PTNews
P r o p h e c y T o d a y N e w s
June 2021
Published monthly
(Examining Current Events in the Light of Bible Prophecy)
P.O. Box 13006, Roanoke, VA 24030-3006
The Perpetual War against Israel
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.” Matthew 24:6
By Mike Wingfield
There are many signs that indicate we are living in the last of the last days. The ongoing war against Israel and the growing hatred for Jews are both critical developments that point to the end of this age. According to the prophetic Scriptures, the return of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland in the last days would be met with great resistance, and we are witnessing it today. Speaking to the prophet Ezekiel, God said the Gentile nations of the Middle East (currently all are Muslim nations) would “appoint my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey” (Ezekiel 36:5). This regional rejection of the return of the Jews to their Promised Land would force the world to divide the land of God to appease the nations. This entire process would produce many wars, acts of terrorism, and international conflict that would lead to the final showdown with God at Armageddon (Joel 3:2-17).
From Israel’s very beginning as a modern nation in 1948, it has faced numerous wars, acts of terrorism, isolation, fierce hatred, and rejection within the international community. This is nothing new for the Jews. From Israel’s beginning in Egypt as a nation in the days of Moses, anti-Semitism has reared its ugly head. Since that time, anti-Semitism has become an epidemic in all the Gentile nations. According to the prophetic Word, it will reach its final climax during the reign of the Antichrist during the Tribulation Period. Daniel 12:1 states that the last days will “be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time.”
Looking back on the holocaust during World War II, it is hard to fathom a more horrific time for the Jewish people. Yet, the Bible tells us there is an even greater international holocaust coming for them.
I write these words with a heavy heart. Two years ago, I made a special effort to travel to Poland to view the remains of the death camps where Jewish people were imprisoned, brutalized, starved, and suffocated in gas chambers by Nazi Germany. What I saw and experienced is etched forever upon my soul. It is hard to imagine how anyone could hate people that much. It is difficult to imagine how they could perpetuate these crimes that were carried out against the Jewish people – babies, children, mothers, fathers, and grandparents. Below is one of many signs displayed at the Auschwitz death camp.
According to the Bible, people who are filled with hatred and murder are acting like their father, the devil (1 John 3:8-16). Satan is the father of all anti-Semitism. This is clearly pictured in Revelation 12. According to the Bible, Satan is filled with wrath against the Jews and the people of Israel (Revelation 12:7). He is the one who is the diabolical mastermind in the war against them.
Satan’s attack upon the Jewish people and the nation of Israel is a part of the demonic war against God and His purposes. God has brought the Jewish people into a unique covenantal relationship with Himself. He has chosen them as a special divine instrument in His hand for His glory (Deuteronomy 7:6-9). Listen to Isaiah 41:8-12, “But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shall seek them, and shall not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.”
The war between Hamas [a radical Islamic terrorist group in Gaza] and Israel that took place for 11 days in May is the latest evidence of Satan’s attack upon God’s people to thwart the plan of God. God has declared, “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion” (Psalm 2:6). God’s plan calls for His Son, Jesus the Messiah, to return to earth to rule over all nations from Jerusalem, Israel. Examining the events that took place in May demonstrates that our world is being prepared for the final phase of the war between good and evil. The world is clearly standing on the side of evil against God. From Satan’s perspective, he must destroy the Jewish people and their rule over their people in Jerusalem.
Before we examine the events of this latest conflict, I want to express my grief for the suffering on both sides of this latest war. While only 12 Israeli citizens died as a result of this war, there was a great amount of emotional trauma. Hundreds were injured, and millions of dollars in physical damage was heaped upon Israel. All of this suffering will impact lives for months and years to come. We cannot begin to understand the emotional toll that almost half of the Israeli population suffered while living in bomb shelters for 11 days.
