Prophecy Update Newsletter
March 8, 2017
IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER...
The 70 Weeks Of Daniel - A Bible Study by Jack Kelley - https://gracethrufaith.com/end-times-prophecy/the-70-weeks-of-daniel/
Many believe that Daniel 9:24-27 is the most important passage of prophecy in all of Scripture. Almost every mistake I've run across in studying the various interpretations of End Times Prophecy can be traced back to a misunderstanding of this passage. Before plowing into it, we'll back up a little and review the context. Daniel was an old man, probably in his eighties. He'd been in Babylon for nearly 70 years and knew from reading the recently completed scroll of Jeremiah's writings (specifically the part we know as Jeremiah 25:8-11) that the 70-year captivity God had ordained for Israel was just about over. (Daniel 9:2) The reason for the captivity had been Israel's insistence upon worshiping the false gods of their pagan neighbors. Its duration of 70 years came from the fact that for 490 years they had failed to let their farmland lie fallow one year out of every seven as God had commanded in Leviticus 25:1-7. The Lord had been patient all that time but finally had sent them to Babylon to give the land the 70 years of rest that were due it. (2 Chron. 36:21) The beginning of Daniel 9 documents Daniel's prayer, reminding the Lord that the 70 year time of punishment was nearly over and asking for mercy on behalf of his people. Before he could finish his prayer, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and spoke the words that we know as Daniel 9:24-27. Let's read the whole thing to get the overview and then take it apart verse by verse. Seventy weeks are determined upon your people and your Holy City to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most Holy. Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until The Anointed One the Ruler comes there will be seven weeks and sixty two weeks. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench but in times of trouble. After the sixty two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off and have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue till the end and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. In the middle of the week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the Temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation until the end that is decreed is poured out on him (Daniel 9:24-27). No prophecy in all of Scripture is more critical to our understanding of the end times than these four verses. A few basic clarifications are in order first; then we'll interpret the passage verse by verse. The Hebrew word translated weeks (or sevens) refers to a period of 7 years, like the English word decade refers to a period of 10 years. It literally means "a week of years." So 70 weeks is 70 x 7 years or 490 years. This period is divided into three parts, 7 weeks or 49 years, 62 weeks or 434 years, and 1 week or 7 years. Let's begin. Seventy weeks are determined upon your people and your Holy City to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most Holy [place]. (Daniel 9:24). Sitting upon His heavenly throne, God decreed that six things would be accomplished for Daniel's people (Israel) and Daniel's Holy City (Jerusalem) during a specified period of 490 years. (I've inserted the word "place" after Holy at the end of the verse to clarify the fact that it refers to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.) We should be aware that in Hebrew these things read a little differently. Literally, God had determined to: 1. restrict or restrain the transgression (also translated rebellion) 2. seal up their sins (as if putting them away in a sealed container) 3. make atonement (restitution) for their iniquity 4. bring them into a state of everlasting righteousness 5. seal up (same word as #2) vision and prophecy 6. anoint (consecrate) the most Holy place (sanctuary) In plain language, God would put an end to their rebellion against Him, put away their sins, and pay the penalties they had accrued, bring the people into a state of perpetual righteousness, fulfill the remaining prophecies, and anoint the Temple. This was to be accomplished through their Messiah (Jesus) because no one else could do it. Had they accepted Him as their savior their rebellion against God would have ended. Their sins would have all been forgiven, and the full penalty paid for them. They would have entered into a state of eternal righteousness, all their prophecies would have been fulfilled, and the rebuilt temple would have been consecrated. It should be noted here that although it appears to have been accepted by Him, God never dwelt in the 2nd Temple, nor was the ark of the covenant and its mercy seat ever present therein. Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until The Anointed One the Ruler comes there will be seven weeks and sixty two weeks. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench but in times of trouble (Daniel 9:25). Here is a clear prophecy of the timing of the First Coming. When this message was given to Daniel by the angel Gabriel, Jerusalem had lain in ruin for nearly 70 years, and the Jews were captive in Babylon. Counting forward for 62 + 7 periods of 7 years each (a total of 483 years) from a future decree giving the Jews permission to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, they should expect the Messiah. To avoid confusion, it's important to distinguish the decree that freed the Jews from their captivity from the one that gave them permission to rebuild Jerusalem. When he conquered Babylon in 535BC Cyrus the Persian immediately freed the Jews. It had been prophesied 150 years earlier in Isaiah 44:24-45:6 and was fulfilled in Ezra 1:1-4. But according to Nehemiah 2:1-9 the decree to rebuild Jerusalem was given in the first month of the 20th year of his reign by King Artaxerxes of Persia (March of 445 BC on our calendar, about 90 years later). About 125 years ago Sir Robert Anderson unlocked the secret of Daniel's 70 weeks when he teamed up with the London Royal Observatory to discover that prophetic years are 360 days in length and consist of 12 months of 30 days each. This is also the only way you can make the three measures of the Great Tribulation (1260 days, 42 months, or 3 1/2 years) come out the same. Therefore the 70 weeks of Daniel consist of 490 years of 360 days each. He published this discovery in a book called The Coming Prince, a commentary on Daniel's 70th Week. From their research, we also know that exactly 483 years after the decree of Artaxerxes the Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to shouts of "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord" (Luke 19:38)! It was the only day in His life that He permitted His followers to proclaim Him as Israel's