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July 12, 2016
IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER...
Dealing with Deceit - The Pre-Wrath Deception - By Bill Perkins -
http://raptureready.com/soap2/perkins21.html "Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44b). I get letters and phone calls ... One of the few downsides to my job here at Compass is that pretty much weekly I have someone new trying to convince me that the Rapture will somehow not happen at the end of the Church Age, but rather, happen sometime during the seven-year Tribulation period. I get phone calls, letters, charts, tapes, books and videos all arguing the Mid-Trib Post-Trib or Pre-Wrath positions. These impassioned people are usually so convinced their position is correct, and that my position is wrong, they think I should spend hours on end listening to and debating them. For the record, I think the book The Pre-wrath Rapture of the Church has caused the Body of Christ a great deal of pain and confusion. I think the author means well, but the book promotes, in my opinion, heresy. I feel badly for people deceived by this teaching because I too was once deceived into believing the "Pre-Wrath" argument. When I was a new believer in the 1970s, I was taught by my well-meaning pastor that "Mid-Trib" Rapture was a fact, not a theory. He gave all the same arguments I hear today, usually centered in some shape, form or fashion around these two incorrect premises: "We're saved only from God's wrath." "Pre-Wrathers" believe that "God's wrath" comes only in the last 3.5 years of the tribulation--erroneously believing that the first 3.5 years are not actually "God's wrath." That is, of course, ridiculous! The entire seven-year Tribulation period is called "The time of Jacob's Trouble." Good grief, in the first 3.5 years there's worldwide economic collapse, famine and one-fourth of the earth dies...that sure sounds like "God's wrath" to me! "We need to prepare for the inevitable": "Pre-Wrathers believe they should plan for the worst-case scenario because if they're wrong, they conclude it won't matter. But if they're right, they'll be prepared. This is a horrible way to live. Instead of living boldly for the Lord, knowing He is coming to take us home, the Pre-Wrathers worry about the Antichrist coming. One of the cornerstones of Bible prophecy doctrine is that we're to keep our eyes looking up to heaven, to our future home, not down on this earth. We are to look for Jesus, not the Antichrist. "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth" (Colossians 3:2) I eventually moved on from my first church, which also tended to border on legalism-common among Pre-Wrathers. And as I continued to read my Bible through the years, the more I could not scripturally defend the Mid-Trib position, or its close cousin, "Pre-Wrath." Noah Knows The Bible declares that the time before the Rapture would be JUST LIKE the days before Noah's flood. And then Scripture lists the characteristics of that day that our day will be "just like." It couldn't be any clearer. "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be" (Matthew 24:37-39, emphasis added). Before the flood it was "business as usual" with parties, food, building-until God shut the door, which is the symbolic equivalent of the Rapture. This biblical truth has to be patently ignored by those holding to a "Pre-Wrath" position. To accept "Pre-Wrath" you have to say the first 3.5 years of the 70th Week of Daniel is no different than today. Really? In the first 3.5 years of the Tribulation, Revelation 6 says the earth is in chaos, the worldwide economy collapses and inflation is so rampant it takes a day's wage just to buy food. Not to mention all this causes 1/4 of the earth to die from war and wild beasts! Does that sound like Jesus' description of the Days of Noah? Hardly! The Inerrant Word of God: The biggest problem with anything but a Pre-Tribulational Rapture is that you have to abandon using biblical dispensations to interpret Scripture. This is the purest of all doctrines because it's rooted in using a literal hermeneutic to interpret Scripture. The Bible is meant to be read literally, in context. Jesus took the Old Testament literally when He talked about Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark and Jonah being swallowed by the great fish. And all past prophecies were fulfilled literally, not figuratively. Therefore we should also take the Bible literally, in context. Applying dispensations gives us that context. For instance, the Bible says four times that the millennial reign of Christ on earth lasts 1000 years (Rev. 20:4-7). That doesn't mean the 1000 years issymbolicfor a "long period of time." It means what it says... it will last 1000 years. If you try to make it symbolic for a long period time, you're injecting man's sinfully tainted understanding into the interpretation. The Bible also says that in the Millennium, the wolf and the lamb will lie in the grass together. Things will change and there will be no carnivorous instincts of animals (Isa. 11:6). This is another proof we're NOT in the Millennium today. Yet the official doctrines of the Presbyterian, Lutheran, Church of Christ and Catholic denominations (and many others) promote that heresy. God doesn't change, but He certainly does change how He deals with people through the different ages or time periods throughout history. God never changes, he just changes how He deals with people on earth. You can't argue that God didn't change through time how He dealt with or will deal with people on the earth because He says so in Scripture: 1) Before and after the fall of mankind; 2) Before and after the Flood; 3) Before and after the Tower of Babel; 4) Before and after the Cross; 5) Before and after the Rapture; 6) Before and after the Second Coming; 7) Before and after the Great White Throne Judgment. Therefore it is a FACT that God DOES change how He deals with people on the earth at different times through the ages. Dividing the Bible into biblical dispensations for context simply recognizes and applies this fact to scriptural interpretation. And it clears up so many seemingly conflicting Scriptures. Paul refers to the current Church Age dispensation, as an "administration" and that was hidden to the Jews, but now revealed: "...and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things" (Ephesians 3:9). Properly understanding and applying how God views the different time periods, literally changed my life. Understanding dispensations allowed me to know when and where to apply every verse of scripture. Without properly applying dispensations to understand the context of what the Lord is saying in scripture, you're a ship without a rudder. "As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming" ( Ephesians 4:14). The "Church Age," the dispensation in which we live, only began after Jesus' death and resurrection. It began when the Holy Spirit came to earth and the Church Age will end at time of the Rapture. I