SEE WHAT THEY SPEW FROM THEIR MOUTHS

A few days ago, some of the leading nations of the West, including the UK, France, Canada and Australia declared their recognition of a ‘Palestinian State’.

It is absurd to recognize something that does not actually exist. There is no ‘Palestinian State’ to recognize. It is a fiction. It would even be funny were it not so dangerous.

In uttering these words these nations have essentially signed their own death warrant. They have violated the most fundamental principle governing the history of nations, according to the Bible. God said to Abraham and his descendants – the people of Israel,

I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse.

Genesis 12:3

Every nation or empire that has risen up against the people of Israel has been defeated. Where are the Empires of the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans and the Third Reich (Nazi Germany) today? Yet Israel has survived.

By declaring a ‘Palestinian State’, these nations have expressed an intention to divide up the land that God has clearly given to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the people of Israel, the Holy Land which God defined as stretching from the River (Euphrates) to the Sea (Mediterranean), and which includes the Gaza Strip (Genesis 15:18; Deuteronomy 11:24). For this the nations will be judged by the LORD God of Israel:

“In those days and at that time,
    when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

 I will gather all nations
    and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I will put them on trial
    for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel,
because they scattered my people among the nations
    and divided up my land.

Joel 3:1-2

In giving recognition to the non-existent ‘Palestinian State’ these nations have given a prize to Hamas for their unprovoked attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Hamas leaders are openly hailing this recognition as a victory. The nations of the West, and indeed the whole world, need to decide whether they stand with God or against Him. The LORD (YHWH) is God, not Allah, and the LORD is the God of Israel.

King David was also surrounded by enemies intent upon his annihilation and this was his prayer:

Deliver me from evildoers
    and save me from those who are after my blood.

 See how they lie in wait for me!
    Fierce men conspire against me
    for no offense or sin of mine, Lord.

 I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.
    Arise to help me; look on my plight!
 You, Lord God Almighty,
    you who are the God of Israel,
rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
    show no mercy to wicked traitors.

See what they spew from their mouths—
    the words from their lips are sharp as swords,
    and they think, “Who can hear us?”

 But you laugh at them, Lord;
    you scoff at all those nations...

For the sins of their mouths,
    for the words of their lips,
    let them be caught in their pride.
For the curses and lies they utter,

     consume them in your wrath,
    consume them till they are no more.
Then it will be known to the ends of the earth
    that God rules over Jacob (Another name for Israel).

Psalm 59: 1-8, 12-13

These words resonate in today’s world.  Many are spewing forth words of baseless libel and condemnation against Israel - words such as genocide and famine. They also accuse Israel of using disproportionate force against Hamas.

No nation in history has done more to prevent the killing of civilians in war, nor has any nation gone to such pains to provide food and other aid to an enemy population during wartime. It is sadly true that many civilians have been killed in Gaza, but it is hard to distinguish who are the civilians since many Hamas fighters wear civilian clothes. Many of the so-called ‘innocent’ civilians are avid supporters of Hamas, and even celebrated the atrocities of October 7.  It is however a sad fact that civilians, even children and babies, are killed in every war. It must also be remembered that Israel did not start this war, does not want it, and is fighting for its very survival against jihadi forces intent upon its destruction.

Israel does not deliberately target civilians, unlike its enemies who fire missiles and rockets at Israeli cities with the clearly stated intention of killing as many civilians as possible. Hamas also uses their own civilians as human shields, deliberately putting them into the line of fire. They deliberately place their command and communications centers, tunnels, rocket launchers and other military armaments in and under civilian residential buildings, hospitals, schools and mosques.

It should also be remembered that many innocent Israeli civilians have died too and many Israelis have been displaced and have lost their homes, businesses and livelihoods. We don’t hear the nations decrying that injustice!

What too is ‘disproportionate force’ when you are fighting for your very survival? If a murderous madman broke into your home and started killing your family with a knife, would you lay aside your gun and attack him with a knife, in order to be ‘proportionate’? The only way to win a war is to use ‘disproportionate force’.  If the Allies in World War II had not used disproportionate force against Nazi Germany and Japan, we would all be speaking German or Japanese today. What incredible hypocrisy!

