rabbit out of a Pentecostal hat

Tonight marks the onset of the Jewish Feast of Pentecost (a Greek word meaning ‘fiftieth’). The original Hebrew name for the holiday is Shavuot (‘weeks’), referring to the seven-week counting period between Passover and Pentecost – seven weeks of seven days each, culminating in the celebration of the holiday on the fiftieth day (Leviticus 23:15-21).

What is Shavuot/Pentecost all about? Is it connected to the Giving of the Mosaic Covenant and to cheesecake? Does the Rabbinic celebration and meaning of Shavuot differ from what the Hebrew Scriptures teach? Why are some Messianic leaders confused on these points? It’s that season of the year where, once again, it’s time to set the record straight.

Hebrew harvest time

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

The next harvest comes soon after, and it is the wheat harvest (see Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:9-12). The Feast of Shavuot/Pentecost celebrates the wheat harvest, as these above passages explain. Fifty days separate between these two harvests.

The Festival of Shavuot is also called the ‘Feast of the Reaping’ in Exodus 23:16, where we are told to celebrate “the reaping of the first fruits of your labors which you have sown in the field” (also see Numbers 28:2).

Shavuot is an agricultural festival in the Bible. The declaration of thanksgiving in Deuteronomy 16:1-11 was proclaimed by Jewish farmers (probably on Shavuot) when they brought their first fruits offering to the House of YHVH in Jerusalem.

Moses established that 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). This feast was one of the shalosh regalim (sholesh regolim in Yiddish) – the three pilgrim feasts.

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

Change you can’t believe in

The Five Books of Moses present exact and clear days when to celebrate feasts. Here are some examples:

the New Year (the first day of the month of Aviv; Exodus 12:2)

Passover (the 14th day of the month of Aviv; Exodus 12:6, 14; 34:18; Leviticus 23:5)

Trumpets (the first day of the seventh month, Leviticus 23:23-24; Numbers 29:1)

the Day of Atonement (the 10^th day of the seventh month; Leviticus 23:26-27; 16:29; 25:9; Numbers 29:7)

the Feast of Tabernacles (the 15th day of the seventh month; Leviticus 23:34; Deuteronomy 16:13).

But when it comes to the date when the Mosaic Covenant was given, the God of Israel does not give an exact calendar date for the event, nor does He command the Jewish people that they should celebrate that event as a Feast or on a certain day.

In search of the lost date

The Scriptures do not give an exact date for the Giving of the Mosaic Covenant. That event happened somewhere within a two-month period, but the Bible does not specify when (Exodus 19:1, 16; 24:4, 16; 34:28; 40:17). It’s a little like Christmas: December 24/25 was chosen not because of a specific date given in the Gospel records, but because of pre-existing pagan Roman traditions. People tend to like dates and, when the Bible is silent about such things, folks tend to choose dates anyway – ‘everyone does what’s right in his own eyes’ (see Judges 21:25).

In the Books of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, God communicates a threefold emphasis of keeping 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 complete rest (Leviticus 23:21)

a feast of celebration and rejoicing (Deuteronomy 16:10-11) coupled with a pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Exodus 34:22-24)

In all these passages, the Bible is utterly silent about a date for the Giving of the Mosaic Covenant, or about any connection between the Feast of Shavuot and the Giving of the Mosaic Torah.

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. This biblical timeline shows that it is impossible to make dogmatic declarations regarding the Giving of the Torah as happening on the same day as the Feast of Shavuot/Pentecost.

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 there 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

Jumping Jubilee!

Over one hundred years before the birth of Yeshua, Jewish scribes translated the Bible from Hebrew into Greek. Their translation is known as the ‘Septuagint’ (a Greek word meaning ‘the seventy’ – referring to the traditional number of seventy scribes who did the translation work). The Septuagint uses the Greek word Pentēkostē when translating Leviticus 25:10, to refer to ‘the fiftieth’ – in this case, the 50^th year of Jubilee. In Yeshua’s day, Jews would call the Feast ‘Shavuot’ when speaking Hebrew, or Pentēkostē (Pentecost in modern English) when speaking Greek.

Paul the Apostle marked his personal calendar, taking note of Shavuot/Pentecost. He wanted to come up to Jerusalem in time to celebrate the Day of Shavuot/Pentecost (Acts 20:16). His apostolic faith was recognizably Jewish as well (Acts 21:24; 28:17).

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 2:9-11 was an excellent 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” (Acts 2:5-11)

Shavuot meant that Jews from all over the world would come up to Jerusalem to honor YHVH’s commandment. Though a few proselytes (Gentile converts to Judaism) also came up, it was Jews from across the Roman world – from Arabia to Asia, from Egypt to Elam – who all got together for a national Thanksgiving Day celebration in Jerusalem. This happened every year – Jewish people celebrating a Jewish feast in a Jewish city.

Acts 2 has no mention of Messianic Jews or the wider Jewish community celebrating the Giving of the Mosaic Covenant on Pentecost/Shavuot. What they celebrated was only what Moses said should be celebrated – a biblical and agricultural feast of thanksgiving

The message of Messianic Pentecost

Shimon (better known today as Simon Peter) is filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, as are his spiritual comrades. Flames danced like togues of fire on their heads, and they all begin to speak in unlearned languages – the languages of the countries of their Exile (Acts 2:6-8). The good news of Messiah Yeshua and His resurrection is being proclaimed in the very heart of Jerusalem!

Peter said that these amazing manifestations were a reflection of Joel’s Last Days prophecies. Earthquakes, world-shaking signs and the outpouring of the Ruach HaKodesh would characterize these Last Days. In the same way, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 was a down payment, a promise that all these events will one day come to pass, and that all the Jewish people will be filled with the Spirit of YHVH.

Eight years later, the Good News of Messiah Yeshua was still only being preached to Jewish people. But three breakthrough events occurred in Acts 8-10: Philip was led by the Spirit to share the Message with an Ethiopian eunuch; Saul was miraculously brought into the Kingdom; and Peter was brought up to Caesarea to share his Jewish message with the family of the Roman centurion of the Italian Cohort. That whole Roman family repented, came into the kingdom, and spoke in tongues – but as Gentiles who had never converted to Judaism.

Messianic Gentiles or converts to Rabbinic Judaism?

This business of allowing Gentiles to have access to Jewish New Covenant blessings and to have equal fellowship with the God of Israel alongside Jews (Paul’s gospel) – this was shocking to the majority of Pharisees as well as to the other streams of Judaism. 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.’

Whereas Messianic Jews such as Paul declared that Gentile followers of Yeshua could now be fellow heirs of the same Messianic body and fellow-citizens with the Jewish saints (Ephesian 2:19-3:6) without converting to Judaism or being circumcised, the rabbis countered that Shavuot would now have a different meaning and emphasis: the hero of Shavuot would actually be a heroine. Ruth was now moved from the Barley Harvest time (as per the Book of Ruth) to the Shavuot wheat harvest season. The rabbis turned their spotlight on Ruth, tweaking the narrative and morphing her into a convert to Rabbinic Judaism.

Just to emphasize and clarify this point, there is not historical or biblical evidence that the events of Ruth took place at Shavuot, or that rabbis existed at that time

Rabbinic pushback – the New Covenant is not new; it’s simply a refurbished Mosaic Covenant

The rabbis had an even more serious objection to 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 adds that when the Jewish people come to Messiah Yeshua, they are no longer under the guardianship of the Mosaic covenant. Paul uses the Greek term paidagogos, which referred to a bodyguard who would take the child from his home through the Greek streets, protecting him and bringing him safely to the Greek school. Paul calls the Mosaic covenant a paidagogos (often translated ‘a tutor’) which would lead Israel to Messiah and His 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 tutor 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 tutor (Galatians 3:19, 23-25).

The Rabbis understood that Paul was interpreting the Hebrew of Jeremiah 31:31-34 literally, to mean that the New Covenant was ‘not like’ the Mosaic covenant. Their counter-reaction involved closing down open discussion of Jeremiah 31, insisting that Jeremiah must have only meant ‘a renewed covenant.’ But this rabbinic decision violated the peshat, the clear exegetical meaning of Jeremiah 31:32, “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: the New Covenant was a Jewish covenant, and that the New Covenant was not like the Mosaic covenant.

So the rabbis, like Mary Poppins, reached into their magic carpet bag and pulled out a newly morphed date on the Jewish calendar – they proclaimed that, from now on and based on their own authority, the Feast of Shavuot actually occurred on the same day that the Mosaic Covenant was given. From now on, Shavuot would be morphed into a holiday celebrating the Mosaic Torah and not the Inauguration of the New Covenant. The Rabbis would now champion the Giving of the Law, and the New Covenant Messianic movement’s main message would be undercut.

Without any scriptural warrant, authority or proof, the Rabbis tweaked the emphasis of Shavuot from thankful celebration of the wheat harvest to a Mosaic birthday party. 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!”

Pulling a non-kosher rabbit out of a Messianic hat

Most Messianic leaders and teachers have been taught by both the Jewish community’s leaders and by their own Messianic leaders and teachers, that the rabbinic perspectives on Shavuot and the rabbinic perspectives on the Mosaic covenant are the only kosher story in town. 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 believe, as the rabbis teach, that Shavuot is when the Mosaic covenant was given and that Ruth is the poster child for friendly Gentiles – and that Gentiles who are friendly to Jewish things should convert to rabbinic Judaism.

It is my conviction that these dear friends err (see Matthew 22:29) not knowing what the Scriptures say (or don’t say, in this case!). They seem to be unaware of both Jewish and rabbinic history – and also unaware of the early clashes between Messianic apostolic teaching and rabbinic opposition to the Messianic message on these points.

Tradition!

My dear friend now with the Lord, Dr. Louis Goldberg (former Professor of Jewish Studies at Moody Bible Institute; www.messianicjewish.net/products/fire-on-the-mountain-past-renewals-present-revivals-and-the-coming-return-of-israel-by-dr-louis-goldberg), often taught what has been explained above: that the rabbinic connecting of Shavuot/Pentecost to the Giving of the Mosaic covenant on Mount Sinai is not based on biblical foundations, but on rabbinic desire to shift focus away from the amazing Messianic events of Acts 2.

The accepted Rabbinic perspective refuses to accept an Acts 2 connection with Shavuot/Pentecost, since that would involve accepting the inauguration of a New Covenant – one which would include Gentiles in the Jewish Body of Messiah through faith in Yeshua alone. Instead, rabbinic Judaism tried to weld the inauguration of the Mosaic covenant into a pre-existing Shavuot/Pentecost. Rather than accepting Gentile salvation as coming about through faith in the Jewish Messiah Yeshua, rabbinic commentators now made the Book of Ruth do double duty: Ruth herself would now be presented as a convert to rabbinic Judaism, and Shavuot would be highlighted as the day of the Giving of the Sinaitic Covenant.

Most Messianic Jews and Gentiles are ignorant of this history. They have heard that Orthodox Jewish tradition connects the Giving of the Mosaic Teaching to the Feast of Shavuot. And so it has become a Messianic tradition as well among many, much like how twinkling trees and eggnog have become a cherished part of Christmas.

Let’s remember that YHVH never established a biblical feast commemorating the Giving of the Mosaic Covenant. There is not even a clear date in the Scriptures as to when that blessed event happened. The rabbinic plastic surgery done of Shavuot/Pentecost (morphing it into a feast celebrating the Mosaic Covenant) occurred at least 1,600 years after Moses, and perhaps a century or two after Acts 2.

