March 27, 2007

8 Nissan, 5767

Dear Praying Friends,

Hang on…the ride is not over yet.

On our first trip to Israel in 1989 God called us to make aliyah and gave us an experience, or I should say Yonit had an experience, that left us with a clear indication of some of what was in store for us in the days ahead. 

The unfinished staircase going up to the room where we slept had neither door nor guard.  A thin sheet of wood was laid over the opening to give us privacy.  Without thinking, Yonit walked across the room to where I was, stepped on the wood sheet, and fell through to the floor below, bouncing down the hardwood stairs.  By God’s grace she sustained only four large bruises but no broken bones.  So we asked the Lord, “Why, at the beginning of our first trip to Israel, did He allow this happen?”  His answer was immediate, straight and clear:  “The battle here is very real.  Test every step.”  

Though many times we have fallen short of following the directive of the second part of the statement, the reality of the first part has been proven again and again.  What are we to think as we fall into all manner of trials?  In the past, when we heard of friends or others being tested and challenged, the first thing we asked (to ourselves usually) was, is there a door open?  There must be something that has given the enemy entrance.  Can you relate to this?  The tendency to search for human responsibility for everything that goes wrong is very natural and very burdensome.  Isn’t this what Job’s friends were doing?

From the moment of our immigration 15 years ago, we have rarely had a day when we were not aware of the battle going on in the spirit over the land.  For almost the last ten years, since we entered into the realm of worship and warfare over territory controlled by princes of darkness, the nature of our struggle has intensified.  It was like going from an aerial war to a ground engagement.  Following along with that imagery, the last two years, really since we moved to Nes Harim, has been like hand-to-hand combat and the last six months has been a one-to-one wrestling match from morning to night.  (Shades of our father Jacob and the Angel….)

You who have been walking along with us, have you wondered what was going on?  We surely have.  This is such a basic question.  How do we explain all the “bad” things that happen?  How does the enemy get in?  If God is good, loving, and Lord over all, it can’t be His doing.  It must be our fault.  If that is true, then we will have no assurance or rest in our souls until we are without spot or blemish…in other words, for the rest of our earthly sojourn.  Beloved, we maintain that the Blood of the Lamb has covered our sin and unless we openly rebel and knowingly reject God’s word, the enemy has no right to touch us except that God draws him in for a specific purpose.  It may not make sense to our human minds, but God’s ways are not our ways.

All that being said and true, we are weary from this battle.  We are just normal ordinary folks.  No sooner did we cry out for a break (in yesterday morning’s prayer meeting) than another wave hit.  The testing was not yet complete.  Last night, as Yonit was at a weekly woman’s gathering in Jerusalem, the window of our car was smashed and Yonit’s cell phone that was inadvertently left in the car was stolen.  Is this for real?  In just the last few months our van was stolen, our house broken into and our car window broken.  (At least the events have decreased in the degree of financial damage.)  This one released such a cry from my innermost being.  Enough enough enough enough !!!!

We’ve had confirmation that the cancer attack on Yonit three years ago was connected to our call to Germany.  Our efforts to reach the youth were followed by attacks.  And the latest prophetic understanding about the importance of Arad may be the most threatening element of all.  We don’t want to make more of this than it is, neither do we think that our being involved in these fronts means that we are much of anything, nor can we say that these issues are more important than any of the works that others are called to.  But we will not hold back from declaring that Arad, the youth, worship, and Germany are major aspects of what God is doing at this moment that the enemy passionately hates and desperately fears. 

We are not spiritually insensitive people.  For over thirty years God has never had any trouble speaking to us and making His voice heard. And for the record, we have a long history of hearing Him say hard things we would rather be otherwise.  So…the question…if God is allowing these things to happen, what is He doing?  Surely He is testing, proving, and purifying our faith.  Yet something else occurs to us.  He is doing this for you.  He is stretching us before your very eyes so that you will get the message about how real this war is and that we here in Israel are sitting ducks in the enemy’s sights.  If not for the grace of God and the intercessions of our brethren, there is no way for ordinary broken people to survive such an onslaught.  After the break-in, a friend in Germany sent a word along with a gift.  He said he thought perhaps the Lord was testing our friends as well as us.

Dear friends, dear praying friends, this is still but the beginning of tribulations for us here.  Can we expect the enemy’s wrath to abate as his hour approaches?  We are even thankful and blessed to be so tried in a season of relative calm.  We’ve known from before our immigration that we were destined to be bait to draw the enemy out (as were the children of Israel at the Red Sea) that God might be glorified.  To shrink back from this calling would be to turn our backs to the Lord’s passion and suffering.  It may sound really strange, but the more these things happen the more convinced we are that God is behind them for a Divine purpose.  It’s absurd that our house was broken into on Arni’s 60^th birthday.  It’s absurd that the one time Yonit accidentally left her cellphone in the car on a well-lit busy street, a man on a scooter drove by on the sidewalk (according to an eyewitness) with the intent of doing just what he did.  This is beyond coincidence.  (Insurance covers the phone and the window…by the way).

This is not about Arni and Yonit.  This is not about man’s ministry.  This is about the Kingdom of God.  This is about the establishment of strategic elements necessary to prepare the way for the return of the Lord.  We hope you can receive that this is not a statement made in pride, as though we think what we are doing is more important than anyone else’s work.  There is no comparison intended.  But to say less would be to deny a volume of prophetic words and inner convictions stretching over our whole life with the Lord.  If we do not accept the nature of our calling, then we will neither be able to live with the necessary training and testing nor prepare the proper provisions for the journey. 

The conclusion of all this is that if we in Israel are going to accomplish what God has set before us, we need the help of the rest of the body.  We are not ashamed to say that this battle, the battle for the soul and salvation of Israel, is too much for any of us here in the land.  The enemy’s attack against us personally has been planned and relentless.  There are things for us to contend with personally and there are issues that are corporate in nature.  The wider body must take up corporate matters.  We have no others to turn to but you who receive this letter. 

Do you believe that the work in Israel and concerning the Jewish people is more contested than any other activity on the face of the earth?  Do you believe that what happens in Israel in the natural and in the spirit has worldwide ramifications?  Have you fully taken in the outworking of the fact that Yeshua will not return until Israel says, “Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord”? 

We are grateful for the many and growing number of brethren that have grasped this truth.  Yet we repeat our belief that God has allowed us to be so attacked again and again to raise this dynamic not just for ourselves, but on behalf of all the ministries and individuals pouring their lives out on the front lines here in Israel.  We do not ask you to stand with us.  It would be inappropriate to do so.  Please understand what we mean here.  This is your battle as much as it is ours.  So we’ll just ask you to stand…stand for the Lord and for yourselves. 

* * *

Last night we just got a report on Qaumaniq’s operation.  It went great.  She is fine with no complications.  At first check, the sense was that the tumor was not cancerous.  A conclusive report will take 40 hours.  Her husband Suuquiina sends his love and deepest gratitude to every one of the many that prayed.  It seems that God was listening.  Let us press in with faith for a speedy, complete, and uneventful recovery.  Praise the Lord.

May God bless you from Zion!

Your servants… 

For the Glory of His Name,  

   Arni and Yonit  

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