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

Saying I do not pray God Bless America might sound like a unpatriotic unchristian heresy to some. However, there was a time when God told Jeremiah not to pray for Judah because the peoples hearts were far from Him and they loved to believe lies. America is not even a called out nation like ancient Israel and Judah but America certainly is just as evil as they were just before their destruction.

Can anyone even come up with a passage that tells the Church to pray for Gentile nations on the earth anyway? The Bible tells us to pray for those appointed over us for the sake of the Church, so that the Church can live peacefully on the earth. I do not see where we are to pray for Gentile nations to be great prosperous nations on the earth. I do not see where the Bible tells us to pray for the prosperity of the nations of the world. On the contrary, nations that become wealthy and powerful and full of worldly things always turn against God. We are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem but that really is the same as praying for Jesus to come again because Jerusalem can only have true peace after the Prince of Peace returns to earth.

I will not pray for America because blessing America in her sins has to be contrary to God’s will. If I become the intercessor for people practicing evil I have to ask myself why? God brings judgment for correction and America certainly needs correction so why would I pray against God’s will for America? I can pray that Americans will repent but I also know people who reject the teachings of the Bible will not repent. I should pray for the Church in America to repent of their sins because that is the only way a nation will be healed. It is healed for the sake of God’s people living within her. I should pray that God will send laborers for the harvest and reach those dead in their sins but to pray that God Blesses America and enables her to continue on the sinful path she is now choosing is not a Christian concept.

The only thing of lasting value in this fallen world is those who will come into the Church through God’s grace, Christ Jesus. Only after the Church age when Jesus is ruling on the throne in Jerusalem does Jesus make the Gentile world conform to God’s will. But even after the dispensation of the Lord ruling with a rod of iron for a thousand years the nations will rebel, throw off God’s ways, and bring swift destruction on themselves.

Let the Church therefore dwell on the eternal because this world is temporal and all of it will soon pass away. There are no Christian nations on earth so it is rather pointless to pray for their prosperity. The city and kingdom that those of faith look for is the city made by God. It is not of this world. The Church really needs to separate its heart from the nations she occupies.

Christians need to keep America in proper perspective or they make the nation an American idol. Find out why Americans  love government and where that insane thinking will lead this nation. America was a blessed nation perhaps unlike all other great Gentile nations of the world but all the great nations in history fell because of sin. America will be no exception. As Christians we were fortunate to live in America when she allowed free Christian expression and we sent missionaries all over the world but those days are rapidly come to a close. So don’t confuse the fourth of July and American pie and all the glory of the American past with the role of the Church in America. Also, what happens to America in the near future should not be nearly as important to Christians as what Christians allow the Spirit to do through them in these last days.

Here is a good article by Jack Kelly that puts all this in proper perspective.

Don’t Pray For America | GraceThruFaith

We need to remember that while in many ways America is like Israel, the Church is not. First, The Church is not a national kingdom with a homeland and geographical borders. Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Phil 3:20) He’s not coming here to be with us where we are. He’s coming to take us to His Father’s house to be with Him where He is. (John 14:1-3) So when He does it won’t matter whether we’re from the United States, the United Kingdom or the United Arab Emirates because the Church is everywhere. God has only established one eternal nation on Earth and that’s Israel. The Church’s eternal home is in Heaven where an inheritance from God Himself awaits us. (Gal. 4:4-7)

Second, the Church never needs to fear a judgment such as the ones I described above. The Lord Jesus agreed to be judged in place of the Church in order to present us to Himself without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. (Ephes 5:27)

The Religious Right and other well intended American Christians frequently send out eMails urging everyone to pray for America. But where in the Bible did God to say to pray for any place on Earth other than Jerusalem? God’s will would be much better served if the Church would pray for itself, that it would finally adopt the Biblical world view it was intended to have, and become what it was intended to be, the body of Christ. It’s an indication of what a secular world view the American Church has when more of us are praying that God will restore the good old days in our country than are praying for the Lord’s speedy return to take us away from here.

Prayers for America are fine as far as they go, but they’re motivated more by a love for what our country has been than by a desire to see God’s will done on Earth. And when you get right down to it, praying that God will restore America could be seen as an admission that we’re really not ready to see God’s will done on Earth yet.

It’s time for American Christians to realize that America is just a place where we’re temporarily living. And while we mourn the fact that America seems to be turning its back on Israel, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that America is also turning its back on the Church.

