THE ISRAELI WAR AND END TIMES WITH JOHN HOPE PART 1 #108

On October 7, 2023, the world was shocked by the news that Israel had been attacked by the terrorist group known as Hamas.  The attack was brutally violent and resulted in the murder of over 1,400 Israeli citizens.  The despicable killing of innocent children, women, and elderly people was pure evil. Israel is now at war with Hamas and other terrorist groups such as Hezbollah have also entered the effort to destroy Israel.  

What are the end-time implications of this war?  In this week’s episode of FINISH STRONG, Bible scholar John Hope reveals that this war against Israel was predicted several hundred years ago.  He thoroughly explains several passages from both the Old and New Testament and reveals what countries will align against Israel and what the end result will be.   

Don’t miss Part One of this fascinating two-part series entitled, “The Israeli War and the End Times!”

Transcript

Dan Wheeler: 0:03

The world was shocked on October 7 of this year, when we discovered that Israel had been attacked by a terrorist group known as Hamas. This resulted in the killing of over 1400 Israeli citizens, the unspeakable killing of innocent women, children and elderly people was definitely an act of pure evil. And at least 34 Americans, by the way, died as well. Many hostages are still being held as negotiating or bargaining chips. And, you know, many people around the world are trying to put this attack on Israel. They're trying to put the blame on Israel. And of course, Hamas is trying to do that with different PR stunts. We know the Middle Eastern wars and attacks of this kind are talked about in the Bible. But what are the in time implications in this week's finished strong podcast, we're going to explore what this means and how it relates to what the Bible says, with a guy who has a deep understanding of biblical prophecy. He'll join us in a minute. I'm Dan Wheeler, Brian Rowland and Terry Steen are here. And guys, this is on the minds of people everywhere.

Terry Steen: 1:18

Once more, it's something that you basically will always remember the time when you heard about this. It's just like another 911. Almost, isn't it for the people of Israel? Yeah.

Brian Roland: 1:32

It really is. It's something that I find myself every day for saying is turning on the news, turning on the news, want to see what the update is from over there? Because it's the next day, you know, so we want to know what's going on. And then it is just you say, what's this going to end? Lord, what's going to end? It's interesting to see how it's developing too. And that's why I'm so anxious to talk to John tonight. Yeah. And then

Terry Steen: 1:54

also, whoops, I was just going to add also, I was just heard on some podcasts or a program, that relatively speaking what happened in the depths of Israel versus what happened in America? 911, multiple 3040 50 times the devastation to the country of Israel. And think of what we felt when 911 hit.

Dan Wheeler: 2:19

Right. Yeah, good point. And the three of us have talked that there. It's surprising how much hatred is being stirred up, not toward Hamas toward Israel. I mean, it seems like there's a PR campaign by the liberal media and some university professors, and the students at universities protesting and polling for Palestine. I mean, it's unbelievable. Yeah,

Brian Roland: 2:46

they all seem to dive in a week after the fact of what happened. It's like, well, let's go back another seven days. And let's talk about that. But they don't want to talk about

Terry Steen: 2:55

right. Yeah, you look at the UN, you look at some of the Europe, European nations, every nation, there are very few allies to Israel aren't there?

Dan Wheeler: 3:07

Sure. And we have a member of commerce of Congress, who didn't want to talk about the babies that were killed in the brutal murders. But she has a palace, head of Palestinian flag outside of our office. It's unbelievable. But you know, we know this is all predicted in the Bible. And we wanted to do a podcast or two on this topic, for sure. And to help us better understand this topic. We're joined by a good friend of finish strong. I mean, this guy is a biblical scholar, former pastor, prison chaplain, and he's done extensive study, to help bring better understanding in the Book of Revelations and the End Times. And he joins us right now as we welcome John. Hope, John, are you there? There you are.

John Hope: 3:53

Hey, fellows, good to be with you.

Dan Wheeler: 3:56

Thank you so much for being with us, John. These are trying times. And I know there's a lot of fear, even among Christians, as I talked to them. But the Bible tells us we're not to fear when we see these signs, right?

