(This week marks my 12th year having the privilege of writing in this space. I love Todd and Terry, my brothers, and thank them for the opportunity! I consider my readers to be family, truly. I believe we are living in the last days, so let’s go through this period together, looking forward with joy to our Great Hope! Thank you all!)
We live in a time in which a U.S. congressman has now threatened to use nukes on American citizens who do not turn in their guns.
A Michigan college has cancelled a presentation of the infamous “Vagina Monologues,” because, it is said, not all women have vaginas.
Think that through.
New Testament prophecies are coming so sharply into focus, one tends to reflexively flinch or duck.
But as usual, watch Israel for the clearest signs that we are in the last of the last days. The international community’s increasing pressure on Israel is the sign.
Last week, almost 500 Hamas rockets hit southern Israel; one person was killed and significant property damage occurred. The Iron Dome intercepted 100 of the rockets. A “ceasefire” brokered by Egypt in effect handed a PR and “moral” victory to the terrorists. From a Times of Israel report:
“Hamas’s leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar on Friday warned Israel ‘not to test us again,’ saying the next rocket barrage from the territory would target Tel Aviv and other central cities with a potency that would “surprise” Israel.
“Yahya Sinwa brandishes handgun with silencer he says was taken from Israeli special forces; warns next time IDF troops enter Strip, they’ll return only for ‘thousands of prisoners.’”
Israel’s decision to stand-down caused some political turmoil, with Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman resigning (it’s almost shocking to realize that Bibi Netanyahu has been PM for almost a decade, this go-around!).
A particularly odious Hamas leader made the following comment:
“Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh cheered Liberman’s resignation Wednesday, saying it marked an ‘admission of defeat’ by Israel. Haniyeh also boasted that Hamas ‘achieved a military victory against this odious occupier in less than a week.’”
One wonders if this vermin is making a thinly veiled reference to Israel’s epic Six-Day War victory 50 years ago. As usual, the Palestinians envy is showing.
My friend Ruthie Blum, a terrific writer and analyst, this week posted her thoughts on the Hamas dustup. She offers a clue as to Netanyahu’s thinking in backing-off of destroying Hamas:
“He is clearly far more concerned with the looming, existential threat along Israel’s northern border. It is a threat owed largely to the U.N.-brokered ceasefire agreement that sealed the 2006 Second Lebanon War, leaving the field wide open for Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah, to amass enormous quantities of weapons with which to destroy the Jewish state at a later date.”
(I encourage you to follow Ruthie’s writing. Her book, To Hell in a Handbasket: Carter, Obama, and the ‘Arab Spring’ is sensational, and explains so much.)
And if one takes both a macro and micro view of terrorism, we see that Israel is under existential threat in the north, and the international community—insulated from reality—does not see its own impending doom at the hands of jihadists. Consider this report from the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center:
“Syrian army soldiers and Iranian Revolutionary Guards operatives (probably operatives of the Shiite militias) reportedly started to plant mines along the west bank of the Euphrates River, for fear of SIS operatives infiltrating into the west bank of the river. The mines were planted about 20 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor (Furat Post Facebook page, November 9,2018).”
Then this:
“The spread of ISIS and Al-Qaeda to new countries: According to the head of the FSB, ISIS is sending its branches around the world, including to countries that used to be protected from terrorism. ‘At the moment most of the militants have been driven out of their bases in populated areas. They have been dealt a hard blow in terms of resources, they have been forced to change their methods of operation, and therefore they are searching for new opportunities, [new] ways and methods, to continue their terrorist activity.’ Bortnikov added: ‘After abandoning the strategy of military invasion and taking over territory, the Islamic State, the Al-Nusra Front, and other terrorist organizations decided on an operating method of expansion to countries that were once safe from terrorism.’”
I guess my point is, none of us have any real idea what a head-of-state deals with in these dangerous times. It’s easy to criticize Netanyahu, but he’s looking at threats to Tel Aviv from the south, from Hezbollah and actual Iranian operatives in the north. All the while, the UN threatens Israel politically.
Last week, the UN voted on nine resolutions critical of Israel, including the Jewish state’s control of the Golan Heights (a must-have for defense).
“’The UN’s planned assault on Israel with a torrent of one-sided resolutions is surreal,’ said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the UN Watch monitor group.”
So, Hamas is just one part of the puzzle.
Personally, I believe in God. The God who spoke to the Jewish nation at Sinai, and the same One that went ahead of their Six-Day War victory. He alone decides outcomes. It is our job and our privilege to pray for our Jewish friends the world over, and the do what we can to protect them physically.
It is our sacred duty.
Hamas does not know what awaits.
Reprinted with author’s permission from Rapture Ready
