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Middle East Update
By Lance Lambert
January 2003
Israel is facing at present, in my estimation, a crisis that makes
previous
crises pale into insignificance. Of course it could be said that Israel
lives in a virtually continuous war situation, moving, it seems, from
crisis
to crisis. After all which other country has faced seven wars in
fifty-five
years? Nevertheless, this present situation is more complex and, from the
human point of view, more dangerous than previous impasses. Rarely have I
felt so inadequate in seeking to explain this situation and to communicate
to you, who love and pray for Israel, how to handle this situation in
prayer
and intercession. I have decided therefore, in fellowship with others, to
make two tapes, one dealing with the general situation in the light of
God's
word, not only in Israel but also, in the whole region and in the world.
And
then another tape - a sixty-minute tape - on the results of the election
on
the 28th of January and the consequences of the United Nations inspection
report on the 27th of January.
Let us read some
scriptures: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, "For everything there is a
season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and
a
time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is
planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to
build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time
to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones
together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek,
and
a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend,
and
a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to
love,
and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace."
And then verse 14,
"I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever:
nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it; and God hath done
it,
that men should fear before him."
Psalm 33:10-12, "The
Lord bringeth the counsel of the nations to nought; He
maketh the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect. The counsel of the
Lord standeth fast for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he hath
chosenfor his own inheritance."
To this I would like
to add the words of the prophet, Isaiah 46:9-11,
"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else;
I
am God, and there is none like me; declaring the end from the beginning,
and
from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying, My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all my pleasure; calling a ravenous bird from the
east,
the man of my counsel from a far country; yea, I have spoken, I will also
bring it to pass; I have purposed, I will also do it."
And then in the
prophet Jeremiah 50:22,25 "A sound of battle is in the land,
and of great destruction.The Lord hath opened his armory, and hath brought
forth the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
hath
a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans." That of course is Iraq.
Jeremiah 51:19-23, "The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the
former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Jehovah
of
hosts is his name. Thou art my battle-axe and weapons of war: and with
thee
will I break in pieces the nations; and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
and with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with
thee
will I break in pieces the chariot and him that rideth therein; and with
thee will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in
pieces the old man and the youth; and with thee will I break in pieces the
young man and the virgin; and with thee will I break in pieces the
shepherd
and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his
yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces governors and
deputies."
And lastly, Zechariah 12:2-3,9, "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of
reeling unto all the peoples round about, and upon Judah also shall it be
in
the siege against Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I
will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples; all that
burden
themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth
shall be gathered together against it. And it shall come to pass in that
day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against
Jerusalem."
What an enormous
comfort these words of the Lord are to all who are
involved in this battle, both physical and spiritual. Ecclesiastes says,
there is a time for peace and there is a time for war. Rather frightening
words, but he goes on to say, whatsoever God does it is forever; nothing
can
be put to it nor anything taken away from it, for God has done it. That to
me is a very significant statement and declaration by the Spirit of God in
this, so often misunderstood, little book of Ecclesiastes.
It seems to me that
that is exactly where we are at this present time. We
have so often stood upon in Psalm 33:11, "The counsel of the Lord standeth
fast for ever, The thoughts of his heart to all generations." Verse 10
says,
"The Lord bringeth the counsel of the nations to nought"; Now nought is
nought, it doesn't matter how many times you multiply it, it still equals
nought. And the Lord says he brings the council of the nations to nought,
whether it's the Road Map, whether it's the Oslo Accords, whether it's the
Saudi Peace Plan or whatever else, He brings these things to nought. An
interesting little Hebrew word mach'sha'vot, that really means not just
thoughts, but plans, strategies. He brings the plans, the strategies, the
ideas of the peoples, and He makes them ineffective. But the Lord's
strategies stand and are effective, as it were, for every generation -
ours
included. So I find this a tremendous word to stand upon in these days,
and
that other word from Isaiah 46:10, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do
all my pleasure" and then He says a most extraordinary thing, "bringing a
ravenous bird from the east." Now ravenous birds normally in the Scripture
are a symbol of evil, and this vulture that is called from the east was,
of
course, in Isaiah's day, Nebuchadnezzer, but the man of council from a far
country, was, we believe, Cyrus. And in many ways we are in exactly the
same situation, with Saddam Hussein, in many
ways a ravenous bird that the Lord is using to
fulfill His own purposes, and President Bush, who came to power
in such a remarkable way, is like this man of council.
