Hamas No More

Ken

“Violence [Hebrew, châmâs, violence, wrong, cruelty, injustice] shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise” (Isaiah 60:18 KJV). Hamas is an acronym of the Arabic phrase حركة المقاومة الإسلامية or Ḥarakah al-Muqāwamah al-ʾIslāmiyyah, meaning “Islamic Resistance Movement.” This acronym, HMS, was glossed in the 1988 Hamas Covenant by the Arabic word ḥamās (حماس) which itself means “zeal,” “strength,” or “bravery.” No doubt, modern Palestinians did not consult Hebrew Bibles for the coincidence of their naming, and as Jonathan Cahn remarks in “The Dragon’s Prophecy: Israel, the Dark Resurrection, and the End of Days” (2024): “But God always has the last word.” Isaiah was prophesying of a future time, where the “sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory” (60:19). John reiterates this hope in the last prophecy of the NT. “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:5). Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.