Perspective    

Fifty years after the Yom Kippur War on October 6, 1973, Hamas launched an attack against Israel. Initially over 1,400 have been killed and over 4,600 have been wounded. It stunned the nation of Israel.

One thing which is abundantly clear in terms of international relations is that those who support Israel’s existence within their region are few. Even the United States and Europe have a rising tide of people who are against Israel, and surprisingly it is among those who tend to be of the younger set. National Public Radio gave these statistics: “Overall, 65% said the U.S. should support Israel publicly. That was true of big majorities of both parties—77% of Republicans and 69% of Democrats. Notably, independents were less likely to believe this—54% thought the U.S. should publicly support Israel, but a third said the U.S. shouldn't say or do anything. But there are huge age and racial gaps—78% of those 45 and older think the U.S. should take a publicly pro-Israel stance, but just 48% of those under 45 said so” (npr.org).

Will there come a time when the United States and Britain will not rise to help Israel, a time when there is such a crisis that rises to a level that Israel would cease to exist? That is entirely possible, because the U.S. and Britain are prophesied to be laid waste (See our booklet, "The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy"). 

The King of the North and South

Prophesied events of the end time show Israel exists during the time when the King of the South pushes at the King of the North. Notice Daniel 11:40-42: “At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.”

The Glorious Land is Israel. Notice the actors in this end time scenario are modern-day Turkey (Edom), Jordan (which comprises Lot's descendants of Ammon and Moab), and Egypt. Modern-day Israel is wanting to send the Palestinian peoples to Egypt, but Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi made his toughest remarks yet on Wednesday saying the current war was not just aimed at fighting Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, “but also an attempt to push the civilian inhabitants to ... migrate to Egypt.” 
El-Sissi is also concerned about the risk of bringing militants into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula from where they might launch attacks on Israel that could endanger the two countries’ 40-year-old peace treaty. Jordan said the same thing. They are of the belief the refugees would end up being permanent.

Twenty-eight UN member states do not recognize Israel: 15 members of the Arab League (Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen) and ten non-Arab members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Indonesia, etc.). The majority of member nations of the United Nations support Israel’s right to exist.

Meanwhile the war continues to go on, and Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that Israel must be prepared for a long war. After signing peace treaties in 1979 and 1994 respectively with Egypt and Jordan, Israel maintains full diplomatic relations with these Arab neighbors. In 2020 Israel signed agreements establishing diplomatic relations with four Arab League countries, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Morocco. Many other nations support Israel’s existence.

Be Patient and Watch for Jerusalem Surrounded By Armies 

In the end of the age Jesus warned of one major event which would signal the end is near. He said in Luke 21:19-22, “By your patience possess your souls. ‘But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.’” 

It is entirely possible that Iran could foment more violent acts upon Israel, and this would escalate everything. The United States has moved heavily equipped aircraft carriers into the Mediterranean Sea to ward off involvement by other players like Iran or others. This may have the opposite effect.

When you see armies surrounding Jerusalem moving in to conquer Israel then you will know—this is it, and the end of this age is very near.

All we can do is watch as Jesus said to do and keep spiritually alert to our own condition (Luke 21:26). We should be patiently watching and waiting. Jesus said by your patience you possess your souls, or as the Greek word hupomonē means, by your endurance and constancy. Our salvation rests upon God’s grace and our endurance in obeying God’s laws and commandments just as the patriarch Abraham (Genesis 26:5). Jesus also said, “But he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13).

This is my Perspective and the current edition of the Prophetic Times follows below: 

Prophetic Times

Iran TV says proxies to attack Israel from all sides

October 19, 2023 ynetnews.com reported:

Iranian television drew for its viewers the regime’s plan for the attack on Israel. ‘They will be hit from all sides,’ the report said the Shite militias in Iraq and Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen will launch a coordinated attack including missile fire and attack drones to create a siege of Israel.

Iran claims the Houthis possess missiles with a range of some 2,000 kilometers (nearly 1,250 miles) and Hezbollah has advanced rockets able to target Israeli naval vessels and Tel Aviv. The report also said the pro-Iran Iraqi militias were entrenched in the Syria part of the Golan Heights. ‘Such an attack could begin within days if the Supreme Leader’s demands to stop Israeli strikes on Gaza are ignored.’

In a call between Iran’s military chief Gen. Mohammad Bagheri and defense minister of Russia and Qatar, Russian Sergei Shoigu said Israel’s continued crimes, and the assistance it receives from some in the West may lead to others being forced to join the conflict. ‘We are very concerned about a far-reaching assault on civilians,’ he said.

Report: US Marine rapid response force heading to Israel 

October 17, 2023 israelnationalnews.com reported:

A US Marine rapid response force is headed to the waters off the coast of Israel, CNN reported on Monday, citing a defense official familiar with the planning.

The force, consisting of 2,000 Marines and sailors, will join a growing number of US warships and forces converging on Israel as the US seeks to send a message of deterrence to Iran and prevent the war in Gaza from spilling over into a regional conflict.
CNN reported earlier that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has ordered that roughly 2,000 troops prepare for a potential deployment to Israel to help with tasks like medical and logistical support, according to multiple defense officials. 

