January - 2001

January 3, 2001

The Last Jihad, a Moslem invasion of Israel is prophesied in Ezekiel 38 & 39. It is a three pronged invasion from the North, South, and East. The Eastern Moslems are identified as Persia which are the modern nations of Iran and Iraq. Here is the latest news on what is going on in Persia.

Iraq

Last month, Saddam attended a parade in Baghdad by nearly two million Iraqis volunteering to fight with the Palestinians against the Israeli army. That parade capped a month-long training campaign called by Saddam "for volunteers willing to launch Jihad (holy war) to liberate Palestine." Saddam said that 6,607,306 Iraqis including 2,051,791 women had volunteered.

Saddam said in October that Iraq was ready to "put an end to Zionism" if Arab rulers did not move to defend the Palestinians against Israel. In addition, Saddam has given $10,000 to the family of each "martyr" in the Palestinian uprising, including the families of the 13 Israeli Arabs killed by Israeli forces in the Rosh Hashana riots in early October. Saddam remains a highly popular figure in Palestinian areas, with demonstrators at funerals for martyrs in Judea/Samaria and Gaza regularly holding up Iraqi flags and posters of the Baghdad despot.

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Iran

IRAN UTTERS PECULIAR WARNING TO ISRAEL

Adopting unusual language, Iran has issued a warning that if Israel were to attack Syria or Lebanon in reaction to Hizb'Allah cross-border actions, Tehran would retaliate in an "astounding and unexpected" way.

Those were the words of Iran's defense minister, Rear Adm. Ali Shamkhani, quoted in an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper AL-WATAN on Saturday.Shamkhani said Iran would not leave its "strategic ally Syria" or Lebanon
to face Israeli attacks alone.

"This is very normal and our response would be astounding and unexpected," he told the Arabic daily. According to the report, Shamkhani did not say what form the retaliation might take, but added that "not all what is known could be said, and not all what is said is reported."

American and Israeli intelligence sources have followed closely Iran's development of medium-range ballistic missiles, including the Shahab-3, which has a reported range of 810 miles that is capable of reaching Israel. The US condemned a July test of the missile. A longer range version under development is believed capable of reaching much of Europe.

In addition, Israeli security sources have seen growing evidence that Iran and Hizb'Allah are funneling weapons and bomb-making know-how and tactics into Palestinian areas to be used in the renewed intifada. The increased Palestinian use of roadside bombs and multiple bombs exploded in sequence - trademark devices employed by Hizb'Allah against the IDF in south Lebanon - indicate that Palestinian terrorists have been trained and supplied by the radical Islamic Shi-ite militia. There also are efforts underway by Hizb'Allah to arm and train radical elements in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon as part of a plan to open a new northern front in the uprising.

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Ezek 38:4-5
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:

5 Persia, (the Eastern invaders) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
KJV

Ezek 38:8-9
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.
KJV

Ezek 38:22-23
22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.
KJV

Ezek 39:2-4
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:

3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.

4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
KJV

Ezek 39:13-14
13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.

14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
KJV

Ezek 39:17
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.
KJV

Ezek 39:21-23
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.

23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.
KJV

Ezek 39:25
25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;
KJV

Ezek 39:28-40:1
28 Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which cause them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.

29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

KJV

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Another interesting news item is the attitude of liberal Apostate Christianity. This is the Christianity that will continue after the rapture of all truly "born again" Christians (a very small group among the multitudes of professing Christians). These are the Christians who hate Israel. They side with the Moslems in their hatred for God's Chosen People. Their theology has replaced all future prophecy and blessings about Israel with themselves. How egotistical! They teach that through their good works they will bring in the next spiritual millennium? Hatred of Israel is an example of their kind of good works.

The leading Christian churches in Jerusalem have shifted their position and now favor Palestinian sovereignty in the city,
according to The New York Times. The past three months of violence have caused the churches to back Palestinian demands for sovereignty over Jerusalem's Old City and its Christian and Muslim holy sites, with the exception of the Jewish quarter and adjoining Western Wall plaza, which are expected to remain under Israeli control, the newspaper reported.

...Greek and Armenian Orthodox, Roman and Greek Catholics, Copts, Syriacs, Lutherans, and Anglicans all have called for Israeli withdrawal from territory occupied after the 1967 war. "Both peoples can then live peacefully side by side, each in their own sovereign state, without being a source of fear for the other," leaders of the major Jerusalem churches said in a joint
statement. They defended recent Palestinian street protests and criticized Israel's use of military force.

...The Arab Christian community in Israel is small but influential. There are about 50,000 Christians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and another 120,000 within the boundaries of Israel, mostly in the northern Galilee region, the newspaper reported.

