First, the prophecies:
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem."
"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." (Zechariah 12:9-10, KJV)
Now, the beginning fulfillment:
Terrorist group, Hamas, has attacked Israel, inflicting more deaths on Jews since Hitler's Holocaust - 1942-1945
First, the prophecies:
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem."
"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." (Zechariah 12:9-10, KJV)
Now, the beginning fulfillment:
Terrorist group, Hamas, has attacked Israel, inflicting more deaths on Jews since Hitler's Holocaust - 1942-1945
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, from David Bay, Director, Cutting Edge Ministries, located on the Internet at www.cuttingedge.org and by phone at 1-800-451-8211
The world is rushing into the time of the fulfillment of Zechariah 12!
First, the prophecies:
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem."
"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." (Zechariah 12:9-10, KJV)
Now, the beginning fulfillment:
Terrorist group, Hamas, has attacked Israel, inflicting more deaths on Jews since Hitler's Holocaust - 1942-1945
NEWS BRIEF: "Israel at War: Cabinet vote makes war official", Israel National News, 12 Oct 2023
Over 4,000 rockets fired towards Israel; 100 soldiers and civilians estimated to be held in Gaza ... Sirens sounded Saturday morning in Israeli cities and towns throughout the Jerusalem area, central Israel, and southern Israel, prompting the IDF to declare 'Operation Swords of Iron'."
"Multiple civilians reported hearing loud explosions in their immediate vicinity; as of 7:30 PM on Saturday, at least 3,000 rockets had been fired toward Israeli civilians ... hundreds of terrorists infiltrated multiple Israeli communities, overtaking Israeli towns on the Gaza border, murdering Jews, and taking others back to Gaza as captives. At least 700 were killed, dozens were kidnapped, and over 2000 were injured in the attacks."
"In response to the attacks, the IDF launched Operation Swords of Iron and has since been striking terror targets in the Gaza Strip."
The result is that the fundamental reaction of Holocaust survivors kicked in - "NEVER AGAIN"!
NEWS BRIEF: "In Israel, ‘Never Again’ Just Happened Again", The Messenger, October 8, 2023
"In the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel vowed to never again be caught off-guard as it was when Egyptian and Syrian forces, backed by Jordanian, Iraqi, Libyan and Tunisian troops, invaded the tiny Mediterranean country on the holiest Jewish day. Fifty years and one day later, Jerusalem again was unprepared as Iran-backed Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel."
"Israel’s seeming intelligence failure was colossal, on par with the Yom Kippur War, Pearl Harbor and 9/1l ... Israel’s intelligence agencies eventually will face a day of reckoning, and Netanyahu could find himself ousted from office, as former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir was in June 1974, after her government failed to realize an attack was imminent with the Yom Kippur War. For now, however, there is a war to be won — against Hamas, at a minimum, and Iran, if need be. "
"Hamas’ incursion has the look and feel of an operation planned by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). If true, this likely was a state-sponsored act of war and planned as a multi-domain operation that was handed down to Gaza City for execution. Combining cyber attacks, drones, rockets, ground attacks, hang gliders and amphibious assaults may not have been detected because the planning happened in Tehran. "
Note: this term, 'Never Again" was coined after the Holocaust to refer to the determination of the Jewish people to "never again" allow a foreign power almost destroy the Jewish race.
"After the Holocaust, the world said 'never again'. But now, it’s happening again ... Some of the images showing Hamas hunting down Jews, rounding them up and killing them, are eerily similar to the images of Nazis doing the same thing. " ("Goals of Hamas, Nazis appear to be the same")
2. Hamas made it their mission to be as brutal as possible, inflicting as much mental trauma as possible.
* Tiny babies were murdered -- some allegedly beheaded -- in their cribs.
NEWS BRIEF: "Hamas terrorists murdered 40 babies in kibbutz attack: Some were beheaded", Israel365 News, October 11, 2023
"Hamas terrorists murdered approximately 40 babies as part of their Oct. 7 attack on Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Israel Defense Forces soldiers who retook the community told i24News on Tuesday.
