PROPHETIC SIGNIFICANCE:
The nation and the land of Israel are the subject of many Old Testament prophecies. Many of them relate to God's plans for the nation, warnings
of judgment because of their disobedience, and restoration after they were conquered by the Assyrians and the Babylonians.
There are also comforting prophecies about Israel's distant future, and especially their role in the future righteous kingdom that will be
established by the Messiah.
In our lifetime we have witnessed one of the most amazing fulfillments - the promise of Ezekiel chapters 36 and 37 that the chosen people will
be brought back from all over the Earth and re-born as a nation. This, of course, was fulfilled in 1948 when, against all odds, Israel declared
independence, and with God's help, has been able to fight off enemies on all sides for over 65 years.
The current wave of violence between Israel and the Palestinians could die out and become one of many such cycles in the area, or it could lead to
more serious war, such as the one predicted in Psalm 83. The outcome of this war could be a most welcome peace agreement.
Such a peace agreement might be just another phase in the age-old struggle between the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael, or it could be the false peace
mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 5:3. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman,
and they will not escape. (NIV)
When Israel finally is at peace, it will be the first time since they became a nation in 1948 that they have enjoyed such security. This could cause them to
lower their guard, which would set the scene for The War of Gog and Magog predicted in Ezekiel 38 and 39. This war will most likely correspond to the 2nd Seal
of Revelation 6.
The dramatic end of this great war of the 2nd Seal could produce the treaty predicted in Daniel 9:27, which many prophecy scholars identify as the
beginning of the seven-year Tribulation period.
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Names translated from other languages may have different spelling, depending on the source. For example Hizbollah may be translated
"Hezbollah," "Hizballah," etc.
Kerry tried to explain both last week's failure to veto a UN Security Council resolution and eight years of failed Obama policy. His central
argument was that the two-state solution is essential, is possible, and is being destroyed by Israeli settlements.
Obama’s Parting Betrayal of Israel - John Bolton - Far better to essay a “three-state solution,” returning Gaza to Egypt and giving
those parts of the West Bank that Israel is prepared to cede to Jordan. - Wall Street Journal
Official quoted as saying Netanyahu requested delay in vote – which pertains to both Jewish and Palestinian homes – due to fears of further straining U.S. ties.
Dec. 23, 2016 - The United Nations voted to condemn Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. The U.S. could have
vetoed the action, but instead, exercised a "shameful" abstention.
Failure by the U.S. to veto the measure was seen as a double-cross of America's key Middle Eastern ally, and attributed directly
to outgoing President Barack Obama, who has had chilly relations with Israel throughout his eight-year tenure.
Update Dec. 26, 2012
Netanyahu summons US ambassador to protest UN vote -
“We have rather ironclad information from sources in both the Arab world and internationally that this was a deliberate push by the United States and in fact they helped create the resolution in the first place.” - Fox
Dec. 13, 2016 - Yesterday Israel became the first country after the US to receive long-range stealth jets. U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter
participated in a celebration of the event.
Carter appreciated that Israel, which began by flying "leftover World War II aircraft," would now be flying the advanced F-35.
... He lauded Israel as being the first US ally in the region to receive the stealth fighter.
Dec. 8, 2016 - According to Syrian state media, an Israeli missile strike targeted a military airport on the outskirts of Damascus. There is no official
response from Israel, but it is thought that the attack was intended to stop the shipment of weapons intended for Lebanon's Hezbollah movement.
Hezbollah, which fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006, has sent thousands of fighters to Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
Amidst increasing ISIS activity on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, Israeli soldiers stationed there reported that over the
weekend a literal pillar of cloud descended on the border.
A video shows that the bizarre storm completely engulfed the Syrian side of the border, but did not cross into Israeli territory. Many observers
called the event "divine intervention."
Irael will purchase 17 more advanced F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin, the Prime Minister’s Office said Sunday...
This brings the total number of F-35’s to be acquired to 50.
The additional fighter planes will cost Israel about $1.7 billion dollars.
Nov. 24, 2016 - In the wake of a two-month drought and strong winds, Haifa, Israel's third largest city, is severely affected by wildfires.
Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated. Fires have also broken out near Jerusalem and in the West Bank. Arson is expected.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu said,
"Every fire that was the result of arson or incitement to arson is terror in every way and we'll treat it as such...
Anyone who tries to burn parts of the state of Israel will be severely punished."
Nov. 16, 2016 - In a video address to the Jewish Federations of North America, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said:
“I very much hope President Obama will continue the policy he enunciated."
The Israeli prime minister was refering to a 2011 statement by Obama in which the president said that a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict was best left to the parties and not to outside actors.
Israel will prevent Iran from establishing a military presence in Syria, and will continue to intervene to stop Iran arming
Hezbollah and other Shiite militias there, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, on Thursday in Jerusalem.
Nov. 11, 2016 - President Trump has said that he is a “ lifelong supporter and true friend of Israel.”
He has promised to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and to stop seeing the two-state solution as the way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Oct. 29,, 2016 - Following last week's UNESCO (U.N. cultural agency) condemnation of Israel as “the Occupying Power,”
Charles Krauthammer explains that their resolution treats Israel's Temple Mount as an exclusively Muslim site with no connection
to the Jewish people and Jewish history. He also warns:
It is an insult not just to Judaism but to Christianity. It makes a mockery of the Gospels, which chronicle the story of a Galilean Jew
whose life and ministry unfolded throughout the Holy Land, most especially in Jerusalem and the Temple.
President Obama, in his final days as President, might unveil his own two-state solution that could lead the U.N. to deny the legitimacy
of the territory Israel came into possession of during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Defense minister says Hamas has spent over $500 million on arms; insists Israel doesn’t seek another war, would rebuild Strip once rockets, tunnels cease.
