With news that the Palestinians might appeal to the United Nations this fall for an upgrade to full member status, we can see a Bible prophecy theme emerging.

For many years, Bible prophecy teachers and students did not see the possibility that a Palestinian state could be established. Why? Because of the prophetic passages that promised the Jews that they will “not be uprooted again” (Amos 9:15), in a last-days context.

Now that we find ourselves at the brink in the Arab-Israeli conflict, one wonders: what WOULD the establishment of the state of Palestine do to prophecy teaching?

Affirm it, I say. As usual, humans worry entirely too much about whether the claims made in the Bible—those marvelous prophecies/promises—will actually come to pass. This is a bit like the Israelites trying God’s patience after the Exodus. They had seen a thoroughly astonishing miracle at the sea, yet seemed to forget the power and majesty of God in the wilderness.

The reason my belief in Bible prophecy wouldn’t collapse if Palestine becomes a reality is really two-fold:

•God has promised that the Jews will not be uprooted from their ancestral home, after returning from final exile in the last days. A Palestinian state would not remove the Jewish population from the Holy Land.

•Ezekiel 36 seems to allude to conditions in which Israel’s enemies (the surrounding Arab nations have been in a perpetual state of war with the Jewish state for seven decades, agreements with Egypt and Jordan notwithstanding) might gain a territorial foothold. This “could be” a Palestinian state.

The main point in all this is that we shouldn’t be too dogmatic about scenarios we cannot yet know. The Lord will keep His word.

It’s His game to finish.