John Hope: 4:09

That's exactly right. You know, every time we see prophetic signs being fulfilled, and this is one of those weeks where you could have your Bible in one hand, and you're streaming news, media on the other hand, and see the two being in conjunction in congruent one with another. But it's in times like these, where Jesus reminded us that we need to look up, lift up our heads, why? Because our redemption is right on the cusp, our redemption draweth, very, very near. So it's a time for believers who know the Bible, or have a sense of a biblical worldview, that these are pointing to one major cataclysmic event, and that's not the war in Israel. It's the soon coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Yeah,

Terry Steen: 4:55

yeah. Yeah, it's kind of a little rhetorical question, but why should Should we as Christians be concerned about these current events? You know, we hear in the Bible to wars and rumors of wars, but we've heard those for a long time. What? What Why should we be concerned about this current event in the Middle East?

John Hope: 5:17

Yeah, I think that's a great question. Terry. I think as you indicated, you know, Jesus pointed out generically, that in the end times, there would be wars, rumors of wars, nation would rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. But this is specifically centered upon Israel. And, for that matter, our national security as as Americans, if we're believers, and we're patriots, we ought to be concerned because of our own national security. The first promise in the Bible regarding the Middle East, was given to Abraham in Genesis 12, three, where he said, You know, I'm going to make a few a great nation, which became the Jewish people, the sons of Isaac, and he said, I will bless those that bless thee, and I will curse those that curse thee, and in the shall all the families of the earth be blessed. The whole redemptive plan of God from Genesis to Revelation focuses and centers around the nation of Israel, and the land through which God defeated them in Genesis chapter 15, and verse 18. So if we as a nation, or even as an individual believer, want to be the recipient of the blessings of God, it's contingent upon us Blessing Israel. So if we look at this war, in the Middle East, we see the hatred, the animosity, the anti semitism, which is really I think, Satanism being revealed in the world today, even in our country, we need to remind those around us that those who bless Israel will be blessed by God, those who curse Israel will be cursed by God. So our own personal, eternal security, and our national security is really contingent upon how we handle and treat the nation of Israel.

Brian Roland: 7:14

John, we know that there's been several terrorist groups out there before ISIS, which was there, Hezbollah, which is still hanging around, but Hamas, who exactly is Hamas?

John Hope: 7:27

Well, to me, I think this is this is fascinating, Brian, because you have to look at that little piece of property that Hamas governs. And then they're not just a terrorist organization. They're not just a militant organization, although the Alakazam brigade has over 30,000 warriors under the general ship of Mohammed Deif. And they're very active and and they're subterranean. They're in Terranea, and they're above us. They're below us. And they're on the land in front of us even come by the sea, and the air on paragliders against us. But hey, they occupy 140 square miles. That's been totally walled in by Israel, who left this jurisdiction in 2005. And Hamas was elected by a Palestinian majority in 2006, to govern this piece called the Gaza Strip. It's about the twice the size of Washington DC, it's about 140 square miles. But Hamas is not only a terrorist organization, they're the governing body of this little strip of land. And isn't it interesting that the Gaza strip that exact location if you go back in Bible history, is called Felicia, Felicia was the land of the Philistines? Teens, Goliath was an uncircumcised Philistine who taunted the Israelites some 4000 years ago, Samson, the Pentecostal Playboy, was actually

