Dear Family in the Messiah Yeshua! Greetings and blessing from your brothers and sisters at “Holy Land Ministries in Israel”!
We are pleased to be able to send you this latest HLM Newsletter detailing some of our work in Israel and beyond. We value your prayer support for the work and for Israel in general and hope that the following items will prove useful.
EDITORIAL by Steve Chappell – HLM board member U.K.
Israel is getting ready to mark the holiday of Purim, which will be celebrated this year starting on the evening of Friday 14th March 2025. The relevance and significance of this celebration will be even more pronounced for those in Israel this year. Purim just like Hanukkah celebrates God’s deliverance of His people from a much stronger enemy, a situation still current in our days.
At the time I write this Israel is in the 515th day of its war against the forces of Islamist terror. In Israel the situation continues to be tense . This was made no better by the shocking news of the brutal murders of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons K’fir and Ariel. Intensified as this was by the shameful and undignified way that there remains were treated by the terrorists and “civilians” in Gaza at the transfer.
This all affects the ministries of those like HLM who are trying to spread the light and love of Messiah in Israel and beyond.
But it seems it is not just Israel that is experiencing turmoil and tension. The whole world seems to sliding into a sort of madness. What with dramatics in the Oval Office and silent prayer being outlawed in the UK (my home country) and the old Judeo-Christian morality being replaced by a man-made system of ethics in which “light has become darkness and darkness light” (Isaiah 5:20-24).
I am often reminded these days of a prophecy in Isaiah that foretells a time when God will remove His fury from His people Israel and place it on the nations who were against His people. Maybe we are seeing something like it now.
“Therefore please hear this, you afflicted,
And drunk but not with wine.
Thus says your Lord,
The Lord and your God,
Who pleads the cause of His people:
“See, I have taken out of your hand
The cup of trembling,
The dregs of the cup of My fury;
You shall no longer drink it.
But I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you,
Who have said to you,
‘Lie down, that we may walk over you.’
And you have laid your body like the ground,
And as the street, for those who walk over.”
(Isaiah 51:21-23 New King James Version)
Please continue to pray for the successful conclusion of this war and for the peace and prosperity of Jerusalem and all Israel and for the safety and security of all Jewish people throughout the world in this time of rising anti-semitism.
Some Thoughts on Purim
The following article on Purim is from our local rabbi in Israel, a dear brother in the Lord Yeshua and partner in our work.
בס״ד
Purim 5785
When one learns how to understand the Word of G-d, it becomes a most informative source of wisdom and truth. The villain in the Scroll of Esther is of course Haman. This man was full of pride and desire to be honoured by other people; rather than him realising that G-d created humanity in order for Him (G-d) to be honoured. One reads in Esther chapter 3, that the King promoted Haman above the seats of all the other cabinet officials. The King also required that all those who were seated at the King’s gate bend the knee and bow down to Haman. However, Mordecai, being Jewish and knowing that one should only bend the knee and bow to G-d, would not honour Haman in this manner.
The other servants of the King accused Mordecai of transgressing the King’s command and said this to Mordecai day after day. This constant reminding of his “guilt” was to try to intimidate Mordecai to turn away from the commandments of G-d and put a human King above the King of Kings. Finally, these servants told Haman about Mordecai’s Jewishness to see if Haman would tolerate Mordecai’s obedience to the One True G-d. It is very significant that these servants wanted to see if the words of Mordecai would stand, because Mordecai had told them that the reason why he would not honour Haman was that he was Jewish and it was against the Law of G-d.
When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bend his knee before him, nor bow to him, he became full of hot anger against Mordecai. However, Haman thought it was too small of thing just to kill Mordecai alone; rather he wanted to kill all the Jewish people once he learned who the people of Mordecai were. The text states, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews which were in all the provinces of the kingdom of the King Achashverosh (see Esther 3:6).
Although most of the Church does not understand the role of Israel, both the Land and the people, in G-d’s plan to establish His Kingdom, Satan certainly does and throughout human history he has attempted to destroy the Jewish people as a way of thwarting G-d’s plan to establish His Kingdom. In the Scroll of Esther, we simply read about another such plan. The One True G-d is omniscient and can never be defeated. Haman’s intentions were not a surprise to G-d and when examining the next verse it becomes clear what G-d intends to do.
בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן, הוּא-חֹדֶשׁ נִיסָן, בִּשְׁנַת שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה, לַמֶּלֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ: הִפִּיל פּוּר הוּא הַגּוֹרָל לִפְנֵי הָמָן, מִיּוֹם
לְיוֹם וּמֵחֹדֶשׁ לְחֹדֶשׁ שְׁנֵים-עָשָׂר–הוּא-חֹדֶשׁ אֲדָר.
