Israel’s borders are becoming de-stabilized. This week, Israeli soldiers along the border with Lebanon targeted a Lebanese army patrol with smoke grenades that injured two soldiers and started a large fire. Another IDF patrol and fire brigade, along with a United Nations team, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), deployed to the area and extinguished the fire.
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Kimberly Rogers-Brown
BeastWatchNews.com
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ISRAEL’S BORDER BATTLES
Most analysts believe Hezbollah has been significantly weakened by years of fighting in Syria to bolster President Bashar Assad. However, Israeli officials say the terror group still has a massive missile arsenal that can threaten much of the country, and that a war will be incredibly damaging to both sides of the Lebanese border.
Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said Israel will fail to force Hezbollah away from the Syrian Golan border, where Jerusalem fears it and other Iranian proxy groups will set up bases to use for attacks against the Jewish state, and has pushed for Russia to enforce a buffer zone.
Lebanon was occupied by Israel for 22 years until 2000 when it finally gave up the Lebanese territory. Hezbollah terror group claims credit for Israel’s withdrawal following persistent guerrilla attacks. The two countries are still technically at war but incidents such as Tuesday’s are rare.
Thirty-four days of war ensued between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. This week, Hezbollah is bragging that it is even bigger, better and stronger than before 2000 and the war in 2006 and that this time it is coming fully armed with new technology and tactics obtained from Russia and Iran.
In the meantime, the Russian military deployed forces at the Syrian-Israeli border to help UN peacekeepers fully restore their patrols. Russian military police have set up four checkpoints in the area and plan to bring their number to eight. Russia’s Defense Ministry says its military police have been deployed in all areas recaptured from rebels by the Syrian government, including the Golan — a move that appears aimed at reassuring Israel.
Problems arise very time Israel gives up territory and now Israel is fighting wars on all of its borders both internal and external against the 4+1 coalition – Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the PA which are controlled by Iran, and now Hezbollah and Syria which are both controlled Iran.
Other border problems are now plaguing Israel’s borders as travelers attempting to enter Israel are being harassed. JPost reports that some left-wing political activists have been harassed trying to enter Israel.
Simone Zimmerman and Abby Kirschbaum were interrogated for 4 hours returning to Israel at the Egyptian border crossing. Zimmerman lives in Israel on a work visa. In a separate incident, Moriel Rothman-Zecherhas reported being interrogated entering Israel through the airport. She’s led activist groups, organized protests and gone on camera. But she never worried that her activism would get her barred from entering the country — until this week.
Activist Moriel Rothman-Zecher was detained for three hours at Ben-Gurion Airport as he entered Israel.
Two weeks earlier, Meyer Koplow, a prominent American Jewish philanthropist, was questioned before leaving the country after a fact-finding tour that included talks with Palestinians.
Shin Bet, the Israeli police force, directed the interrogation at what should have been a few minutes’ passport check. They asked why the activists came to Israel to work with Palestinians and wanted the three activists to provide names of Palestinian and other protestors they have worked with, had they participated in violent protests and what do they think of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Rothman-Zecher reported that upon handing over his passport, he was told to wait as his wife and baby went ahead. Two hours later, he says a Shin Bet officer who gave his name as “man” (“gever” in Hebrew) asked him a series of questions about his history and activism. Had he served in the Israel Defense Forces? Have you ever been arrested? Who did you protest with? What are some names of activists you’ve worked with? He was asked about his recent novel and whether he prefers living in the US or Israel.
This isn’t the first time American Jews have met trouble at the border because of their political activism. Following a 2017 law that allows Israel to bar activists for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement from entering the country, American Jewish BDS activist Ariel Gold was denied entry at the beginning of July. The BDS entry ban is one of several laws that Israeli NGOs have decried as a campaign against dissent.
American author and former CNN host Reza Aslan tweeted Tuesday that he was detained while crossing into Israel from Jordan and separated from his family two weeks ago. “We can make it so you don’t see your kids for a long time,” Aslan reported that he was told.
Aslan said that leading Jewish-American journalist Peter Beinart was detained for questioning at the Ben-Gurion International Airport while entering Israel. The incident “spurred” him to share his own story. Beinart is an American journalist and liberal political commentator who has written for Time, The New York Times, The New York Review of Books and is a senior columnist at Haaretz.
