UPDATED-So what was the prophetic meaning of the Gaza-Israel operation 'Pillar of Cloud'? Isaiah 19:4 comes to mind

UPDATE
A news story just out purports that the actual reason for the Gaza offensive was to train Israeli troops for a battle with Iran. There is always much more going on politically and prophetically than we can see.

Officials: Israel's Gaza Offensive Was Training For A Possible Fight With Iran
"Israel's eight-day Gaza offensive was a dry run for any future armed confrontation with Iran, U.S. and Israeli officials told The New York Times.  “In Operation Pillar of Defense, Israel was not confronting Gaza, but Iran,” Israeli ambassador to the U.S. States and military historian Michael B. Oren told the Times."

The news that Egypt's President Mursi has grabbed powers is making more and more headlines now. I had posted it 2/3 of the way down a bit earlier today. By now more and more they are calling him Pharaoh. Remember the Isaiah 19:4 prophecy that Egypt will be delivered to a cruel master.  Here is a news update with the prophecy below that.

Reuters: "Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi's decree exempting all his decisions from legal challenge until a new parliament was elected caused fury amongst his opponents on Friday who accused him of being the new Hosni Mubarak and hijacking the revolution."

Al-Arabiya: "With Mursi's absolute powers, will Egypt be corrupted absolutely? Words and expressions such as pharaoh, god, despot and assassin of democracy filled Egyptian media coverage on Friday to brand President Mohammed Mursi following his sudden snatch of sweeping powers."

Isaiah 19:4: and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master, and a fierce king will rule over them, declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

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I don't know what the prophetic implication is. But God never does anything that doesn't accomplish His ultimate purpose- to bring Himself glory and to bring an end to sin. As we hurtle toward the ultimate end of the end, past the end of Armageddon and past the Millennial kingdom, we can rest assured that the operation Pillar of Cloud was at root a spiritual battle that accomplished something God wanted to accomplish.

What we can see so far in this short term are several things.

1. Egypt

"President Mohammed Mursi (Morsi) became president after the Arab Spring revolution when previous president Hosni Mubarak was ousted. Morsi is part of the Muslim Brotherhood group. Morsi was a Member of Parliament in the People's Assembly of Egypt from 2000 to 2005 and a leading figure in the Muslim Brotherhood. He became Chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) when it was founded by the Muslim Brotherhood in the wake of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. He stood as the FJP's candidate for the May–June 2012 presidential election."

"The Brotherhood's stated goal is to instill the Qur'an and Sunnah as the "sole reference point for ...ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual, community ... and state". The Brotherhood's credo was and is, "Allah is our objective; the Quran is our law, the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations."

The Muslim Brotherhood's candidate for Egypt's 2012 presidential election was Mohamed Morsi. The Egyptian cleric Safwat Higazi spoke at the announcement rally for the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate Morsi and expressed his hope and belief that Morsi would liberate Gaza, restore the Caliphate of the "United States of the Arabs" with Jerusalem as its capital, and that "our cry shall be: 'Millions of martyrs march towards Jerusalem.'" [sources, Wikipedia]

I think only a few people recognized the irony that Egyptian President Morsi was the chief negotiator between Hamas in Gaza and Israel. So effectively it was the Muslim Brotherhood negotiating on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslims had high hopes for an obliteration of Jerusalem and the pushing forward of the above stated goals.

When Morsi negotiated a peaceful cease fire with Israel, the People of Egypt became enraged. Thereupon, Morsi granted himself sweeping new powers, effectively becoming a new Mubarak. Thereupon, the people are protesting. Here are some links to that news:

Egyptian President assumes sweeping powers, dubbed new pharaoh
"Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi has assumed sweeping powers, drawing flak that he is acting like a "new pharaoh" and is endangering the gains of the popular uprising which ousted Hosni Mubarak's dictatorial regime. Mursi made the constitutional declaration yesterday that granted him far-reaching powers and also ordered retrials of officials involved in the killing of protesters during the 2011 mass uprising against the Mubarak regime. The decision came a day after the President was praised by world leaders for brokering a truce between Hamas and Israel. Yesterday's constitutional declaration has sparked a fierce debate in the country, with supporters calling it "revolutionary" and detractors slamming the sweeping powers it grants Egypt's presidency as a "coup".