Dan Wheeler: 9:05

actually I've never heard it

John Hope: 9:07

actually met his death in the temple of Dagon in Gaza City. So wow, biblical connection here between Hamas and the ancient old nemesis of Israel, the Philistines is inextricable, and we can ignore who they really are, historically, and they've raised their head. Now in modern times, as Hamas, Hamas is actually a it's an an acronym in Arabic, which means the Islamic resistance movement. The Hebrew word though Hamas is also appears in the Old Testament, and it means in open hostility, a terrorist or a warlike personality, and that's why a loss has manifested themselves to be you know, I read their charter Over the course of the past couple of weeks, they they they were founded by an Islamic radical cleric by the name of Hamas ya seen in about 19 167. He was with the Muslim Brotherhood, and he didn't think they were violent enough. So he founded on us. But if you read their charter, which was founded and written in 1988, it says that their primary purpose is to destroy Israel, to wipe them off the face of the earth, and to establish a caliphate, an Islamic religious theocracy, in the land of Palestine, which Israel illegitimately possesses, that's their primary function. Now, I asked you this question, how can you propose a two state solution to peace in Israel, if one of the parties is saying, You have no right to this land, we want to wipe you off the face of the earth, we want to wipe the remembrance of Israel, out of our memories, and our in our whole existence. Our whole being is based on the fact that we want to kill Jews. The second thing and their methodology is they want to kill Jews through unrestrained jihad, through a holy war, by whatever means possible. You know, I heard Natali Bennett, the former Prime Minister of Israel, this past week, I thought he made a profound statement. He said this, and I think it shows the distinction between Israel and Hamas. He said Israel uses its weaponry to defend its citizens. He said, Hamas uses its citizens to defend its weaponry that give a little insight into who Hamas is. Yeah, terrorist organization that wants to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. They want to establish an Islamic caliphate in the land of Palestine, because they believe Israel has no legitimate right to that land.

Dan Wheeler: 12:05

It really makes you wonder about the legitimacy of that election. I mean, did the Palestinian people really elect Hamas to be their government? But this hostility towards Israel, John, where does that come from? Why did they want to destroy Israel so bad? That goes back to Biblical times as well, doesn't it?

John Hope: 12:25

I think it does. I think, Dan, you know, as we said, there, they base out of the Philistines, which was one of the first ancient enemies of Israel that we see appearing over and over again, they were responsible for the killing of Saul and Jonathan stealing the Ark of the Covenant, taking it into their possession. Of course, it costs nothing but havoc within the ranks, so they quickly dispensed of it. But but you know, ancient history shows them as the nemesis of Israel, but but really, the root hatred, when you when you think about it, biblically, really goes back to the book of Genesis again, in Genesis chapter 16. And we're talking about the redemptive plan of God. In Genesis chapter 16, Sarah got a little tired of waiting to have that expected child. So she knows the plan didn't she was, she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar? And so she says to Abraham, who, by the way, was complicit with this plan. You know, I'm gonna give you my Egyptian servant, Hagar, maybe she can give you this promise child. They've been waiting 10 years since they've been called out of her the counties, and God had said they were going to be a great nation. Yet they had no air they had no sun. So Sarah concocts the plan to give Abram Hagar the Egyptian servant. He has relations with Hagar. And it's interesting in Genesis 16, it says that the minute she realized that she was pregnant, she felt contempt towards her mistress, Sara and began to treat her with contempt. So then Sarah says to Abraham, hey, you mess things up. What's going on here? You know, now, Hagar, My servant, is treating me this way. So Abraham says, hey, that's your problem. You know, you deal with her. So she does she begins to treat her harshly she casts her out, winds up in the wilderness the angel of the Lord comes greets with Hagar says, I'm going to make a view, a great nation, you're gonna have descendants that you can't even number and you shall call him Ishmael, meaning God hears and he said, and he's going to be a wild man. He's going to be like an untamed donkey. He will raise his fist against all other inhabitants of land and then listen to this. He will treat them with open hostility, all of his relatives. Now I thought it was interesting that what Word for open hostility and the Hebrew is the Hebrew word Hamas. Really here? Who is Trent Israel, and hostility and contempt come us who wants to wipe Israel off the face of the earth? Come us who wants to wipe the memory of Israel out of our existence, and out of our memory banks. It's Hamas. They're treating their relative their stepbrother, the sons of Isaac, Ishmael is treating them with open hostility and open contempt. And on October 7, we saw that before us on our television screens, and I've been hearing the atrocities and the horrific stories, ever since that day.

Terry Steen: 15:47

So that's, that's so interesting, John, and you know, that that hatred has been there all those years? What do you think? Do you think there was a specific strategy or purpose for why they attacked Israel? Now?

