The Israeli-Palestinian Double Standard

For the past week, the story that has dominated the worldwide news coverage has been the re-newed fighting in the Gaza Strip between Hamas and the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). Israel apparently has had enough of Hamas reigning down rockets and mortars on it's people and has decided that they are going to wipe out Hamas's ability to do so. This however may prove to be a more daunting task than anyone thinks. After all, Hamas will always be able to get more rockets from Iran even if Israel destroys the ones they have now. The only way to solve this issue is to cut out the "cancer" that lives in Gaza and destroy Hamas completely. Whether or not Israel has the courage to do this remains to be seen.

What I find interesting though is how this conflict is perceived by the rest of the world and how it is portrayed by the MSM. The coverage that I have seen has been decidedly anti-Israeli and completely lays the blame for this conflict at their doorstep. Incredible as that may seem, if you are an observer of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict you know that Israel ALWAYS gets the blame. It matters not that Israel has shown GREAT restraint over the past year by NOT attacking Hamas despite the fact that nearly 4,000 rockets have been launched into Israel and the cities that border the Gaza strip. I wonder how many other countries of the world would tolerate that kind of daily bombardment as well as Israel has. My guess is none. And yet the world continues to blame Israel. Why? Because there is a double standard that exists within this conflict that will never be resolved.

You see, the world, the media specifically, still thinks Israel should not be there. They side with the Palestinians every time. The poor, poor Palestinians. Did you know that there has NEVER been a country in the history of the planet called Palestine? Did you know that before Israel claimed back her land and started to develop it the so-called region of Palestine was nothing but a desert region where nothing grew and no one lived. The Palestinians aren't even a people per se, they are just misplaced Arabs that no other Arab country in the region has claimed so that they can be used for political purposes. (For more on this do some research of the Ottoman Empire and how it was broken apart after WWII) The travesty of this whole thing is that Israel CAN co-exist with the Arabs of the region and longs to do so but the Arabs are the ones who refuse to compromise.

In the end, Israel will make some gains but will most likely lose the war of public opinion as even now the MSM and their surrogates are spinning this as an act of aggression that is unnecessary. The UN as well as the EU and Russia has called for Israel to end the conflict now despite that fact that Israel has a right to protect itself against it's enemies. Again, would Russia tolerate the Ukraine launching rockets into its territory every week and causing it's citizens to live in fear? I think not. If something like that were to take place Russia would invade the Ukraine and crush the opposing force. In other words they would do EXACTLY the same thing that Israel is doing now. The reason for the condemnation though is because of how the conflict is shaped in the media. The MSM and the World media want you to believe that the "big bully" Israel is going in "guns blazing" and wiping out the innocent Palestinians who only have rocks to fight back with. The truth however, is far different. Hamas is a well funded terrorist group that get's it's backing from Iran and is in effect an Iranian "proxy" that is fighting Israel. Don't forget that another Iranian proxy just fought the Israeli's in Lebanon not too long ago with much success. This organization, Hezbollah, is also thinking of entering this conflict by launching rockets with much greater range from the North. The idea is to cause Israel to fight on two fronts and cause them to split their forces. This could be very effective and is a good plan if you look at it from their point of view.

People need to realize that Israel is basically fighting for it's very existence here. They are fighting to re-establish that "deterrence factor" that they lost after the war in Lebanon.

As it is, Israel is surrounded by hostile regimes that have vowed to destroy them and "push them into the sea". These countries need to believe that a war with Israel would be devastating for them and a mistake and the "deterrence factor" would keep them from attacking her. The Israeli's fight because they HAVE to NOT because they want to. They only long to live in peace. I pray for the peace of Israel and it's people but I also know that this will not be, according to The Bible, until just before Jesus Christ comes again. If you want to know what's going on with God's plan for the world keep your eyes fixed on Israel for it is there that the "last days" of mankind will unfold.

How close are we? Part II

As promised, this is Part II of my series on the End Days. This time we will take a look at an event that is promised to be the most earthshaking, wonderful, spectacular event ever witnessed by mankind. Since there have been several spectacular, earthshaking and wonderful events already you can imagine (or maybe you can't) what one would need to be to be called the greatest in all of history! To be sure it will be BIG, REALLY BIG!! Let's take a closer look at what The Bible says.

The Second Coming has long been a promised intervention, by Jesus Christ, in this world's history that Christians, and to some extent non-Christians, have found to be somewhat mysterious. I guess we should look at WHY this is going to happen first.

