Why U. S. and Israel are the Great and Little Satans in Today’s World?

Two weeks ago I took an associate through the Jewish Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. For those who haven’t been there, it’s an amazing four-story multi-media display of how Nazi Germany managed to murder six million Jews during World War II.

The tour begins on the top floor where you watch films and see memorabilia related to the rise of Nazism. By the time you’ve worked your way down the four flights, you’ve walked through replicas of the gas chambers where millions were exterminated.

Most people are silent during the tour. It’s eerie and very thought-provoking. Why were the Jews the object of this type of hatred–not just during World War II, but at other times in history?

Good question.

Then last week I listened to the president of the United States give his “Arab Spring” speech in which he stunned many observers by stating that Israel needed to return to its 1967 borders.

Why did he do that?

Let’s look at the speech, but especially look behind the curtain. There’s another being standing there.

President Obama’s new policy was a stunning change of US position because for decades, the United States has been Israel’s greatest friend in an extremely hostile world. Since the creation of Israel in 1948, the United States of America has stood by Israel as the only real democracy in the Middle East.

But that is changing with this Administration–and the consequences are sobering. No wonder the denunciation of his words were swift and powerful.

Senator Orin Hatch, R-Utah, said of the President’s position, “This is not only ridiculous but dangerous” and promised to sponsor a resolution this week disapproving of the President’s position.

Senator James Imhofe, R- Okla., said, “The President’s position was a slap in the face of our friend and democracy’s only ally in the Middle East: Israel.” He said, “The land belongs to Israel. Period.”

Rabbi Aryeh Sero said, “It’s ironic that the President of the United States, who speaks in humanitarian tones regarding the Palestinians, doesn’t have any humanitarian concerns toward 500,000 Jewish people and families that will be uprooted and deported from their homes…The President of the United States is asking for ethnic cleansing.”

The next day, Israel’s president Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House and rebuffed our American president with these words: “Israel believes that for peace to endure between Israelis and Palestinians, the viability of a Palestinian state cannot come at the expense of the viability of the one and only Jewish state… the 1967 lines are both indefensible and which would leave major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria beyond those lines.”

Exactly true.

It would be suicidal in 2011 for Israel’s borders to be changed to only nine miles in width. It would probably lead to another type of holocaust. 

In “The Perils of the Pre-1967 Proposal” a Redstate.com gives an important perspective on why Israel’s borders shouldn’t be changed.

“There seems to be some confusion over why the Israelis should be so hostile to President Obama’s suggestion that the two-state solution be achieved by returning the Jewish state to its 1967 borders. The President’s supporters argue that since these borders were previously acceptable to Israel, they should be acceptable now.  After all, pre-1967 Israel fought to defend those borders and they were on the table in the 2000 peace talks.  Can 45 years make that much of a difference?”

“It is true that 45 years is not so very long in terms of the territorial integrity of the United States. We might even prefer to return to the 1967 context in which our borders were much less challenging than they are today. But what Mr. Obama seems to fail to understand is that 45 years is a very long time for Israel. While the history of the Israeli people stretches back millennia, lsrael itself has only existed for 63 years. What the President is asking is that more than 70% of that history be erased, beginning with the reasons it was deemed necessary to annex the territories in 1967, and continuing on through the failed diplomatic initiatives, UN humiliations and relentless, deadly terrorist attacks of the past decades.”

“While some have considered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s terse response to this proposal disrespectful of the President, Mr. Netanyahu might have some very real concerns that once three-quarters of Israel’s past has been eradicated, would it be all that outlandish to go all the way to pre-1948? Especially under the leadership of an American president who is asking the Israelis to make this concession on the dubious grounds that hope will overcome hate?”

President Obama’s proposal stands in direct opposition to the positive and protective role that the United States of America has maintained with the nation of Israel for six decades.

It should be rejected as folly. 

At the least, it’s incredibly naive.

Previous to the Obama announcement, the United States and Israel shared a close friendship and a unique role in history that the media tries to downplay or overlook. And by diminishing those truths, they also reject the main reason the US and Israel have been labeled the “satans” of this world.

So what is unique both about Israel and the United States? And why are they called by many the “Great and Little Satans?”

Let’s talk about Israel first. Three things are completely unique to the nation we call “Israel.”

First, they are a nation whose existence and identity are nothing less than a miracle from God. Israel  came into being thousands of years ago when God spoke to an Aramean named Abraham and gave him possession of the land they now inhabit–two millennia later. This happened to no other nation in history. Hundreds of large and small nations have joined the dustbin of history during that same period of time.

But Israel remains at the center of world attention. It’s a tiny piece of real estate with a small population. Most of the that population has forgotten about God, but he has not forgotten them.

Today’s world hates Israel because it is exhibit number one that God exists.

If there wasn’t a God, there would be no Israel.

Secondly, Israel was specially given the commands of God and built their culture upon the principles of His direct revelation (Romans 3:2).  They established the world’s first human society on wise, God-given principles. Because of this, they were blessed as a nation for centuries–until they turned away from those principles and lost their nation and sovereignty for a period of time.

But God’s general blessing on the Jews still remains. They are leaders in commerce and business in many nations of the world. Let’s call it an “afterglow” of the presence and principles of God.

A third unique aspect about Israel is that God has great plans for them at the end of the age. One of the final demonstrations of God’s reality and power will be a massive turning of the Jewish people back to God and faith in Jesus the Messiah.

The Apostle Paul explains it this way: “Some of the Jews have hard hearts, but this will last only until the complete number of Gentiles comes to Christ. And so all Israel will be saved.Do you remember what the prophets said about this? ‘A Deliverer wil come from Jerusalem, and he will turn Israel from all ungodliness. And then I will keep my covenant with them and take away their sins” (Romans 11:25-27).

We don’t how God will use to accomplish this, but we know that one day, near the close of history (which didn’t happen on May 21), millions of Jews will trust their Messiah Jesus. 

So Israel has a unique birth, foundation in law, and will experience a future revival.

Now let’s look at the United States. There are some similarities.

First of all, the U.S. was founded by God-fearing people and through spiritual revivals that brought great freedom and blessing to this nation. Our birth was also unique–a revolution in Christian thinking that launched a patch-work society into greatness and became the envy of the world.

We also built our nation on the principles of God’s Word–just like the nation of Israel. Our pioneers knew that “blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12). Their adherence to biblical principles in family life, business, and human governments made us an “exceptional” nation. Throughout the 20th century and to this day, American is the leading nation in world evangelization.

America also had a unique beginning, biblical foundations, and important role in Christians missions.

So why are the United States and Israel at the center of world attention–and hated by other nations?

Here’s the truth that needs to be heard on network news every night: There is a real Satan who hates God, his special nation Israel, and God’s missionary nation America. Because he hates the image of God in both countries, he is trying to destroy America from within and Israel from without.

Because of this hatred, and his influence in other nations of the world, he has successfully promulgated the lie that America is the Great Satan and Israel the little one. He’s convinced other nations that white is black and black is white.

He’s even given away his own name!  That’s quite a powerful deception.

So now you know why America and Israel are blamed for all the bad things in the world. They are strategic targets of the Evil One who wants to destroy millions or billions of people before God wraps up history with a Great End-time Revival.

Pray that President Obama will not be a pawn in his hand. 

Pray that the media will tell the real truth: There is a Satan.

But he is not America or the nation of Israel. They are simply unique focal points of his rage against God.