think it's better to think of the gospels as being the end of the Old Testament rather than the beginning of the New Testament. Only then can you fully appreciate the incredible Church Age characteristics. It's a special time on God's timeline unlike any other. As Peter said: "...just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction" (2 Peter 3:15-16). One key characteristic of dispensational theology is that the dispensational time periods can't overlap. A dispensation, by definition, must end before the next time dispensation can begin on God's calendar. But the Pre-Wrath view has the Church Age crossing over into the Tribulation, into a new dispensation. That's absurd! You can't have two dispensations going on concurrently. But the biggest downside to the "Pre-Wrath" theory is that it robs believers of the joy and expectation of the coming Rapture. The end of the Church Age is something to look forward to, not fear. We are to look for Jesus Christ, not the Antichrist! "... let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith" (Hebrews 12:1-2). And lastly, here's one more problem with pre-wrath that is laughable. The "pre-wrath" Rapture view says that we, the bride of Christ, will go through the first 3.5 years of Tribulation, meaning, we'll be severely persecuted before our wedding day with the Lord. Really? Do you actually believe the Lord will unload on the Church-the bride of Christ, death and destruction, tearing us apart limb from limb, just before He marries us? Oh good grief! Not much to look forward to there! No, we, the "bride of Christ," are to look forward to our marriage to the God of Love. "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready" (Rev. 19:7). These are just a few of the problems with the "pre-wrath" theory. There are many more-too many to write about. Sanhedrin Declares Jubilee and the Third Arrival of the Jews in Israel - By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz -
http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/71637/sanhedrin-declares-jubilee-third-arrival-jews-israel/#KUUy43fbBxQlgIEE.97 "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a Jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family." Leviticus 25:10 (The Israel Bible™) After a full year of deliberation, the Nascent Sanhedrin has announced that this year is the first year in the counting of the 50-year Jubilee cycle. This not only reinstates a Biblical commandment, but it has implications for Israel's status as a Biblically mandated nation, returning the land to the Jews and ensuring each Jew an inheritance in the land. The Jubilee (Hayovel in Hebrew) is a Biblical commandment that is observed exclusively in the land of Israel. It is the fiftieth year that comes after a period seven sabbaticals. The year triggers a number of Biblical commandments concerning property rights and returning the land to its original inheritors, the Jews who were allocated the land by lottery. Debts were forgiven and slaves who sold themselves due to debt were set free. The Jubilee is dependent upon certain conditions pertaining to Jews being in the land, though there are many differing opinions about the specific requirements. As a result, the Jubilee has not been observed since the Second Temple when the Jews returned from the Babylonian Exile. For the time being, there is no practical implication and in truth, very few Jews have acknowledged the Sanhedrin's Jubilee decision. Nonetheless, this was a groundbreaking decision that will have tremendous consequences in the future. Rabbi Hillel Weiss, secretary of the Nascent Sanhedrin, explained their controversial decision to reinstate the Jubilee to Breaking Israel News. "First we had to decide if the conditions exist to do so. This is done by a bet din (Jewish court) when it has been established that Jews have returned to inherit the land as a nation, and not just as individuals," the rabbi explained. Rabbi Weiss explained that unlike most Torah commandments which are based on the personal observance of each Jew, the Jubilee has to do with Israel's national identity. "The Jubilee is a national mitzvah (commandment) that requires an independent Jewish nation to be in the Land of Israel. The Sanhedrin has ruled that we are now clearly in the prophesied third inheritance of the land, the first being by Joshua, the second after the Babylonian exile." Rabbi Weiss stated, "It is time to begin observing the positive commandment of counting the Jubilee." "Most of the Jews who do not deny their Jewish identity are living in Israel today. There is no Jewish nation outside of the Land of Israel," he said. "There must be at least 600,000 Jews, like the number that returned to Israel from Egypt under Joshua." "When those conditions have been met, as they clearly have, then the conditions for counting the Jubilee has been met," Rabbi Weiss concluded. The practical implications will begin only for the next Jubilee in 50 years, when seven shemitah cycles are complete, and the Jews in Israel are required to observe the other Jubilee commandments. "There are 5 mitzvot connected to the Jubilee: counting the Jubilee, letting free slaves, returning land, blowing the shofar, and forgiving debts," Rabbi Weiss explained. "Our declaration only affects the counting of the Jubilee, for now, and not the other aspects." The declaration has theological implications for Israel as the Jewish nation, he continued. "Israel was established by political, military, and social processes," Rabbi Weiss said. "If, in 49 years, Israel accepts our decision, every Jew will receive his Biblically mandated inheritance in the Land of Israel. Until now, the default assumption has been that the land belongs to the Arabs. The Jubilee returns the land to the rightful owners, which is the Jews." A rabbi who was part of the Sanhedrin's decision spoke to Breaking Israel News anonymously for reasons of personal modesty. "It was really a foregone conclusion. Once we established that the conditions for counting the Jubilee had been met, we were required by the Torah to begin," he said. "The only obstacle is that there many Jews do not recognize the authority of the Sanhedrin," the anonymous rabbi explained. "There is a Torah commandment to establish a Sanhedrin, and despite the requirement and our ability to do so, many people are ignoring this obligation." "The same is true for Jubilee," the rabbi went on. "We have the conditions that require us to begin counting the Jubilee, but what is lacking is for the Jews to recognize their Torah requirement and to act on it." The rabbi noted the outcome, should the Jewish people ignore the Sanhedrin's declaration. "Now, the land belongs to the government. If they do not distribute the land to the Jews as commanded by the Torah, there will be no meaning to the Jubilee and no Biblical connection to the Jews returning from exile." He explained, "It will remain a secular state, which has positive aspects for the Jewish people, but it will lose most of its Biblical significance." Is the Middle East on the brink of Nuclear War? - Tony Johnson - http://www.catholic.org/news/international/middle_east/story.php?id=69865
