The celebration of Purim is a wonderful remembrance of God’s deliverance and provision for the Jewish people, saving them from the plot hatched to destroy them.  The story of Esther and Mordecai is a powerful reminder of the great truth that when we take a stand in courage and faith, God uses what we do to bring a great deliverance.  Let me tell you a little about this holiday.

Purim begins each year on the 14^th day of the Hebrew month Adar.  This year that means that the celebration of Purim will begin at sundown on Saturday, March 13th, on our Western calendar.  Here are some of the things that make up the Purim festivities.As part of the Purim reading of Esther, whenever the name of Haman comes up, it is “blotted out” by noisemakers.  This tradition is believed to date back to the 1200s.  In those days the name of Haman would be written on stones, which would be knocked together until it was erased.  Others wrote the name of Haman on the soles of their shoes and then stomped their feet whenever his name was read as an expression of contempt.  In modern times the use of a noisy ratchet, called a gragger in Yiddish, especially by children, drowns out Haman’s name whenever it comes up in the story.

I want to call your attention to a small part of the story that is often overlooked—but one that really matters to you and me.  After a great deal of prayer, Esther courageously went to the king and begged for the lives of her people. He granted her request, and Haman and all those who attacked the Jews were killed. Then a powerful exchange took place.  “And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman” (Esther 8:2).

The signet ring that the king wore was a symbol of his power and authority.  All of the might of the Persian Empire was behind that ring.  When the king gave his own ring to Mordecai, he was giving his own authority and power to Mordecai to use as he saw fit.

This is an astonishing revelation—kingdom power and authority followed the faith and courage to stand up for the Jewish people.  You and I are Esther and Mordecai for modern Israel.  They dared to change the destiny of the world.  And today we have the opportunity to do the same thing.

Israel is under attack today just as surely as it was when Haman hatched his demonic plot to annihilate the Jewish people.  It is time for us to rise up and declare in faith that we do all that is possible to deliver Israel from destruction, just as Esther and Mordecai did centuries ago.  It is time for us to stand in the gap.  And I believe with all my heart that it is time for us to receive the signet ring of heaven’s approval and authority so that we can see God’s power on display in every part of our lives.

Just as Esther and Mordecai did, we face a choice.  Will we speak out and do our part to deliver Israel, or will we remain silent?  I know your love for God’s Chosen People, and I believe that you will speak loudly through your support of the Jerusalem Prayer Team. 

Today I am asking you the question Mordecai asked Esther: “If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).

Though Israel has fought repeated battles to survive ever since the miracle rebirth of the Jewish state in 1948, the last year and a half have been perhaps the hardest. The Hamas invasion on October 7, 2023, was the deadliest single day for Jewish people since the end of the Holocaust 80 years ago.  The war that followed has dramatically impacted the entire Middle East.  The tiny Jewish state remains defiant against those who would see them destroyed. The battle for the survival of Israel is far from over.  Today Israel is facing three major threats, each of them with the potential to devastate the nation. 

1.World Opinion

Tragically, people all around the world celebrated that deadly demonic attack by speaking out against Israel and in support of Hamas.  From college campuses to city centers, huge crowds waved Palestinian flags and call for the destruction of the Jewish state.  Even the Vatican got in on the act with their official Nativity scene dedicated by Pope Frances depicting the baby Jesus lying on a keffiyeh, the traditional checked headscarf worn by Palestinians like arch terrorist Yasser Arafat.  And a Netflix movie about Mary came under fire because the actress hired to play the mother of Jesus was Jewish!

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could not travel to Auschwitz for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Germany’s largest death camp because Polish authorities announced they would arrest him in compliance with the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.  This is just one more sign of how deeply the world is entrenched against Israel.  Remember that the warrant was issued because of the actions Israel has taken in response to the Hamas invasion.  In no uncertain terms, the world is telling Israel they are not allowed to defend themselves.

This ridiculous idea has also found fertile ground at the United Nations.  This notoriously anti-Israel body has passed resolution after resolution condemning Israel, while saying virtually nothing about those who are doing so much to bring death and destruction to the Jewish people.  These efforts by world bodies reflect the depth of antagonism toward Israel.  The ancient evil of anti-Semitism does not just lurk in extremist mosques in the Middle East.  It is alive and well in boardrooms and courtrooms and political offices around the world.

