Prophecy Update: 12/7/18
The UN general assembly had some classic anti-Semitic acts the past few weeks. As seems to be the norm, since 1948 the UN has always been on the side that is described for us in the scriptures. There are a variety of Scriptures that describe this animosity. The animosity includes a hatred for Jesus as in Psalm 2, a hatred for the Jewish people as describe in Ezekiel 36-39, and a desire to dominate Jerusalem as in Zech.12 and Isaiah 62.
I want to use Psalm 2 as a template to talk to you about the battle for Jerusalem. In vs. 1 it says, “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing?” Notice the question includes the word vain. The nations are devising vain things meaning that what they are proposing will fail. This is the case for over 700 UN resolutions condemning Israel over its stance on Jerusalem being their capital city. In the news we had this headline:
“The United Nations demands that Israel give up the eastern part of Jerusalem, so it can serve as the capital of Palestine.” The commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People at the United Nations began Wednesday. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres addressed the opening meeting of the three-day commemoration.
Secretary General Guterres said that the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people served to “remind us of our collective and unfinished task” to create a Palestinian State.
This desire of the UN to make sure that there is a Palestinian State is vain. It will never happen because of Biblical Prophecy. God has promised that the land of Israel is going back to the ones He promised to give it to. Consider that it is called the promised land for a reason. The world is in full blown denial of what God has said clearly in His word. Even the Pope is weighing with the anti-God movement. The news reported this:
“Pope renews call for two-state solution after meeting with Abbas
In statement, Vatican expresses concern over status of Jerusalem; ‘We are counting on you,’ Palestinian leader tells Francis. Abbas met for 20 minutes Monday with Pope Francis and then the Vatican Foreign Minister Monsignor Paul Gallagher.. “Particular attention was reserved for the status of Jerusalem, underlining the importance of recognizing and preserving its identity and the universal value of the holy City for the three Abrahamic religions,” the Vatican said, according to Reuters.”
What God describes as vain the world describes as just and right. The nations also are in a rage (uproar) over the declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of the nation of Israel. The nations have been in a rage for over 50 years from the time that Israel won the Six Day War in June of 1967. I would like to highlight some of the things that have taken place since that fateful war. In that war Israel captured Jerusalem. Israel had been dwelling in the western section of Jerusalem and constantly attacked for coming close to the old city. They were banned from the Western Wall, the old city, anything that you usually see in the pictures of Jerusalem. When Israel captured the city they began making laws that would govern their administration of the city and their government. These laws are called Basic Laws.
The UN immediately began its assault on Israel. On Nov11th 1967 they passed UN Resolution 242. This resolution required Israel to withdraw from all territory that they won in the war. This included Jerusalem. Since 1967 the UN has consistently advocated the fiction that Jerusalem is not Jewish and that Israel does not have a right over the city.
Secretary of State Dean Rusk in 1967 said, “The status of Jerusalem especially the old city had been left open for subsequent consideration and that there was no grant of territory made to Israel after the 6 Day War.” Since 1967 the USA has consistently moved closer to Israel position on Jerusalem as the world has moved farther away. The position of Israel in 1967 was finalized in 1980 when they passed the Basic Law on July 30th 1980. In it the law said, “The integrity and unity of greater Jerusalem and its boundaries after the Six Day War shall not be violated.”
The UN on June 30th 1980 passed Resolution 476 stating its position that Jerusalem is an international city and Israel has no rights to the city. This was an attempt to discourage Israel from making the declaration they did one month later. On August 20 1980, the UN passed Resolution 478 to condemn Israel for passing the Basic Law and said they had no rights. This is a perfect example of their vanity. In each of these cases the USA abstained in our votes. This reflected the division that existed in the USA.
The USA was divided over the status of Jerusalem. On one side were the Christians and supporters of Israel who advocated that Israel was the true and sovereign power over the city. On the other side were the people who did not want the Jews to rule over the city.
