WAR WITHOUT END AND THE END OF WAR
The Second World War (WWII) ended in Europe
on the 8-9th May (depending on time zones) in 1945 when Berlin, the
German capital, was surrounded by the allied armies, Hitler committed suicide
and the German army surrendered. In
September of the same year the Japanese surrendered after nuclear bombs were
dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
World War II, like many before it, had a
beginning and an end. At the end of WWII spontaneous street parties erupted and
people celebrated, except those too badly injured or in deep mourning for lost
loved ones.
Here in Israel we are about to mark the 3rd
anniversary of the beginning of the current war against Iran and its proxies,
and there is no end in sight. Whilst it is true there is something of a hiatus
in the active fighting and the war has fallen from the international headlines,
it is far from over and there are no street parties in Israel. This is a war
without end, and it began long ago with the murder of Abel by his brother Cain.
When mankind rebels against God’s ways, hatred, murder, violence and war are
the inevitable result. This has been so since the garden of Eden and will be
until the Messiah Yeshua returns. Only then will warfare cease on the Earth and
peace reign.
Meanwhile, the weary war goes on.
Life in Israel has resumed a semblance of
normality and we are living as if there is no war. We get up, go to work, sit
in cafes with friends or go to the beach. We celebrate our festivals with
family and friends. Behind it all though is the constant awareness that at any
moment all could change, the sirens could blare, a car could veer towards a
crowded bus stop, a passing motorcyclist could shoot you through the window of
your car. It’s just that it is impossible to live on high alert all the time.
You put it on to the back burner and live in denial – “it won’t happen to me”.
Jews have lived for thousands of years with
wars and persecution, and have developed strong resilience in the face of
danger and suffering. Strong extended family and community ties provide
support. There is a deliberate choice to ‘chose life’ over despair and death. A
belief in the value of every individual life and a deep belief in God exists,
even amongst most of those called ‘secular’. This all creates hope, and hope
makes it possible to go on.
Nevertheless, the constant pressure, sorrow
and mourning takes its toll. Marital breakups, mental illness and suicides are
surging, and surveys show that about 30-40% of the adult population are
experiencing at least some clinical signs of PTSD.
As I write, there are three ceasefires in
effect and here in Israel we have enjoyed a cessation of incoming rocket and
missile fire since April 8 this year. This however does not represent the end
of the war of Israel against Iran and its proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Iraqi
Jihadi militias and the Houthis in Yemen. Since the ceasefires were declared, fighting
sporadically continues in both Gaza and Lebanon, and in Judea and Samaria (the
West Bank). At least 13 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the beginning
of the ceasefire. Tensions remain high and the nation is on the highest level
of alert especially as the Jewish High Holy Days are being celebrated, and the
3rd anniversary of the October 7th massacre is soon to be
commemorated.
In Gaza, the IDF is clearing up pockets of
terrorist activity and destroying Hamas’ installations in the around 70% of the
Gaza Strip it currently controls. The Comprehensive Plan to end the Gaza
Conflict has stalled because Hamas is refusing to disarm and give up its
political and administrative control over the Gaza Strip.
The Iranian front is quiet although
tensions between the USA and Iran are simmering and threatening to boil over.
Iran is sporadically attacking its neighbors, ships transiting the Strait of
Hormuz and American bases throughout the Middle East. The USA has responded
with limited retaliatory attacks. Iran
has not fired any rockets, missiles or drones towards Israel since the
ceasefire declared on April 8th, 2026. That said, Iran is refusing to surrender and
hand over its nuclear material or its control over shipping in the Strait of
Hormuz.
The Houthis have taken over a large swathe
of the Red Sea coast of Yemen, and now control the Bab el-Mandeb (the Gate of
Tears in Arabic), a narrow strait at the entrance to the Red Sea which leads to
the Suez Canal, through which a large percentage of the world's shipping
passes. The Houthis have not attacked Israel since June 8.
In November 2024 a trilateral agreement
between Lebanon, the USA and Israel led to a ceasefire in Lebanon. The ceasefire
is contingent upon a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of
all Hezbollah operatives from the region south of the Litani River in Lebanon. The ceasefire has
led to a decrease in hostilities but drone attacks across the border and
against IDF soldiers have occurred. The trilateral agreement was not agreed upon
by Hezbollah, who refuse to surrender or give up their weapons.
What is the common denominator in these
three fronts? Even though Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah have been largely defeated
militarily, they refuse to surrender and lay down their arms, unlike Germany
and Japan in WWII. Why not?
The current Iranian ayatollah regime, Hamas,
the Houthis and Hezbollah are all motivated by the same jihadi imperative, to
fight the ‘infidel’ and conquer the world for Islam. In such a world view
surrender is impossible and their weapons are the foundation of their reason
for existence. What would these jihadist terror entities be without their guns?
Nothing. They care for nothing else but the death of the ‘Zionist entity’, and ultimately,
world domination. They make no secret of this goal.
This ideology and aggression are intrinsic
and essential to fundamentalist Islam and is promoted and supported by the ayatollah
regime of Iran. Neither the Iranian regime, nor Hezbollah, nor Hamas will ever
admit defeat, surrender or lay down their arms. They cannot. They will fight to the last man. They must,
otherwise their whole identity and everything they have lived and fought for
will be as nothing. From the cradle these terrorists have been instilled with one,
and only one, life goal which is to kill Jews, and other infidels (including
Christians), and die a martyr in the cause of world domination.
