Hello John and Doves,
When Israel and Judah obeyed the Lord, they
prospered. Their kings were blessed and their
countries were at peace and if they were attacked by their
enemies, the Lord promised them victory and they were
victorious.
King Hezekiah reigned 29 years in Jerusalem.
"And he did that which was right in the sight of the
Lord..." 2 Chronicles 26:2 Hezekiah talked to
the priests and Levites and told them that "Wherefore
the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he
hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to
hissing, as ye see with your eyes. For lo, our fathers
have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and
our wives are in captivity for this. Now it is
in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of
Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us."
Hezekiah opened the doors of the House of the Lord and
repaired them..he brought in the priests and Levites and
they sanctified themselves and made the proper offerings to
the Lord. "So the service of the house of the Lord was
set in order." 2 Chronicles 29:35 Hezekiah and
all the people rejoiced. Everyone was invited to
Jerusalem to keep the Passover of the Lord. "So there
was great joy in Jerusalem for since the time of Solomon the
son of David king of Israel there was not the like in
Jerusalem. Then the priests the Levites arose and
blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and
their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto
heaven." 2 Chronicles 31:25.27
All the people of Israel went to the cities of Judah
and destroyed the images and the high places and the altars
- they destroyed them all. "And thus did Hezekiah throughout
all Judah and wrought that which was good and right and
truth before the Lord his God. And in every work that
he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law,
and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all
his heart and prospered." 2 Chronicles 31:20.21
And when the king of Assyria, Sennacherb, was come to
fight against Jerusalem..Hezekiah prepared the country - he
built up the wall and towers, took care of the water they
would need and made sure the Assyrian couldn't access it, he
gathered his captains of war over the people and made "darts
and shields in abundance."
Hezekiah told his people: "Be strong and
courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of
Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him:
for there be more with us than with him: With
him is the arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God
to help us and to fight our battles. And the people
rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of
Judah. 2 Chronicles 32: 7.8
King Sennacherib sent a message to Jerusalem -
"Whereon do you trust that ye abide in the siege in
Jerusalem?" Does not Hezekiah persuade you to die by
famine and by thirst? He told you to believe that your
God will deliver you out of the hands of the king of
Assyria, but have you not seen what I have done to all the
others that believed that their gods would save them out of
my hand? "Who was there among all the gods of those
nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could
deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be
able to deliver you out of mine hand!?" 2 Chronicles
32:13.14 He went on and told the people not to be
deceived by Hezekiah - "for no god of any nation or kingdom
was able to deliver his people out of mine hand..how much
less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?" 2
Chronicles 32:15
King Sennacherib didn't stop there he sent more
letters speaking against the God of Hezekiah and his
servants spoke against the God of Hezekiah. He
even cried to the Jews in their own language trying to
dissuade them and frighten them.
Meanwhile, King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet
"prayed and cried to Heaven." 2 Chronicles 32:20.
The Lord sent His angel to destroy the army of King
Sennacherib. Striking down the 'mighty men of valour,
the leaders and captains. Sennacherib had to return to
his own land in shame "And when he was come into the house
of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him
there with the sword." 2 Chronicles 32:21
"Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria,
and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every
side." 2 Chronicles 32:22 All the people
rejoiced and brought gifts to the Lord in Jerusalem and to
the king. Hezekiah later repented of his pride (from
this great victory) to avoid wrath upon himself, Jerusalem
and Judah. He died a good servant of the Lord.
I was reminded of this story because of what all is
going on in Israel. A miracle saved Jerusalem from the
King of Assyria.
The Lord protected Jerusalem, Israel, Judah many many
times when they did 'what was right in the eyes of the
Lord."
The Lord has continued to watch over Israel - we can
look at more recent wars to see how He moved His hand of
protection to give Israel victories - the 67 War and the Yom
Kippur War of 1973 had their own miracles.
The '67 War:
In the 67 War, the IDF consisted of 275,000
troops. Their enemies - Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Egypt
had 456,000 troops. Plus the Arabs had more military
equipment and weaponry, twice as many tanks and four time
the combat aircraft. "The three-week period preceding
the Six-Day War was one of dread, shock and fright for the
residents of the Holy Land. There were 2.5 million Jews in
Israel then. "So pessimistic was the outlook that the
nation's cemeteries and national parks were marked to become
gravesites for the many who would surely perish in the
course of the war." "The term "second Holocaust" was
bandied around."
