The Netanyahu UN walkout was a stunning sight for anyone familiar with end-times prophecy. As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rose to address the United Nations General Assembly, approximately 77 national delegations walked out or left their seats vacant—about 40 percent of the UN’s 193 member nations. In other words, nearly half the United Nations turned its back on Israel. Glenn Beck described the extraordinary scene as “half the world” getting up and leaving as Netanyahu spoke.
The Bible predicts that shortly before the return of Jesus Christ, the nations of the world will turn against Israel and ultimately gather against Jerusalem for war. More than 2,500 years ago, the prophet Zechariah wrote, “And all the nations of the earth will gather against it” (Zechariah 12:3 ESV). Two chapters later, he describes where that worldwide hostility will eventually lead: “For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle” (Zechariah 14:2 ESV).
Twenty years ago, reading those prophecies seemed almost surreal. How could the world ever change so dramatically that all the nations would turn against Israel and ultimately gather against Jerusalem? Only decades had passed since the Holocaust, when six million Jews were systematically murdered, and the world had seen the horrifying consequences of antisemitism. Nazism was universally despised, antisemitism was condemned, and “Never Again” had become the world’s response to one of the greatest atrocities in human history.
Yet only about 80 years after the Holocaust, look where we are. Nearly half the nations represented at the United Nations turned their backs on Israel as its prime minister rose to speak. A world in which the nations unite against Israel no longer seems surreal or difficult to imagine. We are watching the world move toward exactly the kind of international hostility that Zechariah described more than 2,500 years ago.
Nearly Half the UN Turns Its Back on Israel
But consider what that walkout symbolized. Those delegates turned their backs upon the nation of Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Old Testament prophets. They turned their backs upon the people of Peter, John, Paul, and the New Testament apostles. They turned their backs upon the people through whom God gave us His written Word, and ultimately upon the earthly people of Jesus Christ Himself.
Jesus was a Jew, as were His apostles and the men God used to write the Scriptures. Paul warned Gentile Christians concerning Israel, “remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you” (Romans 11:18 ESV). Christianity cannot be separated from its Jewish roots; our prophets, our apostles, our Scriptures, and our Messiah came to us through the Jewish people.
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From the UN Walkout to All Nations Against Israel
What happened at the United Nations was a political demonstration, but Zechariah describes where the hostility of the nations will ultimately lead. The nations will not merely condemn Israel or walk out when its leaders speak. They will gather their armies against Jerusalem.
When that happens, God Himself will intervene. Zechariah 14:3 says, “Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.” The nations will discover that in attacking Jerusalem they have placed themselves in direct opposition to the God of Israel.
Zechariah then gives one of the most terrifying descriptions of divine judgment in the Bible: “Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths” (Zechariah 14:12 ESV). The nations that verbally attack Israel today will one day physically attack Jerusalem, but when they do, God Himself will intervene.
Israel and the Return of Jesus Christ
Zechariah says that on that day the LORD’s feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4). Jesus Christ ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives, and Acts 1:11 records the promise that He will return in the same manner in which He departed.
Revelation 19 describes Christ returning as King of kings and Lord of lords while the kings of the earth and their armies gather for war. The nations will have gathered against Jerusalem, but God will intervene, the armies will be destroyed, and Jesus Christ will return to establish His rule.
What we witnessed at the United Nations shows just how much the world has changed. The prophetic scenario that once seemed almost impossible to envision no longer requires much imagination. We are watching international hostility toward Israel grow before our eyes, moving the world ever closer to the conditions Zechariah described.
The nations have not yet gathered their armies against Jerusalem, but we can now see how such a day could come. Israel is becoming increasingly isolated, hostility is growing, and the stage is being set for events foretold thousands of years ago.
Prophecy is unfolding before our eyes.
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