According to no less an authority than our President, America is not a Christian nation. He’s right. The only connection between God and America today is that a bunch of us who believe in Him happen to live here. Americans don’t live by God’s laws, we don’t teach our children about Him in our schools, we don’t offer public prayers in His name, and the holy days we observe are no longer tributes to Him. We don’t thank Him for the blessings we receive and we don’t turn to Him when we’re in need.

America is a secular gentile nation that will soon be no more comfortable a home for the Church than pre-war Germany was for the Jews. It’s high time we excised our patriotism from our religion. Think of it as a reverse separation of Church and State. In the last election Americans said they don’t want the Church’s values guiding the nation’s direction. Well neither should Christians want America’s values guiding the Church. We should be so passionately yearning to leave here that our feet barely touch the ground when we walk.

full article

Here is another good article that add some thoughts to the subject.  A Word on Citizenship, by Heidi Swander of Olive Tree Ministries.
Also the excellent teaching of John MacArthur on America is unsurpassed.

This is an astute article by Jack Kelly on Pentecost and rapture of the Church. Like Kelly, I also believe that the parables of Matthew 13 describe the Church on earth and would also say each parable is linked to what Jesus also said to the seven different Church types in Revelation.

*Chuck Missler gives us a small taste of this design and correlation in his teaching on Revelation:

The Seven Kingdom parables:

The Sower ……………   Ephesus: The apostolic Church

The Tares …………….   Smyrna: The persecuted Church

Mustard Seed…………..Pergamos: Marriage to the World

Women/Leaven ……….Thyatira: The Papacy in the Medieval World

The Field………………. Sardis: Denominational/Dead Orthodoxy

The Pearl ………………Philadelphia: The rebirth of the Missionary

The Dragnet …………..Laodicea: The apostate Church

* The Book of Revelation , supplemental notes page 60, Koinonia House Inc., 1995

I believe that it is very possible that the Church will be taken alive to Heaven on Pentecost on the very same feast day when the Bride of Christ was born. The Church like Enoch was born on Pentecost and tradition tells us Enoch was taken on Pentecost. Enoch was taken because he walked with God before the judgment of the flood. The bride of Christ will also not reap the coming judgment of God because she is the Bride of Christ. Only after Jesus takes his rightful role as King of Israel and takes a Gentile bride can Israel’s promised restoration come.

I know many want to believe the Rapture is on the Feast of Trumpets but remember the Feast of Trumpets will be another fulfillment through Jesus for Israel. The Feast of Trumpets starts the last week for Israel foretold by Daniel and it ends it seven years later with the second coming of Christ. Some like to think the Rapture will occur on the same date that God deals with Israel again. However, scripture really gives no indication that the Rapture has to occur precisely seven years before the second coming of Christ. The Rapture could occur months or even a few years before the final seven years for the Jews.

One thing is certain in my mind. The 70th week and the lifting of the blindness of Israel cannot even take place until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in (Ro 11:25). In this passage Paul was speaking of the grafting in of a Gentile Bride into the Commonwealth of Israel. This Bride born from above is born of the Spirit she is not born of any flesh, be it Jew or Gentile. However, anyone not Jewish by natural birth (she is spiritual) is typed as a Gentile by definition. Therefore, the Bride is not Jewish even though there are people who were natural Jews within the Bride. This Bride gives no sin offering of her own as required by the law. Her sins are covered by the blood of God’s Jewish sacrificial Lamb. That is the reason why Pentecost is celebrated with leavened bread (leaven represents sin), the Church is full of sinners covered by the blood of Christ.

Anyway, this article by Jack Kelly is well worth the read and it is timely, being right before the Feast of Pentecost.

Pentecost and the Rapture of the Church | GraceThruFaith

Pentecost and the Rapture of the Church

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

Pentecost comes in the early summer (May-June). This year it’s May 31. It’s the only Holy Day between the 3 Spring Feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits) and the 3 in the fall (Rosh Hashanna, Yom Kippur, and Tabernacles). Its Hebrew name is Shavuot. Pentecost is a Greek word and translates “50 days” since it comes 50 days after the Feast of First Fruits, the day we should know as Resurrection Morning . The Feast of First Fruits is celebrated on the day following the first Sabbath after Passover and Pentecost on the day after the Sabbath seven weeks later, (Lev. 23:15-16) giving rise to its nickname “Feast of Weeks.” Since the Jewish Sabbath is Saturday, both these Holy days are Sundays.
What’s a Pentecost?

