...he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye (Zechariah 2:8)

What is all the uproar? This minuscule stretch of land in the Middle East, only 1/6 of one percent as large as the land the Arabs possess, is in the midst of bitter conflict. It seems the whole world wants a piece of Israel's land. Why? For years it was just wilderness. There's no oil there, not a lot of natural resources. Why the unprecedented struggle?

"Why do the heathens rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel,together against the Lord and against His anointed saying, 'Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.' He that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision (Psalm 2:1-4)."

Only in the Bible can we find the answers to these puzzling questions. The struggle Israel is facing is not just about land, or politics, or even inheritances. At the very center of all the violent conflicts is the fight against "spiritual wickedness in high places." Even though her people and leaders don't acknowledge God's purposes now, one day they will see it all. "And I will pour out upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn (Zechariah 12:10)."

When we read and hear the news from Washington and the world about the state of Israel, we are reading and hearing prophecy being fulfilled. Recently, President Obama urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to move swiftly on the peace plan with the Palestinians and to stop building Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Netanyahu stood his ground and would not stop building. We are watching ancient prophecies being fulfilled in our day.

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. Behold your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth till ye shall say, 'Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord (Matthew 23:37-39)."