Lance Lambert’s Middle East Update for October 2013
By Lance Lambert.. This is Lance Lambert speaking, and this is my Update for October 2013. The world scene continues to be grim. It is good to know the Lord in all that is happening. Flood and fires, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and terrorism claiming so many lives in different places. For instance, Nairobi, Kenya, 67 dead; in Pakistan, a whole assembly of Christians, 80 dead, in one week 132 dead in Pakistan; in Nigeria, 50 students shot whilst they were sleeping, just to name a few of the incidents. A few weeks ago here in Israel, we celebrated the new Jewish year of 5774. This is the year of the red moons, beginning the first day of Passover and the first day of Sukkot. We face whatever it all means with the Lord, and we remember the Scripture in Isaiah 26:3-4 – “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace (in Heb. shalom-shalom) whose mind (or imagination) is stayed (or fixed) on thee, because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever, for the Lord, even HaShem, is an everlasting Rock.”
I will read a few more Scriptures – in Psalm 121:3-8, those wonderful words – “He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep thee from all evil: he will keep thy soul. The LORD will keep thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and for evermore.”
To that I would like to add in the prophecy of Zechariah, Chap.12:1-4 – “The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel: Thus saith the LORD, who stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about, and upon Judah also shall it be, in the siege against Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in that day that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples: all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded, and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it. In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with terror, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness.”
Lastly I would like to read yet another Scripture in Psalm 20:1-5 – “The LORD answer thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob set thee up on high; Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion; Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Grant thee thy heart’s desire, and fulfil all thy counsel. We will triumph in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners.”
In this Update I will seek to cover the following matters: What is the crux of the problem? What is the heart of the matter? What lies at the root of the problem that we have in the Middle East, and in particular, in relation to Israel? Then I want to speak about the Middle East and the so-called ‘Arab Spring’. Thirdly I would like to speak about the condition of Israel at present, and the so-called Peace Talks between Israel and the Palestinians. And finally I will talk about Sukkot, which we have just celebrated, and its essential meaning.
Middle East
WHAT IS THE CRUX of the matter? Please remember that these Updates are about Israel and the Middle East in particular, and Israel and the world in general, IN THE LIGHT OF GOD’S WORD. They are not merely a news update of Israel and the Middle East and the world – it is to do with the light of God in His Word helping us to understand the Middle East and the world situation as regards Israel. Is the Word of God truly and in reality God’s Word? Or is it a jumble of ancient records put together to justify a particular people’s history, records that could have been tampered with to make them more amenable to a particular people? Is it therefore a mixture of God’s Word and man’s input? If it is that, we have to sort it out & seek to rectify it. Where it is politically incorrect, we must bring it up to date and make it politically correct. Where it involves customs of the ancient world, we must make it more up to date, more contemporary, more in line with modern thought. We must bring it up to date and make it politically correct. Where injustices have been done as a result of what many would call the ‘so-called word of God’, we must rectify those injustices.
In my estimation, the Bible is the Word of God Himself. Of this Word, which lives and abides forever, I have been born of God. His Word, by the Spirit of God, leapt out of the book and into my darkened soul, creating living faith, and I was born of God. So were most of you who hear my voice today. It was the same Word of God which created the universe and this planet on which we live. We are told in the Gospel of John that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…” And it goes on to say: “All things were made through him…” that is John 1:1-4. If we who have been redeemed and born of God are witnesses to the reality of God’s Word, so also is the presence of Israel in the Middle East, an incredible and solid evidence of and witness to the authority, the inspiration and the relevance of God’s Word. This Nation twice exiled through sin & twice returned to its original homeland – the first time for 70 years, the second time for nearly 2,000 years – is unique. There is no other instance of it in world history. And through it, God is speaking.
Consider Jeremiah 31:10 – “Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, & declare it in the isles afar off, & say, ‘He that scattered Israel will gather him, & keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.’” And again, in Isaiah 11:10-12 – “And it shall come to pass in that day that the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples, unto him shall the nations seek: & his resting place shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, that shall remain, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he will set up an ensign (a banner) for the nations, & will assemble the outcasts of Israel, & gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”
Israel is an ensign. Now, for those of you who do not live in a kingdom, an ensign normally flies wherever the king or queen is resident, which means that Israel is a sign of the presence of God in world history. The promise to Abraham & to his seed still stands inviolate, no matter what people say, including some churches. Those who bless them will be blessed, & those who curse them – the two Hebrew words are different, though in English we have only one word, a ‘curse,’ but the first ‘curse,’ to demean, belittle, devalue or negate; but those who do that will be ‘cursed’ – & that is a strong word, a terrible word of judgment. The Almighty has chosen Israel, as yet unsaved, as the powerful evidence of the simple fact that His Word is HIS WORD.