King, fulfilling Daniel's prophecy to the day! The Hebrew in Daniel 9:25 calls Him Messiah the Prince, denoting the fact that He was coming as the Anointed Son of the King and was not yet crowned King Himself. In Luke 19:41-45, Jesus reminded the people of the specific nature of this prophecy. As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace-but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you." He held them accountable for knowing Daniel 9:24-27. A few days later He extended that accountability to those who would be alive in Israel during the End Times. "So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel-let the reader understand- then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. (Matt 24:15-16) They will also be required to understand Daniel 9. After the sixty two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off and have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue till the end and desolations have been decreed (Daniel 9:26). First came 7 sevens (49 years) and then 62 sevens (434 years) for a total of 69 sevens or 483 years. The Hebrew word for Anointed One is Mashiach (Messiah in English). At the end of this 2nd period, their Messiah would be cut off, which means to be executed or literally destroyed in the making of a covenant, having received none of the honor, glory, and blessing the Scriptures promised Him. Make no mistake about it. Jesus had to die so these 6 promises could come true. No one else in Heaven or on Earth could accomplish this. We can only imagine how different things would have been if they had accepted Him as their Messiah and let Him die for their sins so He could bring them into everlasting righteousness with His resurrection. But of course God knew they wouldn't, so He had to do things the hard way. Do you realize what that means? It wasn't killing the Messiah that put the Jews at odds with God. After all, He came to die for them. No. It's that in killing Him, they refused to let His death pay for their sins so He could save them. This had the effect of making His death meaningless to them. That's what severed the relationship. Because of that, we now get the first hint that all would not go well. Following the crucifixion, the people of a ruler yet to come would destroy Jerusalem, and the Temple-the same Temple that God decreed would be consecrated. The Israelites would be scattered abroad, and peace would elude the world. We all know that Jesus was crucified and 38 years later the Romans put the torch to the city and the Temple destroying both. Surviving Jews were forced to flee for their lives, and in the ensuing 2000 years, I don't believe a single generation has escaped involvement in a war of some kind. After the crucifixion something strange happened: The Heavenly clock stopped. 69 of the 70 weeks had passed and all that was prophesied to happen during those 483 years had come to pass, but there was still one week (7 years) left. There are hints in the Old Testament that the clock had stopped several times before in Israel's history when for one reason or another they were either under subjugation or out of the land. And in the New Testament we're also given hints that while God is dealing with the Church, time ceases to exist for Israel (Acts 15:13-18). But the clearest indication of the stopped clock is that the events foretold in Daniel 9:27 simply haven't happened yet. He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. In the middle of the week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the Temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation until the end that is decreed is poured out on him (Daniel 9:27). It's vital to our understanding of the End Times that we realize two things here. First, the Age of Grace didn't follow the Age of Law. It merely interrupted the Age of Law seven years short of its promised duration. These seven years have to be completed for God to accomplish the six things the angel listed in verse 24 for Israel. And second, the Age of Grace was not the next step in the progression of God's overall plan but was a deviation from it. Once the rapture comes, nothing like the Age of Grace will ever happen again. (Ephes. 2:6-7) Even when Israel accepts the New Covenant, as Jeremiah 31:31-34 promises, they won't enjoy the same benefits the Church has enjoyed. The relationship the Church has with the Lord will never be repeated with any other group. Ever. But before we try to understand the 70th week let's review a rule of grammar that will help make our interpretation of verse 27 correct. The rule is this: Pronouns refer us back to the closest previous noun. "He," being a personal pronoun, refers to the closest previous personal noun, in this case, "the ruler who will come." So a ruler who will come from the territory of the old Roman Empire will confirm a 7-year covenant with Israel that permits them to build a Temple and re-instate their Old Covenant worship system. 3 1/2 years later he will violate the covenant by setting up an abomination that causes the Temple to become desolate, putting an end to their worship. This abomination brings the wrath of God down upon him, and he will be destroyed. The most obvious way in which we know these things haven't happened is that the Jewish Old Covenant worship system requires a Temple and there hasn't been one since 70 AD when the Romans destroyed it. Some say this prophecy was fulfilled during the Roman destruction, but most believe it's yet future, partly because of the term Abomination that causes Desolation. It's a specific insult to God that has happened only once previously. Antiochus Epiphanes, a powerful Syrian king, had attacked Jerusalem and entered the Temple area in 168BC. There he had sacrificed a pig on the Temple altar and erected a statue of the Greek god Zeus with his own face on it. He then required everyone to worship it on pain of death. This rendered the Temple unfit for worshiping God and so incensed the Jews that they revolted and defeated the Syrians. This is all recorded in Jewish history (1st Maccabees) where it's called the Abomination of Desolation. The subsequent cleansing of the Temple is celebrated to this day in the Feast of Hanukkah. Paul warned us that in the latter days a world leader will become so powerful that he will exalt himself above everything that is called god or is worshiped and will stand in the Temple proclaiming himself to be God (2 Thes 2:4). In Rev 13:14-15 we're told that he'll have a statue of himself erected and require everyone to worship it on pain of death. In Matt 24:15-21 Jesus said that the Abomination that causes Desolation spoken of by Daniel will kick off the Great Tribulation, a period 3 1/2 years long that coincides with the last half of Daniel's 70th week. The similarities between this coming event and the one from history being so