Recent news reports indicate that Saudi Arabia has obtained nuclear weapons. If Iran's 2016 testing of long range nuclear warhead capable missiles is an indicator, does this mean Iran was able to "beat the clock" in Uranium 235 enrichment before the treaty was signed? If so, Iran may already have nuclear bombs. "Yes, we have a nuclear bomb," said Saudi political analyst Dahham Al-`Anzi. "We have said before that if Iran were to impudently announce a nuclear test, Saudi Arabia would announce one too. No problem" as stated in a March 2016 news interview. Although Saudi Arabia signed the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty in 1988, why would they feel it necessary to violate this treaty? The reason may be found by the deepening enmity in foreign relations with Iran. Saudi Arabia and Iran are locked in a virtual proxy war in Yemen that some say may lead to a "regional showdown". Sparked by a concern of Iran having nuclear weapons would be a prime motivation for Saudi Arabia to acquire their own. Saudi Arabia's Foreign minister Abel Al-Jubeir states, from an RT interview, "Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir responded by saying his country "is committed to two things. I always say two things we do not negotiate over, our faith and our security. Saudi Arabia will do whatever it takes in order to protect our nation and our people from any harm. And I will leave it at that." Iran has been accused, by Saudi Arabia, of funding rebel and terrorist factions in the Yemeni region, which is on Saudi Arabia's southern border. Fox news business channel reports that "Al-'Anzi's claim of Saudi nukes was confirmed by the founding director of the CIA's Counter-terrorism sector, Duane Clarridge, who said the country has between 4-7 nuclear weapons that can be delivered by either F-15 planes or a recently-purchased Chinese missile system." "Clarridge could not say if the Saudis have physical possession of the nuclear weapons, or if they are in Pakistan. He did leave open the possibility that the Saudis could use the nukes in a pre-emptive strike against Iranian military positions." With a dramatic escalation to obtaining nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia must believe there is a real threat to their nation. Iran's repeated launching of long range missiles, in violation of UN Security Council's resolution 2231, on the negotiated Iran nuclear agreement, is interpreted by Iran as a non-violation since Iran states they have no nuclear weapons. In essence, Iran is employing "semantic word lawyering" to skirt the resolution. So why is Iran engaging in a series of missile tests just after the Iran nuclear deal was enacted? Clearly Iran would know international tensions would result, and possible new sanctions, as Resolution 2231 had provisions prohibiting long range missile testing. New York Times reports "The critics, including members of Congress from both parties and the Republican presidential candidates, say the Obama administration was naďve in asserting that the nuclear deal would lead to a more amicable atmosphere with Iran after more than three decades of enmity." More concerning about the testing is the missile's nuclear warhead capability. As reported again in the New York Times, "Asked what action the United States might seek, Ms. Power did not specify, but said it would continue pressing at the Security Council and would show that the Iranian missiles, by Iran's own technical disclosures, "were inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons and thus inherently defying Resolution 2231." "Matthew Rycroft, Britain's ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters before the meeting that his government believed that "Iran is in blatant disregard of Resolution 2231, and we will be formally asking the Secretariat to report on the missile launches." Adding all of this together, the question arises, did Iran "beat-the-clock" to purify enough "fast fissile" U-235 nuclear fuel bomb material before the heralded signing of the "Iran Nuclear Deal" last summer? The answer, unfortunately, may be yes. The Bush Administration initiated a Cyber Warfare operation intended to interfere with the nuclear fuel purifying process in the machines within the underground Iranian facilities at Natanz. Enter the clandestine "Stuxnet" virus. Secret US testing of the virus, on similar centrifuges from when Qaddafi gave up his nuclear program in 2003, finally yielded a "shattered" centrifuge. Later, when Bush was leaving office, he recommended to Obama that this program continue, Obama agreed. The strategy of using a Cyber Warfare program was in lieu of a military strike, using deep bunker busting bombs, as it had been assessed that such a strike would only further inflame a region already at war. Ralph Langner, from the Langner group, published an extensive report, "To Kill a Centrifuge - A technical Analysis of What Stuxnet's Creators Tried to Achieve" in Nov 2013. This report extensively details how and to what extent a Cyber Warfare operation, named "Operation Olympic Games" - which is based on the Stuxnet virus - was created to damage or destroy the Iranian U-235 nuclear fuel making centrifuges. Thousands of operating cascading centrifuges are necessary to efficiently isolate the very rare bomb grade U-235 isotope from the dominant U-238 uranium isotope. The Stuxnet virus was clandestinely introduced into the centrifuge computers, created by US intelligence agencies and in conjunction with Israel. The virus spread to the motor speed controllers of the nuclear processing centrifuges and would overspeed then underspeed the centrifuge to cause it to damage the centrifuge rotor. Any gas centrifuge design requires extremely precise bearing components, motor drives, and gas-wall pressure feedback systems to handle the optimal 63,000 rpm supersonic rotational target speed. Stuxnet would cause a stealthy overspeed to stress this "supercritical" centrifuge system in reaching a vibrational stress resonance at a 84,600 rpm for fifteen minutes. Out of the full production operation of Iran's assumed four thousand centrifuges, it is estimated that around one thousand were partially or successfully damaged. Moreover, this sophisticated virus drove the Iranian engineers batty trying to figure out the root cause of the random malfunctions, to the point where they may ultimately endured total frustration about their expertise in getting a stolen plant design from the 1970's running. However, Iran's production kept up to five thousand replacement IR-1 centrifuges in stock. Iranian engineers originally struggled with the pervasiveness of the Stuxnet virus and its stealthy ability to replicate and modify its behavior via remote internet server links. Iran finally blocked its internet link from its national telecommunications provider to prevent any suspected further external modification