In the Book of Genesis, God made Abraham the father of three major religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in a Nutshell
By Tim WebbIn the early morning hours of October 7, 2023, the Palestinian militant group known as Hamas launched a large scale surprise attack against Israel. Who is Hamas and how did things escalate to this point, and why is all of this Biblical? The following are excerpt notes from my Bible 101: End Times class, to help give some background and history on this situation.
Let’s start from the beginning and take a Biblical look at the events leading up to October 7th. The Bible tells us that God promised and gave the land of Israel to Abraham and the Jews in what is known as the Abrahamic Covenants that are found in the Book of Genesis. Throughout the Biblical narrative, the Jews lived in the land that God gave them, either under their own sovereignty or under the rule of other nations.
Roughly forty years after Jesus was crucified, the second Jewish temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire in the year 70 AD, and the Jews were scattered all over the world. God then went silent with the Jews for 1,878 years. Most Christian scholars feel this was God’s way of punishing Israel for not only killing the Messiah, but more importantly, for the Jews denying their Messiah!
The Holocaust Finally, after World War II and the Holocaust the Jews got to return to their promised land. This happened on May 14, 1948, and it fulfilled the prophecy in Ezekiel 37:21-22 that was written 2,500 years earlier, saying that “I will gather the people of Israel from among the nations. I will bring them home to their own land from the places where they have been scattered. I will unify them into one nation on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule them all; no longer will they be divided into two nations or into two kingdoms.” This is such a powerful piece of prophecy because it was written so long ago and then played out down to the very letter during the 20th Century, during my parent’s lifetime.
The Holocaust and World War II created the right situation for putting Israel back on the world map, because of three things. One, it created world sentiment for the Jews. Two, it increased Jewish immigration to Palestine after the war ended. Three, the allies were able to garner financial support from the West German government.
All of this was done under the authority of the United Nations with help from Great Britain, who had colonized the land of Palestine during World War I. While some middle eastern countries were able to gain their independence after World War I, Palestine remained under British rule, and was never a formal country. Just for note…when the Jews own the land it’s called Israel. When the Muslims own the land, it’s called Palestine. Israel and Palestine are two different names for the same piece of land.
The 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli WarIn a nutshell, the United Nations divided the land of Palestine between the Jews and the Palestinians. When Great Britain pulled out and Israel declared its independence in May 1948, war broke out immediately between Israel and the Palestinian people, with the neighboring Arab countries of Jordan, Syria, and Egypt coming to the aid of the Palestinians. Israel held strong and out of the 1948-1949 War they gained more territory than what was originally allotted to them by the United Nations, by taking about 60 percent of the land that was given to the Palestinians. Most importantly, Israel took control of West Jerusalem, while Jordan controlled and annexed East Jerusalem, which is where the temple mount is located. Jerusalem was divided during the first 20 years of Israel’s existence. The division of Jerusalem was similar to how Berlin was divided into east and west during the cold war.
The 1967 Six-Day WarBetween June 5-10, 1967, Israel was attacked simultaneously by Egypt, Syria, & Jordan. To put it simply, it only lasted six days because the Israeli military was supreme. The Israeli army and air force took Jordan and Syria out of the fight in a couple of days, and by the sixth day they had easily defeated Egypt.
Out of the Six-Day War, Israel seized new land from all three countries, including all of Jerusalem. But they stopped at the temple mount. Why would they stop at the temple mount? This was the golden prize that they had waited on and longed for, for thousands of years! Taking back the temple mount would have allowed them to rebuild their temple. Why would they not take it back when they had military supremacy? The main reason is they knew if they attacked the temple mount that is also home to the Muslim’s Dome of the Rock that no Jew in the world would be safe. And that it would’ve potentially started World War III.
Also, the answer is in the Bible. Ezekiel 44:1-3 to be exact. The Israelis had to make a historic decision during The Six Day War, on whether or not to take the temple mount from the Arab/Muslim armies. The military was prepared to blow open the Eastern Gate, which had been closed with brick-and-mortar hundreds of years earlier by the Muslims, but their own Jewish rabbis stood in front of the tanks and reminded them of what God said in Ezekiel 44:1-3, that the Eastern Gate was to remain shut until the Messiah enters through it.
1967 to NowFor the most part, that’s where we stand today. Israel still controls the land that they occupied in 1967, with the big prize being what’s known as the West Bank, which I’m sure all of you have heard of at one time or another on the news. It’s the prized possession because that’s where Jerusalem is located. It’s called the West Bank because it’s eastern border is on the West Bank of the Jordan River. After acquiring so much land in 1967, Israel has continued fighting on and off with its Arab/Muslim neighbors. The fighting is over Israel’s divine right to own the land, while the misplaced Palestinians and their Muslim brothers understandably deny Israel’s right to exist in land that was taken from them. The Palestinian people have been considered refugees living within their own country ever since 1948. As Jews and Christians, we see all of this from a Biblical point-of view, but the Palestinians, the Muslims, the Arabs, and many other countries in the international community don’t see it that way. Although the Palestinians are not part of a formal country, they have shown a great deal of organization over the years with the Palestinian Liberation Organization, and they have two well-funded, well-armed militant groups with Hamas, who operates out of Gaza in southern Israel, and Hezbollah, who operates out of Lebanon, just north of Israel.