I find all this so
tremendous, I will say something more later on about
Jeremiah and Zechariah, but for myself I think that these words are of
tremendous encouragement and strength for the time in which we live. My
own
sense as Israel faces this situation, is that we are in the anti-room of
something immense, far greater and more significant than the war on terror
or the war on Iraq,
as Bush has dubbed them. What that is I do not as yet
know, except that I feel in my spirit that some vital purpose of God is
going to be fulfilled. It could be the salvation of the house of
Israel,
which would explain the growing violent anti-Semitism and hatred of
Israel,
and her growing isolation worldwide.
There is nothing
that incenses Satan more than the prospect of the genuine
redemption of Israel.
This violent hatred and isolation of
Israel may well
become a very real means by which the Holy Spirit will drive her into the
salvation of God. It could also be a holy war, an Islamic holy war, waged
by
Islamic militants, not only upon Israel but also upon the so-called
Western
Christian nations, and particularly upon the United States and the United
Kingdom. This could be the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38. There is no doubt
about the position of militant Islam, one hardly needs to mention Osama
bin
Laden or the Al-Qaida network for instance. Listen however to Dr. Abdel
Aziz
Rantisi, the Hamas leader and spokesman: "One of the sources of Iraqi
strength would be its peoples willingness to die as martyrs and another
quality of strength is that the Iraqi should have an army of martyrs. The
enemies of Allah and the enemies of this people are cowards - they crave
life while the Moslems crave martyrdom. The martyrdom suicide operations
that shock can ensure that horror is sowed in the enemies' hearts, and
horror is one of the causes of their defeat." He added "there is no other
way than to establish thousands of squads of martyrs, that is suicide
bombers, in a secret apparatus who from now have at their disposal the
capability as well as thousands of sophisticated explosive belts with
powerful explosive capacity to cause great damage. These martyrs must be
trained in the Koran to energize them for heroism and honor." He then went
on to say, "The war in Iraq is not inevitable, but if it happens the
West's
arrogance will lead it to its sure end if it is determined to act with
aggression and terror against the Islamic nation, and that its first
defeat
will be in Iraq." Now I am very interested that he used the words "its
first
defeat will be in Iraq".
In other words, Rantisi obviously wonders whether
the Koran and the Hadith's prediction that there would be a great war in
the
last phase of world history between Islam and the rest of the world, has
finally come.
The fact is simple -
whatever our media and governments may say, bending
over backwards to point out that Islam is a peace-loving religion,
non-violent and all the rest, the fact is simple: Islam has an agenda and
that agenda is the conquest of the world. It speaks of a final battle that
will take place in the last phase of world history, in which Islam will
triumph and the world will become Moslem. If, as I firmly believe, Islam
will be finally defeated, it will open the doors for millions of Moslem
young people to find the Lord. Twice before, militant Islam has been
defeated in battles that they should have won, because of their
overwhelming
military superiority at the time. The first was in the battle of Tours in
France on 10th October 732, and the second great battle was the battle of
Vienna on the 12th September 1683. In both these battles it seemed that
Islam would win because of its strength, its superiority in both weapons
and
in numbers, and in both cases it was defeated and that defeat in both
cases
led to the demoralization and stagnation of Islam - largely because of its
belief in a fatalistic predestination in which Allah predestines all
things,
good and evil, and therefore predestined their defeat.
