Welcome to a special extended edition of the Bible in the News, on this dark week when the world has turned upon Israel again. The sickening news of the overwhelming United Nations vote is a fulfillment of Bible Prophecy as world opinion once again turns against Israel. The vote was 138 in favor, 9 against, and 41 abstentions. Those against included Israel and “Tarshish nations” of Canada and America.  Abstentions included Britain, Australia and Germany who are still having a prophetical identity crisis. France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Turkey – all nations of the Northern Confederacy of Ezekiel 38 voted in favor.

Precurser to the Vote – Israel’s Struggle with Gaza

This horrific vote came in the face of the struggle in Gaza where Israel was inundated with rockets during the past month.  There are a few people left on the planet who are not blinded by propaganda and actually see what is going on. US broadcast journalist, Glen Beck, commented on the assault on Israel and their response to the attacks that have just taken place just days ago. It is worth listening to what he had to say:

I want to tell you what it’s like to live inmost of Israel right now. A missile is fired by Hamas, (a terrorist organization in Gaza). A siren goes off. You have 15 seconds to find a shelter. I want you to think, as an American, what that means. If you lived in a place where missiles were fired at you, hundreds of them every day, and you had get just 15 seconds to hide.  How would you live? How would you stop what you’re doing, run to a basement or a shelter. A  nd if you can’t make it inside, you are just supposed to lie flat on the ground with your arms over your head. What about your kids, how do you feel about sending them to school?

That’s life in Israel right now.

Not a single one of would accept this. Not one of us would ever have to. Every country has a right to defend itself against terror.  But they keep telling Israel… “don’t overreact!” “don’t fire back!” “be careful!” “don’t ramp things up!”

Let me get this straight. We are saying that if Mexico fired a missile into El Paso, or Canada was firing hundreds of missiles into Buffalo, we would just let it go? If Japan fired a missile into Beijing, what would China do?

So why is Israel held to a different standard? Why does Israel have to hold back. Why does every other country get to defend itself but not Israel? Why could that be?

Before getting to the Mr. Beck’s conclusion that that question, it is worth contemplating for a moment what he has brought up. There is nowhere in the world where anyone would be expected to put up with this kind of treatment…. But that is what the world asks of Israel.  The world watches what is going on, and expects the Jews to suffer through it – somehow thinking they are responsible for what is going on in the Middle East.

Why is Israel held to a different Standard?

Let’s return to Mr. Beck’s question of why Israel finds itself in this predicament:  

In the uncomfortable moments of our life we know why.

A Jewish man was walking down the street in midtown Manhattan over the weekend. He passed by a group of people protesting on the side of the street. They were holding up signs, criticizing Israel. He was wearing a yamaka.  So they called him a “dirty Jew.” We’ve seen this movie before. We’ve seen the terror before. We’ve seen the sirens…and the bombs… and the threats. We’ve even seen the insults: “Dirty Jew.” It is nothing original.

We all know in the quiet of our own souls exactly what is going on here. It has nothing to do with embargoes, or borders, or anything else that can be solved. It’s because Israel exists, and it’s a Jewish state.

Let’s be honest with ourselves. There are some people who can’t get past that.It is the world’s oldest hatre: Anti-Semitism. Unfortunately, it is alive and well in our time. It is no longer hiding; and it is no longer afraid.

It is right there in Gaza. Gaza is the new Nuremburg. It is the epicenter of Jew hatred, the birthplace of a new million little haters…

In every generation that came before us they would beat up the Jews, harass the Jews, chase the Jews, kill the Jews!  Always the Jews. Usually they got away with it.

What Glen Beck is pointing out is events today are a replay of the mindset that allowed and fueled the inquisition, the pogroms and the holocaust. There is a more sinister reason behind this current mindset than the simple fact that Israel is a Jewish State.  The deeper question is, what makes people so opposed to the Jews? The answer at the root of this is, they are the “seed of Abraham”, they are God’s chosen people.

The Apostle Peter identifies Israel as God’s chosen people in Acts 15:14 as saying,

“ God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.”

