Several few weeks ago, President Obama publicly called Israel to withdraw to pre-1967 borders. However, this is a call to trouble, since the borders he is describing are not defensible. Those borders would allow terrorists to hit every city in Israel with missiles. Whether he realizes it or not, that public call brought pressure upon Israeli leadership to conform to borders that would threaten its very existence.

 

Thus, what the president did is not good. It was not good for the Israeli leadership; it was not good because it did not have Israel’s best interest in mind; and it was not good, because it will most certainly bring trouble upon the president and upon the U.S. How do I know the latter two statements are true? The short answer is: Genesis 12:3.

 

In Genesis 12:3, God warned that He will bring trouble upon anyone who brings trouble upon Israel. And we have seen this played out historically in a consistent manner. For examples, because the leadership of the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Roman Empires brought trouble upon Israel, God brought trouble upon those empires. In fact, they no longer exist today, as a result—all because their leadership brought trouble upon the Jews.

 

We have even seen this principle played out consistently among American presidents. Since Israel became a state in 1948, every president that has been a friend of the Jewish state has been reelected, while all others have been one-term presidents. In one sense, this is a fulfillment of God’s announcement in Genesis 12:3, where He promised that He would bless all who bless Israel, but He will bring trouble to anyone who troubles Israel.

 

It appears President Obama is beginning to see this played out for him, as well. For example, in a recent survey of American Jews, it was found that 81% of U.S. Jews are opposed to President Obama's plan for Israel's borders. Furthermore, 88% of American Jews believe that the Palestinians need to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, something which the president has not pushed the Palestinians to do.

 

While taking an adversarial position toward Israel these past two and a half years, the president is in danger of losing the American Jewish vote—and Jewish campaign funding. If he loses that, it is unlikely he will be reelected.

 

It appears that the U.S. may be facing trouble as a result of the president’s treatment of Israel. For example, Israel's economy is going in a different direction from that of the U.S. One indicator of that is the debt versus the Gross Domestic Product (the value of all goods and services produced within a country in a certain period of time) of the country. The lower the percentage of the debt in relation to the GDP, the healthier the economy—and the better is the prospect for the future.

 

Israel’s debt is 44 percent of GDP, while that of the U.S. is 98 percent. This makes the Israeli economy a far more stable one with better prospects for the future. (In fact, as of this writing, Israel ranks as having one of the three most stable economies in the world.) The contrast between the two economies is no accident; it is almost as if God is announcing that the U.S. is facing the current economic trouble due to its leadership’s treatment of Israel.

 

But let us look at another example of the possible fulfillment of Genesis 12:3. There are few people groups who have caused as much trouble for Israel as have the Palestinians. So how are they being affected currently?

 

At the present time, the Palestinian Authority is having trouble paying the salaries of its 150,000 workers. As a result, a general strike is being threatened.

 

The PA could only pay half of its salaries for the month of June, and, three weeks into the current month, it has not been able to come up with the rest. When talking about a total population of 4 million, 150,000 workers not getting paid is a significant crisis.

 

This budget crisis is tied directly to its refusal to negotiate with Israel and its decision to go to the U.N. to ask for a resolution declaring a Palestinian state. The U.S. Congress had warned that it may cut off funding to the Palestinians if they pursued this path of bypassing talks with Israel. In addition, other countries (particularly Arab states) are not meeting their financial commitment to the PA.

 

One major problem with the Palestinian economy is that 30% of its GDP is based on foreign aid. In addition, it has an inordinately high percentage of government workers on its payroll in comparison to its population.

 

But beyond fulfilling Genesis 12:3, this all appears to be aligning with end-times prophecy. After all, both the U.S. and the Palestinians are absent from Bible prophecy. Since Israel is at the very center of God’s prophetic picture, it is logical that the Palestinians (which are far from being aligned with Israel) and the United States (which is moving from the side of Israel) would be absent from Biblical prophecy.

 

Furthermore, because the U.S. has moved from Israel (and has begun to deal with the Jewish state in an adversarial fashion), it is beginning to suffer trouble. (Remember Genesis 12:3—trouble for trouble?) This trouble appears to be coming in the form of economic difficulties, among other possibilities.

 

In contrast, it appears that God will provide for Israel to be in great economic shape when the end-times (seven-year) treaty is signed. (This treaty is the one that will start the clock ticking on the final seven years leading to the return of Christ.) Israel’s good economy and its massive energy discoveries may serve as the impetus for the European leaders to work with Israel on the end-times treaty, giving Israel what it wants. (The Bible seems to indicate that five European leaders will be among the ten leaders which will co-sign the end-times treaty with Israel.)

 

The fulfillment of Genesis 12:3—before our very eyes (as well as historically)—shows us the reliability of God’s word. But the resulting consequences for the U.S. and the Palestinians of not heeding God’s word are being used by God to move them out of His prophetic picture, thus preparing to fulfill His word in that way, as well. And that preparation indicates that we are seeing God align for end-times prophecy before our very eyes! If so, we are not far from the return of Christ for us. So, keep looking up!

 

John

 

[John Claeys serves with John Claeys Ministries through writing, speaking, and radio ministries and is the author of Apocalypse 2012: The Ticking of the End Time Clock—What Does the Bible Say?, a riveting look of the events leading up to the return of Christ. See www.JohnClaeys.com for more information.]