Dear Family in the Messiah Yeshua! Greetings and blessings to you from your brothers and sisters at “Holy Land Ministries”, Israel!
We are in the time of Chanukah celebration in Israel! As most of you know Chanukah is the Jewish wintertime “festival of lights,” observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Jewish month Kislev according to the Biblical calendar. This year Chanukah begins at sundown on Sunday, Nov. 28 and lasts until sundown on Monday, Dec. 6 according to the Gregorian calendar.
Chanukah commemorates the victory of a small group of poorly armed Israelis committed to their faith in G-d and His Torah over the Seleucid (Syrian – Greeks) Empire, their recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple to the worship of G-d in the 2nd century BCE.
The significant factor is that the L-rd used just a small godly remnant in Israel to defeat the vast army of the world-ruling Empire of those days.
Everyone would agree that it is a wonderful heroic history but perhaps not everyone realizes that this history has a tremendous prophetic meaning as it points to the future event that is still to come and effect every person living on earth at that time.
As usual, we would like to share with you an insight on this coming event from our Israeli rabbi and dear brother in the Messiah Yeshua:
בס״ד
חנוכה 5782
Chanukah 5782
According to the Gospel of John chapter 10, Yeshua went up to Jerusalem specifically for the observance of the Festival of Dedication, i.e., Chanukah. This fact confirms to those who accept the New Covenant as Scripture that the eight days of Chanukah has spiritual significance. In other words, followers of Yeshua should not only understand the message of Chanukah, but also observe it as our L-rd did. A simple searching on the internet will inform one that Chanukah celebrates a victory of the people of G-d over the wicked Greek Empire, which was led by Antiochus Epiphanies. In previous articles, it has been pointed out that Antiochus is a typology of the antichrist. It has also been taught that the same spirit of Lawlessness which characterized Antiochus will also be manifested by the antichrist. The primary message of the Festival of Chanukah is deliverance.
One learns from the Jewish people who recognized the spiritual authority of Yehuda Maccabee, that with G-d all things are possible. Even though the Jewish people were outnumbered and at a disadvantage in every way, their faith in G-d overcame every obstacle and in the end, G-d provided deliverance which was one of Israel’s greatest victories. The question which must be asked is for what was Israel fighting? The answer is the freedom to worship HaShem (the L-RD) according to the word of G-d.
I hope you can see today those things are rapidly changing throughout the world. The same anti-Torah spirit is currently manifesting itself and it is a battle for control. The enemy is simply demanding that people submit to him. The Bible is most clear that at the beginning of the final seven years of this world (prior to the establishing of the Millennial Kingdom), the antichrist will assume leadership over a one world government. Therefore, it should not surprise one that in preparation for this, the vast majority of nations are becoming increasingly hostile to the standards which the Bible commands. It truly will come down to one question which every person will have to answer: “Whose authority are you going to recognize?”
Many individuals today would identify themselves as secular. They do not believe in the One True G-d and do not engage in worship. However, as the antichrist takes control over this one world government, he will soon demand that ALL people worship him. Those who refuse to do so will be persecuted and ultimately put to death. In a growing number of locations today such persecution is already taking place. Obviously, the antichrist is not yet ruling nor has his empire been established, but the spirit of the antichrist is already present in this world and is functioning in an increasing manner. People are being challenged even today concerning their choice to worship the G-d of Israel and His Only Begotten Son.
It is clearly seen during this time of the “Pandemic” that many governmental leaders are hostile to the worship of the G-d of Israel in a partial manner. The spirit of the antichrist is a blasphemous spirit and it hates any expression of true worship. True believers will differ legitimately on what constitutes for them the “redline”, when they must defy government mandates, laws, etc.; however, make no mistake, the time will come when all true followers of Messiah Yeshua will agree that they must resist this blasphemous empire. In the same manner that believers will legitimately disagree on the “redline”, they will also will likely have some degree of disagreement on what form their resistance will take. One thing is very clear, the antichrist will be making an all-out war against believers.
I began this article by mentioning that Yeshua went up to the Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Chanukah. It is most interesting what occurred when He was at what is commonly referred to as Solomon’s Portico. Although there is much significance in this passage from John’s Gospel, I only want to focus on one aspect within this account. Solomon’s Portico is very near to the Holy of Holies. It was only after Yeshua entered this location (known in Hebrew as אולם שלמה and properly understood as Solomon’s Hall), that the leaders approached Him. Although the verse reads,
ἐκύκλωσαν οὖν αὐτὸν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ ἔλεγον αὐτῷ, Εως πότε τὴν ψυχὴν ἡμῶν αἴρεις; εἰ σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστός, εἰπὲ ἡμῖν παρρησίᾳ.
