(Revised addition)

I have been saying that the Mediterranean Union (MU) will be the actual revived Roman Empire and not the EU alignment that we see today because many of the nations in the EU do not belong in the land area of  the old Roman Empire and others that belong in it are missing from the EU. Some have said I am wrong because the MU idea was recently not well received by certain nations. However, that is changing, it looks like Sorkozy’s MU idea will take root after all.

The Mediterranean Union as the revived Roman Empire makes more sense to me than the present EU for a lot of prophetic reasons. First of all, let me be clear, I am not saying the EU is going to die, it will probably just morph into the borders of the MU and move its headquarters to Rome. Whether or not the EU changes its name to the MU or even something else is really not important.

I still think the major change from the present EU to the borders of the proposed MU will take place during and after a world war with radical Islam that will include the Arab and Israeli war of Psalm 83. There has to be a war in the Middle East. How else can Israel rid the area of over 40,000 rockets that threatens all of Israel today? The Arabs are never going to peacefully give up their weapons and they are not going to recognize Israel’s right to exist in the Middle East as a Jewish state. A major war is certain.

Some of the Eastern nations in the EU are just not going to fit in with the West and will eventually form their own union probably dominated by Russia. Look at a ancient map of the land extent of the old Roman Empire. This will probably be about the same extent of the revised Roman Empire. The EU today simply does not fit.

The EU has its headquarters in Brussels Belgium which prophetically means absolutely nothing. The MU would much more likely have its headquarters located in Rome which prophetically means absolutely everything.

Israel will be in the MU as will the defeated states of Psalm 83 and others already predetermined to be part of the MU. This makes the prophetic statement about the Antichrist figure confirming a covenant with the “many” for seven year much more plausible. The only way Israel can live in peace and security with hostile neighbors is if it is enforced by a force larger than any of the nations involved. Being part of the MU is a rational reason why Israel would be living in peace and security prior to the Ezekiel 38 and 39 war.

Israel is to become part of this revived Roman Empire also known as the MU. The peace and security in Israel is prophetically absolutely required before the war of Ezekiel 38 and 39. The covenant or treaty the Antichrist confirms with all these nations is the conditions lain down by Israel and the Western powers after the war of Psalm 83, the war against radical Islam, and probably the Ezekiel war.  At the end of the Ezekiel war, the God of Israel will reveal Himself to Israel and the whole world by His supernatural intervention which destroys the army of the northern invaders.

The “many” that this later Antichrist figure from the MU confirms the agreement with could be ten regional zone leaders within the MU. A much expanded Israel  could be one of the ten zones. Then 3 1/2 years after confirming this agreement, this world leader breaks the pact with Israel after Israel’s two prophets are killed. Then he attempts to appease and deceive all the world nations that hate Israel and the Israeli God and he eliminates three leaders and three MU zones in order to make room for his new Babylonian province that God identifies as Babylon the Great.

This article by Chris Perver will give you the latest on the revived Mediterranean Union. It is good to see that he also thinks this Mediterranean Union fulfills the prophecy of a Revived Roman Empire.

EU to Revive Mediterranean Union ~ Bible Prophecy Today

The French Foreign Ministry has announced that the Union for the Mediterranean, a project aimed at boosting ties between the European Union and Mediterranean states, is to be formally revived at the end of this month. The announcement follows a meeting of French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who jointly hold the presidency of the new bloc.

As we saw at its inception, far from being a political project aimed at merely increasing peace and prosperity in the Mediterranean region, Sarkozy’s vision of the Union for the Mediterranean is nothing less than a revival of the old Roman Empire itself.

The French President claimed in February 2007, “within every man and woman who lives on the shores of the Mediterranean sleeps the memory, nostalgia, for the unity lost 15 centuries ago”. He added that he wanted to be “the president of a France that will set the Mediterranean on the path of its reunification, after 12 centuries of division”. That vision, of a revival of the order of the old Roman Empire, is also shared by other politicians involved in the European Union project. Last year European Commission President Manuel Barroso, when questioned on exactly what the European project hoped to achieve, claimed that the EU was the world’s first “non-imperial empire”. Belgian politician Paul-Henri Spaak, who famously called for a man, “be he god or devil”, to lift the nations out of the economic morass into which they were sinking, was a signatory to the Treaty of Rome which established the institutions of the European Union. When asked how he felt when signing the treaty, he said, “we felt like Romans on that day… We were consciously recreating the Roman Empire once more”.
(bold emphasis mine)

Full article

It is interesting times in Iran these days. When 1 in 6 of all Iranians take part in the demonstrations in the streets of Tehran in rage against the fraudulent election results you know things are a changing in Iran. The Iranian people are taking to the streets knowing that they will be in danger from the Islamofascists running the nation. Their Islamic taskmasters are even using foreign hired Arab thugs to put fear in the people. You can be sure when city streets are totally filled with people that things are soon likely to change. Read Joel Rosenbergs take on these Iranian events.

It seems to me that the Islamofascists are rapidly losing control of Iran and that Iran is now ripe for a cultural revolution. We are probably seeing the start of this taking place right now. Could you even imagine the change in America if 85 percent of people eligible to vote actually voted? Could you imagine if government then decided not to count most of the votes of the conservatives? Would Americans have the guts to march on Washington like the Iranians are doing today? We might be put in that position sometime down the line. Would Americans put their lives on the line to throw off oppression like the people of Iran? Maybe we can learn some lessons from the people of Iran. Guns are not even needed for a Revolution if huge numbers of people of the nation get out on the streets in protest. Troops are not going to kill their own people for long. The troops will soon turn against the outlaw leaders giving them the orders.

The official government line is that Ahmadinejad won the election by a 2 to 1 margin but everyone knows that is a lie. The real election result looks more like the following:

Did you know that 70 percent of the people of Iran are secular and are really atheists? So much for Iran being a Muslim nation. Those in Islam have controlled the Iranian people through threats and intimidation but they do not have the popular support. The majority of the people of Iran have more in common with the West then they do Islam. It also is no coincidence that 70 percent of the people in Iran were born after the Islamic Revolution. These young people do not support the repression coming down from the Mullahs through puppet leaders like Ahmadinejad. They see them as a hindrance to their economic prosperity, freedoms and modernization and they fear that they will lead them into a war and the destruction of their nation.

So let’s for a minute assume that the Islamofascist Iranian government and the Mullahs lose control and an actual democracy soon emerges in Iran. Iran then becomes more moderate. So what will that mean to the West and Israel? It certainly will not be the end of the Iranian nuclear program but they truly might decide to not actually start producing nuclear weapons. It also means that Iran will no longer be calling for the destruction of Israel. In that case, I do not think Israel would strike Iran. That would explain why Iran does not come against Israel with the Arabs in the war of Psalm 83. It also explains why they will be one of the major players with Russia in the Ezekiel Chapter 38 war. Their military capabilities will not have been destroyed and their nuclear weapons development will be postponed until that time.

Be aware that Iranians are not Arabs. The Arabs fear them and they certainly do not want to see Iran with nuclear weapons. A cultural revolution could be the reason why they do not attack Israel until the Ezekiel war. However, if the people lose and the old guard consolidates their controls over Iran you can be sure that a first strike on Iran by Israel is a certainty and that it will happen soon.

Anyway, the events we are seeing now will be a major turning point in Middle East events so pay close attention to the latest events in Iran. The protests are not about Mausavi either the Iranian people did not have anyone but state approved candidates to vote for and Mausavi is part of the problem. What the people want is freedom from their oppressors.

The great majority of the people of Iran are disillusioned and even disgusted by the mediaeval incompetent, oppressive, and corrupt rule of the mullahs, irrespective of which mafia gang is in power. The votes, more than anything else, are protest ballots cast against the entire system, rather than indications of support for the so-called conservative-moderate coalition.

It took less than 4 years for Iranians to realize that boycotting the so-called elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran can only bring to power even a worse bunch of Islamofascists. This time around the people turned out to vote for the lesser of two camps of evil — the mullah dominated gang of conservatives and “moderates.”