After the Holocaust, any Jew in the world can gain open citizenship in Israel. There are approximately 15 million Jews in the world, which is roughly the population of Pennsylvania. There are about 6.2 million living in Israel, 5.7 million Jews living in the United States, and about 3 million Jews living worldwide. Geographically, Israel is about the size of New Jersey. With an open immigration policy and a small amount of land, Israel is constantly looking for places to build housing. It becomes very controversial when they build settlements in the pieces of land that they occupied after the Six Day War, places like the West Bank. When you see Israel fighting with the Palestinians it is over the existence of Israel in the land of Palestine, and the land they occupied after the Six-Day War in 1967.
When you look at all of this from a big-picture, Biblical point-of-view, understand that the Jews and the Muslims have been fighting ever since Genesis 21:9, when Ishmael mocked Isaac. Regardless of how we as Christians feel about Muslims, the Muslims, for better or worse, have always been a part of God’s plan. This is also a great example of how God can synchronize his will with mankind’s free will. Hitler made a decision to take over Europe and to exterminate six million Jews. Even in our darkest hours and amid our worst decision-making as human beings, God can still work within that to fulfill his purpose. As a result of two world wars God put Israel back on the world map.
Jews, Christians, and MuslimsTo fully understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict you first have to go back to the story of Abraham in the Book of Genesis, who was the father of three major religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Let’s start with the nation of Israel and see how they fit into the Biblical narrative and get a quick little history lesson in the process. The nation of Israel was literally created by God when he told Abraham that he would make a great nation out of him in Genesis 12:1-3. God created Israel from the ground up to be his own nation and his own race of people, that he would use as an example for the rest of the world. They would be his chosen people. He called Abraham somewhere around the year 2070 BC. That date may not be exact but it’s in the ballpark. Abraham and his wife Sarah had a son named Isaac. Isaac had a son named Jacob. And Jacob had twelves sons who became known as the twelve tribes of Israel. Before long, the Israelites numbered over two million people. This group of people can be referred to as the Hebrews, the Israelites, or as they are known today, the Jews.
The thing that we have to remember in a discussion about the Jews is that they are still God’s chosen people. And while God has had some tense moments with them over the past 4,000 years, he hasn’t forgotten about them, and scripture tells us that he has not turned his back on them. Romans 11:28-29 says, “Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.” At different times throughout history, he has dealt the Jews some pretty harsh punishment. He has taken them out of the land that he gave them, not once, but twice! And he has also allowed their temple to be destroyed twice. But in true God-like-fashion he always brings them back. He always keeps a remnant. He may get mad and put them in time out, but he never completely turns his back on them. If God has never turned his back on the Jews at any other point in history, we shouldn't expect him to now.
The DiasporaAbout 40 years after the death of Christ, the Romans destroyed the second temple in the year 70 AD and kicked the Jews out of Israel, dispersing them all over the known the world. These details aren’t in the Bible, but they are preserved in the writings of Flavius Josephus, a Roman General who was also Jewish. He was the Jew’s greatest historian, and you can still read his works today and trust them as accurate.
This disbursement of the Jews is known as the diaspora (pronounced die-ass-pora). It took 1,878 years for the Jews to get their nation and their promised land back after the Holocaust in 1948. This put Israel back on the world map. If you look at the Jews today, it’s a miracle that they still exist. They have been persecuted and scattered among the nations many times, but yet they continue to exist. This is proof that they truly are God’s chosen people because there is no other logical reason for them to still be a people-group. They continue to be persecuted to this day. For example, most hate crimes in America's urban areas are against the Jews.
God and the JewsLet’s take a look at what the Bible says about God’s promises to the nation of Israel. A conversation about the Jews has to start with what’s known as the Abrahamic Covenant, which was when God chose Abraham to build a nation. -Genesis 12:1-3: “The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household 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.’”
-Genesis 15:4-6: “Then the Lord said to him, ‘No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.’ Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, ‘Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!’ And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
-Genesis 15:18-21: “So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, ‘I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River— the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.’” In a literal sense Jesus is God’s only son, but in a figurative sense, the Bible says that the Jews were God’s first-born child. -Exodus 4:22: “Then say to Pharaoh, This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son.”
Ultimately, we know that the Jews are God’s chosen people: -Deuteronomy 14:2: “for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the LORD has chosen you to be his treasured possession.”
