As the players in the Middle East events become more and more violent, it becomes more and more clear that the issue is not land. The true issue is much more serious and much more dangerous. In view of the tremendous number of prophecies in the Bible concerning "the last days," and the things we are seeing now right before our eyes, it should come as no surprise that the real issue is "religion."
The real issue is "who IS God?"
Several years ago, at a meeting with Yasser Arafat, the Prime Minister of Israel decided to just give him what he wanted, because the Israelis were just so tired of the violence. So Ehud Barak offered the "Palestinians" just about everything they were demanding -- 95 percent of the "West Bank," and was even willing to divide Jerusalem and let the "Palestinians" take East Jerusalem as their capital for their Palestinian State. It should have been a slam-dunk end to the story. But what happened? Yasser Arafat got up, walked out, and cancelled any further "negotiations," leaving everyone stunned. And at that point, the whole world should have understood that this was not about land.
Fast-forward to today. It is now becoming clear that most of the Islamic terrorist groups afflicting Israel are actually proxies for the government of Iran. And one good thing that has come out of all this is that the truth is no longer being hidden behind the guise of a struggle for land. This is about whose God is God. The Muslim intent is to subject the entire world under Islam. They believe it is their CALLING to rid the world of the two great obstacles to that -- Israel and the United States of America. The God of the Jews, and the God of the Christians. To even the most casual observer this is clear at this point, because they say it loudly and clearly and often.
Which leads to a comment, an observation that I believe is quite telling on this subject.
The Arab nations have been in the Middle East continuously for over 4,000 years. They have never been dispersed throughout the earth as Israel has. They have had 4,000 uninterrupted years to develop.
Israel has been in her land now for 69 years. Why has Israel been able to build a state as modern, as prosperous, and as advanced as it is today, after a world-wide dispersion, persecution throughout that time and in every place, a Holocaust determined to destroy every Jew on the continent, and the birth of their new nation at the hands of the survivors of the most devastating torture and death camps known to man?
*** Why has Israel been able to do in 69 years what the Arabs have not been able to do in 4,000 years of uninterrupted presence?
The answer is the God of Israel.
For it is Israel's God who kept her through all her sufferings and wanderings, and it is Israel's God who is glorified in her restoration IN SPITE of the determination of the Arabs to destroy her. The God of Israel is made obvious in the blessings on Israel, making her a chief among the nations in only 69 years though she has only a sliver of the land of the Middle East.
The god of Islam apparently is unable to bless his people or his lands, though they have 99 percent of the land in the Middle East, and almost unlimited supplies of the world's most precious commodity -- oil.
While on this subject, let's make another enlightening comparison between nations:The richest, most powerful, and most advanced nation on the face of the earth today is the United States of America. The US was founded on the Judeo-Christian Bible, the Word of the Lord, and is blessed beyond all the nations of the earth. Now take a look at Haiti. Haiti is one of the most poverty-stricken nations on the face of the earth. The government of Haiti dedicated their nation to Satan not once, but later confirmed it, and then confirmed it a third time by official government proclamation. Satan's dedicated land is a land of abject poverty, curses, voodoo, and death. In contrasting the two we see revealed the god or God behind the conditions of each country.
So here's the comparison:
Israel -Her God is the God of the Bible. She is among the most prosperous and advanced nations on earth in spite of endless hatred against her. Her sons have been among the great men of the earth in science, medicine, and in every field they have been involved in.
America -under the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible is prosperous beyond any nation that has ever been on the earth.
The lands of Islam? -under the moon god, "Allah." Backward, oppressed, and hate-filled.
Haiti? -dedicated to Satan and one of the most oppressed nations on the face of the earth.
God has showed Himself in His peoples.
And Satan has done the same.
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord."
Psalm 33:12
Ishmael-Isaac - The Truth About the "Palestinian State"
Ishmael wants to create its "Palestinian State" ---WITHIN
the borders of Israel ! !
And Ishmael is demanding that its capital will be half of Jerusalem …WHICH IS ISRAEL'S CAPITAL!!!
And the world can't see the insanity of that!
To whom does the land belong? Depends on who you listen to, the media …OR the Word of the God of Israel.
God specified which of Abraham's sons he would establish the covenant with:
"And Abraham said to God, 'Oh, that Ishmael (father of the Arabs)
might live before You!'
Then God said:
'NO, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son,
and you shall call his name Isaac;
I will establish my covenant with HIM
for an EVERLASTING covenant,
and with HIS descendants after him.'"
Genesis 17:18-19
This issue is very polarizing because the bottom line is man's acceptance or rejection of the Word of God.
Throughout history, from the very Garden-of-Eden scene, Satan's method of keeping mankind away from God is his constant temptation to doubt or disbelieve the Word of God.
"Has God indeed said.....?" posited Satan, casting doubt on what God had clearly said.
Satan is spoken of throughout the Bible, yet one of his cleverest schemes is to convince man he doesn't exist, or to make man think he is some caricature in a red suit with a long tail. If he can make mankind laugh at the idea, he has succeeded.
Satan's method-of-operation is DECEPTION. As it was in the beginning, so it is still.
"Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature,
for he is a liar and the father of it.
John 8:44
SATAN’S AGENDA IS: to keep mankind away from the Truth. He doesn’t care what you believe as long as it isn’t the Truth. He doesn't approach with a sign saying, "Here comes Satan, out to destroy you." He doesn't come as an ugly evil that mankind might easily recognize and reject. No, he comes as "an angel of light." He makes deception seem reasonable.
