On July 29, 2006, the London Arabic daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published a detailed article on assistance extended to Hizbullah by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, as reported by a high-ranking Revolutionary Guards officer who had trained Hizbullah naval units.
According to the officer, Hizbullah has a diver unit and a naval commando unit. He further claims that Revolutionary Guards officers assisted Hizbullah in the July 14, 2006 firing of a C802 missile at an Israeli Navy ship, and had also helped Hizbullah construct underground facilities – including command and control rooms – which are being operated by Revolutionary Guards officers along with Hizbullah fighters.
In addition, Iranian news agencies have published a number of reports about groups of Iranian volunteers sent to Lebanon to aid Hizbullah in its fight against Israel.
The following are excerpts from these reports on Iranian assistance to Hizbullah.
Revolutionary Guards Assistance to Hizbullah
The following are excerpts from the Al-Sharq Al-Awsat report on aid extended to Hizbullah by Iran's Revolutionary Guards:
"Hundreds of Hizbullah fighters currently confronting Israel's military array took part in special training courses at the Revolutionary Guards bases in Tehran, Isfahan, Mashhad and Ahvaz. According to a high-ranking [Revolutionary] Guards officer, who trained one of the Hizbullah naval units, Hizbullah has many surprises up its sleeve.
Until now, there has been no direct confrontation between Hizbullah and the Israeli navy, [but] one of the Israeli navy's ships was attacked with C802 missiles with the help of Revolutionary Guards [fighters] stationed in Lebanon. Hizbullah has a divers' unit and a naval commando unit [equipped] with Chinese-made Ho-Dong speedboats, which are capable of dealing [serious] blows to the Israeli navy."
The Iranian officer added that "thanks to the presence of hundreds of Iranian engineers and technicians, as well as North Korean experts brought [into Lebanon] in the guise of [domestic] servants by Iranian diplomats and by the staff at the Iranian representations and offices in Lebanon, Hizbullah has managed to build a 25-kilometer underground [tunnel]. Each opening in this [tunnel] measures 12 to 18 square meters, and has a mobile floor and a semi-mobile ceiling. Each four openings are connected by a passage that allows fighters to pass easily [from one opening] to the other.
"The [Revolutionary] Guards has also built Hizbullah underground storerooms in the Beka' Valley, at a depth of no more than eight meters, which hold huge amounts of missiles and ammunition. In the Beka', there is [also] a central command room operated by four Revolutionary Guards officers and four Hizbullah [fighters]. Each sector has its [own] command and operations room.
"Hizbullah's missile unit includes some 200 technicians and experts trained in Iran. Hizbullah has three missile units, each supervised by a staff of 20."
2,500 Iranian Suicide Fighters Await Khamenei's Order
The following are reports recently published by Iranian news agencies regarding groups of Iranian volunteers sent to Lebanon to assist Hizbullah in its fight against Israel:
On July 25, 2006, the Iranian Farda news agency quoted a report by the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA), stating that Hizbullah-Iran has recruited some 2,500 suicide fighters who are awaiting an order from Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to set out to Lebanon.
Hizbullah-Iran spokesman Mojtaba Bigdeli added that the Hizbullah-Iran Chairman Mohammad Baqr Kharrazi will "soon be stationed in Lebanon in order to support Hizbullah-Lebanon and to express solidarity with the resistance and with the oppressed Lebanese nation, and [also] in order to follow developments [more] closely...
"Some 2,500 people who are fully willing to carry out istishhad [martyrdom] operations have signed up through groups connected to Hizbullah-Iran, so that the list [of martyrs] is now ready, and they await an order from the Supreme Leader [Ali Khamenei]..."
Enlisting Volunteers Online
On July 26, 2006, the Iranian news agency Alborz announced that volunteers could sign up online for the "Army of the Fighters of Muhammad." The report explained that the Army of the Fighters of Muhammad was recruiting fighters to be sent to Lebanon, and that those interested in signing up could also call a telephone number in Tehran (88938821). According to the report, the minimum age for enlisting is 16.
Two Groups of Martyrdom Fighters Sent To Lebanon
On July 18, 2006, the Alborz news agency reported that "two groups of Iranian martyrdom fighters, who have received guidance and training, have been sent to Lebanon in order to participate in the [war on] its fronts.
"Ali Mohammadi, spokesman of The World Islamic Organization's Headquarters for Commemorating the Shahids (martyrdom fighters), stated: 'These two groups, which include 27 people selected from among 55,000 who signed up, were sent to Lebanon in order to participate in the war front against the Zionist regime... These forces have undergone various forms of training... Their mission is to arrive in Lebanon by any means possible, and to carry out martyrdom operations in the event that Lebanon is occupied by the Zionist regime.'
"The sending of these troops, he noted, was on a completely volunteer basis... These people were sent to Lebanon privately, and they have no organizational connection with Hizbullah... It should be noted that these 27 people have mastery of English and Arabic. They are to remain in Lebanon until further notice...'"
Mehr News Agency: "Two Teams [Have Been] Sent to Syria In Order to Reach The Regions Of Conflict In Lebanon"
According to another report, by the Mehr news agency, on the dispatching of two suicide fighter groups to Lebanon, spokesman Mohammadi said that "two teams, one with 18 people and the other with nine, traveled separately... to Syria, in order to reach the regions of conflict in Lebanon by any means possible..." Mohammadi noted that "all 27 [team members] have mastery of Arabic, and some of them can even speak English... We have no organizational connection with Hizbullah or any other group. These people set out with the aim of helping the Lebanese people, and they are acting independently..."
Memri
Monday, July 31, 2006
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Ancient Translation of Psalms Found in Irish Bog
Archaeologists in Ireland found an ancient Latin translation of the Psalms of King David last week. Which Psalm the book was open to when preserved in the Irish bog has been a subject of confusion.
The ancient book was discovered in a bog by a construction worker who spotted it while driving the shovel of his backhoe into an area nearby. The approximately 20-page book has been dated to the years 800-1000.
It was initially reported that Latin Vulgate version of the book was opened to Psalm 83, which in the Hebrew Tanach exhorts G-d to “not hold Yourself silent” as the nations plot against Israel – explicitly mentioning Edom, Ishmael and the residents of Philistia and Tyre.
It turns out, however, that the Vulgate uses a different numbering of the chapters than the Hebrew Bible and the chapter that was actually facing outwards was not Psalm 83.
It was then reported that the visible text on the bog book is from the seventh verse of Psalm 82, which reads: "But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler."
Finally, the the Director of Ireland's museum Patrick F. Wallace said in a statement Friday that it was actually Psalm 84 that was exposed. He said that the original announcement had “led to misconceptions about the revealed wording. It is hoped that this clarification will serve comfort to anyone worried by earlier reports of the content of the text.”
The words of Psalm 84 are as follows:
1. For the conductor, on the gittith, of the sons of Korah, a song.
2. How beloved are Your dwelling places, O L-rd of Hosts!
3. My soul yearns, yea, it pines for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh pray fervently to the living G-d.
4. Even a bird found a house and a swallow her nest, where she placed her chicks upon Your altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my G-d.
5. Fortunate are those who stay in Your house; they will continually praise You forever.
6. Fortunate is the man who has strength in You, in whose heart are the highways.
7. Transgressors in the valley of Baka (weeping) make it into a fountain; also with blessings they enwrap [their] Teacher.
8. They go from host to host; he will appear to G-d in Zion.
9. O L-rd, G-d of Hosts, hearken to my prayer; bend Your ear, O G-d of Jacob, forever.
10. See our shield, O G-d, and look at the face of Your anointed.
11. For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand; I chose to sit on the threshold of the house of My G-d rather than dwell in tents of wickedness.
12. For a sun and a shield is the L-rd G-d; the L-rd will give grace and glory; He will not withhold good from those who go with sincerity.
13. O L-rd of Hosts, fortunate is the man who trusts in You.
The Psalm is recited by many Jews at the beginning of the afternoon prayers on a daily basis. The Valley of Weeping can be read as the Bekaa Valley, one of the areas focused upon in Hizbullah attacks since Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon six years ago. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has suggested that Israel cede the area to Lebanon, allowing Hizbullah to declare victory.
July 30, 2006
Arutz Sheva
The ancient book was discovered in a bog by a construction worker who spotted it while driving the shovel of his backhoe into an area nearby. The approximately 20-page book has been dated to the years 800-1000.
It was initially reported that Latin Vulgate version of the book was opened to Psalm 83, which in the Hebrew Tanach exhorts G-d to “not hold Yourself silent” as the nations plot against Israel – explicitly mentioning Edom, Ishmael and the residents of Philistia and Tyre.
It turns out, however, that the Vulgate uses a different numbering of the chapters than the Hebrew Bible and the chapter that was actually facing outwards was not Psalm 83.
It was then reported that the visible text on the bog book is from the seventh verse of Psalm 82, which reads: "But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler."
Finally, the the Director of Ireland's museum Patrick F. Wallace said in a statement Friday that it was actually Psalm 84 that was exposed. He said that the original announcement had “led to misconceptions about the revealed wording. It is hoped that this clarification will serve comfort to anyone worried by earlier reports of the content of the text.”
The words of Psalm 84 are as follows:
1. For the conductor, on the gittith, of the sons of Korah, a song.
2. How beloved are Your dwelling places, O L-rd of Hosts!
3. My soul yearns, yea, it pines for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh pray fervently to the living G-d.
4. Even a bird found a house and a swallow her nest, where she placed her chicks upon Your altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my G-d.
5. Fortunate are those who stay in Your house; they will continually praise You forever.
6. Fortunate is the man who has strength in You, in whose heart are the highways.
7. Transgressors in the valley of Baka (weeping) make it into a fountain; also with blessings they enwrap [their] Teacher.
8. They go from host to host; he will appear to G-d in Zion.
9. O L-rd, G-d of Hosts, hearken to my prayer; bend Your ear, O G-d of Jacob, forever.
10. See our shield, O G-d, and look at the face of Your anointed.
11. For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand; I chose to sit on the threshold of the house of My G-d rather than dwell in tents of wickedness.
12. For a sun and a shield is the L-rd G-d; the L-rd will give grace and glory; He will not withhold good from those who go with sincerity.
13. O L-rd of Hosts, fortunate is the man who trusts in You.
The Psalm is recited by many Jews at the beginning of the afternoon prayers on a daily basis. The Valley of Weeping can be read as the Bekaa Valley, one of the areas focused upon in Hizbullah attacks since Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon six years ago. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has suggested that Israel cede the area to Lebanon, allowing Hizbullah to declare victory.
July 30, 2006
Arutz Sheva
Saturday, July 29, 2006
What Is Tisha B'Av?
Five misfortunes befell our fathers ... on the ninth of Av. ...
...On the ninth of Av it was decreed that our fathers should not enter the [Promised] Land,
...the Temple was destroyed the first and second time,
...Bethar was captured and the city [Jerusalem] was ploughed up.
-Mishnah Ta'anit 4:6
...Should I weep in the fifth month [Av], separating myself, as I have done these so many years? -Zechariah 7:3
In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month ...came Nebuzaradan ... and he burnt the house of the L-RD... -II Kings 25:8-9
In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month... came Nebuzaradan ... and he burnt the house of the L-RD... - Jeremiah 52:12-13
How then are these dates to be reconciled? On the seventh the heathens entered the Temple and ate therein and desecrated it throughout the seventh and eighth and towards dusk of the ninth they set fire to it and it continued to burn the whole of that day. ... How will the Rabbis then [explain the choice of the 9th as the date]? The beginning of any misfortune [when the fire was set] is of greater moment. -Talmud Ta'anit 29a
Tisha B'Av, the Fast of the Ninth of Av, is a day of mourning to commemorate the many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, many of which coincidentally have occurred on the ninth of Av.
Tisha B'Av means "the ninth (day) of Av." It usually occurs during August.
Tisha B'Av primarily commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples, both of which were destroyed on the ninth of Av (the first by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.; the second by the Romans in 70 C.E.).
Although this holiday is primarily meant to commemorate the destruction of the Temple, it is appropriate to consider on this day the many other tragedies of the Jewish people, many of which occurred on this day, most notably the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.1
Tisha B'Av is the culmination of a three week period of increasing mourning, beginning with the fast of the 17th of Tammuz, which commemorates the first breach in the walls of Jerusalem, before the First Temple was destroyed. During this three week period, weddings and other parties are not permitted, and people refrain from cutting their hair. From the first to the ninth of Av, it is customary to refrain from eating meat or drinking wine (except on the Shabbat) and from wearing new clothing.
The restrictions on Tisha B'Av are similar to those on Yom Kippur: to refrain from eating and drinking (even water); washing, bathing, shaving or wearing cosmetics; wearing leather shoes; engaging in sexual relations; and studying Torah. Work in the ordinary sense of the word [rather than the Shabbat sense] is also restricted. People who are ill need not fast on this day. Many of the traditional mourning practices are observed: people refrain from smiles, laughter and idle conversation, and sit on low stools.
In synagogue, the book of Lamentations is read and mourning prayers are recited. The ark (cabinet where the Torah is kept) is draped in black.
...On the ninth of Av it was decreed that our fathers should not enter the [Promised] Land,
...the Temple was destroyed the first and second time,
...Bethar was captured and the city [Jerusalem] was ploughed up.
-Mishnah Ta'anit 4:6
...Should I weep in the fifth month [Av], separating myself, as I have done these so many years? -Zechariah 7:3
In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month ...came Nebuzaradan ... and he burnt the house of the L-RD... -II Kings 25:8-9
In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month... came Nebuzaradan ... and he burnt the house of the L-RD... - Jeremiah 52:12-13
How then are these dates to be reconciled? On the seventh the heathens entered the Temple and ate therein and desecrated it throughout the seventh and eighth and towards dusk of the ninth they set fire to it and it continued to burn the whole of that day. ... How will the Rabbis then [explain the choice of the 9th as the date]? The beginning of any misfortune [when the fire was set] is of greater moment. -Talmud Ta'anit 29a
Tisha B'Av, the Fast of the Ninth of Av, is a day of mourning to commemorate the many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, many of which coincidentally have occurred on the ninth of Av.
Tisha B'Av means "the ninth (day) of Av." It usually occurs during August.
Tisha B'Av primarily commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples, both of which were destroyed on the ninth of Av (the first by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.; the second by the Romans in 70 C.E.).
Although this holiday is primarily meant to commemorate the destruction of the Temple, it is appropriate to consider on this day the many other tragedies of the Jewish people, many of which occurred on this day, most notably the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.1
Tisha B'Av is the culmination of a three week period of increasing mourning, beginning with the fast of the 17th of Tammuz, which commemorates the first breach in the walls of Jerusalem, before the First Temple was destroyed. During this three week period, weddings and other parties are not permitted, and people refrain from cutting their hair. From the first to the ninth of Av, it is customary to refrain from eating meat or drinking wine (except on the Shabbat) and from wearing new clothing.
The restrictions on Tisha B'Av are similar to those on Yom Kippur: to refrain from eating and drinking (even water); washing, bathing, shaving or wearing cosmetics; wearing leather shoes; engaging in sexual relations; and studying Torah. Work in the ordinary sense of the word [rather than the Shabbat sense] is also restricted. People who are ill need not fast on this day. Many of the traditional mourning practices are observed: people refrain from smiles, laughter and idle conversation, and sit on low stools.
In synagogue, the book of Lamentations is read and mourning prayers are recited. The ark (cabinet where the Torah is kept) is draped in black.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Israeli Scientists Find Code Beyond Genetics in DNA
07.28.2006
In a discovery that may aid scientists in the future in understanding the mechanisms underlying many diseases, a team of Israeli researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science have succeeded, together with colleagues from Northwestern University in Chicago, believe they have found a second code in DNA in addition to the genetic code.
The genetic code specifies all the proteins that a cell makes. The second code, superimposed on the first, the scientists say, sets the placement of the nucleosomes, miniature protein spools around which the DNA is looped. The spools both protect and control access to the DNA itself. The bead-like nucleosomes are strung along the entire chromosome, which is itself folded and packaged to fit into the nucleus. What determines how, when and where a nucleosome will be positioned along the DNA sequence?
According to Dr. Eran Segal and research student Yair Field of the Computer Science and Applied Mathematics Department at Weizmann, the precise location of the nucleosomes along the DNA is known to play an important role in the cell's day to day function, since access to DNA wrapped in a nucleosome is blocked for many proteins, including those responsible for some of life's most basic processes.
Among these barred proteins are factors that initiate DNA replication, transcription (the transfer of genetic information from DNA to RNA) and DNA repair. Thus, the positioning of nucleosomes defines the segments in which these processes can and can't take place. These limitations are considerable: Most of the DNA is packaged into nucleosomes. A single nucleosome contains about 150 genetic bases (the 'letters' that make up a genetic sequence) while the free area between neighboring nucleosomes is only about 20 bases long. It is in these nucleosome-free regions that processes such as transcription can be initiated.
For many years, scientists have been unable to agree whether the placement of nucleosomes in live cells is controlled by the genetic sequence itself. Segal and his colleagues managed to prove that the DNA sequence indeed encodes 'zoning' information on where to place nucleosomes. They also characterized this code and then, using the DNA sequence alone, were able to accurately predict a large number of nucleosome positions in yeast cells.
Segal and his colleagues accomplished this by examining around 200 different nucleosome sites on the DNA and asking whether their sequences have something in common. Mathematical analysis revealed similarities between the nucleosome-bound sequences and eventually uncovered a specific 'code word.' This 'code word' consists of a periodic signal that appears every 10 bases on the sequence. The regular repetition of this signal helps the DNA segment to bend sharply into the spherical shape required to form a nucleosome. To identify this nucleosome positioning code, the research team used probabilistic models to characterize the sequences bound by nucleosomes, and they then developed a computer algorithm to predict the encoded organization of nucleosomes along an entire chromosome.
The nucleosomes frequently move around, letting the DNA float free when a gene has to be transcribed. Given this constant flux, Segal said he was surprised they could predict as many as half of the preferred nucleosome positions. But having broken the code, "We think that for the first time we have a real quantitative handle" on exploring how the nucleosomes and other proteins interact to control the DNA, he told The New York Times.
The other 50 percent of the positions may be determined by competition between the nucleosomes and other proteins, Segal suggested.
The discovery, if confirmed, could open new insights into the higher order control of the genes, like the critical but still mysterious process by which each type of human cell is allowed to activate the genes it needs but cannot access the genes used by other types of cell.
The team's findings provided insight into another mystery that has long been puzzling molecular biologists: How do cells direct transcription factors to their intended sites on the DNA, as opposed to the many similar, but functionally irrelevant sites along the genomic sequence?
The short binding sites themselves do not contain enough information for the transcription factors to discern between them. The scientists showed that basic information on the functional relevance of a binding site is at least partially encoded in the nucleosome positioning code: The intended sites are found in nucleosome-free segments, thereby allowing them to be accessed by the various transcription factors. In contrast, spurious binding sites with identical structures that could potentially sidetrack transcription factors are conveniently situated in segments that form nucleosomes, and are thus mostly inaccessible.
Since the proteins that form the core of the nucleosome are among the most evolutionarily conserved in nature, the scientists believe the genetic code they identified should also be conserved in many organisms, including humans. Several diseases, such as cancer, are typically accompanied or caused by mutations in the DNA and the way it organizes into chromosomes.
