ISRAEL SEES ALL-TIME HIGH IN EXPORTS

Israeli exports increased to about $140 billion in 2021 and hit a record high, an increase of close to 20% compared to about $114.3 billion in 2020, according to estimates by the Foreign Trade Administration at the Ministry of Economy and Industry.

For the first time in Israel’s economic history, exports of services exceed exports of goods with a 51% to 49% ratio, while the exports of goods are also on the rise.

Despite pandemic, Israel sees all-time high in exports
Industrial container yard at Haifa Port

The leading sectors in the export of goods are automation and electronic equipment, products of the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, and optical and medical equipment.

Israel’s top exporting destinations are the U.S., China, Netherlands, Turkey, and Germany.

The two most significant trends that contributed to the change in the balance of power between goods and services are a significant increase in the high-tech industries in Israeli exports – exports of programming services and research and development services that are not start-ups, which grew by 25% and 15% respectively, and the significant increase in transportation services exports that jumped this year by 138% percent. Exports resulting from the sale of start-up companies also jumped by 257% and these trends led to the overall growth of about 30% in the export of services.

The majority of exports, 39%, are directed to European markets, 33% to American markets, and about 25% to Asian markets.

Ohad Cohen, Director of Foreign Trade Administration at the Ministry of Economy and Industry, stated Monday that “the year 2021 will break records in Israeli exports and its components. Whether we reach the $140 billion threshold or not, this is an all-time high in exports, which was slightly halted in 2020 due to the Corona pandemic.”

He noted that the exporting sector showed “an impressive recovery” in late 2020 and even more so in 2021, both in the export of goods and services.

This nation which God established for His purposes to be a blessing to the world is being a blessing to the world in the development of high-tech products and services but sadly it will not fulfill God’s purpose until its Messiah Jesus returns to establish His Millennial Kingdom. In fact, we are told in God’s Word only one-third will survive the coming reign of the Antichrist.

In the whole land, declares the Lord ‘two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people, and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’” Zechariah 13:8-9

The prince-of-preachers Charles Spurgeon preached: “I think we do not attach sufficient importance to the restoration of the Jews. We do not think enough about it. But certainly, if there is anything promised in the Bible it is this. I imagine that you cannot read the Bible without seeing clearly that there is to be an actual restoration of the Children of Israel . . . For when the Jews are restored, the fullness of the Gentiles shall be gathered in; and as soon as they return, then Jesus will come upon Mount Zion with his ancients gloriously, and the halcyon days of the Millennium shall then dawn; we shall then know every man to be a brother and a friend; Christ shall rule with universal sway.”

ISRAEL IN THE MILLENNIUM

Jon Voight understands that Jeremiah, Ezekiel and many of the other O.T. prophets prophesied that God would restore Israel and that God’s people will once again produce wonderful wine, more so in the coming Millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

The following two Scriptures clearly outline the future of Israel with their Messiah, Jesus ruling and reigning over the nations of the world.

Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned and will cleanse them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.Ezekiel 37:21-23

At that time, declares the Lord, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people... Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit. For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim: ‘Arise and let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.’ For thus says the Lord: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’ Jeremiah 31:1, 5-7

Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’ For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more.Jeremiah 31:10-12

ALIYAH PROPHESIED PRIOR TO JESUS RETURN

Aliyah (immigration to Israel) surged in 2021, with the 27,050 new arrivals from across the globe representing a 30% increase over the previous year’s 21,820 Olim (immigrants), according to statistics released Wednesday by the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, and Nefesh B’Nefesh.

This past year also brought a record-breaking 4,000 Olim from the US, who arrived in Israel with the assistance of Nefesh B’Nefesh. Immigration from the US in 2021 constituted a 30% increase over 2020 and the highest annual number of Olim from the US since 1973. Another 400 Olim arrived this year from Canada, bringing the expected total of Olim from North America in 2021 to over 4,400.

The Aliyah numbers also show a 40% uptick in Aliyah from France this year compared to 2020, with the arrival of 3,500Olim, the highest number of arrivals from that country in the last four years.

Immigrants to Israel
“Olim (immigrants) are an incredible growth engine for the Israeli economy and are a national, economic, and moral powerhouse for the nation.”

