Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Meetings in Memphis


March 16, 2013

Dear Pastors:

I am here in a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, where I am to be in meetings with Crossroads Baptist Church, a black Baptist Church which Windsor Hills helped start when I pastored 15 years ago.

They are having AN ISRAEL MY GLORY week-end [Isaiah 46:13]. God’s glory was in a people,
 
Genesis 12:1, Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.

8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.

God’s glory was in a Land [as hard as George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Condi Rice, and now our "obamagabbe" finds that hard to admit]!!!!

Numbers 33:50 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,

51 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan;

52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:

53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.


54 And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man's inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit.

God’s glory was in THE MESSIAH!

Isaiah 59:20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

Now, pray for me as I try to CHALLENGE THESE BLACK CHRISTIANS about their responsibilities towards the EVERLASTINGLY COVENANTED PEOPLE. Yesterday, I had lunch with Dr. David Winston in Conway, Arkansas. David’s teenage daughter finishes her last year of high school in May. Then she wants to get a degree in history. "History" is my thing, as I love to read it. Years ago, I had the opportunity to write a "thesis" and turn in to the University of Indiana’s history department, whose head I knew personally and as a consequence receive a ‘doctorate’ in history. I did not want to have to go through all the "critiquing" process as I was busier than an one armed paper hanger in the ministry, and so did not do it. Many times I have critiqued myself with an "F" for not doing so.

 

Yossi Ben-Aharon wrote me yesterday about my "particular read" of Jewish history, and how I see the Jews, just as the Bible shows them, and how we should look to get a "blessing" for being a blessing to the Jews. One of the ‘legends" in Jewish history I love to read about is what is called "THE LEGEND OF SANDER HADAD." You Baptist pastors probably have not read of him. I would compare him to Israel Putnam, Daniel Boone, David Crockett, Jim Bowie, Ranald MacKenzie, [called by the fierce Comanche tribesmen as OLD BAD HAND - he did in the Comanche, the Sioux and all red men he faced] and other such legends in American history, although he was JEWISH.

 

Sander was tall. He had a strong back and was quick on his feet. The Arabs called him Hawajah Skander [Comrade Skander, which was considered a title of respect]. His name that he was born under was Alexander Krinkin. He was born in 1859 in the town of Krinkin, near Bialystok in Poland, which was, at that time, part of Tzarist Russia. SANDER GOT HIS FAMILY NAME FROM HIS TOWN, BUT HIS NICKNAME HE GOT FROM HIS OCCUPATION., which was the same as his father, a proud and strong Jew who made his living as a blacksmith. From early childhood, Sander used to watch his father pounding iron, and he wanted to follow in his footsteps.


Sander made aliyah to Jerusalem in 1872 when he was thirteen, bar mitzvah age. History does not tell us whether he came alone or someone accompanied him.

There he hired himself out as a local blacksmith, and in a short time became known far and wide as one of the best blacksmiths in the city of Jerusalem. He was called Sander Hadad, which means in Arabic, "man of iron, the blacksmith." He soon became known by this nickname more than by his original name.

He spent a few years in Jerusalem, then began to wander all over the Middle East. Among other places he visited Istanbul, the capital of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, and after a while he also reached the Island of Cyprus, in the Mediterranean. During his trips, people were impressed with his unusual strength, and hired him frequently as a ‘body-guard.’ That way he acquired knowledge and skill which gave him the experience he needed to become an expert in that field.

 

Hadad’s courage and cunning were legendary. One of the stories about him had to do with a high-ranking Russian officer who had been taken prisoner by the Turks during one of the many wars between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Sander, still a young man at that time, was the assistant to the supplies contractor on the same front. When he heard that the Russians failed in all their efforts to free this officer, he volunteered for the mission. At first, his volunteering was considered absurd. But, since the Russians had nothing to lose, they asked Sander what he intended to do. "Give me two soldiers," he replied, "and the rest you will see for yourselves." Once he was given the soldiers, he disappeared with them for a few days. He got hold of Turkish uniforms and managed to cross enemy lines. When he came back he brought the Russian officer with him. How did he manage to do it? No one knows!

 

He returned to Palestine from his wanderings around the time that the modern Zionist enterprise began, during the last quarter of the 19th century. The truth is that without Sander Hadad and young people of his kind, it would have been difficult, perhaps even impossible to launch the Zionist enterprise.