-Deuteronomy 7:6-8: “The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath, he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
God set Israel apart to be an example to the rest of the world. -Isaiah 49:6: “I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
The New Testament presented a paradox with the Old Testament, between what was the old covenant verses Christ and the new covenant. But the Apostle Paul told us multiple times through multiple books that the Jews & Christians are both part of God’s family. -Ephesians 3:6: “This mystery is that through the Gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”
-Romans 11:25-29: “I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. And so, all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say, ‘The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem, and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness. And this is my covenant with them, that I will take away their sins.’ Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.” The Temple & Temple MountNow that we have a better understanding of the nation of Israel, let’s talk about the Jewish temple. What is the temple? I like to think of the temple as God’s first church house. Technically, there have been three temples because the first one was the tabernacle that was a mobile tent that Moses and the Israelites built in the desert. But in eschatology terms there have only been two permanent structured temples, and we refer to them as the first temple and the second temple.
The first temple was built by King Solomon in 959 BC, and it stood for 373 years before the Babylonians destroyed it in the year 586 BC. God punished the Israelites by allowing King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians to exile the Israelites for 70 years. That was the first diaspora. After the exile was over they were allowed to return home, and they built the second temple in 516 BC. It stood for 586 years until it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. The second temple was refurbished by King Herrod and was the temple that Jesus would have known and is the one that we read about in the gospels. The temple mount is the area in Jerusalem where the Jewish temple used to set but is now occupied by two structures that are holy to the Muslims. They are the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque. So currently, we have a situation where both the Jews and the Muslims claim the temple mount to be a most holy spot. For the Jews, it’s their number one holy spot and for the Muslims it’s their third holiest site. And we’re talking about an area that’s only a total of 37 acres.
Because of its importance, ownership of the temple mount has been hotly contested for nearly fourteen hundred years. It is literally the most fought-over piece of real estate in the world. Today the temple mount is under the control of the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, which is a trust that was established in the year 1187 to manage the Islamic structures in Jerusalem.
So why is the temple mount so important to the end times? The answer to that is, a third temple has to exist during the end times because the Antichrist, who will be Satan’s quarterback during the end times, can’t do the things that the Bible says he’s going to do without the temple. There has to be a temple! Scripture on the Temple & Other Resources-Daniel 9:27: At the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation-Matthew 24:15, “standing in the holy place.”-Second Thessalonians 2:4: He will set himself up in God’s temple -Revelation 11:1-2, “Measure the Temple”-The Tabernacle…God’s mobile tent church, Exodus 25–31 and 35–40-Solomon’s Temple…959-586 BC, First Kings chapters 5-9-Second Temple…516 BC-70 AD, the books of Ezra & Nehemiah-The Roman Empire destroyed the Second Temple in 70 AD and dispersed the Jews all over the world in an act known in eschatology as the diaspora, The Complete Works of Josephus. God and the MuslimsHow is Islam tied to Judaism and Christianity, and why do they fight so much? This is a big deal because so much of the end times picture wraps around this. Regardless of how you feel about Muslims and the Islamic religion, the Muslims, through Abraham’s illegitimate son Ishmael and Abraham’s grandson Esau, are part of God’s plan. People may try to deny it, but there are too many scriptural references that prove it. God promised twice in the book of Genesis that he would make a nation out of Ishmael, just like he made a nation out of Abraham and Issac. All three religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam root back to Abraham. Islam traces back to Abraham through his first son Ishmael, and Judaism and Christianity trace back to Abraham through his second son Isaac.
Isaac then had two twin sons, Esau and Jacob. The plan of salvation continued from Isaac on through Jacob, and then through Jacob’s twelve sons, the twelve tribes of Israel. Esau and Jacob fell out and Esau left Isaac’s house and married Ishmael’s daughter Mahalath. And yes, when you do the math on that he married his first cousin, which was very acceptable in the early parts of the Biblical story. The conflict between Jews and Muslims can be traced directly back to Genesis 21:9, when Abraham’s wife Sarah told Abraham that Ishmael and his slave mother Hagar had to leave. The two groups have literally been at odds ever since then. But, whenever Abraham died in Genesis Chapter 25, both Ishmael and Isaac came together to bury their father.
Scripture on Ishmael & Esau-Genesis 16 Birth of Ishmael. -Genesis 16:12 He will be a wild donkey of a man.-Genesis 21:8-20 Hagar and Ishmael are sent away.-Genesis 21:13 I will make him into a nation.-Genesis 25:19-34 Jacob & Esau -Genesis 25:23 Two nations are in your womb.-Genesis 25:32-34 Esau gives away his birthright.-Genesis 27 Jacob steals Esau’s blessing.-Genesis 28:1-9 Esau marries Ishmael’s daughter. -Genesis 33:1-16 Jacob & Esau are reunited.-Genesis 36 Esau’s descendants.-Obadiah 8 Esau’s mountains.-Malachi 1:1-5 I loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated.-Hebrews 12:16 Esau was godless.
