… is no small feat. It is not to be taken lightly or done haphazardly.

Regarding Jacob (whom God renamed Israel), this is what God spoke to Laban, his father-in-law in a dream,

So this is not something that I am taking lightly at all. I need a moment to get still before the Lord. I need a moment to reflect first. Here is why:

There was so much going on around me yesterday (Saturday, October 7, 2023) at the time that I heard of the bombing in Israel that I couldn’t quickly process the significance of what had happened.

There was so much happening around me as different ones was reaching out to me about differing personal experiences in the day that required me to put on different hats (all of which was a little taxing in its own rights). So, at the time that I received the call about the bombing of Israel, I was in the middle of wearing my 3rd hat for the day and it was just a lot to process at that moment.

I didn’t know what to feel. I was at a lost because I really did not know what was going on. Any war is sad and horrible. Yet, for what I was in the process of doing, I wasn’t in a position to comprehend what was really happening.

I was pulled in so many directions. I felt myself racing within and I knew that I needed to settle down first. One thing at a time.  Get past what I was currently doing so that I could process what was happening in the world and respond accordingly.

Having gotten past what needed to be done at that moment and having settled in my natural (flesh), I could now begin to process what was happening now in our world. Having taken off the hat I was wearing, I could now prepare to pick up the new hat – one wherein I am giving my attention to learning and understanding what is occurring and earnestly caring.

Me (in prayer): What happened? What am I looking at? I know it is significant, but I am not sure what I am seeing. I know I need to see beyond what my eyes show me. I need help in understanding what is transpiring in time now. I need to ask someone but I also need to be mindful of who I ask.

Father, you told me to ask YOU. I need help understanding what my physical eyes see and what my ears are hearing.

Because I am not one to watch the news, I had to begin with a search for understanding.

1. Israel was attacked by the Hamas. (“Who are the Hamas?”)
2. The Hamas is a group that Israel helped to create. (“What?”)

Me (in a state of unbelief/shock): They were attacked by what they helped to create. What they helped to create turned on them. (That stands out to me on so many levels, but it is not what I want to address at this particular juncture, though I know I will need to eventually come back to this point.)

I feel like there is something else that I am being pulled to see. (I need to first understand who the Hamas is and what the fight is about. )

Palestine – what is their lineage?

This country received the name of Palestine, from the Philistines, who dwelt on the sea coast: it was called Judea, from Judah: and is termed the Holy Land, being the country where Jesus Christ was born, preached his holy doctrines, confirmed them by miracles, and laid down his life for mankind.

https://hc.edu/museums/dunham-bible-museum/tour-of-the-museum/bible-in-america/bibles-for-a-young-republic/judea-palestine-or-the-holy-land/#:~:text=This%20country%20received%20the%20name,down%20his%20life%20for%20mankind.

The Philistines. I should have known. I wonder if this is why yesterday in all I wrote on the matter I kept thinking about what happened at Shiloh and what the Philistines did to the Israelites there as they fought in the exact same place they are fighting now. Gaza.

But there is more…

The Philistines are Egyptian. I didn’t know that. My first thought, when I think of the Philistines, is of David and Goliath. My thoughts of the Philistines always pulls up on my mental rolodex the visual of Goliath or that of the capture of the Ark of the Covenant in the battle of Shiloh. Nevertheless, they are the grandchildren of Mizraim (aka Egpyt), the son of Ham.

It was important that I looked closely to find this. I needed to know what I was looking at, and here is why…

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jas.5.16&version=NKJV

The effective (successful in producing a desired or intended result), fervent (passionate or intense) prayer is what avails (benefits) much. We like to focus on the part that says “of a righteous man”, but who declares us righteous is not we ourselves, but God. God declares us righteous by our faith. So the effective, fervent prayer of faith is what avails.

Faith is when we believe strongly in something even though we don’t yet see it. I believe strongly that what I have read in the written Word of God, which speaks to us of times past that we have not seen, is true. I believe that the answers for today can be found in what was recorded in the written Word of God. So I search God’s Word because this is how I seek God’s face. 

My prayer, not just for Israel, but for anything and/or anyone, needs to be effective. Therefore, I search God’s Word to understand what I am seeing and how I should pray. In harmony with Romans 8:26-27, I know the Holy Spirit will help me.