On Oct.24th 1995 the USA passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act. The decision was made to side with Israel and move the embassy so that the USA would be totally with Israel and the truth that Jerusalem was the undivided eternal capital of the State of Israel. They found that under international law and custom Israel as a sovereign state is free to determine its own capital. Secondly, they determined that Jerusalem is not only the spiritual center of Judaism it is the home of the Supreme Court, parliament, seat of government, Knesset, and Presidents House. Third they pointed out that when Jordan was in control from 1948-1967 there was no freedom of religion and only Islam could be practiced. They banned all other faiths from practicing in Jerusalem. It was determined that Israel would protect freedom of religion.
As you know, it wasn’t until 2018 that the embassy Act was actually acted upon and the Embassy moved. The reaction of the world fulfills what Psalm 2:1 says. From Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama, the Republicans and Democrats were not going to move the embassy because they did not want to. The reasons are varied but the bottom line is that these groups are not invested or committed to anything God is doing on the earth. When Trump signed the Act, the amount of condemnation from the world, UN, EU, Democrats and Republicans was overwhelming. The UN voted on Dec.21, 2017 128-9 with 35 abstentions to condemn Trump and the USA regarding recognition of Jerusalem.
They said that it was a ‘departure of 50 years of international consensus on the status of Jerusalem. UN claimed that ‘the sovereignty claimed by Israel for Jerusalem are invalid and illegal and break UN resolutions 242 (1967), 252 (1968), 267 (1969), 298 (1971), 338 (1973), 446 (197), 465 (1980), 476 (1980) 2334 (2016). They stressed that Jerusalem is a final status issue to be resolved thru negotiations in line with relevant UN resolutions.
Over the years the USA has moved closer to the Israeli position and thus closer to the Lords work He is doing on the earth. As God has been moving the world closer to the war He predicted, the intensity increases. Part of the glory for us as Americans is that God chose America to move the ball forward. God did that by causing the Americans who support Israel to come to positions of power to bless Israel. Declaring that Jerusalem is the eternal capital, undivided, and one city under Israeli sovereignty was planned by God. That the world is mad only proves the accuracy of Biblical prophecy. To top it off, President Trump said that we will stay in the Middle East so that we can protect Israel.
Last week the UN made 6 new resolutions against Israel. The USA made an attempt to make a resolution condemning Hamas for the many missiles that they sent to Israeli civilians. The vote was 87 to 57 with 33 abstentions and 23 nations not voting. In my mind that means the vote was 87 to 113. The vote failed the two thirds standard to pass a resolution.
Nikki Haley said, “The general assembly has passed over 700 resolutions condemning Israel and not one single resolution against Hamas. This is a condemnation of the UN itself.”
This tension will not lessen in strength until the Lord destroys Iran and Russia in the Ezekiel 38-39 war. After that war the tension will lesson until Anti-Christ rises to lie and cheat his way to dominating the whole world. Lastly, I want to mention Russia. The tension has risen between Israel and Russia the past few months. The tension will go over the boiling point when Israel has to destroy the S-300 missile defense system. Israel has begun again attacking the Iranian presence in Syria after a brief stop in attacks. When this will happen nobody knows. What is clear is that Russia supports Iran and Assad in Syria so therefore Russia supports the destruction of Israel. The fact that the USA and Israel have become energy independent and are finding oil and gas again and again is disheartening to the Russians and the Muslim nations. The greatest threat to Russia are the huge finds of gas and oil in Israel. Israel signed the gas deal with Cyprus, Greece, and Italy to ship gas into Europe. I believe that this is one reason Russia will attack.
Daniel 11 talks about the circumstances that led to the miracle of Chanukah. I leave you with this verse 32b “but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.” This is what the Maccabees did when they fought to restore the temple and cleanse it from the wickedness of the Greeks. Today, our faith needs to be strong for the day in which we live, I pray that your faith will display strength and about taking action.