A Man Named MuhammadNow that we’ve had a brief history lesson on the beginnings of Judaism and Islam, let’s look at Islam’s impact on the temple mount and the city of Jerusalem since the diaspora of 70 A.D. The Jews were dispersed in the year 70 AD, and then the Roman Empire collapsed in the year 476 AD. That created a vacuum in Jerusalem that was eventually filled by an up-and-coming religion called Islam.
In the year 610 AD, a man named Muhammad received a revelation from the Angel Gabriel in the town of Mecca in what would be modern-day Saudi Arabia. Three years after receiving his first revelation from God, Muhammad started preaching publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", and that complete submission, or Islam, to God is the right way of life. Muhammad also claimed that he was a prophet and a messenger of God. Shortly after Muhammad’s death in 634 AD, the Muslims took control of Jerusalem and Israel. The land of Israel eventually became known as Palestine. So, whether I use the term Israel or Palestine, just know it’s all the same piece of land. The name varies depending on who controls it at any given time in history.
If you look at both Judaism and Islam, they have two big things in common. They both believe in one god and one god only, and complete obedience to God. The Jews call God Yahweh, and the Muslims call him Allah. A deal-breaker for both religions is that they both see it as blasphemy to call Jesus the son of God. With both religions, in their purest form, there is little to no grace. There’s no Holy Spirit. And there’s very little forgiveness. Both of them are still living by the law of God, and they both have different, but yet, similar versions of what that law looks like. I recommend to all of you who have an interest in the end times to study the basics of Islam. And I can recommend a few books for you if you’re interested, with the main one being a book by Nabeel Qureshi titled Seeking Allah, finding Jesus.
The Dome of the RockThe Dome of the Rock is one of the most recognizable and beautiful pieces of architecture in the world with its beautiful gold dome. It sets over a rock, thus the name Dome of the Rock. The rock itself is known as the Foundation Rock to the Jews, and that rock would probably fit inside any McDonalds Restaurant in the world. It’s located at the pinnacle of Mount Moriah.
Many Jewish scholars believe that the Foundation Rock is where Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac in Genesis 22. Muslims believe it was there that Abraham was going to sacrifice Ishmael. King David purchased the rock several hundred years later and the area around it and built an altar to God, (Second Samuel 24:18-25). Although we don’t know the exact location for certain, many believe that the two temples were eventually built over that altar and the Foundation Rock. The reason it’s called the Foundation Rock is because some fundamental Jews will argue that because of the systematic use of that rock, that God created Adam out of the dust of that rock at the beginning of creation, but there’s no Biblical proof of that, although it is a legitimate argument when you follow the consistent verses inconsistent rule of the Bible. According to Islam, that rock is the very spot from which Muhammad ascended to heaven in the year 620 AD.
ConclusionAs I said earlier, the Jews and Muslims have been fighting ever since Genesis 21:9. And while this conflict is nothing new, the brutality and atrocities against the Jews on October 7th were the worst since the Holocaust. Whenever God decides to start his clock on the final seven years of the end times, we know that Israel will be at the epicenter. Events like this are certainly worth watching, but more importantly, we need to understand how and why this happened. There are too many end times red flags not to, as God aligns his chest pieces.
The events in Israel and Gaza are going to continue to unfold rapidly, so I’m going to time stamp this paper at the bottom. I have no doubt that Israel will retake control the Gaza Strip. That’s a given. And because of the brutality of Hamas’ attack, it will give Israel the one thing it needs to move its agenda forward, and that’s international justification. But as this crisis draws out, the outside world will judge both sides for their level of brutality against innocent people. While all of this is alarming, it’s still not the beginning of the end times, as some may think. People tend to twist current events to fit what the Bible says about the end times, and that doesn’t always work. There are still several big pieces of prophecy that need to align with the Antichrist before this could even remotely resemble the beginning of the end times. See my article on Understanding the Antichrist for more information on that.
The big thing to watch for is the temple mount, which still isn’t being mentioned much. It’s the one thing that more-than-likely caused all of this to happen, because Israel raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the temple mount on April 4, 2023. Hamas said their attack was retaliation for that. Israel has been more aggressive with their actions on the temple mount in the last several months. The big red flag of all big red flags will be if Israel uses this as an opportunity to take back the temple mount and rebuild the third temple.
In the meantime, here are a few things to remember to help calm the nerves. Always remember that God is sovereign. As bad as it may seem, God is the architect of the end times, and things will play out exactly the way that Biblical prophecy says they will, and this is from God and we have to trust him.
But don’t overreact by thinking that every war, natural disaster, and acts of evil are the beginning of the end times. Certain things have to happen first, like rebuilding the temple. Jesus told us this in Matthew 24, which is known as the Olivet Discourse, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.”