obvious, most scholars are persuaded that one points to the other since nothing in the intervening years fits so completely. Soon and Very Soon A new leader will soon emerge on the scene, a man with great personal charisma. Following a devastating war in the Middle East, he'll present a plan to restore peace, by which he will quickly captivate and control the world. Since all true believers will have recently disappeared from Earth in the rapture of the Church, he'll have no trouble persuading most remaining inhabitants that he is the promised Messiah, the Prince of Peace. He will astound and amaze them all with feats of diplomacy and conquest, even performing the supernatural. When he claims to be God, all hell will break loose on Earth and 3 1/2 years of the most terrible times mankind has ever known will threaten their very existence. But before they're all destroyed the real Prince of Peace will return and overthrow this impostor. He will set up His kingdom on earth, a kingdom that will never be destroyed or left to another. Having given His life to finish transgression, put an end to sin, atone for wickedness and bring in everlasting righteousness, and having fulfilled all Biblical vision and prophecy, He will anoint the most Holy Place and receive all the honor, glory and blessing the Scriptures promise Him. Israel will finally have her Kingdom back and will live in peace with God in her midst forever. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 
Iran Strengthening Hezbollah, Palestinian Terrorists for Possible Conflict with Israel - by Deborah Danan - http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2017/03/07/irgc-official-iran-to-ally-with-russia-against-american-threats-will-drag-israel-to-war-with-hezbollah-palestinians/
Iran is responding to President Donald Trump's warnings against the Tehran regime by strengthening Hezbollah and Gaza-based terror groups as well as allying itself with Russia in exchange for economic and military privileges, an Iranian military source said. In an article published on February 21 in the Iranian reformist news agency Amad News - Iran's answer to WikiLeaks - an unnamed source from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was cited as saying that the Islamic Republic was mulling its response to "increasing threats by America," which have the potential to turn into an "extensive military confrontation." Political, security and military officials have held a series of meetings, the source said, and have come to the conclusion that "Iran should deepen its strategic ties with Russia, such that in the event of an extensive war, Russia will defend Iran from American threats." Russia would receive widespread compensation for such a strategic alliance, the source said. First, Tehran would grant Moscow access to oil fields in southern Iran, giving Russia annual profits of $50 billion. This would go some way toward assuaging the economic crisis Russia has suffered as a result of American sanctions over the Crimea issue. "The second recommendation is to realize Russia's decades-old dream of access to free waters," the Farsi-language article translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) said, continuing "that if America attacks Iran, Russia will be able to defend Iran against the mighty sea and land strength of America." Allowing Russia access to the Persian Gulf and control of its ports will also alleviate the sanctions against it, the IRGC source said. The team of experts' third recommendation is to divert U.S. attention away from Iran by triggering a war with Israel. Tehran would compel its proxy, Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah, and Palestinian groups to engage in a conflict with Israel, thereby sidetracking the U.S. so that it will become "too busy" to unite ranks with "other countries worldwide against Iran." "A new war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as with Palestinian groups, will completely divert global public attention from Iran and focus it on Israel. Such a war could become the focal point of the first four-year term of Donald Trump, and prevent an opportunity to fight Iran," the source was quoted as saying. The source said that the recommendations had been transmitted to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and added that the team of experts had already had some success in putting the plan into action. According to the article, Khamenei attended the 6th International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada in Tehran on the counsel of those officials. In addition, the team advised Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah to give an interview on Iranian state television on February 20 in which the Shiite leader threatened Israel with strikes on its vital infrastructure sites including the Dimona nuclear reactor and an ammonia plant in Haifa. "These two things happened because of other recommendations by the team of experts," the article said. The article ended by rebuking the Iranian leadership for making such recommendations in the first place, saying they constitute an explicit contradiction of the goals of Iran's Islamic Revolution and of the legacy of revolution founder Ayatollah Khomeini. Khomeini's slogan, it said, was "neither East nor West - [only] the Islamic Republic," i.e. that Iran should never rely on help from the outside and must remain independent. 
Was Every 'Conspiracy Theorist' in America Just Vindicated? - Michael Snyder - http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/63497-was-every-conspiracy-theorist-in-america-just-vindicated
Yes, the government can use your phone, your computer and even potentially your television to spy on what you are doing inside your own home. On Tuesday, WikiLeaks released thousands of documents that prove what virtually every "conspiracy theorist" in America has been saying for years about government spying. And I don't even like to use the term "conspiracy theorist" much, because the truth is that most "conspiracy theorists" are simply citizen journalists who are attempting to expose things the mainstream media doesn't want to talk about. And one of the things that the mainstream media has always been hesitant to address is the unconstitutional surveillance that U.S. intelligence agencies systematically conduct on their own citizens. But now the mainstream media is being forced to talk about government surveillance because WikiLeaks has just exposed it for all the world to see. According to WikiLeaks, the CIA has been secretly running "its 'own NSA' with even less accountability and without publicly answering the question as to whether such a massive budgetary spend on duplicating the capacities of a rival agency could be justified". It is known as the Central Intelligence Agency's Center for Cyber Intelligence, and it has produced "more than a thousand hacking systems, trojans, viruses and other 'weaponized' malware." In fact, the computer or phone that you are reading this article on may be infected with one of their programs right now. The documents that were released by Wikileaks show that government spooks can remotely take control of Apple iPhones, Google Android phones, Microsoft Windows operating systems and Samsung smart televisions, and once in control of those devices, they can use them to spy on their owners. The ironic thing is that while Barack Obama and members of Congress have been accusing Russia of conducting cyberattacks, the truth is that U.S. intelligence agencies have been perhaps the biggest offenders of all. This is an absolutely massive scandal, and I truly hope it gets the attention that it deserves in the days ahead. The following is a portion of the press release Wikileaks issued on Tuesday: Recently, the CIA lost control of the majority of its hacking arsenal including malware, viruses, trojans, weaponized "zero day" exploits, malware remote control systems and associated documentation. This extraordinary collection, which amounts to more than several hundred million lines of code, gives its possessor the entire hacking capacity of the CIA. The archive appears to have been circulated among former U.S. government hackers and contractors in an unauthorized manner, one of whom has provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive. "Year Zero" introduces the scope and direction of the CIA's global covert hacking program, its malware arsenal and dozens of "zero day" weaponized exploits against a wide range of U.S. and European company products, include Apple's iPhone, Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows and even Samsung TVs, which are turned into covert microphones. Since 2001 the CIA has gained political and budgetary preeminence over the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). The CIA found itself building not just its now infamous drone fleet, but a very different type of covert, globe-spanning force-its own substantial fleet of hackers. The agency's hacking division freed it from having to disclose its often-controversial operations to the NSA (its primary bureaucratic rival) in order to draw on the NSA's hacking capacities. By the end of 2016, the CIA's hacking division, which formally falls under the agency's Center for Cyber Intelligence (CCI), had over 5000 registered users and had produced more than a thousand hacking systems, trojans, viruses and other "weaponized" malware. Such is the scale of the CIA's undertaking that by 2016, its hackers had utilized more code than that used to run Facebook. After learning about this, you may never look at your smart TV the same way again. In fact, according to the documents that Wikileaks has given us the CIA can even use your smart TV to spy on you when it appears to be turned off: A program dubbed "Weeping Angel" after an episode of the popular British TV science fiction series Dr. Who, can set a Samsung smart TV into a fake "off" mode to fool the consumer into thinking the TV isn't recording room sounds when it still is. The conversations are then sent out via the user's server. The program was developed in conjunction with MI5, the British FBI equivalent of a domestic counterintelligence and security agency, according to the WikiLeaks documents. And if your phone has been infected by the CIA, they can remotely turn on the camera and microphone whenever they want and use the phone as a GPS locator to track you wherever you go. The following comes from USA Today: CIA-created malware can penetrate and then control the operating systems for both Android and iPhone phones, allege the documents. This software would allow the agency to see the user's location, copy and transmit audio and text from the phone and covertly turn on the phone's camera and microphone and then send the resulting images or sound files to the agency. Just two days ago, I wrote a major article warning that the government has the capability to do these sorts of things. This stuff is really going on, and it needs to stop now. I warned about some of this advanced "Big Brother technology" in my apocalyptic novel, The Beginning Of The End, and many of us have been screaming about what U.S. intelligence agencies have been doing for years and years. Now that President Trump is extremely upset that the government was spying on him, let us hope that he steps up to the plate and puts an end to this unconstitutional surveillance for good. In the documents WikiLeaks has just released, there is even discussion about the CIA potentially being able to infect a vehicle control system. Presumably, the goal would be to remotely take control of a vehicle and either spy on the occupants or kill them by driving into an obstacle at very high speed. And if you can believe it, the CIA has also been developing ways to make it look like a cyberattack that they conducted actually came from the Russians. The following comes from an article by Jerome Corsi: The Wikileaks "Vault 7" drop of CIA cyber-warfare documents contains the startling revelation that the CIA, under a project identified as "Umbrage," maintained a substantial library of Russian cyber-attack techniques "stolen" from malware produced in other states including the Russian Federation. Of course when it comes to violations of privacy, the NSA is even worse than the CIA. The NSA systematically collects all forms of digital communication and stores them in a giant data center out in Utah. So nothing you do on a digital device is ever truly private. If you don't believe the article that I posted the other day, perhaps you will believe a 36-year veteran of the NSA named William Binney: President Donald Trump is "absolutely right" to claim he was wiretapped and monitored, a former NSA official claimed Monday, adding that the administration risks falling victim to further leaks if it continues to run afoul of the intelligence community. "I think the president is absolutely right. His phone calls, everything he did electronically, was being monitored," Bill Binney, a 36-year veteran of the National Security Agency who resigned in protest from the organization in 2001, told Fox Business on Monday. Everyone's conversations are being monitored and stored, Binney said. Did you catch that last sentence? Binney knows very well that all of our conversations are systematically being monitored and stored because he helped build the systems that do it. Now that all of this is out in the open, America has two choices. We can end this unconstitutional surveillance and go back to being a nation that respects privacy, or we can allow it to continue and keep heading down the road toward becoming a "Big Brother" surveillance society far worse than anything that George Orwell ever warned about. 
