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News From Israel MagazineCommunism Doomed to Fail
“As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 36:38).
“Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee” (Ezekiel 38:9).
Russia’s Miscalculation and Israel
Jerusalem and Israel are the scene of God’s wonderful deeds. God prefaces His mighty ways with Israel and Jerusalem with the words, “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame” (Ezekiel 36:7). And then He promises to bless and restore her: “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land” (Ezekiel 36:24). Today, we are observing the fulfillment of these verses, one after the other.
However, when Israel returned to her land after her dispersion, as the Lord both promised and is fulfilling it, Moscow’s frightful enmity against Jerusalem will be undisguised to the light, until the decisive collision, when Russia will be destroyed. Let us not be deceived by the Arab danger! It is only because Russia stands behind Nasser and his colleagues that they represent a perilous threat to Israel. That is what the Israeli foreign minister clearly stated in his speech on 19 June 1967 before the General Assembly of the United Nations. He said among other things:
I was speaking about Israel’s war of defense against the attacks of the neighboring states. This is, however, not a complete picture of the situation. Whatever happens in the Near East, whether good or bad, peace or conflict is most closely linked with what the Big Powers decide to do or not to do. As the Soviet Union has initiated these discussions we are obliged to look into the role that she plays in the present-day happenings in the Near East. It is a sad and shocking role but it must nevertheless be brought into the open. Since 1955 the Soviet Union has supplied the Arab States with 2,000 tanks. Of these more than 1,000 were supplied to Egypt, together with 700 modern fighters and bombers, the more recent ones equipped with rockets. Egypt further received from the Soviet Union 540 pieces of heavy artillery, 130 medium guns, 200 mortars and 695 anti-aircraft guns, 175 rocket launchers, 650 anti-tank guns, 7 destroyers, 15 submarines and 46 torpedo boats of various types, some having missiles. Soviet experts trained the Egyptian army. Egyptian officers who were captured during the war confirmed this. The greater part of this war material was supplied to the Arab States after the 1967 Arab Summit Conference in Cairo. At this conference the Arab States publicly announced that they had adopted a specific plan for the eradication of Israel. According to this plan, the Arab nations agreed to promote a speedy realization by means of the military equipment purchased from the Soviet Union. The text of Soviet aid is typified by the surprising fact that the war material left behind by the Egyptians in the Sinai Peninsula represents the value of approximately $2 billion. With the supply of these offensive weapons the Soviet Union has encouraged the military preparation of the Arab States. Since 1961 the Soviet arms supplied to Egypt have supported their desire to capture Israel. The large amount of offensive weapons that were supplied to the Arab States confirms this assessment. In this way a great power, which continually emphasizes its readiness to make peace and to safeguard the rights of other states, has plunged the Near East into a wild arms race, thereby paralyzing the United Nations as an instrument for the keeping of peace, and has blindly identified herself with powers which are a menace to peace, and taken a stand against those who defend it.
As Abba Eban began to speak, Kosygin and Gromyko left the auditorium where the General Assembly was being held. Therewith we see that the most perilous threat for Israel comes from Russia and her satellites. Concerning this, it says in Ezekiel 38:5–6: “Persia, Cush, and Put or Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes, many people are with you” (Amplified Bible). And notice the next verse: “You, Gog, be prepared; yes, prepare yourself, you and all your companions that are assembled about you, and you be a guard and a commander for them.” The Soviet Union’s claim to leadership within the communist world is being affirmed successfully, especially today, and they are prevailing increasingly.
What is the reason for Moscow’s hatred of Jerusalem? Jerusalem is God’s city. Moscow, on the other hand, has become a city of Satan. It was in October 1967, precisely 50 years since the Soviet Union officially renounced God. That is the foundation of Russia’s miscalculations and Israel and the title of this message:“Communism is Doomed to Fail.” There is a two-fold reason: 1) No civilized nation can exist for long without acknowledging the supremacy of the God of Israel; and 2) even from the devil’s perspective, communism will not prevail because prophetic Scripture has determined that the endtime role will be religiously motivated. Therefore, again, communism is doomed to fail.
