Chapter 5

The Middle East Situation

As we know the Middle East is a mess, as it has been for over 50 years; it's just that it's a worse mess than its ever been. People are wondering how it's ever going to be resolved. Yet it will be resolved in a way not expected.

Sure America is going to war with Iraq and that's a forgone conclusion. They will have victory, but what will the consequences of the war be? As for the Palestinian problem, what is going to happen there? The book of Isaiah in the bible deals with these issues and prophesises what is about to take place. In this chapter, I will deal with the Palestinian situation and touch on the war with Iraq. In the next chapter, I will go into what the consequences of the war with Iraq will be. The solution to the Palestinian situation is a largely unthought of, especially by secular people, who ignore the religious gravity of Israel.

The solution? Christ, and that is in a predominantly Muslim and Jewish country. We will then begin with the prophecies about Christ.

Isaiah 53

The Sin-Bearing Messiah

¹ Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
²For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
³He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

It's so ironic that the Christ who is depicted in the movies is always handsome and attractive to the eye. Yet, if we look at these verses we see that these depictions are incorrect, and that He was an unattractive man, even to the point of saying that He was ugly. Secondly, He was a "Man of sorrows", so we can conclude that He was a sad Man, and this is born out in the New Testament, where on more than one occasion Jesus was moved to tears. However, it is Jesus' own words that tells the story, when we look at Matthew 26:38

"And He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch over Me."

The above three verses explains that Christ was crucified for our sakes and a great reason for His sadness is because our griefs were laid on Him and He bore them for us.

⁷He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
⁸He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
⁹And they^[1] made His grave with the wicked--
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Christ's crucifixion is described above and all these events took place. An interesting point to note, is where it says: "And who will declare His generation" This point is expanded on where Christ speaks of His second coming with the disciples, in Matthew 24:34

"Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place."

It is this verse with which I challenge all Christians who do not believe in reincarnation. It is their own belief that makes Christ out to be a liar. They know fully well that Christ's Second Coming was not during the short period after His crucifixion, that, that generation was still around. Therefor, if they reject reincarnation, they reject Christ's words.

I must therefor elaborate concerning this matter. In more than one place in the bible reincarnation is inferred. This is especially so with David. The bible tells us that he died and went to rest in the grave as his forefathers did. Yet, later it tells us that he will be raised in the last days. As far as I'm concerned this points to reincarnation.

So if it wasn't in the days of Christ's generation that His predictions are pointing to, then what time are they pointing to. I believe that it is pointing to the present, and the connection is the holocaust - why?

I believe that the holocaust generation is that exact generation that rejected Christ, and because their ways had not changed they paid for it.

The reason why I make such a statement is because I firmly believe in a just God, and He would not have allowed such a catastrophe without rhyme or reason. As I firmly believe that Christ will be returning within a year's time and I'm willing to assume before July, it means that the remaining victims of the holocaust will see His return. This therefore concurs with His words that His generation will by no means pass away before his Second Coming.

Isaiah 55

An Invitation to Abundant Life

A Free Offer of Mercy to All

¹ "Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
²Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
³Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you--
The sure mercies of David.
⁴Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people,
A leader and commander for the people.
⁵Surely you shall call a nation you do not know,
And nations who do not know you shall run to you,
Because of the LORD your God,
And the Holy One of Israel;
For He has glorified you."

Come to Christ and He will give you joy and peace, which money can't buy. He then asks the question, why do you spend your money on material things, which don't satisfy. Eating what is good, is His word that brings true abundance, that is abundance of the soul, and that is what satisfies.

He then tells us that He has given David as a witness and commander of the people. I will say something preposterous, namely that my name is David and that the scripture is referring to me. Verse 5 tends to confirm this in that I was not born into a Jewish family but have a few Jews as friends.

⁶Seek the LORD while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
⁷Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the LORD,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.

I have told how to do this in the previous chapters.


⁸"For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD.
⁹"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

This is a reminder that I am just a man and that my thoughts and ways are lower than Christ's.

¹⁰"For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
¹¹So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.


¹²"For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
¹³Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the LORD for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."

You might ask the question: Why do I think that the bible is referring to me. If it had not been for Isaiah 54, I would never have thought so.

Isaiah 54

A Perpetual Covenant of Peace

A Promise of Everlasting Kindness

It was verse 11 that really caught my eye. "O you afflicted one,

Tossed with tempest and not comforted,"

As you know, I'm a manic-depressive. I regularly take my medication, but still have mood swings - so all I can say is that my medication does not work perfectly. I have bouts of hypertension brought on by my medication, as well as some serious bouts of melancholiness, which of coarse comes with the territory if you are a manic-depressive. I have no comfort for either condition and feel like a ship tossed at sea by the winds of my moods, and there is nothing for me to do but weather the storm.

