[first published, 2006] Solomon wrote, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” --Eccl 1:9 –NIV Certainly this is seen clearly in the midst of the most recent military conflict involving Israel.
According to an Associated Press report released on July 27, 2006 Al Qaeda is urging all Muslims to join in the battle against Israel. Here are a few direct quotes from the report:
CAIRO, Egypt — Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader issued a worldwide call in a new videotape released Thursday for Muslims to rise up in a holy war against Israel and join the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza until Islam reigns from "Spain to Iraq."
In the message broadcast by Al-Jazeera television, Ayman al-Zawahiri, second in command to Usama bin Laden, said that Al Qaeda now views "all the world as a battlefield open in front of us."
The Egyptian-born physician said that the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and Palestinian militants would not be ended with "cease-fires or agreements." "It is a Jihad for the sake of God and will last until (our) religion prevails ... from Spain to Iraq," al-Zawahiri said. "We will attack everywhere." Spain was controlled by Arab Muslims until they were driven from power at the turn of the 16th century.[1]
This aggressive attitude of the Muslim extremists should come as no surprise to thoughtful Christians. There has always been an absolute hatred for the people of God. It may be seen today as an “Arab v. Israel war” but rest assured that the real battle is that of Evil against God.
CAIRO, Egypt — Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader issued a worldwide call in a new videotape released Thursday for Muslims to rise up in a holy war against Israel and join the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza until Islam reigns from "Spain to Iraq."
In the message broadcast by Al-Jazeera television, Ayman al-Zawahiri, second in command to Usama bin Laden, said that Al Qaeda now views "all the world as a battlefield open in front of us."
The Egyptian-born physician said that the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and Palestinian militants would not be ended with "cease-fires or agreements." "It is a Jihad for the sake of God and will last until (our) religion prevails ... from Spain to Iraq," al-Zawahiri said. "We will attack everywhere." Spain was controlled by Arab Muslims until they were driven from power at the turn of the 16th century.[1]
This aggressive attitude of the Muslim extremists should come as no surprise to thoughtful Christians. There has always been an absolute hatred for the people of God. It may be seen today as an “Arab v. Israel war” but rest assured that the real battle is that of Evil against God.
On Tuesday, July 25, 2006 it was reported that an ancient copy of the Book of Psalms was unearthed in Ireland.
DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) -- Irish archaeologists Tuesday heralded the discovery of an ancient book of psalms by a construction worker while driving the shovel of his backhoe into a bog.
The approximately 20-page book has been dated to the years 800-1000. Trinity College manuscripts expert Bernard Meehan said it was the first discovery of an Irish early medieval document in two centuries.
The approximately 20-page book has been dated to the years 800-1000. Trinity College manuscripts expert Bernard Meehan said it was the first discovery of an Irish early medieval document in two centuries.
"This is really a miracle find," said Pat Wallace, director of the National Museum of Ireland, which has the book stored in refrigeration. Researchers will conduct years of painstaking analysis before putting the book on public display.
The book was found open to a page describing, in Latin script, Psalm 83, in which God hears complaints of other nations' attempts to wipe out the name of Israel.[2]
Consider again the Word of God. Psalm 83 reads …
O God, do not keep silent; be not quiet, O God, be not still. See how your enemies are astir, how your foes rear their heads. With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish. "Come," they say, "let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more." With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you-- the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, Gebal, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre. Even Assyria has joined them to lend strength to the descendants of Lot.
Do to them as you did to Midian, as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, who perished at Endor and became like refuse on the ground. Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, who said, "Let us take possession of the pasturelands of God."
Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like chaff before the wind. As fire consumes the forest or a flame sets the mountains ablaze, so pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm. Cover their faces with shame so that men will seek your name, O LORD. May they ever be ashamed and dismayed; may they perish in disgrace. Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD--that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.
O God, do not keep silent; be not quiet, O God, be not still. See how your enemies are astir, how your foes rear their heads. With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish. "Come," they say, "let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more." With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you-- the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, Gebal, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre. Even Assyria has joined them to lend strength to the descendants of Lot.
Do to them as you did to Midian, as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, who perished at Endor and became like refuse on the ground. Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, who said, "Let us take possession of the pasturelands of God."
Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like chaff before the wind. As fire consumes the forest or a flame sets the mountains ablaze, so pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm. Cover their faces with shame so that men will seek your name, O LORD. May they ever be ashamed and dismayed; may they perish in disgrace. Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD--that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.
