May 2018 – Golan Heights

Meeting on the Golan Heights
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the Israeli cabinet for a historic meeting on the Golan Heights in April 2016.

PTNews
May 2018
Published 10 times annually
All Bible references are from the KJV

(Examining Current Events in the Light of Bible Prophecy)
P.O. Box 13006, Roanoke, VA 24030-3006

The Golan Heights and the Last Days   

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 And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan [Golan Heights], and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim [East Bank] and Gilead [West Bank].”        Jeremiah 50:19

By Mike Wingfield

According to the sovereign plans of our eternal God, the area of Israel that is currently known as “the Golan Heights” will play a major role in His prophetic calendar in the events of the last days.  Since the 6-Day War in June 1967, Israel has occupied this territory. The international community considers it to be “disputed territory.”  Like the entire land of Israel, this tiny piece of property is at the center of the tug of war between God and Satan – heaven and hell.  As we examine the current events surrounding this small piece of property, it will become clear that the final stages are being set to fulfill what the Jewish prophets wrote about thousands of years ago.

We all need to wake up and realize that we are living in the most significant time in all of church history.  We are living in the days of the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy! The eternal plans of God are taking shape right before our eyes and the church in America is a spiritual slumber.  As the Apostle Paul admonished the church at Rome: “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” (Romans 13:11-12)

The Golan Heights is a 690 square mile area that consists of a high rugged mountainous plateau that extends south to the Yarmouk River.  It then continues northward along the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee, with the Huleh Valley (the finger of the Galilee) to its west, and extends northward toward Syria and Lebanon.  It continues ascending sharply as it extends up to Mount Hermon, which is 9,232 feet in altitude.  See the map on page 2.

In Old Testament days this area was called “Bashan.”  According to Deuteronomy 3:1-13, God enabled Israel, under the direction of Moses, to conquer the powerful king of Bashan, Og.  This region was fortified as a great military stronghold (with 60 walled cities). It was called “the land of giants.” (Deuteronomy 3:13)   In Numbers 21:33-35, God told Moses that He would give this region to Israel and they were to possess it.  A multitude of Scriptures indicate that the Golan Heights was given to half of the tribe of Manasseh as a part of their inheritance of the Promised Land. (Numbers 32:33; Joshua 13:29-32; 21:27; 1 Chronicles 5:23; 6:71)

Please notice how the Golan Heights rises up sharply on the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee. Whoever controls the Go-lan Heights has a major military advantage over this area of Galilee. This is one reason why Israel considers it to be of stra-tegic military significance to occupy this area, rather than to surrender it to enemies that want to destroy the Jewish nation.

The ancient history of Israel’s presence on the Golan Heights is confirmed by archeological remains.  More than 25 ancient synagogues have been excavated there.  In recent years, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “pointed out that the Golan is Israel’s ancient heritage, calling it an ‘integral part of the Land of Israel in ancient times. ….That is documented by dozens of ancient synagogues around us,’ he said, referring to the remains of Jewish settlements dating back thousands of years. ‘And the Golan is an integral part of the State of Israel in the present time.’”  (www.breakingisraelnews.com, April 17, 2016)

According to the prophetic Word of God, the Jewish people will return to this portion of their ancient homeland at the end of this age. While speaking about the last days in Jeremiah 50:19, God said: “And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan [Golan Heights], and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim [East Bank] and Gilead [West Bank].”  Today, there are approximately 14,000 Jewish residents living on the Golan Heights in 33 communities. [In our tour this fall we will visit some of these communities as we explore the Golan Heights and the area near the border with Lebanon.]

The story of the Jewish people’s return to the Golan Heights is amazing.  During the latter part of the Old Testament period, the Jewish people were in constant conflict with the kings of the north over this strategic part of the Promised Land. After the Jews were dispersed from the Holy Land in the first century, the entire land, including the Golan Heights, fell into the hands of a few Bedouin clans and tribes.  From 1517 to 1917, this area was controlled by the Islamic authorities of the Ottoman Turkish Empire.  When the Turks were defeated in World War I, the political powers of Great Britain and France were given the spoils of the war in the Middle East.  The British and the French carved up the Middle East, creating new boundaries and countries.  In this arrangement, the French were given control over Syria, carving out the new boundaries of the modern nation of Syria.  Part of this new territory included the Golan Heights, which extended south and included the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee.

