I’m sure by now you have heard about the HORRIFIC, MASSIVE explosion that SHOOK Beirut, Lebanon on Tuesday, August 4th, 2020. They are describing this as complete and utter devastation. Half of Beirut has been destroyed. Phrases like “Beirut’s Hiroshima” are even being used. Strangely enough, this massive explosion took place on August 4th, which is only two days prior to the nuclear explosions of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and August 9th, 1945.
The blast of this massive explosion was heard as far away as Cyprus. According to first estimates by geologists, the blast was equivalent to a magnitude 4.5 earthquake, comparable to the energy released by the detonation of 1.000 to 3.000 tons of TNT. The USGS gives a lower magnitude of 3.3. It appears that the shockwave did even more damage than the initial explosion did, and at this hour a large portion of the city of Beirut lies in ruins. Dozens are dead, thousands are injured, and the entire city is now in a complete state of chaos!
The second blast sent an enormous orange fireball into the sky, flattened the harbourside and drove a tornado-like shockwave through the city, shattering windows kilometres (miles) away.
Beirut Governor Marwan Aboud brought up “Hiroshima” and “Nagasaki” when asked about the explosion……
This reminds me of what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” said Beirut Governor Marwan Aboud. “I have never seen such widespread destruction. This is a national catastrophe. This is a disaster for Lebanon. We’re already living through days where we can barely keep going.”
“And now this…I don’t know how we’re going to recover from this,” Aboud told Sky News, before bursting into tears.
This is heart-breaking. 😢 Please keep the people of Lebanon in your prayers!!!
Right now, it seems that they are trying to piece together the evidence so they can determine what really happened. Of course, there have been many people who immediately blamed Israel even though the evidence does not support Israel as the aggressor. Israel has been known to attack caches of terrorist weapons in neighboring countries, but they generally use targeted air strikes that minimize civilian casualties. This did not fit Israel’s normal method of operation. In addition to this, Israel is completely denying any involvement and has even offered to assist in humanitarian efforts.
While watching this in horror, and praying for the Lebanese people, I could not help but wonder what does the Bible tell us about the nation of Lebanon, particularly in the Last Days?
In the Bible, Historically all of Lebanon once belonged to the Tribe of Asher, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. After the Israelites came out of Egypt and conquered the Promised Land of Canaan, Joshua assigned Asher the western and coastal Galilee region. Eventually, all 12 Tribes of Israel (including Asher) decided to establish a centralized monarchy, with King Saul as their king. They remained a united Israel under King David and Solomon, but under David’s grandson King Rehoboam, Israel divided, and the ten Northern tribes formed their own country, named “Israel”. Asher’s territory was part of the ten northern tribes of Israel. The northern tribes were conquered by Assyria in around 723BC, and the population of Israel was deported. Asher is part of the lost 10 tribes of Israel who was deported into Assyria and ultimately into other nations.
Genesis 35:26 – And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these [are] the sons of Jacob (Israel), which were born to him in Padanaram.
Joshua 19: 24: Now the fifth lot fell to the tribe of the sons of Asher according to their families.
2 Kings 17:5:Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land and went up to Samaria and besieged it three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
Hosea 8:8: Israel is swallowed up; They are now among the nations Like a vessel in which no one delights.
With the Israelite Tribe of Asher deported and lost among the gentiles, the geographical part of Asher’s territory underwent many waves of invasions by armies such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans and Arabs.
Lebanon was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1516-1918. After World War I France was given a League of Nations mandate over Lebanon and Syria. In 1920, the State of Greater Lebanon was created out of the provinces of Mount Lebanon, north and south Lebanon, and the Bekaa. Lebanon proclaimed independence on November 26, 1941, but full independence came in stages. Lebanon’s independence, she has undergone many civil wars along with wars with Israel. The anti-Israel group Hezbollah has set up camp in Lebanon, gathering themselves at the border of northern Israel so as to launch the occasional incursion. Hezbollah, strategically aligned with Iran, hates the nation of Israel and is determined to drive her into the sea.
In the fall of 2019, the leader of Hezbollah actually threatened Israel with the same explosive type of material that just blew up half of Beirut on Tuesday.
“Nasrallah threatened to blow up Israel with same chemicals as Beirut blast”
The archival footage has been circulating in the wake of the massive explosion in Lebanon that killed more than 100 and injured 4,000 and has left hundreds missing.
Obadiah 1:15: “For the day of the LORD draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head.
What does the Bible tell us about Lebanon?
Lebanon is part of the Psalm 83 alliance of nations that desire to wipe out the name of Israel. I would imagine this is most likely pointing to Hezbollah, and the extremist elements in Lebanon, not the average citizen. Anyone desiring to “wipe out the name of Israel” is basically making a Covenant against the ONE TRUE GOD…FATHER/SON/HOLY SPIRIT …..Not a good idea.
Psalm 83: O God, do not remain quiet;
Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still.