 

Not only did the early Jewish settlers [they are called that in derision today], experience great difficulties int heir relationship with their Arab and Bedouin neighbors, but they were also treated with absolute contempt. Jews were considered "weaklings and cowards" at the time. Ole "Shylock" could handle money and usury, but he wasn’t much of a fighter, so went the Arabic wisdom. The European Jew, and the Jew in general, was, according to Ottoman law, at best "son of a protected minority," and at worst a walid al-mita [son of death].

 

That meant the Jews were a defenseless people, with whom the locals could do whatever they wanted, hurt them, and even kill them. It was told of Salman David Levontin, the man who founded the city of Rishon LeZion, that a guide who showed him the area, warned him, "Look West! There, on the sand dunes, the cruel Bedouins will lay in wait, and when you build your homes and settle here, scores of men will come on horseback in the dead of night, and rob and kill you." Levontin answered, "Do you really believe that we would take that without fighting back?"

 

But, the man who turned those words into reality was Sander Hadad. Already in Poland, and later in Jerusalem, Cyprus, and other places, Hadad was the model of "THE NEW JEW,"—TOUGH AND STRONG. His muscles like the materials he worked with were cast of iron. Any neighbor who dared mess with him soon felt the power of his fist. The founders of the new village of Petach Tikva, who came originally from Jerusalem, knew him well. When they decided to build a Jewish settlement in the marshes of Mulabbis, not far from the Yarkon River, they asked him to join them.

 

From reading about Sander Hadad, he appears to have reached the village of Petach Tikva in 1883 with the second group of pioneers, who first settled in Yahud, near the Arab village of Yehudia, in the area that is Savyon today. Sander worked as a farmhand for one of the farmers who lived in Yahud, as a sharecropper, which meant that he received part of the agricultural crop as payment for his labors.

 

Sander had done battle with the Bedouins first when during a run-in, a Bedouin tribesman had struck Sander’s horse with his club. In the battle of clubs and fists that ensued, Sander stood one against many, but nevertheless beat his Bedouin enemies mercilessly.

 

Sander was traveling with Mordechai Lovman, one of the founders of Rishon LeZion in the summer of 1886, carrying a load of fruit and vegetables in a wagon, when Bedouins were approaching. Men on horseback came tearing down from the nearby hills, and behind them men on foot suddenly appeared waving clubs.

 

They let out their blood-curdling war cries and did not hide their intent to catch Sander Hadad and lynch him. Sander whipped up his pair of horses, and according to Lovman, "the horses ran at breakneck speed, excited by the furor. The dust rose, enveloping the wagon and blocking the sun. Through the cloud of dust, our pursuers looked like fearful shadows, like ghosts. Their faces were those of wild animals, their eyes bulging out of their sockets, their white teeth gnashing, foaming at the mouth. They were shouting, raving, swearing and running and riding like the wind. From all that anger and exertion they tore off their robes and began to run absolutely naked...screaming ‘allahu akbar’ at the top of the lungs...throwing their clubs at us like they were arrows."

 

Sander didn't own nor use a gun at that time. He fought with his whip, his club, and his fists, and the Bedouins who were close by, saw their "fearful enemy" in Sander Hadad, and so re-doubled their efforts to take him. Coming too close, the Bedouins then encountered Sander’s fists, club and whip. He excelled in the use of all these weapons. Whoever came too close was struck a slashing blow which took him out of the battle.

 

For almost an hour Sander Hadad took on the Bedouin, then he arrived in his wagon at Petach Tikva. The Bedouin, according to Lovman, "battered and wounded, they returned to the security of the desert without taking revenge on anyone, especially their hated Sander Hadad. In the tents of the Arab tribes, the mysterious, awesome legend of the Jewish hero spread, and no longer was the disgraceful name of "walid almita" [the son of death] used to describe this strange Jew who had come over the sea to inherit the land of HIS FATHERS.

 

And so, the legend of Sander Hadad was born. Our frontiersmen, who fought the "red men" in America, and overcame them, had nothing on Sander Hadad. My prayer is that you have enjoyed this bit of Jewish history and that you will stand WITH THIS OLE MAN AS HE STANDS UNASHAMED WITH THE JEWS. PRAY FOR BOOGIE AS HE NOW FULFILLS HIS DUTIES AS ISRAEL’S DEFENSE MINISTER!

JIM VINEYARD

YEDIDIM OF ISRAEL

 

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Israel Trip Feburary 2013- Some Highlight Photos

 
Friends standing outside an Israeli Artillery Unit


Good friend, Guy, sitting and chatting


 
Me and an Israeli Officer at the Artillery Officers Academy

 

 
Early morning ops


Israeli Artillery Soldiers, geared up wearing Kevlar helmets and vests.

