Treasure In Clay Jars

(Ezekiel 38:1-5 NLT) This is another message that came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, turn and face Gog of the land of Magog, the prince who rules over the nations of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him. Give him this message from the Sovereign Lord: Gog, I am your enemy! I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws to lead you out with your whole army—your horses and charioteers in full armor and a great horde armed with shields and swords. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya will join you, too, with all their weapons. Gomer and all its armies will also join you, along with the armies of Beth-togarmah from the distant north, and many others... (Ezekiel 39:1-3; 7-8 NLT) “Son of man, prophesy against Gog. Give him this message from the Sovereign Lord: I am your enemy, O Gog, ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around and drive you toward the mountains of Israel, bringing you from the distant north. I will knock the bow from your left hand and the arrows...

I have been thinking a lot lately about what will happen to fulfill God’s prophecy in Ezekiel 39. In this Bible Chapter , Israel is attacked by “an enemy from the north”, but is supernaturally delivered by God resulting in harm not to Israel but to that enemy and “her allies by the sea”. This prophecy appears to make it very clear, that no nuclear weapon developed by Iran will destroy Israel. This does not mean that Iran will not try. They could very well be among the coalition of enemies from the north that will fulfill this prophecy. This prophecy may very well be instructive as we continue to observe the shadow dancing that is currently playing out between Israel, President Obama and the Iranian nuclear issue. Below is an excerpt from a recent news report from the Christian News From Jerusalem website: More ominously, (Jerusalem Post Editor Caroline Glick reports) - likely from sources high up in the Israeli government - that the Obama administration has all but accepted as an irrev...

There MUST be a “two-state solution” for Israel and the Palestinians. So says the Pope, Barack Obama, virtually every European Leader etc. etc. According to the learned of this world, it’s not even a question anymore. Israel must submit to a “two-state solution”. And just what is the two state solution? Ostensibly, it is one in which Israel shares ownership of the land given to them by God with the Palestinian people. For those advocating such a “solution” their opinion on whether Israel was given her land directly from God must fall into one of two camps: 1) The land was never given to Israel by God and thus this claim is bogus – thus making a liar out of the Bible or 2) The land was given to Israel by God but is subject to man’s decision to overrule that God – in the interest of “peace”. I can guess which of the these options the Palestinians, Europeans and President Obama believes. This Pope is somewhat of a question, however with him earthly pragmatism is probably trumping biblical...

Another US president, another try at the so-called Mideast Peace Process. Every US President in the last 40 years have come into office with a targeted aim of solving the usual middle-east ‘problem’ of creating a livable peace between Israel and its hostile Muslim brothers. I ask myself each time, if the US President is a professing Christian…as they usually claim to be, what is it about Biblical scripture do they not see? Now that assumes that a) their claim of Christianity is actually real and b) they actually know what is in the Bible. The answers to these two questions may explain much of why all of these so-called ‘leaders of the free world’ keep failing at this stated goal of achieving a ‘lasting’ peace in the Middle East. Now about those two thorny questions posed above. If the Bible says that there will be no lasting peace between Israel and her neighbors (until the Lord God himself steps in), what’s the point of all of these efforts? A few passages of scripture to illustrate: ...

After months of seeing it’s civilians shelled by rocket attacks from the Palestinian terror group Hamas, Israel today decided that enough was enough and launched a massive aerial attack on Hamas controlled Gaza City (in southern Israel). The attack has drawn predictable criticism by the anti-Israel media from around the world, with the emphasis being on the “many civilians” that have been killed. Never mind the fact that Hamas has been firing their rockets randomly at targets in Israel including civilians for months, as well as the fact that Hamas cowardly bases it’s headquarters in the middle of large civilian population centers (next to women and children) to be shielded from possible attacks. Any civilian casualties in the midst of war is regrettable, however what are we to make of God’s view regarding such casualties? The Bible is replete with examples of God actually ordering the destruction of “civilians” in the midst of military attacks ordered by Him. A few examples below: Deut...

