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![\"Egypt-Israel\"](\"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Egypt-Israel.jpg\")
<\/a>\nMany years ago Derek Prince referred to Israel as the hands on God\u2019s prophetic clock.\u00a0 Roughly interpreted:\u00a0 if you want to gauge how far along His plans for humankind have come, simply look at what He is up to with Israel.\u00a0 With each passing year, more Believers from around the world are waking up to the validity of that statement.\u00a0 Israel, or more specifically, God\u2019s fulfilment of His prophetic promises towards Israel, have become a favorite research, discussion and even sermon topic.\u00a0 We want to know exactly what these promises are, how they\u2019d been fulfilled and which ones are still awaiting fulfillment.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll admit, I\u2019m fascinated.\u00a0 And at the same time I\u2019m in absolute awe.\u00a0 At the evidence of His footsteps leading back so clearly to the dawn of time.\u00a0 At the intricate details and meticulous planning that He accomplished so effortlessly.\u00a0 But most of all, I\u2019m comforted, strengthened, encouraged.\u00a0 Because modern day Israel and the way in which God established (and keeps!) her is proof that He does indeed keep His promises.\u00a0 I look at Israel and I see a faithful God.\u00a0 One I can trust with my deepest desires.\u00a0 One I can trust with myself.\u00a0 Yes, I know.\u00a0 I should trust Him regardless.\u00a0 And I do.\u00a0 But often, you need that bit of tangible evidence.\u00a0 Especially when you\u2019re stuck in the desert.\u00a0 Or when the promise seems to tarry forever.<\/p>\n
God\u2019s plans, promises and purposes for Israel continue to unfold daily.\u00a0 Like it\u2019s done for thousands of years.\u00a0 But it doesn\u2019t happen in a vacuum.\u00a0 Israel lives within a historic context and amongst some equally historic neighbours.\u00a0 Numerous roleplayers have to play their parts in the story of mankind.\u00a0 Which brings us back to Egypt.\u00a0 Or rather, the age-old Israel-Egypt saga.<\/p>\n
For the past decade or so, Egypt has played a key role as mediator in the Israel-Palestinian conflicts.\u00a0 However, its role as mediator didn\u2019t necessarily guarantee impartiality or objectivity.\u00a0 Egypt traditionally sided with the Palestinians.\u00a0 And Israel was to blame for, well, everything.<\/p>\n
But then came Operation Protective Edge.\u00a0 And Egypt broke tradition.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a big, over-the-top gesture.\u00a0 No banners were hung from the pyramids declaring loyalty towards Israel.\u00a0 In fact, Egypt publicly announced its continued commitment to the Palestinian people.\u00a0 Yet something was different.\u00a0 It was subtle, unspoken even.\u00a0 Evident in the little things Egypt did.\u00a0 And in the little things it didn\u2019t do.<\/p>\n
The media noticed and reported at length on the \u201cunlikely alliance\u201d, the shift in Middle Eastern dynamics between former arch enemies.\u00a0 And Hamas noticed too.\u00a0 The last time Israel and Hamas met on the battlefield was in 2012\u2019s Operation Pillar of Defense.\u00a0 For the entire length of the operation, Hamas could count on Egypt\u2019s unwavering support.\u00a0 President Morsi criticized Israel harshly and promptly recalled its ambassador from Israel.\u00a0 Egyptian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister undertook a very public trip to Gaza to show solidarity and bolster spirits.\u00a0 There could be no mistaking whose side Egypt took.\u00a0 Moreover, Egypt opened its Rafah border crossing with Gaza completely, thus offering Hamas a prime opportunity for stocking up on weapons and explosives.<\/p>\n
Two years later during Operation Protective Edge, Hamas bemoaned the fact that it had to face Israel on its own, deserted by its former ally.\u00a0 The pity party wasn\u2019t entirely unwarranted.\u00a0 Because this time, Egypt blamed Hamas.\u00a0 Not Israel.\u00a0 One of the first indications was an Egyptian-proposed ceasefire, which Israel, the United States and even the Arab League recognized almost immediately.\u00a0 But Hamas didn\u2019t.\u00a0 Instead, it grumbled about Egypt\u2019s apparent failure to consult them in advance on the ceasefire terms.<\/p>\n
The tide had turned indeed.\u00a0 The Egyptian pro-government press, known for its usual solidarity with the people of Gaza, was quick to pick up on this break from tradition and publically denounced Hamas as a \u201ctrader in the lives of innocents\u201d.\u00a0 On the morning that Israel launched its ground invasion of Gaza, an Egyptian columnist wrote, \u201cI\u2019m sorry people of Gaza:\u00a0 I\u2019m not going to sympathize with you until you get rid of Hamas\u2019s gang.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the practical side, Egypt kept the Rafah border crossing with Gaza firmly shut and offered much less support in the form of food and medication.<\/p>\n
Because as far as Egypt is concerned, the responsibility for the conflict and the suffering of the people in Gaza rests solely with Hamas.\u00a0 Their take is that Hamas started it by kidnapping and murdering three Israeli teens.\u00a0 Then kept the momentum going through the ongoing barrage of rockets.\u00a0 Finally, Hamas escalated the crisis and prompted an Israeli ground invasion when it rejected Egypt\u2019s ceasefire proposal.<\/p>\n
Egypt sees Hamas as the enemy.\u00a0 It has since mid-2013, when President El-Sissi rose to power after the people of Egypt ousted the Muslim Brotherhood leadership.\u00a0 Hamas, which is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, was subsequently banned from functioning in Egypt.\u00a0 The newly elected government under President El-Sissi believed Hamas to be working closely with Egyptian terrorists to destabilize security, especially in the Sinai Peninsula.\u00a0 And so President El-Sissi set out to destroy the tunnels that Hamas used to smuggle weapons into Gaza.\u00a0 He did an exemplary job.\u00a0 Earlier this year he announced that Egypt destroyed 95% of the tunnels leading into Gaza.<\/p>\n
Israel and Egypt share a common goal:\u00a0 keeping its people safe from the terrorist organization ruling with an iron fist in Gaza.\u00a0 Which makes this alliance, well, not all that unlikely.<\/p>\n
But is this all that the past few months boil down to?\u00a0 The age-old clich\u00e9 about your enemy\u2019s enemy?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 Yet as I watch the current chapter in the Israeli-Egypt saga unfold, I\u2019m reminded of the well-known prophecy in Isaiah 19:21-22, 25, \u201cSo the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them. The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.\u00a0 The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, \u201cBlessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.\u201d<\/p>\n
And so, we wait and see\u2026<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Elisabeth Hinze Read Part 1 Many years ago Derek Prince referred to Israel as the hands on God\u2019s prophetic clock.\u00a0 Roughly interpreted:\u00a0 if you want to gauge how far along His plans for humankind have come, simply look at what He is up to with Israel.\u00a0 With each passing year, more Believers from around more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[358,67,625,125,295],"class_list":{"0":"post-2038","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-editorial","8":"tag-egypt","9":"tag-gaza","10":"tag-israeli-news","11":"tag-news-from-jerusalem","12":"tag-operation-protective-edge","13":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2038"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2043,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2038\/revisions\/2043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}