Israel

Foreshadow

Valerie Cullers 5 Comments

“Foreshadow – “a warning or indication of a future event.” Oxford Languages

As I look at current events happening around the globe, I can see that they are foreshadowing things to come. We are watching a story unfold right before our eyes that is filled with hints as to what we can expect in the future.

Take Israel and Iran for example. When I watched the attack on Israel by Iran on April 14th, I could see this as an event that foreshadows another war that will come against Israel in the future. The Bible speaks of a war that will happen to Israel in the latter days. Found in Ezekiel 38, a coalition of forces from the extreme north of Israel (possibly Russia or Turkey) plus Iran, Sudan and Libya will come against Israel. Did you ever think that Iran would dare to strike Israel? Well, it happened. Carefully orchestrated and announced ahead of time so that their missiles would not actually hit major population centers, Iran announced to the world that it is not afraid to strike Israel. A line was crossed and there is no going back. When Iran and her allies are ready, they will invade and attack Israel.

When the time comes, will any nations help Israel? Sadly, Israel will be on her own, and we are currently watching the foreshadowing of this in cities around the world and on college campuses. Antisemitism is rearing its ugly head, and even when these demonstrations stop and the war in Gaza is over, people will continue to hate Israel. This antisemitism has taken root globally, and it will not easily be pulled out.

Not to worry, though. Even though men will not come to Israel’s defense, the Lord will strike the invading armies dead on the mountains of Israel. This will not be a pretty sight and will according to scripture affect the entire world when it sees this happen.

As we watch the foreshadowing of future events, what should our response be in this incendiary climate? For one thing, we must not be taken in by those who would hate the Jews because of the war in Gaza. We must do what we can to stand up for the people who are being persecuted in their synagogues and on college campuses. So much of this reminds me of what happened in Germany in the 1930s. Jewish hatred was whipped up within the population to the point that people believed they were subhuman. Once they were dehumanized they were systematically eliminated with little or no public outcry. We cannot let this begin to happen again, not on our watch.

Image by merandad. Courtesy of Pixabay.

“Whatcha gonna do?”

Valerie Cullers 18 Comments

For over a month, I have been shocked at the level of antisemitism I have seen in this country. As a child of a father who was in WWII, I have been aware of the Jewish Holocaust. I have seen the pictures and read much about what the Nazis did to them. The level of suffering is almost incomprehensible, and those who perpetrated it were pure evil. Full stop…end of sentence.

I have no problem with people protesting a war they do not agree with, but those who carry signs that say “Gas the Jews” or “Hitler was Right” are either ignorant of history or evil themselves. I will bet that yes, some of those who carry those signs are evil, but for the most part, when I see the students, I believe they are historically ignorant.

Do they know, for example, that Hitler killed about fourteen million people? Yes, he came for the Jews, but he also came for many Christians, political dissenters, the physically and mentally handicapped, the gypsies, Slavic people, Poles, and the gays. No one was exempt if they were considered an enemy of the Reich. Many who started out in Hitler’s good graces were “retired” when his paranoia got the better of him.

You see, when the killing starts, no one is exempt. Ask those in Russia, where Stalin is purported to have killed about forty million in his purges. And what about the Cultural Revolution in China during which between five hundred thousand and two million people were killed? You may think you will be spared but in truth, no one is safe once a pogrom has started.

So to quote the theme song from Cops, “Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?” Please think about it, because eventually they will and you who are approving of the genocide of others may become a victim yourself.

Photo of Auschwitz by Carl S. Courtesy of Pixabay

Prophetic

Valerie Cullers 12 Comments

On Sunday morning, October 8th, I woke up and looked at the news feed on my phone. I read about the Hamas attack on Jewish settlements on the border of Gaza. This attack looked much different from the attacks Israel has faced from Hamas in the last 15 years. I then thought about Bill Salus and how he had written a book about Psalm 83 and a future war Israel would be fighting with the diverse ethnic groups around its borders. Bill just happened to be at a prophecy conference that morning and was giving an impromptu talk that I listened to. He said we must wait and see how it will develop to see if this war fits Psalm 83 in the Scriptures. Since then, I have listened to Amir Tsarfati, a Messianic Jew who is also an Israeli. He is convinced that the Psalm 83 war happened in 1948 when Israel fought its War of Independence. He feels the current events might possibly be a prelude to the war of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38 and 39.

So who is right? Well, we must all wait and see if this particular war has any prophetic implications or not. You see, when thinking about prophecy, we don’t make Biblical prophecy fit the events that are happening. The events must fit the prophecy exactly in order to be true. Also, many times, prophecies have more than one fulfillment, one closer to the time it was written and one further down the timeline.

Recently, Jack Hibbs said, “The world is catching up to the Bible.” Thousands of years ago, a couple of hundred prophecies were written about the return of Christ. Others were written about Israel and what would happen to it in the last days. I believe that just as over three hundred prophecies were fulfilled about Jesus’ first coming, so the remaining prophecies will be fulfilled about what will happen to Israel in the last days. But they will all be fulfilled in God’s good time and not our own.

In the gospels, Jesus talked about what the world would look like immediately before his return. We see that the world does look very close to what He said it would be like. We were also instructed to watch and pray. What we can know is that time is getting short. As we watch nations aligning against Israel, we know it will have to defend itself against a larger host of armies at some point in the future.

So does this particular war fulfill any prophecies in the Bible? At the moment, we must wait and see and not jump to any conclusions.