Israel Matters to God (Part 4)
How many Jews are there in the world today? There are approximately 13.8 million. How many people in the world? There are almost 8 billion. Statistically 99.9% of the world’s population is non-Jewish. Who really cares about the Jews who are in a land that God has carved out for them, and that is His Real Estate bequeathed to them as their inheritance from Him, ratified by an unbreakable blood covenant cut with Abraham and with His physical decedents through the lineage of Isaac and Jacob and not through the lineage of Ishmael and Esau. God cares! The land of Israel was to be for the Jews as “an everlasting possession.” (Genesis 15:17-19; 17:7-8; 19-22; 26:3-5).
Out of 8 million miles of land God gives the Jews 7,900 miles of land and manages to give them a little piece of land with no oil. Why? Because God loves them and wanted them to keep the oath He made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and to their decedents the Jewish people. God is a promise keeper! He said “I will take care of you; I promised I would protect you.” Yes they are indeed the Apple of God’s Eye! (Zechariah 2:8). The pupil of the eye gives vision to the eye. Israel was to be that pupil of vision to the whole world God had created. He will make them that in the Millennial Messianic kingdom to come.
God’s Prophetic Timeclock:
God used the Jewish people just over 2,000 years ago to bring the Messiah into this world through them and He is going to use them in these last of the last days to bring Him back. Israel is God’s prophetic timeclock to bring the Messiah back and for the nations as well. Everything related to the Messiah’s first and Second Coming points to Israel. Today all eyes are on Israel, a small nation that God has set at the centre of the nations of the world (Ezekiel 5:5). Today Israel is front and centre stage in world affairs. This is no accident but God’s doing. God is actually setting the stage for the return of the Messiah and the winding up of this present evil age.
God is saying to Israel, and to the nations, and to a Christendom that by and large has neglected or just ignored Biblical Eschatology and God’s end-time purposes for Israel, “Watch what I am going to do!” Knowing that His own people would reject Him the Lord Jesus said to the Jewish nation; “Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD” (Matthew 23:39). When the armies of the nations are surrounding Israel where two-thirds will have perished under the beast empire of the Antichrist, and it looks like Israel as a people will be annihilated, and their hope is gone, in their desperation they will call out for deliverance and for the Messiah to come back to save them and He will come back and then they will say “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” and the rescue will come! Jeremiah writes about this end-time scenario for Israel (Jeremiah 30:1-10).
The Antichrist spirit:
The spirit of Antichrist or the Antichrist spirit has been around for a long time ever since the Abrahamic covenant was announced. Satan’s target was on Israel’s back. The Antichrist spirit goes way back. Pharaoh of Egypt had the Antichrist spirit, the same one that is still over Egypt today. Pharaoh tried to kill all the Jews. Why? Because of what Satan said to himself, “No Jews, no Jesus.” Israel had to birth Him, the one whose heel Satan would bruise but also the one who would crush Satan’s head (Genesis 3:15). In his perverted, twisted and malevolent thinking Satan reckoned that if he took out all the Jews then he would stay in business. Then the Antichrist spirit entered the Persian King Ahasuerus who ordered the annihilation of the Jews in the time of Esther. The Antichrist spirit was most definitely at work in Haman and at work in the Persian king. Purim that celebrates this situation is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from annihilation at the hands of Haman and ultimately his demise.
The Antichrist spirit entered Antiochus Epiphanies the Seleucid Greek military commander and a despot at that who oppressed and killed the Jews and whose army was defeated by the Maccabees who drove the Seleucid Greeks out of Israel and reconsecrated the Temple which is celebrated by Jews at Hanukah. Then the Antichrist spirit entered King Herod who killed all the Jewish boys 2 years an under. The Antichrist spirit was most definitely living in Adolph Hitler who orchestrated the death of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust.
Today the Antichrist spirit is at work in the nations of Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Gaza and in every Muslim nation and also at work in Russia. It also needs to be said that within wider Christendom the Antichrist spirit is at work in multitudes of professing Christians who are actually siding with the Arabs in Gaza in the so called ‘Palestinian’ cause and advocating and adhering to replacement theology. Since the Garden of Eden, and especially since the time of Abraham, God has thwarted Satan’s plans to annihilate the Jews. So then why do we hear this battle cry; “Kill the Jews, gas the Jews?” Well it comes from the pit of hell, and those who chant this cry are doing the devil’s work! Anti-Semitism is a well-worn path that leads to the destruction of all those that travel this road that leads to hellfire! Pharaoh, Haman, Herod, Antiochus, Hitler, Arafat, Khomeini and Hussein all paid the price for cursing Israel! It does not pay to mess with Israel because Israel matters to God!