Such mutational processes may be influenced by the relative accessibility of the DNA to various proteins and by the organization of the DNA in the cell nucleus. Therefore, the scientists believe that the nucleosome positioning code they discovered may aid scientists in the future in understanding the mechanisms underlying many diseases.
Israel 21st Century
In a discovery that may aid scientists in the future in understanding the mechanisms underlying many diseases, a team of Israeli researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science have succeeded, together with colleagues from Northwestern University in Chicago, believe they have found a second code in DNA in addition to the genetic code.
The genetic code specifies all the proteins that a cell makes. The second code, superimposed on the first, the scientists say, sets the placement of the nucleosomes, miniature protein spools around which the DNA is looped. The spools both protect and control access to the DNA itself. The bead-like nucleosomes are strung along the entire chromosome, which is itself folded and packaged to fit into the nucleus. What determines how, when and where a nucleosome will be positioned along the DNA sequence?
According to Dr. Eran Segal and research student Yair Field of the Computer Science and Applied Mathematics Department at Weizmann, the precise location of the nucleosomes along the DNA is known to play an important role in the cell's day to day function, since access to DNA wrapped in a nucleosome is blocked for many proteins, including those responsible for some of life's most basic processes.
Among these barred proteins are factors that initiate DNA replication, transcription (the transfer of genetic information from DNA to RNA) and DNA repair. Thus, the positioning of nucleosomes defines the segments in which these processes can and can't take place. These limitations are considerable: Most of the DNA is packaged into nucleosomes. A single nucleosome contains about 150 genetic bases (the 'letters' that make up a genetic sequence) while the free area between neighboring nucleosomes is only about 20 bases long. It is in these nucleosome-free regions that processes such as transcription can be initiated.
For many years, scientists have been unable to agree whether the placement of nucleosomes in live cells is controlled by the genetic sequence itself. Segal and his colleagues managed to prove that the DNA sequence indeed encodes 'zoning' information on where to place nucleosomes. They also characterized this code and then, using the DNA sequence alone, were able to accurately predict a large number of nucleosome positions in yeast cells.
Segal and his colleagues accomplished this by examining around 200 different nucleosome sites on the DNA and asking whether their sequences have something in common. Mathematical analysis revealed similarities between the nucleosome-bound sequences and eventually uncovered a specific 'code word.' This 'code word' consists of a periodic signal that appears every 10 bases on the sequence. The regular repetition of this signal helps the DNA segment to bend sharply into the spherical shape required to form a nucleosome. To identify this nucleosome positioning code, the research team used probabilistic models to characterize the sequences bound by nucleosomes, and they then developed a computer algorithm to predict the encoded organization of nucleosomes along an entire chromosome.
The nucleosomes frequently move around, letting the DNA float free when a gene has to be transcribed. Given this constant flux, Segal said he was surprised they could predict as many as half of the preferred nucleosome positions. But having broken the code, "We think that for the first time we have a real quantitative handle" on exploring how the nucleosomes and other proteins interact to control the DNA, he told The New York Times.
The other 50 percent of the positions may be determined by competition between the nucleosomes and other proteins, Segal suggested.
The discovery, if confirmed, could open new insights into the higher order control of the genes, like the critical but still mysterious process by which each type of human cell is allowed to activate the genes it needs but cannot access the genes used by other types of cell.
The team's findings provided insight into another mystery that has long been puzzling molecular biologists: How do cells direct transcription factors to their intended sites on the DNA, as opposed to the many similar, but functionally irrelevant sites along the genomic sequence?
The short binding sites themselves do not contain enough information for the transcription factors to discern between them. The scientists showed that basic information on the functional relevance of a binding site is at least partially encoded in the nucleosome positioning code: The intended sites are found in nucleosome-free segments, thereby allowing them to be accessed by the various transcription factors. In contrast, spurious binding sites with identical structures that could potentially sidetrack transcription factors are conveniently situated in segments that form nucleosomes, and are thus mostly inaccessible.
Since the proteins that form the core of the nucleosome are among the most evolutionarily conserved in nature, the scientists believe the genetic code they identified should also be conserved in many organisms, including humans. Several diseases, such as cancer, are typically accompanied or caused by mutations in the DNA and the way it organizes into chromosomes.
Such mutational processes may be influenced by the relative accessibility of the DNA to various proteins and by the organization of the DNA in the cell nucleus. Therefore, the scientists believe that the nucleosome positioning code they discovered may aid scientists in the future in understanding the mechanisms underlying many diseases.
Israel 21st Century
Thursday, July 27, 2006
The Time Shall Come By Jack Kinsella
"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Matthew 24:5-6)
The verses quoted above were part of Jesus' response to the question, "What will be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world?" (Matthew 24:3)
The Lord's reply to the question is known to Bible scholars as the "Olivet Discourse" because, 1) Jesus was standing 'upon the Mount of Olives' at the time, and; 2) His answer, which is contained in the three Synoptic Gospels, fills the entire chapter. It is one of the most lengthy teaching discourses in the New Testament.
The Olivet Discourse focuses its attention on events that take place DURING THE TRIBULATION, but begins by describing the events that conspire together to bring it about.
The period of wars and rumors of wars has been ongoing now since 1914 with the first truly global war in human history. It was followed by a second global war in 1939, whose conclusion brought about the ultimate 'rumor of war' between the West and the Soviet Empire.
There are two different entities under discussion, 'nations' and 'kingdoms'. The word 'nation' is translated from the Greek word 'ethnos' and describes an ethnic state, like Israel or one of the ethnic states of the Arab world. Or North Korea.
The world translated 'kingdom' 'basileia' means "royal power, kingship, dominion, rule" and it describes a national entity bound together by economic/social interests, rather than ethnic relationships.
America would fit the Biblical understanding of a 'kingdom' in the sense Americans are not bound together by blood or ethnicity, but rather by common social and economic benefits. The same could be applied to the member/states of the EU. Individually, some European countries might be ethnic in origin, but the Common Market exists for economic reasons.
The collapse of the Soviet Union uncorked a new round of ethnic unrest and international conflict, but, as Jesus was careful to note, "the end is not yet."
Ethnic or economic strife have been responsible for all the wars of modern times. The world wars were wars aimed at conquest for economic reasons. Hitler's Nazis sought both ethnic purity and "liebensraum"(living space) for Germany.
Japan's Imperial government set out to conquer Asia to ensure a steady supply of raw materials and to establish ethnic Japanese rule over Greater Asia.
Skeptics might argue that wars, ethnic unrest, even famines, earthquakes and pestilences, all have been part of the human condition since the Fall of Man at the Garden of Eden. (Or since the first amoeba turned into a person . . . for the skeptic who can't bring himself to believe in God, but finds no conflict of faith in a frog turning into a prince).
Note that Jesus said "all these are the beginning of sorrows." The word 'sorrow' first appears in Scripture in Genesis 3:16 when God tells Eve, "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children." "Sorrow" is translated from the Hebrew "itstsabown" and refers to labor pains.
The Greek word 'odin' translated as 'sorrows' in Matthew 24:8 also refers to labor pains.
Every parent who has ever lived could instantly grasp the meaning of this metaphor -- that is why Jesus chose it. As the birth of a child approaches, the mother begins to experience labor pains, which, having once begun, continue to increase in both frequency and intensity as the moment of birth approaches.
Prospective parents in Jesus' day did exactly what I did with each of my kids -- timed the interval between the contractions. It was a carefully chosen metaphor designed to resonate with all people, of all cultures, in all generations. But, to the generation to whom those signs were addressed, the meaning would be unmistakable.
When one compares the accuracy of the Bible's account of the unknowable future to the ever-changing scientific 'explanations' for the distant past, doubts melt away. The skeptic has multiple explanations for static events that have already happened.
The Bible gives a single explanation for a fluid, changeable series of events predicted to happen thousands of years in the future -- the events that define our present day. Which is more convincing?
Bible prophecy proves Jesus was the Son of God, regardless of the latest scientific, archeological or historical discovery. No matter what else might be offered as 'evidence' to the contrary, there is no other explanation for Bible prophecy. It is our generation's unique miracle.
It proves that He remains in charge of the affairs of men. Scripture records His Promise in all three Gospel accounts, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Matthew 24:35. Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33)
"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:" (2 Peter 1:19)
Bible prophecy is proof positive that God remains on the Throne, that His Word will NOT return to Him void, and that all the chaos and terror of the world notwithstanding, all continues to go according to His plan.
Given the unbeliever's explanation of uncontrolled chaos, Bible prophecy isn't all that depressing, after all. What WOULD be depressing would be to be among the lost, not knowing what this world is coming to, and believing the world is in a state of uncontrolled chaos.
For the believer, Bible prophecy can be pretty encouraging, which is what the Lord intended for the last days' Church all along:
"But these things have I told you, that WHEN THE TIME SHALL COME, ye may remember that I told you of them." (John 16:4)
Excerpted from the Omega Letter Daily Intelligence Digest, Volume 58, Issue 5 ~ July 27, 2006
The verses quoted above were part of Jesus' response to the question, "What will be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world?" (Matthew 24:3)
The Lord's reply to the question is known to Bible scholars as the "Olivet Discourse" because, 1) Jesus was standing 'upon the Mount of Olives' at the time, and; 2) His answer, which is contained in the three Synoptic Gospels, fills the entire chapter. It is one of the most lengthy teaching discourses in the New Testament.
The Olivet Discourse focuses its attention on events that take place DURING THE TRIBULATION, but begins by describing the events that conspire together to bring it about.
The period of wars and rumors of wars has been ongoing now since 1914 with the first truly global war in human history. It was followed by a second global war in 1939, whose conclusion brought about the ultimate 'rumor of war' between the West and the Soviet Empire.
There are two different entities under discussion, 'nations' and 'kingdoms'. The word 'nation' is translated from the Greek word 'ethnos' and describes an ethnic state, like Israel or one of the ethnic states of the Arab world. Or North Korea.
The world translated 'kingdom' 'basileia' means "royal power, kingship, dominion, rule" and it describes a national entity bound together by economic/social interests, rather than ethnic relationships.
America would fit the Biblical understanding of a 'kingdom' in the sense Americans are not bound together by blood or ethnicity, but rather by common social and economic benefits. The same could be applied to the member/states of the EU. Individually, some European countries might be ethnic in origin, but the Common Market exists for economic reasons.
The collapse of the Soviet Union uncorked a new round of ethnic unrest and international conflict, but, as Jesus was careful to note, "the end is not yet."
Ethnic or economic strife have been responsible for all the wars of modern times. The world wars were wars aimed at conquest for economic reasons. Hitler's Nazis sought both ethnic purity and "liebensraum"(living space) for Germany.
Japan's Imperial government set out to conquer Asia to ensure a steady supply of raw materials and to establish ethnic Japanese rule over Greater Asia.
Skeptics might argue that wars, ethnic unrest, even famines, earthquakes and pestilences, all have been part of the human condition since the Fall of Man at the Garden of Eden. (Or since the first amoeba turned into a person . . . for the skeptic who can't bring himself to believe in God, but finds no conflict of faith in a frog turning into a prince).
Note that Jesus said "all these are the beginning of sorrows." The word 'sorrow' first appears in Scripture in Genesis 3:16 when God tells Eve, "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children." "Sorrow" is translated from the Hebrew "itstsabown" and refers to labor pains.
The Greek word 'odin' translated as 'sorrows' in Matthew 24:8 also refers to labor pains.
Every parent who has ever lived could instantly grasp the meaning of this metaphor -- that is why Jesus chose it. As the birth of a child approaches, the mother begins to experience labor pains, which, having once begun, continue to increase in both frequency and intensity as the moment of birth approaches.
Prospective parents in Jesus' day did exactly what I did with each of my kids -- timed the interval between the contractions. It was a carefully chosen metaphor designed to resonate with all people, of all cultures, in all generations. But, to the generation to whom those signs were addressed, the meaning would be unmistakable.
When one compares the accuracy of the Bible's account of the unknowable future to the ever-changing scientific 'explanations' for the distant past, doubts melt away. The skeptic has multiple explanations for static events that have already happened.
The Bible gives a single explanation for a fluid, changeable series of events predicted to happen thousands of years in the future -- the events that define our present day. Which is more convincing?
Bible prophecy proves Jesus was the Son of God, regardless of the latest scientific, archeological or historical discovery. No matter what else might be offered as 'evidence' to the contrary, there is no other explanation for Bible prophecy. It is our generation's unique miracle.
It proves that He remains in charge of the affairs of men. Scripture records His Promise in all three Gospel accounts, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Matthew 24:35. Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33)
"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:" (2 Peter 1:19)
Bible prophecy is proof positive that God remains on the Throne, that His Word will NOT return to Him void, and that all the chaos and terror of the world notwithstanding, all continues to go according to His plan.
Given the unbeliever's explanation of uncontrolled chaos, Bible prophecy isn't all that depressing, after all. What WOULD be depressing would be to be among the lost, not knowing what this world is coming to, and believing the world is in a state of uncontrolled chaos.
For the believer, Bible prophecy can be pretty encouraging, which is what the Lord intended for the last days' Church all along:
"But these things have I told you, that WHEN THE TIME SHALL COME, ye may remember that I told you of them." (John 16:4)
Excerpted from the Omega Letter Daily Intelligence Digest, Volume 58, Issue 5 ~ July 27, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
DEBKAfile: Middle East War Rhetoric
Not surprisingly, the most extreme statement came from Iran: A Middle East storm is brewing and will strike violently, said the radical Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “The use of force in Lebanon could trigger a hurricane.”
He spoke after Riyadh released an official statement from King Abdullah asserting: “If the peace option fails because of Israeli arrogance, there will be no option but a war in the region.” The Saudi king was uncharacteristically unrestrained in his speech after seeing the US secretary come and go without allaying the Lebanese crisis.
At around the same time as the statement from Riyadh, huge explosions struck Hizballah targets in South Beirut for the first time since US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice landed in the Middle East for talks in Beirut, Jerusalem and Ramallah. Israeli positions along the Lebanese border also came under heavy Hizballah mortar fire on Tuesday afternoon, coinciding with an Israeli air bombardment of Hizballah rocket sites in Tyre. The IDF began closing some strategic roads to the Lebanese border to civilian traffic.
Hopes had been entertained In Cairo and Riyadh that the visiting US secretary would voice some sort of reproof for Israel’s extensive military action in Lebanon and apply the brakes in her private talks with Ehud Olmert. Instead, no sooner had she departed when Israeli defense minister Amir Peretz announced that Israel is clearing a security zone in South Lebanon that will remain under IDF fire control unless a multinational force assumes responsibility.
Given the enormous, time-consuming difficulties facing the assembly of such a force, his statement was taken as the first avowal of Israel’s intentions beyond the military operation. The term “security zone” was uttered for the first time since the Hizballah attack of July 12 sparked the current crisis.
Privately, the pro-Western rulers in Riyadh, Cairo and Amman were cheering Israel’s offensive in the hope of its crippling the extremist Shiite Hizballah and dealing Tehran its comeuppance. But Peretz’s statement gave Arab rulers the pretext for ignoring the fact that Israel was defending itself against attack and reviving their age-old accusations of Israeli ambitions to seize Arab lands with American support.
It was rumored in Cairo that Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak plans to visit Syrian president Bashar Asad in Damascus this week to discuss the Lebanese crisis.
July 25, 2006, 11:56 PM (GMT+02:00)
He spoke after Riyadh released an official statement from King Abdullah asserting: “If the peace option fails because of Israeli arrogance, there will be no option but a war in the region.” The Saudi king was uncharacteristically unrestrained in his speech after seeing the US secretary come and go without allaying the Lebanese crisis.
At around the same time as the statement from Riyadh, huge explosions struck Hizballah targets in South Beirut for the first time since US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice landed in the Middle East for talks in Beirut, Jerusalem and Ramallah. Israeli positions along the Lebanese border also came under heavy Hizballah mortar fire on Tuesday afternoon, coinciding with an Israeli air bombardment of Hizballah rocket sites in Tyre. The IDF began closing some strategic roads to the Lebanese border to civilian traffic.
Hopes had been entertained In Cairo and Riyadh that the visiting US secretary would voice some sort of reproof for Israel’s extensive military action in Lebanon and apply the brakes in her private talks with Ehud Olmert. Instead, no sooner had she departed when Israeli defense minister Amir Peretz announced that Israel is clearing a security zone in South Lebanon that will remain under IDF fire control unless a multinational force assumes responsibility.
Given the enormous, time-consuming difficulties facing the assembly of such a force, his statement was taken as the first avowal of Israel’s intentions beyond the military operation. The term “security zone” was uttered for the first time since the Hizballah attack of July 12 sparked the current crisis.
Privately, the pro-Western rulers in Riyadh, Cairo and Amman were cheering Israel’s offensive in the hope of its crippling the extremist Shiite Hizballah and dealing Tehran its comeuppance. But Peretz’s statement gave Arab rulers the pretext for ignoring the fact that Israel was defending itself against attack and reviving their age-old accusations of Israeli ambitions to seize Arab lands with American support.
It was rumored in Cairo that Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak plans to visit Syrian president Bashar Asad in Damascus this week to discuss the Lebanese crisis.
July 25, 2006, 11:56 PM (GMT+02:00)
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
U.N. Official Terms Hizbullah ´Cowardly´
European countries and foreign media, from the outset of Israel's retaliation to the Hizbullah terrorist war against Israel, have charged that the Jewish state has caused a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon.
However, Jan Egeland, head of the United Nationals humanitarian efforts, accused Hizbullah of "cowardly blending" among women and children." He said he heard that the terrorists were pleased that civilians suffered more than their own terrorists. "I don't think anyone should be proud of having many more children and women dead than armed men," he added.
Egeland did not spare criticism of Israel, which he said has killed innocent civilians in its attacks on Hizbullah strongholds. Visiting American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Monday night that it is important to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon. Israel already has opened up a corridor to help medical supplies and food enter the country."
Secretary Rice is scheduled to speak with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday.
The charges by the United Nations official that Hizbullah is violating the civil rights of Lebanese are an important turn in the war of public opinion and come only one day after a British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) reporter told listeners that he saw Hizbullah terrorists exploiting civilians.
Israel has launched an unprecedented campaign to explain to foreign media and to Jews in the Diaspora that Hizbullah executed acts of war against Israeli citizens that require a sovereign nation to defend itself.
Prime Minister Olmert told a visiting Jewish delegation Monday, "I don't recall such an event in which it was absolutely clear to [so many people] who were united in supporting the State of Israel and accepting the Israeli reaction as inevitable and totally natural...The attacks both in the south and the north were an outright violation of the basic fundamental right of the State of Israel...and it was an act of war.
"A nation that respects itself cannot afford to accept these...[terrorist] threats.... We will fight Hizbullah and we will not stop unless we will able to guarantee the security and safety of the State of Israel even if I have to fight a year or two years.
"We are going to kill them one by one.
07.25.2006
Arutz Sheva News Service - Jerusalem
However, Jan Egeland, head of the United Nationals humanitarian efforts, accused Hizbullah of "cowardly blending" among women and children." He said he heard that the terrorists were pleased that civilians suffered more than their own terrorists. "I don't think anyone should be proud of having many more children and women dead than armed men," he added.
