All the Nations

"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. "And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.
Zechariah 12:2-3 NKJV

I'm sure by now most of you are familiar with the unrest that seems to be sweeping many of the nations of the Middle East. Protests and calls for democratic reforms are resulting in often violent reactions from the governments in power, with a heavy loss of life. Although these protests begin with peaceful intent, the result has for the most part shown that they for one reason or another result in violence. With this in mind, I would like to call your attention to a protest that is scheduled to occur a week from now that has not received a lot of attention in the press, at least not yet, which the organizers are calling the “Third Intifada”.

This protest march is being organized by the Palestinian Authority to occur on May 15, which is the day that Arabs call the “Nakba”, or tragedy. If you are familiar with the history of Israel, you know that the modern state of Israel was established on May 14, 1948. You can then see what “tragedy” the Arabs are referring to, and why they have chosen this day for their “peaceful” protest. Unfortunately, this protest will by all accounts, be anything but peaceful. Originally the calls for this march were posted on the social networking site called Facebook, but as the page evolved into promoting a violent attempt to take over the state of Israel by flooding it with millions of Arabs, it was removed by Facebook. Unfortunately this has apparently had little effect as the page and others like it have popped up with different names but with the same message of violence towards Israel.

Although there has been little said about this from the government of Israel, it is a given that they are extremely concerned with the potential for violence as a result of this march. If in fact, their borders are threatened by a mass of people trying to illegally cross into Israel, they would be compelled to respond. The natural result of this, as is the norm, would probably be a huge outcry from the world against Israel. The passage from Zechariah is a prophecy of the situation that will exist during the tribulation period just before Jesus returns. It tells us specifically that “all nations” will be against Israel. In a practical sense, you can easily see where that situation almost exists today, and it would certainly not take much for Israel to lose the few friends it has left.

We know from the prophecy in Isaiah 17 that Damascus, capitol of Syria, will be destroyed by Israel in the future. Most agree from the description given in Isaiah that this destruction will most likely come in the form of a nuclear weapon. Since many believe that Israel would only use that type of weapon in response to a threat of their own survival, one has to wonder about what sort of scenario could result in that very situation. Could it be that Syria comes to the aid of millions of “peaceful” protesters by using their own weapons of mass destruction against Israel? There are so many possibilities that it would probably be futile to try and predict what might occur, yet we do know we are told by God that Israel will at some point in the future stand alone, with no one to protect her but God alone.

This of course, is exactly the point that God wishes to make, which is that He alone holds title to that land and He will defend it against all the world. Zechariah goes on to tell us this;

"In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David [shall be] like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them. "It shall be in that day [that] I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for [his] only [son], and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”
Zechariah 12:8-10 NKJV

As we wait to see what the future holds, I would ask that all of you join me in following some advice given to us by David in the Psalms.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you.
Psalm 122:6 NKJV

Keep watching.


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