There Is One Word Which Explains Obama's Rage Against Trump: Globalism - Geri Ungurean - http://www.raptureready.com
Many journalists are attributing the actions of Barack Obama towards President Donald Trump to the potential loss of his so-called "legacy." I believe that it's much bigger than that. I believe that the powers that be - the globalist elite - are seething and in a perpetual rage that Hillary Clinton lost this most important election for them. George Soros and the hidden ones of the Secret Society were chomping at the bit, hoping to finally realize that the foundation of the NWO was coming to fruition. But our God had a different plan - for now. We must pray for the safety of President Trump and his family; and the same for his entire administration. From americanthinker.com Obama, Organizing for Action, and the Death Throes of the Democratic Party If you think you're going crazy from nonstop news coverage of unruly behavior and disruptive protests across the country since Donald Trump was elected president, rest assured there are veiled reasons for the current madness. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Goodwin asserts the 'Trump Derangement Syndrome,' is no temporarily insane reaction, but rather "a calculated plan to wreck the presidency, whatever the cost to the country." The beginnings of this "rolling coup" happened in broad daylight in the taking down of Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as Director of National Security by residual players within the Obama intelligence community - including the CIA and the NSA. Political correctness remains so dominant in language and culture in the U.S., that no one dares utter the word "sedition." Unbeknownst to most Americans, Barack Obama is the first ex-president in 228 years of U.S. history to structure and lead a political organization, a shadow government, for the explicit purpose of sabotaging his successor - duly elected President Donald Trump. The primary vehicle of this campaign is Organizing for Action (OFA), legally founded in January 2013 by First Lady Michelle Obama and her husband's 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina, with input from David Axelrod. Being respectful and accepting loss when your team doesn't win - essential for the functioning of any electoral representative democracy and a fundamental lesson every child used to learn through playing competitive sports - has been destroyed by the left and appears no longer relevant for many in today's millennial generation. It was telling that a majority of millennials embraced Bernie Sanders, not because his socialist policy platform was workable, but rather because their attitudes had been so conditioned by traditional and social media and educational institutions in the U.S. that embrace all things progressive while giving short shrift to the virtues of the American story and its animating ideas. Those ideas have always been workable because they revolve around freedom that ties rights to responsibilities, the creative power of free markets and the benefits of a Constitution that mitigates government abuse through separation of powers while also ensuring stability through the rule of law. The modus operandi of OFA comes right out of Obama's support and sympathy for Marxism and his background as a left-wing community organizer. It's a combination of agitation and propaganda - much like old-style Soviet agitprop, and Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. For Alinsky, the rules start with an ends justifies the means quest for power, which can entail lawbreaking, deception, and concealing the true revolutionary agenda; militant obstructionism; and deflecting debate on substance while relentlessly attacking the character and legitimacy of the opponent. Agitprop is synonymous with community organizing in that both focus on stirring up public grievance over an issue for the purpose of mobilizing that constituency to join like-minded people to protest and demonstrate, which provides made-for-TV drama scenes portraying "extemporaneous" mass protests that in turn get transmitted to millions through the media. This feedback loop is a key driver of fake news. For instance, immediately following President Trump's late January executive order temporarily banning refugees and visitors from seven lawless states that harbor terrorists, OFA kicked into action, mobilizing people to "spontaneously" demonstrate, causing utter chaos at nearly a dozen of the busiest airports across the country. Hardly spontaneous, it was in fact staged, courtesy of ex-president Barack Obama. Ditto for what happened in late February with members of Congress town hall meetings across the country. A week before the town halls started, OFA released its "Congressional Recess Toolkit," a training manual for activists and demonstrators, invoking them to go in groups and get to meeting halls early and "spread out... throughout the front half of the room, [which] will make the perception of broad consensus a reality for your member of congress." So perception drives fake news which is intended to drive reality. Many have wondered why Obama didn't follow the tradition of almost every other ex-president and depart Washington after his term was up. Instead he moved into a large home in Washington D.C.'s Embassy Row, allegedly to provide continuity for his daughter's education and to stay close to the shapers of his presidential legacy. Those reasons are likely secondary to his being an inbred leftist activist who lives for the "transformation" of America. Ramping up a hydra-headed organizational effort through OFA out of his 8,200 square-foot walled mansion in Washington to protect the Left's gains and to sabotage the electoral victory of Donald Trump is simply a natural progression for Obama. Obama is no fool and he understands - having encouraged Black Lives Matter and the war on police and law enforcement, having facilitated ballooning welfare rolls and doubling student debt to $1.35 trillion, having presided over a flood of immigrants illegally crossing the southern border, and having pushed unprecedented deficit spending that added nearly a trillion dollars annually to the federal debt and doubling that debt in eight years to $20 trillion - that the U.S. is nearer collapse than at any previous time. And every Marxist knows that socialist transformation first requires collapse of the old order. Obama has not only been trained in Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, but he's familiar with the "crisis strategy theory" of Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, two neo-Marxists who taught at Columbia University, where Obama later studied. For Cloward and Piven, the left's easiest route to socialist transformation is to overload the welfare state, which will trigger an insolvency crisis and financial collapse. U.S. Congressmen Steven King (R-Iowa) and Steve Stockman (R-Texas) have both gone on record, saying Obama was "playing out of the Cloward-Piven theory" by "attempting to flood the border with illegals." As Paul Sperry writes in the New York Post, "Obama has an army of agitators - numbering more than 30,000 - who will fight his Republican successor at every turn of his historic presidency. And Obama will command them from a bunker less than two miles from the White House." Obama's OFA Washington HQ is now the nerve center that coordinates 250 offices nationwide, which together with its Chicago-based sister organization, the Community Organizing Institute (COI), are planning to facilitate the "training [of] more than 2 million youths in Alinsky street tactics" and carry out plans "to stage 400 rallies across 42 states to attack Trump and Republicans over ObamaCare's repeal." Recent funding records are