Countries around the world recalled their citizens
from Israel and closed their embassies. Airlines
stopped flights. People in Israel were panicked.
Their prime minister wasn't giving them much hope.
However, the Israeli daily published a "surprisingly
uplifted headline: "G-d is Watching over the Holy Land
and Salvation is Near" The article contained the
message from a US rabbi - Lubavitcher Rebbe - he said "G-d
is guarding them and sending them His blessings and
salvation in extraordinary measure. The people of Israel
will emerge from the current situation with remarkable
success." "There is no reason to be afraid..."
"The Rebbe's reassuring voice brought calm to the
people." After the war, "the Israeli President Zalman
Shazar said, "I did not doubt for a moment that we would be
triumphant. the Rebbe called me and it was clear that
he had full faith that we would be victorious."
June
3: Global Tefillin Campaign - The Miracles of the Six-Day
War
When the war ended, Israel had three times as much
land as she had before the war. "Jews returned to
sites where their ancestors had lived for thousands of
years...The casualties and losses were painful, but minimal
in comparison to all projections. The Jewish
nation was miraculously victorious in the face of
unbelievable odds."
Introduction
- The Miracles of the Six-Day War
"In 1967 history shifted dramatically over the course
of a mere six days!! Not only was the war inexplicably
swift but these six days contained two separate but
remarkable outcomes."
"The first miracle surrounded the shocking
military triumph in a war in which the State of Israel had
absolutely no hope for victory." General
Nasser, the President of Egypt along with the army of Jordan
threatened to "literally hurl the Jews into the sea."
"During the months prior to June 1967 as inevitable
war loomed, the country literally feared a national disaster
as women and children were sent back to the USA and the UK
for safety while tens of thousands of graves were prepared
in local parks in anticipation of massive casualties."
The Israeli generals prepared for all possible scenarios,
but they did not "imagine the resounding victory which
ultimately unfolded. Not only was a nightmare scenario
avoided, but Israel achieved an unthinkable triumph as well
as an invaluable psychological deterrent against continued
Arab attacks." In this war, Israel regained Jerusalem,
Judea and Samaria - "the world took notice: "shamu
amim yirgazun" (the world trembled) at this reunion between
Jews and Yerushalayim and the reintroduction of the Jewish
people into History....After close to 2,000 years
operating on the margins of history, Jews were returned
front and center to the historical stage."
"Many nations celebrate our return, realizing that it
foretells the return of G-d into our world. Others are
violently opposed to Jewish presents in their restored
homeland."
"Either way, Jewish present in Yerushalayim isn't a
"neutral" event. When G-d's chosen people
return to this site in which humanity itself was created
which is also the location of history's conclusion, the
entire world "notices"....the anger surrounding
Jews in Yerushalayim is a direct outgrowth of the historical
connotations of our return."
Thousands and thousands of Jews started returning to
Israel. "The second wave of our redemption -
punctuated by the great miracles of the 6 day war - amassed
Jews back to their homeland while propelling the struggle to
achieve internationally recognized sovereignty in the entire
land of Jewish history."
The
Two Miracles of 1967 | The Jewish Weekly
When this war ended, Jews, not allowed since 1948,
could visit the Western Wall and other Jewish sites in the
Old City East Jerusalem. Israel's defeat of three
enemy armies and the liberation of large parts of Jewish
territory - East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria - shocked the
world. "The hand of God can be clearly seen in
the events that took place in a mere six days."
Film
review: Seeing God’s hand in ’67 war - The Jerusalem Post
The above link
goes day by day starting before the war - through the battles
- and the many miracles that brought Israel Jerusalem, the
Golan Heights, etc.