Jews celebrate Pentecost (I’ll just use its Greek name to avoid any more confusion than necessary) as the day Moses received the Law on Mt. Sinai in the wilderness and the nation Israel was born. (Exodus 19-20) Christians celebrate it as the day the Holy Spirit fell on the Disciples in Jerusalem and the Church was born (Acts 2). If you agree with my view that the parables of Matthew 13 describe the church on Earth and that the parable of the yeast predicts there will be sin in the church, you’ll be interested in the fact that unlike all the other Jewish Feasts that call for unleavened bread, Pentecost requires bread baked with yeast (Lev. 23:17). Pentecost also began the annual wheat harvest, perhaps pointing to another of Matthew’s Kingdom parables, the Wheat and the Tares.

By tradition Enoch, one of the patriarchs from Genesis 5, was born on the day later to be known as Pentecost. Enoch’s name means “teaching”, a primary function of the Church. For this reason many scholars see him as a “type” of the church as well. Genesis 5:21-23 indicates that Enoch was very close to God and was actually taken live (raptured) into Heaven before the Great Flood. Pre-Trib scholars see this event as hinting of a yet future disappearance of the Church before the Great Tribulation. These same traditions also hold that Enoch disappeared from Earth on his birthday. So here’s a model in Genesis 5 of a man identified with the church being born and raptured on the day that would become Pentecost, the day the church was born.

Full article.

The Two Witnesses From Heaven Will be Hell to the World

The ministry of the two witnesses from God in Revelation chapter 11 will last for 1260 days. This event is the most understated event of Bible prophecy. The witnesses, the two prophets from heaven will shake the world to its core and the whole world will rejoice when they are killed because they tormented those who dwell on the earth.

I think we totally underestimate the impact that these two prophets will have on the world. They will be second in power to no one until their ministry is complete. No weapon formed against them will succeed. If a nuclear missile is fired at them it will land on the nation that fired it. These prophets with supernatural powers will have God’s angels at their disposal. Anyone who dares to harm them will in like manor be killed. They are going to have such a profound impact on the world that after they are risen and taken into heaven the sinful world will want to be led to believe that they can stop the kingdom of Jesus from coming. Thus, at the end of this period of Antichrist rule the Antichrist gathers all nations against Jerusalem to try to stop the second coming and the fulfillment of their prophecies.

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

David Flynn’s “Temple at the Center of Time: Newton’s Bible Codex Deciphered and the Year 2012, is probably all very interesting but can you really tell significant biblical events on the earth from the distance from the Temple in nautical miles or feet?

As in the Bible Code, what we have here more likely than not, is selecting what supports the theory and ignoring what does not. If God was going to make a unified system of Bible prophecy everything would fit not just what the author choose to select.

I also do not believe the Millennial temple will be at the Temple Mount of Old Jerusalem. It is much too large. So what does that do to the exact measurements when you do not even know the exact point on the earth to measure from? Are you measuring from Ezekiel’s Millennial Temple or the ancient Temple Mount?

Was God using our modern calenders and nautical miles for events? That would not be likely. Why measure to London just because it took over that area of the world in 1917 and then apply London to the year 1948 because it is 1948 nautical miles to London? The British hindered the return of the Jews in the end, so it seems more fitting to me use the nautical miles to the UN in New York city should be used but that distance would not fit the 1948 theory. Why were Nautical miles used in one measurement and feet in another? Just because they fit?

The book is being compared to the “Bible Code” but as far as I am concerned the Bible Code has been adequately debunked. These theories all sound good because the author stacks the deck. Only after
the scholars and skeptics give their reason why the theory does not hold up is there any balance brought to the speculations. It is like going to court and only hearing the case against the defendant and not ever
hearing the defense. This is why those that give doctoral theses also have to give a defense of their thesis.

I have not read the book so I cannot comment on the details in it but I surmise that after the scholars critique the book it will fittingly join with the Bible code.

It seems that an awful lot of people have figured out a date for the start of the tribulation or the second coming. Many are jumping on the 2012 to 2019 bandwagon others are picking 2032 2033 as the return of the Lord. Did we not also hear not so long ago about dating schemes built into the Great Pyramid where the end was going to come in 2000? Now we have the Mayan Calendar influence for 2012 that is plaguing us and helping to spawn these new theories. I have news to a certain TV Bible prophecy teacher and everyone else, God has no reason to follow pagan calendars and theories. Why should any Christian believe they contain truth?

I get documents from people writing books who have the timing of the second coming or the start of the tribulation all mathematically figured out to an exact year and feast day. However, I notice when one starts with what one believes to be the prophetic date and then makes all their data conform to fit that date it will come out to the date they want it to come out.

