In March 1984 my wife Monica and I, together with two friends, the Rev Julian Ward and his wife Margaret, were driving around Israel looking for the right place to hold an International prayer week.

Morning warning

We were staying at a hotel in West Jerusalem, just off the Jaffa Road near the Old City. We were due to go back to London at the weekend, when, very early on the Friday morning, I awoke with a strong sense of danger. Words of warning were ringing in my ears. I woke Monica and together we prayed for understanding, being particularly concerned for the safety of our three children back in England. By this time, we were fully awake, although it was still an hour before dawn. We decided to get up and go outside for a time of prayer.

We walked to the Jaffa Gate and entered the Old City, walking right through both the Christian and Jewish sectors to reach the Dung Gate, where we left the Old City. We then walked around the southern walls to the Garden of Gethsemane and climbed up the steep slope to the top of the Mount of Olives. Daybreak was just appearing on the eastern horizon and we watched the sun come up over Jerusalem. At the same time we were crying out to God to give us an understanding of what the ‘warning words’ could mean.

At the same time we were crying out to God to give us an understanding of what the ‘warning words’ could mean.

It was at that point that I received a clear word saying that it was not our family, but Israel that was in danger. I saw a vivid picture of an attack coming from the North, from Syria, across the Golan Heights and into northern Israel, and from other directions in a co-ordinated attack. We stood there on the Mount of Olives praying about this and asking what we should do as strangers in the country. We walked back to the hotel for breakfast, where we joined Julian and Margaret and recounted these things to them.

Shabbat with the Lamberts

We remembered that we were due that evening to share a Shabbat meal with Lance Lambert and his sister in Lance's home. Lance was one of the outstanding Messianic leaders in Israel who had made Aliyah from London several years earlier. We had often worshiped and spoken at Lance’s fellowship at Halford House, Richmond before he moved to Israel. We were looking forward to the reunion and especially to a Shabbat meal in Lance’s home.

As an Israeli citizen, Lance was in a much better position than we were to judge whether or not the warning we had received might be true. Lance was not only an Israeli citizen, but he had many friends in Jerusalem, some of whom were among the leaders of the nation. He lived in the Windmill part of West Jerusalem where many leaders lived.

We had a wonderful time in the evening at the Shabbat meal, when Lance and his sister talked about their childhood in Italy, where their father was the only Jewish member of the government. When Mussolini joined hands with Hitler, their father was arrested and sent to Auschwitz, where he died – though he had already arranged for his wife and children to escape to London.

They told us how they became Christians. There was a tent mission near their home and Lance’s sister went with one of her friends, where she responded to the call to give her life to Jesus. This caused a tremendous outburst of protest from her mother that so intrigued Lance that he went the following night and also gave his life to Christ!

Back to Britain

We all shared many more personal stories and then I recounted the events of that morning and described the picture of a surprise attack on Israel. Lance said that he had not heard any rumours of an attack, which he thought was highly unlikely. But he said he would investigate. We stayed late that evening, deep in conversation, eventually making our way back to the hotel.

We concluded that I must have been mistaken in what I thought I had heard from God in that early morning prayer time on the Mount of Olives.

We flew back to Britain the following morning and for several days we searched for news of any attack upon Israel, but we heard nothing. We concluded that I must have been mistaken in what I thought I had heard from God in that early morning prayer time on the Mount of Olives.

About three weeks later we received a phone call from Lance. He had arrived in London and he said he would like to meet. He sounded excited, so I drove from our home in Harrow to a meeting at Lance’s home in Richmond, West London.

Enter the Israeli Defence Minister

Lance was quite animated when we met, and this is what he reported. He said that on the Shabbat (Saturday morning) following our Friday evening meal together, he had gone to see one of his neighbours who was a Member of the Knesset, and who was also the Israeli Defence Minister. He reported on the picture that I had seen, saying that I was a Christian who had a prophetic ministry. He said I was normally reliable, so he felt it important to bring the warning to him. The Minister said that he had heard nothing from any of the defence or intelligence services, and therefore he thought that the warning was highly unlikely to have any substance. He would nevertheless make some inquiries.

The Knesset member replied, saying they were now receiving satellite information of military movements in Syria ....

