Because They Attacked My People!

The Minor Prophets Speak to Today

 

Because They Attacked My People!

Joel 3:4-8, 19

Egypt Will Become a Waste Land, Edom Will Become a Wilderness.

 

The Sons of Tyre and Sidon and the Cities of the Philistia: Gaza, Askelon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath will be sold to the Arabians.

Egypt refers to the land that is still called Egypt today.

Edom refers to the descendants of Esau who were formerly a nation stretching from the south east of Israel to the smaller arm of the Red Seas and east through portions of Jordan and possibly north western Saudi Arabia.

The Philistians occupied what is now call the Gaza Strip and a hook north and eastward into what is now Israel and Palestine. Many Palistinians, in their own language, call themselves Philistines.

Tyre and Sidon are long prominent city states in Lebanon. Like Egypt there is an historic continuity between the current and ancient states so labeled.

But the application of this passage which applies to today's Christians and our future is not about these specific geo-political entities per se, but how God moves in history.

I do not support the current apostate Jews' applications of many Old Testament prophecies (because in many cases they are tied to the return of Israel to their rightful King-God in Jesus Christ), but there is a principle and a warning in Joel that applies to people who attack God's Children. The principle and warning echo a refrain found from Abraham through the New Testament. And in this God does not seem to differentiate between whether his children, both Israelite and Christian, are at the moment faithful or apostate.

Those Who Choose to Attack God's Children Will Be Destroyed

 

From the time of Muhammad on many of these attackers have, to date, escaped total destruction, and some have even escaped a general destruction. However, destruction still marks their history and their present times.

Of particular note is the devastation caused by Islamics attacking Islamics.  Internal malaise and destruction is one of the means God uses to punish those who attack his children. Remember he brings their destruction even when he himself orchestrates the attack to punish apostate Israel and the prostituting Church or to purify his people.

This practice of federation members attacking and destroying each other and thus the unity of their federation applies remarkably to Islam's stated unity under Muhammad and the Koran. It could be argued that internal destruction is the reason for the break up of the Holy Roman Empire and, from time to time, the reach or control of the Roman Catholic Church. Smaller versions happen repeatedly and often among Protestants.

Whether by internal or external means, the truth remains. Those who choose to attack God's children, whether faithful or unfaithful, will be destroyed.

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Questions/Discussions For This Week:

1.   Will Egypt become a waste land? Why or why not?

2.   If the Edomites have been absorbed into the Palestinians and Arabs what implications might this have for this principle?

3.   What opponents of God and the Church has been destroyed from within?

4.   What kinds of actions are included in God's definition of "to attack"?

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PHOTOS:

egypt All rights reserved by AnjaRus22 @flickr.com

Edom from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Omer El Mokhtar Street – Gaza – Palestine by mustafa156 @webshots.com