Aliyah is facilitated by the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration and The Jewish Agency, together with Nefesh B’Nefesh, Ofek Israeli, The Jewish Federations of North America, Keren Hayesod, The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and friends of Israel from around the world.

Minister of Aliyah and Integration Pnina Tamano-Shata stated that “Aliyah continues to break records. Despite the pandemic and its limitations, Aliyah to Israel did not stop and we’re happy to welcome tens of thousands of Olim who chose to make Aliyah this year.

The Bible reveals God will regather the Jews from all the Nations and on Jesus’ return, with Him ruling and reigning, Israel will realise her destiny as head of the Nations.

The regathering began in 1948 when Israel was miraculously re-established as a nation. This was the first major prophesied “end-times” sign.

Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned and will cleanse them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.Ezekiel 37:21-23

The priest and prophet Ezekiel lived during the darkest days of Judah’s history: the seventy-year period of Babylonian captivity. The fact he wrote this prophecy at that time is proof positive this is the word of God.

PROOF GOD IS IN CONTROL OF NATIONS

In the episode of Keeping it Israel, Jeff Futers, Executive Director of First Century Foundations, talks to Stephen Briggs, a Christian Filmmaker who has an astounding comprehension of God’s Word and God’s faithfulness to Israel. Learn about Stephen’s new film, AMERICA AND THE ISRAEL EFFECT: BLESSING, CURSE OR COINCIDENCE – the newest film in a powerful series about God’s promises to “bless those who bless” and “curse those who curse” Israel.

I first met Stephen through our involvement with the International Christian Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) at an ICCC International Conference in Jerusalem. I think it was 2008, Stephen had just joined Hatikvah Films and Lance Lambert who produced and presented the first video in the series “Blessing Curse or Coincidence? The womb of the Kingdom of God on Earth” was a speaker at our conference. Every conference attendee received a copy of the first video in the series.

Israel’s existence is a reminder to the nations that God is in control of nations. The evidence is clear that God deals with those nations that curse Israel. Babylon, Persia, British Empire, and Germany to name some of the significant nations. Stephen covers this in-depth.

UN VOTES AGAINST TRUTH

The United Nations General Assembly recently adopted a resolution erasing Jewish ties to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. It was the most controversial of a set of three resolutions that were passed together by a vote of 129-11 with 31 abstentions.

The other resolutions blamed only Israel for the impasse in peace efforts and denounced Israel’s “occupation” of the “Syrian Golan.”

The text of the UNGA’s “Jerusalem resolution,” made no mention of the holy city’s ties to Judaism or Christianity. It referred to the Temple Mount only by its Arabic name, al-Haram al-Sharif. It “deplored” Israeli settlement activity in and around Jerusalem, and Israeli “acts of provocation and incitement” at the city’s holy site. The resolution also accused Israel of displacing Palestinians from homes in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan and conducting illegal excavations in the Old City.

The vote’s passage was a foregone conclusion. With 193 countries and no protective US veto power, the Palestinians enjoy what Israelis refer to as “an automatic majority.”

The US voted against the resolution, saying it was “morally, historically and politically wrong” for the UN to deny Jewish and Christian ties to the city. Britain abstained.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is millennial-israel.gif
The city will be surrounded by open country and for the housing of all the tribes of Israel… and the name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE.” Ezekiel 48:15–19,35

One of the primary weapons used to discredit the legitimacy of the Jewish state in its ancestral and indigenous homeland has been the denial of Jewish history and millennia-old Jewish sites and archaeology.

Most such denials are cheap—easily disproven lies levelled by corrupt Palestinian leaders and Arab “scholars.” The apex of the tactic is what Israeli American writer David Hazony calls “Temple Denial”—”a campaign of intellectual erasure …  aimed at undermining the Jewish claim to any part of the land,” which he compares in brazenness to Holocaust denial.

Since Palestinians have never had sovereignty or control in this land, their attacks on Israel’s legitimacy depend on such fake history. They’re forced to “prove” that Jews are foreign colonizers, and that Muslims and Arabs have been there since time immemorial.

Unfortunately for them, the mere presence of the Temple Mount and countless Jewish sites around Jerusalem—predating the Muslim invasion and Arab occupation—completely undermine these lies.

