Israel’s Existential Threat
December 7, 1941. September 11, 2001.
Here in the United States, these dates are forever remembered for their surprise attacks:
1941 – the Sunday morning assault on Pearl Harbor was a military operation against U.S. naval forces at anchor in Hawaii.
2001 – four domestic airliners were the instruments of death and destruction at New York City’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, making these acts of terror all the more frightening.
Each event triggered declarations of war by the U.S. president.
October 7, 2023 will forever be seared into the minds of Israelis as well as world Jewry and all who love them. A peaceful Shabbat [Sabbath] morning at the close of the joyous holiday of Sukkot [Feast of Tabernacles] was shattered by many hundreds of Hamas terrorists sweeping out of Gaza into southern Israel by land, sea, and paragliders.
Stories of the wanton murder of over 1,000 men, women, and children have filled the news this week. Shocking photos and descriptions of the slaughter are too graphic to recount here.
Yes, military bases were captured and soldiers killed and kidnaped. A Sderot police station was overrun and its officers slain.
But this was a terror attack, not a military operation. Horrors were multiplied by the slaughter of infants, children, and elderly in their homes, on the streets, and in the field where a music concert drew many young people.
No one was surprised by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s swift response: “We are at war!” Even before official summons were issued by the Israel Defense Force, multiplied thousands of reservists began mobilizing to counter the jihadi offensive.
Not since the Holocaust have Jewish people been the victims of such massive casualties. The number of dead and wounded will continue to climb as Israel’s military engages in aerial bombardments, artillery shelling, and a ground war. Casualty figures are always difficult to assess in a hot war but for certain they will include armed combatants as well as Arabs who wanted no part of these hostilities foisted upon them by their terrorist overlords.
Gaza has been called the most densely populated place on earth. Conducting war amidst civilian populations in house-to-house fighting is extremely dangerous. Tragically, many Gazans who are not aligned with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad are caught in the crosshairs of Israel’s Operation Iron Swords.
Adding to Israel’s significant challenge in rooting out terror bases is the reality that perhaps 150 Israelis captured by Hamas are now secreted in Gaza. The extensive tunnel system is likely where many of the hostages are held. Hamas has threatened to execute them one by one if Israel retaliates.
We shudder at the thought of video images of their executions being broadcast for the world to see. And already we weep with the families bereft of loved ones. We ache for those who plead for government authorities to do everything in their power to win the release of dear ones held captive by wicked abusers.
Widening the lens a bit we see Israel’s concern for the potential involvement of their immediate neighbors. Egypt has been warned not to send in supplies to a now-besieged Gaza Strip, home to nearly two million residents whose supply of food and electricity is cut off.
Of greater concern is Hezbollah, sworn enemy of Israel entrenched in southern Lebanon. Their rockets – far more powerful and sophisticated than the thousands launched by Hamas – have been estimated to be greater than 120,000. Israel’s sophisticated Iron Dome missile defense system has been overtaxed by the 5,000 or so rockets rained down from Gaza this week. At a cost of more than $40,000 per defense rocket, the economic cost to defend Israel’s skies is enormous.
As with Lebanon’s weak central government which allows terror organizations to flourish, so Syria’s civil war has spawned factions. Israel’s northeastern neighbor serves as a pipeline for Iranian arms shipped to Hezbollah. Israel’s air force conducts continual raids against these supply chains, but doubtless weapons get through.
And lurking behind the curtain, manipulating the strings, is Iran itself. The ayatollahs have pledged their commitment to destroy “the little Satan,” Israel. The “great Satan,” the United States, is also in their destructive plans.
As of this writing, the news is filled with wall-to-wall coverage of the hot war.
Live images of rockets fired from Gaza.
Buildings crumbling in Gaza from Israeli war plane attacks.
Tearful pleas from families of the missing.
Israeli tanks and troops massing on Gaza’s border.
Resolve on the faces of Israel’s leaders.
Anger and fearful concern on the faces of Israel’s citizenry.
While our news sources don’t have cameras broadcasting from Gaza, we may well presume similar fears are on the faces of Gaza’s citizens who are subject to Israel’s retaliation for the massacre just inflicted.
So many questions arise as to what the future holds. How intense and prolonged will Israel’s incursion into Gaza be? At what cost of life to Israeli soldiers and citizens as well the armed militants who fomented the evil attack – and those who want nothing to do with war?
