An Amazingly Disproportionate Focus on Israel
Is it mere coincidence that 20th and 21st century global attention has been focused on Israel like never before in history?
Is it by chance that events in the Middle East have repeatedly captured media headlines since Israel’s miraculous rebirth as a nation on May 14th, 1948, followed by her miraculous defeat of five Arab nations that attacked the newborn Jewish state the very next day? Then the dramatic “against-all-odds” Israeli Six-Day War victory in 1967, followed by another stunning triumph in the Yom Kippur War of 1973? Or the (failed) Oslo Accord of 1993, and the Palestinian intifada of 2000 leading to incessant atrocities committed by “lone-wolf” Palestinians to the present day? And the intervention of the United States, Canada, Australia, Russia, Turkey, Iran, and some European nations in the broader scope of Middle East wars and terrorism?
Not at all random, according to Scripture as found in numerous end-times prophecies of the last days concerning the Jews and Gentile nations’ attitude toward and treatment of Israel.
“Then the remnant left in Israel will take their place among the nations. They will be like dew sent by the Lord or like rain falling on the grass, which no one can hold back and no one can restrain” (Micah 5:7).
Based on the above end-times prophecy and others like it, and in the context of the horrific holocaust of World War II which directly led to the reborn State of Israel just three years later, it’s clear that the Jews who have immigrated to Israel and the native-born Israelis (Sabra) are the remnant spoken of by Micah. (Please see Eye of Prophecy article, Two-Thirds of the Jews Killed … Past or Future? Posted 9-19-15).
Says the Sovereign Lord regarding the last days: “I will strengthen Judah and save Israel; I will restore them because of my compassion. It will be as though I had never rejected them, for I am the Lord their God, who will hear their cries” (Zechariah 10:6).
God has seen the plight and heard the pleading of his people from the floods of dispersion and the fires of Nazi death camps, just like he listened to their cries of slavery in Egypt long ago. If anyone doubts the powerful prominence that the true and living God places on Israel, listen to the following passage:
“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: ‘My love for Mount Zion is passionate and strong; I am consumed with passion for Jerusalem!” (Zechariah 8:2).
Those nations and peoples who seek to destroy the Jews and Israel or even harm them, would do well to heed Almighty God’s warning: “At the time of those events, says the Lord, when I restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will judge them for harming my people, my special possession, for scattering my people among the nations, and for dividing up my land” (Joel 3:1-2).
In light of what’s happened in the current generation (last 70 years)—especially events in the past few weeks that have drawn global attention to the real overriding issue of Jewish versus Arab sovereignty on Temple Mount, Jerusalem, and ultimately all of Israel—we can on the authority of the Bible recognize the validity of the following premise:
As Temple Mount goes, so goes Jerusalem. As Jerusalem goes, so goes Israel. As Israel goes, so goes the World.
God’s sweeping plan for mankind is centered on the tiny nation of Israel and on her Messiah—born of a Virgin from the lineage of King David, from the tribe of Judah. Messiah Jesus: who brings salvation to all who believe and receive him as their personal Savior; who will soon return to establish the Kingdom of God on earth and put an end to human misery caused by pride, greed, inequality, injustice, terrorism, and war.
Listed to this magnificent prophetic announcement of both the First and Second Advent of the Messiah:
“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” (Isaiah 9:6-7).
Said the mighty angel Gabriel to the virgin:
“Don’t be afraid, Mary … for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” (Luke 1:30-33).
From the Garden of Eden when God cursed Satan through the serpent and told him that the offspring of the woman (Eve, but also referring to Mary, the Jewish virgin who would give birth to Messiah … Isaiah 7:14) would strike Satan a death-blow; then God’s promise to Abraham that his heir (Isaac) would be the predecessor of salvation and blessings (ultimately through Messiah), Satan has tried maliciously to thwart God’s plans.
Satan’s plan bears the ugly name of Anti-Semitism: demonstrated by entire nations through horrendous hatred, persistent persecution, and attempted annihilation of the Jews.
This intolerant, irrational disdain for the Jews (just became they’re Jews) and insidious agenda to destroy the nation of Israel originates mostly from an unreasonable and flawed assumption that the Jews are arrogant. When, in fact, virtually every nation and peoples that have despised the Jews have done so out of sheer jealousy over what the Jews have accomplished down through the ages. That, and their refusal to acknowledge that the God of Israel is the only true God.