It is clear that Mr. Mir Hussein Mousavi won the election by a large margin. Ahmadinejad came out third. But on Friday June 12, 2009, in the Islamic election (selection) something happened. Something beyond what anyone could have ever imagined. Something huge. A daylight coup d’état by the elements of the establishment, particularly, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which the Senate designated as a terrorist organization (with Senator Obama not voting). The clerical leadership in Iran has grown increasingly reliant on the IRGC to help it stave off internal pressure for political and economic reform and external pressure resulting from international concern over Iran’s nuclear program.

An Iranian journalist said, “The important event that took place in Iran is that it wasn’t an election; it was a coup d’état. [They] stole 24 million votes of the nation and took them away for themselves. If there were really a winner, they would have to celebrate, but instead they beat people. They performed a coup, but they don’t call it a coup.”

He continued, “Please don’t use the word “fraud” because it is mitigation of what has happened in Iran. Fraud is what was happening in the past 30 years. This is not fraud. They haven’t [counted] people’s votes. Using the word fraud is like calling a deep cut a small scratch. There was no fraud; it was a coup.”

The political chief of the powerful Revolutionary Guard warned it would crush any “revolution” against the Islamic system by Mousavi’s “green movement” — the signature color of his campaign. However, on Saturday and Sunday, hundreds of thousands of opponents of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clashed with Hizbollah thugs dressed in police uniforms in the heart of Iran’s capital, pelting them with rocks and setting fires in the worst unrest in Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution. They accused the hard-line president of using fraud to steal the election victory from his reformist rival.

The ever-conniving mullahs dread the Iranian people. Granted that a small percentage of Iranians, known as the 3Fs — fools, fanatics and frauds — support the mullahs. No totalitarian rule can ever survive without a segment of the population, for one reason or another, supporting it. Yet, time is not on the side of the mullahs. By their mismanagement, thievery and oppression of the masses, they have created explosive internal conditions. As I have said over and over, the Mullahs need to have the N- bomb to create a fake sense of security so they can prolong their survival.

In short, Iran is in a state of serious upheaval. Replacing Ahmadinejad with the already tried and proven wanton gang of Rafsanjani-Khatami-Mousavi is not going to change matters much.

As for the West, it is prudent that it does not embark on a trigger-happy, self interested policy. The mullahs’ lease on life, [short of brutal massacre of the Iranian people in the absence of any foreign media] is just about over. A concerted political, economic, and moral support for the long-suffering and valiant Iranian people and the secular opposition can put an end to the shameful and hate-driven Islamofascists of any and all stripes.

Full article

While reading Carla’s excellent and always discerning More Books and Things blog I came across an article that I think needs further attention by those who study world events and Bible prophecy. I might not agree with every single point in this article but I certainly agree with Prof. Malan’s major concepts. Bible prophecy teachers seem to convey that Israel today is in the will of God. Therefore they suggest we better not do anything that could be conveyed as touching the apple of God’s eye. Some even suggest that if we do not bless this largely atheist nation that God will judge our nation. There are some erroneous teachings going around that relate judgments on America to how we treat unrepentant Israel. That concept is wrong. The judgments coming on America today is due to our own sins. We are judged on how we treat all nations not just Israel. If we are a just and moral nation we have nothing to fear. God will judge all the nations on how they treat Israel after Israel accepts their true Messiah.

Israel today is still reaping the curse because they rejected God’s salvation in His Son. When God said He would curse those who curse the descendants of Abraham and Jacob he was talking about those cursing the children of the promise, the people of faith. They are the true children of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Remember, the leaders of Israel claimed they also were children of Abraham but Jesus called them children of their father the Devil. So did Jesus curse these descendants of Israel? Actually He did. He cursed the unbelieving descendants of Israel as represented by the fig tree that had no fruit when He came (Mt 21:19).

Other Christians will not even evangelize Jews thinking that Jews already know God. They are also wrong. Those who do not accept Jesus Christ do not know the Father either (John 14:6). The nation of Israel will certainly prove that point when they accept the false Messiah that is coming in his own name and not the Father’s name like Jesus. Some of these Christian ministries will raise large sums of money to send Jews back to Israel but spend nothing on giving these Jews the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They do not even tell them that two-thirds of the people that they are sending back to Israel will be killed in the coming Jewish holocaust (Zec 13:8).

One might think that if Christians really loved the Jews they should be telling Jews about Jesus so they would get saved before these terrible events happen to them? But it is not happening, not that anyone is actually allowed to preach the gospel in Israel anyway. So what does that say about Israel? Instead we rant about how nations are dealing with Israel as if God is not sovereign and not using the leaders of these nations toward His own ends to bring Israel to repentance. Had not God said that these things would happen to the Jews in the end times?

So how will Christians siding with Israel on world events give them physical peace and spiritual enlightenment? Even if we could change our national policies toward Israel the things God said about Israel in the latter days are still going to happen. The real problem with Israel is not the Gentile nations and our leaders decisions. The real problem with Israel is the unbelief of the Jews in Israel. The Gentiles will just be used to bring Israel to a place of repentance. God would protect Israel if they came to belief in Jesus Christ but instead they will believe in the Antichrist and go into more national tribulation before they finally get the message that peace and security is only found in their Messiah Jesus Christ.

If I did not know that we were in the end times when God’s words about Israel will be fulfilled I would have to believe that the unbelieving Jews now occupying God’s land would again be cast out. Yet, the religious Jews living in Israel think that God is on their side while they reject His Son and the non-religious Jews think that they are going to hold unto the land by their own military might. Sorry, but that is not God’s plan for Israel. Many Christians by what they say and do, seem to covey similar false pretense as well. Ever wonder why the Jews flee to the mountains for 42 months? Because Satan seeks to kill every Jew in the world (Rev 12:13). That is the real destiny of those in Israel before they come to God’s Messiah. Exactly what world actions and reactions get us to that point is frankly very subjective stuff that even Bible prophecy experts do not agree on. So how do we know where God’s will is on every current event in the Middle East so that we take the correct position? Does our position even matter in God’s plan?

So knowing these things lets teach the truth to Israel and evangelize those that can be reached instead of acting as if Israel’s leaders or America’s leaders will make correct decisions to keep Israel from the holocaust that clearly will come upon Israel in these last days. In the final analysis, it really does not matters one iota if Israel or the US takes out Iran’s nuclear capabilities at least not if we are in the sequence of end time events like Bible prophecy teachers claim. Iran will invade Israel in the latter years because Ezekiel says so, and the end of that war has already been determined by God. It really does not matter if Israel agrees to divide Jerusalem in some false peace deal either because the Bible says it will happen anyway, “Zec 14:2  For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.”

It really does not matter what action Israel takes because whatever action Israel takes in unbelief will lead to the same biblical end that God foretold the prophets and that us Bible prophecy believing Christians should be aware of. The primary Christian commission is to teach the gospel to Israel and everyone else. Our commission is not trying to stop or change Middle East events that have to happen if we are in the last days. If Christians should learn anything from Bible prophecy it should be to discern how close we are to the Lords coming for the watching faithful Church. If Christians use Bible prophecy it should be to used to evangelize those who might come to know God through Bible prophecy. Bible prophecy for Christians should not be about trying to figure out every insignificant detail and the exact dating of all events beforehand. Some of these things cannot be known with any certainty.  Nothing at all has to be fulfilled before the rapture of the Church and after the restrainer is removed all end time events will rapidly come on the earth just as God said. For most Christians it is enough to know that what God said about the last days will take place literally and that the time to work is short.

If you want more thinking on this issue read the full article.

Jesus Christ in Biblical Prophecies

Jesus Christ in Biblical Prophecies

Prof. Johan Malan, Middelburg, South Africa (June 2009)

The spiritual and doctrinal value of various articles currently published on Israel is extremely poor. Authors mostly offer only a secular review of news events without giving a balanced biblical perspective on them.

It is an alarming fact that even Christian analysts on the situation in the Middle East reveal very little insight into Israel’s end-time position. Obama is now blamed for isolating and forsaking Israel. Is he responsible for these actions or did the Lord ordain them? According to Ezekiel 22:18-22, Jeremiah 30:7 and Zechariah 14:2, the Lord will bring Israel into great affliction because they have, spiritually, become dross in His eyes for dishonouring His Word and rejecting the Messiah. In the light of this situation we should understand their international dispersion during the past 2000 years, as well as the Holocaust of World War II. Or will we merely blame the Roman Empire, the Nazis and other nations for this human tragedy? These nations are definitely guilty, but Israel is more guilty and mainly responsible for their own problems. Didn’t Jesus say that Jerusalem would be destroyed and trodden down because its inhabitants refused to accept Him as their Messiah (cf. Matt. 23:37-38)? In the attached addendum a Messianic Jew, Arthur Katz, explains the full implications of Israel’s sin and lack of faith.

