WHY SATAN BELIEVES HE MUST DESTROY ISRAEL
By Tom McCall, Th.D.
Why does Satan believe he must destroy Israel from off the face of the earth? For thousands of years Satan has demonstrated an insane and insatiable drive to wipe out the Jewish people, but so far has not been able to fully accomplish his goal. Let’s review some of his major attempts:
When Abraham went to Egypt and lied about Sarah, nearly causing Pharaoh to violate her.
When Abraham had Ishmael with Hagar, bypassing Sarah.
When Ishmael ridiculed Isaac, attempting to usurp Isaac’s position.
When Esau attempted to gain Jacob’s blessing from Isaac.
Esau Sells his Birthright to Jacob by Rembrandt Cir 1648-50
When Pharaoh ordered all male Hebrew infants to be murdered.
When Pharaoh attempted to destroy Israel backed up against the Red Sea.
When Israel decided to worship the Golden Calf at Mt. Sinai.
When Israel decided to stay in the wilderness rather than go into Canaan.
When Moab tried to destroy Israel and stop them from entering Canaan.
When the Canaanites amassed all their armies to destroy the invading Israelites.
When the surrounding nations tried to destroy Israel during the time of the Judges.
When the surrounding nations tried to destroy Israel during the time of the kings.
When the Assyrian army destroyed Israel and much of Judah.
When the Babylonian army destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem.
When the refugees from Babylon and Persia were restoring the Temple and Jerusalem
When Haman attempted to destroy all the Jews throughout the Persian Empire.
Modecai’s Triumph by Pieter Eastman Cir 1617
When the Greco-Syrian forces tried to Hellenize Judea under Antiochus Epiphanes
When the Roman army destroyed Judea and Jerusalem twice (70 AD and 135 AD)
When the Jewish people were scattered and persecuted throughout the world for 2,000 years.
When Hitler organized the Holocaust and destroyed over Six million Jews.
Photo from Dachau Concentration Camp from the Jewish Virtual Library http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/dachaumartins.html
When the Jews attempted to return to Israel against extensive international opposition.
When Israel declared its independence in 1947 and was invaded by Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.
When Israel was invaded in 1967 and 1973 by its surrounding neighbors
When Israel was disrupted by numerous intifadas from Palestinians and Jihadists.
When Hamas hurled thousands of rockets from Gaza into Israel in 2014.
So we see, for 4,000 years the Jewish people have faced relentless persecution, opposition and attempts to annihilate and destroy them. If it were any of other people, it would seem totally irrational and insane. However, with Israel, there appears to be a certain rational, though Satanic, strategy behind this animosity.
For Satan, the destruction of Israel is a matter of self-preservation. Ultimately, the survival of Israel results in the eternal perdition of Satan. How can this be? Because when Israel repents and nationally invites the Lord Jesus Christ to be their own Redeemer/Messiah, that generation of Israel will be saved, and Satan’s plan to destroy the Jews will be finally defeated. Christ will return to the earth, destroy the Satanic Antichrist and his armies at Armageddon, establish His Kingdom over Israel and the world for 1,000 years, and then cast Satan into the Lake of Fire forever and ever.
The key is that Israel must survive to receive Christ nationally as their own Messiah. As Jesus said when He lamented over Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives a few days before He died and rose from the dead at His First Coming:
Matthew 23:39 – 24:1 39 “For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
While the remnant of Israel in every generation would receive Him all during the long period between His First and Second Comings (the Church Age), the nation Israel will not receive Him until after the Rapture of the Church and the Seven Year Tribulation. Thus, when Israel receives Christ, this will usher in the events that spell the doom of Satan.
From Satan’s point of view, he must keep Israel from surviving to the point in time when they will be ready to receive Jesus as their long awaited Messiah/Redeemer. They had a great opportunity to receive Him at His First Coming, but as John states:
John 1:11-12 11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.
Israel did not know its great “hour of visitation” when Jesus came the first time, but when He comes again, the nation of Israel as a whole that survives the Tribulation will at last be ready, willing and eager to receive Him as Savior and Lord.
Thus Satan has strived mightily to destroy Israel through the centuries up until this present time so that there would be no Israel to invite Jesus to return to the earth. Why hasn’t Satan been able to accomplish his repeated purpose to kill off this small nation of only a few million people? It is because God has promised to preserve His covenant nation forever, as Jeremiah so eloquently explains:
Jeremiah 31:35-36 35 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day, And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: 36 “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the LORD, “Then the offspring of Israel also shall cease From being a nation before Me forever.”
God here states what it would take to destroy Israel. One would have to first destroy the sun, moon and stars. Once that had been accomplished then, and only then, could someone go about destroying Israel. The last time I looked, the sun, moon and stars were still functioning, so that must mean Israel has not ceased being a nation.
Satan wants to destroy Israel so that he can keep God from sending him into eternal perdition, but God will not allow Satan to destroy His Chosen Nation. Israel is the apple of God’s eye, so it must survive as a nation before Him for all time.
Written by Thomas S. McCall Th.D.
Edited and posted by Daniel E Woodhead