Time to Panic? - A Biblical View of Current Events in Israel
Notes
Transcript
Intro
On Saturday, October 7th, Palestinian terrorists led by Hamas and Islamic Jihad launched a surprise attack against Israel in which over 1,400 people were brutally massacred, 4,600 were wounded, and over 200 were taken hostage. Among those numbers are 32 Americans dead and another 13 missing
This was not just a military attack - civilians - moms and dads, the elderly, children and babies, young adults enjoying a music festival, were tortured and killed.
I’m sure you’ve seen some of the headlines describing that horrific day, or even seen some of the pictures - I’m not going to talk about them here, but it can only be described as an act of pure evil
Captured instruction manuals from Hamas told attackers to target places like elementary schools, grocery stores, and dentist offices. Rockets are still being launched daily into Israel
The attack is being called Israel’s version of 9/11 - but in terms of proportionality, it is far worse
Israel is a very small country, only 9.4M people compared to America at over 330M people
Percentage wise, this attack is 15x worse than 9/11 was. It’d be equivalent to nearly 40,000 Americans dying from an attack
Israel has responded by vowing to wipe out Hamas, and has been attacking terrorist positions in Gaza
But the shockwaves have been severe. Hezbollah, another terrorist organization based in Lebanon, has launched now daily attacks against Northern Israel
Iranian proxies in Syria and Yemen have also launched attacks.
US Forces in Iraq and Syria have all come under fire
Iran has threatened that a greater conflict is on the horizon
The United States has sent 2 aircraft carrier groups to the Mediterranean Sea to try and deter a broader conflict
As world powers are taking sides, it seems as if the Middle East is a powder keg ready to explode at any moment as this war is going from bad to worse each day
It has many people wondering, “Is it time to panic?”
I would argue that the risk to the world and severity of what’s happening is far greater than when the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, and things don’t seem to be de-escalating at all
This morning, we are taking a break from our study of Genesis to take a look at what’s happening in Israel and the Middle East through a Biblical perspective
We’re going to answer 5 big questions
Why does this matter?
What led to this crisis?
Is the current war mentioned anywhere in Bible prophecy?
What’s next?
What should I do about it all?
Lesson - Time to Panic? A Biblical View of Current Events in Israel
#1) Why Does this Matter?
You might be here and you’re already thinking, “Why are we spending a Sunday morning talking about this stuff? That’s on the other side of the world, it doesn’t have anything to do with me.”
In the weeks after the attack, I heard different Christians say basically, “Who cares??” - even one person who came by the building during the week telling me that they hoped that the Israelis and Palestinians all killed each other so we wouldn’t have to worry about them anymore - we had better things to worry about in America anyways.
First - If we care about life, we should care about this situation
It doesn’t matter if this attack happened in Israel, the US, Mozambique, or Sri Lanka, as followers of Jesus we should care about the tragic loss of life
That loss continues. Not only have innocent Israelis died, but many innocent Palestinians have as well.
Hamas doesn’t care about their people. You probably saw the news in the middle of the week about an explosion at a hospital in Gaza that was also serving as a shelter for many, that was caused by a failed Islamic Jihad rocket.
Islamic Jihad is another terrorist group in Gaza that’s even more extreme than Hamas, but works closely with them
They killed many their own civilians in that event, and continue to kill their own children through failed rocket launches or by blockading any Palestinian who wants to flee northern Gaza.
That’s also why they put their military installments in the basements of schools, houses, and hospitals, and use the citizens as human shields - they don’t care about life
We should care about life, and tragedies like this should cause our hearts to mourn, no matter where they occur.
Second - If we care about our Bibles, we should care about this
The Bible is a book that focuses primarily on the history of the Jewish people. It was written by Jewish authors. Our Savior, Jesus, was a Jew. He was born and taught and did miracles in Israel. He started His church with Jewish disciples who He told to spread His message throughout the world.
The Jewish people are God’s chosen people.
We are told to pray for the peace of Jerusalem
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.
