Aug 30, 2010

The End of Negotiations

After it was announced by Hillary Clinton that Israel and the Palestinians would resume direct negotiations, the Arab threats commenced anew.

Saeb Erekat, from Jericho, head of the PLO’s negotiating team, threatened that if Israel did not extend its settlement freeze in Judea/Samaria, the negotiations would end.

We are seeing the broad outlines of this reality now, as the world grows increasingly impatient with Israel, who is accused of being the bully. When Erekat made his thuggish threat—his stock-in-trade—he made it from Ramallah. Not only did Western media outlets like Reuters pick this up, but so did Arab media (such as Al-Sharq al-Awsat). As if he needed to further inflame the Arabs.

Hana Amira, a member of the PLO’s executive committee, told Mahmoud Abbas that he was not hopeful about negotiations. What else is new? These things always have a predetermined outcome, anyway, and Amira claimed that the real test of Israel’s good intentions will come September 26, which is the end of the settlement freeze that Benjamin Netanyahu announced last year.

Look for all sorts of new and odd pressures to be placed on Israel; we haven’t seen anything yet.

For example, Israel has for the longest obviously rejected the Arab “right of return,” which means that Palestinians forced out of the Holy Land due to Arab-initiated wars could now come back. Of course, this would turn Israel into an Arab state.

Provocatively, Yasser Qashlaq, allied with the Maryam Institution (part of the notorious flotilla initiatives of late), said that he wanted to found a “committee for the right of return,” but he means the right of Jews to return to Arab lands they previously lived in. He then went on to say, to the Lebanese News Agency, that “our homeland is all of Palestine.”

This kind of nonsense still has a strategic effect on the wider world, which will now question why Qashlaq’s plan isn’t sensible. Do you see?

Israel is being set up for the end-times scenarios especially outlined in Zechariah. The world is hurtling toward its much-anticipated “Final Solution” to the Jewish question. How fascinating that the Lord planned for all this to unfold in the Holy Land.

Tellingly, on August 20, the European Union Council website carried an announcement by Secretary Clinton that the Quartet intended for all final status issues between Israel and the Palestinians to be resolved within one year, culminating in the establishment of Palestine.

You see, even the Americans have considered the ancient biblical homeland of the Jews to be “occupied” land since 1967, and the international community intends to right this historical “wrong.”

The real end of negotiations is coming soon, and in a cosmic way.

jim@prophecymatters.com

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Aug 23, 2010

The Kings of the East

The Jerusalem Post’s Caroline Glick is one of the few prominent journalists that have good sense in our world today. Her recent column outlining a major threat to Israel is dead-on.

From the moment of the American invasion of Iraq in 2003—it seems a lifetime ago—it was clear that Uncle Sam’s blood and treasure gave the Iraqis a chance at something they have not had: freedom. Yet in the back of my mind, even as Israel’s Ariel Sharon and others expressed hope that a new day could dawn between Iraq and Israel, I have felt a sense of foreboding.

The neighbors to Israel’s east have always been a menace, whether in ancient times or now. During the Yom Kippur War of 1973, in which Iraq did not take part in the overall invasion as they had done in 1948, the country still sent a brigade to the north, to assist the Syrians.

Of course, the history under Saddam Hussein was one of continuous threats; Saddam, like many Middle East dictators, fancied himself as the one who would eliminate the world’s “Jewish problem.”

So when Saddam was deposed by the magnificent American army, it seemed there was the possibility of brighter days ahead. Again, though, a shudder went through me when Sharon expressed this hope in public. Surely the wily old general, who knew the Arabs only too well, actually believed the threat had vanished?

As Caroline wrote this week, when the last American brigades pulled out: “The Iraq they withdrew from has no government.”

This is chilling.

Too often we put our trust in geopolitics, which in point of fact is the epitome of instability. Turkey is our best example of this. Until very recently, the Turks were relatively friendly to Israel and the West. Today, they stand poised to follow Iran as an Islamic caliphate. Literally overnight, Turkey is now a threat, which makes God/Magog not only plausible, but likely.

Iraq is not stable and likely won’t be. Now that they have been removed as a threat from the Iranians, the mullahs of the new Persian Empire have a free hand in the region. In 2003, it seemed desirable to remove Saddam, but there is something to be said for leaving relatively unstable regimes in place, if for no other reason but that they are a menace and deterrent to each other.

In Iraq, one can also never be sure that any “leader” is remotely friendly to Israel. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki…who knows his true feelings? In fact, one should assume they are all hostile.

It is a little-known fact that Jordan’s King Hussein desperately tried to warn Israel’s Golda Meir about the intentions of Egypt and Syria early in 1973, even flying himself to a night-time, desert locale to meet with the Israelis. Hussein was perhaps the closest thing Israel will ever have to a “friend” among the Arabs. He might have foolishly taken part in the Six Day War, but he knew very well that Israel helped protect him and, again, in certain situations, he reciprocated.

But Husseins are in short supply in the Middle East. Even his son and successor, King Abdullah, is a self-serving tinhorn dictator who comes off as elegant and regal. Don’t believe it, he is as much a part of the old Arab tribal fabric as one could imagine. He is no friend of Israel. His Iraqi neighbors are part of the same makeup.

A senior Iraqi military official, Lt. Gen. Babakir Zebari, has stated that Iraq’s forces won’t be able to fully defend the country until 2020! For one thing, the ongoing Sunni/Shia civil war promises instability for a long time to come. Al Qaida and Iran are the main beneficiaries of this strife.

In the region, we have two very different realities playing out. On the one hand, the region’s geopolitics are tied to the roles of America and Iran. The U.S. has had a presence in the region since the administration of Thomas Jefferson, often of course with mixed results. Once we pull out of Iraq, Iran will fill the vacuum and menace all its neighbors. I maintain that the threat Iran poses is ultimately a problem not only for the U.S., but also to Europe and Russia.

