A Biblical Perspective on the 12-Day War

Part 1

Tim Moore: This operation had been a long time in coming. Indeed, Operation Rising Lion is something that the Israelis had planned for many years due to the threats emanating out of Iran and due to the metastasizing terror that had infiltrated the entire Middle East surrounding Israel.

I’d like to talk to you a little bit about the perspective of what’s going on relative to Iran, but I’m going to go back first and I’m going to reflect that just this weekend after the Operation Rising Lion began, here in America, we celebrated Father’s Day. Father’s Day is an important time to recognize the fathers that all of us appreciate, and sometimes to recognize that even if we don’t have earthly fathers that are upstanding and wholesome, we have a Heavenly Father that loves and cares for each and every one of us.

You know in Scripture, when God called Moses to go and deliver His people from captivity in Egypt, Moses said, “Who shall I tell them has sent me?” And the Lord, in Exodus 3:13-14 said, “Tell them that I AM has sent you.” Indeed, God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus, you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.”

But later in Exodus 4, specifically in verses 22 and 23, the Lord gave Moses a message to deliver to Pharaoh. He said, “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, thus says the Lord, “Yahweh, Israel is my son, my firstborn.” So I said to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” Well, folks, the Lord God has declared Himself to be the Father of Israel. Moses doubled down on that truth when in Deuteronomy 14:1, He said to the children of Israel, “You are the sons of the Lord your God.” And so, the Lord has called this nation, this chosen people His sons.

We like to sing and teach our children, “Many sons has father Abraham, and I am one of them.” And indeed many of us have been grafted in. But the firstborn son in humanity of God, the Father, was none other than the nation of Israel. When Jesus came, He expanded on this understanding of God as our Heavenly Father, saying, “I am the Son, but I do the will of the Father.”

And so, as we here in the 21st century, wonder, what is going on in the Middle East, we recognize that God declared that He would discipline His sons when they strayed far from Him. Indeed, in Deuteronomy 28-29, Moses warned of the consequences of disobedience. He warned the sons of Israel, the sons of the Lord God Yahweh, that if they disobeyed Him, if they rebelled against Him, He would discipline them, He would reject them, but then He would restore them.

In chapter 12 of Hebrews 5-6, it says, “Have you forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons?” Again, first and foremost, the sons of Israel, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him, for those whom the Lord loves, He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives. It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as sons.”

Folks, I think back to Jesus looking over Jerusalem, and indeed much of it is interaction with the Jewish people in His day and age when He was ministering on the Earth, He wept that they did not recognize the time of their visitation. But prophetically had already been declared that God would discipline those very sons by casting them aside for a season, by making them endure great hardship, scourging in the words of the writer of Hebrews, and yet He would restore them.

We have been blessed just in the last century to see Israel regathered from the four corners of the Earth again in fulfillment of Bible prophecy. But the Lord has continued to allow disciplining to take place to cause the Jewish people to come to the end of themselves so that they would look upon Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, Yeshua Hamashiach, the one whom they had pierced, the one whom the Lord God Father had allowed to be pierced for their transgressions and for mine and yours. And until they came to the end of themselves and cried out, “Baruch Habah B’shem Adonai,” and then we know that Jesus Christ will return, sent by the Father to gather His bride.

I often think in this motif of Father and Son, of the parable of the prodigal son, I know many of you have heard sermons on the prodigal son, sometimes lessons about the son who did not leave. But the focus in Jesus’ parable is actually on the Father. The Father whose love never varies, whose love continues to hold out hope that the prodigal will repent, will turn back and will come home. And when he does, there’s great rejoicing.

So how do I tie this into what’s happening in Israel? What we’ve seen as God has allowed threats all around Israel to continue to hone and refine His people, leading them, oftentimes, to the end of themselves, there will come a time when in absolute desperation, they recognize that their salvation is not even with the IDF or the Mossad or any other human entity, but only with the Lord God. But now, for generations, the nation’s immediately around Israel have threatened the Jewish people, even as the Lord has been bringing them back to their own land.

One of my favorite passages in Scripture pointing to the promises that will be fulfilled is in Ezekiel 36, the Lord told the prophet to make a prophecy literally to the mountains of Israel. In verse one, He says, “And you, son of man, prophesied to the mountains of Israel, and say, ‘Old mountains of Israel, hear the Word of the Lord.’ ‘Thus,’ says the Lord God, ‘Yahweh because the enemy has spoken against you, aha! And the everlasting heights have become our possessions,’ therefore prophesy and say, ‘thus says the Lord God. For good reason, they have made you desolate and they have crushed you from every side, that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations, and you have been taken up in the talk and in the whispering of the people.'”

