“Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep,” the Psalmist declares in Psalm 121. Many in Israel would say they have also not had a lot of slumber or sleep lately. Confined to safe rooms and shelters, the entire population of Israel — Jew and Arab together — have been bunkered down and locked up in a manner reminiscent of the Covid nightmare, but combined with the element of violence, as deadly Iranian missiles crash all around.
With no regard for civilian life in Israel (indeed, with the stated aim of wiping it out) bombs the size of buses weighing as much as a grand piano have been hurtling over here from Iran at over 600 mph. The damage has been immense.
So far 29 have lost their lives and well over a thousand injured. Fifteen thousand more have been evacuated and entire tower blocks have been rendered uninhabitable.
But God has been at work. Israel struck Iran in the early hours of Friday June 13th, and by the evening, just when families were celebrating Shabbat in Israel, the entire nation knew it was just a matter of time before the sirens would wail. Sure enough, the moment candles were lit and the blessings began, the alerts came with urgency: one and a half minutes to find shelter. This is no mean feat for those with small children to corral. But the remarkable thing was that in bomb shelters across the country there was SINGING. Everybody was in the Shabbat spirit, and songs went up from shelters up and down the country.
Many videos emerged of traditional shabbat songs and popular Israeli songs being sung underground while bombs flew overhead. Believers worshiped wherever they were, some in public spaces with others around joining in.
MIRACULOUS PROTECTION
Given the brutality of the Iranian weapons and the calculated plan to wreak as much destruction as possible, it’s miraculous how few people have died. These new warheads come at such a speed and in such numbers that Israeli defences like the Iron Dome simply can’t catch them all. But where Israeli technology has failed to intercept, God has stepped in over and over.
When All Israel News went to investigate the destruction at Bat Yam near Tel Aviv, Kayla Sprague’s report was interrupted by yet another siren. There in the bomb shelter she met a woman who had been saved by the voice of God, urging her to get out just in time to escape before destruction hit.
Another woman was making the risky journey from the north of Israel to Jerusalem, proclaiming Psalm 91 as she went. She felt fear and trepidation, but became increasingly bold as she declared over and over the words about falling to the right and the left, while she would be unharmed. She spoke with faith to any missiles or shrapnel that they must not come near her, but must fall in open ground. She was amazed to find that a huge chunk of a rocket had indeed landed to her side, in an open field.
Another miracle came when there was a direct hit on Soroka Hospital in Beersheva early on Thursday morning. The huge plume of smoke billowing high in the sky showed it was serious. The surgical building was destroyed. Astonishingly, the Director General of the Ministry of Health ordered the building to be evacuated and the patients all moved out of that area the very day before! It was completely empty. In fact, of all the hits on Thursday morning, both in Beersheva and also in Tel Aviv, not one life was lost.
However, we really need your prayers at this time. The stakes are far higher and the weapons much more sophisticated. Terrible damage has been done, and both Israelis and Iranian people are longing for peace between our two nations.
Israelis are exhausted. For those blessed with a safe room, nights have been rudely interrupted with warnings and sirens, and many had to go to communal shelters in basements — not great places to sleep. Others with neither a safe room or a bomb shelter in their building have to huddle in stairwells or run to underground stations, parking lots, or public bomb shelters on the street. For those with small children, the challenge of staying safe while preserving sleep and sanity has been almost too much.
The whole nation was on lock down with schools and businesses closed and work off limits as everyone had to stay near a safe place at all times. Any kind of travel was very hazardous, and the constant stress and fear has taken its toll.
God has been so faithful to preserve His people throughout history, and is continuing to keep us today, but the enemy wants to cause as much death and destruction as possible. Please pray that the Iranian regime will soon be defeated, that the threat to Israel neutralized, and that the Iranian people would be free.
PRAYER POINTS
▫️Pray first of all for the leaders of our nation. For unity and wisdom and coordination between the political and military echelons in the government. This is important at a time when there has been much division internally here in the country.
▫️Pray for Jewish believers in Yeshua who serve in different spheres of the military. Some are in places of real importance and influence. Pray that God would use them to not only be a witness to other soldiers but be divinely led by the Lord in their specific roles.
▫️This is the time to pray for the salvation of Israel both physically and spiritually. Romans 11:26.
▫️Pray for the people of Iran. Iranian believers that we know have for many years been praying for the downfall of this ‘evil regime’ as it has been responsible for the imprisonment of literally hundreds of believers there. Pray that this would be a time for not only for the deliverance of the people of Iran politically but also for the fulfillment of Jeremiah 49 and that God would set up His throne in Elam. This article about the challenges of Iranians rising up might help fuel your prayers.
