Iran has vowed to avenge Israels’ October 26 attack against its military sites in Iran. Iran’s leadership has stated that “the scope of Israel’s unprecedented October 26 retaliatory strikes was ‘too large to ignore.’ … IAF jets hit 20 sites in Iran in multiple waves, reportedly knocking out its air defenses and significantly setting back its missile production industry. The Israeli strikes reportedly also destroyed multiple radar systems required to guide the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missiles” (The Jewish Press, November 1, 2024).
It is expected that Iran’s attack on Israel will originate from Iraq. Israeli military leaders have announced, “If Iran makes the mistake of launching another missile barrage at Israel, we will once again know how to reach Iran, with capabilities that we did not even use this time, and strike very, very hard at both their capabilities and locations that we set aside for now” (The Jewish Press, November 1, 2024).
Friends, I believe we are about to witness the beginning of a great war in the Middle East that will lead to the wars mentioned in the Bible. The stage is being prepared for the war mentioned in Ezekiel 38-39. The actors of that evil coalition are about to march against Israel.
Iran continues to expand its attempt to destroy Israel by opening another front against it. Iran is attempting to surround Israel with terrorist warriors to overwhelm Israel with threats of annihilation. The radical Muslim government in Iran controls Hamas in the south, and Lebanon and Syria in the north. They have been supplying weapons to terrorist groups in the “West Bank” areas, who are attacking the Israel military forces and Israeli civilians. Israel continues to fight back against these terrorists who have been trained and are funded by Iran.
However, now, Iran is opening another front in the east along the once peaceful Jordan Valley. This valley represents Israel’s longest border, running along the Jordan River. Along this border, Israel and Jordan are only separated by a narrow strip of land. There is a narrow security area on the eastern bank of the Jordan River in Jordan. There is also another limited security area along the western shore of the Jordan River on the Israeli side. The width of the entire security area is no more than a few thousand yards.
Many times, I have traveled down an Israeli highway along this security fence from southern Galilee to the Dead Sea area. The Arab and Jewish farmers in the Jordan Valley have been friends for decades. However, thanks to the escalation of war promoted by Iran, this is all changing.
One Israeli Jewish farmer in the Jordan Valley recently gave this report about the changes they are witnessing in recent weeks. “Terror has been spreading to the valley and making its base here. Small Palestinian villages surrounding the Jewish communities now each have a Hamas squad in it. And this is only one of the dangers. From the east, the situation is as bad, or maybe worse. The border with Jordan is very penetrable, tons of arms are flooding the valley from there. And we hear news of Iranian militias concentrating on the borders. With 70 percent of Jordanians being Palestinians, and the border so easy to break, you can imagine how frightening the situation is” (United with Israel, August 23, 2024).
Iran is now supplying small weapons to terrorists in this area, including IEDs. These underground explosives are being planted in civilian areas and along highways that are a danger to Jewish and Arab civilians. In recent weeks, the IDF has begun to use military bulldozers to tear up roads to destroy these IEDs.
Needless to say, this is making the security efforts of the Israelis more difficult. Some of the Palestinians feel threaten and are also crossing over into Jordan to take refuge there as the war from Gaza and Lebanon threatens to move into the West Bank and Jordan Valley areas.
Friends, we cannot begin to imagine the sheer terror that Israelis are dealing with daily. If this is not bad enough, the Israelis continue to hear the world, even the American administration, say that the real problem is with the Israelis who live in the West Bank. These Israelis are being told they do not have the right to defend themselves from those who are attempting to kill innocent Jewish families who are living on the land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob 4,000 years ago.
This is the exact scenario the prophetic Scriptures declared would develop at the end of this age.
I am passing along an urgent prayer request from the desk of Susan Michales, the President of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem. This prayer request is dated for the days following August 1, 2024.
“I am sure most of you have been closely following recent developments in the Middle East. This week, Israel successfully targeted two high-profile leaders of radical Islamist militias linked to Iran – Hezbollah Senior Military Commander Fuad Shukur in Beirut and Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh during an official visit to Tehran. Due to these events, we are calling on our global following to be more alert to the news and more urgent in your prayer efforts over the coming weekend.
Over the next 48–72 hours, Israel is expecting to face retaliatory attacks by Iran and its proxy militias. Iran is threatening direct attacks on Israel as well as through its aligned terror militias in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and the Palestinian areas. They first seem to be observing a traditional three-day mourning period, which will wind up after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is buried in Qatar on Friday. Thus, it could be a tense and challenging weekend for the nation of Israel.
