In these latter days, the world government and its armies are focused to plunder Israel

Ezekiel 38:12-13

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
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“…to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land.” Ezekiel 38:12

This verse explains very simply why the presence of the State of Israel is not wanted in the Middle East region. Those against Israel want the land restored to the way it was before 1948, before the inhabitation by the Jewish people. The territory where the State of Israel is now, was once a waste place (from about 70AD to 1948) with no Jewish dominion/culture there (as described in the post on verse 8). The enemies of Israel are coming against those waste places that are now inhabited, which refers to the territory of the State of Israel. Those waste places are now inhabited by the Jewish people that were gathered from the nations after WW2, and now the Israelis have many things. They live in the midst of a hostile Middle East land that wants to plunder and desolate them.

The intent of the world government of the beast, the Middle East countries, and the global culture is to take as much away from Israel as possible, to take everything away. They want the territory of the State of Israel to be a waste place void of anything Jewish. They want to plunder Israel, to take booty, and to stretch out their hand against everything Israel has.

“Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’”’ Ezekiel 38:13

The merchants and all their young lions ask the world government if they have come to take plunder from Israel. They want to know if the global armies are gathered to take away all the prosperity and everything else Israel has. If so, they want in on the plundering, they want permission to take all they can from Israel. All of this plundering and taking booty is after the government of Israel thought they were at peace and dwelling safely in the Middle East region.

Jesus Christ never wanted any of this to happen to Israel, they only needed to accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah to avoid all their pain and suffering. If the Jewish people were Christian, the Jewish State of Israel would never have existed, and the judgment of God against her would never be taking place today. As Christians, we do not have a nation on this earth to call to our own, our nation is the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and earth.

As Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” Matthew 23:37-39

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1