Israel's Choice - War or Peace?

The time for Israeli action against Iran seems to be drawing closer, according to a Daily Telegraph news item, as an international armada gathers to protect the Strait of Hormuz Armada of international naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike. Is this for real, or is it just growing, but groundless fear? Vague chatter on the web is that Yom Kippur may be the date for an attack 25/26 September 2012 - we shall see.

Of course the majority of Israelis would prefer peace, but they may not get a say. Israel's choice now is to pursue peace through submission to the UN, or to go it alone and face the danger of Iranian retalliation.

Jeremiah (as we read in chapter 38) was thrown into a pit because of his prophecies. But he was brought out and said to King Zedekiah that the king and city of Jerusalem would be saved if he submitted to Babylon, but if not then the city and king would destroyed and the people carried into exile. For us today the UN is the closest thing to Babylon - yes it may be ruled by the worldy system, but God raises up even the wordly systems to train the righteous towards godliness for those who accept the wooden yoke. For those who rebel and resist there is the iron yoke. Jeremiah 28:13-14 says this. “Go and tell Hananiah, ‘This is what the Lord says: You have broken a wooden yoke, but in its place you will get a yoke of iron. 14 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will put an iron yoke on the necks of all these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him."

Many of us have called for a peace settlement with the Palestinians and Arab neighbours through the UN, and we do not wish to see the Israeli people face the coming threat as some of their leaders wish. There is still time for Israel to go to the UN and seek a settlement that brings peace to the State of Israel, let us pray that the leadership takes the wiser choice.

Israeli rhetoric on Iran - harder to back down

The Israeli government has for a while been upping the rhetoric on attacking Iran. The trouble is the more one gives out, the harder it is to back down. Netanyahu and Barak may have backed themselves into a corner where they have no choice, but to launch an attack. Many Jews in Israel are though fearful of the outcome and fall out and they need our prayers at this time. Consider this news report from Israel National News which suggests next 50 days will be decisive. Hanegbi comments that "We now stand, in my opinion, before the 50 most fateful days in Israel's history, since perhaps the Yom Kippur War, in which there were also several dozen fateful days."