In the News…
We have an update on Ukraine. Our congregation (Beth Ariel Montreal) is still sending money to Ukraine which will be used for heating, and other necessities including getting the message of Jesus (Yeshua) to many who are suffering. With winter approaching, we know that temperatures can dip very low. We are also focusing our attention on the city of Kherson, the one which the Russians recently left. Just last week there were more missiles launched into that city, as the Russians are stepping up a bombardment of Ukraine’s power grid. It is estimated that up to 50% of Ukraine’s energy facilities have in some way been damaged in all these recent attacks. As winter approaches with the cold weather, we pray the Lord’s overarching protection for so many who are faced with war on a daily basis.
In other news, we are brought back to those dark days of suicide bomb attacks during the early 2000’s as we learnt of the two Jerusalem bus bombing just last week. During morning rush hour, a bomb went off at a bus stop not far from the entrance to Jerusalem in Ramot Junction, near the Temple Mount. It killed one, a religious orthodox Canadian teenager who was studying there, and wounded many. They spoke of a high-quality bomb packed with nails and other shrapnel so that maximum damage would result.
What is even more deplorable are the responses to this sad event. Organizations like Hamas and the Islamic Jihad called this heroic, and in Gaza and the West Bank, they distributed candies in celebration of what they called “Jerusalem’s World Cup.” Here again we have a sample of this deep-seated hatred the state of Israel is surrounded by, a resentment which will characterize the end times and which the Lord called in Ezekiel, the Eternal Hatred (25:15). This is a hate which one cannot explain, one that will only be subdued and erased once the Messiah will come back.
What we are witnessing today, in the Middle East, and increasingly so, are the early warnings of things to come which Yeshua speaks about in Mark chapter 13, things we will look at in details when we get there.
As for those who believe in the God of the Scriptures, the Bible goes as far as telling us to help and even to pray and love our enemies and not carry any such hatred. This is what proverbs affirms in chapter 24:17; Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles (24: 17).
We pray, always for the peace of Jerusalem, and that the Word of God will fill this place so that many, Jews and Arabs and others will come to a saving knowledge of Yeshua, for He is coming soon.