Israel is not perfect, but it is the nation that God formed and chose for His purposes and which he has promised to protect. God has not rejected Israel and His promises still stand. Israel still has a role to play in God’s redemption plan. Woe to any nation or person who dares to stand against God!

Civilizations rise and civilizations fall. They fall primarily not because of external threats but because of internal degeneration. The West has been in serious decline for decades but I believe this moment marks a turning point from which there may be no return.

Western civilization was founded and based on the Biblical Judeo/Christian worldview, moral system and law. Even the atheists among us know that murder, rape and theft are wrong. They too have been brought up to have a Judeo/Christian conscience. They may not recognize its source, but if you have lived in another culture, one not based on the Bible, you will know that without the Judeo/Christian value system, these values are far from a ‘given’. In Palestinian society today martyrdom and the killing of Jews has a far greater value than peace or even life itself. Ask a child in a Palestinian kindergarten what he or she wants to be when they grow up, and they will say they want to kill Jews and be a martyr. Hamas and its supporters value killing Jews, and global jihad (the conquest of the world for Islam) is valued above peace and ‘human rights’. People of the West find this hard to comprehend and believe.

When I was a child nearly every child in my town attended ‘Sunday School’ in one of the churches even if their parents did not attend church. In primary (elementary) school we had weekly “Bible in Schools”. At high school we began each day with the singing of psalms, Bible readings and prayer, even though it was a government run, secular school. In this way a Biblical value system was instilled in our hearts.

Then all that stopped. Children in the west now grow up ignorant of the Bible and Biblical history, and without a sound moral compass. Western civilization has lost its anchor. Without God, and a consciousness of sin, there is no reason I shouldn’t kill, rape or steal. Why should I care about the ‘other’? I will focus on myself. “I” will become the center of the universe. I will care about my rights but have no thought of my duties and responsibilities. Of course I am overstating the situation as some tattered rags of the Judeo/Christian value system remain, but if we just look around, we will see that these are disappearing fast.

If we reject God and the Bible, then truth and falsehood become confused, good becomes evil and light becomes darkness.

Woe to those who call evil good
    and good evil,
who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter.

Isaiah 5:20

Nowhere is this more evident than in relation to the current conflict in the Middle East. Many Westerners, especially the leaders of the nations, have confused good for evil, and are allowing darkness to overcome the light. Why has this happened?

When Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, brutally murdering, raping and burning alive, Israeli men, women and children, even babies, and taking 251 hostages into captivity, I thought “at last people will understand what these people (Hamas) are, what we here in Israel are having to deal with”. And so it was, for 3-4 days. But as soon as Israel began to fight back, all that sympathy was quickly replaced by censor and criticism. How could that happen?

One of the reasons is the “Underdog Principle”, the often unspoken, but very real idea that one should always support the underdog. This seems to be a fundamental attitude in Western Civilization. In many situations it is a good thing, for example supporting the poor and the disadvantaged of society. It is the outworking of God’s grace and love for mankind.

It appears to be reinforced by the Bible stories we grew up with, such as that of David and Goliath, in which Israel is the ‘underdog’, vastly outnumbered and out- armed, and God comes to its rescue. This however is a superficial understanding of these stories. The message is not that we should automatically support any ‘underdog’, but rather that God is unequivocally on the side of Israel and will ‘curse those who curse Israel’.

The underdog is not always in the right. Sometimes they are just evil. ISIS, for example, was vastly outnumbered, and out-gunned when a coalition of nations came against it and conquered it. I did not hear a great outcry against the attack on the poor ISIS ‘underdog’. Most in the West understood that ISIS was a ‘cancer’ that had to be cut out of the world.  So why do the Western nations not understand the same about Hamas? Instead they want to negotiate with them and make deals, and even give them a state, in spite of the fact they, Hamas, wants neither?