We are getting close to the end. We can see that by world events but when you are tossing out your precise theory of when Jesus will return or reading someone else’s profound theories on that date, you might not sell the farm quite yet.

Is Temple Mount God’s time bomb?

Was the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem more than a place of worship?

Was it, indeed, a roadmap to future events – a kind of prophetic landmark whose significance is only now revealed through the development of satellite imagery?

That is the contention of an explosive new book, “Temple at the Center of Time: Newton’s Bible Codex Deciphered and the Year 2012,” by David Flynn.

The book asserts it has “deciphered Isaac Newton’s greatest paradox: None other than ‘the unified field theory’ of Bible prophecy.”

The Romans established Londinium in about A.D. 47. It was a civilian settlement built where the Thames became narrow enough for a bridge to be built across it but was still deep enough to admit large ocean vessels. In the 16th century, William Camden believed that the “London Stone” was a Roman milestone from which all distances were measured in the province. In the 17th century, Christopher Wren was able to observe the foundations of the London Stone underneath Cannon Street during the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire. With this information, it is possible to extend a measuring line from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to the exact center of ancient London, and by fixing a point on the site of the temple mount, a measuring line extended over Jerusalem to the center of London produces 1,948.40 nautical miles.

Therefore, incredibly, recorded in the earth between the Temple Mount of Jerusalem and the historic center of London is what Flynn sees as the fulfillment of Newton’s own prediction: Israel became a nation again May 14th, 1948, corresponding perfectly to a distance between the temple and London of 1948 nautical miles.

As the reader moves through Temple at the Center of Time, these time-length correlations accumulate quickly, including numerous ancient dates such as 1441 B.C. when the Exodus from Egypt occurred. It turns out is 1,441,000 feet from the Jerusalem Temple to the Great Pyramid in Giza. Flynn finds dozens of other key dates in the past through similar satellite mapping measurements including some related to the United States, Russia and Rome.

Before it is even officially released, Flynn’s book is causing a sensation in some circles where it is being compared to “The Bible Code.”

Today Sept 17th I am adding the following information because some are saying that Flynn never implied a set date for the end of the world. Obviously WordNetDaily is hyping the 2012-2013 date in order to sell this book. The following quote was taken from the article posted on WND today. The belief that world will end in 2012-2013 is prophetically preposterous.

“But,” says Flynn, “there remains a valid aspect of Newton’s calculation. There is reason to believe he was correct in his assumption that there would be 1,260 years until the return of Christ at the rebirth of the Roman Empire, but that the year he chose was incorrect. There is actually a better date based on the founding of Rome and the methodology of Daniel’s prophecy.”

Flynn explains: “The Romans had fixed the birth of the city of Rome and the Empire in 753 B.C. It was believed that the patriarch of the city, Romulus, had marked out the boundaries for the wall of Rome in this year. Known as Ab Urbe Condita (literally, from the founding of the city) the Roman calendar began with 753 B.C. according to the dating of Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 B.C.) who lived at the time of the Empire itself.

Because of how the prophet Daniel divided the prophetic week in half, Flynn believes the original founding date for the empire of the prophecy, Rome, would follow this pattern and be bisected. Therefore, correcting Newton’s date, the year 753 B.C. designates the founding of the physical Rome while A.D. 753 establishes the rebirth of spiritual Rome. Counting 1,260 years forward from A.D. 753, one arrives at the year 2013.

Additional significance can be attached to this finding when considering that 2013 follows the end of the great cycle of the Maya calendar and the planetary cycle of the Aztec calendar, which concludes Dec. 21, 2012. This date has raised apocalyptic fears in corners around the world. According to “The Bible Code,” the world will end on this date due to a collision with a meteor, asteroid, or comet. Another theory – the “Novelty Theory” – claims time itself is a “fractal wave,” which will end abruptly in 2012. Even the popular television program X-Files speculated that colonization of the earth by “aliens” would occur in December 2012.

The Maya themselves describe past visits of Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, descending through a “hole in the sky” on a rope ladder. They believe at the end of 2012 the serpent rope will emerge again from the center of the Milky Way, and Quetzalcoatl will return, heralding a new era at the start of 2013. Another version of the story has Quetzalcoatl sailing down on a winged ship, causing some to speculate that a UFO armada or “mother ship” could descend and take up position over earth on that date.

