Why does God say Israel should not assimilate economically with the Gentile nations?
God says Israel must not assimilate economically because they are a separated people. Economic merger with Gentile nations causes them to become just another nation, digging a deeper hole and backing them into a corner until their only hope is their coming King. This assimilation also prepares them to accept the Antichrist.
Les teaches that Israel wants its economy to mesh with the European common market and to compete with the Gentile nations, but God says no because Israel is to be a separated people. As they try to assimilate and become just another member of the family of nations, they get deeper and deeper into the hole they are digging for themselves and are backed into a corner. Eventually Israel will have no hope except the coming of their king. Yet first they will accept the false king, the Antichrist. Jesus said in John's Gospel that He came in His name and was rejected, but another will come in his name and be embraced. Jewish people describe their expected Messiah as a superman with military prowess, economic power, and charisma, which actually describes the Antichrist. God's Old Testament covenant promises are still coming.