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The BIBLE is the LIVING WORD of GOD [Considered in the Light of Fulfilled PROPHECIES concerning the nation of Israel]

This study will demonstrate why we can fully trust the message of the Bible, by considering its power in foretelling future world events reliably. We will see how the events in the gulf, especially Israel are all prophesied in the Bible for us to “see and believe”

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In this study Proof - Why God’s word though

spoken and recorded 2000+ years ago can still be trusted

An examination of the history of Ancient and Modern Israel and how God is still active in current world events!

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Why did Jesus say “And they will fall by the

mouth of the sword and will be led captive to all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by nations, until the times of the nations are fulfilled” - Luk 21:24

Roman soldiers carrying the menorah from the Temple of Jerusalem, AD 70;

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Background – At the temple

And as some were speaking about the temple, that it had been adorned with beautiful stones and gifts, He said, As to these things that you see, days will come in which a stone will not be left on a stone, which will not be thrown down. [Luk 21:5-6]

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Disciples curious

And they asked Him, saying, Teacher, then when will these things be? And what will be the sign when these things are about to happen?

[Luk 21:7]Modern Picture of the Mount of Olives

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The Prophecy

And when you see Jerusalem being encircled by armies, then recognize that its destruction has come near. Then let those in Judea flee into the mountains; and those in its midst, let them go out. And those in the open spaces, let them not go into her. [Luk 21:20-21]

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The Prophecy But woe to the

pregnant women, and the ones suckling in those days; for great distress will be on the earth and wrath on this people. And they will fall by the mouth of the sword and will be led captive to all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by nations, until the times of the nations are fulfilled. [Luk 21:23-24]

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Jewish History –AD 70 to British Rule

118-138 During the Roman Emperor Hadrian's rule, Jews were initially allowed to return to Jerusalem, but - after another Jewish revolt in 133 - the city was completely destroyed and its people banished and sold into slavery

638 AD Conquest by Arab Muslims. The second caliph of Islam, Omar, built a mosque at the site of what is now the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem

1099-1187 AD

Age of the Crusaders

1896 AD Herzl, a Jewish journalist and writer living in Vienna, wanted Jews to have their own state - primarily as a response to European anti-Semitism

1917 Turkish control ended when Arab forces backed by Britain drove out the Ottomans

1918 Britain occupied the region at the end of the war

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Jewish History – British Rule to Jewish Rule

1917 The British Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour committed Britain to work towards “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”

1920 and 1930s

Hundreds of thousands of Jews emigrated to British Mandate Palestine, provoking unrest in the Arab community

1947 Britain, which had ruled Palestine since 1920, handed over responsibility for solving the Zionist-Arab problem to the UN

The territory was plagued with chronic unrest pitting native Arabs against Jewish immigrants The situation had become more critical with the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Jews fleeing the Nazi persecution in Europe. Some six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust during World War II

1948 The State of Israel, the first Jewish state for nearly 2,000 years, was proclaimed at 1600 on 14 May 1948 in Tel Aviv

The day after the state of Israel was declared five Arab armies from Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq immediately invaded Israel but were repulsed, and the Israeli army crushed pockets of resistance

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UN Proposal

29 November 1947 The UN set up a special

committee which recommended splitting the territory into separate Jewish and Palestinian states. Palestinian representatives, known as the Arab Higher Committee, rejected the proposal; their counterparts in the Jewish Agency accepted it

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God’s word is sure!

His Judgments and prophecies are real and active even in

the 21st CenturyThe Bible is the living word of

God – Put your trust in it

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Relevance of the Prophecy today? – Judgments of God are REAL

Jesus will return to this world!

Watch, then, for you do not know in what hour your Lord comes.

But know this, that if the housemaster had known in what watch the thief comes, he would have watched and not have allowed his house to be dug through. Because of this, you also be ready, for in that hour you think not, the Son of Man comes. [Mat 24:42-44]

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Modern Day Applications of Prophecies:Obadiah 1: 18-21

The following sections are not presented as absolute truths

but only to point to you certain verses and their possible interpretations

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Modern Mapof Israel

Neighbours: North

Lebanon Syria

South Egypt

East Jordan

West Mediterranean Sea

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Internationally not recognized – “Occupied territory”

West bank After 1949 administered by Jordan, It

was captured by Israel during the Six-Day War.

Majority Palestinian occupation, some self rule

Israeli occupation and military control Golan heights

In the 1967 Six-Day War Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria

provides a significant portion of Israel's water supply

This annexation was not internationally recognized

Provides defense against land attacks

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Internationally not recognized – “Occupied territory”

Gaza Strip Egypt occupied the Strip from 1949 until 1967 The Strip's population was greatly augmented by an

influx of Palestinian Arab refugees Egypt never annexed the Gaza Strip, but instead

treated it as occupied territory and administered it through a military governor

The area was again occupied by Israel in the Six-Day War in June 1967.

