SLIDES

How Did Israel and the Middle East Get into Such a Mess?

(NASB95)

On October 7, 2023, the militant Islamic group Hamas slaughtered over 1200 Israelis and foreigners.  240 people were taken hostage. Many Americans and people from other countries were part of this number of hostages taken. In October 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally declared war on Hamas. The war with Hamas in Gaza is still going on.

On Saturday, April 13, 2024, Iran launched over 300 drones and cruise missiles toward Israel. Miraculously, all were destroyed by the Israeli defense systems, the US, and Jordan. Several people received shrapnel wounds from one destroyed drone. Israel probably responded on April 18, 2024, by sending missiles and/or drones to Iran. We really don’t know exactly what happened. Israel has not officially taken credit for this action.

On Tuesday, October 1 Iran launched 180 ballistic missiles at Isarel. It takes several hours for a cruise missile to reach Israel from Iran. It only takes 12 minutes for a ballistic missile to reach Israel from Iran. The two fatalities caused by the attacks were a Palestinian man killed directly by missile debris and an Israeli man indirectly. Four Palestinians, two Israelis and two Jordanians sustained minor injuries. On Saturday, October 26, Israel sent a combination of 100 fighter jets, AWAX planes, and Tanker planes to Iran which is a 2,000-mile round trip. We still don’t know exactly how much damage these fighter jets did.

There is one thing we do know for certain. On both April 16 and October 1 Yahweh, the God of Isarel, protected the people of Israel.  The promise in Genesis 12:3 that God made to Abrham and his descendants, the Jews, that He would bless those who bless Isael and curse those who curse Israel is still in effect today. More about that later.

Everyone knows that things in the Middle East are a big mess. Things  are constantly in turmoil. Have you ever wondered how we got into such a mess?  Today we are going to discuss how Israel and the Middle East got into such a mess they are in today.

There are 16 counties that make up the Middle East and these nations surround Israel. They include Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and Israel.  All of these countries are Muslim except for Israel. Today there 7,554,000 Jews who live in Isarel, but they are surrounded by 475 million people who live in the Arab/Muslim nations that surround Isarel. I once had a Bible teacher who gave his students a great piece of advice. He said that the world should constantly watch Israel because they were the thermometer of the world.

Today we are going to trace five events that occurred in Genesis and one in the Psalms that are responsible for the mess and the turmoil that the Middle East is in today.  

The First event that has caused and continues to cause turmoil in the Middle East today is:

God putting enmity (Hostility) between Satan and Israel.

The first event that occurred that has impacted and continues to impact what goes on in the Middle East is the curse of Satan and the promises God made in Genesis 3:15 as a result of Adam and Eve eating the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. 

After Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, God cursed the serpent, Satan, Eve, and the earth. The curse of Satan is what we want to focus on right now. Let’s read Genesis 3:15.

And I (God) will put enmity (hostility)

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her seed;

He shall bruise (crush - NIV) you on the head,

And you shall bruise him on the heel.

There are four avenues of conflict seen in Genesis 3:15:

1.     Enmity between Satan and the woman. You may be thinking that the woman is Eve or maybe Mary. There is no indication that Satan ever had any dealings with Eve again. Satan had already ruined Eve’s life. Also, there is no indication that Satan ever had any dealing with Mary. This is a prophecy about the future when Isarel would become a nation. In Revelation 12:1-6, we find that the woman is identified as Israel.

1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;

2 and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.

3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.

4 And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child.    

5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. (3 1/2 years)

2 Enmity between Satan’s seed and the woman’s seed. Satan’s seed is the antichrist and the woman’s seed is the Messiah. 

3 The Messiah would fatally crush the head of Satan at the cross that would be authenticated or validated at the resurrection.

  4 Satan would temporarily bruise the heel of the Messiah at

  the cross.

The Second event that has caused and continues to cause turmoil in the Middle East today is:

The promises made to Abraham and his descendants, the Jews, in the Abrahamic Covenant.

From Genesis 3:15 we fast forward to the call of Abraham, who would become the father of a new nation called Isarel. The call of Abraham plays directly in the conflict today in the Middle East.

God called a pagan from Ur of Chaldees to be the father of a nation that was supposed to be a light to the nations and the nation that would produce the Messiah who was prophesied beginning in Genesis 3:15. In Genesis 12:1-3 God made several promises to Abram. Some of these promises relate to the fact that Abraham and his descendants would experience antisemitism, persecution, oppression, discrimination, and harassment from Gentiles and the Gentile nations. Let’s now read and discuss Genesis 12:1-3.

   1  Now the Lord said to Abram,

“Go forth from your country,

And from your relatives

And from your father’s house (Terah),

To the land which I will show you;

   2        And I will make you a great nation,

And I will bless you,

And make your name great;

And so you shall be a blessing;

   3        And I will bless those who bless you,

And the one who curses you I will curse.

And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

God promised Abram that He would bless those who blessed him and his descendants and would curse those who cursed him and his descendants. We can see from biblical and secular history that God made good on those promises many, many times over thousands of years.

In Genesis 15 God made a covenant with Abram that included the promises God made in Genesis 12. We call this the Abrahamic Covenant. In this eternal covenant, there are three eternal promises that are the bedrock of the Covenant. Abraham and his descendants were promised Land, forever. The borders of the land promised to Abraham and his descendants are the Wadi El Arish to the South, the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Mount Hor to the North, and the Euphrates Reiver to the East, The Lord not only promised land forever but also, Descendants forever, and Spiritual Blessings forever. These promises were extended in sub covenants which are the Land Covenant in Deuteronomy 28-30, the Davidic Covenant in 2 Samuel 7:14, and the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31. These covenant promises are weaved throughout the Old and the New Testaments.

