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.
Israeli Kids Send a Message of Love to Gaza Kids
This past weekend the leadership of Hamas (which means “violence” in Hebrew) sent another group of thousands of hate- filled terrorists to the border fence in southern Israel. For weeks they have stormed the border fence with burning tires, hand-made bombs, and shouts of hate, defiance and destruction. Their ultimate goal is to physically dismantle the fence and travel throughout Israel to kill as many Israelis as possible.
Hamas has been in control of Gaza since 2007 and it has been their open policy to use whatever means necessary – missiles, underground tunnels, etc., – to send a message to Israel and the world that the Jewish nation and her people must be destroyed. In recent weeks, the Palestinians in this area released fire kites that have burned crops and trees in southern Israel, causing great damage to farms in the area.
In response, Israel has had to use force, sometimes bringing about the death of hundreds of people who are being used as human shields and sacrifices to force the world to empathize with Hamas’ cause. This lethal force is necessary to stop the infiltration of these terrorist into Israel, brining death and destruction in their path. Unfortunately, in this world of fake news and unethical agendas, the United Nations continues to condemn Israel for defending itself, while praising the unjust cause of Hamas. The world continues to reward hate and violence, rather than support the Jewish people who cry for love and peace.
This past week-end, the Israeli children near this border sent a message of love to the children of Gaza. They sent thousands of balloons into the air to float toward Gaza. These balloons carried candies and a message of hope and love to the children of Gaza. It was aimed at saying to the Gaza children: “You may hate us, but we do not hate you.”
I wonder how many media correspondence across the world will report this story. This story underlines the truth that I have discovered. It is the Israelis who want peace and acceptance. It is the terrorists who are filled with hate and total rejection of the Jewish people. Long ago the Psalmist said in behalf of the Jewish people: “I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.” (Psalm 120:7)
Another message of hope and love from the air will soon return to Israel. The Messiah – the Lord Jesus- will return to Israel with a message of peace for the nation. All of the nations who have oppressed Israel will suffer the vengeance of the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 62:11- 63:6) Then, the nations that hate Israel will support the Jewish people and the Jewish nation. (Isaiah 60:1-18) War will be over and peace will reign across the region and around the world. (Isaiah 2:1-4) How I long for that day to come! This why Jesus taught us to pray: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)
To read the article about this story go to: www.israeltoday.co.il
New Diplomatic Winds Blowing in the Middle East
The Middle East continues to undergo a radical change from recent decades. Until recent years, the entire Arab Islamic world was united against Israel and used the status of the Palestinian refugees and the conflict over the land as the focal point of their rejection of Israel. However, all of that is changing. The great conflict within Islam between the Sunnis and Shias is driving the Sunnis to develop a new relationship with Israel.
In the last few years, many Sunni states in the Persian Gulf area, including Saudi Arabia, have been greatly concerned about the militant movements of the Shia Muslims, especially Iran. From a Sunni perspective, they see Iran and its allies Russia and Turkey threatening to take over the region. They view what is happening in Syria as being very dangerous. Until recent years, Syria had a Sunni majority. However, with the help of the Russians, the Syrian government is killing and/or driving out the Sunni population, so that the present Syrian government (which is of a different religious/political group) will not have any opposition. The Iranians have come to the aid of Syria in order to gain a militant foothold against Israel and the other Sunni Arab/Muslims in the region.
Saudi Arabia knows that Iran would love to overthrow the present family of Saud in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have been defending themselves against the Houti rebels, backed by Iran, in Southern Yemen for several years.
In light of this, it is very interesting that the present Saudi leadership is beginning to move closer toward Israel and distancing itself from the Palestinians. The Palestinians in Gaza have accepted Hamas, an Islamic terrorist group that has strong ties to Iran.
According to Israel Today,the future Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia recently made the following comments:“Saudi Arabia’s future king, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, apparently sees the Palestinian leadership as the primary obstacle to peace in the Holy Land.
That according to an Israel Channel 10 News report on the prince’s meeting with Jewish leaders in New York last month.
According to remarks attributed to the Saudi leader, he mercilessly criticized the Palestinian Authority for failing to make peace with Israel over the 40 years of the current peace process.
‘For the past 40 years, the Palestinian leadership has missed opportunities again and again, and rejected all the offers it was given,” bin Salman reportedly said. “It’s about time that the Palestinians accept the offers, and agree to come to the negotiating table — or they should shut up and stop complaining.’” (israeltoday.co.il)
All of this is setting the stage for the final wars of the last days.
Israeli Jets Lock on to nuclear targets in Iran
Israel Today, a Messianic publication from Jerusalem, has reported: “Arab media 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.
All this according to the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida.
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!
Is this the Prelude to the Gog and Magog War?
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.