Let Us Wipe Out Israel

February 15, 2001



The headline from the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz today proclaimed, "PA Is Looking For Regional Crisis." The article states, "The IDF (Israeli Defense Force) believes that the Palestinians have no intention of stopping the violence, and that they want the area to heat up even further, prompting a regional crisis." This very crisis, which will soon erupt into war, is described in great detail in the Bible.

Since 1948, when Israel was restored to the land in fulfillment of Bible prophecy, they have been harassed, maligned, and terrorized by the surrounding Arabs. This also was predicted in the Bible, in Ezekiel 28:24-26 . This situation has now reached a point of great anxiety and uncertainty for Israel. Listen to the prayer of some of the people, asking for relief: 'O God, don’t sit idly by, silent and inactive! Don’t you hear the tumult of your enemies? Don’t you see what your arrogant enemies are doing? They devise crafty schemes against your people, laying plans against your precious ones. “Come,” they say, “let us wipe out Israel as a nation. We will destroy the very memory of its existence.” This was their unanimous decision. They signed a treaty as allies against you.'

You may have recognized that as the first five verses of Psalm 83, from the New Living Translation. But it is in fact the cry of the Israeli people today, as heard by the prophet centuries ago. This Psalm is about the concerted plot of the Arab nations to try to destroy Israel, and describes the war and its outcome.

In other articles, we have examined what we believe is an impending war, which will be the final Arab-Israeli war. The evidence for this is plentiful, both in the Scriptures, and based on the current Mideast situation. The outcome of the war will have astonishing implications for the world.

The world economies are slavishly dependent on oil, and the middle east region is the world's largest oil supplier. Any time their oil supplies are threatened, the United States and the western powers will act quickly and forcefully This was vividly demonstrated during the Gulf War against Iraq. Despite the moralistic reasons fed to the public in an attempt to justify the war, it was really about only one thing - oil. In fact, the most compelling factor in the formulation of US middle east policy since WWI has been the consideration of the uninterrupted flow of Arab oil.

This is why the United States, despite its stated support for Israel, is never too keen during a crisis in Israel to take concrete steps on behalf of Israel that would be viewed as extreme by the Arabs. The US State Department is especially careful not to do anything to cause what it perceives as grievous offense to the Arab oil suppliers. For example, during the first few days of the 1973 Yom Kippur war, when the situation looked quite dire, Israel was almost begging Washington for arms supplies, to no avail.

None of this is news, of course. But it has a great deal of bearing on the dynamic now between the US, Israel, and the Arab peoples. The US policy regarding the "peace process" is to supposedly be an "honest broker," an impartial party only interesting in bringing peace to the region. However, the US and other western nations do not have altruism as their motivation, but only their own self-interest.

While US politicians always keep one wary eye on the pro-Israel lobbies in America, and another wary eye on the Arab oil pumps, when push comes to shove (and it will), the oil concern will take precedence. Israel will stand alone, as she always has since 1948. And any actions that Israel would unilaterally take that might jeopardize the world oil supply would be met with a tremendous outcry. This is a primary reason why the United States pays such an inordinate amount of attention to this small sliver of real estate.

Think about this in conjunction with the many Bible prophecies that indicate a future decisive and crushing defeat of the Arab countries by Israel. Precisely the thing that the US and the west fears is what will happen. Some of us believe this war could happen at any moment, and it will radically change the political equilibrium of the Middle East and indeed the entire world.

Yassir Arafat made the decision in September 2000 to initiate a second intifada, with the objective of establishing a Palestinian state on the "West Bank" and Gaza, with Jerusalem as the capital. But Arafat realizes that he does not have the military might to impose this solution. To him, this intifada is just part of a longer term strategy to gain sympathy from both the surrounding Arab nations, and from the United Nations. However, it's not only sympathy that he's looking for, but action.

In his mind, there are a few ways that this could play out. First, the Arab nations would ultimately come together against their common enemy, the hated "Zionist entity." During the past few months, we have seen nations such as Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Iran bury their conflicts with each other and align against Israel. In a regional war in which the Arab nations emerge victorious, Arafat would get the spoils, with a bonus. For if Israel would lose a war like that (they won't), Arafat would not get only the 1967 borders, but all of Israel as his prize.

The second scenario that Arafat might envision would be an eventual direct intervention by a United Nations force, similar to the Serbian intervention. If Arafat can keep the conflict raging, and continue to manipulate world sympathy in favor of the "poor oppressed Palestinians," the United Nations might send a coalition army to forcefully impose the UN resolutions regarding the "West Bank" and Jerusalem. Indeed, think-tanks friendly to the Palestinian cause are already positing such an action.

