Aziz Dwaik (remember that name), the most senior representative for Hamas in the West Bank said on Wednesday that Hamas is ready to accept Israel's right to exist. Dwaik also said that Hamas would also potentially be prepared to nullify its decades-old charter which states that the organization would never recognize that the state of Israel has a right to exist. Meanwhile, a newly released Vatican document blames the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the "occupying" of lands for fomenting most of the conflicts in the Middle East.
Both of these stunning developments come at a time when the worldwide pressure for Israel to agree to a Palestinian state has grown to a fever pitch.
In fact, many are viewing this recent posturing by Hamas as nothing more than a shrewd public relations ploy.
You see, there are essentially two organizations running the Palestinians - the Palestinian authority in the West Bank, and Hamas in the Gaza strip.
The Israeli government has been willing to negotiate off and on with the Palestinian authority, but they have had major problems with Hamas. The absolute extermination of the nation of Israel has always been the stated policy of Hamas, but now things are apparently changing (at least for public consumption).
In fact, Aziz Dwaik sounds almost dismissive when talking about the cherished charter of his organization. Just consider the following quotes by Dwaik in the Jerusalem Post....
"The [Hamas] charter was drafted more than 20 years ago," Dwaik noted, adding that his movement would even be prepared to "nullify" the document.
"No one wants to throw anyone into the sea," he said.
Many believe that Dwaik will be the next president of the Palestinian Authority, so his words carry with them a great deal of weight.
In fact, Dwaik's remarks are being viewed by many as an attempt to win official recognition from the international community.
But of course the main goal is to get a Palestinian state.
Intense pressure is being placed on Israel from all over the globe to give the Palestinians a state based on pre-1967 borders.
So what is Israel supposed to get in return?
A promise of peace that won't even be worth the paper it is written on.
So just who is "occupying" lands according to the bishops?
Well, apparently that would be the United States and Israel.
Particularly Israel.
The reality is that the Vatican has endorsed the Mideast Road Map which calls for an independent Palestinian state and a freeze on all Israeli settlement activity.
Apparently the Vatican has not spent a lot of time reading what God has to say about dividing the land of Israel - or else they are just willfully ignoring it.
In any event, another key element in this equation is the Vatican's not-so-secret agenda for the city of Jerusalem. Not only has the Vatican publicly expressed a desire to have sovereignty over the Christian holy sites in Jerusalem transferred to it, the truth is that the Vatican would ultimately love to be the governing authority over the entire city of Jerusalem.
Think of it as a "second Vatican" if you will.
Now that is not likely to ever come to pass, but if the Vatican could get control over Jerusalem somehow they would grab it in a second.
More than ever, the land of Israel, and in particular the city of Jerusalem, has become a "burdensome stone" in these last days. The world is going to keep whining and complaining and putting pressure on Israel until they get a Palestinian state.
But ultimately the world will see that a Palestinian state will not solve anything. The nation of Israel is not going to experience true and lasting peace until Yahshua (Jesus) the Messiah returns to this earth.
Pope Benedict's recent visit to Israel has made a lot of people there really, really angry. Why? Because he walked into a Palestinian refugee camp and openly called for a Palestinian state.
During his visit to the Palestinian refugee camp, Pope Benedict stated, "It is understandable that Palestinians feel frustrated," and that "their legitimate aspirations for permanent homes, for an independent Palestinian state, remain unfilled."
Wow.
I guess there is no guessing where Pope Benedict stands on this issue.
Does anyone still not understand why many Jews are furious?
Of course the Pope is not nearly the only major political leader who is pushing for a Palestinian state.
U.S. President Barack Obama has also been very open regarding his goal to see an independent Palestinian state created.
In fact, there were reports that Barack Obama held a secret meeting with Palestinian leadership last summer even before he became president during which he expressed his desire to divide up the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem.
According to WorldNetDaily, Barack Obama told the Palestinian leadership during a trip to that region in July that he supports a Palestinian state and a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem, but he asked them to keep his remarks secret, according to a Lebanese newspaper.
So Barack Obama wants to divide up the land of Israel and give the Palestinians a capital in east Jerusalem?
As if the U.S. didn't have enough problems.....
Don't all of these politicians realize what they are doing?
God does not bless those who try to divide the land of Israel.
In fact, world leaders continue to operate under the delusion that they can find a solution to all of this conflict by dividing up the land of Israel.
In Genesis 12:3, God warns that those who curse Israel will be cursed when he promised this to Abraham:
"I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
In the book of Joel, God warns specifically against dividing the land of Israel.
Joel 3:1-2 states, "...I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of my people and my inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up my land."
Bill Koenig, the author of "Israel: The Blessing or the Curse", has said this:
"We know for a fact that God gave this land, through the Abrahamic covenant, He gave the land of Israel to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants, and this land is God's land."
In the Scriptures, we are warned that the city of Jerusalem would one day become a huge stumbling stone for the nations in Zechariah 12:3.....
"On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves."
Is that not what has happened?
The truth is that God gave that land to Israel long ago, and now that He has started to bring His people back to the land, anyone who tries to give it away is going to be under a curse.
