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Where is
America in Bible Prophecy?
What do Britain,
Egypt, France, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Italy, and Russia all have in
common? They all were world powers at one time in
history. What else do they hold in common? They have a history
of mistreating Jewish people in particular and backing the wrong
horse against Israel in general. Is there a connection between
the two?
When it comes to
Israel, there is one passage every individual and national
leader must take into account as the Bible is very clear on this
connection. Genesis 12:1-3 states, “Now 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.’”
God made several
promises to Abraham – a land, a nation and world-wide blessing.
He also tells Abraham that those who bless him will in turn be
blessed and those who curse him will also be cursed. That is a
tremendously huge statement! If you mess with Abraham, you will
face the consequences. Can this possibly be true? In his book,
Eye to Eye: Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel,
author Bill Koenig uses current situations in the US to show
that it is.
Koenig shows
that in all of US history, nine of the ten costliest insurance
events, six of the seven costliest hurricanes, three of the four
largest tornado outbreaks, nine of the top ten natural disasters
as ranked by FEMA relief costs and two of the largest terrorism
events all transpired on the very same day or within 24-hours of
U.S. presidents Bush, Clinton and Bush applying pressure on
Israel to trade her land for promises of "peace and security,"
sponsoring major "land for peace" meetings, making major public
statements pertaining to Israel's covenant land and/or calling
for a Palestinian state.
Is this mere
coincidence or is it God literally keeping the promise He made
to Abraham in Genesis 12? Are we heading down this same road
with the current US Administration? Just recently my local
newspaper reported on the floods taking place in the northeast
region of the US. It was reported that “flooding on a scale
rarely seen in New England forced hundreds of people from their
homes Wednesday. Hardest hit by 3 days of record-breaking rain
was Rhode Island, where the worst flooding in 200 years
could persist for several more days.”1
Was there
anything going on between the US and Israel at that time? There
was a huge storm brewing between the two “allies”. “On most
issues, there is substantive continuity between Obama's Middle
East policies and those his immediate predecessor George W. Bush
adopted during his second term in office. Yet, whereas Israelis
viewed Bush as Israel's greatest friend in the White House, they
view Obama as the most anti-Israel US president ever. In the
space of the past ten days alone, Israel has been subject
to three malicious blows courtesy of Obama and his advisors.”
2
What sparked
this latest storm was Israel’s construction plans for
Jerusalem. The US has been pressuring Israel to stop all
construction in East Jerusalem so she can prove that she is
ready to negotiate peace with the Palestinians. So when
American Vice President Joe Biden was in Israel on March 9,
2010, Israel announced further development of a Jerusalem suburb
named Ramat Shlomo, and a diplomatic firestorm broke loose.
What is
interesting about this firestorm is that Ramat Shlomo is not
even in East Jerusalem, but is clearly in the northwest
section of Jerusalem. Yet the US Media keeps reporting and the
US Administration keeps emphasizing that this suburb is in East
Jerusalem, which has been ear marked for a Palestinian capital.
Why create a storm where there clearly is no issue? Is there a
hidden agenda? Is the US moving away from its historic support
of Israel?
If what was
reported on March 29, 2010 is any indication, American policy
might be making that shift. “The US is considering abstaining
if the United Nations Security Council votes on a resolution
against Israeli construction in eastern Jerusalem, the BBC
reported Sunday. For decades, Israel has depended on the US to
veto UNSC resolutions aimed against it. A change in this US
policy could be very perilous for Israel. A diplomatic source
told the BBC that a US official said the US would ‘seriously
consider abstaining’ if the issue of Israeli construction for
Jews was put to the vote.” 3
Why is this
important? Israel regularly gets bashed in the United Nations
with anti-Israel resolutions being passed. But these
resolutions have very little bite to them. They are just ink on
paper. But with the Security Council, which has the power to
back up its actions, the picture rapidly changes. Israel’s
friend could now become her foe at worst or ambivalent at best.
Under George W.
Bush, “Israel went along with US policies despite their
strategic madness because Israel wanted to be a team player.
The Sharon and Olmert governments and the Israeli public as a
whole believed that Israel had an ally in the Bush
administration and that when push came to shove, the massive
risks Israel took supporting US policies on Iran [let diplomacy
take it’s course], Syria [Iranian-Syrian-North Korean nuclear
alliance], Lebanon [don’t attack those who side with Hezbollah,
namely the Lebanese government and military, which lead to
Israel’s defeat by Hezbollah], Turkey [who supports Iran’s
nuclear goals] and the Palestinians [measured responses to
rocket attacks on Israel’s border with Gaza] would be rewarded
[US would guarantee Israel’s security]. But what Obama has made
clear in his mistreatment of Israel [in this current diplomatic
explosion] is that he doesn't want Netanyahu to walk the plank
for the team. He wants Israel off the team.”4
In other words,
Israel went along with at worst or kept its mouth shut at best
with US Middle East policy because it knew the US had its back.
Up to this point, US Administrations saw themselves as the
guarantor of Israel’s security. The current Administration,
however, appears to be moving away from this policy. In his
article, “The Trust is Gone,” former New York Mayor, Jewish
Democrat and Obama supporter Ed Koch stated, “It [this current
diplomatic flap] has created a serious crisis of confidence
among the Israeli public that it can depend on this
Administration for its security.”5
Whether that is
good or bad, for the purposes of this discussion, doesn’t
matter. It is what it is. US foreign policy is changing. And
one of those changes is that the US appears to be moving away
from guaranteeing Israel’s security, which is exactly what the
Bible says must happen, no matter what party holds the White
House.
