Next week Israel celebrates the 65^th anniversary of the miraculous rebirth of the Jewish state in 1948. There is no question that this unprecedented event was the direct fulfillment of the prophecies of Scripture. Yet on the very day that Israel announced independence there were attacks from all sides. Military forces from the surrounding Arab nations invaded in an attempt to destroy Israel before it could be established.

The survival of the tiny Jewish state was another miracle—it cannot be explained solely in the military arena. It was impossible … yet it happened. But of course you know that was not the only desperate struggle for survival that Israel faced. There were major wars in 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1982. And there have been terrorist attacks, raids, missiles, bombings and more throughout the years.

Today as Israel prepares for a milestone birthday, the Jewish state is still a nation on the brink. The old threats of war have been taken to another level by the Iranian nuclear program.  Mushroom clouds over Israeli cities represent the greatest threat of mass murder of the Jewish People since the Holocaust. And these fears are in addition to the knowledge that thousands of chemical and biological weapons next door in Syria could easily slip through the fingers of a crumbling regime into the hands of terrorists.

So while this is a day for celebration and thanksgiving, it is also a day for solemn prayers for God’s deliverance and continued protection. The threat that Israel faces today is not the threat of a massive invasion of numerically superior forces, but a sudden strike with weapons capable of killing hundreds of thousands in a single attack. The Jewish People need the defense of the God of Abraham more than ever right now.

12 TRIBES OF ISRAEL