God Only Knows

Here we go again.

It looks as though Benjamin Netanyahu has been toppled, after 12 years in power in Israel. He is the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history. Much like the coup against Donald Trump, Netanyahu found himself wedged between political enemies on the right and left. One-time heir apparent Naftali Bennett has joined forces with Yair Lapid to form a “unity government.” Bennett will take the first rotation in the top spot.

The palace intrigue is interesting, sort of. But in reality, it’s garden-variety politics cobbled together by power-hungry, mediocre people.

However, what really concerns me is the reaction, once again, from Christian Zionists wringing their hands. From Mike Evans’ bizarre, unhinged rant in the Times of Israel, to Facebook posts, I wonder if there will be an end to predictions of Israel’s demise.

And this from self-professed, Bible-believing individuals.

Here is a clear thought: according to the Bible, Israel will not be destroyed in the last days.

End of that story.

Why then do we freak out whenever an election doesn’t go our way?

I think Netanyahu is head-and-shoulders above his rivals, in every way. From his combat experience to the political wars he’s fought, he has kept Israel safe and prosperous.

But we live in a flawed world. We all know this. Things unraveled in the Garden, when Adam and Eve made bad choices.

And in the immediate future, there’s no guarantee at all that the weird Bennett/Lapid coalition will hold together. Again, Netanyahu is unmatched as a politician; even he fought continuously against the coalition model Israel uses. It is fraught with flaws. It works like this: in Israel’s 120-seat Knesset, the prime minister must pull together at least 61 seats, from a fractured community. Imagine Shas (the ultra-Orthodox wing) sitting in a government with Ra’am, the new (Islamist!) kingmaker in Israeli politics.

I do wish Israel had direct elections of prime ministers. Netanyahu would no doubt be king for life. He nearly was.

But I go back to our fretting over Israel. Look, I too pray for the country’s safety. I too recognize the country is, in human terms, faced with peril. From rocket stockpiles on their southern and northern borders, to the hostile coup-leader in the White House, Israel faces daunting challenges.

Enough though with the crazy prediction that Israel will fall. I am convinced of this, because of God’s Word: Iran will not destroy the Jewish State. Hezbollah’s rocket stockpiles will not destroy Israel.

Not even the coalition army outlined in Zechariah will destroy Israel.

And that’s the point. Read those passages. God Himself is preparing to intervene. We have the best house seats in all of history to watch this unfold.

Stop worrying. It might do you good to reflect on past history, when it looked like the Jews would disappear from history. But they didn’t disappear from history. Their enemies did.

We are coming up on the anniversaries of the Six-Day War and the strike on Iraq’s nuclear reactor at Osirik. Read about that and rejoice that you worship the one true God.

He has promised that Israel is eternal. That’s good enough for me.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

www.thegodthatanswers.com

 

 

 

 

The Insanity of Jihad

There was an interesting bit in a report this week from the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. It highlighted the utter craziness of reprobate minds—the ones that hate Jews and Israel.

The Amit Center’s weekly “Spotlight on Global Jihad” is informative. It gives a fuller picture of what various terrorist groups are doing globally. But always it comes back to their obsession with the Jewish state:

“This week’s feature article in ISIS’s Al-Naba’ weekly was devoted to Jerusalem. The author stresses that the path of jihad advocated by ISIS is completely different from the path of “resistance” advocated by Palestinian organizations, led by Hamas, as well as the pro-Iranian Hezbollah. The author claims that the only way to liberate Jerusalem from Israel is through the jihad of Muslim believers and not through the activity of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran.”

Now, clearly, ISIS’s rivals believe they are correctly waging jihad. But ISIS is so ruthless in its approach, it can seem like they consider Hamas, Hezbollah, et al to be “the JV team.”

If ISIS considers itself the first string, in its aim of “liberating Jerusalem,” it is instructive to track the terror group’s path to the Holy City. Activity in the Sinai, too close to Israel(!), necessarily involves Egypt. Ironically, the Egyptians are no longer an implacable enemy of Israel.

“Egyptian army forces in Bir al-Abd carried out an operation against an ISIS terrorist cell in the village of Amouriya, after ISIS operatives commandeered a car, abducted the four passengers on board and escaped. Immediately after the abduction, Egyptian army forces pursued the operatives, with air support. They caught up with the abductors and confronted them. Four ISIS operatives were killed and three others were caught, along with their weapons and ammunition.”

The same type of activity is going on in Iraq, as Iraqi security forces and counter-terrorism units chase ISIS operatives. Bear in mind, Iraq is no Egypt when it comes to relations with Israel, but the chaotic Iraqi state indirectly helps Israel by keeping ISIS pinned down within its territory.

I don’t expect ISIS to succeed in the goal of liberating Jerusalem, but a look at its geographical reach shows the viciousness of the group, which sets it apart from Hamas, for example. For all its saber-rattling, Hamas is like a Webelo pack compared to a Marine unit. Remember, Hamas leaders gladly take Israel’s offer of medical help within Israel proper. ISIS would never do that. Instead, the rabid group proves its brutal bonafides in this example from Africa:

“ISIS’s Al-Naba’ weekly published an article about the execution of a sentence handed down against three criminals in an open market in the Tin-Hama region in southeastern Mali. This is a region far from the control of the central government, which has been taken over by global jihad elements. According to ISIS, following complaints from local residents, ISIS operatives detained three people in the area between Gao and Menaka, in southeastern Mali. The three were tried and sentenced to amputation of their hands and feet. According to the article, the sentence was carried out according to Sharia law for the crime of Ḥirābah, a particularly violent robbery which, according to Sharia law, requires a severe punishment (Al-Naba’ weekly, Telegram, May 21, 2021). In the absence of a stable government in the area in question, ISIS operatives have apparently managed to establish a form of governance over the local population and to impose Sharia law.”

One reads such reports and weeps over the violence and mayhem. But this is the natural outgrowth of a human mind and heart far from the true God.

ISIS will fail in its bid to destroy the Jews, just as others that came before them.

This is the insanity of jihad.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

www.thegodthatanswers.com