If, as I believe,
militant Islam will be totally defeated in the next years
ahead, this belief will cause the disillusionment of a whole generation of
Moslem youth. It could also be another world war, the third, which would
lead to the appearance and power of the Antichrist. I am not sure that the
world is ready yet, for him. The word of God speaks of this man, and
speaks
of him, for instance, as the man of sin, the sinful man, the man who
epitomizes fallen man, the lawless one, not meaning a gangster, a
mafia-style, triad-style gangster, but one who rejects the revealed law of
God. He is also called the son of perdition or destruction. These terms
are
found in 2 Thessalonians 2. He is also described as he who opposes and
exalts himself against all that is called God. From this we understand
that
he is a Humanist par excellence - he is the very essence of Humanism. It
is
interesting in this connection to understand Revelation 13:18, where that
strange number - so misunderstood - we are told is connected with this
Antichrist, 666. This is the figure of fallen man. It begins with fallen
man, it ends with fallen man and everything between it is fallen man.
Actually Antichrist is firstly a spirit, a very powerful principality. It
is
also spoken of in the word of God as a system or government, a political
system or government that mercifully will only last for seven years. And
thirdly it is spoken of as a man indwelt and energized and empowered by
Satan himself. Nor is this as fanciful as it may seem when you consider
the
possible cloning of human beings by people who believe in beings from
another planet controlling them and energizing them - such a clone could
easily be indwelt by some incredibly intelligent and gifted fallen spirit
or
angel, even by Satan himself.
This would make the
title Antichrist even more meaningful. This Antichrist
that will be the final manifestation of the spirit of Antichrist will head
a
government and political and economic and socio-religious system and is
predicted in so many areas of God's word. There have been many, many
Antichrists, from Antiochus the fourth in the second century BC, the
original type of the Antichrist, to Nero, Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, to
Mao
Ze-Dong, and to Saddam Hussein - the final one - the Antichrist will
eclipse
them all He will not be a horned monster, but will be an affable,
brilliant,
intelligent man seemingly of peace. To use a contradictory phrase, an
autocratic, dictatorial democrat. It says in the word of God that the
dragon
gave him his power, his throne and great authority, that's in Revelation
13:2. But remember that this same Satan offered the Messiah all this as it
is recorded in Matthew 4:8-11.
Mercifully this
final attempt of Satan to take the world will fail at the
appearing of the Lord Jesus who, it is said, will slay the Antichrist with
the breath of His mouth. At present, as I see it, the only substantial
obstacle to the coming of the Antichrist is the United States. When one
considers the election of George W. Bush to be the President of the United
States and the cliffhanger over whether it would be Gore or whether it
would
be Bush, at the election, it seems to me to be the mercy of the Lord that
He
gave it to George W. Bush. I do not doubt that he is a child of God and
that
he is seeking to do the right thing before God. He has surely been brought
to the leadership of the world's one superpower for such a time as this. I
say that the United States
is the only substantial obstacle to the coming of
the Antichrist; the European Union is wide open for him and the United
Kingdom is not far behind. In my estimate, Britain is finished as far as
being an obstacle to the coming of Antichrist, the route is clear for all
to
see, who have eyes - how she has fallen, she who was made so great by God
and who was used so greatly by God. The only answer would be a massive
awakening and revival, and I remember that all those years ago when Mother
Barbara of blessed memory, heard that prophecy in Russia - it was said
that
praying women would save Britain - and she certainly was during the Second
World War. Whether it extends further I do not know, but at least we can
pray. We should pray, but I wonder whether it is too late for Britain to
be
an obstacle to Antichrist's coming?
The same with those
Scandinavian nations who have seen God work in them so
powerfully in their history. Their governments today spend so much
time
pontificating on moral issues and who are so amoral when it comes to the
practice. It is like a cancer that has destroyed their character. It is
true
also I have to say of the Netherlands, that little nation that God worked
so
powerfully and so wonderfully in, and which has produced so many
outstanding
believers. It seems to me incredible what has happened in Holland now. And
Germany, what can I say about Germany in the light of the last century -
this land that was the birthplace of the Reformation and gave so much to
the
world? I don't see any of these countries in any way being an obstacle to
the coming of the Antichrist. The moral fiber of these nations has been
eaten away and even the Church is merely, in most of its parts, a monument
to past power and glory. With whatever mistakes and failings the United
States has, and there are many - unfortunately exported to the rest of the
world - there is still a residue of moral fiber in that nation, and still
a
conscience based on Judeo-Christian principles, or better put, biblical
principles. But how long will that last? Are we in fact witnessing the end
of the United States as the only superpower in the world? So important is
the issue of the land - the land that the Lord calls His land, or My land
-
so important to the Lord that He speaks of judging nations who divide it
or
carve it up. Most Christian believers and certainly most Christian leaders
have no idea of the significance and importance of this matter of the
land.
