Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing favor to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. Gen 20:1-6 (NASB)
The first moral commandment given to Moses for Israel at Mt Sinai was that they should not have any other gods before or besides Yahweh. He had demonstrated His sovereignty and miraculous power to them by delivering them from Egyptian slavery and as a result of His mighty deeds they were asked to respond to His love and become His own possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex 19:5-6). They agreed to covenant with Him. He then began to give this chosen nation a constitution beginning with ‘no other gods.’ However, before Moses could even get down the mountain, they had already broken this covenant and were worshipping the golden calf. Thankfully, even when Israel failed, God did not, and He still keeps His covenant.
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 2 Tim 2:13
Today, we see another miracle – that of the Jewish people being restored to their land, their language and their heritage as a nation again, returning from the ends of the earth as God promised (Is 11:11-12, 43:1-7). Eventually, He will also pour out His Spirit upon them and return them to Himself (Ezek 36:22-32, Zech 12:10-13:1). In the meantime, Israel, like us, has lessons to learn. The nation is very divided, not only politically but also spiritually.
It is quite common for the young people who have finished their compulsory IDF military service to travel as far away from Israel as possible – to New Zealand or Australia. This gives us a wonderful opportunity to love and welcome them into our homes through several hospitality ministries. Another favoured destination is India, where Israelis are exposed to eastern religions. These influences return with them and several thousand Israelis were at a Nova festival at Kibbutz Re’im in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched its attack, killing 370, injuring thousands and taking 44 hostages. As part of the festival, an idol of the Hindu deity, Shiva, was being paraded around! Is it any wonder, Israel’s defences were weak? God is a jealous God – jealous for the hearts of His people who are yearning to fill a spiritual vacuum and looking in all the wrong places. Another 50 young survivors from the festival in October have since committed suicide. False gods want death any way they can get it. To make matters worse, there was another Nova festival on June 27, 2024, in Tel Aviv, which was promoted as a ‘healing’ event for all the trauma of the earlier one.
In between these, was a witchcraft event held at Sapir in the Arabah, Jordan Valley. Thankfully, God has His alert intercessors who have travelled to these recent events to bring the true light to these disillusioned ones and to stand their ground spiritually at the occultic gates. Some even washed the feet of those as they left the desert location and numbers were less than expected, due to prayer from intercessors in Israel and the nations.
Not only are Israelis being deceived by these ‘New Age’ forces, but mystical Judaism, known as Kabbalah, is very strong in Israel, especially amongst the ultra-orthodox. With headquarters in Safed, the city set on a hill of Matt 5:14-15, it has been one of the four religious holy cities since the Middle Ages, when Spanish Kabbalistic scholars fled there from persecution. It is near Mt Merom where Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, one of the early Kabbalistic writers is buried. Tens of thousands of ultra-orthodox make pilgrimage to the graves of these dead rabbis. Kabbalah rose up after the Jews rejected Yeshua, to fill the spiritual void to try to reach God by man’s efforts. Some of their practices are rooted in occult visions.
In addition, Israel suffers from the gods of western society also – pursuit of wealth and comfort, disunity, selfishness, pride, independence of God etc which are reflected in the high abortion rates and tolerance and promotion of homosexuality. The nation is still trying to court the favour of the nations and choose their own king to reign over them, as in the days of Saul (1 Sam 8). God had a David in the wings then and also now has a son of David (Mashiach ben David) waiting to enter in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, Israel has to get to the end of its own strength, and cry out to God for mercy. Then He will surely answer them.
God always has His faithful ones and He has some excellent apostles and prophets in Israel such as Asher Intrater, Avi Mizrachi, Karen Davis and Carolyn Hyde and many prayer houses – Succat Hallel and the House of Prayer for all Nations in Jerusalem, Intercessors for Israel, the House of Prayer and Exploits in Nazareth, and congregations like the Carmel Assembly, Dugit and others that have dedicated prayer rooms. Our task in the nations is to pray Israel into God’s true destiny for them and stand with and strengthen His people (Heb 12:4). We hold up Moses’ weary hands, even as they battle the modern-day Amelekites, who are trying to wipe them off the face of the earth.
Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. So his hands were steady until the sun set. 13 And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Ex 17:12-13
We can also pray that Israelis will turn from their idols, repent and turn back to God, receive the revelation of the true Messiah, and become more aware of the danger of these spiritual forces of evil that weaken their nation’s defences. To pray effectively for nations, we must be delivered ourselves from our own idols and have our minds renewed into Kingdom thinking (Rom 12:1-2).
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Eph 6:10-12
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