Lion Arising & Soleimani's Six-pack
- Asher Intrater
- Jul 1
- 4 min read
Updated: 24 hours ago
Tikkun Global
Jerusalem, Israel
Operation Lion Rising
An historic moment is unfolding in the Middle East; one of epic, even biblical proportions. Evil is being uprooted in Iran which opens up the entire region to freedom and a new opportunity for the gospel. The destruction is real, the loss of life is tragic, but stay in faith with us for complete victory.
For two years now in Israeli press conferences, Netanyahu has quoted from Balaam’s prophecy of Numbers 23:24 that one day Israel would be a people that would arise like a lion to take the prey. That expression has become the name of the IDF operation.
“It now must be said of Jacob And of Israel, ‘Oh, what God has done!’ Look, a people rises like a lioness, And lifts itself up like a lion; It shall not lie down until it devours the prey…”
Conflict with Iran
The beginning of the modern conflict with Iran started with the Ayatollah Khomeini's gaining control of the government in 1979. His regime started spreading extremist Shiite Jihadism in Iran and around the world.
They gained control of Iran’s huge oil resources, which allowed them to finance the spread of this extremist ideology. Unfortunately, they did not use the revenues to help build up the Iranian people. The socio-economic condition of the Iranian people has gone down and down. The primary loyalty of the Ayatollah regime is NOT to the Iranian people but to the extremist Shiite-Muslim vision of world dominance.
The people began to turn against the Ayatollahs. The regime reacted with violent suppression of women, non-Muslims, and intellectuals. Opponents to the regime have been jailed and even executed. Much of the Iranian intellectual elite are in prison today.
The next tactic of the Shiite extremist agenda was to use the Iranian oil revenues to build a huge military complex. The military network was masterminded by the genius Iranian army commander Qasem Soleimani.
Eventually, Soleimani was assassinated by a targeted American drone on January 3, 2020 in Baghdad, Iraq. Iranian officials publicly mourned Soleimani’s death and launched missiles against U.S. military bases in Iraq, wounding 110 American troops.
However, the military infrastructure Soleimani designed was already in place. His plan involved establishing a ring of six armies around the Middle East that were loyal to the Ayatollah regime, to Jihadist Muslim extremism, and to destroying Israel. The six armies were:
Hamas in Gaza
Palestinian Islamic Jihad
Hezbollah in Lebanon
Ḥashd ash-Sha’b in Iraq
Assad’s regime in Syria
Houthis in Yemen
These proxies were cultivated and armed to advance the Ayatollah’s strategy and at the same time be an impenetrable defensive network surrounding Iran.
For years it seemed they were succeeding. It was impossible to beat them. The Iranian people were crushed. The Middle East had been infiltrated. Israel was in constant danger of being wiped out. They were steadily advancing the plan for a huge, united attack on Israel. A strange quirk of fate, or miracle, was that Hamas “jumped the gun” and staged a single-handed invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, without waiting for the others.
Hamas expected all the members in the Iranian-backed network to join them on October 7th. There was some support, but it was uncoordinated and disconnected. Ironically, that impulsive invasion of Israel by Hamas may have ended up saving Israel in the long run. On October 7th, Israel was shocked, confused, and humiliated. But by October 8th, the amazing resilience of our people began to rise. Amid the pain and loss, the spirit of the Lion of Judah was awakened.
Since that moment, the Israeli military response has been superlative, even supernatural. Whatever one’s political opinions about Netanyahu are, his wartime leadership has been brilliant and courageous. The Israeli war strategy worked in stages: first against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, then against Hezbollah, leading to the collapse of the Syrian regime, then against the Houthis.
When Iran saw that their proxy armies were being destroyed one-by-one, they sped up their efforts to enrich uranium for a nuclear bomb. Iran with a nuclear bomb would hold the entire world hostage.
Israel had no choice but to launch a pre-emptive strike. The timing was perfect. Three verses in Proverbs (11:14; 20:18; 24:6), very well-known by Israelis, advise waging war with clever schemes. Netanyahu told Trump that surprise would be the key to success. A series of gestures and statements were made that seemed to imply that Israel would not attack for another couple of weeks. Even launching the attack three days before the scheduled wedding of Netanyahu’s son created an element of surprise.
Of course, there are horrible losses, death, and destruction in any war. At the same time, after a mere 100 hours, the success of the Israeli operation had already gone past all imagination. It may well go down in history as the greatest single military operation of all time.
Almost all Israeli citizens, despite our hubris (chutzpah), are saying this was beyond anyone’s ability. It is the miraculous hand of God, intervening to protect His covenant people. We are watching biblical prophecy being fulfilled before our eyes. Amid the danger and destruction, we can only lift our hearts to say “thank you” to God for His everlasting goodness and mercy.
Please pray with us:
For all Jihadist military power to be destroyed
That innocent citizens would not be injured
That the Israeli hostages would be returned
For freedom for the Iranian people
For worldwide public opinion to be aware of the truth
That a new period of peace would come to the Middle East
That spiritual revival would spread across the Middle East as well
That the whole world will see the miraculous power of the God of Israel