of the remote command and control of the virus. Then a simple file search for the presence of the malicious file (s7otbxsx.dll) using a filename search allowed identification of a "clean" or "infected" computer controller. The last step for Iran would be to complete its long range missile system development, even at the risk of sanctions from the international community. The final "warning" to the Iranians having "the bomb" would be a test detonation. Intelligence agencies should be on guard for such a test detonation, that may be well outside of Iran, possibly within an ally regime, which would mask the existence of Iran having nuclear weapons. When or If such a "test detonation" occurs, Israel and Saudi Arabia will not remain idle. With Saudi's stating "Saudi Arabia will do whatever it takes in order to protect our nation and our people from any harm.", the risk becomes a decision on either a defensive or offensive stance. Israel has already stated that they will not tolerate a nuclear Iran. Perhaps the biggest failure would lay at the feet of those who were passive or ineffective in foreign policy if Iran was successful in delaying, thwarting, and dragging out the diplomatic negotiation process to achieve their ultimate goal of having "the bomb". Perhaps there wasn't much an administration could do, via sanctions, once the Cyber Warfare option was discovered and overcome. With this history of events, the pattern of developments, putting the pieces together creates substantial potential uncertainties, all of which points to Iran having achieved its goal. Regardless of the uncertainties, We should turn to Our Divine Heavenly Father in prayer to ask for the protection of His children on earth from any nuclear war or conflict, and may the wisdom of leaders, through the grace of God, prevail in these times. "This site must be inspected," declared Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the NCRI's Washington, D.C., office. "There is no way in the world you can assure Tehran is not developing nuclear weapons if you can't inspect those sites, especially if you are talking about a regime that has over two decades of a track record of lying and cheating and deceiving the whole world," he charged. The NCRI describes the underground complex as having an elevator that "descends several stories, deep underground, and opens into a 650-foot tunnel, which leads to four parallel halls. Because the ground is inclined, the halls are deeper underground," by as much as 164 feet below the surface. The NCRI also says it smuggled out a photograph showing a 1-foot thick lead-lined door that shields the complex from radiation, and that the secret rooms and hallways are insulated for sound and radiation leaks so that they would remain undetected. "If the United States is serious about preventing the Iranian regime from obtaining nuclear weapons, it must make the continuation of talks conditional on the IAEA immediately inspecting Lavizan-3 site," demanded Soona Samsami, the NCRI's United States representative. "Any delay in doing so will enable the Iranian regime to destroy the evidence as it has done in the past." Final Peace Treaty - Key to God's Prophetic Clock - Tom Olago - http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=471
The potential signing of a Middle East peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians - and by extension the Arab world- would be a highly significant event on God's prophetic calendar. In this regard, it would almost seem like there is currently some invisible hand influencing the urgency and pressure towards a Middle East peace deal. On Friday the 3rd of June, the French hosted a meeting of almost 30 foreign ministers, including Secretary of State John F. Kerry, to seek international consensus on a way to move talks forward. Ironically, the primary actors - Israel and Palestine - were not invited. This fact appears to be a glaring warning to both sides that international frustration at the lack of progress with peace talks has reached a boiling point. Some analysts fear that this could be the beginning of an imposed or 'arm-twisted 'peace upon the parties rather than the parties themselves coming to mutually agreeable terms. Such a final treaty could actually be signed as soon as November 2016, based on timetable projections, in what observers consider would involve a UN resolution backed by international law compelling Israel and the Palestinians to abide by it. Easier said than done - after all, there are reasons why similar initiatives have failed repeatedly over the years. One major sticking point has always been the control of Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepts the two-state solution in principle, but adamantly refuses to re-divide Jerusalem or relinquish Israeli sovereignty over it. On the other hand, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas insists that a peace treaty must involve Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. Another bone of contention is the proposal to have Israel withdrawing from all the lands it had captured during the 1967 war, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The land for peace exchange serves as the foundation of the Arab League's peace plan, which was launched in 2002. That Arab Peace Initiative called for a two-state solution based on an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 armistice lines and making East Jerusalem the Palestinian capital in return for "normal relations in the context of a comprehensive peace with Israel." That outcome would be a dream come true for the Palestinians - in their eyes a great source of joy and vindication over the hated Jewish people. But Israel will have none of it, instead laying claim to their own historic ownership of Jerusalem and the need to ensure their own security by retaining militarily strategic lands captured in the 1967 six-day war. Based on a recent jns.org report, one Likud minister asked Netanyahu what he would do if Arab states were not willing to revise the initiative. "If the Arab states grasp the fact that they need to revise the Arab League proposal according to the changes Israel demands, then we can talk," Netanyahu replied. "But if they bring the proposal from 2002 and define it as 'take it or leave it,' we'll choose to leave it." Given this long-standing impasse, is there any reason to be optimistic about the chances of a permanent and mutually acceptable truce this time around? Possibly. One reason is that this time around there will be a presidential election in the U.S. The Obama administration has made clear it supports Israel giving up land for peace but under 'the right conditions'. One 'right condition' might just include Obama wanting to leave behind a legacy of helping push the peace process forward - or better still, help seal the deal - as one of his last acts in office. Another potential scenario is that diplomats will go beyond Israeli-Palestinian issues and make it part of a much larger Arab-Israeli peace, encompassing