Today the Antichrist spirit lied deep within Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Isis the Houthis and the other terrorist groups active in the Middle-East and the entire republic of Iran. In the last days the nations of the world will be the enemies of God and Jerusalem the focus of worldwide contention. Israel’s deliverer won’t be Moses, won’t be Mordecai or the Maccabees. Israel’s deliverer will be none other than the Messiah Himself, our Lord Jesus!
Epilogue:
The Messiah our Lord Jesus is not coming back to an Islamic nation called ‘Palestine’ but to a restored nation of Israel under the Messiah, the King of the Jews who is going to inaugurate His Millennial Kingdom with its headquarters at Jerusalem. Once again it needs to be said that the nation of Israel was never called ‘Palestine,’ the name invented by the Romans that was a derivation of the word “Philistine” Israel’s ancient enemy who lived in Gaza. The Children of Israel have been in the Land of Israel since the 14th Century BC. As for the Philistines they didn’t come to Israel until 1185 BC and they occupied five cities in Gaza.
The modern day Palestinians are in reality displaced Arabs living in Israel. The modern day ‘Palestinian’ people cannot trace their lineage to the Philistines that occupied Gaza. It’s impossible to do this. The best of DNA can’t. The Philistines were actually from the Aegean or Greece. The name ‘Palestine’ is merely a political fabrication. Make no mistake! No such people or no such place ever existed! Gaza is part of Israel. The fact that the Jewish people and the Arab people are relatives is that they have the same white chromosomes, but no such thing as Palestinians. ‘Palestine’ is a myth!
As New Covenant believers we must be careful not to fall prey to deception about Israel and God’s end-time programme and purposes for His people Israel. Deception is prevalent around the world concerning Israel and it is coming in leaps and bounds. Those of us who Love the Lord Jesus must not fail to love the people He loves and is coming back to save and to fight for, namely the Jewish people. We must maintain a Biblical worldview on all things. War with Israel has nothing to do with Geo-Politics or with land. It is all about the Messiah and His glory and the end-time battle between God and Satan and between the Messiah with the Anti-Messiah.
Let’s get on God’s side and not focus upon Geo-Politics. In closing; The LORD established Zion (Isaiah 14) The Lord Lives in Zion (Isaiah 14) The LORD loves Zion (Psalm 78) The LORD is jealous for Zion (Zechariah 8). It sounds like our Triune God is a Zionist and the ultimate Zionist is preparing to send the Messiah our Lord Jesus back as the king of a restored nation of Israel, and the Lion of Judah is preparing to roar like never before!
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
(Psalm 122: 6-9) “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you prosper. May there be peace within your walls, and prosperity inside your fortresses.” For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.” For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your prosperity.”
To pray for the peace of Jerusalem is to pray for its restoration nationally but more so for its restoration spiritually and for those New Covenant Messianic Bible believers who are seeking to win their fellow Jews to saving faith in the Messiah in every level and walk of Israeli society. Many Messianic Jews in the IDF are fighting side by side and shoulder to shoulder with their unsaved comrades in arms. The Messiah taught us to pray “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is being done in heaven.” To pray for the peace of Jerusalem then first and foremost is to pray that multitudes of Israelis will be saved, especially in light of the coming time of Jacob’s Trouble in which two thirds will perish and a third will be spared and come to faith in the Messiah (Zechariah 13:8-9) (Zechariah 12:10-13:1).
Before this time of Great Tribulation happens, and in light of Israel’s enemies on every side with their malevolence and militancy on the increase every day, and with the Ezekiel 38 invasion it would seem is looming on the horizon, we should pray for the IDF, for their military leaders and for Prime Minister ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu and for his cabinet in the Knesset, that in the present crisis with Hamas and Hezbollah and with their immediate hostile Islamic neighbours that God would direct Israel’s defence capabilities and give them strategies against their implacable enemies on all fronts. We also need to keep in mind that there can be no lasting peace in this wicked and fallen world until the prince of Peace reigns from Jerusalem in triumph as King of the Jews!