not available, but in just its first two years, OFA took in over $40 million, according to IRS filings. Not surprisingly, OFA's major donors are also members of George Soros's Democracy Alliance, which is a donors' consortium of the left-wing super rich devoted to radical political change. Daniel Greenfield, the award-winning Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, believes "OFA will be far more dangerous in the wild than the Clinton Foundation ever was." Since OFA has all the contact information assets of Obama's predecessor 2008 and 2012 campaign organization, Organizing for America, which include 30 million email addresses, three million donors and two million active participants there should be no underestimating OFA's potential influence, especially with an uncritical media covering it up. But in the end, the majority of Americans are not easily fooled. Their common sense was the key factor in electing Donald Trump, an unconventionally bold leader with the courage to take on corruption in the media and in the Washington establishment. Not only was Trump successful in peeling off many traditional Democrats affiliated with labor in the rust belt states, but now Trump and his movement can further drive wedges into an increasingly fractured Democratic Party. Although Jimmy Carter is widely viewed as the worst Democratic president, Obama has singlehandedly done more to damage the Democratic Party in eight years than the GOP could have ever hoped or planned - an unprecedented staggering net loss of 1,042 state and federal Democratic seats, among congressional and state legislatures, governorships and the presidency. Many state-level Democratic Party leaders are now in open revolt against Obama's OFA, which they see operating as a shadow party without coordination or accountability, and funded from controversial "end of America" extremist sources like George Soros. Contrary to the early vocal critics among the establishment elites, aka the "#NeverTrumpers," it now looks like the Republican Party will not only survive, but prosper under Donald Trump, whose leadership was recently manifest in his first major speech to a joint session of congress, and is on display in his hand-picked A-team cabinet. It is the Democratic Party - that is weak, divided, lacking in common sense and devoid of leadership and new ideas being under the grip of rigid left-wingers and ideology - that is looking more like the endangered species, thanks in large part to Barack Obama and his Organizing for Action. They say that desperate times call for desperate measures. We are seeing this clearly in the Democratic Party and mostly in their leader who will not admit defeat. Obama is merely a puppet on the world stage. His strings are manipulated by the NWO devils. They are not presently a happy bunch. And they are clueless that our God is in full control. As believers in Jesus Christ and His Word, we know that one day globalism will come to fruition. He sees the beginning from the end of world history. I find it exciting to live in such days as these as a Christian. We read our Bibles while others read newspapers. Yes, the New World Order will someday coalesce. But that day is not here - not as long as Donald Trump remains our president. Pray for him every day. MARANATHA [email protected] 
Nearing Midnight: The Lesson Taught by Mosul - Todd Strandberg - http://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/
On June 10th of 2014, a band of 300 Islamic State fighters walked into Mosul, Iraq. They took control with hardly any resistance. Kurdish intelligence had warned that the city would be attacked. But infighting among top officers, Iraqi political leaders, and panic by the Iraqi military-caused a city of over one million people to be handed over to the enemy. Many residents initially welcomed the ISIS invasion. They were fed up with the sectarianism of the Shia dominated Iraqi government. Because most residents of Mosul are of the same Sunni sect as ISIS, they falsely believed they would receive better treatment from them. Not since the time that the Russians welcomed the Nazi army as liberators from Stalin's reign, has there been a greater misjudgment of an invading force. In the nearly three years of occupation by ISIS, the living conditions in Mosul have gone from bad to worse. The Iraqi soldiers that laid down their arms and surrendered were the first to realize their mistake. They were marched out into the desert by the hundreds and mowed down with automatic gunfire. The civilian population has had plenty of time to reconsider their error-as their lives became subject to an endless list of horrors. One ISIS member claims to have raped over 200 women. There is almost nothing left of the 70,000 Assyrian Christians that lived in Mosul. The fortunate ones fled from the cities. The few that remain are forced to pay a tax for remaining Christian. They live under the constant threat of violence. Dozens of Christian churches and monasteries have been vandalized or burned down. Other great losses are the artifacts from 5,000 years of ancient Mesopotamian ancestry. These ISIS criminals have the mindset that anything that is not directly related to their religion must be destroyed. Soon after their takeover of the city, ISIS released a five-minute video of its members smashing their way through the Mosul Museum, toppling statues and taking sledgehammers to centuries-old artifacts. It has taken a great deal of time for the Iraqi government to turn the tide against ISIS forces. With help from Russia, America, and Iran, these evil thugs are slowly being driven back. The Battle of Mosul-a military offensive to retake the city begun in October 2016, is the largest deployment of Iraqi forces since the last Gulf War. It is going to take a long siege to retake Mosul. The ISIS insurgents have a fanatical devotion to their cause. They have dug in with underground bunkers, booby traps, anti-tank missiles and car bombs. They are also using the civil population as human shields. The city of Mosul has already suffered heavy damage. By the time the city is liberated, it will be unrecognizable to those who return home. If the citizens of Mosul had been able to see into the future, I doubt the city would have fallen into the hands of ISIS. Knowing what horrors would come, they would have fought tooth and nail to the death. Those 300 ISIS fighters would have been wiped out in short order. The devil wins many battles because people fail to count the cost of complacency. Adolf Hitler admitted that he would have had to retreat with his tail between his legs if the allies had reacted to his move to militarize the Rhineland. When he made his move in 1936, the Germany military only had 500,000 men. By the time Hitler invaded Poland, the German military had 4.5 million. The cost of stopping him went from a show of force to a bloodbath that left 60 million people dead. I think where complacency has hurt us the most in America is how people on the right have allowed the forces of darkness to take over our schools, the news media, Hollywood, and much of the business world. We win some battles, but we are losing the war. Elizabeth Johnston, aka the "Activist Mommy," has regained access to her account after Facebook apologized for banning her for posting Bible quotes about homosexuality. If you work at Facebook, you still need to keep your Christian views to yourself. There is an overwhelming spirit of complacency that has made this current generation ripe for the Tribulation. Many organizations that claim to represent Christian values are unwilling to resist evil and stand up for what they believe in-so there is nothing to prevent this world from coming under God's wrath. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). 
