Living in Interesting Times

An old Chinese saying (are Chinese sayings always old?) goes, “May you live in interesting times.”

I suspect that everyone experiences that to varying degrees, but for those living in the early 21st century, world events are all that. This is especially true if you are up on Biblical prophecy as it applies to the nation of Israel.

Astounding, amazing, awesome, incredible and unbelievable are just some of the terms to describe what has happened to Israel in the last 2,000 years.

“But,” you say, “Israel hasn't been a nation for the last 2,000 years.”

Exactly!

Never before in all of history has a nation disappeared for 2,000 years and then come back into being. And NEVER - EVER has it been predicted thousands of years in advance that a nation would disappear, its inhabitants scattered around the world, and then be brought home virtually in an instant.

Yet this is exactly what we find in Biblical prophecy concerning the nation of Israel.
1948 was the first time since 70 A.D. that the people of Israel have been brought back to control their homeland.
Ezekiel - 37:21 (Written 597 years before the birth of Christ) - For the Lord God says, “I am gathering the people of Israel from among the nations and bringing them home from around the world to their own homeland, to unify them into one nation.”

Ezekiel 38:12 - “I will go to those once desolate cities that are now filled with people again, those who have returned from all the nations, and the whole earth revolves around them. This will happen in the distant future, in the latter years of history.

The new state of Israel now contains people who have come from 100 different countries, speaking 60 different languages and the trek homeward continues to this day.

Zechariah 12:2,3,7, & 9 (Written 520 years before the birth of Christ) - I will make Jerusalem and Judah like a cup of poison to all the nearby nations that send their armies to surround her. Jerusalem will be a heavy stone burdening the world and though all the nations of the world unite in an attempt to move her, they will all be crushed. For my plan is to destroy all nations that come against Jerusalem.

Zechariah 2: 4 & 7 - Jerusalem will some day be so full of people she won’t have room enough for all. I scattered you to the winds, but I will bring you back again.

This is part of the problem with Palestine and Israel right now. There is not enough room for all of the Jews coming home and they are building settlements in Palestinian territory.

What is even more fascinating is watching Russia, the Great Bear of the north, Magog as it’s known in the Bible, as it supplies billions and billions of dollars of war machinery to Israel’s enemies. Russia is who's supplying Iran with nuclear technology. Little by little Israel’s enemies are being drawn into economic dependence upon Russia. Russia’s hatred of Jews and of the nation state of Israel is barely disguised. Russia,along with Iran, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and all the others can hardly wait for the opportunity to destroy Israel.

Again, this has all been predicted, thousands of years in advance. Regardless of whether we work for peace in the Middle East(which we absolutely must do) or whether we work to bring about Armageddon (an absolutely insane way of thinking)It will happen! Russia, along with the other dictator states of the Middle East have only one goal, the elimination of Israel as a country and the death of every Jewish person.

For me it’s a lot like driving past a horrendous multi-vehicle accident. The mixture of horror and interest that I experience in myself is both disgusting and fascinating. It’s like watching a movie to which I already know the ending. We are indeed living in interesting times.