If only they knew what God has planned for Israel when Jesus reigns on earth during His Millennial Kingdom.

At the United Nations, there are 22 Arab countries and 57 Islamic states meaning that the Arab and Muslim world has an overwhelming majority in all multilateral forums. This is what is constantly referred to as the “automatic majority” against the Jewish state by Israeli leaders, and what has led to systematic discrimination in international bodies. Also, between half and two-thirds of the world’s natural resources originate in Muslim-majority countries. This is a powerful tool of persuasion and the reason why so many so-called Christain nations vote with the Muslim majority.

The second resolution, titled “The peaceful resolution of the question of Palestine,” put the sole blame for the lack of peace on Israel. The text reiterated previous resolutions labelling settlements as illegal and made no mention of Palestinian terror.

“Spurring a culture of hate and incitement against Israel is more important to Palestinian leaders than improving the quality of life of their own citizens. The Jewish blood has barely dried, and you have the audacity to single out Israel for violence in Jerusalem? Today, you will vote on three resolutions. Three resolutions that have one purpose and one purpose only: to demonize Israel,” Erdan said.

The votes came on the heels of the UN’s annual “Day of Solidarity With the Palestinians” on Nov. 29. That was the day in 1947 when the UN General Assembly endorsed the Partition Plan, a recommendation to divide British Mandate Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. The Jewish establishment accepted the proposal but the Arab world rejected it.

In other words, the UN was celebrating Arab rejectionism of the two-state solution.

The Partition Plan prompted Arab states to begin taking the earliest discriminatory measures against their Jewish citizens. That’s why Israel marks Nov. 29 as a day to recall the expulsion of more than 850,000 Jewish refugees from Arab lands.

POPE HAS NO UNDERSTANDING OF ISRAEL’S GLORIOUS FUTURE

The Pope is like the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’ day. Despite the 300 prophecies of Jesus first coming they could not make the connection that Jesus was their long-awaited Messiah. Likewise, despite there being 1800 O.T. and at least 200 N.T. prophecies of Jesus’ second coming to rescue Israel and establish His Millennial reign from a new Jerusalem, the Pope sides with Abbas pushing for a two-state solution. Moreover, he obviously has no concern for the Palestinian Christians.

And the Lord has declared today that you are a people for His treasured possession, as He has promised you, and that you are to keep all His commandments, and that He will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that He has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as He promised.” Deuteronomy 26:18-19

Since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, the Palestinian Christian community under PA jurisdiction has dwindled. Palestinian Christians complain of Muslim land theft, harassment of Christian women, Christian businesses being forced to pay protection money and discriminatory taxes, and frequent robberies and vandalization of churches. Christians also face kidnapping and forced conversions. They also accuse the PA justice system of providing no legal recourse.

Mahmoud Abbas Pope Francis
Pope Sides With Abbas Over Israel, Pushes for Palestinian State

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas visited the Vatican on Thursday where he had a private audience with Pope Francis.

A Vatican press release described the talks as “cordial” and called for renewed peace talks towards a two-state solution.

“With regard to the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, it was stressed that it is absolutely necessary to reactivate direct dialogue in order to achieve a two-state solution, also with the help of more vigorous effort on the part of the international community,” the statement said.

“Lastly, it was reiterated that Jerusalem must be recognised by all as a place of encounter and not of conflict and that its status must preserve its identity and universal value as a Holy City for all three Abrahamic religions, also through a special internationally guaranteed status,” it added.

The Vatican recognized “The State of Palestine” in 2013. Later that year, Abbas made waves during a Christmas message when he insisted that Jesus was a Palestinian. While Israel criticized Abbas’ remarks, church officials were strangely silent.

ARAB ISRAELI SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR

Hisham Abu-Ria is a courageous social entrepreneur, who deserves our attention and respect. As the highest-ranking Araba Muslim officer in the IDF, Hisham has stepped across political and ethnic boundaries to serve all Israeli citizens and is a powerful force advancing racial integration and peaceful coexistence in Israel. We see now, clearer than ever, that the Jews and Arabs in Israel were not doomed to live together. They were destined to live together. Read more about Hisham at https://britaravit.org.il/en

I am sure that Hisham’s story will touch and inspire you. It will enlighten you as to what Palestinians are taught about Israel and the Jews and how Hisham risked his life to do what he did. Please make sure that you share it with your friends. Please pray for Hisham’s salvation. What a story he would then have to tell.

