Every day is a miracle in Israel, but today is one of those especially divine times that everyone living here will remember for the rest of our lives. “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and celebrate!” The God of Israel enabled His Chosen People to strike back at our mortal enemy, Iran—after decades of a growing threat of nuclear annihilation, years of careful military planning, and months of fearful anticipation since their evil ring of fire began to suffocate us on October 7th, 2023.
While ‘Operation Rising Lion’ has only just begun, and many IDF soldiers are bravely fighting in harm’s way—on land, at sea, and in the air—we pray for their safety. So far, the initial strike has been nothing less than historic. Before our very eyes, Israel has once again served as the Mighty Hand and Outstretched Arm of our Heavenly Father, delivering a devastating blow to the Islamic regime.
What happened today is extraordinary, and we must take a moment to recognize the unprecedented times we are living in. God is not whispering for our attention—He is shouting! When the leader of the Jewish people, Prime Minister Netanyahu, steps onto the world stage and speaks about the God of Israel, quoting from the Bible in his historic announcement—followed immediately by a spectacular military achievement—you know we are living in Biblical times.
So how should we, Bible-believing Jews and Christians, respond? That’s actually quite simple. We have a tradition that tells us to look into the weekly Torah portion to find the most relevant messages. And in this week’s portion, there are three goosebump inducing passages:
- “When you are at war in your land against an aggressor who attacks you, you shall sound short blasts on the trumpets, that you may be remembered before Hashem your God and be delivered from your enemies.” (Numbers 10:9) This is the first war in Israel’s modern history in which specially crafted silver trumpets were blown on IDF army bases to encourage the soldiers, just as God commanded.
- “When the Ark was to set out, Moshe would say: Advance, Hashem! May Your enemies be scattered, and may Your foes flee before You!” (Numbers 10:35) Iran viciously used proxies and built a ring of fire around Israel, but in His kindness, God scattered our enemies—from Gaza, Judea and Samaria, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, to Iran itself.
- “In that day many nations will attach themselves to Hashem and become His people, and He will dwell in your midst.” (Zechariah 2:15) The Haftarah discusses the battle of Gog and Magog and describes how, after the awesome miracles God performs for His people, many nations from around the world will cling to Him. Once again, this is the first war in Israel’s history in which millions of Christians across the globe are standing up for the People of Israel in recognition of the God of Israel.
There is a reason each and every one of us is alive today. It is because we see the threats against Israel as an affront to the God of Israel—and we, Jews and Gentiles, have stood up to call upon Him to scatter our enemies.
However, it is not enough to keep this moment to ourselves. We must sound the trumpets and declare publicly, “A nation that rises like a lion will not rest until it has devoured its prey!” (Numbers 23:24)
May the bitter war that Iran started on October 7th end with the dawning of an era of eternal peace for Israel—and for the entire world.