John Hope: 16:01

I really do. I think, again, you don't hear a lot of this in on CNN, or you may not even hear it on Fox News. But you have to remember that this was kind of a year of Jubilee for the Israelites, in a negative sense, I guess, because 20 years ago, to the day, October 6, actually, in 1973. And on the Hebrew calendar, they lose a day, every 50 years or so. So it was really 50 years to the day, but they 50 years to the day. In 1973, the Yom Kippur War, was instituted where Syria invaded Israel from the north, Egypt invaded Israel from the south. And for 18 days they battled it out. And had it not been for the intervention of Richard Nixon, President Nixon at that time, by the request of gold in my ear and sending arms. Israel was taken totally by surprise, and probably would have lost that war. Well, it's no surprise that 50 years to the day, October 7 2023, kind of an anti Jubilee come us, the ancient nemesis of Israel, who hates them because they're Israelites, and they hate the sons of Isaac, the sons of Abraham, all who take part in the redemptive plan of God, they hate them. So here 50 years for the day, which should have been a year of Jubilee, where the land has rest, where the land is restored, where slaves are freed, where everybody is redeemed, and there's joy. And here, Hamas decides to cross the border and 29 different locations, attack 21 communities of Israel, and take away women and children and kill them brutally and rape them and burn them and behead them. I don't think it's any mistake that that was 50 years of anti Jubilee, so to speak, that Hamas chose that time, what it was also when you look at it, it was also the end of the High Holy Days of Israel. The Feast of Tabernacles. Sukkot had just concluded it was the seventh day. It's called Simca Torah, the joy of the Torah, and also it was a Sabbath day. So here you have the ending of the high. Right, east of tabernacle, you have sin caught Torah, which to the Jews was one of the most joyous holy days of their religious year. That's why the nova music festival was going on in southern Israel across the Gaza border, because young people were gathering on the Shabbat, to dance to rejoice. And in the synagogues, even all night long they would take the Torah and Jews dance and rejoice and praise God behind the rabbi's. He dances with the Torah and here on Simcock to raw, the holy day ending the Feast of Tabernacles where the joy of the thrall was supposed to be celebrated, and it's kind of a Shabbat of Shabbat. It's a day of rest of rest. All of a sudden, come us breaches the wall comes in unawares, Israel was taken totally by surprise as they were rejoicing and celebrating these holy days. You didn't know that. Most of these people worked in Israel, you know, they came across the border, they had worked permits, they worked in these Cahoots, and it's amazing to me that the caboose, the people, there are really what they call peaceniks. They're people who are sympathetic towards Hamas, and in every one of their dwellings, they have a safety room. So when they cried, peace and safety, then sudden destruction came upon them, even as prevail upon a woman And they could not escape. And then interesting. I mean, you look at the biblical symbolism and the significance of of these days. And I think there's another really important factor as to the timing of this as well. We're we've all been following with great interest, I'm sure the the talks of the normalization of relationships between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Yes. Now, yes, those talks. I don't know if you heard the Prime Minister Netanyahu speech to the United Nations on September 22. It's just two weeks now before the October 7, insurgents by Hamas. But on September the 22nd, he said in his speech, that Israel was on the cusp of the most transformative peace agreement with Saudi Arabia in the history of the Semitic culture. Now those normalization relations, I hear and I've been reading, or contingent upon the treatment of Palestine by Israel, Palestine wanted recognition in the UN of their statehood. They wanted increased territory in the West Bank, and they wanted Israel to back off on some of their restrictions of them and the settlements that were being created in Israel. But one of the points of their discussion was also the jurisdiction of the holy mount, the mount where the Dome of the Rock resides right now, and where the temple of Israel had been built for centuries. And those discussions on the jurisdiction, which right now is under the Islamic wharf Jordanian control, but they were thinking about giving Israel more access to the Temple Mount, where they may be able to worship, offer sacrifice, maybe eventually, maybe even Bill, third temple. So those talks angered Hamas, and here they invaded on October 7, to try to make sure that those talks were hindered and they have been hindered as of right now there are totally on hold. The Jordanians refused to meet with President Biden, Mahmoud Abbas refused to meet with Biden President Al Sisi refused to meet with Biden and Ben Oh, Solman also refused to meet with Biden. So those talks have become to a halt. And I think that was another major reason, while Hamas, right invaded to kind of put a little hitch in all of these talks about the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Brian Roland: 22:39