We are told that we should bless Israel
3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
As a follower of God, if He tells me to pray for something, I’m going to pray for that. If He tells me there is blessing in something, I want that blessing!
We should care for and be concerned about the nation of Israel, and God’s chosen people, the Jews
Finally - If we care about our own futures, we should care about this
There are prophecies in the Bible that are being fulfilled right in front of our eyes.
There are hundreds of prophecies about the future and the signs leading up to His second coming that haven’t been fulfilled yet or have only recently been fulfilled.
We’ll talk about some of those this morning
God gives us prophecies about the future not to scare us, but to comfort us
13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
We should be looking for Jesus’ 2nd coming, and we should have hope, because that means we get to be w/ our Lord in glory
#2) What Led to this Crisis?
Abraham, Isaac & Ishmael
The roots of this conflict go back millenium - literally 4,000 years, to the time of Abraham
We’ve been reading this as Pastor Eric has gone through the book of Genesis on Sunday mornings, so I’ll just give you a quick summary:
God came Abraham in Genesis 12 and said,
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.
God was going to make a great nation out of Abraham and his descendants and give them a homeland to live in
The land was the land of Canaan, or Israel
But the descendants God promised didn’t come right away. In fact, years and years went by but Abraham and Sarah weren’t able to have any kids
So they took things into their own hands and decided to have a kid through Hagar, Sarah’s handmaid.
That kid was named Ishmael, and he would go on to be the father of the Arab people
God’s plan though was for Abraham and Sarah to have a kid, which eventually they would, a son named Isaac. His line would be the line of the Jewish people
There was tension between those two boys which eventually led to Ishmael being cast out
Genesis 21 tells us that Ishmael was scoffing at Isaac, so mama bear Sarah told Abraham to cast him out
From that point on there has been conflict between the Arabs and the Jews
Israel became the Jewish homeland
Even though there was some movement and wandering by the Jews, the descendants of Abraham through Isaac would eventually settle into the land of Canaan as their homeland
We just read the other week that Jacob, even though he left the land, in Genesis 33 he comes back to Canaan to settle down
We’ll read in the coming weeks that Jacob’s family will leave Canaan to live in Egypt with Joseph after a major famine hits, but instead of going back home they’d stay in Egypt
It wouldn’t be until after the Exodus that the people would settle back in the land of Canaan, but that was still somewhere between 1400 & 1200 BC, over 3,000 years ago!
There’s a false narrative that is going around today that the Jews are the occupiers of Israel. That they’re colonialists and taking over the land of the Palestinians - when in fact the Jews are the indigenous people!
God gave His people boundaries as to exactly where that homeland was supposed to be in case there was ever any controversy.
When God originally promised the land to Abraham, He told them in Genesis 15:
18 On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—
He reaffirmed this area to Joshua 1.
4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory.
Show map - blank first then w/ area promised to Abraham
They never possessed all of that land. The largest their territory got was under the rule of King David in the 10th Century BC - Map #2
The people would be kicked out of the land as first the Assyrians would invade the northern kingdom of Judah in 740 BC and take some of the people captive, then the Babylonians starting in 605 BC, but the people would go back 70 years later.
They’d have a short period of self rule, but then be quickly ruled by the Greeks and then the Romans starting in 63 BC
So you’ve got Jews living in the land for about 2,000 years up to this point, the time of Roman conquest
For context, America has only been a nation for less than 250 years
Rome would eventually destroy Jerusalem in 70 AD after a series of uprisings, and then finally kick the Jews out of Israel and disperse them across the world in 135 AD
The Roman emperor Hadrian would rename the land of Israel as “Syria Palaestina” after two of Israel’s historic enemies (Syria and the Philistines) to rub it in their faces, and the land from that point forward became known as Palestine
The Jews would flee their homeland in what is known today as the diaspora
Israel would be occupied by many different kingdoms after the Roman Empire started to crumble and lost control of the land in 324 AD
The Byzantines (324-638 AD)
The Muslims (638-1095 AD)
The Crusaders (1095-1298 AD)
The Ayyubids and then the Mamluks (essentially Egyptian sultans) (1298-1516 AD)
The Ottoman empire (modern day Turkey) (1516-1918)
Great Britain would take over what was called Palestine as well as the areas of Transjordan and Iraq in 1918 following the end of WWI and the defeat of the German, Austrian-Hungarian, and Ottoman forces - show map
This was mandated by the League of Nations as part of the Treaty of Versailles
Included in the Covenant of the League of Nations was a mandate from Great Britain’s Balfour Declaration which supported the establishment of a national homeland for the Jewish people who had been dispersed across the world
Great Britain wanted to establish a Jewish homeland and bring Jews back into their homeland to live alongside the Arabs who now occupied the area.
