[Darris McNeely] Bombs are once again falling in the State of Israel in the Middle East. It's been a number of years since we've had such an attack. But now, terrorists bombs are coming out of Gaza falling upon Jerusalem, upon Tel Aviv, and other cities. And there are many casualties, both Israelis and Arabs in these locations. Again, the United Nations is talking about it, people are concerned about it. What does it mean? Will it trigger another round of increased terrorist Israeli activity and warfare there in that nation? Time will tell. It could just fade away in one sense with other repercussions and then it might trigger into something even bigger.

I was actually looking at an article and seeing that part of what they felt even triggered or caused this latest problem was the proposed eviction of people in a particular neighborhood in Jerusalem that I had actually lived in for a summer back in 1971. And so, things like that come back to your memory. And you know, these areas, you know these places, and of course, they have an impact upon the world. When we look at what is happening in Israel, in the State of Israel, students of Bible prophecy, when something like this happens, always turn to certain Scriptures to try to perhaps figure out, is this the trigger for certain key events?

There's one Scripture in Luke 21:20 that a lot of people will turn to at a time like this and ask, "Is this happening?" Let me read it to you. Luke 21:20, "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you know that its desolation is near." This is Christ's Words, the all of that prophecy. The parallel chapter is Matthew 24. "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know the desolation is near.

Now, in one sense, Jerusalem is not surrounded by armies in a direct sense that this Scripture I think is talking about and I don't think we are near that particular desolation that Jesus was pointing to in Luke 21 and in Matthew 24. However, I think we can be instructed by the rockets that are pouring down. Israel has constructed something called the Iron Dome, and they're able to shoot these rockets out of the sky in many cases before they do fall upon their populated areas. However, because of the constant barrage, some do get through causing injuries.

When you consider the impact of rockets coming out of Gaza, and the potential of other larger rockets from other surrounding nations, Iran, in particular, who has long sought to have a nuclear weapon. Whose avowed purpose and use would be, as they say, to drive Israel, the State of Israel, the Jewish state, into the sea, you have to wonder, armies surrounding Jerusalem, rockets, firepower, and the manpower, what each rocket represents in terms of an army, what exactly are we being told when Christ said what He did, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies? I lay that out for us just to consider, just to think about. As I said, I don't think we're at the point where the desolation is near. But when we see bombs falling on the state of Israel, in Jerusalem, and some of the other major cities, and we see these flare-ups take place, we shouldn't just dismiss them as another problem in the Middle East. They are harbingers of things that are to come, greater times of conflict and war that will lead to the final confrontation on the day of the Lord in Jerusalem.

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