War in the Middle East

War in the Middle East… again! If you look at the parcel of land the Israelis and Palestinians are fighting so fiercely over, it is minuscule in comparison to almost every country in the world. So why is there so much trouble and sadly, bloodshed, in this place?

Middle East analysts will tell you it’s complicated. There is a combination of history, religious differences, racial problems and politics at play – making this place a hotbed of hatred and violence.

From a bible student’s perspective, I can give you a very simple answer – God declared it would be so!

The background to this is the promises that God made to Abraham, the father of the Jews. God declared that Abraham’s descendants through Jacob (also known as Israel) would be His special people. This should be a privilege, but the Jews have persistently over many years turned their back on God. To this day they still deny that Jesus is God’s son.

God became tired of their rejection and speaking about the kingdom of Israel, He gave this prophecy nearly 2,500 years ago:

‘“Take off your jeweled crown,” the Lord God says. “The old order changes. Now the poor are exalted and the rich brought very low.  I will overturn, overturn, overturn the kingdom, so that even the new order that emerges will not succeed until the Man appears who has a right to it. And I will give it all to him.’ (Ezekiel 21:26-27, TLB)

The continual overturning talked about here reminds me of a tumble dryer. The clothes go around and around, flopping and banging into each other. Doesn’t this strike a chord in regard to the Middle East? The same old arguments go round and round, attacks and violence keep recurring and no one has any success bringing about a peaceful solution. The new order has certainly not succeeded. The man spoken of at the end of this bible quote is none other than God’s son, Jesus Christ. He is going to come down from heaven to finally take control of Israel and bring about the peace desperately needed. Not just in Israel but for the whole world.

To find out more about this exciting time, your bible has the answers!