In the first month, it is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of the King Achashverosh, one cast a pur, it is a lot before Haman from day to day and month to month it is the twelfth month, the month of Adar. Esther 3:7
This verse reveals how the G-d of Israel can take what is evil and turn it into good. This fact says a great deal about the sovereignty of G-d. The sovereignty of G-d is not harmed because there are things which take place which are against His will. G-d has created this world and within this world there is evil. What do the Holy Scriptures mean when the word evil רע appears in a Biblical text? Evil is simply something which is against the will of G-d. Unfortunately, this word appears frequently throughout the Scriptures and is rendered with a variety of different words which conceal the fact that the word which is actually appearing is the word evil. It is because G-d is sovereign that only He is able to take what is evil and make it good, i.e. something which is in accordance with His will. The verse which clearly teaches this is found in Romans 8:28,
οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν τὸν θεὸν πάντα συνεργεῖ εἰς ἀγαθόν, τοῖς κατὰ πρόθεσιν κλητοῖς οὖσιν.
“But we know that for the ones who love G-d everything works together for good, for the ones, according to (His) purpose being called.”
There are several things which appear in the Biblical language which are lost in translation. First, the word “know”, which begins the verse, is in the Greek perfect tense. The implication of this means that we (believers) have known, do know, and will always know (into the future) the truth which is being revealed in this verse. Secondly, the truth of this verse is not for all who believe, but specifically those whose faith is rooted in their love for G-d (for the ones who love G-d). The concept of love in the New Covenant involves a giving or a willingness to make personal sacrifices so that the will of G-d will be fulfilled. Thirdly, everything will indeed work together for good only for the ones who are called and are committed to His purposes. This is a key aspect of this verse. There are many believers who live out their lives, but who are not truly committed to the purposes of G-d. For those individuals, they will not experience G-d acting in order to turn all things into His will for them.
Returning now to Esther 3:7, this verse shows that despite Haman’s success of getting the King to agree with his evil plan, and choosing the date in which to carry out his plan, G-d intended something very different. Again, one reads in Esther 3:7,
בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן, הוּא-חֹדֶשׁ נִיסָן, בִּשְׁנַת שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה, לַמֶּלֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ: הִפִּיל פּוּר הוּא הַגּוֹרָל לִפְנֵי הָמָן, מִיּוֹם
לְיוֹם וּמֵחֹדֶשׁ לְחֹדֶשׁ שְׁנֵים-עָשָׂר–הוּא-חֹדֶשׁ אֲדָר.
In the first month, it is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of the King Achashverosh, one cast a pur, it is a lot before Haman from day to day and month to month it is the twelfth month, the month of Adar.
The first month is Nisan, in which G-d redeemed His people from the slavery to Pharaoh and brought them out of Egypt and eventually into the Promised Land. The fact that one began to cast lots to determine when to carry out Haman’s evil plan reveals to the reader that G-d will use this evil plan to bring about redemption, i.e., the meaning of Passover which occurred in the first month. Similarly, the fact that the month of Adar, the twelfth month, was chosen is of great significance, as the number twelve relates to the people of G-d. Hence, when one properly understands Esther 3:7 it conveys to the reader that although Haman purposed this day to exterminate the Jewish people, G-d, in His providence, will actually use this date and the evil plan which was to be carried out as the means to bring about redemption for His people.
The sovereignty of G-d should only be understood as HaShem’s unique ability to in the end, bring about the perfect fulfilment of His will, regardless of what humanity may plan or may do which is in conflict with the will of G-d. It is because G-d is sovereign that believers can be assured that G-d will indeed succeed in bringing about the establishment of His Kingdom. Within the Scroll of Esther, Haman is called צֹרֵר הַיְּהוּדִים “The Enemy of the Jews” (see Esther 3:10). The word for “enemy” is this verse צֹרֵר, is also used to denote the antichrist in the Hebrew New Covenant. This fact should give the reader great encouragement.