President Bush was the first American president to speak officially of the
division of the land into two separate and sovereign states, naming one of
them as Palestine, the name derived from Philistia.
Of course Britain
had already divided the land in 1922, making 78 percent of
it an Arab state that was called the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. It took
another twenty-six years before God's judgment fell on Britain. She fell
from being a superpower - one of the greatest empires in the history of
the
world, so used by God, and she has progressively become a European
offshore island. So will the same judgment fall
on the United States. It is hard to
contemplate what it would be like for the work of the Lord worldwide if
the
United States were to lose its position as the world power. Even at
present
Christian believers suffer in Pakistan, in Indonesia, in Iran, in Saudi
Arabia, in Sudan to mention but a few of many. Interestingly these are
hardly mentioned in the world media. It is hard to contemplate the
position
of such believing communities if the United States were to fall from her
position as the superpower. It must however be said that God is not
partial.
In this connection it is amazing to consider Jeremiah 51:19-23. I read
this
extraordinary prophecy earlier. In its first meaning, the significant
declaration of the Lord to Jeremiah is given in connection with the
judgment
and destruction of Babylon, both the capital and the empire. What is
remarkable is the revelation of the tiny nation and land
of Israel is the
key to world shattering events. See verse 20, "You are my battle axe and
weapons of war, and with you will I break in pieces the nations, and with
you will I destroy kingdoms." Is this simply and only something antique,
something to do with ancient history? I think not. This at first glance
seems so improbable that one could almost understand why Jeremiah was so
ridiculed by both people and king. Here then we discover one of the
greatest
principles of world history. All through history God has judged empires,
ideologies, superpowers, and nations using this little despised, and from
the viewpoint of great empires and superpowers, insignificant Israel. The
Lord calls the nation, Jacob or Israel, His battle-axe or weapons of war,
and goes on to say, with you will I break in pieces the nations and with
you
will I destroy kingdoms. It is unbelievable if it were not the word of
God,
but the solid evidence is in world history: Egypt, broken; Babylon,
broken;
Persia, broken; Greece, broken; Rome, broken. A battle-axe, a maul, from
which we get the word to be mauled is not a sweet thing, it is not a hoe
or
a spade or a plow or even a saw. A maul is for destruction, it breaks in
pieces, it pulverizes.
The Lord spoke to
Abraham and his seed, that He would bless those who
blessed him and curse those who cursed him. It has always been so, with
both
the physical and the spiritual seed of Abraham, called the father of all
who
believe - whether it is the Jewish people or whether it is the true Church
of God. Isaiah, by the Spirit of God said, "Behold, they may gather
together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee
shall
fall because of thee" (Isaiah 54:15). Or again, "For that nation and
kingdom
that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly
wasted" (Isaiah 60:12). And Zechariah prophesies by the Spirit in the same
vein. "I will make Jerusalem
a cup of reeling unto all the peoples round
about" That is a goblet of wine into which God Himself has introduced a
poison. "I will make Jerusalem
a burdensome stone" a stone that ruptures,
"for all the people, all that burden themselves with it shall be sore
wounded and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together
against
it" (Zechariah 12:2-3).
Now this prophecy is
specifically for the last phase
of world history, and Zechariah goes on, by the Spirit, to say "and I will
seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem." The amazing
fact is that this is true not only of ancient history but of modern
history - the Ottoman Empire, gone, hardly recognized as one of the
greatest
empires of history. The Austro-Hungarian Empire, a vast empire,
disappeared;
the Tsarist Empire disappeared; Hitler's "Thousand-year Reich"
disappeared;
the British Empire disappeared; the Soviet Empire disappeared-all broken
up.