Egeland did not spare criticism of Israel, which he said has killed innocent civilians in its attacks on Hizbullah strongholds. Visiting American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Monday night that it is important to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon. Israel already has opened up a corridor to help medical supplies and food enter the country."
Secretary Rice is scheduled to speak with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday.
The charges by the United Nations official that Hizbullah is violating the civil rights of Lebanese are an important turn in the war of public opinion and come only one day after a British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) reporter told listeners that he saw Hizbullah terrorists exploiting civilians.
Israel has launched an unprecedented campaign to explain to foreign media and to Jews in the Diaspora that Hizbullah executed acts of war against Israeli citizens that require a sovereign nation to defend itself.
Prime Minister Olmert told a visiting Jewish delegation Monday, "I don't recall such an event in which it was absolutely clear to [so many people] who were united in supporting the State of Israel and accepting the Israeli reaction as inevitable and totally natural...The attacks both in the south and the north were an outright violation of the basic fundamental right of the State of Israel...and it was an act of war.
"A nation that respects itself cannot afford to accept these...[terrorist] threats.... We will fight Hizbullah and we will not stop unless we will able to guarantee the security and safety of the State of Israel even if I have to fight a year or two years.
"We are going to kill them one by one.
07.25.2006
Arutz Sheva News Service - Jerusalem
Monday, July 24, 2006
Stand Up for Israel!
Around the world, Israel is drawing predictable but unwarranted criticism for defending itself against attacks from Islamic terrorist groups to its north and south. Pastor Rod Parsley and other Christian leaders were in Washington this week to speak out on behalf of Israel, and your help is especially needed to reinforce the message that our government must support our only sure ally in the Middle East.
To send an e-mail to your U.S. Senators and Member of Congress in support of Israel
Pastor Parsley recently presented the dynamic message “Iran & Israel: Impending Apocalypse,” a timely look at the Middle East from a biblical perspective. It’s now available to you for a gift of any size to CMC. To make an online donation to CMC and receive the DVD, click here. If you’d prefer to send a check, please download this printable response form.
Israel began attacks inside Lebanon July 12, targeting the power base of the radical Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah. The attacks respond to the capture of two Israeli servicemen that day near the border between the two countries.
Israel has imposed an air and sea blockade against Lebanon, forced the closure of the Beirut airport and bombed the main highway to Damascus, Syria. Lebanon has responded to Israel’s defensive measures Friday by firing at least 50 rockets into northern Israeli towns. On July 13, Hezbollah launched 120 rockets into Israel, mostly into towns in Galilee where Israelis typically vacation.
Israel has released three conditions for a cease-fire with Lebanon:
Hezbollah must release the soldiers it captured.
Lebanon must stop rocket fire.
The Lebanese government must decide to implement a United Nations Security Council Resolution that calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah.
The Lebanese government has disavowed the actions of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah was created with Iran’s help in 1982. It has attacked the U.S. embassy twice and in 1983 bombed a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 Marines. Now it has a member and supporter in Lebanon’s cabinet and a militia that effectively controls southern Lebanon.
In addition to defending itself at the north, Israel is continuing to defend itself against aggression in Gaza. The Israeli army is attempting to rescue Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, who was captured by Palestinian militants last month.
Shalit was seized as part of an attack on an Israeli army post just outside Gaza. It’s not known precisely where Shalit is being held. Three Palestinian militant factions have insisted that Israel begin to free about 1,500 prisoners, including women and youths, in exchange for Shalit. These factions are at odds even with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a member of Hamas, who has called on the factions to negotiate for Shalit’s release. The factions have warned that Israel will “bear full responsibility for future consequences” if their prisoner swap demands are not met.
Thankfully, President George W. Bush was quick to condemn Hezbollah’s attacks July 12, saying the attacks “threaten Lebanon’s security and are an affront to the sovereignty of the Lebanese government. Hezbollah’s actions are not in the interest of the Lebanese people, whose welfare should not be held hostage to the interests of the Syrian and Iranian regimes.”
Unfortunately, Israel’s defensive actions are being condemned by other world leaders. The European Union and the French government have released statements condemning Israel’s “disproportionate use of force.” On July 13, the United States used its veto power to block a U.N. Security Council resolution accusing Israel of using excessive force. UN Ambassador John Bolton said the resolution “places demands on one side in the Middle East conflict but not on the other.” Bolton also said Syria and Iran, which he called the main sponsors of Hezbollah, must be “held to account” for the kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers this week. “No reckoning with Hezbollah will be adequate without a reckoning” with those two countries, he added.
Pastor Rod Parsley joined other Christian leaders this week to advocate for Israel with Congressional leaders. More than 3,400 attended “A Night to Honor Israel” in the nation’s capital, and met with U.S. Senators and Representatives. You can help reinforce the message they sent to our nation’s leaders by contacting your Member of Congress and U.S. Senators about the need for America to stand with Israel while it is at war.
You can find contact information for your federal legislators here, and an e-mail you can send them is available here.
When you reach your leaders’ Washington offices, tell them:
As a member of the Center for Moral Clarity, you want them to support a resolution strongly backing Israel’s right to self-defense. Israel has the right and the duty to defend itself from attacks that represent clear acts of war.
You want them not to pressure Israel to restrain its attacks against these terrorists.
You do not want taxpayers’ money going to the Hamas-led Palestinian government until it recognizes Israel’s right to exist, completely disarms and stops all violence against Israel.
They should speak out against Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Iran will use those nuclear weapons against America and Israel.
https://thelamp.wordpress.com/2006/07/20/stand-up-for-israel-2/
To send an e-mail to your U.S. Senators and Member of Congress in support of Israel
Pastor Parsley recently presented the dynamic message “Iran & Israel: Impending Apocalypse,” a timely look at the Middle East from a biblical perspective. It’s now available to you for a gift of any size to CMC. To make an online donation to CMC and receive the DVD, click here. If you’d prefer to send a check, please download this printable response form.
Israel began attacks inside Lebanon July 12, targeting the power base of the radical Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah. The attacks respond to the capture of two Israeli servicemen that day near the border between the two countries.
Israel has imposed an air and sea blockade against Lebanon, forced the closure of the Beirut airport and bombed the main highway to Damascus, Syria. Lebanon has responded to Israel’s defensive measures Friday by firing at least 50 rockets into northern Israeli towns. On July 13, Hezbollah launched 120 rockets into Israel, mostly into towns in Galilee where Israelis typically vacation.
Israel has released three conditions for a cease-fire with Lebanon:
Hezbollah must release the soldiers it captured.
Lebanon must stop rocket fire.
The Lebanese government must decide to implement a United Nations Security Council Resolution that calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah.
The Lebanese government has disavowed the actions of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah was created with Iran’s help in 1982. It has attacked the U.S. embassy twice and in 1983 bombed a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 Marines. Now it has a member and supporter in Lebanon’s cabinet and a militia that effectively controls southern Lebanon.
In addition to defending itself at the north, Israel is continuing to defend itself against aggression in Gaza. The Israeli army is attempting to rescue Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, who was captured by Palestinian militants last month.
Shalit was seized as part of an attack on an Israeli army post just outside Gaza. It’s not known precisely where Shalit is being held. Three Palestinian militant factions have insisted that Israel begin to free about 1,500 prisoners, including women and youths, in exchange for Shalit. These factions are at odds even with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a member of Hamas, who has called on the factions to negotiate for Shalit’s release. The factions have warned that Israel will “bear full responsibility for future consequences” if their prisoner swap demands are not met.
Thankfully, President George W. Bush was quick to condemn Hezbollah’s attacks July 12, saying the attacks “threaten Lebanon’s security and are an affront to the sovereignty of the Lebanese government. Hezbollah’s actions are not in the interest of the Lebanese people, whose welfare should not be held hostage to the interests of the Syrian and Iranian regimes.”
Unfortunately, Israel’s defensive actions are being condemned by other world leaders. The European Union and the French government have released statements condemning Israel’s “disproportionate use of force.” On July 13, the United States used its veto power to block a U.N. Security Council resolution accusing Israel of using excessive force. UN Ambassador John Bolton said the resolution “places demands on one side in the Middle East conflict but not on the other.” Bolton also said Syria and Iran, which he called the main sponsors of Hezbollah, must be “held to account” for the kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers this week. “No reckoning with Hezbollah will be adequate without a reckoning” with those two countries, he added.
Pastor Rod Parsley joined other Christian leaders this week to advocate for Israel with Congressional leaders. More than 3,400 attended “A Night to Honor Israel” in the nation’s capital, and met with U.S. Senators and Representatives. You can help reinforce the message they sent to our nation’s leaders by contacting your Member of Congress and U.S. Senators about the need for America to stand with Israel while it is at war.
You can find contact information for your federal legislators here, and an e-mail you can send them is available here.
When you reach your leaders’ Washington offices, tell them:
As a member of the Center for Moral Clarity, you want them to support a resolution strongly backing Israel’s right to self-defense. Israel has the right and the duty to defend itself from attacks that represent clear acts of war.
You want them not to pressure Israel to restrain its attacks against these terrorists.
You do not want taxpayers’ money going to the Hamas-led Palestinian government until it recognizes Israel’s right to exist, completely disarms and stops all violence against Israel.
They should speak out against Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Iran will use those nuclear weapons against America and Israel.
https://thelamp.wordpress.com/2006/07/20/stand-up-for-israel-2/
Sunday, July 23, 2006
UNCOVERED: RUSSIAN-SYRIAN-IRANIAN AXIS
For students of Bible prophecy, even the title of this communiqué should set off alarm sirens. I just received some electrifying intelligence data. First, from the Debka-Net-Weekly’s briefing. And second, from some personal intelligence sources (I carefully guard) that confirm Debka’s report.
Russia, Iran and Syria have entered a defense pact that is in the process of altered the balance of power in the entire Middle East. Russia’s part in the pact has been kept relatively secret for a long time. But the facts reveal a long steady Russian commitment to the Iranian nuclear program and arms supply to Syria.
A Mossad General shared with me in confidence that he had personally traced the hiring and importation to Iran 283 of the defunct Soviet Union’s top nuclear and missile scientists. This was in took place in February of 1991.
I shared this information with no one until nine months later when it was first made public (although strangely not followed up by the mainstream media). All Russian leaders continued and expanded this agreement to this day, especially our supposed friend, Vladimir Putin.
Russia has helped the Iranian nuclear program from its inception. Hundreds of Russian scientists with their families live around the some twenty scattered nuclear related facilities. Russian ‘Spetznaz soldiers’ (special forces) guard all the key nuclear facilities.
Iran has had some help on missile development from the North Koreans. But even their missiles are based upon Russian designs. The unmistakable culprit in China, North Korea and Iran’s nuclear development has been the Soviet Union and continued by Russia.
The Soviet Union’s motivation for helping China and North Korea was primarily ideological. Russia’s primary reason is hard cash, although now, it is taking on a strategic importance as well.
So here are the disturbing hard facts about what is taking place in what can only be viewed as a dangerous anti-western strategy in the form of a Russian-Syrian-Iranian Axis.
The first part of this strategy was, as I said above, Russia enabling Iran to produce deliverable nuclear warheads.
The second part was the forming of the recent mutual defense pact between Iran and Syria. The foreign ministers of Iran and Syria, Mostafa Najjar and Hassan Turkmani, signed the pact in Tehran on June 15th, 2006.
Debka’s intelligence sources unveiled a disturbing clause in the agreement that was reported to President Bush by US Intelligence. This report disclosed:
“The clause speaks of more than one battery of upgraded SHEHAB-3 surface-to-surface missiles to be deployed on the 13,000-foot Jabal Ash Shanin ridges towering over central Syria. “The latest Syrian-Iranian exchanges are reported by DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s intelligence sources as auguring the early dispatch from Tehran of a deputation of officers to take up position at al Qadnus, east of the Syrian port of Tartus, and along the road linking the port to Jabal Ash Shanin.
“This team will act as the vanguard of the Iranian missile force to operate the missiles station, will check out the ground and fix its precise location.
“Senior intelligence officials warned the US President that this deployment would not just throw the entire Middle East balance of strength out of kilter, but directly menace American bases as far as West and East Europe and the Central Asian republics, including those located on the shores of the oil-rich Caspian Sea.”
This puts virtually all of Europe within range of the soon-coming nuclear tipped Iranian missiles — and at the whim of Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Remember him? He is the one who believes Allah has chosen him to fulfill an “end time” Muslim prophecy by starting a world apocalypse in which the long-awaited ‘Mahdi’ (Muslim Messiah) will appear and subject all survivors to Allah.
As if this isn’t bad enough news, there is something even more alarming developing within this new axis of evil.
Russia is now making moves to protect Syria and its Shehab-3 missile base. This is what DEBKA-News-Weekly reported:
“Our sources have observed the Russians dredging the port of TARTUS, Syria’s second most important Mediterranean port, with a view to expanding their logistical supply point there to a fully-equipped naval base, possibly to serve the Black Sea Fleet warships when they are redeployed from the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol. It is designed to be built up into the permanent base for the fleet led by the RFS Moskva (TG Flag) missile cruiser and the RFS Azov landing ship within the next three years.
“February 27, 2006, DEBKAfile’s exclusive sources found the MOSKVA and AZOV heading into the Mediterranean on Feb. 5, escorted by a Russian military tug, to take part in the a NATO marine exercise Operation Active Endeavor, which was to practice counter-measures against nuclear and other WMD smugglers. NATO chiefs, and American generals in particular, attached great importance to Russia’s participation in the exercise. NATO secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer had intended to make the gesture of being the North Atlantic Organization chief to visit a Russian flagship.
“The visit was cancelled when it was discovered that the three Russian fleet vessels would be paying an official call at the Syrian port of Latakia. “The arrival of the Russian task force in TARTUS in March marked the opening of the Russian base. Our military experts note that the Missile Cruiser MOSKVA is armed with the weapons, radar and electronic gear of an [aircraft] carrier hunter.
“The American intelligence briefing for the US President further disclosed that sophisticated Russian air defense systems are to be installed for the dual purpose of protecting the TARTUS NAVAL BASE and the SHEHAB-3 missile emplacements. DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s military sources identify the system as the S-300PMU-2. It will be operated by Russian military crews and not put in Syrian hands.
“This air defense system is comparable to the American Patriot, but is more effective. “The version to be deployed in Syria is geared to intercept ballistic missiles. It has the great advantage of being ready to fire five minutes after receiving orders …”
This explains why Iran has blatantly defied the world and continued developing nuclear warheads, which are closer to becoming operational than we dare believe.
Second, it explains the reason why the Iranian and Syrian defense ministers signed a mutual defense pact last June 15th.
Third, it gives the reason for Hezbollah launching a war with Israel when they did. It was to divert the G-8 leaders from seriously debating action about the Iranian nuclear threat. And Vladimir Putin played a masterful game of concealing what his forces are doing.
Fourth, it explains why Syria and Iran are unafraid to openly support Hezbollah in their war with Israel and support terrorist who target US troops in Iraq. Russia is in the background guaranteeing their protection.
Debka reports that they found data indicating that Russia helped persuade Syrian President Bashir Assad to accept the placement of Iranian missiles on their soil by hinting that “it is part of their own deepening strategic plans Syria.
What is most important is that all this is setting up Ezekiel’s 2600-year-old prophecy in Ezekiel chapter 38. Persia, or modern Iran, is listed a chief among the Muslim nations Russia will lead into an all-out assault against Israel. This is predicted to be the first battle of the war of Armageddon.
The one nation that does not seem to be listed is Syria. I believe this is because as a result of actions it is now taking against Israel, Isaiah’s prophecy about Damascus in the last days is going to be soon fulfilled.
Seven hundred and fifty years ago, Isaiah warned, “An oracle concerning Damascus: "See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins … In that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his body will waste away.” (Isaiah 17:1, 4 NIV)
To establish the time of this event, look at these factors. First, Damascus is one of the oldest continuously populated cities on earth. It has never been totally destroyed – yet. Second, it is in a context of events that lead up to the catastrophes that precede the Lord Jesus’ Second Coming. Third, it is far enough away from that event that Jacob (Israel) is enduring terrible circumstances. Fourth, Syria and the tribal name of its forefathers are not mentioned in the Russian led Muslim Confederacy that launches Armageddon in the middle of the Tribulation.
All of this leads me to believe that Damascus will be destroyed before the Tribulation begins. I believe that Damascus is about to so threaten Israel’s existence by either launching or furnishing bio-chemical weapons or radioactive dirty bombs, that Israel will nuke them. Israel has sworn that it will implement the Samson-Option against any nation that attacks them with any form of weapons of mass destruction. That means a thermonuclear strike. This may soon happen to Syria.
This in turn will so terrify the world, that it will be ripe to embrace the antichrist when he is unveiled. And that could be very, very soon.
Thank God that you have received the gift of pardon that Jesus purchased by dying in your place under the judgment for your sins. You will be miraculously snatched up to heaven to meet Him before the antichrist is revealed.
But if you haven’t received this free gift of pardon and accepted Jesus into your life, now is the time. Don’t put it off. It is like playing Russian roulette with eternity. Pray right now and receive your forgiveness. Ask Jesus Christ to come into your life and make it what He wants it to be. He will give you new desires, new joy and purpose for living. Do it now.
If you haven’t.
By Hal Lindsey
Russia, Iran and Syria have entered a defense pact that is in the process of altered the balance of power in the entire Middle East. Russia’s part in the pact has been kept relatively secret for a long time. But the facts reveal a long steady Russian commitment to the Iranian nuclear program and arms supply to Syria.
A Mossad General shared with me in confidence that he had personally traced the hiring and importation to Iran 283 of the defunct Soviet Union’s top nuclear and missile scientists. This was in took place in February of 1991.
I shared this information with no one until nine months later when it was first made public (although strangely not followed up by the mainstream media). All Russian leaders continued and expanded this agreement to this day, especially our supposed friend, Vladimir Putin.
Russia has helped the Iranian nuclear program from its inception. Hundreds of Russian scientists with their families live around the some twenty scattered nuclear related facilities. Russian ‘Spetznaz soldiers’ (special forces) guard all the key nuclear facilities.
Iran has had some help on missile development from the North Koreans. But even their missiles are based upon Russian designs. The unmistakable culprit in China, North Korea and Iran’s nuclear development has been the Soviet Union and continued by Russia.
The Soviet Union’s motivation for helping China and North Korea was primarily ideological. Russia’s primary reason is hard cash, although now, it is taking on a strategic importance as well.
So here are the disturbing hard facts about what is taking place in what can only be viewed as a dangerous anti-western strategy in the form of a Russian-Syrian-Iranian Axis.
The first part of this strategy was, as I said above, Russia enabling Iran to produce deliverable nuclear warheads.
The second part was the forming of the recent mutual defense pact between Iran and Syria. The foreign ministers of Iran and Syria, Mostafa Najjar and Hassan Turkmani, signed the pact in Tehran on June 15th, 2006.
