The chess game of the end times: God against Satan for the world champion
Bobby Fischer, perhaps the greatest chess player of all time, attracted world attention when he pursued the world championship in the “cold war showdown” with the Soviet Boris Spassky in 1972. Fischer lost the first game of the championship in unusual fashion and then he lost the second (due to camera placement that Fischer did not want). Once an agreement was reached on the location of the camera, however, Fischer went on to outmaneuver the Soviet champion, matching move for move and advancing to checkmate. Spassky proved to be no match for the American champion.
Exciting as that chess series may have been to the watching world, there has been a much bigger, more exciting, and far more momentous game of chess in the making, one that is being played for the world itself. It is the “brightness” that pits the incredible ability of Satan against the infinitely greater brilliance of God. While Satan lurks and moves his pieces, seeking a checkmate from God, the devil moves directly into his own checkmate.
In fact, God is so far above Satan that he has even recorded (in the Bible) what moves he would and would make; however, the devil still cannot defeat the Lord. For example, God recorded (in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament of Christians) more than 300 predictions about the first coming of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Although Satan knew about these movements in advance, he was unable to stop any of them. Ah, he tried. Knowing where Jesus would be born, Satan worked through the king to kill all the baby boys in the area surrounding Jesus’ birth, but Jesus escaped danger. Much later, Satan worked through one of Jesus’ closest followers, through the king of that day, through the governor, and through the religious leaders of that day to kill Jesus. However, in doing so, he went straight to checkmate, as this was God’s plan to save the world. These conquests are far more impressive than Fischer’s conquest of Spassky.
Although defeated throughout, Satan continues to play out the series; and God too. In his immutable form, God has arranged an incredible variety of future moves for the devil to attempt to counter. And Satan is responding.
One area where the chess game is being played revolves around the Middle East “peace” process. God has already announced his plan involving ten national leaders, five Europeans and five Arabs, confirming a seven-year treaty with Israel that appears to satisfy the Jewish nation’s need for “peace and security.” Satan has made the world focus on a possible treaty with the Palestinians, even though they won’t actually sign a treaty with Israel. (Because if Israel believed that a treaty with the Palestinians satisfied its need for “peace and security,” there would be no need to sign a subsequent treaty with the ten national leaders.) But God is leading Israel away from a (US-led) deal with the Palestinian leadership. So that’s how it’s working.
The Palestinian leadership has chosen to bypass talks with Israel to go to the UN for a resolution on a Palestinian state. However, the resolution attempt will fail. For example, the US has already announced that it will veto that resolution; and even if it were approved (in the UN General Assembly), it would not have a real and significant result. After all, the UN does not have the authority to launch a new state. In addition, a Palestinian attempt to gain UN recognition without a peace deal with Israel means “almost nothing” even if it succeeds, former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton said on Friday.
By making this bad decision, the Palestinian leadership has risked a lot, with nothing to gain. US lawmakers are threatening to cut off the more than $600 million in annual funding it sends to the Palestinians. (This threat is also due to Palestinian leaders in the West Bank [the Fatah party] signing a unity government agreement with Hamas, a group recognized by Congress as a terrorist entity.) In addition, the Israeli leadership has declared that the Palestinian move to the UN violates previous peace treaties between the Palestinians and Israel, which it could nullify any previous agreement between the Palestinians. Two parts. That would free Israel to respond to an entirely different approach to the regional peace treaty, like the end-times treaty prophesied in the Bible.
When the attempt at a UN resolution fails, it is likely to undermine any kind of public support the current Palestinian leadership may have enjoyed. Furthermore, it may provoke mass protests of the kind that have toppled two regimes in the Middle East and threaten another (Syria).
Furthermore, a former Palestinian “freedom” fighter, who led the fight against Israel in 2000 and 2008, claimed that “a reaction will definitely come after September, as young people will take to the streets.” In addition, a panel of the US Congress unveiled a bill that would limit financial aid to the Palestinians unless they guarantee that the US is serious about fighting terrorism and that no member of Hamas occupies a key position in the new unity government.
Now comes the news that the Palestinian leadership may try to avoid the US veto by not going to the UN Security Council to have a new Palestinian state accepted as a full member of the UN. Instead, the UN plan seems to be to go to the UN General Assembly to be recognized as a state within the 1967 borders.
On the one hand, this seems like a smarter move on the part of the leadership. However, on the other hand, it will create the same problems for them as stated above with little benefit. This move will still take the Palestinians out of the picture to get a treaty with Israel; but then that is exactly what the Palestinian leadership wants. Since there would be great resistance to a treaty with Israel from Palestinian jihadists (i.e. Hamas), putting the lives of anyone who signs a treaty with the Jewish nation at risk, Palestinian leaders seek to advance their cause while avoiding Israel like the plague.
Although the resolution is expected to be approved in the General Assembly, international support for this initiative is waning. For example, the European Union indicated its frustration with the Palestinian action in a statement issued on Monday.
Both Israeli and Palestinian sources reveal that US peace efforts have failed. However, this is nothing new, since nine months ago the end of the peace process led by the United States could be seen.
Now is the start of a call for the UN to get involved in a regional treaty. This would fit well with Bible prophecy; because the UN could arrange for ten of its member nations to work on negotiations with Israel (since the Palestinians won’t). If this happens, find five leaders from Europe and five from the Middle East to work with Israel on this treaty. If this occurs, we would be looking at the end-time treaty which, when started, would start the clock ticking back to the last seven years before Christ’s return.
In this Middle Eastern chess game, Satan is trying to prevent God’s plan from happening by making moves with the Palestinians to cross Israel and prevent a regional treaty from taking place. However, God is responding by allowing the Palestinians to withdraw from the peace process so that it can move towards God’s intended occurrence. Therefore, in this combination of moves and counter-moves, God is allowing the devil to move directly into checkmate, while fulfilling God’s plan.
With the end of Palestinian involvement, the plan moves into a new phase. While you’re at it, look into possible UN involvement and the appointment of ten national leaders to work seriously with Israel on what will be the end-time treaty. We could be getting close to that happening; and as we are, Satan’s checkmate is at hand.