Prophecy Update Newsletter
March 22, 2017
IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER...
Do this in Remembrance of Me - Pastor Mike Taylor - http://pastormiketaylor.blogspot.com/2017/03/do-this-in-remembrance-of-me.html
22"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. 23It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands,which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 25Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 26For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." (Hebrews 9:22-26) A most solemn time approaches that all men and women who have professed Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Savior, observe what the Son of God did for all mankind by making Himself the Supreme sacrifice to give us justification before a Holy God, our Father. Jesus was called by John the Baptist most truthfully when he saw Jesus walking near-by. "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 30This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 31And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. 32And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. 35Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; 36And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!" John 1:29-36) John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah, to proclaim the coming of our Lord, and made His pathway straight. Jesus was truly the Lamb of God, and during this time of year, we memorialize in contrite, humble and thankful hearts that Jesus loved us, before we loved Him. .. OUR PASSOVER IS SLAIN FOR US But what of this sacrifice that Jesus made. Many scoff at the notion of one Man being able to cleanse a person of their sins and make them whole again before an Almighty God. Even in the ancient days after this act of unselfish love was completed, men couldn't not fathom why this new Christian sect was behaving such as they were. One of the crimes that was ascribed to the early Christians was that Christian worship services included the practice of cannibalism. Christians were labeled to repeat the sacrifice of Jesus and then eat the body and drink the blood of its victim. It's all very vague, but all that the Roman population knew about Christianity was that it place a huge emphasis on the value of blood sacrifice. Even today, in our so called "modern" world it is still slammed by its critics as a bloody religion because the Bible seems to be so obsessed by it. As the opening verses attest, the Bible is dependent on the blood, "for without blood, there is no remission of sins". Without the shedding of blood, can there never be forgiveness, there can be no regeneration, no peace, no joy, no rest, no hope, and certainly no Resurrection from the dead. Through out the whole of the New Testament, Jesus is portrayed as that sinless "LAMB of GOD" and the title is always associated with His atoning work on the Cross, in which He shed His precious blood as full payment for the sins of the world....for your sins, for my sins. Remove the Blood Doctrine of Jesus shedding His blood and the Doctrine of Atonement goes with it. If one breaks down the word Atonement into its component parts, the word defines itself according to its original meaning "At One Ment" We are made at one with God the Father through the sacrifice of His Son. We were separated from God through our first human parents, Adam and Eve, when they chose to rebel against the only commandment that was given to them. Adam and Eve were told that the penalty for breaking God's command not to violate the Tree of Knowledge was death. "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:17) God made provision for their sin, killing two animals and covering their nakedness with their skins. That was the first blood shed to cover sin, and God set up a system of sacrifice whereby the blood of bullocks, goats and lambs kept that one Great Object Lesson before the people. Sin has a blood penalty, and the penalty must be paid. IN TIME OF ABRAHAM In Genesis Chapter 15, we find Abram questioning God's promise that his seed will be numbered as the stars of heaven and that they would inherit the land to which God had led him.....Not that Abraham didn't have faith that God was able to do exactly what He said He was going to do, but wanted to know how would this be accomplished. ..Remember the story? 3"And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 4And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. 7And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. 8And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? (Genesis 15:3-8) Even though Abraham believed God, He wanted a guarantee, nonetheless of how this was to be accomplished. It was at this point, that God proposed a blood covenant after the manner of the Chaldeans. This was something Abraham was familiar with....And God said : 9" And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. 10And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. 11And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. 12And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him." (Genesis 15:9-12) The blood covenant worked this way. The animals were slaughtered and cut up. The pieces were intermingled and then carefully arranged to form a kind of aisle through which the two parties to the covenant would walk together, hands joined. The principle of a blood covenant, and the symbolism of the rended animal parts was clearly understood to Abram. Whoever broke the covenant would end up like those piles of animals. A blood covenant was, by common custom, a joining of 2 or more persons, families, clans, tribes, or nations, where the participants agree to do or refrain from doing certain acts. More specifically, God had proposed a patriarchal covenant. The patriarchal form of covenant is a self-imposed obligation of a superior party, to the benefit of an inferior party. In this form, the terms the parties use to refer to each other are: father and son. God's proposal included not only Abram, but extended to Abram's seed forever. Abraham waited for God to show up so they could bind the covenant between them. But as night began to fall, Abraham became sleep and great sleep fell upon him. As Abraham slept, he awoke to see what was happening and the Bible records it. "it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:" (Genesis 15:17-18) Althought the covenant was between God and Abram (and the seed God promised would fill the earth, as the stars of heaven), God signed on both sides of the covenant, thereby binding Himself to both parts. As