When the vision began, what did you see?”
“A bearded man, a stone relief of an ancient battle, and birds.”
“Birds,” he said. “You’ve seen them before.”
“Yes, the vision of the birds . . . the taking of Jerusalem by the British, the first time in history that a war over the land of Israel and Jerusalem involved the sky . . . and wings.”
“And what Scripture was appointed in The Book of Common Prayer to be read on the last day of fighting in the battle of Jerusalem?”
“The prophecy that spoke of the Lord delivering Jerusalem ‘as birds flying.’” 1
“And which prophet spoke those words?”
“Isaiah,” I replied. “Was he the man with the beard?”
“Yes. And in your vision he was linked to the stone relief, the siege of the ancient city. Isaiah was there when Jerusalem was under siege by the Assyrians. It was then that he prophesied that the Lord would deliver Jerusalem and that the deliverance would come ‘as birds flying.’ But there was more to that prophecy. Directly above the verse that speaks of the flying birds, the prophecy speaks of another animal:
As the lion and the young lion roaring over its prey when a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor be disturbed by their noise, so the LORD of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. 2
“So the prophecy foretells the deliverance of Jerusalem as birds flying and as lions roaring. So if the deliverance of Jerusalem in the Jubilee of 1917 came as birds flying, could it be that its deliverance in the Jubilee of 1967 would come as lions roaring?
“At the end of your vision behind the fourth door, you saw a young, slender ram transforming into something like a lion. So in the days leading up to the war, many feared for the young nation’s survival, just as you feared for the ram. But once the war began, Israel was aroused as a lion. The nation responded to its encroaching enemies with massive force, ferocity, and lightning-like speed. And as the roar of a lion strikes fear in the hearts of its enemies and melts their resolve, so the roar of Israel’s might in the Six-Day War struck fear in the hearts of those who had planned its destruction and melted their resolve. And as a lion’s roar warns its enemies not to invade its territory, so Israel warned Jordan not to invade its territory. It was the defiance of that warning that would usher in the fulfillment of prophecy.
“The lion is also Israel’s symbol of royalty. Jerusalem was the throne from which the kings of Israel reigned. Thus the city itself became identified with the lion and would be adorned with their images. So in the Six-Day War, Israel battled for its royal city, the city of lions.”
“So that’s why the lions were in the vision.”
“For all those reasons,” said the Oracle. “But there’s more to the mystery. I told you that it was the Harel Brigade that seized the mountain ridges surrounding Jerusalem and that opened the way to Jerusalem’s restoration. The commander of the Harel Brigade was Colonel Ben Ari. Do you know what Ari means?”
“No.”
“It means lion.”
“The Lord would fight as a lion.”
“So in the Six-Day War leading the troops in the battle for Jerusalem was a man named Lion. The prophecy says that the Lord will fight as a lion specifically for Mount Zion and for its hill. Mount Zion and its hill stand for Jerusalem, the city set on the mountain of God. Do you know what the name of the Harel Brigade means? Harel means the mountain of God. So in battle for Jerusalem you have Colonel Ari and the Harel Brigade . . . the lion and the mountain of God . . . So the Lord fought as a lion for Mount Zion.
“There was another leader,” said the Oracle, “another colonel who played a central role in the regaining of Jerusalem. He was the operations officer of the army’s Central Command. He was the one who directed the battle for Jerusalem. And on the morning of June 7 it was he who gave the critical command to the 55th Brigade to take Jerusalem. His name was Arik Regev. Do you know what the name Arik means?”
“No.”
“Lion.”
“So the battle for Jerusalem was directed by a man named Lion.”
“The lion who directed the battle for Mount Zion and gave the order