Compiled by David Soakell Tel: 01642 469663
E-mail david@cfi.org.uk Website: www.cfi.org.uk
~ Thursday 17th May 2012 ~

The Word: Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire." When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said: "O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. (Nehemiah 1:2-6)

Compiled by David Soakell Tel: 01642 469663
E-mail david@cfi.org.uk Website: www.cfi.org.uk
~ Thursday 3rd May 2012 ~

Please note, due to a short break, there will be no report next week. The next Watching over Zion report will be out on 17 May 2012.

The Word: Now the LORD said to Abram, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation; I will bless you, and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3)
“And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.” (Gen.17:7)

It is difficult to avoid using superlatives in reviewing this book. First, at the simplistic level, it is great value for money! This is two books in one, delivered across three ‘Acts’ - or three biblical vantage points - from which the troubled history of the Jewish nation can be viewed. Two for the price of one is not just a throw away comment; “Outcast Nation” is a reworking and up-dating of two of Maltz’s earlier books - “The Land of Many Names” and “The People of Many Names” - both now out of print. “Outcast Nation” is a worthy successor and in many respects improves on the earlier material.

Act 1 follows the story of God’s covenant people from Abraham to the First exile. Act 2 looks at the history of the Hebrew people from a spiritual vantage point, looking at what has become the world’s longest hatred – the hatred of mankind towards God’s chosen people. Act 3 looks at the modern history of Israel (again from a biblical/spiritual vantage point) and concludes with some very direct questions addressed to individual Christians – just where do we stand before our God as regards to Israel?

We've managed to grab a last minute stand at the major Christian show in the UK. We've got a tiny stand - GV6 - in the frozen hinterlands of the exhibition, called the "Sharing Show". More details of the show at http://www.creonline.co.uk/page.asp?pageid=101 and email me at steve@saltshakers.com if you want a free ticket.

To find us here's a crude map. It's on the First Floor. Go up the escalator nearest the entrance then, facing the stands, we are in the far block, facing the outside, on the left. We are SAFFRON PLANET PUBLISHING.

Be sure of a warm greeting if you manage to find us there!

~ Thursday 26th April 2012 ~

The Word: Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth… I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you… (Isaiah 46:3-10)
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD! Awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old… So the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; Sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 51:9-11)

Head down and writing ... heads up on Foundations 2 (including some divine encouragement)!

Compiled by David Soakell Tel: 01642 469663
E-mail david@cfi.org.uk Website: www.cfi.org.uk

~ Thursday 19th April 2012 ~

The Word: Thus says the LORD: "Sing with gladness for Jacob, shout among the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise, and say, 'O LORD, save Your people, the remnant of Israel!' Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the ends of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and the one who labours with child, together; A great throng shall return there. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them… for I am a Father to Israel… "Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock.' (Jeremiah 31:7-10)

Compiled by David Soakell Tel: 01642 469663
E-mail david@cfi.org.uk Website: www.cfi.org.uk
~ Thursday 12th April 2012 ~

The Word: Not to us, LORD, not to us but to Your name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness. Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases him… All you Israeli’s, trust in the LORD - He is their help and shield. House of Aaron, trust in the LORD - He is their help and shield. You who fear him, trust in the LORD - He is their help and shield. The LORD remembers us and will bless us: He will bless His people Israel, He will bless the house of Aaron, He will bless those who fear the LORD - small and great alike… The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to mankind. It is not the dead who praise the LORD, those who go down to the place of silence; it is we who extol the LORD, both now and forevermore. Hallelu Yah (Taken from Psalm 115)

Compiled by David Soakell Tel: 01642 469663
E-mail david@cfi.org.uk Website: www.cfi.org.uk

~ 5th April 2012 ~

The Word: By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy. Remember, LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!” (Psalm 137: 1-7)

Compiled by David Soakell Tel: 01642 469663
E-mail david@cfi.org.uk Website: www.cfi.org.uk
~ 29th March 2012 ~
The Word: But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. (2 Thessalonians 2:13-15)

“I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. (Zechariah 12: 2, 3)