Hamas attacked Israel – can the End Times be forced?

Hamas attacked Israel. Many people will immediately wonder if this is the beginning of the end of the world. Can The End Times be forced? Jesus said we can’t know when. But can we force God to start fulfilling the prophecies about The End Times?

Seven years ago, I wrote “Are Muslim and Christian “jihadists” driving us to the End-Times?”. This is something between a huge update and a total rewrite. The first one was about possible scenarios, based on passages in the Qur’an and various religious beliefs, combined with the political environment of the time.

But now, the adjacent image isn’t a possible scene. No, it’s not from the conflict. I’m not looking to get into copyright issues with imagese. But the scene it depicts is real.

Why does any of this matter?

Why even bother to write about this? I mean, many of you, especially the Christians, will say there’s no way anyone can force the hand of God. So if we ask, “can the End Times be forced?”, the answer has to be “No!”

But here’s why it matters anyway.

One of many interesting, unusual, and odd things about the Qur’an is the way it treats the Bible, both the Jewish Old Testament and the Christian New Testament.

There’s an implicit assumption that Muslims know certain portions of both Jewish and Christian scripture. But then, there’s also this mixture of parts of their scripture to follow, parts the Qur’an claims are corrupted and therefore should not be followed, and huge portions where nothing is said at all about them.

Revelation is one example. Officially, Islam doesn’t use Revelation. At the same time, various Imams, scholars, and others do speak of similar events to what’s in Revelation, although with differences as far as who does what and the final outcome. We’ll see some of that as we proceed.

Another example is Ezekiel. The Qur’an makes no reference to the Jewish prophet Ezekiel. However, some of the more fundamentalist Muslims do believe they can force the End Times to take place. They believe that a massive invasion of Israel can force God to usher in the events of the End Times. That’s very similar to the contents of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, with one gigantic difference. And what is that difference? In Ezekiel, God says He is in control, and He is bringing those events to take place.

Of course, in the fundamentalist Muslim view, that also leads to the events in Revelation. But again, there’s a very different outcome. In Christian Scripture, Jesus comes back on the white horse, as we’ll see. However, in the fundamentalist Islamic belief, Jesus comes back on the pale horse, called death, to tell Jews and Christians that Muhammad was right and that we got it all wrong. The white horse is ridden by the Mahdi, the twelfth Imam, who is a direct descendant of Muhammad.

And that’s why this does matter.

Even if it cannot, and does not, force the End Times to begin, if the fundamentalists do have enough power to try to start the war in Ezekiel’s prophecy, it will be a bloody war.

Furthermore, Christians who don’t know/understand Biblical prophecy can easily escalate things even further, because they have a mistaken belief about what’s going on.

In essence, none of the Jews, Christians, or Muslims, are truly following the words of the “god” they claim to believe in! Instead, they’re relying on what they themselves can do.

That reality is fascinating, in no small part because all three of them claim to believe in the Book of Job from the Old Testament. That includes the passage below.

Job replies to the LORD – Job 42

Job 42:1 Then Job replied to the LORD:

Job 42:2 “I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.

Job 42:3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.

Job 42:4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’

Job 42:5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.

Job 42:6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”

Did you notice the part about – “no plan of yours can be thwarted”?

Things like that are why it’s so important to not only read, but pay attention to and understand everything in the Bible. There’s absolutely nothing saying we can force God to act on our plans. Except for the possibility that they conflict with His, in which case He will thwart our plans.

So, with that in mind, let’s continue.

Are Muslim and Christian “jihadists” driving us to the End Times?

Here’s the impetus for the original article.

---

I read a New York Times (NYT) article on msn.com this morning – A Vatican Shot Across the Bow for Hard-Line U.S. Catholics. (sorry, this article has been removed from msn.com.)  The NYT article is about an article that appeared in La Civiltà Cattolica, which is claimed to be vetted by the Vatican.  That original article is Evangelical Fundamentalism And Catholic Integralism: A Surprising Ecumenism.

Early on, the NYT article says – 

The article warns that conservative American Catholics have strayed dangerously into the deepening political polarization in the United States. The writers even declare that the worldview of American evangelical and hard-line Catholics, which is based on a literal interpretation of the Bible, is “not too far apart’’ from jihadists.