Israel was precise in its targeting of senior leaders of radical terror networks who have much innocent blood on their hands and, thus, should enjoy no immunity. Israeli leaders have warned Iran and its “axis of resistance” that any deliberate targeting of civilian population centers in Israel in response will result in all-out war.
We urge you to join us in vigilant prayer over the next few days, which will likely be a decisive turning point in this 10-month-old war. We must put our trust in God to deliver Israel from the great harm intended by her ruthless enemies.
Pray that Israel will be able to counter and foil every move by Iran and its proxies to try to harm and destroy the Jewish State.
Pray for the protection of all Israeli soldiers as they defend their nation, that the Lord will be a shield about Israel at all times! (Genesis 15:1; Psalm 3:3)
Pray that Israeli forces will be able to finish off Hamas as a fighting force in Gaza.
Pray that the Iranian-backed terror militia Hezbollah in Lebanon will be forced to withdraw from the border with Israel.
Pray that Hezbollah will never be able to use its full arsenal of over 150,000 missiles and rockets against Israel.
And pray that Hezbollah will ultimately be disarmed and lose its grip on power in Lebanon.
Thank you so much for investing your time and hearts in earnestly praying for the nation and people of Israel.”
Claim the promise of Isaiah 54:17 that the Lord gave Israel: “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.”
It is apparent that the Middle East is rapidly moving toward a major war that the prophet Ezekiel wrote about more than 2,600 years ago (Ezekiel 38-39). In the last few weeks Iran, Russia, and Turkey have issued threats about going to war with Israel. All three nations have stated that if Israel invades Lebanon and attacks Hezbollah, an Islamic terrorist group sponsored, trained, and funded by Iran, that they will go to war with Israel to defend Hezbollah, Gaza, and the Palestinian cause.
On Saturday, July 27th, Hezbollah fired a missile from Lebanon that struck a Druze village (an important ally of Israel) on the Golan Heights. More than a dozen children were instantly killed as they ran for cover. This missile is only one of hundreds of missiles that Hezbollah has fired into Israeli territories in the last month.
The world is calling for Israel to restrain itself. However, the following day after this tragic attack on the Golan Heights, Iran’s proxy agent CONTINUED to fire missiles into northern Israel. News is coming out of Israel that Israel is preparing for a massive retaliatory strike deep into Lebanese territory. Like Hamas, Hezbollah is using the Lebanese civilians as shields to protect themselves against Israel’s attack. The IDF attack will be aimed at Hezbollah’s missile stockpiles and its militant leadership. If Israel does not destroy Hezbollah’s ability to launch its deadly arsenal of precise deadly missiles and attack drones, then tens of thousand of Israelis will be killed. Israel has no choice but to defend itself!
If Iran, Russia, and Turkey are not bluffing, we could be looking at a massive ground invasion of Israel that will dwarf anything Israel has seen in it 76 years of modern history. It will be the same war that Ezekiel spoke about in Ezekiel 38-39. The Bible says that this massive invasion of Israel will appear “as a cloud to cover the land” (Ezekiel 38:9, 16).
God will supernaturally defend His land and His people by destroying the armies of these invading nations. He will send a massive global earthquake that will trigger the 14 dormant volcanoes that dot the landscape of the Golan Heights to erupt, spewing “an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone” (38:22), killing the armies of Iran, Russia, Turkey, and other radical Islamic nations that join them. Russia and many other nations will also be destroyed by God (Ezekiel 38:6).
The Bible states that this divine intervention by God will stun the entire world and bring Israel to a place of spiritual repentance (Ezekiel 38:23; 39:721-22). This will perfectly set the stage for the beginning of the Tribulation Period.
Friends, for years I have been preaching that the Rapture will occur before or at the same moment this battle occurs. If what we are witnessing does materialize, we are possibly only a matter of a few months or weeks away from the Rapture!
The security for Jews living in Europe is disintegrating with the explosion of Anti-Semitism and the increased Muslim immigration to Europe, especially in France, Germany, and Great Britain. As a result, tens of thousands of Jews are immigrating to Israel.
“France’s next government will be led by the extreme left, and will necessarily be anti-Israel and pro-Hamas, to please the millions of Muslim voters. The next government in France will not even try to protect French Jews when they are attacked in the suburbs of Paris and Marseille, because if it does, there would be Muslim riots in the streets and many cars would be set on fire” (The Jewish Press, July 9, 2024). The Jewish leadership in France is telling their Jewish congregations there is no future for Jews in France.
This same situation is multiplying around the world, including in Russia and the United States. This is a direct fulfillment of biblical prophecy.