both Palestinians and the Arab League. The allure of peace with the entire Arab world may just be the one thing that would tempt Israel to cross red lines it has vowed never to cross. The Biblical viewpoint adhered to by many eschatologists predicts a final "peace covenant" based on Daniel 9:27: "And he (the "prince that shall come"; AntiChrist) shall confirm the covenant with many", to which Israel would be a signatory. The idea of "confirming" suggests guaranteeing or enforcing an existing treaty, one that has already been put forward - such as the Arab Peace Plan. The idea that it involves "many" suggests such a treaty would be much more comprehensive than just the Palestinians. The Arab League represents over 22 countries and would certainly qualify as "many". The prophet Daniel details several other elements to this treaty, one of them being that it will be for seven years. One analysis of the Bible narrative states that Daniel had a vision from God that foresaw a period of 70 weeks of years in Israel's future history. After 69 weeks the Messiah is killed, "but not for Himself". Daniel's prophecy then goes into hibernation and the clock stops. It is said that almost 2000 years have gone by and yet there is still one unfulfilled week of seven years - determined or allotted to Daniel's people (the Jews) and the Holy city (Jerusalem) before the end comes. According to another common interpretation of Bible prophecy, the countdown of the final week of years will resume when the Antichrist signs a seven-year peace agreement or covenant with Israel. From that point, there are exactly seven years left before the end of the great Tribulation and the end of the world. This will be the time known as Daniel's 70th week, which is also described at great length in the Book of Revelation. Will the upcoming treaty currently in the works involve a seven-year timetable? Whatever the exact timing, Scripture reveals that the eventual peace treaty that is signed will only be a temporary peace, leading to the deadliest time on earth that man has ever known. According to Jesus' Own words, "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." (Matthew 24.21) Is the recent French-led initiative going to culminate in the Biblically prophesied peace treaty? Potentially - but no matter what form the final treaty will take, it is noteworthy that PA Chairman Abbas wants a specific time frame for implementation. This could well be a reason for the seven-year time-bound scenario. One concession that Israel would almost certainly push for as part of any final agreement would be to achieve their long-held desire to build the Third Temple. The Temple must also be rebuilt as the AntiChrist will desecrate it at some point during the Great Tribulation period (II Thessalonians 2:4). The challenge is how that could possibly be done in a manner that would be acceptable to the predominantly Muslim Arab world. Muslims consider the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque - both of which sit on the Temple Mount area - as highly sacred to Islam. In a recent Times of Israel article, Sue Surkes quotes Israel Chief Rabbi David Lau on this. Lau said he would like to see the Jewish temple rebuilt on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and that there was no need to remove any of the Muslim shrines on the Temple Mount, where there was plenty of room for "Jews, Christians, Muslims, everyone," he told the Knesset Channel. In addition, there is a potentially significant political change in Israel that would further favor a push towards rebuilding the Third Temple on the Temple Mount. As Adam Berkowitz recently reported in an article for breakingisraelnews.com: "An unlikely series of events has brought Temple Mount rights activist Rabbi Yehuda Glick to the position of Likud's newest member of Knesset. American-born Glick will bring a powerful voice to the Israeli government that may help move Israel towards a new era of serving God and bringing the Temple Mount to its proper place as a house of prayer for all nations. Indeed, his role may even have been foreseen by the Bible". Berkowitz's view is that Yehudah Glick's devotion to Jerusalem and his unlikely Knesset appointment carry all the signs of fulfilled prophecy: "It is not every day that a headline can so closely resemble a Biblical verse. In this case, the new Likud appointment comes straight from the book of Zechariah (Chapter 12 Vs 5)". However, the lingering million-dollar question is: what happens if either or both parties reject the peace accord? If the Palestinians and the Arab world were to reject it, they may very well initiate a war as a final solution or last resort - arguing that endless years of talks have achieved nothing and that even persistent high-profile international mediation has proved useless. Could we see a war against Israel, sparked by global frustration and aimed at forcing them to hand over the pre-1967 lands if they will not concede them at the negotiating table? Obama may also be eager to grasp at the opportunity to stamp a powerful and lasting presidential legacy on his way out of the White House, by choosing not to veto a plan to force Israel to sign a peace treaty. Could it be that the gathering of a confederation of nations against Israel, as prophesied in Psalms 83, will finally take place because a well-crafted peace treaty falls through? So much so, that the anti-Israel nations would go so far as to attempt to destroy Israel completely? Psalms 83:4 says "They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance". Perhaps only after failing to defeat Israel (as insinuated in the rest of the Psalm) would the final seven-year treaty be signed - probably in a revised form. The Jews, however, may find that the proposed peace treaty asks too much from them in exchange for too little. In which case, they may opt for the 'Samson Option' - choosing to defend Israel even at the cost of bringing down the entire world in a 3rd world war. Israel may calculate that the world has never gone to war against her simply because it cannot afford to - and that they would not be the first ones to blink in the event that tensions escalate to the boiling point. In an alternative scenario, knowing how keen Obama is to seal a Middle East peace deal even if it would be to Israel's disadvantage - the UN may push for a deal while Obama still has the power to help push it through by November 2016. After all, there's no telling how much a Clinton or Trump presidency might complicate things in 2017. It is also likely that a third-party, considered to be 'neutral' - such as the U.N or perhaps NATO - would enforce such an agreement and provide the security required for its perceived success. When would the timing of the peace treaty be? In Matthew 24: 30-36, Jesus said that the generation that saw the rebirth of Israel as a nation in the end times would not pass, "till all these things be fulfilled" including the events immediately preceding the second coming of Jesus Christ. The question then