What do Britain, Egypt, France, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Italy, and Russia all have in common? They all were world powers at one time in history. What else do they hold in common? They have a history of mistreating Jewish people in particular and backing the wrong horse against Israel in general. Is there a connection between the two?
When it comes to Israel, there is one passage every individual and national leader must take into account as the Bible is very clear on this connection. Genesis 12:1-3 states, “Now the LORD had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’”
God made several promises to Abraham – a land, a nation and world-wide blessing. He also tells Abraham that those who bless him will in turn be blessed and those who curse him will also be cursed. That is a tremendously huge statement! If you mess with Abraham, you will face the consequences. Can this possibly be true? In his book, Eye to Eye: Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel, author Bill Koenig uses current situations in the US to show that it is.
Koenig shows that in all of US history, nine of the ten costliest insurance events, six of the seven costliest hurricanes, three of the four largest tornado outbreaks, nine of the top ten natural disasters as ranked by FEMA relief costs and two of the largest terrorism events all transpired on the very same day or within 24-hours of U.S. presidents Bush, Clinton and Bush applying pressure on Israel to trade her land for promises of “peace and security,” sponsoring major “land for peace” meetings, making major public statements pertaining to Israel’s covenant land and/or calling for a Palestinian state.
Is this mere coincidence or is it God literally keeping the promise He made to Abraham in Genesis 12? Are we heading down this same road with the current US Administration? Just recently my local newspaper reported on the floods taking place in the northeast region of the US. It was reported that “flooding on a scale rarely seen in New England forced hundreds of people from their homes Wednesday. Hardest hit by 3 days of record-breaking rain was Rhode Island, where the worst flooding in 200 years could persist for several more days.”1
Was there anything going on between the US and Israel at that time? There was a huge storm brewing between the two “allies”. “On most issues, there is substantive continuity between Obama’s Middle East policies and those his immediate predecessor George W. Bush adopted during his second term in office. Yet, whereas Israelis viewed Bush as Israel’s greatest friend in the White House, they view Obama as the most anti-Israel US president ever. In the space of the past ten days alone, Israel has been subject to three malicious blows courtesy of Obama and his advisors.” 2
What sparked this latest storm was Israel’s construction plans for Jerusalem. The US has been pressuring Israel to stop all construction in East Jerusalem so she can prove that she is ready to negotiate peace with the Palestinians. So when American Vice President Joe Biden was in Israel on March 9, 2010, Israel announced further development of a Jerusalem suburb named Ramat Shlomo, and a diplomatic firestorm broke loose.
What is interesting about this firestorm is that Ramat Shlomo is not even in East Jerusalem, but is clearly in the northwest section of Jerusalem. Yet the US Media keeps reporting and the US Administration keeps emphasizing that this suburb is in East Jerusalem, which has been ear marked for a Palestinian capital. Why create a storm where there clearly is no issue? Is there a hidden agenda? Is the US moving away from its historic support of Israel?
If what was reported on March 29, 2010 is any indication, American policy might be making that shift. “The US is considering abstaining if the United Nations Security Council votes on a resolution against Israeli construction in eastern Jerusalem, the BBC reported Sunday. For decades, Israel has depended on the US to veto UNSC resolutions aimed against it. A change in this US policy could be very perilous for Israel. A diplomatic source told the BBC that a US official said the US would ‘seriously consider abstaining’ if the issue of Israeli construction for Jews was put to the vote.” 3
Why is this important? Israel regularly gets bashed in the United Nations with anti-Israel resolutions being passed. But these resolutions have very little bite to them. They are just ink on paper. But with the Security Council, which has the power to back up its actions, the picture rapidly changes. Israel’s friend could now become her foe at worst or ambivalent at best.
Under George W. Bush, “Israel went along with US policies despite their strategic madness because Israel wanted to be a team player. The Sharon and Olmert governments and the Israeli public as a whole believed that Israel had an ally in the Bush administration and that when push came to shove, the massive risks Israel took supporting US policies on Iran [let diplomacy take its course], Syria [Iranian-Syrian-North Korean nuclear alliance], Lebanon [don’t attack those who side with Hezbollah, namely the Lebanese government and military, which lead to Israel’s defeat by Hezbollah], Turkey [who supports Iran’s nuclear goals] and the Palestinians [measured responses to rocket attacks on Israel’s border with Gaza] would be rewarded [US would guarantee Israel’s security]. But what Obama has made clear in his mistreatment of Israel [in this current diplomatic explosion] is that he doesn’t want Netanyahu to walk the plank for the team. He wants Israel off the team.”4
In other words, Israel went along with at worst or kept its mouth shut at best with US Middle East policy because it knew the US had its back. Up to this point, US Administrations saw themselves as the guarantor of Israel’s security. The current Administration, however, appears to be moving away from this policy. In his article, “The Trust is Gone,” former New York Mayor, Jewish Democrat and Obama supporter Ed Koch stated, “It [this current diplomatic flap] has created a serious crisis of confidence among the Israeli public that it can depend on this Administration for its security.”5
Whether that is good or bad, for the purposes of this discussion, doesn’t matter. It is what it is. US foreign policy is changing. And one of those changes is that the US appears to be moving away from guaranteeing Israel’s security, which is exactly what the Bible says must happen, no matter what party holds the White House.