And always remember…in the end, Jesus wins!
Revised: October 24, 2023: 9:30 P.M.
Let’s start from the beginning and take a Biblical look at the events leading up to October 7th. The Bible tells us that God promised and gave the land of Israel to Abraham and the Jews in what is known as the Abrahamic Covenants that are found in the Book of Genesis. Throughout the Biblical narrative, the Jews lived in the land that God gave them, either under their own sovereignty or under the rule of other nations.
Roughly forty years after Jesus was crucified, the second Jewish temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire in the year 70 AD, and the Jews were scattered all over the world. God then went silent with the Jews for 1,878 years. Most Christian scholars feel this was God’s way of punishing Israel for not only killing the Messiah, but more importantly, for the Jews denying their Messiah!
The Holocaust Finally, after World War II and the Holocaust the Jews got to return to their promised land. This happened on May 14, 1948, and it fulfilled the prophecy in Ezekiel 37:21-22 that was written 2,500 years earlier, saying that “I will gather the people of Israel from among the nations. I will bring them home to their own land from the places where they have been scattered. I will unify them into one nation on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule them all; no longer will they be divided into two nations or into two kingdoms.” This is such a powerful piece of prophecy because it was written so long ago and then played out down to the very letter during the 20th Century, during my parent’s lifetime.
The Holocaust and World War II created the right situation for putting Israel back on the world map, because of three things. One, it created world sentiment for the Jews. Two, it increased Jewish immigration to Palestine after the war ended. Three, the allies were able to garner financial support from the West German government.
All of this was done under the authority of the United Nations with help from Great Britain, who had colonized the land of Palestine during World War I. While some middle eastern countries were able to gain their independence after World War I, Palestine remained under British rule, and was never a formal country. Just for note…when the Jews own the land it’s called Israel. When the Muslims own the land, it’s called Palestine. Israel and Palestine are two different names for the same piece of land.
The 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli WarIn a nutshell, the United Nations divided the land of Palestine between the Jews and the Palestinians. When Great Britain pulled out and Israel declared its independence in May 1948, war broke out immediately between Israel and the Palestinian people, with the neighboring Arab countries of Jordan, Syria, and Egypt coming to the aid of the Palestinians. Israel held strong and out of the 1948-1949 War they gained more territory than what was originally allotted to them by the United Nations, by taking about 60 percent of the land that was given to the Palestinians. Most importantly, Israel took control of West Jerusalem, while Jordan controlled and annexed East Jerusalem, which is where the temple mount is located. Jerusalem was divided during the first 20 years of Israel’s existence. The division of Jerusalem was similar to how Berlin was divided into east and west during the cold war.
The 1967 Six-Day WarBetween June 5-10, 1967, Israel was attacked simultaneously by Egypt, Syria, & Jordan. To put it simply, it only lasted six days because the Israeli military was supreme. The Israeli army and air force took Jordan and Syria out of the fight in a couple of days, and by the sixth day they had easily defeated Egypt.
Out of the Six-Day War, Israel seized new land from all three countries, including all of Jerusalem. But they stopped at the temple mount. Why would they stop at the temple mount? This was the golden prize that they had waited on and longed for, for thousands of years! Taking back the temple mount would have allowed them to rebuild their temple. Why would they not take it back when they had military supremacy? The main reason is they knew if they attacked the temple mount that is also home to the Muslim’s Dome of the Rock that no Jew in the world would be safe. And that it would’ve potentially started World War III.
Also, the answer is in the Bible. Ezekiel 44:1-3 to be exact. The Israelis had to make a historic decision during The Six Day War, on whether or not to take the temple mount from the Arab/Muslim armies. The military was prepared to blow open the Eastern Gate, which had been closed with brick-and-mortar hundreds of years earlier by the Muslims, but their own Jewish rabbis stood in front of the tanks and reminded them of what God said in Ezekiel 44:1-3, that the Eastern Gate was to remain shut until the Messiah enters through it.
1967 to NowFor the most part, that’s where we stand today. Israel still controls the land that they occupied in 1967, with the big prize being what’s known as the West Bank, which I’m sure all of you have heard of at one time or another on the news. It’s the prized possession because that’s where Jerusalem is located. It’s called the West Bank because it’s eastern border is on the West Bank of the Jordan River. After acquiring so much land in 1967, Israel has continued fighting on and off with its Arab/Muslim neighbors. The fighting is over Israel’s divine right to own the land, while the misplaced Palestinians and their Muslim brothers understandably deny Israel’s right to exist in land that was taken from them. The Palestinian people have been considered refugees living within their own country ever since 1948. As Jews and Christians, we see all of this from a Biblical point-of view, but the Palestinians, the Muslims, the Arabs, and many other countries in the international community don’t see it that way. Although the Palestinians are not part of a formal country, they have shown a great deal of organization over the years with the Palestinian Liberation Organization, and they have two well-funded, well-armed militant groups with Hamas, who operates out of Gaza in southern Israel, and Hezbollah, who operates out of Lebanon, just north of Israel.
