Category: Israel

Prophecy of Anti-Semitism

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Peruse these haunting current headlines:

British Jews are “full of fear, like I’ve never seen before” ; 

Antisemitic graffiti in Paris worries French leaders; and

Open hatred of Jews surges globally, inflamed by Gaza war.

Anti-Semitism (hostility toward Jews) is on the rise in a way not seen since the Holocaust. War has been the impetus, but the undercurrent of such hatred has been with us throughout history, and it swelled in the early twentieth century. As far as I can see on the timeline of biblical prophecy, the final crescendo of Anti-Semitism will happen under the rule of the Antichrist.

We must not forget what the Bible predicts of the future event of the “Great Tribulation” – that “the man of lawlessness”, the Antichrist, will seek to devour the entire people group of Israel (called such because they have descended from the patriarch, Jacob, whose name was changed by God to “Israel.” In fact, the Great Tribulation is referred to in Jeremiah 30:7 as “the time of Jacob’s trouble.”

The prophet Daniel follows a description of this time of end-time warfare on God’s chosen people in chapter 11, verses 40-45, with an apt reminder, “At that time [of the Great Tribulation] Michael, the great prince [archangel of Israel] who stands watch over your people, will rise up. There will be a time of distress such as never has occurred since nations came into being until that time. But at that time all your people [the Jews] who are found written in the book will escape.” (Daniel 12:1, HCB) Jesus Himself refers to the prophecy of Daniel during His famous Olivet Discourse, as He warns that the Jews during the time of the Great Tribulation will need to “flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:16).

Many of God’s chosen people will return to the Messiah during the time of tribulation. This will be God’s selected era to bring the Jews back to Himself. During this current age of grace, the Lord is drawing Gentiles into the kingdom of God, but He has not given up on Israel, and He will work during the end times to save them, too. (Romans 11:25-27) The world shall witness of revival of God’s chosen people, through whom God gave us His Son (Jewish, by earthly heritage) and the holy Scriptures.

The trendline we see of growing anti-Semitism is concurrent with the swelling antichrist spirit in the world. Jesus is for the Jews and the Gentiles. Jesus died for the world. He came to break down the barrier between the Jews and non-Jews (Ephesians 1:11-18). God has a special place in His heart for those He chose through whom to bless all the nations (Genesis 12:3). As the world more and more rejects the plainness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the narrative of God’s Word concerning His overarching plan for both Jews and Gentiles, we will see a move toward anti-Semitism, which will ultimately culminate with the evil, one-world ruler to come.

God brings all evil to a head, so that He may eliminate all evil and set up His righteous kingdom. Sure enough, during antichrist’s delusional reign of wickedness, God will “gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle” (Zechariah 14:2). Then, at Armageddon, the Lord Jesus Christ will win the final victory against all the earthly evil Hell could bring together in the flesh of humankind. (Revelation 19:11-21; Revelation 20:1-15)

All of the clearly outlined prophecy in the Word of God allows us to properly “discern the times” (1 Chronicles 12:32) in which we live. We must evaluate news in light of the Bible. Holding God’s Word at the helm of our heart and life, we live with confidence, knowing where current events and all of history is headed. As devastating as the newsfeed is recently, we know that the Lord is coming soon to eliminate sin. He will defeat the “man of sin,” under whom the world will soon be held in wicked lunacy.

This is no time to hang your head. This is precisely the time to live the truth and tell the truth so that people may be convicted to put their trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. To tell and live the truth, you must know the truth. Pray, and then open your Bible. Read. The time is drawing near.

– Shelli Prindle

Who Said Israel Should Be Wiped Off the Earth?

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missile“Israel should be wiped off the Earth.” These were the stark words etched on two ballistic missiles launched by the country of Iran on March 9, 2016. In fact, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace division, declared, “Israel is surrounded by Islamic countries and it will not last long in a war. It will collapse even before being hit by these missiles.” (1)

The hatred of Israel by many people and nations is evident. And though it is distressing to Christians, the very existence of such extreme animosity only serves to lend credence to the truth of God’s Word. In fact, when I read the headlines marked so boldly with this anti-Semitic message, my heart leaps to think of how the enemies behind this provocation are only proving the Bible’s veracity. Let me explain.

God gave the land of Israel (which is bigger than its current political borders) to His chosen people, the Israelites. The promise began with Abraham (then “Abram”), the father of our faith. Genesis 12:7 (ESV) declares, “Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.'” God reiterated this promise over and over. We find it emphasized again when the Israelites were in the worst of circumstances – as slaves to the Egyptians. In the midst of seeming hopelessness, God firmly reminded them, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD” (Exodus 6:7-8, ESV).

God’s chosen people have struggled throughout history with the promise of their inheritance. They battled with the Canaanites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Romans during Bible times. They have been assaulted throughout modern history in obvious ways, including that of the Nazis. The hellish attacks notwithstanding, God’s promise remains. The fiendish attacks serve only to demonstrate that there exists something most peculiar and supernatural about this people and this land. Such pointed hatred can only come from an established reality, for no such loathing is the result of fairy tales or light-hearted belief. Our archenemy, Satan, stands behind every plot to abolish God’s people and God’s Promised Land.

The Scripture that jumped out to me when I first heard of the missiles marked with the threat, “Israel should be wiped off the Earth,” is Zechariah 14:2-3 (ESV): “For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.” Unbelievably, the Lord predicted 2,500 years ago that “all the nations” will eventually go to war against Jerusalem. The attack will culminate just before the visible second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus will return to the very same mountain from which He left (as recorded in Acts 1:9-12), the Mount of Olives. His toes will hit the mountain, and the mountain will split, and the Lord will conquer His enemies! Hear Zechariah 14:4-5b (ESV): “On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that on half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward … Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.”

The culmination of Christ’s victory over the enemies of Israel is explained in Zechariah 14:11b (ESV), “Jerusalem shall dwell in security.” No more will she be subject to war and degradation. Apparently, Amir Ali Hajizadeh is right in predicting a violent war with Israel, but he is certainly wrong about the ultimate result! God wins, and God keeps His vows.

After all end times events have taken place and the devil and all His worshippers have been deposited in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:7-15), we hear the amazing words of the Apostle John in Revelation 21:1-2a (ESV), “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, …” Not only a portion of land in the Middle East, but all lands and all the universe will be inhabited by God and His people, with the New Jerusalem as our capital. Amen!

As we are barraged with world news, we are encouraged to see than in trying to destroy God’s plan, His enemies are actually proving the Bible. Iran’s declaration to attempt to wipe Israel off the Earth only demonstrates that everything God has said is unequivocally accurate. Is not God incredible, that He uses even His adversaries to fulfill His plan and show His Word to be firm and timeless?

It reminds me of wicked King Herod the Great of the first century. In order to try to destroy Jesus, He used the words of the Old Testament prophet Micah to determine the location of Jesus’ birth (see Micah 5:2 and Matthew 2:1-6). Herod must have actually believed that the Old Testament prophecy had something to it. And when He killed all the male children in the Bethlehem region who were two years old and younger, He fulfilled yet another prophecy of God! (See Jeremiah 31:15 and Matthew 2:18)

Even unbelievers and enemies bring glory to God’s Word by demonstrating in real time and space its accuracy. So, go ahead leaders of Iran. Go ahead all enemies of God. You seek to annihilate His sovereignty, but only end up proving it!

“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2, ESV)

(1) Gambrell, Jon. Iran Fires Two Missiles Marked with “Israel Must Be Wiped Out.” abcnews.go.com. 9 March 2016.

– Shelli S. Prindle