There was a lot of consternation over this declaration, and at the Cairo Conference of March 1921, Winston Churchill, then Britain’s Colonial Secretary, somewhat blindly drew a line right down the Jordan River (sometimes known as “Winston’s Hiccup”) and gave the east side to Abdullah ibn Hussein (the great grandfather of the current King of Jordan, Abdullah II), and the west side would be known as Palestine and would be ruled by the Brits - show map
Jews would start to move to the land slowly, and those tensions between the Jews and the Arabs came back
There was a lot of fighting, and with the rise of Nazi Germany, more and more Jews started to flee which resulted in the Arab Revolts of the late 1930s
As a result, Britain would adopt the White Paper of 1939 which pushed for an independent Jewish home in the land of Palestine, but it also severely limited the number of Jewish immigrants at the height of the Holocaust
After WWII, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Plan of Partition which proposed a split of the land between Jews and Arabs - show map
The day before the Brits were to leave Palestine, on May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the Israeli Declaration of Independence.
It was an incredible direct fulfillment of what’s known as the Dry Bones prophecy in Ezekiel 36 & 37. After nearly 2,000 years in exile, the Jewish people had their homeland back
24 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.
21 “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.
The following day, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan attacked Israel to prevent them from establishing a Jewish state
Israel would actually win more land in the south and north of the country, and the west half of Jerusalem
Egypt would claim the Gaza strip
Jordan would claim the West Bank including east Jerusalem where the temple mount is
In 1967, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan massed their troops on the border of Israel, ready to eliminate the Jews again
Israel launched a preemptive strike and had a massive victory in what is known as the Six Day War
They won the entire West Bank, the Golan Heights (a strategic high point overlooking Syria), the Gaza Strip, and the entire Sinai Peninsula up to the Suez Canal (show map)
Israel would give the Sinai back to Egypt, but they were ecstatic to get full control of their capital, Jerusalem, and control of the temple mount where Solomon and Herod’s temples had stood, for the first time in nearly 2,000 years
This is a big detail in all of this. - Show picture of Temple Mount
The temple mount is a piece of land in Jerusalem, only 37 acres in size
It is where Solomon’s temple stood. It’s where the second temple, Herod’s temple stood.
The ark of the covenant would be inside that temple in the Holy of Holies. God’s presence would exist at that site
Jesus would teach just outside of the temple. He would ride from the Mount of Olives to the southern steps of the temple at the triumphant entry.
After the second temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, the retaining wall around the bottom of the compound still existed, and the Jews would come to the western side to pray.
That area today is the Western Wall
The site is also holy to the Muslims
The Dome of the Rock, the third holiest site in all of Islam behind just Mecca and Medina, the site where they believe Muhammad’s night journey began, sits on top of the temple mount
There’s also a mosque up there called the Al-Aqsa Mosque
It is an area that continues to be contested today
In fact, Hamas called their terrorist operation on October 7th Operation Al-Aqsa Flood
They tie so much of their hatred of the Jews to the temple mount. Remember that fact as we continue on this morning.
