I read an article by author Jerry Golden (The Golden Report) dated November 9, 2019, titled “When Will the War Begin?” He was referring to the escalating tension between Israel and its neighbors. In answer to the question posed in the title of his article, he wrote:
“The answer to that question is soon — very soon. There are a lot of armies and air forces to fight at one time on many fronts for a small country like Israel, and one thing is certain, the longer it’s put off the stronger the enemies will become. Iran is now saying they can wipe Tel-Aviv off the map in less than 30 minutes and their first target would be the Kiryah in Tel Aviv and that is like the American Pentagon. That target alone would kill close to a third of the population. Israel is now putting into effect an emergency act code named Momentum to expand the missile defense capability. We can only pray and hope we already have the anti-missile defenses in place — and I believe we do.”
For many who have been watching the escalation between Israel and its enemies for many years, the analysis offered by Jerry Golden above sounds much like what has been coming out of Israel for some time now. Possibly things could cool down once again, but then one of these days the conflict actually will explode, and when it does, it will be very fast and furious, and very violent.
On November 12, the news came out of the Israeli Defence Forces attack and elimination of Baha Abu Al-Atta, chief of the northern Gaza command of the Islamic Jihad. He was a terror leader responsible for wide-ranging attacks on the Jewish State for quite some time. With another of Al-Atta’s planned attacks imminent, the IDF was given the go-ahead to take him down. His home was struck with a missile at 4:00 am, Israeli time. His wife was also killed in the attack as well as one of Al-Atta’s bodyguards. Al-Atta’s four children were injured in the attack. A second attack happened about an hour later, targeting Akram Al-Ajoiuri, liaison officer between Palestinian Jihad in Gaza and Iranian al-Qods Brigades and its chief, Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. It is reported that Al-Ajoiuri managed to escape but one of his sons was killed along with possibly others either killed or injured.
This brought about a nearly instantaneous wide-ranging rocket barrage against key town in central and southern Israel, including Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gedera,Tel Aviv and many other towns or cities. Hundreds of rockets were launched into Israel from Gaza and the Israeli Air Force pounded terrorist targets with bombs and missiles within the Gaza Strip.
There is always the question as to how far things will escalate. Hamas in Gaza did not become involved in the attacks on Israel and Israel strongly advised Hamas to stay out of the conflict. But it is Tehran that is calling the shots and they appear to be urging a major escalation at this point. As the Israeli security cabinet was meeting, so were senior officials in Tehran, Damascus, and Beirut. The discussion was whether to punish Israel by opening additional war fronts from the north. Israeli military leaders have verified that Hezbollah has between 200,000-250,000 missiles and rockets aimed at Israel. It is reported that they have the capability of launching 4,000 of them per day. Many of these are 100 times more powerful as those sent into Israel in the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war. Debka Files reports that the Palestinian Jihad also maintains armed forces in Syria and Lebanon who may be conscripted to join in with their Gazan “brothers” in retalitory strikes against Israel. Islamic Jihad has already threatened “unprecedented retaliation without borders.”
As expected, it did not take long until Hamas also launched some rockets into Israel. Israel was very quick to respond and destroyed numerous targets in Gaza. The next question of course was, how long would it take for Hezbollah to get involved. That would depend on orders from Tehran. Only time will tell how far the current skirmish goes.
Iran’s threats against Israel are no secret on the world stage today. One of the latest is Iran’s claim to be able to totally obliterate Tel Aviv within less than 30 minutes. In spite of the fact that Israel has struck well over 100 Iranian military sites in Syria and Iraq, Iran has been able to build up its forces and weaponry all around the borders of Israel. Even though most of the world talks of not allowing Iran to become a nuclear power, there are many in the intelligence world that believe Iran has already built some nukes, or they have purchased them from an outside source—possibly, North Korea. Israel knows that the longer they wait to neutralize their enemies, the more powerful their enemies will become and the more difficult it will be to defend against them. Israel’s landmass is only about the size of the State of New Jersey, which makes it very difficult to protect but relatively easy for an enemy to destroy with weapons of mass destruction.
With this in mind, let’s review what Asaph the seer said about Israel’s enemies in his prayer 3,000 years ago:
1 Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, And do not be still, O God! 2 For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; and those who hate You have lifted up their head. 3 They have taken crafty counsel against your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. 4 They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” 5 For they have consulted together with one consent; they form a confederacy against you; 6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; 7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; 8 Assyria also has joined with them; they have helped the children of Lot…Psalm 83:1-8
Here we find, not only an earnest prayer to God concerning Israel’s enemies, but also a prophetic foretelling of what is going to happen at the end of the age. Some prophecy teachers reject the thought that this psalm speaks of a cataclysmic Mideast War right at the end of the age, saying that it has already been fulfilled in Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, the Six-Days War in 1967, and the Yom Kippur War in 1973. It is also taught by some that Israel’s relationship with some of the Sunni nations today will keep them from war with these nations, specifically Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and possibly the UAE.
I find the Old Testament prophets telling a different story.
