My eyes filled with tears when I saw a film clip how those who other armies in the world would never give a chance to serve are given by the Israel Defense Forces a place and talk in defense of their nation.

Thank God that He does not need the strong and mighty but those who may feel themselves insignificant and weak to proclaim His strength as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29:

“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.”

Then there is here a testimony from a courageous Christian Arab woman I knew well. May this inspire others, like there are already many today – to follow her courageous example:

A Christian Arab’s view of Israel

As a child I had the desire to get to know God. I, a Christian Arab, was brought up in the Greek Orthodox Church, but went to the Roman Catholic School, as it was the best in the area.

Looking at the nuns who taught the girls, I was convinced that the only way to get to God was to become one of them. But my father refused to even think of such a possibility, and as I was ten years old then, I had to accept that situation.

When I was thirteen years old, I met a school girl-friend who told me about the all-sufficient death of Jesus of Nazareth. She made it clear to me that good deeds would never bring me to God, only faith in Jesus and the salvation He provides freely to all that come to Him. So I committed my life to the Lord.

Up till then, I had no respect for the Jews. As an Arab girl, I was taught that they should be hated and despised, that they are liars and cheats. I was not allowed to socialize with two Jewish girls whom I knew at school. When I decided to follow the Lord, He made it very clear to me that I could not love Him and hate His people the Jews. I accepted this, as I could never understand the unreasonable hatred for the Jews with which I was brought up.

It was a lonely time for me and I did not get much help from the missionaries where the Jews and Israel were concerned. I started to read the Old Testament with great zeal and saw God’s great love for His people, and His plan to bring them back to their land. I was also troubled by the fact that the missionaries did not teach us that hatred of the Jews is a sin.

The more I studied in the Bible about the Arabs, the more I found out that the hatred of my people towards God’s people was Satan inspired and therefore they are also against God. One of the passages in the Bible that reveals this very clearly is Psalm 83:

“… O God, thine enemies make a tumult and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken counsel against thy people. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance …”

With the birth of the State of Israel, the old dormant enmity of the Islamic-Arab world was revived. The “Jihad” – spirit of holy war – got a new incentive and ever since, Arab rulers have tried to unite the Arab world through this hatred against Israel for the cause of a purified Islamic pan-arabic empire. There is also a new worldwide missionary endeavor.

This power that:

1) enslaves and deceives the Arab multitude,

2) threatens with destruction the Jewish State of Israel and

3) endangers the support for Israel from the West through the powerful weapon of oil, needs to be dealt with in intercessory prayer.

God may have to use the sword of Israel to destroy this Jihad power that came by the sword, and through the sword enslaved so many Arabs for whom Christ died. It is this breaking that is seen in Isaiah 19 as God’s way to prepare the Arab nations for a new day of blessing:

“And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, everyone that makes mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which He hath determined against it … And the Lord shall smite Egypt: He shall smite and heal it: and they shall return to the Lord, and he shall be entreated of them.”

It is then that God’s real blessing of Abraham will flow to the descendants of both Ishmael and Isaac – the two children of Abraham – Arabs and Jews – when the Lord promises:

“In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land. Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.”

Together they will be blessed, but as long as Ishmael tried to usurp Israel’s God-given land, he will face judgment.

If only the Christian Arabs would believe that Israel is God’s key of blessing to the Middle East, and turn their hatred or dislike of her to love and acceptance, they could become the bridges for a new day of hope and peace in the Middle East.

I close with the last assessment of Israel’s Chief of Staff General Gantz:

IDF Chief: Hezbollah Stronger than Most Countries in the Region
Chief of Staff outlines security issues: Russia arming Assad weekly, Hezbollah massive threat to Israel, Iran can be stopped by force.
By Ari Yashar – First Publish: 6/9/2014, 12:26 PM

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz spoke about the gamut of security challenges to Israel on Monday morning at the Herzliya Conference.
Gantz suggested that the bloody Syrian civil war, now raging in its fourth year, poses a serious threat to Israel. According to Walla!, the chief of staff said Russia is arming the Syrian army under President Bashar Assad‘s command every week.

The structure of rule in Syria, according to Gantz, “is crashing like a house of cards. As long as Assad is there, we won’t see a meaningful solution because they (the rebels) are fighting against him and not for the future.”

Gantz warned of two dangers from the Syrian conflict, one being the strengthening of the radical axis of Assad, Iran and Hezbollah. On the other hand, he noted the Global Jihad Islamist terror movement is also growing strength through its operations in the country.

Speaking about Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon to Israel’s north, Gantz appraised the Iran-proxy terror group, saying “there are maybe four of five countries (in the region) with more fire power than Hezbollah. They have a tremendous fire power which covers all of Israel.”

“In Israel you can be drinking coffee at nine in the morning, and by four in the afternoon be at war,” warned Gantz about the volatile regional instability.

On a different topic, Gantz spoke about the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program.

“Its possible to earnestly prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear weapon – by force or not by force… It’s preferable without force, but if there is no choice it is possible by force. The main thing is that they don’t reach the nuclear threshold.”

Gantz argued that the nuclear talks between Iran and world powers, the most recent round of which is opening in Geneva on Monday, do not represent a sincere change in the Islamic regime’s goals.

“Iran will try to preserve its abilities to restore its (nuclear) program in the future, and to advance it. It couldn’t ignore the voice on the street (of the Iranian public), so it was forced to open dialogue with the international community while not giving up on its vision,” warned Gantz.

Indeed, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei revealed in January that the nuclear talks are merely a tactic to stall for time. He added last month that Western expectations for the Islamic Republic to limit its missile program were “stupid and idiotic.”

The link to the report of this speech in Arutz Sheva is here

May these, his words, cause us to pray and act on behalf of God’s own people Israel like never before!

Jan Willem van der Hoeven, Director
International Christian Zionist Center

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Republished with the kind permission of Author Jan Willem van der Hoeven, Director of International Christian Zionist Center.

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