In a 24-6 vote, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on Thursday gave preliminary approval to a resolution
that denies Jewish ties to its most holy religious sites: the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.
Hamas: Neither Temple ever existed -
Senior Hamas official claims there is no proof Temples ever existed, no archaeological remnants have been found. - Israel National News
Oct. 11, 2016 - The Executive Board of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization will vote
this week on resolutions that ignore Jewish history involving Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and the Western Wall.
Israeli officials have given board members and international diplomats a brochure explaining Judaism's deep historical connections to those sites,
and acknowledging that they are also holy to Christians and Muslims. Carmel Shama-Hacohen, Israel's Ambassador to UNESCO summarizes:
“These facts and evidence will leave no doubt, and without undermining other connection of other religions to the holy places
in Jerusalem, of the deepest and longest Jewish presence in Jerusalem since ancient times.”
The IAF attacked a string of Hamas outposts in the eastern and southern areas of the strip, following earlier IDF artillery fire into
Gaza in retaliation for a rocket which landed in Sderot.
Sept. 29, 2016 - Former Israeli president and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Shimon Peres died Wednesday morning at the age of 93.
Some 80 heads of state, ministers and public figures will attend his funeral services.
Among those planning to attend the funeral at Mount Herzl cemetery are US President Barack Obama, US Secretary of State John Kerry, French President Francois Hollande...
In a private email exchange last year leaked this week by hackers, former Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed Israel's nuclear weapons
capability with a friend, saying the country has 200 warheads.
However, on Friday POwell said that he was referring to public estimates of Israel's nukes.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit confirmed that Israeli planes targeted three Hamas terror infrastructure sites in the Gaza Strip,
blaming the organization for launching a rocket at Israel, Jerusalem Post reports.
Israeli police are expanding their presence into East Jerusalem's Palestinian neighborhoods to extend a lull in attacks on Israelis by young residents that began last fall.
Syrian opposition figures said Israeli warplanes struck targets belonging to the Shiite terror group Hezbollah in the Qalamoun Mountains
along the Syria-Lebanon border, on Wednesday, according to Hebrew news sites citing Arab media.
At this time, neither Israeli nor Hezbollah officials have acknowledged the attack.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Sunday that Israel’s actions against Palestinians does not constitute terrorism,
eliciting an angry response from a Hamas spokesman who said Egypt’s top diplomat is blind.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Israel, Islam and the West
You can attend a two-day event featuring Jack Hibbs, Amir Tsarfati and Erick Stakelbeck Today and tomorrow at Calvary Chapel of Chino Hills.
“There were six attacks in July, according to the IDF, a drastic fall from the 70 seen last October. Since the current wave of terrorism began,
41 Israelis and foreigners and about 250 Palestinians have died.”
Aug. 1, 2016 - Last week the Israeli military conducted drills along the Syrian and Lebanese borders. Israel is planning for trouble
the “day after” an agreement is reached in Syria between the Assad regime and rebel forces.
The IDF is taking into account that after the two warring sides in Syria achieve understandings, jihadists will turn their attention to and aim
their fire at the Israeli border.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has embedded itself into Lebanon, trained highly skilled fighters and amassed thousands of weapons
directed at Israel’s civilian population, in anticipation of a third Lebanon-Israel war.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Hossein Salami boasted that they plan to wipe out Israel, usiing some 100,000
missiles many of which are already in the homes of civilians in South Lebanon.
The Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry’s visit to Israel Sunday, July 10 and the two conversations he held with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ...
underscored the intensified ties between the two governments and their leaders.
July 3, 2016 - The threat of a new war is looming between Israel and Lebanon, which is supported by Iran.
Iran's deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Brig.-Gen. Hossein Salami, declared,
“Today, the grounds for the annihilation and collapse of the Zionist regime are [present] more than ever... “Tens of thousands of destructive
long-range missiles” from Islamic territories aiming at all of “occupied” Israel.
An implied additional threat was made by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. He claimed that last year’s nuclear deal with world powers
“was the cheapest way to achieve Iran’s goals and interests.”
According to another Iranian official, recent wars with Israel have revealed vulnerabilities in Israel's Iron Dome anti-rocket system.
Jun. 17, 2016 - According to Amos Gilad, Director of Israel's Political-Military Affairs Department, Iran has the potential to
become an existential threat to Israel. He said that even though Iran has said they will delay their nuclear development for ten years,
"The infrastructure is there and there is a debate whether the regime has become more moderate or not. I tend to think that it hasn’t, so long as Khamenei is the [spiritual] leader.”
Jun. 9, 2016 - Following the Palestinian shooting ambush of four Israelis, the nation's military authorities
deployed more troops to the West Bank and froze 83,000 permits allowing Palestinians to enter the country.
The permits had been issued as a goodwill gesture to allow greater freedom of movement for Palestinians over the Muslim fasting month of
Ramadan, which started Monday.
Israeli Prime Minister meets with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to celebrate 25 years of diplomatic relations; They were expected
to discuss Syria, regional issues, joint cooperation.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reiterated his call for a peace deal on Sunday during a Jerusalem Day ceremony ...
even as he said he would not agree to redivide Jerusalem as it was until the 1967 Six Day War.
He said that he wants to renew the diplomatic process to achieve peace, but that it must come as a "direct negotiation between us and our neighbors,"
and that such a peace must include recognition that Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people.
June 2, 2016 - Columnist Michael Freund reminds his Israeli countrymen that, "Winning the Six Day War was
a miraculous first step in liberating eastern Jerusalem and restoring it to Jewish control." But the spirit of the '67
war is dying out. God gave Israel that victory, but, he adds, "If Israel does not rise to the occasion, we are in
danger of allowing the dream of generations to slowly and deliberately slip away.
