“This is what YHVH says, who gives the sun to be a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars to be a light by night, who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar; YHVH of Armies is His name” (Jer.31:35)
The past two weeks have seen Israel withdraw from Gaza as a result of (among other things) American policy and pressure. In previous newsletters we have quoted US State Department and Presidential statements to that effect.
The rushing onset of Hurricane Katrina is shocking and ominous. Check out www.stratfor.com’s breaking article “The Geopolitics of Katrina” for the potential strategic damage that could be caused to the US and global economy and petroleum industry as a result of this hurricane. The Port of Southern Louisiana is the USA’s largest port and the fifth largest in the world in terms of tonnage. It is America’s key port for grain export. Approximately 25% of U.S. produced crude oil comes from the Gulf of Mexico.
Consider Bill Koenig’s web site www.watch.org and his book “Eye to Eye – Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel” which charts the uncanny connection between USA attempts to pressure Israel into shrinking its borders, and nearly simultaneous natural disasters in America.
We ask you to consider God’s hand in present events. Genesis 12:3 is a prophetic promise that says that God will curse the one who speaks curses Israel.
What happens in Israel affects the rest of the world, and how any country treats Israel has a lot to do with how God treats that country. We are praying, deeply concerned and grieved about the onset of Katrina.
Here are some appalling parallels that need to be considered as we all pray into this situation.
- Recent comments over the past hours on the FOX NEWS Channel eerily parallel what has just happened in Gaza. One commentator referred to the inhabitants of New Orleans and said, “It must be an emotional experience to walk away from their houses and not know if they will be able to live in them again.” That is exactly what has transpired here this past week for Gaza’s Jewish population.
- Another commentator said that most of all the wooden structures in New Orleans will be destroyed. Nearly all of the structures in Gaza’s Jewish communities and farms have been destroyed.
- Ivor Van Heeden, deputy director of Louisiana State University’s Hurricane Center, recently said on FOX that there is a high probability that the hurricane will loosen many of the coffins in New Orleans and that corpses will be loosened and moved from their resting places. One of the three top items on Israel’s news tonight was the forced removal of Jewish graves from the Gaza Strip and the transportation of the corpses for reburial in other parts of Israel.
- Whereas Gaza was placed under a state of emergency as its 8,000 residents were evacuated, now New Orleans has been given orders for a mandatory evacuation of nearly 500,000 people.
- Whereas many Israeli Jews from Gaza are in temporary refugee camps and tent cities, there is talk of up to one million refugees needing to be settled in temporary camps in the Louisiana and Mississippi area.
It seems that the US and Israel are joined together this week by some measure of tragedy. We grieve for this, and especially for the apparent links between these two events.
Pray for America’s leadership, that their spiritual eyes and ears may be attentive to the God of Israel who stirs up the waves so that they roar. Let us not shut our ears if He is speaking. And let us handle with respect the people whom He has chosen as the apple of His eye.
Avner Boskey