Israel, Hamas, and Bible Prophecy

Summary

Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.

The specific event is not necessarily fulfillment — but it shows how the end could wrap up

• The question posed (in the host's frame): our audience members are undoubtedly well aware that, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on Israel — a very brutal attack. And of course Israel retaliated. And, as of the recording of this podcast, they had actually launched — I believe — a limited ground invasion of Gaza. So the question people are asking is: how does this specific event fit into Bible prophecy? I think that's a question that comes up, anytime Israel is involved in any sort of armed conflict. But do you see this as, in any ways, the fulfillment of scripture? And if so, how? The answer: I would say: this specific event is not necessarily fulfillment of scripture. However, what's happening now in the Middle East does show us how the end time could easily wrap up. So, let me give you a little bit of historical background, before I go back to the Bible.

The background — 1948, 1967, 1973, and the two-state question

• First of all: Israel — or, maybe, the area of Palestine — in the early 20th century was under the oversight of the United Kingdom, the British government. Palestinians lived there, who are Arabs. And also some Jews lived there. The British government had a policy of allowing Jews from Europe to go back to Palestine, their ancestral homeland. And then, of course, World War II created the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were killed, and great populations throughout Europe were decimated. And so the United Nations said that it would establish Israel as a nation. That took place in 1948. So, at that time, you had Jewish communities; you had Palestinian communities, living in very close proximity. And so they kind of carved out an area, that would be for the state of Israel. Well, the day that Israel announced its independence — and the United Nations, including the US, recognized Israel as a nation — seven Arab nations attacked, to destroy it: to eliminate Israel, to kill the Jews, to throw them into the sea, and reestablish Arab control over the entire region of Palestine — even though many Jews had lived there for centuries, and had come back, for decades. And sadly: many of the Palestinian Arabs — there was an announcement, by these Arab nations, that were attacking: flee your area; leave; evacuate — so that we can destroy. And so many Palestinians fled, thinking that, in a few days, they would come back, and they would establish sovereignty over the land. Well, against the odds, the infant Jewish nation fended off the attacks, defeated the invading armies. And then they not only secured their own territory, but additional territory. Because, actually, the main area is only probably like a 100 miles long — and, in some places, 30, 40, 50 miles wide. So you're not talking about a huge amount of territory. And, to defend these little enclaves and defend the borders, is very difficult. So, when Israel expelled these invading armies, and secured its borders — well, it adjusted some of those borders, to protect its own people. And so some additional Palestinians were forced out, to other areas. So they went into — and they already did live into — the strip known as Gaza; also, an area known as the West Bank. And many went across the Jordan River, into what is now the country of Jordan. But these various Arab nations, including Egypt and Jordan, did not want the Palestine Arabs to permanently live there. They wanted to push them back, to where they had evacuated. So many of them had fled, of their own accord, or at the instigation of the neighboring Arab nations, who invaded. So that created the situation that exists now.
• In 1967, there was the 6 Day War, in which many of these same Arab nations attempted to attack Israel, again. Israel was able to win a lightning victory, in six days. And they conquered the Arab part of Jerusalem. They conquered the West Bank, and they secured their borders. They conquered the Golan Heights, which is the high ground overlooking the nation of Israel. Because, without that high ground — which was occupied by Syria — it would be difficult to defend, against artillery coming right down into Israel. So, anyway, that set the borders that exist today. But still: the Palestinian Arabs — now, there are many Arabs that live in Israel, that are Israeli citizens. In fact, there is a predominantly Arab party, in the parliament, the knesset (as heard). But Israel still controls the West Bank, and Gaza, where millions — a couple millions — of Arabs live. And Israel has overseen that, but allowed them to set up their own government. The idea was: they would have a democracy. And, of course, all these years, the international community, including Israel, has been working on a two-state solution. So, could you have the state of Israel, with its borders — but could you also have a Palestinian state, that would be completely sovereign? It would be a democracy, that would control its territory. And over the years, the US, the UN, and even Israel has proposed some sort of solution. But today, the Palestinian Arabs have rejected any kind of two-state solution. Their official position is: eliminate the state of Israel. And in fact, the protests, in recent weeks, have said: from the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free. What that means is: they want to completely wipe out JW (Jews, as the letters stand, in the text) — presumably either kill them all, or expel them, and send them somewhere else. And they want the entire area to be exclusively for Palestinian Arabs. Now, so that's the background that we're facing. And then there was the yam Kapur War, 1973 — the holiest day of the year, the Day of Atonement. Again, some of these Arab nations attacked Israel. This time Israel was caught by surprise, and came within a hair's breath of losing. In fact, from the north, there's an area called the valley of tear (as heard): the Israeli tanks fought off the Syrians — I think they came down to, if I remember correctly, only 13 tanks left, before they stopped the advance. And, of course, the Arabs didn't know how many they had left. But they came that close to breaching the line — which they could have then invaded Jerusalem, and re havav (wreaked havoc, as heard), if not destroyed, the whole nation. So it's from that perspective that we see what's going on.