¹⁶"Behold, I have created the blacksmith
Who blows the coals in the fire,
Who brings forth an instrument for his work;
And I have created the spoiler to destroy.
¹⁷No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
And their righteousness is from Me,"
Says the LORD.

Isaiah 56

Salvation for the Gentiles

Salvation for the Gentiles

¹ Thus says the LORD:


"Keep justice, and do righteousness,
For My salvation is about to come,
And My righteousness to be revealed.
²Blessed is the man who does this,
And the son of man who lays hold on it;
Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil."

This is Christ's instruction to the Jews, and Christians, that we act justly and do good deeds, because He is about to come, and we must be prepared for His coming, for when He comes, we all will be judged.

Here Christ is saying that those Palestinians who become Christians, should be embraced by the Jews.

Here the outcasts of Israel will be those Palestinians who turn to Christianity. Christ is also saying here that those Palestinians and others who turn to Christianity, will be accepted by Him. So, who do you think Christ will gather to?

Israel's Irresponsible Leaders

Isaiah 58

Fasting that Pleases God

A Description of True Religion

¹ "Cry aloud, spare not;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
Tell My people their transgression,
And the house of Jacob their sins.

From this verse it is God's instruction that I make Israel aware of her sins.

²Yet they seek Me daily,
And delight to know My ways,
As a nation that did righteousness,
And did not forsake the ordinance of their God.
They ask of Me the ordinances of justice;
They take delight in approaching God.
³"Why have we fasted,' they say, "and You have not seen?
Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?'

There are plenty of devote Jews in Israel who approach God and ask for His blessings. They think that they are honourable before His eyes, yet He is displeased with them. The reasons for this are given below.

Here the Lord is talking of the exploitation of Palestinian labour. The Jews do not fast for righteousness sake, but to suppress and vanquish the Palestinian. They fast with a heavy, burdened heart and what joy they find in fasting is for the wrong reasons. I will quote what Jesus had to say in Matthew 6:16 about this sort of fast.

"Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

So that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your father who is in the secret place; and your father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

Below is the fast that pleases the Lord; that you may fast for righteousness sake and to loose the burdens of your soul, not to oppresses people, but to deal righteously with your neighbour, to have compassion on those in need. Here God says that you must not hide yourself from your own flesh. Who He is referring to here are this Palestinians, the descendants of Ishmael.

Genesis 12;6

"Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land."

Not only the Jews but the Palestinians too, are also descendants of Abraham.

Further on in Genesis 25;18 they describe where Ishmael's descendants settled.

"(They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go towards Assyria.)"

This area encompasses the area of present-day Israel, so if you were to put two and two together it should be quite obvious that the Palestinians should be entitled to their portion of the land.

6"Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
⁹Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, "Here I am.'


"If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
¹¹The LORD will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
¹²Those from among you
Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.

It is wonderful to see what the Lords promise is. All one needs do is listen to His words. So who do you think the Repairer of the Breach is?

Here God is saying to them, honour the Sabbath and all will go well.

Isaiah 59

Of all the chapters from Isaiah it is this one that made me realise that it is to the present day, that the end chapters of Isaiah is clearly referring to.

Separated from God

Corruption Separates the Nation from God

¹ Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear.
²But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will not hear.
³For your hands are defiled with blood,
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken lies,
Your tongue has muttered perversity.


⁴No one calls for justice,
Nor does any plead for truth.
They trust in empty words and speak lies;
They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.
⁵They hatch vipers' eggs and weave the spider's web;
He who eats of their eggs dies,
And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.


⁶Their webs will not become garments,
Nor will they cover themselves with their works;
Their works are works of iniquity,
And the act of violence is in their hands.
⁷Their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed innocent blood;
Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
Wasting and destruction are in their paths.
⁸The way of peace they have not known,
And there is no justice in their ways;
They have made themselves crooked paths;
Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.

The verse that contains the following words made me realise that the previous verses refers to the Palestinians.

"They hatch vipers eggs and spin the spiders web;

He who eats of their eggs dies,

And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out."

For every Palestinian militant killed by the Israelis, another just as hateful or worse than him takes his place.

The verses above describe the Palestinians, their suicide bombers and gunmen, which kill randomly with no regard for human life. Now the Israelis must not read this and rejoice, for the Lord knows too, that they are guilty. This is described in the following verses.