One must understand that when it comes to prophecy, it’s not about America. It’s about Israel. And we learn from Ezekiel 38 and 39 that Israel will be attacked once again and in this particular prophecy, she has no one to guarantee her peace, her security, except the Lord.
Ezekiel describes a time when Israel will be living in peace and “are living in safety”, a “land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate” (38:8). When Israel is feeling at peace, she will be attacked by a number of countries (who and is it that coalition coming together today will be the subject of a future article). Yet Ezekiel states in 38:18-23 that God will do the fighting for Israel. He will take care of Israel’s enemies all by Himself and the world will not only see it, but know that it was God alone who did it.
Now, let’s face it. For those who live with a Biblical worldview and know Israel’s brief history, we would have to say that it was God who brought Israel into existence “in a day.” We look at the odds Israel faced in her wars and come to the only plausible conclusion, God fought through the Israeli army like He did during the days of Joshua when Israel first conquered the land. Is God getting the credit for Israel’s current existence? No. Do most people on the planet see this as God’s doing? Hey, if most Israeli’s don’t credit God with their existence, what can you expect from the rest of the world?
Yet the war that Ezekiel describes reveals that “all on the face of the earth will tremble at My presence…I will make Myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.” Up to this point, it is “debatable” whether God brought about the existence of Israel as a nation again. In this end time prophecy, that debate will be gone. The entire world will know it was God who defeated Israel’s enemies. Now, if the US is the guarantor of Israel’s security, then who would get the credit for defeating Israel’s enemies in Ezekiel? The US. But this passage specifically states that the world will know that it’s neither the US nor the Israeli Defense Force, but God and God alone who defeated Israel’s enemies. How God does this is quite the story, but that’s for another day.
For this outcome to occur, the US will have to come to the point that it is no longer Israel’s security guarantee. In this scenario, does it mean that the US will no longer be a world power? Does it mean that the US must be humbled economically so as to back off its military commitments? No, it simply means the US will not back Israel’s defense. She may be hostile or ambivalent when Israel is being attacked. But no matter what, America is on the sidelines watching events take place in Israel.
Having said that however, if any US Administration, again it doesn’t have to be the current holder of the White House as God can change that situation at any time, turns their back on Israel, what does that mean for the US? Genesis 12. Think about something for a moment. Is it any wonder how the US won the Cold War leaving the US as the sole world power without a bullet being fired? As one politician noted, “It’s the economy stupid!” Those who bless Israel will be blessed. Ask yourself, which of the two Cold War countries supported Israel? Those who bless Israel will be blessed. Is it any wonder why the US of all the world’s powers over time is still the sole super-power today? Those who bless Israel will be blessed.
As of today, there is a shift in US foreign policy away from Israel. Is it the crack that eventually breaks the dam? It’s possible. If it continues, there will be consequences. The reason the past super-powers are past was their treatment of Israel. Could the United States be the next past super-power because of her shift in support for Israel? Could the reason so many natural disasters have occurred in the past 3 presidencies be because of those Administration’s treatment of Israel? Could the worst flooding in Rhode Island’s past 200 year history be linked to the current Administration’s policies regarding Israel?
What is known from the Ezekiel prophecy is that America, the current guarantor of Israel’s security, is not present. Whether that is by choice (foreign policy shift) or by force (something happens in or to America), we’ll have to wait and see. Whether it is under this president or some future one, an American Administration will decide not to support Israel. And when this happens, Genesis 12 will come true. The long run of a prosperous economy will subside. The time of American superiority will come to an end. History is quite clear on this point. Only time will tell when that takes place, but one thing is for sure, God has kept, is keeping and will keep His promise made to Abraham.
You know me; knowledge for knowledge sake is useless. The Bible tells us always apply what we learn. So allow me to give you a few practical applications. First, trust in the Word of God, not the words of politicians of any party or country. God’s Word has and will continue to prove itself true. Second, allow the Word of God and the Spirit of God to change your life from the inside out. The more you become like Jesus, the more you take on His character, the better prepared you’ll be to handle whatever comes your way in the future. Third, live with a Biblical worldview. See all of life through the Word of God, not the culture or country in which you live. It’s not about America’s future; it’s about individual’s futures – where they chose to live for eternity. Lastly, pray for your governmental leaders that they would believe and submit to the Word of God. From an American perspective, most people in Congress and in the general American population currently support Israel. But they don’t make foreign policy, the president does. Yet the people will pay the price for their government’s choices. I don’t know about you, but I want the blessings of God, rather than the curses.
Author: Pastor Chris Suitt
End Notes
1. Press Enterprise, “Floodwaters slam Northeast,” April 1, 2010 C1.
2. Caroline B Glick, “Exploiting the Crisis”, Jewish World Review, April 2, 2010.
3. Gil Ronen, “US May Abstain if UNSC Votes on Eastern Jerusalem Construction”, IsraelNationalNews.com, April 10,2010.
4. Caroline B Glick, “Exploiting the Crisis”, Jewish World Review, April 2, 2010.
5. Ed Koch, “The Trust is Gone”, IsraelNationalNews.com, March 25, 2010.