2. Military Threats

Israel has had incredible success—much more than outside experts expected—fighting against Iran’s terrorist proxies.  Hamas and Hezbollah have both been decimated, with the majority of their leaders captured or killed, their weapons stockpiles discovered and destroyed, and their manpower greatly reduced so their ability to attack Israel has been crippled.

Israel’s success in their response to Iran’s direct missile attack also exceeded expectations.  The Israeli Air Force was able to take out a majority of Iran’s air defenses and strike at critical military targets.  In addition, the collapse of Syria, which was largely the result of Israel’s success against Hezbollah and Iran, has cut the main supply lines Iran used to keep their terrorist proxies armed.  This will make it much harder for the terrorists to launch any major attacks against Israel.

But despite this good news…and major answers to our prayers for the success of Israel’s defense…the threat of Iran’s nuclear weapons program remains.  Experts believe they already possess enough highly enriched uranium to make several atomic bombs, meaning that all they would need to launch a devastating attack on Israel is the delivery system.  And Iran’s partnership with Russia in Ukraine is being repaid by Iran getting access to Russian scientists and technology.  That brings us closer and closer to the deadly threat of a nuclear Iran. This is something Israel cannot allow to happen.

3. Economic Collapse

The external threats Israel has been fighting have created a major internal problem.  The Israeli economy has been brought to its knees as both direct and indirect results of the war.  The direct result is the hundreds of millions of shekelim spent on the military—both personnel and equipment.  Modern armament is hideously expensive, especially the advanced missile defense system that guards Israel’s people.  Just one interception from the Iron Dome system costs about $50,000, and Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis have fired thousands of missiles during the war.

In addition, because Israel has been forced to call up so many reservists to active duty, many businesses have found themselves short of critical personnel.  The active duty IDF is fairly small, and so much of the burden of more than a year of war has been borne by people who have full time jobs, families, and in many cases, small businesses to run.  The loss of these critical people is compounded by the fact that the reservists have borne a heavy weight of casualties.  Many of these courageous soldiers will never come home.  

Finally the war has devastated Israel’s tourism industry which was still recovering from the COVID shutdowns.  Though final figures are not yet available, it is estimated that tourism income will decline by almost half—and that is from numbers that were already down from the past.  Repeated closures of Israel’s airspace due to attacks have led some airlines to reduce or halt flights into Tel Aviv.  Many people have put off making trips to Israel because of the increased danger.  This has cut a key source of revenue to the government at a time when the demands for spending are greater than ever.

A Demonic Revolution

On November 4, 1979, the U.S. Embassy in Tehran would be overrun by fanatical Muslims. This happened despite the Carter Administration’s support for the deposing of the secular Shah of Iran, who was ousted in favor of the religious cleric and extremist, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the Iranian Revolution, which established Iran as theocratic and radical Islamic state.

A March 1979 referendum gave the Iranian people only two basic choices for which to vote: Yes, they wished an Islamic Republic; or no, they did not wish an Islamic Republic. Overwhelmingly, the people voted yes, although few Iranians knew what Khomeini meant by “Islamic Republic.” The new constitution drawn up by Khomeini’s emerging Islamic Republican Party was vastly different from that proposed by the moderates. The core of the resulting document endowed Khomeini as the ruler of Iran for life, or velayat-e faqih (guardianship of the jurisprudence.) The rule of law, of course, was Islam.

By summer’s end in 1979, Khomeini’s true vision began to be revealed. Far from establishing the enlightened, democratic government anticipated by some U.S. State Department employees, Khomeini, now the supreme leader of Iran, created a medieval Islamic totalitarian state controlled by the mullahs and ayatollahs. It was defined by intolerance, censorship, revenge, tyranny, vile torture, and executions. Khomeini’s murderous attacks against the Shah’s former officials had spread to include ethnic and religious cleansing.

Rule by “scapegoat” seemed to be the order of the day under Khomeini. When his government or authority was challenged, he looked for someone to blame. His first target were the Kurds in Northern Iran. They were avowed enemies of the Ayatollah and his Islamic Republic, and open season was declared against the Kurdish population.
Khomeini soon found an enemy to unite his people—the “Great Satan,” the United States of America. In an illegal act of war, he unleashed his forces on the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, capturing diplomats and security officials stationed there. For more than a year, the hostages were held, facing the threat of execution as spies at any moment. A failed military attempt to rescue them and the lingering crisis helped prevent the reelection of Jimmy Carter in 1980.

