October 7, 2023. A date that will live in infamy.
Those words take many of us Americans back to December 7, 1941. Franklin D. Roosevelt chose words to describe the surprise attack of the Imperial Japanese Navy on American military forces in Pearl Harbor.
How can we describe the brutal and intentional slaughter of hundreds of Israeli men, women, and children? What righteous indignation can be aroused to oppose the satanic hatred that motivates terrorists and their Jew-hating apologists around the world?
Israel is currently embroiled in a war unlike anything it has experienced in its 75-year existence as a modern nation. The existential threats that Israel overcame in 1948, 1967, and 1973 were only foreshadows of the metastasized cancer of hate and violence that it faces today. The onslaught of recent events demonstrates that God’s prophetic Word is still being fulfilled right before our eyes. Because He has chosen to reveal the end of all things, we can be certain that He is still in control — and that His Will will be done.
Last month I urged you to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. This month I want to ask you to pray for the Jewish people — both collectively and by name if possible. Pray for Israeli Jews as they fight for their lives amidst the faltering support of a world that will quickly and inevitably turn against them once again.
In the days immediately following October 7th, I kept coming back to Psalm 59:1-3 and Psalm 7, where after imploring the Lord to deliver him from the evil of the wicked, David affirms his everlasting hope in God’s sovereignty and righteousness, “I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High” (Psalm 7:17, NASB). As all who trust Him can testify, if you put your faith in Him, “The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save” (Zephaniah 3:17, NIV 1984).
Please start off this new year — 2024 — praying for the peace of Jerusalem by calling for the return of the Prince of Peace!
I am confused about praying for the peace for Israel. I see where God is punishing the Jewish nation with vigor. The minor prophets describe the terrific pain they will endure. In addition the extreme pain they will suffer sometime soon to complete the 70 th week. How then can we ameliorate this suffering caused by God by praying for their peace–it seems contradictory. What am I missing?
jim delwood
Peace will come to Jerusalem when the Prince of Peace returns. Praying for the peace of Jerusalem means praying for Jesus Christ to return and fulfill His promises to Israel and the world.
I am in awe of the Messiah’s prophecies, and the prophets who warn us.. We see the scriptures being fulfilled with such accuracy… Never has the Lion of Judah been so near to coming for His church. There’s power in the word.
Zechariah 12:2 “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples. All who try lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all nations of the earth will gather against it.
Obadiah 15. “For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on you own head.”
Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!!!!!!!
I love this scripture.
Isaiah 55:10-11. “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”