Pricks, Thorns, and Vexing :: By Daymond Duck
The Bible begins, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).
“All things were made by him; and without him not anything was made that was made” (Jn. 1:2).
“He [Jesus] was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not” (Jn. 1:10.
“The earth is the Lord’s and its fullness; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods (Psa. 24:1-2).
The Bible clearly teaches that this earth and everything in it, including all the people, belong to God.
It is true that Adam and Eve sinned and allowed Satan to take over, but Jesus redeemed the entire Creation (bought it back, people and all) at the cross.
Let’s go to Numbers chapter 33.
Moses has led the Hebrews out of Egypt, they have wandered in the wilderness for forty years, and they have finally arrived at the Promised Land.
God said, “When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images [idols], and quite pluck down all their high places [places of pagan worship]: And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it (Num. 33:51-53).
“But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you: then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them, shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell” (Num. 33:55).
Was God being unfair?
No, this world belongs to Him, and He was fed up with the sins of the Canaanites.
He said, “Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my good pleasure” (Isa. 46:9-10).
God is God, and He does what He wants to do.
Anyway, if the Hebrews didn’t put all of the Canaanites off the Promised Land, the Canaanites would cause major problems for Israel in the future.
They did it in Old Testament times, and they are doing it today.
But know that Israel is not the only one that will suffer from pricks, thorns, and vexing.
What the Canaanites (and the nations) try to do to Israel will come back on them.
They will reap what they sow.
And their pricks, thorns, and vexing will be so great, no flesh would be shortened.
However, those days will be shortened for the elect’s (Israel’s) sake.
(My opinion: Notice that God didn’t say kill the Canaanites. God said drive all of them off the land. I find it interesting that Trump wants to remove the Palestinians from Gaza, but others want to force them to stay in Gaza where many of them will suffer and die.)
Here are recent events that seem to indicate that God may be getting ready to deal with the world’s treatment of Israel.
One, concerning wars and rumors of wars: after meeting with several former Hamas hostages at the White House on Mar. 5, 2025, Trump posted a message to Hamas on Truth Social:
- Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is over for you.
- Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted!
- I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job.
- Not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say.
- This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza while you still have a chance.
- To the People of Gaza: A beautiful future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are dead! Make a smart decision.
- Release the hostages now, or there will be hell to pay later!
(More: On Mar. 6, 2025, U.S. Sec. of State Rubio said, “He’s (Trump is) tired of watching videos of emaciated hostages being released.”)
(More: On Mar. 6, 2025, the head of a terror victims group in Israel said, “When you surrender to evil, evil learns that terrorism pays.”)
(More: On Mar. 6, 2025, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East said the U.S. and Israel could take joint military action against Hamas if negotiations with the terrorist group fail.)
(More: On Mar. 7, 2025, Israel’s Prime Min. Netanyahu ordered Israel’s military to prepare for an immediate return to fighting in Gaza.)
(More: On Mar. 9, 2025, it was reported that Hamas has agreed to release more hostages for an extension of the ceasefire, but no details were available at that time.)
Two, concerning Hamas releasing more hostages: on Mar. 6, 2025, Amir Tsarfati said Hamas is demanding to stay in power in exchange for more hostages, but Israel is refusing to let Hamas stay in power.
Tsarfati asks, “So, what do we do with this stalemate?”
Tsarfati said,
- If Hamas still refuses to move forward, Israel will cut the 19% of Gaza’s water that it supplies.
- If Hamas still refuses, Israel will cut electricity to Gaza’s desalination plants so that they cannot purify their own water.
- If Hamas still refuses, Israel will resume air attacks.
- If Hamas still refuses, Israel will resume a ground war.
- To this final end, Israel’s government approved a call-up of 400,000 reserves.
- That’s 100,000 more than were called up after October 7.
- In other words, Israel is not playing around.
In my words, Israel’s military toolbox is full of pricks, thorns, and vexing.
(More: On Mar. 9, 2025, Israel announced that it will immediately cut off the electricity it sends to Gaza. The desalination plants that receive electricity from Israel will have to shut down. Trump warned that if all the hostages were not released, there would be hell to pay, and it is beginning to look like payday has arrived.)