Upon hearing of Beinart’s detainment, Netanyahu spoke with Israeli security forces to inquire how a writer and journalist was detained at the airport. According to an official statement from the office of the Prime Minister, Netanyahu was told it was an ‘administrative mistake.’
The Prime Minister’s office issued a statement claiming that “Israel is an open society which welcomes all—critics and supporters alike. Israel is the only country in the Middle East where people voice their opinions freely and robustly.”
I am going to uphold Israel’s right to question anyone at their border at this time. Given the trouble at all of Israel’s borders both inside the country and at their international borders, security is tight for a good reason. Questioning anyone who is favorable to Palestinians and especially those that have helped Palestinians protest the Jews’ own Israeli government can hardly be viewed as inappropriate.
Despite the factual report in BWN about the Hebrew DNA found in the majority of Palestinians, they still remain Israel’s enemy. I believe the only way for Israel to get control of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank is to annex the entire areas, put a heavier IDF presence in those areas, imprison protestors and kill the murderers of Israelis. This is both militarily and scripturally correct, but not politically correct. Some in Israel understand and are calling for Israel to take a heavier hand with Hamas, use less restraint.
Egypt has warned Hamas that Israel will start assassinating Hamas leaders again.
Minister of Culture & Sports (Likud) Miri Regev called for renewed targeted assassinations against the Hamas leadership. “The equation should be very simple: If our children live in fear, then the leadership of Hamas should live in fear. We must go back to the policy of targeted assassinations of leaders of this murderous terrorist group.”
Minister of Agriculture (Bayit Yehudi) Uri Ariel criticized the cabinet, which he said, “limits the army to very minor operations.”
Zionist Union leader Avi Gabbay said on his visit to Sderot that Israel has “a strong army and weak politicians,” and accused Netanyahu and Liberman of “allowing Hamas to decide when the violence begins and ends.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Sunday that Israel has not committed itself to the current ceasefire with Hamas and nothing short of complete cessation of hostilities will suffice.
Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi AKA Jewish Home) protested against the current Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israel and the Gaza Strip. “There is no ceasefire … If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first,” he exclaimed.
Maj. Gen. Eitan Dangot said the current situation along the southern border is unusual due to Israel’s willingness to show restraint. “I think that we are encountering something we have not witnessed in many years … The state is trying to exhaust restraint without entering into a wide spread and radical confrontation. It is very unusual,” he said.
They should overthrow the Hamas government. Israel must overthrow its enemies.
Zechariah 12:6 On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like an igniter among sticks and a burning torch among sheaves, and they will burn up all the surrounding nations right and left. Then the people of Jerusalem will settle once more in their place, the city of Jerusalem. -NET
This is the chapter in Zechariah dealing with Jerusalem as a ‘cup of trembling’ for everyone who thinks he has something to say about its status on the earth. YHVH says He will open His eyes to the House of Judah (verse 4) and the Jews will take strength from YHVH to rise up against all who think they should have a say in what happens to Jerusalem (verse 5).
The Ynet News article quoted Major General Eitan Dangot as saying Israel’s current restraint is “very unusual”. Are the Jews getting ready to settle the question of Jerusalem’s rightful place among the tribes of Israel?
You see, for as much as my latest revelation exposed the Hebrew DNA found among the Palestinians, Jerusalem does not belong to them. It belongs to the one tribe YHVH chose – Judah.
Having said the Jews declared a Jubilee for themselves in 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 which required them to restore all of Israel, not just the southern tribes, taking back Jerusalem – all of it – is part of that restoration. Good for them for taking Jerusalem back whenever that happens. However, they must then open Israel to the other Hebrews still in exile on earth. The Jews must embrace their brethren and friends. We must become united in man’s hand (Ezekiel 37:17) before we become one in YHVH’s hand (Ezekiel 37:19).
Israel is between a rock and a hard place. I’ve reported that no matter what they do, there will be war. So, why not take back the whole area as in Zechariah chapter 12, make everyone equal citizens since that is the only way to claim authority over a people without being viewed by the world and the Torah as oppressive to stop the nonsense?