“Talking to some of the soldiers here, they say what they witnessed as they’ve been walking through these communities are bodies of babies with their heads cut off and families gunned down in their beds', said the report, which was shared by the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the Israeli Foreign Ministry."
* Elderly grandmas were seized and carted off as hostages.
NEWS BRIEF: ""Every Hamas terrorist is ‘a dead man’ " - Ready to “wipe this thing called Hamas off the face of the Earth” - "evacuated tens of thousands of residents from nearby communities", New York Post, October 12, 2023
"... Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that every terrorist will soon be “a dead man ... 'And no one will preach us morals'.”
"Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home,” Israeli Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Israel Katz tweeted early Thursday."
"Hamas terrorists were seen taking female hostages and parading them down the street in horrifying videos."
* Women were brutally raped, and some killed afterward
NEWS BRIEF: "Babies killed, women raped, civilians brutally murdered: Shocking details of Hamas attack", The Statesman, October 11, 2023
"Hamas attack in Israel: Some of the women were raped before being brutally murdered, while others were paraded on trucks in semi naked state. At least 40 babies were killed, some of them beheaded, and their mothers were shot at point blank range by Hamas militants in their surprise attack on Israel last week."
" 'It’s not a war', General Itai Veruv, head of the IDF’s Depth Command, told reporters ... 't’s not a battlefield. You see the babies, the mothers, the fathers in their bedrooms, in their protection rooms, and how the terrorists kill them. It’s not a war… it’s a massacre', he added."
3. Hamas' brutality prompted Israeli and American leaders to forcefully use tough language never heard before.
NEWS BRIEF: "'They need to be eradicated': Congressman erupts as executions to be aired", World Net Daily, October 12, 2023
"They are savages, animals, butchers. Depraved, sordid and beneath contempt .. Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the horrifying reality of the Hamas terror attack, writing on X, 'Not since the Holocaust have so many Jews been killed on one day'."
Now, the really tough words:
""These are terrorists, thugs … scum of the earth and they need to be eradicated."
"Eradication" means " destroy utterly" (Dictionary.com)
Or, maybe this word sounds like: "For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head ... and they shall be as though they had not been." (Obadiah 15-16)
NEWS BRIEF: "Senator Graham (R-SC): ‘It’s Going to Take a Destruction of Hamas Like We Destroyed the Third Reich", Breitbart News, Oct 11, 2023
"Tuesday on CNN, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said ending the threat Hamas poses to Israel will require an exhaustive approach that he likened to what was used to end World War II ... It’s going to take a destruction of Hamas like we destroyed the Third Reich..."
But, this kind of language is what you might express when leaders are actively planning to attack with a "weapon of fire", as Obadiah foretold 2,500 years ago!
4. Hamas issued a worldwide "Fatwa" - if you see a Jew, kill a Jew -- globally!
NEWS BRIEF: "A day for sacrifice, heroism, and dedication’: Hamas calls for world-wide ‘general mobilization’ on Friday (10-13) - "Avoid public transit. Avoid airplanes. Avoid public events”, BPR News. October 11, 2023
"A widespread terrorist threat was issued by Hamas leaders marking Friday, October 13 as 'a day for sacrifice, heroism, and dedication' to jihad via a world-wide 'general mobilization'. With concerns about the intelligence failures that resulted in the most horrendous attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust pronounced, the leaders of Hamas sparked new fears Tuesday issuing a call to rise up in support of their zealotry."
The call is for Friday, October 13!
"Posting on Telegram, founding member and leader Khalid Mashal gave a speech calling on Muslims around the world to mark Oct. 13 as 'the Friday of Al-Aqsa flood'.”