2 For behold, Your enemies make an uproar,
And those who hate You have exalted themselves.
3 They make shrewd plans against Your people,
And conspire together against Your treasured ones.
4 They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation,
That the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
5 For they have conspired together with one mind;
Against You they make a covenant:
6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites;
7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Assyria also has joined with them;
They have become a help to the children of Lot.
Psalm 83 may be a prophecy about an upcoming middle east war, or it could simply be a lament and a prayer. Those who claim it is a prophecy of an upcoming end-times war indicate that some of the territory of these “Psalm 83 nations” will be once again be taken by the Nation of Israel as a “spoil of war”, thus expanding Israel’s “tent pegs”. This idea is backed by Scripture in that we discover that at the time of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom on earth, the Nation of Israel will indeed expand TO something more like HER ORIGINAL, BIBLICAL BORDERS.
Interesting Biblical Facts about Lebanon
- Lebanon is mentioned 9 times in the Bible as either part of the Promised Land or the northern boundary of the Promised Land.
- Both Temples were built with the cedars of Lebanon (1 Kings 5:15-24; Ezra 3:7).
- Solomon sent 30,000 workers to Lebanon, 10,000 per month, to obtain the cedar for the Temple (1 Kings 5:13-14)
- The “House of the Forest of Lebanon” was a public hall built by Solomon entirely of the cedars of Lebanon (1 Kings 7:2-5).
- The “cedars of Lebanon” is often used as a symbol of strength (Psalm 29:5).
- Yeshua (Jesus) ministered in Tyre and Sidon in Lebanon (Matthew 15:21-28).
- In Yeshua’s (Jesus) day, Lebanon was called Phoenicia. Some early Christians moved there to flee persecution (Acts 11:19). Today, Lebanon has a large Christian population, roughly 41% of Lebanese are Christian.
Zechariah prophesies that one of the places that God will bring back the scattered children of Israel will be to Lebanon (Zech. 10:6-10).
Will Lebanon again be part of Israel?
Zechariah 10: “I will strengthen the house of Judah,
And I will save the house of Joseph,
And I will bring them back,
Because I have had compassion on them;
And they will be as though I had not rejected them,
For I am the Lord their God and I will answer them.
7 “Ephraim will be like a mighty man,
And their heart will be glad as if from wine;
Indeed, their children will see it and be glad,
Their heart will rejoice in the Lord.
8 “I will whistle for them to gather them together,
For I have redeemed them;
And they will be as numerous as they were before.
9 “When I scatter them among the peoples,
They will remember Me in far countries,
And they with their children will live and come back.
10 “I will bring them back from the land of Egypt
And gather them from Assyria;
And I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon
Until no room can be found for them.
Zechariah and Ezekiel both say Lebanon will once again become part of the Promised Land as God has always intended. After the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ, the first recipient of land for the Millennium will be the tribe of Dan and the land they will be given will include most of present day Lebanon (Ezek. 48:1). However, Ezekiel 47-48 also makes it clear that the “alien shall be as the native-born among the sons of Israel, and they too will be allotted an inheritance in the land, along with the tribes of Israel. So the land will be divided up among the tribes of Israel, and also among the aliens who live in the land. It is a clear indication that the land IS now open to all who are willing to serve yeshua (JESUS). The new Israel is to be inclusive and not exclusive, so both the sons of Israel AND the aliens who live in the land will receive an INHERITANCE FROM THE LORD.
Ezekiel 47:21 “So you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. 22 You shall divide it by lot for an inheritance among yourselves and among the aliens who stay in your midst, who bring forth sons in your midst. And they shall be to you as the native-born among the sons of Israel; they shall be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. 23 And in the tribe with which the alien stays, there you shall give him his inheritance,” declares the Lord God.
The interior of the Millennial temple will be finished in wood (Ezek. 41:15-26) instead of the gold of past Temples. And once again Lebanon will furnish the wood that brings beauty to the Lord’s house. Jesus will rule and reign for 1000 years from this Temple in Jerusalem during His Millennial Reign. The Millennial Temple will be FAR LARGER than the small little 3rd Temple that Israel is soon to build (Tribulation Temple). In-fact, the description of the Millennial Temple in Ezekiel is so large, that it would not even fit in its current location in Jerusalem. But when Jesus returns and sets His Feet upon the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14), there will be a massive earthquake, making MORE SPACE for this ENORMOUS MILLENNIAL TEMPLE to be BUILT.
Zechariah 14:4: In that day His (yeshua/jesus) feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.
Isaiah 60:13: “The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the juniper, the fir and the cypress together, to adorn my sanctuary; and I will glorify the place for my feet
Lebanon has a glorious future, but not until she returns to her rightful place in the northern most parts of Israel, with the prince of peace, Jesus Christ, the one true god who will rule and reign from jerusalem.
Only then will Lebanon and the world know true peace.😊
