Israel Stands Alone - Surrounded By Enemies

Below is an excellent and timely article regarding the current situation in the Middle East and the various threats that Israel is now facing. It is one of those occasions, where you step back and reflect on the amazing accuracy of biblical prophecy.

Written thousands of years ago, God's prophets described in great detail almost all of the anti-Israeli coalitions that we see today (Ezekiel 38-39, Isaiah 17, Psalm 83, Zechariah 12, 14) not to mention the fact that Israel has been regathered as a nation, miraculously, "in a day" - following its complete dispersion throughout the world in 70AD, as stated in great detail by the prophet Ezekiel.

As seen in this summary below, we now live in this world as described by the prophets - a world in which no one will aid or assist Israel or come to their defense - a world in which all of Israel's enemies have consolidated and threatened to destroy the entire country.

Israel's Options After America's Foreign Policy Debacle

This is fairly long, so the quotes below are just a small sample of this excellent article:

At the Gatestone Institute, a group of journalists with diverse backgrounds and outlooks reviews world events with a view to American security, with special emphasis on the Middle East. Our focus this week: What does Israel do in the context of a debacle in U.S. foreign policy under the Obama administration? Our conclusion is that Israel’s reasons to strike Iran have multiplied with the emergence of a Muslim Brotherhood threat on its southern border and the possibility of an Egyptian-Iranian rapprochement.

The problem is that American foreign policy faces catastrophic failure, or rather a comprehensive set of failures, bearing directly on Israeli security. Not only have sanctions failed to deter Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapons program, but the Islamic Republic has broken out of diplomatic isolation.

Turkey, supposedly America’s partner in regional diplomacy, has reached out to Russia and China.

And Egypt has reached out to Iran while threatening Israel in the Sinai. China is hosting a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement at which Iran will assume the organization’s three-year rotating chairmanship. Egyptian President Morsi will visit Tehran on Aug. 25 on his way back from the summit.

The shift towards a new equilibrium “much less favorable for Israel and more favorable for Iran” was already in progress as we wrote, with the purge of the Egyptian military’s old guard and its replacement by officers allied to the Muslim Brotherhood.

If Israel does nothing, it is likely to confront

1) A major Egyptian military presence in the Sinai in contravention of the Camp David treaty. An Egyptian build-up is already in progress.

2) An open alliance between Cairo and the Hamas government in Gaza, allowing Hamas to acquire new offensive capacities. As Amos Harel observed in yesterday’s roundtable of Gatestone analysts, Israel already faces rocket attacks in parts of the country previously considered immune.

3) An alliance between Sunni Muslim Brotherhood elements in Syria and Iranian-sponsored Shi’ite irregulars, and Hizbollah in Lebanon.

Threats to Israel from the Sinai, Gaza, Lebanon and Syrian borders are likely to worsen as the Egyptian rapprochement with Iran proceeds. Iran’s capacity to retaliate against any prospective Israeli strike will be enhanced and may include threats from Egypt.

We should pause here, and maybe go back and read Isaiah 17, Psalm 83 and Zechariah 12. The parallels to these important prophetic scriptures are amazing. One could also start looking at the coalition described in Ezekiel 38-39 and see that one already well formed; the latest information above just serves to bolster that view.

Egyptian President Morsi’s announcement that he will visit Tehran on Aug. 30 occurs a week after Morsi purged the military leadership. Qatar’s $2 billion loan to Egypt announced the morning of Aug. 12 preceded Morsi’s purge by hours. The Obama administration sought to portray Morsi’s new army chief, General el-Sissi, as an “an ideal compromise between the secular-minded military old guard and Mr. Morsi’s Brotherhood ,” as the Wall Street Journalwrote.

People with knowledge of the Egyptian military said Gen. Sissi has a broad reputation within military circles as a Muslim Brotherhood sympathizer, a rare trait in a military culture inured against Islamism. “Sissi is known inside the military for being a Muslim Brother in the closet,” said Zeinab Abul Magd, a professor at the American University in Cairo and an expert on Egypt’s military.

Severe economic distress benefits the Muslim Brotherhood. I wrote in the Asia Times April 11 under the headline “Muslim Brotherhood Chooses Chaos,” that the Brotherhood would use shortages of food and fuel to consolidate its power in the street:

The Brotherhood believes that widespread hunger will strengthen its political position, and is probably correct to believe this. As the central government’s corrupt and rickety system of subsidies collapses, local Islamist organizations will take control of food distribution and establish a virtual dictatorship on the streets. American analysts mistook the protestors of Tahrir Square for revolutionaries. The Muslim Brotherhood now reveals itself to be a revolutionary organization on the Leninist or Nazi model.

For years, prophecy watchers have watched the various coalitions forming slowly but surely in the Middle East, but recent events have taken these alliances to a different and more radical level. The "inner circle", including Lebanon/Hezbollah, Syria, Gaza/Hamas, Egypt and parts of Jordan (if not all) have all gathered as more and more radical Islamic elements have gained control. The Gog-MaGog coalition of Ezekiel 38-39 is also well underway, as the alliance between Russia, Turkey And Iran strengthens by the day.

It is now becoming more and more clear that Israel indeed stands alone in this world.

It is also becoming more and more clear that Israel's enemies are smelling blood and war is in the air.

We seem to be headed rapidly toward these long anticipated wars - wars which will play an enormous role in shaping the world for the very last days.

Somewhere on this continuum Jesus will come for His Bride - the Church.

Things are happening very fast right now in the world of prophecy.

This is a time to anticipate our meeting of the Lord and a time to remain in prayer as much as possible.

The parables of Matthew 24 and 25 are full of instructions for our use in these last days. A careful reading of these parables reveals three critical points:

- We should be watching, ready and prepared for His coming (Matthew 24:42-51, 25:1-13; Luke 12:35-40).

We're already watching. Now we need to prepare for His coming - and that preparation includes reading and studying His word and staying in prayer as much as possible. Some good, hearty worship never hurts either, whether in church, a bible study, or just singing some praises directly to Him! Just to name a few.

How does a bride prepare for her wedding day? Isn't she constantly in preparation? Isn't she constantly thinking of her groom and their life together? Aren't plans being made on living and a home?

Are we equally consumed with meeting Jesus - up close and personal?

We will stand before Him personally. Each of us. It should and will be the most extreme pinnacle of our lives - what we have all waited for - the single most joyful moment we could ever possibly experience or imagine - to see His face - to fall at His feet - to thank Him for all that He has done - to simply be in His very presence.

That moment will be here soon. It is coming. We have been warned over and over and we see the signs before us.

Maranatha! He is coming and coming soon!