The Iranians are not a long-term threat to Israel, and here I touch on the second reality: biblical prophecy. Modern geopolitics and Bible prophecy are meeting for the first time, and the issue of Israel’s security is separate, I maintain, from  other matters, such as the safety of the rest of the world.

Israel has been promised survival by the Lord of history. The rest of us are essentially on our own, and Scripture tells us that all the nations of the world will be judged specifically on how they treated the Jews.

This is why I maintain that the worries over how Iraq or Iran, or Lebanon will deal with Israel are largely irrelevant. God will take care of that.

But key geopolitical mistakes, many of them made by the U.S., will threaten the rest of us for a long time to come. It was the Reagan administration that pulled out of Lebanon, leaving a void that was filled by the Syrians and the Iranians. Reagan also recognized the PLO, and publicly castigated the Israelis for bombing the Iraqi reactor at Osirik.

If our most popular president did that, what does that say about America’s eventual outcome?

Iraq is going to be a “threat” to Israel, just as Iran is, and Lebanon, etc. But a unique thing is coming: the Creator is going to intervene for His people.

The rest of us will fend for ourselves.

jim@prophecymatters.com

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Aug 16, 2010

Dead Flowers

And you can send me dead flowers every morning

Send me dead flowers by the mail

Send me dead flowers to my wedding, And

I won't forget to put roses on your grave

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards would not share the same worldview that I do. I remember an interview the Stones’ front-man gave in the 60’s, in which he was asked his religious preference. Mick answered that he was Christian by culture.

 

Of course.

 

But every so often, the duo would pen lyrics that fit a certain circumstance beautifully, and so today I submit a snippet of a song, “Dead Flowers,” as a way to convey Israel’s present position in the world. Notice what is written above.

The song’s protagonist is having difficulty with someone who hounds him, harasses him. But in the end, he has the last macabre laugh.

These lines are a wonderful description of where Israel is today, with enemies past, present, and future. For millennia, evil rulers have declared that they would be the ones to wipe out any memory of the Jews from history. It is faith-building, actually, to look at photos of the various “tels” around the Middle East—those heaps of earth that have suffocated the remains of ancient civilizations.

 

As Walker Percy so astutely noted, where are the Hittites today? We see Jews, but no Hittites.

 

The same can be said for Assyrians, Babylonians, Romans, Greeks, Persians, etc. Truly, those enemies sent dead flowers to Israel continually; in the end, though, the Apple of God’s Eye walks over and places roses on her enemies’ graves.

 

So it is today, with all the saber-rattling from terrorists, rogue regimes, and political bodies.

 

Just this week, the international community announced that direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians might begin soon. European Union policy chief Catherine Ashton issued a statement announcing that the PA’s Mahmoud Abbas—the Holocaust denier—might be willing to meet the Israelis. Abbas, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, and Jordan’s King Abdullah met in Cairo to discuss the possibilities.

Allow me to go off on a tangent, but one that is relevant.

Ashton is a British politician who was a driving force in the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, which has greatly strengthened the EU. Lisbon amended the Treaty on European Union (or, the Maastricht Treaty).

My point is, neither the EU or individuals like Ashton have Israel’s best interests at heart. Let’s consider Ashton, and do some speculating.

Growing up in present-day England, she is no doubt superficially religious; almost the entire country has turned its back on conservative Christianity. In fact, the continent is in danger of becoming a new conquest of Islam.

I seriously doubt Ashton grew up with biblical teaching, so, for her and her friends, hammering-out an agreement between Israel and her sworn enemies makes perfect sense. At the moment Israel is dealing with an increased rocket threat from Hamas, and political forces are buttressing Hezbollah in the north, malevolent governments are putting withering pressure on the Jewish state.

 

Ashton grew up in the shadow and soot of Darwinian philosophy, which loathed and loathes the Bible. It is not hard to see that such a philosophy of death would not believe the biblical prophecies to the Jews.

Which brings me to a topic that is increasingly on my mind. In my book, It’s the End of the World as We Know It, I wrote about an encounter with an Israeli weapons expert, a retired IDF officer. We discussed the passages in Zechariah (14) that seem to indicate a nuclear confrontation over Jerusalem.

In my research, I’ve discovered a fascinating fact. In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Egypt and Syria made almost lethal advances in the first 24 hours of the war. Moshe Dayan gave Golda Meir his famous assessment: “The Third Commonwealth [Temple] is in danger.”

He meant of course that Jewish sovereignty over the ancestral lands was about to come to an end, so serious was Israel’s position in the war.

Dayan made a recommendation to the cabinet that Israel employ tactical battlefield nukes! Thirteen of them were prepared, to be placed on Jericho missiles. Henry Kissinger warned Anwar Sadat that Israeli was about to go nuclear. Had it not been for a massive American airlift to re-arm the Israelis, Zechariah’s prophecies might have come to pass 37 years ago.

Politically, Israel’s position today is much more threatened. In many ways, the Jewish state faces more dangers than it has before. The Third Commonwealth is again threatened.

Oh, the the site of the Jericho missile batteries that autumn in 1973?

A moshav (agricultural community) in central Israel named…Zechariah. Founded in 1950, before Israel’s nuclear program commenced, the site was key in defending Israel and Jerusalem. At the end of the day, at the end of the age, Israel will place roses on the graves of her enemies, because her Defender watches.

Let us not think that Zechariah’s prophecies are metaphor or symbolic of something else, like (absurdly) the Church. Liberals see these passages for anything other than what they are.

Those of us who love Israel do not make the same mistake. And so we watch and wait.

 jim@prophecymatters.com

 

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Aug 9, 2010

Friendly Enemies

One of my hobbies is studying and researching the sons of fathers and grandfathers who were theological liberals from the Enlightenment through the Victorian era. It might sound like a snooze-fest, but it’s important when one considers that Erasmus Darwin’s radical views seeped-into the worldview of his famous grandson.