A Review of the Latest Terrorist Murders of Israelis
The Eye of Prophecy article entitled An Unprecedented Palestinian Attack in Jerusalem, posted 7-22-17, summarized the cold-blooded killing of two Israeli policemen and the aftermath, which included Israel’s sensible security installation of metal detectors to all gates that lead to Old Jerusalem. Never before had Arab terrorists killed Israelis in the confines of Temple Mount. Then the pathological audacious accusations by Jordanian, Hamas, and Palestinian Authority officials that the Jews were violating the “status quo” conditions of Temple Mount with these metal detectors. All the while, deliberately oblivious to the fact that it was the three Israeli-Arab (citizens of Israel) terrorists who started the whole thing.
Just a few hours (Israel time) after I posted that Eye of Prophecy article, a 19-year old Israeli Arab entered a Jewish home and brutally stabbed 70-year old Yosef Salomon, his son Elad, age 36, and daughter Chaya, age 46, to death. Yosef’s wife Tova, 68, was seriously wounded while protecting her grandchildren.
Not that Arabs need a stated reason to kill Jews, but the latest and most prevalent excuse is to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount from what they call (non-existent) Jewish desecration. Muslim definition of Al-Aqsa defilement is simply that of any Jew setting foot on Temple Mount, as there has never ever been any Jewish desecration of the mosque.
Among other vile things the murderer posted online before he butchered the Salomon family was that the Jews would not, “open the gates of al-Aqsa.” Even that was a distortion (lie) as the only (reasonable) change was erection of metal detectors—not taking away the privilege of Arabs to enter the gates that lead to Temple Mount. The mendacious mentality of this killer reflected the warped mindset of the greater majority of Palestinians and Israeli-Arabs in Israel: Such unmitigated gall of the Israelis to require Muslim entrance to Temple Mount through metal detectors under the “pretext” of heightened security?
After Palestinian and Arab, mostly from Jordan, uproar over the metal detectors (which are commonplace even in Arab holy sites, such as Mecca and Medina), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the metal detectors removed … in favor of a larger, more sophisticated and apparently less intrusive security system.
(Israel Removes Metal Detectors)
Here is an excerpt from the aforementioned Eye of Prophecy article, An Unprecedented Palestinian Attack in Jerusalem (in italics):
Along with the favorable trend of world opinion toward Israel exemplified by diplomatic relations and trade agreements between Israel and several nations, more people are also getting a glimpse of the real Palestinian agenda. How could anyone miss seeing it? It’s been there all along; now the Palestinians have unmasked themselves directly in front of international eyes with actions that speak as loud as their words.
Slowly at first, but now much more rapidly, Western nations and even some Arab countries are beginning to realize that Jews—not only in Israel, but the world over—have contributed so much to the welfare of the human race; and will increase this contribution exponentially if the nations would only work with them and not against them. This global atmosphere of increased toleration for the Jews and enhanced empathy for their suffering (BDS discrimination, maiming, murders, and vandalism of their crops) is exactly the condition that Scripture predicted would occur during the beginning of the last days of the end times….
“Nevertheless, the time will come when I will heal Jerusalem’s wounds and give it prosperity and true peace. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel and rebuild their towns. I will cleanse them of their sins against me and forgive all their sins of rebellion. Then this city will bring me joy, glory, and honor before all the nations of the earth! The people of the world will see all the good I do for my people, and they will tremble with awe at the peace and prosperity I provide for them” (Jeremiah 33:6-9).
This more respectful disposition toward Israel is now at the highest level since 1948 … in my opinion even higher. That is exactly the condition that will exist during the unexpected Gog/Magog assault against Israel by several nations—led principally by Russia, Iran, and Turkey—that will take place during the (early part of) Great Tribulation. The surprising increase of international recognition of Israel is yet another prophetic milepost that demonstrates just how close we are to the Rapture followed in seven years by the magnificent return of Messiah Jesus to make all things right.
There are two primary reasons why Jews will not only return to Temple Mount under their terms, but also why the Jewish Temple itself will be rebuilt on the very site where God spared Isaac, and where Solomon’s Temple and the Second Temple stood.