 
Friend, Joseph in Nazareth

 
Joseph's wife, Nabila

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Letter to Pastors

March 11, 2013

Dear Pastors:

As I write these lines, I am home in Piedmont, Oklahoma where I am preparing to leave this Friday for Memphis, Tennessee where I shall be in "Israel My Glory" meetings this weekend with Pastor Clenton Patterson and the good people of Crossroads Baptist Church. According to Police Officer Tim Taylor, an OBC graduate, Pastor Patterson told Crossroads that WHBC was the first church to take them on for support when they started Crossroads Baptist Church 15 years ago in 1998. Crossroads is a black Baptist church and you can Google up information about them. It is this ole man’s candid opinion that the world’s people can only live in peace, one with another, when they make peace with THE GOD OF PEACE, THE LORD GOD OF THE HEBREWS.

Isaiah 46:13 I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

It is the intent of this ole preacher-warrior to present to these dear black Christians the historical aspect of "those in the guise of Christianity" who lifted up the hand of anti-Semitism towards the Jews. The Catholic Church is changing "Popes." The Jews have suffered much at the hands of the "guise" of Christianity under Catholicism. They have been massacred by the sword, fire, and the gun, and that was the very reason that those Jewish folks yonder in Newport, Rhode Island contacted George Washington to see what type treatment they could expect at the hands of this new Nation, the United States of America. And, of course, he returned them, as you well know, the answer of Micah 4:4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.

5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

Let us look at some news from Israel regarding Mr. Netanyahu and his ‘coalition formation’ preparatory to establishing a new government:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will likely encounter harsh opposition within his Likud party if high-ranking ministers and Knesset members soon find themselves without a job.

Party officials on Sunday threatened an "intifada", or uprising, over what they call "Netanyahu’s failure to give out positions" to members of Likud and other formerly close coalition partners.

The first conflict involves Netanyahu’s anticipated decision to dismiss Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin from his position. "Netanyahu doesn’t want a liberal Likud, but a Lieberman-style Likud," a party official said, adding, "Netanyahu’s increased closeness to Lieberman at the expense of the liberal camp – Rivlin, [Dan] Meridor and [Benny] Begin – is very worrisome."

Although over the past few weeks Rivlin reportedly received a series of promises that he would keep his position, including a written promise from a third party, on Saturday it turned out otherwise. "Rivlin is the first to be disappointed. He is learning what other high-ranking party members to whom Netanyahu made promises learned – that Netanyahu’s word is worthless," another official said.

"Likud officials do not yet understand the extent of the party’s loss in the elections. Netanyahu has chosen to transfer the important portfolios to the coalition partners. Even the high-ranking Likud officials who were appointed ministers will find that the portfolios they receive will be disappointing and unattractive," another official said.

In addition, the ethnic card is expected to be played once more over the next few days because with Shas out of the government, only three ministers will be from the Mizrahi community. Of them, only one or two – Silvan Shalom and maybe Gila Gamliel – will be from Likud. The others are Eli Ben-Dahan of Habayit Hayehudi and Meir Cohen of Yesh Atid.

"The new government will have the fewest Sephardi ministers," a Likud official said. "Netanyahu knows that very well. The Likud’s membership is very sensitive to this subject. It knows that without Shas, it will have a problem when it comes to the matter of ethnicity, and that problem needs to be solved."

Meanwhile, Netanyahu on Sunday thanked his outgoing cabinet, in what he said was "probably" its last session before the new Israeli government takes over.
"I would like to thank the ministers for their excellent work during the past four years," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu is expected to finalize coalition deals by late Monday and present a new government by as early as Tuesday. His deadline expires Saturday.

Among the biggest challenges facing the incoming government were lowering the exorbitant cost of living in Israel, advancing social equality and security threats, Netanyahu told the cabinet on Sunday.

About the time this ole man thinks he has sorted out "the laws of the Knesset" in Israel, he is thrown a ‘curve-ball’ and has to admit he doesn’t know "the laws of the Knesset."

All that reminds me of a story Jim Corbett, the great Englishman who lived from 1875 to 1955 and did so very much for the people of India in killing man-eating tigers and leopards and also in killing rogue elephants.