In light of all of the above biblical and historical information, could it be that the emphasis on Shavuot/Pentecost as a ‘Mosaic Covenant Day’ is actually a distraction? Could it be that this rabbinic tradition is in fact undercutting what YHVH is trying to teach us through the Holy Scriptures, and de-emphasizing what the God of Jacob would like us to understand?

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 the Holy Spirit coming down on our hearts! And let’s look forward to the mighty harvest of the nations – 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

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 followers of Jesus worldwide to receive and embrace these biblical and foundational truths, and not to get hung up on inaccurate traditions

Pray for the physical rescue of the approximately 120 Israeli hostages (including babies) kidnapped by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and PFLP/PLO. At this moment some hostages are being tortured, raped and starved (this based on testimonies of recently released hostages). Sadly, many of these hostages are dead; Hamas is holding on to the corpses of Israeli citizens in cold storage to be used by them as bargaining chips

Pray for Hamas’ cruel terror dictatorship in Gaza to be decisively shattered and for all chains broken off the Palestinians living there, and for Iran’s role in jihadi deception, dissimulation and anti-Semitism to be exposed and opposed by world leaders

Pray that Israel’s leadership be granted justice, clarity, moral courage, discernment and divine strategies in utterly destroying the jihadi threat in all of its aspects, and for minimal loss of life for Israel’s defense forces and for those Gazans who are truly innocent

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

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

History repeats itself – the ten spies and their bad report

Saul of Tarsus – better known as Paul the Apostle – helps us in knowing how to apply principles in the Hebrew Scriptures to our own lives: “Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they indeed craved them . . . Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let the one who thinks he stands watch out that he does not fall” (1 Corinthians 10:6-12).

A burningly relevant example for us is found in the story of the Twelve Spies found in the Book of Numbers:

Then YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, “Send out men for yourself to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes – every one a leader among them.” So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of YHVH, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel. (Numbers 13:1-3)

When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country. See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. And how is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are the people in open camps or in fortifications? And how is the land, is it productive or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? And show yourselves courageous and get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehov, at Levo Hamat. (Numbers 13:17–21)

When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, they went on and came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. So they reported to him and said, “We came into the land where you sent us, and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And indeed, we saw the descendants of Anak there! Amalek is living in the land of the Negev, the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan” (Numbers 13:25-29)

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will certainly prevail over it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, because they are too strong for us.” So they brought a bad report of the land which they had spied out to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land through which we have gone to spy out is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are people of great stature. We also saw the Nephilim there (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:30–33)

Then all the congregation raised their voices and cried out, and the people wept that night. And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. And the entire congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or even if we had died in this wilderness! So why is YHVH bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder! Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt!” (Numbers 14:1-4)

Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun and Calev the son of Yefuneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes. And they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If YHVH is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us – a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against YHVH. And do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection is gone from them, and YHVH is with us; do not fear them.” But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the Glory of YHVH appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel. And YHVH said to Moses, “How long will this people be disrespectful to Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs that I have performed in their midst?” (Numbers 14:5–11)

“Certainly all the people who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who were disrespectful to Me see it. But as for My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring him into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it” (Numbers 14:22-24)

The bad report of The Ten – rebellion against God and fear of the enemy

YHVH the God of Israel commanded Moses to send out twelve spies – one for each tribe – on a special operation. They were to spy out the Promised Land in preparation for Israel’s invasion and settlement of that entire land. YHVH had commanded Moses and the Jewish people to conquer and remove all who were temporarily occupying that land – Canaanites, Amalekites, Hittites, Jebusites Amorites, etc. The spies started their journey from beside the present Egyptian border just south of Gaza (the wilderness of Zin – see Numbers 20:1; 27:14; 33:36; 34:3-4; Joshua 15:1-3) and moved east, all the way to the Salt Sea (today called ‘the Dead Sea’). They then headed straight north, passing the Lake of Galilee and Mount Hermon (see Joshua 13:5; Judges 3:3; 1 Chronicles 13:5) up to Levo Hamat (near Baalbek in present-day Syria) on the Orontes River (1 Kings 8:65; 2 Kings 14:25). The biblical borders of the Promised Land include this section of modern Syria, as well as segments of present-day Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. Ezekiel 48:1 notes that Levo Hamat will also be part of the millennial borders of the Messianic Jewish kingdom.

The spies came back with glowing reports about the fruitfulness of the land (‘an exceedingly good land’), as well as accurate information on the enemies’ military installations and infantry which the armies of YHVH (see 1 Samuel 17:26) would soon confront. This first part of their report was helpful and based on good intelligence; it was not ‘fake news.’ But ten of the twelve spies added another perspective – their own personal opinion that the God of Israel lacked wisdom and military sense in sending the Jewish people in to conquer and possess the Promised Land.

Caleb and Joshua (the two good spies) declared that God’s calling and assignment was realistically attainable – that the ten Canaanite tribes (see Genesis 15:19-20) were bereft of YHVH’s protection, and that, instead, YHVH was with the people of Israel, and that the God of Jacob would bring His promises to pass regarding the Jewish homeland. But the other ten spies reported ‘the news’ differently: the Canaanite tribes were too strong – the Israelites would never be able to defeat them – indeed, the Canaanites “are a people of great stature.” The ten spies’ bad report declared that the Jewish people “are like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we are in the {Canaanite’s] sight.” The Ten added that the Land of Canaan would only bring a curse on the Israelites: “This is a land that devours its inhabitants!”

What was the effect of this bad report on the Jewish people? The entire nation cried out and wept. Then they grumbled against their leaders Moses and Aaron. They declared that it would have been better for all Israel to have remained slaves in Egypt or even to die in the desert rather than to follow Moses and Aaron. They ‘prophesied’ that the Canaanites would murder them all and kidnap their wives and children, if they foolishly held onto YHVH’s promise of trying to claim and hold onto the Promised Land. They then held a public rally and proclaimed that Israel needed to choose a new leader – in modern terminology, they called for new elections.

Joshua and Caleb pushed back forcefully. They declared that the response of the majority of the Jewish people was based both on fear of the enemy and rebellion against the leadership and character of YHVH. The God of Jacob added two other points: the majority of the Jewish people were behaving disrespectfully to YHVH Himself, and they were not believing in His good character or in His amazing promises. Their unbelieving and disrespectful heart invalidated that generation from entering into the Promised Land. Another generation would step up to the plate and conquer the Land.

Spiritual warfare and the evening news

As it was in the days of Joshua, so it is in our day. Messages of unbelief – that the Israeli armed forces will not be able to defeat the enemy (in this case the Islamist savages, rapists, murderers and kidnappers known as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian Authority’s al-Aqsa Brigades) – flow like a polluted river from US spokesmen and American talking heads like Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, his deputy, POTUS Joe Biden, National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. On the Israeli side, there are also ‘ten spies’ who bring similar evil reports of unbelief. These include political enemies of Prime Minister Netanyahu and his coalition (some of these ‘spies’ possess intelligence, military and political credentials). These ‘Ten’ resolutely declare that Israel cannot defeat Hamas. They warn that Israel’s decision to enter Rafah in southwestern Gaza will only bring a defeat for Israel. They repeatedly proclaim that the PM is crazy and that new elections are immediately needed. They insist that Israel’s PM cannot be trusted in matters of security. Like Korah, Datan, Aviram and On (along with “250 leaders of the congregation chosen in the assembly, men of renown”), they repeated announce to Israel’s leadership “You have gone far enough!” (Numbers 16:1-3).

One of Israel’s top intelligence journalists and strategic affairs correspondents is Yossi Melman. On July 20, 2023 he wrote an analysis in the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz: “A Military Coup Is Underway in Israel – and It’s Completely Justified:”

“A military coup is underway in Israel. This is the unvarnished truth. At the same time, there is an attempt to play with words in order to avoid looking the reality in the eye. The rebels and their supporters are employing euphemisms and resorting to linguistic acrobatics rather than stating unequivocally that there is insubordination . . . It’s more comfortable for all involved not to explicitly use the phrase ‘military coup,’ but if the issue is to be effectively addressed, the reality must be faced head-on and called by its rightful name . . . [This] is a military coup for the sake of democracy.”

Top British journalist Melanie Phillips states that “we owe Ha’aretz a debt of gratitude for tearing aside at least one of the veils of obfuscation to call this crisis out for what it is – a military coup.”

“You shall not give a false report!”

The spreading of false or evil reports is nothing new. In the Book of Exodus, the God of Israel warns His people to stay far away from mass movements which, knowingly or unwittingly, pervert justice and stir up evil: “You shall not give a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked person to be a malicious witness. You shall not follow the crowd in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to join together with a crowd in order to pervert justice” (Exodus 23:1-2).

Another variation of this dynamic occurred in the days of Nehemiah, when he struggled to counteract evil reports brought by false prophets. The evil goals in this case were to strike fear into the hearts of Israel’s returning pioneers and cause them to abandon the struggle for national restoration, both spiritual and physical:

Then I realized that God certainly had not sent him, but he uttered his prophecy against me because Tuvya and Sanballat had hired him. He was hired for this reason, that I would become frightened and act accordingly and sin, so that they might have an evil report in order that they could taunt me. Remember, my God, Tuvya and Sanballat in accordance with these works of theirs, and also No’ad-Yah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets, who were trying to frighten me (Nehemiah 6:12-14; see also Joshua 2:11; 7:5)

Today, many of the bearers of false prophecy are seated at the news desks of mainstream TV media, both in Israel and around the world. And many of the bearers of malicious witness are the writers of op-ed columns found in the most respected prize-winning newspapers which present ‘all the news that’s fit to print.’ We must all be cautious and careful when drinking from the wells of anti-Israel and anti-Christian news media. The best gold is never found on the surface of the earth!

Promises, promises – peace, peace – PLO, PLO

Over 2,600 years ago the prophet Ezekiel spoke of YHVH’s wrath against “the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem, and who see a vision of peace for her when there is no peace” (Ezekiel 13:16). The God of Jacob soberly warned those leaders: “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. So tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall” (Ezekiel 13:10-11).

Just before the destruction of Solomon’s Temple at the hands of Babylon, Jeremiah repeated the same prophetic warning with tears: “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ But there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14).

Today, false declarations of peace and false roadmaps to peace abound. They are sprayed across the screens of our TV screens by the spokesmen and spokeswomen of superpowers without the slightest hint of accountability. These false news items and evil reports soon crumble before our very eyes:

On October 16, 2023, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken declared “If Hamas in any way blocks humanitarian assistance from reaching civilians, including by seizing the aid itself, we’ll be the first to condemn it. And we will work to prevent it from happening again.”

At an impromptu press conference at Ramstein Airbase in Germany on October 18, 2023, President Biden stated: “But . . . the point being that if . . . Hamas confiscates [the aid] or doesn’t let it get through or just confiscates it, then it’s going to end, because we’re not going to be sending any humanitarian aid to Hamas if they’re going to be confiscating it. That’s the commitment that I’ve made . . . I was very blunt [with the Israelis] about the need to support getting humanitarian aid to Gaza – get it to Gaza and do it quickly.”

In a November 18, 2023 Washington Post op-ed, President Biden stated: “As we strive for peace, Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority, as we all work toward a two-state solution.”

Repeated evidence of Hamas theft of humanitarian aid has piled up since Blinken’s and Biden’s bold declarations: here (December 11, 2023), here (February 3, 2024), here (February 17, 2024), here (March 19, 2024), here (April 22, 2024), here (May 3, 2024), here (May 3, 2024) and here (May 30, 2024). Yet no action has been taken by the strongest superpower on earth – only the empty echoes of false peace murmur across the sands of Gaza.

