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Israel-Hamas Truce: The Long Line Of Treaties Paving The Way For A False ‘Savior Of Peace’ – By Mark Hitchcock - https://harbingersdaily.com/israel-hamas-truce-the-long-line-of-treaties-paving-the-way-for-a-false-savior-of-peace/
This week, Israel’s cabinet approved a peace deal brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States. The agreement is for the release of hostages that were seized by Hamas on October 7 in exchange for a pause in the fighting in Gaza. What does this truce between Israel and Hamas mean for the current war in Israel and for the future? The agreement will result in the release of about 50 Israeli hostages, consisting of women and children, in exchange for a four-day truce in Israel’s air and ground campaign. There’s a potential for an extension, with ten hostages released each extra day. Now, think about that for a moment. That’s going to put Israel’s leaders to the test. After four days for 50 hostages, they are then going to have to decide whether they want to give another day. Each day that goes by is going to allow Hamas time to reform, regroup, and resupply. You’re going to have an outcry in Israel. As you can imagine, if that was one of your family members held captive, you’re going to be saying, “Well, it’s just one more day, and ten more of these hostages can be released.” This will prolong the conflict, no doubt. However long this truce ends up lasting, it’s going to allow Hamas a lot of time to make further preparations. We need to be praying for Israel’s leaders during this time. It’s going to take the wisdom of Solomon for them to make decisions about how long to extend the truce to get more of these hostages back. Although not a part of the official agreement, it’s understood that about 150 Palestinians will be released as part of the deal. Supposedly, none of those released will be terrorists. What we see here is another in a seemingly endless line of truces, treaties, and ceasefires that Israel has entered into since 1948. Israel’s Past Wars And Peace Agreements It may be better understood by looking at Israel’s past wars and peace agreements. Israel’s first modern war was in 1948 when the modern state of Israel was founded. They were attacked by five nations simultaneously. At the end of this war in 1949, armistice agreements were entered into with Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. But really, there was no end to Israel’s war with these nations. The Suez War in 1956 ended under pressure from the United States and the Soviet Union. While there was no peace treaty, the United Nations created a kind of buffer zone and placed its forces in the area. The Six-Day War in 1967 ended with a ceasefire agreement and UN resolution 242, which the parties agreed to. Fifty years and a day before the recent October 7th Hamas invasion, you had the Yom Kippur War in October 1973. A series of ceasefires and peace negotiations, including the Camp David Accords, ultimately led to the end in 1979 of what had been a 30-year conflict between Egypt and Israel. The first Lebanon War in 1982 dragged on for almost two decades. The First “Intifada,” an Arabic word that means uprising, went from 1987 to 1993 and ended with the Oslo Accords. Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin shook hands at the White House, with President Clinton in the background, and set up a framework for the governance of the West Bank and Gaza. In 1995, they entered into the Oslo Two Accords. In 2000, we saw the Second Intifada, the second uprising, with a ceasefire reached in 2003. The Second Lebanon War in 2006 also ended with a ceasefire resolution. There was a series of what’s called the Gaza wars. Israel has been involved in several conflicts with Hamas, the terrorist group that governs the Gaza Strip. There was Operation Cast Lead (2008-2009), Operation Pillar of Defense (2012), and Operation Protective Edge (2014). There was also an 11-day conflict with Hamas in 2011, which ended when Egypt negotiated a ceasefire, along with the US and Qatar, just like what has happened recently. On October 7th, when Hamas invaded the southern part of Israel, it began Israel’s Operation Swords of Iron, which is still ongoing today. A four-day temporary ceasefire has now been signed. Depending on how you divide up these different conflicts, Israel, in its 75-year modern history, has had 16 different wars or conflicts. Think about that. That’s about one every five years. Israel’s modern history is just one long series of conflicts followed by ceasefires, treaties, and truces, though they are often short-lived. The Elusive Phantom Of Peace In Israel There has never been such an outcry for peace in the Middle East as we see today. We now have 24/7 television coverage, social media, and global outcry. There are major protests and demonstrations, with millions gathering in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the United States. We have global leaders all over the globe calling and pleading for a ceasefire. Today, unlike any time in history, the world is ripe for a comprehensive solution to this Middle East peace crisis. As I went through these conflicts in Israel, I noticed that they are always mediated, negotiated, or brokered by outside forces—this most recent ceasefire by the US, Qatar, and Egypt. That will also be the case in the end times when the Antichrist will rise from a revived Roman Empire. This temporary peace is just another peace agreement and a long line of truces and treaties paving the way for the peace that the Antichrist will bring when he comes onto the world scene. After the Rapture, you can imagine the chaos. The act that will catapult the Antichrist onto the global scene is a peace agreement that he will broker with Israel. It will even include the Temple Mount area. He is going to be hailed by the world. You can see today that anyone who could solve this mess in the Middle East would be hailed as a world savior. The world stage is set for his arrival, especially with this condition in Israel and the global