Besides this type of speculation, an unusual number of important events will occur beginning in 2012. NASA is predicting the next Solar Maximum will arrive in 2012 and will be the strongest in 50 years. At the same time, the sun will align with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in 26,000 years, on the exact date of the end of the Mayan calendar, Dec. 21, 2012. This will also be the year when the United States and the United Nations elect a new president and a new secretary general, considered by some to be the two most powerful “thrones” on earth, and the seat from which prophecy experts say the Antichrist will rule or receive power.

On a YouTube video here, well-known preacher Jack Van Impe says that the year 2012 and the end of the Mayan Calendar could mark the return of Jesus Christ.

Based on his research into the Jewish Feasts, Pastor Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries (as laid out in a series of two DVD teachings produced by WND Videos called “The Feasts of the Lord”) believes this time frame between 2012-2015 could be prophetic and may signal the return of Christ. He says for people who believe in a “pre-tribulation rapture,” this would make the year 2008 very important. For those who believe in a mid-tribulation rapture, 2012 may mark their departure. And on his website, he adds “if you’re prewrath, then 2014 might be interesting [and] if you’re a posttribber, 2015 is the date to watch for.”

Full article

First of all, this article is not exactly true the Temple Institute did not just begin preparing for the Third Temple by making priestly garbs. The Temple Institute has been preparing for the building of the Third Temple for decades. It is interesting to watch the effort continue but remember, these Jews do not believe in Jesus and what they say is often self serving and scripturally just plain wrong. For Example: Rabbi Yehuda Glick in this article says the prophets say that all the nations will be coming to Jerusalem and take part in building the Third Temple and that it will unite the nations around one central house of prayer.

What prophets wrote that I might ask? The ones I read in the Bible actually said that all the nations will come against Jerusalem to destroy it in an attempt to cut off Israel from being a nation.

All nations will be judged at Jerusalem when God stands up for Israel for the sake of His own holy name and his unbreakable Covenants to Israel. After that period of nearly complete destruction on earth a fourth Kingdom Temple will be set up when Jesus comes to rule and reign in His Kingdom on earth. The Kingdom Temple will be north of the Temple mount area (Ezekiel chapter 40 – 48) it is too big for Mt Moriah. Even Ezekiel in these passages on the Millennial Kingdom did not say anything about the nations coming to Jerusalem to build the Kingdom Temple. Although the wealth of the nations will be used toward that end. The only thing the nations will be coming to Jerusalem for prior to the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom will be for their judgment.

There are indications in scripture that indicate that a third temple will be built on Mount Moriah and that the daily sacrifice will be started again but the same passage says the daily sacrifice will be stopped and that the Antichrist will enter this temple and defile it claiming to be above anything called God. Scriptures also indicate that this period will start the worst time on earth that ever was or ever will be (Mt 24:21). So in reality when they start building the temple they will really be setting the stage for the fulfillment of the prophecy about the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer chap 30). Perhaps these Rabies should read these scriptures and the destruction that all their prophets talked about instead of skipping over that part and telling us that all nations will come to help build their Third Temple. Only a minority remnant of Jews will even survive the time after the desecration of the Third Temple.

It is interesting how the religious Jews spin the scriptures to read what they want to read into it. Postmodern Christians are now doing the same thing but make no mistake, judgment will come before any lasting restoration of Israel and the Church is not going to bring the Kingdom on earth by Christian social actions.

Another thing I wish to point out is that Glick and other Rabies like him like the support that the Christian Evangelicals give but they have also heard from the Evangelicals about the second coming of
Jesus. They have heard what we say scripture says about the judgment coming to Israel but they have rejected that message and substituted it with their own postmodern relativism by reading into scripture what they want to hear rather than what it actually says. All religions in the world can talk about religious pluralism and how the world will all become one but that is not what God says in the Bible. There will be no uniting of the world until the King of Peace comes, judges the nations and sinners and establishes His Kingdom on the earth.

Third Temple preparations begin with priestly garb | Jerusalem Post

On Monday, the Temple Institute started preparing to build a Third Temple on Jerusalem’s Mount Moriah, the site of the Dome of the Rock and the Aksa mosque, by inaugurating a workshop that manufactures priestly garments.

Priestly garments have not been worn since the destruction of the Second Temple by Rome in 70 CE and cannot be functional until a Third Temple is constructed.

The secret of the correct shade of blue has been lost since the destruction of the Second Temple, as the identity of chilazon, the snail from which it was extracted, was uncertain until the Ptil Tekhelet nonprofit organization identified it as the murex trunculus, aka hexaplex trunculus, the banded dye-murex found near the Mediterranean Sea.