“Then the Judeans surrounded Him and were saying to Him, ‘Until when our souls do you keep in suspense? If you are the Messiah, say to us plainly.’” John 10:24
Many translations fail to understand that in this verse the use the term οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι is not referring Jewish individuals in general, but the spiritual and governmental leadership of the Jewish people who served under Rome. These leaders were not seeking a verbal response from Yeshua, rather their intent was for Him to enter into the Holy of Holies. They knew that if one who was not approved by G-d entered this place, this one would die. The leaders never gave any consideration that Yeshua was the L-rd’s Anointed. From where does one know this? It is stated in the next verse that Yeshua had previously told them that He is the Messiah and they did not believe Him. They simply wanted Him to die.
This is another example of a government not submitting to G-d’s authority. Such disobedience was foretold by Israel’s prophets in regard to His first coming, but in the End Times there will be a very significant change.
The persecution that the Jewish people will experience towards the end of this age, although displeasing to G-d; nevertheless, He will use it to humble Israel and cause them to seek the Messiah.
When all the world is submitting to the antichrist and going up to Jerusalem to make war with the Jewish people, Israel will demonstrate a repentant spirit and cry out for their Redeemer. Not only will Messiah Yeshua appear for His Second Coming and deliver Israel, but He will also purify and dedicate the Temple for worship during the Millennial Kingdom.
One learns this from the prophet Ezekiel chapter 43 and Daniel chapter 12. The reader is told that the Glory of HaShem will enter into the Temple once more and that “I will dwell in their midst forever!” (see Ezekiel 43:1-9). Obviously, G-d will only dwell in a Holy and Pure place. The foundation for understanding what will occur is revealed in Daniel’s words,
וּמֵעֵת הוּסַר הַתָּמִיד וְלָּתֵת שִקּוּץ שֹׁמֵם יָּמִים אֶלֶף מָּאתַיִם וְתִשְעִים ׃ אַשְרֵי הַמְחַכֶה וְיַגִי ע לְיָּמִים אֶלֶף
שְלֹש מֵאוֹת שְלֹשִים וַחֲמִשָּה׃
“And from the time the daily sacrifice was removed and the giving of the Abomination of Desolation, 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits and arrived to 1,335 days.”
Daniel 12:11-12
At the beginning of the final seven years of this age, the Temple will function; however, after three and a half years, the antichrist will enter the Holy of Holies and proclaim that He is G-d and the Messiah. This act will certainly profane and desecrate the Temple as the term the Abomination of Desolation reveals. Israel will reject the antichrist as Messiah and G-d and as a consequence of this, the time of Jacob’s Trouble will begin. Although HaShem is not the source of this persecution, it is clearly the response of the antichrist to his rejection by the Jewish people, and G-d can use this time of Israel’s hardship and suffering to prepare them for the Second Coming of Yeshua.
The prophet Zechariah speaks of a time after the appearing of the Messiah to deliver Israel from all the nations of the world.
This is a time of purification and there are hints that this time will begin on Yom Kippur, i.e. the Day of Atonement (See Zechariah 13:1-2). One must remember that on Yom Kippur the High Priest also cleanses (makes atonement) the Temple and its vessels (see Leviticus 16:14-20).
According to Daniel chapter 12, there is an additional period of time mentioned. The number that one should expect is 1,260 days. But, this additional period consists of 75 days, arriving at a total of 1,335 days. The reader is told, blessed is the one who makes it to this time. Why would this be? There is exactly 75 days between Yom Kippur and the beginning of the Festival of Chanukah. Chanukah celebrates both victory through HaShem’s deliverance and a dedicating of the Temple for a return to Biblically based worship. Such worship will indeed characterize the Millennial Kingdom. In fact, one should conclude that the Second Coming of Yeshua will take place, the remnant of Israel will repent and receive Him and the Gospel and then after the period of 75 days, the Millennial Kingdom will begin on Chanukah.
The Festival of Chanukah has great significance and should be studied and observed by those who are followers of Messiah Yeshua.
Dear friends, we are asking your special prayer for another precious couple, husband and wife Valeri and Valentina that now live in our shelter. They are also Olim Chadashim, (new Jewish immigrants) from the former Soviet Union. Usually, we receive the people coming to us straight from the airport, as they land in their new Home in Israel. But in the case of Valery and Valentina the situation is a little different. They have already been living in Israel for two years and thus are not in the category of the “new” Olim Chadashim, as are the majority of people we receive in this particular project.
The case of Valeri and Valentina is really unique and we have not seen many situations similar to that. At first, their life has not been any different from any other new immigrants coming to Israel. After their arrival they rented a small flat, began to learn Hebrew and went through many other routines that new immigrants do. But then Valeri received alarming news that his elderly mother who had remained behind suffered a stroke and urgently needed money for hospitalization. Valery has sent promptly all the money that he had to pay for his mother’s medical care.