So is there any evidence of a curse on those who try to divide the land of Israel today?
Yes.
Consider these examples.....
#1) On April 30, 2003, America was positioned to be the catalyst for the so-called "solution" to the Middle East crisis. As Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was sworn in, the "Road Map" peace plan was set in motion.
The very next day began the worst month of tornadoes in United States history - more than 500 in a single month. Under normal conditions, 1,000 tornadoes hit the United States each year, but in just eight days that May, 375 twisters ripped across the heartland of America.
#2) May 9, 2003, President Bush addressed students at the University of South Carolina. Bush called on the Palestinians to embrace the roadmap to peace, and Bush expressed his desire to see the flag of Palestine raised over a free nation.
Hours later, tornadoes returned and Oklahoma City again became the target for deadly twisters, reducing many businesses and homes to splinters and bricks. The tornadoesof May devastated the Midwest with the third worst property damage in American history.
#3) On October 30, 1991, in a meeting scheduled by George H.W. Bush, Israelis and Palestinians discussed ways to achieve peace in the Middle East. Opening talks focused on trading parts of Israel for a peace agreement.
That same day, thousands of miles away, a powerful storm was brewing off of the coast of Nova Scotia. On October 31st, what would be known as "The Perfect Storm" smashed into New England, pummeling the President's Kennebunkport, Maine home with waves 30 feet high. It was a storm so rare that the weather patterns required to create it only happen about once every 100 years.
#4) On August 23rd, 1992, Middle East peace talks resumed in Washington, D.C. with hope that there would be a great breakthrough. These talks focused on surrendering the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria in exchange for peace. Hundreds of miles south of there at the same time, Florida was the target for one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history. Hurricane Andrew ripped through the state with an eye more than 30 miles wide and winds up to 178 miles per hour leaving behind a 32 billion dollar disaster.
#5) Between August 16th and 30th, 2005, Ariel Sharon expelled 9,480 Jewish settlers from 21 settlements in Gaza and four settlements in the northern West Bank.
On January 4th, 2006, Sharon had a stroke, and he fell into a coma and is now in a persistent vegetative state.
#6) The U.S. had strongly pressured Sharon to evacuate those settlers from Gaza.
On August 29th, 2005 the storm that would become Hurricane Katrina formed, and it devastated New Orleans and the surrounding areas to such an extent that they still have not recovered. That devastating storm caused at least 200 billion dollars in damage.
#7) In June of 2001, George W. Bush sent CIA director George Tenet to Israel in an attempt to implement the Mitchell Plan. The Mitchell plan called for, among other things, the cessation of new building in the Jewish settlements.
On the same day that Tenet met with Israeli and Palestinian officials, tropical storm Allison formed in the Gulf of Mexico and moved over Texas, the President's home state, and dropped over 28 inches of rain over the Houston area alone, causing over $4 billion dollars in damage. The storm then moved to Florida and up the east coast causing damage as far as Pennsylvania. The meteorologists called Allison the "worst tropical storm in history".
There are many more examples of this phenomenon here:
Do you still think that all of these things are just coincidences?
The truth is that you DO NOT mess with the land of Israel.
God has really big plans for that land in these last days.
After the reign of King Solomon, the land of Israel was divided into 2 kingdoms - the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. It stayed that way for several hundred years.
However, the northern kingdom (also known as Ephraim) turned away from the Lord and he allowed them to be invaded. Over 700 years before Jesus was born, the Assyrian empire invaded the northern kingdom and carried away the people into exile.
The northern kingdom has not been heard from since.
The southern kingdom (Judah) was later invaded by Babylon and also taken into exile, but later they were allowed to return to their land. The Jews lived in the land of Israel until 70 A.D. when the Romans destroyed the Temple and scattered the Jews to the four winds.
There was no nation of Israel from 70 A.D. until 1948 when the modern nation of Israel was established and millions of Jews starting returning to the land of their ancestors.
But what about the northern kingdom?
Did you know that the Scriptures very clearly teach that in the last days the southern kingdom (Judah) and the northern kingdom (Ephraim) will be reunited in the land of Israel once again?
Ezekiel 37:15-23
The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, 'Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.' Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, 'Ephraim's stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him.' Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand. "When your countrymen ask you, 'Won't you tell us what you mean by this?' say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim's hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah's stick, making them a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.' Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on and say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
So has this happened yet?
Of course not.
So that means that this prophecy is still yet to be fulfilled.
Ephraim and Judah will be reunited once again.
Is there any evidence that this will happen any time soon?
Amazingly there is.
Prophet Tom Deckard (100% accurate prophetic track record stretching over 30 years) is proclaiming that God is now gathering the lost ten tribes of Israel (Ephraim) and is preparing to take them home to the land of Israel.
The extraordinary miracles that God does through him and his stunningly accurate prophecies are starting to cause big waves in the Christian community. Check out this video about him.....
Ezekiel 37 makes it clear that God has big plans for the land of Israel in the end times.
Popes and politicians will continue to do their best to divide the land and negotiate it away, but God's purposes will ultimately be fulfilled.
There will be ups and downs, wars and conflicts, treaties and agreements, but no matter what happens, we know that there is no stopping the Word of God.
