Praise God that there is a ceasefire!
Dear friends and prayer partners,
Thank you for praying for our friends, family, loved ones and country over the last few days. By God's grace and mercy, the conflict is over with minimal death and destruction. The ceasefire took effect last night and the rockets stopped just before midnight.
Most of those killed in the fighting were terrorists associated with the Islamic Jihad. Unfortunately, one of the terror group's missiles flamed out and dropped on a house in the Gaza Strip killing a family including several children. We grieve the loss of life of this family who were innocent bystanders - for all we know. Here is a link to the video released by the Israeli Defense forces about this errant missile.
Around 1000 rockets were fired at Israel during three days of fighting. Half of the country's population kept close to safe rooms and bomb shelters during these three days. Our family never had to run to our safe area because the attacks never came close to our home in Petach Tikvah over the weekend. You might recall that we moved just about a year ago from Ramat Gan to Petach Tikvah.
However, as I, Jason, write this update from our Ministry Center, HaMercaz, in Ramat Gan, it is important to note that everyone in this area had to run to safety twice over the weekend. Just last night we had a guest coming to visit us, but she was delayed because of a rocket attack. The most of the rockets were successfully intercepted by the Iron Dome Missile Defense System but I read that shrapnel from the rockets did fall causing some damage. Fortunately, no one was injured. There is not a bomb shelter or safe room in the building where our guest was staying. Their only option is to run to the stairwell in their building, which I can't imagine is easy for the caregiver and the father who suffers from a debilitating illness.
I can recall just about a year ago, when Hamas was firing rockets at us (we lived across the street from our ministry center), just how challenging it was explaining to our children why we were running to the bomb shelter in the basement of our apartment building. I can't explain in words the stress of forty people in the bomb shelter and one of them refusing to shut and lock the bomb shelter door, because they want to hear the sound of the explosions or wait for a strangling family member. Or the surprise of learning that several people in your building just decided to stay in their apartment because they didn't want to risk falling down the stairs to get to the basement in time. Last May, one missile got through the Iron Dome defenses and hit our town of Ramat Gan, killing an elderly man, who didn't have a safe place to get to in time. This was just a few blocks from the apartment of one of our colleagues. His building doesn't have safe rooms in the apartments or a bomb shelter in the basement, so they had to run down the street, two buildings away to a public bomb shelter. By God's grace, they could make it in time. In our area we usually have a minute and a half warning before the rockets fall on us.
By God's grace the apartment we live in now has a safe room! We do not need to leave the apartment when under attack. We turned the safe room in the bedroom for all five boys, even though it is small. For the first time, ever, during an attack like this, we slept peacefully at night knowing that our boys would be safe if we were attacked. My parents are also visiting for an extended time and so we gave them our bedroom, which is just down the hall, so they could get there in time as well.
Some Prayer Points
I have some thoughts on this current round of violence that I want to bring to your attention for the purpose of prayer for the people and state of Israel and her salvation. First of all, it is important to note that like Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, the Islamic Jihad works for and Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. They receive millions of dollars a year in financing from the Iranian military. According to the experts on Iran, it was Iran that commanded the Islamic Jihad to attack Israel at this time. They work for Iran. I read that Iran's goal was to punish Israel for hindering their Nuclear program by assassinating their scientists. So, what do we do with this information. We need to remember that Israel isn't just dealing with local threats but also spiritual ones. The desire of Iran to wipe Israel off the face of the earth is bizarre from a historical perspective. Iran used to be one of Israel's good allies in the Middle East, until the Ayatollahs conquered the Shah. Without digging too deep into the history, it is important to note that many of Israel's former allies switched sides and became enemies, either physically or politically. Let's look at some examples: France was once the biggest supplier of military equipment to Israel, but when the liberals took over the government they became adamantly pro-Palestinian and vote against Israel frequently in the EU and UN, criticizing Israel unfairly in many international forums. Lebanon, was for a long time, a strong Israeli partner, but then Hezbollah destroyed that relationship along with some poor decisions on the part of Israel's leaders. The point is that although Israel has a long history of loosing friends, she doesn't have a good history of gaining friends. Recently, that may have changed with the Abraham Accords, but time will tell. What it means for prayer, is to continually pray that Israel's friends and allies will remain on good terms, especially the United States and the UK.
Another point of prayer for the people of Gaza, who, as many know, are being brainwashed into thinking that Israelis hate them and want to wipe them all out. I've had a conversation about this with a Palestinian from Gaza once. If he had known that I have Israeli citizenship, I'm fairly certain he would have attacked me. He refused to believe that most Israelis are heartbroken over their dire situation and want to help. But the terror groups refuse to let Israelis help their people. Pray first and foremost for their salvation but also for their eyes to be opened to the truth. I was once friends with a former member of a Palestinian terror group, although he wasn't really a terrorist as much as a political support of them. He came to faith in Yeshua (Jesus) and instantly his heart warmed to Israelis and he loved them. Belief in Yeshua can change hearts and heads.
Continue to pray regularly for peace. We know from the situation that there are always groups acting behind the scenes preparing to harm Israel and her people. We don't know when they will strike, but we know that they are planning evil. So pray for protection!
Pray that God would thwart Iran's attempts to build nuclear weapons because of their constant threats to wipe Israel off the map.
Pray that God would continue to give Israel the ability to protect her people.
I know that some are thinking, but Jason, eventually the enemies of Israel will be at the gate and then the Lord will come back. I don't disagree with good Biblical theology; however, practical theology is just as important. As a resident of the land that will one day be invaded, I beseech you to pray as the Bible prescribes: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (Ps. 122:5-6), “Blessed are the peacemakers, for dthey shall be called esons1 of God. (Mt. 5:9 ESV), "Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another” (Mk. 9:50). The Bible tells us that Lord desires for all to be saved, and so we must use this time now to reach the lost. So please continue to pray for opportunities, open hearts.
In Messiah,
Jason and Janice Rose