The separating of the Jews out of the Gentile nations took place in Genesis 12:1-3

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

God chose Israel as a testimony to his existence – he calls them his witnesses – to witness before all nations:

Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth. Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. (Isaiah 43:8–10)

He is working a work of redemption with this people who he separated for his name. This work is incomplete – but it is underway. It is God who chose the nation of Israel, and it is God who has restored  them to the land:

… when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers. (Ezekiel 20:41–42 )

It is because they are the “chosen seed” out of whom he will extract a people for his name that they are so hated.  It is the enmity of millennia – a theme that is recorded for us in Genesis 3:15:

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15)

This is the grand theme, the grand plotline throughout the Bible: the conflict between those God’s separates to put his name upon, and the world that hates God’s choice.  As Mr. Beck stated, this scene has played itself out time and time again. Ezekiel 35:5 calls it a “perpetual hatred” of the Israel. 

Glen Beck finished his speech declaring America’s allegiance to Israel:

But may I suggest not this time! No more! This time stand with Israel! We will stand for the truth! We will stand for freedom and decency! We will stand for life!

I want to say something, something to the kids in the bomb shelters... We are with you. You are not alone. There are millions who will always be with you. You have many, many friends here in America. This is a message also for Israel’s leaders. Do not be afraid do not forget all the things that God has done for you. We will not forget you. We will not forsake you. We are brothers. The nation of Israel and its capital of Jerusalem lives forever.

Glen Beck has pledged America’s assistance to Israel – a position that is in line with the Biblical prophecies of Ezekiel and Daniel. However, unfortunately, though America might pledge its allegiance to Israel, it will be unable to help in the end. Ezekiel describes only token resistance when the great onslaught comes down into the land against “my people Israel”:

Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? (Ezekiel 38:13)

This feeble resistance is also recorded in Daniel 11 when the “king of the North” overruns the land (v40) and the king of the South seems helpless to do anything about is.

Voting according to Ezekiel 38

The division between those “opposed”, “abstaining” and “in favour” in this appalling vote follows the lines of Ezekiel 38 and Daniel 11. A map based on the voting for this resolution is almost a map of Ezekiel 38. While Britain, Australia and Germany are still experiencing a little of an identity crisis – but they too will soon settle into the mold described in Ezekiel 38.

Although Britain was too infected by European values and ended up abstaining, the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague had the following to say:

…while there is no question of the United Kingdom voting against the resolution, in order to vote for it we would need certain assurances or amendments. The first is that the Palestinian Authority should indicate a clear commitment to return immediately to negotiations without preconditions.

The United States, who clearly  voted against the resolution made several comments.  Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton clearly stated,

“the path to a two-state solution that fulfills the aspirations of the Palestinian people is through Jerusalem and Ramallah, not New York”

The controversial Ambassador Susan Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, had the following to say after the vote:

Today’s unfortunate and counterproductive resolution places further obstacles in the path to peace. That is why the United States voted against it…

But we have long been clear that the only way to establish such a Palestinian state and resolve all permanent-status issues is through the crucial, if painful, work of direct negotiations between the parties…

Today’s grand pronouncements will soon fade. And the Palestinian people will wake up tomorrow and find that little about their lives has changed, save that the prospects of a durable peace have only receded…

We will continue to oppose firmly any and all unilateral actions in international bodies or treaties that circumvent or prejudge the very outcomes that can only be negotiated, including Palestinian statehood. And, we will continue to stand up to every effort that seeks to delegitimize Israel or undermine its security.

Progress toward a just and lasting two-state solution cannot be made by pressing a green voting button here in this hall. Nor does passing any resolution create a state where none indeed exists or change the reality on the ground.

For this reason, today’s vote should not be misconstrued by any as constituting eligibility for U.N. membership. It does not. This resolution does not establish that Palestine is a state.

The firm language of the United States has been completely ignored by the world who are insisting that Palestine is now a state. The birth of “Palestine”, rather than being a legitimate process, is in fact an abortion.

