Today is the 54th day of this psychologically intense war.  I hadn’t really planned to write an update today, until I remembered the significance of this date:  Nov 29.  Today is the 76th anniversary of the UN vote to partition Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state.  Israel accepted; the British gave up entirely on its Mandate; the Arabs refused, and went to war against a small country with a small army.  Today’s war is the continuation of that which broke out then.  If the UN were to vote again, they would reverse their affirmation of international law set and confirmed by the League of Nations vote and of the San Remo Convention vote, both back in the 1920’s in the aftermath of WWI.  YHVH God, on the other Hand, raised a banner to the nations (Is 11) that a miracle had occurred, and that HE IS STILL HERE! Praise to His Name!

As much as I think, especially maybe being an Israeli citizen, that Israel should decisively militarily defeat Hamas and the other jihadi terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, I am not certain that they can given the internal pressure to get the hostages released, even knowing the cost, and the outside pressure to not allow Israel to do it, despite all the rhetoric of support, and despite Israel’s own leaders boldly promising what they cannot fulfill.  Should God want a different outcome, then He will see to it in a way that draws attention to Himself.  The acts of mercy shown by Israel to prefer releasing hostages over simply sacrificing them for a victory, is God’s hand of restraint in a way to demonstrate that Israel does indeed value human life more than they hate their enemies.  It also demonstrates the absolute disregard of human life by the satanically-driven jihadis. Israel’s willingness to provide humanitarian aid and fuel at the cost of hindering their war effort against a devilish foe, who only use these acts of mercy to further their own devious acts to advance their crimes against their own people, not to mention, Israelis, including Arabs, also presents a contrast. 

In what is clearly perceived as weakness on the part of Israel, and will be seen as an actual victory by Hamas, YHVH sees differently.  He is the one who came in the person of His Son, Yeshua/Jesus/Yasua, who was crucified in weakness; and the enemy cheered.  Then He rose from the grave on the third day, and the enemies shuddered!  We, as His disciples, will find ourselves as lambs led daily to the slaughter.  Our hope is not in this world, or in this body of death (as the apostle Paul cried out about), but in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ who is coming again to judge the nations and to establish God’s righteous Kingdom on the Earth.  Surely, His ways are not ours; nor are His thoughts!  Israel will have to learn this as well.

I did a video about replacement theology (and also an expanded written article, which takes less time to read than to watch the video), which is very relevant to this war and our reactions to it:
https://streamsinthenegev.com/replacement-theology-is-god-finished-with-israel/  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr6QrsbCCL8   Replacement theology and islamicization are a lethal combination. 

Seeing the destruction in Gaza from Israeli bombing is staggering to any normal person. But who is at fault for such destruction?: Hamas, and Iran, and all who support them in their dead-set intentions to destroy Israel as a nation. Why doesn’t the Hamas leader setting the terms for hostage releases simply surrender and give up the hostages? Israel would stop the war.  I am reminded that to end WW2 the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, utterly destroying it. The Japanese Emperor did not surrender. So, the US dropped another, bigger atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Then the Emperor surrendered. The Hamas leaders do not care about their people or their “country”.  They envy and hate Israel so much more that all they do is wake up to think what evil can they do today. Their “honor” is at stake to not give up what we know will ultimately be a futile all-out effort to eliminate Israel and Jews and disciples of Jesus from the world.  Yeshua/Jesus/Yasua saves! And in YHVH God’s long-suffering with human beings whom He created in His image, today is still the day of salvation, and it is still the acceptable year of the LORD.  As the angels praised and proclaimed on the evening of His birth:  “Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, goodwill towards men [and women]!”