After Israel’s War of Independence in 1948-49, Syria began to use this high ground for 19 years as a military platform to attack Israelis living in the Galilee.  The Syrians never used the Golan Heights for agricultural purposes, but only as a military zone to make life miserable for the Jewish people living in the valleys below this mountainous plateau.   The Syrians spent millions of dollars building reinforced concrete bunkers, planting land mines, and fortifying the Golan Heights during this period of time.  They brought in their long range military cannons and constantly shelled the Jewish communities in the area known as Huleh Valley, or “the finger of the Galilee.”  (See the map.)   For 19 years, the Jewish residents in this part of Galilee had to run to bomb shelters when the Syrians starting bombing their communities.  While standing on the Golan Heights, one of my former Israeli guides would tell the story of how when he was a young man he ploughed in the fields of the Huleh Valley. The Syrian snipers would constantly shoot at him.  The farmer had to put heavy metal shields around the tractor to protect himself as he ploughed his fields.

For 19 years Israel pleaded with the United Nations to stop this provocation against the Jewish people.  The United Nations turned a deaf ear to the cries of the Jewish people!  Finally, after Israel had soundly defeated Egypt and Jordan in the first 5 days of the 6-day war of June, 1967, Israel turned its attention to force the Syrians off of the Golan Heights.  In a little over one day, after several bloody battles, Israel paid a high price in casualties as its army stormed the mine infested Golan Heights and forced the Syrians to retreat toward Syria. Some of the Syrians were so terrified by the advancing Israeli army that they got in their military vehicles and drove across their own mine fields and blew themselves up.  I have seen this area on several of my tours and have photographed the bunkers and twisted wreckage of the Syrian vehicles still sitting in some of the Syrian mine fields.

Only 6 years after this war, in 1973, Syria stormed the Golan Heights with hundreds of tanks, while Egypt invaded the Sinai in the south.  All of this happened on Yom Kipper, while most of Israel’s army was on leave and celebrating this high and holy day with their families in their synagogues.  God enabled only a handful of brave Israelis on the Golan to hold off the Syrians until the Israeli army was able to move its troops and tanks in place to defend their country.  There were many Israeli casualties, but once again, Syria and Egypt were soundly defeated.

Finally, the Israeli government decided to annex the Golan Heights in 1981 and begin to exercise official control over the area.  Since that time, Israel has never launched an offensive attack against Syria or Lebanon.  There have been numerous occasions, even in recent weeks, where Israel has been provoked to launch a retaliatory attack against military installations of their enemies in southern Lebanon and in Syria.  Unlike Syria, Israel has developed the Golan for peaceful purposes.

About one-third of Israel’s fresh water supplies come from this region.  One of the major tributaries of the Jordan River is located at the base of Mount Hermon near Israel’s border with Lebanon.  Here, the melted snow from the snow-capped 9,232 foot high mountain comes out of the ground at Caesarea Philippi and flows south into the Sea of Galilee. The rich volcanic soil in this region is being cultivated by Israeli farmers who grow a multitude of crops, and have some of the best vineyards in Israel. The cooler climate is perfect for growing vegetables (like cabbage, broccoli, potatoes, etc.) and fruits (like apples, cherries, pears, etc.).  This grassy high ground provides the perfect location for beef and dairy cattle farming, just as it did in Biblical times.  (Amos 4:1)   Add to all of this, the Israelis only have one place to ski during the winter, Mount Hermon.

Since the Israelis annexed the Golan in 1981, the international community, including some of the U.S. administrations, have applied enormous pressure upon Israel to give the Golan back to Syria in some kind of peace deal.  However, Israel has been wise to recognize that none of her Arab Islamic neighbors are ready to have true peace with Israel.

A few years ago, Israeli and American oil explorers drilled for oil at several sites on the Golan Heights.  They announced that their preliminary exploration indicates there are billions of barrels of oil underneath the Golan Heights.  It is estimated that it is enough oil to supply all of Israel’s economic needs and would make Israel energy independent for many years to come.  Within a very few months, Russia began to remind the world that Israel was illegally occupying the Golan Heights and needed to return it to Syria.  Perhaps Russian President Putin remembered that Israel occupied the Sinai after the 6-day war and discovered and developed oil wells in this area, only to be forced to give it all to Egypt in the deal brokered by U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat as a part of the Camp David Peace Accords on September 17, 1978.

With all of the mounting international pressure to return the Golan Heights to Syria, the Israelis know that caving into these demands would be committing political suicide for the nation.  Had Israel caved in to these international demands in the past, they would now be facing the same kind of threat and unrest that has existed in Syria since the eruption of the Syrian civil war several years ago. Instead of facing ISIS and other Islamic terrorist factions only a few miles from their northern border on the Golan Heights, Israel would now be dealing with these radical Islamic enemies on the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee.

