Cheshvan is usually a quiet period in stark contrast to the preceding month and appears in some ways drab and hostile. However, that cannot be said of how things look in these times!
So many significant things have happened this week most notably with Bidens’ visit to Israel. Now that he is gone, a ground invasion of Gaza by the Israelis is imminent:
- During his visit, Biden gave Israel the green light to destroy Hamas.
- There is only so long Israel’s troops can be in the field and they have been on the border ready to do business for over 10 days.
- World opinion will eventually turn against Israel. It already has with the Hamas lie that Israel killed 500 people in a rocket attack on a hospital caused by an Islamic Jihad Rocket misfire. The media believed Hamas’s lies and ran with the fake story.
The soldiers are moving closer to Gaza and have evacuated their training areas. Almost 400,000 reserves have been called up by the Israeli Defense Forces to fight.
Things are hotting up also in the north of Israel. Yesterday, the Ministry of Defense announced the evacuation of Kiryat Shmona, a city of 24,000 residents. This is set against a backdrop of escalating threats: Israel has already evacuated areas surrounding the Gaza border, including a large part of the 30,000-resident city of Sderot. With yesterday’s evacuation, Israel now has over 80,000 internal refugees. More than 300,000 Israelis (in a country of 9 million) have been evacuated from their homes on our southern and northern borders.
And on the domestic front, following the aftermath of the Hamas massacre on October 7th so many children are left as orphans without parents. Farms have been left without their farmers. Cattle left without their caretakers. Crops left with no one to tend to them or begin planting the next season creating a secondary crisis that most people are not fully aware of.
95% of Israel’s food supply is said to be grown and made domestically. The lack of harvesting in the north and south right now could clearly have a devastating effect on Israel’s food supply in the coming winter months.
And now other fronts are threatening to open up from the Houthis in the south and the north-east with Iraqi militias controlled by Iran may soon join by attacking Israel from the north.
What relevance do these things have with the month of Cheshvan? Few biblical events occurred during the month of Cheshvan except for Noah’s Flood (‘Bool’) on Cheshvan 17 that ended the following year on Cheshvan 27.
This is a month where Israel’s farmers have traditionally been fully dependent upon God to supply them with rain for their crops. And this is even more compounded by Israel’s current military situation. Even as the physical has a parallel in the spiritual realm, Israel is being faced with the need to seek God’s face to supply all their needs and deliver them from the spectre of another famine in the land as in the time of Joseph.
The month of Cheshvan and rain are inseparable. We must pray for God’s Spirit to rain down to form rivers of Living Water that will refresh , encourage and provide Israel with supernatural abundance which we will share about in more later…
Parsha Noach (Noah / Rest) Gen. 6:9–11:32; Isa. 66:1–24; Lk 1:5–80
By Raphael ben Levi
It Once Happened… A story by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn’t do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
The question we need to ask ourselves is which person we represent? Or maybe we are all some of each? Yeshua posed a similar challenge to His disciples when He said to them, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].” (Matt.16:24)
Sadly, we are in a world captivated by blame-shifting based upon a platform of lies and fake news. We saw it just this week when Hamas accused Israel of bombing a hospital in Gaza that was actually the botched work of the Islamist Jihad terrorist group. Immediately it occurred the following happened:
- Many countries jumped onto the bandwagon condemning Israel for the attack and without hesitation bought into the Palestinian false narrative.
- Even when it was proved that Israel was not responsible they emphatically denied it – exchanging the truth for a lie.
In this week’s parasha we read about a man named Noah who was “…a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.” (Gen.6:9)
Only one person stood between God and humanity’s annihilation. His name was Noah, “…a just man, perfect in his generations, and walked with God” in a world filled with evil (Gen. 6:9). Noah could have assimilated to the standards of the world, but instead he and his family were saved in an ark which took 120 years to build. Throughout that period, he received constant ridicule for constructing a ship in the Sahara Desert! After all, there had never been rain prior to the Flood. When we stand for righteousness, we will always be mocked and ridiculed, even from those who call themselves ‘Christians.’