This refers to the massacring of Palestinians by the Israelis, which they vehemently denied, but which everyone strongly suspects happened. That is the situation as it stands. What is going to happen?

The Redeemer of Zion

America has always been Israel's ally, but from what I can presume this might not be the case because of circumstances that could occur during the upcoming war between America and Iraq, or else why would God have said

"So they shall fear

The name of the Lord from the west,"

We can see that the Lord will offer both salvation for those to be saved and vengeance for the wrongdoer. He will punish them.

From other verses in the bible it appears that during the war the countries surrounding Israel will form an alliance with Iraq, thus giving it the opportunity of attacking and invading Israel.

The West's efforts of trying to solve the Middle East crisis diplomatically will come to nothing. As the Lord say's;

"He saw that there was no man,

And He wondered that there was no intercessor;"


²⁰"The Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,"
Says the LORD.

This is an affirmation that Christ will be coming a second time. I will go into all the relevant prophecies in this chapter and the chapter following it. Most people must realise that the Second Coming of Christ will only be a joyous occasion for a few. Try make sure that you are one of the few.

Lastly; whose mouth has the Lord put the words in, and should I deny that His Spirit is upon me. Draw your own conclusions.

¹ "Come down and sit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no more be called
Tender and delicate.
²Take the millstones and grind meal.
Remove your veil,
Take off the skirt,
Uncover the thigh,
Pass through the rivers.
³Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
Yes, your shame will be seen;
I will take vengeance,
And I will not arbitrate with a man."


⁴As for our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.


⁵"Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
For you shall no longer be called
The Lady of Kingdoms.
⁶I was angry with My people;
I have profaned My inheritance,
And given them into your hand.
You showed them no mercy;
On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.
⁷And you said, "I shall be a lady forever,'
So that you did not take these things to heart,
Nor remember the latter end of them.


⁸"Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures,
Who dwell securely,
Who say in your heart, "I am, and there is no one else besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow,
Nor shall I know the loss of children';
⁹But these two things shall come to you
In a moment, in one day:
The loss of children, and widowhood.
They shall come upon you in their fullness
Because of the multitude of your sorceries,
For the great abundance of your enchantments.


¹⁰"For you have trusted in your wickedness;
You have said, "No one sees me';
Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you;
And you have said in your heart,
"I am, and there is no one else besides me.'
¹¹Therefore evil shall come upon you;
You shall not know from where it arises.
And trouble shall fall upon you;
You will not be able to put it off.
And desolation shall come upon you suddenly,
Which you shall not know.


¹²"Stand now with your enchantments
And the multitude of your sorceries,
In which you have labored from your youth--
Perhaps you will be able to profit,
Perhaps you will prevail.
¹³You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels;
Let now the astrologers, the stargazers,
And the monthly prognosticators
Stand up and save you
From what shall come upon you.
¹⁴Behold, they shall be as stubble,
The fire shall burn them;
They shall not deliver themselves
From the power of the flame;
It shall not be a coal to be warmed by,
Nor a fire to sit before!
¹⁵Thus shall they be to you
With whom you have labored,
Your merchants from your youth;
They shall wander each one to his quarter.
No one shall save you.

Here we can see that Israel will be invaded by Iraq, because God ordained it. This however, will be a temporary situation and Iraq will suffer the consequences of war. I say Babylon is Iraq as the ruins of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are in Iraq. The Chaldeans are the Iraqis, as the inhabitants of Babylon were known as the Chaldeans in biblical times, and not as Babylonians. The person and his characteristics is obviously Saddam Hussein who is being referred to.

7 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD
And the praises of the LORD,
According to all that the LORD has bestowed on us,
And the great goodness toward the house of Israel,
Which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies,
According to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses.
⁸For He said, "Surely they are My people,
Children who will not lie."
So He became their Savior.
⁹In all their affliction He was afflicted,
And the Angel of His Presence saved them;
In His love and in His pity He redeemed them;
And He bore them and carried them
All the days of old.
¹⁰But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit;
So He turned Himself against them as an enemy,
And He fought against them.

As I have said, Christ' words in verses three to six point to the Palestinians, and the words of the narrator of verses seven to ten confirm this. As the speaker of the words refers firstly to the lovingkindnesses that the Lord has bestowed on us, and then refers to the Jews as "them". Therefor, is should be obvious that the narrator is not Jewish.

The above verses are more than likely an entreaty of a Christian Palestinian.

"Doubtless You are our father,

Though Abraham was ignorant of us

And Israel does not acknowledge us"

As I have said Israel and Palestine have the same forefather; Abraham, but different matriarchs (Sarah being Israel's and Hannah being Palestine's), but Israel does not acknowledge the Palestinians.

