Catch a Falling Star

In my great love for Israel and the Jewish people, I have been keeping a close watch over this war in the Middle East. One thing that is very clear is that it is a war of LIGHT VS. DARKNESS. It is, without any doubt, a spiritual war, far above a political war. 

Friends, I hope you will bear with me to the end of this blog, because the ending is an amazing encounter I had with the God of the Universe in my front yard last night and I don't want you to miss it! But in the meantime, I want to share with you some things I have learned this week as I felt led by the Spirit to search out everything I could about the Spirit of Amalek. That name - Amalek - kept coming to me and I knew the Lord wanted me to see something very important at the heart of this current war in Israel. 

In previous blogs I have pointed out that God told Abraham He would give him this land and made a covenent with him, with his son Isaac and with his son, Jacob. God made a clear CHOICE between Isaac and Ishmael and between Jacob and Esau when He bestowed the blessings of the covenant and the land. He did, however, still bestow blessings upon Esau by giving him a great territory that now encompasses modern Jordan and Saudi Arabia (the land referred to as Edom). BUT GOD PASSED BY BOTH FIRSTBORN SONS AND GRANDSONS OF ABRAHAM, AND THIS CREATED A SPIRIT OF JEALOUSY AND HATRED IN ESAU, AND EVENTUALLY IN HIS GRANDSON, AMALEK (see Gen. 36:12).  In Amalek we see a spirit of hatred, rage, and jealousy; and that spirit does not want to take what you have - it wants to TAKE YOUR LIFE.

I must give some credit to Peter Tsukahira, co-pastor and teacher of Kehilat haCarmel in Haifa, Israel. Some of the points made here I gleaned from his excellent teaching. But most of it comes from Scripture itself! In Exodus 17:8 we see the well-known battle of the Amalekites against Israel when Joshua and Hur held up the arms of Moses so that Israel could win the battle. I note that Scripture says they overcame the Amalekite army "by the sword" (Exodus 17:13) and that really struck me since Israel has named this current war "Sword of Iron"!  Here is what Almighty God had to say about the ancient war in Exodus 17:14: "Write it on a scroll that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven."  And then in Exodus 17:15 the LORD says, "The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation."  This is the ONLY enemy of Israel that causes God to make this ominous declaration. 

Moses speaks to the people of Israel again about Amalek in Deut. 25:17-19: "Remember what Amalek did to you when you came out of Egypt. When God gives you rest from all the countries around you, in the land He is giving you as an inheritance, you shall BLOT OUT THE MEMORY OF AMALEK. DO NOT FORGET!" 

Now, beloved, in the Hebrew year 5784, this same SPIRIT OF AMALEK is rising up again all over the globe, just as it rose powerfully over Germany and Europe in the late 1930s and resulted in the deaths of six million Jews. This spirit of Amalek is driven by deep-rooted jealousy and envy. It rages at the Jewish people, "How do YOU have this promise from God?" Again, it does not seek to steal the promise OR the land, but to eradicate the chosen people. 

In 1 Samuel 15:2, God says to Saul, King of Israel: "I will punish the Amalekites. Now go, attack the Amalekites and TOTALLY DESTROY EVERYTHING THAT BELONGS TO THEM - MEN, WOMEN, CHILDREN, INFANTS AND ANIMALS. " But Saul disobeyed the Lord. He did not wipe them all out; and this was a great mistake. This allowed that spirit to continue on throughout the ages.  Ezekiel 35:3 clearly shows that this spirit is an ancient hostility. As Peter Tsukahira said, "This spirit does not negotiate. NOTHING will satisfy this spirit. It is a spirit of DARKNESS and we are called to fight against the darkness with the light of Yeshua that dwells in us. We must examine our own hearts and see if we harbor jealousy against anyone."

In Ezekiel 35:3 the LORD says, "I am against you, Mt. Seir (Edom or Esau). I will lay waste your cities and then you will know that I AM THE LORD because you harbored an ancient hostility and delivered Israel to the sword at the time of their calamity." This is why Israel MUST wipe every trace of Hamas (as well as Hezbollah, Palestinian Jihad and Iran's Quds Forces) off the face of the earth. The Lord God warned ancient Israel "BLOT OUT THE MEMORY OF AMALEK! DO NOT FORGET!" So this time, they MUST hear and obey the word of the Lord!

Admittedly many in Israel were not walking with God. They were allowing darkness to come in and they were at great odds with one another (just as it is in our own nation). This lifted their covering of protection and allowed the "ancient hostility" to attack. But oh, the great UNITY it is now bringing to the people! I have seen videos of IDF soldiers praying together and praising God in song together, on the battlefield. I have seen the "synagogue" they created by using four huge bulldozers to surround them, and then worshiping inside it on the Sabbath! God IS bringing His Light into the darkness, and He IS lifting the veil from Jewish eyes, as many begin to seek their true Messiah, Yeshua. 

So that great news brings me to what happened in my front yard last night. I had heard that there would be a great show of meteor showers in the sky (the Leonids) from about midnight to just before dawn. I asked the Lord to awaken me if He wanted me to see it, and I did wake up just before 4:00 a.m. I put on my warmest robe and some shoes and tip-toed out to my front yard.  Though I kept my neck craned back for at least fifteen minutes, I did not see any meteors. But just as I was about to give up, there it was! One single meteor, one falling star flashing brightly across the night sky and then disappearing. And then a little song came immediately into my head. You would have to be as old as I am to remember this old Perry Como song, but I heard it very clearly:
Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, save it for a rainy day
Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, never let it fade away

"Catch a falling star," I mused. What are you saying, Lord?" Then I heard this: "Catch a falling star and save it for a rainy day. A day of darkness. It's coming! A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness" (Joel 2:1-2). Then He directed me to Isaiah 8:21-22: "Distressed and hungry they will roam through the land, when they are famished they will become enraged and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God. Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom and they will be thrust into outer darkness."

I pondered the verse and thought about the demonstrations of hatred and violence I see from Gaza to Lebanon, to Syria, to Iraq, to Yemen and England, to Denmark, Sweden, and America - people cursing God and spewing their hatred of His people, the Jews.  And I inquired again of the Lord, "I know this darkness is coming and I know these things will happen, but why are You singing me this song?"  Then I heard the Spirit say to me, "I am singing this to you because the falling star is the WORD OF GOD and your pocket is your heart." Keep My Word in your heart, never let it fade away, and your light will dispel the darkness!