The actual text from the La Civiltà Cattolica article about jihadists is –

that Rushdoony’s doctrine maintains a theocratic necessity: submit the state to the Bible with a logic that is no different from the one that inspires Islamic fundamentalism. At heart, the narrative of terror shapes the world-views of jihadists and the new crusaders and is imbibed from wells that are not too far apart. We must not forget that the theopolitics spread by Isis is based on the same cult of an apocalypse that needs to be brought about as soon as possible. So, it is not just accidental that George W. Bush was seen as a “great crusader” by Osama bin Laden.

Wow.  Sounds like both sides have, as the NYT article said, strayed dangerously into the deepening political polarization in the United States.  And I’m not talking just here in the U. S. This involves the Vatican and who knows how many other Catholics around the world.

Actually, maybe it’s all three (or four?) sides: The Vatican, Catholics who disagree with the Vatican, Evangelicals, and Jihadists.  While we’re at it, although they weren’t mentioned in the article, let’s not forget that Ezekiel is in the Old Testament, so we really shouldn’t leave the Jewish people out either. especially since Israel is mentioned in the text.

The Bible, to me, is clear about Jesus not wanting to lead a Theocracy, which is –

a form of government in which God or a deity is recognized as the supreme civil ruler, the God’s or deity’s laws being interpreted by the ecclesiastical authorities.

Depending on how one views Islam, it does call for a theocracy.  It started that way. It’s still that way in the middle east. And anyone who supports Sharia law wants at least some degree of theocracy.  One thing I’ve written about before, and still have concerns about, is that Christians, including Catholics, want to essentially set up a theocracy.  

In other words, they want to legislate morality.  In Jesus’ time, the Roman sense of morality was clearly different from that of the Jews.  And yet, we don’t see any instance where Jesus wanted the Jewish people or His new followers (today’s Christians) to overthrow the Roman government to impose their morality and religious beliefs.  Rather, the call was to convert them. To make disciples of them.

In spite of this, too many Christians, whether they be Democrats or Republicans, seem to want to legislate their morals and beliefs into law, setting up a De facto theocracy.  They want to do by way of the government, what Jesus told us to do personally –

The Great Commission

Mt 28:16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

A quick note on Hamas attacked Israel – can the End Times be forced?

Sometimes it bugs me when my plan is to write about something but can’t. By can’t, I mean it just doesn’t flow. I’m in a group at church going through Dallas Willard’s Hearing God – Developing a Conversational
Relationship with God. He’s got a great description of what I need to experience before I’ll write anything. If I don’t feel like that, I just don’t write.

If you’re a regular here, you may have noticed it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve written anything. And it’s not like there’s nothing to write. There are a few series in progress here and on my other site, whichgodsaves.com.

I felt like I was supposed to go back and do more on the differences/conflicts between Islam and Christianity. People, including religious leaders, try to tell us they believe in the same God. They do not. Islam teaches Jesus is just a prophet, not the Son of God. As such, He’s not Messiah either. That alone means Allah cannot be the God of the Bible.

And yet, we keep trying for and hoping for human negotiated peace in the Middle East. All without looking at the Qur’an or the Bible. And so, we don’t understand what’s happening or why.

Ezekiel?

Maybe you noticed, I snuck a reference to Ezekiel above. What’s that about? It’s about Chapters 18 & 39 in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel. I’m not going to present both chapters in their entirety. Only the needed passages to make the point. However, you can read both at biblegateway.com.

These two chapters are one of many Biblical references to The End Times. We’ll go through it, point out some key passages, and see how it could parallel what’s happening now.

Of course, we can’t lose sight of something Jesus said when we do something like this.

Signs of the End of the Age – Matthew

24:1-51 pp — Mk 13:1-37; Lk 21:5-36

Mt 24:1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

Mt 24:3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Mt 24:4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
…

So does anyone know for sure whether this is the beginning of the end or not? No. However, Jesus did tell us to be watchful for His return.

What does this all have to do with Ezekiel?

Ezekiel chapters 3 8and 39 are prophecy of when many nations will get together to attack God’s people. Remember, this is Old Testament stuff. Thousands of years before today’s country of Israel was established. And it’s right in the middle of many Muslim countries.

