Israel at War - Prophecy of the End Times - Part 1

Blessings to Israel presents Discerning the Times, a program committed to encouraging you to view current events through the lens of the Bible.

Now, in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, please join us for today's program. The headline, Israel is at War. And this is near the anniversary of the last time Israel was officially at war in what is known as the Yom Kippur War back in 1973 when she was attacked by Egypt, Syria, and others.

But this was a different kind of war. Welcome to Discerning the Times. My name is Brian Thomas, always a blessing to be with you. And we're today going to continue looking at what everybody seems to be talking about, the attack on the nation of Israel. And we're just going to dive into it and look at what is happening and things that we as believers in Christ should really be on the lookout for and have the right perspective and have the biblical worldview when it comes to this issue. But before we get into that, I want to remind you, as we always do, that your eternal state is far more important than your current state. If you have never received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, I urge you to do so today.

Otherwise, you will spend eternity in the lake of fire separated from our almighty Lord. So please give your heart to Jesus Christ on today. Well, once again, folks, it is a blessing to be with you. I am very delighted also to be back with my co-host, Dr. Bruce Logan, who's been away for a bit due to the unexpected death of his brother. And so, Doc, we're just so glad to have you back. Everyone here, we extend our condolences to you and your family, and we're so glad to have you back with us. Well, first of all, I'm glad to be back, and I want to all start out by saying that I really appreciate and I'm grateful to God for all of the condolences and the well wishes that I received during this time. And it's just a tremendous blessing just to get back with you and to get this ball rolling once again. And although the topic, what we're going to be dealing with and addressing today was not the topic that we were thinking that we would be getting back together on, but it's a topic that must be addressed.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, we are preempting previous topics because, as you said, this has just risen to the top for priority in terms of what is going on in the world. And a lot of people are asking questions, and we hope that we can address some of those questions. So again, that opening clip was from Pastor Greg Laurie, who leads the Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California. And that was the way in which he opened his Sunday service following the attack on Israel.

Now, we are recording this today on October the 12th, and by the time this airs on radio, it will be October 21st. So a lot is going to transpire between now and then, but we are trying to keep pace as much as we can with all the things that are happening over there in the nation of Israel. But I'm so thankful for pastors like Greg Laurie, who is addressing this. But the sad thing, Doc, is I'm hearing reports from a lot of people that they said their pastors say nothing about it. And it reminds me of what we saw just last year when it came to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, in which there was silence in the pulpits on that as well. So we're seeing this trend here when it comes to these issues that people deem to be controversial, but there are things that are biblical. And to me, it's just sad to hear that there are a lot of pastors that are totally dismissing this and not saying anything about it.

But what have you heard on it? Well, basically, I'm in the same camp as you. I've been hearing a lot of that exact same thing, that their pastors are not even addressing it. And this is nothing new, because this is something that's been kind of systemic in our churches for quite a while. During COVID, for an example, churches were being shut down, and then pastors would begin to open up their churches again and never address. I mean, just going on with business as usual, as though the lockdowns and all of these things had clear end time implications.

It was almost as though none of that ever happened. So this is just a continuation of that. I mean, you very rarely hear anything about this. People, they want to hear how to be made to feel good about themselves and so on and so forth. And so we're hearing the same old type of sermon in spite of what's going on in the world. And I just think that's very troubling, especially if you're a believer who desires to get more information. And so hopefully we'll be able to answer some of those questions that aren't being answered over the average pulpit. Yeah.

Amen to that. We try to be a source for those of you out there that where, unfortunately, if your pastor is not talking about them, as you said, we hope that we can address some of the things that you may be wondering. So we're going to continue throughout this discussion.

We're going to listen to all of Greg Laurie's statement that he gave to complement our discussion. So to get us started, I want to continue in which he was speaking on how barbaric this attack has been in that they are actually targeting or have targeted civilians in this Hamas attack on Israel. Thousands of rockets rained on Israel from multiple directions and Hamas gunmen invaded by land, sea and sky. And hundreds of people have been murdered and kidnapped, and they were using what we might describe as ISIS-like methods, because they specifically targeted young women, young children, and they launched massive indiscriminate rocket fire towards civilian population centers, as well as a terrorist infiltration of cities and settlements close to the Gaza border.

They went literally home to home, door to door, looking for the young and for the elderly. Some of the women they took as hostages literally were survivors of the Holocaust. And when it's all said and done, and this number tragically will only get larger, there are 600 dead, 2,000 wounded, and this is simply without precedent, causing Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu to say we are now at war. So, you know, this is it's just heartbreaking. It's heart wrenching when you think about what is taking place.