This is a profound tragedy because Russia was a very religious nation and the people were receptive to spiritual things. But since the entry of communism, 50 years ago, she has become a godless nation. At that time, one of her leaders wrote in the Red newspaper, “We shall change our hearts into hearts of steel; we shall harden our hearts to such an extent that there will be no such thing as mercy, and we shall not blink any eyelid at the streams of blood which will flow from our enemies. We shall open the sluices of this sea of blood without mercy or respect for anyone.”
The Russian people and the surrounding nations, also Jewish and Christian, have experienced the truth of these words! The Russians have literally slaughtered millions of their citizens. By 1949 it was known to be about 30 million people. In these lands the Church of Jesus Christ went through indescribable suffering and tribulation. We have received letters here and there from children of God who secretly listen to our radio programs.
One brother wrote to us as follows:
On 17 June 1940 the Russians came to Latvia and, contrary to all agreements, destroyed our Republic. Our churches were expropriated and out of the best they made theatres, cinemas and dance halls for the Russian soldiers. Other buildings, including churches, could be rented from the Russians, but at such a high cost that no one could afford to rent his or her own church. Our biggest theological seminary in Riga was closed and taken over by the Russian Tshecka (police).
Many of the student ministers were arrested and either deported to Siberia or else shot in cold blood. All the activities of religious organizations were immediately suspended. A frightful persecution set in. In one year about 35,000 men and women were sent to forced labor camps in Siberia; among them were 5,000 children. In one night, on 14 June 1941, 15,000 citizens were fetched out of their beds, forced into railway cars and sent off to the icy north. Mass shootings, violations and the ravishments of 12-year-old girls to 80-year-old grandmothers, took place almost daily; theft and plundering were beyond words. This is how the Russians came as our ‘liberators.’
In another letter from Lithuania, we read:
Several hundred thousand Lithuanians were shot by the Russians. The parcels and goods earmarked for Lithuania from the Red Cross were never received.The Lithuanian language is one of the oldest in the world, but it had to disappear immediately and the Russian language was forcibly introduced. Libraries were burnt down, religious instruction to children was banned, preachers were shot, and churches were plundered, as also museums. Women, and even nuns, were raped, the forests were cut down, agriculture and commerce ceased, all farms were expropriated and all private property was taken over by the state. Religious freedom and freedom of the press, as also free speech, have ceased to exist in Lithuania.What was once a beautiful, proud land has now become economically, socially and culturally wretched.
In December 1945, Missionary Digest reported that all the work of Christian organizations in the lands adjoining Russia, which have now become the Soviet Union, has been suspended and the once blooming churches and missionary work completely destroyed. Everything is hopelessly laid waste and it does not seem possible, humanly speaking, that there will ever be any spiritual life again. This short cutting shows how terrible the outworkings of Russia’s war on religion were.
These horrible happenings remind us of Psalm 2:3–4: “Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.” This is the case with Russia because this nation is nearing its end. If Christians living under communist rule have to suffer so much, how much more will the Jews have to suffer, because Christianity has its roots in Judaism (cf. Romans 11:18)? This is confirmed by the prevailing anti-Semitism in Russia, expressed in the Russians’ prejudice and persecution of the Jews.
We also see [anti-Semitism] in the fact that Russia is preventing the Jews from immigrating to their own land. Russia’s obvious aim is Israel’s downfall. If we ask ourselves the reason for this, we can of
course see that Russia’s motives are political. Even Napoleon recognized that Israel is of great strategic importance. The Holy Land with the Sinai Peninsula is the natural bridge between Europe, Asia and Africa. From this point all parts of the earth are accessible.
But it will be covetousness that will induce Russia to attack Israel. Ezekiel 38:12 says: “To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.” We are already witnessing today how Israel’s riches — the immeasurable natural mineral resources — are leaving the world increasingly speechless. Specialists among Jewish immigrants have discovered the presence of immense riches in the Dead Sea. They confirm the presence of huge quantities of potassium, bromine, magnesium, sodium chloride, gypsum, etc. The value of these minerals exceeds the riches of the world. These riches have been present for thousands of years but they have been unknown to man. Only when the Jews returned to their land were these enormous deposits discovered. These very valuable minerals are continually multiplying. Naturally, the greatest concentration of the salt is on the floor of the sea. This, however, is only the beginning. Israel is in the process of laying a new pipeline from Eilat to the Mediterranean in order to transport oil. This is what Moses said of Asher, “And of Asher he said, Let Asher to blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil” (Deuteronomy 33:24).
