A word after the Flydubai flight that almost fell

Now my friends, let me tell you what happened this morning. Flydubai flight FZ1073 left Dubai for Tel Aviv. There were about 174 people on that plane, including 27 little children. Almost all of them were Israelis. They thought they were just going home.

They nearly did not make it.

One of the pilots stabbed Captain Smit Machchhar and tried to bring that aircraft down. The plane dropped thousands of feet in seconds. People screamed. Children cried that they did not want to die. For a few minutes it looked as if the thief had come, as Jesus said, “to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10, NKJV).

But he did not succeed. The Lord was on their side.

The men God used

You see, God often uses ordinary people when a day turns dark. Captain Machchhar was badly wounded. Even so, he fought back and opened the cockpit door so others could get in. That was the Lord giving him strength when he had none left.

I read that Israeli passengers rushed forward, one of them, Yaniv Hayun, helped restrain the attacker and pulled him off the controls, then pulled the yoke up to stop the deep dive. I saw later in Instagram that Prime Minister Netanyahu met him still wearing his bloody white shirt, with his family standing there. They called him a lion. Well, courage is a gift. But the One who gave him breath is greater still.

Two extra pilots were already on that flight, ready for a later duty. One of them was British. They took the controls, steadied the aircraft, and landed it safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Every soul was accounted for. Later they were flown on to Israel. Deliverance is of the Lord.

What they sang

When the wheels touched the ground they began to sing. They sang “Od Avinu Chai” — “Our Father still lives.” Some sang “Am Yisrael Chai.” And in the terror itself many cried the Shema: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4, NKJV).

I like that. Those are not empty words. That is the cry of a people God has kept through fire after fire. He has not forgotten them.

David knew this kind of day

David knew what it was to be hunted. Saul threw spears at him. Armies searched the caves. His own son rose up against him. Again and again men tried to cut him off. Again and again the Lord delivered him.

After God saved him from Saul and from all his enemies, David wrote Psalm 18. He also wrote words that could have been sung in that cabin today:

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,” let Israel now say— “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive, when their wrath was kindled against us.” (Psalm 124:1–3, NKJV)

Now that is not luck, friends. That is the Lord.

The hidden child king

The devil has tried more than once to cut off the line that leads to the Messiah. After King Ahaziah died, Athaliah set out to destroy all the royal heirs of David. She almost wiped the house clean.

But a woman named Jehosheba took the baby Joash and hid him in the house of the Lord for six years. When he was seven the priest brought him out and put the crown on his head. The line lived.

Why hide a child in the temple? Because God had promised that the Messiah would come from David. “The scepter shall not depart from Judah… until Shiloh comes” (Genesis 49:10, NKJV). Pharaoh tried to kill the baby boys. Herod tried to kill the children of Bethlehem. Athaliah tried to kill the princes. Each time the Lord kept a remnant. Each time the promise held.

The true Lion of Judah

The men on that flight were called lions today. Their courage was real. We honour Captain Machchhar. We honour Yaniv and the other passengers. We honour the British pilot who helped bring the aircraft down safely. “The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord” (Proverbs 21:31, NKJV).

But there is a greater Lion. John saw Him in heaven and heard these words: “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals” (Revelation 5:5, NKJV).

That Lion is Jesus. He is the Son of David. He is the Child the hidden boy Joash was pointing toward. And He is also the Lamb who was slain. The Lion who conquers is the Lamb who died — and who rose again.

God has not finished with Israel. Paul said, “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29, NKJV). He has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. He loves them. He kept them today. And He still holds out the same Messiah to them that He holds out to us. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6, NKJV).

Lets pray

So we give thanks. We thank God for every life spared on that plane. We thank Him for the wounded captain, for the British pilot, for Yaniv and his family, and for the children who are home tonight.

We pray that through this very hour some who sang “Our Father still lives” would meet the Father’s Son. That the true Lion of Judah would be seen. That they would find in Jesus the King David longed for, the Son the line was kept for, and the life that does not end when the flight is over.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Pray for the injured. Pray for the families who shook today. And pray that many in Israel would look to Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and live.

Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10, NKJV)

In Jesus name,

Amen

Now that is the gospel, friends. The plane landed. The people lived. That is mercy. The greater mercy is still offered — life in His Son.