After the Holocaust, any Jew in the world can gain open citizenship in Israel. There are approximately 15 million Jews in the world, which is roughly the population of Pennsylvania. There are about 6.2 million living in Israel, 5.7 million Jews living in the United States, and about 3 million Jews living worldwide. Geographically, Israel is about the size of New Jersey. With an open immigration policy and a small amount of land, Israel is constantly looking for places to build housing. It becomes very controversial when they build settlements in the pieces of land that they occupied after the Six Day War, places like the West Bank. When you see Israel fighting with the Palestinians it is over the existence of Israel in the land of Palestine, and the land they occupied after the Six-Day War in 1967.
When you look at all of this from a big-picture, Biblical point-of-view, understand that the Jews and the Muslims have been fighting ever since Genesis 21:9, when Ishmael mocked Isaac. Regardless of how we as Christians feel about Muslims, the Muslims, for better or worse, have always been a part of God’s plan. This is also a great example of how God can synchronize his will with mankind’s free will. Hitler made a decision to take over Europe and to exterminate six million Jews. Even in our darkest hours and amid our worst decision-making as human beings, God can still work within that to fulfill his purpose. As a result of two world wars God put Israel back on the world map.
Jews, Christians, and MuslimsTo fully understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict you first have to go back to the story of Abraham in the Book of Genesis, who was the father of three major religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Let’s start with the nation of Israel and see how they fit into the Biblical narrative and get a quick little history lesson in the process. The nation of Israel was literally created by God when he told Abraham that he would make a great nation out of him in Genesis 12:1-3. God created Israel from the ground up to be his own nation and his own race of people, that he would use as an example for the rest of the world. They would be his chosen people. He called Abraham somewhere around the year 2070 BC. That date may not be exact but it’s in the ballpark. Abraham and his wife Sarah had a son named Isaac. Isaac had a son named Jacob. And Jacob had twelves sons who became known as the twelve tribes of Israel. Before long, the Israelites numbered over two million people. This group of people can be referred to as the Hebrews, the Israelites, or as they are known today, the Jews.
The thing that we have to remember in a discussion about the Jews is that they are still God’s chosen people. And while God has had some tense moments with them over the past 4,000 years, he hasn’t forgotten about them, and scripture tells us that he has not turned his back on them. Romans 11:28-29 says, “Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.” At different times throughout history, he has dealt the Jews some pretty harsh punishment. He has taken them out of the land that he gave them, not once, but twice! And he has also allowed their temple to be destroyed twice. But in true God-like-fashion he always brings them back. He always keeps a remnant. He may get mad and put them in time out, but he never completely turns his back on them. If God has never turned his back on the Jews at any other point in history, we shouldn't expect him to now.
The DiasporaAbout 40 years after the death of Christ, the Romans destroyed the second temple in the year 70 AD and kicked the Jews out of Israel, dispersing them all over the known the world. These details aren’t in the Bible, but they are preserved in the writings of Flavius Josephus, a Roman General who was also Jewish. He was the Jew’s greatest historian, and you can still read his works today and trust them as accurate.
This disbursement of the Jews is known as the diaspora (pronounced die-ass-pora). It took 1,878 years for the Jews to get their nation and their promised land back after the Holocaust in 1948. This put Israel back on the world map. If you look at the Jews today, it’s a miracle that they still exist. They have been persecuted and scattered among the nations many times, but yet they continue to exist. This is proof that they truly are God’s chosen people because there is no other logical reason for them to still be a people-group. They continue to be persecuted to this day. For example, most hate crimes in America's urban areas are against the Jews.
God and the JewsLet’s take a look at what the Bible says about God’s promises to the nation of Israel. A conversation about the Jews has to start with what’s known as the Abrahamic Covenant, which was when God chose Abraham to build a nation. -Genesis 12:1-3: “The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household 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.’”
-Genesis 15:4-6: “Then the Lord said to him, ‘No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.’ Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, ‘Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!’ And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
-Genesis 15:18-21: “So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, ‘I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River— the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.’” In a literal sense Jesus is God’s only son, but in a figurative sense, the Bible says that the Jews were God’s first-born child. -Exodus 4:22: “Then say to Pharaoh, This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son.”
Ultimately, we know that the Jews are God’s chosen people: -Deuteronomy 14:2: “for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the LORD has chosen you to be his treasured possession.”