The position — Israel's right to exist and defend itself; care for all the peoples

• So I would make a few comments. First of all: I believe Israel has a right to exist. Number one: I believe, biblically, God has given that area to Israel. It doesn't mean the Palestinians shouldn't have a nation, or Arabs shouldn't live in Israel, or in the West Bank, or whatever. I'm not making comment on that. I just say: Israel has a right to exist, as a nation. And that's international law, as well. Therefore, I think Israel has a right to defend itself. That doesn't mean we have to say that everything the Israeli government does is right. That doesn't mean we don't care about the lives of Palestinians. And that doesn't mean we shouldn't ask for as many safeguards as possible, to protect civilians. The sad thing is: Gaza is controlled by Hamas, which is a terrorist organization. There's no democracy. There's no voting on them. And they use civilians as shields. They build their command centers, and their rocket launchers, right where civilians are. So, when you try to eliminate those, there are unavoidable civilian casualties. So: should Israel take every effort, to try to minimize those casualties? Obviously so. We can debate, or question, the policies, the procedures. In fact, from a church perspective: we have our own United Pentecostal members, who are Israelis, who are Palestinians, in the West Bank, and in Gaza. So — and we have, across the world, in Arab nations and Muslim nations, we have many churches. So we're not promoting Jews versus Arabs, or Arabs versus Jews, or Muslim communities versus Jewish communities, or Israel versus Gaza, or versus Palestine. We support all those people, from all those backgrounds. We want to see them all protected. We want to have the gospel freely preached, and churches established, and operate freely, in all those areas. So our interest is not just one nation. Our interest is peace, in the whole Middle East. So, that's our background; that's our position. So, in that sense, we're pro-Palestinian, and pro-Israeli — the people. We want to see them safe, and secure. And actually, to this point, Israel is the only democracy, in the Middle East. So we think that's valuable, to protect and preserve. And I didn't do a count, but there are probably 30 Arab nations. There's only one Jewish nation. So the idea that we would eliminate one Jewish nation, in favor of one more Arab nation: I don't think that's tenable. As again: I think there could be some sort of two-state solution, as it's called — where the state of Israel exists, and the state of Palestine exists, in peace and harmony, and respecting and helping one another. That would be the goal.

