Storm Clouds Rising, Part 5

Storm Clouds Rising

Setting the Stage for the Rise of Antichrist and the End of the Age

A new look at Ezekiel 38-39

Missing Neighbors

It is interesting to note that in Ezekiel’s list of nations, all of Israel’s more prominent and proximate enemies are noticeably absent. For instance, Egypt or Mizraim, the first nation that tried to destroy Israel, is not named. Neither is Lebanon. Neither are Israel’s brother nations of Edom, Ammon and Moab, whose territories make up modern day Jordan. Also missing—Aram, which correlates to one of the more vicious enemies of Israel, the modern nation of Syria with its capital at Damascus; and the ancient enemies of Israel, Assyria and Babylon, which make up today’s Iraq. Why are these particular nations not included in the alliance to destroy Israel?

By now in our study it should come as no surprise that these nations probably have something in common, a shared explanation as to why they are not involved in the Russian-Islamic alliance against Israel. And one only need examine the history of the Arab-Israeli wars that have raged since Israel’s Independence in 1948 to find it.

On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion read Israel’s Declaration of Independence, and the following day the nations of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq launched a massive invasion to annihilate the nation of Israel in its infancy. To the world’s surprise, Israel triumphed and expanded the borders of its territory. In 1956, Egypt launched a strike against Israel that was again turned back on itself and resulted in the expansion of Israel’s borders. In 1967, the Six-Day War saw another invasion by Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Syria, and again the invaders were defeated and Israel added to its territory. In 1973, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq tried again, this time with a multi-national force with contributions from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Morocco, Pakistan, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, Uganda and Cuba, not to mention the emerging Palestinian Liberation Organization. Again, these nations were defeated, although Israel suffered losses more severe than in any conflict before. In 1982, Syrian-Palestinian activity in Lebanon prompted Israel to invade and occupy Southern Lebanon, an occupation that ended in 2000. But in 2006, terrorist action against Israel prompted a second invasion of Lebanon. The neighbors of Israel have been interested only in the destruction of the Israeli people and their nation since their rebirth, and have repeatedly formed alliances to attempt exactly that, to no avail.

Despite the efforts of the United Nations and many national governments around the world, including repeated interventions by the United States of America, tensions are escalating again in the Middle East. Israel is still not secure within its own borders, occupied by hostile Palestinians and surrounded on every side by people and nations who have sworn to destroy it. It is possible that at least one other war is destined to take place in Israel before the Invasion of Gog’s Horde, one in which Israel is finally allowed to truly defeat their enemies and possess what was given to them through God’s promises to Abraham 4000 years ago. It could be the sixth Arab-Israeli War, or the seventh, or some number above that, but I am convinced from my studies of prophecy that Israel must not only possess beyond question the disputed territories of the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, but also neighboring Lebanon and Jordan. The Syrian capital Damascus will be destroyed, and the remnants of Syria and Egypt will then join in a peace pact with Israel that unites the three into a God-ordained alliance. Exactly how that will be accomplished is unpredictable, except to say that if past is prologue, Israel will be engaged by its neighbors in a future conflict that again results in defeat for its enemies and the expansion of its own territories. Think it absurd? Let’s look at some other prophecies.

Consider the prophecy of Obadiah, a proclamation against the ancient nation of Edom. Together Edom, Moab and Ammon were the ancestral nations of today’s Jordan. Obadiah foresaw Edom’s destruction when he said this: The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. The house of Jacob shall be fire, and the house of Joseph a flame; but the house of Esau shall be stubble; they shall kindle them and deliver them, and no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau. Obadiah clearly states that Israel shall destroy Edom. Though the Edomites, or Idumeans, ceased to exist as a distinct people group in 70 AD, slaughtered beside the Jews by the Roman armies of Titus while trying to defend Jerusalem and Palestine, neither the people nor their land was ever conquered by Israel in fulfillment of Obadiah’s prophecy. It is yet to be fulfilled. Furthermore, Obadiah’s prophecy indicates the captives of both Israel and Jerusalem shall return to the land and take possession of it. This universal return of all Israelis did not happen until the last century, when Jews scattered among every nation on earth began returning to Israel. Obadiah states that when they have returned, they will possess the following territories:

· The Mountains of Esau, which is Jordan

· Philistia, which is the Gaza Strip

· The Fields of Ephraim and Samaria, which is the West Bank

· Gilead, which is the Golan Heights

· The land of the Canaanites, which is Lebanon

· The cities of the South, which is the Negev and the Sinai Peninsula

One day soon, Israel is going to take indisputable possession of the territories of its own borders, and it will extend its borders to include territory it has never owned but that has been promised to it by God—Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, the Sinai and portions of Syria will belong to Israel.

Consider Isaiah 17, a proclamation against the nation of Syria and its capital of Damascus in which God said through his prophet, “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap.” Damascus is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited city on the planet, and it has never in history ceased from being a city; it has never been conquered and reduced to a ruinous heap. But Isaiah saw its destruction at the hands of Israel as surely as if he had been standing there when it happened. The destruction of Damascus will end the rule of terror that Syria has inflicted upon Israel, removing its support of Hezbollah and Hamas, and taking away its influence in the nations around it. One day soon, one of Israel’s most vicious enemies will be violently removed from the stage of world politics in a strike that will enrage the rest of the world and quite possibly spark the Invasion of Gog’s Horde that we have been discussing.

Consider Isaiah 19, a proclamation against the nation of Egypt, And the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt; everyone who makes mention of it will be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts which He has determined against it (v. 17). This is one verse in a lengthy prophecy that foretells Egypt’s future, predicting civil war that leads to the rise of a fierce king to rule it, drought and natural disaster that leaves the land desolate, and finally a spiritual revival that turns Egypt to the Lord of hosts and leads to a unification with Israel and the remnants of Assyria. Pair this with further prophecies in Ezekiel 29, which predicts such desolation in Egypt that it will be uninhabitable for forty years, and Daniel 11, which details the invasion and destruction of Egypt at the hands of Antichrist, and we begin to see a series of events beginning with Egypt’s own internal problems that would keep it out of the coming fray, even though it won’t be spared in the Latter Years.

And what about Iraq? God has plans for the ancient nations of Assyria and Babylon, plans that prevent their involvement in a devastating war against Israel. If these things are to happen in the near future, perhaps the presence of the United States military in Iraq will keep it out of the conflict. Or perhaps the social and political unrest will render Iraq incapable of participating in the war. Or perhaps there is a rising political star in Iraq who will shrewdly avoid the military alliances that he knows would result in a defeat that he cannot afford, for he has imperial designs on a world that will soon need a peacemaker. One thing is certain, from the ancient lands of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, a man will arise in the Latter Years to lead the world in the aftermath of Ezekiel’s World War, and woe be to the world.