10 Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation,
And have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold,
Therefore you will plant pleasant plants
And set out foreign seedlings;
11 In the day you will make your plant to grow,
And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish;
But the harvest will be a heap of ruins
In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.12 Woe to the multitude of many people
Who make a noise like the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 Then behold, at eventide, trouble!
And before the morning, he is no more.
This is the portion of those who plunder us,
And the lot of those who rob us. Isaiah 17.10-14
Okay, so let’s conclude. Where does Israel fit into all of this now?
As I said, Damascus, Syria is close to Israel. It’s 40 km from the Golan Heights, and Israel is watching what’s taking place there. Israel is pleased to see the back of the Iranian forces: another blow against Hezbollah as well and the end of Assad.
There is the old saying: ‘better the devil you know than the devil you don’t’. So whether it is going to be better or worse, that remains to be seen. And I’m not going to make any prophecies about this.
At present, the rebels say they’re not interested in Israel, that they just want to get Assad kicked out of Syria and they want to rebuild Syria.
One of the interesting things happening is that President Trump has talked about reviving his 2020 peace initiative through what he called the ‘Abraham Accords’. He also wants to bring Saudi Arabia into some kind of peace with Israel in the overall settlement of the whole Middle East issue.
Saudi Arabia, by the way, is on the side of the rebels against Assad and they’ll be quite pleased to see Assad gone. They want to contribute to building up a more stable and peaceful Syria. These are interesting days.
Before the US election, 94 nations met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with the purpose of reaching a 7 to 10 year peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
A 7-year peace agreement. Does that ring any bells? Both Israel and America sent representatives to this gathering which was called the Global Alliance.
At present, the big sticking point is a requirement for Israel to accept the two-state solution, setting up some kind of Palestinian state in the West West Bank and Gaza with security arrangements in place for Israel.
Now, with Assad gone, with Iran humbled, with Russia out of the way, Israel sees a much more hopeful situation for its future.
Additionally, with Hezbollah neutralized with Gaza’s situation (although it’s a terrible situation there) basically neutralized and with Hamas defeated, Israel sees a place where it could build up some kind of a peace settlement whereby it could then even risk making some agreement with the Palestinians provided suitable security arrangements can be agreed.
The big sticking point will be Jerusalem, a situation which is also prophesied in the Bible. It says in Zechariah that Jerusalem is going to be a burdensome stone burdening All Nations.
All Nations are going to be involved in this situation. And All Nations will be coming together over this issue.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. Zechariah 12:3
Israel could be open to a peace settlement at this time. The Arabs could also be open to peace. Most of the Arab countries are totally fed up with what Iran has done and this whole destabilization process. I have to say that most of the Iranians too are fed up with what Iran has done and one of the possibilities (which would be a good outcome) is that the Iranians may actually manage to get rid of their Islamic government in Iran.
In fact, Netanyahu sent a message to the Iranian people saying (I paraphrase) ‘your government has wasted billions of dollars which could have been used to build up your country, to make it a better place. It wasted billions of dollars financing all these armies round about Israel which have now been knocked out. They’ve wasted their money. What you need to do is get rid of your government and set up a government which can live at peace with us because we don’t want to fight a war with you, we want to live at peace with you, as we want to live at peace with our Arab neighbours.’
“With every passing moment, the regime is bringing you — the noble Persian people — closer to the abyss,” he says. “The vast majority of Iranians know their regime doesn’t care a whit about them. If it did care, if it cared about you, it would stop wasting billions of dollars on futile wars across the Middle East. It would start improving your lives. Imagine if all the vast money the regime wasted on nuclear weapons and foreign wars were invested in your children’s education, in improving your health care, in building your nation’s infrastructure, water, sewage, all the other things that you need. Imagine that.”
‘Israel stands with you,’ Netanyahu tells Iranian people, says Iran will be free ‘sooner than people think’ | The Times of Israel
If you’d said that a few months ago, you’d say, ‘it’s very farfetched and not going to happen’. But if you look at it now, it’s quite possible it could come out of this and become a good thing.