arises how long a generation would be. Scholars originally considered it to be 40 years, but time has since disproved that theory. According to khouse.org, a generation as described in the Bible begins at conception and ends at death (Genesis 17:6-9; Psalms 22:30; Jeremiah 1:4,5; Acts 13:36; Joshua 24:29-31). Consequently, the average lifespan of a group of people living at about the same time constitutes the length of that generation. The article concluded this to be 70-80 years based on Psalm 90. On that basis, counting 70 to 80 years from the date of the birth of Israel in 1948 would propel us to 2018 - 2028, providing a ten-year time frame within which the last seven years prior to the return of Christ could run. Does that mean that no peace treaty is possible prophetically before 2018? That would depend on whose definition of a generation is more accurate. Other experts are persuaded that a generation actually lasts 40-70 years, in which case the peace treaty deadline could be May 14, 2018 - making 2016 to 2017 a distinct possibility for a peace settlement timeframe. For Christians, regardless of the exact timing, the imminence of a Middle East peace treaty is all exciting, and pregnant with spiritual significance: The Antichrist is about to be revealed. The Third Temple will be rebuilt soon. Jesus is coming back again. And no matter whether we hold the pre-Tribulation, mid-Tribulation or Post-Tribulation view, it won't be long before the believer in Christ will start to begin an eternity with God in a sin-free, perfect paradise called the New Heaven and the new Earth(Revelation 21:1). Nearing Midnight: What Concerns Me the Most About Hillary Clinton - Todd Strandberg - http://raptureready.com/rap16.html
In the coming days there may be many times when America is compared to a Banana Republic. I think the first time we officially passed that threshold came last week with the announcement of FBI Director James Comey-that the Justice Department will not bring charges against Hillary Clinton over her improper handling of highly classified information. "Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information," he said, "there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information." The term "extremely careless" might apply if Clinton had taken a few documents home in her briefcase. But there is no excuse for someone who had four servers running out of her New York home, obviously used to download hundreds of classified files. Since hackers from Russia, China, and North Korea have had no trouble accessing our secure networks, Clinton's jerry-rigged system most likely had a direct connection to hackers located in Moscow and Beijing. The FBI still does not have roughly 30,000 emails that Hillary Clinton deleted from her private server, due to her categorizing them as personal and not work-related. Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton was so frustrated with the state of our Intelligence Committee, he suggested that the FBI ask Putin for his copies of Hillary's lost emails. Judge Andrew Napolitano claimed to have heard reports of a debate going on in the Kremlin about whether or not to release the emails. James Comey said there was no evidence of any kind of cover-up. This observation can only be based on willful ignorance. Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton's closest aide had already revealed in a deposition that her boss had ordered her to destroy the schedule records by burning them. The hard drives that contained Hillary's emails on her servers were wiped clean or destroyed so effectively-that no data could possibly be retrieved. This action was done by Clinton's lawyers, whom by the way, did to have any type of security clearance allowing them to view classified documents. Anyone who has closely followed the life of Hillary Clinton would not be surprised that she has time and time again escaped situations that should have destroyed her career or put her behind bars. She has been the center of so many scandals, you have to wonder about the integrity of the U.S. justice system. In the infamous Whitewater Controversy, she and her husband were found to be involved in some suspect real estate investments. Hillary was also implicated in the Travelgate scandal, which alleged that the Clintons had fired White House travel staff employees so that the jobs could go to their friends. While President Bill Clinton was exonerated of any wrongdoing, Mrs. Clinton was found to have played a central role in the firings and made false statements about the matter. She was also involved in the Filegate scandal, which alleged that she had requested and read top-secret FBI background checks to use for political purposes. The Benghazi attack on September 11, 2012 was a disaster and should make it impossible for her to run for office. Islamic radicals attacked the American embassy in Benghazi, Libya killing Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. Requests for more security had been made by the American representatives in Libya to the Clinton State Department for months prior, but they were deliberately ignored. Abundant evidence has shown Hillary Clinton to be a chronic compulsive liar. After Benghazi, she told the American people that a video was responsible, while at the same time she was privately telling people it was really a terrorist attack. In 2008, she falsely claimed that she landed under "sniper fire" in Bosnia, which was refuted by video evidence. In 1995, she claimed that she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to reach Mount Everest's summit. Clinton was born six years before that event. Hillary claimed that she and Bill came out of the White House dead broke in 2001. However, in 1999, the couple bought a five bedroom home in Chappaqua, N.Y. for nearly $2 million. In December 2000, they bought a seven bedroom house near Embassy Row in Washington, D.C. for almost $3 million. One of the strangest things about Hillary is the relationship she has with the press. She treats the liberal media like dirt yet they still worship her. Her aides regularly use ropes to cordon off the media from getting too near to the political "star." Clinton considers open interviews with "media hordes" beneath her. Clinton campaign representatives announce when their candidate will consent to an interview with a specially selected correspondent; which is often someone who used to work for her-someone she can control. There is no doubt in my mind that demonic forces are behind Clinton, and that she would be a disastrous president if elected into office. What concerns me the most is that Christians do not see the extreme danger that we face with this woman. In 2008, America made the mistake of voting in someone who viewed himself as a messiah. It is evident that he gets away with every despicable deed he foists upon the American people; primarily the erosion of our freedoms, sovereignty and safety. Never before in our lifetime has our country gravitated so close to a dictatorship. Obama is the most racist, divisive and lawless president in all of America's history. In this year's election, a tragic error of serious consequences would be for people to vote for someone who views herself as an invincible deity. If Hillary Clinton is elected president Americans will be facing tyranny like never before. We don't know when the Rapture will take place; we need to be diligent so the global new world order is hindered. "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20) Dallas to Cleveland - Planned Chaos? - By Paul McGuire - http://www.newswithviews.com/McGuire/paul286.htm