Other battles would come including the surprise attack from Egypt and Syria in the Yom Kippur War in 1973, PLO attacks from Lebanon in 1982, and eventually the first of many Palestinian Intifadas (or uprisings) in 1987
In 2005, Israel completely withdrew from the Gaza Strip and gave that land to the Palestinians for self rule
The Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas (the current PA leader) would run Gaza, but just a year later, Hamas, a terrorist organization backed by Iran, won elections, and after a civil war, took over control of Gaza in 2007
Since Hamas took over control of Gaza in 2007, they have launched several wars against Israel, frequently launching rockets, attacking military bases, going after civilians
They are funded and backed by Iran and are allies of the other nearby Iranian proxies, Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis in Yemen
So to wrap this all up, this land is the land of God’s people, the Jews, given to them by the Lord 4,000 years ago
The Jews are the indigenous people, not the occupiers
It is only in recent history that they’ve got their land back, but even that was something that God, in His word, prophesied would happen one day
#3) Is the Current War Mentioned Anywhere in Bible Prophecy?
Not yet
If you are the type of person who is really into end times study or prophecy, you’ve probably seen all kinds of takes and blogs and videos on this
#1 - be careful who you listen to. There are some good resources out there that I’ll give you at the end of the message, but there is a lot of bad eschatology (end times) teachings out there
Be careful with those who talk about mysteries or numerology, but also be careful with those who claim that no Bible prophecy speaks of the future, that it was all historical
Peter would write to address that the apathetic attitude on prophecy and Jesus’ return would be prevalent in the church in the end times
2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
It is important to look at world events with your Bible in mind because there are many events which do line up with end times prophecy
Spirit of Psalm 83.
While we don’t see this current war in scripture, we do gain some insight as to why the attack occurred
1 Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, And do not be still, O God! 2 For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head. 3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together against Your sheltered ones. 4 They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” 5 For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You: 6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; 7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; 8 Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. Selah
The Psalmist writes what many consider to be a prophetic psalm about a coalition of nations that rise up to wipe Isreal off of the map
I believe this was fulfilled in the 1948 War of Independence
The nations listed here were the names of those places in ancient times
They include Jordan, Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, Iraq, and Egypt, all places that attacked in 1948
But the spirit of this attack is present even today
It is a spirit to eliminate and destroy Israel completely, to cut them off from being a nation
Its an antisemitic heart, one that you see on full display right now with many protests and attacks around the world
The Jews have been one of the most persecuted people in history, and that persecution comes straight out of the depths of hell - its Satanic
Satan has tried for pretty much all of history to wipe God’s people off the face of the earth
Why does he hate the Jewish people so much?
He hates God’s plan of redemption. He hates that you and I and anyone who calls on the name of the Lord can be saved.
He hates that we can be redeemed from our sins, forgiven of them, and have a hope and a future in Christ
Because that redemptive plan came from the Jews, he hates God’s people
Satan hates anything that is precious towards God
There’s a real and dark spiritual side to antisemitism
So, do we see the current conflict directly prophesied in scripture?
The reason I said, “Not yet” in my answer to this question is that while currently there is no prophetic tie, we are very, very close to other major prophecies in the Bible, which leads us to major question #4
#4) What’s Next?
Ezekiel 38-39 give us one very clear picture about a major battle that will be coming at some point
This prophecy comes right after the Dry Bones prophecy of Ezekiel 37 and ties to it
It speaks of another coalition of nations that will come against Israel to attack her
1 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you. 7 “Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them. 8 After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely. 9 You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.”
We get this prophecy of these nations coming against a re-gathered Israel - but who are these nations?
