Is The Israel-Hamas War A Prophetic Sign of The End Times?
Many Christians today say “I stand with Israel” because of biblical prophecy.
“You [Christians] are worshiping one Jew, that's a mistake, you should be worshiping every single one of us because we all die for your sins every single day.” —Rabbi Chaim Richman, Director of the Temple Institute (1989-2020), advocates rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem.
Republican Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio recently called for the “complete eradication” of the Palestinian people.
In this article:
END-TIMES PROPHECIES AND AMERICANS
4 KEYS TO BIBLE PROPHECY
DOES MODERN ISRAEL HAVE ANY PROPHETIC SIGNIFICANCE IN THIS AGE?
IS GOD PROTECTING ISRAEL TODAY AND IN THIS WAR?
SHOULD CHRISTIANS “STAND WITH ISRAEL?”
By Brad Ward & Summer Black, Directors, Armor of Truth
END-TIMES PROPHECIES AND AMERICANS
Speculating about “End Times” is big business. Christians today are shopping for brands of truth, like selecting a more personally preferable wardrobe. Since at least the 1980s, when Hal Lindsey published his bestseller of false prophecy, The Late Great Planet Earth, modern Christians have begun to structure their spiritual lives around prophetic "possibilities,” especially headlines that have anything to do with the geopolitically significant modern nation of Israel.
As social media has progressively permeated our lives, the topic of Bible prophecy and the prevalence of individuals claiming the gift of prophecy have boomed. Whenever modern Israel enters a conflict or goes to war, news reports are studied through the prophetic pronouncements of self-appointed seers.
Many Christians today say “I stand with Israel” because of biblical prophecy and/or because they believe that the modern nation of Israel is the same as the Old Testament Israel. Not so. Old Testament Israel was a religious theocracy. The government of modern Israel is a parliamentary democracy. Modern Israel looks more like the United States than the realm ruled over by King David. God does not intend any nation in this age to be a theocracy.
The term “Jew” can refer to religion or ethnicity. In Old Testament Israel, these were the same, but for the modern nation of Israel, they are not. Israel identifies itself as the nation of the Jewish people, but only in the sense of ethnic heritage, not religious practice. Benjamin Netanyahu posted on his Instagram account on March 10, 2019: “Israel is not a state of all its citizens, but the nation-state of the Jewish people and only them.”
A 2016 Pew research study showed that 81% of Israel’s population are Jewish by ethnicity, but only 41% are religiously Jewish.
Sadly, Christians in 2023 generally have a weak knowledge of Scripture and know even less about church and world history. This fragmented foundation, combined with an acute curiosity for all things esoteric, leaves modern Christians vulnerable to fakes, frauds, and grifters who are never held accountable for their failed predictions.
VIDEO: Watch the full account of this article in our latest video from TrueNormalTV:
Is The Israel-Hamas War A Prophetic Sign of The End Times?
https://www.youtube.com/live/IHIjzndEITI?si=xEKGtWxjFWuNHTGd
In this video, we aim to help our viewers understand these things:
Is this war a prophetic sign of the “End Times?” Is Israel under divine protection today?
Who is “Israel?” Who are the Jews? Who are Christians? Should Christians “stand with Israel?”
And what about the people of Palestine?
Deuteronomy 18:22 prepares us for such claims, plainly stating that if the prediction does not come true, the prophecy is false, and the person who spoke it is untrustworthy. Likewise, Jesus warned that “false Christs and false prophets” would appear and attempt to deceive those who should know better (Matthew 24, 2 Peter 3, and Jude 17,18). These self-appointed “prophets'' are not challenging to spot. Generally, anyone claiming to have direct revelation from God today must be scrutinized, and those who use the headlines to interpret Scripture must be avoided.
In the age of the New Testament Church, we have the gift of God’s fully sufficient special written revelation.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
We have the testimony of the Old Testament prophets and the disciples and apostles who witnessed the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ first-hand (2 Peter 1:16-21).
“...we have [a] more sure the prophetic word, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place…” (2 Peter 1:19)
Many claim to know the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the antichrist, the Mark of The Beast, and the False Prophet. But the Bible gives no specific dates or names for such entities. The Bible does seem to indicate what the conditions of the world will be just before the return of Christ, and it is upon those conditions that so many professing Christians seem to have become obsessed.
There are things we do not need to know and cannot yet know (Mark 13:32; Revelation 10:4), and those with prominent public platforms must refrain from indulging in such speculation.
But, you may ask, why? What does it hurt? Doesn’t discussing prophecy and God’s chosen people bring us closer to God? Frankly, no. There is no fruit in error. But it’s worse than mere fruitlessness. It is very destructive to make out-of-context speculations about Bible prophecy and the nation of Israel.
