Israel today stands in the bull’s eye of rage. This is true in the case of being targeted by the Jewish state’s perennial antagonists, the Arab and Persian Islamist enemies. It is true in the case of the entire international community, whose constituent nations see Israel as the congestive blockage to regional and world peace. But it is the growing antagonism by United States presidential administration operatives that is most disconcerting while this beleaguered planet wobbles toward a time of unprecedented trouble.

As a matter of fact, that coming time of unparalleled strife that will bring all nations to Armageddon is termed “the time of Jacob’s trouble” by Isaiah the prophet: “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7a).

And, it is Jacob’s trouble–the prophesied end-of-days dastardly treatment of Israel by the nations of earth–that will cause the God of heaven to bring them to Armageddon. This is what the prophet Joel foretells: “I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land” (Joel 3:2).

Armageddon beckons
This will be the gathering of the nations of earth predicted in the book of Revelation:

“For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty…And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon” (Revelation 16:14, 16).

This will be the culmination of mankind’s dealing treacherously with God’s chosen people, the Jews. The promise made to Abraham by the Lord includes severe repercussions for anyone who would curse the progeny of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).

History  validates prophecy
God’s declaration is most dramatically validated by looking at twentieth-century history. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime made hatred of and genocide against the Jew their focus of the unalloyed evil they spewed. The ashes of the Fuhrer and of his Nazi colleagues are scattered in ignominious disgrace across the landscape that Josef Goebbels and the Nazi propagandists arrogantly boasted would be über alles the all-powerful homeland for their thousand-year Reich.

Any consideration in research of Germany’s history involving the last two years of World War II and the years immediately following that most terrible of earth’s conflicts to that point must acknowledge that it was as if the very wrath of God was upon the nation. Such documentation includes black-and-white film footage of German men and women forced by Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower to walk by the skeletal remains of thousands of Jewish corpses–thus, Eisenhower stated, so that the German people and the world would never forget the Holocaust. It’s aftermath would forever be recorded.

Yet today, even mainstream news journalists are observably fuzzy-minded in consideration of the genocide that took perhaps six million Jewish lives as well as the lives of other peoples. They show their loss of memory by not jumping full-force down the throats of diabolists like Iranian dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who regurgitates the lie that the Holocaust is a fable conjured by the Jews of the world. Rarely is there a repudiation of such blatant lies coming from the would-be destroyers of the Jewish state and the Jewish people.

Tragically, the refusal to educate generations subsequent to the time of World War II on the truth about the insane treatment of the house of Israel is leading to a future time of even greater atrocities, thus judgment, according to God’s prophetic Word. The God of heaven will react violently–according to Bible prophecy–more violently, even, than He reacted to the death-dealing of the Nazi demoniacs:

“The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.

And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it… it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem” (Zechariah 12:1-3, 29).

Will America betray Israel?
We come to the question posed by this article’s title: “Israel Betrayed by U.S.?” The article’s title is in the form of a question because like so much of this American administration’s dealings, the “transparency” presidential candidate Barack Obama and then President Obama promised is not forthcoming. Obama’s intended dealing with Israel is wrapped in an impenetrable fog of political doublespeak. Here is a news brief to begin pointing out the administration’s not-so-transparent thinking regarding U.S./Israeli relationship for the future:

“US President Barack Obama’s special Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, threatened late last week to withhold financial aid to Israel if the Jewish state does not accept demanded concessions to get the stalled peace process back on track” (“Obama Admin Threatens to Withhold Aid to Israel,” Headline News, 1/10/10).

Next, we will look into whether America, the nation almost certainly brought into existence to stand with His chosen people during Israel’s rebirth into modernity, is leading the way into setting up the worldwide anti-Israel marginalization prophesied by Zechariah.

America’s “Christianity”?
Refusal of the current American presidential administration to acknowledge that God has any say one way or the other in the affairs of man, much less any business meddling in the conduct of the American state department’s dealing with Israel and its antagonists, is a foregone conclusion. After all, Mr. Obama has himself stated that America is not a Christian nation.

I must say that I agree with this president on that one point. The United States was never a “Christian” nation, in the sense that America turned en masse to total commitment to following Jesus Christ. That has never happened. However, this country, since its earliest stages of planning by the founding fathers, has had woven into its national documents of inception Judeo-Christian principles of God’s prescription for conducting life and government.

Based upon that easily provable truth–because all one has to do is to cursorily scan the founding documents to understand biblical influence–it’s easy to know that America is a nation under providential watchfulness, to say the very least. God, in starkly plain language, spoke through prophetic omniscience to what will happen when anyone, be it individual or corporate, deals treacherously with His chosen people. Therefore, for anyone–including the president of the United States or any other member of the government of this nation–to ignore what is said about interacting with Israel in the Bible, from which the founding fathers so obviously gleaned wisdom to form this nation, is foolhardiness.