As for Israel’s future, it is really irrelevant what Obama, the pope, the EU, Iran or Russia say or do with regard to Israel. If they don’t persecute or isolate Israel the Lord will allow other groups or nations to do just that. The fact is that the Israelis have to go through the time of Jacob’s trouble because of their continued apostasy.

Why are there so few people who have the boldness to inform Israel on the true reasons for their problems? Why is their own spiritual bankruptcy not addressed? Why are even organisations such as the International Christian Embassy engaged with the establishing of good relations with unsaved Israel without explicitly proclaiming the Messiah to them? Why do preachers such as John Hagee deny Jesus as Messiah of the Jews by alleging that they don’t have to accept Jesus to be saved? Why do all the Christians follow him and merely donate money to Israel, but withhold the gospel from them, which is their only hope?

When will Israel’s fortunes take a turn for the better – when the United States again support and assist them militarily, or when they have accepted the Messiah? Will they ever seek the Messiah unless they are in a great affliction (cf. Hosea 5:15; 6:1-2)?

The less people think and speak about the Lord Jesus, the less they will believe in His promise of a pretribulation rapture (Luke 21:36); the less they know about His judgement seat, the less they will be prepared for His sudden coming (1 Cor. 3:9-15). Many people become so involved with a study of the signs of the times, including possible dates for the second coming of Christ, that they never seriously attend to the necessities of our relationship with Him (holiness), and also neglect to work for Him while it is still day – the night of God’s judgements is approaching when no one can work.

I do believe that Israel and many other signs are prophetically significant, but this knowledge should lead to deeper spiritual insights and particularly to the glorification and exaltation of the Lord Jesus – also to fear for the coming day of His wrath upon sinners, including all the carnal, agnostic and unholy people. His judgements should be considered as part of the bigger picture, lest people think that the nature of the future world will only be determined by the decisions and military actions of the present generation of world leaders. One actually pities them when listening to their decisions and beholding their military manoeuvres, as they don’t have the faintest idea of what is waiting for them. They don’t know that they will be gathered in Israel to be judged by the Lord (Joel 3:2; Zech. 14:2,12).

Israel is prophetically one of the most uninformed nations in the world as far as events at the end of the church dispensation are concerned. Their ignorance will cause their virtual downfall as they will lead the way in concluding a covenant with the Antichrist under the false impression that he is the true Messiah (Dan. 9:27; John 5:43).

People in the end-time are shallow in their thinking and judge all things in terms of secular, humanistic criteria. Even Christians start conforming to this way of thinking and are in most cases not able to correctly determine and describe a spiritual perspective on world events. Many of them do not even realise their own spiritual poverty and blindness,

every Christian is committed to inform Israel on the correct biblical route to their full restoration. If they are not warned against the coming false messiah and the great tribulation, how will they ever be able to correctly understand these times and make the right decisions? Without accepting Jesus the Messiah by faith they cannot be saved – neither can they share in the blessings that He promised to the believing remnant in Israel and also to the whole world during His coming reign of peace.

Full article

About every other week I get a email telling me in one way or another that the parable of the fig tree means that all will be fulfilled by 2019 AD. Thus they believe the start of the tribulation or rapture has to be by 2012. There are well known Bible prophecy teachers teaching this today. I am tired of answering questions on this over and over so I am writing my own position on the “Parable of the Fig Tree”. In the future if anyone asks me about it or suggests that the Rapture has to occur within two or three years they will get a link to this post.

I will put the discourse from Jesus about the parable of the fig tree in proper context below so we can also see and consider what Jesus said before and after His parable of the fig tree statement.

Matt 24:3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8  All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
10  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16  Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17  Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18  Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19  And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20  But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
23  Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25  Behold, I have told you before.
26  Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
27  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28  For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37  But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39  And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40  Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41  Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42  Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43  But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44  Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45  Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47  Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48  But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49  And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50  The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51  And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The whole discourse here is a reply to what the disciples asked Jesus. They asked when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? Jesus then gave them a sequence of events. Scholars differ as to if part of it was already fulfilled in Jesus time, or if it is all yet to be fulfilled, or even if part of the prophecy might have a past and future fulfillment. I take the position that there could be a partial fulfillment in the past but this whole discourse is now about the future.

Lets look at what the passage implies and lets also look at what the passage does not imply. That part of the discourse is in bold print in the scripture passage above.

The parable of the fig tree implies:
When the branch of the fig tree puts forth leaves you should know that summer is near and when you see the signs Jesus talked about you know His coming is near. The other part of the discourse following the parable passage confirms that it is talking about the Lord’s coming for the elect.
The passage also implies the generation that saw what Jesus talked about in the discourse would still be around when the Lord returned, implying that all things would take place in a short period of time of less than one generation.

The parable of the fig tree does not imply:
That the fig tree is Israel, although some believe it is.
That this last generation started when the UN allowed the rebirth of the State of Israel
That a generation is 40 50 or 70 years. More likely all Jesus said takes place in less than a twenty or thirty year period since the generation seeing the signs would also have had to reach the full age of reason to comprehend them. Also, the generation that saw the Lord return most likely would not also be so old that aged brains would forget the data. The discourse does imply that some will actually give up waiting so this period spans more than a few years.

We seem to have false birth pains called the beginning of sorrows, persecution, birth pains and the second coming in this passage. This all could take much longer than just the seven years that most assign to end time things and that also may be why the discourse says that some people will give up waiting. The big clue for me that this is more than seven years is that in the first series of events Jesus makes it perfectly clear that the end is not yet. These are just the beginning of sorrows of this last time generation.

Was Jesus telling his disciples to learn that the fig tree represented Israel’s rebirth? I kind of doubt that, they would not have a clue unless He was referring to the fig tree that He cursed that did represent Israel. If that is true His using the fig tree here with the sprouting of leaves would have to refer to Israel returning to God not the rebirth of a nation that still rejects Him.
“Fig tree” is used 32 times in the King James. Most of the time it is used with other trees and is just describing abundance of food or the lack of it. A few are describing the spiritual condition of Israel but calling Israel the fig tree from those few passages is a stretch. Actually, Israel could more easily be identified with the olive tree in scriptures.

Luke adds a little more than Matthew on this passage and says when the fig tree and all the trees are putting forth shoots you know summer is near. So If Israel is the fig tree who are the other trees that are also putting forth shoots? Perhaps this parable is more straight forward than some like to think. Perhaps Jesus was just saying when you see the things He was talking about taking place on earth this will be the generation that would see His return if they do not give up waiting. Just as when a fig tree puts forth shoots you know that summer is near you can know that the Lord’s coming is near when you see the events Jesus talked about. Perhaps there is no hidden reference to Israel in this passage at all? I do not think we can be dogmatic about it one way or the other.

If the parable of the fig tree is all about the rebirth of Israel like many teach. I would like to know why a still dead tree at the time of these events is putting forth shoots and putting forth leaves?  What are the leaves anyway? Ask those who teach this and you will get different answers.

In any case, this passage does not imply the generation that saw the rebirth of the state of Israel is the generation that would not pass away before the Lord returns. It seems to me that Jesus is really talking about the generation seeing all the things that He was talking about in prior versus.

Why do I bring this up? Because some are saying that Jesus has to come before 2019 and the Rapture is before 2012 and that they get hostile toward Christians who do not believe the time is as soon as the dates they set. There was a time when people said that Jesus would have to come in 1988 because it all had to happened within a generation of forty years from the rebirth of Israel. Then when that date came and gone they said that a generation was about 50 years. When that date came and gone they said a generation is a life span of 70 years and that is where some stand now. All of this latest date setting by some new prophecy teachers probably has more to do with their interpretation of pagan Mayan calenders then it does with sound exegesis of biblical prophecy.