outrage we’ve seen. All that remains is for the Rapture to take place, and that can happen at any moment. We need to live in light of that day. Netanyahu: The Return Of Hostages Is ‘a Sacred Task’; We Will Continue To Fight Until Absolute Victory – By HD Staff - https://harbingersdaily.com/netanyahu-the-return-of-hostages-is-a-sacred-task-we-will-continue-to-fight-until-absolute-victory/ Below is the speech of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered at a press conference Wednesday Evening following announcements of a negotiated deal for the release of Israeli hostages currently being held by Hamas terrorists: “Citizens of Israel, at the start of my remarks, I would like to speak to the families of the hostages, our brothers and sisters. Last night, I convened the Government in order to approve the first stage of the outline for returning the hostages. Since the start of the war, I have not stopped thinking about you, the families. I have met with you and have heard from you what you are enduring. I have heard from you about the continuing nightmare, the tribulations of uncertainty, the endless worrying. When I meet with you, you put the photos of your loved ones on your chests, on your hearts, and I and my colleagues see all the photos; they are a call to action. Since the outbreak of the war, we have indeed been working relentlessly to bring them all back home. And when I say all of them – I mean all of them, including Oron, Hadar, Avra and Hisham. We have clearly defined the goals of the war: Eliminate Hamas, free our hostages and ensure that on the day after Hamas, Gaza will no longer constitute a threat to Israel. We said that we would act to create the conditions for returning the hostages and we created them. What paved the way to the current outline is the combination of two main efforts. The first effort, is the massive, relentless military pressure that we are using against Hamas. I want to commend the IDF and the ISA for the immense work that they are doing to create this pressure. The second effort is the great diplomatic pressure that we are using for the release of our hostages. We conducted difficult negotiations; we fought to improve the outline. I have just spoken again with President Biden and thanked him for acting, as per my request, with the intermediaries to significantly improve the outline; such an improvement has been achieved. This combination of the military and diplomatic efforts created the conditions for returning our hostages. I believe that this combination will also facilitate the release of additional hostages in the next stages. The outline that has been achieved does not include the release of murderers. It does include visits by Red Cross representatives to the hostages and the delivery of medicines to them. I heard that there is someone denying this. The Red Cross says that it has not heard; then here is the explicit clause: ‘The Red Cross will be allowed to visit the remaining hostages and provide them with needed medicine.’ I expect the Red Cross to do its work. Citizens of Israel, as Prime Minister of Israel, I frequently face tough decisions, between a difficult choice and an even more difficult choice. It is especially so on the issue of the hostages. The effort to bring all of them home is ongoing and at this time we can achieve the release of infants and children, mothers and women, who have swords at their necks. This is the precept of redeeming captives which we have a moral obligation to carry out. In the history of the State of Israel, we have released hostages in highly feasible military operations. We have done this despite the heavy price that we have had to pay. It happened at the Savoy Hotel, at Entebbe, on a SABENA jet, and in other cases. It has also happened in this war; several weeks ago, we freed the soldier Ori Megidish in a daring military action. But military operations are not always possible. Therefore, we are not waiting. We are utilizing every sliver of opportunity to release our hostages because returning them is a sacred task. The IDF and all of the security services fully support the outline. They reiterated at yesterday’s Government meeting that the security of our forces will be assured during the days of the pause and that the intelligence effort will be maintained during these days. And the IDF will, at this time, be preparing for the continuation of the war. This morning, the Government made a decision and I and my colleagues believe with all our hearts, that it was the correct decision. I thank my colleagues for the joint position – Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Minister Benny Gantz and the Government ministers, IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi, Mossad Director David Barnea, ISA Director Ronen Bar, Maj.-Gen. (Ret.) Nitzan Alon, Brig.-Gen. (Ret.) Gal Hirsh and all those who have helped and who are working to achieve the release. Citizens of Israel, I want to be clear – the war is continuing. The war is continuing. We will continue until we achieve all of our goals: Return all of the hostages, eliminate Hamas and ensure that on the day after Hamas, no element that supports terrorism, educates its children for terrorism, and pays terrorists or their families, will control Gaza. Gaza will no longer constitute a threat to Israel. We will restore security in both the south and the north. We are winning and will continue to fight until absolute victory. We are doing so thanks to the courage of our soldiers and thanks to the self-sacrifice of our sons and daughters, heroes of Israel. I always remember that this victory has a heavy price – our soldiers who gave their lives for us all, our heroes that fell to defend our home. I spoke this evening with Avichai and Tali Barzani, whose son Dvir, a paratrooper, fell this week in the fighting in Gaza. Avichai is a veteran security man whom I have known for years. He told me that he wrote to his son Dvir: ‘When you go to fight Hamas, remember that behind you are the 1,400 Israeli citizens who were brutally murdered by a terrible enemy.’ Avichai and Tali asked me, as have all of the bereaved parents with whom I have spoken, to continue to the end, to continue until the absolute victory. Citizens of Israel, I stand here this evening to tell you clearly: This is exactly what we will do. Together we will fight and with God’s help, together we will win.” 2023 End of the Year Support Donation Drawing Like most ministries, a large amount of our support comes from people giving during the last couple of months of the year. This year has been challenging for all of, but I believe that Prophecy Update and other like minded ministries are needed now more than ever! Please consider entering our drawing, not only might you win this brand new iMac, but more importantly, you will be helping to support Prophecy Update - thank you so very much!!! A Chance to Win a Brand New 24-inch iMac with Retina 5K display -- most importantly, you will be helping to Support Prophecy Update! With the following configuration: · 3.8GHz 8-core 10th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz · 8GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory · Radeon Pro 5500 XT with 8GB of GDDR6 memory · 1TB SSD storage · Gigabit Ethernet · Magic Mouse 2 · Magic Keyboard - US English This system is valued at $2,499, and you might win, for a little as $25!!! It's already that time of the of the year when we have to start budgeting and planning for the coming new year! 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Your Support is Important to this Ministry - We Could Not Do This Without Your Support! Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift! II Corinthians 9:15 Worthy of Your Support? It has been said, one of the most reliable ways to determine if a ministry is worthy of your financial support is to examine its fruits. If Prophecy Update is keeping you informed and if that information inspires you and causes you to draw closer to the Lord, if Prophecy Update equips you with valuable information and knowledge to share with and encourage other believers and open the eyes of non-believers and if Prophecy Update keeps you connected to current events relating to Bible Prophecy then you are partaking of the fruit produced through this ministry. None of this would be possible without the Lords blessings and your support. I believe where the Lord guides, the Lord provides and most of the time He provides through the willing and generous hearts of believers just like you and me. I genuinely believe that Prophecy Update and many other like-minded ministries, are needed now more than ever! The world is getting darker daily, almost hourly, but never has the light of the Word of God shone so brightly. Never in our history has there been such a thirst for Truth and a need for a Savior! The Prophecy Update website, newsletter, and Video Channels are all dedicated to providing the truth, encouraging and informing believers, and prayerfully opening the eyes and hearts of non-believers with the Gospel, but none of it would be possible without your prayers and support. DONATE HERE Your can also mail your support to: Prophecy Update PO Box 40516 Bakersfield, CA 93384 Abraham’s Family Feud – Part 1 – Randy Nettles - https://www.rev310.net/post/abraham-s-family-feud-part-1 Who are the modern-day Palestinians? What are the historical origins of the Palestinians, and why are they in constant conflict with the nation of Israel? What does the Bible have to say about this conflict and how it will end? We will try and answer these questions, and others, in this article. FROM WHOM ARE MODERN-DAY PALESTINIANS DESCENDED The Palestinians are a group of people descended from different kingdoms and nations who have inhabited the region of the Southern Levant over the millennia, and who are today culturally and linguistically Arab. The Southern Levant is a geographical region encompassing the southern half of the Levant (a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of West Asia). It corresponds approximately to modern-day Israel, Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip), Jordan, southern Lebanon, southern Syria, and the Sinai Peninsula. “Prior to the mid-20th century, the term Palestinian was used as a regional term, much like referring to residents of parts of the United States as ‘Southerners.’ This usage dates back to several centuries before Christ. The word Palestinian has its roots in a Hebrew word meaning ‘Philistine.’ Until Israel was re-established as a nation in 1948, Palestine was the term for the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. The word Palestinian was applied to anyone living in that area. As one of the longest continually inhabited places on earth, this region has changed political ownership numerous times and has been a nexus of migration for many different cultures. The modern-day ‘Palestinians’ represent a mixture of local inhabitants and many other groups of Muslims brought from Bosnia, the Balkans, and the Caucasus by the Turks in the 16th to 19th centuries; and from the Sudan, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon by the British in the 20th century. In common use today, the term Palestinian is primarily applied to non-Jewish, Arabic-speaking residents of this region. This usage is highly controversial, however, since for most of human history a ‘Palestinian’ was simply a person born or living in that land. When used in reference only to non-Jews, it implies a historical claim to the territory in opposition to Israel. In reality, the concept of Palestine as a nation-state in opposition to Israel or as a racial group predating the presence of Jewish inhabitants is historically false. Recent genetic studies have confirmed that the ancestries of Jewish and Arabic inhabitants of Palestine are extremely similar. Geneticists have concluded that the people living in these regions share a common ancestry, through people groups continually living in the Palestine territory. This directly contradicts the claim that certain inhabitants, particularly Jewish inhabitants of Israel, have no ancestral claim to the land. At the same time, there is no evidence suggesting that modern Palestinians are direct descendants of either the Canaanites or the Philistines of the Old Testament. Many Arabs are descendants of Ishmael; but, since the land of Canaan was promised to the sons of Jacob, Arabs have no biblical claim to the land of Palestine.” {1} From whom are the modern Palestinians descended? | GotQuestions.org The term Palestinian did not take on its current popular meaning until the mid-20th century. The ‘Palestinians’ of today do not descend from, and bear no relation to, the ancient Philistines who dwelled along Israel’s coast in Biblical times. Many scholars believe the Philistines weren’t descendants of Shem or Ham but of Japheth. It was only on May 28, 1964, the date on which the PLO was established, that the Arabs in Israel began using the name ‘Palestinian.’ THE LAND OF CANAAN IN THE TIME OF THE HEBREW PATRIARCHS According to the Torah, the land God promised to Abraham was originally called Canaan. “And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there” (Genesis 11:31). After Terah died in Haran, Abram departed and traveled to the Promised Land. “So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came”(Genesis 12:4-5). It was at this time that the LORD appeared unto Abram and made a promise (an unconditional covenant) to him. “And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto your seed will I give this land: and there built an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.” Abram and his family entered the land of Canaan in 2084 AM (1876 BC according to my reckoning). Abram was 75 years old at this time. The land of Canaan got its name from one of the sons of Ham, the son of Noah. Canaan was one of four sons born to Ham after the great flood. The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. “Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth; the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite” (Genesis 10:15-18). In Genesis 15, the LORD confirmed His covenant with Abram, saying “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites” (Genesis 15:18-21). Out of the eleven descendants of Canaan, the names of four only are given here; the others are included in the common name of the Canaanites. On the other hand, four tribes are given, whose descent from Canaan is very improbable. The antisemitic slogan often chanted by Hamas and their followers, “From the River to the Sea, Palestinians will be free,” implies a desire for Israel to be exterminated and the ‘Palestinians’ to then inherit the land between the Jordan River, which borders eastern Israel, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. However, the LORD told Abram that his descendants (through Isaac and Jacob/Israel) would inherit the land from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River that flows from modern-day Syria through Iraq per Genesis 15:18-21 and Exodus 23:29-31. The land would include Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, part of Saudi Arabia, a portion of Egypt, and about half of Iraq per Numbers 34:2-12 and Ezekiel 47:13-20. See a map of the land God gave Abram in Genesis 15 - Bing images. Today Israel only possesses a small portion of the Promised Land. After Abram had been in the land of Canaan for ten years, Sarai gave him Hagar, her Egyptian handmaid, as a surrogate wife. When Abram was 86 years old they had Ishmael. When Abram was 99 years old, the LORD appeared unto him and told him Sarai, who was 90 years old, would conceive and have a child the next year. At this point, God changed her name to Sarah. “And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year“ (Genesis 17:19-21). When Isaac was old enough to be weaned, Sarah had Abraham exile Ishmael and Hagar because of their lack of respect for her and Isaac. God promised Hagar that Ishmael, as a son of Abraham, would become a great nation (Genesis 21:17-18). The beginning of this prophecy is recorded in Genesis 25:12-18. Ishmael had twelve sons (with an Egyptian wife) who became great rulers and eventually a nation of people. Ishmael’s descendants lived in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula. Also settling in this area were the descendants of Keturah’s (Abraham’s second wife) sons and some of Esau’s descendants, among them the Amalekites. The descendants of Ishmael became known as Arabs, which basically means “nomads.” From the beginning, the descendants of Ishmael were a warlike people, as “they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them” (Genesis 25:18). This fulfilled God’s earlier word that Ishmael would be “a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers” (Genesis 16:12). When Isaac was forty years old he married Rebekah, his second cousin. According to the Book of Genesis, the patriarchal family line is a self-contained unit, originating solely in Abraham’s father, Terah. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and even Joseph were all descended on both sides from Terah. Sarai was Abram's half-sister (Genesis 20:12) and therefore not only Isaac's mother but also his aunt. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel, Isaac's own cousin through Nahor (Abram’s brother). Bethuel was also the son of Isaac's own cousin, Milcah (Nahor’s niece through his other brother Haran). Jacob, in turn, married his cousins, Rachel and Leah (daughters of Laban, son of Bethuel). Rebekah and Isaac were closely related, as second cousins on both sides, separated by one generation through Nahor and Bethuel, or two generations through Haran, Milcah and Bethuel. Confused yet? See Abraham's family tree - Wikipedia for a better picture. Isaac and Rebekah had two sons (twins), Esau, the elder, and Jacob. Before she conceived, the LORD told her, “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). Their birth is told in Genesis 25:24-26: “And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. Afterward, his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob.” Esau’s name means ‘red’ and Jacob’s name means ‘supplanter,’ ‘deceitful,’ or “one who takes the heel.” Esau’s