Lying like a rug

The main talking points of politicians, diplomats and Hamas have all been converging over the past eight months. From their declarations, white is black and black is white:

Hamas carried out the greatest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust on October 7, 2023, but the PC declarations heard today state that Zionism and the IDF are the ones guilty of massacre and genocide

Hamas is imprisoning, raping, starving and murdering Israeli captives, but it is Israel whom the world media holds guilty of withholding humanitarian aid to Hamas terrorists

Hamas aims its rockets at Israeli towns, villages and kibbutzim, but it is Israel which is being brought before the International Court of Justice for war crimes

Hamas is attempting to cause Israeli civilian casualties as well as Palestinian civilian casualties (since its rocket launchers are located right in the middle of Gazan cities), but it is Israel which is accused by Hamas, the UK, France, the US, etc., of causing Gazan civilian casualties, even though it is doing more than any other world army to avoid such collateral damage

A world-renowned military expert shares some wisdom here regarding Israel’s military track record and civilian casualties. Colonel Richard Kemp is a former British Army Commander of UK military forces in Afghanistan (leading Operation Fingal in Afghanistan from July to November 2003), Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Macedonia. He served with NATO and the UN, and participated in the Gulf War in Iraq. He is a consultant on international terrorism for the UK Government’s Joint Intelligence Committee, where he wrote the British forces doctrine on dealing with suicide bombings. Colonel Kemp recently addressed the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, stating that “no army in the world acts with as much discretion and great care as the IDF in order to minimize damage. The US and the UK are careful, but not as much as Israel.”

As the nations of the world champ impatiently at the bit to overthrow Israel’s present government and to set up another one more responsive to American diktats, the baying of the hounds gets closer. Mighty nations are calling for portions of the land promised by YHVH to Jacob’s children, to be divided among Ishmael’s and Esau’s descendants. This is in gross violation of Genesis 25:6, 18; 27:29; 36:6-9. 43; Deuteronomy 2andJoshua 24:4). YHVH surely promises judgment on those nations who set their hand to divide the land of Israel (Joel 3:2)

How should we then pray?

Pray for revelation to be given to believers and to the world about how the news media is lying and distorting in its reporting about Israel and the Middle East

Pray for those deceived, to be given clear waters of revelatory truth about the Islamist anti-Jewish, anti-Israel and anti-Western agendas

Pray for the physical rescue of the approximately 129 Israeli hostages (including babies) kidnapped by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and PFLP/PLO. At this moment some hostages are being tortured, raped and starved (this based on testimonies of recently released hostages). Sadly, many of these hostages are dead; Hamas is holding on to the corpses of Israeli citizens in cold storage to be used by them as bargaining chips

Pray for Hamas’ cruel terror dictatorship in Gaza to be decisively shattered and for all chains broken off the Palestinians living there, and for Iran’s role in jihadi deception, dissimulation and anti-Semitism to be exposed and opposed by world leaders

Pray that Israel’s leadership be granted justice, clarity, moral courage, discernment and divine strategies in utterly destroying the jihadi threat in all of its aspects, and for minimal loss of life for Israel’s defense forces and for those Gazans who are truly innocent

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

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

They make shrewd plans against Your people

Once a year in the month of May, Israel commemorates its fallen soldiers. Called Yom HaZikaron in Hebrew, its official name in English is the Memorial Day for Israel’s Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Hostile Acts. Most Israelis attend a ceremony during that day, standing to attention for two minutes while air raid sirens wail, commemorating the sober sacrifice of those who died defending the Jewish state. As the nation mourns, Psalm 83 is usually read aloud. This psalm of Asaph recounts how Middle Eastern enemies have sought our annihilation for over 3,000 years. The Palestinian terror groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad are new names for ancient foes. The names of Edom. Ammon and Moab (Jordan and the West Bank), the Ishmaelites and Hagrites (Egyptian Sinai, Saudi Arabia), Philistines (the region of Gaza), Gebal and Tyre (Lebanon), Assyria (northern Iraq) – all of those countries right now have Israel in their sights, as jihadi terrorists roam the desert sands with visions of murder, torture, rape and kidnap dancing in their heads.

A song, a psalm of Asaph: 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: the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined them; they have become a help to the children of Lot. Selah (Psalm 83:1-8)

These Middle Eastern enemies, like their fellow-travelers (the rioting students on Western campuses), are wise in their own eyes and see themselves as cunning in their conspiracies. Their cries “to wipe Israel out as a nation, so that its name will be no longer be remembered” have been modernized – morphed – into “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be Jew-free.” The God of Jacob notes that, in attacking the Jewish people and the Jewish state, they are also conspiring together against YHVH the Warrior God (see Exodus 15:3). And the Psalmist calls on the Power of Deep Heaven to “terrify them with Your storm, and fill their faces with dishonor:”

Deal with them as with Midian, as with Sisera and Jabin at the river of Kishon, who were destroyed at En Dor, who became like dung for the ground. Make their nobles like Orev and Ze’ev, and all their leaders like Zebah and Zalmunna, who said, “Let’s possess for ourselves the pastures of God.” My God, make them like the whirling dust, like chaff before the wind. Like fire that burns the forest, and like a flame that sets the mountains on fire, so pursue them with Your heavy gale, and terrify them with Your storm. Fill their faces with dishonor, so that they will seek Your name, YHVH.
May they be ashamed and dismayed forever, and may they be humiliated and perish, so that they will know that You alone, whose name is YHVH, are the Most-High over all the earth. (Psalm 83:9-18)

The rise of the anti-Semitic kings

The Hebrew Bible grants insight into the motivations of anti-Semitic and genocidal leaders. The infamous Haman passionately desired that every knee bow to him, but Mordecai’s stalwart Jewish refusal drove Haman crazy with murderous hatred: “When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. But he considered it beneath his dignity to kill Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were. So Haman sought to annihilate all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were found throughout the kingdom of Ahasuerus” (Esther 3:5-6).

To be ‘Anti-Jew’ at its spiritual root is also to be ‘anti-Christ.’ That was King David’s perspective in the Second Psalm: “The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers conspire together against YHVH and against His Anointed” (Psalm 2:2). YHVH answers them: “But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain!” (Psalm 2:6). Today’s explosion of anti-Semitism – of anti-Jewish expressions, actions and political machinations – dovetails with the murderous rise of Islamist anti-Jewish-state attacks from Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.

Now is not the time to be gazing in the mirror with narcissistic fascination, as the enemies of the God of Jacob are raging against His chosen people. “They said in their heart, ‘Let’s completely subdue them.’ They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land” (Psalm 74:8). The anti-Semitic nations of the world are targeting the Jewish people for destruction – the nation that YHVH call ‘His turtledove:’ “Remember this, YHVH, that the enemy has taunted You, and a foolish people has treated Your name disrespectfully. Do not give the soul of Your turtledove to the wild animal! Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever! Consider the covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of the places of violence!” (Psalm 74:18-20).

Like mushrooms sprouting after the rain

The blood of Israeli victims of Hamas rape, murder and terror was shed on the earth of Israel’s Western Negev on October 7, 2023. Yet barely 24 hours later, anti-Israel demonstrators gathered across the United States – before the blood of the victims had congealed on the ground. These speakers and marchers celebrated the jihadi massacres, crowing that all Israelis are legitimate military targets; that Palestinians have the right to kill Israelis “by any means necessary;” that Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists are only “freedom fighters;” and that these jihadi atrocities were part of a righteous process of “decolonialization.”

At the end of October 2023, Shai Davidai, Assistant Professor of Management at Columbia University’s (CU) Business School, publicly expressed his perspectives and feelings about the Hamas atrocities of October 7, 2023. Almost immediately he and his wife Yardenne were attacked by CU staff and students, were shunned and subjected to emailed anti-Jewish attacks and graphics reminiscent of the Nazi publication Der Stürmer. Then, on February 14, 2024, he wrote an article in Tablet magazine about the intense anti-Semitic responses at Columbia. He noted as background that he was a liberal, leftist Israeli, but that these attacks were not directed at his politics but at his identity as a Jew.

“We failed to realize that for many in our ‘progressive’ circle, being a liberal Israeli just wasn’t good enough. Our friends did not have a problem with our politics, they had a problem with our identity . . . Our friends were willing to overlook the fact that we were Jewish Israelis, but only so long as we shut up about it. For many in our ‘enlightened’ circle, our ethnic and national identity was an unfortunate accident, something to apologize for rather than take pride in. We failed to realize that for many, our people’s continued existence was not a high priority.”

On Monday, April 22, 2024 Assistant Professor Davidai was barred from entering the grounds of the university by the administration, though he was a teaching professor in good standing. CU deactivated Davidai’s Columbia ID card, preventing him from accessing the main campus. In an email sent that morning, CU Chief Operating Officer Cass Holloway told Davidai that “to maintain the safety of the Columbia community” and “because of the obvious risk to the safety of students and other members of our community,” he would not be permitted to enter the campus where pro-Hamas and anti-Israeli demonstrators were illegally gathered for violent demonstrations which had lasted for six days at that point. Davidai had advertised that there would be a “peaceful sit in at Columbia’s declared ‘Liberation Zone’” on X/Twitter for Monday morning aimed at “paving a safe space for Jewish & Zionist students on campus & standing up against terrorism.” Columbia decided to continue permitting Hamas-affiliated students to occupy the campus and not to arrest them, but at the same time to forbid Jews defending against anti-Semitism and against anti-Zionism from accessing University property.

Professor Davidai tweeted later that day: “Earlier today @ Columbia University refused to let me onto campus. Why? Because they cannot protect my safety as a Jewish professor. This is 1938.” Davidai later added:

“I didn’t think something like this could happen in 2024. What has been happening here in recent days did not happen overnight. It was built over half a year in which they called for attacking Jews, encouraging an intifada, calling for violence; but no one was willing to address it There is a process of brainwashing here with doctrine. Like how lawyers, doctors, and journalists in Germany suddenly supported the extermination of Jews and Hitler. We’re talking about students and faculty who underwent a brainwashing process. This is indeed a similar process to what happened in Germany, but it is more accelerated due to social media and because the universities have given it their seal of approval . . . [Most Jewish CU students] already started leaving campus between Saturday and Sunday; they were simply afraid and fled. They were afraid for their lives, just like that. Most of them don’t want to return to campus . . . There are currently people on campus holding signs saying ‘We support Hamas rockets, the Al-Qassam Brigades, here is your next target’ with an arrow pointing at Jewish students . . . As long as we have Hamas-supporting lecturers on campus, the situation will not change. The worst is yet to come.”

Gaza in Manhattan

At 04:00 on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 on the East Butler Lawn at Columbia University in Manhattan, approximately 70 protestors hoisted banners reading ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ and ‘Liberated Zone’ (an antifa anarchist term more common to West Coast violent riots) and proceeded to set up tents. ‘Revolutionary’ activities were offered to participants, including a ‘teach-in’ and a film screening.

On that same Wednesday night, demonstrators were filmed calling for Hamas to “kill another [IDF] soldier now.”

Then, on Friday night, April 19, 2024, demonstrators chanted (also filmed on video): “[Izz ad-Din] al-Qassam [Brigades – Hamas jihadi terror group], make us proud, take another soldier out,” and “We say justice, you say how? Burn Tel Aviv to the ground. Go Hamas, we love you. We support your rockets too.”

