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The Hamas Conflict & Echoes of WWII

It is incredible how much the October 7 massacre of just two years ago has impacted the world. It has drastically shaken up the players in the Middle East, but it seems that its greatest “achievement” (from the view of Hamas) is how it has changed the world’s view of Israel. All of this has frightful parallels in the days leading up WWII, and these align perfectly with Bible prophecy.

The Role of the Hamas Conflict

The October 7 massacre appeared as if it could be the start of the prophesied conflict of Psalm 83 because it involved many of the same players, but these nations did not act in unison, nor did they inflict any serious harm on Israel as the prophecy suggests. We therefore concluded that this is likely what we call a “positioning war” – one which is not the fulfillment of a prophecy, but impacts the world to further develop and set the stage for the prophecy much like the moving of a chess piece.

But is this bitter conflict about to come to an end? The headlines today certainly seem to proclaim it. Many attempts have been made to come to an agreement, but Trump’s latest 21 Point Plan has just been accepted by Netanyahu and now awaits the approval of Hamas (CNN).

I believe this conflict helps develop multiple aspects of prophecy, but the “big picture” relates to Israel’s position on the international stage. Many seem to forget that this conflict was started by Hamas – a self-proclaimed terrorist entity, yet nations have been protesting against Israel! Whenever a “deal” is proposed to put an end to the conflict, the world puts all of the pressure on Israel to accept it. Yet in this latest deal that Israel has already agreed to, where is the pressure on Hamas to accept the deal? There is none (The Jerusalem Post).

Israel Polarized Internationally

This conflict has clearly polarized the nations against Israel just as prophecy indicates. We expect Israel to stand alone against her latter-day enemies (Isaiah 63:1-3), and the Hamas war has furthered this in dramatic ways. Nations have severed military contracts with Israel over this conflict.

The foolish nations believe that by granting them a nation of Palestine that the Arabs will be “pacified”, thus fixing all of the problems in the region. This policy is known as “appeasement”, and this misunderstanding of the nation’s motive is the exact same sentiment that emboldened Hitler to nearly take over Europe. In 1938, Hitler began small moves of conquering foreign territories, one of these areas being the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. To put a stop to Hitler’s advance, certain nations of Europe signed the Munich Agreement with him. This agreement essentially stated that Hitler can keep the Sudetenland as long as he promises not to take any more land. Hitler was therefore “appeased”, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain confidently declared that they had achieved “peace for our time”. One year later, Hitler invaded Poland, and World War II began. While the Munich Agreement was intended to put a stop to Hitler, it actually taught him that aggression gets him what he wants.

The World Following the Neville Chamberlain Model

The world criticizes Neville Chamberlain for his blindness to Hitler’s true ambitions, but the irony is that the world is following the same exact process with Hamas today. Hamas invaded Israel and committed horrible atrocities, and now nations are villainizing Israel and rewarding Hamas with a recognition of a Palestinian state and isolating Israel on the international scene:

All of this is a result of the October 7 massacre, and Hamas knows it. We know this because Hamas has stated it for themselves!

All of the damage Israel has inflicted on Hamas is now considered more-than-worthwhile, because Hamas is ultimately getting what they wanted: world support for a Palestinian state and villainization of Israel. Even if it is only a symbolic gesture, the international recognition of a Palestinian state is the modern-day equivalent of the Munich Agreement. The nations believe that if the “Palestinians” have a state of their own, the Arab nations will be happy and their aggression toward Israel will cease. As they will see (in the event that such a “state” is actually formed), the conflict will only grow in intensity, not cease. The reason is because Hamas and all of their Islamic neighbors will have learned that continued, persistent aggression toward Israel pays! By supporting Hamas, the world is teaching them, “If you fight against Israel long enough and paint them as the bad guy, you will get what you want.”