Babies being beheaded is just it's just mind boggling. And remember, folks, again, Greg Laurie, he was speaking the day after the attack. So that count that he said of six hundred, of course, it has increased since then.

And right now is that twelve hundred. But it's expect to continue increasing the death toll. But it is just barbarism that that we have witnessed here. Well, first of all, what we witness or what we are witnessing and what they're experiencing over in Israel as we speak is nothing short of evil and satanic activity incarnate. I mean, evil and satanic incarnate. That's what we're experiencing.

There's no there's no nicer way to put it. We've noticed what Pastor Laurie said, that they have horrifically and specifically targeted the elderly, babies, women. It's just really under the whole families. And I've watched some of the videos. And one of the things you know, something is disturbing.

When news outlets, I'm not even talking about the mainstream news outlets, but the growing number of online outlets won't even show the images, won't even show the video. They black it out because they're so horrific. And it's just really, really just heart wrenching.

It just is really difficult to watch and to really think about. And I just want to say this, you know, because I actually kind of felt bad about myself because or within myself, rather, because, you know, I'm a huge football fan and I have like a couple of my sports podcasts that I would like to listen to. And I do a fantasy football league. And so I was I was actually yesterday kind of just perusing through and listen to some of my podcasts for just within, I don't know, just a few minutes in, I start feeling convicted. We're over here in the United States in the comfort of our of our luxury and, you know, just business as usual, no threat. And then while all of that is happening over there and I felt bad for just enjoying my football podcast, I turned it off. I mean, because it's really that's how horrific, that's how sad, that's how unbelievable that we what's happening over there. Executions and cold blooded killings of innocent civilians. That's what that's what really was so mind boggling. And he talked about babies being beheaded.

How could you be? I mean, what kind of evil would it take to behead a baby? I mean, I can't even comprehend that it's beyond anything that's within my ability to reason or rationalize. And so this is what's literally happening right now. And I think we just need to get some perspective as an as just as Americans, not just Christians, but as Americans, you know, and really kind of pour our hearts out to those who and pray for those who are suffering over there.

And hopefully they can get back some of those hostages. Yeah. And something that you said you touched on and it caused me to think about what has been going through my mind numerous times as I've seen these videos and images. And I have said to myself, this is what hatred toward God looks like because you see this.

And again, people are asking what what causes this. But it's satanic is what it is. And the reason behind it at just the thirty thousand foot level is there is a satanic push to try to prevent the return of Jesus Christ. And there are a number of layers to this as to why these Jewish people, the nation of Israel is being attacked.

But there is a satanic just just wickedness agenda to destroy the nation of Israel because of Satan's hatred to God. And we are seeing that manifested in the natural. And the thing, Doc, is seeing other human beings, even within our own government, like Rashida Tlaib, who would not condemn it. I mean, she was asked repeatedly, do you condone the beheading of babies?

And she would not make a comment. And it's mind blowing that we actually have people in our government that are in support of what has taken place. We we saw the Black Lives Matter.

We've talked about that in the past couple of years as to why as believers should not support it. And now look, we see the Chicago chapter. They posted online their support of this Palestinian invasion showing the terrorists coming in on a hang glider. So we just see this wickedness being manifested and it's being driven by this terrorist group Hamas. And so let's listen to what Greg Laurie has to say about Hamas and then we'll we'll talk about them a little bit more. Who is Hamas? They're a terrorist organization funded by Iran.

That's not a secret. In fact, the leader of Hamas, a PR person from Hamas, came on said, oh, yes, this was funded by Iran. So this is something that's an established fact. And Iran has long stated their objective, which is to destroy Israel. In fact, an Iranian leader celebrated the attacks, putting out this message. We stand by the Palestinian fires until the liberation of Palestine and Jerusalem is completed. And Iran has also signaled that they are developing a nuclear weapon in the past. They have threatened to in their own verbiage, wipe Israel off the face of the map. One leader of Iran said, quote, Is it possible for us to witness a world without America and Zionism? But you had best know that this slogan and this goal are altogether attainable and surely can be achieved because the regime, the regime that is occupying Jerusalem must be wiped off the map and quote. So, Doc, this has been the climate for ages in which Satan has had this this hatred toward the Jewish people, towards God's chosen nation. And again, the hatred is because Jesus came to the earth to to save us from sins.