On Saturday night, April 20, 2024, a leader of the Palestine Solidarity Working Group proclaimed: “Let it be known that it was the al-Aqsa Flood [October 7 jihadi pogrom by Hamas on Israeli kibbutzim] that put the global intifada back on the table again. And it is the sacrificial spirit of the Palestinian freedom fighters that will guide every struggle on every corner of the earth to victory. How far are we willing to go in losing all of the trappings of a respectable life, the material spoils that we have been taught to value as individuals? Remember that militancy breeds Resistance. Thousands upon thousands of students around the world have been moved to rebel because of your militancy!”

Also, on Saturday night April 20, 2024, a pro-Hamas demonstrator stood in front of a group a Jewish students who were singing ‘Hatikvah’ (Israel’s national anthem) while waving US and Israeli flags. This pro-Hamas demonstrator carried a sign (with an arrow pointing at the Jews present) with the words written on that sign, “Al-Qasam’s next targets.” ‘Izz ad-Din al-Qassam’ is the full name of the Hamas jihadi terrorist organization who raped and murdered Israelis on October 7, 2023.

Noah Miller, a Jewish CU student, spoke by Zoom from his parents’ house in Houston: “[The protesters] got what they wanted. The campus is ‘Judenrein’ [Nazi word meaning ‘Jew-free’] now. It’s occupied territory. It’s so funny they call it a ‘de-occupation’, or ‘liberated zone’, but Jews are not allowed.”

Between April 21-24, 2024, videos taken inside the CU encampment have shown students chanting “Zionists not allowed here” and “Go back to Poland,” accompanied by calls for “10,000 October 7ths” (the date of Hamas’ mass rape-slaughter-kidnapping of Israelis). A CU student who would only use her first name out of concern for her own personal safety, Sabrina, said this: “There are students wearing yellow vests with their keffiyehs, and if they see someone engaging with someone outside the encampment, they pull them away and say, ‘You’re not allowed to talk to them.’ They say things like, ‘Kill all the Jews,’ and, ‘We want one Arab state.’ What people don’t realize is the campus has become a hotbed for radical antisemitism. It’s like the Hitler Youth. They say things like, ‘A Zionist has entered the camp.’ They view us as an entity that can be eradicated. I feel a lot more scared now than I was after October 7.”

An Instagram video taken April 23, 2024 at CU shows a poster of terror-chief Secretary-General Ahmad Sa’adat of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (the Marxist-Leninist PLO/PFLP is designated as a terror organization by the US, the EU and Canada) in the background, while anti-Israel activists sing, “Oh Hamas, our beloved, strike, strike Tel Aviv.” Flags and activists of this terror organization have appeared at various campus take-overs in the past few weeks, including in Evanston, Illinois; at the speaker’s stage at Pittsburgh‘s University of Pennsylvania; at Rutger’s University, New Jersey; University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Yale; MIT; NYU, etc. The PFLP is well-known for outrages such as the 2014 attack on a Jerusalem synagogue (where attackers armed with meat cleavers killed four rabbis, three of them Israeli Americans); participation in the October 7 Hamas massacres, etc. For a more comprehensive timeline and description of their terrorist attacks, see: https://www.gov.il/en/pages/background-on-the-pflp-17-oct-2001.

On May 7, 2024, Eyal Yakoby, a senior studying Political Science at U of Penn, took to social media, testifying that he was an eyewitness to local protesters at the U of Penn chanting “We don’t want no Zionists here”; “Kill the Zionists;” “Zios get f****d”; “Hitler Youth,” and “Hitler’s children.”

Two weeks before Columbia University exploded in anti-Israel pro-Hamas rioting, Charlotte Kates (international coordinator of Samidoun, the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network – which advocates the releasing of jailed PFLP terrorists, and often shares PFLP terror communiques) and her husband Khaled Barakat (a senior member of the terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine/PFLP) presented a two-hour tirade to Columbia University’s hardest-core anti-Israel activists – members of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest Group (CUADG). The seminar was titled ‘Resistance 101‘ – a revealing name, as the Arabic term for Hamas is Harakat al-Muqawima al-Islamiyya, translated into English as ‘The Islamic Resistance Movement.’

Kates stated at that meeting: “There is nothing wrong with being a fighter in Hamas” and “These are the people who are on the front lines defending Palestine and fighting for its liberation.” She praised Hamas’ October 7 terror massacre for showing “the potential of a future for Palestine liberated from Zionism.” Her husband, a senior PFLP terrorist, lauded airplane hijackings as “one of the most important tactics that the Palestinian resistance has engaged in.” Kates’ comments were made just off-campus from Columbia University, at a meeting of the Columbia University student group CUADG, a recognized bona fide student organization. One month later, that same group would spearhead the student putsch,

In addition to Kates and Barakat, the Sunday event featured Within Our Lifetime founder Nerdeen Kiswani, who has called for Israel to be “wiped off the map.” Instagram removed Within Our Lifetime’s account in February 2024 and Meta did the same in March 2024, after Kiswani used it to endorse Hamas’ jihadi attack on Israel, and to advocate for “whatever means necessary it takes” to topple Israel. The three speakers at the Columbia-related conference routinely praised Hamas and Hezbollah, advocated for armed resistance against Israel, and encouraged attendees to “be of service … to the resistance movements that are on the front lines fighting Zionism.”

‘Resistance 101’ was originally scheduled to take place at Columbia’s Barnard College, the university’s all-female undergraduate school. The Columbia University Apartheid Divest Group (CUADG) student organizers said they were forced to “change rooms” at the last moment after a Ph.D. student lodged a complaint to the university. The organizers added that the change was “part of a long line of Columbia’s long line of repression.” The event was moved to Columbia’s Q House, an “LGBTQ+ special interest community at Columbia University”. A CUADG internal email, addressed to “comrades,” stated that “this location change is due to Columbia University continuing to repress Palestinian students and the allies of the Palestinian struggle for liberation on campus.”

A few minutes after her wedding, anti-Israeli Within Our Lifetime (WOL) leader Nerdeen Kiswani headed straight over to the pro-Hamas/anti-Israel ‘liberated zone’ of Columbia campus and entered the supposedly locked down campus without a Columbia student ID. She was filmed stirring up her revolutionary followers with a fiery message, as per this tweet (also posted by Students for Justice in Palestine Columbia on YouTube). Another video posted by Palestinian Youth Movement NYC shows the demonstrators chanting, “Zionism will fall, brick by brick, wall by wall, Israel will fall” and declared “US imperialists, number one terrorists.” Uptown 4 Palestine published videos of these on-site activists proclaiming in Arabic: “From the water to the water (a reference to the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea), Palestine is Arab!”

Why are the peoples plotting in vain?

A tremendous amount of organizational planning and financing went into the recent outbreak of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel Nazi-like demonstrations on American college campuses. Within a week of the Columbia outbreak, at least 43 states witnessed anti-Israeli and pro-Hamas demonstrations, and the partial take-overs of 261 campuses. Over 90 university student organizations voted to ‘cut ties’ with Israel.

In his thoroughly researched May 6, 2024 article ‘The People Setting America on Fire: An investigation into the witches’ brew of billionaires, Islamists, and leftists behind the campus protests’, Park MacDougald cuts to the chase:

Have America’s college students suddenly converted en masse to anarcho-communist-jihadism? Not quite . . . Students are not the only, and perhaps not even the most important, faction active in the campus protests. As in the ‘mostly peaceful’ Black Lives Matter protests of the summer of 2020, ‘outside agitators’ – professional radicals and organizers, black bloc antifa thugs, Marxist-Leninist revolutionaries, and Palestinian and Islamist radicals – have played a central role in organizing and escalating the campus protests, just as they have organized and escalated the wider anti-Israel protest campaign that began almost immediately after Oct. 7. This largely decentralized network of agitators is, in turn, politically and financially supported by a vast web of progressive nonprofits, NGOs, foundations, and dark-money groups ultimately backed by big-money donors aligned with the Democratic Party. The first hint that the protests are not entirely organic is their striking resemblance to previous rounds of organized far-left agitation, from the ‘uprising’ of summer 2020 to the rolling antifa vs. Proud Boys brawls of 2016-17. The creation of ‘liberated’ or ‘autonomous’ zones on campus, for instance, is a hallmark of anarchist organizing familiar from Seattle’s Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone and New York’s City Hall Autonomous Zone four summers ago. Familiar, too, is the governance of these zones, with masked security details prohibiting filming from outsiders and directing reporters to trained media representatives. During clashes with police or with counter-protesters, students and their allies have deployed classic “bloc” tactics, covering their faces and dressing in matching outfits to promote anonymity, linking arms to interfere with police attempts to conduct arrests, and attempting ‘de-arrests’ – i.e., the coordinated swarming of police officers – to rescue apprehended comrades. At Yale, student activists doxed the police officers sent to clear them out of the encampment – another harassment tactic frequently deployed by antifa.

These resemblances are no accident. All of these tactics require a degree of instruction and training. Footage from Columbia showed the professional ‘protest consultant’ Lisa Fithian, a veteran of Occupy, BLM, Standing Rock, and Stop Cop City, teaching students at Columbia how to barricade themselves into Hamilton Hall. Recent video from inside the protest encampment at UCLA, meanwhile, showed masked men leading a hand-to-hand combat training.

“What you’re seeing is a real witches’ brew of revolutionary content interacting on campuses,” says Kyle Shideler, the director for homeland security and counterterrorism at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C., and an expert on far-left domestic extremism. “On the left-wing side, you have a broad variety of revolutionary leftists, who serve as rent-a-mobs, providing the warm bodies for whatever the leftist cause of the day is. And on the other side you have the Islamist and Palestinian networks: American Muslims for Palestine and their subsidiary Students for Justice in Palestine, CAIR, the Palestinian Youth Movement. We’re seeing a real mixture of different kinds of radical foment, and it’s all being activated at the same time.”

There is no one decision-maker; rather, decentralized ‘affinity’ groups work together toward a shared goal, coordinating out in the open via social media and Google Docs. This can create an impression of centralized planning. Shideler cites the matching tents that have cropped up on a number of campuses, prompting speculation that some shadowy entity is buying them en masse. “People keep pointing out, They all have the same tent!,” he says. “Well, yeah, it’s because the organizers told them to buy a tent, and sent around a Google Doc with a link to that specific tent on Amazon. So they all went out and bought the same tent.”

In fact, it is a mistake both to view the campus protests as a ‘student’ movement and to regard the outsiders as ‘infiltrators’ or somehow separate from the movement. Rather, student activists have been working together with outsiders, with whom they are linked via overlapping activist networks and nationwide organizations. The ‘student’ revolts, in turn, exist on a continuum with the broader anti-Israel protest movement.

He who pays the piper calls the tune

This ‘spontaneous movement’ which reached 45 states and over 260 campuses in less than one week relied heavily on the funding of progressive donors and nonprofits connected to the upper reaches of the Democratic party. Take the epicenter of the nationwide protest movement, Columbia University. According to reporting in the New York Post, the epicenter of the nationwide protest movement – the Columbia encampment – was basically by three groups: Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and Within Our Lifetime (WOL). JVP Action have received at least $650,000 from various branches of George Soros’ philanthropic empire since 2017, $441,510 from the Kaphan Foundation (founded by early Amazon employee Sheldon Kaphan), and $340,000 from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. SJP is an outgrowth of the Islamist networks dissolved during the U.S. government’s prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) for doing fundraising for Hamas. SJP in turn is a subsidiary of an organization called American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).