We could do an entire series on these two chapters, but we’re running short on time so let me just save you the time
Gog - a strong authoritarian, czar-ish leader of a nations called Magog
Magog, according to the historians Josephus and Tacitus, was the land of the ancient Scythians, just north of the Caspian and Black Seas
Magog = Russia
Rosh = more territory in Russia
Meshech = good evidence to show this is the area of modern day Moscow
Tubal = Siberia
Gog, the leader of Magog, Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, or Russia, will send their armies against Israel
With them will be some other nations
Persia = Iran
Iran was called Persia from ancient times all the way until 1935
Ethiopia = in the Hebrew this word is “Cush” which in Ezekiel’s day was the area of Ethiopia, but also Sudan
Libya = in Hebrew “Put” which is modern day Libya, but also potentially Algeria & Tunisia
Gomer = Ancient Galatia which is modern day Turkey
Togarmah = Asia Minor = Turkey
Russia will lead a coalition of Iran, Turkey, Sudan, and Libya against Israel - show map
The news is ripe with information about the alliances between Russia, Iran, and Turkey
Russia’s influence in Africa, especially in the nations of Sudan and Libya, has been growing stronger every year
These nations are all allies now. They weren’t not so long ago.
Turkey is in NATO, the organization started to counter Russia!
Yet they are now allies, something the Bible predicted over 2500 years ago
God is going to bring this coalition against Israel, but they will not win, God will miraculously defend His people
1 “And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal; 2 and I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand. 4 You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
The other important prophecy about what’s coming is found in Daniel 9.
26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”
Again, we don’t have time to get into it, but Daniel speaks of a time, after Messiah is cut off or when Jesus was crucified in 32 AD, and Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD, that a ruler will come and establish a peace treaty or covenant for 7 years which will allow worship and sacrifice by the Jewish people to occur on the temple mount again
We know this is the antichrist, a world ruler who will come in the name of peace, but will be driven and indwelt by Satan
He will start the tribulation period (remember back to our series in Joel), with a peace treaty focused on the Israeli - Palestinian conflict, namely by figuring out a solution to allow a third temple to be built.
Now I am saying this of my own, not speaking on behalf of God or anything, but if this current conflict escalates any further, which it very well could, your next actors will be Iran and possibly Russia
That’s why we have two carrier groups in the Mediterranean, that’s why President Biden made a primetime address from the Oval Office on Thursday night, the threat of this happening is real
If Israel were to launch an attack on Iran for their support of Hamas and Hezbollah, you can easily see an Iranian/Russian/Turkish response
The world would be in chaos. A strong leader would be needed to bring about peace to the world
And if someone could figure out how to make the Palestinians and Israelis get along and to allow for worship by both Jews and Muslims on the temple mount, they would be hailed as the savior of the world....
Again, not saying this will happen, things may calm down.
But you can see how it could easily go down that road
These are nations to keep your eyes on, because whether its now or in the future, God says they are going to try and invade Israel one day
#5) What Should I Do About it All?
#1 - Be in prayer
Pray for the defense of Israel. Pray for comfort for the grieving families. Pray for the safety of the hostages. Pray for the innocent Palestinians who Hamas is putting in harms way. Pray for wisdom for our leaders and the President. And pray that salvation would come to many through this
#2 - Be watchful
We are called as Christians to be watchful about what’s going on in the world, waiting for the soon return of Jesus
We can’t tune this stuff out and ignore it
Luke 12:37a (NKJV)
37 Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching.
#3 - Be wise
Be careful you who read and follow
2 great resources to stay current on all this stuff
#1 Joel Rosenberg and All Isreal news
Dr. Mark Hitchcock, senior pastor and associate professor at Dallas Theological Seminary
#4 - Be busy about the kingdom
Time is short! Jesus is coming back! People need to hear the hope of the gospel, they need to hear that there is hope beyond this world
11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
We should desire to live godly lives. We should desire more of God’s word so we can live more knowledgeably and powerful
#5 - Be hopeful
God doesn’t give us prophecy to scare us, He gives it to us to make us hopeful.
28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”
Paul, in speaking of Jesus’ return in 1 Thessalonians 4 would say
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Our hope isn’t in this world. Its not in the next election, its not in politicians, its not in world peace
The world gives us the opposite. Things are tense. It can be easy to get scared when you think about where it could head
But we can rejoice knowing that, if you have placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have a hope, not made with hands, that is eternal, lasting, and sure
Pray & Close