Robert Stearn's Miraculous Escape from Jerusalem During Rocket Attacks

0:00 Robert Stearns, it's great to have you here on Charisma News to talk about what happened in Israel just recently as we're recording this. You were there when the fighting broke out on October 7th, and you have a ministry called Eagles Wings that really comes alongside Jewish people and helps connect Christians and Jews. And you were there when this broke out, and you got an amazing story, I've been told, that we need to be able to share this with our audience. So, Robert, it's great to have you here on Charisma News. Well, John, it's so good to see you again, and I so appreciate the incredible work of Charisma News.

0:43 And, of course, I've been friends with the Charisma family for a long time, and I honor Steven Joy Strang and all the wonderful other people who are part of the team. Since 1994, Eagles Wings has been really on the cutting edge of bringing Christians to Israel, connecting Jews and Christians together. We've brought over 30,000 people with us to Israel since 1994. And we are really deeply involved in educating the Christian church on the importance of the Jewish roots of our faith and in today's world, the absolute importance of standing with the state of Israel and the Jewish people.

1:23 So we were leading one of our regular tours. We have tours that go all the time. They're not, we don't call them tours. We call them pilgrimages. Sure. We think there's a difference between going as a tourist versus going as a prayer warrior, you know, going as a watchman. The Bible calls us what? Watchman on the wall. Isaiah, I've posted Watchman on the wall. So we don't take tours to Israel, but it was our largest group actually in our history, John, the largest one we ever had. We had 300 with us from 22 nations. Oh, wow. Including 42 senior pastors. So 42 senior pastors, 300 pilgrims from 22 nations.

2:03 And our tour ended on Friday night. And I brought the group back to the airport. My three sons were traveling with me on the trip. We got them back to the airport, dropped them off, and my sons and I went back to Jerusalem because I was going to be staying for three days to do some filming, some teaching, some television spots. And lo and behold, Saturday morning comes and we are awakened to sirens, you know, get to the bomb shelter, etc., etc. Now, sadly, sirens and alarms, that's not so unusual for Israel, right?

2:46 So when it first hit, we thought, oh, well, this is another rocket attack from Gaza. Israel's been enduring these since 2005 when then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon removed Israel out of Gaza. The last 16,000 families that were there were removed out of Gaza. So, John, this is important in today's news cycle. End the occupation of Gaza. There is no occupation of Gaza. The Jews have not been there since 2000. There's not a Jewish soldier, not a Jewish army base, not a Jewish police, nothing. But there are rockets that have come over incessantly since 2005. So initially, we thought this is just another rocket attack.

3:28 But within a few hours, horrifically, my phone just started ringing off the hook, texts, WhatsApp, phone calls from my dear, dear Jewish friends who understood this is an invasion. We are under attack, the likes of which has not been seen since the Yom Kippur War 50 years ago. And so, of course, the world now knows what Israel has endured and now what Israel has to respond to as Israel must commit itself to eradicate Hamas off the face of planet Earth. And that's something that a lot of people are in in in the Western culture that they don't understand that context of they as you as you so eloquently put it, there is no occupation of Gaza.

4:15 Gaza is actually occupied by Hamas. And it's not it's the Palestinians have been occupied by Hamas and they voted for Hamas. So I believe it was like 70 percent in favor of Hamas. And this is not an Israeli occupation at all of Gaza, even though people are saying and the occupation. Anybody that says and the occupation doesn't actually know what's going on. And that's that should be our first sign. But we need to be praying for for this for everything that's going on, because we do want peace. But there needs to be a lasting peace, not just a ceasefire. It needs to be a lasting peace. And there's really only one way that that can happen at this point.

4:56 But Robert, you I want to give you the opportunity to talk more about that. But you were in Jerusalem when this happened. How did you get out? Yeah. Well, John, first of all, let me just say that just that little brief commentary you just made shows your journalistic integrity and your wisdom and grasp of the issue. I wish that people posting on social media acting like they know what they're talking about would have a quarter of the insight that you just showed for, you know, number one, we have to recognize what you just said that sadly, tragically, the majority of the Palestinians voted for Hamas.

5:43 Now, the argument can be made that that was because Fatah, which was the option, is corrupt and inept. So it was you know, they were just voting for a change. But nevertheless, you have unpacked a lot there. And I think there's a lot to talk about there if you want to circle back to it. But kudos. Go for it. Well, well, I would just say that these are the core issues. I mean, to me, you have to ask anybody you're going to talk about about this situation, this question. Do you believe that the state of Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state? If the answer is no, it's the end of the conversation. You cannot have that conversation then any longer with the person because the Palestinians for decades and decades since 1948 have been offered a two state solution.

