Friday, January 28, 2011

Middle East Update: 1.24.2011



We watch as world events take their twists and turns. Those of us who watch the Middle East are sometimes frustrated because the process toward peace seems to have stumbled. But things are unfolding nevertheless.


     The reason that we have such interest in the Middle East is because a comprehensive Middle East peace agreement marks the point in time by which the Church must be translated. The closer we see that treaty coming, the closer we know that the end of the Church Age must be very near. For that treaty will mark the beginning of the last seven years of Gentile world dominion. The Church must be gone before that treaty is ratified.


     Leaked records show that the Palestinians offered major land concessions to Israel in past negotiations, which the Israelis declined as insufficient. This is from a leak of secret Palestinian papers.


     I mention this because the Gentile world is rapidly turning against Israel. It has been predicted that by September of this year, most of the nations of the world will have recognized the nation of Palestine as an independent state. They will force the U.N.'s hand. The position of the U.N. will be that Israel must return to the borders she held before the 1967 war, plain and simple.


     The leak of those papers was probably a very purposeful leak, with the approval of the government, in order to sway more nations to recognize their plight and press the case for statehood, to make make themselves appear more fair than Israel; to make themselves look beleaguered, which they are.


     In the eyes of the world, Israel is increasingly perceived as belligerent, not peaceful; insincere in their negotiations with the Palestinians, and unjustified legally in continuing to build on lands that are yet to be negotiated, and which the world views as "under Israeli occupation."


     To the Arabs, the Jews are a people who bulldoze the homes of families – sometimes hundreds at a time – in order to build settlements for Jews. The things that are coming out in the press are increasingly hostile toward Israel.


     What the world does not take into account is that God owns the city of Jerusalem. He said many times that He had placed His name there. He told Joel explicitly that Jerusalem is His own city, and He has never relinquished claim to it.
     What He has said is that He will take control of all of the nations of the earth and place His throne in this same Jerusalem which is the bone of contention today, and where His name remains to this day.


     The Lord said to Joel that the division of His land by the Gentile nations would result in His great fury being poured out upon the whole earth. God’s Word is certain, and it has never failed. Man cannot stand against our God.


     Yet here, at the end of the age, the devil is about to lure mankind into a treaty that will result in the near-extinction of humanity. Satan knows what he is going to unleash upon the earth as his time grows short. But he doesn’t care. He is fighting for his own survival, becoming more and more desperate as the time draws nearer for him to be bound and thrown into the abyss. Mankind is about to do the very thing that will turn the love and longsuffering patience of God into wrath and vengeance.


     Clearly, the nations of the world are discussing the peace process among themselves without even the slightest hint of reference to Bible prophecy. They consider themselves wise men, men who have achieved great heights in their lives, not recognizing that God raises up whomever He will to accomplish His purposes on the earth. The negotiators are each seeking advantage for their own countries.


     It is uncertain whether President Obama would veto a U.N. Security Council resolution granting statehood to Palestine or whether he would simply abstain - not voting against Israel, but allowing the U.N. to enforce and re-impose boundaries upon Israel.


     That said, we find that Israel is in a most uncomfortable position. She must either make a different kind of negotiated settlement, or face the harsher proclamation of the United Nations before the year is out. In September of 2010, the two sides gave themselves one year to reach a treaty. Three weeks later, the talks broke up over the settlements issue. But the world seems fixated on getting this thing done within that year or the U.N. will act.
     Of course, it will take some time for the U.N. to take any action, and they will not be hasty in their actions. Nevertheless, the will of the world will prevail, and Israel will engage in some sort of treaty. Whether that happens in our lifetimes is an open question every day. We are left with the hope that, yes, indeed, it may very well happen today, let alone six months or six years or six centuries or longer from now. The things that are going on in the world today regarding Middle East peace are driving the saints’ hopes soaring that we may be the only generation of mankind not to face death. Our translation from mortal to immortal might happen today.


     Please tell your friends, and let them experience the hope of the saints. It is near. We need badly to get this important message to the saints. Don’t brush this aside, but urge your friends to tell their friends. I am new at social networking, but I’m gonna be here on this page much more often beginning today. I will answer your questions if I can, explain what the Holy Spirit gives me to wisdom to explain, and I will exhort and encourage every saint to serve God diligently in these last days. We stand at the brink of the age, hanging ten.  You can read more about it in the book, Midnight Rising: Warning Signs for This Generation.