I need to revisit this issue of the Philistines fighting Israel along the Gaza strip – I meant in Shiloh. But there is something else.

As I address this issue of the fighting between Israel and the Philistines (Palestines) I find that I also need to first address this:

There are a couple of things that I saw, or should I say that I was reminded of, when I prayerfully considered what is happening in Israel.

The first thing that I saw was the very first fight that I remembered between Israel and the Philistines.

It is found in 1 Samuel

1 Samuel 4New International Version

4 And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.

The Philistines Capture the Ark

Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. ² The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. ³ When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%204&version=NIV

Let me pause right here for a second because what I am reading sounds like what is happening today. This tug of war has been going on between Israel and the Philistines for a while.

(Click here to see the Timeline of the battle between Israel and the Philistines in our day.)

This question that the Israeli elders asked was a key question. It was key then and it is key for now.

“Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines?“

God had removed his presence a long time ago because of the iniquity that was allowed to continue. So, when the people of Israel went up to fight against the Philistines, they were not covered under the shadow of the Almighty. Even when they went to go and take the Ark of the Covenant into battle with them, they did not understand that without God’s protective covering, the Ark was just a wooden box.

When we have the favor of the Lord upon us, when we are covered under the shadow of the Most High, no one can come against us. No weapon formed against us shall prosper we are told. As a matter of fact, the benefits of being covered is found in Psalm 91.

Psalm 91 New International Version

Psalm 91

¹ Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

³ Surely he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare
    and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    nor the plague that destroys at midday.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will only observe with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹ If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
¹⁰ no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;
¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
¹⁵ He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.”

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2091&version=NIV

There is no way that Israel could have been bombed if they were covered by the Lord God Almighty. So, what removes the covering?

INIQUITY

This is the same with us all. But Israel was supposed to be the standard. They were (and are still) the chosen. Through them we were/are to learn obedience to the Lord. Ironically, through their errors that were recorded in the word of God we are still able to learn what to do and not to do.

I read about that in Romans when I read of how they were cut off so that we could be grafted in, but that they (who were cut off) would be grafted back in.

In this I see a parent dealing with their child, disciplining to correct them.

Let’s take a look at an example of this found in the Bible book of Numbers.

Numbers 12:9-15 NKJV

So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and He departed. And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper. So Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned. Please do not let her be as one dead, whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb!” So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “Please heal her, O God, I pray!” Then the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and afterward she may be received again.” So Miriam was shut out of the camp seven days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+12.9-15&version=NKJV

There is a purpose for the discipline. It is to correct. It is so that the one who is being disciplined will turn from their wicked ways.

In the Bible, whenever the nations were allowed to come up against the nation of Israel, it was to correct them. That’s it. It was because the people of God had turned so far away from Him that HE allowed the nations to come against them to cause them to repent and return to Him.

But what the nations of the world need to not forget today is that Israel is still the people of God and when they do repent and return to the Lord, HE will again cover and protect them.

What the nations of this world need to not forget is that if God allowed you to come against Israel, don’t think that He is not paying attention to you too. God will deal with you. Judgment from God is coming to you too.

I came across a discussion on YouTube that discussed this very issue of God dealing with the nation that HE allowed to come up against the Israelites. I enjoyed their discussion and thought you would too.

Don’t think Hamas is going to get away with what they did. They won’t. But for a time such as this it was allowed.

It is allowed so that maybe Israel will remember 2 Chronicles 7:14

It is also allowed as a wakeup call for us. We need to be questioning WHY this was allowed to happen to Israel. We need to be questioning and in search of their missing covering that was to serve as a hedge of protection for them and we need to make sure we have ours.

This attack caught them off guard. it came at a time when they least expected it. Jesus said that this would happen. In Matthew 24 Jesus not only said to pray that one’s flight does not happen on Sabbath, but that many would be caught off guard just like in Noah’s day.

We need to pay attention.

We need to catch the lesson.

We need to make sure that we are not falsely assuming that we are covered. We need to make for certain that we are sheltered under the covering of God Almighty.

I can’t help but to look again at Israel at Shiloh. They spent all that time going through the motions only to find out when it was too late that this was not the case. They had so far gone away from God even though they were going through the motions of worship that God was not covering them. Even when they went back to get the Ark of the Covenant to bring it into battle with them, it was too late.