Israel’s primary threat at this point in time comes from certain Muslim countries. The latest attack was from Hamas. The name Hamas, in Hebrew, means:

2805 חָמָס (ḥā·mās): n.masc.; ≡ Str 2555; TWOT 678a—1. LN 20.1–20.11 violence, i.e., a strong, fierce, destructive force resulting in acts that maim, destroy, kill, often implying a lawlessness, terror, and lack of moral restraint (Ge 49:5; Pr 3:31); 2. LN 20.31–20.60 destruction, i.e., the ruining of a thing, or land, or people, with a focus on the violence that accompanies these acts (Hab 2:8, 17); 3. LN 88.12–88.23 a wrong, injustice, i.e., an injustice to some standard, possibly implying a grievous or severe injustice (Ge 16:5; Job 19:7); 4. LN 57.232–57.248 plunder, loot, i.e., theft of things in the spoils of war (Am 3:10); 5. LN 33.262–33.273 unit: עֵד חָמָס (ʿēḏ ḥā·mās) maliciously false witness, formally, witness of violence, i.e., a liar in a judicial setting (Ex 23:1; Dt 19:16; Ps 35:11)  ¹Swanson, J. (1997). In Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Interesting, isn’t it? Choosing a name like that. Well, it gets more interesting.

from: The Jewish Chronicle – Hamas’ is a curious word with significant meanings

Language is a strange commodity. Sometimes there is within it a “play on words,” but at others there is no “play” but rather a mysterious, unexplained truth.

Let us take the example of Hamas, which according to the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York City research center, is “the largest, most influential political fundamentalist movement” in the Muslim world.

By one means or another, Hamas aims to convince the world of its deep desire to eliminate Israel, and establish there instead the 23rd religious Muslim state.

Hamas is an Arabic acronym for “Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyya,” which means “The Islamic Resistance Movement.” But “hamas” is also an Arabic word that means “zeal.”

Although Arabic and Hebrew are sister languages, the Hebrew meaning of “chamas” is “violence,” according to the Hebrew-English volume of Reuben Alcalay’s Hebrew-English, English-Hebrew dictionary. “Cruelty” and “injustice” are additional definitions, but not “zeal.”

Truth is thus stranger than fiction. For Israel and for Jews everywhere, chamas indeed means violence, in its terrorist form.

A second curiosity of language: In Spanish the word “jamas” pronounced the same way as in Hebrew, means “ever” and “forever.” In their zeal to eliminate Israel from the face of the earth, a vow they regularly and ardently proclaim, Hamas terrorists leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that they will never ever cease their efforts to do so.

Such odd and curious word meanings, however frequently they occur, remain mysteries that are inexplicable, irrespective of language. ²From jewish.chronicle.org

from CBS News – what is Hamas?

Hamas is an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya, which means Islamic Resistance Movement, according to the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center. The group is “committed to armed resistance against Israel and the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state in Israel’s place,” according to the center.

Hamas’ 1988 charter calls for the destruction of Israel, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Steven Cook, a senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies for the council, said in 2021 that Hamas “sees all of Israel and Palestine as Muslim lands, and thus the illegitimacy of Israel and Jewish claims to those lands.”  ³What is Hamas? What to know about the group attacking Israel

And this is why Ezekiel comes to mind. Hamas. Hezbollah. Iran/Persia. And various other Islamic countries/groups that may join in. Not to mention the possibility of support from Russia.

Therefore, let’s take a look at the two chapters in Ezekiel and see how current events could parallel the prophecy.

Hamas attacked Israel – can the End Times be forced?
Current events and prophecy

A Prophecy Against Gog

The first 13 verses of the prophecy against Gog are largely repeated beginning with verse 14. Therefore, we’ll begin at verse 14.

Eze 38:14 “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? 15 You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. 16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.

First of all, Gog is a person. Although we don’t know who that person is, there’s no shortage of proposed possibilities.

While it’s not known for sure who that person is, here’s some info from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.

2. The chief prince of Meshech and Tubal (Ezk. 38:2f.; 39:1–6). His territory was known as the land of Magog, and he was the chief of those northern hordes who were to make a final onslaught upon Israel while the latter was enjoying the blessings of the messianic age. He has been identified with Gugu, known in his own land of Lydia as Gyges, and mentioned in the records of Ashurbanipal. The phonetic similarity is too uncertain for positive identification, however.