Noah (rest/comfort) was righteous and pure in the sight of God (the only way one can obtain rest/peace with God). He had no-one to share fellowship with. The Bible tells us that he was one person in a world of 10 billion people filled with every manner of evil and corruption: “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.”
Yeshua described the end times as characterised by the ‘Days of Noah’. And He said something easily overlooked. In Matt 24 He warned that before the Flood people, “… went on eating and drinking, taking wives and becoming wives, right up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they didn’t know what was happening until the Flood came and swept them all away. It will be just like that when the Son of Man comes………”
From this we are warned by Yeshua to prepare well, for just as the Flood came suddenly after 120 years, so it will be when the Son of Man returns, (24:37-44) God has called each one of us as with Noah to stand against the flow of ungodliness and walk in faith and obedience.
The NAR today preaches something totally unbiblical, so obviously apparent, that everything in the world needs to get better as a prerequisite before Yeshua can return to usher in the Millennium. In fact, it’s patently obvious that the very opposite is happening which Yeshua clearly warned about in the Olivet Discourse. And this needs to be a wakeup call for many. The sin of the Laodicean Church in Rev 3 was spiritual apathy caused by wrong doctrine.
As believers, we must be aware that we live in era of mass deception fuelled by social media that Islamic terrorists take full advantage of and the world eagerly embraces.
It’s an amazing thing that unregenerate humanity is blind to the truth and eagerly buys into a pathological anti-Semitic hatred of the Jewish people at a level unprecedented in history. But worse than this is when it’s promoted within the church among those who call themselves “Christians.” Those who were quick to keep silence at the terrorist massacre on Simchat Torah were equally quick to falsely condemn Israel at the drop of a pin! As it has been said, “Lies can travel throughout half of the earth before truth even puts on a shoe (especially when that shoe is Jewish.)”
It is an easy thing as we see unravelling before our eyes how fickle the world is. It was the same throughout history with the crusades, pogroms, blood libels, massacres, the Holocaust and now maybe we are seeing the same thing unravelling. We shouldn’t be surprised since the Word of God clearly foretold that these things would be in the end times.
And so, even as today countries are generally supporting Israel’s right to defend itself against an unplaceable enemy, tomorrow may be entirely different – like a little child with extreme mood swings! This is how the Bible describes things will be in the end times that will play out will leading to Yeshua return.
The word HAMAS in Arabic is an acronym meaning “Islamic resistance movement.” As an Arabic word it means “zeal, strength or bravery.” But in Hebrew there is a similar sounding word but with a very different meaning translated in the English as “destruction.” You see, what the enemy deems good – strong, brave, and worth being zealous for in God’s sight will inevitably lead to death and destruction. As the prophet Isaiah said, “They call what is good evil and evil good.” (Isa. 5:20). This is the great deception, but it’s something that the world at the time of Noah had bought into and it’s no different today, even where perpetrating bold-faced lies is considered honourable and honed to perfection. The bombing of the Baptist Hospital in Gaza is a classic example.
Let’s not forget that God’s righteous indignation in the face of evil, His judgement and wrath, against man’s inhumanity against man – against this backdrop it is not a pretty sight! He destroyed all of humanity, preserving only Noah and his family.
Some people are asking how a loving God could allow such evil to occur or take such drastic action against sin? It’s a common thread running throughout the Tanakh especially in the Psalms. And without examining this question in any detail I want to just make one important point that God is always fully in control and active behind the scenes even when it seems not so. The most poignant example is found in the Book of Esther when the annihilation of the entire Jewish people seemed imminent. But God…
God’s Hand is visible behind the scenes at every twist and turn so we might learn to read between the lines of our lives while still acknowledging His right to keep things concealed. This is what the psalmist discovered amid the darkness as he humbly came before God’s presence, broken and desperate. (Ps.73)
Noah built an ark, amid the continual ridicule and contempt from those around him for over 100 years. Even Noah himself must have felt downcast and discouraged at times. That’s the cost of discipleship. No-one can wear this mantle without it. Although many are called few are chosen because few are willing to pay the price.
