August 1 , 2006

Whose War is This

The sounds of war surround this border town of Metula.  An Israeli drone flies overhead; explosions resound frequently and the rumble of tanks can be heard near the orchards surrounding this once quiet village.  In the distance, Israeli troops are engaging Hezbollah guerillas in a desperate battle for control of southern Lebanon. 

The outcome of this war will have a profound impact on the future of Israel and the Middle East.  Will the forces of Hezbollah and its client state Iran continue to exert its influence over Israel and its northern border?  Or will Israel be able to vanquish an enemy sworn to its destruction? 

The stakes are enormous and the outcome will have a direct bearing on the United States.  That notion, the idea that this is not only Israel's war, struck me in a profound way last Sunday.     

Within the past few days, I returned to the States to attend to some important family matters.  On my way back to Israel, I had the opportunity to fly over New York City.  While the pilot did a slow, deliberate arc over lower Manhattan on a brilliant sunny day, I saw for the first time Ground Zero, where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood.  The enormity of the gaping hole left by the terrorist attack almost five years ago struck me.  But what hit me also was that the same war that came to our shores on 9/11 is the same war Israel is fighting today.  We were targeted by radical Islam and that same menace is threatening the existence of Israel.  The war here in Israel and raging just miles from where I'm writing this is the same war on our shores.    

While this is a war involving flesh and blood (the dead soldiers and civilians bear grim testament to that), it's also a spiritual war.  Those engaged in this spiritual battle in prayer have a central role to play.  Those intercessors standing in the gap can look back to men like Rees Howells and others who stood in the gap at crucial times in history.  Derek Prince knew that same truth, that intercessors can change history through prayer and fasting.  Both men saw prayer change events during World War II. 

During a time when some believe we are in the beginning of World War III, prayer will again play a key role.  In that light, it's time to stand in the gap and pray for the peace of Jerusalem. 

 

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