Unfortunately, he had nothing left to pay to the landlord of the apartment where he and his wife lived. The landlord would not agree to the delay of the rent payment and evicted them from the apartment. Thus, Valeri and Valentina have found themselves homeless on the streets of Israel, in the middle of the summer heat, in a foreign country, without the language, without friends, and without any means of making a leaving. They had never experienced anything like that in their lives and were completely overwhelmed and crushed with this new reality. Many of our ministry friends and “clients”, especially those coming from the various homeless projects have experienced this situation at some stage in their life. But then it was always due to alcohol or drug abuse. This was not the case of Valeri and Valentina; this couple have never had any problem with drugs or alcohol and thus were absolutely devastated by the unexpected situation have found themselves in Israel. it is a much more difficult experience to bear this kind of reality being sober. The normal thing for the people in this situation would be: to wait at nights by the restaurant doors for the leftovers, search the trash bins for useful items, sleep in the park benches, use the sea and beach facilities for hygiene necessities etc.
This life style might even look attractive for a season to some young people, but Valery and Valentina were not young and were not healthy. This devastating experience brought them to a deep depression. The situation even worsened when they were robbed by the street hooligans of their few belongings. From that time, they began to sleep in turns trying to save their identity documents and passports.
The lack of sleep and rest had brought them to real despair. This existence felt unbearable to them to the point that these poor people begun to seriously think about suicide, as the only way to stop the misery they were living in. And thus, one day they decided to jump from the roof of a high building and had spotted the right skyscraper for this purpose. When they went to implement their decision, they found out that the door of the building was locked and only the residents of the building had access to it. It is the normal practice in these expensive buildings, but Valeri and Valentina did not know that. They just suddenly realized that Someone is in control of their lives and in everything that is happening to them, and that Someone must have another plan for them. They didn’t know how to approach Him, because they obviously had a very vague idea about G-d and His Word. And yet they did ask Him for help, in their own words, asking Him to get them out of the misery they were living in and change their lives for good…
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart — These, O God, You will not despise. Psalm 51:17 (NKJV)
And then it “just happened” that one of our local volunteers received a phone call from the social worker in Ashdod inquiring if we had a room for a homeless couple. We said that we “always have room for this” and within a couple of hours Valeri and Valentina were brought to us. It happened on the 30th of September, since then Valery and Valentina are living with us.
For the first days they were just sleeping and eating. By their own words they couldn’t believe their happiness that they are not waking up in the streets any longer…They have rested and tried to gain strength.
Valery is a very talented and intelligent man having many practical skills such as carpentry, renovation work and others. He began to work with his hands almost right away, driven by the old good habit – to earn his bread. But then he became very sick and was urgently brought to the local hospital by ambulance. His wife Valentina was also in a very poor physical condition, her feet were terribly swollen and she could hardly walk. Though fortunately her condition did not require hospitalization and she is under the doctor’s supervision and treatment while still staying in our shelter.
You would think that when the worst is behind, the physical condition would improve, but apparently living in the streets has taken a toll on Valery and Valentina and their bodies went through a sort of post-traumatic syndrome. Now that they felt safe, and stopped using all their physical strength for survival, their bodies relaxed and stopped fighting, the old wounds resurfaced and caused a lot of problems. For a long time, the doctors in the hospital could not stop the process of purulent inflammation in Valery’s body and we were even worried for his life at one time.
Baruch HaShem! – at last Valery’s condition has improved, doctors discharged him from the hospital and his wife Valentina has also felt better. Their health still requires a long period of rehabilitation, but it seems the crisis is over and we are praising the Lord for His goodness and grace.
Needless to say, that all this time we were witnessing to this precious couple about the providence of G-d, about His supervision that brought them to our shelter, about His Love and protection in the middle of various life trials and about His unfailing Love that alone gives joy and hope in this troubled world.
Dear Family, please pray with us for the full recovery for Valeri and Valentina, for the L-rd’s constant grace and protection in the life of these dear people, for His deep healing in their hearts and for their new birth and life in Messiah Yeshua.
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out”. John 6 :37
Dear Friends, we are asking your prayers for another exceptional couple, for the family of Stanislav and Julia. Stanislav and Julia are believers in the Messiah Yeshua, and a great blessing to our local team in Israel. They came from Russia many years ago and made Israel their new Home; learned Hebrew and fell in love with their new homeland. The Lord has blessed them with two beautiful healthy twin sons who are fifteen years old at the moment.
Everything would be nice and beautiful in their lives, except for one serious trial that Stanislav and Julia are facing daily.
