Jim Fletcher Articles

One of the most popular topics among my pro Israel/Bible prophecy buddies is, How long will the U.S. support Israel?

The first words I remember hearing from my father’s mouth were not, “Walk to Daddy!” Instead, I heard, “Son, the day that America turns its back on Israel is the day we are finished.”

I think I was a year old.

Since the Six Day War of June, 1967, the question of U.S. support for Israel has become central in many minds. A succession of presidents have not deviated from official policy as regards the Israeli/Arab conflict: negotiated settlement.

That has always meant, of course — though it was whispered until about 15 years ago — that Israel would one day be expected to retreat to the quasi-borders of May, 1967 and acquiesce to a Palestinian state. These were famously termed by Israeli Ambassador Abba Eban as “Auschwitz lines,” meaning the Jewish state could not defend itself behind such narrow lines. This was a given, considering that all the neighboring Arab states are hostile to Israel, treaties with Egypt and Jordan notwithstanding.

And a month after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared that the U.S. wants to see an end to Israeli “settlement” activity “forever,” the clock seems to be ticking on American prosperity.

In general, the people of the United States support Israel. The government does not.

For me, the Bible is relevant always and applicable to every day life. So when my Secretary of State says she wants to see Jews stopped from settling the Land of Israel “forever,” I pull out the Bible and read Amos 9:15 and think, “Geez, we are in some real trouble here.”

Unlike some of my friends in the Bible prophecy community, I don’t automatically subscribe to the theory that the latest hurricane or tornado alley is the divine punishment for the (admittedly, dangerous) views of our hapless State Department. But I do believe fervently that America will have to answer for herself one day, when the roll is called up yonder and we all give account for how we treated the Jews.

In a moment of emotionalism-coupled-with-middle-age, I got a tattoo over the summer. For a Bible-Belt, good old Southern Baptist-now-Calvary-Chapel boy, this is akin to dancing and drinking Scotch. With loose women.

But my tattoo is simple. Thinking often about my Jewish friends who are Holocaust survivors, and about the disdain our current government has for the Jewish state, I got five numbers permanently placed on my left forearm: the Nazis stamped Jewish death camp inmates with these same type ID numbers.

Mine reads: 5  14  48.

The founding of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948 — the event of the last two millennia, in my opinion — is a cosmic thumb in the eye to Hitler and all the rest of the goons who oppose Israel. And “goons” for me includes any American Christian leader who tearfully embraces Palestinian propaganda while showing teeth to Israel.

Let me be clear about something. The Jews have re-entered history.

This absolutely blows my mind, and I think about it often. It never fails to produce a sense of wonder.

Whenever people ask me for “proof” that the Bible is true, I repeat: The Jews have re-entered history.

If you’ve read Deuteronomy or Isaiah or Jeremiah or Ezekiel, etc., you will have the same reaction to this statement that I do. Can we find a more perfect illustration that the God of the Bible is alive and active in our world today?

No, is the short answer.

I love my creationist friends and I always unashamedly admit to being a young-earth creationist when someone asks, usually an agnostic or liberal Christian. They treat me like a carnival freak, but I don’t care at all. I simply identify my beliefs as they are.

But I’ve moved past strictly relying on scientific evidence that the Bible is true.

(An aside: almost 10 years ago, I took a week-long rafting trip through the Grand Canyon; the evidence for a catastrophic flood of the magnitude of Noah’s is compelling in the extreme.)

I have also taken to incorporating the startling evidence from predictive prophecy when confronting people who mock the Bible.

Thus, when I’ve stood in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem and seen millions of Jews walking, working, eating, discussing, and breathing…I marvel that there is a God who directs history and…who loves me personally! Is there a greater realization?

Sadly, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton show their contempt for the Scriptures by squeezing Israel. This painful reality also shows me that the biblical prophecies that look toward a day in the final period of world history when the international community will get fed-up with Israel…are further proof that the Bible is all true.

I have always believed what my father told me while I was growing up. He would have been dazzled by the events unfolding right now in that part of the world, where the Jews have re-entered history as the state of Israel.

I know he is watching. Just as our Creator watches.

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Originally published in One News Now, Prophecy Matters. December 7, 2009

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