Today (26 September) is the first day of
the Jewish festival of Succot (the Feast of Tabernacles). On the eve of the
festival, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, addressed the leaders of
the nations of the world at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Before he said even one word, at least half the delegates rose and left the
auditorium. It was shocking to see, and a cowardly and shameful act. Even those
who stayed for Netanyahu’s speech could barely bring themselves to clap
politely when he concluded.
This was not primarily a reflection of
their political stand nor of their dislike of Netanyahu himself or even of Israel’s
actions in this war, it was something much more insidious. It was a
demonstration of deep antipathy towards the people of Israel, the Jews, God’s
chosen people, and even towards God himself. It also demonstrated their
unwillingness to listen or open their eyes and hearts to truth, or even to tolerate
a different point of view. This is the very definition of prejudice.
It is interesting that today, in synagogues
across the world, the final Bible reading is Zechariah 14: 1-21. Coincidence? I
think not. This prophecy predicts a coming disaster when all the nations
of the world will rise up against Jerusalem:
A day of the LORD is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will
be plundered and divided up within your very walls.
I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against
it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half
of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken
from the city ( Zechariah 14: 1-2).
This echoes Zechariah’s earlier words, in chapter 12:1-3,
A prophecy: The word of the LORD concerning Israel.
The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of
the earth, and who forms the human spirit within a person, declares: “I am
going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling.
Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the
nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an
immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure
themselves.
I once thought I would never see this prophecy fulfilled in my
lifetime. I am now nearly 73 years old, and it seems this day is now very close,
and drawing closer at breakneck speed. The walkout of the nations at the UN
General Assembly made it seem very plausible and even imminent. From my
viewpoint here in Israel I feel that nearly all the world hates us, with
baseless hatred. They have bought into the lies of the enemy, and the Enemy
(Satan), and have closed their ears to the truth.
Few seem to be able to discern truth from falsehood anymore, and
with social media and AI, it is getting harder and harder to do so. The result
is confusion and a morass of moral error.
The most moral army that has ever existed, that puts its own soldiers
at great risk to ensure the safety of enemy civilians in the theatre of war, is
being accused of genocide. Israel, which has allowed about 3000 calories of
food aid per person per day into Gaza, far more than is necessary for health,
is being accused of causing famine. Israel which evacuated every last Israeli
citizen or soldier from the Gaza Strip in 2005, and ceded rule to the Gazans,
is accused of occupation. I could go on, but suffice to say, everything seems
to have been turned upside down.
The prophet Isaiah had this to say about this phenomenon, “Woe
to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light
for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:20).
The Hebrew word אוֹי (oy),
here translated as ‘woe’, has a much stronger meaning than the English word
suggests. ‘Oy’ is the anguished, gut-level gasp that something is terribly
wrong, and it erupts from the mouth of one overwhelmed by calamity, moral outrage, or impending
judgment.
All those who buy into the
propaganda of the Evil One, calling good evil, and consequently slander the
innocent, are setting themselves up for the judgement of God.
The prophecy of Zechariah goes on to
say that although the nations of the world will initially have victory over
Jerusalem and Judah in this coming war, God himself, and his heavenly armies,
will come to Israel’s aid.
Then the LORD will go out and fight
against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle ... Then the LORD my God
will come, and all the holy ones with him (Zechariah 14: 3,5).
The nations which come against
Israel need to take this very seriously. This is what will happen to them:
This is the plague with which the
LORD will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh
will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in
their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. On that day people
will be stricken by the LORD with great panic. They will seize each other by
the hand and attack one another (Zechariah 14:
12-13).
Not a very pleasant end for those
nations. But for those who survive this ‘plague’, they will then be forced to
acknowledge the God of Israel as sovereign and Jerusalem as His holy city.
Then the survivors from all the
nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the
King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. If any
of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the
LORD Almighty, they will have no rain (Zechariah 14: 16-17).
This victory of God over his enemies
and ours is our hope, and it is this that gives us strength to go on in these
dark and turbulent times. We know that the day is coming when the King Messiah,
Yeshua (Jesus) will come and reign over the whole earth from Jerusalem, and
then warfare will cease.
I do not claim that Israel is
perfect or has done no wrong, but to judge her on the basis of false
accusations and slander emanating from her enemies is reprehensible. It is
especially so when those who are called by His name, Jews and Christians alike,
fail to discern truth and believe the lies.
According to some polls roughly 60%
(nearly 2 out of 3) of self-professing evangelical Christians under the age of
30 say they do not support Israel. This is deeply disturbing. It is all right
to disagree with Israeli policies, and even to criticise our actions, but as
believers we are called to love the chosen people of God, Israel, the people of
our Saviour, just as God does. That means we need to pray for Israel’s welfare,
offer support and comfort in her times of distress, and stand against those who
would slander her and accuse her unjustly.
I am pleased to say that many Christians
have shown unwavering support throughout the 3 years of war we have suffered, and
this is seen and deeply appreciated by most Israelis. To the others who claim to
be Christians, I would say “Read your Bible – all of it”. Read it yourself,
discuss it with others, study it closely and ask God to interpret it to you by
his Holy Spirit. Be very careful that you do not find yourself in opposition to
God on the Day of Judgement.
