“Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it…..He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” (Zechariah 12:2-3) (Isaiah 11:10-12)
China has now entered into an alliance economically with Iran in a $400 Billion deal which would see the Iranian Regime have the financial wherewithal to complete their nuclear programme very quickly, much to the disapproval of Israel’s leaders. Israel is in crisis as we see another election with inconclusive results. It also seems that Prime Minster Netanyahu may not continue as the nation’s leader. America it seems is going to just go along with this new agreement between Beijing and Tehran and Biden wants to even ease restrictions and sanctions on Iran and re-connect with Iran on the Iranian nuclear deal brokered by Obama.
According to a recent report in Israel Unwired online it stated; “Joe Biden was always considered a compromised candidate when it came to his son’s dealings with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). American’s somehow disregarded the warnings when it came to Election Day and “seemingly voted” for him anyway. Folding to China on trade issues and technology might be bad for America, but allowing the CCP to co-opt Washington’s foreign policy when it comes to Iran is dangerous for Israel and much of the world. Yet, this is exactly what’s happening.
The CCP inked a 25 year accord with the Iranians at the same time the Biden administration has decided to retreat on compliance issues when it comes to Iran’s nuclear ambitions. These two occurrences are not assumed to be isolated events but are rather viewed by Israel and its Sunni-Arab allies as game changing, shifting the balance of power in Iran’s favour. Amos Yadlin the Former head of Military Intelligence Directorate for Israel said; “On the one hand, China opposes Iran having a nuclear bomb, but on the other, it’s not helping to stop it. Iran, too, needs the political protection in which China would stop the United States from pressuring it.
The Chinese understand the Biden administration is not the Trump administration and can be much more aggressive,” Despite the chaos in Israel following the country’s contentious elections, the chances of direct conflict with Iran has now risen considerably due to Biden’s foreign policy recalibration.” (End of report)
As for Europe its leaders remain somewhat ‘silent’ in recognizing the rise of China as a superpower that to all intents and purposes will supersede America economically. While Islam and Chinese Communism will never mesh when it comes to power and money it seems there is a tolerance as it were of their differing ideologies at least for the time being. There is no doubt that Iran is a threat to the security of the Middle-East as well as the wider world when you consider Iran’s proxy wars being waged through the Houthis against the Saudis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza in their militancy against Israel.
Now God has set the City of Jerusalem at the centre of the nations. As Ezekiel the prophet writes; “This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the centre of the nations, with countries all around her.” (Ezekiel 5:5) We know from the past that during its long and troubled history, Jerusalem has been attacked 52 times, captured and recaptured 44 times, besieged 23 times, and destroyed twice. We also know that there were three exiles of the people of Jerusalem. One was in 586 BC when the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem and burned the Temple to the ground. The second exile happened in 70AD when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple. Then in 135AD the Bar Kokhba Rebellion was put down by the Romans and a blood bath on the Jewish nation and another exile of the Jewish people occurred.
Now after over 2,000 years Israel is once again a nation but its troubles are not over. Of course the Lord is watching over the city of Jerusalem but will also allow another invasion and exile but this time only half of the people of Israel will go into exile while the other half remain in the city under occupation by foreign armies for three and a half years by the Jewish calendar. During this time the faithful remnant of Jewish and Gentile believers, being one new man in the Messiah, will be witnessing with great spiritual power. (Zechariah 14:2) (Daniel 12:7) (Revelation 11:1-4; 13:5-7)
During this same time period of three and a half years (1,260 days) a faithful believing remnant in Israel will be protected. Satan will not be able to destroy Israel. (Revelation 12:6, 13-14) And so we read in the prophet Zechariah that God himself will see to it that He makes Jerusalem “an immovable rock for all the nations and that all who seek to move it will be severely injured.” The Hebrew text says those nations will “be torn or ripped apart.” Now we know that when Turkey leads the invasion of Israel with the forces of Islam that other non-Islamic nations will join the invasion force. (Ezekiel 38:6)
One of the nations that may well be present at Jerusalem will be China because their efforts to settle the Israeli Arab conflict will have not succeeded due to the Israeli leadership not going back to their pre-1967 borders, especially their unwillingness to leave the Golan Heights or stop their settlement construction and expansion within Israel. The Iranian Chinese deal has been signed for 25 years so it is a long term prospect of investment for the CCP and Iran. What the nations that attack Israel will not realise is that it is an assault on heaven and God Himself who has ordained Jerusalem to be a righteous nation and to be a praise in the earth and the place where He dwells among His covenant people, which He will ultimately accomplish. (Isaiah Chapter 62)
As Isaiah proclaims; “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep still, until her righteousness shines like a bright light, her salvation like a blazing torch… On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD shall take no rest for yourselves, nor give Him any rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth… Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the ends of the earth, “Say to Daughter Zion: See, your Saviour comes! Look, His reward is with Him, and His recompense goes before Him.” And they will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of The LORD; and you will be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.”
The day will come when after three and a half years of occupation by the Antichrist and his armed forces that the Lord will suddenly arise and come to Israel’s defence and woe betide the nations that have attacked Jerusalem and laid siege to the city. On that day God will send forth the Messiah our Lord Jesus accompanied by the armies of heaven to strike down Israel’s enemies’ big time! (Zechariah 12:4-9; 14:3)
At that time the surviving remnant in Israel will look upon their Messiah and weep with tears of repentance and joy at their salvation from their enemies and from the hands of all who hate them and recognise the one who was pierced for their sins and morn over what He has suffered on their behalf. (Zechariah 12:10-14) They will turn to Him and He will save them. In that day “All Israel will be saved.” At that time every Jewish person still alive on earth will be saved because “God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable!” (Romans 11: 25-29)
There is no doubt the nations are stirring and making alliances as they prepare for a war that is coming that will engage the nations of the world. In many ways the rise of the Iranian regime mirrors the rise of Nazi Germany. There was a time when Adolph Hitler could have been stopped but the nations did nothing until he started WWII. Once Iran has nuclear capability it may well kick start WWIII? We do know that a war is coming to this earth like nothing that has occurred in past history which will see massive firepower from missiles and possibly nuclear detonations that will destroy a third of the world’s population. (Revelation 9:13-19) This war will culminate with the final assault on Jerusalem that will be terminated by the Rider on the White Horse. (Isaiah 63:1-6) (Revelation 19:11-21)
Tough times are ahead for Israel and by extension and inclusion the faithful Body of the Messiah grafted into the Commonwealth of Israel. However, the rescue will come immediately after the tribulation (thlipsis) of those days! (Matthew 24:29-31) As our Lord Jesus the Messiah said; “For then there will be a great tribulation (thlipsis), such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.” (Matthew 24:21-22) At that time Michael the principality and protector of Israel will arise to defend the Jewish people! (Daniel 12:1)
Ultimately the Messiah our Lord Jesus will reign from Jerusalem, as it is written; “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between His feet, until tribute comes to Him; and to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” (Genesis 49:10)
As the prophet Isaiah writes; “On that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His place of rest will be glorious. On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” (Isaiah 11:10-12)
This will be The Ultimate Aliyah* for the exiled people of Israel!
Note:* Aliyah is a Hebrew word that means to “go up.” While originally it referred to ascending to Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish Feasts, today it has come to mean the return of the Jews to the Land of Israel. Aliyah, simply stated, is the ingathering of the exiles from the four corners of the earth. It is the immigration of Jews back to their ancestral homeland. “Aliyah “is rooted in the Jewish people’s fervent hope to rebuild its national life in the country from which it was exiled nearly 2,000 years ago.”