In other words, for almost 2,000 years, as the Lord allowed the Jews to be dispersed around the world, the diaspora spread to the four corners of the Earth, the land itself became desolate. It was under trodden by gentiles, even nations who resented the Jewish people and did not trust the God of Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob.

And yet it was that very desolation that kept the land from being possessed or occupied, and we know this to be true because, even Mark Twain in the late 1800s came to Israel and said, “It is a godforsaken place.” Palestine, as it was known then, had very little population, no vegetation, no livestock, it was forsaken and abandoned. And yet that’s exactly what the Lord said would happen until He decided it was time to call His sons home from the four corners of the Earth.

And that began to happen in the early 1900s, and even after World War II, as more and more Jews streamed home to Israel. A desire planted deep in their heart every year as they celebrated Passover by saying, “Next year in Jerusalem.” Well, folks, for generations, the Jews would say that, but they had no real desire to go back to that godforsaken land until following the Holocaust of World War II, they came to realize that they were not safe in places like Poland and Germany and Russia.

And even today, Jews are realizing they’re not safe anywhere, even in some of the major cities of America. And so, this ancient promise to be restored to their ancient homeland has been manifest as Jews have streamed back to Israel, the very mountains of Israel from the four corners of the Earth.

And yet as they have come home, Satan has raised up others in that arena, in that portion of the world to turn with great animosity and hatred against the Jewish people. Those have been the Palestinian Arabs right there in the land of Israel, that’s been the Arabs of Gaza, the peoples of Lebanon, Syria, too often Jordan, yes, Egypt, and further than that, Iran and others, why? Because of a great Satanic hatred.

Satan has always opposed God’s chosen people, why? Because God chose them, because He chose to lavish His love and His unmerited favor, His grace on these Jewish people. And so, Satan has had great hatred toward the Jews. Obviously, he understands that the Jews produced the Word of God, the prophets recording His words, as inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Jews became the line that produced the Messiah. And to this day, the Jews still stand as a testimony that God has kept every promise, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is real and true to His Word.

And so, for the last number of years, having defeated some of the other threats close at home, for instance, Egypt, Syria, and yes, Jordan, first in 1956, again in 1967, and for a final time in 1973, Israel has been beset by terrorists, supplied and supported by who primarily? Iran. As a matter of fact, the Jewish people have considered Iran to be the head of the snake or the head of the octopus, with many tentacles stretching all through the Middle East.

And after October 7th, 2023, when Hamas was able to deal a devastating blow in southern Israel, the state of Israel realized that there is an existential threat that is growing and metastasizing, emanating from Tehran. The radicalized Muslim leaders of Tehran, the Ayatollahs, the Mullahs have preached death and destruction to Israel, not because it will do anything good for their own people, but because they’re motivated by a satanic hatred.

And so, even as Israel was trying to address the threat coming out of Gaza, even as it was dealing with some of the proxies, like the Hezbollah group of terrorists in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Iran totally unprovoked, began launching ballistic missiles both in April and in October of 2024. And yet the world told Israel to just exercise restraint, just absorb the death and destruction raining down on their heads.

But, folks, Israel cannot continue to absorb the threats and recognize that Iran, if it possesses a nuclear weapon, truly would eradicate Jewish people all throughout Israel. And so, last week, through Operation Rising Lion, Israel struck, and that’s why my pilgrimage was canceled, that’s why I could not go to the true Holy Land with 27 other pilgrims, although I look forward to going again soon, and that’s why our prayers are for the Jewish people.

I want to share very briefly a perspective of what it’s like to live under a reign of terror, literally a rain of ballistic missiles, by hearing the testimony of my good friend and the man who would’ve been my guide in Israel, Erez Bar David.

Part 2: Erez Bar David Interview

Tim Moore: I don’t think there’s anyone even watching today, Erez, who can fathom what it is like to be under attack by modern ballistic missiles. I mean, I think this is virtually unprecedented. So tell us what it’s like to be under that kind of an attack, even share a little bit about where you’re recording from today.

Erez Bar David: Well, first of all, I’m recording from my own private bomb shelter. Some years back, the Israeli government decided to regulate all these standards that are to do with home security and home protection. And so, about 10 years ago, when we built this home, we were supposed to build a home which would include this bomb shelter. And so, this really stands to the highest, you know, requirements of our, you know, authorities.

