*Imagined Depiction of Zephaniah (center) Speaking*

The Associated Press reported the following:

Fears grow that Israel, the US and Iran’s allies are inching closer to all-out war with each strike
January 8, 2024
In the last week alone, Israel has killed a senior Hamas militant in an airstrike in Beirut, Hezbollah has struck a sensitive Israeli base with rockets, the United States has killed a militia commander in Baghdad and Iran-backed rebels in Yemen have traded fire with the U.S. Navy.
Each strike and counterstrike increases the risk of the already catastrophic war in Gaza spilling across the region. And in the decades-old standoff pitting the U.S. and Israel against Iran and allied militant groups, there are fears that any one party could trigger a wider war if only to avoid appearing weak.
The divisions within each camp add another layer of volatility: Hamas might have hoped its Oct. 7 attack would drag its allies into a wider war with Israel. Israelis increasingly talk about the need to change the equation in Lebanon — and on Monday an Israeli airstrike killed a Hezbollah commander — even as Washington aims to contain the conflict. https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-iran-hezbollah-yemen-0373be2e21b5a832d71f5bf828f67959

Yes, an expanded regional war involving Israel, Iran, and others may well happen soon, consistent with Isaiah 22:6-11.

Israel365News posted a warning from a rabbi, named Elie Mischel, that Israel should not be relying on the USA because of its ambiguity as well as prophecies in the Book of Zephaniah:

Zephaniah’s Cry: Don’t Rely on America!
January 8, 2024
Ever since Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, murdering, torturing and raping over 1,200 innocent Jews, Israel’s complex relationship with the United States has impeded the course of its righteous war against Hamas. It’s true that America supplies Israel with the weapons and ammunition it needs to eradicate Hamas. But this largesse, like that of wealthy congregants, comes at a very steep cost.
Though the US gives over $3.3 billion in foreign aid to Israel each year, the long term impact of this support are deeply damaging to the nation it is meant to help. It has a suffocating effect on the development of domestic Israeli defense companies, because the terms of the aid package require Israel to purchase the great majority of its arms and ammunition from American companies. The result is that Israel has ceded its arms manufacturing to the United States, placing all of its eggs in the American basket. Given the tenuousness of America’s support for Israel over the years, this approach has left Israel vulnerable to American pressure, in more ways than one.
Israel’s dependence on America is not merely bad policy. As the prophet Zephanaiah teaches, it is a national sin and a spiritual brokenness that is preventing the people of Israel from fulfilling its Godly mission on this Earth.
A Reckoning for Gaza
Like many other prophets, Zephaniah describes the events that will occur at the end of days, and the upheavals and suffering that will overtake the world. “The great day of the Lord is near; it is near and hastens greatly, the sound of the day of the Lord, wherein the mighty man cries bitterly. That day is a day of wrath; a day of trouble and distress; a day of ruin (shoah) and desolation (m’shoah); a day of darkness and gloom; a day of clouds and thick darkness” (Zephaniah 1:14-15).
Tellingly, Zephaniah is one of the very few prophets to speak of “shoah,” a Hebrew word for ruin and desolation which would later be used in modern times to refer to the Holocaust. When using this painful word, it’s possible he was also referring to events of our own generation – to the horrors of October 7, when more Jews were murdered in a single day than on any day since the Holocaust.
For these sins, the terrorists of Gaza will pay. “For Gaza shall be deserted… At noon they shall drive her out, and Ekron shall be uprooted. Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, the nation of Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, Canaan land of the Philistines, and I will destroy you so that there shall not be an inhabitant” (Zephaniah 2:4-5). As Israel systematically uproots Hamas from Gaza, whole swaths of that strip of land lie empty and deserted, just as Zephaniah prophesied. …
Don’t Rely on America
In the final chapter of the Book of Zephaniah, the prophet describes a fundamental change that will take place in Israel at the end of days – a shift that must occur for Israel to achieve its mission.
“On that day you shall not be ashamed of all your deeds [with] which you rebelled against Me… And I will leave over in your midst a humble and poor people, and they shall take shelter in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall neither commit injustice nor speak lies; neither shall deceitful speech be found in their mouth, for they shall graze and lie down, with no one to cause them to shudder” (Zephaniah 3: 11-13).
Zephaniah tells us that Israel will learn true humility, and because of that, they will no longer have to be afraid. No one will “cause them to shudder” any longer. But how, exactly, will this change come about?
Rabbi Meir Wisser (1809-1879) explains: “In earlier times… Israel established alliances with other powerful nations, asking them for military assistance. And because they relied on these powerful nations, they learned from their evil ways. But at the end of days, when all of the nations recognize God and serve Him, Israel will no longer sin, because ‘no one will cause them to shudder,’ and they will no longer learn from those nations’ [false] ideologies and [evil] deeds.”
What is the root of Israel’s rebellion against God? According to Rabbi Wisser, Zephaniah ascribes Israel’s spiritual and moral failures to its dependence on powerful nations like the United States. By placing its trust in the United States, Israel has been physically and spiritually damaged in several ways that are not immediately apparent.
From the beginning, the United States has made it clear that its support for Israel comes “with strings attached.” https://www.israel365news.com/381996/zephaniahs-cry-dont-rely-on-america/

