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The Reason for the Middle East Crisis (Part 3)

Missing the Fundamental Obstacle in the Palestinian/Muslim and Israeli Conflict

     It appears that world leaders are willfully choosing to listen to and accept the lie Muslim leaders are saying the regarding the cause of the conflict. Both politicians and the media fail to understand the fundamental obstacle that prevents peace between the Palestinians and Muslims, and the Jews. Many seem to think that if the Jews would simply give up more land to the Palestinians and allow for a Palestinian state to be formed, there would be peace in the Middle East. The truth is it is not as simple as that. As many Muslims have made clear over the years, they are not only interested in getting all the land back; they also desire to see the extermination of every single Jew on the face of the earth. Many Muslim politicians in the present time have stated that their goal is to see the Jews pushed off the land into the Mediterranean Sea and drowned.

     Satan hates the Jews because they are the seed of promise and heirs of the covenant promises. Satan has been from the very beginning stirring the hatred and resentment in the descendants of Ishmael.

     In the final days, Scripture tells us that the seed of Ishmael will join with several nations, including Russia, to destroy the people of Israel before Christ returns; God will destroy the allied armies (see Ezekiel 38-39).

     The genocidal hatred that seeks the extermination of the Jews stands alone in the history of national conflicts. Arab and Palestinian leaders have stated many times that if they ever defeat Israel in war, that they will annihilate every Jewish man, woman, and child. The fact that Israeli soldiers and civilians who have surrendered to Arabs have been massacred serves as evidence that their threats to destroy all Jews are not empty words, it is their policy and practice.[1]


The Arab-Islamic Goal

     Ezekiel prophesied that in a future conflict the Arabs would join a formidable, multinational, Islamic invasion force led by Russia (or ancient Magog) and made up primarily of Arabs and military forces from the Islamic nations.

This is another message that came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, turn and face Gog of the land of Magog, the prince who rules over the nations of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him. Give him this message from the Sovereign Lord: Gog, I am your enemy! I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws to lead you out with your whole army—your horses and charioteers in full armor and a great horde armed with shields and swords. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya will join you, too, with all their weapons. Gomer and all its armies will also join you, along with the armies of Beth-togarmah from the distant north, and many others (Ezek. 38:1-6 NLT).

     In the Ezekiel prophecy we learn of God’s supernatural destruction of the invading forces.

I will summon the sword against you on all the hills of Israel, says the Sovereign Lord. Your men will turn their swords against each other. I will punish you and your armies with disease and bloodshed; I will send torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and burning sulfur (Ezek. 38:21-22 NLT).

Son of man, prophesy against Gog. Give him this message from the Sovereign Lord: I am your enemy, O Gog, ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around and drive you toward the mountains of Israel, bringing you from the distant north. I will knock the bow from your left hand and the arrows from your right hand, and I will leave you helpless. You and your army and your allies will all die on the mountains. I will feed you to the vultures and wild animals. You will fall in the open fields, for I have spoken, says the Sovereign Lord. And I will rain down fire on Magog and on all your allies who live safely on the coasts. Then they will know that I am the Lord (Ezek. 39:1-6 NLT).

     Genesis 38:23 describes the global response to God’s supernatural intervention:

In this way, I will show my greatness and holiness, and I will make myself known to all the nations of the world. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

     God’s deliverance of Israel would cause all people in the world to recognize His greatness, holiness, supremacy, and sovereignty.

May they know that you alone—whose name is the Lord—are the Most High over the whole earth (Ps. 83:18).

     God has promised to protect Israel.

Keep my Sabbaths and revere my sanctuary; I am the Lord.

“If you follow my statutes and faithfully observe my commands, I will give you rain at the right time, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest, and the grape harvest will continue until sowing time; you will have plenty of food to eat and live securely in your land. I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to frighten you. I will remove dangerous animals from the land, and no sword will pass through your land (Lev. 26:2-6).

     The Jewish people have experienced severe discipline from God because of their spiritual rebellion and unbelief. But His covenant cannot and will not be set aside since His covenant with Israel is eternal, unconditional, and unbreakable.

This is what the Lord says: The one who gives the sun for light by day, the fixed order of moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar—the Lord of Armies is his name: If this fixed order departs from before me—this is the Lord’s declaration—only then will Israel’s descendants cease to be a nation before me forever. “This is what the Lord says: Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below explored, will I reject all of Israel’s descendants because of all they have done—this is the Lord’s declaration (Jer. 31:35-37).

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “This is what the Lord says: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night so that day and night cease to come at their regular time, then also my covenant with my servant David may be broken. If that could happen, then he would not have a son reigning on his throne and the Levitical priests would not be my ministers (Jer. 33:19-21).

     When Christ returns and establishes His kingdom, He will remove the hatred and enmity between the Muslims and the Jews. The Jews will be reconciled to God and live peacefully in the land He had given them.

Distribute the land as an allotment for yourselves and for the foreigners who have joined you and are raising their families among you. They will be like native-born Israelites to you and will receive an allotment among the tribes. These foreigners are to be given land within the territory of the tribe with whom they now live. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken (Ezek. 47:22-23 NLT).

     The Promised Land will be allotted to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. In the Millennium, the alien (including Arabs) will be given land within the territory of the tribe with whom they now live.

     The hatred between them will be removed and the whole world (yes, including the Middle East) will experience genuine and lasting peace with King Jesus ruling on earth from the throne of David in Jerusalem.    

 

The Current Hostility between Muslims and Jews

     The hatred of Jews will continue to burn in the hearts of many Muslim until the prophecies of the future millennial kingdom are fulfilled. The ancient hatred of Jews reached a low point when Mohammed established his new religion in the seventh century. Because the Jews around Mecca refused to forsake Judaism and embrace Islam, Mohammad declared that the Jews were enemies of Allah and sought to force them to submit to Islam or die.

     From that point on, Muslims have remained committed to achieving victory over the Jews whenever they encounter them. With the rebirth of Israel in 1948, the hatred has only been intensified. Today, the Arab nations surrounding the Jewish state and the Palestinians who live in Israel or in the West Bank and Gaza, know that they cannot defeat Israel militarily.

     Those who hate Israel know that only an Islamic confederation with a strong and powerful ally, which the Bible identifies as Russia, and with the ability to leverage that ally’s advanced military technology and sizeable military force, will enable the Arab nations to achieve their goal, the conquest of Jerusalem and the elimination of the Jews from the Middle East.




[1] In the “Islamic Terrorism” chapter of his book, What In The World Is Going On, David Jeremiah writes of the hatred that Islam has for the Jews (and Christians) and documents a sermon delivered by Sheikh Ibrahim Mdaires at a mosque in the Gaza Strip that was broadcast live to the Arab world and circulated around the world.


All Scripture quotations, unless indicated, are taken from The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT have been taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

 

Copyright © 2020 by Miguel J Gonzalez Th.D.

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