Can There Be Peace
In the Middle East?
By Jimmy Root Jr
Peace has been a shifty little devil when it comes to the Middle East. Peacemakers have given themselves migraine headaches trying to sort out the myriad complications. I’m positive some have desired to slit their wrists while walking away from failed negotiations. Yet people, presidents, and pundits continue to call for peace at any cost. But can there be peace? In a one word answer, yes! But that is not the right question. You should be asking; “Will there be peace?” Again, the answer is yes. (Alright, I’m toying with you. Please accept my apologies.)
Let me give you a bit of a rundown, a chronology if you will, of the many attempts, accords, and affirmations that have been signed over the last twenty years. But first, a misnomer—myth that I must clear up before we start. The legal claim of the Jews over the land of Israel is not necessarily based on ancient rights given to Abraham. Now, as a Christian, I believe that covenant is eternally binding, but it won’t get us very far in a court of law. The truth is Israel’s right can be determined on the basis of continuous settlement in the land since ancient times. The Jews have been present in Palestine (The Holy Land) since Abraham. Add to that the fact that the Zionist movement developed the land in the mid-nineteenth century. They took it from deserted bogs right into productivity. Problem, the Palestinian/Muslim/Arab habitation also goes back over a thousand years. And there we have our problem. Now, enter the many attempts to solve the issues that divide these ancient cousins.
The OSLO Peace Process… Begun in 1993 when Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo Declaration of Principles and the Oslo Interim Agreement. Administered by President Bill Clinton, the agreement created the Palestinian National Authority that would supposedly have the authority to negotiate with Israel and to govern the West Bank and Gaza. Israel was required to withdraw from those areas. For the most part they did. However, though required to denounce terrorism and recognize Israel’s right to exist, the radicalized Islamic organization known as Hamas began to expedite car bombings within Israel and the negotiations were derailed. The results of the Oslo Peace Process included the glorification of Yasser Arafat among the Palestinians, and the eventual assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a fellow Jew.
The Camp David Accords… July 2000. An attempt to re-start the Oslo Interim Agreement was derailed when the Palestinians insisted that refugees should have the right to return to Israel. This would have produced an Arab majority in Israel, and Israel said no. However, both sides agreed to an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. (This, of course, has proven itself to have been a horrible mistake on the part of Israel.)
The Saudi Peace Proposal and Palestinian State Resolution-- Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah proposed to end the long Arab war against Israel in return for Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights. Abdullah re-visited a 1947 UN Resolution that called for a Palestinian state alongside Israel. On March 12, 2002 the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1397 affirming Abdullah’s proposal and calling for an end to the Intifadah. Result: Violence intensified and Israel backed away from the proposal.
UN Resolution 1402… After Colin Powell failed in an attempt to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the table, the Security Council called for an Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories. Instead, IDF forces blockaded Yasser Arafat’s compound in Ramallah. The Un Security Council adopted Resolution 1403 expressing dismay that resolution 1402 had not been implemented. (Somebody threw a fit, evidently.) On April 19, 2002, Resolution 1405 was adopted, calling for an impartial investigation into the matter.
June, 2002… President George W. Bush made a long awaited speech on Middle East policy and called for a Palestinian state. However, he insisted on democratic reform of the Palestinian National Authority. Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon changed his hawkish position and agreed in principle. Result… and increase in car bombings, but also a call for elections among the Palestinians. Mahmud Abbas assumed the post of Prime Minister.
June 4, 2003, Aqaba. Sharon and Abbas shake hands and vow to fulfill Bush’s conditions found in the Road Map for Peace. Result, Hamas vows to continue the violence. Israel responded, and so on and so forth.
GENEVA ACCORD… Israeli opposition leaders and the Palestinians announce an agreement in principle for a final peace settlement. Israel would give up sovereignty of Arab controlled Jerusalem while the Palestinians would renounce the right of refugee return. Colin Powell supported the accord as did Yasser Arafat. Problem: Palestinian extremists stepped up bombings, and the Israeli government rejected the accord. Soon after, Israel began erecting the Security Barrier.
Sharm El Sheikh Conference.. February 8, 2005. Negotiations presided by Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah bring about an end to violence and the Intifadah. Agreement was made to resume the Road Map for Peace. Result: a Damascus controlled Islamic organization detonated a car bomb in Tel Aviv on Feb. 25th. However, the Israeli Knesset approved the plan for disengagement and a unilateral withdrawal from 21 settlements in Gaza and 4 in the West Bank.
June 21, 2005…. Sharon and Abbas meet in a long-awaited summit. No results beyond a resurgence of violence perpetrated by Islamic Jihad terrorists.
