Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you. (Psalm 122:6)

You know… I’m not a republican, nor a democrat, nor a capitalist, nor a socialist. Nope, I’m none of those. I am a Monarchist in wait for my King to return. When we pray for the peace of Jerusalem we are not praying for peace as the world sees it. It’s not a “Kumbaya” let’s all get a long and be “diverse” hippy sense of peace. Nope. You see, that type of peace is a peace that is unobtainable. You know why? Because of us.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. (Matthew 15:18–19)

There is only one way that the world will know peace. It is when the King (Jesus) returns. He is coming back to Jerusalem and in that day will sit on David’s throne in the Millennium Kingdom.

The Lord has sworn in truth to David; He will not turn from it: “I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body. (Psalm 132:11)

Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, (Acts 2:30)

Therefore, when we pray for the peace of Jerusalem we are truly praying for the return of Jesus.

HE is coming again not to save the church:

Those of the “church” that are truly born again, are already saved. Though we might face persecution and death at the hands of the wicked ones, we nevertheless are saved. There are far worse things that happen to men than dying.

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

If indeed you are truly HIS, then death and calamities of this world are moot.

As a soldier that served in a combat arms role, there was a saying. Do not consume yourself with fear of being killed, it will cripple you. Accept the fact that you are already dead, and then you will function as a soldier must.

As saved believers, we must understand that we are already born again into new life, eternal life. The sooner you realize you will dwell forever in the presence of Almighty God, then you will realize whatever the world will do to you is meaningless and you will function as a servant of The Messiah should.

Even if a moderate time of peace and stability affords me a death of old age, my body nevertheless is going to die anyways.

All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. (Ecclesiastes 3:20)

And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. (Romans 8:10)

Yeah, but what about those raptured? Even then the body is transformed. The old corruptible flesh is no more, in a sense the old body is dead to you.

HE is coming again to save the House of Israel:

In that day The LORD will remember His covenant HE made with Jacob (Israel).  “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. (Zechariah 12:10)

Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. (Revelation 1:7)

And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.” Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (Romans 11:26–29)

This is what we pray for when praying for the peace of Jerusalem.

Does this mean we should not pray for peace now in Israel? Or for that matter peace anywhere else in the world.

By no means, NO! We DO need to intercede and pray concerning this current war in Israel. We need to Pray that the evils of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran (Yes Iran has fingerprints all over this) are defeated. We need to pray for the lost souls Israeli as well Gazan to come to saving knowledge of Jesus. We need to pray without ceasing as the Word tells us.  pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. (1 Thessalonians 5:17–20)

My dear friend Avner (an Israeli follower of Yeshua, living 25.5 miles away from Gaza) recently penned:

How should we then pray?

As tanks begin to roll, here are some bullet points to be praying about:

• Pray for ‘Shock and awe’ to be successfully carried out by the IDF to thwart the years of planning that Hamas has done – tunnels, mines, commando teams whose job is to kidnap IDF soldiers, and to even make off with their dead bodies. Davidic divine strategies as in Psalm 144:1: “Blessed be YHVH my rock, Who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle!”

• Pray for clarity of strategy, purpose and resolve for Israel’s leaders to deal a final death-blow to Hamas in Gaza – total and unconditional surrender of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and total removal from Gaza for them both

• Pray for revelation to Israel’s leaders that YHVH Himself gave Gaza to the tribe of Judah  (see Joshua 15:20-47) and that this is Israel’s true biblical inheritance. Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s disengagement under strong American pressure was key to leading us into this horrific situation. Here is a quote from 2005 – during the Israeli disengagement from Gaza – by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who warned Israel that disengaging from Gaza was not enough; the entire West Bank needed to be handed over to the PLO/Hamas: “Because the real point about Gaza is not to stop with Gaza. The President has been clear, we’ve been clear with the Israelis that it cannot be Gaza only” (U.S. Department of State Office of the Spokesman, Shannon, Ireland; June 17, 2005. Press briefing by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the traveling press en route to Shannon, Ireland June 17, 2005)

• Pray for the leaders of your nation to receive a revelation of God as the Captain of the armies of Israel (see 1 Samuel 17:45): “But David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a saber, but I come to you in the name of YHVH of armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.’”

• Pray for minimal loss of life on all sides except for Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

• Pray for revelation and clarity to be imparted by the God of Israel to the world intelligence community who have not yet understood what jihad is all about and are fogged as to how to deal with it decisively

• Pray that God would hold back a regional war involving Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, Turkey, the Yemenite Houthis and other superpowers

• Pray for the physical rescue of the many Israelis (perhaps over 200, including babies) kidnapped by Hamas

• Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth

Avner Boskey Newsletter 10/21/2023

The prophetic clock is ticking. Get up off your backsides and get out in the world and share the Gospel! This after all, is what you are commanded to do. The hour is getting late.

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:37–38)

Get to work!

Sha’alu Shalom Yerushalayim

Brian