The Battle Belongs to the LORD

These past three weeks have been challenging. The war involving Israel, the USA, and Iran continues to take a huge toll on the entire region. The purpose of this short article is not to provide a war update, but rather for me to personally share what I’m experiencing as one living in Jerusalem and how I perceive the events of today from a biblical and spiritual perspective.

While the Israeli and US militaries continue to work in tandem in order to destroy the Iranian regime with targeted strikes, Iran launches missiles daily at Israeli population centers with no specific targets except to kill as many innocent people as possible. Israel works hard to protect all of its citizens but some missiles make it through the defense systems and debris from the missiles also causes damage and harm.

On top of the daily missile attacks from Iran, Hezbollah has been attacking northern Israel from southern Lebanon. Hezbollah is an Islamic militant proxy organization which has been heavily funded by Iran. The Israeli military is currently fighting battles on two fronts: with Hezbollah in Lebanon and with the Islamic regime in Iran.

Daily life in Israel has been significantly interrupted by this ongoing war. Half of school-aged children are at home and, depending on the safety situation, citizens are returning to work. Whenever there is a missile attack, a siren sounds in a specific region of Israel and those in that region must seek a safe location, like a bomb shelter if there is one nearby. Jerusalem has been fairly well protected during this war with a minimal amount of sirens, approximately 3-5 times per day. Last week the sirens and missiles seemed to be decreasing but this week they are rising again. Overnight we had three back to back missile attacks from midnight until half past midnight.

This past Sabbath day (Saturday, March 14th), a warhead from an Iranian missile hit an apartment building next to the building where I live in Jerusalem.

Thankfully, the warhead only clipped the edge of the roof of the apartment building and then fell in between two buildings without exploding.

No one was killed and no one was hurt in this encounter. Thankfully, all residents were in their bomb shelters at the time of the attack. Local authorities immediately secured the area, disabled the warhead, and removed it from the residential area. Thank God for His protection in situations like this.

One verse that I have been daily declaring and praying since the beginning of this war is Isaiah 54:17, which reads as follows:

“No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD. (NASB1995)

This verse contains a beautiful promise for those who are considered the servants of the LORD. Although English translations generally read “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;…,” the original language actually contains a different nuance. The Hebrew reads כָּל-כְּלִי יוּצַר עָלַיִךְ, לֹא יִצְלָח – Kol Klee Yuztar Alayik Lo Yitzlak and a literal translation of this phrase is “Every weapon formed against you will not succeed.” The overall meaning is the same as the majority of translations but the negative inference is moved to the success of “every weapon” formed against God’s servants.

Isaiah 54:17 contains a powerful promise that is helpful to declare in times of battle. I’m very grateful that the warhead that fell 100 meters (300 feet) from where I live did not succeed!

As this Middle East war continues to rage on, various news outlets are trying to place the blame on one country or the other. Who is responsible for this war: Israel, the USA, or Iran?

God is the ultimate judge and I will let Him make the final decision regarding this question; however, one thing I know for sure is that the Islamic regime in Iran has consistently cursed and spoken evil of the USA and Israel for 47 years calling the USA the “great satan” and Israel “the little satan.” This reminds me of the second part of Isaiah 54:17, “‘…and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,’ declares the LORD.”

It seems to me that the accusations by the Islamic Republic of Iran are now being condemned in judgment.

Although the war in the Middle East is very real and physical with bombs and missiles going both ways, there is also a spiritual side to this battle. Just this morning I read the famous battle between Israel and the Philistines in 1 Samuel 17. The climax of that particular battle occurred when a young shepherd boy named David volunteered to fight the war hero of the Philistines, Goliath, who is simply called “the Philistine” in the few verses I am quoting here from this biblical narrative:

42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he was contemptuous of him; for he was only a youth, and reddish, with a handsome appearance. 43 So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild animals.” 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 the LORD of armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I will strike you and remove your head from you. Then I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that this entire assembly may know that the LORD does not save by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will hand you over to us!” – 1 Sam. 17:42-47 (NASB)

Similar to the Philistines of old, the Islamic Republic of Iran seeks to defy the God of Israel and is set on destroying the people of Israel. Just as David declared 3,000 years ago, it is not the weapons of war (sword, spear, or saber) that determine who will be victorious in battle but all authority rests in the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.

The accounts that are recorded for us in the Bible are excellent reminders of what it means to live a normal life on this earth while walking in faith with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There is great encouragement in the simple truth that “the battle is the LORD’s” (1 Sam. 17:47). The Hebrew for this phrase is כִּי לַיהוָה הַמִּלְחָמָה – Ki LaAdonai HaMilchamah, which can also be translated as “the battle belongs to the LORD!“

Daniel Goldstein