The Jerusalem Prayer List – August 26th, 2011

Zechariah is mentioned by Yeshua in Matthew chapter 23. This is what is reported Yeshua said: “So that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.” (Matt. 23:35)

In this text of Matt. 23:35 Yeshua is telling the story of Zechariah who was murdered between the Temple and th altar. This story is told in 2 Chronicles 24: 19-20, “Yet He sent prophets to them, to bring them back to the LORD; and they testified against them, but they would not listen. Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He also has forsaken you.’ ” So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD.” So, we find out that the Zechariah who is killed in the Temple is actually Zechariah son of Jehoiada. Who is this Zechariah son of Berechiah that is in the text of Matthew and Luke? Well, Zechariah son of Berechiah is actually the Zechariah who wrote the book of Zechariah. This Zechariah is the prophet who wrote the book of prophecy that caries his name. This is the most famous Zechariah in the Bible. So, what happened to the text of Matthew and than Luke that report the words of Yeshua? Well, something very interesting and common. Originally the text probably said only Zechariah and than some Greek scribe or translator who did not know the Bible well know only of Zechariah son of Berechiah and just filled in the gap and thought that he was doing us a favor by identifying the Zechariah who was supposed to have been killed in the Temple.

Now the story becomes even more interesting because this Zechariah son of Jehoiada was actually killed by stoning that was ordered by King Joash who was well served by Jehoiada the High Priest. But, when Jehoiada's son Zechariah was filled with the Spirit of God and spoke the truth from God, the people were angry with him and killed him by stoning according to the King's command. So, you have a prophet of God who spoke the truth to the people and was killed: “‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He also has forsaken you.’ ” (2Chro. 24:20)

The text tells us that what the people did to Zechariah son of Jehoiada was actually a conspiration; “So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD.” (2Chro 24:21)

The reason that Yeshua is bring up this story at the end of His reprimand of the Pharisees is that the Gospel is going to develop into another conspiracy against an innocent person who is speaking God's truth to the people, namely Himself, Yeshua. His death is also a conspiracy directed and led by the King Herod. This even recorded in 2 Chronicles happened according to the Rabbis on the Day of Atonement that was on the Sabbath day.

This story of Zechariah does not end 2 Chronicles 24, it is brought again by the First Century Rabbis as one of the causes for the killing of many young Priest, when Nebuzar-adan, the captain of Nebuchadnezzar's body-guard, came to destroy the Temple. According to this Rabbinical story the blood of Zechariah began to boil. The Assyrian conquerers asked the Jews what is this phenomenon, they replied that it was the blood of sacrifices, he proved the falsity of their answer. The Jews then told him the truth, and Nebuzar-adan, wishing to appease Zechariah's blood, he killed in succession the Great and Small Sanhedrins, the young priests, and school-children, till the number of the dead was 940,000. (This number is not historical and it is exaggerated by much, but it reflects the feeling of a great number of Priests that the Assyrians killed in Jerusalem.) Still the blood continued to boil, whereupon Nebuzar-adan cried: "Zechariah, Zechariah! for thee have I slain the best of them; wouldst thou that I destroy them all?" And at these words the blood ceased to boil.” The connections of this legendary story to what happened in to Yeshua is clear and remarkable. Yeshua said in Matthew 23 that righteous blood that is shed brings guilt upon the people like the blood of Abel and the blood of Zechariah. We have to think about this principle of God's righteousness and justice. As disciples of Yeshua we have to have at least two matrix as compass for our lives, truth and righteousness. As disciples of Yeshua we can't stand as bystanders and allow history to pass us by in the face of unrighteousness and injustice and deception. The least we can do is to speak-up and voice God's concerns in this world. Christians and Jews allow all the unrighteousness and injustice to surround them and swallow the communities and society without opening their mouths or picking up their pens to say something from God and from God's Word to the World around. I pray for a long time for the church of our Lord to stand up and say something to the world not about going to church and giving money, but about truth and falsehood and right and wrong. The number of really evil people and nations is very small, but those who nest with evil and keep their mouths shut and say nothing about it are the ones who are endangering our lives and the future of faith, hope, and love, in this World. I pray that the Christian World, wakes up and confesses and repents of the innocent blood that it has shed against whole nations that in the name of Christianity and under the shadow of the Cross have been totally annihilated in Central and South and North America. I pray that the Catholic churches and in fact also the Protestant churches that nestle with Rome repent of the atrocity that they have committed against the Jewish people for so long.

