I was scheduled to lead a pilgrimage group to Israel last month. But, a day before we were to embark, Israel launched an attack on Iran. Operation Rising Lion had been in the making for a long time, and it was something that the Israelis had planned for many years. The threats emanating from Iran and the terror that the Ayatollahs had spread across the entire Middle East, which focused on the nation of Israel, had to at last be dealt with.
While I’d like to discuss the current political developments related to the Israel-Iran conflict, we must first examine the underlying spiritual reasons. Why has Israel been enduring so much bloody conflict?
When we wonder what’s going on in the Middle East, we must recognize that long ago God declared that He would discipline His children when they strayed far from Him. Indeed, in Deuteronomy 28-29, Moses warned of the consequences of such disobedience. Moses cautioned the Israelites that if they disobeyed and rebelled against God, He would discipline them. God would reject the Jewish people, but only for a time, for He promised He would later restore them.
Hebrews 12:5-7 reveals concerning the book’s audience—the Jewish people: “Have you forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons? My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him, for those whom the Lord loves, He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives. It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as sons…”
I think back to when Jesus looked over Jerusalem and wept that the Jewish people had not recognized the time of their Messiah’s advent. And yet, prophetically, this rejection had already been prophesied. In response to the people’s rejection and crucifixion of their Messiah, God would discipline His very children by casting them aside for a season. During that time of banishment, they would endure great hardship—a “scourging” in the words of the writer of Hebrews. And yet, God also promised that He would restore the wayward remnant to faith and the fulfillment of His promises to Abraham and David.
You and I have been blessed to witness, over the last century, how the Jewish people are being regathered from the four corners of the earth back to their native land, again in fulfillment of Bible prophecy. However, as this gathering has progressed, the Lord has continued to allow a chastening to take place. God does so for the purpose of causing the Jewish people to come to the end of themselves. God longs for the day when the Jewish people will look to the Lord Jesus Christ—the one whom the Father had allowed to be sacrificed for mankind’s sins.
Persecution will continue to come to Israel until the Jewish people will at last come to the end of themselves and cry out, “Baruch Habah B’shem Adonai!” Only then will Jesus Christ as Deliverer, followed by His Bride—the glorified Church— return at His second coming.
I often think of this motif in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The Father’s love for His wayward son never varied. He continued to hold out hope that the prodigal would repent, turn back, and come home. And, when the son did finally return, there was great rejoicing.
So, how do I tie this lesson on God’s discipline to the wars Israel has been fighting lately?
God will continue to allow threats to fester all around Israel because He wills to hone and refine the Jewish people. God is leading the Jewish people to the end of themselves. And by the end of the Tribulation, Israel will find itself in a time of absolute desperation. That is when they will realize that their salvation cannot be found in the IDF, or the Mossad, or any other human entity, but only in the Lord God.
So, for now, the hostile nations immediately surrounding Israel, and eventually all the countries of the world, will continue to threaten and attack the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. That will end once the Jewish remnant cries out for Jesus to save them. Pray for that day!
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We know that all the players of the end times are ligning up against Israel. You can see the direction of the enemy who is preparing for the Gog Magog war. Russia and Vladimir Putin have been in sink with Hamas and its Iranian overlords.) Rosh, (Russia) is the country that leads the invasion into Israel. God will continue to watch over Israel, but he is also preparing them for renewal. Abraham built an altar to the Lord on Mount Moriah, and more than 1000 years later, David did likewise in the location that became the center of the Jewish worship for the next millennium. Even though be could not build the temple, David went to great lengths to bring its construction to fruition. 1 Chronicles 22:14.
Today, the Dome of the Rock sits atop Mount Torah. But one day, God’s Holy Temple will again stand there. Jesus, the Messiah will build it. He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne, so He shall be a priest on His throne. Zechariah 6:13. The Jewish people will again pray there, and the most contested piece of real estate on Earth will finally know peace. There’s a lot of spiritual things happening in Israel since the October 7 massacre, all part of God’s plans to bring his people back to him.