It is in fact true that these great empires that have come and have gone,
have been broken in pieces by God, using His battle-axe and His weapons of
war - His purpose for Israel. The heart of their break-up, of their
destruction, lies with God's purpose for Israel.
My fear, well
founded I believe, is that the United States has come to the
same crossroads that Britain came to in the years 1945-1948. For many,
especially Americans, it would be impossible to contemplate that a small
nation of six and a half million people in a postage-stamp of territory -
contested by so many and confronted by so much hatred and being divided
and carved up by the powers of today - could be
God's battle-axe and His weapons of war - with
which He will break them into pieces and destroy them, but He
has and He will.
Join me in praying
for President Bush and his administration that the Lord
will speak to him by dream or vision, or by revelation, or maybe in some
other way about this matter, and thus give both the United States and true
believers worldwide - the work of the Lord on this earth -a period of
peace
in progress before the final storm blows, for it surely will. I might also
just add here that we should pray for Ariel Sharon. I believe that he has
been brought to the leadership of Israel for just such a time as this, but
he speaks, again and again, of having to make painful compromises, and one
wonders if he also is going to come into the category of agreeing to a
division of the land. I know that he doesn't want that, but in many ways
what - humanly speaking - alternative is there? Pray for Ariel Sharon, and
for those around him, his advisors. Pray for them that they may in fact
have
the courage to do the right thing.
President Bush has
shown great courage and resolution to deal with terror.
For too long the United States,
the United Kingdom and the European nations
have played ball with it, in spite of the IRA in Ireland, UK, the ETA in
Spain, and November 17th in Greece. No strong line has ever been taken. It
took September 11th 2001,
to wake up the United States
and the rest of the
world, to a lesser extent. The simple fact is that militant Islam has
thrown
down the gauntlet and President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair have
had
the courage to respond. The war with Iraq is part of this response. Many
may
ask "Why Iraq? Is not Iran as bad as Iraq or worse, or Libya, or Syria?
What
about North Korea?" But Saddam Hussein is as evil as any - a brutal
murderer
who has already used non-conventional weapons resulting in thousands of
deaths, and who has shown no sign of change or reformation. He sees
himself
as "Nebuchadnezzer II" and as a new "Saladin." While he is in power there
is
an enormous danger for the whole region. It is hoped that by making him
and
Iraq an example, the rush towards the use of non-conventional weapons,
chemical, biological, nuclear will be halted. Add to this the possible use
of such weapons by terror groups of various kinds, even on a small scale,
and a world picture of somber horror is painted. If President Bush and
Prime
Minister Tony Blair, having put their hand to the plow, turn aside, the
end
will be far worse than the beginning. The very character of militant Islam
ensures this. It has been said by many, including a number of Christian
church leaders, that it is immoral to start a war, but it seems to be
forgotten in the melee that someone attacked the United States and killed
three thousand people. I would have thought that that was an act of war.
Pearl Harbor certainly was.
Some say that the
consequences of a war on Iraq could have very bad
influence on Israel
and indeed upon the whole region. The resulting
confusion, we are told, the hatred for the
United States and the United
Kingdom and the probable imposition of a so-called peace plan upon Israel
is
seen as a reason for praying that President Bush and Prime Minister Tony
Blair would not go ahead with this war on Iraq. But the result of such a
halt would be far greater and much more dangerous in its consequences. We
need to pray for President Bush and his administration and for Prime
Minister Tony Blair and his government, that the Lord may give them wisdom
and understanding, preserving them from precipitated and unwise actions
and
strategies and enabling them to do the right thing. Pray that they may
have
the courage to do what is right.
Let me now say
something about Israel's present situation. For twenty-eight
months Israel has been at war with the Palestinians, and that war has
shown
no let-up. It has been called "Arafat's War" with reason. Recently he
called
upon all parties among the Palestinians to give up suicide bombings and
other terrorist outrages until after the 28th of January - that is our
national election. And in so doing he let the cat out of the bag. It seems
he not only supports, but to a large extent finances and orchestrates the
violence. In these last twenty-eight months, 710 Israelis have been
murdered, 5050 wounded - some seriously, losing arms, legs or eyes - in
15,800 Palestinian terrorist attacks.