The order does not mean that the troops definitely will deploy, or that any will serve in a combat role if they do go to Israel, officials said. Austin’s decision, however, has shortened the time the identified troops will have to prepare for a deployment if they are ordered to go, according to officials.

2,000 U.S. Troops May Deploy to Middle East Amid Israel-Hamas War

October 16, 2023 forbes.com reported:

About 2,000 members of the U.S. military across the armed services could deploy to the Middle East to support Israel in its war against militant group Hamas, multiple outlets are reporting, broadening U.S. backing for Israel’s military—though they won’t serve in a combat role.

The news comes two days after the Pentagon announced a second aircraft carrier—the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group—will go to the eastern Mediterranean “to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war,” joining the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, which arrived last week.

If American ground forces are sent to the region, they could also serve as a deterrent for outside actors, ABC News 
reported, as U.S. officials urge Iran and its allied militant group, Hezbollah, not to directly enter the Israel-Hamas conflict.
4,150. That’s at least how many people—about 1,400 Israelis and 2,750 people in Gaza—have died since the war began on October 7. An additional 3,400 Israelis and 9,700 Gazans have been injured, according to ABC News.

Iran Warns Of 'Pre-emptive Action' Against Israel

October 16, 2023 barrons.com reported:

Iran warned Monday of a possible "pre-emptive action" against Israel "in the coming hours", as Israel readies for a ground offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Tehran has repeatedly warned that a ground invasion of the long-blockaded Gaza would be met with a response from other fronts -- prompting fears of a wider conflict that could draw in other countries.

"The possibility of pre-emptive action by the resistance axis is expected in the coming hours," Iran's foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a live broadcast to state TV, as he referred to his meeting with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday.
Earlier Monday, Iran's top diplomat and president, Ebrahim Raisi had said time was running out to reach a political solution and warned against the expansion of the Israel-Hamas war to other fronts.

Amir-Abdollahian said Monday that "the resistance leaders" will not allow Israel "to do whatever it wants in Gaza".
"If we don't defend Gaza today, tomorrow we have to defend against these (phosphorus) bombs in the children's hospital of our own country," he added.

Israel declared war on the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas a day after waves of its fighters broke through Gaza's heavily militarized border with Israel on October 7 and killed over 1,400 people, most of them civilians.

Iran ordered Hezbollah to carry out attacks on Israel’s North 

October 16, 2023 jpost.com reported:

Iran ordered Hezbollah to escalate against Israel on Sunday, IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari said in his Monday morning press conference.

‘If Hezbollah fails to understand us, the response will be deadly,’ said Hagari repeating the sentence for emphasis. There has been an ongoing debate about whether Iran was involved more generally, with general training, funding and logistics support, or with specific direction and responsibility for Hamas’ invasion of the South on October 7, but Hagari was unambiguous about his accusation on Monday.

It’s official: The era of China’s global dominance is over

October 13, 2023 businessinsider.com reported:

We've reached the end of an era for the Chinese economy. For the past three decades, China has been on the upswing of a supercycle that saw an almost uninterrupted expansion of the country's capacity to manufacture, appetite to consume, and ability to project power across the world economy. The Chinese Communist Party relentlessly pursued economic development over all else, even when that single-mindedness pushed the party to make debilitating policy mistakes — creating a massive bubble in the property market, saddling provinces with loads of debt, and failing to transition away from an overreliance on investment. There was no time to stop for corrections while China's mind was on money alone. 

This era of expansion was not only a boon for Beijing, it also helped fuel global demand. Countries relied on China's hunger for speedy modernization and industrial might to supercharge their own development. Even American companies saw China as the next great global market — and made bets accordingly. They lost those bets.

China's leader, Xi Jinping, has shifted the CCP's raison d'être to national security over the economy. Getting rich isn't China's big project anymore; the project is power. As a result, both the government's priorities and its behavior have changed. In the past, whenever it seemed that a recession was on the horizon, the CCP came to the rescue. There's no hefty stimulus coming this time. Nor will the explosive growth that experts once expected from China return. Beijing's relationship with the outside world is no longer guided by the principles of economic rationality, but rather by its yearning for political power.

"This isn't about the economy anymore, it's all about advanced technology and weaponry," Lee Miller, the founder of the Chinese economic surveyor China Beige Book, told me.

Photos of babies being burnt, decapitated confirmed 

October 13, 2023 jpost.com reported:

The Jerusalem Post can now confirm based on verified photos of the bodies that the reports of babies being burnt and decapitated in Hamas’s assault on Kfar Aza are correct. May their memory be a blessing.

The photos were shown to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his visit to Israel on Thursday by the Public Diplomacy Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office. Later in the day, the photos were published by the Prime Minister’s Office on Twitter. The photos are graphic and have a content warning covering them until a button reading ‘show’ is pressed.

In the past two days, the Hamas terrorist movement has launched a campaign denying that it kidnapped, murdered, and abused civilians during its attack on southern Israel.

In a video published by Hamas, the movement dismissed the reports of babies being decapitated in Kfar Aza. On Thursday, Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri claimed as well that the 1,200 members of the al-Qassam Brigades who infiltrated Israel did not target civilians, saying Palestinian civilians had entered later and fought with Israeli civilians.