Bear with me please, in the telling of this story about Harkwar and Kunthi and "the law of the jungle" in India. Harkwar and Kunthi lived in villages a few miles apart at the foot the great Dunagiri mountain, and had never seen each other until the great day, when, dressed in bright new clothes, they had for all too short a time been the center of attraction of a vast crowd of relatives and friends. That day lived long in their memories as the wonderful occasion when they had been able to fill their small bellies to bursting-point with halwa and puris. The day also lived for long years in the memory of their respective fathers, for on it the village bania, who was their "father and mother’, realizing their great necessity had provided the few rupees that had enabled them to retain the respect of their communities by marrying their children at the age their customs said they would be married, and on the propitious date selected by the priest of the village—and had made a fresh entry against their names in the register. Harkwar and Kunthi were married before their "total ages" had reached double figures.

Now, to be sure, in telling you this story, I am not laying ‘my approval’ to this custom of the poor people of India, simply telling you what Jim Corbett told.

Kunthi went back home with her parents and continued to perform the chores that her mother gave her daily to do. Several uneventful and carefree years went by for Kunthi until the day came when she was judged ‘old enough’ to join her husband. The change from her parents home to her ‘in-laws’ home only meant for Kunthi the performing of chores for her mother-in-law which she had previously performed for her mother. In a poor man’s household in India, young and old have their allotted work to do and they do it cheerfully. Kunthi was now old enough to help with the cooking, and as soon as the morning meal had been eaten, all who were capable of working for wages set out to perform their respective tasks, which, no matter how minor they were, brought grist to the family mill.

Harkwar’s father was a mason and was engaged on building a chapel at the American Mission School. It was Harkwar’s ambition to follow in his father’s profession, and, until he had the strength to do so, he helped the family exchequer by carrying the materials used by his father and the other masons, earning two annas a day for his ten hours labor. After Kunthi had washed and polished the metal pots and pans used for the morning meal, she accompanied her mother-in-law and her numerous sisters-in-law to the fields of the headman of the village, where with other women and girls she labored as many hours as her husband ‘for half the wage’ he received. When the day’s work was done, the family walked back in the twilight to the hut Harkwar’s father had been permitted to build on the headman’s land, and with the dry sticks the younger children had collected during their elder’s absence, the evening meal was cooked and eaten. Except for the fire, there had never been any other form of illumination in the hut, and when the pots and pans had been cleaned and put away, each member of the family retired to his or her allotted place, Harkwar and his brothers sleeping with their father and Kunthi sleeping with the female members of the family.

When Harkwar was 18 and Kunthi 16, they left, and, carrying their few possessions, set up housekeeping in a hut placed at their disposal by an uncle of Harkwar’s in a village 3 miles from the cantonment of Ranikhet. For four years the young couple worked there, but, in November of that year, the building was completed and Harkwar had to find work elsewhere. Winter that year was unusually severe. Harkwar suggested that they should migrate to the foothills at Kaladhungi, where they hoped to procure work, roughly 50 miles away. Sleeping under trees at night, toiling up and down steep and rough roads during the day, and carrying all their worldly possessions, and the children by turns, Karkwar and Kunthi, tired and footsore, accomplished the journey to Kaladhungi in six days.

The built there a hut and their two children, Punwa, a boy aged three, and Putali, a girl aged two, took up residence beside the Jungle, in which to Corbett’s certain knowledge, there were 5 tigers, 8 leopards, a family of 4 sloth bears, 2 Himalayan black bears, which had come down from the high hills to feed on wild plums and honey; a number of hyenas who had their burrows in the grasslands 5 miles away and who visited the Jungle nightly to feed on the discarded portions of the tigers’ and leopards’ kills; a pair of wild dogs; numerous jackals and foxes and pine martens; and a variety of civet and other cats. There were also two large pythons, many kinds of snakes, crested and tawny eagles, and hundred of vultures in the Jungles. Corbett did not mention animals such as deer, antelope, pigs, and monkeys, which were all harmless to humans.

The day after they completed their flimsy hut, Harkwar found work as a qualified mason on a daily wage of eight annas with the contractor who was building a canal headworks, and Kunthi purchased for 2 rupees a permit from the Forest Department which entitled her to cut grass on the foothills, which she sold as fodder for the cattle of the shopkeepers in the bazaar. For her bundle of green grass, sometimes weighing as much as 80 pounds, and which necessitated a walk of from 10 to 14 miles daily, mostly up and down steep hills, Kunthi received 4 annas, one anna of which was taken by the man who held the Government contract for sale of grass at the bazaar. Of the 8 annas earned by Harkwar, plus the 3 annas earned by Kunthi, the family of four lived in comparative comfort, for food was plentiful and cheap and for the first time in their lives they were able to afford meat once a month.

