Israel declaring war on Hamas is much closer to the end of the story than the beginning. We have a tendency to snapshot the latest incidents and draw conclusions based on recent events. Using that philosophy in the case of Israel and Palestine or Israel and Gaza, or Israel and Hamas leaves out crucial background information that will ultimately lead us to form incorrect conclusions. This battle didn’t start on October 7, 2023, or in 1973, or in 1948. This
Benjamin Netanyahu and the Middle East Because the relationship between Israel and the United States has become so secure during the first two years of President Donald Trump’s administration, it’s sometimes easy to overlook the fact that much of the world still opposes the tiny Middle Eastern democracy. Because of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s steady, strong, and conservative leadership of Israel, we take for granted that everything is stable within our closest ally’s borders. Not so. For the first time
Just over two months ago, the world watched as the United States opened its embassy in the city of Jerusalem. President Donald Trump was not only fulfilling a campaign promise, but he was, according to him, simply recognizing reality. Jerusalem is and has always been the capital of Israel. […] The ancient Bible prophets foretold that Jerusalem will become the focal point of the world. It is. We know the nations of the world will one day gather against it.
When Jesus was describing conditions just previous to the end of this Age, He said “you will hear of wars and rumors of war.” (Matthew 24:6) In a broad sense, that’s true of all years. But 2017 was different. It was rife with rumors of warfare at a level perhaps never seen on earth before. Two nations figured prominently in those threats. One or both of them may one day make up part of an alliance known in Biblical prophecy
For sixty years, I’ve been teaching about things we now see every day. I’m not special. The Bible is my insight and revelation. As I study, I ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate His word. You can do the same thing. When I began teaching about Bible prophecy, news stories coinciding with and confirming prophecy came along every few months. Eventually, that became every few weeks. Then every few days. In the last few months, it has been relentless. Newscasts
As we approach Resurrection Day of 2017, I believe our world is facing greater dangers than any time in recent memory. On the one hand, our new, besieged President deals with the threat of imminent nuclear war in Asia. On the other, he faces the prospect of conflict with Russia and Iran (which also could easily go nuclear). According to the Bible prophets, those two powers will one day lead the coalition of nations that will invade Israel. As the
We’re beginning to see new levels of radical Islamic brutality. Both the amount of violence and its horrific nature seem to be escalating. Stories emerging from Afghanistan about Taliban actions are starting to rival the atrocities of ISIS. And the constant stream of reports about Muslim on Muslim attacks in the Middle East are beginning to numb our Western sensibilities. I think we are entering a new era of what I call “Spiritual World War.” And I believe that, more
Within days of Implementation Day for the Iran Nuclear Agreement (JCPOA) and the release to Iran of more than a hundred billion dollars in frozen assets (and other juicy perks), Iran captured two U.S. Navy Riverine Command Boats that were “disabled” in the Persian Gulf. They only held the sailors for a day (enough time to shoot some propaganda video) before releasing them. Secretary of State John Kerry thanked the Iranians for being such good guys and helpful world citizens
