Zvi Jan/Feb 2008

Our Muslim neighbors are doing all they can to begin a new war. If they succeed, it will not be the first time. I have lived in Israel 60 years, and it is like living on an active volcano. Our enemies are a mighty majority that refuses to rest. Why? Because they see this tiny nation is still on the map and they cannot erase it.

Because they are great in number—1.5 billion—and we have only 6 million people, they believe they can achieve a great victory over us. I have many Arab neighbors and have lived here a long time and speak their language, so they speak with me often. They boast of their strength and tell me that soon Israel will be wiped off the map. Every day they wait for our destruction.

Recently I told several of them, “You spend your lives thinking about how you will destroy us. But take a good look. Read what is written in the Bible.” And I gave them an Arabic-language Bible so they could read Exodus 15:4 and 19:

Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and the Lᴏʀᴅ brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.

So they read. When they learned what happened to Pharaoh and his army during the days of Moses and the Exodus, one man asked, “Who was this One who did these things and hurled the chariots into the sea?”

“Ask your great sheikhs,” I replied. “Perhaps they will know.” But they wanted to know immediately. So I told them, “The Lord God Almighty.”

“That happened many years ago,” another said, scoffing.

So I explained. “You can see for yourself that we are like a poor, little worm [Isa. 41:14]. And you are like the mighty locusts. Yet we are still here. So who is on our side?”

After thinking awhile, someone replied, “That was a long time ago, but no more. These are only stories about Israel’s many victories.”

Now we had come to the point. I told them about the many wars they started against us, determined to destroy us: 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, and many others. “But we are still here,” I said. “We won all these wars against you.”

“No,” he said. “This cannot be! You are believing fairy tales!”

So I showed them my certificate of discharge from the Israel Defense Forces and told them that I did not put my faith in foolish stories; I saw with my own eyes because I fought in all these wars.

“This is impossible to believe,” one said. But now they began asking many questions. “How could it be that you defeated us in 1948? You were only half-a-million people and had no weapons, and we were a multitude from five Arab countries. How could you win such a big victory over us? How could this be?”

We had finally arrived at the most important issue. “I will show you,” I said. This time I opened the Bible to the book of Psalms and read for them Psalm 124:1–8 where it is written,

“If it had not been the Lᴏʀᴅ who was on our side,” let Israel now say—“If it had not been the Lᴏʀᴅ who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive.” Our help is in the name of the Lᴏʀᴅ, who made heaven and earth (vv. 1–3, 8).

“Here we are,” I said. “And you, with all your mighty power of 1.5 billion people and 56 Muslim countries, you are the ones who are lost and living in a fantasy. We are only 6 million, but look who is on our side! If this were not so, where would we be today?”

Then I showed them what God has promised His Chosen People. I read it to them so that they will know:

But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen,…

You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,…and said to you, “You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isa. 41:8–10).

When I finished reading, they asked where they could buy a Bible. I told them, “In the Old City of Jerusalem, on the Jaffa Road. There you will find Bible shops.”

“We have heard much from you,” one said. “But now we must read so that we will know more about the Bible. We also want to buy one for our sheikhs so they will know with whom we are dealing.”

We talked a long time, and I had waited hours for us to come to this point. But, as the Lord says, the servant of the Lord must be patient. And He is right.