However, it could also be a trap because, the Book of Daniel, speaks about a peace settlement which will come in the last days. Daniel 9:27 says he shall
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. Daniel 9.27
Time is running out so, I won’t go into that in detail but the scripture is basically saying there’ll be some kind of a peace agreement which will be signed which will last for seven (7) years. It’ll break down halfway through with some kind of ‘abomination of desolation’ being put up in the Holy Place which seems to be Jerusalem. Then, there’ll be the end which will bring judgment upon the one who’s responsible for this, the one who makes this covenant.
If you go back to the previous verse in Daniel 9, you’ll find the man who’s called ‘the prince to come’:
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. Daniel 9.26
Many interpreters say that ‘the prince to come’ is the coming Antichrist who will strike the final 7-weeks peace agreement.
Revelation talks about the White Horse going out and many interpreters see that the White Horse, the first Rider of the Apocalypse is the Antichrist going out to make some peace agreement not just with Israel but in other conflicts taking place around the world.
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. Revelation 6.1-3
That is followed by the red horse which goes out and takes peace from the world and brings war.
So the question is: ‘Is that possibly going to happen?’ Yes, I think it’s possible, not certain but it’s possible.
And we’re living in a time which is extremely interesting and you have to keep your eyes on what’s happening in the world, but particularly on what’s happening in the Middle East.
3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. Revelation 6.3-4
See how all this plans out? I don’t make any claims to be a prophet, but there are people who are prophets who wrote stuff down in the Bible and what I find incredible is that it’s happening now.
You have so many passages in the Bible which relate to what’s happening today. Yet most of the church ignores it because they can’t face up to the possibility that it means we could be living in the last days before Jesus returns.
If that is the case, then what do we need to do personally? We need to get right with God by believing in Jesus, by repenting of our sins, being ready for his return.
We need to use the time that remains to make known the truth about the Gospel, tell people about Jesus, get the message out, reach out with the message that Jesus is coming again. He is the only solution, and we need to be on the guard for deceptions and false prophets coming.
And we see enough of them, particularly coming from the Islamic dimension. Whatever happens, God is going to have the last word despite all that comes against it. Israel is going to survive, but Israel will be judged by God as well because Israel has made mistakes and God wants to bring Israel to recognize that the big mistake they’ve made.
The big mistake which Jewish people have made around the world is not to accept Yeshua as the Messiah so part of
God’s judgment of Israel is to bring them to the point where they recognize that Yeshua / Jesus is the Messiah. And in fact, in the Book of Zechariah, it says that God is going to pour out His Spirit on Israel and they’re going to look upon me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son: Yeshua.
10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Zechariah 12.10
God also wants to reach the Muslims because the Muslims are under a deception which has come from Islam and which has been manifestly failing in the events which have taken place recently.
People like J Smith have been raised up to actually tell the Muslims that “the whole foundation of your faith is wrong”. It is based on a lie and delusion and you need to come away from it and to believe in Jesus who is the true Messiah.
We also have the nominal Christians who are just muddling through with all the kind of stuff you get in the church which mostly misses the point.
Jesus is the Messiah who has come and who is coming again, and we need to be ready for His return. Whatever happens, Jesus is going to be the answer and as we see all these things taking place, Jesus says,
28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Luke 21.28
Jesus is coming. Praise the Lord.
Father, we thank you that you are coming. We thank you that Jesus is coming as King of kings and Lord of lords. We thank you you’re coming to redeem us. We thank you that you have already come once to save us from our sins, and we thank you that you’re coming again to save the world from destruction.
We pray Lord for the people who are caught up in these terrible conflicts. We pray particularly for the land of Syria at this time. We pray Lord that you will hold back the forces of destruction, that they will have a chance to have some measure of peace and order in their country and even rebuilding some some of the destruction which has taken place there.
We pray for the Christians in that land, that you help them to share the Good News of Yeshua / Jesus the Messiah. We pray you deliver them from the hostility of the Muslims, and we pray for the Muslims of all kinds that they recognize that Islam is based on a delusion, it’s a house on the sand, it’s going to fall and that they need to believe the truth which is only to be found in Jesus the Messiah.
And help us all to be ready for your return and to use the time that remains to share the Good News of Jesus the Messiah, amen. Amen.