On October 7th, 2023, which was both a Shabbat and the high holiday of Simchat Torah, a brutal massacre was perpetrated by over 2000 Hamas terrorists in which over 1,400 innocent Israelis were tortured and murdered.
Rev. Malcom Hedding, former Director of ICEJ:
‘Israel faces an enemy that for decades has set out to exterminate her. These are very wicked people and they are empowered by evil principalities in the heavenly places. It is the same kind of principality that empowered the Nazis, Haman of Persia and many more and particularly the Amalekites of old. Today it has an unseen hold on Hamas, the Iranians, Hezbollah, Isis, Alqaeda and many more. Make no mistake it is very strong and powerful like Goliath, and Israel will not defeat her enemies until its strongholds are pulled down in the heavenly places. This is why Paul said that our fight is not against flesh and blood but against these powers in unseen places.’
Who was Amalek?
Amalek was a descendant of Esau as recorded in Genesis 36:12. They were nomads ranging over a large area particularly in the Negev. It has been suggested that they knew that this area was part of the Promised Land that God had promised to Esau’s twin brother Jacob. They were a people which preyed on the weak and vulnerable, and on the stragglers, and this is what they did to the Israelites after they left Egypt. Deuteronomy 25:17-18 says, “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God.”
Dr Jurgen Buhler President of ICEJ:
‘The attack on 7th October is without a doubt rooted in the demonic realm as a manifestation of the Spirit of Amalek (see Exodus 17:8ff, Deuteronomy 25:17; 1 Samuel 30:3; Esther 3:1 & 8).
Two of the main manifestations of the Spirit of Amalek in biblical history can be found in Exodus 17:8, as Israel was approaching Mt. Sinai, and in the book of Esther as Haman planned to annihilate the Jewish people. These battles were won by unceasing prayer (Exodus 17:9-11) and by three days of fasting (Esther 4:15).’
Prevailing Prayer
Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand. So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.”
This is a time when the Church is called to ascend to our spiritual vantage point and join in this battle, just as Moses prayed while Joshua was fighting Amalek on the ground!
The Hatred Continues
1 Samuel 15:2, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt’.” Although the first king of Israel, Saul, was supposed to eliminate the Amalekites once and for all, he failed to faithfully follow God’s commands. His significant disobedience resulted in God removing his kingship.
Thus, in the book of Esther, a descendant of the Amalekites, now known as Agagites, still burned with jealousy and hatred for the Jews. Haman was, “…the son of Hammedatha the Agagite,” (Esther 3:1-2) and had ascended to the position of “prime minister” of the Persian (now Iran) Empire. He planned an empire-wide pogrom to eliminate the Jewish people. It was one of the ‘coincidences’ in the Book of Esther that God used Mordechai from the same tribe as King Saul, to expose Haman’s evil.
Haman approached the king with a twisted narrative, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king’s laws, so that it is not to the king’s profit to tolerate them. If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king’s business…” (Esther 3:8)
For Haman, this was not just a breach of court protocol but a personal matter that was worth investing his own wealth. He saw it as the moment when the conflict between Israel and Amalek could enter its final chapter – the total annihilation of the Jewish people. Tragically, the king approved the plot. Queen Esther asked all the Jews to fast, taking no food or water for 3 days, and the book of Esther turned into a story of miraculous deliverance.
One other time in history a similar decree was passed! In 1942 senior Nazi officials, under Hitler’s directions, met in the Villa Wannsee outside Berlin and plotted to annihilate the eleven million Jews of Europe. Six million Jews were brutally murdered in the ghettos, labour camps, concentration camps, death marches and more, by Nazi Germany. In a January 1939 speech, Hitler told the German people: ‘it is a shameful spectacle to see how the whole democratic world is oozing sympathy for the poor tormented Jewish people but remain hard-hearted when it comes to helping them.’
Prayer and Action
“The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears open to their cry” Psalm 34:15
History is now repeating itself in our lifetime! It is imperative for the global Body of Messiah to stand with Israel and its people. Our professions of love and support alone will not do it anymore! It is the time for action, including in the spiritual realm! We must not forget that Amalek represents a spirit which has operated throughout history. Prayer and fasting were the tools used to combat this evil spirit of antisemitism.
“… For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14
Yet action is required! ‘To remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all,’ said Elie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor, Nobel Prize recipient.
“Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” Psalm 94:16
Sadly, the church largely remained silent against the evildoers when Jews were sent to the gas chambers. We cannot fail again.
“Comfort, yes, comfort My people! Says your God.” Isaiah 40:1
ICEJ Australia are committed to standing with Israel through prayer. Click the button below to find out how you can be involved.