It is a sad
reflection on the morality of the United Nations Security
Council, that they, at no time, have produced a single resolution
condemning
this ongoing Palestinian terror campaign. It tends to illustrate the
amoral
nature of the UN. The latest resolution condemning Israel's occupation of
Palestinian land, a re-occupation occasioned by these last twenty-eight
months of murder and violence, and without any mention of Palestinian
provocation was supported by twelve out of fifteen members of the council,
including Great Britain to her shame, and was only thrown out by the veto
of
the United States. It is no wonder that Israel feels isolated. With the
advent of renewed and growing anti-Semitism - the worst since the 1930's,
evidenced in attacks on Jews, the vandalism of synagogues and Jewish
cemeteries, the academic boycott of Israeli scientists and doctors and a
virtually universally hostile world-media, to mention but a few of its
manifestations - Israel feels alone, a pariah amongst the nations.
Now for the first time Israel's economy is suffering. Inflation has risen
to
6.5 percent, it is estimated that some 50,000 Israeli businesses went out
of
business this last year, and the shekel has fallen in value both against
the
United States dollar and the Euro. Some of this is due to world tensions
and
the downturn of the world's economy, especially in the electronics
industry
and in diamonds and other precious jewels. But even the tourist industry
is
right down to rock bottom with hotels and tourist agencies struggling to
survive. At what must seem to all reasonable observers to be a further
solid
evidence of Israeli lunacy, the Labor Party, led by its erstwhile leader
and
former Defense Minister in the National Unity Government, Binyamin Ben
Eliezer, pulled out of the government and so forced an election upon us.
There could not have been a more inappropriate time, with a war on Iraq
looming and all the consequences for Israel, possibly within days of the
outcome of the election. A twenty-eight months long Intifada, which to all
intents and purposes is a live war, only those who have taken leave of
their
senses would call for an election, but into an election we have been
plunged. Thus we are embroiled in all the normal bitter rhetoric, the
charges and counter-charges, the political mayhem of an election. Ariel
Sharon and his two sons, Omri and Gilad have both been accused of
corruption, whilst the new leader of the Labor party, Amram Mitzna, has
said
he will give away half of
Jerusalem, all of Gaza and most of
Judea and
Samaria.
The amazing truth is
that there is nothing new about this proposed policy of
Mitzna's, Ehud Barak, the previous Prime Minister had offered ninety-six
to
ninety-eight percent of the West Bank and Gaza, half of Jerusalem and
practical sovereignty over the Temple
Mount
to Yasser Arafat in July 2000.
It was rejected by Arafat and within two months this present, pre-planned
Intifada began, with all its death and violence to both sides. It is
abundantly clear that it is not just Hamas and Al Jihad, but Fatah itself
(Arafat's own party) that wants to liquidate Israel as we know it.
This Palestinian sovereign state, after it has settled down, will start
again to demand that it be given the rest of the land of Israel, and will
become a launching-pad for a new and even more violent war. If they get
their Palestinian state having used such terror tactics over these past
years, it is clear to me at least, that they are not going to give up
those
tactics. Their appetite has been wetted, and they will believe, like
Nasrallah of Hizbullah in Lebanon believes, that if they can go on long
enough, Israel will give up and disappear. There is more than flesh and
blood in this violent hatred of Israel. It would not be wrong to say that
the majority of Israel's electorate recognizes this and there has been a
large swing, rightwards. Its incredible to me, that Amram Mitzna seems to
be
unaware of it. I think it is an election loser.
Therefore it would
not surprise me if we were not witnessing the end of the
Labor Party as we have known it. I cannot say that I am particularly sad,
but it seems to me that they are bent on political suicide. What is very
sad
is that the huge issues facing Israel and her future have been obscured by
all the smokescreen of corruption charges and counter-charges and much
else.
