Why do the nations rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us…
The news agencies will fail you.
For understanding of the Gaza conflict there is only one reliable source of information: The Bible
In a WorldNet Daily article today, author Joel Richardson opens up some clues to the terrible events surrounding Israel’s trouble with Hamas. I’ve excerpted Joel’s article, but strongly encourage the reader to visit the original piece, and get the whole message. ~TD
WHAT DOES BIBLE SAY ABOUT THE FUTURE OF GAZA?
Exclusive: Joel Richardson shows what will happen to area when Jesus returns
by JOEL RICHARDSON
…according to the Scriptures, the return of Jesus and the subsequent judgment will largely revolve around what the prophet Isaiah referred to as, “the legal cause,” or “the controversy of Zion”:
For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. (Isaiah 34:8)
… as we draw closer to the return of Jesus, when a vast coalition of nations will invade Israel and surround the city of Jerusalem, seeking to commit the final genocide against the Jewish people. The prophet Joel tells us that the Lord will execute judgment against all parties involved in this invasion, and specifically any who force the dividing of His land:
I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My land. (Joel 3:2)
Jehoshaphat is the valley that runs north to south, between the Temple Mount, and the Mount of Olives. In Matthew 25, as Jesus was actually sitting on the Mount of Olives looking down at the Valley of Jehoshaphat, He declared that when He returns, He Himself will sit as the judge of the nations. He declared that He would judge the nations specifically based on how they treated his “brethren.” It is clear that Jesus was harkening back to Joel 3, actually inserting Himself into the passage as YHVH, the divine Judge. We must also note that Joel also informs us that the judgment will be based on how the nations treated “My people and My inheritance, Israel” and also on their having, “divided up My land.”
As the prophecy continues, it goes on to speak of the Lord specifically executing vengeance against those from the regions of Lebanon and Gaza who have engaged in violence against the people of Israel:
What are you to Me, O Tyre, Sidon (Lebanon) and all the regions of Philistia (Gaza)? Are you rendering Me a recompense? But if you do recompense Me, swiftly and speedily I will return your recompense on your head. (Joel 3:4)
…The specific emphasis of the prophecy is on those who have sought out “violence” to “shed innocent blood” in the land of Judah:
Edom (shall become) a desolate wilderness, because of violence against the people of Judah, for they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah will be inhabited forever And Jerusalem for all generations. And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged, for the LORD dwells in Zion. (Joel 3:19-21)
…Jesus will come back to execute judgment against those who embrace and foment the “ancient hatred” directed toward the Jewish people…:
“Because you have had an ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity … therefore, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you. (Ezekiel 35:5-7) (emphasis mine)
…The prophet Zephaniah, in specifically speaking of the Day of the Lord, warns the inhabitants of Gaza to repent; “Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of the LORD’S anger.”…:
For Gaza will be abandoned. … Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you so that there will be no inhabitant. So the seacoast will be pastures, with caves for shepherds and folds for flocks. And the coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah, they will pasture on it. In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening; For the LORD their God will care for them and restore their fortune. (Zephaniah 2:4-7)
…The prophecy is ultimately pertaining to the Day of the Lord and the Return of Jesus.
…For in truth, through this passage the Lord is not merely warning those from Gaza, but everyone – Jew, Palestinian, you and me – to righteousness, humility and repentance. If we hear this warning and genuinely take it to heart, then as the prophet says, “Perhaps [we] will be hidden In the day of the LORD’S anger.”
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/what-does-bible-say-about-the-future-of-gaza/#YSe2PMX1Cu70r7tM.99
I leave you with a passage from Handel’s Messiah touching on this subject.
Psalm 2
Why do the nations rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
He that sits in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and distress them in his great displeasure.
“Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.”
I will declare the decree: the LORD has said unto me,
“You are my Son; this day have I begotten you.
Ask of me, and I shall give you the nations for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”Be wise now therefore, O you kings: be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (Psalm 2)
♞