The military occupation was to last for 38 years, until 2005

On 15 August 2005 all Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip (and four in the West Bank) were dismantled with the removal of all 9,000 Israeli settlers and military bases.

on 12 September 2005, the Palestinian Authority had complete administrative authority in the Gaza Strip

Israel still controls Gazan borders, airspace and territorial waters

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Internationally not recognized – “Occupied territory”

Gaza Strip In June 2007, the Palestinian Civil War between

Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) and Fatah (Palestine Liberation Movement) intensified.

Hamas routed Fatah, 14 June 2007, the Gaza Strip was completely

overtaken by Hamas. Retaliation by Fatah against Hamas in the West

Bank led to the opposite result there. Will there be peace?

Hamas' charter (written in 1988 and still in effect) calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and its replacement with a Palestinian Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip

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Are such prophecies applicable Today?

Watch for the times and seasons

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Obadiah in Action

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Will the Conflict in the Middle East continue?

A Theory: Land yet to be taken

(Note: This land could also be regained at Christ’s return)

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To Posses Esau – South Jordan

And those of Negeb shall possess the mountain of Esau, and the low country of the Philistines. And they shall possess Ephraim's fields, and Samaria's fields. And Benjamin shall possess Gilead. [Oba 1:19]

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To Posses low country of the Philistines – Gaza Strip

And those of Negeb shall possess the mountain of Esau, and the low country of the Philistines. And they shall possess Ephraim's fields, and Samaria's fields. And Benjamin shall possess Gilead. [Oba 1:19]

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To Posses West Bank And those of Negeb

shall possess the mountain of Esau, and the low country of the Philistines. And they shall possess Ephraim's fields, and Samaria's fields. And Benjamin shall possess Gilead. [Oba 1:19]

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To Posses Jordan And those of Negeb

shall possess the mountain of Esau, and the low country of the Philistines. And they shall possess Ephraim's fields, and Samaria's fields. And Benjamin shall possess Gilead. [Oba 1:19]

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Zarephath and Negeb in Modern context

The exiles of this host of the people of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath,

and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall possess the cities of the Negeb. [Oba 1:20]

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About Zarephath modern Sarafand

(Lebanon), It was a Phoenician city on

the Mediterranean coast between Sidon and Tyre

The prophet Elijah, after leaving the brook Cherith, multiplied the meal and oil of the widow of Zarephath (Sarepta) and raised her son from the dead. Zarephath (1Ki 17:9,10)

Sarafand was also known for its blown glass, which it still produced today

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Zarephath occupation – the 2006 Lebanon war signs

Zarephath (In Lebanon) In July of 2006, Hizbullah initiated an

unprovoked attack of Katyusha rockets in northern Israel and kidnapped 2 soldiers, killing 3.

Hizbullah rained down about 125 rockets

Israel responded with massive airstrikes and artillery fire on targets in Lebanon

The conflict killed more than a thousand people, most of whom were Lebanese civilians; severely damaged Lebanese infrastructure

Hezbollah wishes for the destruction of Israel, which they see as being an unlawful "entity",

Smoke over Tyre after an Israeli bombardment

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Negeb

about 60% of Israeli territory under 1949 –67 boundaries

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Appendix

Additional Notes

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Prophecy – Understanding the context – “end”

And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then will come the end. [Mat 24:14]

[X] if indeed you continue in the

faith grounded and settled and not being moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard proclaimed in all the creation under Heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister, [Col 1:23]

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1948 War The day after the state of Israel was declared five

Arab armies from Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq immediately invaded Israel but were repulsed

The Israeli army crushed pockets of resistance. Armistices established Israel's borders on the frontier of most of the earlier British Mandate Palestine.

Egypt kept the Gaza Strip while Jordan annexed the area around East Jerusalem and the land now known as the West Bank. These territories made up about 25% of the total area of British Mandate Palestine.

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1967 war – Six Day War Mounting tensions between Israel and its Arab

neighbours culminated in six days of hostilities which changed the face of the Middle East conflict

Israel seized Gaza and the Sinai from Egypt in the south and the Golan Heights from Syria in the north. It also pushed Jordanian forces out of the West Bank and East Jerusalem

Egypt's powerful air force was put out of action on the first day of fighting when Israeli jets bombed it on the ground in a pre-emptive strike

The victory heralded a new age of confidence and optimism for Israel and its supporters

The UN issued Security Council Resolution 242, stressing "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war" and calling for "withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict"

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The 1973 Yom Kippur war Unable to regain the territory they had lost in

1967 by diplomatic means, Egypt and Syria launched major offensives against Israel on the Jewish festival of the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. The clashes are also known as the Ramadan war.

Initially, Egypt and Syria made advances in Sinai and the Golan Heights. These were reversed after three weeks of fighting. Israel eventually made gains beyond the 1967 ceasefire lines

Israeli forces pushed on into Syria beyond the Golan Heights, though they later gave up some of these gains. In Egypt, Israeli forces regained territory and advanced to the western side of the Suez Canal