Pharaoh, ruler over all of Egypt, had an “Aha!” moment. Joseph, a Hebrew slave, had interpreted his dream predicting seven years of abundance followed by seven years of severe famine. Joseph gave Pharaoh a strategy to prepare Egypt for the coming calamity. Pharaoh put Joseph in charge, saving Egypt and most of the Middle East. The Hebrews had incredible favor in Egypt … until they didn’t.

Over 400 years later, a new Pharaoh who knew nothing about Joseph was threatened by the Hebrews, so he enslaved them. As I’ve always said, “No good deed goes unpunished!” God raised up a man named Moses, who went to Pharaoh after 40 years in exile and, on Jehovah’s orders, demanded Pharaoh to “Let my people go!”

Pharaoh, a tough guy, refused. Time and again, Moses came to the palace, and time and again, Pharaoh refused until Egypt was ruined and the people literally drove the Hebrews out of the land. Pharaoh witnessed God’s power!

Fast-forward thousands of years. America is mired down in a war in Vietnam, and the communist North Vietnamese Army (NVA) amasses hundreds of American prisoners of war. For years, we negotiated with no results. Newly elected President Richard Nixon said, Enough — let our people go, bombing the NVA to the negotiating table. Our POWs came home.

Not many years after this, a new tyrant arose on the world scene. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the radical Muslim cleric, took over Iran in 1979, and radicals took over the American embassy, keeping 52 Americans captive for 444 days. President Jimmy Carter pleaded with the Ayatollah to Let my people go! Carter even tried a rescue effort, which ended in disaster.

Then came President Ronald Reagan. The Ayatollah saw clearly that Reagan was no Carter. The day Reagan was sworn into office, the hostages were released. Reagan believed in “Peace Through Strength.” However, Iran quickly became the supporter of every terrorist group around: Hezbollah, Hamas, the Black September Organization, the Palestinian Authority, ISIS, Islamic Jihad — you get the picture.

In 2021, President Joe Biden pulled our troops out of Afghanistan, not even telling our allies, resulting in 13 American service members being killed by a terrorist suicide bomber. Seeing weakness in Biden, Russia invaded Ukraine the following year, unleashing terror on the Ukrainian people. The Russians killed, raped, and destroyed their way toward Kiev before they were stopped. Biden trickled weapons and other aid into Ukraine.

On October 7, 2023, thousands of Hamas terrorists flooded into Israel, murdering, raping, and torturing every Jew they encountered. They drug 250 hostages back into Gaza, making their lives a living hell in underground tunnels. Many terrorists filmed themselves committing unspeakable atrocities to share with their families back in Gaza. Most Gazans celebrated the slaughter. The normal world was shocked, while Jew-haters around the world and on college campuses in America celebrated the carnage. Biden was no Reagan, and America’s enemies know weakness when they see it.

In November 2024, America reelected President Donald Trump, a man who follows Reagan’s strategy of “Peace Through Strength.” Biden put many restrictions on what Israel could and could not do while he withheld weapons, whereas Trump told Israel to take off the gloves and go after Hamas until they cried “Uncle,” which happened last week.

Every living hostage was brought home to his or her family. Now, the hostages who died or were murdered by their captors are to be returned. Then, Hamas has to disarm (which would be another miracle), at which point the rebuilding of Gaza can begin. The question now is, What will it take to bring Russia to the negotiating table? The Ukrainians are begging Russia to release their thousands of kidnapped children, saying, Let our children go!

Our enemies only respect us if we show we’re not afraid to use our strength to defeat them. But we also have the strength to rebuild them. The choice is up to them.

Much prayer is needed going forth, because radical Islamism, communism, and other pure evil are still alive around the world.

Something to pray about!
Semper Fidelis