The holy people referred to here are more than likely Christian Palestinians. This statement is reinforced by the verse:

"We have become like those of old, over whom You never ruled,
Those who were never called by Your name."

Christians are called after the name of Christ.

¹ Thus says the LORD:

"Where is the certificate of your mother's divorce,
Whom I have put away?
Or which of My creditors is it to whom I have sold you?
For your iniquities you have sold yourselves,
And for your transgressions your mother has been put away.
²Why, when I came, was there no man?
Why, when I called, was there none to answer?
Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem?
Or have I no power to deliver?
Indeed with My rebuke I dry up the sea,
I make the rivers a wilderness;
Their fish stink because there is no water,
And die of thirst.
³I clothe the heavens with blackness,
And I make sackcloth their covering."

Firstly we can conclude that when Christ comes, there will be no suitable representative of the Palestinians of whom He approves.

"Why, when I came, was there no man?

Why, when I called, was there none to answer?"

This is aimed primarily at the Palestinians. As I have said the Jews and the Palestinians have the same forefather but different mothers. The one speaking is Christ. When speaking to the Palestinians here, He is saying the following; "Where is the certificate of your mothers divorce" - Christ is implying that a totally independent Palestine, does not meet with His approval. They do not have a homeland and Israel occupies Palestine because of their own doing. When Christ refers to their mother being put away, it is an allegory to the fact that they no longer possess their portion of the land. As in Isaiah 59 the Lord again asks the question, "Is My hand shortened that it cannot save." They too must see that deliverance is in the hands of Christ..

Here Jesus is describing what happened to Him at His crucifixion.

Speaking a word in season is a reference to what is recorded in St. Matthew 11:28
"Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and will give you rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and My burden is light."

⁷"For the Lord GOD will help Me;
Therefore I will not be disgraced;
Therefore I have set My face like a flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
⁸He is near who justifies Me;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us stand together.
Who is My adversary?
Let him come near Me.
⁹Surely the Lord GOD will help Me;
Who is he who will condemn Me?
Indeed they will all grow old like a garment;
The moth will eat them up.

My Jesus photo clearly shows Christ's face set like a flint.

This is a severe warning to the radical Islamic factions. They believe that by blowing themselves up and killing Israelis they will go to heaven, the opposite is the truth. Look at verse 11. "Look, all you who kindle a fire, Who encircle yourselves with sparks:" This is a literal expression of what happens to you when you blow yourself up. If this is your way, you will lie down in torment. The Lord has spoken.

³For thus says the LORD:

"You have sold yourselves for nothing,
And you shall be redeemed without money."

⁴For thus says the Lord GOD:

"My people went down at first
Into Egypt to dwell there;
Then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
⁵Now therefore, what have I here," says the LORD,
"That My people are taken away for nothing?
Those who rule over them
Make them wail,"^[1] says the LORD,
"And My name is blasphemed continually every day.
⁶Therefore My people shall know My name;
Therefore they shall know in that day
That I am He who speaks:
"Behold, it is I."'


⁷How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,
"Your God reigns!"
⁸Your watchmen shall lift up their voices,
With their voices they shall sing together;
For they shall see eye to eye
When the LORD brings back Zion.
⁹Break forth into joy, sing together,
You waste places of Jerusalem!
For the LORD has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
¹⁰The LORD has made bare His holy arm
In the eyes of all the nations;
And all the ends of the earth shall see
The salvation of our God.

I can only assume that what is meant by your watchmen shall see eye to eye is that after Christ's vengeance on the Palestinians and when Christ liberates Jerusalem, both the Israelis and Palestinians will have concordance. If one reads carefully about Christ's Second Coming in Luke 21:20, it states-

"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that it's desolation is near."

This is one of the significant events that points to Christ's Second Coming.

Here I will quote another scripture, namely Micah 2:12-13

""I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob,

I will surely gather the remnant of Israel;

I will put them together like sheep of the fold,

Like a flock in the midst of their pasture;

They shall make a load noise because of so many people.

The one who breaks open will come up before them;

They will break out,

Pass through the gate,

And go out by it;

Their king will pass before them,

With the Lord at their head.""

At this point I will elaborate even further by quoting Zechariah 14:3-5

"Then the Lord will go forth

And fight against those nations,

As He fights in the day of battle.

And in that day His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives,

Which faces Jerusalem on the east.

And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,

From east to west,

Making a very large valley;

Half of the mountain shall move toward the north

And half of it toward the south.

Then you shall flee through My mountain valley,

For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal.