name appears to be prophetic (as well as Jacob’s), as we all know the story of how he sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of red stew (Genesis 25:29-34). Verse 34 says, “Thus Esau despised his birthright.” Genesis 27 tells the story of how Rebekah and Jacob deceived Isaac into giving the blessing (usually reserved for the eldest son) to Jacob. Verse 29 gives the last part of the blessing, “Let people serve you, and nations bow down to you: be lord over your brethren, and let your mother's sons bow down to you: cursed be everyone that curses you, and blessed be he that blesses you.” Esau, seeing that the daughters of Canaan didn’t please their father, Isaac, married a daughter of Ishmael, the son of Abraham. Many years later, after Isaac died, Esau married two Canaanite women, one a Hittite and the other a Hivite. “ And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance, which he had got in the land of Canaan; and went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob. For their riches were more than that they might dwell together; and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle. Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom” (Genesis 36:6-9). The Bible mentions that the descendants of Esau grew and became a nation, the Edomites, while Israel and his sons eventually moved to Egypt and exploded in numbers. The ancient kingdoms of Edom, Moab, and Ammon were located in what is today called Jordan. Moab and Ammon were children of Lot’s incestuous relationships with his two daughters after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:30-38). After the children of Israel left Egypt after centuries of slavery, and the Angel of the LORD destroyed the armies of Pharaoh at the Red Sea crossing, Moses and the people sang a song to the LORD. It was also a song of prophecy for when the Israelites would eventually enter the Promised Land. And they sang unto the LORD: “The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina. Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of your arm they shall be as still as a stone; till your people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over, which you have purchased. You shall bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which you have made for you to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. The LORD shall reign forever and ever” (KJV - Genesis 15:14-18). 40 YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS After a few months in the wilderness, the first battle that the children of Israel fought was against the descendants of Amalek. Amalek was a grandson of Esau and ruled a clan or territory in the Negev desert region. Joshua leads Israel in battle, and Moses watches from a hillside. When Moses' hand is raised, Israel prevails, but when it is lowered, Israel falters. So he keeps his hand raised through the entire battle, even having assistants hold him up so that the battle will go to Israel. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. “And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner; for he said, Because the LORD has sworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation” (Exodus 17:15-16). In Deuteronomy 25:17–19, the Israelites are specifically commanded to blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven once they have taken possession of the promised land in retribution for what Amalek did to them as they were coming out of Egypt. “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. Therefore it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.” Later that year, after the 12 spies of Israel gave their mostly bad report of the inhabitants of Canaan, the Israelites tried to enter Canaan without the LORD’s blessing and permission. The LORD had actually told them to turn around and go back by the way of the Red Sea but they disobeyed Him once again. “Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far as Hormah” (Numbers 14:45). The children of Israel would spend the next 39 years wandering in the desert for their lack of faith and disobedience. During the last year of the Exodus, Israel “came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there” (Numbers 20:1). This was the place where Moses and Aaron disobeyed the LORD and struck the rock to bring water out of it instead of speaking to the rock. Also, Moses spoke as if it was by his and Aaron’s power and not the Lord’s that water would come out of the rock. “And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, you rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock” (Numbers 20:10). For their disobedience, they would not enter the Promised Land. After this, Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom asking for permission to pass through their land to get to Canaan. The message began by calling the Edomites “brothers” (as Esau and Jacob were brothers). The message stipulated “We will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells; we will go along the King’s Highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory” (Numbers 20:17). Edom responded with, “You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword.” Israel asked permission again stipulating they would simply pass through disturbing nothing, but once again Edom said “You shall not pass through.” So Israel turned away and went around Edom. The LORD did not want Israel to wage war against Edom at this time because God had given the land of Edom to Esau and his descendants (Deuteronomy 2:5). From Kadesh, the children of Israel traveled to Mount Hor where Aaron died. All the house of Israel mourned him for thirty days. The Israelites then fought and won against the king of Arad, the Canaanite, and utterly destroyed their cities. They then camped in the wilderness east of Moab and fought and won against the Amorites. The king of the Amorites was King Sihon, who was similar to the king of Edom in that he would not allow the Israelites to cross through his country to Canaan. The Israelites took possession of all their lands and lived in their cities for a brief period. Sihon’s territory