Egypt braces for mass rallies after Mursi grabs sweeping powers
Protesters throw stones towards riot police during clashes after a rally to mark the one-year anniversary of fatal clashes at Mohamed Mahmoud street, in the vicinity of the Interior Ministry, in Cairo November 22, 2012. (Reuters)
"Egypt’s health and interior ministries were put on high alert on Friday as the country braced for mass rallies to protest against or support President Mohammed Mursi’s latest decrees that grant him sweeping powers. Political parties and citizens, who deemed Mursi’s new decree as flagrant violation of the constitution, vowed to take on the street in what they called “Eyes of Freedom” one-million protest on Friday."

Isaiah 19:4 declares prophetically that God will deliver the Egyptian people in the last days into the hands of a harsh master. It is not clear whether this is the antichrist himself or simply a cruel man to oppress the people until the antichrist eventually takes over the ten-toed kingdom. (Revelation 13:1, Revelation 17:12-13, Daniel 2:32-33). Maybe Mursi is that harsh master. Maybe not. Keep watching.

In sum, far from the cease fire settling things and calming them down, the cease fire and Mursi's behavior has only inflamed it. All is not well in Egypt.

2. Israel

Many people are vehemently upset with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Millions of Israelis thought the decision to cease fire was made too soon. They wanted Israel to dismantle Hamas entirely, conquer Hamas in total and reclaim Gaza. The ceasefire stopped short of that, in fact giving Hamas impetus to think they had won. Netanyahu defended himself publicly and also on his Facebook page, writing:

"I realize that there are citizens who expect a harsher military action and we may very well need to do that. But at present, the right thing for the State of Israel is to exhaust this possibility of reaching a long-term cease-fire. As Prime Minister, I have the responsibility, and it is the highest responsibility, to make the right steps to ensure our security. That is what I have done and it is what I will continue to do."

One benefit to the cease-fire is that although Netanyahu "has long vowed to safeguard Israel from terrorism, Gaza was never his battle. If the cease-fire holds — a major if — Netanyahu has several weeks to turn domestic and international focus back to his signature security issue: Iran. ... A lingering, bloodier war probably would have distracted the international attention Netanyahu has worked to center on Iran’s nuclear program" as the Washington Post reports.

In October, Netanyahu called for early elections. The election will ideally happen in three months' time, he said, rather than in October 2013, as originally scheduled. They will take place on January 22.

As Dan Ephron writes in The Daily Beast,
"Israel’s prime minister avoided a ground invasion and strengthened his reelection prospects, Hamas won itself some glory, and Israelis and Palestinians ended up right where they started. ... By taking on Hamas without launching a ground invasion, the Israeli prime minister managed to drive up his approval rating, a significant political achievement ahead of Israel’s general election on Jan. 22. Along the way, he broke the ice with Egypt’s Islamic government."

Although the truce hit Netanyahu's support hard he is still ahead in the polls.

3. Hamas

Dan Ephron sums up his opinion of the post-cease fire fallout on the Hamas side--

"A political outcast since grabbing power in Gaza five years ago, the Islamic group suddenly has champions across the region, including Turkey, Egypt, and Qatar. It also has the dubious glory that, in parts of the Arab world at least, comes with inflicting pain on Israel. So it didn’t down an Israeli plane or hit the parliament building with rockets, as its silly propaganda campaign maintained. But it did force residents of Tel Aviv into bomb shelters and even fired rockets on Jerusalem. “Hamas wanted legitimacy and got it big time,” said Giora Eiland, a retired major-general and Israel’s formal national security adviser."

The battle is a spiritual one. Whatever is going on is no doubt furthering God's agenda.

"The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has sworn this oath:  “It will all happen as I have planned.  It will be as I have decided." (Isaiah 14:24)

"for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place." (Acts 4:27-28).

We look to the end, to Isaiah 17, Isaiah 19, Ezekiel 37-38, Zechariah 12 and 14, Matthew 24, and Revelation, among many other books and chapters, and we know that satanic hatred of Israel will only grow, the end will come when they are saying peace and safety, and His purposes are holy and will take place as He wills.

Stay tuned, and keep looking up!