Would that be difficult? Yes. Will the world clamp down on Israel? Yes. Could Israel use this maneuver to declare themselves out from under the heavy hand of the UN, the US, EU and others that are keeping Israel from being a sovereign nation? Yes. Would YHVH step in to rescue the Israelite nation from its enemies? Yes.
Doing this would be obedient to YHVH and His Torah. We are told to not make agreements with our enemies in the Land, i.e. the Palestinians. If Israel would do this – the hardest of things to do – I believe they would gain, not lose, in the long run.
Questioning at Israel’s border is a difficult situation to endure. I have personal experience with that, but I cannot fault them for protecting themselves even from their own people who are working with the enemy.
Another border problem Israel is having again is flotillas. The Israeli navy fired warning shots at a flotilla that set sail from a Gaza Strip port on Saturday in the latest attempt to breach Israel and Egypt’s maritime blockade. The fleet of around 40 boats turned back to Gaza after the warning shots were fired.
Again, Israel has the right to defend itself. The problem is that Israel is getting overwhelmed just as I have reported for the last year or more they would. The IDF is busy at Israel’s border with Gaza where protestors fly burning kites, protest by the thousands shouting for the IDF to not just wound them, but kill them, while the waters are full of boats waiting to take on Israel’s naval fleet. The Russians have placed Israel’s enemies on its northern border from where the 4+1 coalition, the King of the North, will attack.
Can you see a scenario where Israel becomes so overwhelmed with the military battles on all fronts and at the same time political pressure is being applied and what that will do to them when Iran’s coalition attacks? What is coming to Israel is horrible and it will be just the beginning. The West, led by America and the EU, will fall quickly.
Here is a move is in the right direction. Israel is taking up the cause for Palestinians injured by the PA. A group of Palestinians, victims of torture at the hands of the Palestinian Authority (PA) who won a lawsuit filed against the PA in Israel, are starting to see justice.
Israel recently deducted some NIS 1 million ($370,00) in tax revenues that it collects on behalf of the PA, which it will use to cover the medical expenses of Palestinians who were tortured by PA security services.
Last year, an Israeli court recognized the torture of the Palestinians and ordered the PA to compensate them. In January, Israel recently cut half a billion Israeli shekels ($145 million) from taxes it collects on behalf of the PA to partially cover the required compensation. The Palestinian government alleged that “this measure is nothing more than an Israeli piracy of Palestinian funds and is part of a policy to seize Palestinian tax revenues employed by the Israeli government.”
The PA has refused to recognize the court’s jurisdiction over its affairs while denying that any torture took place within its facilities.
NATION STATE BILL
Minister Uri Ariel commented on Saturday’s protests against the Nation-State Law which attracted tens of thousands.
“I was not surprised to see Palestinian flags during yesterday’s protest in Tel Aviv, but I was disappointed. Those who demonstrate with Palestinian flags give backing to the enemy who burns down our fields in the Gaza border region, harms and kills our soldiers. There is a need for decisive action, not containment,” he vented.
On Saturday, at the same time as the Nation-State protest, around 100 residents of the Gaza border communities demonstrated near the entrance of Tel Aviv HaShalom railway station Saturday night, protesting the continued escalation of hostilities along the southern border.
The rally’s organizers said the motivation behind the protest is “the government’s helplessness in handling the security situation in the Gaza border region and the western Negev.” Some demonstrators also held signs reading, “Israel is burning—we demand security.”
Ooh! Now there’s a familiar refrain. Don’t the scriptures say that when YHVH’s people believe they have attained peace and security all hell will break loose?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the second meeting of a ministerial committee established to deal with Druze and Circassian objections to the Jewish nation-state law on Monday, his office said.
Rather than suggesting changes to the law that the minority groups say disenfranchises them, the committee focused on ways to strengthen and help those communities.
The ‘Circassian’ towns are those where Russian-speaking Jews live who are not recognized by Israel or the Rabbinate as Jews. Russian couples often seek to marry outside Israeli law and the approval of the Rabbinate because they are not considered halakhically Jewish.
Currently, many Jewish citizens of former Soviet countries once welcomed to Israel with open arms, now many their applications for aliyah bogged down for years in red tape and bureaucracy.