The Scroll of Esther is revealing that in the same way that wicked Haman’s evil plan was not successful, rather G-d used it in the end to bring about victory for His people, so too in the last days the antichrist will not be victorious. It is important for us to remember that upon the very gallows which Haman had intended to hang Mordecai, Haman was in fact hung (see Esther 7:10). In addition to Haman being hung, one also reads,
ז וְאֵת
פַּרְשַׁנְדָּתָא {ס} וְאֵת
דַּלְפוֹן, {ס} וְאֵת
אַסְפָּתָא. {ס} ח וְאֵת
פּוֹרָתָא {ס} וְאֵת
אֲדַלְיָא, {ס} וְאֵת
אֲרִידָתָא. {ס} ט וְאֵת
פַּרְמַשְׁתָּא {ס} וְאֵת
אֲרִיסַי, {ס} וְאֵת
אֲרִידַי {ס} וְאֵת
וַיְזָתָא. {ס} י עֲשֶׂרֶת
בְּנֵי הָמָן בֶּן-הַמְּדָתָא, צֹרֵר הַיְּהוּדִים–הָרָגוּ; וּבַבִּזָּה–לֹא שָׁלְחוּ, אֶת-יָדָם. יא בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, בָּא מִסְפַּר הַהֲרוּגִים בְּשׁוּשַׁן הַבִּירָה–לִפְנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ.
“And Parshandata, Dolphin, Aspata, Parata, Adalia, Aridata, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizata. The ten sons of Haman, the son of Hamdta the enemy of the Jews they killed, but did not stretch forth their hand in plundering. On that day, came the number of the ones killed in Shushan the capital before the king.”
It is later on in this chapter, in order to show the shame of the ten sons of Haman, that they were hung also on the gallows.
וַתֹּאמֶר אֶסְתֵּר, אִם-עַל-הַמֶּלֶךְ טוֹב–יִנָּתֵן גַּם-מָחָר לַיְּהוּדִים אֲשֶׁר בְּשׁוּשָׁן, לַעֲשׂוֹת כְּדָת הַיּוֹם; וְאֵת עֲשֶׂרֶת בְּנֵי-הָמָן, יִתְלוּ עַל-הָעֵץ. יד וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ לְהֵעָשׂוֹת כֵּן, וַתִּנָּתֵן דָּת בְּשׁוּשָׁן; וְאֵת עֲשֶׂרֶת בְּנֵי-הָמָן, תָּלוּ.
“And Esther said, if concerning the King it is good, it will be given also tomorrow for the Jews who are in Shushan to do as the decree today; and the ten sons of Haman will be hung upon the gallows. The King said it shall be done thus and the decree was given in Shushan and the ten sons of Haman were hung. Esther 9:13-14
The celebration of Purim should be for the believer a great testimony concerning the faithfulness of G-d to bring victory to His people in spite of who the enemy might be, even if it is the antichrist.
May you have a meaningful observance of Purim!
Outreach to the Elderly
Thanks to your continued support we have been able to continue our work with the elderly and holocaust survivors in Ashqelon and Beersheva. These vulnerable people are not only grateful for the material support they receive but also the contact with our workers as many of them find themselves isolated from loved ones.
The following is from Julia who works for HLM with the elderly in Ashqelon
“This is a photo of our dear friend Leon.
Leon, is 87 years old, a Holocaust survivor, who is now suffering from chronic skin inflammation.
We visit him on a regular basis and kindly ask you to pray for physical relief for Leon, and most importantly, that he may accept the gift of Yeshua into his heart and open his soul to repentance and the great mercy of our Lord!”
“This is our dear friend Liza, she is 94 years old, and I visit her every week.
Liza survived the Holocaust, and she greatly values living in Israel.
When I ask Liza how to pray for her, she only asks that we prayer for the soldiers and for our team.”
We mentioned in our previous newsletter the need for a Russian speaking volunteer or volunteers with a pastoral / evangelical gifting to serve the spiritual needs of our elderly wards.
It appears that the LORD may be answering our prayers.
Aleksy Eropkin, a Russian speaking pastor- evangelist will be visiting HLM from the 4th of March with the purpose of establishing pastoral care to our wards in Beer Sheva and Ashqelon.
This may lead to a team of volunteers who will serve for 3 months at a time in this capacity.
Please pray for the LORD’s direction and blessing.
HLM Partners in Kirgistan
In Kirgistan our partners started an outreach to the elderly in their locality with practical help from HLM.
“Amir” (not his real name) and his wife and their fellow believers continue to minister to the local orphanage and have been able to provide a counter to the negative image of Israel in the predominantly Muslim majority area by teaching the children about Israel and the Messiah of Israel in an age-appropriate way.
Please pray that the Lord will continue to guide, direct and bless their efforts.
HLM Partners in India
In India Pastor Chandra continues to reach out to the poor and needy with a regular soup kitchen.
He is now using the teachings of our local rabbi and using them as discipleship materials for those coming to faith in Messiah. He is now able to teach from the Jewish roots of the faith to counter any anti-semitic bias new believers may have.
Please pray for the effective translation of the teaching materials into the local language and that many would be blessed as they mature in the faith.
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Holy Land Ministries 