This study is important if we want to understand why we see heresy and apostasy becoming mainstream in the Church.

Thomas Huxley, “[Charles] Darwin’s bulldog,” was the most aggressive famous atheist of his day, and his grandsons Julian and Aldous influenced Western education in ways we probably don’t have the stomach to face.

My research has expanded to now study how theological liberals influence their associates, friends, and by extension, the masses—most tragically, youth.

Not surprisingly, one of the biggest targets of the liberals’ wrath today is Christian Zionism. It is quite fascinating to realize that the (ultimately successful) attempts to undermine Scripture began in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, with the attacks on this historicity of Genesis 1-11.

The next target were the books of the prophets—undermining the Jews and predictive prophecy. The ghastly outcomes of these attacks by the critics resulted in the Holocaust. Martin Luther, an outrageous anti-semite (but still darling of many evangelicals), and efforts by people like the German Christian Movement in the 20^th century, plowed the soil for the Nazis.

 Today, of course, the final battlefront for the Bible’s critics concern the person of Jesus Christ. We have an irony here: the Bible is true in its history, where it touches on science (such as the book of Job), and its philosophy for life. Yet the average person’s perspective is that somehow the critics have proved their case.

They have not.

That hasn’t stopped the sophisticated efforts of change agents like Brian McLaren and his Emergent friends. Not surprisingly, Israel is on the receiving end of their hateful efforts to marginalize the Jewish state and her friends: Christian supporters of Israel.

McLaren blogs frequently (www.brianmclaren.net) and also spends a fair amount of time touting the blogs of his theological friends, such as Frank Schaeffer, the son of biblical apologist Francis Schaeffer. The elder of course foresaw the rising apostasy, but the son is quite willing to attack Bible believers (www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/christian-zionism-is-trou_b_636872.html).

Remember what I said about the sons and grandsons being part of the decline in belief in the Bible?

McLaren’s blogs are quite revealing. Notice the following; his response to questions. He reveals his strategic thinking in advancing the goals of liberalism:

“This question reminded me how we need to remember that each day, new people are for the first time realizing that some sort of paradigm shift is possible, happening, and needed in their faith. Every day, new people are ready to start on the journey and get involved. A number of friends from the emergent village community have talked about this for years ... we need to keep extending the new road farther and farther into new territory, while maintaining onramps for people from many different communities to start the journey from wherever they are, whenever they're ready. It's too easy to do one without the other ... but both are essential.

“First, you're fortunate in that fifteen years ago, when this journey was beginning for me, it was really hard to find anyone "safe" to talk to ... there was a lot of talk about innovative methodology, but to raise theological questions was somewhat risky. Of course, it's still risky - but thankfully more and more networks are forming where it's safe to ask questions, think together, and explore.”

McLaren is simply pointing out that a generation ago, his ideas wouldn’t fly. Then, we had pastors in the pulpits that would stand for biblical truth. Today, we have pastors who are “life coaches” and advocates of their parishioners engaging in frequent sex. Or they promote and teach the latest clap-trap “Bible study” from a Christian celebrity.

In a later blog entry, McLaren then discusses one of his favorite subjects: bashing the Second Coming; he also never misses an opportunity to promote his books:

“Thanks for the encouragement. One slight tweak - in Chapter 18, I talk about the meaning of the word "parousia." I explain that the term "second coming" isn't found in the biblical text. It's a term like "the Fall" - developed in extra-biblical theological literature, and then read back into the text (and sometimes put there by "translators" who are actually interpreters). That doesn't mean it's wrong - just that the term itself is subject to questioning. When Jesus speaks of coming back or again, sometimes he's referring to the resurrection ... sometimes he may be referring to his coming to be with us via the Holy Spirit at Pentecost ... and sometimes he may be referring to the coming of a new era and "the end of the (current) age" centered in holy city, temple, priesthood, and sacrifice. He may also be referring to some ultimate judgment day ... but the more I read the New Testament, the fewer of those references I think there are. More and more, it seems, Jesus was referring to things that were very close at hand, and so in that way, it turns out both Jesus and Paul were right: the cataclysm they predicted would happen "before this generation passes."

McLaren is a preterist, one who believes most if not all the last-days prophecies were fulfilled by A.D. 70.

One of the outcomes of this kind of teaching—you won’t be surprised—is that Israel is again marginalized. When one believes that God’s promises for the Jews, from the Hebrew scriptures, are no longer in effect (Replacement Theology—God’s promises have been transferred to the Church), Israel takes on less importance in one’s thinking.

It is then a short step toward advocating the “rights of the Palestinians” above those of the Jews. This is the wedding between Palestinian propaganda efforts dating to the aftermath of the Six Day War, and theological liberalism, which has always despised the Jews.

It is why a change agent like John Shelby Spong can write books in which he claims to be a savage opponent of anti-Semitism, and at the same time (in the same book—what chutzpa!) claim that belief in the historicity of the Hebrew scriptures is the domain of fundamentalist crackpots!

Do you see? When you claim that the Old Testament is myth, symbolism or metaphor when it appears to be literal…you have just become a classic anti-Semite. You have denied the history and legitimacy of the very oppressed people you claim to defend!!

I have never forgotten the story told by David Reagan—surely one of the great Bible teachers of our time. Dave remembers as a youngster in church, asking the pastor what Zechariah meant when he recorded that the Messiah would re-visit Earth.

The pastor told him it was symbolic of Jesus coming into someone’s heart. In other words, there would never be a future moment in which the Jewish messiah would return to His homeland and begin to usher in an era of peace.

This is the result of liberals refusing to read the Bible in its plain-sense meaning. This “plain-sense” view is itself mocked by the liberals. Ironically, when Scripture admonishes the Jews to love justice, the liberals insist it means exactly what it says! The “Jews should practice justice” is always used by liberals who feel Israel needs to arm and bow-down to a Palestinian state.

