“And as
for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Speak to every sort of bird and
to every beast of the field: “Assemble yourselves and come; Gather together
from all sides to My sacrificial meal Which I am sacrificing for you, A great
sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel, That you may eat flesh and drink
blood. You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, Drink the blood of the princes
of the earth, Of rams and lambs, Of goats and bulls, All of them fatlings of
Bashan. Ezekiel 39:17-18 NKJV
I
suppose it would be fair to say that the majority of those believers who choose
to be watchmen are without a doubt watching closely for the prophesied war of
Ezekiel 38-39 which is also known as the Gog Magog War. While many may be familiar with what the Word
has to say about it, I’m willing to bet that while most know it takes place in ”the
mountains of Israel”, what they may not know is where those mountains
are. The key is found when God describes
the bodies left over from the slaughter as a “sacrificial meal” and
then as the “fatlings of Bashan”. You
see, the bodies’ litter the ground at Bashan, which today in Israel is known as
the Golan Heights.
Rather
than explain the importance of this piece of ground in Israel, I am going to
let you read the words of Grant Jeffery from his book Armageddon concerning the Golan, and Russia’s coming day of
destruction.
The Strategic
Importance of the West Bank and the Golan Heights
“If Israel's present
government under Prime Minister Netanyahu continues the disastrous policies of
former prime ministers Rabin and Peres and surrenders the vital strategic
territory in the West Bank and the Golan Heights in its "Land for Peace"
negotiations with the PLO and its Arab neighbours, Israel will face military
disaster in the next war. The tragic four-thousand-year history of the Middle
East indicates clearly that another Arab-Israeli war will occur. It is only a
question of timing. Israel requires military control of the land on the Golan
Heights, Gaza, and the West Bank in order to provide the strategic depth to
defend itself against the overwhelming military force of twenty-one enemy Arab
nations. The Arab nations possess territory that is five hundred times the size
of tiny Israel. Why do the Arabs need the small strategic territory of the
Golan Heights and the West Bank? The real reason that the Arabs need this
territory is so they can destroy the Jewish state of Israel. Every single
European or American military study in the last thirty years has concluded that
Israel cannot be defended by conventional weapons if it surrenders military
control over these vital strategic territories. The 1992 study by the U.S.
Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that Israel can not surrender the Golan, Gaza,
or the West Bank and expect to survive the next Arab invasion.
History shows that
victorious nations have never returned land captured from their enemies
following a defensive war in which they were forced to defend themselves
against their attackers. The Golan Heights represents less than 1 percent of
the territory of the large nation of Syria. The Golan Heights was only
controlled by Syria for a few decades after World War I. They lost it to Israel
in the Six-Day War in 1967. The only reason Syria needs this small territory is
to use it to attack Israel. However, Israel desperately needs the Golan Heights
to resist Syria's tanks. Moreover, 30 percent of Israel's water comes from the
Golan Heights. If they surrender control of the West Bank territory, Israel
will be less than nine miles wide at its center near Tel Aviv, where almost 80
percent of its population lives. In a future conflict Arab armies could easily
cut Israel in two by attacking from the PLO-controlled high ground of Judea and
Samaria (West Bank). The Jewish state could then be overrun in a matter of
days. Unlike other conflicts in which defeat leads to a loss of territory and
political freedom, an Arab conquest of Israel would lead to a massive slaughter
of the Jewish population.
In a future war
Israel may be quickly forced to resort to nuclear weapons when they find their
small diminished territory about to be overcome by Arab armies. The Israeli
army describes this desperate scenario as "the Samson Option" because
it would lead to the destruction of the whole Middle East; Samson, too, brought
down the temple on his enemies and on himself. Despite this grim reality, the
Israeli government has agreed to relinquish much of the strategic area of the
West Bank and all of Gaza while continuing negotiations with Syria about the
Golan Heights. Military and intelligence sources have informed me that if this
"Oslo II" peace process continues, for the first time since its
creation in 1948, Israel's conventional army and air force will soon be unable
to successfully defend its vital territory and population from an overwhelming
Arab armed invasion.”
One
of the more fascinating conclusions Grant Jeffery comes to concerns when he
believes the Bible tells us this war will occur. If he is right, then the current moves we see
happening today in Syria above the Golan should be a warning sign no one
should ignore, especially considering how close we are to Hanukkah.
“Although Scripture
does not indicate the year in which this future invasion and defeat of Russia
will occur, the prophet Haggai gives us a strong indication of what the actual
day may be. Haggai reveals that on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month
(Chisleu) of the Jewish calendar, the day before Hanukkah, God will deliver
Israel as He did twice before on this day: (1) the defeat of the Syrian army
and recapture of the Temple in 165 b.c. and (2) the British capture of
Jerusalem from the Turks in 1917 during the closing battles of WWI.
The prophet Haggai
declares: "The Word of the Lord came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth
day of the month [Chisleu], saying, Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah,
saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; and I will overthrow the throne
of kingdoms and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and
I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and
their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother"
(Haggai 2:2022).
This description by
Haggai, and the exact language of his prophecy, is uncannily like the language
of Ezekiel 38 and 39 that describes Russia's defeat. The interesting point is
that Haggai names the exact day of the year on which this will occur. Since so
many other prophecies have been so precisely fulfilled to the day, there is a
strong probability that this prophetic event will also occur on its appointed
anniversary date of the biblical calendar. "Behold, it is come, and it is
done, saith the Lord God; this is the day whereof I have spoken" (Ezekiel
39:8). God's appointment with Russia is set; it will not be postponed.”
If
one might wonder if Israel considers this piece of ground to be that
strategically important, we can listen to what the current leader of Israel has
to say on the subject.
“Speaking at the
first ever Cabinet meeting to be held in the territory, Netanyahu stated on
April 17, 2016, that Israel will never give up the Golan Heights. “It’s time
that the international community finally recognize that the Golan will remain
forever under Israel's sovereignty,” said Netanyahu to a crowd of supporters
gathered around the Israeli officials.”
I
can’t tell you how often I hear people ask questions concerning how to know
just what is going on in the world today and how to make sense of it all. My response, and yours as well should always
be, read your Bible!
Keep
Watching