While Jesus walked the Earth He made a promise to all that followed Him then and those that would in the future that even though He had to leave, He would one day return. The reason for His return? To claim His rightful place as the Ruler of the World. You see, Christians believe, because The Bible tells us so, that because of what Jesus did (Death on The Cross), He would be rewarded for His obedience. God commanded that ALL things would then be under the power, rule and control of Jesus Christ. And when God says ALL things He means ALL things. It is at the time of His coming that Jesus will establish His kingdom upon the Earth and ALL nations will be ruled by Him. This will be the "restoration" of all things. Just as The Fall (think Adam and Eve here) set in motion the Death of all of Creation so the return of Jesus will set in motion the restoration of all Creation. You see God planned a much different world than the one we live in today. If you go back and read Genesis you will see how great things were before The Fall. God said several times during Creation that "it was good". But what does that mean? It means that the following DID NOT exist in the world God created: sin, evil, hate, anger, disease, natural disasters, death, envy, greed and the list goes on and on. The world that God created was perfect in every way, as were we (mankind), until we rebelled against Him. Once Adam and Eve rebelled against God the world started to die, as did we, and it has continued to do so to this very day. That is why Jesus must come again to restore all things. When He comes again he will destroy all of the above mentioned evils and vices and the world will be perfect again. His return will usher in the Thousand Year Reign of Peace.

What should we expect when Jesus comes again? A good place to look is in The Book of Matthew the 24th Chapter, of The New Testament. Here the Disciples come to Him and ask what will be happening when He returns and what they should expect? The following will be present:

False Messiahs (they will actually refer to themselves as "the Christ" Matthew 24:5

Wars and rumors of wars 24:6

Famines, diseases and earthquakes 24:7

Murder, persecution and hatred of Christians 24:9, 10

False "holy leaders" or prophets that will cause many to be deceived 24:11

Lawlessness and lack of love in the world 24:12

Christian Gospel preached everywhere in the world 24:14

So as you can see it's not going to look like the Land of Oz!! (We are definitely not in Kansas anymore Toto!)The interesting thing about this passage is that if you take a closer look at the present state of the world today it looks eerily similar doesn't it? Perhaps now we should look at WHEN this will take place.

Although Jesus goes into great detail to tell us what the world will be like when He comes again He never says when. In fact he states in scripture that even He does not know when but only God Himself. So unfortunately that is a question that we cannot answer. We can only hope and wait for that day to come.

Even though we do not know when, we do get an idea of WHAT will happen when Jesus returns. The Bible tells us that this will be THE MOST incredible, amazing, fantastic, sorrowful (for some) day in history! The Bible says that Jesus will come riding a heavenly white horse and an Army will be following Him. the Army of The Lord (Talk about a Breaking News Alert!!) Jesus, along with His army, will meet the armies of the world at the Valley of Meggido or Armageddon and He will destroy the "beast" or the Antichrist (One World Leader) and the armies of the world arrayed against Israel. In one fell swoop the power and might of Jesus Christ will be shown to all. The first time He came He allowed Himself to be beaten and killed. This time around He returns as Judge and ALL will bow before Him. From this point onward He will set up His kingdom on Earth and will rule with an iron hand. Basically, what He says goes....period. This will be a wonderful time of great peace and tranquility like the Earth has never seen since the days of Creation. Once and for all there will be no questions as to who He is because He will live amongst us.

Now some of you are thinking: "This is the craziest thing I have ever heard and this idiot actually believes this"! YES, I do. However, it does not surprise me that there are those who do not. In fact, The Bible itself predicts that there will be people who scoff at the idea of the Second Coming : 2 Peter 3:3-4 says:

First, I want to remind you that in the last days there will be scoffers who will laugh at the truth and do every evil thing they desire.

This will be their argument: "Jesus promised to come back, did he? Then where is he? Why, as far back as anyone can remember, everything has remained exactly the same since the world was first created." (New Living Translation)

As you can see The Bible, once again, accurately predicted the future. You must understand that my belief begins and ends with scripture. In other words; without The Bible there IS no Christianity. That is why so many have tried over the centuries to either destroy it, ban it or discredit it. Take away The Bible and Christianity dies. and so many have tried and continue to try even today to do away with this holy book. The Bible continues to prove that it is God's Word with each passing day and year. Predictions made thousands of years ago continue to come true. History, as The Bible explains it, continues to be proven true with each archaeological find. So you must ask yourself this question: If The Bible predicts that all of this will happen and it has never been proven to be inaccurate then shouldn't I read it and learn to understand it's message?

I think the one thing that people need to understand is that God has not hidden this from us in any way. He TELLS us what will happen in The Bible. His hope is that you will see what is coming and turn your life around before it's too late. He wants you to be saved from what is coming but you must choose to do so. Coming soon: Part III The Rapture.

Time to go Nuclear!

