Page 62 - Eschatology - Student Ebook

Study Section 8: Israel in the Tick of It!

8.1 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…

8.2 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.

8.3 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
persecution will remain until the second coming of Christ. As a result, conflict in Israel is not a reliable
indicator of the soon arrival of the end times.

However, the Bible does say there will be terrible conflict in Israel during the end times. That is why the
time period is known as the Tribulation, the Great Tribulation, and the “time of Jacob’s trouble” The

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