Israel, Korea, and You

Over the weekend, Israel came under worldwide fire for protecting its borders. A flotilla of six boats attempted to run a blockade to deliver what was said to be humanitarian aide to the people living in the Gaza strip, a swath of land controlled by the militant group, Hamas. Israel’s navy warned the flotilla to turn back multiple times. It attempted to direct the boats into a neutral harbor and offered to deliver the humanitarian aide items to the Gaza strip for the Turkish based flotilla. These offers and warnings were ignored leaving Israel no choice but to take action against the blockade runners. Five boats were boarded without incident. It was the sixth boat where deadly violence broke out. Live fire, metal pipes, and knives met the Israeli military that bordered the illegal vessel. Video clearly shows all of this including one Israeli soldier being tossed overboard. The Israeli soldiers had no choice but to defend themselves. The result was 9 dead crew members on the boat. And the world is outraged at Israel. World leaders are calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. Israel is being universally condemned. Once again, Israel finds itself with no friends it seems.

But let’s ask the most important question of all here. WHY was this blockade in place? The blockade exists because of repeated attempts (many successful) to smuggle weapons into the Gaza strip for Hamas to use against Israel. So Israel is left with little choice. It is desperate to defend itself from those living within its borders that seek its destruction.

But consider for a moment the virtually immediate and universal condemnation of Israel (in spite of the numerous mitigating circumstances) versus the limited and neutered reaction of the world to North Korea’s unprovoked sinking of a South Korean ship killing 46 people. That attack occurred on March 26^th. To date little to nothing has happened in terms of worldwide response. No special UN council meetings, nothing. The attack on the South Korean warship was unprovoked. There were no warnings. The boat was simply torpedoed. Israel was protecting its sovereignty and its citizenry. Israel issued numerous warnings. Israel sought to peacefully turn back the flotilla. Only after being attacked by those seeking to illegally defy Israel’s blockade, a blockade designed to prevent the smuggling of weapons, did Israel respond with deadly force.

And so Israel once again faces a double standard. What does all this have to do with you? Very simply, what happens to Israel affects all of us. Israel is THE major piece of God’s prophetic puzzle. God’s end game on earth involves Israel. Anytime I see a world event involving Israel, I am reminded that we are on a clock. Jesus gave us the Great Commission. To behave as if we have an unlimited amount of time to accomplish this Great Commission is ignorance. Four billion people on this planet do not know Jesus. The clock is ticking, time is running out. Keep your eye on Israel, keep your eye on the clock.

Note: If you’d like to go with my wife and me to Israel in the summer of 2011, check out this link.