Fighting Israel’s War Through Prayer
On October 7th, 2023, which was both a Shabbat and the high holiday of Simchat Torah, a brutal massacre was perpetrated by over 2000 Hamas terrorists in which over 1,400 innocent Israelis were tortured and murdered.
Rev. Malcom Hedding, former Director of ICEJ:
‘Israel faces an enemy that for decades has set out to exterminate her. These are very wicked people and they are empowered by evil principalities in the heavenly places. It is the same kind of principality that empowered the Nazis, Haman of Persia and many more and particularly the Amalekites of old. Today it has an unseen hold on Hamas, the Iranians, Hezbollah, Isis, Alqaeda and many more. Make no mistake it is very strong and powerful like Goliath, and Israel will not defeat her enemies until its strongholds are pulled down in the heavenly places. This is why Paul said that our fight is not against flesh and blood but against these powers in unseen places.’
Who was Amalek?
Amalek was a descendant of Esau as recorded in Genesis 36:12. They were nomads ranging over a large area particularly in the Negev. It has been suggested that they knew that this area was part of the Promised Land that God had promised to Esau’s twin brother Jacob. They were a people which preyed on the weak and vulnerable, and on the stragglers, and this is what they did to the Israelites after they left Egypt. Deuteronomy 25:17-18 says, “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God.”
Dr Jurgen Buhler President of ICEJ:
‘The attack on 7th October is without a doubt rooted in the demonic realm as a manifestation of the Spirit of Amalek (see Exodus 17:8ff, Deuteronomy 25:17; 1 Samuel 30:3; Esther 3:1 & 8).
Two of the main manifestations of the Spirit of Amalek in biblical history can be found in Exodus 17:8, as Israel was approaching Mt. Sinai, and in the book of Esther as Haman planned to annihilate the Jewish people. These battles were won by unceasing prayer (Exodus 17:9-11) and by three days of fasting (Esther 4:15).’
Prevailing Prayer
Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand. So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.”
This is a time when the Church is called to ascend to our spiritual vantage point and join in this battle, just as Moses prayed while Joshua was fighting Amalek on the ground!
The Hatred Continues
1 Samuel 15:2, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt’.” Although the first king of Israel, Saul, was supposed to eliminate the Amalekites once and for all, he failed to faithfully follow God’s commands. His significant disobedience resulted in God removing his kingship.
Thus, in the book of Esther, a descendant of the Amalekites, now known as Agagites, still burned with jealousy and hatred for the Jews. Haman was, “…the son of Hammedatha the Agagite,” (Esther 3:1-2) and had ascended to the position of “prime minister” of the Persian (now Iran) Empire. He planned an empire-wide pogrom to eliminate the Jewish people. It was one of the ‘coincidences’ in the Book of Esther that God used Mordechai from the same tribe as King Saul, to expose Haman’s evil.
Haman approached the king with a twisted narrative, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king’s laws, so that it is not to the king’s profit to tolerate them. If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king’s business…” (Esther 3:8)
For Haman, this was not just a breach of court protocol but a personal matter that was worth investing his own wealth. He saw it as the moment when the conflict between Israel and Amalek could enter its final chapter – the total annihilation of the Jewish people. Tragically, the king approved the plot. Queen Esther asked all the Jews to fast, taking no food or water for 3 days, and the book of Esther turned into a story of miraculous deliverance.
One other time in history a similar decree was passed! In 1942 senior Nazi officials, under Hitler’s directions, met in the Villa Wannsee outside Berlin and plotted to annihilate the eleven million Jews of Europe. Six million Jews were brutally murdered in the ghettos, labour camps, concentration camps, death marches and more, by Nazi Germany. In a January 1939 speech, Hitler told the German people: ‘it is a shameful spectacle to see how the whole democratic world is oozing sympathy for the poor tormented Jewish people but remain hard-hearted when it comes to helping them.’
Prayer and Action
“The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears open to their cry” Psalm 34:15
History is now repeating itself in our lifetime! It is imperative for the global Body of Messiah to stand with Israel and its people. Our professions of love and support alone will not do it anymore! It is the time for action, including in the spiritual realm! We must not forget that Amalek represents a spirit which has operated throughout history. Prayer and fasting were the tools used to combat this evil spirit of antisemitism.
“… For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14
Yet action is required! ‘To remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all,’ said Elie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor, Nobel Prize recipient.
“Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” Psalm 94:16
Sadly, the church largely remained silent against the evildoers when Jews were sent to the gas chambers. We cannot fail again.
“Comfort, yes, comfort My people! Says your God.” Isaiah 40:1
ICEJ Australia are committed to standing with Israel through prayer. Click the button below to find out how you can be involved.
Image credit: Shutterstock
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