Question: Could Jesus return at any moment?
Answer: Yes.
The Bible says that Jesus’ return is near, and we are to wait eagerly for it (Romans 8:19-25; 1 Corinthians 1:7; Philippians 4:5; Jude 21). James encourages us to “be patient and stand firm because the Lord’s coming is near” (5:8). Revelation 1:3 and 22:10 also say that “the time is near.”
Question: Could Jesus have returned before the current nation-state of Israel was established?
Answer: Yes.
These texts encouraging believers to watch for and be ready for Jesus' return were written in the first century AD before the modern nation state of Israel was formed. One who believes that modern Israel is an extension of Old Testament ancient Israel must challenge that presupposition biblically and whether Jesus could have returned in 1947 or perhaps 1776? If so, does the modern nation of Israel really have any prophetic significance in this age?
Question: Does the Bible preclude the possibility of the modern nation-state of Israel being defeated in war, the Jews losing their land, and being scattered again?
Answer: If the biblically consistent answer is no, then the idea that modern Israel is a player in Bible prophecy in the Church Age must be rejected.
The next event on God’s prophetic timetable is the Second Coming of Christ. Fulfillment of that prophecy is not dependent upon whether or not the modern nation-state of Israel exists in this present age.
Therefore, if Christians support Israel today, it cannot be because the modern nation-state of Israel is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. No Christian should be interpreting biblical eschatology through the news or giving their generation prophetic priority over the intent of the biblical text. Even if national Israel has a God-given right to the Holy Land, they have no divine right to the land in this present age.
4 KEYS TO BIBLE PROPHECY — by Gary Demar *
1. Keep Bible prophecy in its proper time frame.
Most of the Bible’s prophecies were fulfilled in the past. When we do not account for the proper time frame of a given prophecy, we can lead people to believe this generation is experiencing the fulfillment of a prophecy meant for another generation.
2. Our generation is not all that unique in history when it comes to plagues, earthquakes, floods, and wars. In other words, when modern Israel goes to war, it does not necessarily carry any prophetic importance.
3. Historical context. Before we assume a prophecy is meant for now or the future, we must first search to see if the prophecy has been fulfilled already. It is a mistake to claim God's specific promises to Israel that were intended for a different time and purpose.
4. Discern the difference between fulfillment of prophecy and application of prophecy. Much of the Bible’s prophecies have already been fulfilled, but the principles of an already fulfilled prophecy can be applied to any era.
*Of course, there are other rules of interpretation and tests for prophecies, but these are the most misunderstood and misapplied.
Political tyranny and religious apostasy are not necessarily signs of the End times. These things have been with us since the Fall.
Much of today's Bible prophecy hysteria comes as a result of “generational provincialism.” This is the belief that Bible prophecy can only be understood through the lens and experience of the present generation. American Christians seem largely unaware that wars, earthquakes, famines, and plagues have been a part of the human condition since the Garden and the Fall of mankind.
At various points in history, God has used catastrophic events as a direct judgment or a warning of judgment to come for unfaithfulness (Numbers 16:30, 32, 34; 26:10; Deuteronomy 11:6).
Instead of reading Israel’s war as a sign, these events should serve to remind Christians that we are sinners living in a fallen world that has been ravaged by the effects of our rebellion (John 9:1-3).
In 1942, Samuel Eliot Morison wrote a biography of Christopher Columbus, where he said,
“At the end of the year 1492 most men in Western Europe felt exceedingly gloomy about the future. Christian civilization appeared to be shrinking... Institutions were decaying, and many intelligent men, for want of something better to do, were endeavoring to escape the present through studying the pagan past.”
Once again, it seems Christian influence is shrinking, people are exasperated and looking for an escape from an unkind world. Once angling, many people are turning to paganism, New Age humanism, the occult, and cultural ideologies based on relativism that see all religions as equally true. And just as it was in 1492, Islam is once against expanding in many areas at the expense of Christendom.
People are looking for an escape and many Christians are trying to find the end times in everything when we should be praising God for allowing us to live in an age when we have more freedom and tools than ever before for taking the gospel to the world.
Five hundred years ago, many of the Reformers we revere so deeply today believed that the end was near. As we now know their speculations were wrong. Why are so few willing to consider the possibility that WE are the early church?
The Biblical text must be read and applied in its proper context. Whenever we attempt to interpret a text, we must be aware of who is speaking, who is being spoken to, and the genre of literature we are reading.
Finally, when it comes to prophecy, Jerusalem will not be "The Great City" again until it becomes the "New Jerusalem" (Revelation 21:2, 10).