Would-be immigrants describe long waiting periods and unexplained rejections from Nativ, the government agency in charge of determining eligibility for aliyah. Some aliyah eligibility cases have dragged on for many years, and rejection notices are often given without any clear reason, which makes it difficult for the applicant to file an appeal. The government rejected aliyah applications from 4,900 Russians and 4,500 Ukrainians between 2006 and 2016, according to data provided by Nativ in response to a freedom of information request submitted by attorney Eli Gervits.
Presumably the figure might be higher if all former Soviet countries were taken into account. Until recently, ambiguity surrounding the reason for rejecting aliyah applicants was Nativ’s official policy. The organization has not provided rejections in writing for repeat applications and the aliyah department at the Moscow embassy has put up a site saying no reasons would be provided for rejected applications. The attorney-general ordered the policy revised late last year following inquiries from Gervits and Elam. Nativ now offers responses in writing though the notices are brief, and often fail to provide any details about the cause for rejection. The delays and failure to provide written explanations are in violation of a law that requires civil servants to respond in writing within 45 days and include an explanation for any decision.
DNA testing does not satisfy the Israel government, either. One Russian woman had tissue testing done with an aunt who lives in Israel and is registered as Jewish by the Population and Immigration Authority. Testing revealed a greater than 99-percent chance of being related. The woman presented the findings to Nativ in 2016 but the organization refused [her] a visa, and advised [her] to come to Israel and resolve the issue with the Population Authority directly.
“This hurts me so much. I am the daughter of a Jew, I have the right to make aliyah,” says Nadezhda. “My whole life I was humiliated for being a Jew, And now Israel won’t accept me either.” The Population Authority says that “the court ruling says the results of the genetic testing are not sufficient to permit the applicant’s entry into Israel” and that “the applicant must present documents proving her eligibility in accordance with the Law of Return.”
Now, put this together, ok? WHY is DNA not enough? Because it has to do with the Law of Return. Israel denies the Palestinians with Hebrew DNA the Right to Return because they are Palestinians. If they make an exception for anyone, they undermine their own requirement that no Palestinians be given the right of return.
The objection by religious people, including those in Hebrew Roots, is that the Palestinians must be kept out of Israel because they are enemies of Israel. Most of the comments to me about this are of this kind. People say ‘I just can’t wrap my mind around your statement that the Palestinians are Hebrew and related to the House of Israel’.
But think for a moment. If Israel would annex all of the West Bank and take back the Gaza Strip, they would destroy the Palestinian government in both areas and gain sovereign control to punish – even for capital punishment – of all Palestinians who commit acts of terror.
This is not only scriptural, but logical, since YHVH is always logical contrary to what religious people think. This new understanding hits our emotions hard because the Palestinians, as a general population, are still Israel’s enemies. But there are some among them who are not. And let’s remember that the House of Judah and the House of Israel were enemies in scripture and sometimes peace partners, but we have been fighting the longest running civil war ever on the earth. The events of today between the northern House and the southern House is just a continuation of the split.
Some Palestinians would welcome Israeli equal citizenship, but further, this would stop the nonsensical discrimination against people who can clearly show they are from the tribe of Judah or one of the other southern tribes that migrated to Russia eons ago.
Even American Jews have trouble making Aliyah. Ronald Lauder, a prominent Jewish American philanthropist, supporter of Israel and close confidant of Benjamin Netanyahu is warning the Israeli government that the nation-state law will damage Israel’s future relationship with the Jewish diaspora.
Lauder explained that “Israel may find itself associated with a broken values system and questionable friends. As a result, future leaders of the West may become hostile or indifferent to the Jewish state,” adding it is becoming increasingly difficult for Jewish supporters of Israel in the U.S. and elsewhere to defend some of its actions, and that this could lead to a divide between the Jewish state and its Jewish supporters abroad.
He also said those practicing the abomination of homosexuality should have equal rights in Israel. This bill has caused Israel to stumble greatly because it has opened the door for worms to call for equal rights in Israel. This bill is against YHVH’s will because it re-wrote the Torah’s laws about equality in His Land and opens up the Land to equal rights for abominators.
The Israeli government continues to claim the new Nation State bill does no harm to minorities. Then why are they adding to the bill special concessions for the Druze and Russian minorities?