The Tides Foundation, the grant-making arm of Tides Nexus, is one of largest progressive dark-money networks in the country, controlling upward of a billion in assets. Its list of major donors is an all-star cast of left-wing billionaires and foundations, including Soros, Peter Buffett and his NoVo Foundation, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Ford Foundation, and the New Venture Fund, controlled by another Democratic dark-money powerhouse, Eric Kessler’s Arabella Advisors (also here and here). A prominent leader in WOL (Abdullah Akl) is connected to MPower Change, led by Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour (also here and here). This group is under the financial sponsorship of NEO Philanthropy which, along with its sister NEO Philanthropy Action Fund, have received more than $37 million from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations since 2021, as well as substantial funding from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Ford Foundation (here and here), and the Tides Foundation (here, here and here).

More detail is available at the following links: Park MacDougald’s excellent May 6, 2024 article ‘The People Setting America on Fire: An investigation into the witches’ brew of billionaires, Islamists, and leftists behind the campus protests’; at Isabel Vincent’s April 26, 2024 article in the New York Post: ‘George Soros is paying student radicals who are fueling nationwide explosion of Israel-hating protests’; and at https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/who-are-primary-groups-behind-us-anti-israel-rallies.

The French-Qatari Connection

Gene Hackman acted in the classic film ‘The French Connection.’ The plot involved a pair of NYPD detectives who stumbled onto a heroin smuggling ring based in Marseilles. Smuggling of a different kind has been going on in America, and it involves Qatar, the main supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood (Hamas’ spiritual godparents) and the main propagator of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamist agenda in America,

“In July 2019 at the Department of Justice (DOJ), in Washington, D.C., Dr. Charles Asher Small, the ISGAP [Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy] Director, presented the findings of an ISGAP research project started in 2012, entitled “Follow the Money”. The ongoing research project examines illicit funding of United States universities by foreign governments, foundations and corporations that adhere to and promote anti-democratic and antisemitic ideologies, with connections to terrorism and terror financing. The project revealed, for the first time, the existence of substantial Middle Eastern funding (primarily from Qatar) to US universities that had not been reported to the Department of Education, as required by law. In fact, ISGAP’s research uncovered billions of dollars of unreported funds, which, in turn, led to the launch of a federal government investigation in 2019. As part of its continued research, ISGAP has uncovered and established that the foreign donations from Qatar, especially, have had a substantial impact on fomenting growing levels of antisemitic discourse and campus politics at US universities, as well as growing support for anti-democratic values within these institutions of higher education.”

Egyptian-American scholar and analyst Raymond Ibrahim notes that Qatar routinely spends USD $405 million annually to support activities at six American universities that also maintain branches in Doha, Qatar's capital. Since 2007 Qatar has given or contracted more than $5.6 billion to 61 American schools, including Ivy Leagues such as Harvard University, Yale University, Cornell University, and Stanford University, according to funding records reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. Qatar has also doled out more than $243 million on lobbying efforts in the United States since 2015, with more than $16 million spent in 2023 alone. “The money, experts and lawmakers say, has enabled Qatar to have outsized influence in American politics and academia, efforts they say have mainstreamed anti-Israel propaganda and silenced criticism about Doha’s longstanding ties to Hamas, the Iranian regime, and other terror groups.” Hamas’s “three top leaders alone are worth a staggering total of $11 billion and enjoy a life of luxury in the sanctuary of the emirate of Qatar,” according to the New York Post.

Qatar uses its influence to disseminate classical Islamist jihadi ideology, following the same streams that both Osama bin Laden and Hamas espoused. The failure of US policy in the Middle East stems from the fact that many of the present advisers to the US government are graduates of this corrupted academic system. As witnessed over the past few months, rioting American students have been set on fire by a poisonous mixture of left-wing revolution, Islamist jihadi propaganda and demonic influence.

Lisa Ashley, Director of the Charles Malik Institute at the Philos Project, notes in her May 10. 2024 article in the Times of Israel: “Given Qatar’s close ties to Iran and Hamas, turning the American youth against Israel and the Jewish state could help them undermine the historic alliance between the US and Israel, endangering the security of the Jewish state and opening doors for Iran’s expansion.”

Palestinian terror, American campus riots and the Chinese dragon

The Communist-ruled People’s Republic of China (CCP – Chinese Communist Party) is deeply involved in supporting and guiding both anti-Israel protests in the US, and anti-US government civil disturbances. China’s commitment to Marxist-Leninist world revolution has not slackened, and it moves quickly and strategically as it plays chess against the world. The Rutgers University-based Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) released a report on Monday, May 13, 2024, throwing a spotlight on China’s involvement in three areas: anti-Israel activities, US campus unrest and the catalyzing of anti-government social unrest in America: “The NCRI finds that the increase in direct action, targeting infrastructure and public places, is in part driven by organizations connected to CCP foreign influence effort. While nominally focusing on Israel, the current protests can be better understood as a well-funded initiative driving a revolutionary, anti-government and anti-capitalist agenda, with the leading organizations serving as versatile tools for foreign entities hostile to the US.”

On April 24, 2024, the US Congress’ Committee on Ways and Means sent a letter to the IRS expressing “growing concern surrounding the influence of America’s foreign adversaries, including the Chinese Communist Party (‘CCP’), on U.S.-based tax-exempt organizations . . . Look no further than the activities of tech mogul Roy Singham who owns and operates a complex network of American-based, tax-exempt nonprofits that, according to The New York Times, ‘defends China and pushes its propaganda’ . . . These political activities include those believed or intended to influence Americans about the political or public interests, policies, or relations of a foreign government . . . Such connections to suspicious activity involving tax-exempt organizations and propaganda do not end there. The People’s Forum, another 501(c)(3) organization funded by Mr. Singham, was recently at the center of a series of massive antisemitic events in the wake of the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023. These events, which featured protestors brandishing antisemitic images and antisemitic chants like, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” were only a few in a series of hateful, propaganda fueled events supported by The People’s Forum.” The Committee on Ways and Means published a hearing chock-full of facts, laying out the historical connections between Hamas and such organizations as the Holy Land Foundation, Islamic Association for Palestine, Kind Hearts for Charitable Development, and American Muslims for Palestine.

On October 8, 2023, one day after Hamas’ October 7 slaughter, rape, torture and kidnapping of Israeli civilians, a statement was issued and co-signed by American groups including Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), People’s Forum, Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), al-Awda (here and here), and ANSWER COALITION that explained: “We mobilize in the belly of the beast because we understand that we have a unique role to play in combating material support for Zionism, and weakening the handmaiden of US global imperialism.”

On November 9, 2023, ‘Shut It Down for Palestine Day’ was sponsored by (among others) Palestinian Youth Movement, National Students for Justice in Palestine, ANSWER Coalition, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Jewish Voices for Peace, CODEPINK, People’s Forum, etc.

On January 15, 2024, Manolo De Los Santos, Executive Director of the People’s Forum, spoke clearly of his end-goal: the destruction of Israel and the US, and the defeat of capitalism: “When we defeat Israel and the U.S. Empire, we will actually have been able to know how to dismantle capitalism here in the United States!”

In Michael Starr’s insightful article in the Jerusalem Post on May 15, 2024, ‘China-linked network funding key anti-Israel protest groups in US – report’, he reveals that “three convenors of the ‘Shut it Down For Palestine’ coalition, Answer Coalition, The People's Forum, and the International Peoples' Assembly are linked by a complicated web of financial, personal, personnel, and ideological ties to CCP associates Neville Roy Singham and his wife Jodie Evans, according to NCRI.” An August 5, 2023, New York Times investigation described Singham as a known “socialist benefactor of far-left causes” and tracked the funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to Singham-linked groups engaging in pro-China progressive advocacy. The Free Press in November claimed that the Forum received 20 million dollars from 2017 and 2022 from Singham funneled through the Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund. The People's Forum, which has been involved in major protest actions in New York City, such as the May 15. 2024 Nakba Day Manhattan Bridge closure and the April 15, 2024 economic blockades, admitted in a 2021 social media post that “Marxist comrade” Singham funded the organization. CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin at the time praised Singham for his support of the Forum.

This same information revealing Chinese infiltration and manipulation of Americans in order to turn the populace against the Jewish people, the Jewish state and even against America itself, is not new, as the following articles from 2023 and 2024 show:

On August 9, 2023, Senator Marco Rubio sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland asking him to ensure that the U.S. Department of Justice investigate and block Singham’s Chinese and anti-Israel connections.

A November 16, 2023 article in the New York Post (‘Meet the American millionaire Marxists funding anti-Israel rallies’) uncovers CCP-related Neville Roy Singham as a prime supporter of anti-Israel demonstrations.

A November 19, 2023 article from India reveal’s Singham’s pro-Chinese propaganda efforts against the government and country of India through the People’s Forum, targeting Indian businesses and fostering anti-capitalist sentiments in the country.

A May 3, 2024 article titled ‘Meet Neville Roy Singham, the Chinese/Marxist Millionaire Sowing Seeds of Chaos in American Society’ notes: “Singham and his affiliated groups, which have supported pro-abortion, pro-LGBTQ, and pro-TikTok causes, have done so exclusively in America – not China. This, Schweizer says, is a clear component of the nation’s ‘disintegration warfare’ against the U.S., an attempt to erode Americans’ moral fiber.”

On May 16, 2024 House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) pointed out during Thursday’s ‘Washington Watch with Tony Perkins’: The Chinese “have engaged in creating spy centers all across America, not just at our public universities. By the way, China, we have learned, is funding anonymously a lot of our most liberal research universities, the ones which just so happen to be having all the campus protests against Israel.”

How should we then pray?

Pray for revelation to be given to the world about how anti-Semitism is poisoning its leaders, its students and its population – bring the curse of Genesis 12:3 on many

Pray for revelation to be given to the USA about how a blended attack of Islam and the Left are poisoning and dividing that nation

Pray for the physical rescue of the approximately 129 Israeli hostages (including babies) kidnapped by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and PFLP/PLO. At this moment some hostages are being tortured, raped and starved (this based on testimonies of recently released hostages). Sadly, many of these hostages are dead; Hamas is holding on to the corpses of Israeli citizens in cold storage to be used by them as bargaining chips

Pray for Hamas’ cruel terror dictatorship in Gaza to be decisively shattered and for all chains broken off the Palestinians living there, and for Iran’s role in jihadi deception, dissimulation and anti-Semitism to be exposed and opposed by world leaders

Pray that Israel’s leadership be granted justice, clarity, moral courage, discernment and divine strategies in utterly destroying the jihadi threat in all of its aspects, and for minimal loss of life for Israel’s defense forces and for those Gazans who are truly innocent

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

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

Saul and Herod – sic transit gloria mundi

An ancient Latin proverb – Sic transit gloria mundi – can be translated as follows: ‘So does worldly glory pass away.’ Two kings – Saul and Herod – were greatly lauded in their time, yet they were ultimately remembered for less than godly actions.

“Saul, a young and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome man than he among the sons of Israel. From his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people!” (1 Samuel 9:2)

The Sages say: “One who has not seen Herod’s [Temple] building has never seen a beautiful building in his life” (Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 4a)

Both kings were known for diplomatic doublespeak and backstabbing. These transgressions are as old as Adam’s sins, and it is a fact that kings and generals have engaged in these sordid deeds for thousands of years. In our day, presidents and diplomats do the same. What wisdom can be gained from the Bible on this matter?

When a king becomes an enemy

David son of Jesse was a humble youth, a shepherd by trade. Yet divine providence transformed him into Saul’s worship leader and armor bearer (1 Samuel 16). He was the teenaged Hebrew hero who cut off Goliath’s head (1 Samuel 17). Though King Saul initially loved David greatly (1 Samuel 16:21), his heart became fearful, suspicious and finally murderously angry toward the son of Jesse. Saul morphed into David’s mortal enemy (1 Samuel 18:8-16, 29). But outwardly, Saul concealed his deadly intentions toward David, praising and honoring him in public while planning his destruction (see 1 Samuel 18:11, 21-25; 19:29-11, 15). When Michal (David’s wife) felt that her own life was in danger due to her father’s threats, she lied to King Saul, taking her father’s narrative and upending it. In front of her father Saul, she falsely accusing her husband David of wanting to put her to death.