You know, John's, when I when I see this and hear it and read it and watch it, it seems like it's a rehearsal for Armageddon. Exactly. Is Hamas mentioned in Bible prophecy? Are they going to be involved in that? Yeah,

John Hope: 22:52

I think I think really, they are, you know, some, some Bible scholars would say, well, Hamas itself is not mentioned. But as we pointed out in the introduction, you know, Hamas really is in the Gaza Strip. the Gaza Strip is ancient Phyllis Jaya. So when you look for them in the Bible, you have to look for them by their ancient names, as is so often the case, it's like Iran, you know, I ran didn't become Iran till 1935. It was Persia version at that point. And then in 1935, they drew up a new constitution shot took over they became Iran. But so if you're going to look for Hamas, in the Bible, you have to look for them by their, by their ancient names. And really, they're they're mentioned four times specifically.

Unknown: 23:40

And where's

John Hope: 23:41

these? These references? I'll just give them to you quickly. Chapter 11 And verse 14, and I'm reading this and paraphrasing it from the New King James Version, but it says, but they meaning Israel, listen to this. This is 700 years now before the time of Christ. Isaiah wrote these words, but they meaning Israel shall fly down. How do they fly down? Yeah, 700 years before the time of Christ, but they Israel or new I'd say the IDF shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west. And together they shall plunder the people of the East, and they shall lay hand their hand on Edom and Moab, and the people of heaven shall obey them. So here we have a specific prophecy by Isaiah 700 years before the time of Christ mentioning the Hamas. So the Philistines here is what the reference calls them, which is the people who occupied Gaza. So the occupants of Gaza, Israel is going to fly down upon them and wreak havoc in warlike destruction. Is that 700 That's amazing. Yeah. This see the prophecies to me. endtime prophecies are not so much the Set a date, or set a time, so much the hour of the day on the coming of Jesus. It's more to just impress upon our minds that God is active in human history. He is the sovereign God, He is the great I AM. He is the great God who was who is and who is to come, the Almighty God. That's what prophecy really verifies. That's why we should be filled with joy. You know, I know that horrific happenings around us. But in order to bring joy to the heart of every Bible believer to know that this book is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable, their doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness That the man of God began perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. Yeah, it's a good

Dan Wheeler: 25:49

time always flies. And we have John, we got time for just two quick areas. But we talked about wars and rumors of wars. And obviously, there's another war going on with Ukraine and Russia. Is there any prophetic tie between that war and the Israeli war with Hamas?

John Hope: 26:06

I really do think there is. If you look at the war in Ukraine, obviously, it's been going on now for over a year. And the principal aggressor, obviously is Russia. And, but but we've learned over the course of this year that Russia is also being supplied by other nations in as far as their weaponry and their munitions and the key player in that is who it's Iran. Iran has supplied the Kamikaze drones, to the Russians that really are responsible for many of the attacks that we see on the news, many of the destruction of civilian buildings and a lot of the devastation that has laid waste the land of Ukraine, Iran is the principal supplier of those drones and have created most of the Havoc many of the munitions have been supplied by Iran. And in turn, Russia has supplied Iran with nuclear capability with nuclear scientists that have come in and have caused them to enrich uranium, getting them closer and closer. And I believe even now, they have enough 60% enrichment of uranium to have nuclear warheads and a nuclear weapon. So here we have two parties, Russia, and Iran collaborating together in the war in Ukraine. Well, if you go to Ezekiel 38 and 39, there's a little conflict called the war of Gog and Magog. It's really one of the principal prophetic wars of the Old Testament. And basically what it says in Ezekiel 3839 Is that God who is a prince of Roche are meaning Russia, will come from the north, and a collaboration of other nations meaning Persia, and nishank. And to bell which is Turkey. So Russia, Persia, Iran, and Turkey will collaborate together from the north and the nations of Magog which are all the stand nations who Becca Stan, cars extend Afghanistan, Pakistan, all those nations will combine with Russia, Persia and Turkey, and will invade Israel from the north. And God will have to supernaturally intervene and that battle and cause torrential rain of fire and brimstone to come down and destroy the armies from the north on the hills of Israel so that it will take seven years to bury the bodies of Israel. It's quite a cataclysmic war. And it's really worth looking into. But the connection between this current skirmish that we have going on, if you look at who is the who is the perpetrator, really behind Hamas, who is the one funding Hamas, who is the one training Hamas was the one supplying the rockets, the 5000 8000 rockets that are flying over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and stood over the road and all the cities of Israel, Iran, Persia, yeah, is behind. It's the it's the these are Iranian proxies, as they're called all the time on the news, we have us we have Hezbollah, we have Palestinian Islamic Jihad. We have Fatah, we have the Palestinian Liberation Organization. All of these Iranian proxies are being supplied and fueled by Iran and yet Iran and Russia are going to be in the final war of Gog and Magog so we can see the alignments if nothing else are there yeah, they're the nice John's are lining up.