The Palestinian people in Gaza suffered because many of them are victims of the unjust violence and hatred of Hamas directed against Israel. Hamas is consumed with the complete annihilation of the entire nation of Israel. In this recent war, more than 200 Palestinians died and thousands were injured. They were not the intended target of the Israeli bombs. Israel makes every attempt to avoid casualties to Palestinian civilians. Buildings are targeted by Israel to attack the terrorists. However, Hamas has chosen to hide its munitions and soldiers within the residential areas of Gaza. They know that Israel will be reluctant to kill civilians. That is why Hamas uses them as human shields. As a result, thousands of civilians in Gaza are homeless, with no income, or food. Hamas must bear the full responsibility for the misery and loss of their own people. Hamas’ hatred for Jews is greater than their love for their own people. Many of the people in Gaza are trapped in a culture where they are deceived and used as pawns to gain world sympathy and condemnation of Israel for their suffering.
The world’s media deceptively reported that Israel withheld humanitarian aid from the Palestinians during this conflict. The truth is that Palestinian terrorists attacked a convoy of Israeli trucks that were attempting to deliver food and medical supplies to the Gaza Strip. The Gaza area receives its electricity from Israel. Hamas’ rockets damaged some of the power lines, cutting off electricity to the area. Israel was blamed for this. Hamas also disabled Gaza City’s major desalination plant, which supplies fresh water to 250,000 residents.
Israel has continued to make it known that its war is not with the Palestinian people, but with their corrupt, militant, terrorist leadership. These leaders hide behind Islamic doctrines that call for the destruction of all infidels – in this case, Israel. Hamas has made it clear they will never accept the presence of Israel. They will continue to wage war until the last Jew is forced out of the land. They want the entire land of Israel, not just a portion of it.
the destruction of the state of Israel
At the center of this war is the evil and fanatical regime in Iran. Iran’s radical Islamic leadership wants to form a caliphate [Global Islamic Empire] and rule the entire Middle East and the world. They see themselves as the arm of Allah [the god of Islam]. They believe they must bring about global chaos and destruction, which would lead to submission to Islam and pave the way for the coming of their Islamic messiah. At the heart of their immediate aim is the destruction of Israel and the defeat of the leadership in Saudi Arabia, the geographical capital of Islam. On Monday, May 10, the day the conflict with Hamas began, the Supreme Islamic leader in Iran, Ali Khamenei, said that “liberating Palestine is the number one goal of the Islamic [community]” (www.gatestoneinstitute.org, May 16, 2021).
It is a documented fact that Iran is the leading Islamic terrorist state in the Middle East. They are training, supporting, and funding terrorists in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and Yemen. While Iran is a Muslim nation, it is not admired by the Arab nations of the Middle East. The Iranians are not Arabs. They are Persians, speaking Farsi. They are Shiite Muslims, while most of the Arabs are of the Sunni division of Islam. Historically, there has been a great rift between these two Islamic groups. They literally hate each other. Consequently, the potential of a nuclear Iran is a threat to the entire region. This is why the Sunni Arabs have been driven to accept Israel and develop a relationship with her. Simply put, the Arabs fear Iran more than Israel.
In the broader view of how the Middle East conflict is shaping our world, people who are aiming to establish a godless New World Order [NWO] to control the world are also in a circle of influence with Iran. A nuclear treaty signed with Iran in 2015 included China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States, and Germany. It is apparent that these nations have opened their arms to Iran so its evil regime can be a major player in their scheme to establish a NWO.
It is my opinion that former U.S. President Barak Obama, was aiming to create a new Middle East Order. In this order, tables were completely turned. Our former allies became enemies and our former enemies became our allies. From President Obama’s perspective as a proponent of the NWO, this was necessary to get rid of Israel. When Donald Trump became the U.S. president, all of this was reversed. President Trump reestablished an alliance with the former historical U.S. allies. The achievements of President Trump in the Middle East were stunning. He helped to create the Abraham Accord, bringing Israel into a relationship with Arab Sunni nations. However, when President Joe Biden came into office in January, he immediately returned to the Obama agenda.