Just know that Israel’s enemies are not limited to jihadists with a death wish. The long list of enemies includes those theological enemies who also long for the end of the Jewish state.

Christian Zionists who support Israel must know they are in a war of ideas. We must, must, must educate ourselves and resist the theological madness of the liberals.

Know also that men like McLaren come across as reasonable, earnest, and desirous of justice for everyone.

In the end, though, his vicious views of Israel will serve as a divisive wedge. The Christian Zionists McLaren and Schaeffer love to bash will have to decide how much they like perseverance.

We should well remember what Paul wrote to his protégé, in 2 Timothy 4:

“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

“For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

“Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me.”

The point is, for us, many Christians “love the world” because that’s easier in the short-term than standing for truth. A whole lot of people will side with the Palestinians and work to try and push the Jews into another ghetto. The pack mentality that has always plagued mankind, and fosters efforts to call, as Isaiah wrote, “good evil and evil good.”

Support of the Jewish state will cost you in the short-term. Ultimately, though, it will pale in comparison to the claims of the Judge of History that He will one day hand out judgment to the nations for the way they treated his people, Israel.

That day is coming, and when it does, I will be glad that my heart has always been toward Zion.

jim@prophecymatters.com

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Aug 2, 2010

Who are the Crackpots?

Before getting specifically into Israel this week, I’d like to cite a couple things that in my view buttress the arguments from prophecy teachers that many prophecies are yet future—or are being fulfilled right now.

For decades, Bible prophecy teachers have been mocked for contending that much of the Book of Revelation is future history. For example, amid all the attempts to place these events in past eras (or consign them to symbolism altogether), there has been skepticism that God’s end-times judgments will affect the physical world. The mention of the destruction of sea life is one such aspect of this discussion.

Yet look where we are now. Estimates place the amount of oil that has polluted the Gulf of Mexico at over 100 million barrels. All the Gulf’s ecosystems are being affected.

Then last week, news came that an oil spill in China’s Yellow Sea—between the Worker’s Paradise and North and South Korea—has threatened sea life there.

And that’s how it’s being described: all of a sudden, folks are now openly discussing the fact that “sea life is now endangered.”

A second vindication of the prophecy teachers, now taking shape:

Turkey has now turned sharply left and is menacing the Israelis and flexing her muscles in the Balkans. The tension between Bosnian Serbs and Muslims factors-in, as well. Turkey is of course going to come to the aid of the Muslims, as her government turns from secular to something more like Iran’s.

Geopolitics are notoriously unpredictable, but the broad outlines of a new Turkey-Iran alliance are coming into view. And don’t be so certain that Russia will be the major player; in order to understand the Russians, we must think of Stalingrad.

The Russians, though possessing vast natural resources, have always been a brooding, pessimistic people. Life there has always been hard. At Stalingrad, the Russian high command thought nothing of sacrificing millions in order to defeat the Nazis. Stalingrad was a siege so horrific that it ranks with the worst cases of man’s depravity toward his fellow man.

What I’m saying is, the Russian-Iranian cooperation that has been taking place for some time could be just a precursor to the virtual end of the Russian empire. If the two countries (along with Iran’s Muslim allies) go toe-to-toe, as all “friendly” totalitarian regimes inevitably do, the Iranians might be more forward-thinking. One can easily envision the Russians throwing themselves into a meat-grinder conflict with surrounding Muslim states…and losing.

That would leave a powerful Turkish-Iranian bloc that would then turn its attention south.

Since we cannot find the war mentioned in Ezekiel 38,39 in past history, we must conclude it is yet future.

And that is where the Israelis come into play. The satanic Hezbollah terrorist group announced this week that Israel is trying to steal natural gas reserves from the Lebanese people.

Lebanon, once the jewel of the Middle East—its Western, Christian schools of Beirut hatched the cooperation between Lebanese Arabs and the West, beginning in the 19^th century—is held hostage by Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah.

In my opinion, it is too speculative to say that prized natural resources are the sole reason that “Gog” looks southward, for the conquest of Israel. The attackling coalition mentioned in Ezekiel already has vast natural resources and access to warm-weather ports (even Russia has access to the Mediterranean through the Black Sea).

What motivates Gog and Magog in the last days is a passionate, unhinged, satanic hatred of the Jewish state. Remember that the Muslim Arab countries (along with Egypt and Iran, neither of whom are Arab) have always considered Israel to be “a cancer” in the Arab body in the Middle East.

No, the Gog-Magog invasion is surely spurred primarily by hatred. Remember, too, the Lord Himself puts a hook in Gog’s jaw, to draw him. This is a relatively sudden decision on the part of Gog.

We also know from the relevant passages that Israel cleans up the site of battle for seven years; this is a very clear indication of a nuclear confrontation. Israel has faced existential threats before, and if faced with one serious enough, they would use their own nukes, which they don’t officially acknowledge having.

George W. Bush considered using so-called “battlefield nukes” against Iraq in 2003—hinting they would be used if the Iraqis were foolish enough to use chemical and biological weapons against American troops.

One could easily see the Israelis making the same call, if faced with an overwhelming attacking coalition army.

Which is exactly what Ezekiel describes.

jim@prophecymatters.com

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Jul 26, 2010

The Persian Chuckie

I have resolved, for the remainder of his time in office, to refer to Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as “Chuckie,” after the psycho doll from those atrocious horror movies.

The doll came to life to murder and torment people, and of course he seemed indestructible. That was part of the fun of the Chuckie movies.

Ahmadineja…ahem, Chuckie, is neither fun nor fictional.

As president of Iran, he bears no resemblance to the ancient Cyrus, who, history records on a stone cylinder, fulfilled biblical prophecy (see Isaiah 44,45) by allowing the exiled Jews to return home and rebuild the holy city of Jerusalem.

Chuckie, on the other hand, is opposite in character. The 53-year-old former teacher and mayor of Tehran is an apocalyptic firebrand who has vowed to destroy the Jewish state.

