Prophetic Peace Posturing

By Terry James

Israel at the center of a Mid-East peace process...no other single issue short of the occurrence of the rapture itself could be more specific in pointing to the lateness of the hour in terms of Bible prophecy. It is fascinating to consider that the modern-day Pharaoh has weighed in on the issue of peace, the longed-for condition that has been the quest of God's chosen people since the time when the Pharaoh of the Exodus pursued them several millennia ago.

Egypt, in modern times, has been at the very heart of war and the pursuit of peace. Egyptian presidents have insinuated themselves into the war/peace process in a serious way, beginning with Gamul Abdul Nasser, who in 1956 headed an Arab coalition that initiated an all-out assault against Israel, which was less than a decade old from the moment of its latter-day rebirth.

Just over a decade later, Nasser led the way in planning an attack on Israel. Israeli forces preempted that action, and in June of 1967 — during the Six Day War — Israel again defeated Egypt and its Arab accomplices. Israel won territory, much of which remains a major obstacle in the Mid-East war/peace milieu.

Anwar El-Sadat took up the leadership of Israel's regional enemies following the stunning 1967 defeat of the Nasser forces and Nasser's death from illness. He engineered and carried out the 1973 Yom Kippur War against Israel, taking the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) somewhat by surprise. The IDF recovered, however, and pushed back the enemy, again gaining more territory before the United Nations and the international community intervened to persuade Israel to accept a ceasefire.

Some say Sadat became convinced that Israel, indeed, had the God of heaven on its side. He reached out to Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and the two nations, Egypt and Israel, have lived in relative peace with each other since. Sadat, of course, paid a heavy price for that pact with Israel. He was assassinated by factions within his own military in 1981.

Egyptian governmental elements have worked behind the scenes within the Middle East turbulence since Hosni Mubarak became president of Egypt following Sadat's murder. Mubarak's interjection of himself onto the public stage in a more prominent way than in the past, therefore, makes his recent words something to seriously consider for those who analyze the ongoing “Roadmap to Peace” process in light of Bible prophecy. One news report frames the Egyptian's thinking on the peace process:

Arab states would recognize Israel and normalize ties with the Jewish state after a just and comprehensive Middle East peace is achieved, but not before, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said...

In an interview with the state-controlled daily al-Ahram on Monday, Mubarak, who is in Washington for talks with the U.S. administration, said the Arab experience with stalled peace talks in the wake of the 1991 Madrid peace conference “did not encourage” taking steps toward normalization with Israel. U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell in July called on Arab states to take "meaningful steps toward normalization of relations with Israel."

“I affirmed to (U.S.) President (Barack) Obama in Cairo that the Arab initiative offers recognition of Israel and normalization with it after, and not before, achieving a just and comprehensive peace,” Mubarak told al-Ahram...

In a television interview in the United States, Mubarak, who said he was never comfortable with the Bush administration, praised Obama for visiting the Middle East and sending Mitchell before launching a peace initiative...

Egypt has a “major role” in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, he said, noting Cairo is trying to reconcile a deep divide between the rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas. “We should bridge the gap because, unless we reconcile their differences, there will not be stability there, there will not be stability even in Israel. Violence will recur,” Mubarak said...

Mubarak urged that Israeli-Palestinian negotiations not get hung up on the settlement issue, but concentrate instead on an overall peace deal. The suggestion seemed aimed directly at a U.S. policy that urges Israel to stop building settlements in the West Bank as a first step to peacemaking.

“Instead of saying stopping more settlements, and we heard this many times, now for over 10 years, and (they) never come to a stop, what I can say is that we have to consider the whole issue holistically, to negotiate on the final resolution,” Mubarak said. (“Peace First, Normal Ties with Israel Second,” Reuters, 8/18/09).

Mubarak departs from the usual Arab tact for plotting peace. First, he wants an overall peace consummated, then Arabs will consider the heretofore unthinkable. The modern Egyptian Pharaoh mentions the possibility of recognizing Israel. This is amazing, considering that any leader should possess this as part of his diplomatic arsenal — to use such a cynical incentive to try to seduce Israeli leadership to come to the peace table.

Israel is illegitimate, in the thinking of all Arab leadership and in the thinking of most nations in the United Nations. Before Israel can ever even be recognized, it must first agree to a comprehensive peace solution. Incredible! Even insane — in my view, at least.

It is even more incredible to think that Israel's leadership would ever entertain such madness. The very fact that the Jewish state is not recognized, except as an illegitimate, violent, hate-filled squatter — on land the God of heaven gave the sons of Jacob — should be proof to Israeli leaders that coming to any sort of true peace with such absurd thinking is just totally out of the realm of reason.

Of course, we are not dealing here with reason. The rationality of most all within the leaderships of today's nation states — including that of Israel — has long since fallen victim to the ultimate reprobate mind...Lucifer. So, the posturing for the humanistic "peace" that will "destroy many" (Daniel 8:25) continues. Another signal — likely the number one signal, in my view — that Christ will at any moment step out on the clouds of glory and call..."Come up here!" (Revelation 4:1).

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