Is There Really Peace In The Middle East?

One of the released hostages said, “ I saw the hatred. Peace will not come in our generation.” There is still hatred against the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. Fighting still continues. Consider these two headlines:

” Violence between Hamas and gangs flare in Gaza amid Trump ceasefire”(NBC News).

” Trump‘s role in Gaza ceasefire was decisive, but not a roadmap to peace”(BBC News).

In contrast to this President Trump spoke before the Israeli parliament: “This is not only the end of a war. This is the end of an age of terror and death, and the beginning of the age of faith and God.” Oh really? In light of the above headlines, and the fact that there is still mass shooting and violence in the streets of his own country, this statement was a bit premature and presumptuous.

The reality is that no human will ever be able to bring lasting peace to the world. As long as there is hatred total peace will never be possible. Signing a peace agreement will never nullify hatred nor change the condition of the human heart. The enemies still want to do away with Israel entirely and, as of this writing, Hamas has still not put down its weapons. They really do not want dialogue but rather destruction. James 4:1 says, “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?”

What does the future hold for peace in the Middle East? 1Thessalonians 5:1 says, “People will cry ‘peace, and safety,’ but sudden destruction will come.” When that time comes remains to be seen on God‘s sovereign and prophetic timeline.

The time will also come when not only the Middle East, but the entire world, will experience the Tribulation Period of God‘s wrath and judgment upon a godless humanity. This will be a time of anything but peace. The antichrist will enter into a peace agreement, but even this will be a false one, only to be broken.

Some have said that the only way to have lasting peace is for Israel to totally destroy Hamas. The time is coming, according to Bible prophecy, when Israel will be attacked by all enemy forces, but God will supernaturally destroy them. See Ezekiel 38-39 and Zechariah 12:9.

The released hostage was correct when he said to not expect a lasting peace in this generation. Ronald Reagan said, “Peace is not the absence of conflict. It is the ability to handle a conflict by peaceful means.” That will never happen as long as there is hatred in the world. The only peace that will ever come is through The Peacemaker, Jesus, living in a person’s heart through his Holy Spirit. He can transform the character of a person so there is no desire to have hatred. That is the only way to handle conflict by peaceful means. He will give you peace that is not dependent upon world conditions, and peace within your soul.

In my generation there was a saying, “Give peace a chance.” The saying should be, “Give The Peacemaker a chance.” Have you invited him into your life? The more people who have peace within their souls, the more peace there will be in the world.