Saul’s subsequent strategy was to have David arrested at the public New Moon celebration (1 Samuel 20:24-33). David’s presence at the feast was assumed, as it would been accepted governmental protocol (1 Samuel 20:5). King Saul was planning to turn this party occasion into a ‘mafioso hit’ against his ‘enemy.’ But thanks be to God, Davis had his own ‘inside sources’ in Saul’s court – none other than Jonathan, Saul’s son. Forewarned is forearmed: Saul’s diplomatic doublespeak and backstabbing came to naught, and David escaped from the snare of the fowler (Psalm 124:7)

“We have come to worship Him”

Deceptive plots and betrayal were very much part of the Christmas story in Matthew 2:

Now after Yeshua was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him . . . Then Herod secretly called for the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him” . . . Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of YHVH appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him” . . . Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent men and killed all the boys who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.

Matthew presents us with dramatic inside-information in his portrayal of the arrival of the magi. On one hand, the magi wanted “to come and worship Him.” On the other hand, Herod crafted his diplomatic doublespeak in exactly the same terms: “Report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.”

Herod the Great made use of diplomatic deception and HUMINT (human intelligence sources) to further his murderous designs – but the God of Jacob thwarted him at every step.

Isaiah’s words reveal the principle here: “Utzu etza v’tufar; dabru davar v’lo yakum, ki IMMANUEL [im anu El]!” – “Take counsel together, but it shall come to naught. Speak out the plot, but it shall not stand! For God is with us!” (Isaiah 8:10).

The American writer Isaac Goldberg once said, “Diplomacy is to do and say the nastiest things in the nicest way” (in ‘The Reflex,’ October 1927). Joseph Stalin put it succinctly: “A diplomat’s words must contradict his deeds – otherwise what sort of a diplomat is he? Words are one thing – deeds something entirely different. Fine words are a mask to cover shady deeds. A sincere diplomat is like dry water or wooden iron” (Joseph Stalin, ‘Elections in Petersburg,’ 1913).

It is commonplace for kings and presidents, secretaries of state and of defense, to declare as truth, the opposite of what is really happening. World leaders are old hands at turning truth on its head, at ‘calling white black’ – all in pursuit of their geopolitical goals. In the boxing ring of today’s Middle East, one should not be surprised to see such superpower manipulations and distortions in abundance

Collapsing the pillars

Prior to Barak Obama’s presidency, America’s traditional Middle Eastern security architecture was built on two main geographical pillars – the oil-rich Arab states in the Arabian Gulf (primarily Saudi Arabia), and the eastern Mediterranean allies of Egypt and Israel. During his first term in office, POTUS Obama took concrete steps to pull down the first of those two pillars.

On June 4, 2009 Obama gave a speech (titled ‘A New Beginning’) in the Main Reception Hall of Cairo University, hosted by the doyen of Islamic universities al-Azhar. Ten members of Jama’at al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin, (the Muslim Brotherhood or Society of Muslim Brothers – an Islamist underground organization dedicated to re-establishing the Islamic Caliphate world empire and shari’a law through jihadi revolution, who were also mortal enemies of Egypt’s then-President Mubarak) were specially invited to the gathering by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, at President Obama’s request.

Within two years of this speech, the White House had withdrawn its support for President Mubarak – a move which in turn injected steroids into the Arab Spring riots throughout the Islamic world. The State Department warmly congratulated and helped to usher in Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt – a group in league with the terror group Hamas. The first pillar of the traditional US security order which was struck was the country of Egypt.

In his Cairo speech, Obama apologized for past American mistakes, and promised to listen to and consult with Islamic leaders rather than issue edicts. “America does not presume to know what is best for everyone,” he stated. The POTUS suggested to no longer focus on disagreements and conflicts but to move toward cooperation on common goals, based on “mutual respect and interest.” He stated that it was his administration’s goal to engage in direct dialogue with Iran on issues other than nuclear ones, and said that America was now bringing a willingness “to move forward without preconditions” – without Iran suspending its nuclear program. Obama made no mention whatsoever of sanctions or military options against Iran, and publicly recognized Iran’s right to civilian nuclear capabilities. The POTUS spoke of the need for all nations of the Middle East to join the nonproliferation treaty – a very clear deal-breaker for Israel.

Obama’s second term focused on strengthening (‘re-aligning’) US relationships with the Islamic Republic of Iran while weakening partnerships with Saudi Arabia and Israel. A nuclear deal was signed – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – legalizing the jihadi nuclear weapons program. The second pillar of the traditional US security order which was struck concerned the weakening of Saudi Arabia and the strengthening of a fast-developing nuclear Iran.

The second stage of weakening the traditional US security order’s first pillar involves weakening Israel. This came about on Friday December 23, 2016, when the US State Department abstained on a Security Council vote, allowing the passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334. This resolution described the heartland of Israel as “Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem.” The resolution defined Israel’s settlement activity as constituting a “flagrant violation” of international law and that it has “no legal validity.” It declared that Israel is in violation of international law when it controls Solomon’s and David’s Jerusalem, or Abraham’s tomb in Hebron, and many other historic Jewish holy sites. It defined the Jewish return to portions of the Promised Land as illegal – the very areas where the Patriarchs shepherded their sheep as Palestinian land. It passed in a 14–0 vote: four members with United Nations Security Council veto power (China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom) voted for the resolution, while the United States abstained. This anti-Israel resolution passed as a result of US State Department collusion.

Grinding the foundations to powder

When Donald Trump became POTUS, he reversed Obama’s ‘realignment’ and restored America’s traditional security framework. Trump’s first foreign trip was to Saudi Arabia. He backed Egyptian President a-Sisi’s overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood government, and moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem. He acknowledged Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, the Jordan Valley, and large areas of the West Bank. He unveiled the Abraham Accords – agreements normalizing relationships between Israel and the United Arab Republic/Bahrain under an American umbrella. This agreement sidelined the traditional Palestinian role as spoilers and deal-breakers, as well as marginalized their zealous Iranian sponsor.

But when POTUS Joe Biden stepped into the Oval Office, he immediately began to dismantle POTUS Trump’s policies, restoring the Obama faction’s goal (see the staff list appointed by Obama involved in pushing forward these items) of undoing the traditional US framework in the Middle East. Not surprisingly, the Biden administration put the Palestinians (Hamas and PLO/PA) back at the center of their Middle Eastern strategies. This is the context into which Iran stepped on October 7, 2023, having planned and then supervised the Hamas jihadi atrocities carried out on Israeli civilian kibbutzim next to Gaza. These horrors froze any movement toward increasing cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia, while shaking the Jewish state to its core.

The insightful American investigative reporter and Middle East specialist, Lee Smith, draws some sober cutting-edge conclusions:

Team Biden’s moves “are best understood in the context of a revolutionary program of domestic initiatives that aim to reconstitute American society on a new basis, and which in turn require the outright rejection of the country’s history and culture, its existing social arrangements, and constitutional order. The current regime has weaponized the security state . . . Its political and cultural manifesto is a program for remaking America, whether through social pressure, or censorship, or bureaucratic fiat, or threats of violence, or actual violence. Among other devices to transform America, the Biden administration has opened the border to at least 7 million illegal aliens (and counting), many from places in the Middle East where Hamas is revered . . . It’s not the traditional U.S.-led order in the Middle East that the revisionist faction, Obama’s faction, is most determined to dismantle but rather the existing order in the U.S. And it’s not Israel that it’s most keen to grind into dust, but America. For the party that Obama remade in his image to triumph at home, the Palestinians must win.”

Bankers, Nazis and Billionaires

During WWII, the cream of American, British and German industries, companies and banks were deeply involved in supporting and enabling the Nazi death machine. These sobering facts are unknown to the majority of today’s citizens in the West. The leaders in question and their followers have never come clean about being both accessories to murder and enablers of genocide against the Jewish people. Three books shed light on these demonically energized schemes:

The Secret War Against the Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed The Jewish People (by John Loftus & Mark Aarons)

Unholy Trinity: How the Vatican’s Nazi Networks Betrayed Western Intelligence to the Soviets (by Mark Aarons & John Loftus)

Trading with the Enemy: An exposé of the Nazi-American Money Plot 1933-1949 (by Charles Higham)

Similar genocidal strategies exist in our day, concealed in diplomatic doublespeak and aimed at backstabbing America’s allies in the Middle East – most importantly the Jewish people. Significant Western leaders are cooperating with and strengthening jihadi anti-Israel organizations while simultaneously declaring that they are aiding Israel in fighting against Islamist terror. Once again, history seems to be repeating itself.

Former Israeli National Security Council director General (Res.) Giora Eiland commented (in a Hebrew interview) on May 1, 2024 that “the day is coming when the connection between the White House and the Islamist organizations will become common knowledge.”

The Big Lie – proclaiming falsehoods as truth

The German term ‘große Lüge’ (the big lie) refers to a gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth when used primarily as a political propaganda technique. Adolf Hitler used the term in his 1925 book ‘Mein Kampf’ (‘My struggle’) to describe how ordinary people could be induced to believe a colossal lie, based on the fact that they would find it hard to believe that someone “could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.” The OSS (pre-cursor to the CIA) drew up a psychological profile of Hitler during WWII and discussed how he used ‘the big lie’ dynamic: “His primary rules were . . . people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.”

In Mein Kampf, volume I, chapter ten, Hitler stated his principle – “that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods.:

How is world media presenting the Hamas-Israel war? A careful examination reveals that the talking points used by CNN, NBC, ABC, SKY NEWS, BBC, etc., come straight from the Hamas propaganda playbook – the jihadi ‘big lie.’

Hamas has turned truth on its head as part of its manipulation of world media. This is a deliberate military strategy, one which is unfortunately being parroted by POTUS Biden, his State Department and his Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The ‘große Lüge’ did not only work for Hitler and Goebbels; it is working for jihadi Hamas and those with whom it partners. Here are some examples:

On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists committed atrocities and genocidal murder on unarmed Israeli babies, children, teenagers, women and senior citizens. But within a week, world media began to claim that it is the Israeli Defense Forces which are the ones guilty of genocide. This brings to memory the black humor joke, where the arsonist accuses the fireman of starting fires.

Hamas screams out its anti-Semitic calls for slaughter of the Jews, both in demonstrations in Gaza and across the world. Within a few days, American universities (heavily funded by Hamas’ main bankroller Qatar) echo these murder-chants, while also accusing Jews and Evangelicals of Islamophobia. Anti-Jewish riots break out across America and across the world. But within a day or two, President Biden responds to these violent anti-Jewish riots by proclaiming that he is against anti-Semitism AND Islamophobia AND attacks on Muslims and Arabs – even though the riots, physical attacks and calls for slaughter are directed only against American Jews.

In every clash between Hamas and Israel over the years, it has been patently obvious that Hamas grossly inflates the number of its casualties; denies that its jihadi fighters are killed, instead describing all casualties as innocent women and children. Hamas conceals the fact that Gazans are killed in significant numbers by misfired Hamas and Islamic Jihad rockets in Gaza. In the past two weeks, casualty figures of Gazans were downgraded by thousands. Even though Hamas trumpets its desire to wage jihad and to die in that battle, it simultaneously curries world sympathy by appealing to its own inflated casualty statistics – even though it was the party that started this war on October 7. POTUS Biden and other world leaders blithely quote Hamas casualty figures as gospel truth, accusing Israel of genocide and of deliberately targeting Gazan civilians. Western media and politicians are doing their job so well as agents of Hamas, that many jihadis could actually ‘take the night off’ and retire to their six-star luxury hotels in Doha, Qatar.