-Deuteronomy 7:6-8: “The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath, he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
God set Israel apart to be an example to the rest of the world. -Isaiah 49:6: “I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
The New Testament presented a paradox with the Old Testament, between what was the old covenant verses Christ and the new covenant. But the Apostle Paul told us multiple times through multiple books that the Jews & Christians are both part of God’s family. -Ephesians 3:6: “This mystery is that through the Gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”
-Romans 11:25-29: “I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. And so, all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say, ‘The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem, and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness. And this is my covenant with them, that I will take away their sins.’ Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.” The Temple & Temple MountNow that we have a better understanding of the nation of Israel, let’s talk about the Jewish temple. What is the temple? I like to think of the temple as God’s first church house. Technically, there have been three temples because the first one was the tabernacle that was a mobile tent that Moses and the Israelites built in the desert. But in eschatology terms there have only been two permanent structured temples, and we refer to them as the first temple and the second temple.
The first temple was built by King Solomon in 959 BC, and it stood for 373 years before the Babylonians destroyed it in the year 586 BC. God punished the Israelites by allowing King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians to exile the Israelites for 70 years. That was the first diaspora. After the exile was over they were allowed to return home, and they built the second temple in 516 BC. It stood for 586 years until it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. The second temple was refurbished by King Herrod and was the temple that Jesus would have known and is the one that we read about in the gospels. The temple mount is the area in Jerusalem where the Jewish temple used to set but is now occupied by two structures that are holy to the Muslims. They are the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque. So currently, we have a situation where both the Jews and the Muslims claim the temple mount to be a most holy spot. For the Jews, it’s their number one holy spot and for the Muslims it’s their third holiest site. And we’re talking about an area that’s only a total of 37 acres.
Because of its importance, ownership of the temple mount has been hotly contested for nearly fourteen hundred years. It is literally the most fought-over piece of real estate in the world. Today the temple mount is under the control of the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, which is a trust that was established in the year 1187 to manage the Islamic structures in Jerusalem.
So why is the temple mount so important to the end times? The answer to that is, a third temple has to exist during the end times because the Antichrist, who will be Satan’s quarterback during the end times, can’t do the things that the Bible says he’s going to do without the temple. There has to be a temple! Scripture on the Temple & Other Resources-Daniel 9:27: At the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation-Matthew 24:15, “standing in the holy place.”-Second Thessalonians 2:4: He will set himself up in God’s temple -Revelation 11:1-2, “Measure the Temple”-The Tabernacle…God’s mobile tent church, Exodus 25–31 and 35–40-Solomon’s Temple…959-586 BC, First Kings chapters 5-9-Second Temple…516 BC-70 AD, the books of Ezra & Nehemiah-The Roman Empire destroyed the Second Temple in 70 AD and dispersed the Jews all over the world in an act known in eschatology as the diaspora, The Complete Works of Josephus. God and the MuslimsHow is Islam tied to Judaism and Christianity, and why do they fight so much? This is a big deal because so much of the end times picture wraps around this. Regardless of how you feel about Muslims and the Islamic religion, the Muslims, through Abraham’s illegitimate son Ishmael and Abraham’s grandson Esau, are part of God’s plan. People may try to deny it, but there are too many scriptural references that prove it. God promised twice in the book of Genesis that he would make a nation out of Ishmael, just like he made a nation out of Abraham and Issac. All three religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam root back to Abraham. Islam traces back to Abraham through his first son Ishmael, and Judaism and Christianity trace back to Abraham through his second son Isaac.
Isaac then had two twin sons, Esau and Jacob. The plan of salvation continued from Isaac on through Jacob, and then through Jacob’s twelve sons, the twelve tribes of Israel. Esau and Jacob fell out and Esau left Isaac’s house and married Ishmael’s daughter Mahalath. And yes, when you do the math on that he married his first cousin, which was very acceptable in the early parts of the Biblical story. The conflict between Jews and Muslims can be traced directly back to Genesis 21:9, when Abraham’s wife Sarah told Abraham that Ishmael and his slave mother Hagar had to leave. The two groups have literally been at odds ever since then. But, whenever Abraham died in Genesis Chapter 25, both Ishmael and Isaac came together to bury their father.
Scripture on Ishmael & Esau-Genesis 16 Birth of Ishmael. -Genesis 16:12 He will be a wild donkey of a man.-Genesis 21:8-20 Hagar and Ishmael are sent away.-Genesis 21:13 I will make him into a nation.-Genesis 25:19-34 Jacob & Esau -Genesis 25:23 Two nations are in your womb.-Genesis 25:32-34 Esau gives away his birthright.-Genesis 27 Jacob steals Esau’s blessing.-Genesis 28:1-9 Esau marries Ishmael’s daughter. -Genesis 33:1-16 Jacob & Esau are reunited.-Genesis 36 Esau’s descendants.-Obadiah 8 Esau’s mountains.-Malachi 1:1-5 I loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated.-Hebrews 12:16 Esau was godless.