IS GOD PROTECTING ISRAEL TODAY AND IN THIS WAR?
There is no question that God has chosen and set apart Abraham’s descendants as His own peculiar people through which he would bring forth the Savior.
“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 7:6)
“Remember these things, I have made you, and you are My servant; O Israel, I will never forget you.” (Isaiah 44:21)
However, as John MacArthur said, Israel is apostate.
“Israel right now is not under divine protection. They are under the promise of God that they will be perpetuated as an ethnic people, but this current group of Jews that live in the world today and in the nation Israel are not now under divine protection. They’re apostate. They’ve rejected their Messiah. They are under divine chastening. But they are still a people and will be to the end.”
How could any man make such a severe charge against God’s chosen people?
Because Jesus did:
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you did not want it. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’” (Matthew 23:37-39)
Did you catch that? The Lord Jesus Christ pronounced judgment on Israel in crystal clear terms: “Your house (Israel) is being left to you desolate!”
And that pronouncement stands to this day. But God is not finished with Israel. Jesus completes this jarring condemnation with a call to repentance: “Until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’”
80% of evangelical pastors and churches profess that the modern Zionist State of Israel is the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. The current Zionist State of Israel is an atheistic, antichrist country masquerading with the help of misinformed evangelicals as a nation under the current blessing of God.
“For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.” (Romans 11:21)
Here, the apostle Paul is speaking to a Gentile audience, wild branches that were grafted into the cultivated vine. Paul wants them to know that the root, who is Christ, supports the branches — not the other way around. Therefore, by application, if modern Christians make the same mistake Israel has by thinking their election makes them superior. Any Christian standing in the “tree” of God is there by faith only, not by works — nothing is earned with God and if any Christian is unbelieving, they will be “cut off” just as much as unbelieving Israel was.
HOW SOON WE FORGET
You’ve heard over and over that the attack on Israel by Hamas was “unprovoked.” Evil, yes. Most definitely. But unprovoked? No way. Have we so quickly forgotten February 2021? We heard exactly the same rhetoric when Russia invaded Ukraine. Politicians and talking heads repeated the word “unprovoked” intending to inspire the Western public to take a certain position.
Russia was provoked and so was Hamas. Even Israeli government officials are saying that Netanyahu deliberately provoked Hamas into war. Since Benjamin Netanyahu came back into power as Prime Minister in December 2022, violence against Palestinians has risen significantly. The new Israeli government escalated tensions with raids on Palestine as they sought to annex the West Bank.
Additionally, Israel has imposed major blockades on Gaza since 2007 and the last major bombing campaign happened in 2021 killing over 250 Palestinians. Unprovoked? No.
But, it gets worse. The Israeli Defense forces that were supposed to be stationed at the Gaza border were moved to the West Bank for unknown security concerns. The Gaza border was intentionally left unoccupied by the military.
In the days immediately after the Hamas invasion, we also heard on-repeat how this was an unforeseeable failure of imagination on the part of Israeli intelligence. Don’t believe it. One year ago, there was a military operation in Gaza to prepare for such events, and there has been ongoing training for exactly these scenarios.
It is undeniable that there is a serious problem with the official narrative coming out of Israel and repeated uncontested in the Western media. The IDF is one of the most advanced armies in the world, and the sensors on the Gaza border are some of the most sophisticated technology in the world. How could a thousand Hamas soldiers fly over, sail around, and walk through the border unscathed and go door to door, taking hostages and killing without resistance for six hours? Journalist Efrat Fenigson who reports from inside Gaza, writes,
“I served in the IDF 25 years ago, in the intelligence forces. There’s no way Israel did not know. I once saw a cat walking near the fence, set off the alarm, and trigger forces into action. Why were the border crossings left wide open? Something is VERY WRONG HERE… To me, this “surprise attack” seems like a planned operation… It feels like the people of Israel and the people of Palestine have been sold, once again, to the higher powers that be.”**
Michael Hoffman, America’s preeminent Christian scholar regarding Talmudism and Judaism, puts things in an even clearer perspective:
[The] Hate speech taught in the Talmud, etc… is largely excluded from the study of what motivates Israel… the influence of an ideology of contempt as the supremacist Talmud Bavli proclaims:
“If a gentile strikes a Jew, he is liable for the death penalty.” —BT Sanhedrin 58b.
“If a Jew kills a gentile, the Jew is to go free.” —BT Sanhedrin 57a.
“There is something infinitely more holy and unique about Jewish life than non-Jewish life.” —Chabad Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburg, Jewish Week (New York), August 26, 1996.