Mandate for Palestine-Israel left over size
It is therefore unthinkable to dismiss the covenants which God has Himself made. Those covenants are eternal, everlasting covenants, so described. To dismiss earlier covenants & to keep the covenant spoken of in Ezekiel, the new & eternal covenant which God had promised He would make with His own is ridiculous. Abraham & his seed, through Isaac, not Ishmael; through Jacob, not Esau – God made covenant, a covenant which is eternal. In Psalm 105:7-11 it says – “7 He is the LORD our God: His judgments are in all the earth. 8 He hath remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations, (by the least reckoning, 40,000 years) 9 The covenant which he made with Abraham, & his oath unto Isaac, 10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a statute, to Israel for an everlasting covenant, 11 Saying, ‘unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance.’” (ASV)
Map of Israel
The Almighty has chosen Israel, as yet unsaved, as the powerful evidence of the simple fact that His Word is HIS WORD. If we dismiss these covenants, we bring judgment upon ourselves & upon our nations.
The division therefore of the Promised Land into two states, seemingly living side by side in peace & love, will bring untold trouble to all who lend their hand to it. Mark carefully my words – it does not matter who, whether the President of the United States, or the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, or their Foreign Secretaries, or any other national leader – it is a blatant rejection of God’s Word & the covenants He made with Abraham. The fact that He has brought back this people from the ends of the earth to their homeland, to the very land from which they were exiled, & has defended them in every one of the ten wars since the founding of the State in 1948, speaks volumes.
And there is much more to come. See how Zechariah, prophesying concerning the last stages of world history, some 2,600 years ago, spoke of the siege against Jerusalem, & expressly stated that the Almighty Himself will work miracle after miracle for Israel in that phase of history. Hear the Apostle Paul’s words in his Roman letter, inspired by the Spirit of God – Romans 11:28-29 – “28 As touching the gospel, they (the Jewish people) are enemies for your sake: but as touching the election (that is, the fore-ordinate power & counsel of God), they are beloved for the Patriarchs’ sake. 29 For the gifts & the calling of God are irrevocable.” (ASV) There is no way you can get round that simple clear Word in the New Testament.
The real crux then of the whole situation in the Middle East, & increasingly, in the Western world, is the authority, the reliability & the relevance of God’s Word. It will become clearer & clearer that this is the heart of the matter.
Many look upon the Bible as people look upon Shakespeare – unbelievable genius, with gems of insight, but still only humanly inspired. It can be ignored or negated in the quest for peace. Moreover it should be underlined that many Jews in the Diaspora, & also in Israel itself, hold this view & do not believe that the Bible, in its entirety, is the Word of God Himself, & that covenants recorded in it, are binding or even relevant to the 21st Century. They can be changed, or brought up to date, or made more politically correct.
Some Israeli leaders, & prominent Jewish leaders in the Diaspora, fall into this category. Such leaders tend to believe that peace is more important than territory, & that any sacrifice to obtain that peace is worth it. If these views become actions, judgment will also fall on Israel.
Is this sought-for peace really peace? I say it is not, not while Satan exists. It is ‘Peace, peace where there is no peace.’ Witness what has happened – when we withdrew from South Lebanon, what did we get? We stabbed the Christians – who had gathered in the south of Lebanon for safety from their Muslim neighbours – we stabbed them in the back, and we have now got Hezbollah, the most weaponized militia in the Middle East. Witness what happened in Hevron – we gave Hevron back, and Hevron now is a hotbed of problems. We gave back Gaza, & we have had 50,000 missiles or rockets since.
We need therefore to pray that God will have mercy upon us. I remember the Scripture that I, & those with me in my home in Jerusalem, often stand upon – it is in Psalm 33:10-11 – “the LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nought (now Nought is NOUGHT! zero!); & makes the strategies or devices of the peoples to be ineffectual. 11 The counsel of the LORD, that shall stand fast for ever, & His strategy to every generation.” (ASV) I believe that we can stand upon that Word in prayer, that God will bring all these suggestions & manipulations of the various nations to nought – He has done it again, & again, & again, & He will do it again.
