Israel At War!
This is the shocking news we all woke up to—at least 100 Israeli citizens; men, women, and children killed. Many thousand innocents wounded. An untold number taken hostage. All at the hands of Hamas.
I saw a brief headline through notifications on my phone, and weight and grief immediately settled on me. I had no idea yet of the horrifying and gruesome details (I never check social media, where I get my news from, before my morning prayers). However, I knew it was horrible because of God’s prophetic gift upon me.
I couldn’t focus on anything else than praying for Israel and for the peace of Jerusalem. In fact, I was so heartbroken that I couldn't muster the words in English. I don’t know how long I prayed in tongues, but I thank God for that beautiful gift. Otherwise, I would not have been able to pray.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Romans 8:26
I pray that the words I write will have an impact on you. Maybe, like me, you are so weighed down by what is happening in Israel. (If you are a Christian, you certainly should be heartbroken). I pray that I am helping you how to pray. That it is okay to be struck with such profound grief that we cannot utter words in the natural. That God does provide the supernatural to help us.
What Do We Do?
What are we to do? What can we do? Is there anything we can do?
At least, I hope these questions are churning in your thoughts and provoking you to seek guidance. Of course, God, being God, has foreseen everything, including this current Israeli war. Not only that, but God has told us what to do in His living word.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you!
Psalm 122:6
Prayer, especially praying for Israel, is not a suggestion but a command. If we love the Lord, the Jewish Messiah Jesus, we will love Israel and the Jewish people. Read the words Paul wrote about his people, the Jews:
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
- Romans 9:1-5
Did you see how Paul was so burdened that he was willing to spend eternity in hell if it meant blessings for the Jewish people? The word accursed Paul uses is the same Greek word he uses in Galatians 1:9, talking about heretics: anathema/ἀνάθεμα. Let’s look at the definition for context:
A thing devoted to God without hope of being redeemed, and if an animal, to be slain; therefore a person or thing doomed to destruction.
Paul says he would rather be beyond God’s redemption if it meant the Jews would be saved. That is precisely how we should be right now. We should be burdened to pray that this war, as horrific as it is, would bring many Jews to salvation.
We should, of course, pray for the terrorists to be saved. If you think that is shocking and wrong, you forget where Jesus prayed for those who put Him on the cross. If we genuinely want peace in Israel, we need to pray that many will make the Prince of Peace their Lord. There is no other way. No other path to lasting peace.
I experienced first-hand the horrific acts of terrorists with three combat deployments to Iraq starting in 2003. I saw what their bombs do to people, including dear friends of mine. I was wounded by an IED (roadside bomb) in August 2008. I hated all Muslims with what I thought was a righteous hatred. Yet, in January 2019, when Jesus became my Lord, I had, and still have, a burning love to see Muslims come to Christ.
We Can Rest Assured God Has This Well In Hand
Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
Psalm 121:4
God sees what is happening. God is not some hands-off distant deity. We can rest in the fact that God will use this to fulfill His purposes towards His chosen people, the Jews. I don’t believe for one second that God willed this war; I do believe God will use it to draw Jews and Muslims alike to Him.
For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you 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.
Zechariah 2:8-9
Did you read that? Israel is the apple of God’s eye. That means they hold a special place more than any other people. Hamas just poked the apple of God’s eye: he who touches you touches the apple of his eye. According to God, He will answer back.
You may ask, “You just told us to pray for the salvation of the terrorists.” It is true that I did say that. Two things can be true at the same time. What I am telling you is to rest and be at peace in the fact that God has got this well in hand. Read the following passage:
Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
for the time when their foot shall slip;
for the day of their calamity is at hand,
and their doom comes swiftly.’
36 For the Lord will vindicate his people
and have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their power is gone
and there is none remaining, bond or free.
- Deuteronomy 32:35-36