On April 17, 2016, Breaking Israel News reported that on Sunday, April 10, 2016, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the Israeli Cabinet for the first time ever on the Golan Heights.  As the international community began to talk about a settlement to appease Syria in a cease fire of the ongoing civil war in Syria, the world, including some in President Barak Obama’s administration, were talking about forcing Israel to surrender the strategic Golan Heights to Syria.  In response to this, Prime Minister Netanyahu wanted to send a very strong message to the world. At this Israeli cabinet meeting on the Golan, He said: “I convened this celebratory meeting in the Golan Heights to send a clear message: The Golan will always remain in Israel’s hands. Israel will never withdraw from the Golan Heights.  … Whatever happens on the other side of the border, the border itself will not move. Secondly, after 50 years it is time that the international community realized that the Golan will remain under Israeli sovereignty.”

Meeting on the Golan Heights
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the Israeli cabinet for a historic meeting on the Golan Heights in April 2016.

As I have been sharing in the last few newsletters, the situation Israel is facing on their northern border on the Golan Heights is becoming very serious. Russia and Iran want nothing more than to take control of the riches in Israel. This is why they are exerting control over Syria and hiding behind the puppet Syrian government to disguise their evil plans from the world.

With the newly discovered oil deposits on the Golan, worth billions of dollars, Russia is pretending to defend Syria’s interests on the Golan Heights.  This is the real reason behind Russia’s military defense of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.  For many years, Russia has looked at the agriculturally rich land in Israel, their warm sea ports, the rich minerals in the Dead Sea, the newly discovered massive natural gas deposits off the Mediterranean coast, and now the discovery of oil on the Golan Heights.   Russia is looking at Israel with eyes of envy and is thirsty to collect this economic bonanza that would fuel Putin’s dream to take over the world.

It is not an accident that as all of this develops, that Putin continues to threaten the world with Russia’s military supremacy.  On March 1, 2018, the Associated Press release the following statements: “Russia has tested an array of new strategic nuclear weapons that can’t be intercepted, President Vladimir Putin declared Thursday [March 1], claiming a technological breakthrough that could dramatically increase Russia’s military capability, boost the Kremlin’s global position and also raise Western concerns about a potential renewed arms race in the 21st century.

“Speaking in a state-of-the-nation speech, Putin said the weapons include a nuclear-powered cruise missile, a nuclear-powered underwater drone and a new hypersonic missile that have no equivalent elsewhere in the world. He said the creation of the new weapons has made NATO’s U.S.-led missile defense ‘useless,’ and means an effective end to what he described as Western efforts to stymie Russia’s development. …

“[Putin said:] ‘I want to tell all those who have fueled the arms race over the last 15 years, sought to win unilateral advantages over Russia, introduced unlawful sanctions aimed to contain our country’s development: all what you wanted to impede with your policies have already happened,’ he said. ‘You have failed to contain Russia. … We will interpret any use of nuclear weapons against Russia and its allies no matter how powerful they are, of low, medium or any other yield, as a nuclear attack,’ he said. ‘It will trigger an immediate answer with all the consequences stemming from it. No one should have any doubts about it.’” (Associated Press release on March 1, 2018)

Was this a veiled threat by Putin directed toward Israel?  Was he threatening Israel with Russian retaliation if Israel attacks Iran?  It certainly could be interpreted this way.

The situation with Iran is a little different.  Iran would also like to seize the wealth in Israel.  However, Iran is primarily being fueled by its radical Islamic agenda that calls for the complete annihilation of Israel.  Its motive for building military bases in Syria is to magnify its threat to destroy Israel.

Israel is not fooled by Iran’s intentions.  As mentioned in the last few newsletters, Iran has been provoking Israel from its military positions in Syria.  In a recent article in The Jerusalem Report, analyst Reuven Ben-Shalom, stated: “The Iran-Israel confrontation is now transitioning to a new phase.  After years of exchanging blows by proxies and activation covert and clandestine means, an overt and direct engagement is now materializing. … The UAV incident was not a singular event but a milestone in a spiral towards war.” (The Jerusalem Report, March 5, 201, p.9)

This kind of thinking has forced Israel in the last few weeks to openly deliver a very strong message to Iran.  Israel has informed Iran that if they continue to build a military presence in Syria and/or attempt to infiltrate Israeli airspace again, that Israel’s response will be a direct attack upon Iran and not just its military proxies in Syria or Lebanon.

In recent days, Israel has stunned the entire world with a bold move that proves they are preparing to make good on their bold warning to Iran. Israel Today, a Messianic publication from Jerusalem, has reported: “Arab media [a Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida] reported this week that Israeli fighter jets recently entered Iranian airspace and locked on to targets in several major Iranian cities.

