NOW THEREFORE ARISE—Conference Call Wednesday 9pm EST. Conference call number: 641-715-3605 access code 552-690. Use *6 to mute/unmute. Invite your friends to join us!

RICK RIDINGS CALL TO FAST, PRAY— for Northern Syria, for prevailing breakthrough over ungodly alliances between Iran, Turkey and Russia, for God’s covenantal realignment regarding the US Mideast Peace Plan, and for Israel’s elections. Prayer for these priorities will continue through the 21 day “Now Therefore Arise” prayer project. YOUTUBE VIDEO CLICK HERE. 

DEAR MIDNIGHT JURISTS,
Last Wednesday and Thursday, President Trump was engaged in delicate nuclear negotiations with North Korea when the House of Representatives convened to pursue impeaching him. As if to emphasize a point, our nation’s most pro-life president had just acted to defund aspects of the abortion industry. Meanwhile the party driving this push had just voted in favor of literal infanticide to become the law of the land. 

Ironically, their star witness chosen to validate the accusations against Trump was a lawyer convicted of lying to Congress. Can’t make this stuff up.

Perhaps Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t want President Trump to feel alone. Because on Thursday Netanyahu joined Trump in facing the scourge of unprecedented accusation. A public announcement of intent was served to indict him. 

Are Trump and Netanyahu guilty or innocent of their charges? That depends on whom you ask. Here’s all I know. ON THE VERY SAME DAY, two of the strongest leaders for freedom and security in our generation were targeted by their accusers to be removed from office. 

Coincidence?
The simultaneous announcements pursuing the indictment of Netanyahu and the impeachment of Donald Trump might just be a total coincidence. Lets analyze this. What are the odds? Statistically speaking, virtually impossible.

If it’s not a coincidence, why are Trump and Netanyahu considered such a threat? And to whom? On a global level, who is targeting them?

I would like to stir you with comforting words here. But before God I do not feel any sense of closure. Instead I sense an urgency to pray. Specifically God is summoning us to pray through these 21 days spanning the pivotal Jewish holy day called Purim. The only thing I know is that Haman must not prevail.

And I do have a prophetic word to stand on, spoken by the Lord in 2017. “The same verdict which ushered Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu into office will sustain them through their terms.”

Election Collusion Meets Election Turnaround
That said, lets take a brief journey down memory lane. In March 2015, the Lord called Jolene and me to pray in Jerusalem through the final 10 days of the Israeli elections. God called us to stand on Daniel 7:22, which we’ve come to call the “Turnaround Verdict.” Judgement in favor of the saints, restraining the enemy and releasing the saints to possess the Kingdom. 

You know the accusations of Russia collusion? Ironically, America was absolutely guilty in collusion and interference to influence the election of the sovereign nation of Israel. The former administration imposed its goal to topple Netanyahu upon the Israeli people. Netanyahu’s opposition was publicly supported by the administration. Incredibly, State Department funds were even diverted to fund Netanyahu’s opposition!

Talk about election interference. Given the three years of accusation—by this same party—of collusion with a foreign government to influence the US elections, some might find the historical reality of American interference in Israel’s elections ironic. Perhaps even hypocritical. 

That said, in ministry meetings we repented for Washington’s attempt to rule over Israel’s elections by publicly supporting and privately bankrolling Netanyahu’s opposition. We asked for Heaven’s Court to rule according to Daniel 7:22.

And against all odds, Netanyahu won. 

On election day we decided to walk the ramparts of the Old City of Jerusalem. Which meant we were literally praying as watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem. Holy Spirit spoke to me then a simple phrase:

“As you have stood for an election turnaround in My covenant land, so I am bringing a turnaround to America in the Presidential elections of 2016.”

Donald Trump wasn’t even in consideration for the presidency at that time. But like Netanyahu, against all odds he won. 

Jerusalem—Capital of Israel
As a signature of his presidency, Donald Trump has dramatically confronted what Chuck Pierce calls the “root of all prejudice and bigotry,” the prejudice of anti-Semitism. He openly defied 70 years of diplomatic quarantine of the Jewish state by recognizing Jerusalem as its capital. On Israel’s 70th anniversary. Because as Trump stated, a sovereign state should be free to determine its capital city. 

For his part, Netanyahu courageously agreed—in defiance of incredible threats internally, regionally and globally. 

It was a defining moment for both. 

What’s the Verdict?
I want to emphasize that neither Trump nor Netanyahu are without fault. But given the legacies both have forged for freedom and security, even in the face of unprecedented challenges, I have to question the ultimate motive of government leaders determined to topple both leaders AT THE VERY SAME TIME. 

You must answer the question—is the timing of mutual pursuits of indictments and impeachments merely a coincidence, or is there more to the story? Again, if it’s not a coincidence, why are Trump and Netanyahu considered such a threat? And to whom? On a global level, who is targeting them?

I want to remind you what the Lord spoke to me back in 2017. The same verdict which ushered Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu into office will sustain them through their respective terms. Through Purim and beyond, lets press into the Lord through prayer and fasting. May all hidden motives be revealed. May all hidden plots be exposed and thwarted. 

And may God’s justice alone prevail, in Jesus’ Name. 

Purim—Now Therefore Arise
I’ll leave you with this inspiring Purim parable. It is a reminder to us all that initial setbacks do not define the end of the story.

The date was the eve of Purim 2015, just weeks before the Israeli election. Benjamin Netanyahu stood in the chamber of the House of Representatives and boldly confronted the dire prospects of the Iranian Nuclear Accords. By this open defiance of then-President Obama and his party, he put his entire political career on the line. On the eve of Purim, the parallel of Esther confronting the existential threat of the Jewish people by Haman was unmistakeable.

Here’s what he said:

“We’re an ancient people,” Netanyahu intoned. “In our nearly 4,000 years of history, many have tried repeatedly to destroy the Jewish people. Tomorrow night, on the Jewish holiday of Purim, we’ll read the Book of Esther. We’ll read of a powerful Persian viceroy named Haman, who plotted to destroy the Jewish people some 2,500 years ago. But a courageous Jewish woman, Queen Esther, exposed the plot and gave for the Jewish people the right to defend themselves against their enemies.The plot was foiled. Our people were saved.

“Today the Jewish people face another attempt by yet another Persian potentate to destroy us. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei spews the oldest hatred, the oldest hatred of anti-Semitism with the newest technology. He tweets that Israel must be annihilated…

Despite genuine thunder from Netanyahu and protest from Jewish and Christian communities, later in 2015 the Iranian nuclear accords were signed by Secretary of State John Kerry and sealed by Congress. Meanwhile Netanyahu’s stand nearly cost him his election. 

But that was not the end of this Purim story. 

An unintended consequence of the accords is that Sunni nations, alarmed by the empowerment of Iran’s radicalized government through the nuclear accords, began to form an unprecedented alliance with Israel. Ancient barriers of prejudice have begun to shift even as a united front confronts a Haman regime of our time.

And of course, against all odds Prime Minister Netanyahu won the election. Then Donald Trump won. And out of a sequence of events which began when the Prime Minister of Israel decided to arise and take a stand, the collaborative relationship with Trump has now unravelled the Iranian nuclear accords.

Now Therefore Arise
Judgement in favor of the saints—that’s what it looks like in the real world today. Thoughts to ponder as we together continue to face down the challenges of this Purim season. A verdict from Heaven is being granted which trumps the existential threat being imposed. Your prayers are absolutely vital. NOW THEREFORE ARISE.