Archive for June, 2010

You Know It’s The Last Days When…

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

The Rabbinical Council of Judea and Samaria said that the current situation “place us at the beginning of the Gog and Magog process where the world is against us, but which ends with the third and final redemption.”

This is a shocking statement, coming from Jewish scholars.  The War of Gog and Magog is described in Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39.  These chapters follow the amazing prophecy of the rebirth of the nation of Israel in chapters 36 and 37.

 Israel was reborn, just as Ezekiel predicted in 1948.

Many Bible students equate the War of Gog and Magog with the Battle of Armageddon, but we think it is most likely the same as the war of the Second Seal in Revelation 6:3-4.

 This is the great war at the beginning of the Tribulation, while the Battle of Armageddon takes place at the end of the Tribulation.

  The Tribulation is the prophetic period of time predicted by Daniel as the last seven years of Israel’s history.

 It takes place just before Messiah returns to begin the peaceful Millennium (Daniel 9:24-27; Ezekiel chapters 40 through 48). 

The Rabbinical Council is referring to the universal outrage against Israel because of the armed struggle that resulted when they stopped a supposed relief flotilla that was actually a ship-load of terrorists. The event caused a major realignment in the Middle East, with Turkey, recently a close ally of Israel and the U.S., but now siding with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Let us remember Jesus’ words in Luke 21:28:

“When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Posted in Gog and Magog, Israel | 15 Comments »

We Were There!

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

DomeofRockOur tour group enjoyed a thorough pilgrimage of the Holy Land during the last two weeks. The greatest thing about the trip was actually being where Jesus walked, and taught. We could imagine Him teaching the crowds on the shores of the Galilee, or being on a boat with Him there. We pictured His ministry in Jerusalem while we stood on the Temple Steps. And we visited the empty Garden Tomb and saw the Place of the Skull where He was sacrificed for our sins!

But we were also there at a time that reminds us that the prophecies of the last days are being fulfilled. While we listened to our guide at Bethsaida, we could hear the distant explosions of a full-scale military drill involving all the officials of the country and the children in school. Air-raid preparations were practiced and gas masks were passed out in the cities.

Another day we were on the same cable car taking tourists to the top of Masada with President Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. This reminded us of the fragile peace process that was going on at the time and of the deteriorating relationship between Israel and the U.S.

And then, on our last full day in Israel, we visited the Temple Mount. We saw the Islamic holy sites built there where the Jewish Temple once stood, and understood the importance of this most valuable piece of real estate in the world. Within minutes of our visit, while we were still on a walking tour of the Old City of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount was suddenly closed to visitors because of the conflict between Israel and a flotilla of ships bringing aid (and hundreds of activists) to Gaza!

Yes, we were there, and the past came alive for us. And we were there as the ancient prophecies continued to unfold!

Posted in Israel, Middle East War | No Comments »