Hello and welcome to this week's edition of The Bible in the News.  We look this week at Israel's Operation Rising Lion and additionally, the Americans' Operation Midnight Hammer as they've joined in and taken out the three difficult-to-get nuclear sites.

On October 7th, 2003, we saw one of perhaps Israel's greatest setbacks they've ever experienced since their founding. Thousands of Hamas terrorists stormed across their border from Gaza and committed a massacre. Iran has been threatening Israel for many years and claiming that their god Allah is the greatest. Well, that challenge is built on lies and God's name will be magnified. There are many passages about God's name and how he will act to bring it into honor.  As he says in Ezekiel 20, beginning at verse 41,

Ezekiel 20:41-44, AV
“41 I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. 42 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers. 43 And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed. 44 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.”

So when Israel is in their land, God will act for them and they will understand that He is the true God who loves them and acts for them.

When we turn and look at Iran's missile program, they developed missiles and a lot of very powerful missiles that would cover quite a large area. In this current conflict, this is part of the reason why nobody wanted to stand up and help Iran and why many of the regional forces, the regional powers, were against them also. The surrounding countries felt threatened by them and nobody really wanted them to have a nuclear weapon, maybe except for Hamas. Iran had been building many missiles a day, which were a great threat to Israel, as we've seen. Since Israel's offensive, just a trickle have got through, but if there had been many more, it could have been absolutely devastating. As we've seen, each one can take out quite a large chunk, a good part of a city block, multiple houses, with just one getting through. Iran had the capacity to send thousands before this. This is why Israel was so concerned when the war started and locked down the entire country and sent everybody into bomb shelters. Iran was a threat to many other places as well and committed or attempted to commit many terrorist attacks in many places around the world.

As we talked about last week, Israel launched this great operation, Rising Lion, as they've called it, against Iran. It is now being called one of the greatest successes Israel has had since 1967. We'll have a little look at why that might be. One amazing thing that happened is Israel's assassinations of Iran's military leaders were so successful that there was actually nobody to give the command to respond to Israel.  This gave Israel a window of 20 hours to take out missile launchers and cripple their missile capability. So when the barrage came, instead of thousands, it was hundreds.  This was still devastating and still terrible, many were injured and a number of Israelis have been killed. But it could have been so much worse, tenfold or more.

Israel's initial actions were so successful, it actually seems that it stunned Israel herself that she didn't expect to be able to be so successful against this Iranian threat. It makes us think of this passage that was actually in the Jewish Torah portion for the day that they started their attack against Iran. It's from Numbers chapter 10 and verse 35. We see God indeed arising and acting on behalf of Israel, acting on behalf of his people, and showing the world that He is real and in charge of events.

Numbers 10:35-36
“35 And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee. 36 And when it rested, he said, Return, O LORD, unto the many thousands of Israel.” 

There's a description from one of the pilots who led coming in to Iran to do this operation. And he describes how it's every pilot's dream to be able to have a dogfight and take out an enemy aircraft. But in actual fact, the enemy all just took off and fled, which reminds me of biblical events where the enemy just fled and left in Israel's battles of old. Israel indeed had a great plan and great preparation but the whole thing just came off almost flawlessly.

There's so many things that could have gone wrong. Israel had a drone base that they actually built inside Iran, if that had have been discovered, it would have crippled the ability of them to be able to act with drones inside the country from close range like they were able to do. Their initial attack was very effective and took out a whole slew of top people. As we've mentioned, there's many of the top of their army command that have been taken out, as well as replacements of replacements.  This has helped them to cripple Iran and destroy their nuclear program.

Iran's attacks back on Israel have been really an overwhelming failure. As successful as Israel has been, Iran's response really has fallen very flat compared to anything they might have hoped. Rather than thousands, they've managed to send hundreds of missiles: 520 at the time of counting of this report. Less than 5% of those have gotten through. Out of 1200 drones, which it was said were very difficult to detect and take out, they've actually had zero that have hit their target.

This should be a lesson to the world that they shouldn't line up to fight against Israel, that they shouldn't condemn Israel and the things that she does because it's God who is acting with them to bring His will to pass. The world should sit up and notice that God is with His people, that He's acting for them, and they're foolhardy to oppose her.

So now we've just seen not only Israel attacking, but the United States has actually come to join in to take out those hard to get nuclear sites that Israel wasn't able to penetrate. The Americans, it is said, dropped six 30,000 pound massive ordinance penetrators on Fordow. And unofficial footage from on the ground shows us the impressive impact. 

When Netanyahu launched this operation, he called it Rising Lion, and he put a note in the Western Wall, as Dave mentioned last week.  It quotes Balaam's prophecy about Israel rising up as a lion. Well, there's another potential meaning as well, as relevant and important as that is. If you look at the opposition in Iran, actually the old Shah's flag, had a lion and a sun behind it. The leader of the opposition today in Iran is actually the Shah's son.

So Rising Lion is being taken by Iranians on the ground to also refer to this, that it's their time to rise up and seize their country back. There is all the signs of an uprising in Iran. There's been reports of army defections and many who are opposing the Ayatollahs and calling out against them. And as we know, it's God that sets up and removes kings.

So what is God doing? What does the Bible have to tell us about what's going on and what we might be able to expect to see? Well, when we look at prophecy and we look at Daniel chapter 2, which is one of those key prophecies that gives us a framework for the nations all down the centuries.  Not only do we see that it is a framework through history, but we're told here in Daniel chapter 2 that this image is to be broken in pieces together. From that we would expect there to be a representation of those countries to be broken together all together at the time of the end. So we would expect then from this prophecy for the Medes and the Persians, as it was then, today the Iranians, to have an important part and be present at the time of the end.
It's not only there because in Ezekiel chapter 38, we're also told Persia is with Gog of the land of Magog. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them. So Persia is mentioned first as those that are with Gog, perhaps the most important of those who are joining in that battle at that time.

But we also expect a peace that is spoken about in Ezekiel chapter 38. If Iran is neutralized at this time, Iran is the one that has been funding the proxies against Israel. They've been sending weapons to Hamas and Hezbollah and Israel's enemies, propping up this anti-Israel ring that they were creating around Israel. If Iran is taken out, it's likely cause of the peace at the end. 

But as we've just mentioned, we also expect Persia to be with those who come against Israel when Armageddon happens. So how does this fit together? We don't know. I'm not a prophet. None of us are prophets. But we read the scriptures and we try and understand what might happen. We look at events on the ground and try and fit it together.

Perhaps something happens like the country descends into civil war, like Syria, and they're unable to be a threat to Israel for the time being. Another possibility is that somebody else takes over for a time and then there's another coup or a change of government in some way, somebody else is elected or somebody comes in who is anti-Israel a little bit down the road.

Whatever the case, the thing that we expect to see next is the peace in Israel. It seems like this operation is the beginning of this coming together, a great sign of our times.  A sign that the great Messiah of Israel is about to return and bring true peace to Israel and eventually to the world.
This has been the Bible in the News and Tim Billington joining you. Please join us again next week for more Bible in the News, God willing.