Never mind that the latest interpretation of a generation being 70 years logically makes no sense because during the first decade or two of their life people of that generation would have been been too young to observe the events and properly process it. Some others extend the date by saying we should count the generation from when Israel took Jerusalem because taking new territory represented the leaves on the tree. That again is subjective speculation at best. Meanwhile, the whole concept has opened up Bible prophecy teachers to just criticism because some Bible prophecy teachers seem to be straining at gnats and swallowing camels in order to be dogmatic about their own subjective interpretations with date setting.

I do not know when the rapture of the Church will be because that date is always imminent but just looking at the signs on earth that are necessary to fulfill prophecy tells me that the coming of the Lord to set up His kingdom on earth is still twenty or thirty years down the line. If you do not want to wait that long tell it to God because the time is set by the Father. Meanwhile, lets not be so dogmatic about our prophecy speculations.

This exclusive article about the author’s interview with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel tells me that Netanyahu is not going to allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons. There are other problems with allowing Iran to get nuclear weapons besides the threat of a nuclear strike on Israel. If Iran acquired nukes it would upset the stability in the whole unstable Mid-East. The threat would also bully Israel citizens and some would depart Israel. Having Iran as a nuclear umbrella is certain to embolden all the terrorist groups in the area. Iran would also be a threat to Europe and Arab nations and could supply terrorists with a weapon of mass destruction that they might use anywhere. Another of Israel’s concerns is that eventually a Iranian leader would use the nukes to start a war with Israel and the West to fulfill his own Islamic Mahdi apocalyptic beliefs.

It is obvious that Netanyahu will give Obama a short period of time to use diplomacy. The chances of a peaceful solution are slim, but stranger things have happened in the world. After the Iranian election when Iran finds itself in increasing economic distress due to low oil prices and the leadership of Iran knows that an attack by Israel is imminent they might agree to a last minute agreement to allow some oversight of their nuclear program.

From my understanding of Bible prophecy, I think Iran’s nuclear weapons program will be put on hold or it will be delayed by a military strike on Iran. I do not see them being allowed to develop nuclear weapons at this time. Bible prophecy tells us that Iran will come against Israel with Gog of Russia but Russia is at least a decade away from having the modern military forces necessary to even fulfill that prophecy.

In any case, all this will probably come to a head by fall. Once again things might get very interesting around the time of the Jewish New Year.

Netanyahu to Obama: Stop Iran—Or I Will – The Atlantic (March 31, 2009)

In an interview conducted shortly before he was sworn in today as prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu laid down a challenge for Barack Obama. The American president, he said, must stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons—and quickly—or an imperiled Israel may be forced to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities itself.

“The Obama presidency has two great missions: fixing the economy, and preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu told me. He said the Iranian nuclear challenge represents a “hinge of history” and added that “Western civilization” will have failed if Iran is allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

In unusually blunt language, Netanyahu said of the Iranian leadership, “You don’t want a messianic apocalyptic cult controlling atomic bombs. When the wide-eyed believer gets hold of the reins of power and the weapons of mass death, then the entire world should start worrying, and that is what is happening in Iran.”

Neither Netanyahu nor his principal military advisers would suggest a deadline for American progress on the Iran nuclear program, though one aide said pointedly that Israeli time lines are now drawn in months, “not years.” These same military advisers told me that they believe Iran’s defenses remain penetrable, and that Israel would not necessarily need American approval to launch an attack. “The problem is not military capability, the problem is whether you have the stomach, the political will, to take action,” one of his advisers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told me.

Both Israeli and American intelligence officials agree that Iran is moving forward in developing a nuclear-weapons capability. The chief of Israeli military intelligence, Major General Amos Yadlin, said earlier this month that Iran has already “crossed the technological threshold,” and that nuclear military capability could soon be a fact: “Iran is continuing to amass hundreds of kilograms of low-enriched uranium, and it hopes to exploit the dialogue with the West and Washington to advance toward the production of an atomic bomb.”

In our conversation, Netanyahu gave his fullest public explication yet of why he believes President Obama must consider Iran’s nuclear ambitions to be his preeminent overseas challenge. “Why is this a hinge of history? Several bad results would emanate from this single development. First, Iran’s militant proxies would be able to fire rockets and engage in other terror activities while enjoying a nuclear umbrella. This raises the stakes of any confrontation that they’d force on Israel. Instead of being a local event, however painful, it becomes a global one. Second, this development would embolden Islamic militants far and wide, on many continents, who would believe that this is a providential sign, that this fanaticism is on the ultimate road to triumph.

“Third, they would be able to pose a real and credible threat to the supply of oil, to the overwhelming part of the world’s oil supply. Fourth, they may threaten to use these weapons or to give them to terrorist proxies of their own, or fabricate terror proxies. Finally, you’d create a great sea change in the balance of power in our area—nearly all the Arab regimes are dead-set opposed to Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons. They fervently hope, even if they don’t say it, that the U.S. will act to prevent this, that it will use its political, economic, and, if necessary, military power to prevent this from happening.”

If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, Netanyahu asserted, Washington’s Arab allies would drift into Iran’s orbit.

Few in Netanyahu’s inner circle believe that Iran has any short-term plans to drop a nuclear weapon on Tel Aviv, should it find a means to deliver it. The first-stage Iranian goal, in the understanding of Netanyahu and his advisers, is to frighten Israel’s most talented citizens into leaving their country. “The idea is to keep attacking the Israelis on a daily basis, to weaken the willingness of the Jewish people to hold on to their homeland,” Moshe Ya’alon said. “The idea is to make a place that is supposed to be a safe haven for Jews unattractive for them. They are waging a war of attrition.”

Full article

The Keystone Cop routine in Washington would be pretty funny if the consequences were not so devastating to the future of America. People that are aliens to our constitution and the Bible have now taken over America.

Washington liberal politicians and the head of America’s corporations and financial institutions are a product of the Spock baby boom generation that never experienced discipline. Nobody ever said no to these people and they got what they wanted because the alternative was their temper tantrum. They are used to getting their way. In other words they are really spoiled brats who really needed a good whipping behind the shed. But, because that did not happen they turned into people alien to the United States. They do foolish things because they have never been taught discipline and have few negative real life experiences to draw from. These aliens to the American system always got what they wanted in the past and they think they will get what they want in the future.

I grew up with discipline and am I a realist but these people tend to be blind optimists and if reality ever hits them they overreact and make rash decisions. They cannot take criticism. They also never learned to critically think for themselves. They just go with the flow and have a alien collective group think mindset.

Individualism is a alien concept to them. They have been taught that democracy is group consensus and that the United States is a Democracy rather than a Republic.  They are aliens to the Bible and aliens to our Constitution so they cannot come up with sound decisions for our nation. The “group think” concept is taught by the alien communists that have taken over America’s educational systems. Alien group concepts are now also taught in all major corporations and taught to all workers in the government. Alien group consensus and team concepts training is now forced on all workers. Today almost all important decisions are made by alien group think teams. The American Government  was reinvented to conform to the alien team concepts by Al Gore. When Al Gore talks about consensus, as he often does when talking about global warming, he is talking about the consensus of a hand picked team of aliens who agree with their Queen. If you disagree with the alien team you are removed from the team so they can have group consensus. So now in American you have government and corporations shaped in the image of a Chinese Communist village, an ant farm or the alien Borg of Star Trek.

You might wonder why government is so slow to react in this economic crises but it really should not be a mystery. Before the aliens can do anything they have to assemble a team that will come up with some consensus of action. Then the alien team must write a report and pass it up the line to be accepted or rejected by the Queen. This whole process can take months. Also one alien team might have no idea what another alien team is doing so they come up with conflicting polices on the same program and often attack each other.

Having said that, I wonder how many different alien teams are working on some aspect of our economic crises?  We see all of a sudden that a cat got out of the bag that corporations that were getting bail out money were giving bonuses to some of their queens as if that was something that no one knew about. That of course is a lie. The queens that put this alien economic policy together knew about it. The queens just did not think it would be found out, or maybe they really knew it would be found out and the whole act is an alien ruse to gain more control.

I have to tell you there is not a semblance of constitutional government left in Washington DC. Everything that they are doing is unconstitutional. We do not even know if the alien President is qualified to be President under the Constitution. There is also no question that Queen Clinton is not allowed to be in her position under constitutional law.

