"Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas says that the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaida is operating in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"Interviewed in the London-based Arabic newspaper Al Hayat, Mr. Abbas said he had not expected that the group behind the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States would succeed in establishing a foothold in the Palestinian territories. He said ‘the infiltration of al-Qaida can ruin the whole region,’" according to VOA News’ Robert Berger.

"Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, there are international terror elements that want to extend their reach into areas bordering Israel. He said Israel knows how to deal with that threat, as well as a surge in Palestinian shooting and stabbing attacks this week.

"’There will be no restrictions on the military system of Israel, and all the necessary measures will be taken with an iron fist against the terrorist organizations,’ he said."

It’s an old, old contest. It is recorded in the Book of Genesis.

Isaac versus Ishmael.

Ishmael was born to Abraham and servant Arab woman, Hagar. It should not have been. Sarah was Abraham’s wife at the time. Therefore, Abraham having sex with Hagar was not legitimate. From that was born Ishmael.

God had promised Abraham and Sarah the Child of Promise. From Abraham’s lineage would come the Prince of Peace, the couple’s first son leading the way in that long, long lineage. However, Abraham and Sarah aged past childbearing possibilities. That is, considering the matter in purely human terms. However, with God nothing is impossible.

God had a miracle birth prepared for the elderly couple; but their faith could not realize that. Therefore, Sarah suggested to her husband that he have sex with Hagar in order to bring a child into the household. That was not God’s way. That was the carnal route.

After Ishmael was born, Sarah became jealous of the young Hagar. Therefore, tension developed between them, so much so that Hagar was ousted with her son. God however rescued the twosome and gave them life in the midst of confusion and despair.

Henceforth, Ishmael would be the leader of twelve tribes who would roam the deserts—nomads. They would be "wild" in temperament. They would always be unsettled, seeking a place to nest and rest. However, that place would never come to them.

Eventually Isaac was born to the elderly Abraham and Sarah. It was truly a miracle conception and birth for there was no other explanation for the child. When born he was indeed the Child of Promise, from which eventually God incarnate would appear in the person of Christ.

When Ishmael and Isaac were young, they lived near one another. They also did not get along. There was not just the usual rivalry sometimes experienced between youth. There was a deep cleavage that would outlive their human existences on Earth, continuing for generations until today.

That is why there is such unrest today in the Middle East: Isaac and Ishmael are still at odds with one another.

What will ever bring unity between the two "brothers" in today’s situation? No Roadmap to Peace. No United Nations resolution. No Knesset formula. Nothing that can be put on the human boardroom table in an attempt to devise diplomatic alliances.

The warring will continue up until the Battle of Armageddon at the close of the about-seven year Tribulation Period. At the height of that battle, Christ will leave the right hand of God the Father in heaven. He will descend through space with a company of angels and the redeemed of all time.

When Christ passes through the cloud layers, the dead in Christ will rise "in the twinkling of an eye" to meet Him in the air. The alive in Christ will also meet Him there.

In that venture the redeemed—both dead and alive—with take on their perfect bodies for eternity—the corruptible taking on incorruption and the mortal taking on immortality. All this is described in the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15 as well as Christ’s own prophesies related in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21.

When Christ passes through the clouds moving toward Earth, He will speak the word and the Battle will cease. The dead will fall to the ground, vultures of the sky eating their flesh.

Christ will then proceed to the Mount of Olives. There He gave forth the prophesies of His Second Coming. There He also ascended into heaven 40 days following His sacrificial death. Therefore, it will be to that very site that He will touchdown, His feet splitting the Mount in half from east to west, signifying His power come to Earth.

From Jerusalem Christ will rule as the Prince of Peace—King of Kings and Lord of Lords. There He will rule in holiness for the millennium—a one thousand year period. After the millennium, the planet will have served its purpose and so will be dissolved.

The damned will then be consigned forever to the lake of fire and brimstone. The redeemed will enter the New Heaven and New Earth for eternity.

Consequently, only Christ, creator of the planet, can bring heaven’s peace to the Middle East, indeed to the entire world. Tensions will increase. There will be "wars and rumors of wars," as Christ prophesied. Sin will increase. Families, earthquakes, pestilence will increase. False messiahs will appear, such as the messiah preached by the Iranian president who awaits his Islamic messiah ushering in universal peace.

The devil is so intent on mimicking the true God that he even has his own demonic Muslim messiah in these End Times.. However, only the true Messiah who offered His life as an atonement on Calvary’s Cross will see through the establishment of global peace.

He made the planet. He minds the workings of the planet. One day He will master the planet in peace and righteousness.

Until then, the world will continue to live in fear and increased stress, except for the followers of the coming Christ. Since they understand the major currents of the End Times, they keep the faith in the Coming One. In that is their foretaste of peace yet to be universal.

Copyright © 2006 by J. Grant Swank, Jr. 
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