I believe the temporary partial cooperation with a few of the Sunni Muslim nations will change rather quickly when a major conflict actually begins in earnest. Most Muslims know that Islamic prophecy promises that there will be an all-out war between Islam and the Jews. The Islamic world has been promoting this prophecy all over the Muslim world and Muslim clerics have been very vocal in their Friday sermons in mosques across the Middle East. I don’t believe it will be possible for leaders like King Hussein of Jordan, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, or Egypt’s president Abdel Fatah el-Sissi to stop their predominantly Muslim populations from joining an attack. The perpetual, demonically inspired hatred of the Jews will drive Israel’s enemies into making an all-out attempt to wipe the Jewish State entirely off the map
It is amazing how often news stories become available before the preceding ones have been published. That is the case once again today as a new series of events began which will only add to the fires of war being stoked.
Without detailing the complexities of an arrangement concerning two parcels of land, Baqura and Ghumar, leased from Jordan 25 years ago, these territories have been transferred back into the sovereignty of Jordan, but the Israeli farmers will still remain tilling the ground for a while longer. An indication that all is not well in the relationship between Jordan and Israel was voiced in a program produced by MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute), hosted by Ms. Rana Hmouz. Her message in this program went beyond celebrating the return of the lands back into Jordanian control. Her message to the people of Jordan was quite clear:
“…our joy is not complete. We have more demands. We want to see a similar decision that will let us trample the peace accord underfoot. We want to see a similar decision that will let us trample the gas and water agreements underfoot. We want to see a similar decision that will let us trample the entire Zionist entity underfoot. We don’t want their representatives defiling our land…After al-Baqura, we want to gouge out the eyes of the Zionists and their (Arab) supporters. After Ghumar, we want (our hearts) to overflow with joy when we annul the peace agreement in support of the blood of our martyrs and the Arab identity of Palestine.”
This quote, although only from one Mideast media personality, makes stunningly clear the true attitude and purpose of the entire Psalm 83 confederacy, now including Jordan. Isaiah 11:14 appears to refer to exactly what is about to happen to parts of Jordan. Edom and Moab will be militarily seized by the Israeli Defence Forces, roughly at the same time that the IDF finally decides to take Gaza back under Israeli control. Amman will then be subdued and come under the control of Israel. It is worth noting that Jordan’s King Abdullah II just made a statement in a conference in New York, Friday November 22, that Jordan’s relationship with Israel has never been at a lower point than it is today. Jordan is one of only two Arab countries, along with Egypt, to have a peace deal with Israel. However, the country’s parliament, which is made up mostly of Islamists, remains anti-Israel and its members have more than once called to annul the peace treaty. It is also notable that Jordan has made it clear that the nation would side with any Islamic action concerning Israel in spite of its treaty between both nations. They are now actively having discussions with Pakistan.
On Tuesday, November 19, Iran’s Al Qods’ military forces, located in and around Damascus, launched what the IDF described as “heavy missiles,” a phrase that usually implies medium-range ground-to-ground ballistic missiles. Four Fateh-10 ballistic missiles were shot down over the Golan by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. The latest versions of these missiles have a range of just over 300 miles and carry a 1,100 lb. high explosive warhead, intended for high-density population areas of central Israel.
This attack by Iranian forces did not come out of the blue. It was in response to an earlier Israeli strike on one of its military facilities near Abu Kamal close to the Syrian border with Iraq. Israel’s response to the Iranian missiles intended for central Israel was to nearly destroy two Iranian Al Qods Forces headquarters near Damascus, one at Damascus’ international airport and the other nearby at the al-Mazzeh airport just outside of the capital. In addition, the IDF targeted dozens of other sites connected to the Qods Force on Syrian military bases. When Syrian air defenses fired on the Israeli jets, the IDF also destroyed the missile batteries that fired on them. According to reports, at least 23 were killed in the attacks, with most of the casualties confirmed to be Iranian.
Israel is now on war alert for Iranian retaliation after the air attacks. Iran is determined to hit back for every Israeli attack, as it has threatened, but will do so in kind. Although Israel’s defense systems are very effective, they are not infallible. It’s just a matter of time before something major gets through.
Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated the true intent of Islam in his visit to the Friday prayers at the Great Camlica Mosque in Istanbul recently. Erdogan, a mainstream Islamic leader with a vision of a revived Ottoman Empire declared: “Our God commands us to be violent to the kufflar (infidel). Who are we? The ummah (nation) of Mohammed.” The Muslim hatred of non-Muslims expressed by Erdogan is only exceeded by its hatred of the Jews. This again, is the demonically inspired, everlasting hatred that began thousands of years ago between the sons of the patriarch, Abraham.
In conclusion, we are living in swiftly changing times. The Bible has been explicitly accurate in its foretelling of events. Why does nearly 1/3 of the Bible consist of prophecy? So that as prophecy is fulfilled, the world will know that God is who He says He is. Those of us who claim to be Christ-followers, should already be aware of what time it is, and live accordingly.
Time To Pay Attention!
More to come as events unfold…
Jake Geier