was next to Ammon, however, the Israelites did not possess the lands of Ammon as the LORD had given that land to Lot’s descendants (Deuteronomy 2:9). Next on the list were the Amorites of Jazer and Og, king of Bashan. They defeated him, his sons, and all his people, until there was no survivor left him; and they took possession of his land. Then the children of Israel moved and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho. They did not take the lands of Ammon as the LORD had given that land to Lot’s descendants (Deuteronomy 2:19). In Numbers 22-24, we see the story of Balak, king of Moab, hiring Balaam the seer to curse Israel. However, the Angel of the LORD intervenes and puts words in the mouth of Balaam that bless Israel instead. This occurs four times. On the fourth time, Balaam prophesies that Israel will eventually conquer Edom, Moab, and the Amalekites. While Israel was in Moab, the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab and Midian. They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel. The LORD sent a plague that killed 24,000 people before He stopped It because of the righteous act of Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest (Numbers 25:6-7). Israel went to war against the Midianites and killed all their males, including five kings of Midian and Balaam the Seer. The slaughter and the dividing up of the spoil and booty, both of man and beast, is mentioned in Numbers 31. Two and a half tribes of Israel (Gad, Reuben, and half of Manasseh) decided to settle on the lands east of the Jordan River (Jazer and Gilead) as an inheritance with the promise to help the other tribes when they went to war against the tribes of the inhabitants of Canaan. Before Moses died on Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, the LORD told Moses,“ Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places; you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to possess. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell. Moreover, it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them” (Numbers 33:50-53,55-56). This was a prophecy that was fulfilled about seven centuries later for the kingdom of Israel and then another century later for the kingdom of Judah. Randy Nettles [email protected] What Happens to Our Clothes at the Rapture? - by Bill Perkins - https://compass.org/what-happens-to-our-clothes-at-rapture/ It breaks my heart to listen to "Bible teachers" teaching the horrible mid-Trib or post-Trib Rapture theories. I can promise you it is not from the Lord. People are all over the place these days. I heard someone this week on the radio saying "We're about to enter the 6th Seal of Revelation." Really? I guess I missed 25% of the earth dying during the 4th Seal. 🙁 Properly understanding Bible prophecy from a pre-tribulational, dispensational viewpoint is hugely important. Especially today! You can't just say you're a pan-millennial ("It'll all pan out"). preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 2Tim. 4:2 If you're not familiar with dispensational theology, you can't explain the marriage chart at the top of this page! Without applying dispensations to your Biblical understanding, nothing makes sense. always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks 1Pet:3:15 God has given us great insight into what is taking place in the world today and He wants us to share and teach truth to those Believers and non-Believers who have no clue. Time to be bold! I hope the nuts-and-bolts Rapture article below is helpful—maybe good to pass along to those in your sphere of influence. "There is not one problem I have that won't be fixed at the Rapture." - Andy Woods What Happens to Our Clothes At The Rapture? The Rapture of the Church is a special event when New Testament Believers, who are alive at the end of the Church Age, bypass physical death and go straight to heaven. The Doctrine of The Rapture brings up lots of interesting questions, like: What happens to our clothes? What age/look will our new bodies be? Do we want to live to be 100 if we'll look like that forever? What happens to our pets (that surely God loves as much as we do)? What happens to our glasses and contacts? What happens to our old bodies—are they left behind or do they disappear? The late Ed Hindson once noted that even if our bodies disappear at the Rapture, what happens to false teeth, dental fillings, false eyelashes, titanium hips or shoulders, toupees, false fingernails and jewelry? His conclusion was that some people would have more left behind than that which was Raptured! So if you have a room full of Believers, what would the room look like post-Rapture? Surely those God-awful tattoos will remain behind. Surely! To answer these questions let’s look at what we know... There are two Raptures that are similar mentioned in the Bible: 1. Enoch (Gen 5:21-24; Heb 11:5) 2. Church Age Saints (1Thes 4:13-18; 1Cor.) Elijah and John, the Two Witnesses (Rev. 11), were also taken to heaven before death but they will come back to the earth and be killed before being taken up to heaven in front of everyone in Jerusalem. (More on that CLICK HERE) For the Church Age Saints’ Rapture, there are two Pauline verses most people point to: For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 1Th. 4:16-17 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep [die], but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 1Cor. 15:50-52 So we learn from those verses that Believers are “changed” at the exact moment of the Rapture. We get our new bodies instantaneously...from our original earthly, sinful, temporal bodies to our new eternal, heavenly bodies. The Bible compares our new body to upgrading from a temporary tent to an eternal house. For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2Cor. 5:1 This new body is eternal and sinless as it was washed clean by the cross. This body will be just like the new body that Jesus received upon His resurrection. ...the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, Phil. 3:20b-21a God’s not about to put a new body into old temporal clothes. So we have to assume that our new body comes with a white robe attached…at least those in heaven who were martyred in the Tribulation are wearing white robes: After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; Rev. 7:9 Since God made it so the Israelites’ shoes didn’t wear out as they wandered in the desert for 40 years, I’m guessing that, like our new bodies, our robes will be fashioned by the Lord for eternal use. I’ll bet we won’t even have to iron them—ever! And do note that we meet the Lord in the air, not on the ground and not in heaven. Therefore we can fly, we can move about at the speed of thought. I’m guessing it’ll take me a while to get used to my new jets. At the moment of the Rapture, those who have previously died will be Raptured a split second ahead of those who are alive. ... the dead in Christ will rise first. IThes. 