The federal powers and huge government control over our lives and over the sovereignty of states is also alien it is not allowed by our constitution. When government can spend many trillions of dollars it does not have and just pass the debt on to the future citizens I can assure you that this is an alien form of government to the founders of our nation. When almost unlimited money from special interests keep corrupt people in positions of power until they die I can assure you that this is an alien government to the founders of our nation.

In spite of the spin about all their creation of money to fix the economy read what Adam Smith thinks this alien irresponsible economic policy will take America. Here are a couple of quotes from this article:

Make no mistake about it, Obama, Bernanke and Geithner are doing exactly what they said they were going to do: print and spend their way back to prosperity. Their delusional minds actually believe that can be achieved by spending money we do not have with little to no prospect of ever being able to pay it back. For Obama to suggest he can balance a budget, no less reduce the national debt, with his corrupt math is ridiculous.

If some of the predictions are accurate, we may see a doubling of the national debt in the next decade if some fiscal sanity does not return to Washington and stop this very flawed and politically expedient process that the Keynesians and socialists are pursuing

It will fail, and I would argue it already has. That is why in prior writings I have pleaded with the government to stop any more wasteful deployment of taxpayer dollars. It is making things worse, not better.

If it really wanted to address the real problem, it would reduce the size of government, stop wasteful government spending and put more of America’s money back in the hands of Americans. It would encourage savings, not consumption. It would lead by example in not spending money we do not have.

But obviously to do so would demand an immediate termination of the welfare state birthed under FDR and fulfilled under Nancy Pelosi and Obama. To have 300 million Americans all dependent upon government is not freedom. It is slavery. Abraham Lincoln helped end slavery, and now Obama wants it back – this time for all Americans. He’s an equal opportunity master of our time. A good crisis is a terrible thing to waste, according to Rahm Emmanuel. That is especially true if you can expand the welfare state in the process.

These recent events demand immediate decisions by “We the People.” If our government is going to pursue the “run the printing presses till they burn out” approach, we must take immediate steps to protect our financial future. The government stopped listening to the American people long ago. Therefore those steps include reducing personal debt and purchasing gold, other commodities and companies that produce commodities. Writing letters and making phone calls to the deaf and dumb is a waste of time.

Inflation is coming. Bernanke, short of taking a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal, told you so. And while you may not see it just yet in the CPI, it will be there. It may well become hyper-inflation. I am convinced our leaders are such pansies that they will not make the tough decisions or demand sacrifice from the nation. Why? They are not willing to sacrifice themselves. They have become spoiled beyond belief, totally out of touch with reality and merely want to hold on to their power. The principles that will get us back the nation we are rapidly losing be damned in the eyes of this leadership. It is all politics now.

Here is another article by Pat Buchanan that puts our money creation addition in perspective

So anyone who thinks we can spend trillions of dollars that we do not have, or worse yet just print the money out of thin air without severe consequences must be aliens. These people do not live in the real world they are space cadets who live in a virtual world of questionable theories. It is the same alien mindset found in the mortgage traders that started the economic collapse. These aliens to economics-101 thought they could not lose because their virtual models told them so. So do you really expect that these  aliens to the Constitution and to the Bible can fix the economy by being even more irresponsible?  This is equal to expecting alien Al Gore to save the economy and the planet by doubling the price of all energy on earth. These people are alien to the American way but they are running or should I say destroying the United States. If you really want to know the full story on that this link will tell you about the real socialist agenda to destroy our system.

At the same time the alien teams and queens are bankrupting the nation they are insuring our destruction will happen by our polices that betray Israel. Hal Lindsey will tell you about that. Here is a quote from Lindsey’s article:

And Israel Today is reporting that the Obama administration is not just cool to Israel. It alleges that President Obama “is about to break America’s long ties of friendship with Israel, and maybe even take steps toward the dissolution of the Jewish state.”

If true, America is in even more serious trouble than even the most pessimistic assessment can reflect. If America betrays Israel, then America is rejecting the Word of Israel’s God.

The Bible warns, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31) Fearful? That is an understatement of Biblical proportions.

I used to quote a wise saying: “History teaches us that man learns nothing from history.” That doesn’t really apply today. This generation doesn’t even know history – and the liberal media reports the news is counting on that.

Here is a follow-up interview with James Simpson on the Left agenda that is purposely running down America  in order to establish socialism and complete government control. This will give you a good idea why I have been saying that there will be states seceding from the Union as soon as 2013. They at first appease the middle-class and then they destroy it on purpose with new taxes and government giveaways. Marxism has reinvented its image but it does not change its spots.

Hal Lindsay points out the scenario that time and time again plays out against Israel. The U.S. has once again been bullied by world opinion and the press into not voting in the UN security council. Now a 14 – 0 vote calls for an Israeli cease fire. Time and time again this game is played out in favor of the terrorists so Israel can never destroy their enemies. Thus, you can be sure that it will be played out again but next time under the new U.S. administration the U.S. will side with the enemies of Israel.   Then Israel will have to either commit suicide or ignore the U.N. and risk world action against them.

Lets look at the logic of this. If ten missiles each day were being fired at Hawaii from ships from Iran would we not go to war? Darn right we would and Israel has every right to do the same thing because ten missiles are being fired each day from Gaza into Israel.

Frankly, those in Gaza are lucky that I am not prime minister of Israel because I would bulldoze all of Gaza into the sea and deport the people to the Arab nations or Rosie O’Donnell’s backyard. These terrorists could not operate without the support of the people of Gaza so they should quit with the innocent victim routine. The Palestinians are a terrorist nation. I would do the same thing with Southern Lebanon or any land that launches missiles into Israel. Don’t these people even known that one well aimed missile could hit Israel’s nuclear reactor and cause the worst nuclear fall out release on earth. It is only a matter of time for that to happen. So why would any sane nation take such a risk and allow missiles to be fired continually into the nation? But you do not hear about the danger for Israel in the one sided news.

Unless the terrorist stop firing missiles into Israel there is no peace in the Middle East nor can there be peace in the Middle East and proportionate responses would end up being catastrophic to Israel and following any such concept is insane. That is also true anywhere terrorists operate from on the earth. The dangers are too great for proportionate responses we must have
overwhelming responses to stop any threat of such an attack. Israel or any nation has a right to self defense even if that self defense means destroying their enemies. The dangerous games the world allows terrorists to play will eventually lead to catastrophe.

A formula for perpetual war

The so-called “enlightened and responsible nations” have developed a formula for exclusive use against Israel. This formula determines under what circumstances and in what manner Israel is allowed to defend itself against terrorist attacks. First, the provocation must be many times more serious than would be necessary for other nations. Simple acts of war, such as hostage-taking or continuous missile attacks against civilian population centers, are not sufficient provocation to permit defensive measures.

Since 2005, more than 6,000 rockets have rained down on Israeli cities from Gaza. In a display of remarkable restraint, only after three years and thousands of unprovoked attacks did Israel finally feel sufficiently justified to launch a defensive response.

Now, the second phase of the anti-Israel propaganda assault kicks in. It begins almost immediately with the usual suspects – led by the Arabs, the Russians, the Muslims – all demanding an immediate Israeli withdrawal from its “invasion” of Gaza.

Right on cue, the members of the United Nations begin their usual chorus – charging that Israel’s response is “not proportionate.”

Finally, the media revs up their one-sided campaign. Their job is to spotlight the injuries and deaths of Palestinian women and children who are accidentally hit during the intense battles. Apparently, the months and years of constant bombardment lavished on the Israelis by Hamas thugs didn’t trigger the media’s interest. Only when Israel struck back did the signal go out for the mainstream media to join the fray.

In Gaza, Hamas terrorists hide in classrooms and hospital basements. They store weapons in mosques and use university laboratories for bomb-making factories. They are currently hiding long-range rockets in the basement of Gaza City’s main hospital. They intentionally place women and children on the rooftops of buildings they know will soon be targets of the Israeli air force.

Then, when these human shields are killed or wounded by Israeli fire, the media vents their outrage on the Israeli gunner or pilot, not the calculating terrorist. The bodies of dead terrorists – or their human shields – are then paraded by the ever-accommodating media as “innocent victims of Israeli aggression.” And the orchestrated calls for “proportionality” grow louder.

