The 35 Most Asked Prophecy Questions – Program 4

Contents

The Jews in the Eternal Plan of God

Showers: One time when Voltaire was visiting at the royal court of Frederick the Great, Frederick the Great thought he would have some sport. He would pit Voltaire against his court chaplain and so he brought in the chaplain and Voltaire gave all of his arguments against belief in the Bible and belief in God and when Voltaire was done, Frederick the Great turned to his chaplain and said, “Well, chaplain, how can you rebut what Voltaire has just said?” And the chaplain said, “Your majesty, I can rebut it with one word: the Jew.” And went on to indicate God foretold in the Scriptures what He would do with the Jew and that He would never allow them to be totally annihilated from the face of the earth; He would preserve them throughout history as a people for His unique purposes. And he said, “When you look at history, that’s exactly what God has done.”

Now, we’re living a couple of centuries after the time of Voltaire and Frederick the Great and we’re seeing something even more significant that God foretold about the people of Israel, what He would do in the future, and we’ve seen it fulfilled beginning in 1948. Just as God foretold here, He would bring Jews from all over the world back to the homeland and restore them as a nation state but in unbelief for right now. But this is one of the strongest evidences that we have in all the Word of God for the existence of God and that is that He has caused to happen through history exactly what He would say would happen with regard to the Jew, the people of Israel.

In Ezekiel 38, God foretold that in the latter times, the latter days, there would be a major military attack against the tiny State of Israel in the homeland once Israel would be restored. And God indicated that military attack would be comprised of the armies of six nations as they were known back in Ezekiel’s day. And God named five of those nations in Ezekiel 38:5,6. In verse 5 the first nation was Persia. Now, that’s what it was known as in Ezekiel’s day, but modern-day Persia is the nation of Iran. God some 2500 years ago through this prophecy was saying that in the end times Iran would be sending military forces against Israel in the Middle East. You know what happened to Iran about 19 years ago when Khomeini and his radical Muslim forces overthrew the Shah of Iran and they’ve been dominating the nation of Iran ever since and that radical Muslim government of Iran has publicly declared more than once that its ultimate goal is the annihilation of Israel from the Middle East.

The second nation named in verse 5 is Ethiopia. Now that again is what that nation was known as in Ezekiel’s day, but I must point out that the nation known as Ethiopia back in Ezekiel’s day is not the same nation that we know as Ethiopia today. The nation known as Ethiopia in Ezekiel’s day is the nation that we know today as the Sudan, and Sudan right now, again, is dominated and ruled by a radical Muslim government that hates Israel with a passion and wants to see it destroyed. And by the way, that Sudanese Muslim government today is attacking Christians in the Sudan; they’re literally crucifying Christian pastors on crosses; they are kidnapping many Christian women and children and selling them into slavery to Arab peoples in the Middle East. And God some 2500 years ago was saying Sudan is going to send military forces against Israel in the coming Tribulation period.

The third nation named in verse 5 is Libya. Libya is located due west of Egypt in North Africa. And you know what’s been going on in Libya in recent years under the leadership of Mu’ammar Qaddafi. Qaddafi, very anti-West; anti-American; but even more strongly anti-Israel. And after Netanyahu was elected as the new Prime Minister of Israel in May of 1996, many of the Arab nations of the Middle East got together to hold a conference to try to plan their strategy in light of Netanyahu’s election. And Qaddafi was one of the most vocal spokesmen at that Arab summit and in essence said, “We must deal with the nation of Israel.” He would like to see Israel destroyed from the Middle East.

The fourth nation named in verse 6 was Gomer. In Ezekiel’s day, Gomer was a tribal group of people who were located in the central part of what you and I know today as the nation of Turkey.

And then, the fifth nation named, verse 6, was “the house of Togarmah of the north quarters.” In Ezekiel’s day Togarmah was another tribal group of people who were located in the eastern part of what you and I know today as the nation of Turkey. Now, you’re probably aware of the fact that since the end of World War II that Turkey, although it’s a Muslim nation, has had basically a secular government that has allied itself with the Western nations of the world. Turkey since the end of World War II has been a member of NATO. But that is now radically changing. Early this year, a radical Muslim party in Turkey won by election control of the government of the capital city of the nation of Turkey, and when they won that election they publicly stated, “Our next goal is to gain control of the national government of Turkey” and one of the spokesmen for that radical Muslim party said, “When we do that, we’re going to change our relationship with NATO. We’re going to establish an Islamic NATO and an Islamic common market.” In July of this year, this radical Muslim party gained control of the legislature of the nation of Turkey and a radical Muslim member of their party was installed as the new prime minister of the nation of Turkey. U.S. News & World Report several months ago, in light of the way things are going in Turkey, published an article with this title: “Will Turkey Be the Next Iran?” And it looks very much as if Turkey, in the not too distant future, is going to come under complete domination by a radical Muslim element and then it, too, will turn against the nation of Israel and want to see it annihilated from the face of planet earth.

It’s interesting to note that every one of these nations named here in Ezekiel 38:5,6 today are Islamic nations. Therefore, God some 2500 years ago through this prophecy was indicating that in the end times Israel will have very serious problems with the Islamic nations of the world.

Right now there is an independent secular intelligence agency located in Great Britain that in light of trends going on in the world have drawn the conclusion that planet earth is now leaving a major epic of world history and entering a brand new epic of world history. What they meant by that was this. In the present epic of history we are now leaving, the major thing that has determined the decisions of nations and the future direction of the world has been politics. But they claim, “No longer.” In the new epic of history into which we are now entering the major thing that will determine the decisions of nations and the future direction of the world is religion, specifically the Islamic-Zionist conflict. In other words, Islam against Israel. And they indicate that this is going to alter the whole world situation and involve the world into a new adventure the likes of which the world has never seen before. They are agreeing with what God was foretelling here in Ezekiel 38, that Israel is going to have very serious problems with Islamic nations in the future.