Human government oblivious to God’s Will
I realize stating that governmental leaders don’t recognize God in their governing isn’t a profound revelation, because all of humanistic government ignores the Creator of all things. I just wanted to get the fact stated as to the real crux of the problem regarding lack of lasting peace in the Middle East and the world. The administration and the state department, it is obvious, gives God’s Word on the matter of Israel no weight whatever in considering policy toward the Jewish state. They forge ahead, setting timelines for producing a two-state solution to the “Palestinian problem” as they see it.

Mideast envoy George Mitchell recently stated that he saw the problem of Israel’s making peace with Palestinian leadership as something that must be done within two years. The former senate majority leader, chosen by President Obama to deal with the differences between the Palestinian Authority and Israeli leadership, made it clear how he–thus, how the Obama administration–views the hold-up to peace in the region.

Mitchell said, in an interview with acclaimed broadcaster and interviewer Charlie Rose just prior to Mitchell’s departure for Israel, when asked what leverage the U.S. has to get Israel to comply with Arab and international demands, “Under American law, the United States can withhold support on loan guarantees to Israel.”

Israeli Leadership fed up
Although a senior state department faux pas fireman, speaking with anonymity, said that Mitchell’s remarks were not meant as threats to Israel if compliance with American and international concession demands were not met, Israeli leadership wasn’t buying. Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz bluntly let it be known that Obama, Mitchell, and the U.S. State Department could keep their money. He said that Israel wouldn’t be needing loan guarantees because Israel wouldn’t be borrowing. The Jewish state, he said, had already raised enough money for foreseeable needs.

All of the back-pedaling the Obama Administration can do cannot obfuscate the truth. It is trying to hide its disdain for Israel’s perceived obstinacy in preventing this president from having a clear pathway to establishing the desired two-state configuration.

U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton recently praised Israel’s decision to unilaterally make a gesture of good will toward the Palestinians by implementing a partial freeze on establishing new settlements. However, Israel is always met with intransigence when dealing with the Palestinian Authority, as with most all among the Islamic community. The Israeli leadership is growing weary of the one-sided abusiveness, and of the pressures from the American and international leaders who insist Israel is the problem in disrupting the “Roadmap to Peace.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in expressing his feelings on the matter, said, “It is the Palestinian Authority that needs to change its ways–certainly not the Israeli government.”

Support for Israel grows
Israel’s decision to go ahead with settlements then brought immediate, not-so-veiled threats by envoy Mitchell. There is no doubt that the former senator’s tone and remarks reflect the mindset of the president and those around him. They see the Jewish state as the holdup to Obama getting glory from making the perpetually elusive peace the international community seeks.

To answer the question within the article’s title–“Israel betrayed by the U.S.?” –it seems for now that substantial influence within the U.S. Congress is saying, “No.”

Visiting senior US senators told their Israelis hosts on Sunday that they disapprove of the Obama Administration’s attempt to pressure Israel by threatening to withhold aid, and vowed they would never let that happen.

Senator John McCain told a Jerusalem press conference that he expects President Barack Obama to explicitly announce that his administration is not planning to alter America’s policy regarding financial aid to Israel.

Senator Joe Lieberman promised that even if Obama did try to use US financial aid as leverage, Congress would never approve such a measure.

McCain and Lieberman were also joined by senators John Thune and John Barrasso. (“Senators Won’t Let Obama Freeze Aid to Israel,” Headline News, Israel Today staff, 1/11/2010)

Israel forever!
If America joins the rest of earth’s nations in the gathering against Israel, as prophesied by Zechariah in Zechariah12:1-3, her betrayal will mean America’s doom. All nations who come against the Jewish state, God says, will be cut to pieces. Israel, on the other hand, will remain no matter what, the God of heaven declares in the strongest possible terminology.

“This is what the Lord says, ‘He who appoints the sun to shine by day, Who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar–the Lord Almighty is His Name; Only if these ordinances vanish from My sight,’ declares the Lord, ‘will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before Me'” (Jeremiah 31:35-36).

Jerusalem is at the center of Middle East controversy, the city placed on the proverbial chopping block by the American president and the international community for division in order to bring about a Palestinian state. More than that, it is peace in our time the world leaders say they seek. There is a new prince in this process, and he has, in effect, just been anointed as such by the globalist organization that officially pronounces such commendation.

President Barack Obama was named the 2009 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize  October 8, 2009. His nomination was actually made nine days into his presidency, then his selection as winner was announced October 8. The decision, made from a record 205 candidates, was unanimous.

Despite his brief time in the international spotlight, Mr. Obama received much glowing praise, such as that from Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, and a former Nobel Peace Prize winner: “In less than a year in office, he has transformed the way we look at ourselves and the world we live in and rekindled hope for a world at peace with itself,” ElBaradei said. “He has shown an unshakable commitment to diplomacy, mutual respect and dialogue as the best means of resolving conflicts” (Joel Rosenberg’s Weblog, 10/9/09).