4:16 There are other verses that refer to the Rapture of the Church Age Saints: “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:3 It’s important to note here that Jesus takes His Church to heaven for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7, 9). Therefore it’s unlikely that just before the wedding Jesus would drag His beloved Church through the horrors of the Tribulation, and then say "Let's get married!" Just saying. And since we’re going to that Big Dinner and Jesus promised He would again drink wine with us, well, are there restrooms in heaven? CLICK HERE After these things I looked, and behold, a door [Jesus is the door] standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here,” Rev. 4:1 This verse comes after Revelation chapters 2 and 3, which discuss the good and bad Believers in the Church Age. It signifies that when the Church Age is over, the Rapture happens. I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues;” Rev. 18:4 This verse teaches that before the beginning of the Wrath of God, those Believers living in Babylon will be Raptured out so as to not receive God’s Wrath. I’m 99% sure Revelation 18 is referring to the USA as Babylon, even down to its worldwide drug deception and distribution in v. 23 (CLICK HERE for more on this). So a big question is, what happens to our bodies? Do they disappear or are they left behind on the ground? To add some additional insight to what happens to our bodies and clothes, we know God is big on consistency. And we can look to the past to see what the future looks like. The Bible says: That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. Eccl. 1:9 In light of that, Enoch was Raptured quickly, and he disappeared. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; Heb. 11:5 Enoch was translated, changed to permanent status in heaven. Jesus was also Raptured up at His ascension, maybe a bit more slowly, but He also disappeared. And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. Acts 1:9 But maybe our best example is when Jesus rose from the dead. His grave linens were found but the body vanished without unwrapping them. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, Matt. 27:58b [Peter] saw the linen wrappings only Luke 24:12b and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, John 20:5-6 Jesus didn't have to unwrap Himself like Lazarus. His clothes basically imploded as he was Raptured away. We have an excellent, free, point-and-click-to-view, Steeling Conference video on Jesus' resurrection and what happened to His grave clothes by Gary Habermas. CLICK HERE So using Jesus as the model, Believers’ bodies would disappear at the Rapture and the clothes left behind. Probably mixed in with all the fake body parts. This is how the late Tim Lahaye described the Rapture event in his Left Behind novel series. We already addressed “Are There Pets In Heaven.” CLICK HERE And “Are There Restrooms In Heaven?” CLICK HERE And we had a GML deal with how old we will look in heaven. GML QUESTION FOR THE DAY I have often wondered: If we don't age in heaven, do babies that have gone there always stay babies? And what age will we be? I don't want to live to be 100 if that's what I'm going to look like for eternity! ANSWER: The new body believers receive is different than the one we now have here on earth. Although we will have all the knowledge accumulated on earth (1 Corinthians 13:12), we will be different physically as we are transformed into a body similar to Jesus' resurrected body: who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. Phil. 3:21 Our new state also will be similar to angels: . . . in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. Matt. 22:30 Being compared to angels is not too shabby.
But realize we are a higher order than the angels:". . . we will judge angels" (1 Corinthians 6:3). But the most important parts of us, our spirit and soul, have no mass. Our current sinful earthly containers will be done away with when we die and we'll receive new eternal sinless containers in the future. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent. . . . 2 Pet. 1:13-14 For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2Cor. 5:1 But for a rough idea in human terminology, we think the men will all be around age 21 and the women age 18. (No, we don't have a verse for that! 🙂 If you want to sign up for our free Good Morning Lord! daily (Mon-Fri) Bible study, CLICK HERE. But be warned—don't sip your coffee while you're reading it! You can try it for a few days and then opt out if you can't take the scriptural heat! 