Hamas slaughtered over 1,200 Israeli civilians and kidnapped approximately 250 others on October 7, 2023, subjecting them to rape, torture, starvation and sub-human imprisonment. But within a week, while refusing to release any hostages, the Hamas propaganda machine began to bang the drum to the world’s media, crying that it is actually the Gazans who are suffering from hunger. World media (including POTUS Biden) began to hammer this point incessantly, sidestepping the Israeli hostages still suffering torture, rape and starvation. World media and the POTUS continue to yell at Israel, insisting that they feed the starving Gazans. But there is no food shortage in Gaza, though Hamas does confiscate all humanitarian aid entering the area and then sells it at inflated prices to locals, most of who support Hamas’ terror activities and participate in them. Hamas’ behavior is typical in the Middle East, as a famous Arabic proverb reveals: “Darabani wa baka, wa sabaqani wa eshtaka” (“First he hits me. Then he starts to cry. Finally he runs ahead of me to the judge and sues me”).

Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, yet the world media continues to insinuate that the Gazans are innocents who have been unjustly attacked, and that Hamas is only responding to and resisting evil Israeli attacks.

World media, the US State Department, the UN and EU etc., declare that Gaza belongs to Palestinian Arabs and not to the Jewish people. This is a satanic counterfeit of Joshua 15:20-47, where YHVH promises Gaza as the tribal inheritance of Judah.

“Many times they have attacked me from my youth up,” let Israel say. “Many times they have attacked me from my youth up, yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowmen plowed upon my back; they lengthened their furrows. YHVH is righteous! He has cut up the ropes of the wicked. 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 – with which the harvester does not fill his hand, or the binder of sheaves his arms. Nor do those who pass by say, “The blessing of YHVH be upon you; We bless you in the name of YHVH!” (Psalm 129).

Bullying King David

As the pace of events speed up in the world, they are also speeding up in the Middle East. A recent detailed article by Dr. Guy Millière, Professor at the University of Paris, titled ‘The Betrayal of Israel by the US Administration is Almost Complete,’ is worth the read. Fourteen separate examples of recent adversarial actions by the US administration are listed in this article.

Negotiating with Hitler

Western powers (led by the US State Department) are pushing strongly for negotiations between Israel and the jihadi terror group Hamas. At no time after 9/11 did the US negotiate with Osama bin Laden or with al Qa’eda. Instead of forcing Israel to negotiate with Hitler – or his spiritual descendants Hamas and Islamic Jihad – the US and other Western countries should be resolutely backing Israel’s efforts to remove these jihadi terror groups from the soil of Gaza, Judea and Samaria. These are the geographical regions which the Bible declares to be the Jewish people’s promised inheritance, and their inheritance alone.

Watch out! YHVH’s got a gun!

YHVH is the God of Joshua. Moses declares that “YHVH is a warrior! YHVH is His name!” (Exodus 15:3). And Yeshua is not only the Messiah; He is also the Righteous Warrior: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse – and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war!” (Revelation 19:11).

When the nations of the world come up against the God of Jacob, there is a power encounter – a clash. The battle is joined, and it involves both spiritual and physical warfare. And that war usually revolves around the Jewish people and their land, though the nations are mostly blind to YHVH’s perspectives:

“Therefore all who devour you will be devoured, and all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity. And those who plunder you will become plunder, and all who plunder you I will turn into plunder. For I will restore you to health and I will heal you of your wounds, declares YHVH, because they have called you an outcast, saying: ‘It is Zion; no one cares for her’” (Jeremiah 30:16-17)

In our modern secular world, many find it hard to grasp that the God of Joshua is watching over His Jewish nation. Military strategists compare their own country’s munitions and platforms to those of the enemy, but they rarely take into consideration YHVH’s active involvement in protecting the people of Israel. Here are four biblical principles that can enlighten our considerations:

God declares to Abraham: “Indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand, which is on the seashore. And your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies!” (Genesis 22:17)

Moses declares to Israel: “Instead, you will chase your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword; five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand” (Leviticus 26:7)

Then it came about when the ark set out that Moses said, “Rise up, YHVH! And may Your enemies be scattered, and those who hate You flee from Your presence” (Numbers 10:35)

Moses prophesied over Jacob: “Blessed are you, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by YHVH, the Shield of your help, and He who is the Sword of your majesty! So your enemies will cringe before you, and you will trample on their high places” (Deuteronomy 33:29)

The Hebrew Scriptures teach us that God trains the Jewish people how to destroy our enemies, and then He accompanies us as we go out to battle against our foes:

King David declares: “Blessed be YHVH, my Rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle” (Psalm 144:1)

“When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them. For YHVH your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you!” (Deuteronomy 20:1)

He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head. And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped Himself with zeal as a cloak – according to their deeds, so will He repay: wrath to His adversaries, retribution to His enemies . . . To the coastlands He will deal retribution. A Redeemer will come to Zion, declares YHVH (Isaiah 59 :16-20)

This amazing spiritual and biblical dynamic is lost on most of modern superpowers’ brilliant military and diplomatic minds. Instead, the opposite is assumed to be true: it’s not that God gives His strategic orders to Israel, but that the White House gives orders to Israel. Based on recent news reports, the US State Department insists that the Jewish state needs an OK from the White House before it is allowed to join battle against its mortal enemies. The US State Department has declared time and again in recent days that the IDF needs American permission to finish off Hamas. The State Department, the President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff tell Israel that all aspects of the Jewish state’s battle plans and maneuvers against its enemies need to be micro-managed by Washington, the ‘responsible adult’ in this dynamic. Like a high-school student facing a detention, Israel needs to humbly and obediently sign on the dotted line of the detention slip which has been handed to it.

America’s perspectives are heavily influenced by the upcoming US elections. The Democrats desperately need to win the Arab and Islamic vote in key states like Michigan. As a result, they are bending over backwards to make decisions which will not offend Islamist sensitivities at home or in the Middle East. The result is a US foreign policy crazily careening in ways that are harmful and destructive both to Israel’s short-term victory and long-term survival.

How should we then pray?

Pray for clarity of understanding and revelation to be given to the world about how superpowers are shaping Middle East events to the detriment of Israel and their own countries

Pray for the physical rescue of the approximately 129 Israeli hostages (including babies) kidnapped by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and PFLP/PLO. At this moment some hostages are being tortured, raped and starved (this based on testimonies of recently released hostages). Sadly, many of these hostages are dead; Hamas is holding on to the corpses of Israeli citizens in cold storage to be used by them as bargaining chips

Pray for Hamas’ cruel terror dictatorship in Gaza to be decisively shattered and for all chains broken off the Palestinians living there, and for Iran’s role in jihadi deception, dissimulation and anti-Semitism to be exposed and opposed by world leaders

Pray that Israel’s leadership be granted justice, clarity, moral courage, discernment and divine strategies in utterly destroying the jihadi threat in all of its aspects, and for minimal loss of life for Israel’s defense forces and for those Gazans who are truly innocent

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

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

Free digital downloads of ISRAEL THE KEY TO WORLD REVIVAL in Español, Italiano and Polski

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

Spain has a population of nearly 49 million, while native Spanish speakers total 480 million

Italy has a population of nearly 59 million, while native Italian speakers total 67 million

Poland has a population of 40 million

We want the biblical and foundational teachings of this book to get into many hands and to transform many people’s understanding about God’s heart and strategies for the Jewish people. 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 often poisonous and anti-Jewish.

At this moment, we are not traveling extensively in these countries, teaching these principles and letting people know about this book in person. We want this book to open the hearts of a lot of people – believers in Yeshua and those who are not yet there.

As a Jewish man whose grandparents grew up in Poland, I feel a special desire to bless that country – even with all its checkered history toward the sons and daughters of Israel. Perhaps this book will leave a blessing in the cities, towns and villages of that nation.

These translations were brought to fruition through the prayers and gifts of many. We hope to make translations of this book available in Russian and Hebrew as God grants favor and ability. If you would like to help make this project a reality, feel free to help though prayer and giving.

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

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

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212 – 1971 USA

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

Shootout at the Orient Bazaar – Part Four of Four

Parts One and Two of our previous newsletters dealt with the Iranian cruise missile/rocket attacks on Israel – context, background and battle details. Part Three presented the perspectives and goals of each nation involved in the mix. This newsletter, Part Four, focuses on the Jewish state’s strategic alliances with unreliable nations – in biblical days and in our own time.

Broken reeds

God decided to place His Jewish people in the middle of the Via Maris – the ‘Way of the Sea’ – the superhighway of the ancient world. Set like a jewel between the superpowers of Egypt and Assyria/Babylon, the Davidic kings found themselves pressured into making covenants – alliances – with empires which did not always have the Jewish people’s best interests at heart.

The Hebrew Scriptures show us YHVH’s take on this dynamic: when alliances are made between the Jewish people and any other nation – even if those nations are superpowers – without Israel hearing directly from God as to what action He wants them to take, the results for the sons and daughters of Jacob will be deception, shame, emptiness, physical damage and great shaking:

Now it came about when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country, the lowland, and on all the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard about it, that they met together with one purpose, to fight with Joshua and with Israel (Joshua 9:1-2) . . . The inhabitants of Gibeon also heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, but they on their part acted craftily . . . And they went to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; now then, make a covenant with us . . . So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the Lord. And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live . . . Then Joshua called for them and spoke to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us?” (Joshua 9:3-4, 6, 14-15, 22)

“Now behold, you have relied on the support of this broken reed, on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. That is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him” (2 Kings 18:21; also Isaiah 36:6)

“Woe to the rebellious children, declares YHVH, who execute a plan, but not Mine, and make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, in order to add sin to sin – who proceed down to Egypt without consulting Me, to take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh, and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore the safety of Pharaoh will be your shame” (Isaiah 30:1-3)

“Even Egypt, whose help is vain and empty” (Isaiah 30:7)

“Then all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am YHVH, because they have been only a staff made of reed to the House of Israel. When they took hold of you with the hand, you broke and tore all their hands. And when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their hips shake” (Ezekiel 29:6-7)

Broken promises

This biblical principle – that alliances or covenants between Israel and other nations (made without seeking God on the matter) will bring a curse – this dynamic applies to all nations. America plays a decisive role today as THE world superpower. Therefore, the historical examples presented here concern the US – Israel relationship.

In the 1956 Suez Crisis, Britain, France and Israel fought as allies against Egypt, who had nationalized the Suez Canal. The military battle was amazingly successful for the allies. But both the USSR and the US had other strategic plans: the weakening and crushing of the allies’ rule in the Middle East, and their being replaced by Russian or American influence. The USSR and the US forced the three allies to stand down and withdraw. Russia threatened to use nuclear weapons against Israel, while the Eisenhower Administration threatened economic sanctions on Israel. The UN passed Resolution 997, calling for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal.

Israeli PM David Ben-Gurion conceded to withdraw, but requested several assurances from the US before Israel moved forward: that the Straits of Tiran wouldn’t be blockaded again; that Israeli ships would have access to the Gulf of Aqaba and the Israeli port at Eilat; that the UN Emergency Force (UNEF) in Sinai couldn’t be withdrawn just due to the sole demand of the Egyptians.