While there is widespread disagreement about the exact date or context of this Psalm, it is generally agreed that the Psalm has both a historical and prophetical note. A leading Bible scholar points out some have related the Psalm to events in the days of Jeroboam II while others have related it to the days of Maccabees or even the days of good King Jehoshaphat. John Phillips notes “Probably events in the days of Jehoshaphat most closely approximate the situation envisioned in the psalm.
In 1458b.c. Amenhotep I, as the new pharaoh of Egypt attempted history’s first effort to exterminate the Jews when he ordered all newborn Hebrew males be tossed into the Nile.
In 72b.c. the Assyrians culminated a three-year siege on the northern tribes of Israel. They sacked Samaria, depopulated the country and marched their Hebrew captives into exile and oblivion.
In 701b.c. the Assyrian monarch Sennacherib turned his attention on the Jews and uprooted them.
In 586b.c Nebuchadnezzar demolished Jerusalem, burned the temple, slaughtered Jews wholesale, and deported the remainder to Babylon.
In 473B.C Haman persuaded Xerxes of Persia that it would be to his benefit to rid the world of Jews.
In 169b.c Antiochus Epiphanes captured Jerusalem and put the Jews to the sword. He defiled their temple, issued idolatrous laws and did his best to replace Jewish culture and religion with Hellenism.
In A.D.70 Jerusalem fell to Rome. During that war, over a million Jews perished by the sword, starvation, crucifixion, internal strife, and disease. The Romans glutted the slave markets and arenas of the world with captured Jews.
In 135 the Roman, Hadrian made it a capital offense for anyone to practice Judaism.
In 339 Constantius II made it illegal for Jews to intermarry with Christians.
In 438 Emperor Theodosius II banned Jews for all high office in the Roman world.
In 531 Justinian resurrected and enforced the prohibitions and made it illegal for Jews to appear as witnesses against Christians in court.
In 630 the Byzantine emperor Heraclius connived at the massacre of Jews who had re-infiltrated Palestine.
In 722 Emperor Leo III ordered all Jews to become Christians.
In 1066 the Muslim rulers of Granada in Spain massacred four thousand Jews in a single day.
In 1149 the Berbers, who controlled the greater part of Spain, gave Spanish Jews the usual choice: convert to Islam or get out.
In 1215 the fourth Lateran council of the Roman Catholic Church ordered all Jews to wear a badge to distinguish them from other people.
In 1371 Jews were massacred in Castile under the rule of Henry II.
In 1391 they were massacred in Seville.
In 1479 Ferdinand and Isabella united Spain and cleared the country of Moors. The Catholic Church introduced the Inquisition to root out heretics, especially Jews.
In 1492, by Edict or Expulsion, 300,000 Jews were tossed out of Spain to set out on a dreadful journey to nowhere.
In 1506 many Spanish Jews, who had sought refuge in Portugal, were mobbed and massacred.
In 1531 the Inquisition was imported into Portugal and she became another Spain.
In 1648 hundreds of thousands of Jews in Poland were massacred by the Cossacks.
In 1660 the Jews of Europe were accused of spreading the Black Death and were therefore slaughtered in country after country by the panic stricken populace.
And so it went. Ever since the Jewish people in Pilate’s judgment hall pulled down on their heads the dreadful curse “His blood be on us and on our children,” they have wandered from land to land, from one graveyard to the next.[3]
Perhaps the greatest evidence of an attempt to rid the world of the Jews was the diabolical death camps of Adolph Hitler and his Nazi empire. While there is no verifiable record of absolute certainty, most scholars agree that no fewer than 5.9 million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.
And so you see, there has always been a hated for Israel. Time and time again (and the above list is certainly in no way complete) there has been an effort to rid the world of the Jewish people.
There can be but one rational reason for the hatred of the Jews. It is crystal clear in scripture that God has always had one specific plan for the world and that plan is Jesus Christ the savior of the World! The plan is first mentioned to us in Genesis 3:15 when God said to the fallen Adam in Eden
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
This is the promise of Jesus, God’s only son, sent into the world as the payment for and victory over Satan and our sin. The plan became even more specific when God said to Abraham, in Genesis 12: 1-3
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."The plan of God, revealed in the Garden, now becomes even clearer as we understand that the Promised One would come into this world through a particular people – the seed of Abram (later his name was changed to Abraham[4].)
God’s promise crystallizes even more when God tells Abram how vast will be his descendants.
