Today’s news shows the difference a day can make.
Yesterday, Iran launched fourteen missiles at Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, America’s largest military installation in the Middle East. Iran stated that this was equal to the number of bombs the US used in its strike on Saturday. Qatari air defenses intercepted all but one missile, which caused no casualties. President Trump then thanked Iran for giving “early notice” on the retaliatory attack.
Then last night, President Trump announced on Truth Social “a Complete and total CEASEFIRE” between Israel and Iran. According to the president, the ceasefire would be phased in during the next twenty-four hours. Then, “upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World.”
Qatar reportedly helped broker the ceasefire by mediating talks with Iran. Israel agreed to the ceasefire on the condition that Iran stop attacking their country; Iran agreed to these terms.
This morning, the story changed yet again: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the military to strike Tehran in response to what he said were missiles fired by Iran in violation of the ceasefire. According to the Israeli military, Iran fired at least three waves of missiles at Israel, killing at least four people. However, Iran denied violating the ceasefire, stating that there had not been any launch of missiles towards Israel in recent hours.
The difference two weeks can make
At this writing, it is obviously too soon to know how events of the last day will play out. The conflict could erupt again today. Hardliners in Iran could seize power and escalate aggression against Israel and the US. And Iran could be engaging in deceit as it has so often in the past.
Nonetheless, it is worth noting the impact of the last two weeks on world history.
Before Israel launched its surprise attacks on June 13, targeting key Iranian military and nuclear facilities, many doubted that the Jewish state would attempt such an audacious strategy. Analysts then warned that they did not have the capacity to destroy Iran’s hardened nuclear site at Fordow and questioned whether the US would use its Massive Ordnance Penetrators to do so.
Both Israel and the US risked massive repercussions: Iran could have closed the Strait of Hormuz, launched missiles and asymmetric attacks, activated sleeper cells across the West, and engaged in cyberattacks. They still could do all these things. As it is, the US was able to decimate Iran’s nuclear sites without the loss of a single American life. And while Iranian strikes have killed dozens of people in Israel, this is far fewer than the four thousand Israeli fatalities that had been feared when the conflict began.
The difference two years can make
Now let’s step back not two weeks but two years.
In the run-up to October 7, 2023, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar predicted the destruction of Israel at the hands of his organization. He was certain that this would fulfill the Quranic prediction that Israel’s enemies would “utterly destroy whatever would fall into their hands” (Qur’an 17:7).
In his article yesterday for the Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg quoted Hassan Nasrallah, then the leader of Hezbollah, who made a similar statement in 2000: “This Israel, with its nuclear weapons and most advanced warplanes in the region, I swear by Allah, is actually weaker than a spider’s web . . . Israel may appear strong from the outside, but it’s easily destroyed and defeated.”
Instead, as Goldberg wrote:
The October 7 massacre Sinwar ordered did not cause the destruction of Israel but instead led to the dismantling of its enemies. Hamas is largely destroyed, and most of its leaders, including Sinwar, are dead, assassinated by Israel. Hezbollah, in Lebanon, is comprehensively weakened. Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, Iran’s main Arab ally, is in exile in Moscow, his country now led by Sunni Muslims hostile to Iran’s leaders. Iran’s skies are under the control of the Israeli Air Force, and its $500 billion nuclear program appears to be, at least partially, rubble and dust.
And Nasrallah was assassinated by Israel nine months ago.
The difference our intercession can make
Of all that could be said about these historic events, my calling as a philosopher leads me to ask “why.” Why were Sinwar and Nasrallah so convinced they would destroy Israel? And why was Iran so determined to use these proxies to this end?
As I have reported, Hamas and Hezbollah are adamant that “Palestine” is intended by Allah for the Palestinians and that Israel is a colonizing usurper that must be driven off the land. Iran’s leaders are similarly convinced that they are hastening the return of the Mahdi, their messiah, by attacking Israel and its supporters, and that Allah will help them advance their version of Islam.
The good news is that, as the last two years have shown, their ideology has failed them. The bad news is that, as welcome as recent events could be, events cannot defeat ideology.
This is where you and I come in.
Because Israel’s enemies are ultimately motivated by religious beliefs, this is ultimately a spiritual war. And when fighting a spiritual war against “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12), we are to “stand firm” (v. 13) while “praying at all times in the Spirit” (v. 18). The pastor and cultural anthropologist Dr. Michael A. Youssef is right:
In these uncertain days, Christians around the world must unite in prayer. We easily forget that there are many Christian believers in Iran right now, suffering intense persecution. The war has also caused many Muslims in Iran and many Jews in Israel to become receptive to the Christian gospel. Pray that, in this time of war, God will open many hearts to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
To be specific, let’s unite today to pray for:
- A true, just, and lasting peace in the Middle East (Psalm 122:6–7).
- Believers in Iran “boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19).
- The conversion of Ali Khamenei and other Iranian leaders (cf. Acts 9:3–5).
- Spiritual awakening to advance across the Middle East and in the homeland of our Savior (cf. 2 Chronicles 7:13–14).
- Americans to place our hope ultimately in the “God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:6).
The pastor and author Jim Cymbala noted:
“The work of God can only be carried on by the power of God. The church is a spiritual organism fighting spiritual battles; only spiritual power can make it perform as God ordained.”
Will you “perform as God ordained” today?
Quote for the day:
“Intercession is the truly universal work for the Christian. No place is closed to intercessory prayer: no continent, no nation, no city, no organization, no office. No power on earth can keep intercession out.” —Richard Halverson
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