“The Temple is not a message [just for] the Jewish people. It reunites the world all around one central prayer house. All the prophets say that at the End Times all the nations will be coming to Jerusalem and take part of building [the Temple],” Glick says.

You would think that the Jews would learn but God calls them a stubborn people for a reason. God cast out the Jews for such practices before and now they are at it again. God does not change. Seems that there are a lot of people in the world who want to test God. I do not think that this is very wise and I will be proved right.

Homosexuals march on Jerusalem (OneNewsNow.com)

Christian Zionist Jim Hutchens says the recent homosexual pride parade in Jerusalem merely contributed to the moral climate that will bring about the besieging of Jerusalem foretold by prophets of the Bible.

Homosexuals and their supporters marched through the Holy City Thursday in direct defiance of the Hebraic scriptures as Orthodox Jews held a counter protest nearby. The so-called “gay pride” parade was allowed to proceed after Israel’s Supreme Court rejected a petition to ban the event.

Hutchens, president of The Jerusalem Connection International (TJCI), says the Bible warns of a worldwide moral decline that affects the Holy Land as well. “There is a judgment that God brings worldwide and on Israel, as a matter of fact. And I think those are the events that lead up to what we refer to as Armageddon, the apocalyptic besieging of Jerusalem,” Hutchens contends.

The nations of the world will be broken when they come against Jerusalem (Zec 12:9). Any nation that tries to take God’s covenant land for themselves or to eliminate God’s covenant people will reap their own destruction. This will be a prime test for all the nations to determine who believes the God of the Bible and who just gives lip service to some unknowable god of their own imagination and hates Him. The rise of Israel started sixty years ago. It will bring the fall of the nations in this prophetic generation.

CAN THESE BONES LIVE? ISRAEL AT 60 – CWN

Mark Twain said over 100 years ago, “All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but they remain. What is the secret of their immortality?” The key is to remember that God is a covenant keeper. God will not allow His precious “promised land” to fall into the hands of the wicked. And His chosen people’s eyes will not be blinded forever.

And so kings, pharaohs, fuhrers, Moslem extremists, the united European Economic Community, the United Nations, and the U.S. State Department have all tried to put an end to her either militarily or diplomatically, fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 12:3. Her most bitter enemies in the Moslem world chant the chorus of Psalm 83:4: “Come and let us wipe them [Israel] out as a nation that the name of Israel be remembered no more.” I say to all mullahs and terrorists, “Dream on, but you don’t stand a chance!”

How incredibly undiscerning! Janet Folger is now teaching us Word of Faith Theology. She obviously is a believer in heretical Dominion theology. The link will give you more of my take on that theology.

Folger implies that Jesus lost the keys of the kingdom of heaven and had to die to get them back from Satan.
What heretical nonsense. Jesus never lost the keys of the kingdom of heaven. What kind of God would lose his keys? The keys Jesus gave the Church is authority in the spiritual realm in the spiritual kingdom of heaven. Even Jesus has not yet bound Satan on earth and taken authority on the earth because the timing of that is set by the Father alone. There are some still to be saved out of this world before judgment and the earthly kingdom is set up.

If what Folger said was true why did not the 12 apostles just take authority, bind Satan and set up the earthly kingdom instead of letting the world kill them. Gee, we Christians could of had total control of the earth for almost 2000 years if they only understood things the way Word Faith preachers do. Why do not two Christians anywhere just bind all the forces of Satan on earth and establish dominion? Why don’t Janet Folger just get together with Kenneth Copeland and try it? Why are you blaming us that your own prayers are not getting answered? Jesus said it would only take two if Jesus really meant what you imply.

We have no dominion on the earth because we are sinners and cannot administer this earth with justice. Dominion does not mean ownership, God owns the earth. After man sinned God put the earth under the administration of angels until the justice and sin problem is taken care of. (Satan just happens to be the chief angel in charge watching over this creation and he continually reports our unworthiness to have dominion on the earth.)

The keys of the kingdom of heaven do not give us ownership of a world living in sin it gives us standing in the kingdom of heaven as priests to carry out the will of the King. Obviously God’s will is not to bring a world of sinners into the kingdom that He will establish on the earth.