JESUS WILL RULE THE NATIONS FROM ISRAEL

My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, it is coming and it shall be done,” declares the LORD God. “That is the day of which I have spoken” (Ezekiel 39:8).

When will God not allow His holy name to be profaned any more in Israel? Only after Jesus returns. When will God set His “glory among the nations”? When He establishes His kingdom (Millennial Kingdom) on this earth. When will the entire house of Israel come to know the Lord and experience a great outpouring of His Spirit? Only after the Second Coming of their Messiah.

What an amazing Scripture this is. God has unfinished business with Israel. The nation He established for His purposes. All the nations will know God is the Holy One of Israel. “Behold it is coming and it shall be done.”

And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgement which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them. And the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God from that day onward” (Ezekiel 39:21).

It is amazing the detail God revealed to Ezekiel about what He will do with Israel in the last days.

I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. Ezekiel 37:21-22

Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.Ezekiel 37:26-28

Look at this scripture which says unbelievers will learn why God has dealt harshly with Israel

And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.Ezekiel 39:23

And finally God explains He will pour out His Spirit upon the House of Israel when He has gathered them out from their enemies lands then Israel and the nations will know God is the Lord God of Israel.

When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord God.Ezekiel 39:27-29

In this post we have looked at what God revealed to Ezekiel. He revealed just as much if not more to Isaiah. It just confirms what was said to Ezekiel and the other prophets. Next post we will look at what Moses revealed to the nation about its future even before they went into the promised land.

Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:6

ISRAEL IS CENTRAL IN END TIMES PROPHECIES

When speaking of Israel’s time of suffering in the “latter days” (Deuteronomy 31:29) Moses specifically mentioned in Deut. 32:20 and 32:25 that God would hide His face from Israel during this time, and give them over to the power of the sword:

Then He said, “I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end shall be; for they are a perverse generation, sons in whom is no faithfulness”. Deuteronomy 32:20

It is certainly no coincidence that this is exactly what Ezekiel says will take place as a result of Gog’s invasion of Israel.

I hid My face from them; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword” Ezekiel 39:23

Ezekiel 38:10-13 and 39:10 also mention that as a result of Gog’s invasion, Israel will be “plundered” by her enemies,

The hostility against this small nation that God established for His purposes is escalating at an incredible pace as the following events indicate. Biblical “end times” prophecies are being fulfilled in our day. It is difficult to understand why so much of the church can’t see it.

Freshly inaugurated Iranian president Dr. Ebrahim Raisi, [infamously known as the Butcher of Tehran] hosted the leaders of various terror groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad during his first day in office Friday, assuring Iran’s continued support for groups seeking the destruction of Israel.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, a guest of honour at the event, was singled out for praise by Raisi. According to state-owned Iranian news agency Fars, Raisi reassured Haniyeh that Iran is committed to supporting the terror group.

Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hezbollah, on Saturday warned that the Israeli army would be destroyed in any future war with the Lebanon-based terrorist organization, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar news agency reported.

“Palestine has been and always will be the number one issue of the Muslim world,” Raisi said. “We’ve never had and will never have any doubt about this policy.”

It must be remembered what Haid Ghaemi, the executive director of the New-York based Centre for Human Rights in Iran, told AFP News Agency that “Raisi is a pillar of a system that jails, tortures, and kills people for daring to criticize state policies,” .

‘Victory for Palestine is near,’ Iran’s new president tells terror chiefs
New Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi hosts Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh (Twitter/IRAN GOV/Screenshot)

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, after his 12 years at the helm has been replaced by a precarious coalition that lacks coherence and leadership. Whereas Netanyahu was at all times focused on the dangers of a nuclear Iran, the new government appears hardly concerned about this threat. 