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Zech 2:7-10
7 Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.

8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

9 For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me.

10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD.
KJV

Update - January 7, 2001

SADDAM HUSSEIN showed that his grip on power was as firm as ever yesterday. He marked Iraq's army day by making a defiant televised address to the nation and establishing a new command headquarters for a special military force to support the Palestine revolt against Israel if necessary, write Uzi Mahnaimi and Jon Swain.

The Hamorabi tank division of the elite Republican Guard has been moved from its permanent barracks to the new headquarters at Al-Rabtah, west of Baghdad, where it is on 24-hour standby.

The Iraqi headquarters and Saddam's promise to support the Palestinian uprising - reaffirmed in yesterday's speech - are being closely monitored by Israel. It is expected that heavy Iraqi armour would join Syria in any regional war against Israel. Ehud Barak, the Israeli prime minister, predicts that such a war will break out if the Palestinian question is not settled peacefully.

January 7, 2001

"The Palestinian plan for Jerusalem"

An Arab reporter for the Hebrew-language newspaper YERUSHALAYIM recently reviewed the plans of the Palestinian Authority should Israel cede control over east Jerusalem, which includes a plot to flood the city with Palestinian refugees.

Following is a translation of the article entitled "The Palestinian Authority Will Transfer Thousands of Refugees to East Jerusalem," by Khaled Abu-Toameh, whose family has close connections with the PA.

"It is hard these days to find people in East Jerusalem who support the idea of dividing the city afresh. Even representatives of the Palestinian Authority oppose a return to the situation that existed before the Six Day War. The Palestinians would prefer that the city remain open and without frontiers."

"Already with the rise to power of Ehud Barak, preparations began in the sovereignty over East Jerusalem. Senior figures in the Palestinian Authority knew even before the last elections that if Barak was elected prime minister he would give up the eastern part of the city. "We received promises from senior figures in the Labor Party that if they rose to power they would divide Jerusalem and grant us an independent state," says Hatem Abdul Kader, a representative of the "the Jerusalem district" in the Palestinian Legislative Council.

"The plans of the Palestinian Authority for East Jerusalem include, among other things:

1. Stationing between 2,500 and 4,000 Palestinian policemen and security personnel in all the Arab housing estates of Jerusalem, including the Old City and the central commercial area (Sallah Ad-Din, Sultan Suleiman, Az-Zahra and Wadi Joz). Also the headquarters of various security apparatuses of the Palestinian Authority will be transferred from Gaza and Ramallah to East Jerusalem.

2. Opening an office of Chairman Yasser Arafat located on the Temple Mount or in one of the buildings in the Muslim Quarter which overlook the mosques. Arafat wants to see from the window in his office the Al-Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. He likes to compare himself with the great Muslim fighter Sallah Ad-Din who liberated Jerusalem from the Crusaders,
and a picture of him against the background of the Temple mount will help him to create the image of one who continues the path of the Commander [of the Faithful]. In the PA, by the way, these days they are considering whether to confer upon Arafat the title "Fateh Al-Kuds" ("Liberator of Jerusalem") as a sign of esteem for his having liberated Jerusalem from the
hands of the Zionist occupiers.

3. The PA is planning to take over all the assets of the Muslim Waqf and state lands in East Jerusalem. The Muslim Waqf (which continues to be subordinate to the Jordanian government) has today thousands of houses and large plots of land in the Old City and in the surrounding Arab housing estates. Also Israel has lands that were partly expropriated for public needs.

4. Recently calls were heard in the PA to enable tens of thousands ofPalestinians, and chiefly refugees living in the refugee camps of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, to resettle in East Jerusalem. The aim: to create an Arab majority in East Jerusalem and to turn the "settlers" of French Hill, Ramat Eshkol, Pisgat Ze'ev, Gil and Armon HaNatziv into a minority.
In this way the Palestinians hope eventually to bring about the evacuation of the Jewish housing estates that were set up in the eastern part of the city after 1967. Only it is precisely the [Arab] residents of East Jerusalem who need to be worried about the flooding of their housing estates and villages with tens of thousands of [other] Arabs. The residents of Ramallah and Nablus have already had this bitter experience.

5. Palestinian security sources tell of a long list of residents of East Jerusalem who are suspected collaborators with Israel. According to those sources, most of the collaborators will be arrested immediately upon the entry of the Palestinian Police into Jerusalem. Up to now the informers enjoyed the rights of the blue [Israeli] identity card that they hold.