He came through the nation of Israel and is satanically driven. That is what is behind it. But, you know, some people kind of brush this thing off and they say, well, this has been going on for the longest time. They'll go over and fight each other and they'll kill some.

And then they go back to life as usual and they sort of brush it off as well. No big deal. But this this is a big deal. This is not just their normal brush ups, because they had the most people killed in this attack then since the Holocaust. So so this is not just something that just just sort of brush off and say, oh, well, it's just business as usual over in the Middle East. But what are your thoughts? Well, first of all, in that last clip and followed up by the comments that you just shared, there are actually multiple layers of the need to be unpacked or need to be peeled back in order to to really get some perspective. First of all, you mentioned the fact that Hamas is funded by Iran. Now, just in that comment alone, there are there there are multiple layers that we need to unpack. And I won't take the time to unpack them now.

Maybe we'll do it back a little bit more later. But starting with the fact that Hamas funded is funded by Iran and the United States have given. Well, I can't remember the exact number. I think I heard it was four billion or 40 billion.

I don't remember the exact number. Six billion to Iran. So the first thing that has to pop into our mind and they've been known to be supporters of terrorists going back for decades. And so why on earth would our government give money to an organization, to a country that's known for funding terrorism?

And so that's that's a question that we we need to ask or we need to be asking our politicians, for an example. Why are we giving money to these people? I mean, there's no there's no rhyme or reason for giving money for these people unless you yourself have a nefarious motivation or a nefarious anti-Israel motivation.

So you're going to like, you know, take your your animosity toward Israel. You're going to just slide it in the back door by instead of addressing them directly, you'll just hand the money over to the Iranians and let the Iranians do your dirty work. You know, that that could be something that could be going on because because there's no especially when you consider the fact that Iran is sitting on all that oil. Why why are we sending them money? And then and then and then and on top of that, we're closing down our energy production and sending money over there. That is that is something that always blows my mind. I never really understood it.

So that's one layer. And then also another point to that has to be considered is that the media has portrayed everything as though it's a it's over land. It has not now nor ever been about land.

Land has just been the excuse. But as you stated, it's about wiping out the Jewish people because the Jewish people are God's chosen people and they have been hated by Satan. There have been numerous times where Satan has tried to completely destroy the Jews. Even if you look biblically and historically to the Pharaoh in Egypt, tried to wipe them out.

Haman, if you remember the story of Haman in the Book of Esther, Hitler. I mean, so it's been none of those was about land. OK, because none of those previous instances, they weren't even in Jerusalem when the when the when the attacks took place.

They were they were in Germany, they were in Europe, they were in in the case of Esther, they were in Babylon. So so it's not about land. It's about the hatred.

It's about a demonic, satanic hatred for the Jews. And so these are just various. I'm just giving a big picture overview of of considerations that the believer in Christ that we kind of have to have some perspective about. Yeah.

Yeah, that's good. I mean, that really brings it home in that having the right world view, as we talk about so much, because unfortunately, there are a lot in the church that side with the Palestinians in this conflict because they're they're not looking at it with the proper perspective. And unfortunately, a lot of people, they hold to replacement theology, believing that the church is taking the place of Israel.

So to them and I shared just last week, Vody Bockham, who is someone that I really admire a lot of the things that he stands for. But when it comes to eschatology, he holds his view that, well, the church is replace Israel. So he what he sees going on over there has nothing to do with the Bible and with God. And that's just it's a head scratcher, to be honest, that people in the church are thinking that way. But as you said, it really has nothing to do with land.

That is an excuse because you're right. There have been times when they weren't even in the land and yet Satan was still trying to destroy them. But I do want to point out concerning the land in case someone may not really understand exactly what's what. But what has happened is this area is called the Gaza Strip, and this strip of land is actually in an area that really God promised to the nation of Israel. What Israel currently has is their land is only a small fraction of what God promised them in the Book of Genesis.

And the total fulfillment of that promise is going to come in the millennial kingdom. But there is this strip called the Gaza Strip. And this is a land where they're the Palestinians. And we don't have time to even unpack the whole origin of that that term Palestinian, but is where the Palestinians live. And then there's a second Palestinian territory called the West Bank, and that's on the west side of Israel, or I should say it's on the east side of Israel. But but that is the two areas where the Palestinians dwell there.

