It has been a while since cable news shows have virtually had wall-to-wall coverage of a news story. That is what is now happening concerning Israel. Strangely, it is almost a repeat of what happened in 1973. Jan Markell of Olive Tree Ministries tells the story:
“On October 6, 1973, the unthinkable happened. On the watch of Prime Minister Golda Meier, Israel’s enemies gathered on her borders and planned to wipe out the very memory of her existence (Psalm 83). They nearly succeeded.
Meier appealed to President Richard Nixon—no friend of the Jews to be sure. Could America step in and avert the utter destruction of the country? Nixon’s staffers were not in favor of this, but he had the voice of his mother in his ear, who had warned him about a day like this. And when he might encounter it, please come to Israel’s aid.
And so, he did. Big time. God and Nixon saved the beleaguered nation.
No one imagined that the scenario would repeat itself in 2023. Not the exact scenario, but very similar. That was 50 years ago and a different generation” (olivetreeviews.org).
ISRAEL’S MISTAKES
Like other nations, Israel has made mistakes. Let me mention some of them:
- Yielding up the control of the Temple Mount. The full impact of this decision is yet to be seen.
- Yielding up the control of the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians which eventually led to it being controlled by Hamas, a militant and terrorist group.
Then, too, mistakes were made in the continuing failure of the intelligence department, which led to the attack by Hamas being completely unexpected. It is hard to understand how Israel, with all its high-tech equipment, didn’t foresee the attack. There is also the question as to whether American intelligence didn’t pick up on anything regarding the attack.
ISRAEL’S ENEMIES
Israel’s enemies are many, but the general view is that Iran is behind Hamas. On this particular occasion, it would appear that Iran helped plan the attack on Israel, supplying Hamas with weapons, etc. One has to remember that Iran, along with other enemies of Israel, wants to annihilate Israel and drive her into the sea.
An article by the Gatestone Institute points out that “dozens of maps circulate in the Muslim world, showing the extent of Muslim territories lost to the infidel that must be recovered. These include large parts of Russia and Europe, almost a third of China, the whole of India and parts of the Philippines and Thailand” (gatestoneinstitute.org).
AMERICA IS ALSO AN ENEMY OF IRAN
There has been a reluctance by our present government in America to recognize that Iran is a terrorist group that cries out ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel.’ Sadly, lacking strong leadership in the United States, we have opened the door for conflicts in our time, such as Ukraine, Israel, and possibly Tawain. It is not a time to appease Islam; that is not the way to deal with terrorists.
GLOBAL PRAYER WATCH
Finally, there is the call to pray for Israel. Friends of ours in Israel sent us this from the Global Prayer Watch blog (globalprayerwatch.blogspot.com):
- PRAY that the Lord will bring clarity to the Israeli government; to military officials; and to the IDF soldiers on the ground. Also, may He give Israel great determination in fighting its enemies.
- PRAY that all Israelis who have been taken hostage; that remain in captivity; and are in the hands of Gaza terrorists, will be unharmed and released immediately, in Yeshua’s name!
- PRAY that this war will not expand to any other fronts in Israel.
- PRAY that those Gazans who are not supportive of Hamas will be able to receive fuel, electricity, and goods; and, that any possible siege of Gaza by Israel will be over quickly.
- PRAY for no retaliation against Jews living in the Diaspora for whatever means Israel takes to defend the Israeli home-front. PRAY that antisemitism will not increase in the nations.
- PRAY that all tunnels leading from enemy territory into Israel will be discovered and destroyed in Jesus’ name! (Both on the southern and northern borders).
- PRAY that all believers who are involved in this war will be protected and safe. PRAY that for all those who have been called up to serve in the IDF, there will be a testimony to God’s faithfulness in war!
The Word of God calls us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6), so let us pray for Jerusalem and Israel in the midst of this terrible war and for the innocent civilians on both sides of this conflict.
RESOURCES
https://olivetreeviews.org/our-e-newsletter-the-ghost-of-golda-markell/
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20032/khamenei-plan-israel
https://globalprayerwatch.blogspot.com/2023/10/situation-analysis-206.html
IMAGE
Rockets fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza City are intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome defence missile system in the early hours of Oct. 8, 2023. Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images
Kairos Ministries 