Αρχική κοινοποίηση από TS Malone
The Great Middle East War- "Jerusalem Encompassed"
Islamic State(ISIS) and Islamic Republic(Iran)... Israel in the Epicenter
Most of the Arab people who live in and around Israel are Muslim. The Jewish state's existence is a direct threat to their religion and belief in the Koran, which is why they deny Israel's sovereignty. Muslims believe that the Jews lost their right to the land because of their disobedience. The Koran teaches that Muslims have to recover land that non-Muslims took from them (Surah 13:41). Therefore, they believe Israel has no right to the Holy Land anymore; that it is Allah's will to take it back.
Some of the more extremist groups believe in the Hadith, a supplemental holy book to the Koran. The Hadith teaches Muslims to kill Jews and Christians because they are infidels (Hadith 9:29). Instead of disbelieving in Islam, they reject Israel being a nation and seek annihilation of the Jews. In doing so, they blaspheme the truth of God's Word:
Ezekiel 35:12-13 -
"...12 And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume. 13 Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them."
Ezekiel prophesied that God would take the mountains of Israel from Israel's enemies and give it back to them after their return from exile. These ancient heights are the Golan Heights and the mountains in the West Bank:
Ezekiel 36:1-5 -Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel
"1 Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD: 2 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession: 3 Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people: 4 Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about; 5 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey."
Ezekiel's prophecy found fulfillment in the Six-Day-War in 1967, when Israel took back the Golan Heights and the West Bank:
Since the Jews began returning to the land, it has been a constant struggle in the Middle East in the form of wars and terrorism. The Islamic world wants to destroy Israel, while the rest of the world wants to bring peace to the region by dividing Israel and Jerusalem. What the world fails to realize is that Islamic ideology will never allow for a peace agreement to last.
Islam's "culture of death," in the form of raising suicide bombers who believe they are doing the will of Allah, make a difficult situation impossible. The reason the United States became involved in the struggle against Islamic extremists is simply because we are an impediment to their destruction of Israel.
As prophesied in the Bible, this region will continue in turmoil until the Messiah returns:
Zechariah 12:1-3 -Jerusalem will Be Attacked
"1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it."
Those who try to divide the land appear as peacemakers. However, they are acting in opposition to God's will, so destruction will come on those who try:
Ezekiel 36:5-7, 12 -
"5 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey. 6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen: 7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame...."
"12 Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men."
1 Thessalonians 5:
"3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape."
The world insists that the answer is to divide tiny Israel, but the Lord says it belongs to Israel. The Arabs want to take all of Israel. But has the Lord been unfair to the Arabs?
Israel and the Arab Countries
Judgment is coming in the form of two wars against Israel's neighbors bent on her destruction, who occupy a large area of the land promised to Israel by God. Unfulfilled prophecies litter the Old Testament prophets that pronounce coming judgment on Israel's immediate neighbors.
In the first war, the Palestinian refugees, who are the "tabernacles of Edom" (Psalm 83:6), will form a confederacy with Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria against Israel. The devastation described on both sides, including the complete destruction of Damascus (Isaiah 17), leads to the conclusion that the threat to Israel's existence is such, that they will have no choice but unleash what they call the "Samson Option," taking down their enemies with massive retaliation in the form of nuclear warfare.
The following scriptures describe "The Great Middle East War":
Psalm 83 · Isaiah 17 · Jeremiah 49 · Ezekiel 35-37 · Joel 1 · Amos 1-2 · Obadiah · Zephaniah 2 · Zechariah 9-11
The Great Middle East War
Before looking at the second war, note that there are two of Israel's neighbors who are not listed as aggressors in either war: Iraq and Egypt.
While it is true that the Assyrians ruled over Babylon before the Babylonian empire rose, the heart of the Assyrian empire covered northern Syria and western Iraq. This is important to note, because Assyria is in the Psalm 83 confederacy. I do not believe Iraq as a nation will be a primary aggressor in that conflict. Iraq is better represented by the heart of the ancient area of Babylon, which is not in view in the parallel passages to Psalm 83. However, the area of Mosul is in western Iraq and is the same area of ancient Nineveh which gets destroyed in "The Great Middle East War."
In recent history, the Kurds have occupied the ancient area of Nineveh. The Kurds have continuously struggled with both Turkey and the rest of Iraq. There have even been proposals made to allow the Kurds to break away and be their own country. If this occurs before "The Great Middle East War," I wouldn't rule out their direct involvement in the Psalm 83 coalition, as politically they could be considered the heart of ancient Assyria along with Syria.
