A sign of the times? Christians will say it is.
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Matthew 24:6-8
Is the recent clash between Palestinians and Israel in the Middle East where 17 are dead and thousands injured a sign of the birth pains?
Zechariah 12:1-6 King James Version (KJV)
12:1 The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
4 In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God.
6 In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.
Both Palestinians and Israel claims the same land. The area, indeed, has become a cup of trembling, and a burdensome stone.
Palestinians say they have a claim to the land since they have been there since the seventh century AD. The assumption is associated with the Arab conquests (c. 636/7). At the time the region was inhabited by an ethnic "meld" made up mainly of the descendants of the peoples whom the Hebrews had only partially displaced, and a few Jews.
The Palestinian name derives from the word "Philistine," the most powerful non-Jewish ethnic group in the land in the Old Testament era. The Philistines were already there in Abraham's day (Genesis 20:1-17; 21:22-34). There is no evidence that the Palestinians and the Philistines have any connection.
After Islam ravaged the region, many of the local peoples intermarried with Arabs, that they adopted the Arabic language and came to be called Arabs (which makes "Arab" more a linguistic designation, rather than an ethnic designation). Intermarriage had also taken place during the Greek, Roman and Byzantine occupations. So the Palestinians are a mixed race.
The surrounding Muslim strongholds, while accepting the Palestinians into Islam, viewed them as a race of mongrels. Therefore, for the most part, they were wanderers without a home.
It wasn't until the emergence of Israel in 1948 that the Arab nations in the area took up the Palestinian's alleged plight.
Joshua 13:1-5 explains the areas that are yet to be possessed by Israel. God tells Joshua, shortly before his death, from the "region of the Philistines" in the south to "Lebo Hamath" in the north. Judges opens with the statement that Israel had failed to drive these people out. Because of this, the Angel of the Lord tells them, "I will no longer drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides. ... I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord" (2:3, 22; 3:4). The Philistines were especially a thorn in the side of the Children of Israel then, and the Palestinians are thorns in the side of the Children of Israel today.
While, according to Scripture, God promised the land to the seed of Abraham, but the Palestinians will remain in the land as long as it suits His purposes. Israelites still fail miserably in keeping the way of the Lord, and God continues to use the Palestinians to test them.
In addition to the tests Israel must continually face, Christians recognize these days as the birth pains that lead up to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Based on what is happening in society, it is apparent that the final hour is upon us.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 (KJV) This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 (KJV) This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
As the Palestinians march on Israel's border we recognize that another second has ticked off of the end times clock, and we are just a little bit closer to the midnight hour. As the fighting escalates, Israeli drones are dropping tear gas on those advancing towards Jewish communities. The Palestinians claim this is only the beginning. They are ready for new protests after the bloodiest day in clashes in years.
Are they prepared for all out war? Israel says they are ready for escalation, and will expand their military response if clashes go on. Meanwhile, Iran has stated they will shut down the messenger app for security reasons. Is that an admittance that their people are also either involved in these clashes, or are invigorated and may become involved?
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-10
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
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