The children, Punwa and Putali, had, in the beginning been in anxiety, for they were too young to accompany Harkwar and Kunthi in their daily journeys to work. So, a kindly old crippled woman living in the communal hut a few hundred yards came to their rescue by offering to keep a general eye on the children while the parents were away at work.

One particular Friday, fair day in Kaladhungi, Karkwar and Kunthi returned to their hut early, after making purchases in the bazaar on cheap food, fruit and vegetables at reduced prices before the booths closed down for the night, buying a pound of goat’s meat, but finding Punwa and Putali absent from the hut when the arrived. On making inquiries from the crippled woman, they learned that she had not seen the children since midday. The woman suggested they had probably gone to the bazaar to see the merry-go-round that had attracted all the local children. Harkwar searched the bazaar while Kunthi returned to the hut to prepare the evening meal. A rumor ran about at that time that Gypsies were kidnapping Hindu children and selling them at the North-West frontier for immoral purposes.

Karkwar and Kunthi then went to the police station, where an elderly police constable who had children, and was kindly towards them and their lost children, said that nothing could be done that night, but that the next morning he promised to send "the town crier" to all the 15 villages in Kaladhungi to announce the loss of the children. The night being cold, Karkwar and Kunthi kept a fire burning all night, and went out periodically to call for Punwa and Putali but to no avail.

They searched all day Saturday with Kunthi walking 28 miles to Haldwani and Karkwar 36 miles to Ramnagar. Many friend, who feared for the safety of the children, were waiting at the hut to express their sympathy for the lost children. On Sunday, Kunthi went 30 miles north to Naini Tal while Harkwar went 32 miles south to Bazpur. That evening they gave up hope of ever seeing their children alive again. The ‘anger of the gods’ in allowing their children to be stole by Gypsies in broad daylight, was not to be explained.

Monday found the pair too dispirited and too tired to leave their hut. There was no food and would be none until they resumed work. That Monday, a simple, poor man herding buffaloes in the Jungle knew the danger from tigers, and near sundown he collected the buffaloes and started to drive them to the village. He had heard the town crier come and tell of the lost children and the "rich man’s" offer of 50 rupees for their return. His buffalo, each when they got to a certain point ahead of him, turned its head to the right and looked at something lying in a little depression. When he got to the spot he saw the bodies of the children, both naked, and clasped in each other’s arms. But, why had they been murdered and brought to this spot? The herdsman descended into the depression and squatted down on his hunkers to determine, if he could, how the children had met their death. He was convinced that the children were dead, yet now as he sat closely scrutinizing them he suddenly saw that they were breathing; that, in fact they were not dead, but sound asleep. He was a father himself and very gently touched the children and awakened them.

The dear ole man loaded a child on each shoulder and set out to walk the six miles to their home. Putali was beyond speech, but Punwa gave the explanation that they had been playing and had gotten lost.

Harkwar was sitting at the door of his hut staring into the darkening night, when he saw a small crowd of people appearing from the bazaar. At the head of the procession was a man walking, carrying something on his shoulders. "Harkwar’s children!

Harkwar’s children" was the excited murmur of the crowd. Kunthi had reached the end of her physical abilities and was curled up in the corner of the hut asleep, Harkwar quickly awoke her, and they went out to tearfully greet little Punwa and Putali. To the poor herdsman the 50 rupee reward was wealth untold, but the rescuer said the blessings and thanks that had been showered upon him was reward enough for rescuing the children. Two-year-old Putali, and three-year-old Punwa were lost at midday on Friday, and found by the herdsman at about 5 PM on Monday, a matter of seventy-seven hours.

There was not a single mark of tooth or claw upon them. The ‘law of the jungle’ had protected those 2 youngsters. Had the Creator made the same law for man as He has made for jungle folk, there would be no wars, for the strong in man would have the same consideration for the weak as is established in the ‘law of the jungles,’ SO SAID JIM CORBETT.

PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM.

JIM VINEYARD


YEDIDIM OF ISRAEL

Monday, March 11, 2013

Letter to Pastors


March 8, 2013

Dear Pastors:

This morning in our daily Bible reading together, the BRIDE OF MY YOUTH and I read four chapters from the book of Job, one of which was Chapter 19. Of particular treasure to this ole man in that chapter are verse 25-27.