Hamas takes control of the Palestinian National Authority on January 26, 2006, after submitting to US pressure for a democratic election. Hamas immediately vowed never to recognize Israel and to never surrender their claim to all of Palestine. Qassam and Katusah rockets begin to rain down on Israel from the territories and the Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert does practically nothing for nearly three weeks. Finally, Operation Just Reward is launched, but was ineffective in stopping Hezbollah rocket attacks.
TRUCE of November 26, 2006. Palestinians and Israelis announce a surprise truce that applied only to the Gaza strip. Olmert announces a new Israeli initiative offering peace. No peace followed.
Annapolis Conference, November 26-28, 2007. Palestinians and Israelis agree to renewed negotiations for a permanent status. The principle included Israeli withdrawal from occupied settlements, provision of military equipment to the PNA police, possible inclusion of the Temple Mount in an Arab-controlled annexation of Jerusalem, and recognition by the PNA of Israel’s right to existence and security. Result: Israel relinquished border crossings to the PNA in Gaza and the West Bank. Shipments of arms from Egypt into Gaza increase dramatically.
Israel Strikes Gaza… Feb. 27, 2008 in an attempt to stop weapons traffic and to destroy Hamas. The attempt ended with a truce on January 18th, 2009 when Israel, under pressure, declared a unilateral cease fire.
Since January, we have enjoyed President Obama’s pursed lips being given to the Islamic world in a speech made in Cairo. Then, ten days later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated a willingness for a certain level of recognition for a Palestinian state being created to exist side by side with Israel.
Now the future:
There will not be true and lasting peace in Israel until the proper negotiations take place. For that to happen, a proper negotiator must take the lead. That negotiator will be the one and only Prince of Peace….Jesus, Yeshua, Yesu… the King of Kings. That will not happen for at least another seven years.
So, you want to know what is about to happen next? Don’t we all. Jesus advised us to watch out that no one deceive us. Why? Because, many false prophets would arise to lead many astray. Those words are particularly fitting for our perilous times, don’t you think? With that in mind, I will not attempt to foretell a play-by-play of upcoming events. Who can? But certain highlights are already written. They form what we call prophecy, and by prophecy I mean Biblical prophecy.
First, we have foundational, prophetic fulfillments already in place. Ezekiel 37:15-21 demonstrates that Israel would become a recognized nation, and that it would be without the division between the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah/Benjamin. It would be UNITED. On May 14, 1948 that prophecy came to pass in a dramatic fashion. Jeremiah 30 and 31, Joel 3, Zechariah 14, Amos 9:11-15, and Zephaniah 3:14-20 also give intricate details of Israel becoming a nation, that after a 2500 year hiatus from the internationally scene.
Second, according to Ezekiel 36:1-15, Israel would be made to prosper. It would be strong. Although Isaiah 66:8 exclaims the formation of a nation in “a day,” it took most of last century for the Jews to convert the tattered, barren lands of Palestine into a productive garden. But the fact is it happened. Prophecy fulfilled!
Third, Babylon has been temporarily removed as a threat to Israel. In Isaiah 13, the prophet announces that Babylon (not yet the dominant power at the time of Isaiah’s prophecies) would be brought low. We know that a spiritual Babylon (possibly comprising the geographic Babylon according to Tim LaHaye and others) will be ultimately and utterly destroyed during the Tribulation. (Revelation 17-18) But Isaiah indicates a punishment will be applied to geographic Babylon by a nation of “proudly exulting ones,” and “of nations gathering together.” Geographic Babylon is made up of modern Iraq. The Iraqis are, of course, displaced Arabs. The important aspect is that we are talking about Iraq and Iraqis…living in the land that was once Babylon.
So, what happened? September 11th, 2001 happened! In March of 2003, George W. Bush launched his coalition, and by May 1st, Babylon (Iraq) ceased to be a threat to Israel. Amen! Isaiah 13 was fulfilled.
Now we come to the “what’s next” phase of bringing peace to the Holy Land. Can there be peace? Will there be peace? My Bible-based answer is a resounding NO. Not yet. Obama’s plan will work about as well as Clinton and Bush’s failed attempts. The Carter plan had no other end that being a fiasco. Why? Because, it is written!
We know that after the great and blessed event called the Rapture of the Church, the door will open to a false peace…a seven year pact with the devil that will seem to insure a cessation of hostilities between Israel and whoever its enemies are at that time. But it will be no, real peace. Its premise will be a lie. Its proponent will be a prevaricator. So what happens between now and that moment we hear the trumpet blast? Let’s talk some scripture and build a sketch for a scenario. (By the way, that is as good as anyone can do. Only God knows what will happen step by step and moment by moment.)
