Bible in the News

In this weeks Bible in the News we examine the connection with Russia’s involvement in Africa and Bible Prophecy

This week has been a busy one for the haters of the Jewish people. The International criminal court has filed an application for the arrest warrant of Israeli PM Netanyahu and the defence minister Yoav Gallant. On the same day, the ICC also issued a request for the warrant of Yahya Sinwar the commander of Hamas in Gaza - this carefully choreographed moment ensured that the world could see the moral equivalence that the ICC is placing between a genocidal terrorist group and the state of Israel. 

Throughout history God’s people of Israel have been hated by the nations around it. From the time Israel was in Egypt, Pharaoh attempted to destroy the nation by killing all the male children in the Nile of Egypt. The Edomites were condemned by Obediah: “For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.”, the hatred of the Philistines for Israelites was called “the old hatred” by Ezekiel. When Israel was scattered from their land in AD135 they were persecuted wherever they went, and were never allowed to settle or mingle with the local populus. They were blamed for the Black Death and used as scapegoats. They were constantly in fear of pogroms and expulsion, with 100,000 killed in 1100 different pogroms in just the first few years after the First World War.

The sea and waves are roaring on the America political scene, as six months of political wrangling precede the presidential election. America is festering with an open-sore of Jew-hatred – visibly seen on its campuses. Israel is left to stand alone, about to move into Rafah to put an end to Hamas . Meanwhile, Putin has ascended the throne of Russia once again with an iron grip.

This last Thursday, during the passover holiday, tens of thousands of Jews attended the traditional priestly blessing ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Israel National News reported that, "During the ceremony, prayers were offered for the swift return of the hostages, for the healing of the wounded, and for the well-being of the State of Israel, the IDF soldiers, and the security forces.”

Last weekend the gloves finally came off.  Choosing to send an army of 170 suicide drones, 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles into foreign territory, is a virtual declaration of war with the country to which those missiles are sent.This has been a long time in coming. For decades, Iran has hidden behind its proxies in the middle east and operated indirectly through those channels (Hezbollah/Hamas/Houthis), fearing direct reprisals from Israel. For the first time since the Iranian Revolution, Iran attacked Israel from their own soil.

The world is highly distressed at the potential outcomes in the Middle East, whether of Israel's entry into Rafah and the response of the surrounding nations or the possibility of a direct strike on Israel by Iran and the ensuing war that might follow.  In this troubled sea of political turmoil, the Bible holds out a message of hope. 

Since the October 7th Terror attack in Israel the world’s attention has shifted from the Ukraine-Russia war to the situation in Gaza. However, the war there is still very much ongoing, with Russia believed to be poised ready to start a new offensive in the coming months.

This week hundreds of thousands around the world joined together for a special hour of prayer for the hostages still held in Gaza. The special day of prayer, was organized to fall on the day of Esther’s feast — which she held to out Haman’s wicked plan to the Persian King. Now on this Purim, we find the State of Israel in a position not unlike that which they have experienced many times throughout history. 

In this episode we take a look at the prophecy of Ezekiel 38 and the role of the leader of Russia in the latter days.

Over the past couple of days, it looks like the Biden administration has now publicly gone on the offensive against Israel, with more vigour than the previous months. The reason for this is likely something to do with Biden wanting to please his democrat base as the November elections loom ever closer.

The translation of the Bible into English transformed England and influenced her colonies around the world.  It was understood to be the secret of England’s greatness, and created a uniquely Bible culture in society.  As would be expected this common reading of the Old and New Testaments resulted in not only a Bible based society, but unsurprisingly a society that was sympathetic to the Jewish cause.

With Russia looking to overwhelm Ukraine, nations are wondering what is coming next. Governments around the world have increased spending, and there is a heated discussion beginning in many nations about reintroducing conscription. This is in keeping with Joel's prophecy to "wake up the might men" and "beat your plowshares into swords". 

Welcome to another Bible in the News. This week, Israel rejects Hamas ceasefire deal and aim at ‘total victory’. We review this in the light of Bible prophecy.

How is it possible that employees of the UN could have been involved in the October 7th terrorist attacks against the Jewish people? The answer is because of an organisation called UNRWA - The United nations relief and works agency - an organisation apparently existing to deliver aid to the Gazan Arabs and those who were made refugees during the 1948 war of independence.

As tensions boil over in the Middle East, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have once again been pulled military into the region. Reluctant as some of them may be to support Israel, they have had no choice but to lend their support to the region to defend their shipping interests. As the biblical "ships of a Tarshish", they have been called upon to protect the region. The Houthi attacks have forced them back into a role they don't want to take on. The fate of Yemen is also clearly outlined in the Bible. 

This week we look at the destiny of the peoples of Lebanon in Bible prophecy in the light of rising tensions in the region.

Examining the Biblical Evidence around the True Identity of Jesus

In a Policy Analysis for the Washington institute, Matthew Levitt writes the following: “As details emerge of potential direct links to the attack on Israel, one thing is clear: Hamas would not have been able to plan and conduct such an operation without years of Iranian training, Iranian weapons, and hundreds of millions of dollars in Iranian funding”.While the exact nature of Iran’s involvement in the October 7th Terrorist Attacks is unknown, there was clearly some level of coordination. 

We are beginning to see the cooling of relations between Russia and Israel as we would expect from Bible Prophecy.