ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 7 the Operation Al Aqsa Flood that has included attacks into Israel from land, sea, and air in the largest such assault on Israel in decades. Hamas has developed its own armory for producing rockets—it reportedly fired more than 2,200 of them at Israel on Saturday– and other weapons. It receives help from Iran and over many years has smuggled material into Gaza from Egypt via underground tunnels, despite efforts to staunch the flow of materiel. Iran is, of course, a patron of Hezbollah [as well as other Palestinian militant groups] and there is an ever-present danger of a two-front conflict, which would devastate parts of Israel and much of Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based. IRAN provides most of Hezbollah’s weapons and funding; it sends the group some $700 million per year, according to 2020 State Department estimates. Hezbollah also receives hundreds of millions of dollars from legal businesses, INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL ENTERPRISES, and the Lebanese movement.
In southern Israel, just five kilometers from the border with Gaza, an all-night rave with more than 1000 YOUNG PEOPLE attending was just starting to wind down. One of the first groups the terrorists found was the young people at the rave. The terrorists surrounded the partygoers and opened fire. More than 260 were slaughtered. The others were rounded up and taken back into Gaza as hostages. It took four hours for the military to mount a concerted response, which was eventually dubbed OPERATION IRON SWORD. By that time, the carnage was devastating. Bodies of Jewish civilians littered the streets. A still unknown number were kidnapped and taken hostage into Gaza. Women, children, the elderly, no one was spared the violence of these Palestinian criminals. NOT SINCE THE HOLOCAUST HAVE WE SEEN SO MANY JEWS ROUNDED UP, BEATEN, AND HUMILIATED IN PUBLIC. And never before has it happened within the borders of modern Israel.
President Biden is a strong supporter of Israel. He is going to once again declare that ISRAEL HAS A RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF. The United States provides Israel with significant military assistance. In 2016, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding that provides Israel with $38 billion in assistance through 2028. Given the scale of the Hamas attack and the damage it has done, the president will likely provide the Israeli government a lot of room to respond as it sees fit. Under these circumstances, no foreign government, including the United States, will have any leverage on Israel to respond with restraint.
Israel says it is at war as its soldiers battle Hamas fighters in the streets of southern Israel and launch airstrikes on Gaza, the day after an unprecedented surprise Hamas attack. AT LEAST 1000 PEOPLE HAVE REPORTEDLY BEEN KILLED AND 2200 WONDED IN ISRAEL — a staggering toll on a scale the country has not experienced in decades — and more than 413 HAVE BEEN KILLED IN GAZA as Israeli airstrikes pound the territory.
The USS Gerald R. Ford is the United States’ newest and most advanced aircraft carrier. The vessel and its approximately 5,000 sailors and deck of warplanes will be accompanied by cruisers and destroyers in a show of force that is meant to be ready to respond to anything, from possibly interdicting additional weapons from reaching Hamas and conducting surveillance.
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked CAME AGAINST ME MY ENEMIES AND FOES, THEY STUMBLED AND FELL. Though an army may ENCAMP AGAINST ME, MY HEART SHALL NOT FEAR; THOUGH WAR MAY RISE AGAINST ME, In this I will be confident. One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE, to behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple. FOR IN THE TIME OF TROUBLE HE SHALL HIDE ME in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle, He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.” (Psalms 27:1-5) “All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. Panic and pitfall have befallen us, devastation and destruction; my eyes run down with streams of water because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. My eyes pour down unceasingly, without stopping, until the LORD looks down and sees from heaven…I called on Your name, O LORD, out of the lowest pit. You have heard my voice, do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief, from my cry for help. You drew near when I called on You; You said, ‘DO NOT FEAR!’” (Lam 3:46-50, 55-57)
Israel needs to make peace, “…the people of the prince (the anti-christ) who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary…Then he shall CONFIRM A COVENANT (of peace) with many (the Jews, the anti-christ cannot be revealed until the restrainer, the Holy Spirit is out of the way, He takes us up in the rapture) for ONE WEEK (7 years); But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who MAKES DESOLATE (sets up a living image of himself in the temple (Rev 13:15))…“ (Daniel 9:26-27) “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now RESTRAINS (Holy Spirit in the Church) will do so until He is TAKEN OUT OF THE WAY (in the rapture). And then the lawless one (the anti-christ) will be revealed…” (2 Thessalonians 2:7-8)
PRAY FOR ISRAEL…“Now when these things BEGIN to happen, LOOK UP and LIFT UP YOUR HEADS, because your redemption (apolutrōsis: a release effected by payment of ransom) draws near.” (Luke 21:28)
Your Personal Pastor -Bill Stockham