Another possibility is that rebels aligned with the other Psalm 83 aggressors take over the western part of Iraq before the "Great Middle East War." Interestingly, the terrorist group ISIS, "The Islamic State(in Iraq and Syria)" has laid claim to most of the territory of ancient Assyria as a result of the civil war in Syria that started in 2011, and the insurgency of western Iraq in the summer of 2014. Note that Babylon is not mentioned in the Psalm 83 confederacy. So if the Iraq insurgency is prophetic, the rebels will not take eastern Iraq. In fact, the goal of ISIS is not to take southern Iraq, but extend their territory south through Lebanon and Israel to form the "Levant." Incidentally, this is roughly the same real estate Israel conquers in "The Great Middle East War." The apparent reshaping of the Middle East suggests that God might be using these conflicts to return the boundaries to their ancient lines before the next prophetic war. If this is the case, Nineveh's destruction is not collateral damage, but a target of war.
Egypt and Israel have a nearly four decade long peace agreement that may hold through future conflicts. However, there are several unfulfilled prophecies in the Old Testament of judgment against Egypt that could keep them out of both wars, discussed in the following study: "Putting the prophetic puzzle pieces together."
The second war, found in Ezekiel 38-39, is known as the "Gog and Magog War." There are at least five prerequisites before this war can take place:
1)The Jews will have returned from the sword/exile (Ezekiel 38:8)
2)The Jews will return from exile to the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 38:12)
3)The Jews will be living securely in the land (Ezekiel 38:8 & 11)
4)Israel will have great wealth (Ezekiel 38:8 & 12-13)
5)The land east of the Dead Sea will be within in Israel's borders (Ezekiel 39:11-12)
The Jews have returned from exile and won the "West Bank", also known as Judea and Samaria, and the "Golan Heights", a mountainous region in Israel's north... in the Six-Day War. Israel is doing rather well economically and they have recovered from several wars. However, Israel is not living securely with the threat looming by her immediate neighbors. "The Great Middle East War" will wipe out the threat from her neighbors. In addition, Israel's borders will expand east of the Dead Sea, and as a result, Israel's wealth will vastly increase.
Without a doubt, the increase in the size of Israel's real estate alone will dramatically increase their wealth. Joel Rosenberg, a well known Christian writer, predicted that the one thing that could really make Israel's wealth increase would be if they found oil. There have been rumors over the past few years that Israel has found a large amount of oil. But recent news reports have said that Israel has discovered enough oil and off shore natural gas that they could become an exporter of them.
The devastation on Israel described in "The Great Middle East War" will be difficult to recover from, especially population-wise. However, the likely rise in anti-Semitism after the war will probably force much of the rest of the world's Jews to move to Israel for safety. God has allowed persecution of the Jews time and again over the past century to re-gather them home:
Ezekiel 28:25-26 -The Restoration of Israel
"25 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. 26 And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God."
Notice in the passage above that Israel will dwell securely only after God executes judgment on her neighbors who "despise them." After "The Great Middle East War," when God judges Israel's neighbors, the Jewish people will feel secure for the first time since their return from exile, as shown in the passage above. Keep in mind that Israel "dwelling securely" is a prerequisite before the "Gog and Magog War."
Gog and Magog War
Israel's immediate neighbors are conspicuously missing from the list, suggesting that the "Great Middle East War" occurs first, before the "Gog and Magog War." This scenario fits, considering the other prerequisites for the war. God will be judging these nations because they have come against Israel:
Genesis 12:3 -"And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee..."
This outer-ring of Israel's neighbors has not been directly involved in war with Israel. However, they have supported the inner-ring of Israel's enemies, including the terrorist groups who have been, in effect, fighting a proxy war for this outer ring of nations, namely "The Islamic Republic" of Iran.
God will judge Islam and atheism in the "Gog and Magog" and "Great Middle East" wars. All the nations in these two wars are Islamic, except Russia. However, while Russians largely profess Orthodox Christianity, the government is atheistic and the Islamic population is growing rapidly there. After God pours out His judgment in these two wars, both Islam and atheism will virtually cease-to-exist:
Zephaniah 2:10-11
"10 This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts. 11 The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen."
Ezekiel 38:22-23
"22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD."
The following studies go into more detail on these two wars:
"The Gog and Magog War"
"The Great Middle East War"
As God turns back to Israel and pours out His Wrath on their enemies, these two wars are likely to usher in the Tribulation, where God will test and refine Israel. As a result, Israel will come to a saving knowledge that Jesus is Messiah (Zechariah 12-14). The events of "Daniel's 70th Week" will begin in Israel, expand out globally, and return back to Israel in Armageddon, right before Jesus returns. Israel is clearly God's "timepiece" and the "epicenter" of prophecy.(continued)
(Published edited excerpts with permissions from
A V Gerpen)
NOTE -Bible passages are from the King James Bible
www.fotavgeia.blogspot.com
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