On February 3, 2017 I published a post titled “Divide Israel for Peace? – Won’t Happen!” in which I quoted the Bible regarding God’s gift of the land to the Jews and how they were instructed to never divide their gift, the nation of Israel. It is just as important today as it was then with all the war and chaos in the Mideast:

“…and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will NEVER AGAIN (capitals mine) be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms”.

Ezekiel 37:21-22

Of course this prophecy came true on May 14, 1948 with the Jews return to Israel and their Declaration of Independence. In February 2017 President Trump met with Egyptian President el-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II. While the purpose of these separate meetings was to rebuild relationships soured under the previous Obama administration in his support of Iran and failure to address ISIS gains in the region, I find it intriguing that BOTH countries, Egypt and Jordan, border Israel and based on the map above are in the lands that God actually gave to the Jews as part of the Abrahamic Covenant 3,500 years ago. Both countries had previously signed peace agreements with Israel after their disastrous wars of 1967 (which gave Israel control over Jerusalem) and 1973.Those lands promised by God go from the Nile to the Euphrates and from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. Also fascinating is that neither of these countries are listed as part of the six kingdoms that will invade Israel in the coming War of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38 & 39) but does name the countries of Russia, Iran, Turkey, etc. that will invade Israel and be TOTALLY defeated by God in ONE DAY!

Not only is it critical for Christian believers to understand where we are today in Biblical prophecy concerning the End times (events like the coming Rapture, Peace Agreement, rise of the anti-christ, 7 year Tribulation period, Abomination of Desolation, Mark of the Beast, Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ) but WHY are the boundaries of Israel so critical to God’s promises and prophecies so important?

“On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram (Abraham) and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates – the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

Genesis 15:18-21

Here we see where the Lord gave to Abraham and his descendants the land listed by geographical boundaries as well as land that at the time was occupied by 10 tribes that were NOT Abraham’s descendants and were in fact idolaters of the worse kind. Why is this important? Because almost 40 times throughout the Bible God says Jerusalem (at that time home to the Jebusites) was where He would establish His people in His Name! This means not only did God give the land to the Israelites BUT they were not to cohabitate with those 10 tribes. They were to throw them and their false gods and beliefs out of God’s land!

“On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan (Israel), drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess.”

Numbers 33:50-53

Certainly, we can always ask what would happen if they did not obey God’s commandment?

“But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.”

Numbers 33:55-56

The fact is the Jews DID NOT throw them out but instead tried to co-exist with them. As a result, the Jews were on a number of occasions taken into captivity for disobeying God and were eventually dispersed by the Romans in 70 AD throughout the world. It was only in 1948, a mere 3 years after the end of WWII AND the Holocaust that killed 1/3 of all Jews in the world that the Jews returned to Israel and with God’s Divine intercession recreated their homeland, the Nation of Israel. No other peoples in the history of the world have regained their  land and culture after a 2,000 year absence!

On numerous occasions since, the Arabs fought the Jews and tried to remove them from their God given land but were ALWAYS defeated! And, in their defeat the Arabs then lost additional parts of their own land thereby extending the borders of Israel to almost the boundaries identified by God. Unfortunately, the Jews still disobeyed God and did not throw them out of their land and to this day have numerous conflicts with those non-Jews in their God given land. Regardless of mob chants around the world screaming “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, we can trust in God’s Word.

Remember, this is not me saying it but God Himself commanding the Jews to do it!!

“I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River. I will hand over to you the people who live in the land and YOU WILL DRIVE THEM OUT (capitals mine) before you. DO NOT MAKE A COVENANT WITH THEM (capitals mine) or with their gods. DO NOT LET THEM LIVE IN YOUR LAND (capitals mine), or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.”

Exodus 23:31-33

This is so critical because political correctness and human emotion would make it very difficult for anyone to, for example, throw the Palestinians out of East Jerusalem but that is EXACTLY what God told the Jews to do! Tear down their mosques on the Temple Mount and rebuild the 3rd Jewish Temple. As a result of not obeying God’s commandment there will be continuing wars and battles UNTIL someone comes along and signs a covenant (peace treaty – perhaps swapping land for peace). However, this is directly against the Will of God. As we now know, the signing of this peace agreement with Israel and her neighbors will accomplish three things. First, it WILL NOT create peace. Secondly, it will clearly identify the anti-christ (to those who understand Biblical prophecy) as the one who writes the agreement and gets it signed. Finally, it will signal the beginning of the 7 year Tribulation Period, the worst time period in human history and will culminate in Christ’s Second Coming at Armageddon.

The message I want to leave with you is we either follow God’s rules or we don’t. We cannot allow our feelings to get in the way of God’s plan for the world. Most importantly, as God said in referring to the Jews, “I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:3. Take comfort in knowing that our job is to continue to Bless Israel and to NOT disobey God’s plan. The minute a Peace Covenant is signed between Israel and her neighbors, this world will be judged for going against what God commanded the Jews to do. We know we have a place in Heaven that awaits us if we follow God’s Law and believe in Jesus as the one who died for our sins so we don’t have to. Please make sure you are comforted with His Promise and to please “…there comfort one another with these words.”

May God Bless you as we await our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ reigning the world from Jerusalem.