No doubt, Israel has handled such types before, but never one who had such nuclear ambitions. In the one known instance of a dictator scrambling to obtain nukes and then point them westward to Israel—Saddam Hussein—the Israelis bombed Osirik back to the seventh century.

Iran looms as a more complex threat, simply because technologies have advanced, and one assumes the Arabs (keep in mind, however, that Iranians aren’t Arabs, but are of course Muslim kin) do learn a lesson or two every once in awhile and won’t allow their nuclear facilities to be above-ground and ripe for spotting from the air.

Since George W. Bush failed to solve the problem, and Barack Obama is contributing to it by his groveling before Muslim warlords, we can be certain that this is another problem the Israelis will have to handle for themselves.

As we look ahead with trepidation, toward what Israel might be facing as it seeks to block Iran from obtaining nukes, there is an interesting clue about Chuckie that we might find helpful, or at least comforting.

At first glance, Chuckie is a very smart man. Upon applying for the university in 1976, he placed 132^nd out of 400,000 tested entrants (keep in mind that totalitarian regimes are notorious for inflating or even creating almost mythic achievements for their Dear Leaders, so Chuckie’s official history might be as reliable as a columnist for the New York Times).

However, his meddling in Iranian domestic affairs follows the same script as history’s other brutal dictators, who have, to a man, run their nations into the ground economically and socially. Chuckie’s dumb gas rationing plan, not to mention his interference in the interest rates private and public bankers could charge make it obvious that Iran’s internal collapse is already set in motion.

You see, I believe that what in the end will be Chuckie’s downfall as he tries to rid the world of Israel is the arrogance of a guy who doesn’t see his own weaknesses. This hubris is the hallmark of society killing dictators., from time immemorial.

A “leader” who would enact dumb business-sector reforms has blinders on. This is similar to Hitler mucking-about in battlefield strategies that should have been left to his generals. In the end, their most grandiose plans lay in wreckage.

While Chuckie is busy regulating interest rates, he will also become more emboldened in the face of limp-wristed sanctions imposed on the Iranian people. This will take him to the brink with Israel and—you read it here first—the eternal Jewish people will deal him a knockout blow from which he will never recover.

Netanyahu, who lost a brother at Entebbe, and who was himself wounded in battle, and who has stood at the graves not only of recent fallen IDF troops and those Jews murdered at Auschwitz…there’s no way he will fail to act when it comes to the latest Persian attempt at Jew extermination.

Germany’s Angela Merkel just announced that Iran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is not progressing. No kidding.

Israel’s outgoing ambassador to the UN, Gabriella Shalev, has stated that she believes even above the Iranian threat, Israel faces a great challenge: efforts by the international community to isolate and criticize the Jewish state.

“Israel is the most isolated country in the world,” she said last week.

The two go hand-in-hand, however: Chuckie’s apocalyptic efforts and the hatred of the international community toward Israel.

It is thought that Iran’s nuclear facilities are scattered around the country, and hidden deep underground. No doubt this is true. And further, there is no doubt that Zechariah’s scenarios are coming into play, into sharp focus.

Yet we err if we fail to see that, just as the Lord has fought for His people time and again over millennia, He and they will emerge victorious again.

Sixty years ago, the failed attempts of the German corporal—who thought he knew better than his military planners—brought him to suicide in a bunker as his enemies literally ran over him from above.

The same fate awaits the killer dwarf from Tehran.

The Persians are going down again.

jim@prophecymatters.com

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Jul 19, 2010

Flashpoint

Our launch event for the apologetics program Flashpoint 2012 (www.flashpoint2012.com) was a major success, thanks in large part to friends like Todd and Terry with RR. Having Mark Hitchcock speak, along with Dr. Thomas Sharp of Creation Truth Foundation, was spectacular. Both these men have a heart for people and boldness in their speaking that is too rare in our day.

Mark’s talk on the 2012 phenomenon, highlighted in his terrific book, 2012, the Bible, and the End of the World, was itself phenomenal.

I spoke on a topic based on our new Balfour Books title, The Palestinian Right to Israel. There isn’t one, of course, but the point I was making is that perhaps the chief issue in our world hurtling us all to an apocalyptic conclusion is the Palestinian-Israeli crisis. It is a crisis, and more specifically, a true flashpoint for the sequence of end-times events to unfold.

An important historical point that many are not aware of is that the Palestinian Arabs of a half-century ago were almost as radicalized as they are today (thanks to the satanic efforts of the Egyptian-born Yasser Arafat).

During World War II, while Hitler was fighting on multiple fronts and monitoring 1,000 things a day, he found the time to engage with Haj Amin al-Husseini, the grand mufti of Jerusalem. Husseini, an Arab possessed (pun intended) with a blind hatred of the Jews, traveled to Berlin for high-level meetings with Hitler and other Nazi bigwigs planning the Final Solution to the Jewish question.

Husseini’s offer to help organize Muslim brigades in the German Army was met with enthusiasm by Hitler, whose weird obsession with the “racially pure” Aryans led him to believe that Husseini, who possessed from fair-skinned features of the “Master Race,” was in fact connected to Aryan stock in some way. One wonders how in the world such a collection of weirdos, political hacks, and social nerds brought the world to the brink.

Today, the Palestinians are still stuck in a primitive, tribal mindset in which they believe that territory conquered under the banner of Islam is Allah’s permanent possession. There is considerable debate over the question of whether Muslim terrorists are driven more by Marxist ideology—in other words, political Islam—or whether they are driven by a mystical, religious fervor still swirling in the sands of seventh century Arabia. Is this a war of religion or naked totalitarianism?

Surely one of the most successful Arab strategies involves the decades-long emphasis on repetitive nothingness. What I mean by that is, they resolve to negotiate a final peace deal with the Israelis and this causes Socialist Europe and the leftist West to giggle with childish delight.