Empowered by his assault on the Shah and the success of his Islamic Revolution, Khomeini set forth to spread his particular brand of Arab nationalism throughout the Middle East. Next on his list was Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist regime in Iraq. Khomeini’s tactic of engaging the people had worked in Iran; why would it not work again in Iraq? The Ayatollah had begun to exhort the Iraqi people to rebel against Hussein’s government. Iranian terrorists had attacked principal Iraqi leaders. In response, Saddam Hussein invaded Iran.

Khomeini saw the Iraq invasion as the perfect vehicle to bring the Ba’athist regime to its knees. He was forced to repair relations with other Persian Gulf states, reach out to the Europeans, and even contemplate talks with the dreaded “Great Satan.” It was a setback to his hopes of uniting the Arab world under the banner of his Islamic revolution. His only real success was the export of Hezbollah to Lebanon, and even that was tied more to the destruction of Israel than to a globe-encircling Arab state. Khomeini firmly believed Israel was simply a diversion instituted by the West to keep Muslims from uniting as one.

Lured by the turmoil in Iran, seduced by visions of power, and backed by other Persian Gulf regimes, Hussein was determined to conquer his equally oil-rich neighbor. Like so many others, Hussein may have thought the chaotic take-over in Iran, the execution of so many of the military hierarchy, and Khomeini’s lack of experience in conducting warfare, would open the door to a swift and decisive victory for the Iraqis. He was as wrong as those who thought Khomeini was only interested in spiritual matters. Khomeini rallied the troops in Iran and somehow produced an effective war machine to repel the Iraqis.

It seemed that nearly the entire world sided with Saddam Hussein against Iran. In Iraq’s corner were Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which infused Iraq’s coffers with billions in loans and grants. Support came primarily from the Gulf States that viewed Iran as the greater danger. Also involved in furnishing arms and other war materiel to Hussein were Egypt, Jordan, the United States, France, the USSR, and the PLO. Iran’s backing came from Syria, North Korea, Libya, and China…mostly in the form of missiles.
It took two long years of death and destruction before the UN Security Council stepped in to seek troop withdrawals. It would be another five years before questions of chemical warfare used by Hussein against Iran’s troops and civilian population would arise.

Khomeini’s newly-instituted “Government of God” failed to draw the majority of the Arab world to his side; in reality, the opposite was true: Iran became abhorrent and friendless, especially in the Gulf region, and squandered its most productive resource—oil revenues—by slowing oil production. At the same time, Saddam Hussein was taking advantage of the chaotic situation in Iran to bolster his relationship with the U.S. There are those who believe the U.S. may have subtly encouraged the Iran-Iraq conflict because of what it surmised to be the benefits of such an encounter. Khomeini, who had shunned both Washington and Tel Aviv, was suddenly faced with the dilemma of how to hold off an invasion by Saddam Hussein without much-needed spare parts and arms from both the U.S. and Israel.

After eight long and bloody years, on August 20, 1988, an embittered Khomeini agreed to the UN Security Council Resolution for an immediate ceasefire. In the aftermath, nothing was resolved between the two nations. Besides the horrific loss of human life, the toll to achieve this impasse was a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars and the disruption and wreckage of the oil fields in both countries. One major outcome of the war, however, was to produce a growing alliance between Iran and Syria and a slackening of the relationship between Khomeini and Arafat’s PLO.

TERROR’S PAYMASTERS

A precedent was set with Iran under President Jimmy Carter which still proves true today. The U.S. (and the rest of the civilized world) appears to cower behind a group of allies that are powerless to implement any viable restrictions on the former Persian Empire. The world is once again being challenged by a new generation of leaders who were trained in Khomeini’s madrasas (Islamic schools).

The reach of the mullahs who effectively rule in Tehran is not restricted to Iran. In a treatise by Israeli General (Ret.) Moshe Yaalon, he writes, “According to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Iran’s Syrian partners, the Second Lebanon War [August 2006] was launched by Hezbollah—Iran’s proxy—as a hostile probe of U.S. reflexes via the engagement of Israel, which for Iran and Syria is a direct extension of Washington in the Middle East.”

