 I really don't want to be one of those guys with the long beard walking
around with a long robe carrying a sign reading, "The End is Near!" But,
another facet to the current unfolding of events bears a striking
resemblance to what we read in Zachariah 12 and is confirmed in the
Revelation that God is going to save Israel from total destruction. Of
course, to save Israel from total destruction means that an attempt at total
destruction has to begin at some point.
"12:1 The revelation of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: The Lord
he who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth, who
forms the human spirit within a person says, 12:2 I am about to make
Jerusalem a cup that brings dizziness to all the surrounding nations;
indeed, Judah will also be included when Jerusalem is besieged. 12:3
Moreover, on that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy burden for all the
nations, and all who try to carry it will be seriously injured; yet all the
peoples of the earth will be assembled against it. 12:4 In that day, says
the Lord, I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with
madness. I will pay close attention to the house of Judah, but will strike
all the horses of the nations with blindness. 12:5 Then the leaders of Judah
will say to themselves, The inhabitants of Jerusalem are a means of
strength to us through their God, the Lord who rules over all. 12:6 On that
day I will make the leaders of Judah like an igniter among sticks and a
burning torch among sheaves, and they will burn up all the surrounding
nations right and left. Then the people of Jerusalem will settle once more
in their place, the city of Jerusalem. 12:7 The Lord also will deliver the
homes of Judah first, so that the splendor of the kingship of David and of
the people of Jerusalem may not exceed that of Judah. 12:8 On that day the
Lord himself will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the weakest
among them will be like mighty David, and the dynasty of David will be like
God, like the angel of the Lord before them. 12:9 So on that day I will set
out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
12:10 I will pour out on the kingship of David and the population of
Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication so that they will look to me,
the one they have pierced. They will lament for him as one laments for an
only son, and there will be a bitter cry for him like the bitter cry for a
firstborn. 12:11 On that day the lamentation in Jerusalem will be as great
as the lamentation at Hadad-Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12:12 The land
will mourn, clan by clan the clan of the royal household of David by
itself and their wives by themselves; the clan of the family of Nathan by
itself and their wives by themselves; 12:13 the clan of the descendants of
Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; and the clan of the Shimeites
by itself and their wives by themselves 12:14 all the clans that remain,
each separately with their wives. (Zechariah 12:1-14)
Nations are going to surround Israel and the people groups of those nations
will come against Israel with the intent to destroy them. Rather than a
giant leap, the events happening right before our eyes is but a small step
in believing the world is beginning its move against Israel.
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 We know the Palestinians have long since declared their intention
to destroy Israel. The so-called "Arab Spring" has culminated in the
toppling of leadership that either had peace with Israel (Egypt) or
at least kept busy fighting each other to bother too much with
Israel (Iraq and Iran). Now we see Egypt is governed by the Muslim
Brotherhood, Iran is close to having nuclear capabilities, Syria is
fighting for its independence but will likely remain tied to Muslim
ideology, Libya has vowed to fight Israel, Iraq continues to be
unstable with fighting factions of ISIL Muslims, Jordan and Lebanon
want to see Israel destroyed and Saudi Arabia, as a Muslim nation,
would join the forces of their neighbors and could not be trusted to
stand for Israel.
Outside the immediate circle stands the army numbered in the
millions from China; along with Russia who has supported Syria and
Iran even now. Finally, even the United States has made overtures of
backing away from support of Israel. The President, in the past, has
publically rebuffed a meeting with Israel's Prime Minister in favor
of his own campaigning for re-election. The President has also been
heard to say from the audio portion of his book that if the tides
turn against the Muslims he would have to join with them. During
their national convention too, was the attempt of the Democrat Party
to exclude God from their Platform. Additionally, they wanted to
omit the declaration of Jerusalem being the capital of Israel.
Millions saw on television the three attempts to voice-vote God and
Jerusalem's status as capital of Israel back into the platform with
the Arab-Americans loudly voicing opposition. It was returned to the
platform only because the Chair overrode the voice vote by declaring
those in favor to be winners...the decision that was written on the
teleprompter before even the first vote was taken!
Even now we have learned there are many citizens from Great Britain
and the United States who have supported the movement of ISIL in
their jihad to establish a caliphate that forms a platform from
which to launch terrorist attacks against Israel and other world
targets.
Even before 530 B.C. Daniel was presenting to the King of Babylon,
which is modern-day Iraq, the interpretation of a dream the King had
dreamed. As the dream was written before the actual future unfolded
that contained the elements of the dream, it became certain the
correct interpretation was given by God to Daniel to tell the King.
That conclusion of the dream was recorded by Daniel.
"In the days of those kings the God of heaven will raise up an
everlasting kingdom that will not be destroyed and a kingdom that
will not be left to another people. It will break in pieces and
bring about the demise of all these kingdoms. But it will stand
forever. You saw that a stone was cut from a mountain, but not by
human hands; it smashed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold
into pieces. The great God has made known to the king what will
occur in the future. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is
reliable. (Daniel 2:44-45) Daniel foretold of the nations that
would surround Israel with the intent to destroy all the Jews, but
God would intervene and crush those nations.
So, if one wanted to speculate we might be living in the "last days"
based on the movement of the world order against the nation of
Israel, it might be difficult to refute.
[By JIM KILLEBREW]
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