It is indispensable to the setting up of the kingdom of God … the restoration of the Jews is a work of time, and will require between fifty and sixty years to accomplish … There are two stages in the restoration of the Jews, the first is before the battle of Armageddon; and the second after it … The pre-adventual colonisation of Palestine i. How could a Bible student be so confident that the land, which was for centuries a wilderness of little consequence, would become the most important place on earth? More than 3, years ago, God called Abraham to leave his home in one of the great Middle Eastern cities of antiquity, Ur of the Chaldees, to wander in Palestine as a nomad.
Abraham obeyed because he believed and trusted God. He was to become the father of both Jewish and Arab nations. God made promises to Abraham which were at the very heart of the Christian Gospel. The Apostle Paul says in Galatians 3: Those promises were about the nation of Israel, the land of Palestine and about one descendant in particular. God would give the land of Palestine to Abraham as an everlasting possession. The promise is contained in the words: This promise is yet to be fulfilled.
Abraham is dead and buried. It is at this point that we have to realise that the fulfilment of the promises rests upon the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Jesus, though Son of God, was also the descendant of Abraham through Mary his mother. It was the work of the Lord Jesus Christ to make possible the blessing of the forgiveness of sins by which men and women may have everlasting life. The New Testament sets Abraham before us as the great example of how to please God — by believing what God has promised. Through Jesus Christ those same promises are today open to all people who share the faith of Abraham, whether they be Jews or Gentiles:.
The Great Middle East War - Introduction
Here is one example written years before Christ:. There are many other similar prophecies which make up the Bible teaching of the kingdom of God on earth. It was the good news of this kingdom which the Lord Jesus preached. During his ministry he demonstrated the way in which we can enter the kingdom of God, and he made that way open through his death and resurrection. All who believe and are baptized into Christ and seek to follow their Master have the glorious prospect of an eternal place in that kingdom. Not even death can stand in the way because when Christ returns to establish the kingdom he will raise his followers — including Abraham — from the dead.
But in AD 70, just forty years after the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Christ, Jerusalem, the capital city of the Jews, was destroyed by the Roman armies. The vision of the prophets seemed shattered. As the centuries rolled on, Palestine came under the rule of the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Crusaders, and the Turks. For the most part the land lay neglected and waste.
The Jews were banned from Jerusalem, scattered throughout the world and subjected to brutal and remorseless persecution. But these long years of despair for the Jews were clearly foretold by the prophets — and by Jesus himself. In these words the Lord summed up many Old Testament prophecies which were to come true in horrific detail. For example, in the book of Deuteronomy, written before Israel entered the land of Palestine 1, years before Christ, it was predicted of the Jews that:. And yet in all these prophecies God makes clear that He does not intend to cast off the Jews for ever.
Through Jeremiah He said:. The Apostle Paul warned the Gentiles to beware of the conceit which said that the Jews were finished and that God was now only interested in Gentiles. In Romans chapter 11 he asks: The words of Christ and of the Apostle Paul are completely in keeping with the prophecies of the Old Testament scriptures. Israel was to be scattered throughout the world; they would maintain their identity, and in the last days return to their land where they would become the beginning of the kingdom of God which will bring blessings to Jews and Gentiles. We have seen the partial fulfilment of these prophecies but there is still much to happen.
The present State of Israel does not recognise Jesus as the Messiah and many Jews do not even believe that they have been regathered to Israel in fulfilment of prophecy. A major change of heart is necessary, and indeed this is predicted in passages such as Ezekiel 37 and Zechariah The latter passage sees Israel invaded by foreign powers and only then turning to God.
It is at that time that Israel acknowledges Jesus verse This is the time that Christ comes to deliver Jerusalem and to re-establish the throne of David Acts 3: Through the prophecies of scripture we can discern a clear pattern in current events. Here are some of those important prophecies:.