6:33 They've been offered a two state solution over and over and over again. But the Palestinians demand a two state solution with the right of return, which would mean three million Arabs coming into Israel proper, which would be the end of the Jewish state of Israel. You can't have your cake and eat it, too. You can't you can't start wars all the way back to 48, 67, 73. You can't start wars, lose wars and then demand. Hey, I know I lost the war, but actually I would I'm only going to be satisfied if I get what I was fighting for, though I lost.

7:14 This is not how it works. And so anyway, you're getting me fired up here because I don't I don't understand how the world doesn't see these facts. It is so obviously clear. We are all every true Christian must be concerned about peace for the Palestinian people. The Palestinian people deserve to live in peace. They deserve to live in with a future and a hope. But they have to put aside hatred, this blind ideology, by the way, that they've been brainwashed in. So now we have the problem that you've had three or four decades through the school systems of brainwashing of these young.

7:57 So now you've got a brainwashed society. What are you going to do with this? And the world just keeps sending checks, sending checks and propping this up. And now Israel is left to deal with the problem. So anyways, to your question, how did we get out? We have thank God many, many dear friends in Israel, really their family. We've been there 30 years, our ministry and folks can go over to our website, Eagleswings.org to learn more or they can follow me on social media. Robert R. Sterns on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. But just a very well-placed friend of ours was able to very quickly make a few phone calls and arrange for us to have.

8:43 It's kind of dramatic transportation in the middle of the night in a van through Amman, Jordan. We were the last group to get out through the border before it closed there. We got through to Amman, spent the night in Amman, and then the next morning caught a flight to Doha and Qatar. And then from Qatar back to America. But if I tell you this, John, we landed in America, JFK, and I got a text. And someone had texted me that there was going to be a pro-Hamas rally in Manhattan in Times Square. That day, I'm just my mind is blown.

9:23 The atrocities are just starting to come out. Forty babies butchered to death, women raped, grandmothers held hostage. I said, who is supporting Hamas? And so I went from JFK to Times Square. So you just went to check it out because you just landed back in the United States in New York. And you're like, how do I do this? What is going on? I need to see this for myself. Yeah. OK, good. We have a responsibility to be watchmen, right? That's our call as intercessors, as those who are supposed to be having ears here and eyes to see. So I went and thinking that maybe there'd be 300, 400.

10:03 I was checking. John, thousands, thousands in Times Square, three full city blocks. I would estimate four to five thousand. Wow. Chant. It looked like you were in the middle of Syria or Iran. The the hate against Israel, the hate against America that was spewing out. John, we have to shout as loudly as we can. It's not what Israel is facing is coming to America. What Israel is facing is in America. And America has I don't it may be too late. It's possible that it's too late.

10:45 But we've got to wake up right now, fully one thousand percent to the warfare, the battle that has been brought to our shores. There are millions upon millions upon millions of peaceful, good Muslims. They're kind people. They're just trying to raise their families. They are usually the victims of Hamas. They are the victims of ISIS. They are the victims of Hezbollah. But there is a radicalized, theofascist version of Islam and we must stand against it with all of our might. Absolutely. This is something that goes back, not just, you know, a few decades.

11:26 It goes back to the beginning of time. Basically, I mean, there's as soon as God chose his chosen people through the seat of Abraham, there has been attempts to wipe them out. And we're just facing another one of those right now. But we know that God protects them, that God is as it says in Psalms 91, his angels are charged over them. And we know that that God, his chosen people, he's not going to leave them alone. He's going to protect them. But that doesn't that doesn't negate the fact that there's an active threat right now.

12:06 And we, I think, as Americans and living in the United States, we need to react or respond to what to what Robert was just saying. It might be too late because there's things that are already here, but it's never too late in God's timing. So don't don't give up hope that a woe is me. I can't do anything. Get on your knees. Pray for Israel. Pray for the world, because there's these sleeper cells that are out there. We don't know where they are. But God will protect you. God will protect you. And so call out to him. I've experienced that in my own life. When you call out to him, call out to and his name, he will protect you, just like he did Robert as he was able to sneak through and get out on one of the one of the last ways to get through there.