And I have to admit that they’re serving their purpose very, very well. We’ve already witnessed a number of examples as to people who were, you know, spared from these blasts, and it’s truly astonishing just the footage that you see, just stepping out of this secure room, once you open the door in a building that is, you know, that got a direct hit, the whole place is just in ruin, you know, you see debris everywhere and the people inside in the room itself is unscathed.

Israel, as you probably know, has one of the best, if not the best air defenses in the world. And so, the statistics are not lying, you know, there’s a clear evidence that over 90% of those Iranian and other missiles that had been fired, you know, into Israel, well, most of them were intercepted. And even those who eventually hit their, well, not even mark because they just aimed in a general direction, oftentimes, hitting civilian populated areas, they created a lot of damage.

But thank God, when you look at the numbers, the figures of the casualties, it could have been a whole lot worse, you know? I would not envy anyone under similar circumstances in any major city around the world, including the US.

Tim Moore: Erez, when the sirens go off, and I know that happens many times a night, we’re recording on Wednesday, June 18th. And so, literally, this war has been underway for five days. Many times a night, you’re probably, you know, warned by siren to get into the shelter. How long do you have to get there? And what’s it been like just with your normal life, going about your routine day by day?

Erez Bar David: Well, night and day, not just at night, of course, mostly at nighttime, but also during the day. And so, the way it works is that we get a kind of a notification, almost like an alarm clock, which is very annoying, very loud, but it makes its presence very clear. And the intention of that note is really to have you prepared for incoming missiles. Our air defenses are not that clear when and where will those missiles hit, and if any of them will hit anything.

And so, large areas in Israel receive these notifications, which means that you have to be very close to a safe space, like the one I’m in right now. But it is nerve wracking because you know that there’s incoming, you don’t know when, you don’t know if, you know, the sirens will go off. And oftentimes, and initially in the opening phases of that phase of the war with Iran, you could actually be waiting, you know, for at least half an hour or so, even an hour, sometimes several, multiple times, it does take its toll during the night, especially during nighttime.

So you’re just waiting, anxiously looking to see what’s going to happen, whether, you know, the siren in your part of, you know, the country will go off. When you hear the explosions outside, you know, it is truly dreadful sometimes. I mean, there were multiple times where it seemed as if they were exploding right above our heads, although they were miles and miles away probably from us.

But you could really hear, especially the interceptors, you know, the missiles that basically are designed to shoot down those enemy missiles, and you can really hear and sometimes even feel the shockwave, not inside the bomb shelters, but certainly outside. And not to mention the fact that I know that there’s so many millions in Israel who do not have the same protection that I believe that I do have as a believer in Yeshua.

And certainly, you know, when you think about children, you think about the elderly, when you think about people who have to scramble, you know, and run down staircases, it’s not convenient, but it is what it is. We know that we are in a pivotal moment, we are witnessing history in the making. We know that we’re fighting for our very survival. And so, it’s a very, very small price to pay for our life, really, for our survival.

Part 3

Tim Moore: Well, Erez obviously has a powerful testimony. I can only imagine being woken up multiple times every night to run in a matter of seconds to get into a bomb shelter. You can imagine living in an apartment building or a high rise and having less than a minute to find safety and shelter while bombs are raining down, hypersonic missiles that travel so fast that even Israel’s Iron Dome, its David’s Sling, all of its high tech devices cannot always stop these hypersonic projectiles.

And yet we know that it is not the technology, it’s not even the IDF with all of its capability, it is the Lord God who will continue to protect Israel. There will be pain and there has been pain, there will be destruction because we live in a world where Satan is raging, knowing that his time is short. But we know that the Lord will guard and guide His people.

You know, I asked at our conference just recently, what is the most uncharacteristic thing Jesus ever did during His time on Earth? And I made the point that the most uncharacteristic thing Jesus ever did was to curse a fig tree. But in Matthew 24:32, “The Lord said, ‘Now learn this parable from the fig tree.'” And you have to realize the disciples would’ve immediately recognized, he’s talking about the fig tree that just a few days ago, he cursed. What did that mean?

And the Lord went on to say, “When its branches already become tender and put forth its leaves, you know that summer is near,” you understand the seasons you’re living in, just as Jesus understood the seasons, even as He went to seek fruit. So you too, when you see all these things, all these signs of the times multiplying, recognize that He is near right at the door.

Brothers and sisters, Israel has been budding, the fig tree has put forth tender shoots. And indeed, even in Israel today, there are a number of Messianic followers of Yeshua, Jesus Christ, and so we have seen in our own generation the fig tree coming back to life and fruit beginning to be born on that ancient tree that was chopped down, cast aside as new branches, gentile branches were grafted in.

