Israel - Our Role - Taking action U.S. Perspective Why is the United States so involved in Israel? What is our motive? Many could be argue that we have similar moral standings, but it's painfully apparent that our interests lie deeper than that. We are far more concerned about oil than loyalty. We have a friend doing our dirty work and single-handedly policing the front lines of an inevitable tidal wave of terrorism, yet we are diplomatically tying their hands. Israel is, metaphorically speaking, the finger in the dike of a deluge of Islamic weapons proliferation. While our misguided policies continually push Israel into a corner to appease our Arab "allies," Islam's agenda is world domination, by the sword if necessary (Koran, Sura 2:216; 5:33,51; 8:12,40,60; 9:5,29-30). And make no mistake; that includes us. To compound matters, the United States has pumped in over a trillion dollars in arms to Middle East Arabs in efforts to rebuff an expanding Soviet Union, and now we're telling the boys not to play with the toys. We helped create many of the leaders of these countries, including Sadaam Hussein. Israel has got to be thinking, "With friends like the United States, who needs enemies?" Nevertheless, this is all very exciting for those who read the daily headlines through biblical lenses. Is the United States in prophecy? While the United States is not directly mentioned in Scripture, we can surely identify with Israelites during the time of the prophet Hosea. Their condition was like the opening line of Charles Dickens' story, A Tale of Two Cities. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ... " While they were strong and prosperous, they forgot who the source of their prosperity was, which caused them to sink to new lows of morality. They actually paraded their sin in the streets as if they were pulling it on a cart, showing it off with pride (Isaiah 5:18). Hosea said, "They sow the wind, And reap the whirlwind" (Hosea 8:7). When a nation seeks God, He blesses them. It's a 200-year cycle we see repeating throughout history. People go "? from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back again into bondage." Alexander Tyler, 1750 God has no obligation to protect us. We have told Him in many ways that we don't want Him or need Him. There is only one solution for the United States: "? if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14-16). We, as a nation, have reached the point of forgetting who the source of our prosperity was, and we shouldn't be surprised if the Lord uses our enemies as a means of judgment: "And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. Therefore the LORD has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice" (Daniel 9:12-14). Are we Israel's last supporters? It can be justly argued that the only reason we're still around is because we're practically the only one left supporting Israel in some ways, and God speaks directly to that: "I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). Christian Perspective Jesus held the Jews accountable for knowing the signs of His first coming (Matthew 23:37-39). Knowing this, it seems reasonable that He would do the same for His Second Coming. As we look at the prophetic horizon concerning the last days, we should take notice of Daniel's example regarding the first coming of Christ, and make ourselves available to Him for His Second Coming. As Christians, we definitely have things to do: 1) Repent - Confess the sin of our people (Nehemiah 1:4-11). 2) Pray - "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God" (Psalm 20:7). "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: 'May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, Prosperity within your palaces' " (Psalm 122:6). Pray for each other, our President, and our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-2). 3) Love - Our Savior loves the Arab Muslim every bit as much as the Jew, Christian and others, and so should we (1 Corinthians 16:14; John 3:16). 4) Share God's Word - "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children" (Hosea 5:6). Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to our Jewish brothers and sisters must increase. Don't think for a second that Jewish people are exempt from, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). "But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand. 'So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me' " (Ezekiel 33:6-7). Live as if Christ were coming soon, because He is (Titus 2:13). July Home