A Man Named MuhammadNow that we’ve had a brief history lesson on the beginnings of Judaism and Islam, let’s look at Islam’s impact on the temple mount and the city of Jerusalem since the diaspora of 70 A.D. The Jews were dispersed in the year 70 AD, and then the Roman Empire collapsed in the year 476 AD. That created a vacuum in Jerusalem that was eventually filled by an up-and-coming religion called Islam.
In the year 610 AD, a man named Muhammad received a revelation from the Angel Gabriel in the town of Mecca in what would be modern-day Saudi Arabia. Three years after receiving his first revelation from God, Muhammad started preaching publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", and that complete submission, or Islam, to God is the right way of life. Muhammad also claimed that he was a prophet and a messenger of God. Shortly after Muhammad’s death in 634 AD, the Muslims took control of Jerusalem and Israel. The land of Israel eventually became known as Palestine. So, whether I use the term Israel or Palestine, just know it’s all the same piece of land. The name varies depending on who controls it at any given time in history.
If you look at both Judaism and Islam, they have two big things in common. They both believe in one god and one god only, and complete obedience to God. The Jews call God Yahweh, and the Muslims call him Allah. A deal-breaker for both religions is that they both see it as blasphemy to call Jesus the son of God. With both religions, in their purest form, there is little to no grace. There’s no Holy Spirit. And there’s very little forgiveness. Both of them are still living by the law of God, and they both have different, but yet, similar versions of what that law looks like. I recommend to all of you who have an interest in the end times to study the basics of Islam. And I can recommend a few books for you if you’re interested, with the main one being a book by Nabeel Qureshi titled Seeking Allah, finding Jesus.
The Dome of the RockThe Dome of the Rock is one of the most recognizable and beautiful pieces of architecture in the world with its beautiful gold dome. It sets over a rock, thus the name Dome of the Rock. The rock itself is known as the Foundation Rock to the Jews, and that rock would probably fit inside any McDonalds Restaurant in the world. It’s located at the pinnacle of Mount Moriah.
Many Jewish scholars believe that the Foundation Rock is where Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac in Genesis 22. Muslims believe it was there that Abraham was going to sacrifice Ishmael. King David purchased the rock several hundred years later and the area around it and built an altar to God, (Second Samuel 24:18-25). Although we don’t know the exact location for certain, many believe that the two temples were eventually built over that altar and the Foundation Rock. The reason it’s called the Foundation Rock is because some fundamental Jews will argue that because of the systematic use of that rock, that God created Adam out of the dust of that rock at the beginning of creation, but there’s no Biblical proof of that, although it is a legitimate argument when you follow the consistent verses inconsistent rule of the Bible. According to Islam, that rock is the very spot from which Muhammad ascended to heaven in the year 620 AD.
ConclusionAs I said earlier, the Jews and Muslims have been fighting ever since Genesis 21:9. And while this conflict is nothing new, the brutality and atrocities against the Jews on October 7th were the worst since the Holocaust. Whenever God decides to start his clock on the final seven years of the end times, we know that Israel will be at the epicenter. Events like this are certainly worth watching, but more importantly, we need to understand how and why this happened. There are too many end times red flags not to, as God aligns his chest pieces.
The events in Israel and Gaza are going to continue to unfold rapidly, so I’m going to time stamp this paper at the bottom. I have no doubt that Israel will retake control the Gaza Strip. That’s a given. And because of the brutality of Hamas’ attack, it will give Israel the one thing it needs to move its agenda forward, and that’s international justification. But as this crisis draws out, the outside world will judge both sides for their level of brutality against innocent people. While all of this is alarming, it’s still not the beginning of the end times, as some may think. People tend to twist current events to fit what the Bible says about the end times, and that doesn’t always work. There are still several big pieces of prophecy that need to align with the Antichrist before this could even remotely resemble the beginning of the end times. See my article on Understanding the Antichrist for more information on that.
The big thing to watch for is the temple mount, which still isn’t being mentioned much. It’s the one thing that more-than-likely caused all of this to happen, because Israel raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the temple mount on April 4, 2023. Hamas said their attack was retaliation for that. Israel has been more aggressive with their actions on the temple mount in the last several months. The big red flag of all big red flags will be if Israel uses this as an opportunity to take back the temple mount and rebuild the third temple.
In the meantime, here are a few things to remember to help calm the nerves. Always remember that God is sovereign. As bad as it may seem, God is the architect of the end times, and things will play out exactly the way that Biblical prophecy says they will, and this is from God and we have to trust him.
But don’t overreact by thinking that every war, natural disaster, and acts of evil are the beginning of the end times. Certain things have to happen first, like rebuilding the temple. Jesus told us this in Matthew 24, which is known as the Olivet Discourse, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.”
And always remember…in the end, Jesus wins!
Revised: October 24, 2023: 9:30 P.M.