history sadly records, Abram and his seed did not remain faithful to this covenant, and the penalty for violating a blood covenant was death. God knew before the foundation of the world, that man was not able to keep this blood covenant, nor had the ability to save himself by any action on his part. So God stepped out of eternity and entered into our space and time, to keep the provisions of the original blood covenant and be a true Son, as it demanded. And having kept its terms on behalf of sinful humanity, it was incumbent upon Him to make payment, as justice demanded, for its violation by those on whose behalf the covenant was signed. It nearly breaks my heart when I contemplate on that I put my Lord Jesus through such a torture for the like of one such as I. Even as a small boy, when read from my mother's bible story book and we read the details of what Jesus allowed Himself to endure, it brought tears to my eyes...and you know...it's still does when I ponder such great love and the suffering He went through, just to save a worm like me. 6 "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." (Romans 5:6-9) JESUS FULFILLED THE BLOOD COVENANT But getting back to the original blood covenant, signed in its entirety by God. It was a grisly symbol of the person who violated this contract, in that they were To be torn and rended like the animals that formed the corridor through which God alone passed. Isaiah gives us a hint of what Jesus had to go through in chapter 53: 5"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with His stripes we are healed. 6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities." (Isaiah 53:5-11) It may seem a bit unclear, as to how can an innocent man assume the guilt of anther and call it justice? Thinking on that premise, when a person becomes a Christian, he becomes a part of the Body of Christ. He is joined with Christ, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. He becomes 'one with Christ'. Let's make a real life example, that may or may not have actually happened, but illustrates the point. Suppose a debt ridden widow lived next door to a millionaire. Her debts could not be justly charges to him. BUT, if he was to marry her, legally and justly, he assumed the responsibility for both her assets and her debts. Then speaking of sinful mankind who was dead in their sins, because of the transgressions of the law, because that is what sin is. "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law (our first husband) by the body of Christ (that is by Christ's death); that ye should be married to another, even to Him (Christ) who is raised from the dead." (Romans 7:4) As was written by Clarence Larkin back in 1911, As sinners we were under the "curse of the Law," but as believers-- "Christ hath redeemed us from the CURSE of the Law, being made a CURSE for us: 12 "And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. (although none of us could keep the law) emphasis mine. 13Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Galatians 3:12-14) The "Tree" that Christ hung on was the CROSS. We are therefore DEAD to the Law: not physically dead, but JUDICIALLY dead, for the "Penalty" of a law cannot be exacted twice. If Jesus "bare our sins in His own body upon the Tree" (1st Peter 2:24), then they are no longer upon us and we are free from sin. The death of Christ was no mere accident or incident, it was predetermined from the foundation of the world. 18 "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God." (1st Peter 1:18-21) In the words of the old Gospel song, "What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus; What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. . . Oh! precious is the flow; That makes me white as snow; No other fount I know . . . Nothing but the blood of Jesus." HOW DOES THIS AFFECT YOU? If you contemplate the wonderful words that show how Jesus was foreordained to be the propitiation or substitute for our penalty that was most deserving for each one who has transgressed God's Holy Law, as sin is the transgression of the Law, then you can see, that the only remedy for our redemption was in a blood covenant satisified in justice before a Holy God. It was the death and resurrection of our Lord God, Jesus Christ for the payment for our sins, once and for all. One time, for all eternity was this payment made, when Jesus said "it is finished" it was most certainly completed. 13"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." Colossians 2:13-15) What were those ordinances that were against us and what did He nail to His cross...? Our sins, the penalty of those sins that condemned us to the same kind of death as those sacrificial animals. Jesus paid the ultimate price. And during this season of the coming "Passover of God" let us humble ourselves and give thanks and rededicate ourselves to serving a Great God and King, our Lord Jesus Christ...don't just take those emblems of what Jesus did , without a deep reflection of the enormous gift that He gave to each of us, written in His own Blood. " 16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:16-18) This is Pastor Mike Taylor, praying you will receive the blood covenant found in Jesus Christ my Lord this season where we remember His supreme sacrifice. If you need prayer, counseling, or just a listening ear. Email me at [email protected], . God bless you all, TILL WE MEET AT JESUS FEET 
Israel Plans Mass Evacuation if War Erupts Again - http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2017/03/22/israel-plans-mass-evacuation-war-erupts/
If Islamic militants in Gaza or Lebanon go to war with Israel, they could find their usual targets empty. Israel is drawing up contingency plans to evacuate up to a quarter-million civilians from border communities to protect them from attacks from Hamas, Hezbollah or other Islamic militant groups. The mass evacuations would be the biggest in Israel's history, part of a bigger plan where the army works with municipalities to keep civilians safe. All sides have been preparing in case a new round of warfare breaks out, although Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed group sworn to Israel's destruction, currently is tied down in Syria's civil war fighting in support of President Bashar Assad. It also comes amid an uptick in tensions between Israel, Syria and Hezbollah. Each side has warned that a new conflict would be worse than previous ones. Hezbollah fired more than 4,000 rockets on Israeli communities in the 2006 war, while Israel bombarded militant targets in southern Lebanon. The month of