Julia is paralyzed from the waist down as a result of a medical error that took place many years ago, back in Russia. Since then, while living in Israel, she underwent many complicated surgeries to help her medical condition, but to no avail so far. For all these years Stanislav has been a devoted caring husband and committed parent of their two sons, lovingly and diligently fulfilling his many duties as a father and at times, even, as a mother, considering Julia’s medical condition.
A few years ago, his health also has been under the serious attack. Stanislav was diagnosed with cancer, perhaps caused by the constant strain and worry for his family. That was another blow that they went through together and by the
L-rd’s strength have overcome it. Stanislav has gone through all the necessary treatment and Baruch HaShem, at this time he is absolutely free from cancer!
As we know, the health challenges often bring financial pressure to people’s lives. Though there is some help provided for the handicapped people in Israel by the social security system, it is usually not enough to meet many of life’s necessities, and Stanislav, Julia and family, like many others in the similar situation, are often in financial need.
This is how we get to know about them, we first heard about Stanislav and Julia from the municipality social workers who usually approach us in the most difficult cases, as they try to find an additional help for the needy people. Stanislav and Julia’s situation was indeed a very difficult one due to the extreme health challenges that both of them were facing at that time.
In the normal process of helping the poor, we would set an initial meeting that gives us a chance to pray for people, to witness to them and actually to discern what would be the best help in each particular case. As soon as we met Stanislav and Julia in person, we could clearly see that this courageous couple are not only dear people who need our help, but they are also our precious family in the Messiah Yeshua who are naturally and constantly immersed in His service. Since then, we consider them not only as people in need, but also an integral part of our local team in Israel towards whom we now have a double commitment.
“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:10
Both, Stanislav and Julia are a great blessing to everyone who know them and a significant help to our ministry in Israel. Is spite of their constant health challenge and various difficulties caused by it, they are truly endowed with the gift of encouragement and intercession. They are serving within the body of the Messiah with their fervent prayers and coordination. Stanislav and Julia are also members of various groups for disabled people, and thus, thanks to them, we have access to many people in crisis whom we can reach now with the practical help and with the Good News which, of course, has much more potential than just the physical aid that we are sharing with them.
Unfortunately, most people begin to seek G-d and His help only when they find themselves in crisis and in distress, but even then, this is perfectly used by the L-rd to reach many souls with His love, healing and forgiveness.
So, the help of Stanislav and Julia is truly irreplaceable for connection and coordination. As a part of the HLM team, Stanislav and Julia are well aware that all the practical help for the ministry comes from our brothers and sisters abroad who love Israel and seek to support the local poor and encourage the body of Israeli believers. At this time, they have asked if we could include a translation of a short message from them:
“Dear Body of the Messiah Yeshua outside of Israel!
We probably lack the right words to express all the appreciation and gratitude that overwhelm our hearts. For so long we have been waiting for the opportunity to contact you and thank you for all the support, help and care that we receive for our family. Most likely we will not see one another till we all meet in His presence in the Kingdom of our Messiah, but we just want you to know that we are surely blessed and encouraged by your love and care for us and for many other people here whom you haven’t met yet. It amazes us to realize that the L-rd would use the resources and help of His children, living in the places so different and distant from Israel, using all this to show His presence and provision for us here.
You make us feel the presence of the Messiah so clear, even though all of us have to go through the temporal life challenges while we are still here:
“Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the
inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a
moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”
2 Corinthians 4 :16-17.
Many blessings and thanks to you, dear Family!
Shalom and love from Stanislav and Julia, on behalf of the Zairman family and HLM team in Israel”
Dear Friends please pray with us for the healing and strengthening of Stanislav and Julia and their family, for the L-rd’s constant guidance and blessing in the life of this dear couple.
May the L-rd continuously and mightily use them for spreading His wonderful Light and His Gospel message among the people of Israel today.
Please remember in your prayers our ministry to the elderly. We continue to reach the older people within our community with hot meals, other practical help, but of course, most important, – we are seeking to reach them with the Gospel of our Messiah.
As we shared in the previous reports, this work has enormous importance as an effective, and at times, the only tool in reaching these precious people standing at the edge of eternity.
Many among these dear older people feel abandoned and lonely, many have found themselves completely unprepared to face this difficult season in life. And yet, even at this late stage of their life, so many of them are open and ready to receive the forgiveness, refuge and love of our gracious Messiah.
Please continue to pray for the L-rd’s guidance and blessing for this vital and urgent work!
“The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth”; Psalm 145: 18
Dear Family, we wish you all a joyful and happy Chanukah!
May the power of our Blessed Messiah, Yeshua, increase within you, spreading forth His wonderful healing and light!.
Holy Land Ministries 