In the event of a war, Arafat would see himself as a winner, whether Israel wins or loses the war. If Israel loses, then no more Israel. If Israel wins a limited war, then the United Nations would have the motivation and pretext to directly intervene to establish "Palestine." Arafat's dream scenario would probably be a combination of the two: a limited Arab-Israeli war, followed by UN military action against Israel.

However, his strategy will badly backfire on him. It will not play out the way Arafat wants. There will be a regional war, yes, but the outcome will be very different from what he hopes. The outcome will be incredibly devastating this time for the countries that join against Israel. The extent of this disaster for nations such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, will catch the world by surprise.

The United Nations will not have time to implement their plan to militarily intervene on behalf of the Palestinians. After the Palestinians formally join the Arab nations in a declaration of war against Israel, the rules will change. Instead of the measured, restrained response of the IDF that the PA currently enjoys, there will be an unlimited, full response. After the destruction of Damascus, and as the war turns badly against him, Arafat will realize that he badly miscalculated. But by then it will be too late for any future hopes for a Palestinian state, for nearly all of Arafat's "subjects" will have fled in terror. And Arafat, the darling of the world's leaders, will perish in the fighting.

"Palestine" will be devoid of a leader, and devoid of Palestinians! Given the circumstances, Israel will not be inclined to readmit them. Thus, the UN dreams of a Palestinian state will die a final death. Because their plans to forcefully grab the West Bank for "Palestine" will be irrevocably smashed, the planners at the United Nations will be enraged.

If in fact one of the outcomes of this war is a huge exodus of Arabs from Gaza, the West Bank, and the lands the Israel will capture in Jordan and Lebanon, the international outrage at this new "refugee problem" will be intense. But this time, Israel will stand defiantly, asserting its permanent claim on all of the lands captured as a result of war. Will they perhaps finally realize that all these things have been prophesied? (See Extending Your Boundaries and No More Malicious Neighborsfor more details.)

Biblical predictions for the outcome of this war are abundant. Prophecies such as Ezekiel 36, Isaiah 17, Psalm 83, Psalm 60, Ezekiel 25:15-17, Jeremiah 49:23-27, and Zechariah 9 are just a sampling of the preview that God has provided about this imminent war. (See War on the Horizon.) Psalm 83:9-12 describes an overwhelming victory on the scale of some devastating battles from Bible times.

This takes us back to the oil factor - the world will be extremely irate at Israel because of the outcome of the war. The final chapter of vicious anti-Semitism in world history may result. Because of the horrible destruction of Damascus, the capture by Israel of large chunks of land in Jordan and Lebanon, and the huge spike in world oil prices, Jews around the world will be reviled.

As unpleasant as this will be, the Scriptures indicate the Lord has a different perspective and objective for this. Zechariah 9 and Isaiah 17 indicate that as a result of the war, the world will rage against the Jews, and the Jews will look to the Lord for help. "Then at last the people will think of their Creator and have respect for the Holy One of Israel." (Isaiah 17:7 NLT) "For the eyes of all humanity, especially the people of Israel, are on the LORD" (Zechariah 9:1b) The worldwide outbreak of hatred of Jewish people may be the impetus for another great wave of aliyah, the final mass movement of the majority of Jewish people still in Diaspora back to the land.

Zechariah foresaw this also. He supplied us with incredible details about this final aliyah that fit nicely with this scenario. In the vision the Lord gave him, he saw that those returning to the land would be returning not only to what constitutes Israel's current boundaries, but also to portions of western Jordan and southern Lebanon! For this to happen, it means that Israel will capture this land in the war. "I will signal for them and gather them in. Surely I will redeem them; they will be as numerous as before. Though I scatter them among the peoples, yet in distant lands they will remember me. They and their children will survive, and they will return. I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanon, and there will not be room enough for them." (Zechariah 10:8-10 NIV) How unlikely this would seem to most observers now, but it will certainly happen.

What are God's intentions for all of this? It's all about Israel's spiritual awakening, for His glory. He is bringing them to the point where they will acknowledge His faithful care to them, and will know both the Father and the Son. He sums it up much better than I ever could: "Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: I am bringing you back again but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, which you dishonored while you were scattered among the nations. I will show how holy my great name is -- the name you dishonored among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign LORD, then the nations will know that I am the LORD. For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.“And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God." (Ezekiel 36:22-28 NLT)

Bob Westbrook 2/15/01