The first reason is in two parts: (1) the Rapture that will create world-wide confusion and panic followed quickly by, (2) the return of Antichrist Nero from the Abyss. His perceived miraculous reappearance and the chaotic condition of the world as a result of the disappearance of hundreds of millions will facilitate desperate global longing for peace and safety. Because of the divine status accorded him (by virtue of returning from the grave), Nero will have no problem orchestrating a treaty between Arabs/Muslims and Jews, including a rebuilt Jewish Temple.
The second reason: Increasing global favor toward Israel that has already begun, and will (soon) enable her to be in a position of peace, safety, tranquility, and prosperity, unequaled since the glory days of King David and King Solomon’s reign. But it will be a false peace because it will be arranged by a false messiah … Antichrist Nero.
And then it will happen. Listen to the Holy Spirit inspired prediction against Gog/Magog uttered by the prophet Ezekiel some 2,600 years ago … a prophecy that will soon come to pass:
“…In the distant future you will swoop down on the land of Israel, which will be enjoying peace after recovering from war and after its people have returned from many lands… You and all your allies—a vast and awesome army—will roll down on them like a storm and cover the land like a cloud … You will say, ‘Israel is an unprotected land filled with unwalled villages!’ … When my people are living in peace in their land, then you will arouse yourself” (Ezekiel 38:8-14).
The Real Agenda toward Israel Will Soon Surface
Soon after the Rapture, the malevolent motive and sordid scheme of nations who hate Israel will prevail over the 161 nations that currently have diplomatic relations with Israel. Today’s affinity of most of these nations toward Israel is shallow and superficial … with a few exceptions such as the United States, Canada, and Australia.
The Psalmist pleads with the Lord: “O God, do not be silent! Do not be deaf. Do not be quiet, O God. Don’t you hear the uproar of your enemies? Don’t you see that your arrogant enemies are rising up? They devise crafty schemes against your people; they conspire against your precious ones. ‘Come,’ they say, ‘let us wipe out Israel as a nation. We will destroy the very memory of its existence’” (Psalm 83:1-4).
The Ayatollah of Iran and several Arab national leaders have repeatedly uttered these very words in our generation. And the avowed goal of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is an Arab state in place of, not alongside of Israel … a state without a single Jew left.
We can be sure that the Lord will answer the prayer of the Psalmist. The time has come when God will not be silent about Israel. This silence was lifted in 1948. Soon the Lion from the Tribe of Judah will roar, and the earth will be shaken as never before!
Let’s continue with the Gog/Magog prophecy in Ezekiel by adding one more verse left out of the passage from two weeks ago, in which this arrogant man, called Gog, boasts against Israel:
“I will go to those formerly desolate cities that are now filled with people who have returned from exile in many nations. I will capture vast amounts of plunder, for the people are rich with livestock and other possessions now. They think the whole world revolves around them!” (Ezekiel 38:12, italics for emphasis).
When the Iranian, Turkish, and Russian-led coalition attacks Israel, Gog’s malicious mentality will be a carryover from the misguided mindset of many in today’s world. The Gog/Magog alliance of nations which is developing before our 21st century eyes, and even some national leaders who have fostered a favorable diplomacy toward Israel, mistakenly assume that Israel and the Jews think the whole world revolves around them.
Are modern-day Jews and contemporary Israel arrogant?
No they are not, not even close. (For example, see Eye of Prophecy article, The Heart and Soul of Israel, published 1-4-14).
The Jews as a collective whole do not see nor think of themselves as arrogant. If anything, it’s just the opposite. So much so that they do not adequately defend or even sufficiently explain (through the media) their God-given right to total sovereignty in Israel, especially on Temple Mount but also in the Gaza Strip and Judea/Samaria (West Bank). In part this is borne out of twenty-five hundred years of being humbled by God himself through discipline of his people—by allowing Gentile nations to not once, not twice, but three times exile the Jews from Israel.
Beginning with the Assyrian demolition of the ten northern tribes in 722 B.C. Then the Babylonian conquest and exile of Jews from the southern kingdom of Judah in 586 B.C.
Followed by the devastation of Israel and Jerusalem and total destruction of the 2nd Temple in 70 A.D. that would lead to world-wide dispersion of the Jews until 1948. Culminating in the worst disaster that has ever befallen the Jews … the hideous holocaust.
For you see, there was a time when the Jews were haughty, not only toward Gentile nations but also toward the true and living God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This occurred more often than not during the 400-year decline of Israel that began when they split into two kingdoms soon after King Solomon died. God had warned Israel of this puffed-up attitude as long before as the time of Moses. Through Moses, he told them that they would lose their God-given sovereign status as a nation if they disobeyed him and pompously pursued the false gods of their pagan Gentile neighbors.
