Miracles in Gaza
God’s promises are “yes” and “amen.” He fulfills His Word … regardless of what crisis may be happening.
While this week commemorated the destruction of the 1st and 2ndTemples (Tisha b’av), the good news is that the state of Israel wasnot destroyed during Operation Protective Edge. Hallelu-Yah!! And our God performed many miracles, including national unity and natural phenomenons.
The miracle of national unity:
This summer has brought about a unity of the nation of Israel that many have remarked they’ve not seen in 30 years! There have been countless reports from both secular and religious Jews that they have never witnessed the country so unified. People from all over Israel brought to the Gaza border special meals to encourage the soldiers when they returned from a mission. Tables were donated. Restaurants brought food. Secular Israelis purposed to have very kosher meals so all could enjoy. Other special treats included waffles, ice cream, BBQ, hairdressers. Also, well-known Israeli performers entertained the troops, regardless of whether there were 12 or 50 in attendance. One father, who’d lost his son in the operation, insisted upon going to the border to be with his other ‘sons’ (the other IDF soldiers). An Orthodox rabbi commented at his son’s bar mitzvah, ‘how can I rejoice when our soldiers are fighting and dying?’
Four “natural” miracles:
1). Israel’s highly sophisticated and technologically advanced anti-missile system, the Iron Dome, has intercepted & nullified at least 578 rockets during Operation Protective Edge. The operators of the Iron Dome are expertly trained and skilled. An Iron Dome battery commander recalled the following incident:
“A missile was fired from Gaza. Iron Dome precisely calculated [its trajectory]. We know where these missiles are going to land down to a radius of 200 meters [approx. 2 lengths of an American football field]. This particular missile was going to hit either the Azrieli Towers, the Kirya (Israel’s equivalent of the Pentagon) or [a central Tel Aviv railway station]. Hundreds could have died.
“We fired the first [interceptor]. It missed. Second [interceptor]. It missed. This is very rare. I was in shock. At this point we had just four seconds until the missile lands. We had already notified emergency services to converge on the target location and had warned of a mass-casualty incident.
“Suddenly, Iron Dome (which calculates wind speeds, among other things) shows a major wind coming from the east, a strong wind that…sends the missile into the sea. We were all stunned. I stood up and shouted, ‘There is a God!’
“I witnessed this miracle with my own eyes. It was not told or reported to me. I saw the hand of God send that missile into the sea.” (This quote has appeared in many places on the internet; FB, etc.)” As a result of this happening, the commander became religious and began observing Shabbat that very week.
This incident is reminiscent of a conversation that a terrorist had with a reporter a couple of weeks ago. The terrorist was asked why Hamas couldn’t aim their rockets more effectively. As quoted in the Jewish Telegraph, July 18, 2014, his response was, “Their [Israel’s] God changes the path of our rockets in mid-air, said a terrorist.” (This mindset is not foreign to those who have grown up with a pro-Palestinian/Hamas mentality. Several years ago, Don and I had a revealing conversation in Israel with an anti-Israel Arab. When we asked him about the 1967 War, he replied that “God willed that the Jews win that war.” In astonishment, we inquired why the Arabs had fought against the hand of God; he responded with total conviction “Inshallah (God willed it).”
2). Every 7 years, God commands (Lev 25:2-5) that the land is to rest (not be cultivated). The 7thyear, shmita, begins Sept 25, 2014, on Rosh haShanah. 2000 acres of wheat, which met the Kashrut standards for noly Passover but also for Shmita were needed for 2015 & 2016 Passover matzah. The perfect field was found on the Gaza border at Kibbutz Sufa.“Two days after the wheat had been harvested, 13 terrorists came from Gaza out from the tunnel which opened into the fields near [kibbutz] Sufa. The terrorists had been planning a big attack, and had been counting on hiding among Sufa’s giant wheat field–which the matzah makers had just chopped down in its entirety. The terrorists couldn’t understand how their camouflage had disappeared. The empty field enabled military observers to easily spot and identify the terrorists and open fire on them. Many Jewish lives were thus saved by the grace of Heaven.”
3). Christine Darg, Jerusalem Channel, posted the following story of a miracle dove in Gaza which was on the official Facebook page of Yael Eckstein, the wife of a prominent rabbi:
“At my friend’s synagogue in Israel this week, a soldier that had just returned from Gaza [recounted that his] army unit identified the home of a Hamas terrorist, and arrived undercover at the house early in the morning. As they were about to enter the house, they saw a dove hovering overhead and momentarily stopped to watch the dove land on a tiny little string. A second later, the entire house blew up. The house was booby-trapped, and the string was connected to the door. If the soldiers had entered the house, they would have been killed. God sends His messengers in all different shapes and sizes! Praise God for that sweet little dove in Gaza!”
4). Col. Ofer Winter, a brigade commander in the IDF’s elite Givati is a religious Jew. He attributed the way his soldiers were protected in Gaza to a divine miracle. In an interview with the Israeli newspaper “Mishpacha”, Winter described the unusual occurrence that might have come straight out of the Bible. “The Times of Israel” reported: “He said that a predawn raid that was intended to make use of the dark as concealment was delayed, forcing the soldiers to move toward their objective as the sun was about to rise. The [IDF] soldiers were in danger of being revealed in the light but, Winter recalled, a heavy fog descended to cover their movements until the objective was achieved. Suddenly a cloud protected us,” he said, making a reference to the clouds that the Bible says protected the Israelites as they wandered in the desert. “Clouds of glory.” Only when the soldiers were in a secure position did the fog dissipate, he said.
“It really was a fulfillment of the verse ‘For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to give you victory,’” Winter said, referring to Deuteronomy 20:4.
Anyone who has studied Israel’s history knows that there are many, many examples of Israeli victories and other similar stories that are difficult – if not impossible – to explain short of divine intervention.
Sondra Baras, director of Christian Friends of Israeli Communities Heartland declares “G-d has chosen us and we will survive. Am Yisrael Hai — The Nation of Israel Lives!”
Prayer:
A classic Jewish prayer opens with this statement: “You have chosen us from all the nations.” Let us each begin our prayer times with the heart-felt understanding that we have each been chosen from all the nations for a time such as this to pray for Israel.
“Mighty God! You, and You alone, are the savior of Am Israel and Eretz Israel. We worship You. Thank You for the many miracles You have wrought during this war. Protect Israel. Give her leaders wisdom and strength to follow Your ways. Give Believers favor. Help us to be sensitive to You and to the unction that You give each of us that we might speak a timely word. We bless You. Bring Your peace to Jerusalem. Help our country to turn to You. Be with our soldiers – protect them. In the holy Name of our soon-coming Messiah.”
