Israel declaring war on Hamas is much closer to the end of the story than the beginning. We have a tendency to snapshot the latest incidents and draw conclusions based on recent events. Using that philosophy in the case of Israel and Palestine or Israel and Gaza, or Israel and Hamas leaves out crucial background information that will ultimately lead us to form incorrect conclusions. This battle didn’t start on October 7, 2023, or in 1973, or in 1948. This battle started in heaven when an angel (Satan) was rejected from heaven and released to roam the earthly realm before the creation of Adam and Eve, which Answers in Genesis, the Institute for Creation Research, and Creation Ministries International agree was a little more than 6,000 years ago.
Jesus, the eternal Son of God, witnessed Satan’s fall, and He mentions it in Luke 10:18: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” We know that the angels were created before the earth (Job 38). Satan fell before he tempted Adam and Eve (masqueraded as a serpent) in the Garden (Genesis 3:1–14). Satan’s fall, therefore, must have occurred somewhere after the time the angels were created and before he tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Whether Satan’s fall occurred hours, days, or years before he tempted Adam and Eve is now irrelevant – it happened.
Moses is told by God on Mt. Sinai that God has selected Israel to be His chosen people (Exodus 19:5-6):
“Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you shall speak to the people of Israel.“
This is repeated throughout many Old and New Testament writings. Today, Israel remains God’s chosen people. So as this latest conflict flares up, we find Israel battling nearby factions that wish to annihilate it (the Jewish people) for no other reason that “they hate Jews”. But if you know the history, you know why – Satan wishes to destroy God because he wants to be God. So Satan pours out his evil intentions into people groups (Nazis, Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, and every other terrorist organization) to wreak havoc on God’s created people, especially the Jews.
Greg Laurie (author, pastor, evangelist serving as the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, based in Riverside, California) helps us understand this latest battle and it’s importance to Israel. Here’s what Pastor Laurie has to say:
I woke up Saturday morning [Oct. 7, 2023], and I was shocked to read the headline: “Israel Is at War.”
It is almost 50 years to the day the last time Israel was officially at war in what is known as the Yom Kippur War back in 1973 when she was attacked by Egypt. Syria, and others. But this is a different kind of war.
Thousands of rockets rained on Israel from multiple directions, and Hamas gunmen invaded by land, sea and sky. Now, hundreds of people have been murdered and kidnapped, and they were using what we might describe as Isis-like methods: targeting young women and young children, launching massive indiscriminate rocket fire towards civilian population centers, as well as terrorist infiltration of cities and settlements close to the Gaza border.
They went literally home to home, door to door, looking for the young and for the elderly. They’ve taken hostages. Old women, little children, young women—they specifically targeted civilians in this attack. Some of the women they took as hostages were survivors of the Holocaust. To date, and this number tragically will only get larger, there are 1,300 dead and 2,000 wounded. This attack is simply without precedent, causing Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, to say, “We are at war.”
Israel’s Enemies
Who is Hamas? They’re a terrorist organization funded by Iran. That’s not a secret.
A spokesman for Iran, Gahzi Hamad, told the BBC that terrorist group had received funding for the attack, according to the Wall Street Journal.
And Iran has for a long time stated that their objective is to destroy Israel. They have also signaled that they are developing a nuclear weapon. In the past they have threatened to, in their own words, wipe Israel off the face of the Earth.
One leader of Iran said, “They ask, ‘Is it possible for us to witness a world without America and Zionism?’ But you had best know that this slogan and this goal are altogether attainable, and surely can be achieved. The regime that is occupying Jerusalem must be wiped off the map.”
Interesting how it always comes back to Jerusalem. The Bible predicted, thousands of years ago, that the end time events would revolve around Jerusalem. Not San Francisco. Not Los Angeles. Not Moscow. Not Paris.
But Jerusalem, this tiny little city, in this tiny sliver of land, will play a key role in the events of the last days. It’s the focal point of end times events. It’s amazing when you think about it, because in Zechariah 12:3–4 God says, “I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves” (NLT).
Bible Prophecy Before Our Very Eyes
Here’s where students of Bible prophecy should pay attention. The Bible tells us in the end times that Israel would be scattered and regathered. This has happened, and this really was the sign that set the prophetic clock ticking.
On the heels of the Holocaust, who would have ever thought that these Jewish people who lost six million lives to the Nazis would somehow regather in their homeland, but it happened, against all odds. And on May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation. I’m proud to say the United States was the first nation to acknowledge that.
But after Israel was regathered, the Lord said she would come under attack. Specifically in Ezekiel 37 and 38, the Bible speaks of the regathering of Israel, and then it speaks of a large force from her north attacking her. That force is identified as Magog. Who is Magog? Listen, no one can say with absolute certainty.
But many Bible students and prophecy teachers believe it’s modern-day Russia. I think you can make a very good case for that. If you get out a map of the Middle East and look to the north of Israel, you will find Russia. Why would Russia ever want to invade Israel? Well, there’s another thing the Bible says about Magog, if she is indeed Russia, and that one of her allies that will march with her is Persia.
Persia is the ancient name for modern Iran. So the Bible predicted hundreds of years ago that this large force from the north of Israel would attack her after she was regathered, and one of the allies that would attack Israel with Russia or Magog, whoever it is, would be Iran or Persia.
Not once in the past 2,500 years has Russia formed a military alliance with Persia, Iran, but they have recently developed a special connection. Russia has signed billion dollar deals to sell missiles to Iran, and the Iranians have helped the Russians, providing them with drones, weaponized drones to use in the Ukraine war.
How do you even stop something like this? Let’s just say, for the sake of a point, that Israel decided to strike out at Iran, specifically, because they’re funding all of this.
What would that produce? Well, it could produce a conflict we read about in Ezekiel 38. The Bible says that Magog will come against her will; the Bible describes hooks in her jaws, pulling her forward almost as though Magog is coming in reluctantly along with her ally, Persia (or Iran).
Am I saying with absolutely certainty this is the scenario that will play out? No. But if you get up in the morning and read this headline, “Russia Attacks Israel,” fasten your seatbelt because you’re seeing Bible prophecy fulfilled in your lifetime before your very eyes.
What should Christians be doing in the light of all this?
Jesus said, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28 NKJV). That’s what we need to be doing, looking for the soon return of Jesus Christ.
But we also need to pray. The Bible tells us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6). We want to pray that they arrive at some kind of peace. We want to pray that this horrific terrorism stops, and that they’re able to get their hostages back. And we want to pray that God places His hand of protection on the nation of Israel during this unprecedented war.
As far as we are concerned (we’re living after the fall), there has always been God and Satan. This will end when Jesus returns to earth and eliminates Satan and evil. But, we’re not quite there yet.The battle between Good and Bad is a battle between God and Satan. And that is where we are today.
Let us pray for God’s people and all peoples of the world; not just because it may seem “helpful” or “the right thing to do”, but because we are commanded by God in no uncertain terms, and failing to due so incurs God’s wrath.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.
~Genesis 12:3~
Lastly, it’s important to understand that Israel is not fighting the Palestinian people who are God’s creation. In fact, over the years, they have done much to try to help them. Even now, after the war has begun, Israel drops evacuation warning leaflets and food, all in an effort to save their lives. The Palestinians are the innocent victims of a holy war.
Hopefully you now understand that this is not an Israel-Palestinian war, it’s a war between Israel and Evil. Only a Godly country would attempt to crush Evil while trying to save the people entrapped by it.
May God bless Israel and the Palestinians during these dark hours. Amen.