Here is one such warning: “Today I call on heaven and earth as witnesses against you. If you break my covenant, you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. You will live there only a short time; then you will be utterly destroyed. For the Lord will scatter you among the nations, where only a few of you will survive” (Deuteronomy 4:26-27).
Here is another of God’s warnings to his people after they would take possession of the Promised Land:
“Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt … He gave you water from the rock! He fed you with manna in the wilderness … He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy’” (Deuteronomy 8:14-17).
It was God’s purpose for the Jews to be a shining example, a light to the Gentile nations. So that other nations would recognize the God-given sovereignty of the Jewish nation as the source of the Lord’s blessings—first to Israel, then to every nation whose God is the Lord (Psalm 33:12).
Instead, the Jews misused their position of prestige and prosperity among the nations and became smug and selfish in their attitude toward Gentiles. Worse, they refused to acknowledge their conceit, as recorded by the last prophet God would send to Israel for 400 hundred years. Not until the Lord implemented the New Covenant of Grace promised through Jeremiah, would he speak again to Israel; a covenant commenced and sealed by their very Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Although addressed by other prophets, it was Israel’s last prophet Malachi who brought the final indictment against Israel’s ingratitude and egotism toward God
Just like God used the Assyrians, then the Babylonians, he humbled Israel for the final time in 70 A.D., with the Roman destruction of the Temple. Just a short time before the religious Jews handed him over to the Romans to be crucified, Jesus had exposed their arrogant self-righteous hypocrisy. Still he loved them as conveyed in his poignant words immediately after he blasted the Pharisees, in which Jesus also foretold of Jerusalem’s impending destruction.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Matthew 23:37-39).
In fact, observant Jews once again mourned the worst day in Jewish history this past Tuesday, simply called Tisha B’Av (9th day of the Hebrew month of Av). Both temples were destroyed on that same calendar date, the first in 586 B.C, the second in 70 A.D. (Please see Eye of Prophecy article, Day of Infamy, posted 7-25-15, which begins with America’s Day of Infamy Pearl Harbor attack, then covers in great detail the Jewish 9th of Av).
Yet, the Bible is crystal clear that God’s discipline of Israel was for their own good; in order for them to eternally inherit all of the wonderful benefits and blessings that God has for them … and through them the world. The alternative of God’s final judgment on mankind is far worse than the tough love discipline he imposes to get the attention of his people to return to him, both the nation of Israel and New Covenant born-again believers (Jews and Gentile alike) when we sometimes go our own way.
“Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good” (Deuteronomy 8:5).
“For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they know how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way” (Hebrews 12:10-11).
It’s Not Israel, But Her Enemies Who Are Arrogant
Israel’s corporate conceit ended nearly 2,000 years ago. The God-directed humbling of his people in 70 A.D. resulted in periodic humiliation and persecution of his chosen people without any recourse for the Jews to resist and fight back … until 1948.
On the other hand, the vanity of Israel’s adversaries in today’s world has reached … well, Biblical proportions. Listen to God’s warning:
“…At the time I have planned, I will bring justice against the wicked … I warned the proud, ‘Stop your boasting!’ I told the wicked, ‘Don’t raise your fists! Don’t raise your fists in defiance at the heavens or speak with such arrogance.’ … It is God alone who judges; he decides who will rise and who will fall” (Psalm 75:2-7).
I can safely and will strongly state on the authority of Scripture coupled with the astounding sequence of today’s unfolding events matching Biblical prophecies: The time that God has planned is near, so very near.
Listen to the results when God’s “fury boils over” (Ezekiel 38:18) against those nations and people who display the same kind of arrogance toward Israel that they falsely accuse the Jews of:
“In this way, I will demonstrate my glory to the nations. Everyone will see the punishment I have inflicted on them (Gog/Magog) and the power of my fist when I strike. And from that time on the people of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God. The nations will then know why Israel was sent away to exile—it was punishment for sin, for they were unfaithful to their God. Therefore, I turned away from them, and let their enemies destroy them. I turned my face away and punished them because of their defilement and their sins” (Ezekiel 39:21-24, parenthesis mine).