Israel will be pushed into a no win situation and will respond out of desperation. Something will happen that will make Israel lash out against what it perceives as an imminent threat. It isn’t hard to see where that perception is coming from. Iran and Syria, ruled by radical Islamic regimes ARE the threat. Although Iran seems to be in turmoil due to corrupt elections and a populace uprising against the mullahs it will continue posing a nuclear threat to Israel. Syria gladly hangs on to Iran’s shirt tail.
I believe something will happen soon, something that will force the Prime Minister of Israel to launch a strike. His target? Isaiah 17 tells us….. Damascus! The Syrian capitol will be destroyed, obliterated, poof, in very short order. The description is nuclear. Although I might be stretching it, my suspicion is that with the same attack on Damascus, Israel will strike Iran’s nuclear capabilities. When that happens, the world will turn completely on the Jewish nation.
JEHOVAH verses ALLAH ….Round One! With Damascus a smoking firepot and Iran buzzing like rabid bees in the wake of the Israeli attack, the Arab nations that currently surround Israel will react as a unified threat. Let’s read. Obediah 1:15-18.
“For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head. For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, (Jerusalem) so all the nations shall drink continually; they shall drink and swallow, and shall be as though they had never been. But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble; they shall burn them and consume them, and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken.”
Picture the Lord crossing his arms. Picture him wiping the dust off his feat. Esau will be gone, and Israel will do it…not God….ISRAEL! Flame…Fire….sounds bad. But that is not all. Psalm 83 adds detail.
“For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads. They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones. They say, Come, let us wipe them out as a nation. (Sound familiar?) Let the name of Israel be remembered no more! For they conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant—the tents of Edom (Jordan) and the Ishmaelites (Saudi Arabia & UAE), Moab (Jordan) and the Hagrites (Egypt), Gebal and Ammon and Amalek (Syria and Lebanon), Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre. (Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian radicals.)….. verse 14…. “As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze, so may you pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with our hurricane. Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name O Lord. Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, and that they may know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.”
I guess God wins! Although the verse indicates destruction, I believe the destruction means a removal as functioning nations. Why? Because God does it to dismay them and cause them, the remnants of Ishmael, to seek his face. Allah loses round one. But he is not done.
JEHOVAH verses ALLAH …second and final round! After Israel takes out Damascus and insights Iran (Persia), and after Israel removes Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt as functioning nations, a coalition will be formed. Its purpose will be to punish and destroy Israel. Here we go….two chapters long. Ezekiel 38-39. (Read them yourself…that is a lot of writing for a blog)
Magog, Meshech and Tubal…are hooked, along with a coalition of nations called Put, Cush, Gomer, Togarmah, and Persia. We know who they are. All scholars agree.
Magog, Meshech and Tubal, sons of Japheth……………RUSSIA and the Russian people.
Gomer & Togarmah, sons of Japheth……Turkey, the Central Asian Republics. (Islamic)
Put & Cush, sons of Ham….. Libya and the Sudan… (Islamic)
Persia….. IRAN…. (Radically Islamic)
Jehovah puts the hook in their mouth, sets it, and drags them to the mountains of Israel. Read it. They come to plunder, pillage, destroy….and get plundered, pillaged, and destroyed. Not only do the armies meet a violent end at the hands and command of God, the nations that send them suffer as well. The coast lands of those sending agencies will burn. Where is the USA in all this? I have no clue beyond believing that President Obama will have spent us into oblivion by that point and we will be in an economic crash. Of course, a crash means the cities will be burning from rioting and anarchy. We are already turning our back on our only ally in the Middle East. Stupid is as stupid is doing! But that is not all….
The FINAL, PRE-RAPTURE HARVEST….
Ezekiel 38:23 “So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” Then again in 39:7;
“And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.” Wow!
I believe the immediate aftermath of that holy terror will form the greatest moment of evangelism the world has ever known. It will be awesome! It will be short-lived! It will involve tremendous persecution and hardship! But it will be worth it! Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end shall come.” (Some believe that is during the millennium. I’m not so sure.) I am firmly fixed in believing that the latter rain of Joel 2 will happen during that short time. After that, at some appointed date, the Rapture will take place.
A seven year period will ensue when Israel will live off the machinery and technology left behind by the nations. Seven years…..hmmm…….where have we heard that number before?
And there you have it. No peace until Christ comes back to rule the nations. Get ready!
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