Pastor’s Thoughts – 07/19/2026

God has a plan which was ordained and created by Him alone before time began. It is a plan being carried out before our eyes daily in the news. During my lifetime Israel became a nation again and through wars, not generated by them but by surrounding nations, they acquired Jerusalem, Samaria, and the Golan Heights. These events are not accidents, neither is the war now being waged by Israel and the United States against Iran. God addressed this thousands of years ago through Ezekiel the prophet in Ezekiel 38:8. He says, “In the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.” He goes on to say that an evil plan will be devised and then in verse 16, “It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes , O Gog.” Gog is a word the scholars have traced back to what is now the king of Russia. Persia is listed in this same context in conjunction with Gog. Persia is modern day Iran. These nations along with several others who are aligned even as today are listed in Ezekiel 38-39 as being involved in a war against Israel near the end of the age. I cannot say that Ezekiel 38 is being precisely fulfilled today, but certainly the alignments we see are moving toward such an amazingly prophesied fulfillment.

In keeping with God’s people living in the light of Scripture is the prophecy of Zechariah chapter 14. This prophecy is about the second coming of Christ, and once again we see that Israel continues to be at the center of history. Israel was chosen by God to have a unique relation to God that no other people have. This relation is not salvation but will later include salvation. It is a relationship of promises or covenants according to God’s purposes; “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His personal possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth” (Deut. 7:6-7). God chose them to give us a history of God’s restoration, His Word, and most importantly our Savior. On October 7th, 2024, Israel was attacked by radical Islamist who were supported and promoted by Iran, killing more than 1,400 Jews and taking 240 hostages of which most were later killed. Following this, thousands of missiles and rockets have been fired into Israel, and Israel has fought back accompanied by the United States. The prophecy of Ezekiel 38-39 appears to be a war that will lead into the events of what we know as the time of tribulation. It could well lead to the coming antichrist figure who will come to rule the world and deceptively proclaim peace, and then later break his treaty of peace seeking Israel’s complete destruction.

In Zechariah chapter 14 we have the final battle against Israel and Jerusalem whereby Christ Himself will come, and it is stated that His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4). This final battle coincides with our Lord’s description of the same events in Matthew 24. At the time of this deception, a large portion of the city of Jerusalem will flee into hiding. All of these prophesies demonstrate the promises of the Lord to protect a remnant of Jews, and to destroy the nations who are enemies of the Jews. It is a situation where the antichrist, who comes to power over the entire world, will make it his satanic priority to completely rid the world of the Jewish people.

The taking of Jerusalem from the Jews has not occurred since they reunited in the land and once again became the nation of Israel in 1948. Since this miraculous development of being back in the land God promised them, the goal of Islam, which is also the goal of Satan (Rev. 12), has been to destroy Israel. Consider how God is working. He establishes situations that are humanly impossible so that we who believe in His Word and trust Him must do so by faith against all the odds. Who could imagine that in the very place of the Holy of Holies whereby God presented Himself mysteriously, is this pagan false religion residing with such influence, power, and opposition. This is also the same place where we are told in Scripture the Temple will be rebuilt and Christ will rule the earth.

In Zechariah 14, and also Matthew 24:15-21, just before the return of Christ, we are told the city of Jerusalem will be overpowered and assaulted in the worst possible manner. A portion of the city will escape into hiding. This prophesied event so fits the developing climate and drama we see today in the news. Not only does Satan understand what God has planned for the coming saved remnant of Israel and is working hard to always stop it, but ultimately, he knows no matter how hard he tries, he will not succeed. Zechariah 14:3 says, “The Lord Himself will go forth and fight against those nations as when He fights on a day of battle.” Zachariah then goes into some detail of the cataclysmic supernatural events that will occur in and around Jerusalem. The prophet says, “Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with Him” (Zech. 14:5). Then the prophet says, “And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only One, and His name the only One” (Zech. 14:9). And he says, “People will live in it (Jerusalem), and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.

Dear ones, we appear to be drawing closer to this very glorious expectation. The events occurring in our world are like previews of what God told us would occur through the prophets, and the Lord Jesus Himself declared in answer to questions about His coming kingdom before His crucifixion. We are privileged to have God’s future plan given to us that we may understand the times in which we live. May we be encouraged in our faithfulness to Christ as we wait for the Lord. Come Lord Jesus!