"It is a day to expose the crimes of occupation, isolate it, and foil all its aggressive schemes. It is a day to demonstrate our love for Palestine, Jerusalem, and Al-Aqsa,” the call continued. 'It is a day for sacrifice, heroism, and dedication, and to earn the honor of defending the first Qibla of Muslims, the third holiest mosque, and the ascension of the trusted Messenger'.”
5. PM Netanyahu and opposition leader, Benny Gantz (Retired General) set aside their differences to form a "Unity Government"!
NEWS BRIEF: "Netanyahu, Gantz form Unity Government in Israel", Breitbart News, 11 Oct 2023
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Benny Gantz agreed Wednesday to form an emergency government of national unity for the duration of the war against the Palestinian terror group Hamas."
6. Israel is on a prophetic timeline.
The end result will be seemingly countless wars, Antichrist, the Rapture of the Church, and a devastated economy and living!
* This war will prove to result in the Obadiah conflagration war
* Immediately, Israel will be attacked - in wave after wave -- by Muslim nations infuriated by Israel's annihilation of Hamas/Hezbollah/Fatah/Palestinians/House of Esau!
* When the Arabs cannot win the fight against Israel, she will be asked to lead a consortium of forces against Israel. Ezekiel 38-39 will erupt.
One portion of this prophecy should concern us here:At the time of the Russian-led invasion of Israel, the conditions within Israel are so rudimentary that families are forced to depend upon wood fires for heating and cooking!
We know, from Biblical prophecy that God has guaranteed that Israel will never again be defeated once she is nationally reborn If Israel is defeated in this Next Great War, you can throw away your Bibles and start believing in other gods and religions!! But, we know, from Daniel 12:1, that God will command Israel's National Archangel, Michael, to "stand up" to defeat Israel's enemies. We also know, from Obadiah 15-19, that the House of Esau [the Palestinians] will be annihilated in a Last Days' War."
Listen:
"And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years: So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God."
Wait a minute!
At the time Russia is drawing near to the borders of Israel, Jews living in Israel will be in such dire shape that they are seeing their culture and cities devastated to the point that people will have to depend upon fire for their heating and cooking!
Now, do you understand the significance of Hezbollah having 150,000 rockets at their disposal, while Hamas has another 50,000.
Israel will survive, but only as through fire!!
How will God destroy the enemies of Jerusalem?
"And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth." (Zechariah 14:12, KJV)
God says he is "jealous" for His bride, Jerusalem!
"So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy." (Zechariah 1:14, KJV)
"Therefore thus saith the Lord; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem." (Zechariah 1:16, KJV)
"Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem." (Zechariah 1:17, KJV)
"And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again." (Zechariah 2:12, KJV)
Ezekiel 36:6-38 Restoration -- This passage is one of the most revealing concerning God's plan to restore Israel. In verse 6, God reiterated that Israel will suffer His judgment, but then in verse 7, He stated that, after He had finished His judgment, He shall call the Gentile nations which He had used to punish Israel into judgment. Then, in verses 8-10, God stated, "O mountains of Israel...shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people, for they are soon to come home..." And then, just to ensure that no one misunderstands the nature of this return, God states, in verse 10, that He will give all the land of Israel back to the Jews. A check of a map of the original land given to the Twelve Tribes of Israel shows that its boundaries extend northward to most of Lebanon, much of Syria, and Jordan, and some of Iraq. The Jews have partially returned to their land on several occasions, but have never recovered all their land, even today. God reiterated His promise to restore all their land in Amos 9:8-15, but adds this promise: "I will bring back the exiles of My people, Israel...And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be torn up out of their land which I gave them..." God simply cannot state this promise of reconciliation any more plainly. After His decreed punishment for sin has run its course, He will bring Israel back to her land.
Ezekiel 37
This wonderful chapter foretells precisely how God will return Israel back to her land. God likens this gradual process to a valley of dry bones being systematically raised up to a living body again. And, just to ensure that no one misses this point, God first gives the cryptic prophecy in verses 1-10, and then the plain explanation beginning in verse 11. God states plainly, "...these bones are the whole house of Israel...I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves and bring you into the land of Israel".