My Review of "Rapture Ready...Or Not?" Over the last 35 years, I have literally read hundreds of books on Bible Prophecy and End Time signs. I especially enjoy books on the Rapture, and I have read almost every Rapture-related book published. In all those years, devouring thousands of pages, and millions of words, I have not read a better book on the Rapture than, Rapture Ready...Or Not? Terry James might be physically blind, but he is spiritually sharp and well discerning beyond most authors. In "Rapture Ready...Or Not?" Terry has nailed the pre-trib Rapture, and removed any doubt what so ever about the Church going through the Tribulation. With great insight and Godly discernment, Terry explains with simple, yet profound words, why and how that he has come to believe the ways he does about the Rapture, the Tribulation, and the End Times scenario. I think after reading "Rapture Ready...Or Not?" you too will believe as Terry does, and be Ready for the Rapture like never before! - Randy Thomas - Publisher / Editor - Prophecy Update For more information and or to get your copy of "Rapture Ready...Or Not?" use this link: http://www.raptureready.com/terry/book35.html 
Proof That Zechariah 12:3 Is Literally Unfolding Before Our Eyes - Susan Michael - http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/standing-with-israel/63482-proof-that-zechariah-12-3-is-literally-unfolding-before-our-eyes
For the Christian reader, it's a name that invokes the Psalms describing its beauty, its spiritual significance and the importance of praying for its peace. For others it stirs a wide spectrum of emotions and a quagmire of international disagreement. Here are several reasons for the multilayered controversy over Jerusalem. The United Nations, War of Independence and Six-Day War Over the last 150 years, as Jerusalem expanded beyond the ancient walls of the Old City, Jews and Arabs lived interspersed on both the eastern and western sides. A complicating factor was introduced in 1947 when the United Nations drew up the Partition Plan, offering swaths of land for both Jewish and Arab states, and keeping Jerusalem separate as an internationally managed city. The Jews begrudgingly accepted the plan and declared statehood, while the Arabs rejected it outright and, instead of statehood, declared war on the new-found Jewish State. At the end of the 1948 War of Independence between Israel and the armies of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, armistice lines were drawn on a map with a green pen-still known today as the Green Line. Jerusalem became a divided city: Israel controlled the western part and Jordan controlled the eastern part. For the next 19 years, Jordanians prevented Jews from accessing Jerusalem's Old City and Western Wall of the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site. In 1967 the Six-Day War broke out with the surrounding countries. Israel won the war, capturing the rest of Jerusalem and, for the first time since 1949, allowing the Jewish people to worship at the Western Wall. Israelis offered Arabs full citizenship and many accepted, while others accepted Permanent Resident status. For 50 years now, an undivided Jerusalem has thrived under Israel's governance, and all three faiths have enjoyed full access to their holy sites. Israel Declares Jerusalem as Its Eternal, Undivided Capital in 1980 The Jerusalem controversy intensified in 1980, when Israel's Knesset declared all of Jerusalem as the nation's eternal, undivided capital. An outcry sounded across the world. The United Nations refused to recognize Israel's decision and urged embassies in Jerusalem to relocate, wherewith they vacated the city for Tel Aviv. In response a small group of resolute Christians founded the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ). Since 1980 the ICEJ has mobilized Christian support for the State of Israel and the Jewish people worldwide. In the ensuing years, Israel's government has recognized the ICEJ's important outreach to all the country's communities, including Jews, Arabs, Muslims, Christians, Druze and Ethiopians. Yasser Arafat Demands East Jerusalem Be the Palestinian Capital Jerusalem was forced into a more dangerous quagmire under the tutelage of Palestinian Authority leader, Yasser Arafat. In 1993, after the Oslo Peace Accords, Arafat moved to Israel and set out on a disinformation crusade. He renamed the local Arabs as "Palestinians," incited Intifadas, and proclaimed the goal of Palestinian statehood with Jerusalem as the capital, even though "Palestine" had never before been a nation. Arafat's repeated declaration of Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital sent shock waves into Israel and beyond. In recent decades, the United Nations has positioned itself squarely on the Palestinians' side and has become a veritable playground of anti-Israel resolutions, while the Palestinians themselves refuse direct negotiations with Israel. US Congress Stands in Support of a United Jerusalem Many streams flood into this river of controversy, but the United States Congress has been a consistent champion for Israel-both Democrats and Republicans. In 1995, Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act which recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and legislated that the US Embassy should move there from Tel Aviv. A caveat in the legislation allowed the last three presidents to delay that move. However, moving the US Embassy is now a hot topic as President Trump has declared his intention to relocate the US Embassy to Jerusalem. 3 Monotheistic Faiths Are Stakeholders For the worldwide Jewish community, Jerusalem is at the heart of their faith and was established by King David as the capital of the Jewish people some 3,000 years ago. Jerusalem was also the focal point during 2,000 years of Jewish Diaspora as they longed for their ancient homeland. For Christians, Jerusalem is particularly significant: It is the ancient Jewish city where Jesus walked, taught, lived, died and rose again some 2,000 years ago. The Muslim world reveres Jerusalem and believes their prophet ascended from there on his night journey. The problem is not in the close proximity of holy sites belonging to three different religions but when one of those religions shows disrespect for the others. The Muslim Jordanian armies destroyed all of the synagogues in the Old City of Jerusalem and refused access to Jews who wanted to pray at the Western Wall. The Jewish Israeli government has shown respect to all three faiths and allowed freedom of access to all sites. The only religion not having free access to all of their holy sites is the Jewish faith, whose believers can not pray on top of the Muslim-controlled Temple Mount. It is time for international powers to recognize the peace and religious freedom that Israeli governance has maintained and stop attempts to delegitimize their rule over the city. As a Christian organization, the ICEJ applauds the Israeli government for our freedom of worship and access to holy sites. For students of the Scriptures, it is not surprising that the mention of the name Jerusalem draws such a lightning rod of controversy; it is predicted. Zechariah 12 even contains dire warnings of the consequences of this type of international opposition to Jerusalem and pursuit to take control of the city-a warning the nations should certainly heed: "And it will be on that day that I will set Jerusalem as a weighty stone to all the peoples. All who carry it will surely gash themselves, and all the nations of the land will be gathered against it" (Zech. 12:3). 
