What in the World is Going On?

Introduction:

I think at this point everyone is aware of what is going on in the Middle East with Israel at the center of everything.

What happened a few weeks ago on Saturday, October 7th?

The terrorist group, Hamas, carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel, by:

Air

Land

Sea

With over 5,000 rockets being fired from Gaza in the first 20-30 minutes of the attack…

It was a large-scale surprise assault that (at the time of this writing) left at least 1,200 dead in Israel…

*Women *The elderly

*Children *Soldiers

The terrorists literally went into people’s homes, and killed or took them captive…

They took one man out of his car and slit his throat…

As well as beheading IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) soldiers…

Hamas claims to have taken at least 100 hostages with them back into Gaza:

To be used as human shields for their rockets…

And/or to be used to trade for prisoners that are being held by the Nation of Israel…

There is a lot of false information being put out on the news and across college campuses, so I want to take time this morning to teach on some of the history in the Middle East and what I believe it all means for us today.

It’s impossible to understand the true meaning behind what is going on without having a clear understanding of the history of the nation of Israel and the surrounding nations.

What is the reason behind the constant war with Israel?

If you are like me, I’m sure many of you at times question why does it seem like there is always something happening concerning Israel and the surrounding countries.

I want to begin by saying:

Israel is not a terrorist group making statements that their main goal is to completely wipe out an entire group of people.

They are constantly defending their land.

They are completly surrounded by their enemies.

Israel has a right to that land because God has said so and has promised that land to them.

Its important that we pray for Israel because what they are constantly experiencing over there is rooted in evil and is a spiritual battle, and will be, until Jesus steps foot on the Mt. of Olives riding a White horse to destroy the Antichrist at the great battle we refer to as the Armageddon.

We need to pray for Israel.

Genesis 12:1–3 “1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.””

Genesis 15:7–11 “7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” 8 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?” 9 So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.”

Many scholars believe that the birds of prey are a picture of the nations around Israel that will always try to come against them for the land that God has promised them.

We see this playing out thousands of years later today.

Ever since God marked Abraham and his descendants as God’s chosen people, to care for them and give them their own land, Satan has been trying everything he can to destroy them.

Romans 8:15 says that we who are born again and have accepted Jesus Christ into our hearts have been adopted into God’s family as sons and daughters of the King as heirs of God and co-heirs with Jesus.

I’m so thankful for my life now as a Christian, but it is not easy.

Just like the Israelites have a target on them from Satan, we too have that same mark on us as well.

He desires everyone of us to be taken out.

We are in a battle until we take our last breathe, but I remember reading somewhere that says that in the end we win.

I think it also said that this battle is not ours but God’s and when God’s enemies fight against His people they will be destroyed because they will only find their selves fighting against the one who holds all power and authority.

Church, WE WIN!!!

We know that the driving force behind this war in the Middle East is Satan and is seen through these terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and other radical Islamic groups.

Their goal is to completely destroy the Jewish people so that they can take over the land area that they believe has been given to them by “Allah” and that the Jewish people have stolen it from them.

These radical Islamic groups believe that if they die as a suicide bomber, soldier, or by other means while trying to kill off “Allah’s” enemies they will die as a martyr and will achieve the greatest reward in their paradise.

The late terrorist Yasser Arafat once said: “Peace for us means the destruction of Israel. We are preparing for an all-out war, a war which will last for generations.”

You might be like me, remembering him from the news but not knowing who exactly he was.

He was the chairman of PLO, Palestinian Liberation Organization in the West Bank, and was constantly pushing for a “Two state solution” to the Palestinian, Israeli problems.

As “End-times” Pastor and Assembly of God Evangelist Dwight Jones said a few weeks ago, “There is no two state solution. There is only one state. And with that, not a “state” but the the nation of Israel.”

That land belongs to God and was given to God’s people.

When these terrorist group come against the “Apple of God’s eye” they are waging war against God Himself.

How many of you know God is stronger and He will win?

It is important that we are praying for Israel.

History behind the Palestinian people, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank.

If I can be honest with you, this is an area of study that has always confused me.

If it confuses you thinking about:

Who the Palestinian people are?

What or where exactly is the Gaza Strip?

What is the deal with the West Bank?

If you have questions like those you are not alone.

When we speak about the Gaza Strip, we are talking about a small piece of land (about 25 miles long, and 3-7 miles wide):

In the SW corner of Israel…

***Show map of Israel***

Bordering:

Israel to the East & North

The Mediterranean Sea to the West

And Egypt to the South

Gaza is mentioned approximately 20 times in the Bible (depending upon which translation you read):

In ancient times Gaza was one of the 5 principle cities of the Philistines:

Gaza

Ashdod

Ashkelon

Ekron

Gath

The History of Gaza is interesting:

In the 12th century B.C., the Philistines, a sea-faring people attacked Egypt:

Egypt prevailed, and sent the surviving Phili- stines to live in the area now known as the Gaza Strip…

We also know:

The descendants of Esau (a secular man who was the brother of Jacob) are called “Edomites” and they lived to the SW of Israel in what is today Southern Jordan…

Over time the Edomites wandered into southern Israel, and throughout the region:

They intermarried with the Philistines, until they are basically indistinguishable as a unique group today…

Over time, the Edomites (now mixed with the Philistines) migrated north into what is known today as the “West Bank” of Israel.