Comments

  1. I have a wordpress website and can't reblog this. Is it okay if I copy and paste your article with the name of your site hyperlinked, giving credit to you? COURTESY OF ... with the name of your website..and TO READ MORE Hyperlinked? Just like a reblog, except manually, if you know what I'm saying. I would like to share this with my subscribers. Thanks for this awesome article, by the way! Very thought-provoking and enlightening! God bless you!

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    1. Hello Lyn,

      Thank you for asking, yes reblogging with name and hyperlink is fine. Thanks again! Elizabeth

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  2. Thank you! I appreciate it! God bless you!

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  3. I stumbled by your blog today and enjoyed your post. I believe the average Christian is disappointingly ignorant of End Times events/prophecy due to a lack of teaching from the pulpit. I look forward to coming back again. I wrote a post on my blog today called The Great End Times Disconnect at http://acuriousamericanwonders.blogspot.com/.

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  4. Thanks for your knowledge Elizabeth. Sadly, many Christians are not interested in Prophecy and are missing out on some exciting times of prophecy being fulfilled right before our very eyes.

    YES! The LORD our GOD is in complete control and everything comes to pass perfectly according to HIS timing. We don't understand all the ugly things that he allows to come to pass but we know that in Ecclesiastes it says "HE has made everything beautiful (In its time)"-Ecc. 3:11.

    have you read this? http://www.timesofisrael.com/tv-report-warnings-that-peace-deals-with-egypt-jordan-could-collapse-led-israel-to-end-hamas-assault-with-no-ground-offensive/

    very interesting developments

    by the way, the whitehouse is worried about Morsi exalting himself.. Looks to me like things are NOT gonna go the way President Obama thought.. When Isaiah 19 talks about Egyptians against Egyptians is this what is transpiring now?

    Thanks dear one and I look forwards to your response

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    1. Hi Linda,

      That is a very interesting article. Egypt has already said they want to abandon the peace treaty with Israel and Jordan's King Abdulllah has said that in the past. Abdullah's monarchy is tenuous right now anyway- there are growing protests by the day and Abdullah even cancelled a trip to the UK for fear of being out of the country at this time.

      The peace treaties of both nations with Israel WILL go by the wayside a some point. Bible prophecy says every nation will be against Israel. Jordan is the last biggest unclaimed bastion for the Muslim Brotherhood to try and grab. It is why I said to watch Turkey and Jordan in coming weeks. (I'll do an essay on Turkey sometime this week).

      It is sooo hard to figure what has happened or what will happen because so much of Middle Eastern diplomacy is a lie. From the Muslim side, their Sharia says it is OK to lie of the ends justify the means, and for Israel's side, they regularly engage in psychological warfare and diplomatic feints. And they are the most closed-mouthed nation n earth (after NK, I suppose).

      Isaiah 19's prophecy Egyptian against Egyptian could absolutely be what is happening now. Many people felt that the beginning of that prophecy was the revolution in Tarhir Square at the height of the Arab Spring. But even more so today because at that time more Egyptians were united in the cause to oust Mubarak, but now there are so many different factions against each other. They really are against each other.

      Morsi could be the prophesied Isaiah 19 "harsh ruler" or that could refer to the antichrist (or another guy to come). But...when there is a power grab as huge as Morsi performed this week and the resulting media frenzy blatantly call him god, demigod and/or Pharaoh, then it does behoove us to look at Isaiah and wonder with more than mere curiosity if he is the one who was prophesied to rule harshly.

      It is hard to say with absolute certainty, but by the looks of the entire geopolitical region's alignment with so many different prophecies, then I'd venture to cautiously say, yes, more than one prophecy is preparing for fulfillment before our eyes.

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  5. Oh by the way, check this article out Elizabeth and lemme know if this gets you really excited of how very close to the rapture we may well be.

    http://www.prophecydepot.net/2012/the-war-before-the-day-of-the-lord/

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    1. Zephaniah and Obadiah have been hard for me to get a handle on as far as untangling history, fulfilled prophecy and future prophecy goes. Those books are dense. Bill Salus did a good job of explaining. The view that Israel is existing in the land without covenant with God is true, He has partially hardened them to Jesus, (Romans 11:25) but also, sadly, they are not worshiping Yahweh either! It is generally thought that their rediscovery of the Trinity will be in two stages, first by the end of the Gog-Magog Ezekiel war, when God supernaturally saves Israel. He says "They will know I am their LORD!" several times. (Ez 38:23, Ez 39:6, Ez 39:7, especially Ez 39:22 and 28.) It is this rediscovery of Him that leads them to clamor for the Temple in what is assumed to be a concession in the peace treaty resulting from that war.