America – Israel’s Last Ally

Israel is now alone on the international scene with the exception of the US, but there seems to be cracks in this relationship as well. Trump previously gave full support for Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, but he recently reversed his stance:

This is one of many “cracks in the foundation” which could break open either now or in the future, but they show that the US-Israel relationship is not ironclad. Please note the following headlines carefully, for while the current president might be friendly toward Israel, it is the attitude of the nation’s people which should ultimately be gauged:

American public support for Israel is waning fast, and for the first time in history, the majority of those polled favor Hamas. We are seeing clear signs that Israel will finally be on their own. While this is sad to see on a natural plane, we are not to view these things from natural eyes. With Bible in hand, we know that God is doing these things to bring about His great plan, and for Israel to be redeemed to Him and cleansed, they must first be moved to call upon Him. The Bible and history show that this will only happen when Israel has nowhere else to turn.

Israel’s Historic Islamic Allies Have Turned Away

As for results in the Middle East region, this conflict is helping create the enemies which Psalm 83 describes. Nations who have recently been friendly toward Israel like Egypt and Saudi Arabia are now conspiring against them just like the Bible says they would:

We expect to see more and more headlines to this end as we near Christ’s return.

Another Holocaust in the Works?

The Holocaust was the largest destruction of a people in the entire history of man (Largest.org), and it was aimed primarily at eradicating the Jewish people. All of us are hopefully familiar with the what this ordeal involved, and it was so terrible that the slogan “Never again” became the warning to the rest of the world so that nothing so terrible would ever occur again.

It’s important to understand that the Holocaust did not arise out of the blue, nor was Hitler the only one who persecuted the Jews. The way man becomes comfortable committing such terrible crimes is by gradually being desensitized to “smaller” crimes. The Holocaust sprang from widespread antisemitism and persecution. Jews were accused of conspiring against the world and all problems were blamed on the Jews. They began to be persecuted, again starting with small, “isolated” incidents. Perhaps a Jew was attacked on the way to work – something which can be viewed as a “small” incident. But such isolated incidents became commonplace and therefore normalized, and bigger incidents began to occur. Jews were banned from shopping at certain stores. Their businesses were attacked. More and more restrictions and stipulations were placed on them, piece by piece, little by little, until the extent of the Holocaust was reached. When the terrors of the Holocaust were made public, the Western nations how were more isolated from antisemitic sentiments were horrified at what man could do to his own kind, and the world promised “Never again.” Ironically, we are seeing the same process starting over right before our very eyes.

The last year in particular has been a repeat of the incidents leading up to the Holocaust (the late 1930s), and once again, these actions are either being justified or ignored. There are many examples from recent weeks, the following forming a small sample:

A German pizza restaurant released a statement declaring that they love and welcome all people, but not Israeli citizens. Part of the release stated that “Israeli citizens are not welcome in this establishment” (All Israel News). This is being done “in the name of justice”, and it is exactly the same sentiment that people of the 1930s used against the Jews. We also see countless examples of Jewish persecutions throughout Europe just like was seen in the 1930s:

Does this mean that there will be another Holocaust. No – with Bible in hand, I believe we can rule this out. Yet these points are important in relation to Israel standing alone against their enemies and how they will respond to Jesus when declares himself King of Israel. Psalm 83 depicts a confederacy of nations coming against an Israel that is all alone. Ezekiel 38 depicts another confederacy of nations doing the same thing. Where is the world response to these attacks on Israel? The Bible is silent on this, and we believe it is because the world sanctions those attacks as “justified”. Not only will nations likely justify those actions, but the rest of the world is prophesied to set themselves against Christ when he declares himself as Psalm 2 describes.

The Conclusion

Brothers, sisters, and friends – we are living in troublesome days which many servants of God in the past have longed to see. It is not because we love trouble or war, we detest them. But we realize that the problems of the world will only be resolved when Jesus rules the earth, and God has clearly declared in His Word that Jesus will return to an earth that is writhing in trouble and hating His nation of Israel. We are seeing these things transpire before our very eyes, and we must ensure that we are paying attention to and heeding these warnings. The message is to separate ourselves from the world, walk humbly with our God, and prepare ourselves for Christ’s return. Let us give diligent heed to executing these tasks at hand and “exhort one another daily, while it is called to day” (Hebrews 3:13).


In the Hope of Israel,

Tanner Hawkins

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