Job 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

The Redeemer whom Job knew that his eyes would see was HE described in Isaiah 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

HE is our KINSMAN-REDEEMER. HE must be a Kinsman! HE must be able to Redeem! HE must be capable of paying the Just-Demand! AND HE IS! PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!
After reading the Bible, I turned on my computer, and although two days old, there is a story about the Coalition Mr. Netanyahu is forging in the Knesset:

Coalition crisis has Likud on its toes

With only 10 days until PM must present government, Netanyahu, Lapid and Bennett lock horns over top portfolios. PM reluctant to waive Foreign portfolio; Lapid unwilling to serve as finance minister.

Yuval Karni

Published: 03.06.13, 12:43 /
Israel News

Solving the coalition quagmire: Ten days remain before the government formation deadline, and the main dispute between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Naftali Bennettand Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid, surrounds the number of ministers to be appointed from each respective party.

Bennett and Lapid are demanding to receive one of the three major portfolios: Lapid wants the Foreign Affairs Portfolio and Bennett is eying the Finance Portfolio.

The two claim that if Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman receives the position as foreign minister while his party holds 11 mandates – making it the fifth largest party in the Knesset, following the Likud, Yesh Atid, Labor and Habayit Hayehudi – the two should receive no less than Lieberman.

Additional disagreement lies in the number of ministers the parties will have in the government. Netanyahu is standing steadfast in his demand for a cabinet comprised of at least 24 ministers, while Lapid is willing to compromise on 20 ministers at most.

The three are also locking horns over the portfolios. Netanyahu is unwilling to give up the Foreign Affairs Portfolio to Lapid; and Lapid is unwilling to serve as finance minister since he believes that the Finance Portfolio is liable to constitute a "political trap" in times of budget cuts.

Likud-Beiteinu negotiators insisted Tuesday night that Lapid has no chance of receiving the Foreign Affairs Portfolio as Netanyahu promised it to Lieberman. "The Finance portfolio was offered to Yesh Atid, headed by Yair Lapid. It was simultaneously clarified to the Yesh Atid party that the Foreign Affairs portfolio will remain in the hands of the Likud-Beiteinu," said the sources.

Furthermore, sources associated with Lapid and Bennett said that they are also in accord regarding the portfolio allocation and that the decision regarding which one of them will serve as Finance Minister will be made mutually.

Bennett's people denied reports saying that he sealed the deal with Netanyahu regarding the Finance Ministry position. "Bennett did not speak to the prime minister yesterday at all, the report is untrue. The portfolios have not yet been decided upon," said an official at the office of the Habayit Hayehudi chairman.

12 candidates for six portfolios

As the portfolio distribution nears, there is clear tension within the Likud-Beiteinu. A source involved in the coalition negotiations admitted that "Most of the Likud ministers will be disappointed. The rules of the game have changed."

Sources associated to Netanyahu said that these are true trials and tribulations for the prime minister. The number of portfolios is small and their quality is slim. Netanyahu is expected to appoint six to seven more ministers on behalf of the Likud, but at least 12 candidates are contending for these portfolios.

Seven ministers are demanding to serve as ministers in the next government, some of whom expect an upgrade: Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan, Minister for Regional Development Silvan Shalom, Minister for Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya'alon (most likely to be Defense Minister), Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz and Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat.

In addition, Netanyahu promised MKs in his party that they will serve as ministers in his next government (MK Tzachi Hanegbi, Haim Katz, Yariv Levin and MK Zeev Elkin) and number six in the Likud, MK Danny Danon announced that he too is contending for a ministerial position in light of his place on the party list and his political power.

"Everyone went underground because they are afraid to say the wrong thing and thereby ruin their chance to become a minister," said a senior Likud source. "Some of the senior ministers understand that their upgrade will remain on paper and others are on defensive alert. The tension is insane.

A Likud ministerial candidate said "what is going on in the Likud is truly the Theater of the Absurd." According to him, "the most senior portfolio following Defense will be the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, for which Sa'ar, Erdan and Steinitz are contending. Other ministers understood that the only thing left is to fight for the Tourism, Health, Energy or Water portfolios."

Many in the Likud have criticized Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, who they claim, abandoned his factional friends and displayed generosity towards his coalition partners. "Bibi sold everything. Suddenly the Health portfolio, that no one wanted to hear about, became an attractive portfolio."

Brethren, I know that I am "no Isaiah," but, as best I can, I am going to be like him, and in this day of ‘instant communication’ by email world-wide, for "Zion’s sake," and for "Jerusalem’s sake," I am not going to hold my peace!

Isaiah 62:1 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.

3 Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.

4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. {Hephzibah: that is, My delight is in her} {Beulah: that is, Married}

PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM!

JIM VINEYARD
YEDIDIM OF ISRAEL