Waiting for Ezekiel

As I am nearly finished with the Left Behind books (at least the main series) I can understand some of the fervent desire among many that the war in Israel is the beginning of the War of Gog, which many Christians believe is the last major event before the Rapture and the Tribulation. However, it always bothers me when people allow their desires to cloud their judgment. A simple examination of the nature of the prophecy gives an excellent indication that not only is this not the beginning of the war, but that we still have a ways to go before we get to that point.

The thing that drives people the most is the knowledge that Russia and Iran have recently formed a strategic alliance. As Russia and Iran are mentioned as the primary players in the war, it’s easy to get carried away and think that they are the singular forces. However, we forget that there are several other prominent members of the alliance: Turkey (Gomer, Beth Togarmah), Libya (Put), and Cush (modern Sudan and Ethiopia). Libya has been cowed as of late to almost a non-entity, Sudan and Ethiopia are in the midst of civil wars and steadily becoming radical Islamic states (similar to Taliban Afghanistan), and Turkey is still a predominantly secular state, worried more about smoothing things over and becoming a member of the EU than anything else. Even Russia herself has no geopolitical reason to launch a massive invasion of Israel at the moment. She is still concerned in getting influence through proxies like Syria (with whom Russia recently signed a large military contract with). None of these countries (with the exception of Iran) is any position to band up and launch a massive ground invasion of Israel at the moment.

A second flaw is the geographic nature of Israel at the time of the invasion. Ezekiel 38:8 notes that the Jews have regathered into the land and have settled to the mountains of Israel. Israel is rather hilly country but the “mountains of Israel”, as often quoted in scripture, specifically refer to the territory of Ephraim and Benjamin. This region is currently under the dominion of the Palestinians under the name of the West Bank. Israel has not even fully received her inheritance of the land yet. What’s more, the Jews themselves have not even fully regathered to Israel yet. The total Jewish population of New York is still greater than the Jewish population of Israel. I myself don’t believe that we have fully seen the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Valley of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14). If we are still in the works on that prophecy, how can we even hope to be ready to move on to Ezekiel 38 and 39?

A third point is the state of Israel’s affairs. At the time of the attack, Israel lives at peace and in a land of unwalled villages. Many scholars have tried to argue that Israel has been more at peace than any other time in her history starting in the late 80s. Yet they have been undergoing continuous suicide attacks from the Palestinians and numerous raids and harassment from Hezbollah. The DMZ of the Golan Heights is one of the most armed places in the world and Israel is in the process of building a large wall around her territory, especially in the region of Jerusalem. At no point would any person living in Israel stand up and say that they are living in a state of peace and safety.

Yet, I am not willing to say that we are not seeing prophecy fulfilled. I have no major rationalization for my feeling, but as I have alluded to in previous posts, I believe this new war could be the fulfillment of the prophecies of Amos and could spill over to some of the prophecies of Isaiah. Notable in their absence among the invaders in the War of Gog, are all the immediate neighbors of Israel. Yet all of these (with the exception of Egypt) are mentioned in Amos. The first two chapters of Amos imply that all the nations surrounding Israel have committed three major sins and that the fourth sin will bring about the judgment of God. Damascus (Syria) will be consumed with fire; Gaza (the Philistines aka the Palestinians) will be wiped out; Tyre (southern Lebanon) will have her military destroyed; Edom, Moab, and Ammon (Jordan) will be overrun and destroyed.

Israel has endured three major wars with Syrian and Jordan (1948, 1967, and 1973). The Palestinians formed themselves as a military force through the PLO in 1964, but did not directly assault Israel until the 1970’s, choosing instead to act through small (but highly visible) terrorist attacks. They attacked Israel in the Lebanese Civil War (1982) and have brought about armed uprisings through the First and Second Intafadas (1987, 2000). Lebanon has existed predominantly as a Syrian and PLO proxy through her wars with Israel. She existed as a staging area for PLO and Hezbollah attacks against Israel in the 1973 war and fought against Israel when she was forced to invade in both 1978 and 1982. Only through Israeli occupation (which ended in 2000) has southern Lebanon managed to gain any form of stability. With the withdrawal of Israeli forces six years ago, Hezbollah have entrenched themselves and will not be driven out quietly.

Now, could I be wrong? Sure. Scripture never mentions the influence of Persia on affairs during this war (and everyone knows Iran is involved in this one). What’s more, Syria and Jordan are not directly involved in the current war (although Syria is funneling weapons to Hezbollah). Israel may beat down Hezbollah and Hamas and then turn back leaving things unresolved. But my gut tells me that things are not going that way. Israel is not going to stop until they are satisfied that they will be left alone and that just won’t happen until Hezbollah and Hamas (indeed, all of the Palestinian groups) are destroyed.

I believe that the war will continue and eventually Syria will be dragged into it, if only to protect their proxy interests in the form of Hezbollah. I don’t know what could bring Jordan into the fight, unless there is a successful coup against King Abdullah II. If his (and most of his government’s) influence were removed, most of the Jordanian people would immediately rush to support a Palestinian war effort against Israel. Perhaps a military coup will occur, under the auspices of Hamas. Yasser Arafat tried to overthrow King Abdullah I many years ago and failed. Perhaps a second stab at things will succeed. Once all her neighbors are against her Israel may be forced to turn to unconventional weapons, which will bring loud condemnation from the world. But if they are successful and Israel claims the land of Syria, Jordan, and the occupied territories, and then signs a security pact with the liberated government of Lebanon, Israel could well be on her way to securing a land of peace, untroubled by fears of attack. Then I believe we can enter into discussions about the invasion of Gog.