After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir." Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. --Gen 15:1-6
Over the next 10 years, Abram waited on God’s promise but saw no children come to him and his wife. Therefore, in an effort to fulfill God’s promise to himself, Abraham, with the full blessing of his wife, took her maid and together they conceived a son – Ishmael. While this self-effort seemed the only logical solution for Abraham (if he was to realize God’s promise of a son), it was wrong. You see Ishmael was the fruit of unbelief! Listen to the words of the angel of the Lord to the mother of Ishmael:
"You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers." -- Gen 16:11-12
Ishmael, the son of the flesh, born to Hagar, the maid of Abram’s wife is the originator of the Arab peoples. This act of disobedience by Abram was the beginning of the conflict between the Arabs and the Jews. You see, God’s plan of redemption for the sins of the world was not to be realized through the line of Ishmael, but through Isaac, the son of promise.
Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year." -- Gen 17:19-21
From the moment of Abram’s sin of unbelief until now there has been a war raging between the two sons – Ishmael, the father of the Arabs and Isaac, the father of the Jews. The covenant promises were confirmed to Isaac and later to Jacob through whom the Nation of Israel gets its name.[5]
It is through the nation of Israel Jesus was born. When John first saw Jesus he identified him as the Messiah:
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
"Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel." -- John 1:29-31
And even though Israel, as a people, rejected Jesus as the Son of God, He is the redeemer of the World, as promised by God.
The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. -- John 1:9-14
Scripture teaches us that Satan’s plan has always been to offer a “solution” which is contrary to the plan of God. At every turn Satan has been, and will be defeated because Jesus defeated him on the cross. In today’s world we are seeing a last ditch effort of the old serpent to destroy and discredit the nation of Israel, through whom the Messiah came, even through rejected by the Jews. We are closing in on the closing days of human history. Think of this:
The Jews have defied thousands of years of persecution, endemic and epidemic anti-Semitism, bloodbaths, and holocausts. They have defied, too, the trend toward assimilation and absorption into other nations. They have retained their racial purity, outlived the nations that persecuted them, and returned in our times to the land of their fathers.
Two kinds of Jews have been repatriated by the newborn state of Israel. From the lands of the West have come the enlightened, educated, sophisticated Jews – the lawyers, the doctors, the professors, in industrialists. From the lands of the East have come deeply religious, orthodox Jews, passionately devoted to building Zion into an exclusive religious state. Both kinds will see a promised messiah in the antichrist. Secular Jews will hail him because he will offer them a peace treaty that will guarantee their frontiers against attack. Religious Jews will embrace him because he will permit them to rebuild their temple under his protection … The fact that Israel is back in the land adds a new urgency to our conviction; end-time events can now take their ultimate shape.[6]
The world is quickly aligning itself toward the final cosmic clash. The stage is being set. The world will be realigned. The British and French empires are gone. New nations have sprung up and have been enrolled inn the United Nations. Russia, who thought itself to be the world leader, crept into the Middle East and made plans for a future assault on Israel. The old Roman Empire is reforming through the Union of European nations who are making their way toward a centralized federal government. All of these things are shadows of what is about to happen.
The next event in Biblical history is the rapture of the Church, where the true believers will be removed from the world and join the grandstands of heaven to witness the Returning of Jesus Christ to the Mount of Olives and destroy the enemies of the cross – Satan, his antichrist, and all who have rejected the gift of grace for ever and ever.
So what about you? Do you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? Do you have the certainty that you will spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus? What does the Bible say about this?
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. -- John 3:16-18
The plan of God has always been for you to be in eternal relationship with Him, but your sin has prevented it. Today, if you will accept the fact that you can never be good enough to go to heaven, acknowledge the fact that Jesus is the only way to God, affirm that through the blood of Jesus your sins can be forgiven, and ask Him to come into your heart, HE WILL.
If you have never asked Jesus into your heart, will you, right now pray, in faith, to Jesus? Say something like this:
Dear God, I know I am a sinner. I realize that I have failed you and broken your laws. I know that, because of my sin, I cannot come to heaven. But Father, I am sorry for my sins and I believe that Jesus, your only son, died on the cross and paid the penalty for my sins. Today, I ask you to please forgive me of my sins and give me eternal life. I want you to take control of my life and guide me every day. Jesus, right now, I acknowledge you as Lord and from this day forward I want to live for you.
[1] http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,205858,00.html
[2] http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/07/25/ireland.psalms.ap/index.html
[3] John Phillips, Exploring the Future (Neptune, N.J.: Loizeaux Brothers, Inc.) pp. 289-301.
[4] Genesis 17:5
[5] Genesis 32:28
[6] Phillips, p. 376
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