Middle Eastern Real Estate

Land has been the reason for a good many conflicts and wars in the history of mankind. Why is that? I am sure there are a good many experts that could come up with multiple reasons. The old adage “they ain’t making any more” comes to my mind. Land gives people an identity. A biblical example is that of the Philistine people. They were a sea-faring people that wished to settle, so they went to war, taking land that was located near the Mediterranean coastline of Israel. At this moment there are territorial disputes all over the place. On the continent of Africa there are currently 28. In the North Americas there are 5. In the South Americas, 8. Even the United States is in dispute with Canada. There is a twenty-acre island off the coast of Maine called Machias Seal Island. Canada has a lighthouse on it and we send tourist boats to visit it. Both countries claim it and both the Canadian and United States Coast Guards patrol around the island.

Israel is accused of being an illegal occupier by the overwhelming majority of nations. I heard a lady giving a speech a few days ago about the importance of language. I will paraphrase what I think was the key take away.  We must be careful because people will seek to change the language and definitions of the debate. When Israel was reborn in May of 1948 over 100 million Arabs attacked Israel immediately. It was labeled the Arab-Israeli Conflict. The Arabs were seen as the aggressors. Decades later the conflict became known as the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Israel was now the aggressor. Currently this conflict over land is called the Israeli Occupation. The language places Israel in the aggressor position making them evil. Those Israelis are making those poor Palestinian’s suffer is the prism by which this struggle is viewed. Very little is said about the Hamas attacks which began on October 7, 2023, killing over 1200 people, many of them young people at an outdoor music festival. The excuse used by Hamas to justify the terrorist attack; the Jews are on our land. In the charter of the PLO, it states that their goal is to annihilate the Jews.

Last week’s Friday Blast, I wrote about Hezbollah which operates out of Lebanon. Several days this week I have been amazed at the number of times Hezbollah and Lebanon have been mentioned in the news. Three thousand rockets a day are being launched into Israel causing so much damage that Israel is now taking some of the troops in the southern part of Israel (Gaza) and moving them to the north (upper Galilee). While thinking and meditating about this, my mind went into a direction that caused me to do some research about the land promised to Abraham. I am writing about the actual footprint that God promised. The land that Israel possesses today is only a small fraction of what God has deeded. Never in the history of that tiny nation has she ever had all the land she will one day. Five times Israel has offered land for peace and five times enemies have broken the agreements. Let’s walk through land Israel will have one day. Al of current Israel: the west bank of Jordan, parts of Syria (100 miles above Damascus), parts of Iraq, parts of Saudi Arabi. But I found out one more place that will ultimately belong to God’s people. The whole country of Lebanon. If we put all those together, that’s a pretty big footprint. It is that last piece of land, Lebanon, I wish to mention today.

Isaiah 10:33-34 is a fascinating passage. “Behold the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled. And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.” I have underlined three key thoughts from this passage. Each of these can be connected to the greatest natural resource in Lebanon, cedar trees. Cedar trees have long been a symbol of the nation and its strength. A cedar tree sits in the middle of Lebanon’s national flag. Three thousand years ago, Solomon used the cedars of Lebanon in the construction of the Temple. He sent thousands of workmen along with the tree cutters of Lebanon to procure these for the huge beams in the House of God. This workforce would cut the trees located in Lebanon, haul them over to the Mediterranean Sea, float them down to the seaport of Joppa, pull them out of the water, and transport them to Jerusalem. Hiram seemed to be a good man and was on board with helping. As late as the 1930’s, Lebanon was a Christian nation. One of the most dedicated Christian men I have ever known is Barkev Trachien. He is a Lebanese Christian and was the registrar of my alma mater, BUA. Lebanon was one of the bright spots in the Middle East in the early 1900’s. But times change, wars happen, and to the victor go the spoils. Lebanon today is Islamic and a major player in seeking to destroy the nation of Israel.

  1. God said he would “lop the bough with terror.” As strong as the symbol of the great cedar is, God will cut it down to size without any problem.
  2. “The high ones of stature shall be hewn down.” In every forest there are some trees that stand out from the others. In ancient times, under Hiram, Lebanon was certainly a high one with great stature. But Lebanon has changed sides. No longer are they siding with God’s people and their God, they are now sworn enemies.
  3. “Lebanon shall fall…” This is the third description in these two shorts verses speaking to the demise of a nation that took their stand against the Lord. The very name of the country is used.

Do I think this current moment is the time when Lebanon is obliterated? I don’t know, but I do know ultimately it will happen. Has it happened before? When Isaiah penned these words around 700 BC, an enemy from the north had already taken many lands including Lebanon. That powerhouse enemy was called Assyria, and Sennacherib was the king at that time. God allowed the ten tribes in northern Israel to be taken. This is where the “lost tribes of Israel” saying originated. That happened in 722 BC about twenty years before. But when Assyria tried to take Jerusalem, about the same time as the writing, God cut them down. God protecting King Hezekiah and Jerusalem is a beautiful story in history found in II Kings 18-19. We also know that God will protect Israel during the Great Tribulation Period. Are we headed that way? It sure seems that way to me. Perhaps when Isaiah wrote, he had the armies of Sennacherib in mind. Perhaps this is a prophecy that has a near and a far fulfillment to it like others. But I can’t help noticing the future tense of the wording in our two verses. “The Lord shall lop”, “high one shall be hewn down”, he shall cut down”, and “shall fall by a mighty one.” It is in the future. Will Israel be willing to give up land again? Possibly. But one day Abraham’s footprint will be footprint that Israel calls home. She already has the deed to the land.