The important event in the Middle East which paved the way for the re-establishment of the State of Israel was the demise of the Turkish Empire. In a remarkable Bible prophecy in Revelation 16, reference is made to the drying up of the river Euphrates. The purpose of this was to make way for the events which will draw all nations into the Middle East arena. The result is described as the battle of Armageddon:.
Working on the basis that political powers in scripture are frequently referred to by the river which ran through their territory, Bible students at least as far back as the eighteenth century interpreted the drying up of the river Euphrates as the shrinking of the then powerful Turkish Empire.
They anticipated that this would be followed by the return of the Jews to the land of Palestine and eventually the return of the Lord Jesus to the earth. The drying up of the river was accomplished through the First World War. Britain drove the Turks out of Palestine in and this paved the way for the emergence in the Middle East of new nations, some with ancient Biblical names such as Lebanon and Syria; but most of all it allowed the space for the setting up of the nation of Israel.
The battle of Armageddon is described in part in Ezekiel The leader of the confederacy is called Gog of the land of Magog. Bible students have consistently looked to Russia to fulfil the role of Gog because Magog was an ancient name for the land of the nomadic Scythians in the southern part of what is now Russia and Ukraine. Of great interest is the fact that at the time of the prophecy of Ezekiel the Scythians had just invaded the Middle East as far as Egypt.
Prophecy in the Ancient Near East
Ezekiel sees this people return in the latter days against Israel with overwhelming force in confederacy with many other peoples. For 2, years this prophecy has been awaiting the latter-day return of the Jews to the land before it could be fulfilled. Now that the Jews are back, its fulfilment is imminent. Yet the prophecy suggests that Israel will occupy this territory at the time of the Gogian invasion. But what of Russia today? And now, as Bible students have expected, those interests extend deep into the Middle East.
In Russia intervened in the Syrian conflict and in so doing strengthened its naval and air bases in Syria. USA policy was to step back. But recent events have radically and rapidly changed the landscape. Who now would argue that a Russian-led invasion of Israel is such a far-fetched idea? Russian Allies — Persia, Ethiopia and Libya: These three countries therefore deserve special attention. Unlike many ancient nations Persia has continued as a distinct nation, to emerge into the modern world ready to fulfil Bible prophecy.
Now she is fiercely antagonistic towards the West and has an especial hatred of Israel. In recent years the ancient nation of Ethiopia has dropped out of the international news headlines, having at one time been a communist state closely allied to Russia. Watch out for Russian involvement.
For two millennia after Ezekiel and Daniel prophesied, Libya languished as a downtrodden colony of the greater powers. With the demise of Gaddafi Libya has descended into anarchy, fiefdoms and a centre of insurgency, and further international involvement is likely. Again, watch out for the role of Russia. Bible students for many decades have thought that this might be oil. The only problem was that it was the Arabs not Israel who had the oil.
And then, in the last decade huge gas and oil fields have been discovered off the coasts of Israel and Egypt and in the Golan. These discoveries are a major geopolitical threat to Russia because now Europe could have an easy alternative to Russian gas. No wonder Russia is desperately keen to help Israel and Egypt manage the new found reserves, even promising military protection! Israel, Sheba, Dedan and the West: Sheba and Dedan were nations in the Arabian peninsula.
Bible students, for at least years, have consistently identified Britain and the English-speaking countries as fulfilling this description. Here we have, then, a Western alliance with Saudi Arabia and her near neighbours to the south of Israel in opposition to the Russian-led invasion. The Iraq war proved the reality of this alliance. Within weeks, a multinational army of half a million troops and devastating weaponry was assembled on Saudi soil. Since the civil war in Syria, the realignment of southern Sunni Arab states against Shiite Iran has taken a dramatic turn, pushing Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states into closer collaboration with the USA and Britain — and even with Israel.
