Our hearts are heavy as we return to Israel after a fruitful, exhausting ministry time in Germany. I never dream about war, but this morning, I did—and it was scary. Bombs were falling, and the enemy was closing in on Israel. Israelis are stocking on essentials with the expectation that Iran could attack soon. Last week, Israel (allegedly) bombed a building adjacent to the Iranian consulate building in Damascus, Syria. Brig-Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander, and Brig-Gen Mohammad Hadi Haji-Rahimi, his deputy, were killed in the attack, in addition to five other terrorists. Iran has pledged to respond.
Confronting the Source
There is a feeling that Israel is taking the fight to Iran. Everyone knows (despite Iran’s feigned incredulity at the strike) that Iran funds its “Ring of Fire” (see below) of Hamas, Hezbollah (80,000 Israelites have been evacuated from their homes since October 7th because of Hezbollah’s constant rocket fire), and the Houthis in Yemen, not to mention terror groups in Syria and Iraq to fight against Israel. The Iranian regime (not the people of Iran) is the cause of all the instability in the Middle East.
In Germany, I explained that Israel was in an impossible situation without any answers. If we do not respond to the aggression, we will be destroyed. If we do respond, the world turns against us—and has viciously. Israel has become the punching bag of left-wing influencers on Twitter and TikTok, while the world is silent on Iran—the actual culprit.
What is God doing? What is he saying?
1. He is calling Israel to cry out to him (Zech 12:10). In addition to many becoming more religious, we continue to hear of more and more openness to the gospel. I am hearing from other outreach ministries of an unprecedented openness. Evan Santoro, our GM, reports:
There is a shift in the direction of the wind. Israelis wonder, “What will occur here in this Land?” The war in Gaza has brought a certain clarity to Israelis concerning where we stand with God. Increasingly, they're realizing that they cannot look to the international community for consistent support. They wonder, “Who will defend this nation and stand by our side in our greatest time of need?” We are experiencing more and more engagement on Shelanu’s social media as people are seeking solid answers to eternal questions.
2. I will be making a video on this this week, but the Lord impressed upon me while I was preaching in Germany that the Church worldwide is having an Esther moment. In short, Haman was able to convince the King of Persia to carry out a complete genocide of Jews throughout his kingdom. “Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women, and children, in one day.” (Esther 3:13). God was calling Esther to lift up her voice, but she was scared. In the end, Esther found courage, even in fear, and went to the king and stopped the genocide.
Will the Church be Esther? God is calling Christians to stand with Israel. While Israel is not perfect, she is being once again singled out by the nations, with callings for her destruction (after 53 attempted genocides). Remember what Mordechai said, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace, you will escape,” (4:13) if you are silent at this time. After I delivered this prophetic word in Germany, I decided to read a commentary on the verses. I was shocked to see almost exactly what I delivered.
Throughout history, many have tried to destroy the Jews, from the time of the exodus to the twentieth century. Christians must be careful never to support in any way the rise of anti-Semitism, although it often has been “in the name of Christ” that such pogroms have taken place. Christians ought to be active in the fight against anti-Semitism.[1]
Breneman continues.
When Christians see the beginnings of anti-Semitism, they must realize that they must raise their voices against it for two reasons: (1) it is against the will of God, and (2) similar persecution could fall on them as well. Those who have persecuted the Jews have always come to ruin. We must still take seriously God’s promise to Abraham and his descendants: “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen 12:3).[2]
3. Bridges, Eclipses and Biden
I am not one to exaggerate the significance of events after they happen, and I have been critical of all the Monday Morning prophets who knew the prophetic significance of the bridge collapse but did not see it happening prophetically before it happened! Nevertheless, as our Israeli co-laborer Arnie Klein pointed out (see Gen. 12:3 above), one cannot ignore that the ship rammed into the Frances Scott Key Bridge (the man who wrote America’s national anthem!), destroying it one day after the Biden administration refused to veto a lopsided UN resolution against Israel. Make no mistake, Biden was sending a message to Netanyahu. God has called America more than any other nation to stand with Israel—and when she does not—history has proven that grace is lifted and devastating consequences happen. (See below for three examples.)
Today, April 8th, we expect a “Ring of Fire” eclipse (not every eclipse is a ring of fire). As my friend Troy Brewer points out, the enemies of Israel call themselves a “ring of fire.”
Iran seeks to “Surround Israel with a ‘Ring of Fire’ comprising Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, foreign militias in Syria, the Houthis in Yemen and pro-Iran militias in Iraq. … The guiding principle of the Ring of Fire is clear: Iran remains distant and ostensibly uninvolved, because it has no direct responsibility for any action by these elements. Iran is like an octopus whose center and brain are not responsible for the actions of its long arms—preventing its enemies from retaliating against it with overt force.
This eclipse is a sign to God’s enemies that he is watching over Israel. It may be a sign to the US as the eclipse takes place over the US that God is not pleased with the Biden administration's backtracking regarding the firm commitment she made to Israel in the aftermath of October 7th. And it could be a sign to Iran’s “Ring of Fire” that God is not pleased and will act. According to Genesis 1:14-16, God puts the sun, moon, and stars in the skies, not only to govern seasons but as signs (אוֹתוֹת – ōtōt), so we should not easily brush this off—a “ring of fire” eclipse that has only happened seven times before in US history. Troy Brewer says, “God is saying (through the eclipse), ‘I need you to be on this side of the line…” and I believe that line is Israel. It feels as if we are in the End Time birth pangs (Matt 24:4-14).
Conclusion
Regardless of these “signs,” we have the word of God, which is clear that whoever touches Israel “touches the apple of his eye. Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me” (Zec 2:9). This principle was true in Zechariah’s day, and it is true in ours. God will come through for Israel. But will the Church raise up her voice to defend Israel? Or will “relief and deliverance rise for the Jews from another place?” (Est. 4:14).
Three Examples of Judgment on America when not favoring Israel
In 1996, Elana and I were at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington, DC. We were treated to a night there by a couple I married. We could not understand why so many Arab officials were there until I saw Hanan Ashrawi, a long-time confidant of the arch-terrorist Yassar Arafat. President Clinton had welcomed the bloodstained hands of Arafat to the White House. That weekend, deadly tornadoes ripped through Clinton’s home state of Arkansas, tragically killing many.
Later, after the Bush administration pressured Ariel Sharon to leave Gaza (which led to 20 years of rocket attacks and finally to October 7), we saw scenes of Jewish refugees in the south of Israel being forcibly moved north. At the same time, America experienced the devastating and deadly Category 5 Hurricane Katrina, that mimicked what was happening in Israel, as American refugees from the south headed north from Louisiana. It also became the worst moment politically for President Bush. (As I write this, I am tearing up. There is no happiness when judgment comes, yet if we believe the Bible, God judges when we get in the way of his priorities).
Lastly, in May 2017, it was expected that newly inaugurated President Trump would fulfill his campaign promise to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and pledge to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. However, his advisors talked him out of it. It would coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Six Day War, when Israel won Jerusalem after Jordan attacked her. The next few months of his presidency were so bad (remember Charlottesville?) that some wondered if he would not be removed from office somehow. He could not pass any legislation.
However, in October 2017, he reversed his position on Israel (October 2017 just happened to be the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther posting his 95 Theses against the corrupt clergy and igniting the Reformation) and announced in December that he would move the embassy and recognize Jerusalem. Within days of that speech, he passed his first piece of legislation—the tax bill—which led to a season of extreme economic prosperity in America.
And what happened between May 2017 and October? The last solar eclipse in America was in August 2017!
[1] Mervin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, electronic ed., vol. 10, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 331.
[2] Ibid., 332.
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