For the last 2 weeks I have been, like most of you, absolutely astonished at the treatment that Governor Sarah Palin has been receiving in the media and on the blogs. It is apparent now that she was a VERY wise choice for VP. In the 2 weeks since she was chosen I have watched the mainstream media, the leftist blogs and most of Hollywood lose their minds and slander this woman in any way they can. Some of the statements that have been made have shown the true nature of the dark underbelly of the Left in this country. They are terrified that "their messiah" has faltered and will now lose this election and with good reason. John McCain went from a 6 point deficit in the polls to a 5 point lead! That's 11 points in 2 weeks. He is clearly surging at the right time. People are now paying more attention to the race and they are tuning in more carefully to what each of these candidates intends to do in The White House. With that attention comes scrutiny and so far the American people are not convinced that Obama is the guy to lead this nation. Sure he still has the lead in the traditional "blue states" but even those are starting to come into play and before its all over this could result in a landslide victory for McCain/Palin. Don't forget that most of this will be over on election night BEFORE the mid-west and the west coast gets to vote at all. They will already have an idea by the time they go into the polls as to who is winning this thing and everyone likes to back a winner.

Since these attacks on Governor Palin have backfired and continue to do so I believe that things will soon get even uglier and before it's all said and done there may be a lawsuit involved. Sure, you can say things about your opponent that are slightly untrue in politics because that is the way that the game is played. I wish it wasn't but it is what it is. However, when you start to accuse, slander and frankly make up stuff that you KNOW is not true like some of the media and the lefty bloggers have done, you have then crossed the line. I personally see this getting much nastier and I think the end result will be a huge backlash from women and values voters in this country who are now more energized than at any other time in this race. Remember, it's only September and as of today there are 53 more days before Election Day. October and the inevitable "surprise" that comes with it is yet to come.

There are many things that can still affect the outcome of this race and they need to be considered. Things like: an Israeli attack on Iran, a Russian stalemate in Georgia, the death of a prominent politician/world leader, a resurgence of violence in Afghanistan or a terrorist attack. All of these things could alter the mood of the country and cause people to sway from one candidate to the next. However, I believe that the momentum is building on John McCain's side and that wave is starting to sweep across the country. There is only one more crucial event/events that will have an outcome on this race and that is the Presidential Debates. I'm not worried about the VP Debates because quite frankly they don't matter. Sure, they will be watched VERY closely this time around but in the end it will be the main Presidential Debates that will cause voters to choose one candidate over the other. Because John McCain is a skillful and experienced debater (that's what Senators do all day) I look for him to shine in this forum. That is also why I think the Dem's will decide to "go nuclear" now so that they can damage him and his running mate BEFORE the debates and therefore slow down the momentum. They know that John McCain will do well here so they need to make him look old, unprepared, like a Bush clone or out of touch with America. Look for the heat to get turned up on both McCain and Palin within all segments of the left in this country: MSM, Hollywood, lefty bloggers, etc. This will be an all out attack on all things Republican. They realize that if they can't win with someone who is so polished and "anointed" for this office than they can't win. My prediction: John McCain will win and it will be by 10% points. Then the fun begins as the left completely unravels in the face of a huge defeat. This could mark the end of the Democratic Party in America as we now know it. What will be birthed in its place will be something much, much worse.

Ezekiel's Sword

In the next 6 months I predict that there will be a major strike on Iran with the clear intent of destroying it's nuclear program. I also believe that Israel will be the one that strikes them. They have said time and time again that they will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. With good reason by the way. Does anyone think that the idiot that's in charge of Iran right now would NOT use it if he had the chance? He has said many times that he plans to be a part of the "messianic arrival" of the Mahdi and plans for the nation of Iran to play a vital part. In Islam, this is the last ruler of the word that "unites" the world under Islam and destroys the "infidels". That's you and me by the way. Anyone who is NOT a Muslim is considered an infidel. So this maniac in Iran feels like he has been chosen to reveal the Mahdi. That means that he would be open to attacking Israel if it meant that the response would lead to the final world war and the coming of the Mahdi. To his warped way of thinking the end will justify the means.

However, I am very confident in the fact that Israel will not let them get to the point of actually possessing the "bomb" before they attack. If you don't believe me read up on their history. They attacked and destroyed a nuclear reactor in Iraq because they thought that Saddam Hussein was building a bomb. They attacked Syria about a year ago because they thought they were also building a bomb. Israel is a sheep amongst wolves in the Middle East and they can't wait to be attacked before they respond. They realize that the attack itself could destroy them. Recently Israel held "training exercises" of a very large nature in the Persian Gulf and made sure that all of the surrounding countries knew they were there. I believe this was a "dry run" for the attack to come and they were just training for the attack.

Israel knows that an attack will draw the ire of the rest of the world but that is a place that they are far too familiar with. Regardless of the fact that they are forced into giving up their land to appease the UN, the very existence of Israel is in jeopardy at this point and they will do what they need to do...and soon.