Although Israel is always ready for a regional war—a nation unique in history; can you imagine France or even the U.S. in a constant state of war-readiness?—it appears that experts think the chances of war with Hezbollah in the north or Hamas in the south are remote for this year.

Yeah, that’s what they said in 1973.

Still, for strategic reasons, Israel is in reasonably good shape. The army has never been better or better equipped, and their enemies are reeling.

In the south, a Muslim government in Egypt is fighting and battering Hamas. Who would ever have imagined such a thing? The terrorist group is now sandwiched between a modern Muslim army and the IDF. It makes little sense to think they will engage any time soon.

And what of Hezbollah? This other terrorist-demon group is now pinned-down in Syrian fighting, the civil war that is now in its fifth year. The carnage forced on Syrians is changing facts on the ground; no longer is Sheik Nasrallah and his evil shock troops (about 14,000 fighters strong) able to harass Israel as they once were.

According to a report in the Jerusalem Post, Hezbollah has all sorts of problems:

“The Lebanese Shi’ite organization also has 15,000 reservists who are called to duty for training or field missions for up to 40 days a year – similar to the IDF reserve system. So far, Hezbollah has lost nearly 1,500 soldiers, killed in action – many of whom belonged to its elite units – and more than 6,000 have been wounded. Hezbollah’s losses are a heavy blow to its military capabilities and have dented its morale to go to war with Israel.

“FURTHERMORE, HEZBOLLAH is suffering from a serious economic crisis. Its annual budget is estimated at around $1 billion, 70 percent of which comes from Iran and the rest from taxes, levies and trade, mainly in drugs and contraband cigarettes, and electronic appliances. Due to the sanctions regime imposed on Iran (soon to be lifted), Tehran in recent years has had difficulties meeting its financial commitments to its Lebanese proxy.”

Good.

While Iran will no doubt resume funding Hezbollah, it is still a fact that the Lebanese-based terror group is not quite as mouthy as it once was. It’s true that they still have tens of thousands of rockets to aim at Israel, but the latter is also technologically equipped to deal with any threat. In fact, this week I was talking to an Israeli tech company chief and he remarked that Israelis create solutions to problems that don’t yet exist! Think about that for a minute; it makes the Jewish state all the more remarkable.

Here, I want to interject again, as I have recently, that Bible prophecy teachers who try to exactly pinpoint geopolitical realities are dealing in folly. Think about the fact that virtually none of the problems that faced Israel five years ago in the Middle East exist today.

The Israelis are coordinating with the Saudis(!) on strategy for dealing with Iran. Egypt’s al-Sisi is a strongman, but one relatively friendly to Israel, and his handling of terrorist attacks is perhaps unprecedented in the Arab world (although Egypt is not technically Arab, they have long been a leader in the region).

Jordan is still Jordan, meaning King Abdullah, though he blusters about the injustices toward the Palestinians, is still a realist and knows Israel routinely saves his hide.

Saddam is gone from Iraq. Assad is hiding-out in Syria.

All of a sudden, much of the mischief that used to be aimed at Israel is now a Sunni-Shi’ite Hatfield-and-McCoys affair.

So from a geopolitical perspective, Israel is in pretty good shape. In a biblical sense, Israel is home free.

Thank the Lord above that we get to watch all this play out.

Reprinted with author’s permission from Rapture Ready