Signs of the Times: Ezekiel’s Prophecies Set to Unfold?

A fisherman walks under Palestinian and Turkish flags at a memorial site in memory of nine Turkish activists who were killed in a deadly raid by the Israeli army on a Turkish aid ship bound for the Gaza Strip last year, in the port of Gaza City. (AP Images/Adel Hana)

Last year an international crisis exploded when
Israel stopped a flotilla of ships from breaking its naval blockade of
the Gaza Strip.

The incident left Israel feeling more isolated, but some Jews saw the pages of Scripture coming alive through the crisis.

When Israeli commandos stormed the Turkish-owned
flagship, Mavi Mamara, leading the flotilla, things quickly turned
deadly. Pro-Palestinian activists attacked the soldiers, who then
defended themselves. Nine activists died in the melee.

Israel acted to keep weapons out of Hamas-controlled Gaza, but that didn’t stop an international rush to judgment.

The U.N. Security Council condemned Israel and called for an investigation.

Sweden, Ireland and other nations planned boycotts against the Jewish state.

Shifting Allegiance
 The
incident also revealed Turkey as a major player in the Middle East,
with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan shifting his allegiance from
Israel to Iran, Syria and their axis of power.

“Turkey was a friend of Israel for much of the last six decades,” author Joel Rosenberg told CBN News.

“It’s a democracy, it’s a moderate Muslim country,
it’s a NATO ally and a friend of the United States, a tourist
destination spot for tens of thousands of Israelis, and yet all of that
is changing right now,” Rosenberg said.

This change represents a major realignment in the Middle East.

Turkey—once a close ally of Israel and the West—is now openly courting the
likes of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad and ultimately Russia’s Vladmir Putin.

Gog and Magog Soon?
So what does this shift of power and increasing
isolation of Israel mean? Some in Israel and around the world believe it
reflects biblical prophecy.

“Given the fact that Ezekiel 36 and 37 have largely
come true—the rebirth of Israel, Jews pouring into the Holy Land after
centuries in exile, rebuilding the ancient ruins, isn’t it remotely
possible that Ezekiel 38 and 39—the war of Gog and Magog—couldn’t
that come true in our lifetime also?” Rosenberg reasoned.

Following last year’s flotilla incident, the
Rabbinical Council of Judea and Samaria issued a statement saying the
aftermath seemed to “place us at the beginning of the Gog and Magog
process, where the world is against us, but which ends with the third
and final redemption.”

Gog and Magog is a biblical reference in chapters 38
and 39 of the book of Ezekiel when a coalition of nations attack the
land of Israel. No one knows whether or not this will happen soon, but
many believe war in the Middle East is looming.

“As you watch the trajectory of events
geopolitically here in the epicenter, the events are living up more and
more in favor of Ezekiel 38 and 39 coming true, possibly sooner than
most of us realize,” Rosenberg said.

Hezbollah in Lebanon now has more than 50,000
rockets for a future conflict with Israel. Hamas in the Gaza Strip
continues to arm itself and Iran’s nuclear and missile programs stand
poised to fulfill the mullahs’ dream of destroying the Jewish state.

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