Daily Jot: Don't believe the so-called socialist healthcare repeal - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com
If the Republican Study Committee (RSC) analysis of the socialist healthcare repeal is true, it needs to go back to the drawing board because it isn't as advertised. The so-called "repeal" is not a repeal at all, but rather a tinkering with the current system that should be abandoned. It is no more a repeal than the original bill was the "Affordable Care Act," which was neither affordable nor care giving. The RSC in a memo to Republican members of the House of Representatives says it delays repeal of the healthcare taxes by a year and "does not appear to repeal the Economic Substance Doctrine," meaning socialist healthcare-tax payer funded healthcare-will remain the foundation. This bill does nothing. Moreover it is a lie to say that the current plan doesn't penalize people from a tax perspective. The "Cadillac Tax," which is a 40% tax on individuals or families whose companies provide actual good plans to their workers, is initially eliminated, then reinstated in 2025. The plan also defunds Planned Parenthood, but only for a year. Why should Planned Parenthood get any taxpayer funding of any sort, ever? There are small tax credits based on age, scaling from $2,000 for individuals under 30 up to $4,000 for those over 60. But they are capped at $14,000 for a family and are phased out for individuals earning $75,000 or couples earning $150,000. This gives politicians the ability to say there are tax advantages, but they disappear quickly over time. The RSC reports, "The bill does attempt to provide guardrails to prevent the tax credits from allowing federal funds from going to abortion services by defining coverage that is eligible for qualifying for the credit as a plan that "does not provide coverage for abortions (other than any abortion necessary to the life of the mother or any abortion with respect to a pregnancy that is the result of an act of rape or incest)". It is unclear if the language can survive Senate Byrd-rule scrutiny. This is also true of numerous other sections in the Ways and Means title." In other words, the bill has language that says it stops funding abortion, but not even the RSC believes this language is more than window-dressing. Overall, the RSC says, "This is a Republican welfare entitlement: 1) Writing checks to individuals to purchase insurance is, in principle, Obamacare; 2) It does allow more choices for individuals, and is more patient-centered, but is fundamentally grounded on the idea that the federal government should fund insurance purchases." I am reminded of the verse in Jeremiah 8:11, "For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace." This is no more than a Republican shell game, trying to convince you that they are doing what they said they would do, but, in reality, are doing nothing but perpetuating socialism. Call your Congressman, pray that the President holds them accountable. 
Daily Devotion: Why We Must Care - Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org
He said to his disciples, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few." -Matthew 9:37 It's amazing how parents can ask their teenagers to clean their rooms or take out the trash, and they'll say, "I want to, but I'm so busy. I don't have time." But if something comes along that they want to do, they suddenly and mysteriously have time in their busy schedules. It is not about having time; it is about a lack of will. They don't clean their rooms because they don't want to clean their rooms. They don't take out the trash because they don't want to take out the trash. That is motivation. We must have the motivation to do something. And if we don't have the motivation, we aren't going to do anything. Let's expand that to the spiritual realm. When it comes to sharing our faith and reaching out to others with the gospel, we offer up a plethora of excuses as to why we cannot do it. Jesus told the story of ten bridesmaids, five of whom were wise and five were foolish. The five who were wise had oil in their lamps, and the five who were foolish did not. When the cry went out that the bridegroom was coming, those who didn't have any oil said, "Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out" (Matthew 25:8). But the other bridesmaids answered, "We don't have enough. . . . Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves" (verse 9). Essentially, "That isn't our concern. We're set. We're happy. Work out your own problems." Quite honestly, that is the way many people in the church feel. Talking about the need for evangelism or designing programs to mobilize the church to do it is of no consequence if we lack one simple thing: a burden and a concern for unbelievers. 
FROM THE HEART
IF YOU HAVE BEEN BLESSED THROUGH THIS MINISTRY, THEN WE ASK THAT YOU WOULD PLEASE REMEMBER PROPHECY UPDATE IN YOUR GIVING - WE ARE TRULY, TRULY, THANKFUL FOR YOUR SUPPORT Prophecy Update has no corporate sponsors. This ministry is paid for and prayed for by readers and supporters. Without your support, there would be no Prophecy Update, Please pray about becoming a monthly supporter - thanks! If ever there was a time to invest in God's Kingdom, it's now! What on earth are you doing for Heaven's Sake? "Share in the Blessings and Rewards that will last Forever!" "Folks, it's all beginning to unravel. America is in more danger of falling than at any time in its history. But I believe Bible prophecy predicts this very decline. From this point on, we believers have to get serious. We are going to face discouragement, disillusionment and, most certainly, persecution in the time between now and the Rapture. But don't be discouraged or disillusioned. The coming turmoil will provide us unrivaled opportunities to share the good news of the Gospel. So be ready to share your faith and your hope with those who need Christ. We still have time to reap a great harvest of souls for God's kingdom!" - Hal Lindsey 1) We need your prayers!- We proclaim the Truth of the Word of God and we are under constant spiritual and sometimes even physical attack. 2) We need your encouragement!- We need to hear from you, let us know how the Lord is blessing you through this ministry so that we can share it with others. 3) We need your input! - If you have a prophetic article or story or if there is a news related item we missed, let us know. 4) We need your financial support!- To put it quite simply, without your support, there would be no Prophecy Update. I ask that you would prayerfully consider partnering with us to get the Word out and keep the world informed. Remember, your gift, no matter how small, does make a difference! You will be helping to touch lives, around the world, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, thanks to the internet your generosity carries a global impact! - Thanks! Our Prayer for You- "Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else." 2 Corinthians 9:10-13 Prophecy Update is a 501 (c) (3) tax exempt - non-profit organization, and all your donations are tax deductible. If you have been blessed by Prophecy Update and would like to help support this ministry financially. You can make a secure donation online by going to: DONATE NOW Or Visit our website: http://prophecyupdate.com/donations/ Or write us at: Prophecy Update P.O. Box 40516 Bakersfield, CA 93384-0516 
|
|