fighting killed an estimated 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, as well as 44 Israeli civilians and 121 Israeli soldiers. In 2014, 50 days of fighting between Israel and Gaza's Islamic militant Hamas rulers killed an estimated 2,100 Palestinians, six Israeli civilians and 66 Israeli soldiers. There was widespread devastation in Gaza and thousands of rockets and mortars fired by Hamas and other Islamic militants at Israeli towns and cities. Israel says Hezbollah and Hamas have rebuilt larger arsenals capable of hitting the entire country. Elements of the evacuation plan, codenamed "Safe Distance," were disclosed by a senior Israeli officer in an interview to The Associated Press. "In 2017, all of Israel is under threat," said Col. Itzik Bar of the military's Homefront Command. Preparations are underway for Israel to deal with "very high amounts" of incoming fire, he said. Bar pointed out that Hezbollah has gained battle experience from fighting alongside Assad's forces and that Hassan Nasrallah, the Shiite group's chief, has recently increased his rhetoric about attacking Israel. The idea is to "remove the threat by not having civilians there," Bar said. "We want a meeting of army and Hezbollah forces and not civilians with Hezbollah forces." The evacuation plan would apply mainly to communities adjacent to the borders, he said. "In places where we understand there is a great danger to civilians, for example, where we won't be able to supply defenses or supply deterrence ... we will evacuate," Bar said. Evacuees would be housed in existing infrastructure, including hotels, schools and Kibbutz guest houses, he said. The scope of evacuations would depend on the situation, but all told, the plans cover up to 250,000 people who would be moved to safety if there is a conflict on multiple fronts, he said. Israel has a population of about 8.5 million. Small core groups would stay behind in evacuated areas to maintain vital infrastructure and ensure that communities "function the day after the fighting," he said. Another senior security official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with protocol, said the idea resulted from lessons learned in the 2014 Gaza war, in which communities were not evacuated but residents eventually left on their own. Tens of thousands of Israelis left their homes near the Gaza border as the fighting dragged on, turning some areas into ghost towns. The exodus was sparked by Palestinian shelling along with the fear of heavily armed Gaza militants infiltrating Israel through tunnels. Border communities vulnerable to mortars are the most in danger, he said. Israel's "Iron Dome" defense system was seen as a game-changer in the 2014 war, ensuring a decisive protective edge from short-range rockets fired from Gaza. But the security official said there were not enough of the defensive systems to cover attacks on multiple fronts. He said Hezbollah has significantly built up its weapons stockpile since the 2006 war and has upgraded its arsenal to about 150,000 missiles. Israel has made it clear it will act to prevent Hezbollah getting advanced munitions and is widely believed to have carried out several airstrikes in recent years on weapons convoys destined for the militant group. On Friday, it made a rare admission of such a strike after Syria fired missiles at its jets. However, the official said Israel fears that some advanced weapons like surface-to-sea weapons or anti-aircraft missiles might already have reached Hezbollah. Israel's military chief, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, told an academic conference Tuesday that Hezbollah's top military commander was killed in Syria in May 2016 by rivals within the group. The announcement was the latest sign of an escalating feud between Israel and Hezbollah. He said the death of Mustafa Badreddine illustrated "the depth of the internal crisis within Hezbollah." He also said it reflected "the extent of the cruelty, complexity and tension between Hezbollah and its patron Iran." An Israeli military official said Israel believes the order to kill Badreddine was given by Hezbollah's leader Nasrallah. Israeli intelligence believes Badreddine had been feuding with Iranian military commanders in Syria over the heavy losses his group had suffered on the battlefield. Israel, meanwhile, has been building up its missile defenses. A system called "David's Sling" to intercept medium-range missiles from Hezbollah is due to become operational in early April. That would mark the completion of a multilayer missile defense system that includes Iron Dome and Arrow, designed to intercept long-range ballistic missiles - of the type possessed by Iran - high in the stratosphere. The military also has vastly improved its early warning systems, according to Bar, the Israeli colonel. Technology has come a long way since 1991 when air raid sirens sent Israelis nationwide scurrying to bomb shelters when Iraq fired Scud missiles at Tel Aviv. In the 2014 Gaza war, sirens warned of incoming rocket attacks on wide areas. Bar said the system has been narrowed down and improved "dramatically" with more than 3,000 different warning zones. Now only civilians in the line of fire will need to take shelter, while others in the same city won't, he said. An annual intelligence assessment found Hezbollah or Hamas probably are not interested in sparking a war in 2017, but it warned of the danger of a dynamic of escalation leading to conflict. In February, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Hezbollah was not seeking a resumption of hostilities. But he vowed that if war did begin, his forces would strike Israel's Dimona nuclear facilities, Israeli officials have in turn escalated the rhetoric with Lebanon, citing concern about recent comments made by Lebanese President Michel Aoun, a strong Hezbollah ally who was elected head of state in October. In an interview last month with an Egyptian TV network, Aoun said Hezbollah "has a complementary role" to the Lebanese army. As long as the Lebanese army is not strong enough to battle Israel ... we feel the need for its existence," he said. The army's newly appointed commander also has vowed to boost its capabilities. Several Hamas officials say the group does not seek a confrontation with Israel now, but that it has developed its arsenal and restored its capabilities to even greater amount than before the 2014 war. They did not specify numbers. Reports in Gaza suggest Hamas completed repairs to dozens of attack tunnels used to infiltrate Israel that were damaged in 2014. 