This is a remarkable turn of events indeed, but one which aligns well with Bible prophecy. This sparked an interest in many prophecy students and teachers of the possibility that this prophetic Psalm about judgment against Israel's neighbors could be fulfilled in the near future. I will refer to this war described in Psalm 83 and its parallel passages as the "Great Middle East War.
The Middle East in History and Prophecy - Columbus Center
For this study, I have attempted to put these parallel passages together to show how they all describe the same war. The author of Psalm 83 is "Asaph the seer," who was a prophet, priest, and musician 2 Chronicles Psalm 83 is a yet future prophecy because there has been no known fulfillment in Scripture or history. In fact, it seems that this Psalm is speaking of events that could occur today.
The seething hatred and common goal the listed members of the confederacy in Psalm 83 have against Israel since their rebirth as a nation has led many to believe, including myself, that fulfillment of this prophetic Psalm could occur soon.
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I use Psalm 83 as a starting point in this study because we find all the members of the confederacy against Israel. The parallel passages include many, if not most of the same confederate members grouped together.
While some dismiss Psalm 83 as merely an imprecatory prayer, Asaph asks for judgment against a very specific list of enemies that form a confederacy against Israel, which is evidence that this Psalm is about a specific event; the parallel passages confirm that Psalm 83 is about a prophetic war. These passages go into detailed prophetic judgments against each nation and people group, giving us different perspectives on the war, while the parallels in the passages show that they are, in fact, speaking of the same conflict.
The names of the nations and people groups in all the passages are given by their ancient name. By doing a little historical detective work, we will see that ancient people groups that migrated to other places are distinct from the inhabitants that live within the political borders of these ancient lands today, which is probably why the people groups and the nations are both listed. Before going through the prophetic passages themselves, I'd like to first discuss their fulfillment: A dual fulfillment is where a prophecy has a second fulfillment.
This is usually seen in the case of the complete fulfillment of a prophecy that was only partly fulfilled in the past.
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Dual fulfillment of prophecy shows that history repeats itself. Traditionally, many assume that most unfulfilled prophecies will find fulfillment at the end of the Tribulation. However, there is strong evidence of the defeat of Israel's immediate neighbors and the area of Jordan coming under Israeli sovereignty before the "Gog and Magog War," which most Bible teachers believe will take place as a separate war from Armageddon sometime in the first half of the Tribulation. This study shows that there is scriptural support for the "Great Middle East War" occurring near the beginning of the Tribulation, with the "Gog and Magog War" following shortly after.
When studying prophetic Scripture, we find that the prophets were given only tidbits of future events that many times covered more than one event. History shows that many prophecies have only seen partial fulfillment. The partial fulfillment proved that the prophet was a true prophet. In many prophecies the prophets saw one event, but in reality what God revealed to them covered many events over a long period-of-time.
Clarence Larkin illustrates this in the chart found in the following link: It is important to note that many of these parallel passages to Psalm 83 have been partly fulfilled in history. The textual proximity of these partly fulfilled passages to those that have seen complete fulfillment may suggest a future dual fulfillment. I will mention these fulfilled prophecies briefly below. However, in this study we will focus on the unfulfilled prophecies and those partly fulfilled in history.
Before introducing the passages, I should note that I have assumed, with regard to partially fulfilled prophecy, that there will be a dual fulfillment of the first part of the prophecy when the remaining part of the prophecy comes to pass. The reason being, is that the complete fulfillment of a prophecy is usually dependent on the partial fulfillment in a way that it is likely necessary for a repeat to occur of the fulfilled part of the prophecy for the unfulfilled part to come to fruition.
Isaiah 17 - In Isaiah we see almost all the aggressors in Psalm 83 mentioned in "textual proximity. Isaiah contain prophecies fulfilled in the Assyrian conquest. However, Isaiah 17 has only seen partial fulfillment, thus, I included it in this study. Ezekiel - These prophecies were all fulfilled during the Babylonian conquest. However, Ezekiel 28 ends with an unfulfilled prophecy about Israel's neighbors, so we will take a look at this passage in this study. Ezekiel - These chapters are mostly about judgment on Edom area of southern Jordan. The unfulfilled portion spans from the time Israel came back into the land during our modern era up to the Tribulation period, which I believe starts in Ezekiel 38 , as explained in my "Gog and Magog War" study.
