There are No Atheists in a time of war

A very interesting article appeared yesterday in Israel Today Online publication titled; “The IDF’s Fear of God-Fearing Generals.” The subhead read; “Why one of Israel’s more talented generals will never reach the top-he trusts to much in God.” It seems that Israel’s military elite by and large do not like Officers who call of the God of Israel to help them fight Israel’s enemies. The political left-wing faction among these military elitists maintain a glass ceiling preventing officers identified as right-wingers from climbing too high on the military ladder.

Those within the right-wing political spectrum regularly note that 40% of the graduating officers in the IDF are very religious yet because of this very few go beyond commanding a brigade. Added to this no one who is considered ‘religious’ has ever been appointed a member of the General Staff. One such officer that has suffered this discrimination is Brigadier-General Ofer Winter. This man’s faith in God once again has exposed the establishment’s deep-seated fear of religious officers who are perceived as relying on their “imaginary friend” to win a battle.

Winter gained “fame” during “Operation Protective Edge,” also known as the 2014 Gaza war, when he was the outstanding commander of the Givati Brigade. Winter’s notoriety in the eyes of the army brass stemmed from his one-page pre-battle exhortation in which he wrote: “History has chosen us to be at the forefront of fighting the Gazan terrorist enemy who curses the God of Israel … I raise my eyes to the heavens and call out with you, ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.’ Please bring us success as we fight for Your nation of Israel against the enemy who despises Your name.”

Despite Winter’s exceptional performance in battle, his biblical battle cry was seen by his superiors as the rhetoric of a religious fanatic who invites God to a place where He does not belong. It was for this reason alone that then-Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and his successor, Gadi Eizenkot, were determined to bring Winter’s military career to a screeching halt. While the military elite consider Ofder a considerable military asset because of his ability to command in the field, he has been disadvantaged in progressing within the ranks of the IDF.

This month the rather militant Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi decided to appoint Winter as the new commander of the 89th Paratroopers Division, a reserve-service division that is also known as the “Fire Formation.” At the change of command ceremony Winter chose to open the ceremony with a quote from Psalm 118; “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” After this he continued with a personal prayer; “God, give me humility, valour and wisdom so that I may lead these people into the challenges ahead of us.” He also said he was committed to preparing for war in order to “decisively defeat” the enemy.

Whether the prevailing attitude towards men like Brigadier-General Ofer Winter will change within the higher ups of the IDF remains to be seen? Whether Ofer is a believer in the Messiah our Lord Jesus or not, he does have a genuine faith in God and an expectancy that the God of Israel will go out with the armies of Israel to fight against their enemies.

We are living in days where God is turning His purposes of Salvation back towards Israel but He still has to deal with them as a nation to bring them to the foot of that Old Rugged Cross and to the atoning blood of the Messiah, their Passover Lamb who has been sacrificed, but first God must remove the leaven of sin and unrighteous living from the nation. He will do this through applied pressure using the furnace of affliction.

As the prophet Isaiah writes; “When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud of smoke by day and a glowing flame of fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a canopy…” (Isaiah 4:4-5).

Once God has used Israel’s enemies to bring them to the point of hopelessness and facing defeat on all sides, He will reveal the Messiah to them and save them. (Zechariah 12: 10-14) (Jeremiah 30:1-9) As Luke writes; “salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant…” (Luke 1:71-72)  Firstly God will save Israel spiritually and then nationally but it will be a faithful remnant of survivors. (Zechariah 13:8-9)

Brigadier-General Ofer Winter reminds us of King Hezekiah, who, when faced with the Assyrians arrayed outside of the walls of Jerusalem, prayed to God. In his prayer he acknowledged God’s sovereignty over the nations and then prayed that God would hear the insults of the Assyrian King recognizing that God’s name and character were being maligned by an arrogant despot. He ended his prayer with “Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand (being the Assyrian King), so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God.” (2 Kings 19:14-19)

I am reminded of what happened back in 1969 when I was doing my recruit training as a National Serviceman. One day I was in the barracks witnessing to some fellow recruits and they were laughing at me and deriding my testimony. While this was going on a corporal entered the barracks and saw what was happening. As far as I recall he was not a born again Bible believer but he had realised that men in time of war needed faith in God. At this time the war in Vietnam was in full-swing. He said to these guys taunting me that when he was in Vietnam dug into a trench and the Vietcong mortar rounds were coming in thick that he was “praying like hell to God that one would not lob into his trench!” After he had said this you could have heard a pin drop. You know it has been said; “there are no atheists in a time of war.”