By praying at the Western Wall just hours before Israel’s most significant strike against Iran in decades, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did more than uphold tradition, he stepped into the lineage of Israel’s ancient leaders who sought God’s direction before battle.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu slipped a handwritten note into the stones of the Western Wall on June 12, quoting Numbers 23:24: “A people rises up as a great lion, and lifts itself up like a lion; it shall not lie down until it eats the prey and drinks the blood of the slain.”
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That verse, spoken by the prophet Balaam under compulsion from God, affirms the prophetic strength and resilience of Israel, not merely as a nation, but as a covenant people chosen by the Lord.
The operation that followed, Operation Rising Lion, bore the unmistakable imprint of that verse. Just as Gideon once laid out a fleece to seek the Lord’s will before confronting the Midianites (Judg. 6), and just as King David inquired of the Lord before engaging the Philistines (2 Sam. 5:19), so too did Netanyahu invoke Scripture before unleashing what could become a defining moment in Middle East history.
The lion, a biblical symbol of strength, authority and messianic promise, aligns with Israel’s prophetic identity.
Revelation 5:5 declares Jesus as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David,” the One who has triumphed. By invoking the imagery of a lion in both Scripture and military nomenclature, Netanyahu tied Israel’s modern defense to a spiritual lineage stretching from the judges to the Messiah Himself.
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Though geopolitical analysts may view the Western Wall note as symbolism or psychological warfare, for those who trust in the Bible’s enduring truth, it marked something far more profound: a leader of Israel aligning his nation’s defense with the Word of God. In doing so, he reminded the world that the covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob still echoes through Jerusalem’s ancient stones, and roars through modern history with prophetic power.
James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