“The prophet Zephaniah lived and wrote about 630 B.C.” (Armstrong HW. The Proof of the Bible, 1958).

While I do not believe that the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas was prophesied by Zephaniah, let’s look at how Zephaniah’s book starts off:

1 The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
2 “I will utterly consume everything
From the face of the land,”
Says the Lord;
3 ‘I will consume man and beast;
I will consume the birds of the heavens,
The fish of the sea,
And the stumbling blocks along with the wicked.
I will cut off man from the face of the land,”
Says the Lord.
4 “I will stretch out My hand against Judah,
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place,
The names of the idolatrous priests with the pagan priests —
5 Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops;
Those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord,
But who also swear by Milcom;
6 Those who have turned back from following the Lord,
And have not sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him.” (Zephaniah 1:1-6)

The above is a warning of devastation coming to Jerusalem and Judah–Judah would be a reference to the nation now called Israel.

Devastation did not happen to Jerusalem on October 7th.

But according to Isaiah, great damage will come (Jerusalem is the “City of David” below) and it will involve Iran (Elam below) and Syria (Kir below):

6 Elam bore the quiver
With chariots of men and horsemen,
And Kir uncovered the shield.
7 It shall come to pass that your choicest valleys
Shall be full of chariots,
And the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.
8 He removed the protection of Judah.
You looked in that day to the armor of the House of the Forest;
9 You also saw the damage to the city of David,
That it was great;
And you gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
10 You numbered the houses of Jerusalem,
And the houses you broke down
To fortify the wall.
11 You also made a reservoir between the two walls
For the water of the old pool.
But you did not look to its Maker,
Nor did you have respect for Him who fashioned it long ago. (Isaiah 22:6-11)

Both Zephaniah and Isaiah point to destruction coming to Jerusalem and the nation of Israel because they do not truly rely on God. On that point, rabbi Elie Mischel got that right.

Another point that Elie Mischel got right is that relying on the USA is not the answer for the modern Jewish nation now called Israel.

That is also consistent with a prophecy from Hosea with “Israel” below being a reference to the USA and one from Isaiah with Manasseh being a reference to the USA:

4 “They do not direct their deeds
Toward turning to their God,
For the spirit of harlotry is in their midst,
And they do not know the Lord.
5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face;
Therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;
Judah also stumbles with them. (Hosea 5:4-5)
21 Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh;
Together they shall be against Judah.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still. (Isaiah 9:21)

As far as Elie Mischel’s comments related to Zephaniah 2, he misses several things there. Some of those were discussed in our latest sermonette video: Leaving the American Dream for Safety.

That said, we are seeing escalation of the conflict between Hamas and Israel expand, and that may result in the fulfillment of part of Zephaniah 1 and Isaiah 22:6-11 in 2024.

Furthermore, Elie Mischel is right that the time will come when Israel will find that relying on the USA was a mistake.

Biblical prophecies are coming to pass as world events are aligning with them.

Related Items:

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There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Petra This article discusses a biblical ‘place of safety’ and includes quotes from the Bible and Herbert W. Armstrong on this subject–thus, there is a biblically supported alternative to the rapture theory. There is also a video on the subject: Might Petra be the Place of Safety? Here is something related in the Spanish language: Hay un lugar de seguridad para los Filadelfinos. ¿Puede ser Petra?

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Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about the peoples of Africa, Asia, South America, and the islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon; When Will the End of the Age Come?; Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.
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