On February 11, 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower offered Israel a State Department text known as an ‘aide-memoire’, stating that “no nation has the right forcibly to prevent free and innocent passage in the Gulf [of Suez] and through the Straits [of Tiran, leading to Eilat] giving access thereto. The United States is prepared to exercise the right of free and innocent passage and to join with others to secure general recognition of this right.”

This memorandum explicitly states that blocking the Straits is unacceptable, and implies that the US would be willing to use military means to back up its words – and would treat the closure of the Straits as an act of war. In a letter to Ben-Gurion following the aide-memoire, Eisenhower wrote that Israel “will have no cause to regret” its decision to withdraw. Ben-Gurion conveyed to Eisenhower that he “saw freedom of navigation in the Straits and Gulf of Aqaba as more or less assured.”

However, in May 1967, Egypt blocked the Straits of Tiran (the Gulf of Aqaba) to Israeli shipping, thereby cutting off Israel’s only supply route with Asia and stopping the flow of oil from its main supplier, Iran. President Nasser also forced the UN Emergency Force to withdraw from the region, and massed his troops for an Egypt-Syria-Jordan military offensive.

On May 17, 1967, Israel’s Ambassador to Washington, Avraham Harman, received an assurance from United States Undersecretary of State Eugene Rostow that the Jewish state “did not stand alone” . . . However, in language very similar to that of April 13-14, 2024, Rostow asked that Israel consult with Washington before taking any military steps . . . Rostow added that a preemptive strike by Israel at this stage would be “a very serious mistake.”

That was then and now it is today

When on May 23, 1967, Ambassador Eban pointed out to France’s President Charles De Gaulle that the closing of the Straits of Tiran constituted a casus belli (a legal cause for declaring war), De Gaulle rejected the notion. Eban pointed out to De Gaulle that in 1956 France had promised that it would recognize Israel’s right to fight if Egypt imposed a blockade, De Gaulle responded nonchalantly that “1967 is not 1957.” The high principle of freedom of navigation in the Gulf of Aqaba that the French advocated in 1957 evaporated in 1967. Three days later, the United States also reneged on its 1957 commitments.

On May 26, 1967, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Abba Eban presented proof of Egypt’s violations to President Lyndon B. Johnson. At stake, Eban stated, was not only the possibility of war between Egypt and Israel, but also the credibility of American commitments. LBJ responded, claiming that the memorandum in question had not been ratified by the US Senate, and that there was no present congressional support for military intervention. Johnson already had his hands full at home and abroad. America was bogged down in Vietnam with casualties mounting and an anti-war movement growing. Simmering racial tensions had exploded into violent riots across the US. LBJ’s approval ratings were at 40% and sinking. The last thing Johnson needed was a Middle East war. He wryly commented “I’m a tall Texan, but without Congress, I’m a short President . . . It ain’t worth a solitary dime.” This unreliability of US government guarantees to Israel was the catalyst which jump-started the 1967 Six Day War.

Eban recalls that he “was staggered by his Oval Office meeting, which he thought underscored LBJ’s impotence, paralysis, and defeatism.”

According to a Memorandum to the President, June 5 (Johnson Library, Appointment File, June 1967, Middle East Crisis): “At the Department of State press briefing at noon on June 5, 1967, a reporter asked Department spokesman Robert J. McCloskey if he would reaffirm that the U.S. position was neutral. McCloskey replied: ‘Indeed, I would: I would be more than happy to. We have tried to steer an even-handed course through this. Our position is neutral in thought, word, and deed.’”

In a stormy meeting at IDF headquarters on Friday, June 2, 1967, IDF Intelligence Chief Aharon Yariv stated: “The United States does not intend to act seriously to open the naval blockade by force nor does it intend to take far-reaching steps to solve the conflict between Israel and Egypt.” IDF Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin then spoke, stating that “no one other than we ourselves can relieve us of the military and diplomatic stranglehold that is tightening around us.”

This history drives home the point that fateful decisions regarding Israel’s defense and survival cannot be given into another nation’s hands.

In a private conversation at the UN, America’s UN Ambassador Arthur Goldberg approached his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Rafael, reminding him that “you stand alone and have to know the consequences,” but then adding a personal note: “I understand that if you have to act alone, you will know how to act.”

Broken covenant

As Dr. Alan Dowty of Notre Dame University points out: “The effectiveness of a guarantee depends upon the willingness of the guarantor to react to a threat, and upon his ability to react with sufficient force. Fear of disrupting US relations with Arab states was a factor in the 1967 US decision not to force open the Red Sea Straits of Tiran to Israeli ships. The effectiveness of a commitment depends on the underlying interests and capabilities of the guarantor (not the guaranteed!). Guarantees are not unambiguous blessings.”

On December 5, 1994, Britain, the US and Russia signed the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, guaranteeing the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Russia was now prohibited from using military force or economic coercion against Ukraine, except in self-defense. Ukraine was required to give up its nuclear arsenal, the 3rd largest in the world. Russia’s 2014 occupation of Crimea and Donbas in eastern Ukraine and its 2022 further invasions and massive destruction of Ukraine, attest to the mirage-like significance of US and British guarantees – which also were not ratified by the US Senate.

In 1954, President Eisenhower signed a Mutual Defense Treaty. But in 1979, President Carter unilaterally annulled that treaty with the support of Congress, acknowledging the ‘one China position’ and declaring that “Taiwan is part of China.” The US Supreme Court refrained from action, declaring the matter “non-justiciable.” The defense treaty with Taiwan would be substituted with the 1979 non-diplomatic and militarily non-committal congressional Taiwan Relations Act.

US defense pacts are not iron clad.

Desert storms and alliances

Moshe Arens, former Israeli Minister of Defense and Minister of Foreign Affairs, penned his excellent autobiography about his time in government during the First Gulf War (also known as Operation Desert Shield or Desert Storm). An aeronautical engineer, researcher (graduate of MIT) and diplomat, Arens carefully documented the blow-by-blow details of the US-Israel alliance during that time. His book is titled ‘Broken Covenant: American Foreign Policy and the Crisis between the U.S. and Israel.’

His inner-sanctum explanations are shocking. The book’s focus deals with one aspect of US Gulf War policy: Israel was ordered not to retaliate against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s SCUD missile attacks on Israeli citizens, but needed to rely ‘with perfect faith’ on the US for an appropriate response. Again, there are present parallels (e.g., April 13-15, 2024) to these ‘orders’ as shown in our last newsletter. Here are seven examples of perfidious actions from Arens’ book which show how Israel was pressured to fall in line with American commands and to ‘sign on the dotted line:’

On January 10, 1991 (p. 171), then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney promised Israel that the full destruction of Western Iraqi SCUDS was a US military priority. Yet in the six weeks of war, not even one mobile SCUD launcher was taken out.

On January 11, 1991 (p. 139) Cheney strongly emphasized the importance of Israel staying out of the conflict, and not to retaliate against Iraq even if Israel’s civilians or military were to be hit. Then-Egyptian Ambassador to Israel Mohammed Bassiouni (later exposed to be an Egyptian spy) conveyed a message (p. 131) from President Mubarak that Israel had nothing to fear from Saddam Hussein.

On January 13, 1991 (p. 174) then-Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger insisted that Israel not retaliate for the coming SCUD attacks, stating that he was completely confident of the American ability to totally eliminate any missile threat.

On January 18, 1991 (p.178) at 2 am, SCUD rockets began to fall on Tel Aviv. Secretary of State James Baker III immediately telephoned the-Minister of Defense Moshe Arens, expressed outrage over Iraqi attack, and pointedly emphasized that President Bush hoped that Israel would restrain itself “so as not to endanger the coalition.”

On January 19, 1991 (p. 184) President Bush called PM Shamir and demanded that Israel not carry out any retaliatory plans against Iraqi SCUD launchers.

On January 20, 1991 (p. 187) then-Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger stressed that Israel needed to refrain from attacking Iraqi SCUD launchers if it wanted to maintain a correct relationship with the US: “There’s great appreciation for the restraint you have shown. You have a lot of money in the bank in Washington. Don’t waste it!”

On September 12, 1992 (p. 247) President Bush called a press conference to counter a pro-Israel AIPAC meeting at Capitol Hill. He stated at that press conference that “just months ago, American men and women in uniform risked their lives to defend Israelis in the face of Iraqi SCUD missiles,” though the truth is that no SCUD launchers were attacked or taken out during the entire six weeks of the war. Just after that press conference, certain officials in Washington, speaking privately, “described the presidential attack as a ‘bombshell’ and a ‘declaration of war.’”

The unappetizing reality portrayed in these interactions reveals that Israel’s allies are sometimes determined to “snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.”

Menachem Begin once said: “There is no guarantee that can guarantee a guarantee.”

Dylan’s Neighborhood Bully – not supposed to fight back

In one of Bob Dylan’s most scorching songs, ‘Neighborhood Bully,’ he describes the exact treatment that Israel faces on a daily basis:

The neighborhood bully – he just lives to survive
He's criticized and condemned for being alive
Not supposed to fight back, to have thick skin
Supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in

When the Jewish state is attacked by jihadi monsters – whether Muslim Brotherhood terrorists like Hamas, or Shi’ite terrorists like Hezbollah, Iraqi Hezbollah, pro-Iranian Syrians, Iran or the Houthis – Israelis are lectured and threatened by the world: “Do not retaliate!” When we pursue our enemies, we are brought before world bodies to be condemned and threatened, embargoed and made to stand trial. Within less than one week of the savage atrocities of Hamas on October 7, 2023 (exceedingly violent, murders, rapes, tortures and kidnappings), much of the world’s sentiment turned against us. Some began to deny or belittle the savagery of the attacks, or even that they had ever occurred. Others quickly began to accuse the Jewish people of war crimes and genocide – while giving Hamas a clean bill of health, This past week across the globe, student demonstrators are calling for genocide against the Jews, while accusing Israel of committing genocide!

So a question needs to be asked to those nations and demonstrators who tell us not to retaliate:

Do you tell us not to retaliate because you are pacifists by nature, and see the Sermon of the Mount as the guideline of your lives?
Do you tell us not to retaliate because you are afraid that WWIII will be triggered, and you are trying to avoid that scenario?
Do you tell us not to retaliate because you truly care for the welfare of the Jewish people, and you have their best interests at heart?

The God of Jacob is looking for people from all across the planet who have Ruth’s heart for the Jewish people, who are willing to swear a covenant of love and loyalty to them as the first-born nation of YHVH.

Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” But Ruth said, “Do not plead with me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you sleep, I will sleep. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord do so to me, and worse, if anything but death separates me from you.” When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her about it.

How should we then pray?

Pray for revelation to be given to the human race about how seriously God views covenant – to Him and to His Jewish people

Pray for the physical rescue of the approximately 129 Israeli hostages (including babies) kidnapped by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and PFLP/PLO. At this moment some hostages are being tortured, raped and starved (this based on testimonies of recently released hostages). Sadly, at least 35 of these hostages (conservatively speaking) are the corpses of Israeli citizens, held in cold storage by Hamas as bargaining chips

Pray for Hamas’ cruel terror dictatorship in Gaza to be decisively shattered and for all chains broken off the Palestinians living there, and for Iran’s role in jihadi deception, dissimulation and anti-Semitism to be exposed and opposed by world leaders

Pray that Israel’s leadership be granted justice, clarity, moral courage, discernment and divine strategies in utterly destroying the jihadi threat in all of its aspects, and for minimal loss of life for Israel’s defense forces and for those Gazans who are truly innocent

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

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