Debka’s intelligence sources unveiled a disturbing clause in the agreement that was reported to President Bush by US Intelligence. This report disclosed:
“The clause speaks of more than one battery of upgraded SHEHAB-3 surface-to-surface missiles to be deployed on the 13,000-foot Jabal Ash Shanin ridges towering over central Syria. “The latest Syrian-Iranian exchanges are reported by DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s intelligence sources as auguring the early dispatch from Tehran of a deputation of officers to take up position at al Qadnus, east of the Syrian port of Tartus, and along the road linking the port to Jabal Ash Shanin.
“This team will act as the vanguard of the Iranian missile force to operate the missiles station, will check out the ground and fix its precise location.
“Senior intelligence officials warned the US President that this deployment would not just throw the entire Middle East balance of strength out of kilter, but directly menace American bases as far as West and East Europe and the Central Asian republics, including those located on the shores of the oil-rich Caspian Sea.”
This puts virtually all of Europe within range of the soon-coming nuclear tipped Iranian missiles — and at the whim of Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Remember him? He is the one who believes Allah has chosen him to fulfill an “end time” Muslim prophecy by starting a world apocalypse in which the long-awaited ‘Mahdi’ (Muslim Messiah) will appear and subject all survivors to Allah.
As if this isn’t bad enough news, there is something even more alarming developing within this new axis of evil.
Russia is now making moves to protect Syria and its Shehab-3 missile base. This is what DEBKA-News-Weekly reported:
“Our sources have observed the Russians dredging the port of TARTUS, Syria’s second most important Mediterranean port, with a view to expanding their logistical supply point there to a fully-equipped naval base, possibly to serve the Black Sea Fleet warships when they are redeployed from the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol. It is designed to be built up into the permanent base for the fleet led by the RFS Moskva (TG Flag) missile cruiser and the RFS Azov landing ship within the next three years.
“February 27, 2006, DEBKAfile’s exclusive sources found the MOSKVA and AZOV heading into the Mediterranean on Feb. 5, escorted by a Russian military tug, to take part in the a NATO marine exercise Operation Active Endeavor, which was to practice counter-measures against nuclear and other WMD smugglers. NATO chiefs, and American generals in particular, attached great importance to Russia’s participation in the exercise. NATO secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer had intended to make the gesture of being the North Atlantic Organization chief to visit a Russian flagship.
“The visit was cancelled when it was discovered that the three Russian fleet vessels would be paying an official call at the Syrian port of Latakia. “The arrival of the Russian task force in TARTUS in March marked the opening of the Russian base. Our military experts note that the Missile Cruiser MOSKVA is armed with the weapons, radar and electronic gear of an [aircraft] carrier hunter.
“The American intelligence briefing for the US President further disclosed that sophisticated Russian air defense systems are to be installed for the dual purpose of protecting the TARTUS NAVAL BASE and the SHEHAB-3 missile emplacements. DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s military sources identify the system as the S-300PMU-2. It will be operated by Russian military crews and not put in Syrian hands.
“This air defense system is comparable to the American Patriot, but is more effective. “The version to be deployed in Syria is geared to intercept ballistic missiles. It has the great advantage of being ready to fire five minutes after receiving orders …”
This explains why Iran has blatantly defied the world and continued developing nuclear warheads, which are closer to becoming operational than we dare believe.
Second, it explains the reason why the Iranian and Syrian defense ministers signed a mutual defense pact last June 15th.
Third, it gives the reason for Hezbollah launching a war with Israel when they did. It was to divert the G-8 leaders from seriously debating action about the Iranian nuclear threat. And Vladimir Putin played a masterful game of concealing what his forces are doing.
Fourth, it explains why Syria and Iran are unafraid to openly support Hezbollah in their war with Israel and support terrorist who target US troops in Iraq. Russia is in the background guaranteeing their protection.
Debka reports that they found data indicating that Russia helped persuade Syrian President Bashir Assad to accept the placement of Iranian missiles on their soil by hinting that “it is part of their own deepening strategic plans Syria.
What is most important is that all this is setting up Ezekiel’s 2600-year-old prophecy in Ezekiel chapter 38. Persia, or modern Iran, is listed a chief among the Muslim nations Russia will lead into an all-out assault against Israel. This is predicted to be the first battle of the war of Armageddon.
The one nation that does not seem to be listed is Syria. I believe this is because as a result of actions it is now taking against Israel, Isaiah’s prophecy about Damascus in the last days is going to be soon fulfilled.
Seven hundred and fifty years ago, Isaiah warned, “An oracle concerning Damascus: "See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins … In that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his body will waste away.” (Isaiah 17:1, 4 NIV)
To establish the time of this event, look at these factors. First, Damascus is one of the oldest continuously populated cities on earth. It has never been totally destroyed – yet. Second, it is in a context of events that lead up to the catastrophes that precede the Lord Jesus’ Second Coming. Third, it is far enough away from that event that Jacob (Israel) is enduring terrible circumstances. Fourth, Syria and the tribal name of its forefathers are not mentioned in the Russian led Muslim Confederacy that launches Armageddon in the middle of the Tribulation.
All of this leads me to believe that Damascus will be destroyed before the Tribulation begins. I believe that Damascus is about to so threaten Israel’s existence by either launching or furnishing bio-chemical weapons or radioactive dirty bombs, that Israel will nuke them. Israel has sworn that it will implement the Samson-Option against any nation that attacks them with any form of weapons of mass destruction. That means a thermonuclear strike. This may soon happen to Syria.
This in turn will so terrify the world, that it will be ripe to embrace the antichrist when he is unveiled. And that could be very, very soon.
Thank God that you have received the gift of pardon that Jesus purchased by dying in your place under the judgment for your sins. You will be miraculously snatched up to heaven to meet Him before the antichrist is revealed.
But if you haven’t received this free gift of pardon and accepted Jesus into your life, now is the time. Don’t put it off. It is like playing Russian roulette with eternity. Pray right now and receive your forgiveness. Ask Jesus Christ to come into your life and make it what He wants it to be. He will give you new desires, new joy and purpose for living. Do it now.
If you haven’t.
By Hal Lindsey
Saturday, July 22, 2006
The Arithmetic of Pain
There is no democracy in the world that should tolerate missiles being fired at its cities without taking every reasonable step to stop the attacks. The big question raised by Israel's military actions in Lebanon is what is "reasonable." The answer, according to the laws of war, is that it is reasonable to attack military targets, so long as every effort is made to reduce civilian casualties. If the objectives cannot be achieved without some civilian casualties, these must be "proportional" to the civilian casualties that would be prevented by the military action.
This is all well and good for democratic nations that deliberately locate their military bases away from civilian population centers. Israel has its air force, nuclear facilities and large army bases in locations as remote as anything can be in that country. It is possible for an enemy to attack Israeli military targets without inflicting "collateral damage" on its civilian population.
Hezbollah and Hamas, by contrast, deliberately operate military wings out of densely populated areas. They launch antipersonnel missiles with ball-bearing shrapnel, designed by Syria and Iran to maximize civilian casualties, and then hide from retaliation by living among civilians.
If Israel decides not to go after them for fear of harming civilians, the terrorists win by continuing to have free rein in attacking civilians with rockets. If Israel does attack, and causes civilian casualties, the terrorists win a propaganda victory:
The international community continues to pounce on Israel for its "disproportionate" response. This chorus of condemnation actually encourages the terrorists to operate from civilian areas.
While Israel does everything reasonable to minimize civilian casualties - not always with success - Hezbollah and Hamas want to maximize civilian casualties on both sides. Islamic terrorists, a diplomat commented years ago, "have mastered the harsh arithmetic of pain. . . . Palestinian casualties play in their favor and Israeli casualties play in their favor."
These are groups that send children to die as suicide bombers, sometimes without the child knowing that he is being sacrificed. Two years ago, an 11-year-old was paid to take a parcel through Israeli security. Unbeknownst to him, it contained a bomb that was to be detonated remotely. (Fortunately the plot was foiled.)
This misuse of civilians as shields and swords requires a clear reassessment of the laws of war. The distinction between the combatants and civilians - easy when combatants were uniformed members of armies that fought on battlefields distant from civilian centers - is more difficult in the present context.
Now, there is a continuum of "civilianality": Near the most civilian end of this continuum are the pure innocents - babies, hostages and others completely uninvolved; at the more combatant end are civilians who willingly harbor terrorists, provide material resources and serve as human shields; in the middle are those who support the terrorists politically, or spiritually.
The laws of war and the rules of morality must adapt to these realities. An analogy to domestic criminal law is instructive: A bank robber who takes a teller hostage and fires at police from behind his human shield is guilty of murder if they, in an effort to stop the robber from shooting, accidentally kill the hostage. The same should be true of terrorists who use civilians as shields from behind whom they fire their rockets. The terrorists must be held legally and morally responsible for the deaths of the civilians, even if the direct physical cause was an Israeli rocket aimed at those targeting Israeli citizens.
Israel must be allowed to finish the fight that Hamas and Hezbollah started, even if that means civilian casualties in Gaza and Lebanon. A democracy is entitled to prefer the lives of its own innocents over the lives of the civilians of an aggressor, especially if the latter group contains many who are complicit in terrorism. Israel will - and should - take every precaution to minimize civilian casualties on the other side.
On July 16, Hasan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, announced there will be new "surprises," and the Aska Martyrs Brigade said that it had developed chemical and biological weapons that could be added to its rockets. Should Israel not be allowed to pre-empt their use?
Israel left Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza in 2005. These are not "occupied" territories. Yet they serve as launching pads for attacks on Israeli civilians. Occupation does not cause terrorism, then, but terrorism seems to cause occupation. If Israel is not to reoccupy to prevent terrorism, the Lebanese government and the Palestinian Authority must ensure that these regions cease to be terrorist safe havens.
Gamla - Jerusalem Israel
07.22.2006
This is all well and good for democratic nations that deliberately locate their military bases away from civilian population centers. Israel has its air force, nuclear facilities and large army bases in locations as remote as anything can be in that country. It is possible for an enemy to attack Israeli military targets without inflicting "collateral damage" on its civilian population.
Hezbollah and Hamas, by contrast, deliberately operate military wings out of densely populated areas. They launch antipersonnel missiles with ball-bearing shrapnel, designed by Syria and Iran to maximize civilian casualties, and then hide from retaliation by living among civilians.
If Israel decides not to go after them for fear of harming civilians, the terrorists win by continuing to have free rein in attacking civilians with rockets. If Israel does attack, and causes civilian casualties, the terrorists win a propaganda victory:
The international community continues to pounce on Israel for its "disproportionate" response. This chorus of condemnation actually encourages the terrorists to operate from civilian areas.
While Israel does everything reasonable to minimize civilian casualties - not always with success - Hezbollah and Hamas want to maximize civilian casualties on both sides. Islamic terrorists, a diplomat commented years ago, "have mastered the harsh arithmetic of pain. . . . Palestinian casualties play in their favor and Israeli casualties play in their favor."
These are groups that send children to die as suicide bombers, sometimes without the child knowing that he is being sacrificed. Two years ago, an 11-year-old was paid to take a parcel through Israeli security. Unbeknownst to him, it contained a bomb that was to be detonated remotely. (Fortunately the plot was foiled.)
This misuse of civilians as shields and swords requires a clear reassessment of the laws of war. The distinction between the combatants and civilians - easy when combatants were uniformed members of armies that fought on battlefields distant from civilian centers - is more difficult in the present context.
Now, there is a continuum of "civilianality": Near the most civilian end of this continuum are the pure innocents - babies, hostages and others completely uninvolved; at the more combatant end are civilians who willingly harbor terrorists, provide material resources and serve as human shields; in the middle are those who support the terrorists politically, or spiritually.
The laws of war and the rules of morality must adapt to these realities. An analogy to domestic criminal law is instructive: A bank robber who takes a teller hostage and fires at police from behind his human shield is guilty of murder if they, in an effort to stop the robber from shooting, accidentally kill the hostage. The same should be true of terrorists who use civilians as shields from behind whom they fire their rockets. The terrorists must be held legally and morally responsible for the deaths of the civilians, even if the direct physical cause was an Israeli rocket aimed at those targeting Israeli citizens.
Israel must be allowed to finish the fight that Hamas and Hezbollah started, even if that means civilian casualties in Gaza and Lebanon. A democracy is entitled to prefer the lives of its own innocents over the lives of the civilians of an aggressor, especially if the latter group contains many who are complicit in terrorism. Israel will - and should - take every precaution to minimize civilian casualties on the other side.
On July 16, Hasan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, announced there will be new "surprises," and the Aska Martyrs Brigade said that it had developed chemical and biological weapons that could be added to its rockets. Should Israel not be allowed to pre-empt their use?
Israel left Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza in 2005. These are not "occupied" territories. Yet they serve as launching pads for attacks on Israeli civilians. Occupation does not cause terrorism, then, but terrorism seems to cause occupation. If Israel is not to reoccupy to prevent terrorism, the Lebanese government and the Palestinian Authority must ensure that these regions cease to be terrorist safe havens.
Gamla - Jerusalem Israel
07.22.2006
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Neither Jew Nor Gentile - By Jack Kinsella
According to Scripture, there are four classes of created rational beings in the universe, namely, angels, Gentiles, Jews and Christians. That fact is critical to rightly dividing the word of truth. Each is a different spiritual being, each has a different origin, present estate and a unique destiny.
Angels are the first of the created, rational beings.
"Praise ye Him, all His angels: praise ye Him, all His hosts. . . Let them praise the name of the LORD: for He commanded, and they were created." (Psalms 148:2,5)
The Bible teaches that their home is in heaven (Matthew 24:L36), their activity is both on earth and in heaven (Psalms 103:20, Luke 15:10, Hebrews 1:14) and their destiny is the Eternal City of Revelation 21:12.
"But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. . ." (Hebrews 12:22)
Angels are unique creations of God, not to be confused with any other of God's created beings. Even though some fall, as was the case with Satan, the fallen angels remain angels throughout their existence. Their numbers are constant; they neither propagate nor die.
The second class of created beings are the Gentiles. The Gentiles trace their origin to Adam. They are partakers in the fall of man, but Scripture says that some of them will share, as a subordinate people, with Israel during the Millennial Kingdom. (Isaiah 2:4, 60:3,5,12, 62:2, and Acts 15:17)
As to their estate, from Adam until Christ, the Gentiles "without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." (Ephesians 2:12).
Since the Resurrection, the door of Gospel privilege has been opened to the Gentiles, and out of both Gentiles and Jews of this age, God is calling an elect company.
"Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as He did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." (Acts 11:17-18)
The period of time bounded by the Babylonian captivity through to the end of the Church Age is called by Scripture "the times of the Gentiles." (Luke 21:24)
The third class of created beings are the Jews. By the calling of Abraham, and all that God accomplished through him, a new race of beings was begun that, under unalterable Divine covenant and promise, continues forever.
So different is this race of created beings that some five-sixths of Scripture bears directly or indirectly on the Jews. The destiny of the Jews is traceable through the Millennial Kingdom and into the new heaven and earth which follows.
In this present Church Age, all Divine progress in the national and earthly program for Israel is on hold; individual Jews have the same privilege as the individual Gentiles of personal faith in Christ as Savior. But Scripture is clear that, when the present age concludes, God will again turn His attention to the national redemption of Israel.
The fourth class of created beings are the Christians. Christians are those called out of both Jew and Gentile, and are formed by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit.
"For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him." (Romans 10:12)
Christians are neither Gentile nor Jew, but a new spiritual creation in Christ.
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2nd Corinthians 5:17)
"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." (Galatians 6:15)
The Christian, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, is a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20), having been raised WITH Christ (Colossians 3:1-3) and are so different than any other created rational being that, of the Christian, Jesus says, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." (John 15:19, 17:14,16)
Note carefully that the spiritual rebirth and heavenly position [in Christ] are by faith alone. By definition, human operation is excluded. The only responsibility imposed on the human side of the equation is trusting in the only One Who can save.
The Scriptures which direct a Christian in his walk with the Lord are adapted to the fact that the Christian is no longer striving to secure a standing before God, but is already 'accepted in the beloved'.
"To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1:6)
Christians, by their existence, have already attained every spiritual blessing; "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ . ." (Ephesians 1:3)
Obviously, no human effort can bring a person to fulfill God's standard of sinless perfection. God, anticipating the believer's inability to walk worthy of his high calling, freely bestows His empowering Spirit to indwell each believer.
Scripture also promises that when their elect number is complete, as unique citizens of heaven, they will be removed from the earth at the Rapture. The bodies of believers who have died will be raised and living saints will be translated. (1st Corinthians 15:20-57, 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18)
At the Bema Seat in glory, believers will be judged as to their rewards for service. (1st Corinthians 3:9-15, 9:18-27, 2nd Corinthians 5:10,11), the Body of Christ will be wed to the Bridegroom, (Revelation 19:7-9) and return WITH Him to share as His consort during the Millennial Reign.
This new creation, like angels, Gentiles and Jews, can be traced into eternity future, but they are unique from the rest. They possess no land, no house, no earthly capital or city, no earthly kingdom and no earthly king.
Scripture promises that the Jews will inherit the earth. The Gentiles will inhabit it with them as a subordinate people. But the Church does not share in that inheritance.
"And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together." (Romans 8:17)
The Jews and Gentiles inherit the earth. Church Age believers inherit the universe!
The Age of Grace concludes at the Rapture. The Tribulation Period is the final seven years of the Age of Law, under which God will judge a Christ-rejecting world. During this period, some Gentiles will become believers, but, unlike during this present age, they are not indwelt by the Holy Spirit, Whose earthly ministry concludes at the Rapture.
During the Church Age, believers are promised to 'resist the devil and he will flee from you,' because 'greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world. (James 4:7, 1st John 4:4)
But during the Tribulation, "it was given unto him [antichrist] to make war with the saints, and to overcome them." (Revelation 13:7) Those who enter the beast's worship system, believers or not, and accept his mark are forever lost.
As you can see from the revealed Word, there is no place for the Church during Daniel's 70th week. The Church is excluded from the judgments pronounced against a Christ-rejecting world, and the Church plays no role in the national redemption of Israel.
Since the Church Age is characterized by the promise that, "He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever" (John 14:6) while, during the time of Jacob's Trouble, the Holy Spirit's role is limited to 'sealing' the 144,000 Jewish evangelists of Revelation 7:3-8, the Church's presence on earth during the Tribulation has no place in the plan of God.
Since, by definition, Church Age believers are NOT Christ-rejecting and are NOT part of God's plan for the national redemption of Israel, the only role the Church could play during the Tribulation would be to face the judgments of God, bereft of the indwelling Holy Spirit, comfortless, and with no earthly destiny or purpose apart from becoming the antichrist's cannon fodder.
Consider it this way. For the last two thousand years, Church Age believers have enjoyed fellowship with God, thanks to the imputed righteousness of Christ and empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Jesus promised He would not leave us comfortless, and that the Holy Spirit will abide with us forever.
But, in the final hours of human history, when man's corruption has reached its peak and God pours out His judgment against them for their unrepentant sin, ("Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts," - Revelation 9:21), some would argue that those living in those days will be stripped of their indwelling Spirit, God breaks fellowship with them, leaving them to face the worst period of spiritual trial in the history of creation alone.
For that to be true, of all the generations of believers from the Apostle Paul until the revelation of 'that Wicked' -- the believers of the last days are the only ones to whom the promise, "I will not leave you comfortless" is meaningless.