Baruch Goldstein, one of Meir Kahane’s followers, machine-gunned to death 40 Palestinians at prayer in Hebron in 1994.
The Palestinian people are considered little more than demons by many in Netnyahu’s cabinet.
Netanyahu’s genocidal Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, is a follower of Rabbi Meir Kahane, who advocated the mass expulsion of Palestinians and the killing of those who would refuse.
More evidence of the blasphemy and apostasy of Israel’s leaders can be seen in Rabbi Chaim Richman’s comments made on the Monday after the Saturday, October 7th Hamas attack:
"I just want to say this to our Christian friends ... just to call it as it is and say it straight out, you guys are worshiping one Jew, that's a mistake, you should be worshipping every single one of us because we all die for your sins every single day," Richman said, blaspheming Christ. "And that's exactly what's going on here. We're all God's first born and we're dying for your sins right now…” ***
Rabbi Chaim Richman is a famous rabbi in Israel, former director of the Temple Institute (one of the extreme Jewish groups intending to build the third temple in Jerusalem), advocates reviving the Sanhedrin, and is known for his effort to produce a red heifer (a requirement for the rebuilding of the temple).
Who is responsible for rising tensions in the holy land? Who has been forcing Muslim and Christian worshippers out of their holy sites? And these men have the support of the Israeli government.
In the days just before the war broke out, viral videos showed Jews in Israel spitting on Christians and attacking them in the streets for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Netanyahu's top police official, National Security Minister Ben Gvir, defended these acts.
Evangelical Christians have ignored the truth about Zionist Israel, what God’s Holy Word teaches about Israel, and that many of Israel’s Palestinian victims are Christians. Yet, Christians in America proudly proclaim “I stand with Israel” as it rapes, pillages, plunders, tortures, bludgeons, and murders in ways not too dissimilar from what we’ve seen from Islamic terrorists.
SHOULD CHRISTIANS “STAND WITH ISRAEL?”
A Christian’s support of modern Israel should not be based on End-Times speculations and Christians surely must not “stand with Israel” in whatever they do.
Psalm 122:6-9 says, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! ‘May they be secure who love you! Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!’ For my brothers and companions’ sake, I will say, ‘Peace be within you!’ For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.”
Christians should support Israel and not Hamas. But our support for Israel should not be out of the mistaken belief that Bible prophecy concerning Israel will be fulfilled in this age. Our prayer must be that we would love Jews and Muslims alike, and that citizens of Israel and Palestine would come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. What we know for certain is that God wants individual Jews and Muslims to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ.
God chose Israel as the nation through which He would bring His promised Messiah (Deuteronomy 18:15; Malachi 4:5–6; Isaiah 7:14–16). No other nation on earth will ever have the position that Israel has in God’s grand plan. God promised to provide, bless, and protect the Israelites if they followed Him. But, in Israel’s history, God has shown us the consequences when a nation, or a nation’s leaders, turn away from God (Ezekiel 5; 20:8; Isaiah 1).
As long as the Israelites honored the Lord, destroyed temples built to idols, and kept God’s commandments, the Lord’s active blessing was upon them and His defense was with them when other nations fought against them.
2 Kings 24 gives the details of the end of God’s blessing on Israel. God’s chosen people had defied the Lord, built idol temples, and filled their lives with fornication, murder, and adultery. They had desecrated the temple and ignored the Law for generations. God sent prophets to call them to repentance, but they would not listen and often killed those messengers (Luke 11:27–28). The Lord had patiently warned them for hundreds of years, and finally, He sent judgment.
The point is this: Sin brings consequences. Galatians 6:7 is the warning to individuals and to nations that God will not be mocked. We reap what we sow.
God has destroyed many nations for their evil before the Lord, or due to their stubborn rebellion against the Lord: Edom (Jeremiah 49:17–22), Assyria (Zephaniah 2:13–15), Sodom (Genesis 18:20), Babylon (Jeremiah 51), the Hittites (Exodus 23:23), the Moabites (Zephaniah 2:8–10), and the Philistines (Zephaniah 2:5).
God blessed Israel when they obeyed Him, and promised to provide all they needed and to protect their lives (Exodus 23:25–26). He cared that they lived peacefully and happily (1 Kings 4:25; Psalm 29:11; Proverbs 19:23). But, when Israel followed wicked kings into idolatry and harlotry, God sent famines and pestilence on the land that He loved (Ezekiel 5:17).
The Lord delights in prospering His loyal servants (Psalm 25:12–13; Proverbs 13:21).
When we honor the Lord, obey His commands, live honorably, morally, and honestly we reap the benefits. History shows that those that do not are often destroyed from within. When a nation turns away from the true God and becomes its own god, the Lord removes His protective hand.