Just as I am writing this Prayer List a brother called me and told me that all around the suburb we live there are posters with my picture and the picture of several other believers in Yeshua, both Jews and non-Jews. The poster says, “Who are the Messianic Jews who live in Mevasseret?” There are seven pictures and nine names on the poster and under every picture there is the home address of the person. Here you have it, dear brothers! There are things that have not changed in this land, and one of them is the persecution of those who seek God's Righteousness and His love!

Yesterday there was a book burning in one of the costal cities of Israel – the book that was burned is the New Testament that some Missionaries put in people's mailboxes. This of course putting New Testaments in people's mailboxes is considered a provocation in Israel, but between not liking something a burning books there is a vast difference. It should be known that we at Netivyah oppose vehemently any distribution of literature and Bibles to people who don't ask for it. It is invasive to put books and unwanted pamphlets in people's mail-boxes. One of the darkest nights in 20th Century History is the 19th of November when in Germany the Natzi Party ordered the burning of Jewish books. We all cringe when we hear the word, “Crystalnacht.” That same night when the Natzis broke the windows of Jewish businesses and burned books and Synagogues all around Germany. Now in Israel we have “Religious” Jews who are burning New Testaments, persecuting Jewish Disciples of Yeshua who are guilty of nothing other than following the teaching of Yeshua and trying to do good to all men. How little things have changed, not only for among our Jewish people, but when you look Christianity and Islam, all religious people seem to have forgotten issues of tolerance, and civil rights, and God's goodness and mercy toward all of us. I am not writing this to you in order to turn you against the Jewish people or against the Orthodox Jews, by no means! I am writing this to you so that you can do two things, you can pray for God to bless Israel and the Jewish people with a clearer and a closer walk in deeper faith and closer to the Torah of Moses and more anxious waiting for the Messiah. Lift up the Jewish people and Israel in your prayers so that we can all walk closer to God and to each other showing tolerance and mercy and love toward each other.

This Prayer List is getting long.

We must pray for our sick and needy. We continue to pray for those older brothers and sisters in Jerusalem who need God's comforting hand to touch them and give them health and the ability to function until the Lord calls each at His right time. Please pray for Ahuva, Sara, Zvi, Leah, Miriam, Ilana, and Sarit, in Jerusalem, and Ishiida San, and Mrs. Sadako, Liz, and Ruby. These are all wonderful older brothers and sisters who have been standing with the Lord for many years. We have also several people who have chronic illness like Marcia, David S., David, Ruby, Tim Tucker, Paulo, Neryah, Merav, and Yasmin. All of these brothers are in need of God's healing and we need to lift them up in prayer and not give up. I know that it is kind of repetitive to write every week for prayer for the sick, but it is a very important Mitzvah and we need to pray for the health of others. For your own sake pray for the health of others.

The Lord's work in Netivyah is continuing and we are entering next week into the month of Elul that is the last month in the modern Jewish Calendar. When I say “modern” it means that it is only 2400 years old. Before the Babylonian exile we had an old calendar that had a different New Year and different names for the months. The week days we are still preserving the old names, of first day, second day, third day, and so on. We have no names after deities and idols for the week days, and for the months we have borrowed from the Babylonians. In English the month and the day names are borrowed from the Romans. The month of Elul is a month of repentance and confession of sins and deep contemplation of our lives and God's desire for us as individuals as a nation, and as a congregation. Please pray for our congregation and for Netivyah. We need God's blessing and God's guidance and your support.

Please also pray for the Lord's will to be done in connection of the battle for the Anussim of Portugal. We are entering advanced stages in planning the conference and now it is time for all those who are interesting in the Anussim / Marrano Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity and than tortured and burned and killed for being Jews and wanting out their identity as Jews. The Lord willing, we are going to have the conference on December 3rd – 5th, 2012.

We thank you all for all your prayers and support and bless you,

Joseph Shulam