August 2, 2024 - A. V. Rauf

All Eyes on the Middle East

In my previous article I had mentioned that it goes without saying that we are living in a time where the War that takes place in Ezekiel 38-39 may very well be fulfilled before our eyes. The sad fact is that it is estimated that nearly 80% of people have no interest in reading the Bible and a large population of Christians are not fully cognizant of the eschatological ramification of God’s Holy Writ.

As we move into the month of August, International geopolitical tensions between the United States/NATO and Russia and may I also add, Israel have escalated quite dramatically. In light of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas that began in October 7, 2023, in addition to the rising tide of anti-Semitsm and the international plea to establish a Palestinian state, at no time in recent history that I recall has their been such a direct threat of an invasion of Israel by its biblical enemies than in recent days.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered a direct attack on Israel in retaliation for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

“Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Tehran views it as a duty to avenge the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the capital hours earlier. ‘The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our beloved guest inside our house and made us mournful, but it paved the way for a harsh punishment to be imposed on it,” he said in a statement quoted by the state-run IRNA news agency.”

Israel is on HIGH ALERT peak military and intelligence readiness for a “full-scale war.” In the mean time, dozen U.S. warships are positioning off the coast of Lebanon for defense operations. When Iran attacks, will it be self standing or will it ultimately involve other nations such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and lest’s not forget Turkey. Note: many of these nations form the coalition that attacks Israel in Ezekiel 38-39!

Turkish President Erdogan has also expressed concern for Palestine declaring that Israel is not only a threat to Lebanon and the whole world but also to Palestine. Once again, the issue is establishing an independent nation for Palestine and dividing the land of Israel is in play.

“On July 26, US Vice President Kamala Harris stated that the “two-state solution is the only path” for Israel and the Palestinians. Harris, who was speaking after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, DC, also said she made clear her “serious concerns” about casualties in the Gaza Strip.”

“It’s time for this war to end”!

“The October 7 massacres, if anything, demonstrate why the creation of a Palestinian state is actually a surefire way to perpetuate the Palestinian jihad against Israel, as well as instability and insecurity throughout the Middle East. China, Russia, North Korea and Iran are watching and taking note that unacceptable behavior goes blissfully unpunished.”

Kamala Harris’s ‘Only Path’ To Destroy Israel

The LORD will first rapture the faithful Church but He ultimately returns with it. The period that commences after the rapture of the Church will also usher in what is known as the “Time of Jacob’s trouble”:

Jeremiah 30:4-7 —–And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

Daniel 12:1 —And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

Matthew 24:15-22 —When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

The age of the Church will end and the Time of Jacob’s trouble and the salvation of the nation of Israel will become the central element in the purpose of God on earth. Israel and the Jews will be in the worst turmoil ever and the surviving remnant of the Jews and Gentiles will enter the Millennial Kingdom after the Day of the LORD comes to pass.

The Day of the LORD is  not a 24 hour day, but rather a series of events in which the wrath of God is poured out on those who are not raptured, including the persecutors of the true Church and the haters of the nation of Israel. It will also culminate in God’s prevailing justice of the kingdom of AntiChrist.

Amos 5:16-20—Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. 17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the Lord. 18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light. 19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20 Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Each day that passes by we see the nation of Israel becoming more alienated from the rest of the world. Several nations that once were considered allies are no longer supporting her. Israel is beginning to find that she has no allies. This was all spoken of in the Bible. 

Joel 3:1-2—–For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

Did you see that? parted the LORD’s land. Did I hear “Land for Peace” deals?? Or will the current crisis in the Middle East lead to a full scale war that will result in the splitting up of Jerusalem to appease followers of Islam and Judaism and establish peace?

Zechariah 12: 2—-Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 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. 4 In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. 5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God. 6 In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. 7 The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. 8 In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 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.

What is for unbelieving Israel is not for the faithful Church. We need to understand that tribulation is one thing. Whereas the wrath of God is entire something else. Once the Rapture of the Church commences, those who have not been removed will find themselves in the Day of the Lord and may be objects of His wrath. Even from this only a few will survive and be saved.

Zechariah 14:1-9 —–Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished.
Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. 4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south. 5 Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee As you fled from the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, And all the saints with You. 6 It shall come to pass in that day That there will be no light; The lights will diminish. 7 It shall be one day Which is known to the Lord— Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen That it will be light. 8 And in that day it shall be That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea And half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur. 9 And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be— “The Lord is one,”  And His name one.

Once again to put it into simplest terms, when the LORD comes and removes the faithful Church and unleashes His wrath on this earth and on the kingdom of AntiChrist, He will be intervening in the strategic conflict against the nation of Israel. This is the Day of the LORD. It is now very obvious to discern what is about to take place in the Middle East. In the map below the little red portion is Israel. The green portion is all the countries that are Islamic and are not too fond of Israel:

2 Corinthians 6:1-2—We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) ——-tomorrow may be the day of wrath.

Antisemitism has reared its ugly head and has been Antisemitism has rising dramatically on a global scale since the pandemic began. 

It very well could that we are on the verge of witnessing the prophetic fulfillment of Psalm 83:

1 Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.² For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.³ They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

⁴ They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.⁵ For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:

⁶ The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;⁷ Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;⁸ Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.⁹ Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:

¹⁰ Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.¹¹ Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:¹² Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.¹³ O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.

¹⁴ As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;¹⁵ So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.¹⁶ Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O Lord.¹⁷ Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:¹⁸ That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the most high over all the earth.

Remember that the time of Jacob’s trouble is the exact same event Jesus Himself mentioned in Matthew 24 where He prophesies about the coming time of great tribulation that will target the entire world in general, and the Jews in particular.

Matthew 24:20-21–But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 

Historically, Israel was destroyed in 70 AD, and the Jews were scattered across the nations according to Bible prophecy. In 1948, they were miraculously regathered in exactly the same place from which they were dispersed. But their regathering was a physical one, not a spiritual one and there has been a mass “Aaliya,“or return of Jews from the Northern , Southern, & Eastern parts of the world. Now Jews from the West have been returning to Israel in massive numbers.

God’s covenant with Israel and the Jews is eternal, just like His covenant with the Church is eternal and it cannot be broken, and God is not going to leave them in their fallen condition. The time of Jacob’s trouble is going to be the means by which He restores His chosen people back to a right relationship to Himself. 

Hosea 5:15-–I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

All eyes are on the Middle East…………

Stay tuned and Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.

Bible Prophecy