The new spiritual creation must then, by definition, revert back to its old form of either Jew or Gentile, and share in the judgments being poured out upon them. The new creature, indwelt by the Holy Spirit and spiritually empowered to resist the devil, with the promise that 'he will flee from you' -- will find that is no longer true. How else could they be 'overcome' by him as Revelation 13:7 says the Tribulation saints will be?
It is not POSSIBLE for Church Age believers to play a role in the Tribulation, other than as recipients of God's justice for sin, although believers, by definition, have already been judged and found righteous at the Cross.
Consider the Promises of Jesus, given the Church, in the context of the Tribulation Period.
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:26-27)
"Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. . . " unless you are among those believers of the last generation. If the destiny of the Church is to partake in God's judgment against the world, then my heart should be troubled indeed, and I should be very, very afraid.
His peace was for all the generations that went before. But not for mine?
The Scriptures say otherwise.
Angels are the first of the created, rational beings.
"Praise ye Him, all His angels: praise ye Him, all His hosts. . . Let them praise the name of the LORD: for He commanded, and they were created." (Psalms 148:2,5)
The Bible teaches that their home is in heaven (Matthew 24:L36), their activity is both on earth and in heaven (Psalms 103:20, Luke 15:10, Hebrews 1:14) and their destiny is the Eternal City of Revelation 21:12.
"But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. . ." (Hebrews 12:22)
Angels are unique creations of God, not to be confused with any other of God's created beings. Even though some fall, as was the case with Satan, the fallen angels remain angels throughout their existence. Their numbers are constant; they neither propagate nor die.
The second class of created beings are the Gentiles. The Gentiles trace their origin to Adam. They are partakers in the fall of man, but Scripture says that some of them will share, as a subordinate people, with Israel during the Millennial Kingdom. (Isaiah 2:4, 60:3,5,12, 62:2, and Acts 15:17)
As to their estate, from Adam until Christ, the Gentiles "without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." (Ephesians 2:12).
Since the Resurrection, the door of Gospel privilege has been opened to the Gentiles, and out of both Gentiles and Jews of this age, God is calling an elect company.
"Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as He did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." (Acts 11:17-18)
The period of time bounded by the Babylonian captivity through to the end of the Church Age is called by Scripture "the times of the Gentiles." (Luke 21:24)
The third class of created beings are the Jews. By the calling of Abraham, and all that God accomplished through him, a new race of beings was begun that, under unalterable Divine covenant and promise, continues forever.
So different is this race of created beings that some five-sixths of Scripture bears directly or indirectly on the Jews. The destiny of the Jews is traceable through the Millennial Kingdom and into the new heaven and earth which follows.
In this present Church Age, all Divine progress in the national and earthly program for Israel is on hold; individual Jews have the same privilege as the individual Gentiles of personal faith in Christ as Savior. But Scripture is clear that, when the present age concludes, God will again turn His attention to the national redemption of Israel.
The fourth class of created beings are the Christians. Christians are those called out of both Jew and Gentile, and are formed by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit.
"For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him." (Romans 10:12)
Christians are neither Gentile nor Jew, but a new spiritual creation in Christ.
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2nd Corinthians 5:17)
"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." (Galatians 6:15)
The Christian, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, is a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20), having been raised WITH Christ (Colossians 3:1-3) and are so different than any other created rational being that, of the Christian, Jesus says, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." (John 15:19, 17:14,16)
Note carefully that the spiritual rebirth and heavenly position [in Christ] are by faith alone. By definition, human operation is excluded. The only responsibility imposed on the human side of the equation is trusting in the only One Who can save.
The Scriptures which direct a Christian in his walk with the Lord are adapted to the fact that the Christian is no longer striving to secure a standing before God, but is already 'accepted in the beloved'.
"To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1:6)
Christians, by their existence, have already attained every spiritual blessing; "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ . ." (Ephesians 1:3)
Obviously, no human effort can bring a person to fulfill God's standard of sinless perfection. God, anticipating the believer's inability to walk worthy of his high calling, freely bestows His empowering Spirit to indwell each believer.
Scripture also promises that when their elect number is complete, as unique citizens of heaven, they will be removed from the earth at the Rapture. The bodies of believers who have died will be raised and living saints will be translated. (1st Corinthians 15:20-57, 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18)
At the Bema Seat in glory, believers will be judged as to their rewards for service. (1st Corinthians 3:9-15, 9:18-27, 2nd Corinthians 5:10,11), the Body of Christ will be wed to the Bridegroom, (Revelation 19:7-9) and return WITH Him to share as His consort during the Millennial Reign.
This new creation, like angels, Gentiles and Jews, can be traced into eternity future, but they are unique from the rest. They possess no land, no house, no earthly capital or city, no earthly kingdom and no earthly king.
Scripture promises that the Jews will inherit the earth. The Gentiles will inhabit it with them as a subordinate people. But the Church does not share in that inheritance.
"And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together." (Romans 8:17)
The Jews and Gentiles inherit the earth. Church Age believers inherit the universe!
The Age of Grace concludes at the Rapture. The Tribulation Period is the final seven years of the Age of Law, under which God will judge a Christ-rejecting world. During this period, some Gentiles will become believers, but, unlike during this present age, they are not indwelt by the Holy Spirit, Whose earthly ministry concludes at the Rapture.
During the Church Age, believers are promised to 'resist the devil and he will flee from you,' because 'greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world. (James 4:7, 1st John 4:4)
But during the Tribulation, "it was given unto him [antichrist] to make war with the saints, and to overcome them." (Revelation 13:7) Those who enter the beast's worship system, believers or not, and accept his mark are forever lost.
As you can see from the revealed Word, there is no place for the Church during Daniel's 70th week. The Church is excluded from the judgments pronounced against a Christ-rejecting world, and the Church plays no role in the national redemption of Israel.
Since the Church Age is characterized by the promise that, "He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever" (John 14:6) while, during the time of Jacob's Trouble, the Holy Spirit's role is limited to 'sealing' the 144,000 Jewish evangelists of Revelation 7:3-8, the Church's presence on earth during the Tribulation has no place in the plan of God.
Since, by definition, Church Age believers are NOT Christ-rejecting and are NOT part of God's plan for the national redemption of Israel, the only role the Church could play during the Tribulation would be to face the judgments of God, bereft of the indwelling Holy Spirit, comfortless, and with no earthly destiny or purpose apart from becoming the antichrist's cannon fodder.
Consider it this way. For the last two thousand years, Church Age believers have enjoyed fellowship with God, thanks to the imputed righteousness of Christ and empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Jesus promised He would not leave us comfortless, and that the Holy Spirit will abide with us forever.
But, in the final hours of human history, when man's corruption has reached its peak and God pours out His judgment against them for their unrepentant sin, ("Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts," - Revelation 9:21), some would argue that those living in those days will be stripped of their indwelling Spirit, God breaks fellowship with them, leaving them to face the worst period of spiritual trial in the history of creation alone.
For that to be true, of all the generations of believers from the Apostle Paul until the revelation of 'that Wicked' -- the believers of the last days are the only ones to whom the promise, "I will not leave you comfortless" is meaningless.
The new spiritual creation must then, by definition, revert back to its old form of either Jew or Gentile, and share in the judgments being poured out upon them. The new creature, indwelt by the Holy Spirit and spiritually empowered to resist the devil, with the promise that 'he will flee from you' -- will find that is no longer true. How else could they be 'overcome' by him as Revelation 13:7 says the Tribulation saints will be?
It is not POSSIBLE for Church Age believers to play a role in the Tribulation, other than as recipients of God's justice for sin, although believers, by definition, have already been judged and found righteous at the Cross.
Consider the Promises of Jesus, given the Church, in the context of the Tribulation Period.
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:26-27)
"Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. . . " unless you are among those believers of the last generation. If the destiny of the Church is to partake in God's judgment against the world, then my heart should be troubled indeed, and I should be very, very afraid.
His peace was for all the generations that went before. But not for mine?
The Scriptures say otherwise.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
The 'Great Escape' Misunderstanding
One of the principle misunderstandings concerning the Rapture revolves around its purpose. Critics of a pre-Tribulation Rapture deride it as some pie-in-the-sky 'Great Escape' for Christians living in the last days.
There is no such promise of 'escape' from tribulation, they argue, and (correctly) point out the Bible's promise that 'in this world ye shall have tribulation' so the pretribulational hope of a 'Great Escape' is not only delusional, it is unscriptural.
The fact is, if the pretribulational hope WAS for a 'Great Escape' from tribulation, they would be correct. There is NO promise that the Church will escape tribulation, but there is an iron-clad promise that the Church will not go through the seven years of tribulation described by Jeremiah as the 'Time of Jacob's Trouble' or outlined by Daniel as Israel's '70th Week.'
There are several reasons for a pretribulational Rapture, not the least of which is the purpose of the Tribulation in God's unfolding Plan for the ages.
The purpose of the seven year Tribulation Period is two-fold. The first reason is to fulfill Daniel's prophecy of the 70 Weeks. The angel told Daniel that:
"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy." (Daniel 9:24)
Note there are six elements to the fulfillment of this prophecy. First, to finish Israel’s sin – the rejection of the Messiah at the First Advent.
Then there is a skip forward in time to His Second Advent, at which time, an end will be made of sin, reconciliation will be made for Israel’s iniquity, everlasting righteousness will be introduced to Israel, Israel’s Scriptures will be vindicated by the fulfillment of all prophecy and finally, the return of Christ at the conclusion of the war of Armageddon, at which time He will be anointed and will take His seat at the Throne of David.
Between the First and Second Advents there is the Church Age, a 'mystery' unrevealed to the Hebrew prophets. That is why Daniel's outline of 490 years of Israeli history doesn't anticipate a gap between the 'cutting off of the Messiah' at the end of the sixty-nine weeks of years and the confirmation of the covenant by the antichrist at the onset of the 70th. (Daniel 9:27)
From Daniel's perspective, it is an unbroken narrative of what would befall 'his people' (the Jews) and 'his holy city' (Jerusalem), culminating with the 'anointing of the Most Holy' at the conclusion of the 70th week and the ushering in of Isaiah's Millennial Kingdom. There is no role set aside for the Church in prophecy during the 70th Week, since it is reserved for Israel's national redemption and their acceptance of the Messiah.
The Church has, by definition, already accepted the Messiah and was redeemed at the Cross.
The second purpose Scripture gives for the Tribulation Period is that it is a period of judgment against those who reject Christ and embrace the antichrist.
Since Christians who accept Christ were already judged at the Cross, there is no role set aside for the Church in the judgments pronounced because, "Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." (Revelation 9:21)
Repentance is a necessary condition of salvation, it is that repentance that causes us to seek forgiveness at the Cross in the first place. Since believers in the Church Age became believers by repenting, there is no purpose for bringing the judgment of an unrepentant world on the Church.
The Rapture isn't a 'Great Escape', contrary to popular belief. The Rapture occurs when the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit is removed with the Church to allow the onset of the 7 year period of unrestrained evil that occurs during the Tribulation. (2nd Thessalonians 2:7)
The Rapture is the Blessed Hope of the Church, but it's primary purpose is not so much a 'rescue mission' as it is a necessary function of the withdrawal of the Holy Spirit's ministry of restraining evil. Since we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, when the Restrainer is withdrawn, so are we, since we are His vessels.
Therefore, it is certain to conclude that the Church won't be here for the Tribulation itself, since withdrawing the indwelling of the Holy Spirit from the believing Church would leave them spiritually defenseless at a time of maximum need, something Jesus promised He would never do.
Jesus said we could trust Him that He would never forsake His Church, and His Church is defined as being composed of believers who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you FOREVER. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."
But there is no reason to conclude the Church will be Raptured for the purpose of providing a 'Great Escape' for, as I said, the Rapture is necessary to withdrawal of the Restrainer, rather than a rescue mission to the Church.
"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." (John 14:18)
Christians have suffered in every generation, and continue to suffer persecution and death for their faith today in places like Vietnam, China, Sudan and most of the Islamic world.
There is no promise to the Church of the last days for a 'rescue' but rather, the Rapture is the fulfilment of an EXISTING Promise Jesus made that the Holy Spirit would Personally indwell believers and guide us in all truth 'forever'.
"In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:2-3)
For believers, our finite understanding of 'forever' begins with Pentecost and continues to the Rapture, at which point 'forever' takes on its eternal meaning for all believers covered under the Covenant between Jesus and the Church.
"Wherefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:18)
By Jack Kinsella of OmegaLetter.com
There is no such promise of 'escape' from tribulation, they argue, and (correctly) point out the Bible's promise that 'in this world ye shall have tribulation' so the pretribulational hope of a 'Great Escape' is not only delusional, it is unscriptural.
The fact is, if the pretribulational hope WAS for a 'Great Escape' from tribulation, they would be correct. There is NO promise that the Church will escape tribulation, but there is an iron-clad promise that the Church will not go through the seven years of tribulation described by Jeremiah as the 'Time of Jacob's Trouble' or outlined by Daniel as Israel's '70th Week.'
There are several reasons for a pretribulational Rapture, not the least of which is the purpose of the Tribulation in God's unfolding Plan for the ages.
The purpose of the seven year Tribulation Period is two-fold. The first reason is to fulfill Daniel's prophecy of the 70 Weeks. The angel told Daniel that:
"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy." (Daniel 9:24)
Note there are six elements to the fulfillment of this prophecy. First, to finish Israel’s sin – the rejection of the Messiah at the First Advent.
Then there is a skip forward in time to His Second Advent, at which time, an end will be made of sin, reconciliation will be made for Israel’s iniquity, everlasting righteousness will be introduced to Israel, Israel’s Scriptures will be vindicated by the fulfillment of all prophecy and finally, the return of Christ at the conclusion of the war of Armageddon, at which time He will be anointed and will take His seat at the Throne of David.
Between the First and Second Advents there is the Church Age, a 'mystery' unrevealed to the Hebrew prophets. That is why Daniel's outline of 490 years of Israeli history doesn't anticipate a gap between the 'cutting off of the Messiah' at the end of the sixty-nine weeks of years and the confirmation of the covenant by the antichrist at the onset of the 70th. (Daniel 9:27)
From Daniel's perspective, it is an unbroken narrative of what would befall 'his people' (the Jews) and 'his holy city' (Jerusalem), culminating with the 'anointing of the Most Holy' at the conclusion of the 70th week and the ushering in of Isaiah's Millennial Kingdom. There is no role set aside for the Church in prophecy during the 70th Week, since it is reserved for Israel's national redemption and their acceptance of the Messiah.
The Church has, by definition, already accepted the Messiah and was redeemed at the Cross.
The second purpose Scripture gives for the Tribulation Period is that it is a period of judgment against those who reject Christ and embrace the antichrist.
Since Christians who accept Christ were already judged at the Cross, there is no role set aside for the Church in the judgments pronounced because, "Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." (Revelation 9:21)
Repentance is a necessary condition of salvation, it is that repentance that causes us to seek forgiveness at the Cross in the first place. Since believers in the Church Age became believers by repenting, there is no purpose for bringing the judgment of an unrepentant world on the Church.
The Rapture isn't a 'Great Escape', contrary to popular belief. The Rapture occurs when the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit is removed with the Church to allow the onset of the 7 year period of unrestrained evil that occurs during the Tribulation. (2nd Thessalonians 2:7)
The Rapture is the Blessed Hope of the Church, but it's primary purpose is not so much a 'rescue mission' as it is a necessary function of the withdrawal of the Holy Spirit's ministry of restraining evil. Since we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, when the Restrainer is withdrawn, so are we, since we are His vessels.
Therefore, it is certain to conclude that the Church won't be here for the Tribulation itself, since withdrawing the indwelling of the Holy Spirit from the believing Church would leave them spiritually defenseless at a time of maximum need, something Jesus promised He would never do.
Jesus said we could trust Him that He would never forsake His Church, and His Church is defined as being composed of believers who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you FOREVER. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."
But there is no reason to conclude the Church will be Raptured for the purpose of providing a 'Great Escape' for, as I said, the Rapture is necessary to withdrawal of the Restrainer, rather than a rescue mission to the Church.
"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." (John 14:18)
Christians have suffered in every generation, and continue to suffer persecution and death for their faith today in places like Vietnam, China, Sudan and most of the Islamic world.
There is no promise to the Church of the last days for a 'rescue' but rather, the Rapture is the fulfilment of an EXISTING Promise Jesus made that the Holy Spirit would Personally indwell believers and guide us in all truth 'forever'.
"In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:2-3)
For believers, our finite understanding of 'forever' begins with Pentecost and continues to the Rapture, at which point 'forever' takes on its eternal meaning for all believers covered under the Covenant between Jesus and the Church.
"Wherefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:18)
By Jack Kinsella of OmegaLetter.com
Monday, July 17, 2006
The Time Of Jacob's Trouble
The Beginning Of The Tribulation
The Antichrist in the 70th Week. The 70th week will begin when someone with authority will make a binding commitment with a group of people called "the many." After 3 1/2 years he will break his agreement. This will be accompanied by some kind of sacrilege. But in the end, the person who breaks the treaty and engages in this abomination will meet his doom.
Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate (Dan. 9:27).
It seems obvious that this 70th week does not immediately follow the 69th week. The time period of 7 weeks plus 62 weeks extends from the decree to restore Jerusalem to "Messiah the Prince" (v.25). It is after this time period of 49 years plus 434 years that the Messiah is "cut off," and the city and sanctuary are destroyed. No time spans are given for these events, which are both well-attested historically. Moreover, to view verse 27 as taking us back to the Messiah who was "cut off" doesn't work out very well. Jesus did not make a covenant. And He wasn't the kind of man who would make a 7-year covenant and then break it.
Since the events described in verse 27 cannot be tied in with the time of Christ's crucifixion, the destruction of Jerusalem, or anything that happened in the first century, the text must look to the future.
The man who "shall confirm a covenant with many for one week" is undoubtedly the ruler introduced to us in verse 26 as "the prince who is to come." As noted earlier, he is the "little horn" of Daniel 7. He will head a western confederacy of nations, the revived Roman Empire in its "ten toes" phase of Daniel 2:40-43, the "ten horned" phase of Daniel 7:24.
This same individual is referred to as the "man of sin" (2 Th. 2:3), the "Antichrist" (1 Jn. 2:18), and the "beast" (Rev. 13:1-10). He will apparently pose as a friend of Israel, giving the Jewish people a sense of security and allowing them to worship in their newly rebuilt temple. Revelation 13 opens with this man receiving the adulation of all mankind. He will have unified the Western world.
He will have brought order out of chaos. People will feel confidence in his goodness. It is then that he dares to drop all pretense and show himself to be Satan's henchman. He begins to blaspheme God and "make war with the saints and to overcome them" (vv.6-7). From this point on, he remains in power for 42 months before meeting his doom.
The final statement of Daniel 9:27 is difficult to translate, but the rendering in the NIV clarifies the meaning. He will "set up an abomination that causes desolation." Three New Testament passages throw some light on these words: Matthew 24:15, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, and Revelation 13.
Addressing Jewish people, Jesus said, "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, . . . then let those who are in Judea flee" (Mt. 24:15). It appears that the image of Antichrist will be placed in the temple and that people will be ordered to worship it. This is the abominable event that will trigger the desolation of the temple and the city of Jerusalem at the end of the age.
