Paving the way
Submitted by Dave on Fri, 2006-08-18 14:10.
Bible | Israel
In a worldy, temporal sense, I agree with Joseph Farah's criticism of the leadership, and citizenry, of Israel. However, my understanding of end-times prophecy forces me to disagree with his prediction that Israel is "terminally ill." Israel will be preserved. The Lord said it, and He does not break His word.
I see something else in modern Israel. I see a people so desperate for peace that they will resort to some extraordinarily stupid means to achieve it. The Bible tells us, in Dan 9:27, that the antichrist will broker a covenant of peace with Israel. Israel, in the state she is in today, will enter into this agreement with evil.
The Lord is coming soon. Are you ready?
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Al-Qaida is right... and still blind
Submitted by Dave on Tue, 2006-09-05 12:07.
In his latest column (yes, another one), Joseph Farah cites a very interesting report, issued by al-Qaida in July 2005, that states that the reason the Muslims will win the struggle in the Middle East is Israel's lack of faith in the God who gave them the land. As far as it goes, the author of the report is correct. The nation of Israel did break the covenant by which God gave them the land, and as a result, He scattered them to the nations in A.D. 70.
Farah points out that the compromise which Israel seems all to eager to grant has just the opposite of its intended effect. It is the very thing which convinces the Muslims of Israel's lack of faith -- and, consequently, that they (the Muslims) will prevail because of their faith in Allah. However, what Farah does not mention, and what al-Qaida cannot see, is the existence of God's grace and the role it fulfills, and will fulfill, in these events.
The question that Abu Zubeida al-Baghdadi, the author of the al-Qaida report, needs to ask is, if God dispersed the Jews in A.D. 70, why does the nation of Israel exist at all today? After all, it did not exist as a nation for nearly two millenia. The answer to this question can be found in Ezekiel 37, the prophecy of the "dry bones." In this chapter, God demonstrates His intention to resurrect the nation of Israel and its inhabitants.
The bones are dry because Israel as a nation is spiritually dead. In Eze 37:8, we see that the bones have been restored, knitted together with muscle and sinew, but there is still no "breath" in them. The "breath" represents the Holy Spirit. I believe that this verse describes the condition of Israel today. Her inhabitants are alive physically, but they remain dead spiritually. This is the condition that al-Qaida (correctly) perceives, and this is the state in which Israel is willing to compromise with evil.
Fortunately, God's prophecy does not end there. In the very next verse, Eze 37:9, God promises to "breathe on these slain, that they come to life." This prophecy is being fulfilled each day, as more and more Jews accept Yeshua as their Messiah and savior. There will come a day, during the middle of the Tribulation (Rev 11:13), when Israel as a nation says, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." (Mat 23:39) Then, the prophecy of Ezekiel 37 will be fulfilled.
Abu Zubeida al-Baghdadi is correct when he perceives a faithless Israel. But he is blind to God's grace, by which Israel will be blessed with the faith she has lacked all these years. Because of his own lack of faith in the One True God, he believes that Israel and her God can be defeated with force of arms. He is wrong.
Ready?
Yes! Bring it on!