A stunning change, a “seismic shift in Middle East relationships,” “a momentous beginning” are some of the phrases used to describe the events happening before our eyes.
A lead paragraph in Time magazine (9/13/93) reads: “The past few years have been an age of miracles. Unimaginable events, consummations devoutly wished for but never really expected, have succeeded one another as if the Creator had whistled up a new world. The Berlin Wall tumbles. The Soviet empire melts away…Now comes what must be considered one of the greatest miracles of all: the first acknowledgment by Israelis and Palestinians that they can share the land both call home.”
The hand of God is evident even to the world. Bro. George Rayner develops this point further in “Signs of the Times.” These events are of such great interest to us, however, they fully warrant some additional comment.
Three puzzles
As noted frequently in this magazine, three aspects of the great prophecy in Ezekiel 38-39 are puzzling: the presence of peace and prosperity in Israel and the absence of her immediate neighbors in the invading northern coalition.
Over the years, Christadelphians have offered many suggestions on these points. “Unwalled villages” have been applied to modern suburbs; wealth has been looked for in Dead Sea chemicals and her neighbors were considered destroyed by Christ before the Gogian invasion. Current developments, however, have us looking at different answers.
Peace
The prophetic description in Ezekiel 38:8-14 is hardly fulfilled by urban sprawl. The people “dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates.”
We haven’t seen much yet but we are seeing a beginning. As noted by one resident of Jerusalem: “After the gulf war, I thought there was no chance. When the Scuds fell and the Arabs danced on the roof tops, that was the end of it. So what has happened already is unbelievable” (Sheldon Klimist quoted in the Detroit News, 9/12/93).
Even the political rhetoric echoed a prophetic sentiment, “Today marks the dawning of a new era” said President Clinton. History has “handed Israel a chance for reconciliation with the entire Arab world” was another comment.
Wealth
The northern invader is attracted to Israel by “a prey…silver and gold…a great spoil.” The chemical, oil and agricultural industries have never produced that kind of wealth in Israel. But now we are watching a cutting-edge high-tech industry develop (Bro. Rayner has featured this several times in “Signs of the Times”). Israel is capitalizing on its own ingenuity and brilliance. And their technical expertise has been significantly enhanced by highly-educated Russian immigrants.
Great emphasis is being placed on economic development in the present atmosphere. “The success of the Gaza-Jericho experiment will turn on economics…which explains all the clauses devoted to transportation links and development banks, canal digging and grid linking…only if the vision of Israelis and Palestinians building fiber-optic cables together is no fantasy, does this peace have a chance” (Time, 9/13).
The Arabs have money, manpower and markets which could be a perfect match for Israel’s developing industries.
Neighbors
Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt are conspicuous by their absence from Ezekiel 38. Egypt appears in Daniel 11 as a victim of the king of the north and Jordan (Moab) is a refuge for fleeing Jews in Isaiah 16. All the prophetic indicators are that some dramatic change must occur in the Middle East. Either Israel will conquer her neighbors or they will be at peace, living as a united community of nations.
Some current optimism may be close to right. “Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres waxes poetic on this score: ‘Once we shall be over the disputes of the past, all of us will join forces to build a new Middle East like the United States or like United Europe: a continent or region of great tolerance, of real freedom, of science, of education, of understanding’…Jordan has been ready to sign a treaty with Israel as long as Amman is not alone” (Time).
Whatever man thinks, the whole issue is obviously in God’s hands and will be consummated as He wills. We watch with tremendous interest as we see God’s word working out before our eyes.
Lift up your heads
Through all of this, we need to remember that we look forward to being with the Lord Jesus Christ when he delivers Israel from the invading forces (spoken of in Ezekiel 38, Joel 2,3 and Zechariah 14. In answer to the Jews’ cry for divine help, “The LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee” (Zech. 14:5).
There can be no doubt that the divine name here applies to the Lord Jesus. He is the one “whom they have pierced” who bears wounds in his hands inflicted “in the house of my friends” (Zech. 12:10; 13:6). When Israel recognizes the identity of their deliverer, they do not rejoice, but declare national mourning for the centuries during which they have rejected him (12:10-14).
And there can be no doubt that the “saints” are the immortalized believers of this present era. The judgments described in Zechariah 12-14 are part of the great judgments of God upon the nations, for the host gathered against Jerusalem is described as “all people…all the people of the earth…all nations” (Zech. 12:3; 14:2). In Psalm 149, it is the meek who have been beautified with salvation who “execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people…to execute upon them the judgment written” (Psa. 149:4-9).
If we are found faithful, we will be there, no longer mortal and corruptible, but “equal to the angels.”
How soon?
Christ must come and, with his holy angels, raise the responsible dead, gather the responsible living and bring them before the throne of judgment. The wicked will be dismissed into outer darkness but the righteous will be welcomed to the marriage of the lamb.
We do not know how long this will take. What we do know, because we have just seen it, is how quickly God can rearrange the affairs of man. Who would have thought the iron curtain would fall, the U.S.S.R. would break up and Yasser Arafat would shake hands over a peace accord with Israel?
“It’s a miracle” says the secular observer, and we heartily agree. “When ye see these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One