As I’ve detailed in several prior Eye of Prophecy articles, God ended his centuries-long punishment of Israel—through Gentile domination of the Jews—in the 1967 Six-Day War. Yet Israel did not, by any stretch of the imagination, become arrogant or feel superior by virtue of this stunning victory. Instead, they (one could even say “humbly”) relinquished what was their rightful sovereignty over Judea/Samaria, the Gaza Strip, and the Temple Mount to the Arabs. In fact, many, including me, believe that this self-effacing gesture was ill-advised.
However, they did so to appease international pressure (including that from the United States) not to assert their God-restored self-determining authority; because the world-at-large had not yet (still hasn’t) accepted Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel or the Temple Mount as the original holy dwelling of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob among his people. In short, the world still refuses to recognize the God-given right of Jewish sovereignty over ALL of Israel, first and foremost Temple Mount.
Webster’s Dictionary defines arrogant: “exaggerating or disposed to exaggerate one’s own worth or importance in an overbearing manner.” And arrogance is defined as: “a feeling of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or presumptuous claims.”
In fact, both of these terms could easily and accurately be applied to the Palestinians with a plethora of examples given, some of which are listed in the aforementioned Eye of Prophecy article, and more to be identified in next week’s Part II article.
For Israel to continue to allow Jordan administrative supremacy over Temple Mount as well as Palestinian self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (properly called Judea/Samaria) is anything but an expression of apartheid-like arrogance or superiority of one people over another. For example, the millions of Palestinians in Jordan don’t have near the liberties or standard of living that Israeli-Arabs citizens of Israel and even the Palestinians who live in Israel enjoy.
(Palestinians in Jordan are not self-governed as they are in Israel. They are ruled by the Jordanian Hashemite King Abdullah II, pictured above)
Don’t miss next week’s article in which we’ll continue with the dynamics of the God-given right of Jewish sovereignty in Israel.
Things to Ponder
Said the Lord to his people long ago: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck so you can walk with your heads held high” (Leviticus 26:13).
But then the Lord warned them not to disobey and abandon him through apathy, complacency, and pride; as only he was their source of provisions, prosperity, and protection.
As we’ve seen, the Jews failed to keep God’s Covenant with them through Moses. As a result they suffered all four of the seven times over punishments found in Leviticus Chapter 26. The fourth and final being the worst of all: banishment to foreign nations with the last of those exiles lasting nearly 2,000 years. During that time Jews all over the world could not walk with their heads held high. Often, in humiliating fashion, they were forced to run with the proverbial tail between their legs.
Listen to what the Lord said would happen to his people, and, in fact, did take place during turbulent times of persecution after they were driven out of Israel by the Romans:
“And for those of you who survive, I will demoralize you in the land of your enemies. You will live in such fear that the sound of a leaf driven by the wind will send you fleeing. You will run as though fleeing from a sword, and you will fall down even when no one pursues you … You will have no power to stand up against your enemies. You will die among the foreign nations and be devoured in the land of your enemies.” (Leviticus 26:36-38).
This affliction of God’s people continued from the 1st century to the mid- 20th century, which was also an inordinate global focus on the Jews, but in a menacing and destructive way. Beginning with more Roman emperors who persecuted those Jews left in Israel after many were killed and many more exiled in 70 A.D.; Mohammed’s slaughter of Jews as he forcefully expanded his newly invented religion of Islam; Crusaders who killed as many Jews as they did Muslims in order to claim Roman Catholic supremacy in Jerusalem; Roman Catholic Inquisitions; European Pogroms; and finally the Holocaust. And these were just the more well-known episodes of Anti-Semitic brutality against the Jews.
BUT NO MORE!
God promised that this discipline through exile of his people would end and so it did; it began to end in 1948, and ended in 1967. Please refer to Eye of Prophecy trilogy, Seven Times Seven (to the 4th power), posted 1-25, 2-1, & 2-8-14. These articles disclose in great detail that the seven-times over paradigm in Leviticus Chapter 26 was a pre-determined time (years) set by the Lord for Israel’s discipline to run its full course.
In that same chapter in Leviticus, the Lord said: “Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land … I will not utterly reject or despise them while they are in exile in the land of their enemies. I will not cancel my covenant with them by wiping them out, for I am the Lord their God” (Leviticus 26:42-44).
Yes, the Jews are back and Israel is here to stay forever. As in their glory years of King David and King Solomon, the Lord has once again made them, “…the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom…” (Deuteronomy 28:13).
eyeofprophecy ... watch and wait 