One must
understand that when it comes to prophecy, it’s not about
America. It’s about Israel. And we learn from Ezekiel 38 and
39 that Israel will be attacked once again and in this
particular prophecy, she has no one to guarantee her peace, her
security, except the Lord.
Ezekiel
describes a time when Israel will be living in peace and “are
living in safety”, a “land that has recovered from war, whose
people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of
Israel, which had long been desolate” (38:8). When Israel is
feeling at peace, she will be attacked by a number of countries
(who and is it that coalition coming together today will be the
subject of a future article). Yet Ezekiel states in 38:18-23
that God will do the fighting for Israel. He will take care of
Israel’s enemies all by Himself and the world will not only see
it, but know that it was God alone who did it.
Now, let’s face
it. For those who live with a Biblical worldview and know
Israel’s brief history, we would have to say that it was God who
brought Israel into existence “in a day.” We look at the odds
Israel faced in her wars and come to the only plausible
conclusion, God fought through the Israeli army like He did
during the days of Joshua when Israel first conquered the land.
Is God getting the credit for Israel’s current existence? No.
Do most people on the planet see this as God’s doing? Hey, if
most Israeli’s don’t credit God with their existence, what can
you expect from the rest of the world?
Yet the war that
Ezekiel describes reveals that “all on the face of the earth
will tremble at My presence…I will make Myself known in the
sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the
LORD.” Up to this point, it is “debatable” whether God
brought about the existence of Israel as a nation again. In
this end time prophecy, that debate will be gone. The entire
world will know it was God who defeated Israel’s enemies. Now,
if the US is the guarantor of Israel’s security, then who would
get the credit for defeating Israel’s enemies in Ezekiel? The
US. But this passage specifically states that the world will
know that it’s neither the US nor the Israeli Defense Force, but
God and God alone who defeated Israel’s enemies. How God does
this is quite the story, but that’s for another day.
For this outcome
to occur, the US will have to come to the point that it is no
longer Israel’s security guarantee. In this scenario, does it
mean that the US will no longer be a world power? Does it mean
that the US must be humbled economically so as to back off its
military commitments? No, it simply means the US will not back
Israel’s defense. She may be hostile or ambivalent when Israel
is being attacked. But no matter what, America is on the
sidelines watching events take place in Israel.
Having said that
however, if any US Administration, again it doesn’t have to be
the current holder of the White House as God can change that
situation at any time, turns their back on Israel, what does
that mean for the US? Genesis 12. Think about something for a
moment. Is it any wonder how the US won the Cold War leaving
the US as the sole world power without a bullet being fired? As
one politician noted, “It’s the economy stupid!” Those who
bless Israel will be blessed. Ask yourself, which of the two
Cold War countries supported Israel? Those who bless Israel
will be blessed. Is it any wonder why the US of all the world’s
powers over time is still the sole super-power today? Those who
bless Israel will be blessed.
As of today,
there is a shift in US foreign policy away from Israel. Is it
the crack that eventually breaks the dam? It’s possible. If
it continues, there will be consequences. The reason the past
super-powers are past was their treatment of Israel. Could the
United States be the next past super-power because
of her shift in support for Israel? Could the reason so many
natural disasters have occurred in the past 3 presidencies be
because of those Administration’s treatment of Israel? Could
the worst flooding in Rhode Island’s past 200 year history be
linked to the current Administration’s polices regarding Israel?
What is known
from the Ezekiel prophecy is that America, the current guarantor
of Israel’s security, is not present. Whether that is by
choice (foreign policy shift) or by force (something happens in
or to America), we’ll have to wait and see. Whether it is under
this president or some future one, an American Administration
will decide not to support Israel. And when this happens,
Genesis 12 will come true. The long run of a prosperous economy
will subside. The time of American superiority will come to an
end. History is quite clear on this point. Only time will tell
when that takes place, but one thing is for sure, God has kept,
is keeping and will keep His promise made to Abraham.
You know me;
knowledge for knowledge sake is useless. The Bible tells us
always apply what we learn. So allow me to give you a few
practical applications. First, trust in the Word of God, not
the words of politicians of any party or country. God’s Word
has and will continue to prove itself true. Second, allow the
Word of God and the Spirit of God to change your life from the
inside out. The more you become like Jesus, the more you take
on His character, the better prepared you’ll be to handle
whatever comes your way in the future. Third, live with a
Biblical worldview. See all of life through the Word of God,
not the culture or country in which you live. It’s not about
America’s future; it’s about individual’s futures – where they
chose to live for eternity. Lastly, pray for your governmental
leaders that they would believe and submit to the Word of God.
From an American perspective, most people in Congress and in the
general American population currently support Israel. But they
don’t make foreign policy, the president does. Yet the people
will pay the price for their government’s choices. I don’t know
about you, but I want the blessings of God, rather than the
curses.
Pastor Chris
Suitt
End Notes
·
Press Enterprise,
“Floodwaters slam Northeast,” April 1, 2010 C1.
·
Caroline B. Glick, “Exploiting the Crisis”, Jewish World
Review, April 2, 2010.
·
Caroline B. Glick, “Exploiting the Crisis”, Jewish World
Review, April 2, 2010.
Ed Koch, “The
Trust is Gone”, IsraelNationalN
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