Terry Steen: 29:49

John, let's if you'll come back so we can do one other half a podcast and a second part with you on I really want to talk about the Dow domino effect, and all these other countries that are going to get involved because that's so interesting. But one quick last questions as a question as believers, how should we view how should we act toward Hamas? The people of Gaza? Israel? How is Christians and believers should we be reacting to these people?

John Hope: 30:22

You know, it's, it's, it's almost hard for me to say it. But you have to look to the king of the kingdom, in the Sermon on the Mount, to really discern what a Christian disposition is in regards to Hamas. In the natural course we, we want to hate them. We want to destroy them. And practically speaking, we need to defend help Israel defend itself against them. But you know, Jesus said, and this is again, in the greatest sermon that's ever been preached, the principles of the kingdom are laid down in Matthew five, six, and seven, which we normally refer to as the Sermon on the Mount. But in verse 43, Jesus said, You know, you have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate that enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemy. bless them that curse you, do good to them, that hate you, and pray for them, which despitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be the children of your Father, which is in heaven, who maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good, and send his rain on the just and on the unjust.

Dan Wheeler: 31:41

Well, that's, that's a great way to wrap this edition up. And John, thank you so much for being with us. And we're going to have another episode or next episode to follow up here. So thanks for joining us. We're going to wrap things up here, John. And, guys, I'll tell you another. Thanks, John. Yeah, thanks so much. Another incredible episode of John. Oh, I could just listen to him all day. He's fast. pages of notes. Yeah, yeah. But it's right out of the Bible.

Terry Steen: 32:12

It's Yes, so much information. And, you know, we talked up front about how this can be a scary time, but at the same time, when you hear what he's telling us, and we're seeing it come to life through God's word from 700 years ago, we know he has a plan. And we know his plans. Perfect. And we know we're part of his plan. So there should be no fear for us as believers and Christians, but to know that we're walking out God's plan for this earth.

Dan Wheeler: 32:48

Yeah. Brian, we've grown up in church and we always heard you know, and times are coming. Yeah, and and times could be here, like Terry just said, it should make us excited. If you ever wondered if the Bible is, is truly God's word, boy, there should be no doubt. Right? Yeah.

Brian Roland: 33:08

I agree. It's, it's, it's revealing itself daily. I mean, just opens up a new chapter daily. It's just amazing. And it's like you just said it shouldn't make you smile, make you happy about it. And it does, but yet, you know, I get concerned stuff, but I don't need to be concerned. You know, it's right here. It says it's gonna happen. I already know I already know what the ending says. But you still you still get caught up in it. That's just kind of Wow.

Dan Wheeler: 33:34

Well, when the three of us got together, eight years ago now, in a few weeks, we had no idea that we're going into ministry for a time such as this, but God has all of us as Christians here on Earth. For a time such as this, Hey, please tell your friends and family about this podcast. Have them listen, it will open up some great discussions and don't miss our next episode of finished wrong, when we're going to delve in a little bit more with John on who all these countries are that are aligning, and how they're mentioned in Scripture, and how this is all going to end. Thanks for joining us and we'll see you on the next edition of finish strong.

John Matarazzo: 34:16

Thank you for listening to finish strong. For more information about finish strong and fearless faith, check out their website eth faith.org. Make sure that you rate and review this podcast to help more people accomplish their God given purpose so that together we can finish strong