"For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.”
2nd Corinthians 11:14
Mankind's only defense against Satan is the Word of God, the Bible. You will not realize you're being deceived, unless you KNOW the Word of God. Your ONLY defense against deception is to know the Word of God.
The Israel story is there to polorize those who will accept what God has said -in this case about Israel, -against what the world so vocally and loudly contradicts. It's a hard one, because Satan has made sure that the "cause of the Palestinians" draws out the sympathy of those who don't understand the story.
It's your choice: either what the world says, what the pundits say, what the media puts out, what professors teach…
-OR-
what God has said …which will often be evident by the amount of people who make fun of it.
The Real Truth About Israel and Jerusalem
Israel became a state in 1312 B.C, two millennia before Islam.
Arab refugees from Israel began calling themselves "Palestinians" in 1967, two decades after modern Israeli statehood.
After conquering the land in 1272 B.C, Jews ruled it for a thousand years and maintained a continuous presence for 3,300 years.
For over 3,300 years, Jerusalem was the Jewish capital. It was NEVER the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even under Jordanian rule, east Jerusalem was not made the capital, and no Arab leader came to visit it.
Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in the Bible, but NOT ONCE is it mentioned in the Quran.
King David founded Jerusalem. Mohammed NEVER set foot in it.
Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims face Mecca. If they are between the two cities, Muslims pray facing Mecca, with their backs to Jerusalem.
In 1948, Arab leaders urged their people to leave, promising to cleanse the land of Jewish presence. 68% of them fled without ever setting eyes on an Israeli soldier.
Virtually the entire Jewish population of Muslim countries had to flee as the result of violence and pogroms.
Some 630,000 Arabs left Israel in 1948, while close to a million Jews were forced to leave the Muslim countries.
In spite of the vast territories at their disposal, Arab refugees were prevented from assimilating into their host countries. Of 100 million refugees following World War II, they are the only group to have never integrated with their co-religionists.
Most of the Jewish refugees from Europe and Arab lands were settled in Israel, a country no larger than the state of New Jersey.
There are 22 Arab countries, not counting "Palestine."
There is only one Jewish state.
Arabs started all five wars against Israel, and lost every one of them.
Fatah and Hamas constitutions still call for the DESTRUCTION of Israel.
Israel ceded most of the West Bank and all of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, and even provided it with arms.
During the Jordanian occupation, Jewish holy sites were vandalized and were off-limits to Jews.
Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian holy sites are accessible to all faiths.
Out of 175 United Nations Security Council resolutions up until 1990, 97 were against Israel.
Out of 690 General Assembly resolutions, 429 were against Israel.
The UN was silent when the Jordanians destroyed 58 synagogues in the Old City of Jerusalem.
It remained silent while Jordan systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives. And it remained silent when Jordan enforced apartheid laws preventing Jews from accessing the Temple Mount and Western Wall.
These are trying times. We must ask ourselves what we should be doing, and what we will tell our grandchildren about our actions during this crisis, when we had the chance to make a difference.
Arab refugees from Israel began calling themselves "Palestinians" in 1967, two decades after modern Israeli statehood.
After conquering the land in 1272 B.C, Jews ruled it for a thousand years and maintained a continuous presence for 3,300 years.
For over 3,300 years, Jerusalem was the Jewish capital. It was NEVER the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even under Jordanian rule, east Jerusalem was not made the capital, and no Arab leader came to visit it.
Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in the Bible, but NOT ONCE is it mentioned in the Quran.
King David founded Jerusalem. Mohammed NEVER set foot in it.
Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims face Mecca. If they are between the two cities, Muslims pray facing Mecca, with their backs to Jerusalem.
In 1948, Arab leaders urged their people to leave, promising to cleanse the land of Jewish presence. 68% of them fled without ever setting eyes on an Israeli soldier.
Virtually the entire Jewish population of Muslim countries had to flee as the result of violence and pogroms.
Some 630,000 Arabs left Israel in 1948, while close to a million Jews were forced to leave the Muslim countries.
In spite of the vast territories at their disposal, Arab refugees were prevented from assimilating into their host countries. Of 100 million refugees following World War II, they are the only group to have never integrated with their co-religionists.
Most of the Jewish refugees from Europe and Arab lands were settled in Israel, a country no larger than the state of New Jersey.
There are 22 Arab countries, not counting "Palestine."
There is only one Jewish state.
Arabs started all five wars against Israel, and lost every one of them.
Fatah and Hamas constitutions still call for the DESTRUCTION of Israel.
Israel ceded most of the West Bank and all of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, and even provided it with arms.
During the Jordanian occupation, Jewish holy sites were vandalized and were off-limits to Jews.
Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian holy sites are accessible to all faiths.
Out of 175 United Nations Security Council resolutions up until 1990, 97 were against Israel.
Out of 690 General Assembly resolutions, 429 were against Israel.
The UN was silent when the Jordanians destroyed 58 synagogues in the Old City of Jerusalem.
It remained silent while Jordan systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives. And it remained silent when Jordan enforced apartheid laws preventing Jews from accessing the Temple Mount and Western Wall.
These are trying times. We must ask ourselves what we should be doing, and what we will tell our grandchildren about our actions during this crisis, when we had the chance to make a difference.