What title deed to the earth is Janet talking about? God does not give out title deeds to His creation. Where in scripture anywhere does it say that man was given a title deed to the earth? Man did not lose something he never had and Jesus did not die for any title deed. Jesus already had the title deed of everything as the Creator. Jesus died for our sins not for fake titles. And Jesus did not then give some abstract title deed to the planet back to man only to have him lose the title by default back to Satan by Christians not doing what they should have. That is what many Word Faith preachers teach. Then they say the Latter Rain, New Wave anointed elite (themselves) have to come and confront Satan and take the title of earth back again and bring in the physical kingdom on earth before Jesus can even come back. This Kingdom Now, Latter Rain, Manifest sons of Destiny Theology is totally absurd. It is not Christian doctrine. It is loony.

Jesus taught us to pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven and we are still praying for that because God has not brought in the Kingdom on earth yet like it is in heaven. It is like praying for the peace of Jerusalem, you should pray for that end but you cannot bring it in before God’s own timing. Only when Jesus comes back will God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven and will there be true peace in Jerusalem.

Pslam 2:8 in context is talking about the Son of God, not Christians. He will give the nations to Jesus Christ but the timing is in the Fathers hands. Ripping it out of context as some promise to the betrothed bride that has not even been given gifts and awarded leadership positions and that are not yet fully prepared or fully completed in the body to be formally married to the King yet in the Father’s eyes is beyond presumption, it is arrogance. We will rule and reign with Jesus on earth when He is given David’s throne on earth and not before.

You asked what we have faith for? We have faith in the hope of Jesus fulfilling all His promises. We have faith that what we hear God tell us will be fulfilled, but we do not have faith to presume that your own wishes for the earth are from God. That is presumption.

Janet Folger said she would like to start by taking our own country back? She implies that Christians had dominion over America and lost it. She implies that the U.S. was a Christian nation. When was that? Do they not teach history in schools anymore? This nation had one wickedness after another throughout its history along with any good. Perhaps the best periods were right after major wars but that always is the case because wars remove many of the violent evil people from the earth. In any case, you cannot take a nation back for Christ that was never won for Christ. I do not even know a city or a town that was totally won for Christ. In order to do that you would have to oppose all who do not see things your theological way. The world already has a history of cities, nations and empires trying to take it for their version of Christianity. Was that good? Is that what you are suggesting for America. A Holy American Empire with Word of Faith preachers ruling on the throne? I think I do not want to be part of that America. Their Jesus is too much like the Jesus of Oprah. So you better get your burning stakes ready for me.

Occupy to Jesus comes means to live here in the world in whatever state you find yourself in. It does not mean to take it over. Remember Jesus promised the Church persecution in the world not a national or world utopia.

Your whole premises is flawed and why would you need us to help anyway. You and Copeland can do it all yourself. After all, you claim if two or more ask for anything in Jesus name it will be done for you. According to your own theology nothing can stop you. So stop whining and get started!

Ugh!

Stop whining and take dominion!

Of course, Jesus said (essentially), “No deal.” Satan was running the place, but when Jesus took the punishment our sins deserved on the cross and rose again, Jesus “got the keys back.” He reconciled us to himself and handed them over to us as he said in Matthew 16:19:

And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

With the keys Jesus gave us, we have authority, responsibility, access and ownership. Which brings us back to “Plan A” in the first chapter of Genesis where God told us to “have dominion over & every living thing that moves on the earth.”

With the title deed and the keys we’ve been given, we now can take dominion as was the original plan and see God’s will be done “on earth as it is in Heaven,” just like we’ve been praying in the Lord’s prayer all this time.

So, here’s my question. Just what do you have faith for? Psalm 2:8 says: “Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possessions.” That sounds pretty good to me. I’d like to start with taking my country back. To “occupy” until He comes.

I’ve turned off the pundits to tap into the power. I want to know God’s heart enough to come into alignment with Him and start turning some keys and opening some doors. It’s time we take ownership and occupy the centers of influence and the areas of our culture Christians have vacated. It’s time we stop whining about how big the giants are and start coming back to “Plan A”: dominion. You have the keys. You have the title deed. What are you waiting for? Even the heaviest iron door doesn’t stand a chance.

When Jews build their temple and start animal sacrifices they will soon be stopped by the uproar coming form the animal rights movement. According to Daniel the daily sacrifice will be taken away and eventually this ritual will be replaced by worship of a image set up in the temple. We can now easily see how a law or judicial ruling will force the ceasing of the daily sacrifice almost as soon as it begins.

Animal rights groups against Passover sacrifice – Israel Jewish Scene, Ynetnews

The Temple movements’ intention to hold a public slaughter of the Passover sacrifice was slammed by the animal rights movement, Let Animals Live.The activists demanded that the event’s coordinators cancel their plans, and sent letters to Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski, and to the Director of the Temple Institute, Yehuda Glick, threatening to sue if their demands were not met within 24 hours.

