The Bible says in Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn.”
Israel faces the threat of physical weaponry and weapons of the tongue. This week Iran claimed it has tested a hypersonic missile. This is a weapon that has the potential to evade air defense systems and travel at five times the speed of sound, reaching targets thousands of miles away. Currently only Russia and China have them at their disposal and the United States was “skeptical” of Iran’s talk last year that they were developing one. Now Iran is saying that it will be unveiling the hypersonic missile soon. Meanwhile, last week Iran tested a new ballistic missile, which it has named as the Kheibar missile, named after the ancient town of Khaybar, located in modern-day Saudi Arabia, known for a decisive 7th-century battle in which the army of the Muslim prophet Muhammad defeated its thousands of Jewish residents. This rocket has a range of 2,000 mile, which is sufficient range to strike Israel.
Concern about these physical weapons are enhanced when we consider the weapon of Iran’s tongue. The regime’s threat to annihilate Israel and their antisemitic hate that we hear from their lips are what must cause us to take their physical weapons seriously. Pray the authority of God’s Word that no weapon – in word or in deed – will prosper. Pray that the schemes of Iran’s evil regime will utterly fail.
As the late Holocaust survivor and educator Irving Roth often said: “It began with words.” We must take this warning today and not be silent when we hear the poisonous language of hate against Jews, whether it be from the mouth of Iran’s ayatollahs or in any other form or arena.
A UK universities and colleges lecturers union voted this week to boycott Israel at their national conference in Glasgow. Pray for our universities and for our young people. Legislation is on the government’s agenda that would make their action unlawful, but it still hasn’t been tabled. Pray that there will be no further delay and that the bill will be passed.
Pray for the family of Meir Tamari, a 32-year-old Israeli father-of-two who was murdered on Tuesday in a terrorist shooting near the Jewish community of Hermesh in northwestern Samaria. Pray for his wife and two children, ages 1 and 3.
This week CUFI UK launched a campaign to press the UK government to ban the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). This is something we have been calling for for some time, but there appears to be a stalemate that is preventing the ban from being made, despite large support for the proscription in Parliament. The decision, which is in the remit of the Home Office (and of course Prime Minister) could be being blocked by the Foreign Office if reports are true. Either way, pray that this hurdle will be overcome! The banning of the IRGC will send an important message to Tehran about what activities are unacceptable, but will also be good for Israel and Britain’s security as the IRGC represents a threat to UK citizens, the British Jewish Community, other UK nationals with connections to Israel and general British interests with the Middle East and Gulf states.
Remember no weapon formed against Israel will prosper, and no weapon formed against you will prosper too. As the same verse (Isaiah 54:17) continues,
“This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.
Thank you for praying with us today.