This week as we celebrate Yom Kippur, the Hebrew Day of Atonement, we should also remember the miracle of the 1973 Yom Kippur war.
After their miraculous victory over the Arabs in the 1967 war, Israel had become complacent and confident in its military superiority. Its 1967 enemies, Egypt and Syria, seethed with resentment and desire to avenge their humiliating defeat. Together they developed a plan to attack Israel in the Sinai dessert and the Golan heights using new tactics and new technology. The attack was set to take place on a date which would hit the Israelis when their preparedness was at its lowest point, the Yom Kippur Holy Day.
The Israelites were taken completely by surprise. Worse, the Egyptians inflicted defeats on Israel tanks and air power using their new Soviet technology while the Syrian tank forces overwhelmed the few scattered Israeli tanks on duty. Israel was days away from a total collapse, but the Egyptians outran their technical protections and the Syrians were stopped by a handful of Israeli tanks. Miraculously the war turned around, resulting in a massive defeat of the Egyptians and Syrians. As a result, Egypt entered into a momentous peace treaty and Israel’s borders remained secure. God had turned disaster into security.
In the years since the Yom Kippur miracle the hand of God can be seen as He has watched over Israel. The terrorist Palestinian Liberation Organization has been defeated and rendered impotent in the West Bank. Saddam Hussein, who wanted to take Jerusalem, attacked his Kuwaiti bankers instead and he and his threat to Israel have been eliminated. Another anti-semetic terrorist, Gadaffi, has been overthrown in Libya.
The so-called “Arab Spring” has brought instability and new threats to Israel, but God’s protection continues to be manifested. For a while it appeared that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt would wage war on Israel, but the Brotherhood was overthrown and its ally, the Hamas terrorists in Gaza, has been cut off from Egyptian support and defeated by Israel in a 2014 invasion. Syria has fallen into a full scale civil war where Israel’s enemies Iran and Hezbollah are fighting Israel’s other enemies Al Queda and ISIL, and leaving Israel alone for now. Thanks to God, the miraculous peace won in the 1973 Yom Kippur war is still holding.
This is not to say that Israel is not still threatened. We believe that Israel is in the middle of a 150 year war which is described in Revelation 9:1-11 (See our Blog of 5/7/14 “The Peace of Jerusalem”). But we also know that God watches over Israel.
Let us thank God for His continued miraculous intervention on behalf of Israel.
And we pray for the peace of Jerusalem.