Now, there is a sixth nation named here in Ezekiel 38, and interestingly this one is singled out as the leader of this future military attack against Israel. And God gives several identification marks of that leader. Let me deal with two of them. First, the name of the leader, Ezekiel 38:2, where God said to Ezekiel, “Son of man, set your face against Gog, the land of Magog.” The land of Magog in Ezekiel’s day was located in between the Black and Caspian Seas in the southern part of what we have known historically as Russia or the Soviet Union.

Second identification mark is the geographical location of this leader. Verse 14 of chapter 38: “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God, in that day when my people of Israel dwell safely shall you not know it? And you shall come from your place out of the north parts’”—literally out of the remotest parts of the north—“‘you and many people with you, all of them riding upon horses, a great company and a mighty army, and you shall come up against my people of Israel as a cloud to cover the land. It shall be in the latter days.’” Notice, God says this attack against Israel will be in the latter days, but He is saying the leader of this attack will come from the remotest parts of the north. Now, keep in mind, Ezekiel was a Hebrew prophet and therefore, when he would refer to geographical locations, he would refer to them from the vantage point of his homeland of Israel. And so he’s saying here that the leader of this attack against Israel will come from the remotest parts directly north of Israel. If you were to lay hold of a good world atlas, place one finger on the tiny state of Israel in the Middle East and then move that finger straight north and go as far north as you can and still be in land mass, you would end up in the heartland of what we have known historically as Russia or the Soviet Union. Both of these identification marks seem to be pointing the same direction, namely, that Russia is going to lead this invasion against Israel in the future Tribulation and that Russia will be allied with several Islamic nations who hate Israel with a passion; will be allied with them and leading them in this attack.

Why will Russia lead this attack against Israel? One reason is anti-Semitism. For centuries Russia has been notorious for hatred and persecution and massacring of Jews living in that land. And now that Communism at least for a while has lost its grip on the government of Russia, anti-Semitism has been permitted to raise its ugly head again and there’s an organization there in Russia right now called Pamyat that sees as the ultimate purpose of its existence as that of eliminating every Jew from the land of Russia. And so persecution has begun to break out against the Jews again and that’s why during the years of our present decade there’s been a mass exodus of Jews out of Russia or the Soviet Union, many coming to North America but over half a million of them going back to their ancient homeland of Israel during our present lifetime.

But there is another reason why Russia will lead this attack against Israel. According to the British intelligence service to which I referred earlier, here is the current thinking of the disgruntled officers of the Russian military. They are saying that in spite of what has happened to Russia since 1991 when it began to fall apart at the seams, Russia can still have Super-power status in the world if it will ally itself with the Islamic nations of the world against Israel. And God, some 2500 years ago through Ezekiel 38 was foretelling that is precisely what is going to happen in world history.

Several years ago I had a former Canadian seaman who was being honored with other Canadian seamen by the Soviet government for the role they played in the constant supply line of ships from the Western allied nations to Russia’s northern seaport during the Second World War. He said that in that ceremony in which these Canadian seamen were honored, they were allowed to ask the Soviet representative some questions. And one question that was asked was this: “Is your government still requiring the young people in your public schools to learn the English language as their second language?” and the government official said, “That had been our policy since the end of World War II but we’ve changed that.” Then he was asked, “To what have you changed it?” He said, “We’re now requiring all of our young people in our public schools to learn the Arabic language as their second language.” Then he was asked, “Why the change?” He said, “Because my government has concluded that the future of the Soviet Union lies with the Islamic nations of the world.” Israel is going to have serious problems with Islamic nations and the nation of Russia in the future Tribulation period.

Now we’re told here in Ezekiel 38 that this will take place, verse 8, “after many days, you shall be visited, in the latter years you shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword and is gathered out of many people against the mountains of Israel which have been always waste but is brought forth out of the nations and they shall dwell safely, all of them.” God is saying this attack by Russian Islamic nations will take place after Jewish people had been regathered from nations around the world and reestablished in their homeland as a nation. And we’ve seen Israel brought back from many nations and reestablished as a nation state in their homeland beginning in 1948. But God says that this attack will take place when the people of Israel are feeling very safe and secure.

Verse 11, He says to Gog of Magog, “You shall say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely; all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates.” God is saying that Russia will lead this attack when Israel is feeling so safe and secure in their homeland that they have let down their own defenses; they do not have their own defenses with which to stave off any attack against themselves.

Now, that certainly is not true of Israel at the present time. Israel, because of constant threats, is loaded to the hilt with very sophisticated weaponry. But, according to Daniel 9:27, at the very beginning of the future seven-year Tribulation period, the head of the future revived Roman Empire, the Antichrist, is going to confirm a covenant with the nation of Israel for a seven-year period and through that covenant, Antichrist will guarantee the national security of Israel. And so Israel initially in the Tribulation period will feel very safe and so secure because of the commitment by the revived Roman Empire ruler to defend Israel against all attackers. But now according to Daniel 9:27, in the middle of the seven-year Tribulation period, Antichrist himself will turn against Israel and begin desolating it worse than it’s ever been desolated in all of world history from the past. So therefore it’s only during the first half of the seven-year Tribulation period that Israel is going to feel safe and secure while Antichrist is still its protector and its great ally. In light of that, we are forced to conclude Russia and these Islamic nations will invade Israel during the first half of the seven-year Tribulation period. And we shall be looking at another prophecy later on which will relate to this and we’ll see some of the things that will cause Russia and these Islamic nations to come in during the first half of the Tribulation period against Israel.

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