O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” ~Daniel 9:18-19

The city of God, called by His name, is undoubtedly Israel! 1 Kings 11:36 and 2 Chronicles 33:4-7 clearly state that God has put His name on Jerusalem!  In Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament, letters are actually word pictures with significant meaning.  For example, the Hebrew letter “shin” (pronounced “sheen”) is the ‘sh’ sound characterized in the name “Shaddai”.  One of the Hebrew names of God is El Shaddai, meaning God (El) Almighty (Shaddai).  Thus, Jewish people would recognize the shin to be symbolic of Shaddai, a very sacred name.

Thus, the reference to God’s name being on the city of Jerusalem is literally true!  Here is the Hebrew letter “shin”: ש   Now look at the diagram to the left.  Three valleys are traced in red…do you see the shin?  God’s name is literally stamped on the Old City!  (More details here.)

The prophet Daniel’s prayer for Jerusalem (while the Jews were in exile) is recorded in Daniel 9 (above).  He asked God to incline His ear, to open His eyes on behalf of Jerusalem.  I believe we can pray likewise today.  Iran has vowed to wipe Israel off the map, and nuclear capability will provide them the means in which to attempt to do so.

That is absolutely bad news for Israel, but rest assured Iran does not plan to stop there.  In fact, even while the nuclear deal was being negotiated, Iranian leaders were leading chants of “Death to Israel, Death to America!”  There is a reason Iran refers to Israel as the “little Satan” and the US as the “great Satan.”  Their ultimate goal goes beyond Israel.  They wish to rule the world, and the US is their greatest enemy preventing them from attempting that.

God is faithful to His land and to His people.  Scripture is clear that Jesus Himself will avenge Israel in the end.  No one, including Iran, will succeed in destroying Israel.  However, Israel remains the linchpin to end time events. That’s why we must pray!  Pray not only for the peace of Jerusalem, but for US and world leaders to use wise judgment in dealing with Iran and other evil regimes.

Come back tomorrow when I share another short video humorously depicting world leaders negotiating the deal.  Meanwhile, pray as Daniel did, that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with see, hear and move strongly on behalf of Israel.  Pray also that world leaders will seek righteousness.