This past week, The Times of Israel reported that Turkish President Recep Erdogan laid the blame squarely on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for Iran’s large-scale attack on Israel earlier this month.
“The main one responsible for the tension that gripped our hearts on the evening of April 13 is Netanyahu and his bloody administration,” Erdogan declared.
He further went on to say, “Those who have been silent for months about Israel’s aggressive attitude immediately condemned the Iranian response, but it’s Netanyahu himself who is the first who should be condemned.”
It is pretty sad that Erdogan won’t admit that Iran is the leading state sponsor of terror in the Middle East, and because of their hatred for Israel, they are hellbent on destroying the Jewish State
The truth is that the Iranian regime, which some call “the head of the octopus,” has their tentacles all around Israel. Iran funds and props up its terrorist proxies, with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon possessing over 150,000 rockets, all pointed toward Israel. Iran also has proxies in Iraq, Syria, Gaza with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and in Yemen with the Houthis, all with one goal: eliminating the Jewish State.
President Erdogan, an Islamist, has chosen to support Hamas’ demonic massacre on October 7 and Iran’s attack on the Jewish state with over 300 drones, cruise, and ballistic missiles. He has no problem with these horrible events, but he does have a problem with Israel, especially when they defend themselves.
This shouldn’t surprise students of God’s Word.
Setting The Stage For Ezekiel 38
The Bible, in Ezekiel 38 and 39, tells us that things need to move in this direction. These chapters speak of a future attack on Israel from the north with the three main players—Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Knowing this, we shouldn’t expect any warm relations between these countries and Israel.
In Ezekiel 38:8, we read: “After many days you will be visited. In the latter years [that is yet to come] you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.
The above verse describes the Jewish people being regathered back to the land and says there will come a time when Israel will “dwell safely.”
There’s much discussion about the timing of the Ezekiel 38-39 battle. Some place it before the Rapture, some after but before the Tribulation. Some place it at the end of the Tribulation. I believe that it takes place in the early parts of the Tribulation period when the peace treaty of Daniel 9:27 is signed between the Antichrist and Israel, allowing them, in the early stages, to dwell safely in their land with neither bars nor gates. A state of “dwelling safely” and unwalled is not the current situation we see in Israel. A mosquito can’t even enter Israel’s airspace today without them knowing it.
Verses 9-12 continue: “You [speaking of this anti-Israel coalition of nations] will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you. ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land.”
Again, Russia, Turkey, and Iran are the three main players. Sudan and Libya are also in that mix.
Verse 13 mentions “Sheba and Dedan,” where the modern nation of Saudi Arabia is today, protesting this invasion. This, too, is similar to what we’re seeing happening today.
It’s incredible to see God’s Word coming to pass.
According to Al Majalla, a London-based Arab political news journal, “By the end of the first half of 2022, the number of foreign military bases and locations [speaking within Syria] had reached a total of 830 sites, distributed as follows: Iran 570, Turkey 125, Russia 105, US-led coalition 30.”
Friends, Russia, Turkey, and Iran are on Israel’s doorstep and have been developing quite a friendship with one another over the years.
God Alone Predicts the Future
Everything that we see happening is setting the stage for this war to be fulfilled, I believe, in the near future. Here we are today, reading what the prophet Ezekiel wrote some 2,500 years ago, speaking of the very things we are witnessing. What does that tell me? It tells me that God’s word is powerful—it’s about real people, real places, and real events—therefore, we can trust it with all our hearts.
When God Says in Isaiah 45:22, “Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other,” we better take heed and turn to Israel’s Messiah, Yeshua, the only way to be saved from our sins and have the gift of eternal life.
Bible prophecy shouldn’t scare us but prepare us and drive us into the arms of Jesus because His Word is truth, and he alone predicts the future.
I think of Isaiah 42:9, where God says, “Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.” In other words, God alone predicts the future, and the things that we see happening in our world today line up with what we read in God’s Word. Amazing!
What Becomes Of The Enemies Of Israel?
So, what is the fate of these invaders who are coming upon the land of Israel in the near future? Let’s look at Ezekiel 39:3-4: “Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand. You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.”
Well, there you have it.
If Iran, Turkey, Russia, and Israel’s enemies really want to come against the Jewish State, they would be better off aiming their weapons at the sun, moon, and stars to try to destroy them because God says in Jeremiah 31:35-36 that as long as they are intact, Israel will not cease from being a nation before God. That means forever—period!
