Strategic Prayer and Prophetic Warning Before Purim 2024 and Solar Eclipse

In the shadow of unfolding global events and signs in the heavens, the approach of Purim 2024 calls us to a time of strategic prayer and heightened spiritual awareness. In the year of the “double door,” it should come as no surprise that we face an increase in spiritual warfare or “double attacks.”

Recent political developments, coupled with the upcoming total solar eclipse, suggest a pivotal moment in both the natural and spiritual realms, urging believers to discern the times with wisdom and respond with intercession.

A Prophetic Call to Prayer: Understanding the Times

The recent memorandum issued by US President Joe Biden on February 8, linking American military aid globally to adherence to international humanitarian law, including for Israel, has stirred significant concern. The directive, which deems the Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) operations in Gaza as “over the top,” introduces a conditionality to military aid that hinges on compliance with international humanitarian standards.

Nations benefiting from such aid, Israel included, are given a 45-day ultimatum to assure the US of their adherence or face a suspension of military support. This deadline happens to coincide with Purim 2024 (Esther 3:13), a period of significant spiritual importance, marking a time when the Jewish people celebrate deliverance from the annihilation plans of Haman who was of Amalekite descent.

This alignment of geopolitical tension with a moment of historical and spiritual deliverance cannot be overlooked. It is time for the faithful to accept a posture of vigilance, strategic prayer,  and seek God’s divine intervention in the affairs of nations and the protection of Israel. This call to prayer is not merely for the preservation of military aid but for the protection and blessing of the United States as well (Gen 12:3).

Significance of the Amalekite Spirit

The enmity between Israel and Amalek was a perpetual struggle as recounted in Exodus 17 and reiterated in Deuteronomy 25, where God commands Israel to remember Amalek’s treachery and to “blot out” their memory from under heaven. This instruction underscores the depth of Amalek’s oppression and the enduring nature of their threat. The saga of Amalek reemerges centuries later with King Saul’s failure to completely annihilate the Amalekites, sparing King Agag and the best of their livestock, directly against God’s clear instruction, resulting in his rejection by God and the eventual rise of Haman, a descendant of Agag, in the Persian Empire. (1 Samuel 15)

Haman’s plot against the Jews during the reign of Xerxes is a direct consequence of this choice. Haman, identified as “the son of Hammedatha the Agagite,” symbolizes the enduring animosity of Amalek towards Israel, seeking to perpetrate genocide against the Jewish people. We see a pattern of aggression rooted in deep-seated enmity from this spirit. The biblical account of Amalekites serves as an important reminder of the persistent threats faced by God’s people and our battle against the Amalekite spirit.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is being quoted as saying: “*On Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israelis were united in their fight against Hamas, whom he described as an enemy of incomparable cruelty. “They are committed to completely eliminating this evil from the world,” Netanyahu said in Hebrew. He then added: “You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible. And we do remember.”

Source: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/benjamin-netanyahu-amalek-israel-palestine-gaza-saul-samuel-old-testament/

“Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God.  Therefore it shall be, when the Lord your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.”

-Deuteronomy 25:17-19

Signs and Warnings: The 2024 Solar Eclipse

Adding to the sense of prophetic urgency is the upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, completing an ‘X’ over the United States with its predecessor in 2017. This astronomical event has captured the attention of prophecy watchers, drawing parallels to past celestial occurrences and their subsequent earthly impacts. The intersection of these eclipses near Little Egypt, Illinois, near the historically significant New Madrid fault line, invokes a reflection on past devastations following similar signs, notably the catastrophic New Madrid earthquakes of the early 19th century. One might find it interesting that April 8th, the day of the eclipse, is the last day of Adar 2 before the month of Nisan when Passover is celebrated.

The pattern of these celestial signs, forming an X across the U.S., echoes warnings from history and prompts contemplation on whether this is a mere coincidence or a sign of impending judgment.

Responding with Prayer and Awakened Hearts

This period should be marked by intercession for the nations, especially for mercy for the United States, for divine wisdom for leaders, and for the global Church to stand in solidarity with the Jewish people.

A good spiritual heartfelt position for strategic prayer can be found in Esther 4:1-4

When Mordecai learned all that had happened, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry. He went as far as the front of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. And in every province where the king’s command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

So Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her, and the queen was deeply distressed. Then she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and take his sackcloth away from him, but he would not accept them.

I believe that the prophetic word–the prophetic question– to the ecclesia, in the spirit of Mordechai, is “will you accept this assignment to stand in the gap for the United States, Israel, and the nations?”

So they told Mordecai Esther’s words.

And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.  For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai:  “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”

So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.

-Esther 4:12-17

In this season the wise will seek to understand the times, seek God’s face, and intercede for the unfolding of His purposes on earth. Our goal is to believe the Lord through our prayers and fasting that Haman and his 10 sons will be hung on their own gallows (Esther 7:10; 9:10)–in Yeshua’s name!

Join us in prayer during this season and make plans to join us to celebrate Purim either in-house or online on March 22, 2024.