Israel is the key to all end-time prophecy.

Keep your eye on Jerusalem  


May 26

Actually, It’s Peace

By Jim Fletcher 

 I don't see how, I just don't see how, the Middle East evolves without a Palestinian state that's free and democratic." — President George W. Bush, May 12, 2008

 During Israel’s 60th anniversary celebrations this month, George Bush was among the dignitaries present. He sat down for an interview with David Horowitz of the Jerusalem Post. Horowitz is a fine guy and talented journalist. He is also British, and knows firsthand just what the jihadists have in mind for “infidels.” Horowitz’s visit with Bush was instructive.

The president is a smart man. He takes criticism for being “dumb,” but that’s really just liberal mud-slinging. Perhaps at one time a man of marginal talents could become president (think Warren Harding), but no more. Whatever a person’s political leanings, a modern requirement is intelligence before the office can be won.

Still, it boggles the mind that President Bush actually believes that a Palestinian state is necessary for peace in the Middle East. The well-documented viciousness and inhumanity of Hamas and their ilk are a pretty clear reminder that appeasing terrorists is wrong thinking. And the president then had the audacity to criticize those who appease terrorists!

What are armed Palestinian groups if not terrorists? New, competing terrorist groups rise up weekly in the “Holy Land.”

On the morning of May 14, the very morning Israel was preparing to celebrate the miracle of its modern birth, Hamas terrorists fired a rocket that landed at the Hutzot Mall in Ashkelon. Over 100 people were hurt, seven of them critically. These rockets — at the very least, the technology — are being supplied by Iran. This, and the president’s remarks, bring up an interesting prophecy point.

We are constantly watching for war, for unrest. For the Final Battle.

But what about peace? Doesn’t the Bible indicate that there will be peace before some of the ugliest confrontations erupt? I’m thinking of Ezekiel 38.

“After many days you will be mustered. In the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples and now dwell securely, all of them.”

It’s interesting that the focus now is on when the next war will start, when Armageddon will erupt. But first, Israel must dwell “securely.” That in fact is what prompts Gog, the leader of this coalition army, to move against the Israelis. He sees that they are lulled into a sense of security.

It is also interesting to note that Putin is still Russia’s strongman. He has taken for himself the office of “prime minister,” while a lackey becomes president. Everyone knows the former(?) KGB guy is still in charge. We don’t know that he’s Gog, but God also tells us in Ezekiel that this leader will be “turned around” to look at Israel as a potential conquest.

Israel constantly updates its army. They are ahead of the technology curve. Yet there must be an end to this diligence. How long can a society devote so much of its GNP to defense? And the enemies grow stronger.

Some of Israel’s greatest battlefield victories have come at the expense of the enemy’s stupidity. Egypt and Syria had their air force out in the open, allowing Israel to strike them on the ground in June, 1967. That led to a lightning victory in six days. Today, all those planes are underground.

So what is in the offing? I would argue (and argument here is not necessary, probably, for readers) that there must be a period of calm and genuine relief from the threat of constant war.

That’s why, in principle, President Bush’s idea makes sense. It does make sense, humanly speaking. It’s still sad that he appears not to understand Bible prophecy. He thinks it’s okay to divide the land and give even more to the Arabs. It also appears that very strong forces are staying his hand in the war against the jihadists. He is a man who started, on September 11, 2001, as a war leader. He is now driven by events, as most presidents are. Let us hope that he has the courage to stop Iran before his term is over.

There is a reason we are not to be blown about by every new wind. As Bible-believing Christians, we are not supposed to quake (while the world quakes, literally!) as events spiral out of control. We know that in the end, Israel will be besieged by all the world. Zechariah tells us that. But what we also know is that earlier events must still be future.

Ezekiel would not say that Israel would dwell securely unless Israel was dwelling securely at the time those events transpired. Such as Gog-Magog. A sudden storm comes on them.

Which again confirms the Scripture. Men make mistakes and some of those mistakes are so incredible, one struggles to comprehend it. It’s like a friend who drives drunk after being in a series of near-fatal accidents. That’s why the “peace” hammered-out by the U.S. State Department might “work” in the sense that Israel’s peace agreement with Egypt has held; that is, a cold peace. For a time.

The almost-40 lbs. of explosives that landed in Ashkelon is a seemingly small, isolated incident. In terms of the larger equation, it is. But it is a powerful symbol that jihadists — who seemingly can’t be stopped or assuaged —are inching closer to their goal of destroying Israel.

We know, from the Bible, that they can’t succeed, but there must be some mechanism that brings about a man-made peace that holds. For a time.

So while many of us having been scanning the skies for war, we really should be looking for peace.