Canada is also one of the Ezekiel’s “young lions” and is to protest the invasion of Israel, siding with the “king of the south,” in the time of the end. Since Stephen Harper has been prime minister, Canada’s position in the Middle East has swung strongly in favor of Israel. Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird clearly laid out Canada’s position before the United Nations General Assembly:

Mr. President. Canada opposes this resolution in the strongest terms, because it undermines the core foundations of a decade’s long commitment by the international community, and the parties themselves to a two state solution, arrived out through direct negotiations. The outstanding issues are too intricate and too complex to be resolved by simplistic unilateral measures. Canada’s support for a negotiated settlement, like our opposition to initiative before us today, is rooted in the very history of this venerable organization, and in the sustained international effort to resolve this matter….
Canada is committed to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East, whereby the two states live side by side in peace, and security and prosperity. Any two state solution must be negotiated and mutually agreed upon between both sides…
 It is for these reasons that Canada is voting against this resolution;  and as a result of this bodies utterly regrettable decision to abandon policy and principle, we will be considering all available next steps.

Israel’s Appeal to the Truth

Israel’s Ambassador the UN, Ron Prosor, gave a very decisive defense of the facts on the ground, and appealed to the world to search for the truth in the situation. It is very important that Bible believers know what is going on in the world. This is one of the most significant votes the UN has taken in the past 70 years. 74% of the world’s leadership turned against Israel, 22% refused to take a stand either way, and only 4% was willing to stand with God’s people.  Israel’s Ambassador begged the world to listen to reason – and to see the truth of the situation.

On this historical day, real facts in the General Assembly remain few and far between. For any who have been here on the 29^th of November before today, today is a de ja vu. Some of you may have notice that some minor changes have been taking place in the Middle East lately, but any changes in this bodies resolutions condemning Israel are very, very rare...

The account we heard today is one sided, it is unilateral, it is unjust, and unhelpful. It presents a distorted and impartial version of history. It transforms the cause of Palestinian self determination into a deliberate attempt to degenerate, defame and delegitimize the state of Israel…

The political dynamics in the body are sadly predictable. Every November, the leaves change colour in New York, but the automatic anti-Israeli majority never changes its votes…

Let me take a moment to remind this assembly of what actually occurred on this day 64 years ago, and on the days that followed. On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted to partition the then British Mandate of Palestine into two states, one a Jewish one, and one an Arab one. Two states for two people.

The Jewish population accepted that plan and declared a new state in its ancient homeland. It reflected a Zionist conviction that it was both necessary and possible to live in peace with our neighbors in the land of our forefathers.

The Arab inhabitants rejected the plan and launched a war of alienation against the new Jewish state, joined by the armies of five Arab members of the United Nations. One percent of Israel’s population died during this assault by five armies. Think about that price. It would be the equivalent of 650,000 dying in France today, or 3 million dying in the United States, or 13 million dying in China…

As a result of the war there were Arabs who became refugees. A similar number of Jews, who lived in Arab countries, were forced to flee their homes as well. They too became refugees. The difference between those two distinct populations was, and still is, that Israel absorbed the refugees into our society, our neighbors did not. Refugee camps in Israel gave birth to thriving towns and cities. Refugee camps in Arab countries gave birth to more Palestinian refugees. We unlocked in our new immigrant’s vast potential. The Arab world knowingly, and intentionally, kept their Palestinian population in a second class status of permanent refugees…

In Lebanon for many years and still today, the law prohibits Palestinians from owning land, and from working in the public sectors as doctors and as lawyers. Palestinians are banned from these professions. In Kuwait… the once significant Palestinian population was forcibly expelled from the country in 1991. Few remain. Those are truths. In Syria, thousands of Palestinians had flee refugee camps in Latakia last August when President Assad shelled their homes with naval gunboats. In the vast majority of Arab countries, Palestinians have no rights of citizenship….

It is no coincidence that the Arab world’s responsibility for the inalienable rights of these Palestinians never appear in the resolutions before you….