      We know from Daniel 9 that eventually the antichrist who confirmed that treaty with them three and a half years prior will be broken, and they are killed in a terrible holocaust. (Matthew 24:15-22; Revelation 12:13-17). A remnant flees to Petra where God supernaturally protects them, and then finally they receive the Holy Spirit's poured out Spirit (Zechariah 12:10) and they cry out to Jesus, mourning for the one they pierced. A national repentance arrives and they are saved by grace of Jesus, whom they finally recognize as Lord. Hallelujah!

      At least, that is the prevailing interpretation of how it will go. I agree with Salus that the Psalm 83 war and the other wars will allow Israel to be victorious and they will reclaim all the land originally intended for them, (but I can't put my finger on the prophesies that state that right now...) and further this is what incites the Gog coalition to come and take a spoil or a plunder. Do you think that Turkey and Russia and Iran will stand for Israel owning all the oil in Saudi Arabia?? Not hardly. These battles seem in most interpretations to take place prior to the Tribulation.

      We could go at any time, but the *latest* will be by the end of the Gog Magog war because this brings Israel back to covenant with God, and the faith-in-Jesus church and a Temple-sacrificing Israel can't be on earth at the same time. The re- initiation of the Old Testament covenant which had been paused for so many years (since 70AD) will come back to resume its last 7years and the church will be gone, its full number having come in! (Romans 11:25)

      I am going to read the Salus article about Zephaniah several more times. Thanks for sending it my way!!

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  6. One more thing and I'm sorry for the sudden spate of posts, I've bookmarked your blog -you are more knowledgeable than I, which I'm excited about since I am learning from you.

    Keep up the good work Christ all for his glory and honor

    Sincerely in Christ, Linda

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    1. Hi Linda, I'm glad for you to comment! We edify each other, so I thank you for your input. I've learned from you today!!

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    2. Excellent edification and we give God all the glory and honor for it...

      Interesting how Mark Hitchcock has a slightly different outlook with Psalm 83. He doesn't think of it being a war persay. I've been one to bandy with Psalm 83 being a separate war or just an imprecatory prayer. Mark also talks a bit about the oil as you've stated as possibly the "hook".. Bill Salus seems to think the booty will be the land Israel has repossessed from the Psalm 83 war that draws Ezekiel 38 to come to pass-the "hook" in their mouth. I don't know for certain.. Jan Markell @ Olive Tree Ministries has recorded Mark from their fall program playing today if you'd like to listen to him....

      http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/understanding-the-times/

      May the Lord richly bless you Elizabeth

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  7. i think you are taking isiaih 19 out of context...it talks about egpytians consulting idols, mediums, and sorcerers...muslims consider all of those to be sins, especially with the muslim brotherhood in charge....so unless the Egyptians start to pray to Ra and Horus soon, it should be about the ANCIENT egyptians

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    1. Hi Too close,

      It is always good to be cautious about the bible and whether something spoken of in what is obviously a prophetic passage has been fulfilled or is still to been fulfilled.

      A good reading of this prophecy shows that the prophecy never has been fulfilled. The Nile has never dried up. making flax has never ceased.

      The prophecy says that all their counsels will fail (a parallel to Luke 21:25 when all are in perplexity and don't know what to do to solve the world's problems) and

      "they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers"

      Something that actually happens today in every nation of the world with frightening regularity.

      If you would like further information on the prophecy, Joel Rosenberg spoke about the future fulfillment of it here

      http://www.joshuafund.net/index.php/media/the_joshua_fund_blog/what_does_bible_prophecy_say_about_the_future_of_egypt/

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    2. Too close, we do need to be very careful not to shoehorn whatever looks like it fits into prophecy and revere God's holy word. However, God gave us His Holy Spirit and he has equipped many men and women who are sound biblical eschatologists to help us as well. People such as Bill Salus and Jimmy DeYoung and Joel Rosenberg to name a few. Yes we need to be very careful and with Isaiah 19 I don't know yet. But Many are calling attention to this Prophecy and we will just have to wait and see.