Following this oft-repeated formula, as the selected media images mount, the predictable demands for an unconditional Israeli cease-fire rise to a global crescendo. Moderate Western governments like France, Britain and other EU nations that have large Muslim populations begin to demand that Israel cease this “disproportionate war.” The worldwide cry grows until finally the United States is bullied into not vetoing a Security Council resolution condemning Israel as an unjustified aggressor.

What is it about Israel that makes it the world’s pariah state? How can it be that no insult to the Arabs is too slight to justify wholesale murder, whereas no atrocity, no matter how outrageous, justifies an Israeli defensive response? It matters not how reasonable and legitimate the defensive action would be for any other nation. But leaders from around the world have streamed into the U.N. to defend the “Palestinian democracy” – as if such an entity exists.

It makes absolutely no sense in the natural. Only the Bible can explain the mystery behind the supernatural hatred of the Jews. Bible prophecy predicted that Israel would be miraculously reborn in “the last days.” The Bible also predicted that a supernatural hatred against Jews would grow worldwide. This will be soon followed by Armageddon and the return of Jesus the Messiah.

Full Article

Today things are again heating up in the Middle East because Israel is now taking action against Hamas terrorists in Gaza that have been firing rockets into Israel.  This action by Israel may not lead to a wider war but who really knows?

With that in mind perhaps it is time to look at this very interesting prospective of the deadly game being played out in the Middle East between the Jews, Iran, Islam and the West.

The following summery in that article raises a likely question. Will the West believe they can force Israel to give in to all demands when Israel already knows that Iran and Islam cannot be appeased? Pressuring Israel into a suicidal situation will only make Israel go it alone in self defense.

Considering the views of those now leading the West, I would say that the West offering up Israel on the altar of Baal for some hope of world peace is increasingly likely. What the leaders of the West do not understand is that Israel will not be the sacrificial lamb for world peace. Israel already gave birth to a sacrificial Lamb two thousand years ago and unless the world accepts His sacrifice there is no hope for world peace. Those that try to destroy His inheritance will certainly end up destroying themselves.

Eradicating the “Little Satan”

The Iranians and their allies throughout the Muslim world are bent on making the abandonment of Israel the price of “peace in our time.” In a scenario that should ring frighteningly familiar, a charismatic leader of an ideological, totalitarian state is building upon an endemic anti-Semitism inculcated by centuries of religious indoctrination to create an atmosphere in which the massacre of large numbers of Jews and the destruction of their independent polity will be considered a tolerable if not indeed a legitimate eventuality.

That is ominous enough. Even more ominous is the apparent willingness of any number of leaders of the Western world, under the banner of a hoped-for “reconciliation” with a major Middle Eastern power and a world religion, to tilt dangerously toward appeasement, ignoring the requirements of rational decision-making and putting at risk the West’s own abiding interests and deepest values.

As for Israel, if it takes today’s challenges seriously and prepares to meet them with the requisite strength and creativity, this may yet turn out to be its finest hour. If not, we may be witnessing the prelude to its last.

Full Article

It certainly looks to me like Benjamin Netanyahu will be the next Prime Minister of Israel and he certainly is not going to be dictated to by a President who sides with terrorists through Hillary.

Sure, Obama intends to offer Israel a nuclear umbrella and thus allow a nuclear Iran but why would Israel actually think that we would use nukes against Iran after Israel was already destroyed? What good would our nuclear umbrella be for dead people? I guess Obama’s whiz kids think that the threat would be enough of a deterrent to stop Iran from ever using their nukes but that is because they do not understand that the leaders of Iran actually want to bring about a war between the West and Islam. They intend to make Israel the scrape goat that they will slaughter to bring the end time war where their Mahdi comes back to help them take the world for Allah.

Netenyahu is not blinded by liberal pragmatic thinking where compromise solves the issue because people on both sides are basically good and really want to do what is right. He knows that Iran is led by evil mad men who must not get a nuclear weapon. So yeah, they are going to butt heads and Israel will strike Iran alone to prevent Iran from getting the bomb and the U.S. will play the “we condemn Israel” dumb fool on the world stage and thus brings about the war of Psalm 83. When the Arab nations think that we will not intervene.

Guess What? Israel wins, completely destroys Damascus and takes over more land. Next chapter!

U.S.-ISRAEL COLLISION COURSE at DickMorris.com

With the election of Barack Obama, the United States has moved dramatically to the left in its foreign policy at just the time that Israel, which seems likely to return Bibi Netanyahu to office in early February, is moving to the right. A collision is almost inevitable.

Caroline Glick, the highly astute conservative columnist for the Jerusalem Post, writes that the “international community” believes that Obama “will move quickly to place massive pressure on the next Israeli government to withdraw from Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem and the Golan Heights in the interests of advancing a ‘peace process’ with the Palestinians and the Syrians.” She notes that “people who have been in close contact with Obama’s foreign policy transition team have privately acknowledged that the widespread belief that Obama will move swiftly to put the screws on Israel is fully justified. According to one source who has spent a great deal of time with the transition team since last month’s U.S. elections, Obama’s people are ‘scope-locked’ on Israel.”

Meanwhile, in Israel, there is a growing consensus, reflected in public opinion surveys, that trading land for peace is a chimera. Netanyahu points out that “we do not have a viable partner with whom to negotiate peace.

While Iran moves closer and closer to a bomb that could and will be used against Israel, Obama speaks of extending the American “nuclear umbrella” to cover Israel.

Reading between the lines, this means that he doesn’t think he can stop Iranian nuclear ambitions and will retreat to a policy of deterrence, accepting a nuclear Iran in the bargain.

If Netanyahu wins the election, he will bring with him a determination to stop Iranian nuclear weapons, no matter what, and a refusal to concede more territory in the name of the peace process. But Obama’s foreign policy team will be focusing on pushing Israel in just the opposite direction.

The result is likely to be the most significant divergence between Israeli and American policies since 1956

But Israel probably has the military capacity to bomb Iran and to win the Middle East war against Syria, Hamas, Iran and Hezbollah that is likely to result. Unlike Olmert, Netanyahu will use ground troops right off the bat and will fight such a war to win and to win big. But they may have to do it without their strongest ally: the United States.

Full article

This article probably has plenty of Bible prophecy significance. Iraq is trying to set up a group of nations like the EU in the Middle East. Many who study Bible prophecy have been saying that Iraq will rise again as a great world center of prosperity in the last days and fulfill the prophecies of Babylon and Babylon the Great. This most likely is the first major step in building the foundation for that entity.

Also notice that other regions on earth are doing the same thing as this EU pilot project prototype. All generally are following the Club of Rome’s plan for ten regional governments under a central world government. When we get the heads of the ten regional governments giving allegiance to one man we will have the ten horns of Daniel and Revelation and the prophetic Beast world system. So far I know of the EU, the African Union, the Union of South American Nations, Central America just announced a Union, there are plans for a North American Union, Putin wants a new Russian alliance of states, Southeast Asia will have a Union, there is talk of a Mediterranean Union and I believe a Union in South Africa and now the Middle East Union. There certainly are a few others in the works that I missed but also remember than in the end there will only be 7 kings and the little horn who is the eight is the Antichrist and Beast world Kingdom. Three unions will be pulled out by the roots. Three will be absorbed by the seven regional governments that remain.

But don’t pack your bags just yet, this will take time. This Middle East Union is just in the planning stages right now. For there to be any union in the Middle East there first will have to peace. Also, the Arabs are not going to allow themselves to be dominated by Iran. Iranians are Aryans they will go with Russia. Can anyone see peace in the Middle East today before a great war? That is impossible with 50,000 missiles pointed at Israel and terrorism everywhere. Before this Middle East Union can even be set up terrorism and radical Islam will first have to be defeated. So now you know the grand plan for the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other areas. It will expand into a great world war where all the Islamic radicals on earth will be crushed and more moderate religions of pluralistic tolerance will only be allowed. Holy books in all religions will be re-translated and sanitized to be politically correct.

That war will probably also include the war of Psalm 83 that will bring the defeat of all the terrorist groups that dwell around Israel and it radically change the governance of Arab nations and even the boundaries of many Arab states. But most of Iraq will not be among the radicals in this war and after the defeat of the radicals I can very well see Israel, Iraq and Egypt forming an alliance and administrating the entire Middle East. Then Israel can have the peace and security mentioned in Bible prophecy and great prosperity can come to the whole Middle East area when oil pipelines are built through Israel to the Mediterranean sea. Great solar farms for electric will be built for the pumping of underground water and desalination that will allow huge crop farms to be grown in the deserts.