Eventually, Jesus came, and was crucified & resurrected around 30 AD:

Jesus told the Jewish people that because they had rejected Him as the Messiah, a people would come and destroy the Jewish Temple & Jerusalem:

*This took place in AD 70…

But the Jews in the land, continued to revolt until AD 135…

At that time the Roman Procurator was so angry with the Jews, that he called in his historians, to see who the worst enemies of the Jews past history were, and they told him it was the Philistines…

Therefore, in AD 135, Rome re- named the land of Israel “Philistia” (as an insult to the Jews)… The Latin term for Philistia is “Palaestina” from which we get the word “Palestine.”

And so the Roman officer changed the Holy Land of Israel into Palestine: In an attempt to wipe away Israeli History…

Palestine was never officially recognized as a state or a nation – as the terms were generally used loosely to describe a territory with undefined borders…

Arab-American journalist Joseph Farah wrote:

Palestine is no more real than Never-Never Land. The first time the name was used was in 70 AD when the Romans committed genocide against the Jews, smashed the Temple, and declared the land of Israel would be no more.

From then on, the Romans promised, it would be known as Palestine.

The name was derived from the Philistines, a Goliathan people conquered by the Jews centuries earlier. It was a way for the Romans to add insult to injury.”

Joseph Farah goes on to say:

There is no language known as Palestinian…

There is no distinct Palestinian culture…

There has never been a land known as Palestine governed by Palestinians…

Hamas (the group responsible for the attack on Israel) is:

A terrorist organization, that calls itself a political party…

Hamas gets its name from an Arab acronym, which means: “The Islamic Resistance Movement”

Hamas was founded in 1987…

In 1988, Hamas published its charter, calling for the destruct- ion of Israel...

In 1997, the United States designated Hamas as a Foreign Terrorist Organization…

A Palestinian uprising in 2000 unleashed a new wave of violence between Israelis & Palestinians:

Palestinians claimed that if Israel would leave the Gaza Strip, that there could be Peace…

In 2005, Israel decided to leave Gaza: Withdrawing its force and removing 9,000 Jewish settlers from living there…

Shortly after, the Palestinians voted Hamas as their governing leadership.

And did it create Peace for Israel to pull out of Gaza?

No, instead Hamas began using Gaza as a launching pad from which to attack Israel…

Today’s Palestine is divided into 2 parts:

The West Bank – Controlled by the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization)…

The Gaza Strip – Controlled by Hamas…

Hamas is governed by the Politburo, which is a 15-member group that is basically absent from the Gaza Strip:

Many of its members say they are suffering along with the people of Gaza:

But almost all of them are living in luxury in other parts of the world:

Wearing costly suits

Eating at great restaurants

And flying around the world on private jets.

Hamas does not care if the innocent civilians living in the Gaza Strip are killed in Israel’s response to Hamas’ evil attack on innocent Israeli’s:

They want their civilians to be hurt or killed by Israel, so that they can use it as propaganda against Israel:

There are many stories about Gaza:

Hamas hides rockets in:

Homes

Schools

Hospitals

You probably saw on the news this week that Hamas has one of their largest base of operations under the largest hospital in Gaza because they know that it will not get bombed.

Then when they decided to attack, they shoot these rockets from these locations…

In response, Israel calls the home on the telephone & warns the people there, that Israel is going to blow up the home in a few minutes, and tells them to leave.

But Hamas won’t allow the innocent people to leave: Holding them there at gunpoint, wanting them to be killed.

Israel understands this, so they send pop bomb, which makes a loud noise but doesn’t hurt anything or anyone, in an attempt to get the people to leave…

Israel is trying to save Palestinian lives, while Hamas is trying to kill them!

Conclusion:

Israel is only a landmass the size of New Jersey.

It is only 263 miles from north to south and only 71 miles wide at its widest point and 6.5 miles at its narrowest point.

Gaza Strip to Tel Aviv is only 44 miles.

Gaza Strip to Jerusalem is only about 50 miles.

Reports say that Hamas, in the Gaza Strip has missiles that will shoot up to 150 miles, so many of the places in Israel is at risk.

When you begin to study the nations that surround Israel you will begin to see that Israel is completely surrounded by enemies.

It’s important to remember that God is in control.

I want to end by reading Zechariah 2:3–5 “3 While the angel who was speaking to me was leaving, another angel came to meet him 4 and said to him: “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of people and animals in it. 5 And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its glory within.’”