Mr. President the basic question underlying our conflict for 64 years has not been changed. That question is, has the Arab world, and particularly the Palestinians, internalized that Israel is here to stay, and will remain the nation-state of the Jewish people. It is still unclear still unclear whether they are inspired by the promise of building a new state or goal of destroying an existing one….

Mr. President, the resolution that give the 29^th of November significance, (General Assembly Resolution 181), speaks of the creation of a Jewish state. No less than 25 times, we still do not hear Palestinian leaders utter the term. Palestinian leadership refuses to acknowledge Israel’s character as a Jewish state. You will never hear them say, “Two states for Two people…”

Palestinian leaders call for an independent Palestinian state, but insist that the Palestinian people return to the Jewish state. This is a proposition that no one who believes in the right of Israel to exist could ever accept. The idea that Israel would be flooded with millions of Palestinians is a non-starter. The international community knows it, the Palestinian leadership knows it, but it is the Palestinian people who are not hearing it. At this very moment the gap between their perception and reality remains the major obstacle and hurdle to peace. Let me repeat that again, the so called “right of return” is, and will remain, the major obstacle to peace. It is not settlements. It is not the laundry list of baseless accusations launched against Israel in today’s accusations. I’ll repeat it again.  The so called “right of return” is the major obstacle to peace, and everyone knows that….

For decades this body has rubberstamped every Palestinian whim, no matter how counter-factual, or counter-productive. What has it accomplished? The lip service of this body has only done a disservice for peace….

As they continue to run away from the negotiation table, the Palestinian leadership continues to move closer into the embrace of Hamas, an internationally recognized terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel…

The Quartet has long applied three principles that Hamas must adopt. It must renounce violence, recognize Israel, and abide by former agreements. At no point has Hamas satisfied these conditions, or indicated any intention to do so….

If Hamas is too extreme to accept these principles, they argue we must tailor our principles to match Hamas’ extremism….

Mr. President. Even more than word spoken in speeches here today, or the words in the resolutions before you, it is the words not spoken that speak volumes. This Assembly has made clear that it does not stand in solidarity with many people in the region today. In this hall I hear no solidarity with the one million Israeli men, women and children who live under the constant rain of rockets, mortars and missiles from the Gaza strip. …

And Mr. President, I hear no solidarity for with the many people in the Middle East who are being repressed and slaughtered for demanding their freedom. From Syria, to Iran, to Yemen, these people are no longer content with their leaders explanation that Israel is to blame for all the problems in the Middle East – a fictions that is advanced through the resolutions like those before us today….

Today, ladies and gentlemen, none of these truths have been spoken. Today, I hear no solidarity with the principles of peace. I know that the truth can be a burden. I know that old habits die hard. I know that the convenience of the moment, sometimes, weights heavy on the interests of the future. Yet only the truth will set us free. After years of darkness, I call on this Assembly to bring a new light to this debate. I call on each and every delegate in this hall to embrace pragmatic solutions not automatic resolutions; to speak with candor and not with slander; to grapple for a new vision not old divisions. I call on this Assembly to finally glean truth from this historic day, nourishing the seeds of peace in our region that can blossom into a brighter future. Thank you very much Mr. President.

In the face of this testimony, the world voted to legitimize the Palestinian “state”, a terrorist state which completely disregards the principles the United Nations is supposed to uphold. Mr. Prosor quoted the Lord Jesus Christ in John 8:32

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

The world doesn’t want to know the truth of what is happeningin the Middle East. It is blinded by hatred and enmity. The world’s response is similar to Pilate’s when Christ spoke of “bearing witness of the truth”, Pilate asked, “What is truth?” (John 18:37-38). The world doesn’t want to know the truth, they are comfortable perpetuating hysterical anti-Semitic lies.

The world is not interested in Peace either, nor the plight of the Palestinian people. As can be seen by the testimony above, Israel absorbed into its society over one million Arabs from the Muslim world, as is documented in Martin Gilbert’s book, “In Ishmael’s House” – yet the Arab world has kept the Palestinian population captive as a political pawn, expelling, persecuting and shelling them in their own homes.