I do not agree with everything Chuck Baldwin says in this article but he does make some points that are worth thinking about.

Is the US really a blessing to Israel? He does not think so. From Jimmy Carter to George Bush I would have to say we have not taken positions that bless Israel.

Nonetheless, if we did nothing in the Middle East like Baldwin and Ron Paul suggest and we let Israel militarily take care of her own problems the world would already have united to fight against Israel. So if the US took no action in the Middle East that would not be a blessing to Israel either.

One thing for sure, the US better not take a position against the land promises given to the Jews. We should not try to divide Jerusalem because God made a clear prophecy that those that burden themselves over Jerusalem will be broken.

clipped from www.newswithviews.com My dear Christian brethren, let’s get real: America’s policies toward Israel have not been a blessing to her. They have been a curse. George W. Bush and most other Presidents during the last 40 years have treated Israel like the proverbial red-headed step-child. For example, America continues to furnish Israel’s enemies with three times more aid and assistance than it does Israel. Three times. Is that being a blessing to Israel? America gives unflinching and magnanimous support to militant Muslim governments such as Saudi Arabia. There is no nation in the Middle East that has harbored, trained, supplied, and supported more terrorists than Saudi Arabia. Is that being a blessing to Israel? In addition, every time an American President wants to meddle in Middle Eastern affairs, he insists that Israel give up land for peace. President Bush is doing that very thing anew and afresh at this very moment. Is that being a blessing to Israel?

One of the great mysteries of the world is why many Jews love to hate themselves. Some like those spoken of in this article actually encourage antisemitism. The truth is that just like many of the Jews in Jesus time these are not true Jews. They are of the synagogue of Satan. They are secular humanist atheists who hate the God of Israel. Is it any wonder that the Bible says that two-thirds of those who call themselves Jews will be cut-off.

clipped from http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59786 JERUSALEM – Israeli college professors who label their country a Nazi apartheid regime, teach that the Bible is full of myths, urge the downfall of the Jewish state, and speak at conventions calling for the boycott of Israel?

Hank Hanegraff’s wrote a book called ”Apocalypse Code” Dr Norman Geisler does a brilliant scholarly book review and rebuttal of Hanegraff’s book that attacks premillennial dispensational theology. Here is just a small sample of Dr Geisler’s summery.

This brings me to my chief concern about The Code-it is based on an allegorical method of interpreting prophetic Scripture that, if applied to other teachings of Scripture, would undermine the salvation essentials of the Christian Faith. Let me illustrate the extent to which The Apocalypse Code goes in allegorizing away the literal truth of Scripture from above cited texts. It transforms -

• The plain meaning of the Bible into a so-called “deeper” meaning
• Literal promises into spiritual ones
• Unconditional promises into conditional ones
• Jewish tribes into Gentiles
• A thousand years into eternity
• A literal resurrection into a spiritual one
• Land Promises for National Israel into spiritual life in Christ
• A literal mark of the Beast into a mere symbol of identity with him
• Physical clouds into mere symbols of judgment
• A literal earthly throne of David into a heavenly reign of Christ
• Two literal witnesses into literary representatives of the Law and Prophets
• Cosmic judgment into the destruction of a small city (Jerusalem)

All of this Hank is fond of calling “Reading the Bible for all it is worth.” Well, for all it is worth, this is not reading the Bible; it is a serious misreading of the Bible. So serious a misreading it is that were it a reading on an essential doctrine of the Bible – like the virgin birth, the sacrificial atonement, the bodily resurrection, or the second coming-it would be a rank heresy!

It is sad that a man who has fought so hard for so long against cults and aberrant teachings has himself succumbed to a method of interpreting the Bible that is not significantly different from those used by the cults which he so vigorously opposes.

Full article (Dr Geisler’s website does not allow direct linking to the article you will have to get the article from his “articles” pull down menu)

Also read what Dr. Thomas Ice says about Hanegraff’s “Apocalypse Code“

Make sure the Messiah you accept is the Messiah and not the Antichrist.

200 right-wing activists gather in Jerusalem to protest US president’s visit, one detained. ‘How would the American public react if Bush were to say after his inauguration that the US must cede Seattle and Manhattan?’ SOS Israel head asks. ‘A traitor,’ demonstrators shout back

Wolpe continued to say that “only the coming of the messiah can save us, not the High Court (of Justice), which is collaborating with the Arabs.”

Full article