IRAN
Under the ‘Iran’ category some more comments made by Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Not only did he threaten Israel this week, but also the United States. He didn’t threaten the US with missiles, high tech and new tactics as he did to Israel. No, his threat was an economic one in which he hinted about the coming of Iran against the US for Trump’s latest sanctions.
Nasrallah claimed that the Trump administration was “mistaken” in thinking sanctions would lead to riots in Iran that would topple the regime, or even force Iran to reduce support for activity abroad. Speaking about the restoration of the sanctions by Washington, Nasrallah said: “I can tell you and I have accurate information they are building dreams, strategies and projects that Iran will head toward chaos and the regime will fall. This is illusion, this is imagination and has nothing to do with reality.”
The question we must ask ourselves is whether Iran can be stopped or not? The answer, Mr. Trump, is ‘probably not’.
The new Trump sanctions are hurting Iran with the rial plummeting. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Monday that the declining value of the rial was the root cause of Iran’s ongoing economic crisis, but that Iran’s “primary problem” was continued economic “mismanagement”. He said the negative impact of Iranian monetary policy on foreign exchange rates could be mitigated by more “prudent” policymaking.
Hmmm…. Prudent policy making. Is this a hint to putting more rials behind an upcoming war?
“More than the sanctions and economic mismanagement is putting pressure on ordinary Iranians … I do not call it betrayal but a huge mistake in management,” Iranian state TV quoted Mr. Khamenei as saying in his first reaction to the reimposition of US sanctions. “With better management and planning we can resist the sanctions and overcome them,” Mr. Khamenei said.
Is this double-speak for “let’s go to war”?
The rial’s fall has had a tremendous impact on Iraqis also, not just Iranians. In Iran, the economic damage is sparking protests calling for the death of the current regime. Reports of 100,000 protestors hitting the streets of Iran in the wake of the latest sanctions, calling for the death to a dictator, this time their very own, spells trouble. Unemployment, a reported 50% rise in the cost of fruit and vegetables and a 50% slide in the value of the Rial against the Dollar are the aftershocks of the U.S sanctions and what the U.S administration will likely be hoping to be the final nails in the regime’s coffin.
Economic war is what the US is now getting. Regimes do not go down that easily. This Iranian bear may be getting pushed into a corner from which it could come out fighting. There is already blow-back against the US.
The Chinese are simply stepping up to fill in the void left by France’s national oil company, Total, which recently began operating from Iran again. China National Petroleum Corp. is expected to take the lead on a $5 billion project to develop Iran’s share of the world’s biggest gas deposit, taking over from France’s Total SA, which halted operations after U.S. President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
To counter what is happening to France’s Total, Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne raised the prospect of Chinese groups joining Western companies in avoiding Iran due to sanctions.
In the long run, the US stands to lose more than the Iranians because China stepping in will counter the effects of the US sanctions, though it may take awhile. The US stands to lose important allies in Europe if they join with China who is now taking steps with Russia to crash the dollar because of what the US is doing to Iran’s rial. The games are on again!
Russia backs using national currencies, not the U.S. dollar, in its trade with Turkey, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday, but he made no firm commitments that would immediately help Ankara to weather its currency crisis.
Turkey has a track record of using national currencies in international trade. Last October, the Turkish and Iranian central banks formally agreed to trade in local currencies after using the euro for settlements in the past. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said in recent public speeches that Turkey and its economic allies do not need to use the dollar to conduct bilateral trade. On Monday Erdogan, angered by what he sees as Washington’s attempts to unilaterally impose its rules on global finance, said Turkey had “made advancements in our ties with Russia in accordance to our benefits and interests”.
Using national currency in mutual trade has its drawbacks, however. If the currency of one of the parties to a trade is in meltdown, that exposes the other party to heightened risks that would not usually exist if the deal was settled in dollars. Thus the need for another reserve currency to replace the dollar, but none have been accepted even though several have been considered, including China’s renminbi.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey stepped up his attacks on the U.S. on Tuesday, calling for a boycott of Apple iPhones and other U.S. electronic goods, while his foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, joined his Russian counterpart in criticizing Western sanctions.
Turkey is caught between the West and Russia and is leaning more toward Russia now than ever before. Both Turkey and Russia’s currencies are taking hits along with Iran’s rial. The Turkish lira has hit a series of record lows since Aug. 1, when the U.S. imposed sanctions on Turkey for not freeing a U.S. pastor facing terrorism charges. New tariffs the U.S. introduced on some Turkish imports on Monday have raised concerns of a full-blown trade war.
Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s top diplomat, lashed out against Western sanctions saying, “This era when we are being bullied must end”.
Iraq is torn between its two biggest allies, the US and Iran. The United States and Iran, increasingly at odds, have put Abadi’s outgoing government in a difficult position. Abadi was asked by the US if Baghdad would stop imports of commodities, appliances and equipment by government companies from Iran, and he said the matter was still being reviewed.
“We honestly have not made any decision regarding this issue until now.”
The US was hopeful last week that Iran would agree to negotiations once again, but this week is another story now that the sanctions have taken effect. Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Saturday, August 11, there would be no meeting with the United States in the near future. Trump’s hope that economic pressure would force Iran back to the table with Washington seems to have failed so far.
EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC WAR
The effects of Trump’s grinding sanctions on the eastern bloc and middle east nations could quickly turn into a military conflict. The number 1 rule of the New World Order elites is to build up the war machine when economic troubles are at hand. Iran, Russia and now Turkey are seeing red and are ready to go forth to war against the US and Israel, along with the US and Israel’s allies in the middle east, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and others.
The first sign of a possible conflict returning is Iran’s return to persecuting Christians because of Trump’s sanctions. U.S. sanctions on Iran have inadvertently led to a crackdown on its persecuted Christian community as the ayatollahs move to consolidate their power in the face of growing unrest across the country.
Iran has sentenced an Iranian couple to a prison term for merely practicing Christianity plus 10 other Iranians for ‘Propagating against the Islamic Republic in favor of Christianity.
The persecuted Christians are part of a group of Christian converts who were arrested on April 7th, 2015. Christian news website Mohabat News reported on Wednesday that the Iranian couple cited by Article 18, who were part of the group of converts, were charged with “orientation toward the land of Christianity.”
The plight of Iran’s persecuted Christian community has become significantly worse over the past few weeks, with the Islamic Republic ramping up prison terms and other judicial actions. Jeff King, the president of Washington, DC-based International Christian Concern, said that each member of the congregation was sentenced to a year in prison.
“Getting information on the arrests of Christians is incredibly challenging given the heavily censored nature of Iran,” King said. “But based on the cases we have been tracking, this is the first time this year that we’ve seen a jail sentence being given based on the charge of ‘inclination to the land of Christianity.’ This could be interpreted as a reference to Israel, the birthplace of Christianity and also a country that Iran has adopted a very aggressive stance towards.”
The World Christian Database statistic said there are an estimated 350,000 Christians in Iran which has a population of more than 80.2 million people. How easy it would be to wipe out every Christian in Iran or run them out of the country.
Last month, Pope Francis issued a passionate call for peace in the Middle East. The Trump administration shares the Pontiff’s concern and has recently taken action regarding the plight of Christians in Iraq. So far, neither Trump or Pope Francis have addressed the plight of Christians in Iran.
Christians have all but disappeared in Iraq. In 2003, when Saddam Hussein was overthrown, some 1.5 million Christians lived in Iraq. Estimates now of Iraq’s Christian population are much lower, ranging from 200,000 to 500,000. The 350,000 Christians in Iran plus those left in Iraq don’t even make 1 million Christians left in these two nations that are part of Iran’s 4+1 coalition, the Biblical King of the North.
HEBREW ROOTS IDENTITY CRISIS
We have a problem of identity in Hebrew Roots. We were once Christians or practicing some other religion, but now we are mostly on our own without the kind of guidance we are used to. Messianic Jews are Jews who believe Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel who still keep the Torah. Hebrew Roots is everyone else who have been taught by the Ruach that Jesus’ name is Yeshua and who now keep the Torah’s commandments.
Messianic Jews still identify as Jews, but Hebrew Roots believers don’t know who they are. They are in a world between. They are neither Christian or Jew and they are seeking identity, usually by attempting to garner enough information about the tribes to identify with one of them. The Jews can at least identify with one of the tribes of Israel, but we Hebrew Roots people have no such tribal identity. Some of us have had DNA tests and performed genealogical searches only to find that we have Hebrew DNA or Jewish names in our ancestry. But these prove nothing about which tribe we belong to. Most scholars call all DNA ‘Jewish’. But we know that all Jews are Hebrews, but not all Hebrews are Jews. So, who are we? We NEED an identity!