On the last day
- Day 6 - the Golan Heights was the target of the Israeli
forces - they only had 25 men. They were ordered to
charge the Syrian held position - not knowing it was the most
heavily fortified Syrian position with bunkers, trenches and a
double row of wire, antitank guns, machine guns and 82mm
mortars. "The handful of IDF soldiers were worse than
sitting ducks." The Syrian soldiers were told not to
fire until the Israelis reached the wire - but something
miraculous happened - "In no time at all, it was too
late. In the Syrians own words, "The Jews are already
inside and we've taken heavy casualties." The IDF was
victorious. The battle for the Golan continued with
Israelis estimating the loss of 30,000 Jewish lives to take
it. "After only seven hours of heavy fighting on June
9th, the IDF commanders established strongholds in the
northern and central sectors of the Golan. The next
morning dawned with the Israeli's forces apprehensively
awaiting another day of fierce fighting. The Syrians,
however, had other plans. In a sudden panic,
before the Israelis even approached their positions, they
pulled out of the Golan and fled in total chaos, leaving
most of their weapons behind. The mountaintops that
were stragtegically utilized to murder Jews were now in the
hands of the Israelis."
There are many
stories of miracles in the '67 War -
In their attack on the Jewish town of Pekiin, Arabs
encountered "huge strange beings with flaming swords, and
they ran away in great fear."
Gershon Salomon was badly wounded in a tank accident
(he later became head of the Temple Institute to rebuild the
Temple - I heard Gershon describe all of this himself and he
talked to the UN officers that interviewed the Syrian
soldiers that were there.) - as he lay there waiting to be
shot by Syrian troops - suddenly he watched them run away
leaving their weapons behind. "The Syrian soldiers
later reported to UN officers that they saw "thousands of
angels" surrounding the wounded soldier and that's why they
ran away."
There is also the miracle of the Israeli tanks:
The Egyptian tank commander in the Sinai Desert surrendered
to a handful of Israeli tanks - "a desert mirage made him
see hundreds of Israeli tanks where there were no more than
a dozen." And then the Jordanian military "welcomed
the Israel tanks into Shechem "because faulty communications
misled the Arabs into thinking that these were Iraqi tanks
come to reinforce them."
Jordanian radar detected the Israeli Air Force taking
off and sent a red alert to Cairo "but the decoding officer
used the wrong day's code and failed to decipher the vital
information. The warning never came. The IAF
decimated the Egyptian Air Force while it was still on the
ground.
There are many other confirmed miracles
in this war. Just like in the 73 war. And just
like what's going on now in Israel.
And then there is Elisha - when the
King of Aram was as war with Israel, Elisha was warning
the King of Israel of all Aram's plans. This enraged
Aram and he sent "horses and chariots and a strong force"
and they went by night to surround the city Elisha was
in.
"When the servant of the man of God (Elisha) got up and
went out early the next morning, an army with horses and
chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh no, my lord!
What shall we do?" the servant asked. "Don't be
afraid,' the prophet answered. "Those who are with
us are more than those who are with them." "And
Elisha prayed, "Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may
see." Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and
he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of
fire all around Elisha. 2 King 6:15 - 17.
People forget
that Israel is protected by her God. Just like Hezekiah
told his people God would protect them from the
Assyrians. Just like the Rebbe told Israel God would
protect her and she would be victorious. And as with
Elisha, Israel is protected by the armies of God.
As in the Gog
and Magog War, God Himself "summons a sword against God on all
my mountains....Every man's sword will be against his
brother. I will execute judgment on him with plague and
bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rains, hailstones and
burning sulfur on him and his troops and on the many nations
with him."
"And so I will
show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself
known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know
that I am the Lord." Ezekiel 38:21 - 23
I don't know if
the Saints of the Rapture will actually see this war end - and
see what the Lord does - but that would be an amazing thing to
see.
Hebrews 10:31
says, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God."
We may not know
the proper timeline of all that's prophesied but we do know
how all of this ends. Israel is the "apple of God's
eye". And He that watches over Israel neither slumbers
nor sleeps. Woe to anyone who comes against Israel for
her God is the one true God and He will bless those that bless
Israel and curse those who curse Israel.
Allah is an
impotent god - a ruse by satan. All the Arab nations
that come against Israel, yet again, will soon learn you don't
go against the God of Israel.
As Elisha said
back then and it's just as true today: Those who are with us
and more than those who are with them.
The entire world is indeed noticing what is
unfolding in Israel: "When G-d's chosen people
return to this site in which humanity itself was created
which is also the location of history's conclusion, the
entire world "notices"."
Jerusalem has
become a cup of trembling and a burdensome stone - "all that
burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces." Zech
12:3
Pray for the
peace of Jerusalem!
Maranatha!
Chance