Judea and Samaria

 The satanic—literally—attacks on Israel have reached warp speed. Israel claims that they are fighting an eight-front war, including the lethal propaganda war. For 30 years, Benjamin Netanyahu has said this is a “Battle for Truth.”

It certainly is.

We hear about the really big fields of engagement: Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis. But our beloved Judea and Samaria, what the world calls the “West Bank,” is just as big. In fact, the terror goblins in the biblical heartland have ramped-up their efforts even as the IDF works 24/7 to contain them. We sometimes forget that the Jews living on the mountains of Israel are the real frontlines.

Terror nests are entrenched in Israel. Jenin. Bethlehem (doesn’t that break your heart?). Tulkarm.

An sick cartoon in the Arab press shows Judea and Samaria as a bloated blood bag feeding a line to the Gaza Strip—depicted as an arm receiving a transfusion. These demented images make one wonder if the Arabs of the region are in some way vampires. They glory in death and violence. Regular Israelis are the target.

We must always remember that God is always in control, however. As I’ve said, all this is really one big faith-building moment. From a report this week:

“Hamas’ ambition was to turn Judea and Samaria into an arena for terrorism as part of the campaign to destroy Israel which began with the October 7, 2023 attack and massacre. However, the counterterrorism actions taken by the Israeli security forces, which included the detention and elimination of thousands of wanted persons and terrorist operatives and the seizure of weapons prevented a wave of terrorism from Judea and Samaria.”

So the One Who Doesn’t Slumber or Sleep is keeping His People. The IDF is an instrument of His power.

The terror trifecta right now in that area is Iran, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

“Iran also continues its central role in efforts to turn Judea and Samaria into an active terrorist arena against Israel. A shipment of weapons from Iran was intercepted, which included powerful explosive charges and explosive-carrying drones; Qods Force operatives in Lebanon who were involved in the smuggling routes of weapons were eliminated.

“In ITIC assessment, after the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian terrorist organizations, with Iranian assistance, will direct a significant portion of their activity to Judea and Samaria to justify their existence by continuing the ‘resistance.’ The terrorist organizations will also try to exploit the return of the Palestinian issue to the global stage and the regional and international involvement in the Gaza Strip within the framework of the ceasefire to create pressure on Israel, provoking attacks which could escalate Israel’s response in Judea and Samaria. Moreover, the return of hundreds of terrorist operatives from Israeli jails to Judea and Samaria will intensify the activity of the terrorist organizations, which will exploit the knowledge and experience of the released prisoners and the cooperative networks they built in prison.”

What an absolute tragedy. The devil has infected these people with supernatural hatred of Jews. We know the basic history of this. Jihad was in the minds of the Palestinian Arabs a hundred years ago. The violence against Jews in Jerusalem in 1929 and 1937 predated pogroms in Europe just ahead of World War 2. Surrounded and attacked in 1948, Israel responded robustly, ushering-in the Israel Defense Forces. A succession of wars were directly linked by constant terror raids. And so it continues today.

As always, there is a prophetic element to this. In a very interesting way. When that demon Yahya Sinwar hatched his scheme for Oct. 7, he “viewed Judea and Samaria as a central arena in the ‘decisive’ campaign against Israel, as revealed in Hamas documents brought back from the Gaza Strip by IDF forces during the war in the Gaza Strip.”

So here we have an arch-terrorist viewing all this in apocalyptic terms. We know that Islam has its own twisted eschatology, as they seek to bring back the Mahdi, their sick version of a “messiah” who would come to redeem Islam. That’s what is really back of all this: a fervent view that they are bringing about a hellscape of history’s conclusion. It’s why these forces cannot be entirely exterminated. We are simply in a holding operation until the Real Messiah comes.

Israel after Oct. 7 took the initiative, concentrated in northern Samaria, in the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm, and in the al-Far’a refugee camp in the Tubas area (northeast of Jerusalem). This kept the terrorists at bay—historically they constantly fail in their bids to eliminate Israel, but that’s part of the insanity. Israel’s magnificent fighting forces are God’s instrument in these last days.

There is joy and peace in knowing that God has told us ahead of time that we don’t have to give in to fear. We know how it ends and it is astonishing watching all this unfold! Judea and Samaria have been a battleground for millennia.

And…this is where it will all end. Armageddon is coming to this place.

After that…eternity.

Praise be to God.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

Jimfletcher761@gmail.com

www.patreon.com/TheGodThatAnswers

(Help me keep the momentum going with my two new titles, The God That Answers by Fire and Zechariah 2. They really are great Christmas gifts as you line-up Bible studies for the New Year. Many thanks!)