(More: On Mar. 9, 2025, Israel announced that it is actively working on plans to move 5,000 Gaza citizens per day to other nations and to get other nations to take them. If they can accomplish this, it will take a year to clear out Gaza.)
(More: On Mar. 10, 2025, in a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, U.S. Sec. of State Marco Rubio said any reconstruction effort in Gaza must exclude Hamas.)
Three, concerning wars and rumors of wars: in a message to Congress on Mar. 4, 2025, Pres. Trump talked about his threats to impose tariffs on other nations.
Trump said the additional tariffs, including reciprocal tariffs and non-tariff actions, are aimed at addressing years of trade imbalances.
In addition to trade imbalances, Trump said he was imposing tariffs on China because they keep sending fentanyl into the U.S., and he wants it stopped.
China responded, “If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war, or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end.”
(More: On Mar. 5, 2025, Pres. Trump postponed 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month amid widespread fears of the economic fallout from a broader trade war. He emphasized that the tariffs are about stopping the smuggling of fentanyl and fixing the trade deficit.)
Four, concerning wars and rumors of wars and the coming Battle of Gog and Magog, on Mar. 4, 2025, Sen. Lindsey Graham urged Pres. Trump to allow Israel to destroy Iran’s nuclear program while we can.
Graham said there is zero chance of getting a nuclear pact with Iran that would convince the Ayatollah Khamenei to abandon his ambitions to build the bomb.
He added that Khamenei wants three things:
- To dominate Islam.
- To kill all Jews.
- To drive the U.S. out of the Middle East.
(More: On Mar. 4, 2025, 77 retired U.S. generals and admirals released a letter to Pres. Trump urging him to support Israel’s efforts to finish the war with Iran before Iran crosses the nuclear threshold. According to them, two decades of negotiations have accomplished nothing.)
(More: On Mar. 5, 2025, it was reported that Iran’s president said he would negotiate with the U.S., but Khamenei refuses.)
(More: On Mar. 5, 2025, it was reported that Iran has established a new terrorist group in Syria. Iran said the new group will represent all groups in Syria, defend Syria against occupation, and stand against falsehood. The group is demanding that Israel withdraw its forces from southern Syria and the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights. It has claimed responsibility for several recent attacks against Israel’s military forces.)
Five, concerning wars and rumors of wars and the coming Battle of Gog and Magog: on Mar. 7, 2025, Trump said he sent a letter to Khamenei demanding that he negotiate with the U.S. because he (Trump) will not allow Khamenei to have nuclear weapons.
In an interview, Trump said,
- We have a situation with Iran that something’s going to happen very soon, very, very soon.
- There will be interesting days ahead.
- There are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal.
- I’d rather see a peace deal than the other, but the other will solve the problem.
- If Iran doesn’t negotiate, it will be very ugly for them.
Six, concerning wars and rumors of wars: on Mar. 5, 2025, French Pres. Macron said France and the EU should prepare for war because Russian aggression knows no borders.
He said Europe will not accept the capitulation of Ukraine to Russia under the guise of peace negotiations.
Macron added that France would use its nuclear arsenal against Putin.
(More: Germany’s Foreign Minister urged the European nations to start mobilizing now and not wait until April when there is a new government in Germany.)
Seven, concerning the ashes of a red heifer without blemish and spot: on Mar. 7, 2025, it was reported that the five calves that have been moved from Texas to Israel have all been disqualified.
According to the report, the red heifers are occasionally inspected to see if they are still unqualified, but at this time, all of them have more than one non-red hair.
Eight, concerning the Two-State Solution and Judea and Samara: on Mar. 7, 2025, I heard a prophecy teacher say that there is the possibility that the U.S. and Israel are planning to announce Israel’s annexation of all of Judea and Samaria, and the death of the Two-State Solution in about a week and one-half.
All of the land from the (Jordan) River to the (Mediterranean) Sea will be part of Israel.
