Page 80 - Eschatology - Masters revised

Chapter 8: Israel in the Thick of It!

Connect…

To the north, east, and south of Israel today lie the nations of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi
Arabia, all Muslim countries who consider Israel as an arch enemy. Within Israel live the Palestinians in
the West Bank and the Gaza strip who also hate the Jews. Every young man and woman must serve in
the Israeli military just to have enough of a defense force to protect the tiny country from invasion.
Almost daily some form of terrorism occurs in the country. Bombs go off in buses. Missiles are
launched at Israeli cities from Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria on a regular basis.

There is coming a day when a powerful world ruler will rise to power and become the great protector of
Israel. He will make promises to defend Israel and to bring peace to the Middle East. His promises will
be welcomed by Israel who seeks the peace of Jerusalem. Won’t that be a blessed day for Israel? Let’s
see if it is…

Objectives…

1. The student should be able to explain how Israel will the integrally involved in the future activities of
the Antichrist throughout the tribulation period.

2. The student should be able to explain the circumstance that lead the entire country of Israel to
accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah.

The Lesson ...

Israel and End time Events

Every time there is a conflict in or around Israel, many see it as a sign of the quickly approaching end
times. The problem with this is that we may eventually tire of the conflict in Israel, so much so that we
will not recognize when true, prophetically significant events occur. Conflict in Israel is not necessarily a
sign of the end times.

Conflict in Israel has been a reality whenever Israel has existed as a nation. Whether it was the
Egyptians, Amalekites, Midianites, Moabites, Ammonites, Amorites, Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians,
Persians, or Romans, the nation of Israel has always been persecuted by its neighbors. Why is this?
According to the Bible, it is because God has a special plan for the nation of Israel, and Satan wants to
defeat that plan. Satanically influenced hatred of Israel—and especially Israel’s God—is the reason
Israel’s neighbors have always wanted to see Israel destroyed. Whether it is Sennacherib, king of
Assyria; Haman, official of Persia; Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany; or Rouhani, President of Iran, attempts
to completely destroy Israel will always fail. The persecutors of Israel will come and go, but the

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