Category: Politics

Israel is now officially recognized within Israel as ‘a Jewish state.’ The “Israel’s Knesset, by a vote of 62-55 with two abstentions, passed the contentious ‘Jewish Nation-State’ bill into law Thursday morning, July 19, making it the 14th Basic Law. ‘122 years after Herzl published his vision, we have stated by law the basic principle of our existence,’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said from the Knesset podium. Arab [representatives] denounced the new law as ‘racist’ and declared that it heralded the ‘death of our democracy.’ The law declares Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people and codifies Jewish symbols of the state, including the Menorah on various official documents and seals, the status of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and national holidays centered around Jewish traditions and customs.” (int.icej.org) This means that the political process in Israel is finally recognizing what God declared in the Bible thousands of years ago.

The recent escalation between Israel, Russia and Iran in Syria is raising questions in Israel concerning ancient Biblical prophecies. According to the prophet Ezekiel (chapters 38-39), Russia, Iran, Turkey and other Islamic nations will invade Israel on its northern border in the last days. (Ezekiel 39:2; Joel 2:20) Ezekiel stated that God will cause certain conditions to develop that will provoke this invasion: “And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth…” (Ezekiel 38:4) What will be the nature of this divine provocation?
All of Israel is talking about the developments on their northern border. Those who know these Biblical prophecies are wondering, as I am, are we witnessing the provocation that will start this war? In the last few months, Israel has been attacking Iranian positions in Syria to stop the flow of dangerous military equipment to their proxy army, Hezbollah, in Lebanon. However, in the last few days, this has escalated. A few days ago, Iran sent a military drone (unmanned aircraft) into Israeli territory. Israel considers Iran to be an enemy that has openly sworn that it will destroy the Jewish state. Therefore, Israel retaliated. The Israeli Air Force flew into Syria and bombed the location that was the command center for the military drone that infiltrated Israeli air space. In the process, the Russian-made air defense system in Syria successfully damaged an Israeli F-16, forcing it to crash in Israeli territory. Thankfully, both pilots ejected themselves from the aircraft and safely landed, with some injuries, inside of Israel. This marked the first time since 1982 that Israel has lost an aircraft. Consequently, Israel once again sent a squadron of fighter jets into Syrian territory, destroying 12 major Syrian military installations. One of the installations that Israel destroyed was a major military command center. Syria, Iran, and Russia were shocked because they all thought this was a secret facility that Israel did not know existed.
Many Islamic enemies of Israel, in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinians, etc. danced in the streets when they heard that Israel had lost an F-16 in its confrontation in Syria. They saw this as a major military victory over Israel. One needs to understand that in the past, it has been this kind of scenario that has provoked a dangerous escalation of war with Israel. Many of the enemies of Israel view the downing of this F-16 as an indication that Israel is not invincible and that the time has come when they need to take advantage of this perceived moment of Israeli military weakness.
About a week before these developments, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a special trip, along with some of Israel’s military commanders, to talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Russian military leaders about the developments in Syria along Israel’s northern border. The Israelis made it clear that they did not want to harm Russian military personnel deployed in Syria. However, Netanyahu boldly communicated to Putin that Israel would not be deterred from destroying any Iranian effort to develop a military presence in Syria, or transfer missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Given the blind hatred that Iran has for Israel and its determination to destroy the Jewish homeland, there is no question that all of this is about to escalate. What will happen if Iran continues to provoke Israel? What would happen if Israel were to accidentally kill some Russia military personnel in one of its defensive responses to another Iranian provocation? Will Iran give Hezbollah the green light to begin a war against Israel?
Without question, in light of the prophetic Scriptures, these developments certainly indicate that the war that Ezekiel wrote about is just over the horizon. Many rabbis in Israel are alerting the nation that these developments are heralding the coming of their long-awaited messiah. One rabbi said: “It is not a matter of whether or not the War of Gog and Magog is coming. It is a matter of time and at this point, we are counting the days.”
(www.breakingisraelnews.com)
I personally believe that the battle of Gog and Magog will happen before the Rapture. If this is a true assessment, we are very close to the Rapture. Get ready to fly! It appears we are going home soon.

The governing body in Israel, the Knesset, passed a bill on Tuesday, January 2, that effectively will make it impossible in the future to legally divide the city of Jerusalem. According to Israel Today, “This new legislation requires a three-fourths majority of 80 members of Knesset to ever alter the status of Jerusalem or surrender portions of the Holy City as part of a future peace agreement. Corralling a two-thirds majority for anything in the Israel Knesset is next to impossible, as evidenced by the vote on this very bill.” (israeltoday.co.il)

This new law, along with President Trump’s announcement to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, will receive great resistance in the Islamic world and liberal western nations. This will intensify the battle for Jerusalem. According to the prophetic Scriptures, Israel will control the Temple Mount and the Old City until the Antichrist wrestles it away from them during the Tribulation Period. The Antichrist will take charge of the newly constructed Jewish temple on the Temple Mount at the mid-point of the Tribulation. (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15-21; Revelation 11:1-2) The struggle for Jerusalem, especially the Old City, will continue throughout the last half of the Tribulation. (Revelation 11:1-2) Israel will maintain control of the Old City until the final days of the Battle of Armageddon. During this battle, the Antichrist will take control of half of Jerusalem, the Old City. However, he will then be defeated by Messiah at His revelation. Messiah will liberate Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:1-3), making it the capital of His international kingdom. (Zechariah 14:16-21)

Without question, we are witnessing the development of very significant events that are preparing our world for the final seven years, known as the Tribulation Period. Believers in Christ will fly home to heaven in the Rapture before this time begins. “Get ready for the shout that will take us out!”