The Final Arab/Israel War: - Messianic Jewish Alliance of America

The Final Arab/Israel War:Joel Chernoff - MJAA General SecretaryGod’s Judgment/God’s PromiseAs the Middle East heats up, the number of Arab andJewish casualties and fatalities increase; the struggleappears to be politically irresolvable. Pundits withinevery political and religious group are just as heatedwith differing opinions.Will we see a new Arab/Israeli war in the near future?Military leaders in Israel have openly expressed theirconcern that if the violence continues between thePalestinian people and Israel, the Middle East willlikely be drawn into another regional war.The world is increasingly becoming aware thatthe Middle East conflict cannot—and will not—beresolved politically. Unfortunately, few examine thefacts at its most critical level. At its core, the conflictis spiritual—not political. There is a conflict on thehorizon, but the confrontation is between the God ofIsrael and the god of Islam.So what does God say about this confrontation? Weknow that more war with the Arab nations is possiblebut is there such a thing as a final Arab/Israeliwar? Do the prophets speak of such a confrontation?And, are we looking at the buildup to such awar now?The prophet Isaiah does indeed prophesy a finalArab/Israeli war. Although it is not clear whether weare seeing the buildup to this conflict, this bookletwill briefly review the final conflict as envisioned inIsaiah 11. As with all prophecy, only time will tell ifthe events unfold in our generation or a future generation.Our obligation as believers in the MessiahYeshua/Jesus is to watch and pray.Isaiah 11The chapter breaks down into two themes:1) Peaceful Reign of Messiah: Verses 1-11 describewhat many other prophetic passages present as thereturn of the Messiah and the setting up of His reignof peace for a thousand years. Isaiah 11:6 picturesthe peaceful and even supernatural scenario by stating,“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopardwill lie down with the goat, the calf and the lionand the yearling together; and a little child will leadthem.” In other words, there is no danger of predator-initiateddeath when Messiah returns. The Messiah—Rootof Jesse in verse 10—rules from Jerusalemand brings peace to the earth.by worldwide peace. Consequently, in my view, itmust describe a war that will happen prior to theMessiah’s Second Coming and the setting up of Hiskingdom of peace.2) The Conflict: Verses 12-16, however, describe aconflict that has not happened historically to date,and cannot happen during the Messiah’s 1,000-yearreign because the Messiah’s reign is characterized

The Final Arab/Israeli WarLet’s focus on the war itself as described in Isaiah11. How do we know that the war is the “last” war?The answer is in the text of this chapter:1) This war involves Israel’s active conquest notjust of Egypt, Syria and Lebanon, but also “the peopleto the east” (verse 14), known in Scripture as thenomads of the desert, these are the Arab nations ofKuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Bahrain and others.2) By mentioning Assyria in this passage, not onlyis Syria included but also modern-day Iraq. So,we are dealing with a war in which Israel activelyengages all of the Middle Eastern Arab states. This,however, does not reveal its “final” status but thefollowing observation in the text does . . .3) Not only does Israel seem to proactively orpreemptively attack their enemies—verse 14 impliesthis when it described Israel as “swooping down onthe slopes of Philistia (the Palestinians)”—but thetext also describes Israel as “plundering the peopleof the east” or Arab desert nations.Did you catch that? Israel will not only defeat thedesert nations but also plunder and take spoils fromthem. Since these nations have become rich fromtheir trade in oil, we can conclude that Israel willcontrol the Middle East oil and wealth of these nationsafter the war. This has never before happenedso we know this is an event of the future.The verse goes on to state that Israel also will “layhands on Edom and Moab and the Ammonites willbe subject to them.” This Hebrew text asserts thatIsrael will possess and annex the east bank of theas many as...250 Millionpotentially hostile Arabsagainst Israel’s 5.3 million peopleJordan River, which previously happened in thedays of Joshua, but today is largely the territoryheld by the modern-day nation of Jordan. In otherwords, this event has not happened anytime sincethe days of the prophet Isaiah.How is This Possible?Modern Israel was not able to control even a smallpatch of Lebanon, for any length of time, and finallyleft because the price of holding this territory in themidst of a hostile population was too high. We’veseen that political solutions such as surrenderingthe Gaza strip to the Palestinians and talk of givingaway more land hasn’t ceased the attacks, so howcan Israel with only 5.3 million people subjugateand/or have any kind of headship over several Arab/Moslem nations with as many as 250 million potentiallyhostile Arabs? There is no way in the naturalfor this to happen.The Answer is God’s “Supernatural” PowerThe text in verses 15 and 16 reveal that this war willnot be an ordinary military confrontation. In fact,the text indicates the war will have a strong supernaturalcomponent which is only partly revealed inthese verses.Verse 15 states, “The Lord will dry up the gulf ofthe Egyptian Sea; with a scorching wind, he willsweep His hand over the Euphrates River. He willbreak it up into seven streams so that men can crossover in sandals.”This is clearly a description of a supernatural interventionin this war. God will cause natural catastrophesin both Egypt and Assyria (Syria and Iraq) thatwill likely reveal to the Arab people that this confrontationwith Israel is not just a military strugglewith an earthly enemy but a spiritual struggle. Hewill reveal that the God of Israel is God and notAllah.(continued on next page)