Let me take a minute and discuss what is called a two-state solution. Let’s first look at it from a historical perspective. There was a self-proclaimed messiah called Simon bar Kokhba who led a revolt against the Roman Empire. The revolt ended with his death in 135 AD. The rebels almost won. To shame the Jews, the Romans changed the name from Israel to Palestina. From 135 AD to May 14, 1948 with the rebirth of Isael, those who lived I the land were called Arab Palestinians, Jewish Palestinians, and Christian Palestinians. It was not a state or a nation. With the rebirth of Isarel in 1948, those who live in the land have been and are now called Jewish Israelis, Arab Israelis, and Christian Israelis. Since May 14, 1948, there is not place called Palestine and there is no such people called Palestinians.

Let look at a two-state solution from a Biblical perspective. Does God take seriously the promises of the Land he gave to Isarel? Joel 3:1-2 gives us the answer!

       1      “For behold, in those days and at that time,

      When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

       2      I will gather all the nations

      And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat.

      Then I will enter into judgment with them there

      On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,

      Whom they have scattered among the nations;

      And they have divided up My land.

The Third event that has caused and continues to cause turmoil in the Middle East today is:

The birth of Ishmael and the promises God made to him and his descendants.

Abraham’s wife was Sarah. God promised a natural born son to come from the womb of Sarah. But Sarah doubted and recommended that Abraham have a child with his handmaid, an Egyptian named Hagar. The baby’s name was Ishmael. After Ishmael’s birth. Sarah became jealous and Abraham sent Hagar away. While Hagar and Ishmael were in the desert, the Angel of the LORD appeared to her and told her about the following in Genesis 16:7-12:

       7 Now the angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.

       8 He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

       9 Then the angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority.”

       10 Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.”

      11 The angel of the LORD said to her further,

      “Behold, you are with child,

      And you will bear a son;

      And you shall call his name Ishmael (God hears),

      Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction.

      12 “He will be a wild donkey of a man,

      His hand will be against everyone,

      And everyone’s hand will be against him;

      And he will live to the east of all his brothers.”

The Fourth event that has caused and continues to cause turmoil in the Middle East today is:

Jacob receiving the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant rather than Esau. (Genesis 25 & 26)

This is another element in the plight of the Jewish people that would cause Israel problems for 3500 hundred years. Ismael became the co-founder of the Arab nations who would become a continual thorn in Israel’s side. Ishmael would not be the recipient of the Abrahamic Covenant, but in Genesis 18 the Angel of the Lord told Abraham that his natural born son would be born within a year, and he would be the recipient of the Abrahamic Covenant. His name was Isaac.

Isaac married Rebekah. They had two sons, Jacob, and Esau. Before they were born, God told Rebekah that the older son would serve the younger son. Esau was the oldest and Isaac intended for the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant to go to Esau not the younger, Jacob. Did God tell Isaac what He told Rebekah or did Rebekah tell him what God had told her? In either case, Isaac disregarded what God wanted. Through fenagling, Jacob ended up with the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant. Esau became the cofounder of the Arab nations, and his descendants were called the Edomites. The were always a thorn in Israel’s side and today have been absorbed into the Arab nations.

The Fifth event that has caused and continues to cause turmoil in the Middle East today is:

The covenant that the Ishmaelites and the Edomites made with themselves, and with other Arab nations in the Middle East to destroy Isarel. This is found in Psalm 83:1-8. It was written by Asaph who was recognized as one of the leaders of David’s choir probably before Isarel and Judah went into captivity. This covenant is still in effect today.

            1      O God, do not remain quiet;

      Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still.

            2  For behold, Your enemies make an uproar,

      And those who hate You have exalted themselves.

            3  They make shrewd plans against Your people,

      And conspire together against Your treasured ones.

            4  They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as nation,

      That the name of Israel be remembered no more.”

            5  For they have conspired together with one mind;

      Against You they make a covenant:

            6  The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,

      Moab and the Hagrites;

            7  Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,

      Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;

            8  Assyria also has joined with them;

      They have become a help to the children of Lot.

Selah.

The Sixth event that has caused and continues to cause turmoil in the Middle East today is:

 God changing Jacob’s name to Israel.

Genesis 32:24-30

      24 Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

       25 Then he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so, the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.

       26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

       27 So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”

       28 He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

       29 Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there.

       30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.”

Jacob had 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel.

The six events that contribute to the mess and the turmoil that is in the Middle East today are:

1.    God put enmity between Satan and Israel. (Genesis3:15)

2.    In the Abraham Covenant, God gave Abraham and his descendants, the Jews, the land of Israel as an everlasting possession. The title deed is found Genesis chapters 12 & 15 and continues to demonstrate that the land belongs exclusively to Israel and the Jewish people.

3.    The birth of Ishmael and the promises God made to him and his descendants. (Genesis 16)

4.    Jacob received the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant instead of Esau. (Genesis 25- 26)

5.    The covenant that the Ishmaelites and the Edomites made with themselves and other Arab nations to destroy Israel. (Psalm 83:1-8)

6.    God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. (Genesis 32) He was the first Jew and the father of the 12 sons who became 12 tribes of the nation of Israel.

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