This summer in Israel there was an overwhelming feeling of heaviness and dread. Everyone knew a war with Hezbollah was imminent, and, with one accord, Israel’s military and security experts were saying that in such a war would be incredibly difficult: we would most likely be spending weeks on end in our bomb shelters, potentially without electricity, because Hezbollah had the ability to rain down large quantities of precision ballistic missiles and attack drones on Israel, overwhelming our air defense systems.

Adding to that, experts were also warning that fighting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon would be more difficult than with Hamas in the Gaza Strip: Hezbollah is a more professional fighting force, has better and more armaments, and is literally entrenched in the higher ground.

The Prophetic Word

Then in August, Oren, a teacher from Tiferet Yeshua, shared a prophetic word with the congregation leadership. Last year, Oren gave an amazingly accurate word before the October 7^th massacre: it was a great help and comfort to us when we were reeling in fear and confusion after the attack. Tiferet Yeshua’s elders prayed about this new word Oren received and felt that it was from the Lord. While the second part of the word deals with warnings about challenges Israel will face in the more distant future, the first part was a clear and bold encouragement for right now:

“Do not fear war in the north.

A great miracle is at hand.

A miracle that will strike the world with amazement.

Remember Hezekiah.

Remember Jehoshaphat.

Remember what I did in their day, and that I will do in these days.

There is no enemy that can hurt my people unless my people turn from me, leave me, forget me and go after other gods:

You shall not forget the covenant I made with you and do not fear other gods, but the LORD your God you shall fear and He will save you from the hand of all your enemies.

(2 Kings 17:38-39)

Do not be impressed by the balance of military might. Cease counting cannons, rocket launchers and armed fighters…

My name will be on everyone’s lips when the overwhelming victory against all odds comes.”

The Miraculous Turnaround

The month of August continued with a sense of mounting tension that Hezbollah and even Iran might launch a massive attack against Israel. Then in mid September, a series of events occurred which brought about a dramatic turn. On September 17th, the pagers of thousands of Hezbollah operatives exploded, killing 42 and wounding over 3,000. The next day, the walkie talkies of Hezbollah operatives across Lebanon and Syria exploded, killing 12 and wounding 2,750. (Hezbollah had stopped using cell phones to communicate for fear that Israel tracks their locations and communication.) In one fell swoop, the entire Hezbollah communication infrastructure was crippled. Across the Middle East, jaws dropped at this sophisticated attack against the strongest terrorist army in the Middle East. Following the attack, people across Lebanon and Syria unplugged their wireless routers and television sets fearing more widespread attacks.

The Decisive Blow

In the wake of the fear and confusion engulfing the Hezbollah organization, Israel started aggressively attacking their strategic weapons stores. But the surprises weren’t over: ten days after the pager attack, Israel struck and killed Hezbollah’s supreme leader, Hassan Nasrallah, who was meeting with his top commanders in a bunker in Beirut. To say the jaws of everyone in the Middle East dropped yet again at the death of this terror kingpin is an understatement.

The death of Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s powerful and charismatic leader, is a massive blow to the terrorist organization, Iran and the rest of Iran’s terrorist proxies. In a matter of days after Nasrallah’s assassination, Israel succeed in killing Nasrallah’s replacement. And then his replacement’s replacement. Not surprisingly, the next man in line announced his plan to take some time off and devote himself to religious studies in Iran.

The Dreaded Ground Invasion

In the weeks following the strategic attacks and the assassination of Hezbollah’s top leadership, Israel launched the ground invasion into southern Lebanon which we had been dreading: sending our forces into southern Lebanon where a hardened, disciplined, highly armed terrorist force was entrenched in the higher ground with an extensive network of terror tunnels at their disposal.

The reality that met Israel’s ground forces was quite different: they found many Hezbollah command centers, force outposts and villages used for staging operations completely abandoned, with vast quantities of high quality and advanced weaponry left behind. A Hezbollah terrorist the IDF captured told his interrogators that, after the assassination of Nasrallah, first the field commanders fled and then the majority of the terrorist force followed. IDF forces in southern Lebanon have been engaging in battles with remnants of Hezbollah terrorists in the area, and there is hard fighting and causalities. But, it is nothing compared to the scenario they were preparing for.

Adding another dimension to the amazing military accomplishments in this past month, last week, the Hamas terrorist leader and architect of the October 7th massacre, Yahyah Sinwar, was killed by young soldiers from an infantry command course operating in the southern Gaza Strip. His death is a major stepping stone in the dismantling of Hamas fighting power and control in Gaza. His death has also renewed hopes for a possible release of our over 100 hostages still held in Gaza.

God’s Name on Everyone’s Lips

On one of Israel’s most watched primetime news programs, a regular panelist who is a former head of the terrorism division in Israel Military Intelligence, said this about the developments in the war with Hezbollah:

“As an expert on Hezbollah and Lebanon, I say if you were to put all the heads of Israel’s security agencies – Military Intelligence (Aman), the Internal Security Agency (Shabak), and Foreign Intelligence (Mossad)—here in a line, and you would ask them, ‘Is there a chance that this might happen to Hezbollah in under a month, that we would see a flag of surrender?’ There would not be one who would honestly say that they would have imagined that even half of what has happened is possible. Within a month, Hezbollah has raised the white flag of surrender, and that is not the result of man’s actions but the hand of God.”

It is important to understand the enormity of the events unfolding before our eyes and to give glory to the only one who is responsible for them – not Israel’s amazing intelligence agencies or the IDF – to God alone. As believers in Israel, we have the burden and also the privilege to worship God with the ancient scriptures that speak of Him fighting our battles and defeating our enemies. It is a spiritual reality for all believers, but for us here in Israel, it is also a physical reality.

With modern media, God is performing these miracles before the eyes of the whole world, and as believers, we must give Him praise, glory and honor for them.

The War is Not Over!

God has given us amazing, encouraging victories, but the war is far from over. Even thought Hezbollah has been mortally wounded and is asking for a ceasefire, Israel is still engaged in a difficult and deadly war with the remnants of Hezbollah in Lebanon which are still launching daily missile and killer drone attacks against Israel. Israel’s war objective is to establish an non-militarized zone in southern Lebanon where our forces have found massive military buildup along our border that was poised for an October 7th-style attack against the Galilee. Israeli forces are still engaged in grueling and dangerous urban warfare against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip where the goal is to secure the release of our hostages, topple the Hamas infrastructure, and pave the way for a replacement civil authority to take over.

Hitting Iran – the head of the snake

Adding to the pressures of the multi-front war we have been engaged in for a year, Israel’s government is poised to deal a massive retaliatory strike against Iran. On the night of October 1st, Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles against Israel, an attack which was twice as large as Iran’s first direct attack against Israel back in April.

Since the October 1st attack, Israel has vowed a powerful response, one which has been delayed, apparently, due to intense pressure from the Biden administration to delay it until after the US elections. In the event that a regional war erupts in the wake of an Israeli attack against Iran, the Biden administration is worried that it will negatively affect their position in the upcoming US elections.

Please pray with us!

According to the word we received this summer from Oren, we believe that God will win this war for Israel in a miraculous way, but it is our part to stand in faith, to pray, and to give God alone the glory for the amazing victories He is accomplishing on Israel’s behalf right now. Our desire is to see spiritual revival in Israel and across the Middle East among Israel’s enemies. The Word of God tells us clearly that God’s heart and plan is to bring physical and spiritual redemption to the whole earth through dramatic events here in the Middle East. Our part in that story is to give Him glory, to stand in faith and pray like Yeshua taught us: “Let Your Kingdom come and Your will be done here on earth”.