The Rapture Report – 07/04/2016 – Israel and Hamas: Next Gaza war will be the last

Written: 7-4-2016
Rapture Forum Staff: Chris Schang

In what seems to be a war of words in the media, there have been two recent news articles where Israeli and Hamas officials have declared that the next conflict between the two will be the last. With the lateness of these last days, such words coming from Israel and Hamas seem to be prophetic in nature. Especially if the Psalm 83 conflict is indeed a future prophecy, then these words might find fulfillment in the next war.

In yesterday’s news headlines, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was quoted as saying the next conflict with Israel will be the last. The The Times of Israel reports:

Senior Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh warned Saturday the next war between Israel and the terror group would be the last, as tensions on Israel’s southern border spiraled over the weekend. Speaking before nighttime prayer in a mosque in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, the former Gaza prime minister said Hamas was not afraid of Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman.

“The young men of Gaza have smashed bigger [men] than Liberman, [like former prime minister Ariel] Sharon and his associates,” Haniyeh said, according to the Palestinian news site Paltoday. “The next war will resolve the conflict with the Israeli enemy,” he added.

Further, The Times of Israel went on to report:

Haniyeh’s office, however, denied on Sunday that the Hamas leader had made any “media statement” or gave an interview to any journalist about the next war. Israel has fought three major conflicts with Hamas since the terror group violently took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. The comments were in response to recent remarks made by a top Israeli defense official – believed to be Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman – that the next “confrontation must be the last in terms of Hamas’s regime.”

The Israeli Defense official’s comments were reported two to three weeks ago in the Jerusalem Post. The Jerusalem Post reported:

The next war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza will be the last for the Islamist regime, a senior source in the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday, though he stressed that Israel will not be the side to initiate hostilities.

Israel has no desire to control the Gaza Strip, the source said, but it will not tolerate an endless “war of attrition” on the part of Hamas.

The next clash must be the last from the point of view of the Hamas regime. We [Israel] must not initiate war,” he added, but said a future outbreak of hostilities is unavoidable. His comments come after senior military officials made changes to the IDF’s objective for a Gaza conflict. Should hostilities erupt again, military planners would seek the destruction of Hamas’s military wing, not establishing deterrence as they did in past wars.

While such verbal volleys are common between enemies, Bible prophecy watchers know that eventually Israel will need to deal once and for all with the Islamist enemies on her immediate borders. The terrorist attacks can’t continue forever if Israel is to be an unsuspecting spoil for the Ezekiel 38-39 enemies as the Bible indicates.

Many speculate that this will indeed be done via the Psalm 83 conflict whereby Israel destroys her “surrounding or inner ring” of enemies on her borders. This could include Hamas in the south, Fatah to the east in the West Bank, and the Hezbollah to the north in Lebanon. Such destruction of these enemies could help explain why no Arab nations are mentioned in the coming Ezekiel 38-39 prophecy despite Israel being surrounded by Arab nations.

This sort of war and victory over her immediate enemies could allow Israel to fall into a false sense of “peace and security” that follows by the coming Ezekiel 38-39 conflict which involves the “outer ring” of Israel’s enemies including the Russian bear. The prophet Ezekiel says that the motivation of this conflict is to take a “great spoil” in the form of gold and silver, livestock, etc.

With the recent developments of new found oil and natural gas discoveries offshore and in the Golan Heights area, Israel has indeed become a “great spoil” for her enemies. This is something that we need to watch and continue to monitor as it develops. While we do not have all the details regarding these prophecies, we do have a big picture that lets us know that God’s Word is being fulfilled just as He says as we watch in these last days.

As we see the potential pieces of the prophetic puzzle moving into place, we need to as always, keep looking up for the blessed hope of the rapture of the church. The rapture is imminent and could happen at any time. We need to be ready to go up when the Lord makes the call to “Come Up Hither”.

If you have not made a decision for Jesus Christ, now is the time to make that decision. Because after the rapture, you will likely have to die a martyr’s death for your new found faith in Jesus Christ. I encourage you to make your decision today, before another day passes. For tomorrow could be too late.

Keep looking up!

God bless.