Prophecies On Middle East Wars

A presentation by L M Wan

on behalf of Evelyn Tan

31st October 2013

How Do We Analyze the Middle East?

Four Keys:

1. Know your Bible

2. Understand God’s redemption plan vs. Satan’s attempt to thwart it

3. Understand God’s purpose in resurrecting Israel (1948) and her role in the last days

4. Understand the spiritual conflict warring behind the scene: the god of Islam, Allah vs. Yahweh, the God of Israel, and the Church

Terah

Abraham

Ishmael Isaac

Esau (Edom)

Eliphaz

Amalek

Jacob (Israel)

Haran

Lot

Moab Ben Ammi (Ammon)

Relationship between Jews & Arabs

Wars of the Last Days 1. Psalm 83 – A neighborhood war with her immediate

neighbors (Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, etc.) Includes Isaiah 17 & 19 (Destruction of Damascus & upheaval in Egypt)

2. Ezekiel 38-39 – A wider war (Gog-Magog War involving Russia, Iran, Turkey, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, etc)

3. Armageddon – The Antichrist against Israel - Battle for

Jerusalem (Armageddon). The final war of elimination of Israel by Satan. Jesus will intervene on Israel’s behalf when she cries out for His return: “Baruch Haba B’Shem Adonai”

Zechariah 12: 2-14; Zechariah 14: 2-9

Revelation 16: 12-16

Ezekiel 38-39 The Gog-Magog War

Psalm 83 War with immediate

Muslim nations: Jordan, Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon

(include Hezbollah), Syria, Iraq, Gaza

(Hamas/Palestinians)

A wider regional war involving Russia, Iran, Turkey,

Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia

The war of Armageddon led by the antichrist against

Israel - worldwide

3 2 1 1 2 3

A Dialogue Within the Trinity

Psalm 2 “WHY do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us." He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The LORD shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: "Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion."

Israel’s Dangerous Neighborhood

SOMALIA 1960

Arab Conspiracy against Israel: PSALM 83:1-8

O God, do not keep silent; be not quiet, O God, be not still. 2 See how your enemies are astir, how your foes rear their heads. 3 With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish. 4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.” • 5 With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you— 6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, 7 Gebal, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre. 8 Even Assyria has joined them to lend strength to the descendants of Lot.

Israel Surrounded: A Cry for Deliverance!

Psalm 83 describes a continuing conflict between Israel and its neighbours which climaxes with a final victory for Israel over its adversaries. It is a prayer in which Israel pleads for deliverance from a group of nations that are in union for the singular purpose of destroying her. Events over the past year have brought this Psalm into focus and make the prophecy contained in the Psalm seem all too real.

Steve Elwart, Koinonia Institute Senior Analyst; http://www/bible411.com/currentevents/cd060807.htm.

Israel’s Ancient Enemies: Present Foes

Wars of Survival

1. Israel’s War of Independence (1947-1949)

In human terms, the War of Independence was Israel's costliest war, with over 6,000 Israelis were killed and 15,000 wounded. The war consisted of 39 separate operations, fought from the borders of Lebanon to the Sinai Peninsula and Eilat.

Wars of Survival (Cont’d)

2. The Sinai Campaign (Operation Kadesh – 1956)

The Sinai Campaign was fought to put an end to to the terrorist incursions into Israel and to remove the Egyptian blockade of Eilat.

Wars of Survival (Cont’d)

3. The Six-Day War (June 1967)

Within the brief span of six days, the IDF overran the Sinai peninsula; took the entire West Bank of the River Jordan; and captured a great part of the Golan Heights. The culminating event was the capture of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Wars of Survival (Cont’d)

4. The Yom Kippur War (October 1973)

The war, which started on the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, the Day of Atonement, was the fiercest Arab-Israeli war since the 1948 War of Independence. Egypt and Syria attacked Israel, catching Israel off guard.

1979 (Camp David): Peace Treaty Between Egypt and Israel

Israel’s War in Lebanon (Non-Existential) The Lebanon War: Operation

Peace for Galilee (1982)

A ceasefire with Palestinian terrorists in Lebanon declared in July 1981 was broken: the terrorists continued to carry out attacks against Israeli targets in Israel and abroad, and the threat to the northern settlements became unbearable. On June 6, 1982, the IDF launched Operation Peace for the Galilee.