Yes, you shall flee

As you fled from the earthquake

In the days of Uzziah king of Judah.

Thus the Lord my God will come,

And all the saints with You."

¹³ Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently;
He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.
¹⁴Just as many were astonished at you,
So His visage was marred more than any man,
And His form more than the sons of men;
¹⁵So shall He sprinkle^[2] many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths at Him;
For what had not been told them they shall see,
And what they had not heard they shall consider.

¹⁷ Awake, awake!
Stand up, O Jerusalem,
You who have drunk at the hand of the LORD
The cup of His fury;
You have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling,
And drained it out.
¹⁸There is no one to guide her
Among all the sons she has brought forth;
Nor is there any who takes her by the hand
Among all the sons she has brought up.
¹⁹These two things have come to you;
Who will be sorry for you?--
Desolation and destruction, famine and sword--
By whom will I comfort you?
²⁰Your sons have fainted,
They lie at the head of all the streets,
Like an antelope in a net;
They are full of the fury of the LORD,
The rebuke of your God.

"So hear this, you afflicted,

And drunk but not with wine."

That is what it is like to be manic. Once when I was manic, I was almost arrested for being drunk on the street, because of the way I was walking, and I hadn't touched a drop of alcohol. Simply being manic is like being drunk, but another form of drunkenness. This is God's calling; to go to Israel for the sake of His people.

The Good News of Salvation

The Good News of Salvation

This is much what Christ said in the synagogue after His temptation by the devil. Again He is addressing the Jews and Palestinians.

⁴And they shall rebuild the old ruins,
They shall raise up the former desolations,
And they shall repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
⁵Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,
And the sons of the foreigner
Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
⁶But you shall be named the priests of the LORD,
They shall call you the servants of our God.
You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,
And in their glory you shall boast.
⁷Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,
And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they shall possess double;
Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

Christ's promise to the Jews and the Palestinians. The Palestinians are going to be part of a huge national archaeological rebuilding. Israel is going to have to rely heavily on Palestinian labour and instead of shame they will have honour. The Palestinians will be happy in their portion of the country and in their part they will possess double.

⁸"For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery for burnt offering;
I will direct their work in truth,
And will make with them an everlasting covenant.
⁹Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles,
And their offspring among the people.
All who see them shall acknowledge them,
That they are the posterity whom the LORD has blessed."

Above is a wonderful promise from Christ to the Palestinian people.

¹⁰I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
¹¹For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

As unlikely as it seems it appears that I will have a part to play in achieving an equitable solution for the Palestinian problem.

Isaiah 62

Assurance of Zion's Salvation

Assurance of Jerusalem's Deliverance
¹ For Zion's sake I will not hold My peace,
And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,
Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
And her salvation as a lamp that burns.
²The Gentiles shall see your righteousness,
And all kings your glory.
You shall be called by a new name,
Which the mouth of the LORD will name.
³You shall also be a crown of glory
In the hand of the LORD,
And a royal diadem
In the hand of your God.
⁴You shall no longer be termed Forsaken,
Nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate;
But you shall be called Hephzibah,^[1] and your land Beulah;^[2]
For the LORD delights in you,
And your land shall be married.
⁵For as a young man marries a virgin,
So shall your sons marry you;
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
So shall your God rejoice over you.

This is the promise that the Lord has for Jerusalem and Israel. The solution that everyone has for the Palestinian, Israeli situation, namely a totally independent Palestinian state is not feasible because of the geographics of the situation. There is a far more practicable solution, which I will not go into here, but is apparent from this scripture.


⁶I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
They shall never hold their peace day or night.
You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent,
⁷And give Him no rest till He establishes
And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.


⁸The LORD has sworn by His right hand
And by the arm of His strength:
"Surely I will no longer give your grain
As food for your enemies;
And the sons of the foreigner shall not drink your new wine,
For which you have labored.
⁹But those who have gathered it shall eat it,
And praise the LORD;
Those who have brought it together shall drink it in My holy courts."

These verses are saying that the Jews and Palestinians who laboured for the produce of the land will eat it and not those who have enmity with Israel.

¹⁰Go through,
Go through the gates!
Prepare the way for the people;
Build up,
Build up the highway!
Take out the stones,
Lift up a banner for the peoples!


¹¹Indeed the LORD has proclaimed
To the end of the world:
"Say to the daughter of Zion,
"Surely your salvation is coming;
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His work before Him."'
¹²And they shall call them The Holy People,
The Redeemed of the LORD;
And you shall be called Sought Out,
A City Not Forsaken.

Footnotes