The prophetic scheme — and why this generation can see how it could happen

• Now, having said that: if you read the book of Ezekiel, the Book of Daniel, and the Book of Revelation, what you'll find, in the end time, is that: Israel will exist, as a nation. That armies from the north — there will be an international coalition of armies, from the north — and they will come down, and they will invade Israel. And there will be a figure, that we often call the Antichrist — the man of sin, the Beast of Revelation — that will be the leader. And he will seemingly be Israel's friend, and promote peace. But then he will turn against Israel. He will demand to be worshiped. He will have a world government. It may not be successful in conquering the whole world. But he will have a world government system, that he's trying to implement. He'll have a world economic system, that he's trying to get everybody to submit to. And he'll have a world religious system, with a false prophet. And so he's using these mechanisms, to control the whole world. But Israel will stand against him, and so, will not accept this. And so he will come to invade them. And there will be this great valley, and a great battle, in the valley of Armageddon. And he will seemingly be at the point of conquering Israel, when Jesus Christ will return to Earth, and defend Israel. And at that time, Israel, as a whole, will recognize Jesus Christ, as their Messiah. And that will user in (usher in, as heard) the millennial Kingdom. That's what we read, when we put together the prophecies. Also, the book of Zechariah would have some relevance, here. So that's the big scheme, that we see, the end time events wrapping up. So: when will that happen? We don't know. But, over generations, we believe this is going to happen, someday. But, in past generations, we couldn't really see how that would happen. So: before 1948, there was no nation of Israel. From the time of the 2 century (second century, as heard), when Rome destroyed the nation, and scattered the Jews across the world, and throughout Europe — until 1948, there was no actual nation of Israel, where all this could happen. And, as far as a world government, a world economic system: we couldn't really see how that would happen. Now, with computer technology, the internet, chips, and digital currency, you could actually see how such a system could easily be implemented, in a relatively short time. And with video technology — the whole world being able to see images — you can see how the prophecies of Revelation could be fulfilled, in detail. Whereas, past generations could proclaim it — but we couldn't explain, technologically, or politically, or economically, how that could actually be implemented. Now we could see: these prophecies could be implemented, almost overnight.
• And so: I don't see that this particular conflict, between Israel and Hamas, is a direct fulfillment, of a particular prophecy of scripture. But I do see the concept of the nations of the world. And you look at the ancient nations, that are listed in the Bible. The modern counterparts would be, you know: Persia, or Iran; Turkey; Russia; China. So these are actually the very nations. And they are speaking against Israel. And what's shocking, from our perspective, in North America, is that so many people are supporting terrorism, supporting Hamas — even on our own college campuses. But, so, before, we would think: well, the US and Europe would stand solidly against any form of terrorism, and would stand solidly for Israel's right to exist. But perhaps for the first time since the Nazis — you have significant portions of people, in the west. And, in many cases, they're immigrants, from Arab and Muslim nations, or descendants of immigrants. But, for the first time since World War II, you have significant voices, in the West, in the US, saying: Israel should be eliminated from the earth. And terrorism against Israel is justified, and should be celebrated. Well, that's shocking. But that's something that we couldn't have imagined, 20 years ago, in America, for example. So that lets you know: you know, in the past, we would say: well, if a world coalition tried to come against Israel, well, the US and Europe would counteract that. Well, now we're seeing: maybe not so. And even if we did, we may not be very strong; we may not have many allies. So actually, we're now in a position, of seeing these military prophecies could be fulfilled, in a short period of time. We could wake up, with the news, that a coalition of armies, from all the world, are now coming against the tiny nation of Israel. And, you know, from a geographical perspective, Israel is a very small nation. It's an important nation, but it's not a world power. So, just in the abstract: why would there be a world conflict, over this small piece of territory? It doesn't make sense, economically, or politically. But it makes sense, in terms of Bible prophecy. So that's the big takeaway: is that I see this climic (climate, as heard) showing us that the Bible's prophecies could come to pass, in our day. And we now see, maybe for the first time, how, and why, this could happen — almost overnight. So that is a sobering thought. I will say this: we should not live in fear and dread, of the end time. If we're filled with the Holy Spirit; if we're called by the name of Jesus — then the Bible says: 'look up, for your Redemption draws nigh' (the saying delivered as 'draw nigh'). So, whatever happens in the world: we're not looking for the Antichrist. We're looking for Jesus Christ. And whatever our particular interpretation of prophecy: we can have faith in God, that God has a plan, for his people, in the end time.