The deadly danger of a Palestinian State

Events in the Middle East will not surprise prophecy
students, for they are aware of the origins of the Jew and the Arab.

We quote from Genesis 16:11-16:

"And the angel of the LORD said unto her (Hagar), Behold,
thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;
because the LORD hath heard thy affliction." (emphasis added).

Verse 12: "And he will be a wild man; his hand will be
against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the
presence of all his brethren."

Verse 15: "And Hagar bare Abram a son; and Abram called his
son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael."

Verse 16: "And Abram was fourscore and six years
old, when Hagar bear Ishmael to Abram."

And then again in Genesis 17:19-21, we read: "And God
said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac:
and I will establish my convenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and
with his seed after him." (emphasis added).

Verse 20: "And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I
have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly;
twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation."

Verse 21: "But my covenant will I establish with Isaac..."
(emphasis added).

Bible students will understand that the promised Messiah
would come through the seed of Abraham and we need to take notice that the seed
is singular, not plural.

Galatians 3:16: "Now to Abraham and his seed were the
promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy
seed, which is Christ."

The toing and froing of peace negotiations with Yasser
Arafat, as the world can clearly see, are an absolute waste of time for when he
speaks in English he talks about peace, but when he speaks in Arab he talks
about Jihad, for example, the same day that Arafat signed an agreement on the
White House lawn, he spoke the following words on Jordan Television:

"Since we cannot defeat Israel in war, we do this in
stages. We take any and every territory that we can of Palestine, and establish
a sovereignty there, and we use it as a springboard to take more. When the time
comes, we can get the Arab nations to join us for the final blow against Israel."

There is no doubt that Israel is not so important as a nation
to the Palestinians as the city of Jerusalem, for we read in Zechariah 12:3:

"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."

Who wants Jerusalem?

The Israelis say it is their eternal capital. The
Palestinians want it. The Orthodox church wants it. The Catholic church wants it
and even the Freemasons have an interest in it.

This City of God has been given irrevocably to Israel and
this short summary taken from the magazine Israel Today, November 2001,
may help in our understanding:

"1004 BC -King David makes Jerusalem the capital
of Israel

967 BC - King Solomon builds the First Temple

586 BC - Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem and the
Temple and exiles the Jews to Babylon

537 BC - Return of the Jews to Zion and Jerusalem

515 BC - Completion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem

332 BC - Alexander the Great conquers Israel but
leaves Jerusalem to the Jews

169 BC - Antiochus IV Epiphanes loots the Temple in
Jerusalem

164 BC - Jews re-capture and consecrate the Temple
(Hanukkah)

63 BC - Pompey conquers Jerusalem; beginning of the
Roman period

37-4 BC - Rule of King Herod the Great

70 AD - Titus conquers Jerusalem and destroys the
Second Temple

135 AD - Emperor Hadrian, the persecutor of Jews and
Christians, renames Jerusalem 'Aelia Capitolina,' and Israel-Judea is
called 'Palestine'

324 AD - Start of the Byzantine period

638 AD - Caliph Omar moves into the city of Jerusalem

1099 AD - The Crusaders conquer Jerusalem

1187 AD - Saladin drives the Crusaders out of
Jerusalem

1517 AD - The Ottomans conquer Jerusalem

1844 AD - Census: the majority of the citizens of
Jerusalem are Jews

1917 AD - The British General Allenby defeats
the Turks and moves into Jerusalem

Apr. 1949 - Jerusalem is split up between Israel
and Jordan in the armistice agreement

Dec. 13, 1949 - Jerusalem is officially declared the
capital of Israel again

June 7, 1967 - Israeli troops capture the Old City
and Jerusalem is reunited..." (emphasis added).

It is also important for Christian believers to understand
that the Koran inspires terror, for example in Sura 2;199:

"And slay them wherever you find them."

Sura 4;89 says: "So choose not friends from them until they
forsake their homes in the way of Allah. If they turn back to enmity then take
them and kill them wherever you find them and choose no friend nor helper from
among them."

According to the Koran, each Muslim is obligated either to
convert Christians and Jews to Islam or to kill them.

In Sura 47;35, we read:

"So do not falter and cry out for peace when you will have
the upper hand, for Allah is with you."

The future of the Middle East has now become very clear to
students of Bible prophecy, that the words written in Ezekiel 38 & 39 are
close to being fulfilled.

It is clear that Russia will join with the Muslims and attack
Israel at some time in the not too distant future and that the God of Israel
will stand up and fight for that nation. Ultimately Ezekiel 39:7 will be
fulfilled:

"So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my
people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and
the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel."

It is to be noted that no heathen demon may ever have an
opportunity to defeat the everlasting Almighty God of Israel and thus we
wait with bated breath, to watch the enemy forming themselves into platoons that
will ultimately be wiped out by a God who sticks by His word.

In the mean time, it is the task of every believer in Jesus
Christ to try and win as many of these poor folk to Christ, who is the way, the
truth and the life, to salvation and eternal peace and joy.