The Real Face of Jordan - Caroline B. Glick - http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/The-real-face-of-Jordan-484720
Every once in a while, the Jordanian people are given a chance to express how they really feel about Israel. It's ugly. Jordan is the country to Israel's east with which Israel has had a formal peace for 23 years. And its people hate Israel, and Jews, even more than the Iranians do. Every once in a while, the Jordanian people are given a chance to express how they really feel about Israel. It's ugly. Twenty years ago, on March 13, 1997, 7th and 8th grade girls from the AMIT Fuerst junior high school for girls in Beit Shemesh packed box lunches and boarded a school bus that was to take them to the Jordan Valley for a class trip. The high point of the day was the scheduled visit to the so-called "Island of Peace." The area, adjacent to the Naharayim electricity station, encompasses lands Israel ceded to Jordan in the 1994 peace treaty and Jordan leased back to Israel for continued cultivation by the Jewish farmers from Ashdot Yaakov who had bought the lands and farmed them for decades. Israel's formal transfer of sovereignty - and Jordan's recognition of Jewish land rights to the area - were emblematic of the notion that the peace treaty was more than a piece of paper. Here, officials boasted, at the Island of Peace, we saw on-theground proof that Jordan and Israel were now peaceful neighbors. Just as Americans in California can spend a night at the bars in Tijuana and then sleep it off in their beds in San Diego, so, the thinking went, after three years of formal peace, Israeli schoolgirls could eat their box lunches in Jordan, at the Island of Peace, and be home in time for dinner in Beit Shemesh. Shortly after they alighted their buses, that illusion came to a brutal end. The children were massacred. A Jordanian policeman named of Ahmad Daqamseh, who was supposed to be protecting them, instead opened fire with his automatic rifle. He murdered seven girls and wounded six more. On Jordanian territory, the guests of the kingdom, the girls had no one to protect them. Daqamseh would have kept on killing and wounding, but his weapon jammed. In the days that followed, Israel saw two faces of Jordan and with them, the true nature of the peace it had achieved. On the one hand, in an extraordinary act of kindness and humility, King Hussein came to Israel and paid condolence calls at the homes of all seven girls. He bowed before their parents and asked for forgiveness. On the other hand, Hussein's subjects celebrated Daqamseh as a hero. The Jordanian court system went out of its way not to treat him like a murderer. Instead of receiving the death penalty for his crime - as he would have received if his victims hadn't been Jewish girls - the judges insisted he was crazy and sentenced him instead to life in prison. Under Jordanian law his sentence translated into 20 years in jail. In other words, Daqamseh received less than three years in jail for every little girl he murdered and no time for the six he wounded. Not satisfied with his sentence, the Jordanian public repeatedly demanded his early release. The public's adulation of Daqamseh was so widespread and deep-seated that in 2014, the majority of Jordan's parliament members voted for his immediate release. Three years earlier, in 2011, Jordan's then-justice minister Hussein Majali extolled Daqamseh as a hero and called for his release. Last week, sentence completed, Daqamseh was released. And within moments of his return, in the dead of night to his village, crowds of supporters emerged from their homes and celebrated their hero. Daqamseh, the supposed madman, never expressed regret for his crime. And now a free man, he was only too happy last week to use his release as a means of justifying, yet again, his crime. "Normalization with Zionists is a lie!" he declared in an interview with Al Jazeera. He went on to call for the conquest of Israel and the destruction of the Jewish state. Jordan owes its existence not to its population nor even to its silver- tongued monarch, Hussein's son Abdullah. It owes its existence to its location. For Israel and the West the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a critical piece of real estate. For Israel, the kingdom is a buffer against Iraq and Syria. For the Americans it is a safe port in the storm in the midst of the Arab world now suffering from convulsions of jihadist revolutions, counterrevolutions, insurgencies and counterinsurgencies. Jordan, which since 2003 has absorbed a million refugees from Iraq and another million from Syria, is viewed by Europeans as a great big refugee camp. It must be kept stable lest the Iraqis and Syrians move on to Europe. If it weren't for Israel and the Western powers, the Hashemite Kingdom would have been overthrown long ago. Today, Jordan is an economic and social tinderbox. Its debt to GDP ratio skyrocketed from 57% to 90% between 2011 and 2016. Youth unemployment, while officially reported at 14%, actually stands at 38%. Jordan, which is the second-poorest state in terms of its available water sources, relies on Israeli exports of water to survive. Its government is its largest employer. Its largest export is its people, whose remittances to their relatives back home keep 350,000 families afloat. And those remittances have fallen off dramatically in recent years due to the drop in oil prices on the world market. The Muslim Brotherhood is the second largest political force in the country. Although Jordanians were revolted in 2015 when Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria burned alive a downed Jordanian pilot, ISIS has no shortage of sympathizers in wide swaths of Jordanian society. More than 2,000 Jordanians joined ISIS in Syria and several thousand more ISIS members and sympathizers are at large throughout the kingdom. Whereas Palestinians used to make up an absolute majority of the population, leading many to observe over the years that the real Palestine is Jordan, since the Iraqi and Syria refugees swelled the ranks of the population, the Palestinian majority has been diminished. Jordan is a reminder that nation building in the Arab world is a dangerous proposition. With each passing year, the US provides Jordan with more and more military and civilian aid to keep the regime afloat. And with each passing year, voices praising Daqamseh and his ilk continue to expand in numbers and volume. Jordan shows that the concept of peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors is of limited value. So long as the hearts and the minds of the people of the Arab world are filled with conspiracy theories about Jews, and inspired by visions of jihad and destruction that render mass murderers of innocent schoolchildren heroes, the notion that genuine peace is possible is both irrational and irresponsible. Recently it was reported that last October, Israel's ambassador to Jordan Einat Schlein gave a pessimistic assessment of Jordan's future prospects to IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkott. Eisenkott reportedly reacted to her briefing by suggesting that Israel needs to figure out a way to help the regime to survive. Eisenkott was correct, of course. Israel, which now faces a nightmare situation along its border with post-civil war Syria, does not want to face the prospect of a post-Hashemite Jordan, where the people will rule, on its doorstep. But Israel can ill afford to assume that this will not happen one day, and plan accordingly. Under the circumstances, the only way to safeguard against the day when Daqasmeh and his supporters rule Jordan is to apply Israeli law to the Jordan Valley and encourage tens of thousands of Israelis to settle down along the sparsely populated eastern border. After the massacre, the parents of the dead children and the public as a whole demanded to know why the school hadn't smuggled armed guards into the Island of Peace to protect them. Their question was a reasonable one. Daqamseh was able to kill those girls because we let down our guard. The only way to prevent that from happening again - writ large - is to reinforce that guard by reinforcing our control over eastern Israel. 23 years after the peace was signed, nothing has changed in the Kingdom of Jordan. No hearts and minds have been turned in our favor. The peace treaty has not protected us. The only thing that protects our children is our ability and willingness to use our weapons to protect them from our hate-drenched neighbors with whom we share treaties of peace. 
Volcanoes, Radioactive Fish, and "The Blob": North Pacific Seismic Rumblings Gearing Up for End of Days? - By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz - https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/85439/volcanoes-radioactive-fish-blob-north-pacific-seismic-rumblings-gearing-end-days/#wmwfE3tHkCSh44hp.99
"Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Yisrael; so that the fishes of the sea and the fowls of the heaven and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep upon the ground and all the men that are upon the face of the earth shall shake at My presence." Ezekiel 38:20 (The Israel Bible™) A series of unusual and threatening phenomena including volcanoes, radioactive waste, and a mysterious marine anomaly called 'the Blob' have all appeared in the waters of the Pacific Northwest in the last month. Something is brewing in the cold coastal waters, and though scientists are struggling to understand, one rabbi sees right through it all. Trouble bubbled up from the bowels of the earth last month as volcanic activity increased off the coast of Alaska. Bogoslof volcano, about 60 miles northwest of Dutch Harbor, erupted more than 37 times in the last three months, sending volcanic ash up to 30,000 feet. The eruptions are accompanied dramatically by violent lightning strikes.The volcano remains in a heightened state of unrest and could erupt again at any time. In the Bible, volcanoes and seismic activity are connected with God's anger, especially in the context of the End of Days. Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall be shaken out of her place, for the wrath of Hashem of hosts, and for the day of His fierce anger. Isaiah 13:13 The Bogoslof volcano is one of the 160 active volcanoes in that section of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the world's most seismically active region. This section also includes Mount St. Helens, which erupted cataclysmically in 1980, in the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States. Though most of the volcanoes in the region are in relatively unpopulated areas, many of Alaska's volcanoes are in the major trans-Pacific aviation lanes. Volcanic eruptions can shut down overhead air-traffic as the abrasive ash may cause jet engine failure and interfere with electronics. Science has made great advances, but volcanoes, along with the other phenomena that struck recently, bear the clear message that much of nature is beyond our control. Rabbi Yosef Berger, the rabbi of King David's Tomb on Mount Zion, notes that this is a particularly relevant message in our era. "What is happening is very clear," Rabbi Yosef Berger told Breaking Israel News. "Men of science think they govern the world, but these events show how much that is not true. The Messiah will be God revealing that fact in the most undeniable manner, so that men will see this with their very eyes. The word olam (world) comes from the root 'hidden'. God hides behind the veil of nature. We see nature, but we don't see the One who actually rules over and guides nature." As if volcanoes are not enough, meteorologists are gravely concerned about what they have called 'the Blob', an unusual lingering mass of warm water 310 miles off the Oregon coast. The Blob appeared in late 2014 and was welcomed by residents of the chilly Northwest, as it was linked to unusually warm and sunny weather. But a recently released study revealed that what first seemed like a blessing was actually a curse. Dan Jaffe, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Washington Bothell, reported last week in a study of the Blob in Geophysical Research Letters that record levels of ozone have been registered throughout the West Coast. He attributed the phenomenon to the unusual weather conditions caused by the warmer ocean temperatures by the Blob. "Ultimately, it all links back to the Blob, which was the most unusual meteorological event we've had in decades," Jaffe said in an interview with UW Today, the news source for the University of Washington. The Blob brought with it a disturbing Biblical phenomenon: the warm waters created some of the worst-ever toxic red tide algal blooms. And the fish that were in the river died; and the river became foul, and the Egyptians could not drink water from the river; and the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt. Exodus 7:21 As in the Biblical plague, the red tides led to massive numbers of marine mammals dying, as they are unable to find their cold-water food, normally plentiful in the Pacific Northwest. A third plague has also struck the region. It was announced last month that nuclear waste has finally made its way from Japan to the United States coastline. Officials revealed that Cesium-134 from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster was detected off the coast of Oregon and has been found in seafood from that area. The nuclear reactor in Japan suffered a catastrophic meltdown after being hit by an earthquake-generated tsunami, spewing nuclear-tainted water into the ocean. Despite public alarm, officials insist the radioactive pollution is not a cause for concern. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a 2015 report that evidence showed the levels "fall well short of posing any U.S. health or environmental risk." The list of problems grows, but scientists are coming up short in their search for answers. Biologists are still scratching their heads over a massive die-off of marine birds in Alaska last year. In a report released last month, Heather Renner, a supervisory wildlife biologist, told KTUU that the birds died from starvation, but they had no idea what brought this famine on. "Seabirds are top predators," Renner said. "They're sort of sentinels for our environment. They have definitely let us know that there's change going on in the ocean ecosystem." Renner inadvertently paraphrased the sentiments of Job, who warned that birds can serve as messengers bearing a divine message. Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven? Job 35:11 "In the days before messiah," Rabbi Berger concluded, "God is going to be revealed through nature in exactly this manner: one event after another." 
Nearing Midnight: Presidential Prophecy Briefing - Terry James - http://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/
This president is doing his best to fulfill campaign promises. His "best" is something to behold. He is getting it done at breakneck speed and despite opposition-much of that opposition satanically inspired. The hatred toward him and even his family is unlike anything witnessed in our nation's post-election history. Donald J. Trump forges ahead as if he doesn't notice the fierceness and threats of the haters screaming their vitriol from every quarter. At least the rage doesn't seem to bother him much. He doesn't turn the other cheek, of course. His Tweets can be as devastating as slaps across the face. For example, his Tweet that asked the question: Isn't it terrible the way Obama had my phones tapped in the Trump Tower? He responds immediately in most cases to the written words of the hostile news media and spoken words of political antagonists. He is a New York City street fighter, and can obviously handle himself amongst the political and media street brawlers in spite of the fact that he is a political neophyte-but one that is quickly attaching himself to the learning curve. Mr. Trump can be very kind, generous, and compassionate, as well as tough. We have seen these traits demonstrated on a number of occasions before and since he became president. He gets no notice of approval for this side of his personal deportment from any of his opposition of course. Neither does he seek it. He just...well...forges ahead and accomplishes what he has promised. Although I've received criticism even from brothers and sisters in Christ who read this column for being "too caught up in worldly politics," I don't mind being perhaps overly transparent that I'm an ardent supporter of our new president. This doesn't mean I approve of some of his NYC street jargon or his every word uttered or action taken. But for the most part, I think he is a man of honor, determined to do exactly what he promised the voter who supported him. I have no doubt that he is God's chosen man for the job at this critical time in history. The larger part of what makes this a critical time is Israel's position on the world stage. That stance is becoming more front and center -more focused- with every hour that passes. This, as we have said many times in these essays, is a prime indicator, if not the prime indicator of where this generation stands on God's prophetic timeline. I believe this, in conjunction with the convergence of many prophetic indicators at this late hour constitutes the number one signal that the Rapture of the Church is very near. After all that positive assessment of President Trump to this point, I must project an exhortation, almost an admonishment, in his direction. Rather, more to the point, I am issuing such to a select few people who orbit him, on a personal basis, I'm presuming. I'll mention five men specifically. These, I believe, have a responsibility the Lord Himself appointed for influencing this president. Each, I know absolutely, has biblical knowledge of God's Word regarding the wind-up of human history. They must, if they have opportunity-and I have no doubt they do have opportunity-inform Mr. Trump, in detail, what Bible prophecy has to say about anyone dealing with Israel. These men whom I believe have this responsibility are Franklin Graham, Dr. Robert Jeffress, Dr. David Jeremiah, and Mike Huckabee. One other might be Jerry Falwell, Jr. Each is thoroughly familiar with the futurist view of biblical prophecy. Each understands Israel's role in the final disposition of prophetic fulfillment. I'm not certain about Huckabee as to how in-depth is his stance on prophetic details regarding Israel. Sadly, Southern Baptist seminaries are now egregiously weak in prophecy teaching. Huckabee, however, was inculcated as a budding Southern Baptist minister when that denomination was on the money in God's truth surrounding eschatology. Falwell surely must adhere to his late father's viewpoint in matters concerning Israel's future. These people have apparently been embraced as evangelical leaders friendly to and accepted by the president. Thus, their responsibility to advise him is profound. My reason for addressing the matter stems from President Trump's meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Trump's subsequent comments. The following news excerpt frames my concern. US President Donald Trump is mulling the option to hold a peace conference in the Middle East in an effort to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, after speaking on Friday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas... "The president emphasized his personal