Since the Gaza war started two years ago yesterday, Israel has come a long way. In 2023, the nation was divided, unprepared and on the defensive. Now, Hamas is almost defeated; Hezbollah has been uprooted from Lebanon; Iran’s nuclear program has suffered hard blows. Today, we have a very different Middle East.

In their anniversary commemorations, some commentators claim Israel is stronger than it was on Oct. 7, 2023: To them the war has been “liberating.”

• Bret Stephens for the New York Times said this war was “liberating” for the Lebanese from Hezbollah, for Syrians from Bashar Assad, for Syria’s Druze from Islamist attacks, for Gazans under Hamas and even potentially for Iranians under the ayatollah.
• Caroline Glick in Jewish News Syndicate claimed Israel achieved a “list of dazzling victories following the greatest disaster in its history.” She recalled a meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held two years ago this day where he “told his still stunned cabinet that Israel would recover from the savage carnage of the previous day and it would transform the Middle East.” Glick says this has mostly been accomplished.

Israel’s feats have been remarkable, and as Gerald Flurry has written, Netanyahu’s leadership is an admirable driving force behind them.

Still, all this praise in the press recalls words from the Apostle Paul: “For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3; New King James Version).

The Bible prophesies that Israel’s Palestinian problem will become a “deadly wound” that will take the nation down (Hosea 5:13). It prophesies that those Arab peoples “liberated” from Iran’s yoke will form a military alliance “that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance” (Psalm 83:4). The reality these commentators miss is that, unless the nation repents and returns to God, even harder times are coming. Mr. Flurry’s free booklet Jerusalem in Prophecy elaborates.