And there, again, Satan does not like to see God fulfilling His prophetic promises to you, to me, or to the Jewish people. And yet He is, and He will continue to do so. A lot of people ask, why does the Lord have such animosity against these nations? Well, I already read it to you in Ezekiel 36, the very nations that say, “Aha,” that celebrate when the Jewish people were disciplined or who actively seek to curse Israel, we know the Lord holds out a special measure of wrath against those nations.

You can go to Jeremiah 46, all the way through 51, where the prophet talks about the nations surrounding Israel, even in that day and age and still down to today. He talks about a prophecy against Pharaoh, and we have to realize that Pharaoh is a stand in for the entire nation of Egypt. And because Pharaoh had subjugated the Jewish people in days of Old, and because Egypt still had animosity to the Jewish people until this very last century, the Lord held out a special promise of destruction that would come upon Egypt.

He went on to have prophecies in Jeremiah 47 against Philistia or Gaza specifically. In chapter 48, He talks about prophecies against Moab and then on into chapter 49 against Amman, this is the territory of Jordan still today. And then if you continue to read on in chapter 49, prophecies against Edom, again, part of Jordan, against Damascus standing in for all of Syria, and at the end of chapter 49, a prophecy against Elam, and Elam is in the territory of ancient Persia, modern day Iran.

Why has Iran embraced such an evil Satanic ideology? Well, I think it’s because there has always been a demonic presence in Iran. You say, “Oh, come on, Tim, always?” Well, I’ll just tell you that in Daniel 10, following that tremendous prophet’s effort to intervene on behalf of his people who are living in exile and his effort to actually repent for the sins of his people, the Lord sent a messenger. And yet the messenger sent to the prophet Daniel said that he was constrained, he was withheld for 21 days by the Prince of Persia.

And as you read it in the context, this angelic being was constrained by a demonic being until another angel came to help him overcome that demonic being so he could arrive to deliver his message to Daniel. I think that demonic being is still reigning over Persia or modern day Iran today.

We actually do pray for the salvation of Iranians, just as we pray for the salvation of Palestinians, people living in Gaza and throughout the world. But this delusion, this demonic deception is something that has saturated into so many of their hearts and minds that it will take the Holy Spirit of God to undo that demonic deception. I hope you too will pray, not just for the peace of Jerusalem, but for the salvation of those who are the enemies of Jerusalem, of Israel, and of the Lord God Almighty.

So what lies ahead? We are less than a week into this present war, but I think it is a war that is going to change the entire dynamic of the Middle East. It is quite possible that Israel will subdue Iran to the point that all of those other tentacles, all those terrorist organizations, again, Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, even the Houthis down in Yemen, and all the rest will be quieted for a long season.

Israel may get to the point, having subdued those inner ring of threats or nations, may be living in an era described by Psalm 83. When it feels finally at peace, like Shalom has come, and it can let down its guard living in secure villages, unwalled and unprotected, then we know that Iran will rise again and join forces with Russia and with Turkey and with other nations to come against Israel in the War of Gog and Magog, as described in Ezekiel 38 and 39.

We don’t know when those wars will take place. All we know is right now, Israel is having tremendous impact at devastating the war fighting capability and the threats emanating from Iran. I don’t know as this is being recorded, whether America will join that fray, whether the Trump administration will decide that we, too, need to ensure the eradication of Iran’s nuclear capability.

I pray that the nuclear capabilities of Iran are absolutely eliminated and in such a manner that radiation is not spread in regions of Iran, because there are many innocent people there who have just been swept up into this demonic deception that has been brought into their land.

Closing

Tim Moore: But, folks, for you and me, I return where I began, that we need to recognize that the Lord has sent His Son so that all of us can be called sons of God. I know if you are a lady watching this, the application will be you can be a daughter of the King, but sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father.

Very soon, the Father is going to tell the Son, “Go and get your bride,” and only those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ will be swept up in the twinkling of an eye to meet Him in the air. The dead in Christ will rise first, as Paul says in 2 Thessalonians, and then all of us who have trusted in Him will be gathered. After that, the whole world will turn against Israel.

But right now, until that moment arrives, we need to declare that we stand with Israel, not just because they’re the only democracy in the Middle East, not just because they are doing yeoman’s work to eradicate a threat to the rest of the civilized world, but because the Lord God promised Abraham that He would bless those who bless the descendants, the chosen descendants of Abraham. And so, we bless Israel, we bless the King of Israel, we bless the Messiah who’s coming to reign as the Lion of Judah and the Savior indeed of Israel.

I wish you Godspeed and I look forward to talking to you again soon on Christ In Prophecy! Godspeed!

End of Program