That is their their territories. And there's just been constant conflict ever since Israel has been back in the land in 1948. So let's look at what Greg Laurie has to say concerning Jerusalem. And as we look at the events revolving around the end times. Interesting how it always comes back to Jerusalem. The Bible predicted thousands of years ago that the end time events would revolve around Jerusalem, not Irvine, not Riverside, not San Francisco, not Los Angeles, not Moscow, not Paris. But Jerusalem, this tiny little city in this tiny sliver of land will play a key role in the events of the last days. It's the focal point of end times events. It's amazing when you think about it, because in Zechariah 12, God says, I will make Jerusalem and Judah like an intoxicating drink to all the nearby nations that send their armies to besiege Jerusalem. On that day, I'll make Jerusalem a heavy stone, a burden for the world, and none of the nations who try will be able to lift it. And so, Doc, to your point, it is really not about land.

It is really about destroying God's people. But the reason why Jerusalem is the center point, as Greg Laurie is pointing out, is because that is where Christ is coming back to the earth. And I recall a time when I spoke with a pastor who we had a dinner together, friendly chat, but we definitely have extremely different viewpoints when it comes to Israel and prophecy. And he was telling me that, well, Jesus could return anywhere on the earth.

He said it could be Washington, D.C. or New York City or Miami. But the Bible makes it very clear, no, it is Jerusalem, and that is why things revolve around it. But what we've witnessed over this past couple of weeks, Jerusalem itself has not yet been touched, but we see things building in that direction.

Yes, that is exactly right. And it's interesting that when you were talking about what your pastor friend said, that you could technically say, yeah, Jesus is God. I mean, he could come back anywhere, but we know he's not coming back anywhere because the Bible tells us specifically where he's coming back to. The Bible says that his feet is going to land on the top of the Mount of Olives. I mean, it says so clearly it gives the exact location where his feet is going to touch down.

It is going to be on the Mount of Olives. And then it also goes as far to say that when his feet touches down, there's going to be an earthquake and the Mount of Olives is going to split in two and there's going to be a valley that's going to be created in between. I mean, it gives all the specificity about exactly where Jesus is going to return. And what's interesting is that the only thing, the only piece of information that we really don't have or that God did not give us in his word was when. Okay, he gave us how?

Think about it. He gave us where, you know, he gave us what's going to lead to it. We just don't know when because no one knows the time nor the hour. But we do know that they're going to be indicators, you know, that's happening in the world that believers need to be paying attention to.

There's going to be kind of clues or we like to use the term signs of the end that that's going to be prevalent that we need to be discerning about. And so and I wanted to point this one other thing out to going back to a previous point that I neglected to make is as it pertains to the attack and all the horrific events, the horrific acts that occurred. Probably not quite as troubling, but just a hair below on a troubling meter was the amount of celebrations that occurred in streets around the world. I don't know if you noticed that, but in places like Australia and New York and in Germany and London, there were these major celebrations of, you know, and think about it. How do you celebrate the beheading of babies, the killing of innocent civilians? That's another layer that maybe we need to talk about at another point, because that was almost as troubling as the initial attack itself, watching those celebrations.

Yeah, yeah, it definitely is indeed. And yeah, we'll we'll talk about it next week because we have a lot more to cover as again, this this topic is events is very fluid and ongoing. And as I think about, as you say, God gave us the answers in the Bible and I think about in school back when I was in grade school and I had some classmates, some of the bad kids, and they were trying to sneak in and steal the teacher's answer key to see the answers to the test. And, you know, but when we look at the Bible, God has already given us the answers, but people won't look at the Bible or they refuse to accept what the Bible says.

But to your point, God has already told us Jesus is going to return to Jerusalem and that is where his feet will touch on the Mount of Olives, where he will rule and reign. And folks, that is what Satan is trying to do. He is trying to stop that from happening.

So this is a satanic attack that is taking place. But we're going to stop it there for this week as we're out of time. But, Doc, always good talking with you. Look forward to being back with you again next week.

Yes, sir. Thank you. God bless. And to our audience, we want to thank you for tuning in. As we close, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Bless God's great nation of Israel. We say it every week, but I cannot stress it any more now because Jerusalem, Israel, there are still those there that are being that are kidnapped, hostages.

They need your prayers. So we are praying for God's deliverance and protection. So please come back and join us next week as we continue to Discern the Times. Thank you for tuning in to Discern the Times. Please come back and join us next week as we continue to encourage you to view current events through the lens of the Bible. Until next time, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Bless God's great nation of Israel and seek first the kingdom of God. Discerning the Times is presented by Blessings to Israel.