Rarely has the
nation faced as grave a situation as at present with the
world bent on carving her up, even her friends believing that they must
lean
on her heavily, imposing a so-called peace solution on her. Israel needs
time to think, and she is not being given that time. Nevertheless,
Israel's
electorate is a sophisticated one and it will be interesting to see how
she
votes. You all need to pray - by the time this tape gets to you, I imagine
the outcome of the election will be known, but you need to pray for the
formation of a government following this election. If it is a national
unity
government, the constituents of that government will be very, very
important, so pray for this.
The Oslo Peace
Accords are obsolete, even the most left-wing in Israel say
so, and Yossi Beilin, Yael Dayan and Shlomo Gozi, did very badly in the
Labor Party primaries. They did so badly that they left the Labor Party
and
joined Meretz, where frankly, they belong. Now the new threat is the
Quartet
's Road Map, and I was glad to hear Sharon say that it's a non-starter
last
night. The Quartet consists of the United States, the United Nations, the
European Union, including the United Kingdom (as you can see it's all
united), and Russia. This Road Map envisions the division of the land into
two sovereign states. It will be imposed upon Israel after the war with
Iraq
is concluded unless the Lord steps in. I stand upon Psalm 33:10 "The Lord
brings to naught the counsel of the nations and makes the plans" or
strategies "the thoughts of the people to be ineffective." Let us pray,
standing on this declaration of the Lord.
It would not be
right if I did not mention how this war on Iraq may affect
Israel. It is possible that Saddam Hussein will fire off some Scuds with
conventional, or even non-conventional, warheads and Israel is prepared.
In
the next weeks we will probably set up our sealed rooms once again and don
our gasmasks; it's unbelievable that here in the twenty-first century what
my sister and I experienced as, basically, children putting on gasmasks -
we
are still doing. Unbelievable! That's a little illustration of the
"progress" that has been made in the world. However, in my
estimation it is more likely that the moment the
United States and the United Kingdom go in
against Iraq, the Palestinian militants will seek to sabotage Israel as
well as using suicide bombers and other
terrorist outrages to destabilize her.
Even more serious is
the possibility, if not probability, that Hizbullah
will open up a front in the north. It is certainly equipped to do so and
is
in the state of absolute readiness to act at a moment's notice.
Our intelligence knows that Iran has been equipping the Hizbullah with
many
new weapons supplied through Syria. It is believe that they not only have
new and greatly improved missiles that could reach as far as Hadera, south
of Haifa, but even have some non-conventional weapons. The outlook is
therefore bleak from the human standpoint. Nevertheless, the Lord has
given
His word, He will not forsake Israel - she may suffer but she will more
than
survive. She will enter yet another phase of the Lord's purpose for her,
and
the basis, the foundation upon which the Lord will act is His grace. When
the Lord speaks about the restoration of Israel, he says through the
prophet
Ezekiel, "Not for your sake do I this, but for my holy name." Twice He
declares it, that's how important this statement is. In Ezekiel 36:22 and
36:32, He even goes on to say "Be ashamed oh house of Israel for all your
doings" and in the other He speaks of the profaning of His name, yet He
says, not for your sake do I this, but for My holy name's sake. When you
actually see what He says He will do, it is amazing - the rebuilding of
the
cities, the recreation of the fertility, the restoration of the ecology,
everything to do with the land and with the nation. When Zechariah
prophesies that all the nations of the world will be gathered together
against Jerusalem and Israel, the Lord declares that at that time He will
pour upon them the spirit of grace and they shall look unto Him whom they
have pierced.
I do not have any
doubt whatsoever that the Lord will fulfill His word to
the last letter, whether the Church recognizes it or not. It is very sad
to
see this anti-Semitic spirit manifesting itself now as an anti-Israel
spirit
permeating even the Church - both the evangelical and charismatic. It is
much the same as that which permeated the German church in the 1930's and
led to dire consequences. Nor do I have any doubt that Ariel Sharon is
God's
man to lead this nation at this grave point in her history. I've always
said
that his time would come, and it has. No one else could lead us in this
crisis. I don't for one moment doubt that Binyamin Netanyahu will have his
day too. But at present, in my estimation, it is Sharon. It is interesting
to note that the abundant rain that we have been experiencing this winter
is
also the grace of God. We have a water crisis and we need far above our
normal rainfall. When Ehud Barak was Prime Minister, and was ready to give
away so much of the land and Jerusalem, we had drought. With Sharon we are
experiencing much rain, but we need to pray for much more.
