The End of the World... hey - it's right around the corner!

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

I've heard a lot of people relating the Israel/Hezbollah "police action" in Lebanon to the Gog/Magog war. Is it? Well, I read Ezekiel 38 and it doesn't make a lot of sense to me, even from the Message. Not much of Ezekiel or Isaiah do. But, I do know one thing. When these prophets (and Revelation) talk about Israel, they are not necessarily talking about a geographic nation, but a group of people.

The word Israel means "Prince of God". When the people of Israel were carted off into Assyrian Captivity 740 years before our Lord was born, the nation of Israel ceased to exist. Therefore, the prophets could not be speaking of a geographic nation. When the nation Israel was established by the United Nations in 1948, it was not founded upon the Laws of the Torah, therefore it was not a nation of God and not the Israel spoken of by the Prophets.

So, we are left with a group of people. But which people? Moses said, in Deuteronomy 18:15-19:

The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die." The LORD said to me: "What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.

That prophet was the LORD, Jesus Christ. Peter affirms this in Acts 3:22-23:

For Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.'

So, if today's Jews have not accepted Christ, they have been cut off. They cannot be the Israel, the Prince of God of whom the prophets spoke. That leaves only one group of people: Christians.

Now, when we read end-of-the-world prophecies concerning Israel, we see that they are speaking about Jesus Christ's true Church. The people of Christ in all parts of the world. And Satan has declared war on us from day one. From Roman persecutions to modern apathy, we have been at war.

Who is Gog? He is the Father of Lies. He is Satan. He has declared war on God and Christ, and on all of us who call Him King. Where is Magog? All the Earth, as Satan is puppet-master of princes and principalities.

Now, to answer my previous question: Is this recent Israeli action against Hezbollah (and, presumably the entire Arab population) the end of the world? It may seem like it when nukes start flying, but my belief is that God did not specify this particular group of combatants.

Comments appreciated...