That will last until Gog with Russia and Iran and other allies come down against Israel in the Last days but they are defeated by God. Not long after that Babylon the great (Iraq) will be the seat of world power under the Antichrist who will in the end lead many nations to their destruction when they come against the King of Kings in Israel.

EUobserver

Iraq has unveiled plans for the creation of a regional economic and security union for the Middle East explicitly modelled on the European Union.

Informal discussions on “Regional Economic Partnership” have reportedly been launched with Kuwait, Syria and Turkey, though not yet Iran. The aim would also to be to bring on board Jordan and Saudi Arabia and – in a subsequent phase – the Gulf states of Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, but not Israel.

“The new Iraq could convert the region into the EU model,” the UK’s Daily Telegraph quotes the Iraqi official as saying at the meeting. “Iraq is going to play a major stabilising factor,” he added.

Iraq sees a “necessity for regional security and economic co-operation,” Mr al-Dabbagh said.

Full article

Michael Evans suggests that the only reason for the lame duck prime minister of Israel and the lame duck president of the U.S. to be meeting at this time it to prepare for an attack on Iran prior to the inauguration of President elect Barak Obama. There always is a chance that there could be something to that speculation although I think Obama would have to be briefed and approve of it or Israel will have even greater problems with the Obama administration.

There is a small chance Obama advisors could tell him to approve this to give him some breathing room before he really has to deal with a nuclear Iran. He would still have to deal with it because any Israel strike would be limited and would only delay the Iran nuclear program one to five years depending on the amount of damage.

I am not at all certain that Evans is reading this right. The meeting could be just to make sure there will not be a strike on Iran by Israel during this transition period and on discussion points on how the next administrations should go forward.

Any attack on Iran would certainly open a new can of worms that would take all the time of the next administrations while they are in the middle of a financial crises. Hezbollah and their 42,000 rockets would have to be dealt with and I do not think Israel or the U.S. are ready to deal with the consequences that would bring at this time.

While it is true that Obama and his administration will attempt to handcuff Israel after Obama takes office. If Benjamin Netanyahu is elected as prime minister of Israel he is not going to be anyone’s patsy. Israel will do what Israel thinks it needs to do. Now that Iran has enough enriched uranium for one bomb (should then go forward to build one) and is likely to be able to produce enough material for two to three more bombs within a year the window on Iran is indeed short. Certainly Iran will have to agree to international inspections of their facilities to make sure they are not building bombs or they will be hit within two years. The real question is how much more development and know how will Israel allow Iran to obtain before it acts. Facilities can be destroyed but once they have acquired the know how, the nuclear weapons program can be rebuilt rapidly.

When considering just the nuclear program alone the earlier Iran is hit the better but when dealing with political realities of the Middle East a war that occurs between the transfer of administrations is a whole other matter. If a war were to break out the Israel elections would not even take place on schedule.

There is also the issue of world oil prices and the consequences to the world economy that is in crises. Any strike on Iran would raise oil prices dramatically. That might end some of the deflation in the world in the short term but it will make things even worse in the long term.

Therefore, It is my opinion that Israel will not strike Iran prior to the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. If someone could show a creditable movement to increase U.S air strength in the gulf it might be more believable. I also do not believe that Israeli use of low yield nuclear weapons to stop nuclear weapon development by Iran is at all likely. The international consequences would be totally unacceptable.

We will not have long to find out if Evens is right or wrong since all we have left is a five week window.

Israelis meet with Bush on Iran attack

Israelis meet with Bush on Iran attack
Posted: November 26, 2008
1:00 am Eastern

© 2008

Why would a prime minister who has resigned and is leaving office in eight weeks meet with a lame-duck president who is also leaving office in eight weeks?

Ehud Olmert resigned as prime minister on Sept. 21, 2008. He currently fills the seat until general elections take place on Feb. 10, 2009. There is no reason for a lame-duck president and an equally lame-duck prime minister to meet except to pursue the above-stated purpose.

Time magazine quoted an “unnamed Israeli source at the Defense Ministry” as having said, “We have been warned off.” It has been hinted in the past by IDF officials that Israel may launch a pre-emptive strike on nuclear facilities in Iran prior to the Jan. 20, 2009 inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. No Israel Defense Forces general would ever say that unless it were officially approved. Why did he say it? So when Israel attacks, the U.S. will not be blamed.

Because of the fact that Iran has just announced that enough centrifuges are online to build an atomic bomb, Israel feels that the emergency is now. Former Israel Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon, who endorsed my book “Showdown with Nuclear Iran,” calling it the “most extensive book on the subject,” has told me that under no circumstance would Israel hold back once Iran has enough centrifuges to build the bomb. Israel knows Obama will not allow them to attack once he takes office. The only way they can attack is to do so before the inauguration, while they have the support of George Bush.

On Monday, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice also met with Olmert. The secular media has reported that these were social visits only. I assure you that vice presidents and secretaries of state did not have private meetings for social purposes only.

Ehud Olmert met Secretary of State Rice for breakfast at Blair House and also held private, strategic meetings with Dick Cheney. The prime minister came seeking permission from George Bush to attack Iran’s nuclear reactors during the next six weeks prior to President-elect Obama’s inauguration, and most likely in December.

In retaliation for a military strike on Iran, Hezbollah would undoubtedly launch rocket attacks on Israel from Lebanon. Hamas would probably launch rocket attacks from the Gaza. We might even see a resumption of the suicide bombers penetrating Israel’s cities.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has stated that Hezbollah tripled its arms strength following the 2006 war in Lebanon. According to Barak, the Iranian proxy now has some 42,000 rockets, some with the capability of striking Ashkelon, Yerucham and Dimona (Israel’s nuclear sites.)

Even if the United States did not directly participate in an Israeli air strike on Iran, we would have to allow Israeli jets airspace rights over Iraq. This would be enough to argue that America was “complicit” in an Israeli air attack on Iran. The U.S. might also have to refuel Israeli jets involved in an air strike on Iran. The newest fighters in Israel’s attack force are the Lockheed-Martin manufactured F-16I Soufa (”Storm”) fighters. The second mainstay of the IAF is the 1990s Boeing-built (originally McDonnell Douglas) F-15I Ra’am (”Eagle”) fighter planes. Both aircraft have a strike radius that should extend to targets in Iran without having to be refueled.

A showdown with a nuclear Iran is imminent. Though we might all wish for the crisis to pass, I fear the moment is at hand where the reality of a nuclear-armed Iran is inevitably upon us all. I pray that we get through the coming test with distinction. I pray that the crisis passes, and that Israel continues to thrive and the United States of America continues to be strong.

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Is the war of Psalm 83 and a enlarged Israel imminent as in the book “Isralestine”?
One of the great mysteries for those who study Bible prophecy is the timing of the wars mentioned in Psalm 83 and the war described in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. They are obviously different wars but which war occurs first and when? Are they pretribulational wars or tribulation wars? How can Israel be living in peace and security prior to the Ezekiel war as the prophecy clearly indicates? That is the ongoing debate.

Bill Salus in his book “Isralestine” offers a solution but the thesis is very difficult to accept in light of real world realities but that does not mean the thesis he offers based on his selection and interpretation of certain scriptures is wrong. I have had a very difficult time reconciling the issues in his book and think that you really need to read the book and judge the merit of this hypothesis for yourselves and not just rely on my review.

The thesis of the book is that the war of Psalm 83 is imminent. It occurs before the tribulation. The war brings about the defeat of the Arab nations and it allows a very large territorial expansion of Israel into the Arab states by conquest. After the war of Psalm 83 the greatly expanded Israel then lives in peace and security until the war of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 where Gog (Russia) comes against Israel with Iran and other allies. At that time God intervenes for Israel and Israel expands to the entire land area promised to Abraham. Bill Salus also believes the Ezekiel war is before the “Day of the Lord” and that the rapture could be before or after the war of Psalm 83 but will be before the “Day of the Lord”.