We are seeing bizarre news coverage of shooters, heavily armed that are gunning down both civilians and police with increasing frequency. The recent Dallas shooter was a lone gunman, who was apparently discharged from the army due to sexual harassment charges that involved the of stealing a female officers' panties. He had a written manifesto on killing police and white people in a "shoot and run" strategy. We have "come a long way baby" from the counter-culture demonstrations of the late 1960's to the 1970's where demonstrators of all races held up signs that said things like, "LOVE, "MAKE LOVE, AND NOT WAR" and "PEACE AND LOVE." The optimism of the counter culture turned a dark corner when it began to speak about change and revolution through violence. Signs and chants said, "Kill the Pigs," referring to the Police. What caused this change was the entrance of radical groups who embraced Marxist ideology. I remember being in New York City at an anti-war demonstrations and seeing the Weather Underground begin to change the narrative with T-shirts which read, "Armed Love" with a hand holding up an AK-47. Very subtly the Weather Underground began to move the counter culture towards violence instead of "Love." Soon afterwards Weather Underground leaders were blowing up police cars and killing police. It was around this time that Weather Underground Leaders like Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn rose to prominence as radicals who openly advocated violence against the police and may have actually participated in it. What we are seeing all around us in an outgrowth of the ideological changes that happened within the counter culture and other radical groups seeking to radically usher in a Marxist or radical Islamic state. The news media is covered with accounts of policemen killing African American men for "traffic stops" and police being shot and ambushed. After each incident there is a call for more gun control despite the comments from experts like former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani that gun control would do nothing to stop these events. People will use knives or any other weapon they can find. At the same time we have groups like Black Lives Matter is being financed by billionaires like George Soros and 10,000 members of Black Lives Matter are being bused into Cleveland to the RNC Convention. Although, our Constitution gives people the right to publicly and peacefully protest, what is planned for Cleveland is a recipe for orchestrated chaos or manufactured crisis, which were radical techniques, developed in the 1970's. Historically, chaos or crisis drives radical social transformation. The motto of the New World Order is "order out of chaos." Is it possible that chaos is being allowed to allow a New World Order to be birthed? In Europe the heads of major European nations are allowing radical Islamic males from Syria, all of military age into different European nations where a disturbing percentage have raped European women and caused violence. No rational leader would allow this, and it is certainly not a matter of ignorance. They knew what the results would be before they opened the borders. Then there is the problematic question that the media always ignores. Syria is surrounded by very wealthy nations like Saudi Arabia, which had tremendous landmass. Logistically, it would be far more effective to build temporary cities and towns in the surrounding nations, rather than send the Syrian refugees through Turkey and way up into Europe. Are the radical Islamic migrants being allowed into Europe to destabilize European nations? The City of Cleveland has granted 20 permits to anti-Trump groups who want to demonstrate in Cleveland during the Republican National Convention. Protesters from opposing sides will be forced to compete for rally space, but so far no permits have been issued to pro-Trump groups. Groups like Code Pink, a radical leftist pro-Palestinian group, and Rose Hamid, who is associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, have permits to demonstrate. The Soros-backed Black Lives Matter and MoveOn.org have booked a number of rooms in numerous hotels for the four nights of the convention. A Soros-backed group called "Democracy Spring" vows to cause catastrophic civil unrest along with the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) calling on students, all over the country to join in the demonstrations. Police Unions are warning that Cleveland is not adequately prepared for a "Summer of Chaos." What happened in Dallas is a warning of much bigger things that could come to Cleveland. The Cleveland police tightened their security plan for the Republican National Convention after the deadly shootings of police officers in Dallas, increasing surveillance and intelligence operations just a week before the convention. But, some demonstrators are hoping for violence to increase international attention in getting their message out. There are fears that the Republican National Convention could turn out like the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, where 10,000 demonstrators came to protest the Viet Nam War. The Chicago Convention erupted into violence and violent clashes between the police and protestors. Despite the fact that the Cleveland Police Chief, Calvin Williams, is seeking to triple his 1,600-member-police force by recruiting from other states, the mere fact that he has waited until the last minute communicates a lack of understanding of what potentially could happen in Cleveland. Given the explosive tensions already boiling over in our nation and the professional agitators coming in to stir things up, at first glance, Cleveland does not look anywhere ready for what could be a "Summer of Chaos." The solution to the violence is not gun control. What has happened in America is that ideas, beliefs, philosophies and religions, which promote violence and killing as a legitimate means of social transformation, have become an essential part of the belief system of certain radical movements and extremist religious movements. Billionaires and very wealthy individuals and nations finance these movements. These groups have managed to infiltrate the very highest levels of our society. They are totalitarian in nature, in that they seek to violently take over our society by any means necessary. The philosophical, religious and ideological justification for violence is the root problem