The supernatural element is also indicated in verse16 when the prophet states, “There will be a highwayfor the remnant of His people that is left fromAssyria; as it was for Israel when they came up fromEgypt.” How beautiful that the same exodus theJewish people made—as described in Exodus 12,and celebrated in the Passover—is also made by theArab people.It is because of this supernatural element that I believethe Arab nations will accept the militia defeatof their forces as from God, and will in all probabilitybecome followers of the God of Israel (andHis Messiah, Yeshua/Jesus) as described in Isaiah19:23-25: “In that day there will be a highway fromEgypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt andthe Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrianswill worship together. In that day Israel will bethe third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessingon the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them,saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria Myhandiwork, and Israel My inheritance.’”Even today, we see that our Arab cousins view thecurrent confrontation in Israel as a religious issue—the god of Islam versus the God of Israel. God’ssupernatural intervention in the midst of the finalArab/Israeli conflict will speak truth in a direct andpersonal way to the soul of the Arab people that theGod of Israel is the one true God. Since the Moslemfaith was created by the Arab peoples, their conversionto following the God of Abraham, Isaac andJacob will make the peace and prosperity in theMiddle East possible, as seen in the Isaiah passage.Even now there are Arabs and former Moslemscoming to faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac andJacob, and His Messiah Yeshua/Jesus.The final Arab/Israeli conflict will speaktruth to the soul of the Arab peoplethat the God of Israel is the one true GodEzekiel 37We can also surmise that this prophetic event willprobably set up Israel’s eventual confrontation withthe northern confederacy as described in Ezekiel 37,which the prophet says will attack Israel.Notice that the northern and hostile confederacy, inwhich all the Arab states described in Isaiah 11 areconspicuously absent, will suddenly attack Israel ina time of great prosperity and peace. The Isaiah 11confrontation and consequent period of prosperityand peace would certainly prepare the way for thefulfillment of the famous Ezekiel prophecy.We know that God is gathering Jewishpeople home to Israel from the farcorners of the earthAre We on the Threshold of Isaiah’sProphetic Confrontation?Maybe. Truly, we can only wait to see if the currentconfrontation develops into the broad conflictdescribed in Isaiah 11. If it does, we will see Godmove in a supernatural way and the worldwideperception of who Israel is—and who God is—willnever be the same again.One thing is certain; we know that these eventsand others are just around the prophetic corner. Weknow that our Jewish people are headed for bothdays of trouble and prosperity. We also know God isgathering our Jewish people home to Israel from thefour corners of the earth; millions are yet to leaveRussia, Eastern Europe, Europe, South America and(continued on next page)

elsewhere.That is why, as I watch events unfold in Israel, Icannot help but be challenged that we must do allwe can to prepare for the difficult day ahead, even asthe Lord has prophetically called us to work for therestoration of Israel.The Messianic movement is the “first fruits” of theJewish people who have come to believe and acceptYeshua/Jesus as their Messiah. Together with ourChristian brothers and sisters we have a central roleto play in God’s great prophetic plan for Israel. Weare right where God wants us—Jew and Gentile, onein the Messiah, working together for the honor andglory of Yeshua/Jesus.History of the MJAAThe Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (MJAA),founded in 1915, is the largest association of MessianicJews in the world. Its purpose is threefold:To testify to the large and growing number ofJewish people who believe that Yeshua (Jesus) is thepromised Jewish Messiah and Savior of the world;To bring together Jews and non-Jews who have ashared vision for Jewish revival; andMost importantly, to introduce our Jewish brothersand sisters to the Jewish Messiah Yeshua.Why is this necessary? For many centuries Jewshave frequently suffered at the hands of those callingthemselves followers of Jesus. At the same time,the “Good News” or gospel of Yeshua was oftenpresented without mention of this gospel’s roots inGod’s relationship with His Jewish people throughoutScripture, and His promise of salvation throughthe Jewish Messiah. These factors lead many Jewsto assume that to follow Yeshua is to leave the faithof their fathers and become non-Jews. The MJAAhas worked to combat this misperception for nearly90 years.The MJAA takes seriously our role in both the physicaland spiritual restoration of Israel and welcomesall who feel called to partner with us. Together—inunity as brothers and sisters in the Messiah—we canbe part of God’s prophetic fulfillment.PO BOX 274, Springfield, PA 19064Tele: (800) 225-6522 Fax: (610) 338-0471Visit our website: www.mjaa.orgJew and Gentile One in the Messiah© Joel Chernoff, MJAA, 2008