Right now, many Hebrew Roots believers are converting to Judaism. Most likely this is being done to have a sense of identity in a tribe. However, converting to Judaism requires denying Yeshua is the Messiah and God in the flesh. The thought of doing this should scare you to death because it is a death sentence, one that is brought on oneself.
To find out who we are and to prevent ourselves from making the fatal mistake of converting to Judaism, we must know why we believe Yeshua is the Messiah. It is not enough that we grew up in church and that is what they taught, or that mama believed He is the Messiah, or that we have had many wonderful spiritual experiences with Him at church, or for any other reason. Past beliefs and emotions won’t keep you on track! Once we know our personal “why”, we will stand strong in our faith and have our true identity as an Israelite Hebrew through YHVH Himself. We won’t necessarily need to have a tribal affiliation until He returns.
Here is how we can know WHY Yeshua is the Messiah. The answer is hidden in the scriptures. Christians don’t know the reason, believe it or not. Jews don’t know it and they don’t want to know it right now. However, the scriptures tell us plainly WHY Yeshua IS the Messiah of all Israel.
The place to start in identifying with Israel is to identify with Yeshua. We can’t identify with Yeshua unless we know why He is the Messiah. Do you know why Yeshua is the Messiah? The answer is simple, but it requires a short background to understand it.
The Jews have had many messiahs. At the time of Yeshua, there were many saying they were the messiah. The Jews had a particular set of parameters that the messiah must meet. They will tell you that these are the list attributed to the coming Messiah and that Yeshua did not fulfill any of these when He was here. Thus, to the Jews, Yeshua is not the Messiah.
The main job of the Jewish messiah is to restore the Jewish nation. There are other items on the Jewish messiah list, but let’s just stick with this one.
The reason Yeshua is the Messiah of all Israel is because He did not come to restore the Jewish nation. What!? That’s right. Yeshua had no interest in restoring only the Jewish nation. He came to restore all Israel.
That may sound only like a semantic difference, but it is not. The Jewish messiah will restore the southern Kingdom, the part that was left after Rehoboam, Solomon’s son and successor, and Jeroboam split David and Solomon’s Kingdom. The southern Kingdom is also called the House of Judah is comprised of no more than 4 tribes in scripture.
So, when the Jews call for the messiah to restore the Jewish nation, they are looking for the restoration of only 4 tribes. But Yeshua will restore all 12 tribes. He is the only one who came saying He would restore all Israel. None of the Jewish Messiahs mention restoring the other tribes except and insofar as they have already become Jews through conversion. One way we know this is because He will put the names of all 12 tribes on the gates to New Jerusalem. Ezekiel and Revelation both describe this.
Look into Jewish history. You will find that no Jewish messiah-wanna-be ever declared he would restore all 12 tribes from among the exiles. Only Yeshua said that. In fact, He said His entire purpose was to bring back the lost sheep of the House of Israel, the northern 10 tribes that were cut off and exiled.
This is why Yeshua is the Messiah of all Israel. If you don’t get to your ‘why’ about Yeshua, you run the risk of tripping into Judaism, returning to Christianity or even leaving both for the New Age movement, Buddhism, or some other religion.
Next time, I will talk about why the House of Israel needed a special Messiah to bring them back into the Covenant. This is an area also that Jewish anti-missionaries do not understand.
We are in the season of repentance – the month of Elul and all the way to the 10 days of awe between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur. Yeshua was in the desert preparing for His ministry during this time. Let us use this season to prepare for what is coming whether it comes this year or not because Yeshua told us to watch.
Remember that the prophecies of Haggai chapter 2 point to the last day Feast of Sukkot, the 21st day of the 7th month, for a ‘great shaking’ to occur. The other date Haggai 2 tells us to watch comes during Hanukkah on the 24th day of the 9th month. This is the day before the first night of Hanukkah.
When Yeshua told us to watch, these dates from the Book of Haggai were part of what He was talking about. Keep praying and repenting and stay watchful.
WATCH: Is Yeshua REALLY the Messiah of All Israel?