Anyone who has read my posts knows that I focus a lot on the nation of Israel. I do so because in view of biblical focus, Israel is the physical center of God’s world. It is where Christ our savior was sent to be born, live and die for our sins and where He will come to again and reign in his future earthly government: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end… (Isaiah 9:6-7 NIV) I found the following paragraph captured from the News From Jerusalem website very instructive about the condition of modern day Israel’s standing in our current world. It was written in the aftermath of the recent Mumbai India terrorist attacks that among other atrocities singled out an Israeli center for particular carnage, executing 6 Jewish employees in the process. Six decades after the Holocaust, ...

WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED...to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors… Excerpted from the UN Charter Preamble Based on the way that the UN has treated the state of Israel over the years, it is clear that the UN Charter applies to all countries except for the state of Israel. Below is the opening paragraph from the News From Jerusalem website today: Israel filed a formal complaint with the United Nations on Tuesday over statements made by UN General Assembly President, Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua, who called for an international boycott of Israel after accusing it of being an apartheid regime. D'Escoto went on to decry the plight of the Palestinians, describing the failure to create a Palestinian state as "the single greatest failure in the history of the United Nations." I certainly can understand the UN being upset that the Palestinian people do not have a homeland, but its bias to an...

That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." The man asked him, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered. Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome. (Genesis 32: 22-28 NIV) So, God decided that for reasons only He understands, the nation Israel would be directly created by Himself. It says so right there in the scripture above. This one act, has influenced the entire hu...

In both Israel and the United States, the issue about building walls to protect their borders is very much in the news today. Both countries feel they are being besieged by neighbors who take advantage of “unwalled” borders to in effect destroy their culture and nationality. In Israel, it is the continuing problem of suicide bombers, who routinely enter Israel and blow themselves up along with Israeli citizens as they go about their daily lives. In the US, it is the stream of illegal immigrants and who knows whom else, who stream primarily across the US/Mexican border. Socially, these illegals puts a strain on US social services. Militarily, other illegals whose intents are far more malevolent, may one day attempt to destroy one or more American cities. As I thought about writing this post, my thoughts focused on the routine character of “fortified” cities described throughout the Bible, therefore reinforcing the position of those in favor of building these walls to protect their count...

In the continuing one-sided dialogue between God and the Middle East “Peacemakers”, God once again spoke very eloquently yesterday. In the Palestinian elections – which was pushed very hard by the Bush Administration as a key component to the peace process – God allowed not the so-called moderate political party (Fatah) to win, instead He allowed the most brutal anti-Israel terrorist organization Hamas to achieve a landslide victory …thus throwing the so-called “peace-process” into total disarray. Hamas has been responsible for countless suicide bombings inside Israel, and has as its core intent “the destruction of the state of Israel” . Now they become the official ruling government of the Palestinian people. It will be interesting to see what the so-called “peacemakers” try next. They will be best served to realize that the true roadmap to Middle-East peace lies not in their man-driven diplomacy, but in God’s written Bible. The Bible is clear: God is working on His Israel project, an...

In the summer of 2005 Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (with the encouragement of President Bush) agreed to forceably withdraw Israeli citizens from the Gaza strip and turn the area in southwest Israel over to the Palestinian Authority as part of the state of Palestine. This was hailed by many governments as a critical step towards ending the war between Palestinian militants and Israel. "Land for Peace" was the slogan of choice. Given that Israel was established by God as documented in the Old Testament of the Bible, I wondered what God would think of this arrangement brought about by modern day wisdom. Some history would be useful here: When Joshua (the leader of Israel) was old and well advanced in years, the LORD said to him, "You are very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over. This is the land that remains: all the regions of the Philistines and Geshurites: from the Shihor River on the east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the n...

Have you ever wondered how come such a small country (about the size of Rhode Island) can continue to be the target of all things violent and hate filled? Everyday, the news headlines are filled with attention (mostly negative) on this nation. The UN hates them, the Europeans loathe them, the Arabs want to destroy them and the Americans are schizophrenic about them. Of course I am referring to the State of Israel. If nothing else, it does prove the point that when God says something, all should listen. In the Old Testament, God stated that Jerusalem will be a "burdensome stone" (Isaiah 8:14), and that "He will defend her against her enemies" (Zechariah 9:8). The irony is that most of the adversaries mentioned in the first paragraph claim officially or by behavior not to believe in the all-powerful God of Abraham, Isasac and Jacob. So in their blind zeal, they continue an all out assault on the nation of Israel, yet to no avail. The Americans (as most lukewarm believ...