Since the signing of the nuclear deal with Iran in 2015, it has become apparent that Iran has never intended to follow the terms of the accord. The Iranians have continued with their quest to develop a nuclear warhead. They have continued to enrich uranium beyond the level agreed to in the nuclear deal. Israeli intelligence, which is one of the best in the world, has proved this. However, in spite of this looming nuclear threat to the Middle East and the entire world, President Biden is steadfastly pushing forward to renew the nuclear agreement with Iran. It is pure insanity for the Biden administration to even contemplate reviving this deal with Iran. To appease the Iranians, Biden wants to lift crippling economic sanctions that were imposed by the Trump administration. The Iranian economy is in ruins, and by some accounts the Iranian people were beginning to turn against their evil leadership. Furthermore, Biden wants to sweeten the deal by offering the Iranians billions of dollars to reenter the 2015 nuclear deal. All of these negotiations were taking place while Iran was funding and supporting the Hamas war against Israeli civilians. This is not only insane, it is evil! Iran will take the money from the U.S. and use it to enlarge its war machine against Israel and the U.S.
Why would the president of the United States do this? It is apparent that his goal is to pursue an alliance with China, Russia, and Iran as a partner of the NWO. His association with the socialists in his party and the reshaping of America to fit into the NWO is more important to him than standing for what is morally correct and supporting our great friend and ally – Israel. Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East. It is a country that is founded upon the same Judeo-Christian principles grounded in the Bible. These developments are very alarming and do not bode well for the future of our nation and world.
All the while, President Biden says he is a friend of Israel. During the recent conflict, he did say Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas. However, his actions betray his empty words. Biden’s courtship with Iran and the nuclear deal prove to Iran and its terrorist proxies that the U.S. is abandoning its alliance with Israel and the Sunni Arab states. Furthermore, many of the people Biden has appointed to important positions that help to manage ties the U.S. has with Israel, have a history of hostility toward Israel. These appointments are not what one would expect from a president who is supposedly pro-Israel. Finally, Israel has noted that many of the Democrats in the U.S. Congress are becoming more vocal in their support of the Palestinians, at the expense of Israel. And Biden has not denounced his fellow Democrats or distanced himself from their anti-Israeli views. In some cases, he has even heaped praises upon them.
While the conflict between Israel and Hamas was in progress, the world witnessed a major increase in anti-Semitism. In Europe, thousands of protestors gathered to show their support for Hamas. At the same time, they were very vocal in their hatred for Israel and the Jews. In Germany, some were calling for people to kill Jews and rape Jewish women.
Jews in the U.S. were physically attacked by mobs. At the same time, dozens of faculty members of Princeton University signed a letter stating their opinions on the Middle East conflict. They condemned Israel for its treatment of Palestinians and said that the Israeli system was based upon Jewish supremacy. According to The Algemeiner, a Jewish publication in New York City, this letter said, “We salute the bravery and will-to-survival of Palestinians – the Occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza, and within Israel – as they resist the violence of the Israeli military, settler militias, and lynch mobs” (The Algemeiner, May 20, 2021).
These recent global developments certainly testify that we are witnessing a growing and seething hatred against Israel. The pot is about to boil over. As believers in Jesus Christ, we need to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6). History demonstrates that the rise of anti-Semitism usually is accompanied by an increase of hatred and persecution of Christians. Wherever Muslims or communists are in control, it is not safe for Jews and Christians. Both Jews and Christians are known as “the people of the book.”
The current cease fire between Hamas and Israel will not last. This conflict was the fourth war that Israel has fought against Hamas since they took over the Gaza area when it was vacated by Israel in 2007. Israel fought wars with Hamas in 2008, 2012, 2014, and last month.
Israel is also facing another proxy of Iran on its northern border with Lebanon – Hezbollah. This terrorist group has more than 150,000 rockets and missiles in its arsenal aimed at Israel. It is not an accident that while the prophet Joel wrote about the battle of Armageddon, the final battle at the end of the Tribulation, he mentioned both Lebanon and the coast of Palestine (Joel 3:4). As we watch the development of a NWO and the growing threat against Israel, we can rest assured that Israel is safe.
