Nations in Alignment with Israel?

Suddenly, formerly pro-Arab Greece appears to be very pro-Israel. On Tuesday, Greece and Israel pledged to increase defense cooperation. So, what is behind this? It appears that economics may be the answer. Greece is essentially broke and spiraling downward economically, while Israel's financial state looks exceedingly good.

But beyond that, Greece is a typical European nation that is dependent on foreign oil and natural gas providers, while Israel has an abundance of both, thanks to discoveries in the past three years. In fact, it has been estimated that Israel has more oil shale than does Saudi Arabia. In addition, the Jewish nation has two massive natural gas deposits. Greece has a keen interest in participating with its traditional Greek ally Cyprus, which has made a deal with Israel to develop the undersea gas deposits in the Mediterranean.

Israel in Today's End Times

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the end times in which we live is the rebirth of the modern state of Israel. The prophet Ezekiel recorded in the Bible that in the end times God would bring the Jews back into their ancient land and that once he had done that he would never allow the to be destroyed or scattered among the nations again. Unlike some teachings that have crept into the church today that teaches that Israel has been replaced by the church but this simply is not so. God declared that he would bring the Jews back into the land here in the end times and that he would gather them from the four corners of the Earth in order to fulfill his plans for the redemption of man, both Jew and Gentile.

Will 2012 Be the Year Israel Attacks Iran?

Iran believes that an Israeli attack may occur in 2012. Sources inside the Persian state say that insiders surrounding Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei truly believes an attack will be launched on Iran before the presidential election. Therefore, the regime is preparing for that very real possibility.
This thinking coincides with that of the British officials who announced Israel will attack Iran—soon! Their declaration, made in mid-November, stated that the Jewish nation could even hit Iran by Christmas, though we now know that date came and passed without incident. However, the Brits have not changed their minds on the belief that Israel's military strike will occur, though they now believe it will happen in 2012.

The Palestinians: Victims of Jewish Oppression or Pawns in an Arab Conspiracy?

A good friend of mine who is a missionary recently wrote to me to express his concern over my strong support of Israel in its struggle with the Arabs. He expressed compassion for the Palestinians, and stated that he felt like I was being unfair toward them.

I responded as follows: "In your letter you stated that you were afraid I had developed a ‘spiritual blind spot' regarding Israel and the Palestinians. You based that conclusion on cartoons I have run in the Lamplighter and on articles I have written about the Middle East.

"I can certainly understand your feeling, and I respect it, but I strongly differ with it. I feel the ‘blind spot' rests with the Church and the World. Both have hated the Jewish people and have done everything possible to persecute them for the past 2,000 years. Now that God has sovereignly regathered the Jewish people from the four corners of the earth and has re-established them as a nation, both the Church and the World are enraged and are determined to aid and abet the enemies of Israel in any way possible.

"The leadership of the PLO is made up entirely of low-life, god-hating, murderous thugs, and I intend to make that clear to my audience in no uncertain terms, using both words and cartoons. I make no apology for it. I pray daily for God to pour out His wrath upon them.