Paul, instructing Christian believers about the coming time of tribulation that will precede Christ's return to set up His kingdom, declared that during this period of trouble the "man of sin" will be revealed, describing him as one "who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God and that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God" (2 Th. 2:3-4).
Revelation 13 tells us that he will start a war against the saints and blaspheme God. Then his partner, the False Prophet, will make an image of the Beast (Antichrist) and demand that people worship it or die. Jesus and Paul both indicated that this outrageous blasphemy will take place in the restored Jewish temple. The devil himself as the Anti-father (the dragon of Rev. 13:4), the Antichrist (the Beast), and the Anti-spirit (the False Prophet) are the infernal trinity. They will attempt to make the restored Jewish temple their religious headquarters, the place where they will be worshipped.
The last words of Daniel 9:27, "until the end that is decreed is poured out on him" (NIV), indicate Antichrist's doom. Other Scriptures clearly declare that he will be totally and disgracefully defeated. His final series of battles and his destruction are portrayed in Daniel 11:40-45. This passage closes with the words, "Yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him."
Israel's Conversion In The 70th Week. Daniel 9 closes, as noted above, with a summary statement about the shocking sacrilege and predetermined doom of the future world ruler the Bible calls the Beast, the man of sin, and the Antichrist. His defeat is further described in Daniel 11:40-45. But that's not the end of the story. Daniel 12:1-3 gives a summary of what will happen to the Israelites as a nation:
At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever (Dan. 12:1-3).
"At that time" refers to the interval between the rise of Antichrist and his destruction. During this time of great tribulation--tribulation for Israel predicted in Deuteronomy 4:30, Jeremiah 30:7, Matthew 24:21-22, and many other Bible passages--the archangel Michael will see to it that the Israelites are not annihilated. Multitudes of Jewish people will repent and believe in their Messiah. Zechariah 12 graphically depicts God's supernatural deliverance of the surviving Israelites at the close of this terrible time. He then describes the repentant nation as Messiah returns to establish His kingdom:
I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn (Zech. 12:10).
The Jewish people who still refuse to believe will be removed in judgment (Ezek. 20:33-38). Therefore, all the Israelites who go into the full blessings of the kingdom age will be true believers, people whose names appear in the book of life. All the promises in Daniel 9:24 will be realized. The prophet Isaiah portrays what will then occur:
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore (Isa. 2:2-4).
And what about the Israelites whose bodies have turned to dust? They will not be forgotten! The Christian scholar Tregelles, following earlier Jewish commentators, translated verse 2, "And many from the sleepers of the dust of the earth shall awake, these shall be to everlasting life; but those of the rest of the sleepers, those who do not awake at this time, shall be unto shame and everlasting contempt." The coming of God's Messiah will be a tremendous event for all the believing Israelites of all the ages!
I personally believe that WE are we at a crisis point in human history? I am not alone in that thinking. Many conservative Jews and Christians believe we are. They see as highly significant the fact that Israel often occupies center stage in newscasts and is signing treaties with her Arab neighbors. They insist that we are inevitably moving toward such internationalization that mankind is ripe for a world dictator who could easily be the Antichrist.
On the other hand, some Christians believe we are on the verge of a worldwide spiritual revival. People are becoming alarmed at world conditions. Reports of spiritual awakenings in India, Africa, and countries in Central and South America support this optimistic outlook.
I believe the next event in God's prophetic program is described by the apostle Paul:
The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord (1 Th. 4:16-17).
The Scriptures indicate that this "catching up," or rapture, of those who are "in Christ" must take place before Antichrist reveals his true identity.
Paul wrote his letter to the Thessalonians in part because some of them thought they had entered the great tribulation of the end-times. Paul assured them that they were wrong and said it would not begin until after the man of sin had been revealed (2 Th. 2:1-3). He went on to explain:
Now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way (2 Th. 2:6-7).
It's important that we see the Holy Spirit and the church together as the restrainer mentioned in this text. The third person masculine pronoun suggests the Holy Spirit. As God, He is always present everywhere. He cannot be "taken out of the way." But He can leave the earth as the restrainer when the Lord catches up His church to be with Himself. His departure in this sense will open the door for Antichrist to make his move.
This identification of the restrainer fits the context of 2 Thessalonians 2 better than any other suggested interpretation. Good reasons can be given for rejecting the idea that the restrainer who will be removed is the devil, an angel, or civil government. This passage of Scripture gives us solid reasons for believing that the return of Christ for His church could occur at any moment.
Believers therefore must live in healthy tension. On the one hand, we are looking for His any-moment coming for us. On the other hand, because we do not know exactly where we are in God's end-time program, we pray and work to spread the good news about Jesus Christ. The fact that the nation of Israel is making treaties reminds us of Bible passages about the end-times. It heightens our sense of anticipation. The news about multitudes turning to Christ throughout the world moves us to pray and give and work.
For nonbelievers, the fact that Christ could return at any moment has ominous overtones. The Bible has a solemn warning to those who have heard the gospel and have not believed. Paul declared that when the Antichrist is revealed, it may be too late for a change of mind:
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Th. 2:9-12).
Now is the time to make the decision to trust Jesus as Messiah. Tomorrow may be too late.
"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2).
Senior Research Editor - Herb Vander Lugt - RBC Ministries
The Antichrist in the 70th Week. The 70th week will begin when someone with authority will make a binding commitment with a group of people called "the many." After 3 1/2 years he will break his agreement. This will be accompanied by some kind of sacrilege. But in the end, the person who breaks the treaty and engages in this abomination will meet his doom.
Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate (Dan. 9:27).
It seems obvious that this 70th week does not immediately follow the 69th week. The time period of 7 weeks plus 62 weeks extends from the decree to restore Jerusalem to "Messiah the Prince" (v.25). It is after this time period of 49 years plus 434 years that the Messiah is "cut off," and the city and sanctuary are destroyed. No time spans are given for these events, which are both well-attested historically. Moreover, to view verse 27 as taking us back to the Messiah who was "cut off" doesn't work out very well. Jesus did not make a covenant. And He wasn't the kind of man who would make a 7-year covenant and then break it.
Since the events described in verse 27 cannot be tied in with the time of Christ's crucifixion, the destruction of Jerusalem, or anything that happened in the first century, the text must look to the future.
The man who "shall confirm a covenant with many for one week" is undoubtedly the ruler introduced to us in verse 26 as "the prince who is to come." As noted earlier, he is the "little horn" of Daniel 7. He will head a western confederacy of nations, the revived Roman Empire in its "ten toes" phase of Daniel 2:40-43, the "ten horned" phase of Daniel 7:24.
This same individual is referred to as the "man of sin" (2 Th. 2:3), the "Antichrist" (1 Jn. 2:18), and the "beast" (Rev. 13:1-10). He will apparently pose as a friend of Israel, giving the Jewish people a sense of security and allowing them to worship in their newly rebuilt temple. Revelation 13 opens with this man receiving the adulation of all mankind. He will have unified the Western world.
He will have brought order out of chaos. People will feel confidence in his goodness. It is then that he dares to drop all pretense and show himself to be Satan's henchman. He begins to blaspheme God and "make war with the saints and to overcome them" (vv.6-7). From this point on, he remains in power for 42 months before meeting his doom.
The final statement of Daniel 9:27 is difficult to translate, but the rendering in the NIV clarifies the meaning. He will "set up an abomination that causes desolation." Three New Testament passages throw some light on these words: Matthew 24:15, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, and Revelation 13.
Addressing Jewish people, Jesus said, "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, . . . then let those who are in Judea flee" (Mt. 24:15). It appears that the image of Antichrist will be placed in the temple and that people will be ordered to worship it. This is the abominable event that will trigger the desolation of the temple and the city of Jerusalem at the end of the age.
Paul, instructing Christian believers about the coming time of tribulation that will precede Christ's return to set up His kingdom, declared that during this period of trouble the "man of sin" will be revealed, describing him as one "who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God and that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God" (2 Th. 2:3-4).
Revelation 13 tells us that he will start a war against the saints and blaspheme God. Then his partner, the False Prophet, will make an image of the Beast (Antichrist) and demand that people worship it or die. Jesus and Paul both indicated that this outrageous blasphemy will take place in the restored Jewish temple. The devil himself as the Anti-father (the dragon of Rev. 13:4), the Antichrist (the Beast), and the Anti-spirit (the False Prophet) are the infernal trinity. They will attempt to make the restored Jewish temple their religious headquarters, the place where they will be worshipped.
The last words of Daniel 9:27, "until the end that is decreed is poured out on him" (NIV), indicate Antichrist's doom. Other Scriptures clearly declare that he will be totally and disgracefully defeated. His final series of battles and his destruction are portrayed in Daniel 11:40-45. This passage closes with the words, "Yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him."
Israel's Conversion In The 70th Week. Daniel 9 closes, as noted above, with a summary statement about the shocking sacrilege and predetermined doom of the future world ruler the Bible calls the Beast, the man of sin, and the Antichrist. His defeat is further described in Daniel 11:40-45. But that's not the end of the story. Daniel 12:1-3 gives a summary of what will happen to the Israelites as a nation:
At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever (Dan. 12:1-3).
"At that time" refers to the interval between the rise of Antichrist and his destruction. During this time of great tribulation--tribulation for Israel predicted in Deuteronomy 4:30, Jeremiah 30:7, Matthew 24:21-22, and many other Bible passages--the archangel Michael will see to it that the Israelites are not annihilated. Multitudes of Jewish people will repent and believe in their Messiah. Zechariah 12 graphically depicts God's supernatural deliverance of the surviving Israelites at the close of this terrible time. He then describes the repentant nation as Messiah returns to establish His kingdom:
I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn (Zech. 12:10).
The Jewish people who still refuse to believe will be removed in judgment (Ezek. 20:33-38). Therefore, all the Israelites who go into the full blessings of the kingdom age will be true believers, people whose names appear in the book of life. All the promises in Daniel 9:24 will be realized. The prophet Isaiah portrays what will then occur:
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore (Isa. 2:2-4).
And what about the Israelites whose bodies have turned to dust? They will not be forgotten! The Christian scholar Tregelles, following earlier Jewish commentators, translated verse 2, "And many from the sleepers of the dust of the earth shall awake, these shall be to everlasting life; but those of the rest of the sleepers, those who do not awake at this time, shall be unto shame and everlasting contempt." The coming of God's Messiah will be a tremendous event for all the believing Israelites of all the ages!
I personally believe that WE are we at a crisis point in human history? I am not alone in that thinking. Many conservative Jews and Christians believe we are. They see as highly significant the fact that Israel often occupies center stage in newscasts and is signing treaties with her Arab neighbors. They insist that we are inevitably moving toward such internationalization that mankind is ripe for a world dictator who could easily be the Antichrist.
On the other hand, some Christians believe we are on the verge of a worldwide spiritual revival. People are becoming alarmed at world conditions. Reports of spiritual awakenings in India, Africa, and countries in Central and South America support this optimistic outlook.
I believe the next event in God's prophetic program is described by the apostle Paul:
The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord (1 Th. 4:16-17).
The Scriptures indicate that this "catching up," or rapture, of those who are "in Christ" must take place before Antichrist reveals his true identity.
Paul wrote his letter to the Thessalonians in part because some of them thought they had entered the great tribulation of the end-times. Paul assured them that they were wrong and said it would not begin until after the man of sin had been revealed (2 Th. 2:1-3). He went on to explain:
Now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way (2 Th. 2:6-7).
It's important that we see the Holy Spirit and the church together as the restrainer mentioned in this text. The third person masculine pronoun suggests the Holy Spirit. As God, He is always present everywhere. He cannot be "taken out of the way." But He can leave the earth as the restrainer when the Lord catches up His church to be with Himself. His departure in this sense will open the door for Antichrist to make his move.
This identification of the restrainer fits the context of 2 Thessalonians 2 better than any other suggested interpretation. Good reasons can be given for rejecting the idea that the restrainer who will be removed is the devil, an angel, or civil government. This passage of Scripture gives us solid reasons for believing that the return of Christ for His church could occur at any moment.
Believers therefore must live in healthy tension. On the one hand, we are looking for His any-moment coming for us. On the other hand, because we do not know exactly where we are in God's end-time program, we pray and work to spread the good news about Jesus Christ. The fact that the nation of Israel is making treaties reminds us of Bible passages about the end-times. It heightens our sense of anticipation. The news about multitudes turning to Christ throughout the world moves us to pray and give and work.
For nonbelievers, the fact that Christ could return at any moment has ominous overtones. The Bible has a solemn warning to those who have heard the gospel and have not believed. Paul declared that when the Antichrist is revealed, it may be too late for a change of mind:
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Th. 2:9-12).
Now is the time to make the decision to trust Jesus as Messiah. Tomorrow may be too late.
"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2).
Senior Research Editor - Herb Vander Lugt - RBC Ministries
Sunday, July 16, 2006
The Coming King - Walter Martin
As far back as the Book of Genesis, when man first fell into sin, God had provided a Redeemer. Scripture says in Genesis 3 that the "seed of the woman" would crush the serpent's head.
Now, we know that the serpent symbolized Satan (see Rev. 12:9). And we know that the "seed of the woman" is a reference to the coming Messiah. This Messiah was to come through the royal line of David (2 Sam. 7:14-16). In direct fulfillment of prophecy, Jesus was indeed born of a woman (Gal. 4:4) from the line of David (Matt. 1:1; 2:1).
Now, the early Jewish theologians in the time of our Lord had a great deal of difficulty in understanding Jesus' messianic office. The reason for this is that they were schooled to believe that the Messiah would come in the clouds of heaven to crush the earthly governments under His feet and establish Israel as the ruling nation of the world. Therefore, when the Lord Jesus came, presenting Himself as the Savior and as the sacrifice for sin, they could not accept Him.
We must clearly understand that Christ's role in Scripture is twofold. He is both the suffering servant and He is the coming King. In Isaiah 53 we have recorded for us a prophecy concerning the coming of Jesus Christ in His first advent:
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isa. 53:3-6).
Clearly, then, Christ came the first time to suffer humiliation -- despised and rejected among men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. But Christ is coming a second time as King. He who bore the sorrows of the world and who cried out in agony on the cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do," will one day come again in great glory and majesty.
In his great portrayal in the Book of Revelation, John the Apostle reminds us of this second aspect of the Lord Jesus Christ's coming in terms of great, glowing beauty:
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron sceptre." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. (Rev. 19:11-16).
The Scriptures point out -- in terms which few can fail to understand -- that time does have an end; that God will intervene in the world of men; that God has a destiny for those who are willing to trust and believe in Him; and that the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of humanity will judge the world and sift the sons of men.
For believers there is a glorious destiny ahead. Scripture portrays it this way: "I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it" (Rev. 21:22-24).
Oh what a wonderful testimony this is to the sovereignty of the God of all creation, who alone can say, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son" (Rev. 21:6-7).
Let us with confidence exult in what God will do for believers in the eternal state: "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true'" (Rev. 21:4-5).
Let us with great confidence "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. 12:2).
Let us place our faith and our trust in Him, who alone could say: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
And let us peer through the darkness of the future in the searchlight of God's Word, knowing certainly that "one day, one golden daybreak, Jesus will come; One golden daybreak, battles all won. He will shout the victory, He will break through the blue; One golden daybreak, for me and for you."
A special note of thanks to Bob and Pat Hunter for their help in the preparation of this ASCII file for BBS circulation.
Copyright 1994 by the Christian Research Institute
Now, we know that the serpent symbolized Satan (see Rev. 12:9). And we know that the "seed of the woman" is a reference to the coming Messiah. This Messiah was to come through the royal line of David (2 Sam. 7:14-16). In direct fulfillment of prophecy, Jesus was indeed born of a woman (Gal. 4:4) from the line of David (Matt. 1:1; 2:1).
Now, the early Jewish theologians in the time of our Lord had a great deal of difficulty in understanding Jesus' messianic office. The reason for this is that they were schooled to believe that the Messiah would come in the clouds of heaven to crush the earthly governments under His feet and establish Israel as the ruling nation of the world. Therefore, when the Lord Jesus came, presenting Himself as the Savior and as the sacrifice for sin, they could not accept Him.
We must clearly understand that Christ's role in Scripture is twofold. He is both the suffering servant and He is the coming King. In Isaiah 53 we have recorded for us a prophecy concerning the coming of Jesus Christ in His first advent:
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isa. 53:3-6).
Clearly, then, Christ came the first time to suffer humiliation -- despised and rejected among men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. But Christ is coming a second time as King. He who bore the sorrows of the world and who cried out in agony on the cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do," will one day come again in great glory and majesty.
In his great portrayal in the Book of Revelation, John the Apostle reminds us of this second aspect of the Lord Jesus Christ's coming in terms of great, glowing beauty:
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron sceptre." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. (Rev. 19:11-16).
The Scriptures point out -- in terms which few can fail to understand -- that time does have an end; that God will intervene in the world of men; that God has a destiny for those who are willing to trust and believe in Him; and that the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of humanity will judge the world and sift the sons of men.
For believers there is a glorious destiny ahead. Scripture portrays it this way: "I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it" (Rev. 21:22-24).
Oh what a wonderful testimony this is to the sovereignty of the God of all creation, who alone can say, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son" (Rev. 21:6-7).
Let us with confidence exult in what God will do for believers in the eternal state: "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true'" (Rev. 21:4-5).
Let us with great confidence "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. 12:2).
Let us place our faith and our trust in Him, who alone could say: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
And let us peer through the darkness of the future in the searchlight of God's Word, knowing certainly that "one day, one golden daybreak, Jesus will come; One golden daybreak, battles all won. He will shout the victory, He will break through the blue; One golden daybreak, for me and for you."
A special note of thanks to Bob and Pat Hunter for their help in the preparation of this ASCII file for BBS circulation.
Copyright 1994 by the Christian Research Institute
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Inside Iran: Signs Of The Apocalypse
Whether it is his belief that Israel should be wiped off the map, denials of the Holocaust, obsession with going nuclear, or support for radical Islamic terrorist groups, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a man on a divine mission.
To understand him and that mission, you have to travel to a small dusty village called Jamkaran that is tucked into a corner of Iran's holy city of Qom.
On a recent Tuesday afternoon, CBN News made that journey, heading south from Iran's capital of Tehran. Some 95 miles and a couple of wrong turns later, we arrived at the Jamkaran mosque on the outskirts of Qom.
Behind the Jamkaran mosque, there is a well. And according to many Shiite Muslims, out of this well will one day emerge their version of an Islamic savior.
They call him the Mahdi, or the 12th Imam. Ron Cantrell has written a book about him.
"The Mahdi is a personage that is expected to come on the scene, by Islam, as a messiah figure. He is slotted to come at the end of time, according to their writings -- very much like how we think of the return of Jesus," said Cantrell.
Cantrell said the Mahdi, a descendent of the Prophet Mohammed, vanished in the middle of the 9th century. No one knows what he really looks like.
"The 12th Imam disappeared around the age of 9," said Cantrell, "with a promise that he would return and bring Islam to its total fruition, as the world's last standing religion."
Enter Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Since becoming the president of Iran in August 2005, Ahmadinejad has emerged as the Mahdi's most influential follower.
"He has stated that his mandate is to pave the way for the coming of this Islamic messiah," Cantrell explained.