Later that day the Defence Minister called to see Lance at his home and began asking him questions about me; what was my background, education, professional qualifications, where did I work and what were my political associations; also, did I have any links with Syria or other Middle East countries?

Lance answered the questions to the best of his ability, but also queried the Minister as to what was the reason for his great interest in Cliff. The Knesset member replied, saying they were now receiving satellite information of military movements in Syria, showing that tanks and troops were moving up to the border with Israel, with similar movements in Lebanon. He had put the Israeli defence forces on maximum alert and all reservists were also being called up.

The storm

Lance concluded that if this were a genuine warning from God that had been given to the Messianic believers in Israel, then they had some responsibility for dealing with the situation. He telephoned a number of Messianic leaders in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, asking them to come to his home the following day, Sunday afternoon. They arrived around three o'clock and after Lance had explained the situation, they began a time of intense intercession, crying out to the Lord for guidance and for His protection over Israel. After about an hour it began raining – quite unusual in Jerusalem at that time of year – and before long a violent storm broke over the city.

They did not know at that time that the storm actually extended over the whole region of northern Israel, southern Lebanon and Syria. By six o'clock in the evening, the storm was so intense that the intercessors in Jerusalem could hardly hear each other above the noise of the wind and thunder. Lance recalled opening his eyes many times during the prayers and looking anxiously at the window at the back of his house, which was overlooked by a large tree in his back yard. He felt sure that the tree would come crashing through the wall at any moment.

After about an hour it began raining - quite unusual in Jerusalem at that time of year - and before long a violent storm broke over the city.

The storm, accompanied by heavy rain, continued throughout Sunday night and right through the whole of Monday and into Tuesday. It was said to have been even fiercer in Northern Israel and Lebanon. The following day, Wednesday, the Defence Minister came back to see Lance. He said, “Lance, the storm saved Israel”. He reported intelligence showing that a surprise attack had been planned; but the storm had grounded aircraft, and the tanks and armoured vehicles could not move through the soft ground around the Golan Heights or around the region. Hence, the whole operation had been abandoned.

Querying the source!

Historically, this incident occurred in the aftermath of the attack upon the American Embassy in Lebanon which had killed a large number of American military personnel and civilians. America was busy withdrawing from that area of the Middle East and Syria was flexing its political muscles, vying for leadership in the Islamic world.

The Minister had told Lance that the Israeli secret service was investigating me as they felt sure that I must have had links with the Arab countries. They knew I was working with the Parliamentary group in Britain that was investigating the ‘video nasties’. They thought that I had some sort of spying role with our Government and they were determined to discover the source of the information that I gave to Lance. Lance thought this was immensely funny and he said that he very much hoped that they would discover the Source of my information!

This account was widely circulated in Israel by Lance and the Messianic leaders, and I made reference to it in a tribute to Lance on his death in 2015.

Hearing from God

The reason for publishing this today is because I find it astonishing that there appears to have been no one listening to God in Israel in the days leading up to October 7th and the deadly attack from Gaza. In last week’s issue of Prophecy Today, it was reported that the music festival that bore the brunt of the attack had a huge image of the Buddha. Clearly the people had turned their backs upon the God of Israel. In the days of Isaiah, God said, “I called but you did not answer, I spoke but you did not listen. You did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me” (Is 65: 12). History has a habit of repeating itself – there was no one listening, so God simply withdrew His protection over Israel.

I find it astonishing that there appears to have been no one listening to God in Israel in the days leading up to October 7th and the deadly attack from Gaza.

I did not learn to listen to God in theological college. I learned from my mother when we lived in London during the war. I remember the day when God told her that we must move. We moved within three days. Six days later our house was destroyed. That is when I started learning to listen.

Of course, there may be another explanation of why no warning was given to Israel before the October 7 atrocity. All the prophets of Israel give warnings (Amos 8, Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 7) that the sins of the people may reach the point where God loses patience and removes His cover of protection – eg, “The end has come!” Ezek 7:6) – and no further warning will be given.

This may be the message that God is not only giving to Israel, but also to us in Britain and the Western nations at the beginning of this year, 2024. That is what I am hearing in my quiet times. I hope to share more on this in next week's edition.