So, where did I get last time? The list of attackers. Well, there are some other neat points here. For instance, there are two specific nations missing that have been enemies of Israel throughout her modern and Biblical history: Egypt and Iraq (Babylon). Why would these be missing? Did Ezekiel perhaps miss them in his vision? Through the ages, many have assumed this to be the case, but this compromises a core belief that the Bible is without err. As Joel Rosenberg states in Epicenter, we must treat this prophecy as an intercept direct from the mind of God, that we may not initially understand, but is true nonetheless. So, then, instead of trying to figure out if Egypt and Iraq will be involved or not, let's assume that they are not, and try to decode why. You may recall the 1979 Camp David Accords, in which Israel and Egypt struck on a peace treaty. It was begrudging, of course, but it has held nonetheless. It is definitely plausible that Egypt could sit out the next war on Israel. That still leaves Iraq still on the prowl. Someone had to disarm Iraq so that the nation couldn't be a threat. Ah...the United States did just that in 2003. Though I believe that Operation Iraqi Freedom is a very unjust war, and very dishonorable to what our nation is supposed to stand for, I believe it was prophetic.
In Ezekiel 38:11-13, several points are made on the condition of Israel at the time of this attack.
11) “You will say, 'I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates'--
12) “to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land.
13) “Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, 'Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?'”'
Yes, here are yet a few more names...Sheba and Dedan refer to what is today Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf states. Tarshish refers to a merchant area of southwestern Spain, and in many eyes, represents the West as a whole in modern times. These nations are obviously not attackers, and point out the true reason for the coalition's aggression, but on the same token do nothing to stop it.
Now to look at the condition of Israel at the time of the attack. These verses are clear that Israel will be at peace, and very wealthy. You may think, "Peace?", but in fact, Israel is at its safest, most peaceful state since 1948. And wealth. In the Middle East, only one thing means wealth: black gold. Former Israeli PM once quipped, "Moses dragged us for forty years through the desert to bring us to the one place in the Middle East where there was no oil. However, several verses in Genesis, Deuteronomy, and elsewhere seemed to suggest otherwise, even giving rough locations of "blessings of the deep that lie beneath," and "oil from the flinty rock." In fact, several companies have sprouted up in the past few years such as Zion Oil & Gas and Givot Olam Oil, Ltd and have had incredible success, striking extremely large reserves of both oil and natural gas. Even without considering potential oil, look at this graph of some of the region's comparative GDPs.
No comments:
Post a Comment