2 Peter 3:3-12:

³ "Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation." ⁵ For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, ⁶ through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. ⁷ But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. ⁸ But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

¹¹ Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, ¹² looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God [Emphasis Mine]..."

Today, I received an email...

...from a ministry in Israel asking me to sign a petition urging President Bush not to divide Jerusalem in his "Roadmap to Peace" solution to the Mid-East problem by creating a "Palestinian State in 2008." The ministry states: "Our goal is one million God-fearing Bible believers' prayers and signing the petition to President Bush."

Of course, I signed the petition. But after doing that, I began to wonder if this is what we should be doing as believers in Yeshua - especially in the light of this passage in 2 Peter 3.

Please let me explain. It seems evident from this passage that believers are not only to lead holy and godly lives as we wait for the Day of God, but we also have the ability to hasten its coming!

That started me thinking...perhaps we are actually thwarting the Day of the Lord and the long-awaited coming of the Messiah when we sign petitions like this (assuming that the President is actually going to listen to our petition anyway - no matter how many people sign it).

Proverbs 21:1 says: "The king's heart is {like} channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes."

I would suppose that this applies to the hearts of Presidents and Prime Ministers as well, including our own President. Yet, perhaps God is turning President Bush's heart toward this dividing of the Land of Israel!

Though President Bush has always stated his faith in the Lord from the very beginning, he has surrounded himself, no doubt, with those who call themselves (and perhaps are) sincere believers in the Lord. They have his ear.

Evidently, some of them do not believe that Israel has a place in prophecy at this time, else, they would be advising extreme caution to the President in urging Israel to give up even a single inch of Land to the Palestinians. They believe that the prophecies have been fulfilled already and what happens in Israel today, relative to its possession of the Land, is immaterial.

Here is where we differ from them. In Zechariah 12, God says: "¹ The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him, ² "Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem [Emphasis Mine], it will also be against Judah [Emphasis Mine]. ³ "It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem [Emphasis Mine] a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.[Emphasis Mine]"

It goes on to say in Zechariah 14, "¹ Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. ² For I will gather all the nations [Emphasis Mine] against Jerusalem [Emphasis Mine] to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. ³ Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle."

That day, called the "Day of the Lord" in many of the prophets, will be when the Lord Yeshua returns (Revelation 19). That is the "Day" that Peter alludes to. It is that "Day" that we, as believers, can hasten, according to the 2 Peter 3 passage!

The focus of the Zechariah passages is this: ALL the nations will come against Israel over the issue of JERUSALEM! (Which, of course, is the core issue that has to be dealt with in settling the "two State" solution in "Palestine.")

When the Scripture speaks of who comes against Israel over the Jerusalem issue, it says ALL, and when it says "ALL", it means ALL! I believe that this includes the United States (if we are still a world power by then).

AFTER the Lord returns, He will judge the nations that came against Israel. Joel 3 says, "¹ "For behold, in those days and at that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, ² I will gather all the nations And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; And they have divided up My land. [Emphasis Mine]"

Dividing the Land

Bill Koenig in his book, Eye to Eye - Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel, (if you have not read this book, I strongly suggest that you do. Get the Book) notes that when the United States has influenced Israel in giving away its Land, the consequences to our country has been severe. I have come to the place in my life that whenever some kind severe natural disaster happens to our country, the first question I ask myself is, "What are we doing now in causing Israel to give up more of Gods' Land?"

I wonder, is Condoleeza Rice holding a meeting with them? Is President Bush exerting pressure on them? Just what are they doing to bring this latest disaster on our country?

You see, we're only getting a warning of the judgment to come when the Lord judges the nations in the valley of Jehoshaphat. What is happening to our country with earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding and other disasters is just a hint of judgment to come.

But we're not listening. After 9/11, we cried out, "God bless America, God bless America!" But why would God bless us when we are fighting Him? When we are causing Israel to give away His Land for some so-called "Peace" which, by the way, will NEVER come until the Messiah returns!

So, getting back to my original statement, perhaps we need to be praying that President Bush does follow the mis-advise of his Christian advisors and attempts to cause Israel to give away Jerusalem (or a portion thereof). That way, the United Nations can sanction against Israel (again), and all the nations can come against Israel to force it to give away Jerusalem (or a portion thereof) to the Palestinian State, and then the Lord will come to destroy those nations!

After all, for centuries the Church has said, "Maranatha (come quickly), Lord Jesus!"

It seems to me that in order to hasten the Day, perhaps we should encourage the Bush Administration to force Israel to give away its Land! Heck, not just Gaza, and the settlements, and not just to the 1967 borders! Why not just give the Palestinians what they really want! They want the whole enchilada! They want to kick all the Jews off the Land and into the Sea!

Hey, why even do it piecemeal, the way it is being done now - little-by-little, piece-by-piece (or should I say: peace-by-peace)? That's too slow. Let's just get to the bottom line, the only one that would satisfy the Palestinians, force Israel to give it all away!

That would certainly hasten the Day of the Lord and He will (I absolutely assure you of that!) come with a rod of iron and force the nations to give it all back!

The Scripture in Psalm 122:6 tells us to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem." We must pray for this, but we know by many other Scriptures that this will not happen until Sar Shalom (the Prince of Peace) - Yeshua - returns. Thus, when we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, we are literally praying for His return to redeem Israel and defeat His - and her - enemies.

Maranatha, Lord Yeshua/Jesus - come quickly!

This article is the viewpoint of Bruce R. Booker and does not necessarily represent the views of all the members of Beth Yeshua Messianic Congregation.