Hamas, and all radical Islamic jihadists, want only one thing – the destruction of Israel (which they call the Little Satan), and when that is accomplished, the destruction of the USA and Europe (the Great Satan). The war we are fighting is not about land or states, or even about the Palestinians, it is about world domination. The jihadist religion has the ultimate goal of world conquest in the name of Allah. Their rule will be ‘convert or die’. For this reason, giving the Palestinians a state of their own will not bring peace in the Middle East. Recognizing a fictional ‘Palestinian State’ is not a step towards peace but the opposite, an encouragement for jihad. Ultimately it will bring more violence and warfare.

The Jihadists, especially the Ayatollah regime in Iran, and their proxies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, want to destroy Western Civilization and by buying into their lies and propaganda many in the West are helping them do just that.  

Woe to the West if we stand against God and His people. God will not be mocked and He will have the last word.

Why do the nations conspire
    and the peoples plot in vain?

 The kings of the earth rise up
    and the rulers band together
    against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,

 “Let us break their chains
    and throw off their shackles.”

 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
    the Lord scoffs at them.

 He rebukes them in his anger
    and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,

 “I have installed my king
    on Zion, my holy mountain.”

 I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;
    today I have become your father.
Ask me,
    and I will make the nations your inheritance,
    the ends of the earth your possession.

 You will break them with a rod of iron^[b];
    you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

 Therefore, you kings, be wise;
    be warned, you rulers of the earth.

 Serve the Lord with fear
    and celebrate his rule with trembling.

 Kiss his son, or he will be angry
    and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
    Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 2

 

Since I began writing this article a coalition of nations, including the USA, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Egypt, put forward a plan, known as Trump’s 20-point Plan, to end the Israel-Hamas war and begin the rebuilding of Gaza. Israel has stated its agreement to the Plan, but we are still awaiting Hamas’ official response.

Initial comments from Hamas representatives indicate that Hamas will not support the Plan, or that it will demand certain changes to it; a response which will clearly not be acceptable to Israel or the U.S. I am not surprised. The Plan is essentially calling for the complete surrender of Hamas, their disarmament and the formation of a new governing body in Gaza which will exclude Hamas.

The possibility of surrender is total anathema to a jihadist. In their mind, death and martyrdom is preferable. Hamas leaders have repeatedly said they will fight to the last man (though the leaders themselves are safely ensconced in Qatar and other countries where they live in luxury). Hamas will never agree to be disarmed because without their guns they have no reason to exist. Sadly, neither will they release the remaining hostages, their last card and ultimate human shield.

There is a very slim chance that Hamas may agree to the Plan if Qatar and the other Muslim states convince them to agree by promising that they could be rearmed and supported towards launching another attack on Israel in the future.  This is the pattern we have seen over and over again. In Jihadist ideology, negotiations and deals are only permissible as a temporary ceasefire in which to regroup and re-arm.

Yesterday, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, a jihadi terrorist attacked Jews praying at a synagogue in Manchester, UK, killing two and seriously injuring several others. Acts such as this should not come as a surprise. The inaction of the UK government against the growing antisemitism in that country, overt acts of discrimination and violence against Jews, and the endless pro-Palestinian demonstrations calling for the genocide of Jews and the eradication of the Jewish State, all encourage such acts. The recognition of the ‘State of Palestine’ further ignites antisemitism and encourages violence against Jews.

We have seen a huge increase in antisemitism in all Western nations since the October 7, 2023, massacre, and this inevitably has resulted in violence against Jews. It is a symptom of the breakdown of Western civilization. It signals an end of its moral rectitude and integrity, and as a result good is called evil, light is called darkness, the victims are called the aggressor, and the legal owners of the Holy Land are called ‘colonists’. Western civilization is sick and dying. The only hope is a return to its original foundations, based on a Biblical worldview and its legal and moral principles.

The Western nations need to repent and turn back to their God. On Yom Kippur the Book of Jonah is read in all synagogues. Jonah was sent to Nineveh, the most wicked city of the Assyrian Empire at the time.  The people of Nineveh listened to Jonah and repented. God relented and did not destroy Nineveh at that time. The Book of Jonah shows that God loves all the people and even the animals that He created. He does not want to kill them. He wants them to repent and turn to Him. It is not too late for the West. Perhaps if we repent, God will relent and have mercy.