We are seeing Israel rise before our very eyes. Her latest plans are to build a new “Suez Canal” from Ashdod on the Mediterranean Sea to Eilat on the Red Sea. The old Philistine city of Ashdod already possesses a modern harbor. The difference in altitude between Ashdod and Eilat will be utilized to generate electricity. The estimated cost of such a project is about $3 billion. The realization of this plan would mean an unimaginable boom for Israel.
The Soviet Union realized this, too, and therefore desires to possess the Near East; thus, her hatred of Israel continues to grow. The Almighty God has therefore laid a political, economical, military and ideological hook in Russia’s jaw. “And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and thine army” (Ezekiel 38:4).
It seems to us that the Soviet Union’s great miscalculation consists of three disastrous steps. The first was in 1948. Russia’s recognition of the newly founded state of Israel looked hopeful. However, one look behind the scenes shows us Russia’s true face. Thus, it was reported that U.S. President Harry S. Truman had frustrated Russia’s plan to invade Israel. On 14 May, 11 minutes after the new State was proclaimed, President Truman officially recognized Israel. This news hit Russia like a bomb. The Russians were furious, because they had wanted to take advantage of the troubled situation in Israel at that time and had their troops positioned on the eastern side of Trans-Jordan under the pretext of keeping order, but in effect they were prepared for invasion.
Having then been recognized by the United States, Israel no longer stood alone. That was a blow for Russia, and her planned invasion turned out to be premature.
Russia made her second miscalculation in June 1967 because it is certain that she had reckoned with Israel’s destruction. This opinion is not only based on the tremendous supply of arms to the Arab countries but also on the calculations made by the Russian computers. Even the Russian ambassadors in Tel Aviv and Cairo were convinced that Israel would be totally destroyed in the case of war. As it was revealed afterwards, the ambassador in Tel Aviv gave his government a false picture of the position in the Near East, which led Moscow to wrong steps in the days preceding the Six-Day War, and was instrumental in the military defeat of the Arab countries. The Soviet diplomat was in Ramath-Gan, the most exclusive suburb of Tel Aviv. He reported Israel appeared to be merely a minor state on the verge of internal collapse. “Because” he continued, “the Jews are leaving the land in ever greater numbers. The political parties are hopelessly divided; the economic crises and unemployment have weakened the land, thus the striking power of the Israeli forces has been considerably reduced.”
He wrote this not only to Moscow but also to the Israelis. This is what he said to one of the leaders of the government at a banquet: “You little Israel, you are like Lilliput, in fact you are only a grotesque result of a disorder that came as an aftermath of the Second World War.”
For three years he had studied the national conditions of Israel in Tel Aviv. At the beginning of 1967 he reported to Moscow that Israel desired war in order to save herself from economic and psychological depression, and that she was no longer able to pull herself together sufficiently to meet the actual political and military needs.
Kossygin’s ambassador in Cairo also dispatched the information that the Israelis did not possess the power to overcome Egypt. A few days prior to the start of war, the Russians hurriedly tried to prevent President Nasser from executing a possible planned attack on Israel, because the feeble Jews could be made to heed more easily through diplomatic pressure. President Nasser accepted this advice and acted accordingly. The Soviet ambassador in Tel Aviv informed his government directly before the conflict that the Arabs would still be victorious even if the Israelis’ armament were equally as strong as that of the Arabs.
The Israeli counter-espionage was satisfied with the analysis of this situation, for they received copies of all dispatches sent to Moscow. Even after the Israelis had shot down three Syrian Mig aircraft and the Egyptians had moved their divisions into the Sinai Peninsula because of a reported massing of troops on the Syrian border, the Russian ambassador in Tel Aviv still believed that Israel could not stand the test of strength against the Arabs. He said Israel would do everything up to the point of war, but would not dare to begin the fight. Israel would hide when challenged.
