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This is Rick Ridings coming to you from Succat Hallel in Jerusalem. We’re at the very end of Sukkot. The evening begins what’s called Simchat Torah/Shemini Atzeret, which is the end of the feast. And on the Hebrew calendar, it actually is the Hebrew date, as you remember, when the October 7th massacre happened.

Pray God Breaks the Bows, Jeremiah 49

Simchat Torah means the joy of the word of God.

That day, when Israel was supposed to be rejoicing and thankful for God’s word, they were cruelly attacked in this very barbaric way. And so this year it’s a mixture of mourning and sadness while we try to obey the word of God.

And we believe God would like to do something in these days or these next few days that it would become a time of rejoicing again for the people. And I feel God has been spotlighting some verses that we’ve been praying over Iran.

Many are praying Jeremiah 49 with us, a set of verses concerning Elam, which was the provincial capital of Iran–called Persia, at that time. And Sushan was there, and God tells them He will break the bow of their might, He will set his throne in Elam, and He will deal with her king and officials.

So this is not just for the people of Israel, but also for the people of Persia, for the sake of the people of Iran.

We’re in touch with underground believers there who say the oppression is so great from their evil rulers, but the Lord says, I will set my throne there, and I will break the bows, the strength of their mind.

And he says He will deal with their leaders, with their rulers. So we’re praying in that way.  Maybe even at this time of Simchat Torah or these next few days, God will deal in such a way that it’s clear it’s not just man but God causing that evil regime to collapse before Him.

Pray God Breaks the Walls, Isaiah 30:12-13

We’re also praying in the book of Isaiah chapter 30, verses 12 and 13.

There it says, because you’ve rejected this message, meaning the Bible, of the true and living God, as revealed in the Scriptures, because you’ve rejected this message, and you’ve relied on oppression, and you’ve depended on deceit.

This is certainly a description that fits the Iranian regime–oppressing their own people, oppressing Israel, oppressing Lebanon, and oppressing Gaza. They are an oppressive regime that only brings death and destruction wherever they use their deceit, their lies, and their evil.

And he says, because you’ve relied on oppression and deceit, this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant.

Now, the picture that comes to mind when we’re praying is that part of our prayer movement involved believing God to bring down the Berlin Wall. And when that happened, I remember that a man came with a big sledgehammer and hit the wall, but it didn’t seem to do anything.

Then you saw a couple of little cracks. He hit again. Maybe a couple more cracks, and it seemed like, what, what good is this doing? And then he hit again, and suddenly the whole thing crumbled.

Why? Because the wall had been softened on the inside, so all it took was one last blow for that wall to crumble. And so that’s what this verse says God will do to those who rely on oppression, depend on deceit, and reject his word.

He said that sin will become, for them, like a high wall, cracked and bulging. In other words, it’s weakened on the inside. It will collapse suddenly in an instant.

Keep on Proclaiming God’s Word

So we encourage you as intercessors to keep on proclaiming the word of God. His word is a hammer that hammers against that wall of oppression and deceit.

Let’s see it weaken on the inside, and let’s believe it will crumble before the Lord and that God will get great glory and bring great peace–healing and freedom to the people of Israel and the people of Iran by what he does to their wall of oppression and deceit.

We bless you from Jerusalem. Thank you for joining together with us in your prayers. We love you.  Shalom, Shalom. Amen.