Then the rug is pulled out when the Arabs refuse a final peace deal based on a seemingly small point, such as a single-digit percent of land swap in Judea-Samaria. Politically skilled folks like Bill Clinton have been flummoxed by this Palestinian rope-a-dope strategy for years, believing the latter are genuine peace partners to begin with. They are not.

This week, Egypt’s foreign minister expressed pessimism concerning the meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu and Hosni Mubarak (by the way, have you noticed that no Muslim leader will deign to visit Jerusalem? Anwar Sadat got shot full of holes for his single visit 33 years ago).

It was felt that the basis for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians lacked the necessary commitment. What this means of course, is that the Jews are once again being obstinate and not giving the Palestinians what they need for a state. Even Clinton—no real friend of Israel despite his cornpone, grinning demeanor with pliable Israeli leaders like Ehud Barak, who was prepared to give Arafat 95 percent of his official demands—understood quite clearly what the wily Arafat was up to. He had no intention of making peace with the Jewish state.

I can tell you that the participation of U.S. special envoy George Mitchell in the talks between Mubarak, Netanyahu, and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has the odd feel of a complete, but dangerous waste of time. Mitchell, the former senator from Maine, is hardly a friend of Israel.

Each of us is shaped by our background. Mitchell, whose mother was a Lebanese immigrant, and whose father was adopted by a Lebanese family, is a Maronite Catholic and considered to be a prominent Arab-American. He also worked in counter-intelligence in the U.S. Army, so I suspect his toothy grin masks a bit more sinister core that serves him well in his “mediation” between Arabs and Israelis.

Do you think in his heart of hearts that he has Israel’s best interests on the table?

I don’t.

Israel has so many obstacles in front of her regarding co-existing with the Palestinian Arabs that one wonders how the breath-taking array of forces can be defeated. For insight into that, read the Bible, particularly Psalm 83, Zechariah, and Isaiah and Jeremiah.

The next few months will be fascinating to watch unfold, as Netanyahu juggles the Iranian threat and their psychotic dwarf, against the constant Palestinian crisis.

As I said in my presentation Saturday, the Arabs are relentless in their pursuit of a Jew-free Middle East.

This one issue presents the single greatest flashpoint in our world today.

jim@prophecymatters.com

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Jul 12, 2010 

(Join Jim and fellow speakers G. Thomas Sharp and Mark Hitchcock during a free webcast, Saturday, July 17. Promoting their “Flashpoint 2012” theme, Prophecy Matters has joined with Icon Publishing Group to develop a dynamic new seminar program that will feature a bevy of great authors in an upcoming book release, Flashpoint 2012. Todd and Terry of RaptureReady will be featured prominently in this exciting new book! Simply go to www.flashpoint2012.com and register for this free event!) 

Peril at Sea

Israel today is in peril as never before: diplomatically, militarily, politically, culturally…just about any “ly” you’d care to name.

That’s in human terms, you understand. I adamantly reject the notion that Israel can be or will be destroyed. Idiots like the one that runs Iran have come and gone for thousands of years, and Israel is here. This one single factor is the biggest faith-builder I can list.

Still, until the day of the Lord sweeps in on us like manna from heaven, we live in this world, the one in which daily dangers have to be faced, and faced-down.

It was reported this week that Lybia will send a “blockade-busting” vessel into the Mediterranean, in order to confront the Israelis, who are attempting to keep more weapons out of the hands of Gaza terrorists. An organization headed by Gaddafi’s son will send the ship. One suspects Benjamin Netanyahu will react as he has for the past month: with steely resolve.

I find it quite interesting that another front in the battle against Israel has been opened up on the waves of the sea. With terrorists attempting to infiltrate from the south, via “humanitarian” ships, and news of Israel’s discovery of huge natural gas reserves further north, one can “see” that even this heretofore benign border—the only safe one Israel has experienced—is now becoming problematic.

Obviously, Israeli ships and subs patrol the waters, but what happens if a Russian contingent ventures too far inland? Or another Arab country? Truly, then, Israel will be surrounded.

Israel has now discovered that all but one of the injured “humanitarian” workers who were injured during an altercation with IDF troops aboard the Mavi Marmara last month are Turkish nationals aligned with various shady groups.

Members of the IHH (Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief—Insani Yardim Vakfi) are aligned with Hamas and the Union of the Good, an Islamic group linked to the diabolical Muslim Brotherhood. This information comes from the Israeli NGO The Intelligence and Information Center. No doubt, leftists in America and Europe will dismiss these findings as they peddle their anti-Israel narrative.

However, a Danish institute also has reported that IHH maintained ties to Al Qaida and other “global jihad networks” in the 90s.

This blockade fiasco will continue for awhile, and Israel will suffer for it. How preterists and others who minimize Israel in prophecy cannot see that the stage is being set for Zechariah’s prophecies to be fulfilled—Israel alone facing a global onslaught—is beyond me.

I do have an issue with prophecy teachers who fit future events into too-neat current events packages. From what I hear in other Christian circles, this is one of the chief reasons Bible prophecy doesn’t get a hearing in some denominations. However, they are also guilty of throwing the baby out with the bath water. Clearly, something major is on the horizon; Israel cannot simply keep “playing for time,” as an Israeli journalist wrote last week.

Something has to give.

In recent weeks, Hillary Clinton’s true views of Israel have come out, as the secretary of state has condemned Israel building in “disputed” territories, including Jerusalem. Turkey’s Erdogan has become a menacing figure, placing his country on the brink of anti-Israel fervor. Obama is and will remain hostile to the Jewish state. My friends in Europe report that England and other countries are baring their fangs at Jews.

And the U.N. continues its anti-Israel activity (for a mind-boggling look at this situation, check out Alex Grobman’s book, Nations United).

My friend Mark Hitchcock will have more to say about these developments on July 17, during a webcast of our conference, Flashpoint2012. Our aim is to provide you with information that will enable you not only to pray for Israel, but to prepare yourselves and your families spiritually (and perhaps physically) for what is to come.