According to Ezekiel’s account Gog’s vast army included men from Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer (or the Cimerians), and Togarmah, all from the extreme north, completely equipped for war. They were to come upon the mountains of Israel and cover the land like a cloud. Their purpose was plunder, for the people of Israel were rich and dwelt in towns and villages without walls. Gog’s coming, which had been prophesied by the seers of Israel, was to be accompanied by a theophany and great convulsions in nature. A panic would seize the hosts of Gog; rain, hailstones, pestilence, fire, and brimstone would consume them. Their bodies would be food for the birds, their weapons would serve as firewood for seven years, and their bones would be buried E of the Jordan in Hamon-gog and thus not defile the holy land.

Perhaps Ezekiel had in mind something of the eschatology of Zec. 14, in which the nations that represented “the ends of the earth” would rise against Jerusalem in a final, desperate battle in which God will intervene by returning to earth.  ⁴Reeve, J. J., & Harrison, R. K. (1979–1988). Gog. In G. W. Bromiley (Ed.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Vol. 2, p. 519). Wm. B. Eerdmans.

Persia, of course, is modern-day Iran. Some believe Magog is Russia. Given the relationship between Russia and Iran and other middle eastern countries, this is certainly within the realm of possibility.

Remember, possibility is all we’re talking about here. This isn’t a question of whether the End Times is beginning now. We cannot know that. It’s a look at the signs the Bible gives us. It’s about being aware and watchful. This is along the lines of the Parable of the Ten Virgins. I’ve made a note to myself to put a link in here after I write that one up.

Who starts this?

Who starts this war is a big deal. Let’s go through the sequence of events abovea. Carefully.

will you not take notice?

Eze 38:14 “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it?

Will those who are against Israel notice that they feel safe? That things have been (relatively) good for them lately? Of course they will.

And they did. Here’s one of many similar headlines on the day of the Hamas attack on Israel: 50 years and a day after being caught off guard in the Yom Kippur War, Israel goes back to the scary ’70s in the stunning Hamas attack. ⁵https://fortune.com/2023/10/09/hamas-israel-gaza-war-similar-1973-yom-kippur-1970s/

Here are some extracts from the Fortune Magazine article.

The parallels were striking – and surely not coincidental.

Both wars began with surprise attacks on Jewish holy days. In 1973, it was Yom Kippur, a day of atonement for Jews. This time it was Simchat Torah, when Jews celebrate reading the Torah.

So yes, there was relative peace. Calm. And the complacency that comes with that peace and calm.
And, oh yeah, one more important thing. As happened so often in the Bible, the people and their government were far more into themselves than they were to God.

You will come

15 You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army.

Yes, Hamas came from the Gaza Strip. There were also attacks from Lebanon. Many other middle eastern countries are also voicing support for Hamas and/or the Palestinians. There have even been talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which are Shia and Sunni Muslim countries, respectively. They are not friends. It reminds one of the adage to keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. And even more so, my enemy’s enemy is my friend.

The ones who will come could get rather large and varied indeed.

But again, remember, this is about forcing the hand of God. The End Times will be all the world against Israel. We havee not reached that point yet.

I will bring you

16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.

Yes, the enemies of Israel will come. And yet, they will come because God will make them come.

It only makes sense.

Especially after we read the next verse.

so the nations will know the holiness of God

16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.

If we thought the earlier verses made a statement, this is the ultimate statement from God – about us.

We think we’re acting on God’s behalf. In this case, the fundamentalist Muslims by attacking Israel. The Christians who look to military strength in place of God.

Summing it up

It’s hard to find someone who sums up these few verses and who doesn’t add stuff to them. For instance, one person says the enemy is communist. There’s no Biblical basis for this assumption. It may or may not be the case.

I chose the one below because it’s very basic. It makes the point. But it doesn’t add suppositions to make it feel more like today’s the day for it to happen.