12:57 So, Robert, what is going on now that you're doing? You had this experience in New York on your way back where it is this mind boggling that that people are standing with Hamas. It's like standing with them with the Nazis back in the 1940s. How would you stand with Hitler and the Nazis when this is going on? But that's what people are doing right now. It's just without swastikas. It's you know, the Palestinian flag. And it's very unfortunate. But what are what are you doing now? And also, what can we do with you? Right. So thank you. So, yes, Eagles wings. We have launched Eagles wings operation front lines. Again, we've been there 30 years, so we have deep partnerships with some of the organizations that are on the front lines of the battle right now.

13:43 So people can go to Eagles wings dot org forward slash urgent response, Eagles wings dot org forward slash urgent response. And I would say, John, the following number one, people need to pray and we don't underestimate the power and the efficacy of prayer. It's urgent that we pray. Number two, I'm challenging people right now to go and talk to your senior pastor and say, Pastor, does our church stand with Israel? Do we stand with the Jewish people? Have you rejected what is known as replacement theology? I don't have time to get into that right now, but school yourself on that. And if you are in a church that is a replacement theology church or if your pastor is like, well, we stand with Israel, but we're also concerned.

14:28 If you want to be able to enter into this moral equivalence, you need to find a new church. You need to get out. You need to find a new church. You need to get under a covering that is not susceptible to an antichrist spirit because your church is already on the way to an antichrist mentality. If you are not on the right side of history with this number three, I'm challenging people to give. Jesus says where your heart is, is indicated by where your giving is, where your treasure is, is where your heart is. And Genesis 12.3 says, I'm going to bless those who bless you. So whether it's through Eagles Wings or through there's many other strong pro-Israel organizations, but when you give, you get linked up with an organization like Eagles Wings.

15:10 You're going to get into that cycle of getting, we're sending out emails and social media updates. I'm going live now every Thursday night for the foreseeable future and giving biblical perspective every Thursday night on our Facebook and YouTube page, keeping people up to speed on what's happening because the mainstream news media just absolutely completely distorts the reality of the situation. And I have the power of saying I've been there over and over and over and over again. So you can't argue, you go to college or university campuses and they're debating about the checkpoints for the Palestinians.

15:54 They say, well, how many checkpoints have you been through? They've never been through a checkpoint. I've been through a checkpoint 300 times. I know what I'm talking about, what a checkpoint looks like. So pray, get into the right church, give, and then number four, you have got to become an activist. You've got to know your congressman's phone number. You just have to, you know, you just have to get involved. Social media, again, eagleswings.org, we have social media things that you can post because it is the war is being fought in that propaganda space. You've got to get out there and tell the truth, become a voice in this hour.

16:37 And I want to say, I want to totally agree with you. I want to say that that is so important today on social media because that is something that a lot of times people feel like I can't really do anything. Let me just post this meme or, you know, I'm praying. But what else, what else can I do? And we think, oh, man, people that are just posting things online, well, either they've got nothing better to do or I can't come up with anything good with that. Well, let me just tell you something. When you stand up for Israel and you say, hey, what that what that person posted is wrong, that's wrong information and also provide the right information, you know, goes to these places that is actually giving good news, that is giving the right perspective and be able to rebut a lot of those claims that people are making because the media especially is very pro Palestine.

17:31 It doesn't make any sense. I'm sure a lot of the people that own these companies, I believe, are Jewish and they are they're pro Palestine for some reason. And it's it just doesn't make sense. But you as an individual can use your Facebook page to stand with Israel. It might seem like you're not doing much, but it actually will make a difference because call out the lies whenever you see them. There is there is a power in bringing truth to the lie and not letting somebody get away with that. You know, John, I'm the Holy Spirit is using you right now, right in this second, because yesterday there was a very well known pastor.

18:11 He's very well known, younger pastor, but big on the scene right now, and he made a lengthy post yesterday and his post was just incorrect and and dangerous in being incorrect. And, uh, you know, he didn't he didn't come out anti Israel, but he got into all of this murky, foggy, you know, in between stuff. And I've been debating all day long. You know, I don't I don't want to get involved in social media wars, and I don't want to be the guy back and forth. But I I just was literally before we went on the air saying, God, am I supposed to just because should I call him out? And I think I'm going to now because of just that comment, because we have to raise our voice in this hour.