Romans 1:18–32 shows us the progression into depravity that happens to nations that have defied God and redefined morality to fit their desires: Homosexuality, unbridled lust, and idolatry. All this and more are evidence of God’s judgment on a nation that has turned away from Him.
Malachi 3:13–18 reminds us that God is sovereign, knows all, and that He will judge righteously.
"God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). We must not feed fear and take advantage of the ignorance and gullibility of others. God has called us to something much greater.
Keeping an eye on geopolitical developments and exposing political and ideological intrigue is good, but it’s not a necessary condition for the Christian life (2 Timothy 3:12). In our love of truth and search for truth, always remember Romans 8:31: "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?"
Exposing the truth is good. Obsessing over rumors and hearsay/gossip is sinful.
So, how do we expose evil rightly? Ephesians 5:11-14 is an excellent guideline.
Verse 11 says to expose "the fruitless deeds of darkness." Verse 12 exhorts us to not engage in fruitless conjecture that promotes fear, worry, or endless speculation. Rather, we must honor the words of verses 13 and 14: "Everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible."
In other words, speak the truth and wait for God’s timing. Endless speculation is, at best, a waste of time. At worst, it is an obsession that induces paralyzing fear and draws one’s attention away from Christ.
God has not chosen to reveal all the mysteries yet. Rest in God’s eternal plan, because He is sure, true, just, and His will can never be thwarted (Job 42:2).
Above all, do not fear.
Psalm 2:2,4 is a comforting reminder for worry warts:
“The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed.” But “He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them”
CONCLUSION
We need a commonly held reality, a valid standard, a unanimous, eternal metaphysic. But who among us is wise enough to tell us what is real? It would have to be a prophet — someone with access to all truth. In a sense, there is no shortage of these prophets. Omnipresent, wide-eyed busybodies frantically recite their errant eschatologies.
“Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” (Matthew 15:14)
“An evil and adulterous generation eagerly seeks for a sign…” (Matthew 16:4)
In another sense, there are too few prophets. Too few call the world to repentance and magnify the name of Christ through the gospel. We don’t need a popular message; we need a doctrine that is exclusive, eternal, not inclusive, and impulsive.
There is such a One. He lives! The One true living Creator, the transcendent moral Lawgiver, has revealed His word and law to us in the 66 canonical books of the Old and New Testaments. The Bible is fully sufficient to answer all relevant existential questions and to provide light onto our path forward out of the hands of the evil one.
Truth without unity leads to pride; Unity without truth is confusion.
In other words, a message is not true simply because it is the most unique or fascinating hot take.
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.” (Proverbs 12:15)
And the other ditch, being unified in error, is more than a waste of time; it is the way of death.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 16:25)
Each of these must be guarded against. Deceivers do not announce themselves as deceivers, rather they present themselves as prophets — of a strange savior — angels of light. They target the naive. But, they do not serve our King. They serve their own appetites and desires.
Muslims, Jews, and Christians on both sides of the issue perceive themselves as noble crusaders for a great cause. Nevertheless, if one follows any other doctrine and any other leader than Christ Jesus himself, their father is Satan, and their doctrine is lies.
There is no neutrality.
“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” (Matthew 12:30)
God’s revealed word is the antidote to this confusion. None other.
For detailed lesson on who are the Jews, who are the Christians, and who is true Israel, watch the last hour of this video for a Bible study on Romans chapter 11:
Is The Israel-Hamas War A Prophetic Sign of The End Times?
https://www.youtube.com/live/IHIjzndEITI?si=xEKGtWxjFWuNHTGd
Resources:
*DeMar, G. (1999). Chapter 26: Today’s World In Prophecy. In Last Days madness: Obsession of the modern church
(pp. 339–352). essay, American Vision.
**Israel-Hamas War - An Update. Including my key insights, questions & concerns. (October 7,2023). X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved October 21, 2023, from https://x.com/efenigson/status/1710719251604984033?s=61&t=gUzMsUesg5HcGQvp2iHz0g.
***Hoffman, M. (2023, October 8). On Palestine: Victor Davis Hanson, Jordan Peterson and Bobby Kennedy Jr. - profiles in Cowardice. On Palestine: Victor Davis Hanson, Jordan Peterson and Bobby Kennedy Jr. - Profiles in Cowardice. https://michaelhoffman.substack.com/p/on-palestine-victor-davis-hanson?r=11xwqn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Download the Armor of Truth Mobile App! Free
Follow Armor of Truth on YouTube
Support Our Work Donate
Armor of Truth Culture Vault
Armor of Truth Newsletter