The Arab-Israeli conflict dates backward to the dawn of biblical revelation and extends forward to the much-dreaded Battle of Armageddon. The times are trying, are they not? In the interest of helping folk discern the times, I think we do well to color todays world news with yesterdays biblical hues. A fascinating picture emerges, one that takes us to mysterious Arabia. According to Genesis, sin entered a garden paradise called Edena touch of heaven once located in what is modern Iraq and Iran today. Much as human catastrophe is said to have originated there, Revelation informs that human misery will be terminated from there, when it culminates in a climactic and cataclysmic final showdown. In Making Peace with the Warriors of the Sand, youll hear ancient Scripture predicting how forces marshaled in proximity to ancient Eden will one-day stealthily slither into the Holy Land and, like a python, wrap themselves around a reconstituted Israel. You will learn how the relentless and merciless assault upon humankind that began in ancient Iraq and moved to and through Israel, will again manifest and move aggressively in the regionand be stopped, finally. The serpent of old who is the devil and Satan will be defeated and bound, according to the Rev. 20:2, after which paradise will be restored. With the Kingdoms inauguration will come a cessation of global hostilities. Peace alas With secular and sacred eyes looking intently at the Middle East today, I believe that a fresh biblical assessment is in orderand one that pays more deliberate attention to Arab peoples. This book answers to that need. What most do not realize is that the Old Testament is not just about Jews and that the New Testament is not just about Christians. While the Old Testament does focus upon Abrahams literal Hebrew descendants and while the New Testament does indeed focus upon Jesus and make faith-applications to Gentile folk descended from Abraham in a spiritual sense, the Scriptures also speak of Abrahams other childrena group that Ill here refer to as the mysterious warriors of the sand. Both lands and peoples of the Middle East are significantand bewildering. The word mysterious denotes something difficult, hard to grasp and puzzling. It comes from the old French word mystique, a term that similarly conjures up notions of an aura of wonderment. Believing that Christians and Jews would do well to have a look at the other very mysterious Arabian people of the Book, I have set my gaze their way, to consider what the Bible has to say about my estranged Arab cousins. Who are the Arab people? Are they unwanted, vanquished cast-aways in the biblical economy? Are they a sub-class of demon-inspired lesser beings, destined to serve as cannon fodder for Gods armies at the battle of Armageddon? Does Scripture indicate any abiding covenant promises that benefit them or are Abrahams other descendants removed from the pale of biblical graces and forever banished to the backwaters of Divine favor? Are Bible-believing European types obliged to disdain Arab peoples and ideas? If so, why so? If not, what then? How are Judeo-Christians to be toward Arabs, in a world set on edge since 911? What does it mean to be a peacemaker in the current economy where Islamic-inspired angst is ubiquitous? At a time when Israel is making its bid for its existence and where America is embroiled in wars and rumors of wars with Arab-related folk, how are we to love these other people? If we are, in fact, to love those othersas I believe we aremight we do well to better understand them in light of biblical perspectives and principles? In the process of trying to come to terms with them, might we be well served to come to terms with ourselves in relation to them? With these and other questions in focus, we will here take a reasonably long stare in the direction of the mysterious people of the east, the warriors of the sand. Staring speaks of fixing ones wide-open gaze upon a particular person or object. Staring someone down, by association, speaks of ones boldly fixing their gaze on another human being, until such time as that other person feels obliged to lower their eyes andor turn away entirely in submission. Staring someone in the eye, by contrast, speaks of setting ones fixed gaze upon someone. This expression is divested of the negative connotation of endeavoring to force one into a subordinate position and may well denote respect. It harks to the daring of the one doing the staringand no more. This book stares at Abrahams estranged son Ishmael as with others and it doesnt let them out of sight till the books end. Making Peace with the Warriors of the Sand doesnt stare down Ishmael, however; it stares at himbetter his descendants, the Arabs. Admittedly pro-Israel as the books Jewish author is, I still endeavor to look affectionately and admirably at my marginalized Arab cousins and labor to give a fair and balanced accounting of the place in Scripture given to Arabs who have dwelt in proximity to Israels daunting shadow from time immemorial. I will push readers toward peace, not war. I deem the resurrection and establishment of a sovereign Jewish nation-state, located smack in the heart of the Arab world, to be providentialnot accidental. Making Peace with the Warriors of the Sand construes that the resurrected Jewish nation-states existing in the middle of Ishmaels estates has, does and will factor significantly in Gods Divine program and that the concomitant Islamic-inspired, Arab-related angst that seems to forever nip at the heels of Israel is really only-to-be-expected. Speaking of expectations, Making Peace with the Warriors of the Sand informs that the present-day tensions are themselves preludes to cataclysmic wars yet to come, battles pre-saged in Scriptures millennia agoand are thus to be expected. Making Peace with the Warriors of the Sand understands that present-day tensions are birth pangs for a new day and will come to an end on a future-da
