October 1, 2023 Newsletter

Isaiah 61 Ministries. Feature Image Size

Shalom, dear friends and family. At long last, Fall has finally arrived………at least on the calendar, if not yet with much cooler temperatures. It’s still in the 90’s here in Mississippi. Days are getting shorter, the children are back in school, and we’re honoring God and His Feasts this week, observing the final of His Seven Annual Feasts, Sukkot, or Tabernacles. Protests and demonstrations continue in Israel over the proposed changes to the Judicial system there. This internal struggle, as yet unresolved, has been labeled by Israel’s President Herzog an “internal emergency.” Let’s be in agreement for a righteous resolution to this situation. Reforms are needed, but not the extreme measures proposed by the Government, which would, in fact, be detrimental to Israel. This is also a potentially extraordinary season as there is the very real possibility of a historic peace agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. This has been described as an “intricate diplomatic dance” and would involve a three-way agreement between Israel, the United States, and Saudi Arabia. We definitely live in exciting times.

TABERNACLES (SUKKOT) 2023

On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day. ‘Now on the first day, you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’ So Moses declared to the sons of Israel the appointed times of the LORD. (Lev. 23: 39-43)

Our family Sukkah on the front lawn, Tabernacles 2023

This year, Sukkot, or The Feast of Tabernacles, began on Friday night, 29 September (15 Tishri 5784 on the Biblical calendar) and will be celebrated for 7 days through October 5, 2023. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which the ancient Israelites were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem and to bring an appropriate offering. God told the Israelites to put up booths temporary dwellings, and live in them for a week. In them, the people dined, slept, prayed, sang songs, and remembered God’s faithfulness, reflecting back on the Exodus from Egyptian bondage. The children of Israel lived in these booths temporarily in the wilderness, all the while looking forward to the day when they would reach the Promised Land. Today, as children of God, we are to remember that this home on earth is a temporary home because we look forward to our everlasting home with Him! As we dine in our Sukkah, we look to the day when we will worship Him in the New Jerusalem. Sukkot is also a time of reflection on how God brought each of us out of our personal “Egypt.” As we look at all He has blessed us with today and reflect on the way He provides for us during this journey, we can only stand in awe of the Most High God and His provision and protection.

Last night, we gathered on our front lawn with about 65 neighbors, friends, and family for a time of fellowship, celebration, worship, a great meal, teaching, and prayer. It was a time of awesome worship, prayer, making new friends, and sharing a meal together in the fresh air and not-really-so-cool breezes of the evening. Several local pastors were in attendance, and friends and family joined us from Louisiana and Texas.

LOTS MORE PICTURES AT THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER

FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE YOM KIPPUR WAR (1973 – 2023)

At 2 PM on October 6, 1973, as millions of Israelis prayed and fasted while observing Yom Kippur, Egypt, and Syria launched a massive attack across the Suez Canal into the Sinai desert and in the Golan Heights. The two-pronged offensive came as a total surprise to most Israelis, including the government of Golda Meir and much of the higher echelons of the Israel Defense Forces. There had been ample evidence earlier in the year that Egypt and Syria were planning something, but there was a general failure at the highest levels of the government and the military to take it seriously enough. The shock to Israel was all the greater because only six years earlier, in 1967, it had crushed the armed forces of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in six days, sweeping them out of the Sinai, the Golan and the West Bank, and hugely expanding the territories under its control. The origins of the Yom Kippur invasion lay in the Six-Day War. The Arab countries were determined to avenge the humiliation they had suffered at the hands of tiny Israel, while Israel had grown complacent about its armed forces’ superiority over its hostile neighbours. The Egyptian ruler who presided over the 1967 debacle, President Gamal Abdel Nasser, had died in 1970 and was succeeded by the less charismatic General Anwar el-Sadat.

Egyptian Presidents (l) Gamal Abdel Nasser & (r) General Anwar el-Sadat

But Sadat was determined to recover the Sinai and set in motion a detailed plan to do so. His armed forces were re-trained and re-armed by the Soviet Union. Egypt also carried out a highly effective plan of deception as it built up its forces on the west bank of the Suez Canal. The invasion was coordinated with Syria, which also had a relatively new leader. Hafez-al-Assad. At first, the war went well for the invaders, the Syrians moving up the Golan with wave after wave of tank attacks and taking back Mount Hermon, while the Egyptians poured across the Suez Canal and eventually penetrated as far as ten miles into the Sinai as Israel rushed to mobilize its largely voluntary armed forces. Both arenas of conflict saw the most terrible attritional warfare, with some of the biggest tank battles since the Second World War. The heavily outnumbered Israelis were surprised by the new professionalism and courage of the Arab armies and suffered heavy losses before they stemmed the tide and pushed the invaders back.

This Israeli version of the Centurion earned its legendary status during the Battle of “The Valley of Tears” on the Golan Heights in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Less than 100 Centurion tanks of the 7th Armoured Brigade defeated the advance of some 500 Syrian T-55s and T-62s.

At a huge cost in men and materiel, Israel eventually recovered all the territory the Syrians had regained and forced them to retreat across the 1967 border. In the other theatre, the Israeli army daringly counter-attacked and crossed the Suez Canal. The war lasted only 19 days, concluding with a UN-brokered ceasefire that came into effect on October 25. Israel lost more than 2,600 combatants, and many more were wounded. The conflict had global repercussions: the Arab-dominated OPEC, representing the world’s main oil producers, imposed an oil embargo on the West as punishment for supporting Israel, which saw oil prices triple over the six months it lasted. The “oil shock” helped set off an economic crisis in the West that lasted through the 1970s. While Egypt lost more territory and also suffered appalling losses, the long-term outcome was recognition of Israel, the return of the Sinai under the Camp David agreement, and a peace with Israel that has lasted until this day. But Syria remains Israel’s implacable enemy.

PARTNER WITH US IN PRAYER

Resolution of the Judicial Reform Issues in Israel
Continued movement toward ‘recognition’ by Saudi Arabia. This would be a ‘giant step’ forward for Israel & the Middle East.
Michael’s complete healing
Our upcoming ministry trip to Israel. Departing the US on 30 October

PARTNER WITH US IN FINANCES

We are grateful to receive a partial salary from the King of Kings to help with the work of ministry, and as God opens new doors for us, we know He will supply the needed resources to enable us to minister from America to Israel and to the Nations. May God continue to bless you as you continue blessing us and Israel. There are a few options if you are prompted to partner with us financially: If you don’t need a tax deduction, you can send funds to us via the INTERNET directly through PayPal. Use [email protected], which is Michael’s account. Send as a friend, and there is no cost to you or us. If you don’t need a tax deduction, you can send funds to us by check, payable to Michael Bryan. Mail to Michael Bryan, PO Box 255, Magnolia, MS 39652. Tax-deductible donations via the INTERNET can be made through the KKCJ website, www.kkcj.org. Engage the “Give” tab at the top of the page, select “Staff Support,” and select “Michael Bryan.” Tax-deductible donations CHECK can be made payable to “King of Kings Ministries” with a note “for Bryan family” and mailed to: King of Kings Ministries Inc PO Box 30607 Phoenix, AZ 85046 You will receive a printed receipt and our eternal gratitude.