By Bill SalusCovenants made between men are not a new phenomena. War pacts, peace plans, and territorial treaties have been commonplace throughout human history. The Treaty of Versailles signed on June 28, 1919 ended World War One. United Nations Resolution 181 of November 29, 1947, i.e. the Partition Plan, reestablished the Jewish State of Israel. The December 13, 2007 Treaty of Lisbon, established the constitutional basis for the European Union. These are three, among thousands, crafted by mankind to mediate regional and / or world matters.
World Wars, the reestablished State of Israel and the Revived Roman Empire are topics of prophetic importance. Thus, these three world impacting treaties ratified in modern history have biblical significance. Yet the Bible foretells of a coming covenant to be confirmed between the Antichrist and Israel that will undoubtedly make all prior peace pacts, partition plans and / or territorial treaties pale in comparison.
According to Bible prophecy, this forthcoming covenant causes the world hourglass to make one final seven-year turn. Most scholars correlate these seven years with the “Tribulation” period whereby the Lord enters into judgment with Christ rejecting sinful humanity. Therefore, something within the content of this covenant serves as the straw breaking the camel’s back provoking the Lord to dispense His wrath upon mankind. Thus, understanding the true content of the false covenant becomes an important undertaking.
This end time’s covenant is spoken of in Isaiah 28:15, 18 and Daniel 9:27. Daniel informs us it will span seven years. Additionally, he declares it will be confirmed by the Antichrist of Roman descent. Isaiah, speaking from the Lord’s perspective, calls it a covenant with death, an agreement with Sheol. According to Isaiah, Israel ratifies this covenant believing that a period of peace will follow. By confirming this covenant, Israel believes it’s protected from some “overflowing scourge” threatening the Jewish State at the time.
Additionally, the activation of this treaty creates a sense of worldwide security according to 1 Thessalonians 5:3. This suggests that the overflowing scourge may have a much broader reach than the Middle East. It implies that the world is in a chaotic state of flux at the time, in dire need of stability. Therefore, understanding the nature of the overflowing scourge additionally helps to identify the content of this all important covenant. However, that’s a topic for another time. This article intends to dispel six decades of seemingly erroneous teaching about the actual content of the false covenant.
Currently the volatile Middle East is the focal point of many world leaders. The Obama administration is pre-occupied with resuscitate peace talks between the Palestinians and the Jews. The Union for the Mediterranean, comprised of 43 nations, continues to cancel regularly scheduled summits until Mideast peace talks revive. The United Nations is backing plans for a Palestinian State against Israel’s will by August of 2011 if talks don’t revive. These are just a few indicators evidencing the international community is observably obsessed with the Middle East.
Since Israel became a nation in 1948 it has been at war with most of the Arab States and Arab terrorist populations surrounding it. This has caused many end time’s experts to put the plight of the Palestinians and their Arab state sponsors somewhere upon the pages of the Antichrist’s false covenant. However, this inclination seems primarily driven by geo-political events rather than biblical discernment.
Arab fingerprints upon this covenant are nowhere to be found in scripture. If anything, this treaty appears to be regarded with broader revived Roman Empire concerns rather than Pan-Arab nationalistic needs.
False Content of the False Covenant – Process of Elimination
By understanding the geo-political circumstances in the Middle East at the time the covenant is confirmed, we can determine what won’t need to be addressed inside the document. In part, discovering what the true content of the false covenant is can be accomplished through this process of elimination.
Three powerful prophetic Mideast events will probably find final fulfillment prior to the issuance of the false covenant. These are Isaiah 17:1, Psalm 83, and Ezekiel 38 & 39. These Israeli war prophecies profoundly affect the geo-political landscape of the Fertile Crescent.
Damascus will be destroyed and the Palestinians along with their Arab state sponsors Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt will be defeated by the Israeli Defense Forces in a massive war. Additionally, hordes of troops from Russia, Iran, Turkey, Libya, Ethiopia and several other of the Ezekiel 38:2-6 invaders will be divinely decimated by the God of the Jews according to Ezekiel 38:18-39:6.
Should these events take place prior to the confirmation of the false covenant as scripture suggests, then we can safely eliminate the following possible contents from the covenant;
1. A Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital.
2. The “Right of Return” of Palestinian refugees into Israel.
3. The receding of Israel to Pre-1967 borders.
4. The return of the Golan Heights to Syria.
5. The Iranian nuclear threat in the Middle East.
6. The consideration of Jerusalem as Islam’s third holiest site.
7. Lebanese littoral claims to all Israeli energy discoveries in the Mediterranean Sea.
These are just a few issues that will not likely appear on the pages of the false covenant of the Antichrist.
Therefore, if peace in the Middle East is achieved militarily rather than through politically brokered land for peace deals, then what will the true content of the false covenant contain? Please submit your thoughts to info@isralestine.net