Obama’s being vaulted into the position of chief peacemaker by those who help serve as king-makers before the world’s media, thus the eyes and ears of the world, raises many questions—especially in the minds of those who look beyond first-glance meaning. Questions rise to the surface of this anxiety-fraught time. Why has a  man of only 48 years of age, who has no accomplishments of any distinction in matters of international peace-making, and little experience in anything else except community organizing in Chicago, and a few hours spent actually working in the U.S. Senate before being elected president of the United States, suddenly been declared the top man of peace by the Nobel committee?

Despite Mohamed ElBaradei’s acclamation of Obama’s peace-making, there is no such achievement to be found, only claims of achievement.

For example, President Obama met in July with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow on nuclear arms control. The leaders agreed that their negotiators would work out a new limit on delivery vehicles for nuclear warheads of between 500 and 1,100. They also agreed that warhead limits would be reduced from the current range of 1,700-2,200 to as low as 1,500.

Yet, despite the fact that the Obama Administration has agreed to step back from installing a land-based defensive missile shield in parts of Europe in order to placate them, the Russians recently announced a step up in their strategic nuclear capability. This announcement followed Obama’s talking on his trips to Europe and beyond about how America will begin downsizing its nuclear arsenal in the hope others will follow suit for the sake of one day achieving total nuclear disarmament.

One must ask: Is this true achievement in the matter of world peace—or is it shades of “peace in our time” in 1939?

Such “peace-making”—applied to Israel and the Mid-East peace process—is especially troubling, although quite intriguing, in my view. Joel Rosenberg wrote about the possible surreptitious things that might currently be plotted in that regard. Rosenberg foresees a scenario where the United Nations Security Council might, in an effort to take the spotlight off Iran’s developing nuclear weapons, instead shine it on Israel. The UN, observably an anti-Israel organization in large part, would through Security Council resolution, in Rosenberg’s  scenario, force Israel, which has never acknowledged possessing nuclear weaponry, to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Israel would then be forced to open itself to inspection. Any refusal might lead to an international coalition against the Jewish state in an effort to force it to comply. This could be attempted, either through severe sanctions against Israel, isolating it from the world community of nations, or even by attacking it, as happened against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in both recent Gulf conflicts.

Secondly, Rosenberg ponders the possibility of the international community creating, then recognizing, a Palestinian state through fiat, rather than through a negotiating process. Such unilateral action would almost certainly set up a confrontation of biblical proportions, he believes.

The world community has long wanted Israel to give in to demands, but has shown no such impatience for the leaderships of Israel’s antagonists. Rosenberg correctly points out that President Obama has increasingly—in recent speeches given while he travels the world—taken the lead on this effort. He is demanding that Israel return to its pre-1967 borders, divide Jerusalem, and allow the Palestinians to have a state with contiguous borders (thus cutting Israel proper in two).

We return to the questions Obama’s winning the Nobel Peace Prize flushes into the open. I am privileged to have friends and colleagues who think deeply in these matters, especially on their possible prophetic implications. One such confidant has proffered fascinating thoughts on recent developments regarding the Nobel Prize for peace as they relate to eschatology as we near the end of the age. I find his analysis particularly thought-provoking, so, without giving the writer’s name, upon his request that I not mention it in his exclusively shared remarks, I’ll give a few of these thoughts here.

“The Nobel Peace Prize [to Barrack Obama] was awarded purely for political reasons, and perhaps for strategic reasons. Its timing is bizarre. He must have been nominated within 10 days of being sworn in. He had not then, nor has not since, achieved any tangible progress toward peace. He was not rumored to be among the finalists. However, the vote was unanimous. The announcement came weeks before expected.

It has interesting implications regarding several military issues currently facing the US and Israel. Overtly, Obama has yet to decide whether to commit further troops to Afghanistan. However, more subtly, Obama has to consider military options with respect to Iran. Yesterday’s papers reported the possibility that the US was gearing up to take direct military action against Iran. This was based on the accelerated development of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, bunker-busting bomb. While this story is probably false, the US may have been planning to assist Israel in striking Iran, either by providing arms, intelligence, over flight permission or logistical support. The Nobel Peace prize renders an affirmative decision to make war or assist Israel in making war significantly more difficult.

Finally, given the terrorist threat under which the US finds itself, and given the serious risk of nuclear attack on US cities and the need to retaliate as a matter of self-defense, the Nobel Peace Prize may result in a conflict of interest wherein Obama’s tacit peace pledge conflicts with his sworn duty to defend the Constitution and the US. In my opinion, the pressure of being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize is particularly acute in this time period between it having been awarded and his accepting it.

I am convinced that the Antichrist will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize someday. I am not prepared yet to say that it was designed with the Antichrist in mind, but I do think that the committee that now decides the winners is spiritually compelled to award it to Antichrist types and specifically for the benefit of those who advance the New World Order and are enemies of Israel.

In short, the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama has been intentionally designed to frustrate any efforts on the part of the US to help Israel defend itself against Iran.

Strange developments are afoot while the world looks for the prince that shall come, and we who name the name of Christ look for the true Prince of peace.