      Have you considered that some prophecies have dual prophecies? As one commentator explains dual prophecy--"Because God is not linear in the way he does things, the Lord can speak and one prophecy of the Lord can have different applications.

      For example: "when Jesus foretold the signs of his second coming, he covered several faces of history with one answer. He said for instance "when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet" -(in Matthew 24) -"standing in the holy place let those who in Judea flea into the hills."

      "Well we know that happened back in the time of the Apostles back in 70 AD the Roman power that was going to desolate the temple and the Christians withdrew from Jerusalem and fled into the hills.

      But there's also a future application if you read Daniel chapter 12 and there are a number of examples of dual prophecies throughout Scripture. That is,, there are some prophecies that have been fulfilled but will have a future application as well. Same goes with Isaiah 19.

      It says in Isaiah 19:5 "The waters of the river will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and dry."

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gRjFSoDR3U

      We can watch and see if this is what is coming to pass.

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    3. but muslims dont use images necromancers or sorcerers in their worship,so are you saying that Egyptians will abandon Islam in the (very) near future?

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    4. Too close,

      Too close, I try to show prophetic events at the end. We know the end. We know what will happen. God's word is firm. Just because something isn't happening now doesn't mean it won't in the future. We can't doubt His promises and prophecies by saying it has never been so it will never be or it is not happening now so it can't ever be. 2 Peter 3:4 addresses that.

      Rev 13 says that all the world will be broke, economically, and the beast will institute a one world economic system. Ten years ago no one could fathom that the US would collapse into one of the poorer Western nations. Or that a fiscal cliff looms and bankruptcy for us and most of Europe is imminent. Or that Russia would collapse in 1991. Or that Russia would come back in 2000.

      So, yes. I am saying that on the basis of Revelation 13:3-4, all will worship the Beast (antichrist). So at some point between now and then, they follow him. When the mark of the beast which is a worship mark, comes along later in that chapter, most of the world takes it, except Christians.

      It is kind of synchronistic, a neat bookend. We met Egypt at the Moses times with Pharaoh and what did he do? Consult necromancers and sorcerers. (Exodus 7:11). It is not such a stretch that they will do so again. Islam is a false religion, so going back to the ancient false religion they knew from before by substituting one for another is not a long ride. All they are doing is switching one false god for another because they are all the same.

      Many scholars believe, and this is pure speculation, that in the coming Isaiah 17, Isaiah 19 and Psalm 83 prophecies, with Israel's success and subsequent taking over of the vanquished foes' lands, Islam's back will be broken.

      I don't know. All I know for SURE is, they will consult necromancers, and they will follow the Beast and worship him. Because God said that will happen.

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  8. Too close:

    Dear one,,consider the fact that Islam is based on its founder Mohammed. When he came onto the scene, as Bill Salus has stated--"the Arabs of the Middle East worshiped ((many gods))." "Mohammed cleverly packaged the polytheism that plagued the region and presented the Arabs and the world with the religion of Islam. Though it had the appearance of a monotheistic religion, it incorporated many of the common polytheistic worship practices of the time."~

    So when we consider that the basis of Islam is already an amalgamation of polytheism NOW although they tout that it's based on One god Allah, they are obviously saturated in idolatry. One does not need to see that it's not hard for them to consult mediums, and spirits etc.

    Thanks Elizabeth for your correction that Isaiah 19 has not been fulfilled yet!

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  9. " it's not hard for them to consult mediums, and spirits etc. " ok you clearly dot know anything about islam, in Islam witches are put to death with a sword, so yes it is very hard for them to consult mediums and spirits

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    1. Within Islam, certain traditions, notably Sufism, consider communication with spirits possible.

      Ifrits are supernatural creatures in Arabic and Islamic cultures sort of like demons. They are in a class of infernal Jinn noted for their strength and cunning. They are mentioned in the Koran Sura An-Naml (27:39-40)

      I may not know a lot about Islam. But what is in the bible is true. They WILL consult them. It will happen.

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