“The jets in question were all from Israel’s new fleet of advanced F-35 stealth fighters, which were able to carry out the probing mission without detection by Iran’s Russian-supplied air defenses. …

“The newspaper reported that two Israeli F-35s flew over Syria and Iraq, presumably in coordination with American forces in the region, before penetrating Iranian airspace and circling high over three large Iranian cities – Bandar Abbas, Esfahan and Shiraz.

“All three cities house major components of Iran’s nuclear program, and the Israeli jets practiced locking on to these targets before returning safely to Israel.”  (www.israeltoday.co.il)

According to Jeremiah 49:34-39, in the last days, Elam (the ancient Biblical name for Iran), will suffer a defeat that will cause its land to be uninhabitable until a remnant returns in the latter days – probably during the Kingdom Age.  Is this a reference to a strike on Iran’s nuclear sites that could possibly cause nuclear fallout as a result of their destruction? Are we about to witness this?  Will this be the hook in the jaw that Ezekiel reported would cause the Russian and Iranian invasion of Israel in Ezekiel 38?   Only time will tell!

It is clear to those of us who are following all of these events in the light of Biblical prophecy that our world is rapidly moving toward a major showdown between nuclear powers.  Little Israel has no choice but to defend itself against these serious threats.  From a human point of view, they have no other choice.

As mentioned in our April newsletter, the Israelis are very confident in their military capabilities to defend themselves against any provocation.  This kind of confidence is illustrated with the following comments by Reuven Ben-Shalom in the previously mentioned article of The Jerusalem Report.  He wrote: “Even if such battle days eventually lead to war, we must not wallow in thoughts of an existential nature.  The next war will certainly be devastating, and the Israeli home front will sustain an unprecedented barrage of rockets and missiles.  But I believe that Israelis will pull through and demonstrate resilience.  The State of Israel does not face an existential threat. …

“Israel’s technological supremacy is stupefying, with range of capabilities kept at bay and saved for a ‘doomsday’ scenario.  Although I dislike haughty threats by Israeli politicians, our enemies had best internalize that they are not bluffing.”  (The Jerusalem Report, March 5, 2018, p. 9)

For those of us who read about God’s defense of Israel in the Bible and also humbly review its wars in modern history, we know that Israel was not victorious because of military supremacy.  When Israel first entered the Promised Land under the direction of a new leader, Joshua, God demonstrated at Jericho that the battle belongs to the Lord. When Israel fought in the War of Independence, they were overwhelmed numerically and militarily.  They won that war and all of the others because God is on their side.

The Jewish people of old knew that God had fought with them and for them.  Psalm 44:1-8 states: “We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old. How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out. For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them. Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob. Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.  For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever.”

Should Iran provoke Israel again, and Israel retaliate with a strike against Iranian nuclear installations (which the Russians have help Iran develop), will it provoke a response that will lead to Gog and Magog?  We are the first generation to ever be able to envision how all of this could unfold.  We are living at a time when it is coming to fruition.

Mount Bental pic
Mount Bental is only one of many dormant volcanoes that dot the landscape of the eastern area of Israel’s Golan Heights.

When Russia and Iran, along with their allies do come against Israel, God has His weapons in place on the Golan Heights.  First, God will bring about a massive earthquake in the region – “a great shaking in the land of Israel.” (Ezekiel 38:19)  This will be a powerful earthquake.  God says: “…all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.” (Ezekiel 38:20)   Did you know that the power released by an 8.0 earthquake is equal to the power of all of the nuclear weapons that are in the Russian and American nuclear arsenals? That means that all of Russia’s bragging about its nuclear weapons is a joke compared to what God has in His arsenal!

The earthquake in Israel will jar loose the dormant volcanoes that dot the landscape of the Golan Heights.  Listen to what God says in Ezekiel 38:22: “And I will plead against him [Russia, Iran and others in this invading force] with pestilence and with blood [think red hot magma- see Isaiah 26:21 and the reference to the blood of the earth]; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.”  The many Biblical references that speak of blood, fire, hailstones, and brimstone, I am convinced, are references to volcanic eruptions.  (For example see Joel 2:30 and Revelation 8:7.)

God has chosen to magnify Himself through the little nation of Israel.  God has said: “This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.” (Isaiah 43:21)    God is setting the stage for one of the greatest displays of His almighty power.

A powerful leader of Magog (Russia) is bragging about his military might to the entire world. He is threatening the entire world and boasting that no one will stop Russia. Iran is boasting to the world that they will wipe the nation of Israel off the face of the earth.  The whole world is watching.

God has an answer.  His weapons are in place on the Golan Heights.  He said: “Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself: and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.”  (Ezekiel 38:23)   It is only a matter of time!