Interestingly, God stated, in verse 8, that He will bring Israel back into the land without His spirit; since we know that the Holy Spirit always testifies of Jesus Christ, we know that God will restore Israel initially in a state of unbelief in Jesus Christ as Messiah. But, then, in verse 14, God says, "And I shall put My Spirit in you and you shall live..." Of course, we know from recent history that Israel was, indeed, established in unbelief in Jesus Christ; her belief in Jesus as Messiah is still future.
In Hosea, God again mightily reiterated these two themes, the physical destruction and dispersion of the Jews and their future restoration. In chapter 1:2, God states the reason for His action, "...for the land hath committed great whoredoms, departing from the Lord..." God sternly states that the time for pity had passed; the time for judgment had arrived. Yet, in verses 10-11, God foretells the restoration of Israel!! In chapter 2, God again foretells judgment from verses 1-13, but then turns to the future restoration in verses 14-23. He says in verse 14 that He will speak to Israel "comfortably" or "tenderly" and will speak to her "heart". In verse 23, God clearly states that He will turn again and have mercy upon Israel and will betroth her again.
In Hosea 3:4, God foretells that His punishment of Israel will be for "many days" and that their religion will be rendered inoperable. History tells us that this judgment occurred just in this way. Then, in the very next verse, God turns to His theme of restoration, when He states, "Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their King, and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days." Notice that Israel will seek Messiah Jesus, referred here as "David their King". Also notice that God places this return in the "latter days", a clear reference to the End of the Age. But, the best is yet to come.
In Hosea 5:14, God foretells the severity of His punishment when He says, "...I will rend and go on [rending] I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver." But, in the very next verse, God returns to the theme of restoration!! "I will go and return to My place (in Heaven) till they acknowledge their offense and seek My face: in their affliction, they will seek Me earnestly." God is saying here that, once the Jews acknowledge their guilt and earnestly seek His face, He will return to them. Then, in chapter 6, we hear what the people will be saying at this time. They will be saying, "Come, and let us return unto the Lord, for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten and He will bind us up." This Scripture is probably the best in clearly stating both the physical punishment and the planned restoration in one single verse.
There are many more instances in the Old Testament where God foretold physical destruction against Israel as judgment, to be followed by full and complete restoration. In fact, in Haggai 2:9, God says that the latter glory of Israel would be greater than her former glory.
But, why is God so interested in returning Israel back to the Promised Land, after Israel had sinned so often and so grievously, and after God had declared that His patience and pity with Israel to be at an end? This is a very good question, and one that, when it is answered, will finish the illumination on this subject.
In Ezekiel 20:40-44, God specifically addressed the return to Him. In verse 44, God says a very interesting thing: He says that He will restore Israel "for My name's sake". He reiterated this truth in Ezekiel 36:21-22. God very explicitly told Israel why He was planning to restore her to her land. He plainly says, "But I had pity (or concern) for mine holy name...say to the house of Israel...I do not (do) this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake...And I will sanctify My great name..."
Now we are at the core truth. God had given Abraham a promise that Abraham's descendants would be the Chosen People forever. You see, God's Redemption Plan was set to come through this Chosen People, Israel. And Messiah was to come twice, the second time in great glory and power, ruling absolutely for eternity. If God destroyed Israel for her sins and did not restore her, Jesus could not come back as He had foretold. Whereas He could still return in all His glory and power, He could not come back as a descendent of Abraham. God's promises would prove to be null and void; God will have been proven to be a liar to Abraham.
The world now stands at the precipice of the appearance of Antichrist and his False Prophet. Are you Born Again? Go to www.cuttingedge.org and click on "Salvation" tab.
You can contact us by phone (800-451-8211) mail or email (dbay@cuttingedge.org).
You can also E-Mail us.
David Bay, Director
Cutting Edge Ministries
God bless you, and may He maintain a "Hedge of Protection" around you and your family, and give you peace.