Delight in Zion
Agony in Afghanistan: Open Our Eyes Lord
“Defend the poor and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and needy.
Deliver the poor and needy;
Free them from the hand of the wicked.” - Psalm 82:3-4
The reports and images we have been seeing from Afghanistan have given us just a glimpse of the evil and barbaric rule of the Taliban. The slaughter at Kabul airport has added to the sense of utter chaos and devastation.
To see babies being handed over barbed wire fences by desperate parents to US and UK soldiers in Kabul airport to ensure their children’s escape is to witness an agony few of us will ever have to experience.
It is unspeakable torment. It reminds me of the Jewish parents who sent their children from Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport
to England to escape death in the concentration camps.
The images and reports we have seen in the media are bad, but what we have not seen are the systematic murders being carried out by these radical Islamists, going door to door executing thousands of Christians, and others who assisted the Americans and British in the last 20 years.
Here in Israel, we have been receiving reports from the believers in Kabul and other areas of the country. Many have been martyred, even as some have declared their intention to stay and seek to share the gospel of our Lord.
The media has barely referenced the plight of Christians in the land, preferring to highlight the extreme abuse of women and girls instead.
Indeed, the treatment of girls and women by the Taliban is appalling, with sex slaves and forced conversions and marriages, but it is also clear that the lives of believers in Yeshua/Jesus matter little to western media outlets.
The response of the key politicians involved in this debacle has been both eye-opening and appalling.
To witness President Biden and Kamala Harris laughing and ignoring questions about their mishandling of this enormous tragedy has been shameful.
We should not forget that President Trump was the one who negotiated the withdrawal of US troops
with the Taliban, using his “America First” policy as a justification for abandoning Afghanistan. The conditions of the deal that Trump negotiated have obviously been broken, but it was still this deal that set the scene for the Taliban takeover that we are seeing now.
President Biden’s administration has just ignored the “conditions” and handed the people of Afghanistan over to barbarism on an unprecedented scale. The fact that Biden’s administration actually gave information to the Taliban about those it wished to evacuate beggars belief!
How revealing it is that Hamas in Gaza were first to congratulate the Taliban! Radical Islamists around the world have been emboldened by this capitulation.
As Israel has learnt from painful history, you never negotiate with terrorists!
Equally appalling has been the response from the UK government. They should be ashamed!
British citizens have been abandoned in Afghanistan. This is a dreadful stain on Britain, the nation of my birth.
The ordinary people of Afghanistan have been betrayed. They have been handed over to evil terrorists. The sacrifices of soldiers who gave their lives to liberate the land from the Taliban have been thrown to the wolves by their own governments.
Now we hear the appalling news of the ISIS K attacks in Kabul that have murdered some 200 people, including women, children and 13 US service members.
I listened to Boris Johnson responding by calling the Taliban “the authorities in Afghanistan,” as though they were a legitimate governing body. They are barbaric murderous terrorists!
Several hours after this slaughter of US marines and Afghan people, President Biden had not emerged from the White House to respond! His silence and his incompetence speak ever more loudly.
Eventually President Biden faced the media, and while declaring that the US would hunt the ISIS K terrorists down, he did not change the plan to abandon Afghanistan.
This begs the question: How do you pursue those who attack you while retreating at the same time? And how can you claim to continue fighting a war on terror, yet allow the Taliban to overrun Afghanistan?
It was also disturbing to see President Biden suddenly bow his head in the middle of receiving a question, appearing to crumble under the pressure. It is an unforgettable picture.
Firstly, we must pray for the people in Afghanistan, and the growing Afghan diaspora and seek to reach out both practically and spiritually to those who have escaped.
It was heartening to see that a Jewish synagogue in North London has been overwhelmed with provisions
for Afghan refugees on their way to the UK.
I know of wonderful believers who are ministering directly to Afghan refugees in Turkey right now, including two precious spiritual daughters of mine, responding to God’s call, in spite of the risks involved in a country that is also run by an increasingly radical Islamist government.
Let us proclaim God’s word in Psalm 82 that our God will “defend the poor and needy” and “free them from the hand of the wicked.”
Ironically, in the middle of this tragedy, Israel’s Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, arrived in Washington to see President Biden and discuss the very real threat coming from Iran.
The irony can be seen in two ways:
Firstly, as the Taliban take over Afghanistan, murdering Christians, political opponents, and anyone who will not bow to their medieval ways, the nations who have been quick to recognise the new authority in Afghanistan are China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran!
If you wish to identify wicked police states in our world, just look at who agrees with a Taliban government!
Let us not lose our focus. China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran are police states that threaten the peace of the world.
Secondly, Israel faces an existential threat from Iran and radical Islam, and Naftali Bennett’s presence in Washington, just as the agony in Afghanistan continues to scream out so loudly, raises the obvious question:
How can Israel trust President Biden? How can Israel trust any assurances from the US, EU, UN, UK, or any of the world powers?
Even when Trump’s pro-Israel administration was in office, Israel knew that their promises and assurances would count for nothing as soon as the next government came along.
No western democracy can guarantee Israel’s security, no matter how supportive they may be at any particular time.
Afghanistan is proof that 20 years of freedom can be dismantled in a matter of days when Western priorities change.
These same nations and governments that have abandoned Afghanistan continue to put enormous pressure on Israel to give up land to Islamists whose overwhelming purpose is to destroy her.
The Biden administration still wants a nuclear deal with Iran, which is comparable to negotiating with the Taliban.
It is making deals with the devil!
Here in Israel, we who believe in the God of Israel recognise our calling to pray and fast more as we call upon Him.
We will declare again and again that, “He who watches over Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps” (Psalm 121:4).
We will pray for wisdom and strength for our political leaders, and for God’s kingdom purposes to be fulfilled, come what may.
We are praying for the people of Afghanistan, for their safety and deliverance.
We are praying for believers in our Lord, especially in the West, to have open eyes to understand the dreadful realities in Afghanistan, and the very obvious implications for Israel and for their own nations.
We will continue to pray against the plans of darkness being made by radical Islamic terrorists to renew attacks in the major cities of our world.
We will pray for our enemies to be transformed by direct revelation of our Lord and Saviour, Yeshua.
We will declare God’s word to counter the fear of these dangerous times:
“God is our refuge and strength, a present help in time of trouble. Therefore, we will not fear…” - Psalm 46:1-2.
Please join us in these declaring these vital prayers and truths.
Shalom and Blessings.