With even Israel’s water border now becoming threatened, it is “safe” to say that prophecy is becoming potent.

jim@prophecymatters.com

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Jul 5, 2010

Selling-out Israel

(Join Jim and fellow speakers G. Thomas Sharp and Mark Hitchcock during a free webcast, Saturday, July 17. Promoting their “Flashpoint 2012” theme, Prophecy Matters has joined with Icon Publishing Group to develop a dynamic new seminar program that will feature a bevy of great authors in an upcoming book release, Flashpoint 2012. Todd and Terry of RaptureReady will be featured prominently in this exciting new book! Simply go to www.flashpoint2012.com and register for this free event!)

I just returned — thankfully — from the International Christian Retail Show in St. Louis. An event sponsored by the Christian Booksellers’ Association, ICRS is the big international selling show for publishers and various other vendors.

This has relevance for Israel.

In a week in which the duplicitous Mahmoud Abbas, “leader” of the Palestinians, pledged to “give” the Western Wall and Jewish Quarter to Israel in a settlement deal, and the Presbyterians trotted-out the “Divest from Israel” campaign again, we see that the Jewish state is indeed being squeezed from all sides.

A little-reported fact is that this is happening in the Christian world in America, as well.

As Icon Publishing Group, we attended ICRS to promote our pro Israel Balfour Books line. An associate ventured over to the international buyers’ section and inquired about the possibility of foreign accounts being interested in our books. As soon as he explained who we are, the woman he was speaking too stiffened noticeably. When she said their organization wouldn’t be interested in carrying our titles, he asked about others she might know.

“I can’t think of a single group.” That was the nicest thing she said and with that, she turned her back.

Elsewhere on the floor, I noticed titles by authors who are hostile to Israel (although, of course, they’d deny this). One such author is Brian McLaren, promoted by Zondervan.

Another publisher had prominently displayed a large banner touting the scholarly classics of Karl Barth. The German theologian, among other things, promoted what he called a “true myth” reading of the Old Testament. This absurd premise (what is true myth?) was but one of many attacks on the credibility of the Bible, and it is unconscionable that CBA would be party to this kind of material.

Additionally, there was a dearth of good Bible prophecy material on the show floor, a trend that has been steadily developing for the past decade. At Icon Publishing Group, we are going the other way, and wish to promote prophecy teaching as widely as possible.

One of the exceptions is the terrific Mark Hitchcock, a major author for Harvest House. Mark is one of the very best spokesmen for Bible prophecy; kudos to HH for publishing him.

The fallout for Israel is that fewer and fewer customers in Christian bookstores have access to the great hope that is predictive prophecy.

Amazingly, in a time in which Israel’s very existence is a massive display of God’s power and majesty, Christian publishers are quite willing to sell-out Israel, either through indifference, or outright opposition in the form of books and dvds. Particularly, the Palestinians are making inroads into American evangelical circles with their propaganda, and Israel is suffering for it.

Sure, publishing giant Simon & Schuster, with its Christian Howard Books imprint, will publish John Hagee, but they are doing that only for money, not ideology.

As we “watch” Israel in these last days, it is important to realize that very sharp dividing lines are separating us from other Christian groups. If we can’t find good, pro Israel material in Christian stores anymore, we have to look elsewhere.

Israel can benefit from our networking and zeal. For the record, as it is beginning to become unpopular to do so, I support national Israel.

Would that my friends in Christian publishing would do the same.

jim@prophecymatters.com

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Jun 28, 2010

Living in the Land of Israel

In the recent aftermath of the destruction of two Jewish homes in the forest near Bat Ayin — the destructions were carried out by Israeli security forces! — we are confronted with an interesting, compelling issue.

The homes were built in memory of musician Erez Levanon, a father of three, who was stabbed to death by Palestinians as he prayed, in 2007. Those who settled there refer to the area as Mitzpe Erez.

In a statement released to the media, the families made this point: “Our settling Mitzpe Erez is the one and real answer to all those who try to paralyze and silence us – whether it is the external enemy or the government, especially at a time of the ‘freeze,’ whose meaning is the destruction of the settlement enterprise and is very dangerous for the future of the Jewish people.”

Now, these families will be called “fringe” by the international community, ranging from politicians to the International Solidarity Movement. Yet the families are following the biblical injunction to settle the Land of Israel, in the last days.

As Isaiah said, truly these are the days in which evil is good and good is evil. Palestinians butcher a praying Jew and the homes erected in his memory are torn down.

As time goes on, more and more people will have a problem with Jews living in that land.

In late 19^th century, when Jews began to return and settle the land, they bought tracts of that land. Then as now, they suffered violence at the hands of Arab neighbors. In fact, the forerunner of the Israel Defense Forces, pre-Haganah, was the group known as “Hashomer” (“Watchers”). This defense group protected the settlements.

Arab harassment continued through the years, up to the Six Day War, and beyond. One of the things the international community conveniently forgets is that Israel did not settle the “West Bank” en masse until the 1970s; in fact, a decade passed after Israel’s lightning victory in 1967 before large numbers of Israelis settled the land.

Ironically — or perhaps not — new waves of violence followed immediately after the Madrid Conference of 1991, which led to the disastrous Oslo Accords. The Palestinians have simply never accepted a Jewish presence in their midst. “Muslim land” that became Jewish land is something that doesn’t compute in Islam, which demands that all territory conquered in Allah’s name remain “Dar-al-Islam.”

What most people don’t know is that despite the widespread belief that the Jews have systematically stolen Arab land, that isn’t true.

What became known as the “first all-Jewish city,” Tel Aviv, was built on land bought from the Turks. Just north of Jaffa, Tel Aviv (Hebrew for “Hill of the Spring”). Within a few years, 2,000 Jews were living in Tel Aviv.

