An obstacle to Peace
Late last week in the online edition of ‘Israel Today’ a headline read; “Trump, Haley Attack Palestinian Authority as Obstacle to Peace.” The article went on to say; “While attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday, US President Donald Trump again let loose on the Palestinian Authority (PA), accusing it of being the primary obstacle to peace. “That money is not going to them unless they sit down and negotiate peace, because I can tell you that Israel does want to make peace, and they’re going to have to want to make peace, too, or we’re going to have nothing to do with it any longer,” said Trump of the large amount of financial aid the US contributes annually to the PA and international organizations supporting it. Trump criticized past administrations for not leveraging American aid to persuade the Palestinians to adhere to signed agreements and be more pliable regarding their red lines. As for Jerusalem, Trump insisted that, at least for the time being, it’s “off the table.” Meanwhile at the UN Security Council, US Ambassador Nikki Haley was busy accusing Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas as being either unwilling or unable to actually make peace with Israel. “We will not chase after a Palestinian leadership that lacks what is needed to achieve peace,” said Haley. “Peace will not be achieved without leaders with courage.” She went on to note that all Abbas has done of late is reject “any American role in peace talks. He insulted the American president. He called for suspending recognition of Israel… Hate-filled speeches and end-runs around negotiations take us nowhere.”
In the unseen spiritual realm
One thing we always need to keep in mind is that the conflict we see in the physical and seen world is a reflection of the battle going on in the spiritual and unseen world. These ancient principalities and powers of darkness have always been around. The Ancient Philistines, who originally occupied the Gaza Strip in the time of King David, were a nation steeped in the occult. We are told in Deuteronomy and 1 Corinthians that the worship of idols is the worship of demons. (Deuteronomy 32:16-17) (1 Corinthians 8:4) Satan has always wanted to destroy Israel because he knows that God’s prophetic plans and purposes including the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus are depended on His promises to Israel as a nation. Satan also knows that the Lord Jesus is Jewish and he hates the Jews and wants to destroy them.
Implacability!
When the Israelites first marched into Canaan under Joshua their Commander in Chief they were faced with nations that were under demonic power because of their idolatry. In fact worshipping idols was worshipping Satan and Satan’s hate for the Jewish people was reflected in the hate of the Canaanites who really had it in for the Israelites. The Philistines were no exception of course and today Hamas and the PA including Abbas and Co are all under the same power of these wicked principalities as were the Philistines. We must not be surprised then at the hostility and hate and implacability of Abbas and the like. The reality is that you cannot make peace with Islam. There is only one solution to a lasting peace in the Middle-East and it is not through human engineering that it will happen but only when the Messiah is back on earth and the nations beat their swords into ploughshares.
We should pray for the peace of Jerusalem. But how should we pray?
1. We should pray and keep on praying to the LORD; “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.” The emphasis of the Greek text is “Let Your kingdom come now! Let Your will be done now!” it has the sense of urgency, it is not a casual “by and by” type prayer, it is imperative. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah “On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; All day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the LORD, take no rest for yourselves; And give Him no rest until He establishes And makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” (Isaiah 62:7)
2. We should pray that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu come to faith in the Lord Jesus as His saviour and Lord and that his members of the Knesset will also become believers in Jesus the Messiah, added to this, that they might turn back to the God of their forefathers when they are seeking to make decisions in conjunction with leaders of other nations concerning Israel’s welfare.
3. We should pray for all of our Messianic Jewish brothers and sisters who are faithfully witnessing and seeking to win their fellow Israelites to faith in the Lord Jesus and that many Jews will be saved before the Time of Jacob trouble comes upon the nation.
An age long battle
When we do pray for Israel we need to always keep in mind that the physical conflicts we see in the Middle-east between Israel and their Islamic neighbours is the visible outworking of an age long battle between God and Satan in the unsean spiritual world. Of course Satan has been already defeated at the cross and will lose big time in the end but he is not yet in the pit. When we do pray for Israel we will find ourselves engaged in a spiritual wrestling match with the demonic powers active in this world, those wicked principalities in that unseen spiritual realm that hate the Triune God, hate the Bible and hate Jews and Christians. This is why as belivers in the Lord Jesus we need to put on the whole armour of God everyday and always pray in the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 6:10-18) (Jude 1:20-21)
The principalities over Iran and Turkey
In the Book of Daniel we read what the angel said to Daniel concerning the future coflict to come in the Middle-East “Do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am going forth, and behold, the prince of Greece is about to come.” (Daniel 10:20) When Daniel was told by the angel that there was the prince of Persia followed by the Prince of Greece, the angel was telling him that there would be a future war with Iran followed by a war with Turkey and that behind these enemies of God and His people was a satanic principality or demonic spirit. The word ‘Greece’ or ‘Grecia’ in the English translation is the word ‘Ionia.’ The territory of Ionia was Turkey and when Alexander the Great came to power he had a western and Middle-eastern Empire. Turkey was part of the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great. Behind Iran and Turkey those principalities are still active today and hate Israel with vehemence. It is the same with the PA and Hamas and Turkey for that matter.
A lasting peace?
Can there be a lasting peace? According to the Apostle Paul there will be a false peace that will come for the world by enlarge and Israel to a great degree will also experience this ‘peace’ but it will not last for Paul writes; “When men are saying peace and safety then sudden destruction will come upon them as labour pains on a pregnant woman and they will not escape.” (1 Thessalonians 5:2) True and lasting peace in Israel, in the Middle-east and in the world will only come about when the Prince of Peace rules from the City of Jerusalem and in that day “the Torah shall go forth from Zion” and “the knowledge of the LORD will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas.” In that day “there will no longer be a Canaanite in the House of the LORD!”