It is apparent that Tehran wishes to neutralize America’s influence in the Middle East as a major step in the plan to defeat Western civilization. This was on bitter display during the Second Iraq War when Iranian explosives and military experts wrought the deaths of numerous American troops in IED explosions, suicide bombings, and more. Iran is the greatest source of funding for terrorism in the modern world.

We have seen the result of that funding over the last 15 months as the nation of Israel has been under constant attack from both Hamas and Hezbollah. Every Jewish man, woman, and child killed by terrorist guns, rockets, mortars, knives, drones, and missiles is dead because of Iran. Even though Israel has had some success weakening Hezbollah and Hamas and removing their leadership, there is still a grave threat.

It is obvious to me that Iran has a long-term plan to take control of the Middle East by using proxies: Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, along with Shiite groups in Iraq and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Unless the Western world takes this threat seriously, things will rapidly get much worse.

Tragically, one of the final acts of the Obama Administration was to send a plane loaded with hundreds of millions of dollars of untraceable cash to the mullahs of Tehran. This payment, supposedly part of a settlement of a legal dispute dating back almost 40 years, was a massive windfall for Iran. The declining price of oil combined with economic sanctions leveled because of their illegal nuclear program had put a serious crimp on Iran’s economy. But this cash infusion gave them the resources to both continue their nuclear progress and increase their funding of terrorism. They have used the four years since President Trump left office to further both of those evil goals.

One of the most disturbing facets of the extremely radical version of Islam that rules in Tehran is the belief that an apocalypse must occur before the Mahdi returns. So, regardless of the suicidal nature of such an action, the leaders of Iran believe they have a divine mission to bring about this apocalypse by triggering an international war through a nuclear attack on Israel. There is no higher status than that of martyr in the Iranian version of Shi’ite Islam. A religious fascination with suicide fundamentally changes the definition of the behavior which rests at the center of all calculations—that the risk of mutually assured destruction will deter a head of state from initiating a nuclear war. Ironically, a suicidal leader motivated by religious mysticism might actually be attracted to a nuclear war. And if not, the threat of Iran arming one of their terrorist proxies with nuclear weapons they hope might not be traced back to them looms dark as the centrifuges continue to spin.

IRAN’S NUCLEAR
WEAPONS PROGRAM

I was speaking to one of Israel’s top nuclear scientists following a high-level briefing on the security situation facing the Jewish state, and he told me something I haven’t been able to forget: “Mike, Iran is a screwdriver turn away from having a nuclear bomb.”

Though the Western world has done a lot of talking about stopping Iran’s nuclear program, there are more centrifuges spinning today across the Islamic republic than there were at the beginning of the talking, and Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium has continued to grow rapidly. No serious observer doubts that Iran already has enough nuclear material to make atomic bombs, and there have been disturbing reports that they are partnering with North Korea and Russia to improve their missile capacity as well.

This is a serious threat…to Israel…to the Middle East…to America…and to the rest of the world.

Powerful demonic spirits are at work in the world, and they have blinded the minds of world leaders to the evil Iran is doing…and the even greater evil they are plotting. It is a proven fact that Iran is the leading sponsor of terrorism in the world. I was in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983, when a Hezbollah terrorist, armed and trained by Iran blew up the barracks killing more than 240 American Marines that I had preached the Gospel to just the day before.

Over half of the U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq were killed by IEDs provided by Iran or by terrorist groups that they armed and trained. Iran has given Hamas and Hezbollah tens of thousands of rockets and missiles to fire against Israel. Iran is working on nuclear weapons—and they are terrifyingly close to achieving that goal—to allow them to become the dominant force in the Middle East and force the other nations, including Israel, to bow to their will or else.

Iran has repeatedly violated the UN and international treaties and restrictions on their nuclear weapons program. They have bought and sold weapons of murderous warfare in defiance of international law. They are working on an illegal nuclear weapons program and the ballistic missiles necessary to launch nuclear warheads across the world. Iran has lied, cheated, and broken every promise made. Unless they are stopped, they will continue until their evil work is done.