38:14–16. The invasion. Whereas the previous oracle regards Gog as fully responsible for planning the operation, these verses show that God is bringing him against Israel. There is no inconsistency here: ‘a divine purpose overrules, while it makes use of, the base human motive’ (Cooke). The same paradox marks Isaiah’s teaching on the Assyrian invasion (Isa. 10:5–19) and Habakkuk’s attitude to the Chaldean menace (Hab. 1:5–11). It does not mean that Gog is a luckless pawn in the hand of an all-powerful but immoral God. Gog freely acts according to the evil dictates of his lust for conquest and easy spoil, but behind everything in the universe (and especially as it relates to God’s people) there is the controlling hand of God, who orders all things with a view to the ultimate vindication of his honour among the nations. What Gog imagines to be a victory for himself, the Lord turns into an opportunity for his glory (16; I shall be sanctified, i.e. I shall be recognized to be holy and to be the true God).  ⁶Taylor, J. B. (1969). Ezekiel: an Introduction and commentary (Vol. 22, pp. 239–240). InterVarsity Press.

The point about “It does not mean that Gog is a luckless pawn in the hand of an all-powerful but immoral God” is very important. It’s something non-Christians have lots of trouble with. Even Christians sometimes wonder about this. “Is God really good?”, is a question that comes up sometimes. How can a good God do something like this?

Maybe we forget about justice when we ask this kind of question. Justice requires consequences for the wrong things we do. Even when “things happen” that we don’t think we’re directly responsible for, it’s not like anyone’s completely innocent. In this fallen world, we’ve all sinned. Yes, Jesus paid the price for our sins, if we truly follow Him. But even if we’re forgiven, in the spiritual sense, there are still consequences in this life.

The rest of the prophecy

There’s much more to the prophecy against Gog. It’s two chapters long. However, the details of it aren’t necessary for today’s topic. The remainder goes into details of what will happen. There’s a bit of a problem with prophecies like this though. They’re descriptions of events to come.

Descriptions from thousands of years ago. Even someone from hundreds of years ago would find it impossible to accurately describe the weapons of today using words from their time. Airplanes, tanks, rockets. missiles, etc. just didn’t exist back then. There wasn’t anything even close to them.

Conclusion – Hamas attacked Israel – can the End Times be forced?

So we don’t need the details of the prophecy. Especially since this current war isn’t necessarily the one foretold in Ezekiel. It’s very likely an exercise in futility to try to make the prophecy fit the events in the middle east today.

However, I do believe the case has been made that people cannot force God to do anything He doesn’t want to do. Nor can we make God do something earlier than He wants to.

By the way, that was tried even earlier in the Old Testament. You may remember the issues with Abram, Sarai, and Hager. That didn’t work out as planned either. I made a note to write that up as well, and add a link here when it’s done.

It doesn’t matter whether we have good intentions or bad. It doesn’t matter whether we think we’re helping God, as if He needs our help, or trying to work against God. The bottom line is that God’s going to do what He wants to do, when He wants to do it, and there’s just nothing we can do about it.

As Job said, His plans cannot be thwarted. And as Joseph said, God makes our bad intentions turn out for good.

On the whole, God told us what He’s going to do. And what we need to do. Individually, God can communicate with us through His Spirit. Of course, it’s up to us to be able to hear, interpret, and be discerning to know it’s Him.

All of this is to say, yes, God may allow us to cause what we’d call bumps in the road. Things may not work out entirely as God desires. However, there is a difference between what God desires and what God wills. He desires the best for all of us. We can prevent that from happening.

What we cannot do though, is change things to the point where God’s will isn’t accomplished.

To us, since He does allow us to interfere with His desires for us, we can get the idea we’re forcing God to do something. But we aren’t. And He already knows what we’re going to do, even before we think about doing it. Therefore, He’s entirely able to ensure that His will is done.

We can fool ourselves into thinking otherwise. And other people. But not God. We cannot force The End Times any more than we can force a change to anything God wills to take place.

Footnotes

• 1
  Swanson, J. (1997). In Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
• 2
  From jewish.chronicle.org
• 3
  What is Hamas? What to know about the group attacking Israel
• 4
  Reeve, J. J., & Harrison, R. K. (1979–1988). Gog. In G. W. Bromiley (Ed.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Vol. 2, p. 519). Wm. B. Eerdmans.
• 5
  https://fortune.com/2023/10/09/hamas-israel-gaza-war-similar-1973-yom-kippur-1970s/
• 6
  Taylor, J. B. (1969). Ezekiel: an Introduction and commentary (Vol. 22, pp. 239–240). InterVarsity Press.