NOW LET ME SAY SOMETHING about the Middle East & the so-called ‘Arab Spring’. A new wind blew through the Middle East last year. It was dubbed by the world media – the ‘Arab Spring’. It seemed that a new era was dawning, with the promise of democracy & social uplift, a spring that would lead to a glorious summer. It is now being dubbed by many in the Arab countries, the ‘Arab Autumn’ leading to an ‘Arab Winter’. In Egypt for instance, the Muslim Brotherhood, led by Morsi, won the election by a narrow number of votes, & he became President. It soon became clear that he was imposing a totalitarian system on all Egypt. He took huge powers to himself, spoke of imposing Sharia law on the whole country, & spoke of Jerusalem as the spiritual capital of Egypt.
The result was predictable. Coptic Christian churches were burnt down or vandalized, Coptic Christians, & other Christians, were murdered. According to one rumour, a Coptic Christian young man was crucified in front of Morsi’s home. The result of all this was huge demonstrations for & against President Morsi. Then the Egyptian Army stepped in, took on the Muslim Brotherhood, deposed and imprisoned President Morsi, and arrested a whole number of Muslim Brotherhood leaders. There is little doubt that the majority of Egyptians are supporting the army & its actions.
What is extraordinary is the fact that there is a complete misunderstanding of the Middle East nations on the part of the Western nations. President Obama, in his foreign policy matters, has gone from disaster to disaster, first backing Egypt & urging them to get rid of Mubarak, & openly supporting Morsi. Now the United States is in a fix as to what to do – & particularly Obama. He cannot very well openly admit that he has made a colossal mistake. The US Government and many of its leaders then backed an immediate cessation of all funds to the Egyptian army, as well as much else. It was not only the United States which took this stand, but also the United Kingdom & the European Union. Then amazingly – it is hard to believe – Saudi Arabia stepped in with $12 billion for the Egyptian army. They obviously were going to replace what the Americans were not going to give.
The fact of the matter is simple – many of the oil sheikhdoms, as well as Saudi Arabia, have little or no time for the Muslim Brotherhood. They fear it, & saw its victory in Egypt as a disaster. At the present juncture, the Muslim Brotherhood has been declared by an Egyptian court a banned organization. It is interesting that there was not a single Arab country in the Middle East that did not ban the Muslim Brotherhood. It was banned in Iraq, Syria, the Yemen, Egypt, and Tunisia – everywhere – for the simple reason that the governments of those countries feared its revolutionary character.
The truth again is simple. Democracy in the Western nations developed over centuries, & went through many changes until it finally reached its final form. It is impossible to foist democracy upon nations with no previous experience of it. When I heard all the noise made by Western leaders over Morsi’s deposition, I could not help but think of Adolf Hitler, who used democracy to destroy German democracy, & impose a totalitarian system on Germany, with all its bitter & evil consequences.
THEN I COULD SAY SOMETHING ABOUT Syria. There is the Syrian situation with 150,000 Syrian citizens killed, & millions of Syrian refugees destabilizing neighbouring countries, such as Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan et cetera. And it must also be said that there are millions of Syrians displaced, without homes or jobs, in Syria. The Syrian situation is dangerous to a degree, with rebel factions fighting each other, as well as Assad’s regime. The Russian plan to destroy all of Syria’s chemical weapons must be good for the Middle East. It is however fraught with enormous dangers.
A Syrian general who has defected to the West, said that Bashir Assad will NEVER surrender all his chemical weapons. He says that there are certain areas & locations in Syria where these weapons are stored & have not been exposed.
LET ME SAY SOMETHING ABOUT Tunisia. Tunisia has also known much trouble. That election was won by what was dubbed by the world media a ‘moderate Islamist party’. Since then two prominent Tunisian Opposition leaders have been assassinated & there has been much unrest in Tunisia. Tunisia was always understood to be the most moderate of the Arab nations, & it was in Tunisia that the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ began.
One could also mention Libya – there has been a breakdown of law & order in Libya; Lebanon, divided with much death, & trouble & fighting; the Yemen – the same condition – all of whom have seen much trouble & unrest.
THEN, IN SPEAKING ABOUT THE Middle East, I have to mention Iran. Iran has a new President, Rouhani, who has set about to give Iran a new face to the world. His ‘charm offensive’ has certainly affected the United States, the European Union & the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, underneath all the smiles are the same clerics, who rule Iran with an iron fist. Iran’s nuclear ambitions remain the same, & notwithstanding Rouhani’s claim, the nuclear program progresses whilst the nations dither. It cannot be too long a time before we awake to a testing of a nuclear device. This will change the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates are all as apprehensive as Israel of what is happening in Iran.