Today of course, more than six million Jews live in Israel. If their leadership does not continue with the fundamental right of Jews to settle the land of their forefathers, they, the Palestinians, and the hostile international community will answer to a Final Authority.

jim@prophecymatters.com

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Jun 21, 2010

Drunk with Bias

A fellow took exception last week to a column I’d written for WorldNetDaily, in which I pointed out the obvious: international media are biased against Israel.

“What have you been drinking?” he spat in an email.

This type of response reminds me that we are living in bizarre times. The level of deception/disinformation/misinformation is breathtaking, as my friend Joe Chambers would say.

Media bias against the Jewish state is clearly a reality, and a menacing one at that. The late, great David Lewis used to refer to this as the “attack of the Media-ites.” David could always turn a phrase, and make a great point doing it. He had observed media bias at least since the days following the Six Day War.

When Menachem Begin became Israeli premier in 1977, sweeping the Likud Party to power, Time magazine ran a profile on him. In order to help readers with the pronunciation of Begin’s name, the writer stated that the Jewish leader’s last name “rhymes with Fagin,” a malevolent reference to the Jewish stereotype immortalized by Charles Dickens.

That happened 33 years ago and I still marvel at the brazenness of that writer, who would have felt at home in 15^th century Spain, or 1935 Germany. The reference in Time was outrageous; why didn’t the writer say, “rhymes with Reagan”? Surely the presidential candidate and actor was more well-known than the Oliver Twist character of the 19^th century.

Why did the Time writer refer to Begin that way? Because he/she was an anti-Semite, pure and simple.

In this weird age in which we live, Bible believers are confronted with a whole host of challenges, on a daily basis. A relatively new one is defending obvious truths. Next week, I’ll detail my June 19^th debate with Gary DeMar, as we discuss the question, “Is modern Israel a fulfillment of Bible prophecy?” There was a time when one might as well have debated, “Is the sky blue?”

Now, when there is overwhelming, crushing evidence that media are biased against Israel, we are confronted with people who say, “No, they aren’t.”

Do you see? This confrontation with truth is insidious, since it causes too many people to become confused with competing views. This is but one front in the war against Israel.

One has only to look at the UN Security Council to know that we live in an upside-down world. On this absurd council, grotesque dictatorships like Syria sit like smiling jackals, gleeful that Israel is barred from the Security Council!

The recent flap over the anti-Jew rant by Helen Goebbels Thomas is the tip of the iceberg. Legions of reporters the world over do not like Jews or the Jewish state; most are too smart to let their hubris show, as the mendacious Thomas did. These media types share their bias with political leaders, entertainment figures, and business icons. In other words, the infamous and false “Jewish conspiracy to control the world” is in fact the exact opposite: there are forces of evil so powerful in our world today, one realizes that without the Lord’s intervention, Israel would be long gone. Thankfully, He has vowed to preserve them for all time.

Then there are the lies of omission, in which the media purposely fails to report rich context in stories such as the flotilla raid. What do you think the odds are that NBC’s Brian Williams, or any NPR reporter would tell you about Melkite Bishop Hilarion Capucci, Not only was the “good” bishop part of the “humanitarian” convoy bound for Gaza, he presented his cockeyed worldview to Reuters:

"Our trip to Gaza was a trip of love and God was with us. Israel by its actions had rightly drawn world outrage over its brutality against unarmed people carrying a message of love to an innocent occupied people under siege," Capucci said.

In case you were wondering, yes, the world is insane.

Further, the “good” bishop Capucci was caught in 1975 helping smuggle arms from Lebanon into Judea and Samaria. He has meddled in plenty of anti-Israel activity ever since.

One of the many lies told about Israel regularly involves accusing the Israelis of denying humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza. A favorite is an obvious one: medicine doesn’t reach children.

This is a bald-faced lie, as Israel regularly in fact ensures that such shipments arrive. However, one of the founders of the International Solidarity Movement, Huwaida Arraf has told the BBC that Israel denied aid to needy Gazans. Read Andrea Levin’s report for the truth (www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=3&x_outlet=12&x_article=1871).

The BBC routinely airs such “interviews”; the British rarely turn down an opportunity to bash the Jews.

Across the pond, the pattern of anti-Israel bias is just as odious. The seemingly affable Tom Brokaw put this on display during an interview with Barack Obama at the Buchenwald death camp, June 5, 2009. Brokaw asked the following:

“What can the Israelis learn from your visit to Buchenwald and what should they be thinking about their treatment of Palestinians?”

To Obama’s credit, he provided a superb and piercing answer:

“Well, look there’s no equivalency here. The Holocaust is sui generis and I would not presume to ever try to suggest to Jews how to think about the Holocaust.”

(It’s too bad Obama otherwise reveals his dislike of the Jewish state.)

Brokaw’s question was outrageous, deeply revealing, and disturbing.

And if you think erstwhile conservative venues are much better, think again. During a March 26, 2010 appearance on “Fox and Friends,” Geraldo Rivera ranted about Israel’s alleged foot-dragging during the peace process:

“I don't think Bibi Netanyahu has any intention of making a two state solution peace with the Palestinians. I think he has no intention of ever yielding east Jerusalem. I know it's very difficult for my fellow Zionists and lovers of Israel to get our arms around what is a clear cut agenda. I think what has been revealed by this snub of Joe Biden when he went over there is far more profound than people credit. I think that what has been revealed is the policy of the Netanyahu government never to make peace with the Palestinians based on a two-state solution, never to give up Jerusalem, never, ever ever and, you know, for them to go through the machinations or continue to point to the Iranian threat as their priority is just to divert attention from the fact that there will never be under a Netanyahu or a Likud government any kind of a two state ---“

This kind of idiocy passes for journalism today.

The thing is, though, these and other facts can be presented to people such as the fellow who emailed me last week…and it won’t matter. The sad truth is, many, many people in our world today do not like Jews.

It’s enough to drive one to drink.

jim@prophecymatters.com

 

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