Joel 1 - Most prophecy teachers believe that the Assyrian conquest fulfilled Joel 1: There is little doubt that Joel 3 covers the Armageddon campaign at the end of the Tribulation. Careful examination of Joel 1: Amos - These prophecies have found fulfillment in the Assyrian conquest. The parallel wording supports possible dual fulfillment in the "Great Middle East War.
The main method of judgment throughout the first few chapters of Amos is "fire," which is found in several parallel passages. Obadiah - Obadiah is a prophecy against Edom, in the southern part of modern-day Jordan. Obadiah was partly fulfilled around 70AD by the Romans at the same time they were subduing Israel.
The Edomites ceased from being recognized as a nationality, but history traces their migration into the surrounding areas. Scripture shows future judgment against the descendants of the Edomite people, and has not been fulfilled in history. The 15th verse of Obadiah shows us that the complete fulfillment will occur when "the day of the Lord upon all nations is near," which would place the war near the beginning of the Tribulation period. Jeremiah 49 - The prophecies in Jeremiah about Philistia Gaza and Moab central Jordan found fulfillment in the Egyptian and Babylonian conquests before Judah fell.
The prophecies in Jeremiah 49 about Ammon northern Jordan , Edom southern Jordan , and Damascus in Syria have all seen partial fulfillment in the Babylonian conquest. However, Israel taking possession of land they have never had Jeremiah Textual proximity of the other chapters may suggest a dual fulfillment, but they are not included in this study.
Zephaniah 2 - This prophecy was partly fulfilled in history by the Babylonian and Egyptian conquests before Judah fell to the Babylonians. However, God has not yet judged all the gods of the earth in one fell swoop, as described in Zephaniah's prophecy. This suggests that this war will happen before the "Mystery Babylon" religion rises at the beginning of the Tribulation. Also, the beginning of Zephaniah 2 describes the gathering of Israel before the "day of the Lord," which is a term used throughout Scripture to describe the Tribulation period and beyond. In addition to this passage paralleling other passages to the "Great Middle East War," another possible indicator that this prophecy still has future fulfillment is that the modern-day city of Mosul lies over much of the ruins of Nineveh, so it is not in "perpetual desolation," as indicated by the prophet.
Zechariah - These passages include a mixture of fulfilled, unfulfilled, and dual prophecies, with partial fulfillment of some passages at the time of Alexander the Great. I have only included in this study the verses that suggest yet future judgment against the surrounding nations listed in Psalm Though I will be leaving them out of this study, the fulfilled prophecies in these passages are pretty easy to spot, such as the coming King riding on a donkey Zechariah 9: Numbers 24 - This passage may seem out-of-place, being that the book of Numbers is not regarded as a prophetic book.
Nevertheless, there is a curious prophecy the Spirit of the Lord gave to the pagan prophet Balaam about Israel's neighbors who are also listed in Psalm There has been a partial fulfillment of this prophecy when Israel gained dominion over most of the territories listed at the time of David's rule.
Part of this prophecy was also fulfilled in history against the Kenites, a clan of the Midianites who had moved to an area near Kadesh, which was part of the northern kingdom at the time of the Assyrian conquest and exile. However, it is clear that this prophecy would see fulfillment in the "latter days," where Israel would destroy her enemy neighbors, leading up to the time of the earthly rule of the coming Messiah.
I placed the parallel passages of the "Great Middle East War" in each section side-by-side. The partially fulfilled and unfulfilled passages mentioned above are all included throughout the rest of the study. After going through this study, I implore you read each passage in its whole to gain a better understanding of what the "Great Middle East" War entails.