Had Israel been safe in God’s arms this attack would not have been able to happen. The weapons would have formed but it would not have prospered.

Hearing Netanyahu speak of retaliation concerns me greatly.

It concerns me because all I can think is that we are experiencing today the Kings of yesterday. All I can think is that he is following the wrong path. All I can think is he needs to do things like King Jehoshaphat did who called a fast and who prayed.

If Israel continues down this past of trying to fight fire with fire; if they continue to go tit for tat, then there will be more casualties.

But if they humble themselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from their wicked ways, God said that He would hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

That is the example that King Jehoshaphat set and the outcome was amazing.

The world is concerned. The world is watching. What will Israel do? Will Israel return to the God of their forefathers Abraham , Isaac, and Jacob? Will Israel bow before the Lord and watch the Lord fight their battles for them? Will Israel allow the world to see GOD through them?

Right now what we are seeing is a nation uncovered due to their lack of submission to God Almighty.

And Just like that, I know what to pray for.

For my prayers to be effective, I must pray God’s Word

His Will be done. His way.

Father, 
You are a good Father. You are a Father who loves Your children.  It is in that loving concern for Your children that You will discipline us. 

I lift up to You Your children the Israelites. 

Because of who You are Father, and because of how deeply You love and care for them, I know that had they been in right standing with You this weapon that was formed against them would not have had the results that it did. So, I pray for their restoration. I pray for them to begin returning to You. 

I read where you allowed the hardening of their hearts so that we Gentiles could come in. 

Romans 11:25New International Version

All Israel Will Be Saved

²⁵ I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in,

Father, 
I also read where You said that on account of the chosen ones You will cut these days short because if You didn't no flesh would survive. 

So humbly, I ask, in the name of King Jesus, for the opening of the eyes and ears of Israel, and the breaking up of the fallow ground of their hearts so that they can begin to return to You in spirit and in truth. 

In the name of King Jesus, I pray for them to return to having You as their protective covering.

Where some would ask for the wars to stop and for the Hamas to be dealt with what I am reminded of is what You said about Miriam to Moses when You struck her with leprosy. “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and afterward she may be received again.” So, Father, I lift up Israel to you asking for the opening of they eyes and ears to receive the correction from Yo.

You tell us to submit ourselves to You and resist the devil and he will flee. They don't need to keep the fighting going , Father. They need to humble themselves before You and let You have the battle for You said that this battle isn't ours it's Yours. So, I pray for the breaking of the fallow ground of their hearts. I pray that they return to You. 

Lord God, You allowed this for a reason - to get they attention and cause them to turn around. I lift them up to you praying that for the reason that You allowed this, may they respond and coming back to You for when the do, You will show yourself to be mighty to save on their behalf. 

Father, this that I pray for Israel I also pray for America. 

Father, also, I want to thank You for the covering of those who do believe in You and serve You. I know that while You will discipline Your people collectively , You also know how to save individually. Nothing is greater than or more powerful than You in all the earth, below the earth and in the heavens above. Nothing is a match to You. So for those who are serving You, I  thank You for the protective covering that You keep over Your people.  You truly are mighty to save. 

In the name of Jesus Christ, Yeshua Hamashiach, I make this request known. 

Thank You, Father
Amen

I want to end this by sharing something that I thought was a very powerful word spoken by Rabbi Jason Sobel who spoke truth about the situation in Israel. In the event that there is others who like me were not aware of all that was happening over in Israel with God’s chosen people, I believe this will help you to understand and to pray also for Israel.

We are all needed. All of our prayers are needed. Its time for Israel to return to God. Our prayers for them are needed. They need us just as much as we need them.

Isaiah 6:8-13New International Version

⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

⁹ He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
    be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
¹⁰ Make the heart of this people calloused;
    make their ears dull
    and close their eyes.^[a]
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”

¹¹ Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”

And he answered:

“Until the cities lie ruined
    and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
    and the fields ruined and ravaged,
¹² until the Lord has sent everyone far away
    and the land is utterly forsaken.
¹³ And though a tenth remains in the land,
    it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
    leave stumps when they are cut down,
    so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”