🙂 Bottom line: The Rapture will be one exhilarating ride to the top! BP Love this verse: He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30 Daily Jot: The American Chronicles: Plymouth Visit Part 2 - Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com It had been almost 60 years since my last visit to the site of the historic pilgrim settlement. Chris and I were excited to see the village and rediscover the history, knowing now what I didn’t know then—that I was descended from two Mayflower voyagers—William Bradford on my father’s side and Richard Warren on my mother’s line. Imagine our eager anticipation as we wound through the narrow streets in our RV, following the GPS navigation. Then finally, the voice declared, “You have arrived.” But we were on a road outside of Plymouth with the ocean on our left and trees on our right. After a half-hour, and both of our phone “Maps” aps, we actually “arrived.” Whatever happened to good old-fashioned maps? The visitors center was a lot bigger than I had remembered and a whole lot more commercialized. Walking down to the Plymouth village, there were signs and displays that seemed to overcompensate about the presence of the Native Americans—a lot about the tribes and their way of life. Not so much about their interactions with the Pilgrims, which from the historic documents would demonstrate how they helped one another and got along as good neighbors. But that doesn’t match with the politically-correct versions that tend to give people reason to be divisive. From our perspective, and having read up on the relationships, there was a lot of cooperation and goodwill after an initial cautious beginning. We were fortunate to strike up a conversation with one of the off-duty docents as we walked to the village. Having been a student of Bradford and the colony, we were actually able to talk about some of the more intricate details of the settlement. He even had a story that Service Dog Charlie loved. There was a Mastiff and a Spaniel aboard the Mayflower. As recalled in Mourt’s Relation, a journal of the Pilgrims, written by Bradford and fellow voyager Edward Winslow, the spaniel was chased by two wolves and sought safety between the legs of John Goodman, who was lame from frozen feet. Goodman couldn’t run, but “took up a stick, and threw at one of them and hit him, and they presently ran both away.” Throughout our stroll in the village Charlie walked with celebrity as people remarked about the spaniel on the Mayflower. As we toured through the replica of the buildings, we were impressed with the difficulty of living conditions and how much dedication it took to carve out a meager existence in a hostile environment where some 45 of the 102 Mayflower passengers died during the first winter. We walked through the rebuilt fort on the hill that also served as a court, meeting hall, and place of worship. We saw the humble reconstructed home of William Bradford. We saw their gardens and how they prepared their food. The toys their kids played with. All this, the start of a great nation. Through death and sorrow, through hunger and famine, through the harsh weather, they persevered. As Bradford recalled Psalm 126:3, “The Lord has done great things for us; whereof we are glad.” As should we, too, be. For what they had sown in faith past, we reap today. Daily Devotion: Nada. Zip. Zero. - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org All our livestock must go with us, too; not a hoof can be left behind. We must choose our sacrifices for the LORD our God from among these animals. And we won’t know how we are to worship the LORD until we get there —Exodus 10:26 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/nada-zip-zero/ - Listen The hail was hard to face. Pharaoh was cracking. After God sent a plague that brought disease upon the Egyptians’ livestock, the boils followed, afflicting all the Egyptians and their animals. Still, Pharoah refused to let the Israelites go. So God sent hail, the seventh plague, which not only killed people and animals, but it also destroyed the plants. In fact, the Bible says, “it left all of Egypt in ruins” (Exodus 9:25 NLT). Even Pharaoh’s magicians weren’t able to intervene at this point. They could no longer imitate the miracles, and they were so overpowered by the boils, they were immobilized (see Exodus 9:11). Eventually, Pharaoh brought in Moses and Aaron and said, “Go and worship the Lord your God. But who exactly will be going with you?” (Exodus 10:8 NLT). Moses told him, “We will all go—young and old, our sons and daughters, and our flocks and herds” (verse 9 NLT). In other words, they were taking everyone. Then Pharaoh attempted a compromise. He said they could go, but the women and children needed to stay behind. But Moses refused. After two more plagues, the hard-hearted Pharaoh tried one more compromise: “ ‘Go and worship the Lord,’ he said. ‘But leave your flocks and herds here. You may even take your little ones with you’ ” (verse 24 NLT). He was fighting for every inch. Why would Pharaoh care about their animals? It was a victory, albeit a small one, and a foot in the door. Imagine how tempting this would have been for Moses. He could have said, “You want our animals? And then you will let the rest of us go? It’s a deal.” Instead, Moses told him, “All our livestock must go with us, too; not a hoof can be left behind” (verse 26 NLT). In other words, “Pharaoh, read my lips: You get nada, zip, zero, nothing. You don’t get an inch. We’re taking everyone and everything, and we’re leaving, whether you like it or not.” As Christians, that is what we need to say when the devil tempts us to compromise. He whispers, “All right, I can’t have all of your life, so let me have this one area. It won’t go any further.” Like Moses, we need to say, “No, you get nothing.” Little things lead to big things. That’s why we can’t make deals with the devil. We can’t negotiate with Satan. There can be no compromise. If you are not prepared to go far away from him, then you’re never going to make it, because he will manipulate you. It’s time to break free. Is there an area of your life that you need to deal with? It is a problem and a potential weakness. God brings these things to our attention for a reason. It isn’t to drive us away in despair and guilt. Rather, it’s because He wants us to deal with them. Identify that area of your life where you’re compromising, and then take action. Make a decision to dedicate it to God. PROPHECY UPDATE NEWS HEADLINES Yesterday's Prophecies - Today's Headlines HEADLINES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TRACKING BIBLE PROPHECY 11/24/23 http://trackingbibleprophecy.org/birthpangs.php
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