Peter wrote that, “Since Yeshua suffered in his body [in bodily form], arm yourselves with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.”) (1Pet.5:1)
And in the Book of James, we read “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial, for having stood that test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
And here is God’s promise in moments like this: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. when you walk through the fire, you will not be burnt; the flames will not set you ablaze.” (Isa. 43:2)
Trusting God may appear absurd when everything seems to dictate otherwise, but how we deal with suffering reveals our pedigree.
“By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” (Heb.11:7) Every time we trust God against the flow of conventional wisdom or political correctness, or fierce opposition from without and within, we become a hero of faith!
Yeshua stated that the end times would be like the ‘Days of Noah.’ Before the Flood commenced, people were “… eating and drinking, taking wives and becoming wives, (same sex and trans-marriages) right up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they didn’t know what was happening until the Flood came and swept them all away. It will be just like that when the Son of Man comes…” Yeshua warned, so we must be fully prepared and ready for “…the Son of Man will come when you are not expecting him. (Vs 37-44)
God urges us to be always well prepared for His return which can be very challenging. Amid the current situation in Israel, Ben Shapiro observed that: “watching the news since October 7 is like watching all the Jew-hating history condensed into a 12-day period: Holocaust-level pogrom, Holocaust denial, blood libel, assurance by “all the right people” that the Jews ought not defend themselves.”
I shared with our Mekudeshet family a few days ago that despite many who feel battle worn we are nonetheless called at such a time as this to be Watchmen on the Walls. “He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps” and we too must keep alert and sober in these perilous times.
From a different perspective, God is faithful to His covenant promises and nothing can distract or deflect from His eternal purposes that will ultimately lead to Israel’s full salvation. What an honour and privilege that we can be a part in it all and play a vital role in these end times as we all prepare for His return!
Are you feeling weary? Let’s place our hope in the God of all hope who renews our strength to mount up with eagle’s wings! Run and not be weary, walk and not faint! (Isa. 40)
We gather as those of Gideon’s army; few in number but strong in heart with our “swords “in one hand and a shofar in the other!
The Jewish people survive and prosper due to God’s faithfulness to His covenant promises. “Am Yisrael Chai!” Struck down but not destroyed!
“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor My covenant of peace be removed” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.” (Isa.54:10)
- Pray for our military leaders to have God’s plan and not man’s, as they enter Gaza.
- Pray for safety, an angelic canopy, over the people of Israel and especially the IDF forces going into Gaza.
- Pray for those who have been taken hostage for their safe return.
- Isa.54:10 “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you!”
- Pray for Hamas members to have supernatural visitations of Yeshua.
- “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May they be secure who love you!” (Ps.122:6)
- God promised that He will make a new covenant with the house of Israel in which the law will be written on their hearts. Each one will know God and the Land will no longer be plundered (Jer.31:31-38)
- All that is happening points to the need for the Jewish people to embrace their Jewish Messiah: Yeshua. Only then can they experience true peace.
- YESHUA has to take His rightful place in the hearts of the Jewish people and only then will the kingdom of Israel be restored with Yeshua’s return when He takes His rightful place on the throne of David.
- Pray for Israel’s salvation “For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be still, until her righteousness shines forth like dawning, And her salvation as a blazing torch.” Isai.62:1 God is calling many watchmen in this hour to pray and intercede “…all the day and all the night we will not be silent nor take rest, and give Him no rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth” Isa.62:6-7
- Pray that the Body of Believers would take opportunity to comfort all those who mourn and instil hope for those who are fearful and broken-hearted.
