Nov. 05, 2023

Hamas vs. Israel - What in the World is Going On? (05 NOV 23)

Introduction - The brutal terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023 took the world by surprise.  Most people in the world were shocked by the savage depths to which the Hamas invaders stooped to realize their objective of destabilizing the world’s only Jewish state.  Most of the world, days later, does not understand the significance of this assault, seeing it mostly as a tragic regional conflict over disputed land which has been ongoing through most of our lifetimes.  The Christian actually has the best tools to understand the real meaning behind this savage behavior, even better tools that the most elevated statesman or king.  

So what is the real significance of this attack?  It is, simply put, one phase of a much larger program of Satan to form one of four great Gentile powers.  These powers will be participating in conflicts during the 7-year period called the tribulation.  These Gentile powers are the following: 1) The Kingdom of the beast, most likely a European-confederacy, a revival of the old Roman Empire. 2) Kings from the east, a league of far eastern and asian nations, 3) The King of the South, probably a collection of north-African and mideast nations with Islamic beliefs, and 4) the King of the North, a confederacy of nations lying in a large swath occupying the land between Russia and present day Israel.  The King of the North is what the devil is building; let’s examine this empire a little closer 

Ezekiel 38:1-39:8 these verses describe the makeup and some of the actions of the King of the North.  For the sake of brevity, I did not copy the verses here. Please refer to the Bible text.  Here are some explanatory comments, however:  the list of nations is derived, with the help of lexicographers, from names in the ancient manuscripts from which the Bible was translated.  Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal are equated to Russia, Moscow and Tobolsk, in Siberia.  Little question is raised about the identity of Persia as present day Iran.  Ethiopia is probably not the north African country, but the land of Cush, a part of northern Arabia.  Put is probably not Libya, as popularly translated, but a land southeast of Iran. Gomer is equivalent to present day Germany, and Beth-Togarmah, the land which was settled by the grandson of Jacob, is equivalent to present day Armenia, or Turkey.  These are not guesses; careful volumes of analysis have gone into these determinations.  

To understand this macro view of world events, You will need to have the correct schedule of end-time events: The Pretribulation rapture / Premillennial return of Jesus is the only one supported by the literal-historical-grammatical method of interpretation.  All other methods rely on allegory, which puts you at the mercy of the interpreter’s biases.  An excellent book on this subject is J Dwight Pentecost’s classic, Things to Come, written 65 years ago in 1958. Dr. Pentecost’s predictions have come true with impressive accuracy as current events corroborate them right to the present. You have to admit, it is interesting that the Hamas-Israel conflict is not taking place in Mexico, South America, Antarctica, or Puerto Rico, is it?

Recent articles are appearing on news sites stating that “Hamas is the symptom, Iran is the disease.” This is true, but the Biblical revelation takes this natural observation a quantum higher.  Russia appears to be the leader of this northern confederacy.  Iran has been a client state of Russia since the 1980’s.  Hamas and Hezbollah are simply two appendages of Iran embedded literally in the tight slivers of land next to Israel.  The Lord is probably using these conflicts to discipline and strengthen Israel and to further prepare the northern confederacy for its climactic invasion of Israel.  This invasion will not occur until the 7-year tribulation is underway.  God has not abandoned Israel, in spite of the atheism of some Israelis and their official rejection of Jesus the Messiah.

A vastly shortened version of the tribulation timeline reveals that the King of the North is destroyed on the mountains of Israel by the Lord Himself.  The King of the South has previously allied himself with the King of the North and simultaneously invades Israel with the northern armies, but is destroyed in the ensuing conflict.by the armies of the Beast.  The armies of the kingdom of the Beast (the Antichrist) and the Kings from the East finally move upon the land of Palestine; the kings from the East want to gain control of the “center of the earth” now that the competition from the Northern and Southern kingdoms have been removed.  The Antichrist had initiated a satanic covenant at the beginning of the 7 years with Israel to protect Israel, so He is drawn into conflict to protect Palestine from the eastern hordes.  At this time the appearing of the “sign of the son of Man“ (Matthew 24:30) occurs and the two remaining armies (East vs. Beast) turn their attention away from each other and turn to fight the Lord (if you can imagine!).  Jesus destroys the armies, captures, the Antichrist and False Prophet and throws them into the lake of fire.  Satan is bound for the next 1,000 years.  Many other details occur as the Second Coming of Jesus unfolds, but let’s return to our original subject, the Hamas-Israel conflict.  

What should Israel do? This is a good question, probably answered by the text of the Old Testament.  At the present moment, Israel is not a nation of Christians.  The official religion, if there is one, is Judaism.  God has historically protected his people and given them authority to act militarily, against enemies, in some cases demanding that they annihilate a corrupt population:  

1 Samuel 15:2-3 This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I have decided to settle accounts with the nation of Amalek for opposing Israel when they came from Egypt. 3 Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation—men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys.” NLT

This passage and others like it in the Old Testament seem barbaric to the modern church.  We have to remember that our New Testament says that:

    Hebrews 10:30-31 For we know the one who said, “I will take revenge. I will pay them back.” He also said,             “The LORD will judge his own people.” 31 It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God. NLT

There are several other references to the commanded slaughter of evil cities and peoples, especially during the conquest of Canaan.  We have to understand that God is God and we are not.  Like the appraisal he made of humankind before He sent the worldwide flood in Noah’s time, He is all-knowing.  It is probable that the tribes he commanded to slaughter were ingrown populations which had taught all forms of sin and debauchery for centuries.  In the case of the Amalekites, He allowed them 400 years to repent for harassing the Israelites right after they had crossed the Red Sea, and they never did.  He gave the people of Nineveh 40 days to repent, by contrast, and they did!  If the entire bible is a record to be learned from and obeyed, Israel is being authorized by God to exterminate Hamas, Hezbollah, and all similar godless organizations. 

The New Testament gives this power to nations at many levels to keep order among the nations of the world.  Our Army Navy, Air Force and Marines exist with the blessing of God because of this principle:

    Romans 13:1-2 Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in             positions of authority have been placed there by God. 2 So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling             against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. NLT

    Romans 13:4 The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of                 course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for                 the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. NLT

However, since the birth of the church of Jesus, no nation, including Israel, has the authorization to exterminate the population of entire groups of people anywhere on the earth.  The Holy Spirit has been at work saving people all over the world since the day of Pentecost.  Exterminating an entire population would certainly mean killing members of the church, which would definitely contradict many provisions of the New Covenant.  

What should Christians do?  At the very least, well known Scriptures teach us to bless and pray for Israel:

    Psalm 122:6. Pray for peace in Jerusalem. May all who love this city prosper. NLT

    Zechariah 2:8 After a period of glory, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies sent me against the nations who plundered     you. For he said, “Anyone who harms you harms my most precious possession. NLT

One major thing that Christians can do is to PRAY seriously for the spiritual warfare surrounding Jerusalem, in particular the activities of the Prince of Persia, whose unnamed actions have had a very detrimental effect on the kingdom of Persia (present-day Iran) since the time of Daniel onward: 

    Daniel 10:12-13 Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding             and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your             prayer. 13But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one             of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. NLT