Editor’s note: This post originally appeared on David’s Tent, a ministry of Israeli believers Avner and Rachel Boskey. The Boskey’s have ministered at Tabernacle of David, and we consider them trustworthy and Biblically sound.
The prophet Hosea make reference to a horrific time in Israel’s history when Shalmaneser invaded Israel from the North, massacring Jewish people in Beit Arbel, a Galilean village near Capernaum: “All your fortresses will be destroyed – as Shalman destroyed Beit Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were slaughtered with their children” (Hosea 10:14).
The world has been seeing videos and photos of the massacres of kibbutzim, moshavim and towns in Israel’s western Negev. Though President Biden got his specifics slightly off, 40 babies were slaughtered, many of them also decapitated. Pregnant mothers had their bellies ripped open, and young children with hands bound were stacked on piles of tires and burned to death. Teenagers were raped between corpses of their friends, and 250 young Israelis attending a music festival were shot down in cold blood.
The prophet Micah knew what he was saying about such enemies: “Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail . . . Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, ‘Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.’ But they know not the thoughts of YHVH, neither do they understand His counsel. For He shall gather them as the sheaves into the [threshing] floor” (Micah 4:10-12). These cruel and bestial enemies are being gathered by YHVH to the threshing floor, to be thrashed and threshed and burnt. Messiah Yeshua speaks of the dynamics of this process: “His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Luke 3:17).
The prophet Ezekiel spoke of such things in his chapter 25:
- And the word of YHVH came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against the sons of Ammon and prophesy against them . . . : “Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet, and have rejoiced with all the malice in your soul against the land of Israel, therefore, behold, I have reached out with My hand against you and I will give you as plunder to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and eliminate you from the lands. I will exterminate you. So you will know that I am the Lord” . . . YHVH God says this: “Because Edom has acted against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has incurred great guilt, and avenged themselves upon them,” therefore this is what YHVH God says: “I will also reach out with My hand against Edom and eliminate human and animal life from it. And I will turn it into ruins; from Teman even to Dedan they will fall by the sword. And I will inflict My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel. Therefore, they will act in Edom in accordance with My anger and My wrath. So they will know My vengeance,” declares YHVH God.
The psalmist Asaph adds his prayer to this:
- God, the heathen are come into Thine inheritance. Thy holy temple have they defiled. They have laid Jerusalem on heaps. The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them . . . Pour out Thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known Thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon Thy name. For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place . . . Wherefore should the heathen say, ‘Where is their God?’ Let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of Thy servants which is shed. Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die. And render unto our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached Thee, O Lord. So we Thy people and sheep of Thy pasture will give Thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth Thy praise to all generations (Psalm 79)
Take note that the God of Israel is not calling for proportionate response against His enemies:
- In Psalm 79 sevenfold vengeance is called for
- In Ezekiel the total destruction of God’s (and Israel’s enemies) is called for in prophecy.
The dragon’s attack on the chosen seed
What God has chosen to love, Satan has chosen to hate, kill and destroy, beginning with Pharaoh:
- Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah, and the other was named Puah. And he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live” . . . Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born, you are to throw into the Nile, but every daughter, you are to keep alive.” (Exodus 1:15-22)
The attempt to destroy Abraham’s and Jacob’s seed runs throughout history – past arch-enemies like Haman, Antiochus IV, the original jihadi terrorists, Bogdan Chmielnicki, Hitler, Stalin and now Hamas. This anti-Jewish genocidal plan will continue until the very end: “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Messiah Yeshua” (Revelation 12:17).
One biblical surprise that is hidden from most believers is the fact that the God of Jacob has plans of His own to use the Jewish people in crushing their enemies à la Ezekiel 37:9-11 and Zechariah 12:1-9. In Jeremiah YHVH declares: “You are My war-club, My weapon of war! And with you I shatter nations, and with you I destroy kingdoms.” (Jeremiah 51:20). And in Ezekiel 25, the God of Jacob repeats it: “And I will inflict My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel.”
These prophesies bring to fulfilment the words spoken over Rebekah in Syria-Turkey, in Padan Aram, many years ago as her family laid hands on her. They spoke a prophetic blessing over her and she went off to marry Isaac and join in Abraham’s family tree: “And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her: ‘Thou art our sister. Be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them” (Genesis 24:60).
How should we then pray?
As tanks begin to roll, here are some bullet points to be praying about:
- Pray for ‘Shock and awe’ to be successfully carried out by the IDF to thwart the years of planning that Hamas has done – tunnels, mines, commando teams whose job is to kidnap IDF soldiers, and to even make off with their dead bodies. Davidic divine strategies as in Psalm 144:1: “Blessed be YHVH my rock, Who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle!”
- Pray for clarity of strategy, purpose and resolve for Israel’s leaders to deal a final death-blow to Hamas in Gaza – total and unconditional surrender of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and total removal from Gaza for them both
- Pray for revelation to Israel’s leaders that YHVH Himself gave Gaza to the tribe of Judah (see Joshua 15:20-47) and that this is Israel’s true biblical inheritance. Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s disengagement under strong American pressure was key to leading us into this horrific situation. Here is a quote from 2005 – during the Israeli disengagement from Gaza – by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who warned Israel that disengaging from Gaza was not enough; the entire West Bank needed to be handed over to the PLO/Hamas: “Because the real point about Gaza is not to stop with Gaza. The President has been clear, we’ve been clear with the Israelis that it cannot be Gaza only” (U.S. Department of State Office of the Spokesman, Shannon, Ireland; June 17, 2005. Press briefing by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the traveling press en route to Shannon, Ireland June 17, 2005)
- Pray for the leaders of your nation to receive a revelation of God as the Captain of the armies of Israel (see 1 Samuel 17:45): “But David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a saber, but I come to you in the name of YHVH of armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.’”
- Pray for minimal loss of life on all sides except for Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
- Pray for revelation and clarity to be imparted by the God of Israel to the world intelligence community who have not yet understood what jihad is all about and are fogged as to how to deal with it decisively
- Pray that God would hold back a regional war involving Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, Turkey, the Yemenite Houthis and other superpowers
- Pray for the physical rescue of the many Israelis (perhaps 165) who have been kidnapped
- Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth
Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.
In Messiah Yeshua,
Avner Boskey
Donations can be sent to:
FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES
BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA
Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal) through: www.davidstent.org
The post Beit Arbel and the Day of Battle appeared first on David's Tent.
