On Israel within the first couple of hours of the events of 7 Oct the thought occurred to me that Israel was already lining up themselves to lose the media war. Maybe partly result of confusion at the time but they should have issued a direct challenge to the world community / UN to choose Hamas or Israel. This will end in one of two ways ... the end of Hamas or the end of Israel. The people of Gaza have been held hostage by the UN which encourages Hamas ... its a different UN agency to the relief agency which deals with wars elsewhere.
Interestingly in 1967 I did a school project on the 6 day war. Don't know how that came about or how I chose to do that. Magazine articles? Military pictures? Anyway at the time 'I knew nothing' about the spiritual aspects or Biblical significance, but recognised it was important. Many years later my wife observed that my mother was anti-Israel ... a reflection of her spiritual state.
I see God's heart for the Palestinians summed up in Ezekiel 47:21-23.
That passage caught my attention many years ago - I'm not aware of ever hearing it mentioned.*
I'm not trying to interpret prophecy, I just see it as a reflection of God's heart on the matter.
"You are to allot the land as an inheritance for yourselves and the aliens who have settled among you and who have children.
You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
In whatever tribe the alien settles, there you are to give him his inheritance," declares the Sovereign Lord.
Interesting to read about the ripple effects of 7 Oct being felt in Thailand.
Thai Workers Caught in Hamas Attack
In a bizarre way could this help to relieve the Palestinian unemployment situation?
My rough overview of the Israel / Palestinian issue...
The Arabs rejected a UN two-state solution in 1948.
After fall of Jerusalem Palestine was a Roman invention to remove Israel from the map.
Fell into dissuse until early 20th century and resurrected properly by the British.
Mark Twain in 1867 described Israel as a desolate wasteland. #
The rise of Zionism brought Jews and money into the land.
Disadvantaged Arabs seeing the money joined them and became those known as Palestinians.
Which again takes me back to the Ezekiel passage.
Someone worth listening to:
When Nations Turn Against Israel | Derek Prince
Stirs up memories of the past and encounters with him.
The end of Hamas or the end of Israel?
Psalm 83 ends with the words...
Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord, that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.
A common theme throughout the Bible - let the nations know ...
Similarly in Ezekiel 37:28 we read - Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy.
* Since writing that I stumbled across this interview with Taysir Abu Saada on Rebuilding Gaza.
Saada references Ezekiel 47:21-23, his ideas go further than anything I had in mind.
Some of his comments may not fit well with the Christian community - but then with his Palestian viewpoint...?
Requires a change of heart of both the Israelis and the Palestinians.
# The fig-tree is a symbol of the Israel's national priviledges (see Blue Letter Bible study on this).
In Matthew 24:32 Jesus refers to the start of the restoration of the nation of Israel 'Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near'.
Jesus speaks about its twigs (I assume that implies they look dead) as starting the get tender. Not the same as sowing seeds in the spring but seeds start to grow within the ground and it maybe days before anything appears on the surface. In the same way I wonder if 1867 is the year things started to change underground for Israel.