The Gulf War (Non-Existential)

The Gulf War (1991)

In August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait and threatened to attack Israel with various types of weapons, including non-conventional ordnance. For the first time in Israel's history, the entire country faced a real threat of destruction.

The 2nd Lebanon War (Non-Existential)

The 2nd Lebanon War (2006)

On July 12, 2006 eight IDF soldiers were killed and two kidnapped on the border with Lebanon, in an attack by the Hizbullah terror organization. The remains of Sgt.-Maj.(res.) Ehud Goldwasser and 1st Sgt.(res.) Eldad Regev, abducted in the attack on the IDF patrol jeep, were returned to Israel on July 16, 2008.

Bible Prophecy of Egypt

Isaiah 19:2-4 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: And they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; City against city, and kingdom against kingdom...And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; And a fierce king shall rule over them, Saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.

Bible Prophecy on Syria

Isaiah 17

The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap… And behold at eveningtide trouble; [and] before the morning he [is] not. This [is] the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.

The Gog-Magog War

Ezekiel 38

Ezekiel 39

Nations involved in Ezekiel 38-39 War

Ancient Biblical Names

• Magog, Meshech, Tubal

• Persia

• Ethiopia (Cush)

• Libya, Put

• Gomer

• Togarmah

Modern Names

• Russia (Gog, leader)

• Iran

• Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia

• Libya

• Turkey

• Armenia/Turkey

The Gog-Magog War Ezekiel 38:2-6

Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I [am] against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts [of armour, even] a great company [with] bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: [and] many people with thee.

Ezekiel 38:14-16

‘Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog:…..You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land….’

Ezekiel 38:11-12; 14

Ezekiel 38:11-12 • 11 You will say, “I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will

attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. 12 I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land.”

Ezekiel 38:14 • 14 “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: ‘This is

what the Sovereign LORD says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it?

Why Should Russia/Turkey Be Involved? Oil In Israel!

According to Dr Vinegar, Israel has the second-biggest oil shale deposits in the world, outside the US: “We estimate that there is the equivalent of 250 billion barrels of oil here. To put that in context, there are proven reserves of 260 billion barrels of oil in Saudi Arabia.”

Wall Street Journal, April 5th 2011, “Oil shale reserves can turn Israel

into major world producer”

Armageddon Battle for Jerusalem

Zechariah 12:2-3, 6

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… In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, And like a torch of fire in a sheaf; And they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: And Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.

Revelation 16:13-14

Then I saw three evil spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them for the battle on the great of God Almighty

Zechariah 14:2-4, 12

For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which [is] before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, [and there shall be] a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south… And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

Jesus’ Warned: The Great Tribulation Matthew 24:15-22 (ESV) So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

Valley of Jezreel

Megiddo - Armageddon

God’s Destruction of the Nations Joel 3:9-21

Proclaim this among the nations: Consecrate for war; stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, “I am a warrior.” Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. Bring down your warriors, O LORD. Let the nations stir themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full.

The vats overflow, for their evil is great. Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel… But Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem to all generations. I will avenge their blood, blood I have not avenged, for the LORD dwells in Zion.

Israel’s Future

Understanding Israel’s past, & present will help unlock the mystery of Israel’s future role in God’s redemption plan. Israel was created to be God’s light unto the nations. Israel’s failure to live up to this will not cancel God’s purpose for Israel. God’s plan for Israel is certain, His Word will not return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11)

Prerequisites to Christ’s Return

• Israel must confess her national sin: Jer 3:12 Only acknowledge your guilt—

you have rebelled against the LORD your God, you have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every spreading tree, and have not obeyed me,’” declares the LORD.

• Israel must plead for Christ’s return Matt 23:39 For I tell you, you will not see me

again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’[a]”

Conclusion: Reason for M.E Wars

• Israel is called by God to be the light to the nations

• The nation from whom the Messiah would come

• The nation for which God gave the land as a special possession forever

• Israel was God’s chosen vessel to give us the Bible

• Given the Mosaic Covenant which defines a special relationship between Israel and her Creator

• Shown the visible manifestation (“Shekinah”) of God’s presence

• “Thy Kingdom Come…” Jerusalem will be where the Messiah will reign over the world on David’s throne at His 2nd Coming! (Luke 1:31-33)