Our hearts go out to all affected by this horrific situation. We know there are fellow believers in Jesus on both sides of this conflict. We pray their faith will be strengthened and the light and love of Yeshua [Jesus] will shine through them.
We know there are many who tremble with fear over the certainty of casualties and the uncertainty of the outcome. Will Israel’s resolve to eradicate the cancer of Islamic terror result in a prolonged stay in territory they abandoned in 2005? (Sadly, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s hotly-disputed evacuation of Jewish citizens from Gaza did not result in hoped-for peace.)
Will Hezbollah unleash its massive cache of deadly missiles, powerful enough to reach all of Israel, including her nuclear reactor? Will Iran take advantage of this opportunity to avenge the humiliating setbacks to its nuclear program as its architects have been assassinated and its plans for nuclear arms exposed?
Some who assess the military strength and fierce hatred of Israel by her enemies are dismayed. We hear of some Israelis who are planning to leave to seek safer sanctuaries after the October 7 nightmare.
Faith in the Jewish state’s security systems, with their multiplied tremendous past successes, has been shaken to the core by their complete failure to detect the multi-pronged attack from Gaza. Not since the shock of the Yom Kippur war of 1973, resulting in Prime Minister Golda Meir’s resignation, has there been such a painful miscalculation by military intelligence, the Mossad, and Sherut Bitachon (Israel’s FBI).
We are hearing “existential crisis” repeated by the pundits. Will Israel even survive?
Pragmatic analysts look at the internal political division that engulfed Israel this year as one reason the security forces were caught off guard. Others measure the strength of Israel’s enemies and endeavor to calculate the odds of Israel surviving a multi-front war.
And if Iran were to achieve nuclear capabilities…what then?
As believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob we have a tremendous advantage. God’s Word is filled with the historical record of enemies. In Deuteronomy 7:1-3 seven nations “larger and stronger than you” are listed as residents of the promised land of Canaan. The five Philistine cities included Gaza as well as Ashdod and Ashkelon – two modern Israeli cities under rocket attack from Gaza today.
Warring neighbors included the Amalekites, Ammonites, and Edomites. World empires – Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome – occupied Israel in biblical times.
Since the Byzantine Empire a series of Arab and Muslim overlords, with brief times of Crusader rule, concluded with the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1917. And when the British Mandate ended in 1948, for the first time since 65 BC an independent Jewish state was in control of the Promised Land.
But what confidence do we have that 75-year-old Israel will continue to dwell in the land sworn to Abraham by God in Genesis 15?
Without attempting to squeeze this current conflict into Bible prophecy (I personally don’t find it there, apart from Jesus’ foretelling of “wars and rumors of wars”), we have the promises of God. In the last days Israel will be permanently restored to her ancient homeland. As one example, “‘I will also plant them on their land, and they will not again be rooted out from their land which I have given them,’ says the Lord your God” (Amos 9:15). Ultimately, under Messiah’s righteous rule, Israel will inhabit the full extent of the Promised Land in peace.
But today Israel’s faith in her political leaders is broken. Her confidence in her military and intelligence organizations is shaken. She faces implacable foes devoted to her destruction. They once again have proven their murderous intention.
As believers, our hearts go out to our suffering friends. To those without hope, we encourage a return to the God of Israel. As did the pilgrims of old who ascended to worship on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, we recite the beautiful words of Psalm 121:
1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.
We long for many to be gathered under the wings of Messiah (Luke 13:34), the Prince of Peace, who wept over Jerusalem two millennia ago. And we look forward to His kingdom of righteousness and peace when Psalm 121 will be perfectly fulfilled.
Meanwhile, we cry out for God to intervene against Israel’s enemies (as in Psalm 83). We pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6) and all the Land of Promise.
Amen. May it be so!
Written by Wes, LIFE’s Global Ambassador
How has the news from Israel affected you?
Do you personally know individuals in Israel or Gaza who are suffering? As we “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6), let’s include all who are in need of knowing the perfect peace only the Prince of Peace can provide.
When you are fearful, what Scripture passages comfort your heart? Who would God have you share those verses with to encourage them in their journey today?
If you are looking for a way to help, you can click here for ideas on how to pray and give towards our special “Israel Relief Fund.” We know this war will have a long-lasting effect on people in Israel, both on our workers, and those they are ministering to.