However, Israel did not hide but marched. Three days later, when the Egyptian armies were beaten, President Nasser requested the Soviet ambassador to call on him, and made him responsible for the debacle. The Soviet government then recalled the ambassador to Moscow. That was Russia’s second miscalculation.
Russia’s third and last miscalculation is standing at the door. This surprise attack is described very graphically in Ezekiel 38:15–16: “And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.”
There will not be an actual battle because this enormous host will be destroyed through internal strife, great sickness and natural catastrophes: “And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground” (Ezekiel 38:21–22,19–20). And then the Antichrist will come.
When Russia and her hordes have met their end through the Lord’s judgment, then Israel will be great in the eyes of the world. She will then be ready to receive with open arms the political genius, the Antichrist.
Here we come to a sad analogy: Russia’s conduct is the exact picture of the conduct of an unregenerate heart. Does your life also consist of miscalculations? Have you not often come up against a brick wall? Do you see that destruction threatens your life? Why then are you so powerless and unhappy? Let us take a look at Russia’s typical sins, because they are the same as ours. It is the “I will.” “I will go up to the land of unwalled villages” (Ezekiel 38:11). This is man’s “I will” that contradicts the holy “I will” of God. In Ezekiel 39:1, God said, “Behold, I am against thee,” and in verse 2, He said, “And I will turn thee back.” In verse 3, He says, “And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand.” Do you really want to fight against the eternal God with all your disobedience? Nothing separates us more from God than our damnable self-will; but nothing could unite us more closely with Him than His loving will to save you through Jesus Christ. People often say, “you must be converted” or “you must dedicate yourself to Him.” But your trouble and confusion will only be resolved when you kneel before the living God and say, “Now I will do your will and no longer mine.”
The second sin that we can observe in Russia’s behavior is identified in Ezekiel 38:11: “I will go up to the land.” She trusts in her own strength and thinks, “I shall manage it all right.” However, this is a fatal miscalculation and an underestimation of God’s omnipotence. Why are you so tired? Why are you so defeated and weary of soul? Because you want to live your life in your own strength. Like Russia, your life is ruled by wild passions: “To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places” (Ezekiel 38:12). This is where covetousness breaks out: “I want to be happy, — but all without the living God, without Jesus Christ.” Be honest: Are you not very near to this state in your marriage, in your career, in your hopes? Millions of people have tried the worldly way, and how did it turn out? It turned out exactly as it will for Russia in her third and final miscalculation.
The result will be four-fold: sickness, strife, catastrophes and trembling. This is what it says in Ezekiel 38. Sickness: “I will plead against him with pestilence” (verse 22). Strife: “And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother” (verse 21). Catastrophes: “And I will rain upon him ... an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone” (verse 22). Trembling and earthquakes accompanied by terrible fear: “Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel” (verse 19).
Consider your life! Are you not fighting sickness? Are you not at variance with your children, your husband, your wife, your mother-in-law, or your colleagues? Have you not escaped a catastrophe by the skin of your teeth? Just think, “Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, to bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living” (Job 33:29–30).
Of what will Russia’s miscalculation consist? The overestimation of her own strength, and her “self.” This is where Matthew 7:13 really applies: “For wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction.” Many Christians are going along this way too. But they are making a big mistake; they are not reckoning with the Man of Calvary. It is He who bore the sin and guilt of the world in Jerusalem; therefore, Jerusalem is invincible.
Let us consider Russia’s tragedy once again. As a people, she is very receptive to spiritual things, but as a nation she is ripe for judgment.
And your tragedy? You too, are receptive to spiritual things. You say that you believe in the Bible, but, like Moscow, you oppose Jerusalem and, like the Antichrist, you oppose Christ. But Jesus humbled Himself on your behalf, under the burden of your sin and my sin. Will you not come to Him now with all your stubborn self-will as Saul of Tarsus did? Jesus called, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” Saul fell to the ground and said, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Your conduct and opposition is nothing other than a persecution of Jesus. Whoever will not subject himself to God’s will is persecuting Jesus. Kneel down before Him and open your heart to Him! Acknowledge before Him all your sins and ask, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”