(My opinion: Israel will be divided after the Rapture, but Israel will get all that land and a lot more at the Second Coming.)
Nine, concerning the Battle of Gog and Magog and Iran’s desire to destroy Israel: on Mar. 8, 2025, Iran criticized the Arab’s Gaza reconstruction plan.
Iran’s Foreign Min. said, “While we respect the views of some brotherly nations regarding the two-state solution, the Islamic Republic of Iran maintains that this approach will not fulfill the rights of the Palestinian people.”
Iran wants a one-state solution, not a Two-State Solution.
(More: The mayor of Paterson, NJ, is the son of a Syrian woman and a Lebanese father. On Mar. 10, 2025, it was reported that he has declared Paterson, NJ, the capital of Palestine in the U.S. He changed the name of Main Street to Palestinian Way, closes schools on Muslim holidays, serves Muslim food in the school cafeterias, uses loudspeakers to blast a call to Muslim prayers in the city, etc.)
Ten, concerning world government: on March 7, 2025, the U.S. rejected the UN Sustainable Development Goals (on the grounds that they would hurt America and establish a world government).
Edward Heartney, a Trump-appointed representative, told the UN General Assembly the Sustainable Development Goals (climate change, wealth redistribution, ending poverty, gender equality, etc.) “advance a program of soft global governance that is inconsistent with U.S. sovereignty and adverse to the rights and interests of Americans.”
A UN representative responded by saying the goals were approved by all the nations in the UN, and so the U.N. is holding onto its guiding principles “to advance a world of peace, prosperity and dignity for all.”
(My opinion: The Trump representative’s statement confirms that the UN Sustainable Development Goals are about world government and the surrender of national sovereignty. The UN response indicates that, at least for the time being, the UN is sticking to its goal of a world government by 2030 or sooner if possible. Also, we know that the UN must be restructured, that the Restrainer is holding the world government back, and that despite Trump’s desire to Make America Great Again, there will be a world government after the Rapture.)
(My opinion: I am not predicting a date, but “2030 or sooner if possible” means that people could have less than five years to be ready. And who knows? It could be quite a bit less.)
Eleven, concerning the new HTS-dominated government of Syria: on Mar. 8, 2025, it was reported that government troops have killed more than one thousand Syrian citizens (including women, children, and Christians).
(More: A report on Mar. 9, 2025, said women were paraded naked in the streets before being shot. There was also a report that a teenage boy was given a rifle and forced to shoot his family.)
(My opinion: This seems to deny HTS claims of moderation and confirm Israel’s suspicions of once a terrorist always a terrorist. Israel’s suspicions are why Israel has kept troops in the buffer zone on its border with Syria.)
Twelve, concerning Russia, Iran, Turkey, and others using Syria to attack Israel: on Mar.10-11, 2025, Israeli jets struck 41 targets (radar, aerial detection systems, headquarters, and weapons depots under the new regime) in southern Syria that Israel said could pose a threat to Israel and Israeli operations in the future.
Thirteen, concerning illegal immigrants in the U.S.: the Trump administration is now allowing illegal immigrants to self-deport and offering them the opportunity to apply to return legally in the future.
If they self-deport and are not criminals, terrorists, cartel members, etc., there is a good chance that they will be allowed to return legally to live the American Dream.
Fourteen, Canada has replaced Trudeau with a new Prime Min., and I am being asked what he is like. I don’t know, but Alex Newman, a man that I greatly respect, said the situation in Canada has been controlled to ensure that the globalists continue to stay in power.
FYI: God does not send anyone to Hell (all of us are born with a sin nature and destined to go to Hell because we sin), but God has provided a way (Jesus) for everyone to go to Heaven (and He is the only way to get there; John 14:6).
Finally, are you Rapture Ready?
If you want to be rapture ready and go to heaven, you must be born again (John 3:3). God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believe that Jesus is the virgin-born, sinless Son of God who died for the sins of the world, was buried, and raised from the dead; ask Him to forgive your sins, cleanse you, come into your heart and be your Saviour; then tell someone that you have done this.
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