Clearly the peace that the world proposes is no peace of mind at all, not to mention the cessation of hatred and greed which leads to violence and wars of every kind.  Even should a piece of paper for a treaty of “peace” be signed, the germs and the viruses would cry out!  Less than three weeks away from a complete year of this terrible war(s) breaking out all around Israel, there is still no clear path to victory, or for the release of the remaining hostages.  All this adding to the heaviness of the burden of sin which continues to plague the world at large, and Israel in particular.  “There is no peace for the wicked!”, the prophet Isaiah writes of YHVH’s declaration. (Is 48:22) 

We all have fallen under the sway of the evil one who hates and lies about the goodness and faithfulness of our Creator, who also has come as our Redeemer and Savior.  Except for the grace and mercies of God to save us, we would all be susceptible to the deceptions of the devil to take us his side against our loving and righteous Father.  Without the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we would not have the power to persevere in the faith until the end, nor to withstand the onslaught of the “wisdom” from below.  (Ja 3:13-18)

I don’t know how many of you who read this ever read the children’s book series called “Goosebumps”.  We read them to our children years ago, and enjoyed them.  But…at the end of every book the cause of the goosebumps was still “there”, waiting for more opportunities to come to cause goosebumps from “scary” things and situations.  This is the state of the world, and of those “of” the world:  they do not want the evil to fully put away for good, but to allow it to continue to exist and do its thing.  We do not know what life without evil lurking around is like, and find it nearly impossible, if not absolutely impossible, to imagine it. (1Cor 2)  With the Holy Spirit and the Word of God we can know that the eternal life with the Lord will be perfect, love the law and life, God all and in all, no sin, no crying, no pain, no suffering, no tears, no death….but we do not know what that is like!  And we usually bring in our worldly and carnal delights of this creation into whatever thoughts and imaginations we may try out.  

God does not intend to allow any evil and its sinful ramifications to exist, ever again!, in His eternal Kingdom.  Nor is He going to “eventually” save everyone, including even Satan.  If so, for what reason did Jesus have to come and suffer such a horrible death on the cross?!  For what reason to evangelize “today”, while it is still “today”?!  Why all the dire warnings about the truth and reality of hell and the lake of fire, mostly from Yeshua/Jesus Himself?!  As the apostle Paul wrote, we wait for that which is perfect to come. (1Cor 13:8-13)  When Israel is constantly being held back from winning by defeating its mortal enemy, they are in effect being told to allow the evil to remain, and let them keep trying to accomplish their explicitly stated goal of eradicating Israel and the Jewish people everywhere.  They can defeat you at some point, but we will not allow you to defeat them. 

Yeshua set His face to go to Jerusalem when the time came, and because He was so set on that, the Samaritans did not want to receive Him on the way. A couple of the apostles thought it a good idea to bring down lightning on them, as Elijah would, but Jesus said that that is not His spirit to do that as His disciples. It is this sort of “self-control” and submission to the will and way of the Lord that is going to greatly challenge us as offenses abound and lawlessness increases, with persecution because of our faith in Jesus/Yeshua as Lord and Messiah.

The accuser of the brethren who believe in Yeshua is also the accuser against Israel and Jews.  The whole Bible is an open book for this;  it is very easy to judge them.  In the New Testament we are told to examine and judge yourself, if a believer, so that God does not need to.  And we are told to first get the log out of our own eye in order to maybe help a brother with the speck in his.  These self-judgments apply to Gentile Christians judging the Jews for not believing in Yeshua/Jesus; and they also apply to Jewish believers (Messianic Jews) for judging unrighteously the Gentile believers for not “doing it right”.  We Jews did not do it right first, and we had the covenants, the Torah, and the promises.  Heretics accuse and project onto the “straights” of what they themselves do.  No one can stand against what are easily and legalistically judged things, but we have an Advocate with the Father, and it is Messiah who died for us, so there is no condemnation (perhaps there is guilt, which is why we walk humbly and ask for forgiveness, thanking God for His ready willingness to do so) for those in Christ Jesus. 

The political and military echelons, and the public intellectual media continue to be divided over the management and the outcome of the war(s), including the freeing of all of the remaining living and dead captives, and the return of all evacuees along the southern Gaza border region and the northern Lebanese border area.  We shall see what YHVH, the God of Hosts (the Messiah [Jn 12:37-41; Is 6:1-10; Mt 28:18-20]) will do, even as we pray as best we understand for God’s will to be done to get what He wants out of all this.

Meanwhile, the Fall season begins this weekend.  September 21, 1981, is the day that Randi and I landed in Israel, beginning our lives here in Netanya, and in the congregation which today is Beit Asaph.  David and Lisa Loden had the “house church” in their home.  We moved to Beer Sheva 4 1/2 months later.  The school year has begun, but most of the month of October will be filled up by the three weeks of the mo’edim/appointed times of YHVH to Israel — the Memorial of Blowing of Trumpets, the Day of Atonements, the Feast of Booths/Tabernacles.  Most of that time the schools will be out, beginning again in earnest afterwards.  Then Hanukkah and Christmas come just two months later.  Israel’s life flow centers around these mo’edim, which all lay out the redemptive plan of God, fulfilled in Yeshua — His first coming; His death, burial, resurrection; His ascension back to Heaven and the giving of the Holy Spirit to all born-again believers; the call to repentance, the salvation of Israel, and His tabernacling with His people in His return to forever establish YHVH God’s presence in His Kingdom among His people and throughout His Creation.