President Trump toasted the Iran nuke deal, and in the absence of those accords, Iran has been madly spinning centrifuges and taking steps toward becoming a nuclear nation. As well, the Biden administration appears to be influenced by the anti-Israel & pro-Iran philosophy of the former Obama regime
When we couple this with the exit of all U.S. and allied NATO forces from Afghanistan, as well as the withdrawal of American forces in the entire Mediterranean area, things are looking rather precarious for the nation of Israel.
In the news this week, Israeli Jets Struck Inside Syria for the second time this week
Things are all of a sudden looking very bad for the Jewish state, and if they were attacked right now, they could not expect any help from their powerful Western allies. Seldom has their position looked so lonely.
All of this and we have not even talked about the unprecedented global rise of anti-Semitism, which is breaking world records each year. It is incredible how quickly everything has changed!

Remember the saying; “Nature abhors a vacuum?” Well, when we connect all of the above factors, a massive hiatus has suddenly appeared in the Middle East that makes the State of Israel extremely vulnerable. Sadly, it is only going to get worse exactly as the Bible prophesies.

FURTHER PROOF JERUSALEM IS HOME OF THE JEWS

Palestinian protesters
Jews Have No Connection to Israel,’ Says Palestinian PM. Once again, July 9th, 2021, Palestinian leaders ignore proven historical facts and deny the Jewish people’s connection to their homeland.

The Western Wall Heritage Foundation and the Israel Antiquities Authority are enabling the public to view impressive new sections of one of one of the most magnificent public buildings uncovered from the Second Temple period. The discovery – the fruit of archaeological excavations recently conducted in the Western Wall Tunnels – will be part of the new route opened to visitors ahead of Rosh Chodesh Elul and Slichot (Penitential prayers). Part of the structure, to the west of Wilson’s Arch and the Temple Mount, was discovered and documented by Charles Warren in the nineteenth century, followed by various archaeologists in the twentieth century. Now that its excavation is complete, we know that it contained two identical magnificent chambers with an elaborate fountain between them. The walls of the halls and the fountain were decorated with a sculpted cornice bearing pilasters (flat supporting pillars) topped with Corinthian capitals. The decorative style of the building is typical of opulent Second Temple-period architecture. Mordechai Soli Eliav, Chairman of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation says, “It is exciting to reveal such a magnificent structure from the Second Temple period while we mourn the destruction of Jerusalem and pray for its restoration. These chambers are part of a new walk through the Western Wall Tunnels, where visitors will view fascinating finds and walk for the first time along the entire route among Second Temple-period remains that illustrate the complexity of Jewish life in Jerusalem between the Hasmonean and the Roman periods.” According to Dr. Shlomit Weksler-Bdolach, Excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “This is without doubt one of the most magnificent public building from the Second Temple period that has ever been uncovered outside the Temple Mount walls in Jerusalem. It was built in around 20–30 CE. The building, which apparently stood along a street leading up to the Temple Mount, was used for public functions – it may even have been the city council building where important dignitaries were received before entering the Temple compound and the Temple Mount. Visitors to the site can now envisage the opulence of the place: the two side chambers served as ornate reception rooms and between them was a magnificent fountain with water gushing out from lead pipes incorporated in the midst of the Corinthian capitals protruding from the wall. The excavation also uncovered the original massive stone slabs with which the ancient building was paved. The archaeologists believe that the guest rooms, which were also used for dining, contained wooden reclining sofas that have not been preserved. Reclining dining rooms were common in the Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman worlds from the fifth century BCE to the third–fourth centuries CE. They are known in the archaeological record from private homes, palaces, temples, synagogue complexes and civilian compounds. Dining or feasting while reclining is mentioned as early as the Book of Amos – in the first half of the eighth century BCE – when the prophet rebukes the people of the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel. In the late Second Temple period, before the Temple’s destruction, extensive changes made throughout the area included alterations to the building, which was divided into three separate chambers. In one of the chambers, a stepped pool was installed that was used as a ritual bath.” Shachar Puni, architect for the Israel Antiquities Authority’s Conservation Department explains, “The new route provides a better understanding of the complex and important site known as the Western Wall Tunnels, while emphasizing the extent of this magnificent building. It creates a new visitors’ route that passes through the building and leads to the spacious compound at the foot of Wilson’s Arch (one of the bridges leading to the Temple Mount), which was also excavated by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation and the Israel Antiquities Authority. By making the route accessible and opening it to the public, visitors are introduced to one of the most fascinating and impressive sites in the Old City of Jerusalem.”