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Read the part that I highlighted below. Joe Biden said that Obama will need the help of community leaders to control the population as unpopular decisions are made and AMERICANS RESIST. This will occur within six months of him taking office. In other words they are saying they expect something to happen that will make Americans resist the Government. I cannot think of what that would be other than Martial law and taking away people’s guns. It has been the plan of Government to use Clergy and other community leaders to get people to voluntarily hand in their guns after Martial law is declared. So it seems to me that this is what Joe Biden is talking about. Wouldn’t that be a hoot, if within 6 months they use some real or false flag event to make Obama dictator?

Something is very strange in Denmark here because all these people that are out of the homeland security loop could not possibly know what terrorists are planning to do within 6 months of Obama taking office. So what is it that all these people who will have a role in the Obama administration and some foreign leaders been told?  I can see Joe Biden making off the cuff bazaar statements like this but when all the people listed below indicate the same thing this seems to be well coordinated. Throw in the Americans resisting the unpopular changes and decision made by Obama?? and we all truly have reason for alarm.

This has not been put out as some glib statement these people are serious. Perhaps they know there will be a war with Iran and it will set off sleeper cells here, who knows? You wanted change under Obama it looks like you will get change sooner than anyone expected.

Australian PM Kevin Rudd – “Nuke strike would make 9/11 insignificant” | Daily Newscaster

Over the last 72 hours there has been a strange melange of cryptic messages leaked from world political leaders about what could be in store for America over the next few months.

These predictions of impending doom come from England, France, Australia and the United States. In each case there has been a press releases or news expose’ predicting huge and building threats emerging from faceless enemies in shadowy places

Biden told the top Democratic donors that a “generated crisis” will develop within six months and Barak Obama will need the help of community leaders to control the population as unpopular decisions are made and Americans resist.

Biden’s ominous language at the Seattle Sheraton are followed with statements by long time establishment insiders Colin Powell and Madeline Albright both say there is a massive crisis on the horizon and Biden was simply making a “statement in fact.”

Meanwhile in England were they are trying desperately to pass a draconian measure allowing for the 42 day imprisonment of any citizen without charges or access to bail.

Lord West, adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown on national security says, “There is another great plot building up again and we are monitoring. It dipped slightly and is now rising again within the context of severe. The threat is huge. We have done all the things that we need to do, but the threat is building – the complex plots are building,”

Only a few hours ago Agence France-Presse published a press release about the Sydney meeting of the international Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament presided over by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd who said that the world is facing a threat that will dwarf the September 11 attacks.

“The devastation that could be wreaked by one major nuclear weapons incident alone puts 9/11 and almost everything else [in] to the category of the insignificant,” Rudd said.

Why are there so many high level politicians around the world in a seemingly coordinated effort warning of huge threats and developing crisis’ that may include a nuclear device? Are they preparing the masses for an event or series of events that have been in the making for some time? Is the public being prepared for new and forming enemies with a potential to plunge the entire world into war?

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I have not read the book “Isralestine”, by Bill Salus but it sounds like an intriguing prophetic explanation of end time events. Almost all futurist Bible prophecy students will agree that there are three end time wars involving Israel. However, we disagree somewhat on the timing of first two wars. Those wars being the Ezekiel Chapter 38 and 39 war where Gog comes down with a host of nations and the Psalms 83 war where a confederacy of nations attempts to cut Israel off from being a nation. In the mix somewhere is the destruction of Damascus since the prophecy has never been fulfilled yet.

I have heard enough about this book to know that Bill Salus makes a strong case for the war of Psalms 83 coming first. I believe the premise is that after the aftermath of the Psalms 83 war that brings the destruction of Damascus, Israel will expand its borders. That will allow Israel to have the security that is implied by Ezekiel at the time of the Gog invasion. At that time Russia will come down with a host of nations against Israel and God will intervene.

In the past, I have tended to put the Ezekiel war first and I placed the Psalm 83 war in the middle of the tribulation making that the reason why the Jews flee to the mountains. However, Bill Salus may be correct, it does answer a whole lot of questions.

If you have read this book I would appreciate your own insights.

Israel destroys Damascus, then Russia invades

Indeed Russia and Iran are ready to make their moves, but what about Syria? Oddly Syria, who today panders alongside Iran for Russian affections, is not included among the elite nine members of the Ezekiel 38 and 39 consortium of attacking nations. Why not? What knocks their quiver of missiles out of the Ezekiel military equation?

As I have documented in my recently released book, “Isralestine, The Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East,” the Bible makes quite clear that in a distinctly separate Psalm 83 episode Damascus, the capital of Syria, soon ceases to be a city, and subsequently shortly thereafter Russia and Iran advance against Israel.

Furthermore “Isralestine” explains how the destruction of Damascus followed by the Ezekiel invasion sets the stage for the final tribulation period, whereby the Antichrist rallies his Armageddonites together in one last days ditch effort to destroy the Jewish race.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin

Thus there are three scheduled end time advances against Israel, not just Ezekiel’s. First comes Psalm 83, the Arab-Israeli war, followed promptly by the Ezekiel 38 and 39 Russian – Iranian invasion, and lastly the campaign of Armageddon by the Antichrist.

The destruction of Damascus will be such a powerful world event that Isaiah was instructed to boldly and succinctly state, the burden against Damascus. “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap.” (Isaiah 17:1, NKJV) Isaiah further announces that the fortified cities of Syria will be forfeited into Israeli sovereignty. (Isaiah 17:9) This suggests that the dooming of Damascus and conquest of Syria results from of an Israeli Defense Forces campaign.

Amos and Jeremiah echo this 2,800-year-old Isaiah prophecy by prophetically uttering some additional details they were given. Amos declares that the capitol building of Syria will go up in smoke, and that the nation as a whole, will go into captivity. (Amos 1:3-5) Jeremiah concurs and furthermore declares the Syrian military will be decisively defeated, and in addition many young men will die in the blood-stained streets of Damascus. (Jeremiah 49:23-27)

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I believe Hal Lindsey will be correct that Russia will now actively seek to regain its former empire. It might not be all the same nations of the former USSR at least at first. But Russia will intimidate the nations of Eastern Europe to join a regional alignment of states to counter the West. Especially if the West is mired in the economic and Islamic caused turmoil that looks almost certain to come. These Eastern nations were not in the original Roman Empire and they will not be in the revived.

My advice to the U.S. and Israel is not to wait too long to take out Iran’s nuclear capabilities because within a very short time Iran will be protected under a Russian nuclear umbrella (thou hast been to them for a guard., Ez 38:7, YLT) and then we will not be able to take them out without a nuclear war with Russia. The cold war between East and West is coming back fast. If NATO can claim that an attack on any of their alliance of states is an attack on them all, then Russia feels it can and will do the same with the nations in their sphere of influence.

Right now the U.S. can delay a nuclear Iran by 10 to 20 years by almost complete destruction of Iran’s nuclear and missile facilities. Israel cannot do this alone. The most Israel can do is set them back is a few years and there will not be any second chance because of the Russian umbrella that is about to open. If we get a weak president like Obama you will see Russia open this nuclear umbrella near the start of his term. If McCain gets elected they might not risk it just yet.

Oh, my Gog! (Hal Lindsey)

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, most of these republics broke with Russia to form new alliances with NATO and the West – an event for which I was widely ridiculed at the time.

How could most of Magog, like Ukraine, Georgia and Turkey, all firmly allied with the West, also be part of Russia’s Gog alliance?

I didn’t know. But I didn’t pen Ezekiel’s prophecy. I only reported it.

Now, Gog has evidently decided to reclaim its former Soviet empire, starting with Magog. Despite weeks of promising to withdraw almost any minute, the Russian military continues to dig in and consolidate its forces in and near the Georgian port of Poti on the Black Sea.

The Russians introduced tight restrictions of movement on Georgian citizens, refusing to accept anything except Russian documents. Despite agreements to the contrary, the Kremlin now says that “Russian forces will leave in their own time.”

When Poland was contemplating an agreement that would allow the U.S. to deploy missile interceptor batteries in its territory, Russia warned them that by entering the treaty agreement they ran the risk of a Russian nuclear attack. When the Poles signed the treaty in defiance of the Kremlin, Russia promised its response would “rise above the level of diplomacy,” a reference to the principle that “war is the result of failed diplomacy.”

The Russian invasion and apparent occupation of Georgia is feared by many analysts, particularly those from former Soviet republics, that Vladimir Putin plans to re-conquer and restore the former empire.

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