July 29, 2014
"Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like
it; and it is the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of
it." (Jeremiah 30:7) ...
... and then there's this .... "Do
not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your
peace, and do not be still, O God! 2)
For 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."
(Psalm 83:1-4)
So, who are these people that want to cut
off the nation of Israel? ... None other than the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham's
first-born son. ... To review briefly, we see in Genesis that even though
Ishmael would be blessed with uncounted descendants (today's Arabs), he was not
to be the promised heir. .. That honor was bestowed upon Isaac and his
descendants (the Jews) ... Ishmael's
descendants, like the Israelites (Abraham's grandchildren through
Sarah), were divided into 12 tribes (Genesis 25:16). .. Out of respect for
Abraham, God made a great nation of these people (Genesis 21:12-13). ...
The Old Testament eventually used the term 'Ishmaelite' in a broader
sense, referring to all the Arabian merchants (Isaiah 13:20; Ezekiel 27:20,21). ... Any wild and warlike peoples of the desert could
claim to be descendants of Ishmael (Genesis 16:12). .. And finally, Muhammad
claimed Ishmael as his ancestor, as do most all Arabs.
So now, fast-forwarding to today, who are
these peoples and tribes mentioned in Psalm 83 who are trying to 'cut off' the
nation of Israel? ... In verses 5-8 of Psalm 83, they are listed as to exactly
who they are. .. In today's world, these people occupy the nations of Jordan,
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Palestinian refugees and Hamas of the Gaza
Strip, and Iraq. ....
Of course, we know also that most all of
Ishmael's descendants have accepted Allah as their god and Muhammad as their
prophet (their imitation of Jesus, if you will), and are now called Muslims. ..
They have since spread out across the world and have taken their hatred of the
Jews with them wherever they've settled. .... Sadly, through the modern
'multi-cultural' movement, this hatred has spread into other segments of
today's societies. ... Look at Europe right now, for example. ... Anti-Semetic
demonstrations are taking place in the majority of the countries that make up the
EU. ... It was bad enough before Israel's Gaza campaign, but since has ramped
up to near-riot conditions in many places such as Germany, Austria , the UK,
France, Hungary, Greece, not to mention the Middle East as well as many
locations in Africa. .... There's even signs in several American cities of
increasing Jewish hatred.
What is also alarming is the fact that
many of these same European nations just mentioned are also electing extreme
far-right candidates to represent them in the European Parliament .... even
nazis! ... If you've studied history at all, you can see that it is very
reminiscent of the 1930s Europe, when these extreme parties started winning
significant shares of the vote. ... Then it was spurred mostly by poor economic
conditions, which evolved into a far worse scenario. ... The conditions in
today's world are very similar to then, but with a few added attractions such
as an actual Jewish nation trying to resist a long history of hatred from these
same 'sons of Ishmael.'
So, will Israel survive. ... The answer
is a resounding YES! ... Go back to the opening verse (Jeremiah 30:7) where it
says that "but he shall be saved out of it." .... That's pretty clear
scriptural proof to me that God will 'see them through all of this.' ... In fact, let's look at this complete
passage from Jeremiah ... 30:4-7 ... to see what it says ... " Now these
are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah. 5) 'For thus says the Lord; We have heard a voice trembling, of fear, and
not of peace. 6) Ask now, and see,
whether a man is ever in labor with child?
So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in
labor, and all faces turned pale? 7)
Alas! For that day is great, so that
none is like it; and it is the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved
out of it."
So how does it end? .. Let's look at
Zechariah 12:2-3 which says, "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of
drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah
and Jerusalem. 3) And it shall happen in
that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be
cut in pieces, though all nations of the Earth are gathered against it."
.... In short, the world's nations will ultimately be against this tiny nation
of Jews, with the sons of Ishmael coming against her only to face defeat. ...
One verse that is very sobering as to how they will be defeated is in Zechariah
14, verse 12, which says, "And this
shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought
against Jerusalem: 'Their flesh shall
dissolve while they stand on their feet,
their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall
dissolve in their mouths." ..... I
don't know about you, but that sure rings a bit of nuclear war!
Again, we know that Israel will survive
these marauding 'sons of Ishmael, and will ultimately sign a peace treaty with
the coming world ruler, the soon-to-arrive anti-christ. ... This will take
place about the same time as Jesus takes His true Church home with Him in the
Rapture. ....
What we are witnessing over there, and
around the world right now is simply the fulfillment of God's Holy Word. ...
The one thing we need to do is pray first for the Jewish people, but also those
sons of Ishmael. ... They, too, are part of the ones Jesus died for. ... 2
Peter 3:9 says this ... "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." .... What an amazing God
that He has patience for all of us wretches who inhabit this crazy world!
Pray for Israel ... Pray for Palestine
... shine the light whenever and wherever you can while there is still time ...
He is coming soon to fix all the stuff we have so badly broken. ... Hallelujah!
....... Know that I am praying for each of you constantly so that you may stay
strong in these increasingly difficult days ... and when all seems lost, just
remember that our Savior is coming soon to rescue you from it all! ...
Hallelujah!
Until next time,
Red