18:56 We've got to be heard. So every one of us can make a difference. And if each person hearing this today right now, folks, wherever you are, hit the share button. John and Charisma News do such a great job in getting out accurate biblical prophetic information. Hit the share button. Get this out on social media. Be a voice. Go over to eagleswings.org forward slash urgent response. Get involved. Follow me on social media and keep in touch with John with all of the various updates that are coming. Well, thank you, Robert. I'm glad to be used by the Holy Spirit to encourage you to do something. And I just want to continue to encourage our viewers here that there was a time in the in the 1940s and during World War Two that is referred to as the Holocaust.

19:44 It was a horrible, horrible time where over six million Jews were killed through gas chambers, through torture, through various different ways that are totally inhumane. And it was just not right. It was a demonic plot against God's chosen people. And the churches of Germany and other other nations around that around those camps, they pretty much just sang their songs louder. And the people were being burned alive in the gas chambers or wherever, and they were being killed. And the church stood by and didn't do what they should have. Now, there was people like Dietrich Bonhoeffer that stood up and he risked his life and to try to stop this.

20:31 And he he was known as somebody that is a great, I guess, a patriot for the Lord, trying to to rescue the Germans, rescue the Jewish people from the Nazis. And this is a time for us to not not turn a blind eye, not turn a deaf ear, but to look at what's happening. Speak up and say something and don't be like the churches just outside of Auschwitz. Don't be like them that just sing their songs louder because it's not affecting them. This will affect you. And so, Robert, I don't mean to take away to take away from anything that you're talking about or your story, because I want to hear more of what you are doing, because that is so important, because you're able to stand with Israel because you've had a longstanding relationship.

21:18 This is not a new thing that you're doing. You've been doing this for 30 years and we thank you for that. As we're closing here, what is the Lord speaking to you right now about this? And could you lead us in prayer for the peace of Jerusalem, but also what's going on here as well? Well, I would close by saying, first of all, thank you for reminding us of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. And I always also remember Corey Ten Boom, you know, the amazing Ten Boom family. If you haven't seen the movie The Hiding Place, it's incredible. But, John, I'm just meditating a lot on Psalm chapter two. You know, the kings of the earth gather together against the Lord.

21:58 The nations are raging. And we see that. And it makes no sense, like you said earlier, but the radical, radical left, right, the woke, the far left. We're not talking about people that just are Democrats or just have liberal viewpoints. That's fine. We're not talking. We're talking about anarchists. We're talking about dangerous, woke anarchists somehow coming into league with theofascist Islam, which theofascist Islam, they'd be the first people who would murder the woke left. It makes no sense. And yet in the midst of this Psalm two moment, right, the nations are raging, the kings of the earth, the rulers are conspiring against the Judeo-Christian ethos.

22:42 The Bible says this. The Bible says he who sits in heaven, he laughs. He doesn't laugh at the pain of his children. He laughs because he knows the futility of the enemy. This is happening because the enemy's time is short. The enemy's time is short. God is about to display Habakkuk. I'm sorry. Hey, guy, the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. We are coming to that prophetic moment of revival in the nations of the earth. And so the enemy is just going crazy because he knows his time is short. So the prayer for us as I lead us now and for each and every one of us is that God would let us understand that like Esther, we've been born for such a time as this.

23:30 We were ordained for this moment. We were formed for this moment. We were called for this moment. And all the battles you've gone through, all the challenges you've gone through, the day by day things of life, that's the enemy trying to keep you away from that prophetic destiny that God has on you. But I just declare over you today and as we come together in prayer, that that true purpose that you've been born for will be manifest in this time. So Father, I thank you for this moment. I thank you, God, for the gift of Charisma News. I thank you for my brother, John. I thank you for Stephen Joy. God, in this moment, we unite our faith. We unite our hearts. And God, we say for Zion's sake, I will not be silent.

24:13 For Jerusalem's sake, I will not be still until the Lord establishes Jerusalem and makes her a praise in the earth. God, we will stand as watchmen on the wall, alert, sounding the alarm. Let God arise and his enemies be scattered in the name of Yeshua, Jesus, our Messiah. Amen. Amen. Amen. Robert, thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule of trying to do whatever you can to help Israel right now, especially. Thank you for taking the time to share with us on Charisma News about your experience there, leading that tour, and then getting them out just in time, and then you having to get out. And thank God that you were able to get out.

24:58 But you've got so much more work ahead of you. We pray a blessing upon you and all that you're doing and that God would not just protect you, but he would lead and guide every step and in miraculous ways. So, Robert, thank you so much for being here on Charisma News. God bless you, my brother.