 

 

 

 

Now is the Time for Faith

This will be a bit different “Israel Watch” this week. Rather than do a straight analysis, I have on my heart to encourage you. With the world perhaps more insane than it’s ever been, it seems like a good topic.

From what I hear and read, a great many people are having difficulties. It’s the usual laundry list, but one at a hyper pace. People are afraid of losing their homes. Although I do think of Trump as a rescuer economically, Biden trashed it to such an extent that the recovery will take longer. Things are tight.

For others, relationships are difficult. Especially parents that raised their kids right but now see them struggling because of poor decisions.

Then the international goings-on are truly crazy. France’s former leader Sarkozy has been sentenced to prison. Emmanuel Macron is hated by the people but clings to his corrupt power. Muslims have invaded Western Europe. I’d be uneasy about traveling there now.

There’s always a however, however.

It occurred to me this week that this is the greatest moment to be alive. Most of the readers of this column are believers, I think. We have a different focus. In Christ, we are free. Including free from throwing in the towel. As we watch the world descend farther into chaos, the calmer we should feel.

Israel is a great focus of our faith. The return of the Jews to their ancestral home in the last century (they’re still coming!) is the greatest miracle since the Resurrection. It should be on our minds a lot, as a witness to the power and majesty of the Living God. I’ve written about this many times, but novelists Mark Twain, Walker Percy, and Anne Rice understood very well that Israel’s return is something unexplainable apart from the supernatural. In my perfect world, churches and pastors all over America would tell this to their people. Most don’t.

Even now, when we see Jew-haters crawl out from their rancid hideouts, we should be encouraged rather than fearful.

This world is passing away!

“I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. (Isaiah 11:6)

The fact that it’s passing away should make us joyous.

This week, I heard that a wonderful prophecy conference, held for many years with wonderful fellowship each year, will not return next year. They are closing-up shop. And these are fantastic, faithful people. I think we can all figure out what happened. Such conferences aren’t well-attended today. Those audiences are aging.

I don’t think that’s cause for sadness, though. It means we are that much closer. Which is what a dear, wise friend of mine said this week when we discussed it. It isn’t 1975, anymore. The “Adrian Rogers’s” of those days have passed from the scene. Just as Scripture predicted in the New Testament, their places have been taken by hirelings.

We are exactly where we’re supposed to be. We are outliers now. Our role, in my humble opinion, is to pray, and reach those we can reach with the truth of the Gospel. As we know very well, still a glorious evangelism tool is the witness of fulfilled predictive prophecy. It is one of the things that makes the Bible and our God wholly unique.

Our current place in history makes Scripture all the sweeter. It is honey to us, while the world tastes bile.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

We know that our faith “works.” I hate the pragmatism of the current Church Visible, but sometimes, if something works, it is good.

We are seeing people that were friends turn. This is personally a devastating blow. And it sounds trite, but it’s true: when the cares of life seem to overwhelm us, we need to concentrate on what we have, not what we don’t have. As fall turns into winter, most of us aren’t well-off. But if you have a dry place to live and are warm and have enough to eat, we are blessed. Some don’t even have this, so it is up to the rest of us to help when and if we can. Some of this is easy for me to say. I have a decent place to live. I have always really enjoyed “simple” things. I can wash and dry my clothes. I only have myself to take care of. I have enough to eat.

Appreciate these things more in the down times. What I’m trying to say is, as believers, do we ever truly have “down” times? Death, money problems, battered relationships…all weigh us down.

But I urge you, turn your eyes upon Jesus. Our life here is temporary and is rapidly passing away.

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30)

The holidays are here soon. I hope that whether you spend it with a big family, or with on one, that you will experience peace and joy. This year especially, let’s praise our Great God, who is Master of all. He will even remove evil one day simply by showing up. Even in misery, He is Lord. When the remainder of Europe’s British and French armies were trapped at Dunkirk, God sent thousands of citizen boats to pick them up on the beaches. Those men that were saved in 1940 returned in 1944 to shatter Hitler’s armies at Normandy. History is FULL of such stories. We are just like the Israelites, that had the Red Sea behind them but feared anyway shortly after.

History is exactly where it’s supposed to be, and so are those of us living in it right now.

If you are struggling right now, you are not alone. You have all of us, and more importantly, you have the Lord of History on your side.

Tell the Lord what your issues are. And don’t forget to thank Him that we live in this era of world history.

Be encouraged!

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

Jimfletcher761@gmail.com

www.patreon.com/TheGodThatAnswers

(My two new books, The God That Answers by Fire, and Zechariah 2, are now out. You can find them here and here. Let me know what you think, and if you think they are worthy, an Amazon review would be great. Thank you!)