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A New Government For Israel Emerging After Elections
The Future is Certain, though Olmert's Plan is Not!
April 5, 2006 - Audio, 9.00 MIN
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Welcome again to another edition of the Bible in the News--this time from our base in Canada. But our focus this week, is the same--Israel, and the political situation that is developing there. Well, according to The Jerusalem Post, Ehud Olmert has been asked by President Katsav to form the next Israeli government--but he has quite a task ahead of him. The complicated Israeli system, with so many different parties, means that Olmert must form a coalition government. He is currently bargaining with Amir Peretz, the leader of the Labour party, but even these two together will still not result in a majority government. Olmert will still have to bring in others--and that could scuttle some of his plans. Olmert is saying that coalition talks will probably be completed by the end of April or even early May--so that is still three or four weeks before the final picture emerges. We will then have a clearer idea of what might happen with the future of West Bank settlements.
We have often pointed out on this programme, as well as in articles in the Bible Magazine, that prophecy requires a Jewish presence in the West Bank (that is, upon the mountains of Israel) at the time of the end. Whatever twists and turns events may take in the meanwhile, there is absolutely no doubt that the prophets tell us that the people who are gathered out of the nations (that is the Jews) will dwell upon the mountains of Israel, in the midst of the Land, in Jerusalem and the territory of ancient Judah (Ezekiel 38:8 and 12; Joel 3:1 and Zechariah 14:1-3). In fact all the restoration prophecies of Ezekiel focus upon the mountains of Israel, so this has to happen in spite of the policies of man to the contrary.
You see, we have to consider THE BIBLE in the news. The intentions of political leaders and their "road maps" do not always work out--and the opinions of journalists as to what ought to happen or might happen are not always translated into reality. For that matter, neither is the wishes of an electorate. On the other hand the word of God NEVER fails--it always proves to be true in the end. So that is where we put our confidence.
Now just look at the prophecy of Ezekiel chapter 38. Let us read verses 7 to 12: Here God addresses Gog, the leader of a vast northern confederacy, and He says:
"Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land."
Now ask yourself--Is this describing an invasion of a Palestinian state in the West Bank--dwelling upon the mountains OF ISRAEL and in the midst of the Land?
When we look at Bible Prophecy, we have to conclude that something must happen in order to change the current situation. What that "something" might be, we do not know because it is not revealed to us in the word of God, the Bible. So we watch the news with great interest as events unfold--looking to see what that "something" may turn out to be. The certainty is that Jewish settlers will be dwelling on the mountains of Israel and in the midst of the Land (including Jerusalem).
Now the so-called "road-map" launched by the United States administration under President Bush about three years ago, just isn't working out. It has hit several snags since it was proposed, and certainly has not gathered much momentum since Hamas came to power through the Palestinian democratic ballot-box! The fact is that this event effectively put a road-block up, so that the "map" is no longer valid or practical. But no one wants to openly admit it.
Plan 'B' is the unilateral disengagement commenced by Ariel Sharon and now being championed by Ehud Olmert. This plan recognizes that Israel has no "partner for peace" and so seeks to impose a settlement via security walls and fences. But will this work? Will it put a stop to terrorists and terrorism? Well it has not done so with Gaza, and it is unlikely to do so if the operation is repeated in the West Bank. And so the question is--What happens next? When this Plan 'B' hits the rocks--what then?
Well, of course, we do not know--but the talk is that Israel will maintain a military option. An interview between Shaul Mofaz the Israeil defence minister, and the Jerusalem Post reported it this way.
"While saying that there would be no withdrawal during 2006, he said that there certainly would be over the next two years. However 'Israel, he said, would not restrain itself militarily following the formation of the Hamas government, and if the need arose the IDF would launch widespread operations in the West Bank similar to Operation Defensive Shield in 2002. 'There is no reason not to take action against anyone who engages in anti-Israel terror activity,' he said. 'Hamas are terrorists... and if there will be terror under their government then, for me, they will be held responsible.'"
Operation Defensive Shield was the largest military action in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day war. It involved an emergency call-up of 20,000 Israeli reserve soldiers and targeted Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus and Ramallah. Thus, Mofaz is saying that a similar response could be repeated in the West Bank if the need arose.
Now--what would that lead to? What COULD it lead to?
Well, we must wait and see--we must watch events as they unfold, knowing that the scene given to us by the prophets will become a reality. There will be a Jewish presence on the mountains of Israel and in the midst of the Land. As that picture emerges we will know that the time for Divine intervention will be near. Jesus Christ will return to the earth. He will raise the dead saints and he will redeem his people Israel and he will deliver them from their enemies. THAT is the future that the Bible tells us about--and we pray for these things to come to pass, so that the Name of Almighty God may be vindicated and the world brought into subjection to his Anointed One.
Talk with you again next week, if the Lord wills.
Bible in the News provides a weekly analysis of world politics and events
in the light of Bible prophecy — the Bible in the News!
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