In the recent prayer
conference, in Jerusalem when the Lord gave such
anointed prayer, I feel, there were two prophetic utterances, both
declaring
that war is coming, and Islam's power will be broken. I think that nearly
all-if not all of us-at that prayer conference believe that that is true.
Sadly, this is a time for war, as the scripture says, but when the Lord
does
it, He works in such a way that nothing could be taken away from what He
is
doing, nor anything added to it. He has said that He will shake everything
that can be shaken-that that which cannot be shaken may remain. If by the
grace of God alone, we are in the Messiah-in Christ, we shall be as
unshaken
as He. We shall discover and experience Him as our Shelter, our High
Tower,
our Refuge, our Fortress, that whoever dwells in the secret place of the
Most High will abide under the shadow of the Almighty. That has to be a
very
great comfort and strength to all of us who are in the center of this
conflict.
Years ago, people were always asking me, "Is it safe to go to Israel? How
can you live in Israel?"
and all these things, but today, it seems, that the
situation has come to the rest of the world. Is there anywhere at present
where you are really safe? I don't know. So here we are, in 2003 and
facing
the unknowable, in some ways. I mean, it would be a brave person who would
predict what lies ahead in this year. What I am absolutely sure about is
that the Lord is in charge. I am also absolutely sure that the Lord has
the
interests of Israel
on His heart, and He will neither sleep nor slumber in
guarding those interests. He will fulfill His word, as I have said, to the
last letter-come what may.
I also believe that the judgments of God are abroad. The change in the
climate, the warming of the world, the terrible fires in the
United States
this last summer, and now in Australia. The floods-88 flood warnings in
Britain recently-various things. I remember when the Lord said to me, I
have
risen with anger and I will use all these physical things to turn upside
down nations, and I will touch their economies, where it hurts most. I
believe that the Lord is angry. The world is, at present, on a collision
course with the Almighty. And if there's going to be trouble, I would
think
that it is best to be with the Lord, rather than with the Nations. Of
course, it could be said that they believe that they are doing the right
thing-that they are imposing upon Israel a solution, because Israel
herself
seems unable to solve it. I do not think so. I think that at the root of
the
whole problem is more than a sneaking suspicion that they should never
have
been in Israel or in the Middle East. That really, what is happening at
present, is due to a huge mistake made by Britain-then the Super Power in
1917-and again, when she received the mandate from the League of Nations
in 1922. But the fact still remains that the
Lord is on the battlefield. And as
I see it, woe betide anybody who does not find in Him their salvation, and
their covering and their protection.
Well, I know that
you folks will pray for us-we're all in this, in one
sense, together. We may be nearer to the vortex of this whole tempest here
in Israel and in the Middle East. But now, as I've said, this thing is
everywhere, and we are all in this together. It would never surprise me,
if
all kinds of things happen in different parts of the world-especially in
the
Western nations, as a result of this.
What we can say is
that God is preparing a people for Himself, and those of
you who come from Gentile background and have come to saving faith in our
Lord Jesus, we know that you are part of this that God is doing. And He
will
use all of these tensions and stresses and downward spiraling
deterioration
of national character in every part of the world to good. He will use it
to
drive us further and further into His grace and His power. May the Lord
help
you all remember to pray for us, to remember to call upon the Lord, that
He
will be gracious to us and indeed that He will open the eyes of those who
belong to Himself.
Israel now faces
this election, and she faces of course, the inspector's
report on January 27th, which may have very real consequences. The Lord is
working out His purpose and we have to thank God for that. So even if the
Lord is using Israel - and the world in general is unaware of it - as a
battle-ax to break in pieces and destroy, the fact is He's also doing
something that is positive. He is saving a people and building them up
into
that Kingdom that will one day appear with the Messiah.
May the Lord help
you, may He bless you, and may He keep you. That is my
prayer for you all. |