Let me say something about the present condition of Israel. In the midst of the Middle East, in what many have called a tough neighbourhood, Israel remains amazingly calm, considering the circumstances. It is true that when Syria threatened action against Israel, there was a run on gas masks, to a point where the government ran out of them. Nevertheless, Israel has remained poised.
The dangers however, are all too real for Israel. Zechariah speaks of the siege against Jerusalem, when prophesying about the last stages of world history, & speaks of miracle after miracle, which the LORD Himself will work for Jerusalem & Judah. Each promised, divinely worked miracle is introduced by the words – “in that day.” You will find them in Chapter 12 of Zechariah, verses 3-4, 6, 8, 9-11, & in Chapter 13:1.
There is in my mind, no doubt that we are passing into this period prophesied by Zechariah some 2,600 years ago. We see all the scenery being set in place – the Muslim Brotherhood is in all the nations around Israel. It cannot but augur evil, since the Muslim Brotherhood & militant Islam believe in the final elimination of Israel.
Furthermore, there is an alarming growth of anti-Semitism in the Western nations, & even in the denominational churches. This anti-Semitism will influence national policies of those nations in regard to Israel, ending in boycotting goods from Israel, in sanctions, & a refusal to support her in any way; and in the end, in actual conflict.
It will be then that the LORD will arise to fight for Israel & defend her. There is NO WAY you can eliminate Israel, any more than you can eliminate God the Almighty, or His Word. It has been Satan’s goal from the beginning, to remove & to negate the LORD & His Word – negate the LORD & His Word from the whole universe. That goal includes the redeemed of the LORD, Israel, & the true & living Church. He will fail.
The so-called Peace Talks between Israel & the Palestinians – in the midst of all this conflict & mayhem, Israel & the Palestinian Authority have been conducting Peace Talks. So great has been the conflict in the Middle East that those Peace Talks have hardly been mentioned. Seemingly they have had to take a back seat. But so far there has been little progress.
It is hard to see how anything approaching genuine peace could be reached, especially with what lies in the constitution of the Muslim Brotherhood, & indeed of Militant Islam anywhere. Mahmoud Abbas is looked upon by the world at large as a moderate man, a man with whom Israel could make peace. However, behind those looks there is another man. He obtained his Doctorate with a thesis denying the Holocaust; he insists that not a single Jew will be allowed to live in the State of Palestine – it will be Jude free; he will allow no Israeli presence in the Jordan Valley, & he insists on dividing Jerusalem. All this, with the return of all Palestinian refugees – some 6 million of them – is the death knell of any durable & lasting peace.
Nobody could tell me that this Palestinian state will not become a larger Gaza, with rockets & missiles & everything else. If Israel were to agree to this, it would be the end of Israel. Mahmoud Abbas wants the destruction & elimination of Israel as much as Iran, Hezbollah, HAMAS & the Muslim Brotherhood – only, they all want it with one single blow, he wants it by stages. The aim is the same; the manner in which it will be achieved, different. PRAY for the true & genuine peace of Jerusalem.
FINALLY, LET ME SAY something about Sukkot. We have just kept the Festival of Sukkot for the seven days as decreed in the Word of God, when all the fruits of the land have been gathered in. For seven days we are commanded to dwell in booths, to remember all the way that the LORD led us through the Wilderness & into the Promised Land.
Sukkot_2013
For all those forty years the LORD provided manna every day, & on the sixth day a double portion, covering the Sabbath. He provided water from a Rock which followed them in all those years, & a change of diet from time to time with quails. He led them in a pillar of cloud by day, & a pillar of fire by night. Their sandals did not wear out, nor did their clothes, and they not suffer any of the diseases of the Egyptians. The journey could have taken some two weeks; instead, it took forty years. A whole generation died through unbelief. But a new generation, with the living faith of Joshua & Caleb, went over into the Promised Land, & by faith inherited it.
Sukkot is to remind us that the LORD NEVER FAILS. He always finishes what He begins. He always fulfills His purpose. Let me read to you two verses at the very end of the Bible – interesting really, it’s at the end of the Bible – first of all at Revelation 21:6 – “And he said unto me, ‘They are come to pass. I am the Alpha & the Omega, the beginning & the end.’” (ASV) And then in Revelation 22:13 – “I am the Alpha & the Omega, the first & the last, the beginning & the end.” (ASV)
Sukkot is therefore filled with joy, it is filled with the certainty that what God has planned & purposed, He will complete. With genuine expectancy we can therefore face the future. If we will follow Him with faith & obedience, He will neither fail nor forsake us, & we will not fear nor be dismayed by all that faces us.
From: http://www.lancelambert.org
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