Long ago, God told Abraham that all who would curse His people would be cursed by Him (Genesis 12:3). Those who align themselves against Israel are in essence at war with God. God’s curse is upon them.
God has promised that He will defend His people. He has promised, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shall condemn” (Isaiah 54:17) Read the promises God made to Israel in Psalm 121. God has promised that when the end comes, He will “seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem” (Zechariah 12:9). When the forces of the Antichrist show up in Jerusalem at the battle of Armageddon, they will be in for the most awesome surprise of their lives. The Lord will return to earth from heaven in all of His majesty, glory, and fury. He will slay the forces of the Antichrist with His spoken word (Isaiah 34:1-8; 63:1-6; Zechariah 14:3, 12-15; Revelation 19:11-21).
As we watch the world turn upon the Jews and the nation of Israel, we can rest assured that God will not let them be destroyed. They are safe in the arms of God. The Lord has declared, “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6).
As we look back into the pages of history, we can trace the difficult path of the Jewish people. It is no wonder they are referred to as “the wandering Jew.” Because of their disobedience, God scattered them into the nations of the world where they have wandered for almost 2,000 years. While they are there, God gave them this promise, “And among these nations shall thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shall fear day and night, and shall have none assurance of thy life: In the morning thou shall say, Would God it were [evening]! And at [evening] thou shall say, Would God it were morning! For the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shall fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shall see” (Deuteronomy 28:65-67).
God’s record of protecting and defending the Jewish people is amazing. God has a unique role for Israel to play in the end-times. The events of the Second Coming of Christ and the establishment of His earthly kingdom for 1,000 years is founded upon the Jewish people and their Promised Land. We can be sure that Satan will do everything he can to prevent the return of Christ. In order to do this, he must attack the people who are God’s chosen instruments to bring this to pass.
More than 100 years ago, after visiting the Holy Land, Mark Twain looked back over history and wrote, “The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound, splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away: the Greek and the Romans followed, and made a vast noise, and they too are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, nor slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are moral but the Jew: all other forces pass, but he remains.” Just think! Mark Twain made that statement long before the rebirth of the modern nation of Israel. What would he say now? It has been amazing in my lifetime to watch the stunning growth of this little nation of a few million Jews who live in a land the size of the small state of New Jersey. Their accomplishments have captured the attention of the entire world.
After warning the Jewish people that their return to their home in the last days would provoke a great conflict, God then spoke through the prophet Ezekiel to give them another promise that would accompany this time of great difficulty. God said, “But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel: for they are at hand to come [home]. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown: And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be [built]: And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 36:8-11).
There are many who call themselves Christians who do not believe that God has any future purpose for the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. They have been deceived to believe that the church has replaced Israel in God’s program. That is a lie sown by the father of lies, Satan. The Bible tells us that it was God who scattered the Jews almost 2,000 years ago (Deuteronomy 28:64; 30:1). The same Word of God tells us that God is also gathering the Jews back to God’s land (Deuteronomy 30:3-5). God is not doing this for Israel’s sake. God has said, “I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land” (Ezekiel 36:22-24).
At this present hour, things may not look well for America or Israel. However, be assured my friend that the battle belongs to the Lord (1 Samuel 17:45). There is coming a day when “All the earth [will] know that there is a God in Israel” (1 Samuel 17:46). Get ready for the shout that will take us out!
A Warning to America
According to a recent article in The Epoch Times, “more than 120 retired U.S. generals and admirals signed an open letter warning that the United States is embroiled in an existential fight and urged ‘all citizens’ to get involved in local and state politics. We are in a fight for our survival as a Constitutional Republic like no other time since our founding in 1776. The conflict is between supporters of Socialism and Marxism vs. supporters of Constitutional freedom and liberty. …
“According to the Flag Officers 4 America website, [it is] a group of former military leaders who ‘pledged to support and defend the Constitution of the United Sates against all enemies,’ whether ‘domestic’ or ‘foreign.’” (The Epoch Times, May 13, 2021).