In almost all his speeches, the president begs Allah to hasten the return of the Mahdi.
During one speech, he is talking to soldiers at a military parade in Tehran, which was also attended by CBN News.
"Oh, Allah, please facilitate Imam Mahdi's early return and make us one of his supporters," said Ahmadinejad.
He said something similar last September, just before ending a speech at the United Nations in New York.
"Oh mighty lord, I pray to you to hasten the emergence of your last repository, the promised one, that perfect and pure human being, the one that will fill this world with justice and peace," Ahmadinejad prayed.
A few days later in Iran, Ahmadinejad told a group of religious leaders that, during his UN speech, he felt a bright light around him.
His reactions were captured on video and later posted on a
conservative Iranian Web site.
"I felt it myself. I felt that the atmosphere suddenly changed, and for those 27 or 28 minutes, all the leaders of the world did not blink. When I say they didn't move an eyelid, I'm not exaggerating. They were looking as if a hand was holding them there, and had just opened their eyes to the message of the Islamic Republic," Ahmadinejad recalled.
Ahmadinejad is reportedly tied to a radical Islamic society in Iran that believes man can hasten the appearance of the Mahdi by creating chaos in the world.
Ahmadinejad has stated that this chaos must take place before the Mahdi can come on the scene.
Some wonder if Ahmadinejad believes these are the end times. And, whether his calls for the destruction of Israel and nuclear pursuits are ways to accelerate the divine timetable.
"With him, it is a win-win situation," Cantrell said. "If we attack him, he wins because chaos happens. If we don't attack him, he gets to create the chaos, which he has said he is willing to do."
In Shiite Muslim belief, the Madhi's second coming will be marked by apocalyptic times. Wars, famines, and floods will ravage the Earth --followed by Judgment Day and a battle between good and evil.
On this Tuesday, as the sun dips behind the mountains that surround Jamkaran, the faithful -- many of whom voted for Ahmadinejad -- arrive by the thousands from across Iran to pray for the Mahdi's return.
Ezatallah Alimoradi, a follower of the Mahdi, said, "I feel so
refreshed in my spirit when I come here to Jamkaran."
"This day belongs to the Mahdi," said another follower, Akram Alsadat Emmami, "and I've come to share my heart with him."
The night begins with a visit to the sacred well. CBN News was given a rare opportunity to film people praying there. The opening of the well is covered by a green-like metal box to prevent people from jumping in.
Most of the time here is spent praying and kissing the metal box. Others scribble prayer requests to the Mahdi on pieces of paper that are then dropped into the well.
One man asks the Mahdi to forgive his sins. "If you ask in the right way, your prayers will be answered," he explained.
Another seeks healing for family members. "I don't come here just to pray for myself," he said. "I also ask the Mahdi to take care of my family and their needs."
Many, like one young boy with a flashlight, believe the Mahdi is actually hiding at the bottom of the well, reading those prayer requests.
"I was looking into the well with my flashlight," the boy said,
"hoping to see the Mahdi -- but not tonight."
Shia tradition teaches that if you come to Jamkaran 40 weeks in a row, you will "see" the Mahdi.
A woman said, "I have not had the privilege to see him yet, but I've had many dreams about him. In one of my dreams, I saw a big bright light in the sky and this figure standing over me."
The next few hours are spent praying inside the Jamkaran mosque. At the Jamkaran mosque, I've been told that, as a non-Muslim, I am not allowed to go inside. The truth is, though, every day tens of thousands of men and women come through the mosque to say their prayers -- and also to pray that one day soon the Mahdi would return.
Nadal, a follower of the Mahdi, said, "And because we believe that he is going to come back soon, we can believe in heaven and hell and we can believe in the life after death."
Ahmadinejad's government reportedly gave $20 million to help renovate the Jamkaran mosque. There are rumors that he is planning to build a railway line connecting Tehran and Jamkaran, to ferry the faithful.
And apparently, Ahmadinejad has also drawn up plans for the road that the Mahdi will take when he returns.
Cantrell said, "...that will actually serve as the red carpet rolled out in Iran for the Mahdi to appear."
And if all this wasn't mystical enough, there is also the belief that when the Mahdi comes back, he will be accompanied by Jesus Christ, who is referred to as the prophet Isa.
"The Mahdi will take Jesus to Mecca," Cantrell explained. "They will circumambulate the Kabah together. The Mahdi will teach Jesus to pray, at which time Jesus will then replace the Gospel with the Koran, and then all of us -- as Christians -- wherever you are on the face of the Earth, will convert to Islam because Islam will be deemed the one lasting pure religion."
As the West drifts closer to a potential showdown over Iran's nuclear program, followers of the Mahdi are getting ready for Judgment Day.
And many of them are convinced that President Ahmadinjead, who is considered by some as Allah's shadow on Earth, will fulfill his divine mission to prepare the world for the coming of the Islamic savior.
By CBN News
To understand him and that mission, you have to travel to a small dusty village called Jamkaran that is tucked into a corner of Iran's holy city of Qom.
On a recent Tuesday afternoon, CBN News made that journey, heading south from Iran's capital of Tehran. Some 95 miles and a couple of wrong turns later, we arrived at the Jamkaran mosque on the outskirts of Qom.
Behind the Jamkaran mosque, there is a well. And according to many Shiite Muslims, out of this well will one day emerge their version of an Islamic savior.
They call him the Mahdi, or the 12th Imam. Ron Cantrell has written a book about him.
"The Mahdi is a personage that is expected to come on the scene, by Islam, as a messiah figure. He is slotted to come at the end of time, according to their writings -- very much like how we think of the return of Jesus," said Cantrell.
Cantrell said the Mahdi, a descendent of the Prophet Mohammed, vanished in the middle of the 9th century. No one knows what he really looks like.
"The 12th Imam disappeared around the age of 9," said Cantrell, "with a promise that he would return and bring Islam to its total fruition, as the world's last standing religion."
Enter Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Since becoming the president of Iran in August 2005, Ahmadinejad has emerged as the Mahdi's most influential follower.
"He has stated that his mandate is to pave the way for the coming of this Islamic messiah," Cantrell explained.
In almost all his speeches, the president begs Allah to hasten the return of the Mahdi.
During one speech, he is talking to soldiers at a military parade in Tehran, which was also attended by CBN News.
"Oh, Allah, please facilitate Imam Mahdi's early return and make us one of his supporters," said Ahmadinejad.
He said something similar last September, just before ending a speech at the United Nations in New York.
"Oh mighty lord, I pray to you to hasten the emergence of your last repository, the promised one, that perfect and pure human being, the one that will fill this world with justice and peace," Ahmadinejad prayed.
A few days later in Iran, Ahmadinejad told a group of religious leaders that, during his UN speech, he felt a bright light around him.
His reactions were captured on video and later posted on a
conservative Iranian Web site.
"I felt it myself. I felt that the atmosphere suddenly changed, and for those 27 or 28 minutes, all the leaders of the world did not blink. When I say they didn't move an eyelid, I'm not exaggerating. They were looking as if a hand was holding them there, and had just opened their eyes to the message of the Islamic Republic," Ahmadinejad recalled.
Ahmadinejad is reportedly tied to a radical Islamic society in Iran that believes man can hasten the appearance of the Mahdi by creating chaos in the world.
Ahmadinejad has stated that this chaos must take place before the Mahdi can come on the scene.
Some wonder if Ahmadinejad believes these are the end times. And, whether his calls for the destruction of Israel and nuclear pursuits are ways to accelerate the divine timetable.
"With him, it is a win-win situation," Cantrell said. "If we attack him, he wins because chaos happens. If we don't attack him, he gets to create the chaos, which he has said he is willing to do."
In Shiite Muslim belief, the Madhi's second coming will be marked by apocalyptic times. Wars, famines, and floods will ravage the Earth --followed by Judgment Day and a battle between good and evil.
On this Tuesday, as the sun dips behind the mountains that surround Jamkaran, the faithful -- many of whom voted for Ahmadinejad -- arrive by the thousands from across Iran to pray for the Mahdi's return.
Ezatallah Alimoradi, a follower of the Mahdi, said, "I feel so
refreshed in my spirit when I come here to Jamkaran."
"This day belongs to the Mahdi," said another follower, Akram Alsadat Emmami, "and I've come to share my heart with him."
The night begins with a visit to the sacred well. CBN News was given a rare opportunity to film people praying there. The opening of the well is covered by a green-like metal box to prevent people from jumping in.
Most of the time here is spent praying and kissing the metal box. Others scribble prayer requests to the Mahdi on pieces of paper that are then dropped into the well.
One man asks the Mahdi to forgive his sins. "If you ask in the right way, your prayers will be answered," he explained.
Another seeks healing for family members. "I don't come here just to pray for myself," he said. "I also ask the Mahdi to take care of my family and their needs."
Many, like one young boy with a flashlight, believe the Mahdi is actually hiding at the bottom of the well, reading those prayer requests.
"I was looking into the well with my flashlight," the boy said,
"hoping to see the Mahdi -- but not tonight."
Shia tradition teaches that if you come to Jamkaran 40 weeks in a row, you will "see" the Mahdi.
A woman said, "I have not had the privilege to see him yet, but I've had many dreams about him. In one of my dreams, I saw a big bright light in the sky and this figure standing over me."
The next few hours are spent praying inside the Jamkaran mosque. At the Jamkaran mosque, I've been told that, as a non-Muslim, I am not allowed to go inside. The truth is, though, every day tens of thousands of men and women come through the mosque to say their prayers -- and also to pray that one day soon the Mahdi would return.
Nadal, a follower of the Mahdi, said, "And because we believe that he is going to come back soon, we can believe in heaven and hell and we can believe in the life after death."
Ahmadinejad's government reportedly gave $20 million to help renovate the Jamkaran mosque. There are rumors that he is planning to build a railway line connecting Tehran and Jamkaran, to ferry the faithful.
And apparently, Ahmadinejad has also drawn up plans for the road that the Mahdi will take when he returns.
Cantrell said, "...that will actually serve as the red carpet rolled out in Iran for the Mahdi to appear."
And if all this wasn't mystical enough, there is also the belief that when the Mahdi comes back, he will be accompanied by Jesus Christ, who is referred to as the prophet Isa.
"The Mahdi will take Jesus to Mecca," Cantrell explained. "They will circumambulate the Kabah together. The Mahdi will teach Jesus to pray, at which time Jesus will then replace the Gospel with the Koran, and then all of us -- as Christians -- wherever you are on the face of the Earth, will convert to Islam because Islam will be deemed the one lasting pure religion."
As the West drifts closer to a potential showdown over Iran's nuclear program, followers of the Mahdi are getting ready for Judgment Day.
And many of them are convinced that President Ahmadinjead, who is considered by some as Allah's shadow on Earth, will fulfill his divine mission to prepare the world for the coming of the Islamic savior.
By CBN News
Friday, July 14, 2006
Iran Denies Hizbullah Moving Captives
The Iranian Foreign Ministry described as "nonsense" on Friday the allegation that two IDF soldiers captured by the Lebanese Hizbullah were being transferred to Iran.
On Thursday, Israel said it had information that the guerrillas who captured the two soldiers were trying to transfer them to Iran in an apparent move to prevent the IDF from rescuing them. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev did not disclose the source of his information.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi categorically denied the allegation.
"This regime (Israel) is trapped in its homemade crisis and these sort of accusations are simply nonsense," he was quoted as saying by IRNA, Iran's official news agency.
The IDF released the names of the two soldiers on Thursday. According to the IDF Spokesperson, the two reserve are Ehud Goldwasser, 31, from Nahariya, and Eldad Regev, 26, from Kiryat Motzkin.
Hizbullah guerrillas, who are backed by Iran, seized the soldiers Wednesday in a cross-border raid.
OC Northern Command Lt.-Gen. Udi Adam said Thursday evening that the army has hit hundreds of targets in Lebanon since Wednesday night.
Adam added that Israel has not ruled out sending ground forces into Lebanon. He told reporters that even Northern Command had come under Katyusha fire during the day.
"I imagine over time that we will be able to rid ourselves of this threat entirely," he said.
Earlier in the day, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz confirmed Thursday that the soldiers who had been kidnapped by Hizbullah a day before were still alive.
"We know the soldiers are alive and we hold the Lebanese government completey responsible," he said during a tour of the North.
Israel was not at war with Lebanon but at a "high volume crisis," he added.
He said that a new reality has been created on the northern border that started yesterday with the deaths of eight soldiers.
The focus of the operation in Lebanon would be to restore Israel's deterrent capability against those in Lebanon, referring to Hizbullah, who thought the IDF was irrelevant, he explained.
"The goal is to create a new reality in the north," Halutz told reporters, "Such attacks will not be tolerated."
Halutz said the north was well protected by shelters but he could not guarantee that Israeli civilians would not be harmed during the current campaign in Lebanon.
He also revealed that OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Udi Adam had set up an investigative committee into Wednesday's kidnapping, which would be headed by a major general.
By Yaakov Katz - Jerusalem Post
On Thursday, Israel said it had information that the guerrillas who captured the two soldiers were trying to transfer them to Iran in an apparent move to prevent the IDF from rescuing them. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev did not disclose the source of his information.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi categorically denied the allegation.
"This regime (Israel) is trapped in its homemade crisis and these sort of accusations are simply nonsense," he was quoted as saying by IRNA, Iran's official news agency.
The IDF released the names of the two soldiers on Thursday. According to the IDF Spokesperson, the two reserve are Ehud Goldwasser, 31, from Nahariya, and Eldad Regev, 26, from Kiryat Motzkin.
Hizbullah guerrillas, who are backed by Iran, seized the soldiers Wednesday in a cross-border raid.
OC Northern Command Lt.-Gen. Udi Adam said Thursday evening that the army has hit hundreds of targets in Lebanon since Wednesday night.
Adam added that Israel has not ruled out sending ground forces into Lebanon. He told reporters that even Northern Command had come under Katyusha fire during the day.
"I imagine over time that we will be able to rid ourselves of this threat entirely," he said.
Earlier in the day, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz confirmed Thursday that the soldiers who had been kidnapped by Hizbullah a day before were still alive.
"We know the soldiers are alive and we hold the Lebanese government completey responsible," he said during a tour of the North.
Israel was not at war with Lebanon but at a "high volume crisis," he added.
He said that a new reality has been created on the northern border that started yesterday with the deaths of eight soldiers.
The focus of the operation in Lebanon would be to restore Israel's deterrent capability against those in Lebanon, referring to Hizbullah, who thought the IDF was irrelevant, he explained.
"The goal is to create a new reality in the north," Halutz told reporters, "Such attacks will not be tolerated."
Halutz said the north was well protected by shelters but he could not guarantee that Israeli civilians would not be harmed during the current campaign in Lebanon.
He also revealed that OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Udi Adam had set up an investigative committee into Wednesday's kidnapping, which would be headed by a major general.
By Yaakov Katz - Jerusalem Post
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Daniel's "Seventy Weeks" Prophecy - Daniel 9:24-27
Below is a detailed look at Daniel 9:24-27. Much of our commentary below is based on Josh McDowell's book, "The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict", pages 197-201:
PART ONE:
A chronological summary of Daniel 9:24-26
1. There would be a decree to rebuild Jerusalem.
2. Jerusalem and the Temple would be rebuilt.
3. Then an anointed one (messiah) would be "cut off" (an idiom for "rejected" or "killed").
4. Then Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed again.
I came up with this summary after reading various renderings of this verse in various translations of the Christian Bible and of the Jewish Tanakh. (The Tanakh is the Jewish Bible; it contains the writings of what we Christians refer to as the Old Testament). I believe that this chronology fits most of the renderings that I have seen, whether they are translations by Christians or by Judaists. My summary is in no way original - many Christians, such as Josh McDowell, have come up with the same chronology long before I did.
PART TWO:
A summary of how Daniel 9:24-26 was fulfilled
All of these events later happened, in the same order in which they are described in Daniel 9:24-26:
1. After the Medo-Persians had conquered the Babylonian empire about 2540 years ago, they ruled a vast empire that included the land of Israel. About 2446 years ago (about 445 BC), Persian king Artaxerxes gave permission to the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem, which was still in ruins after having been destroyed earlier by the Babylonians.
2. The Jews rebuilt the Temple and the city of Jerusalem.
3. Then, in about 33 AD, Jesus entered Jerusalem as the Messiah who had been promised by Old Testament prophets. But, many people rejected Jesus as the Messiah and He was crucified by the Romans.
4. About 40 years after Jesus was crucified, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. (The Temple has not been rebuilt since then).
PART THREE:
How Daniel 9:24-26 was "Fulfilled to the day" according to scholars such as Josh McDowell
First, McDowell, and other scholars, separate the prophecy into three parts:
1. The "7 sevens" in Daniel 9:25.
2. The "62 sevens" in Daniel 9:25.
3. And the 70th "seven" in Daniel 9:27.
Then, they combine the first two periods for a total of 69 "sevens." They combined the first two periods because it is at after the completion of those two periods that the anointed one appears, and that's what we are trying to calculate - when the anointed one was supposed to appear.
Next, they interpret the "sevens" as "seven years" or periods of seven years, rather than a period of seven days or seven weeks or seven months. Part of the reason that this is interpreted as "years" is because of the reference to "years" in Daniel 9:2. (Daniel 9:2 refers to the "seventy years" prophecy that Jeremiah spoke of in Jeremiah 25).
PART FOUR:
The mathematics of calculating Daniel 9:24-26 and the issue of the 360-day "prophetic" calendar
At this point, we're adding the 7 "sevens" and the 62 "sevens" for a total of 69 "sevens". And we are interpreting the 69 "sevens" to mean 69 periods of seven years, for a total of 483 years. So, we are saying that there would be a period of 483 years from the time that a decree is given to rebuild Jerusalem to the time that a Messiah is to appear.
Some Christian scholars say that the period of 483 years should not be thought of in terms of our modern solar calendar which is based on a 365.25 days to a year. Instead, we are to use a "prophetic" calendar which has 360 days to a year. Many ancient calendars, including the Jewish calendar, were based on a lunar year of 12 months, with each month lasting 30 days each. Many ancient peoples, including the ancient Jews, did realize that there actually were more than 360 days to a year and so they would tack on an extra five days at some point during the year.
Another reason some scholars say that we should apply a 360-day calendar to Daniel's prophecy is because of various Bible references that allude to a fixed 30-day month view of time. For example, in Genesis 7:24, it says that the flood lasted 150 days. And, in Genesis 7:11, it says the flood began in the 17th day of the second month. And in Genesis 8:4, it says that the flood subsided on the 17th day of the seventh month, when the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. So, these passages present us a 5-month period of time that is described as being 150 days in length. And that of course is five 30-day months.
There are other Bible passages that indicate that time is being measured in fixed 30-day month periods. Revelation 12:6 mentions a 1,260 day period which, in my view, clearly relates to the three-and-a-half-year period mentioned in Revelation 12:13-14 and in Daniel 9:27.
For three-and-a-half years to equal 1,260 days, one would have to measure years in 360-day increments. That of course doesn't mean that the earth's orbit of the sun is going to speed up or change, it just simply means that the prophetic year is a measure of time in which a "year" has 360 days, nothing more, nothing less.