On the day of the vote, the Israeli Ambassador made one more appeal:

Mr. President, this resolution will not advance peace. This resolution will not change the situation on the ground. It will not change the fact that the Palestinian Authority has no control over Gaza, and that is 40 % of the territory they claim to represent. President Abbas, you can’t even visit nearly half the territory of the State you claim to represent. That territory is controlled by Hamas, an internationally recognized terrorist organization that rains missiles upon Israeli citizens. This is the same Hamas that fired more than 1,300 rockets into the heart of Israel’s major cities this month. This resolution will not confer statehood on the Palestinian authority, which clearly fails to meet the criteria for statehood. This resolution will not enable the Palestinian Authority to join international organizations, treaties or conferences as a state. This resolution cannot serve as an acceptable terms of reference for peace negotiations with Israel, because this resolution says nothing about Israel’s security needs.

The world is recognizing an organization that has no interest in peace, nor the existence of the state of Israel. They have given legitimacy to terrorism, aggression, and have rewarded a murderous state with a seat at the table of the world’s nations. This democratic vote is the voice of the frog spirits calling for liberty, equality and fraternity at all costs, including the lives of the people of Israel.

Israel’s 4,000 year old bond with the land

The prime minister of Israel responded to the vote by reminding the world, that the Jewish people are connected to the land by a 4,000 year old bond – the covenant made by God to Abraham.

 Israel is prepared to live in peace with a Palestinian state. But for peace to endure, Israel’s security must be protected. The Palestinians must recognize the Jewish state, and they must be prepared to end the conflict with Israel once and for all. None of these vital interests, these vital interests of peace, none of them appear in the resolution that will be put forward before the General Assembly today. That is why Israel cannot accept it. The only way to achieve peace is through agreements that are reached by the parties directly, through direct negotiations between themselves, and not through UN resolutions that completely ignore Israel vital security and national interests.  Because this resolution is so once-sided it doesn’t advance peace, it pushes it backwards. As for the rights of the Jewish people in this land, I have a simple message for those gathered in the General Assembly today. No decision by the UN can break the 4,000 year old bond between the people of Israel and the land of Israel.

On this Binyamin Netanyahu is correct. God will not break his covenant with Israel, a covenant that stretches back for 4,000 years. He has brought them back into the land and planted them upon the mountains of Israel once again. This is the Lord’s doing and marvelous in our eyes. The work is not complete either – for God tells us of the Messiah who will come very shortly to reconfirm this covenant which cannot be broken:

In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness. For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me. (Jeremiah 33:16–22)

We are Living the Time of the End

The actions of the nations of the world, although repugnant to the people of God, are an indication the end time is upon us. The nations are lifting up their hand against Judah and Jerusalem once again. The words of Joel are not a far off event – but nearly upon us. With this bold move the world has given the Palestinian people the legal position to launch an incitement of war crimes upon Israel in the world court that may eventually be the guise under which all nations will come down to Jerusalem to battle. The invasion of Serbia, Somalia, Iraq and other countries over the past 20 years by NATO and the United Nations, in the cause of liberty, has laid the legal premise to justify a future invasion of Israel to “liberate” the Palestinian people.

For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.  (Joel 3:1–2)

Yet this will not turn out to be a judgment of Israel by the nations, but a judgment of the nations of the world by Almighty God, for he states in Joel 3:9–14:

Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision (or threshing): for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision (or threshing).

This will be the time when the nations will be gathered like sheaves to the threshing floor, the meaning of the word Armageddon. This is time when, as God state in Zechariah 14:3,

Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

The pride of man will be crushed, the wicked assembly of the “United Nations” will be dashed in pieces like a potter’s vessel, ground to powder like chaff of the summer threshing floor, never to meet again and pass another resolution like this one. The nation of Israel will be refined and brought back into covenant with Almighty God, and Jerusalem will be established as the capital of the world. 

Even so come, Lord Jesus.

This has been Jonathan Bowen joining you with the Bible in the News.