belief that peace is possible and that the time has come to make a deal," the White House said... "The president noted that such a deal would not only give Israelis and Palestinians the peace and security they deserve, but that it would reverberate positively throughout the region and the world," the White House clarified. (Source: Trump Mulls Middle East Peace Conference, Annette News -Israel news by Orly Azoulay & Elior Levy, 3/12/17) So, the question comes: What's wrong with the president of the United States trying to make peace? Another question: Didn't Jesus say, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will inherit the earth"? The problem isn't the effort at peacemaking by Mr Trump or anyone else. The problem is that the attempt at making peace between Israel and her enemies always involves Israel having to give up its land for peace-something that God says will bring mankind to the battle of Armageddon. For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. (Joel 3: 1-2) God will not abide the dividing of His land-which the world, in effect, has already done. To further divide the land, after God has brought the Jews back from dispersion will, undoubtedly, be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back. God's Word prophesies about peace deals that involves His chosen people and nation He forewarns His people, Israel: Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves... And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. (Isaiah 28: 15, 18) Antichrist will make that final peace deal with Israel (read Daniel 9: 26-27). The results, as you see from Isaiah's prophecy, will be catastrophic for Israel. Joel, in his prophecy, makes it clear that it will be equally disastrous for the whole world. President Trump, like all presidents before him, receives daily briefings on the important matters he must consider. There is no matter more important than the way he deals with this nation so close to God's great heart. The gentlemen I've mentioned have an awesome responsibility to give the president the most important briefing he will ever receive: forewarning from God's prophetic Word regarding Israel. 
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 
Staying in The Game: Christians Don't Retire from Kingdom Work - John Stonestreet - http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=1109
Narrowly escaping the jaws of a large reptile might get you thinking about your life. But you don't have to wait 'til then to make important changes. C. S. Lewis wrote that pain is God's megaphone--something He uses when He can't get our attention any other way. I know at least one Christian who has an idea of what that's like: God got his attention after--and I'm not making this up--he was nearly eaten by a crocodile. Bill Beattie was a businessman whose life was going quite well. He'd been happily married for 35 years, and his three children were leading productive lives. He expected to spend the years ahead peacefully serving as an elder in his church in Danbury, Connecticut. But God was prompting Bill toward other things. Problem was, Bill wasn't listening. That changed after a canoeing adventure on the Zambezi River, home to hippos and crocodiles, during an anniversary trip to Africa with his wife Kathie. Bill recalls, "I was a novice canoeist and had foolishly rejected Kathie's suggestion of canoeing lessons prior to the trip." The guide gave them a five-minute training session, and sent the couple paddling away, headed downstream. They were "eyeball-to eyeball with hippos at every turn," Bill recalls. The expression on Kathie's face told him that his wife was terrified. And she was right to be. They suddenly struck a submerged tree trunk and capsized the canoe. The rescue team quickly picked up Kathie, but their canoe could not hold another person. Bill tried to right his own canoe and climb on top of it as the crocodiles watched. Struggling with his canoe, Bill didn't notice, but his companions did, that a 13-foot crocodile came within 10 feet of him before turning and pursuing some of the flotsam from the canoe that had gone floating down the river. Around the campfire that evening, Bill reflected on what had happened that day. It was extraordinary, he says, "that the croc did not attack and drag me to the bottom. I sensed that God had intervened on my behalf to save me for His purposes." Back home, Bill began to consider his areas of strength, and consulted with friends. Believing God was leading him to start a ministry for at risk, inner-city boys, he founded the Pathways Danbury, a mentoring ministry which now reaches girls as well. Christian adults provide them with one-on-one mentoring, Bible study, and tutoring. They can attend Bible camp in the summer, and if they graduate from high school meeting standards of excellence, they're given a $10,000 grant for education, business, or housing. Some 70 boys and girls are now involved in the Pathways Danbury mentoring program, which was expanded in 2008 to include Pathways Academy Middle School and the "Say Yes" after-school program. The key to their ministry, Bill notes, "continues to be sharing Jesus on a long-term basis to kids who are at risk for drugs and alcohol . . . delinquency and family instability." Now frequently on BreakPoint, we like to share stories of Christians like Bill who are making a difference in the world by tackling the brokenness in their own backyard. We do this to remind us that all is not lost... that God has his people everywhere, enlisting them in his Kingdom work to make all things new, like Bill in Danbury, Connecticut. And if God is at work there, He's at work around you too. Bill's story also reminds me how much Chuck Colson hated the idea that retirement is about spending the rest of your life on the golf course. He would have none of that. Christians don't retire from Kingdom work, he'd often say. Bill's story was told in a manual for the Halftime Institute, which offers resources to help believers intentionally aim the second half of their lives at serving Jesus. But there's no need to wait until you're nearing retirement: God has placed you where He has for a purpose right now. And if you'd like to lock in on a life plan for Kingdom work, the Colson Fellows program will prepare you for that. Study with great worldview teachers, and join motivated fellow believers for an intense and intensely rewarding nine months of worldview teaching and preparation to engage the culture around you. 