It's no different than weighing a bag of groceries using the metric system of kilograms and then using the old English system of pounds and ounces. It is not that one system causes the groceries to weigh more or less, but rather the two systems describe the weight in different units. So too does the prophetic year in comparison to our solar calendar - it uses a different system to measure time.
So, we take the 483 years that we had calculated earlier and we multiply the 483 by 360. In other words, we are viewing the 483 year period described in Daniel 9:25 as "prophetic years" of 360 days each. And, 483 times 360 equals 173,880. And that gives us a total of 173,880 days.
Now, we want to apply these 173,880 days to our calendar, which has 365.25 days to a year. Why? So that we can use our calendar in trying to figure out the year that this part of Daniel's prophecy was to begin its fulfillment and when this part of Daniel's prophecy was to be completed. So, we divide the 173,880 days into years of 365.25 days. And, that equals 476 (solar) years. Now, we need to figure out when this 476 year period was supposed to begin.
PART FIVE:
When was Daniel's "69 weeks of years" supposed to begin?
At this point we are trying to figure out when the 476-year period begins. The prophecy in Daniel 9:24-26 begins with a decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Many people have proposed different years for different decrees. And I won't pretend to have the "only correct answer," because I don't know if I have that or not. In any event, here are four decrees that are often discussed in relation to Daniel 9:24-26:
1. The decree from Cyrus in 539 BC. (see Ezra 1:1-4)
2. The decree from Darius in 519 BC. (see Ezra 5:3-7)
3. The decree from Artaxerxes to Ezra in 457 BC. (see Ezra 7:11-16)
4. The decree from Artaxerxes to Nehemiah in 444 BC. (see Nehemiah 2:1-8)
As cited in McDowell's book, a Christian scholar named J.D. Wilson contends that only the decree from Artaxerxes to Nehemiah applies to this prophecy. As cited in McDowell's book, Wilson explains:
" The words of the decree are not given, but its subject matter can easily be determined. Nehemiah hears of the desolate condition of Jerusalem. He is deeply grieved. The King asks the reason. Nehemiah replies, 'the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire.' The King bids him make request. He does so promptly, asking for an order to from the King that 'I be sent to the city that I may build it.' And, as we read, he was sent, and he rebuilt Jerusalem. "
And so, that is J.D. Wilson's reason for using the Artaxerxes to Nehemiah. The next issue is finding a date for that decree. McDowell, page 199 of his "The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict," reads:
" The decree was given in 444 B.C., based on the following:
1. 'In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes' (Nehemiah 2:1).
2. Artaxerxes' accession was in 465 B.C.
3. There is no day-of-month specified, so according to the Jewish custom the date is understood as the first day of the month, which would be Nisan 1, 444 BC.
4. March 5, 444 B.C. is our corresponding calendar date. "
(Many scholars use the March 5 date, but not all use the 444 BC year. Some use 445 BC as the twentieth year of Artaxerxes. I myself haven't done enough research to decide which year is most likely to be the correct year). Regardless of whether you accept the date as being March 5, 444 BC or March 5, 445 BC, we now have a starting point for Daniel's prophecy.
PART SIX:
When was Daniel's "69 weeks of years" supposed to end?
We are now at the point where we can try to pinpoint when the Messiah was supposed to make his appearance. If we agree on the points that have been made earlier, then we simply calculate 476 years into the future, using 444 BC as the starting point. To do that, if I am not mistaken, we count 443 BC as the first of the 476 years. Why - because the first began in 444 BC and it ended in 443 BC. So we start counting from 443 BC. So, we have 443 years on the BC side of measuring time and that leaves us with 33 years on the AD side to account for the full 476 years. Using this formula, we arrive at 33 AD the year in time in which the Messiah was to appear.
And that would correspond to the time that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The reason the donkey is important is that in Zechariah 9:9, the prophet Zechariah speaks of a King riding a donkey and presenting himself as the King to Jerusalem.
Alfred Edersheim, a Christian Jew who lived during the 1800s, studied ancient Rabbinical writings, and said that Zechariah 9:9 was often interpreted as being about a Messiah. In the book, "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah," Edersheim wrote: "The Messianic application of this verse in all its parts has already been repeatedly indicated. We may here add that there are many traditions about this donkey on which the Messiah is to ride; and so firm was the belief in it, that, according to the Talmud, `if anyone saw a donkey in his dreams, he will see salvation' (Ber 56 b)."
So then, what better way for a Messiah to announce himself in Jerusalem than to enter the great city on the back of a humble donkey?
There are theories that pinpoint the exact date of the exact year that Jesus rode into Jerusalem. The dates that I have seen in my review of other people's research is April 6, either April 6, 32 AD, or April 6, 33 AD. (And, again, the difference in the year depends on whether the 20th year of Artaxerxes was in 444 BC or 445 BC). And, some scholars have claimed that there are exactly 173,880 days from March 5, 444 BC to April 6, 33 AD (and, 173,880 days from March 5, 445 BC to April 6, 32 AD).
PART SEVEN:
What ancient Rabbis thought of Daniel 9:24-26
I found a Web site that pulls together various ancient writings from Rabbis, commenting on Daniel, chapter 9. That Web site's address is: http://www.inerrancy.org/dan.htm
According to that Web site, at least a handful of ancient Rabbis agree that it is correct to view Daniel 9 as providing a timeline for the arrival of a Messiah. Below are a few examples that I copied verbatim from that Web site:
" 1a. Maimonides (Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon): "Daniel has elucidated to us the knowledge of the end times. However, since they are secret, the wise [rabbis] have barred the calculation of the days of Messiah’s coming so that the untutored populace will not be led astray when they see that the End Times have already come but there is no sign of the Messiah" (Igeret Teiman, Chapter 3 p.24.) "
" 1b. Rabbi Moses Abraham Levi: "I have examined and searched all the Holy Scriptures and have not found the time for the coming of Messiah clearly fixed, except in the words of Gabriel to the prophet Daniel, which are written in the 9th chapter of the prophecy of Daniel (The Messiah of the Targums, Talmuds and Rabbinical Writers, 1971) p.141-142 (These two quotes were taken from The Creator Beyond Time and Space by Mark Eastman, M.D. and Chuck Missler (The Word for Today, 1996)). "
Assuming that these citations are accurate renderings of what the Rabbis had said, it seems clear that these Rabbis believed that Daniel 9:24-26 referred to a Messiah, a very important Messiah, and that the Bible passage provided the information needed to calculate the Messiah's arrival. As for the first example, Maimonides of course was a Judaist, not a Christian, and so from his point of view, the prophecy had not yet been fulfilled. And that would account for his comments about calculating the Messiah's arrival.
PART EIGHT:
My conclusions about Daniel's "69 weeks of years"
Perhaps we can't all agree, at this time, on every specific detail involved in calculating a starting point for Daniel's prophecy about the 69 weeks of years. But, eventually, we might have additional information from archaeologists and historians to help pinpoint that starting point. But at this present time, it seems to me that there is widespread agreement among Christian scholars on the following issues:
1. That there is evidence in the Bible to support the concept of the "prophetic calendar" which measures time in terms of 360-day years.
2. That there is evidence in the Bible to support the view that the decree of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah is, or at least could be, the starting point of Daniel's prophecy.
3. That there is strong evidence from historians and archaeologists to pinpoint "twentieth year of Artaxerxes" as being either 444 BC or 445 BC.
4. That the events described in Daniel's prophecy do line up as follows:
• That there would be a decree to rebuild Jerusalem.
• Then Jerusalem and the Temple would be rebuilt.
• Then an anointed one (messiah) would make his appearance and then be "cut off."
• Then Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed again.
George Konig - Copyright ©2001-2006 All rights reserved
PART ONE:
A chronological summary of Daniel 9:24-26
1. There would be a decree to rebuild Jerusalem.
2. Jerusalem and the Temple would be rebuilt.
3. Then an anointed one (messiah) would be "cut off" (an idiom for "rejected" or "killed").
4. Then Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed again.
I came up with this summary after reading various renderings of this verse in various translations of the Christian Bible and of the Jewish Tanakh. (The Tanakh is the Jewish Bible; it contains the writings of what we Christians refer to as the Old Testament). I believe that this chronology fits most of the renderings that I have seen, whether they are translations by Christians or by Judaists. My summary is in no way original - many Christians, such as Josh McDowell, have come up with the same chronology long before I did.
PART TWO:
A summary of how Daniel 9:24-26 was fulfilled
All of these events later happened, in the same order in which they are described in Daniel 9:24-26:
1. After the Medo-Persians had conquered the Babylonian empire about 2540 years ago, they ruled a vast empire that included the land of Israel. About 2446 years ago (about 445 BC), Persian king Artaxerxes gave permission to the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem, which was still in ruins after having been destroyed earlier by the Babylonians.
2. The Jews rebuilt the Temple and the city of Jerusalem.
3. Then, in about 33 AD, Jesus entered Jerusalem as the Messiah who had been promised by Old Testament prophets. But, many people rejected Jesus as the Messiah and He was crucified by the Romans.
4. About 40 years after Jesus was crucified, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. (The Temple has not been rebuilt since then).
PART THREE:
How Daniel 9:24-26 was "Fulfilled to the day" according to scholars such as Josh McDowell
First, McDowell, and other scholars, separate the prophecy into three parts:
1. The "7 sevens" in Daniel 9:25.
2. The "62 sevens" in Daniel 9:25.
3. And the 70th "seven" in Daniel 9:27.
Then, they combine the first two periods for a total of 69 "sevens." They combined the first two periods because it is at after the completion of those two periods that the anointed one appears, and that's what we are trying to calculate - when the anointed one was supposed to appear.
Next, they interpret the "sevens" as "seven years" or periods of seven years, rather than a period of seven days or seven weeks or seven months. Part of the reason that this is interpreted as "years" is because of the reference to "years" in Daniel 9:2. (Daniel 9:2 refers to the "seventy years" prophecy that Jeremiah spoke of in Jeremiah 25).
PART FOUR:
The mathematics of calculating Daniel 9:24-26 and the issue of the 360-day "prophetic" calendar
At this point, we're adding the 7 "sevens" and the 62 "sevens" for a total of 69 "sevens". And we are interpreting the 69 "sevens" to mean 69 periods of seven years, for a total of 483 years. So, we are saying that there would be a period of 483 years from the time that a decree is given to rebuild Jerusalem to the time that a Messiah is to appear.
Some Christian scholars say that the period of 483 years should not be thought of in terms of our modern solar calendar which is based on a 365.25 days to a year. Instead, we are to use a "prophetic" calendar which has 360 days to a year. Many ancient calendars, including the Jewish calendar, were based on a lunar year of 12 months, with each month lasting 30 days each. Many ancient peoples, including the ancient Jews, did realize that there actually were more than 360 days to a year and so they would tack on an extra five days at some point during the year.
Another reason some scholars say that we should apply a 360-day calendar to Daniel's prophecy is because of various Bible references that allude to a fixed 30-day month view of time. For example, in Genesis 7:24, it says that the flood lasted 150 days. And, in Genesis 7:11, it says the flood began in the 17th day of the second month. And in Genesis 8:4, it says that the flood subsided on the 17th day of the seventh month, when the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. So, these passages present us a 5-month period of time that is described as being 150 days in length. And that of course is five 30-day months.
There are other Bible passages that indicate that time is being measured in fixed 30-day month periods. Revelation 12:6 mentions a 1,260 day period which, in my view, clearly relates to the three-and-a-half-year period mentioned in Revelation 12:13-14 and in Daniel 9:27.
For three-and-a-half years to equal 1,260 days, one would have to measure years in 360-day increments. That of course doesn't mean that the earth's orbit of the sun is going to speed up or change, it just simply means that the prophetic year is a measure of time in which a "year" has 360 days, nothing more, nothing less.
It's no different than weighing a bag of groceries using the metric system of kilograms and then using the old English system of pounds and ounces. It is not that one system causes the groceries to weigh more or less, but rather the two systems describe the weight in different units. So too does the prophetic year in comparison to our solar calendar - it uses a different system to measure time.
So, we take the 483 years that we had calculated earlier and we multiply the 483 by 360. In other words, we are viewing the 483 year period described in Daniel 9:25 as "prophetic years" of 360 days each. And, 483 times 360 equals 173,880. And that gives us a total of 173,880 days.
Now, we want to apply these 173,880 days to our calendar, which has 365.25 days to a year. Why? So that we can use our calendar in trying to figure out the year that this part of Daniel's prophecy was to begin its fulfillment and when this part of Daniel's prophecy was to be completed. So, we divide the 173,880 days into years of 365.25 days. And, that equals 476 (solar) years. Now, we need to figure out when this 476 year period was supposed to begin.
PART FIVE:
When was Daniel's "69 weeks of years" supposed to begin?
At this point we are trying to figure out when the 476-year period begins. The prophecy in Daniel 9:24-26 begins with a decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Many people have proposed different years for different decrees. And I won't pretend to have the "only correct answer," because I don't know if I have that or not. In any event, here are four decrees that are often discussed in relation to Daniel 9:24-26:
1. The decree from Cyrus in 539 BC. (see Ezra 1:1-4)
2. The decree from Darius in 519 BC. (see Ezra 5:3-7)
3. The decree from Artaxerxes to Ezra in 457 BC. (see Ezra 7:11-16)
4. The decree from Artaxerxes to Nehemiah in 444 BC. (see Nehemiah 2:1-8)
As cited in McDowell's book, a Christian scholar named J.D. Wilson contends that only the decree from Artaxerxes to Nehemiah applies to this prophecy. As cited in McDowell's book, Wilson explains:
" The words of the decree are not given, but its subject matter can easily be determined. Nehemiah hears of the desolate condition of Jerusalem. He is deeply grieved. The King asks the reason. Nehemiah replies, 'the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire.' The King bids him make request. He does so promptly, asking for an order to from the King that 'I be sent to the city that I may build it.' And, as we read, he was sent, and he rebuilt Jerusalem. "
And so, that is J.D. Wilson's reason for using the Artaxerxes to Nehemiah. The next issue is finding a date for that decree. McDowell, page 199 of his "The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict," reads:
" The decree was given in 444 B.C., based on the following:
1. 'In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes' (Nehemiah 2:1).
2. Artaxerxes' accession was in 465 B.C.
3. There is no day-of-month specified, so according to the Jewish custom the date is understood as the first day of the month, which would be Nisan 1, 444 BC.
4. March 5, 444 B.C. is our corresponding calendar date. "
(Many scholars use the March 5 date, but not all use the 444 BC year. Some use 445 BC as the twentieth year of Artaxerxes. I myself haven't done enough research to decide which year is most likely to be the correct year). Regardless of whether you accept the date as being March 5, 444 BC or March 5, 445 BC, we now have a starting point for Daniel's prophecy.
PART SIX:
When was Daniel's "69 weeks of years" supposed to end?
We are now at the point where we can try to pinpoint when the Messiah was supposed to make his appearance. If we agree on the points that have been made earlier, then we simply calculate 476 years into the future, using 444 BC as the starting point. To do that, if I am not mistaken, we count 443 BC as the first of the 476 years. Why - because the first began in 444 BC and it ended in 443 BC. So we start counting from 443 BC. So, we have 443 years on the BC side of measuring time and that leaves us with 33 years on the AD side to account for the full 476 years. Using this formula, we arrive at 33 AD the year in time in which the Messiah was to appear.
And that would correspond to the time that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The reason the donkey is important is that in Zechariah 9:9, the prophet Zechariah speaks of a King riding a donkey and presenting himself as the King to Jerusalem.
Alfred Edersheim, a Christian Jew who lived during the 1800s, studied ancient Rabbinical writings, and said that Zechariah 9:9 was often interpreted as being about a Messiah. In the book, "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah," Edersheim wrote: "The Messianic application of this verse in all its parts has already been repeatedly indicated. We may here add that there are many traditions about this donkey on which the Messiah is to ride; and so firm was the belief in it, that, according to the Talmud, `if anyone saw a donkey in his dreams, he will see salvation' (Ber 56 b)."
So then, what better way for a Messiah to announce himself in Jerusalem than to enter the great city on the back of a humble donkey?
There are theories that pinpoint the exact date of the exact year that Jesus rode into Jerusalem. The dates that I have seen in my review of other people's research is April 6, either April 6, 32 AD, or April 6, 33 AD. (And, again, the difference in the year depends on whether the 20th year of Artaxerxes was in 444 BC or 445 BC). And, some scholars have claimed that there are exactly 173,880 days from March 5, 444 BC to April 6, 33 AD (and, 173,880 days from March 5, 445 BC to April 6, 32 AD).
PART SEVEN:
What ancient Rabbis thought of Daniel 9:24-26
I found a Web site that pulls together various ancient writings from Rabbis, commenting on Daniel, chapter 9. That Web site's address is: http://www.inerrancy.org/dan.htm
According to that Web site, at least a handful of ancient Rabbis agree that it is correct to view Daniel 9 as providing a timeline for the arrival of a Messiah. Below are a few examples that I copied verbatim from that Web site:
" 1a. Maimonides (Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon): "Daniel has elucidated to us the knowledge of the end times. However, since they are secret, the wise [rabbis] have barred the calculation of the days of Messiah’s coming so that the untutored populace will not be led astray when they see that the End Times have already come but there is no sign of the Messiah" (Igeret Teiman, Chapter 3 p.24.) "
" 1b. Rabbi Moses Abraham Levi: "I have examined and searched all the Holy Scriptures and have not found the time for the coming of Messiah clearly fixed, except in the words of Gabriel to the prophet Daniel, which are written in the 9th chapter of the prophecy of Daniel (The Messiah of the Targums, Talmuds and Rabbinical Writers, 1971) p.141-142 (These two quotes were taken from The Creator Beyond Time and Space by Mark Eastman, M.D. and Chuck Missler (The Word for Today, 1996)). "
Assuming that these citations are accurate renderings of what the Rabbis had said, it seems clear that these Rabbis believed that Daniel 9:24-26 referred to a Messiah, a very important Messiah, and that the Bible passage provided the information needed to calculate the Messiah's arrival. As for the first example, Maimonides of course was a Judaist, not a Christian, and so from his point of view, the prophecy had not yet been fulfilled. And that would account for his comments about calculating the Messiah's arrival.
PART EIGHT:
My conclusions about Daniel's "69 weeks of years"
Perhaps we can't all agree, at this time, on every specific detail involved in calculating a starting point for Daniel's prophecy about the 69 weeks of years. But, eventually, we might have additional information from archaeologists and historians to help pinpoint that starting point. But at this present time, it seems to me that there is widespread agreement among Christian scholars on the following issues:
1. That there is evidence in the Bible to support the concept of the "prophetic calendar" which measures time in terms of 360-day years.
2. That there is evidence in the Bible to support the view that the decree of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah is, or at least could be, the starting point of Daniel's prophecy.
3. That there is strong evidence from historians and archaeologists to pinpoint "twentieth year of Artaxerxes" as being either 444 BC or 445 BC.
4. That the events described in Daniel's prophecy do line up as follows:
• That there would be a decree to rebuild Jerusalem.
• Then Jerusalem and the Temple would be rebuilt.
• Then an anointed one (messiah) would make his appearance and then be "cut off."
• Then Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed again.
George Konig - Copyright ©2001-2006 All rights reserved
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