America is facing. The problem is not gun control or racism. The reality is that we are in a very real battle for the future of America as a free nation. This battle is both physical and spiritual. We have come a long way from the days of great men like Martin Luther King, Jr. who advocated peaceful civil disobedience. All across America people's minds are being infected with violent and hateful ideological viruses that compel them to use violence and death to establish either a political or religious/political dictatorship. The solution lies in counteracting the forces of death and violence with a compelling belief system, which transcends mere conservatism, Progressivism or Capitalism. Belief systems like the American version of traditional Christianity and patriotism do not possess sufficient intellectual and spiritual power to overcome the forces of darkness, death, and destruction. The religion of Christianity, as it is now expressed in America, is a degraded clone of the original faith of the disciples and patriotism is perceived as an antiquated system for affluent white people. It is not that Christianity and patriotism do not contain powerful truths for freeing human beings, but as they are expressed and communicated now, they are not effectively reaching the people who need to hear it. The violent fascism of the extremist religious factions and industrial age Marxism dressed up in Social Media with contemporary expressions like "Democracy Spring" exist only because there is no single cohesive social force to oppose them. This social force must be both spiritual and political in order for it to offer a viable alternative to the politics of death and despair. This social force must embody "new wine being poured into new wine skins" so that it is connected to the creative spiritual power of a First Century Revival that conquered ancient Rome and a brand new form of politics that rediscovers the incredible freedoms built into our Constitution and Bill of Rights, but must be communicated to new generations in entirely bold, radical and visionary terms. Daily Jot: The prophetic crossroads of a house divided - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com
Given the already nasty nature of the 2016 Presidential campaign and the mind-boggling issues facing the United States, the outcome of the elections is going to have a pivotal impact on the future of our nation and our families. The general mindset of the elected official is globalist. There are few who will stand up for what is right, and when they do, the news media and their political opponents cry loud and hard. It is arguable that we have become a nation where morality and financial responsibility have been replaced by moral relativism and politically correct financial management. Given, however, the immense challenges we face as a people, will we survive as a nation? Jesus said in Matthew 12:25, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand." He later says in verse 39. "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." Politicians are trying to consolidate their power by pitting class against class, conservative against liberal, have-nots against haves, women against men, children against parents. They are trying to divide rather than unite. If you do not understand, just look at the television ads for the presidential race. Little is being said about how to unite together to fix problems. A lot of finger pointing is going on and it will continue through November. In another time, this nation would be on the verge of a civil war. Trouble is, few care, but many have an opinion. The ones who care are marginalized as hate mongers or extremists or both. This kind of divisive speech only further drives wedges into disagreement. But the problem is far deeper than the ranting of political opponents. Informed citizens should be able to discern between truth and lie. The real problem is what Christ said that "he that is not with me is against me." The nation as a whole is not with Jesus. The nation tolerates sodomy, abortion, covetousness, idolatry, lies, and false teachings as "judging not lest we be judged." Using the Bible to justify tolerating abomination. We need to get back to finding what God wants for us. The first part of Jeremiah 6:16 says, "Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask about the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it, and you shall find rest for your souls..." This is good advice. If we as a people could find it in ourselves to find the good way on the ancient path, we would be on the way to healing ourselves, our families, our communities, and our nation. Unfortunately, like in Jeremiah's time, our nation is so divided, the resolve of the people is as in the second part of Jeremiah 6:16, "But they said, We will not walk in it." Meanwhile, Europe is in turmoil, the Islamic caliphate is killing everyone it can, illegal immigration is causing crime rates, and the FBI won't enforce the law against blatant lawlessness. We need to resolve ourselves to the ancient paths. Daily Devotion: Revive Us Again! - Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org
Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? -Psalm 85:6 In the Bible's prophetic scenario, one nation we find absent from end times events is the current reigning superpower, the United States of America. We can find Israel, Iran, and possibly even Russia and China in biblical prophecy. But one nation that we cannot find is the United States. I have a thought as to why that might be. It may be that the United States is not mentioned in the Bible's end times scenario because a massive spiritual awakening, a fifth Great Awakening (or maybe a sixth or a seventh) will take place and change the course of our nation. If millions of Americans were caught up to Heaven, we wouldn't be the superpower we are today. I don't know how many Americans are Christians today. When polls are taken, typically half of all Americans say they are born-again followers of Jesus Christ. I don't believe those numbers, however. There are currently more than three hundred million Americans. If we were to be very conservative and say that one-third of Americans really were Christians, then imagine if one hundred million people were caught up to meet the Lord in the air-if they just disappeared. Don't you think that would affect our nation? Of course it would. Imagine the effect on our country if one hundred million people, people in industry, government, the military, business, agriculture, education, and medicine, were to suddenly disappear from the face of the earth. It would certainly have a crippling effect on our entire nation and on our infrastructure. This much we know. All nations, as we know them, one day will change, expand, or shift to some degree or another as the entire global situation rearranges for the events of the end times. Let's pray for another spiritual awakening in the United States. FROM THE HEART
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