Daily Jot: Senators should ask Gorsuch these questions - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com
There is a whole lot of showmanship being displayed in the Neil Gorsuch Supreme Court confirmation hearings. There are, however, questions that those of us who adhere to the laws of God would like to see asked. In response to a question about overturning Roe v Wade, candidate Donald Trump stated during the third debate, "Well, if that would happen, because I am pro-life, and I will be appointing pro-life judges, I would think that that will go back to the individual states. If we put another two or perhaps three justice on, that's really what's going to be. That'll happen automatically, in my opinion, because I am putting pro-life justices on the court." Gorsuch should be posed the same question. Regarding sanctity of marriage Trump seemed to have a similar view. In a 60 Minutes interview as President-Elect, Trump responded to a question about overturning gay marriage by saying, "It's law. It was settled in the Supreme Court...These cases have gone to the Supreme Court. They've been settled. And I'm, I'm fine with that." During the primaries, Trump said the Supreme Court should have allowed the states to independently decide the issue. In a Fox News interview, he was asked if he would appoint a Supreme Court justice who would overturn the gay marriage decision and send it back to the states. Trump responded, "I would strongly consider that, yes." Gorsuch should be asked the same question. Despite being pro-life, there are concerns within the faith community about Gorsuch. Remember the concerns about the ex "president's" ties with his pastor Jeremiah Wright, a Black Liberation Theology radical? Those concerns were realized during eight years of the "president" acting out Wright's philosophies, albeit in a watered-down form. Gorsuch and his wife have been very active in a church pastored by Susan W Springer. On January 22, Springer posted a video of the women's march in Denver and stated that her and her "contingent" were joining Indivisable-that's the radical organization promoting revolution and funded by George Soros that is providing training videos on how to protest Donald Trump. Gorsuch should be asked whether he supports his pastor's radical viewpoints. On February 1,The Washington Post asked Florida Episcopal priest George Conger about Gorsuch and Springer. Conger said, "It's a social parish in Boulder. There is not really a strong tie between the beliefs of a rector in a social parish and the beliefs of its members." This is not necessarily a good testimony about church, pastor or parishioner. Notwithstanding, it would be nice to hear how Gorsuch stands. Asked by Senator Al Franken (D-Mn) about whether he was part of plans for "deconstruction of the administrative state," Gorsuch replied, "I don't appreciate when people characterize me, as I'm sure you don't appreciate when people characterize you. I like to speak for myself. I am a judge. I am my own man." Jesus said in Matthew 24:4, "Take heed that no man deceive you." Senators, ask the questions. Let's see if Gorsuch is his own man. 
Daily Devotion: He Knows Best - Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. -Romans 8:28 There are some things this side of Heaven that I never will understand. But when I don't know something, I fall back on what I do know. There are times when someone asks, "Greg, why did God do this?" And many times I say, "I don't know. I just can't answer that. But I know this: God loves you. God is wiser than you. And 'all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.'" It's during those difficult times that we must walk by faith. We don't understand, and there is turmoil going on deep inside. But we don't know what God has in store. Maybe you've had a setback in your life. Things were going well, and then all of a sudden, you went down in flames. You're wondering, "What is this all about? How could this possibly result in anything good?" I think Joseph must have felt that way. He was faithful to the Lord, yet it seemed as though he had setback after setback and went deeper and deeper into his problems. But each setback actually was a stepping stone to a greater plan God in store for him. That resulted in his being used more powerfully by God than anything else Joseph could have accomplished. One day we'll be able to look back and say, "Now I know why the Lord did this and why He did that." For some of us, it only will be on the other side of eternity when we can look back and understand it. We don't see the big picture. But the great comfort is that He who makes and controls all circumstances knows what is best and will act accordingly. He will do the right thing. 
FROM THE HEART
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