It would seem that it was the Palestinians whom Mosses lead from Egypt to the promised land? It would seem like the Philistines (whom the Palestinians claim as their heritage) defeated King David? It would seem Jerusalem remained a Jebusite city which the Palestinians also claim as their heritage? It would seem like Solomon never followed God's command to build Him a house? It would seem like the history of Israel and Judah never existed? It would seem like exiles Ezra and Nehemiah never left Babylon? It would seem that Joshua and Zerubbabel never built the Second Jewish Temple? It would seem like King Herod never remodeled the Second Temple? It would seem like Jesus Christ never had a Jewish Temple to identify with? It would seem like a Palestinian office is where Jesus Christ will return at His Second Coming?

It seems to me this Palestinian plan for Jerusalem and the Temple Mount is not Biblical!

Luke 2:21-24
21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;

23(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)

24 And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.
KJV

Luke 2:46-47
46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.

47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.
KJV

John 2:13-16
13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;

16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.
KJV

John 10:22-26
22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.

23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.

24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.

25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.

26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
KJV

Matt 21:12-13
12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,

13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
KJV

Matt 21:14-15
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.

15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,
KJV

Luke 19:47-48
47 And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,

48 And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.
KJV

Matt 24:1-2
24:1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.

2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
KJV

January 8, 2001

Divine Revelation of Dr. Jack Van Impe

Dr. Jack Van Impe claims divine revelation has been given him to make a rapture declaration in year 2011. Yes, it's true! Dr. Jack Van Impe has joined the kooks in prideful self-esteem declaring God actually talks to him. His prophecies that must come ex-cathedra, or something like that are now of same value as those of the Bible itself. Another pope or high profile Charismatic has decreed God's direct revelation to him. It is a rather distorted revelation in that he uses the years found in the first of three 14 generations found in Matthew to calculate a single generation as being some 50 or 51 point something years. He then goes to 1967 and the Six Day War to come up with 2018 from which he subtracts 7 years for the tribulation. It somehow all works out to 2011 or there about? His revelation was a little shaky, but he pompously revealed it last night on his weekly TV Show. He clearly made distinction between inspiration and revelation so there would be no mistake that this is divine (direct from God Himself)! He also clarified that all the to-do he made about the ten nations of the European Union came true. It was just that he did not reveal there would be more nations added afterward. The correct number is now according to Van Impe no longer significant whatever it may be? I suppose the same type thing will happen in 2012 if we are still here?

Folks, watch out for these false and pride filled experts on the Bible! They are not to be trusted. Van Impe long ago left his fundamental training to fill his ego with some kind of self-hero worship. All his Bible knowledge has become distorted leading him to embrace the Neo-Evangelical pro Catholic movement of today. It is Apostasy, and his claims to divine revelation proclaiming to know the date of the rapture show just how far he has gone. It is a sad thing when in old age the foolishness of Solomon takes control. Jack Van Impe was the person I associated with the term milktoast. How prophetic that it is the term that best describes him today. He had some hard knocks in the ministry, but when his grit was tested - it was found wanting.

I make some prophetic statements in my writings, but I also make it clear I am speculating. I do not claim inspiration though I do stay within Biblical revelation as best I can. I make comparison with contemporary history, and speculate that if a particular prophecy were to be fulfilled today - how might it take place? Most of all, I do not claim revelation as the Bible in my view is complete. I do not even claim Interpretation when it comes to prophecy. The very best I or anyone else can do including Van Impe is speculate. Only after the events take place will any of our speculating prove just how Biblically correct we were. Sadly, Van Impe is no longer a speculator, but has turned into a dogmatist leading those who would blindly follow him into Apostasy. Dr. Milktoast is my evaluation of his latter years.

1 Kings 11:3-4
3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.

4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
KJV

January 9, 2001

HUGE RALLY PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR JEWISH JERUSALEM

In perhaps the largest Jewish gathering in the city's history, a massive crowd estimated at well over 300,000 people filled the streets around the Old City of Jerusalem on Monday night, waving flags and signs in a display of Jewish loyalty to a united city under Israeli rule.

The huge rally "Jerusalem, I pledge to You" was organized in response to the growing impression that Israel and the Jewish people were ready to cede the Temple Mount and other parts of the city to Palestinian rule, based on the peace proposals recently outlined by outgoing US President Bill Clinton.

The picturesque Old City walls took on new grandeur as night fell, with colored floodlights and torches along the ramparts reflecting off the ancient stones. The theme "Jerusalem, I pledge" was projected in Hebrew onto the wall near the center stage at Jaffa Gate. The crowd below continued to swell, stretching from Sultan's Pool up Jaffa Road to Safra Square and beyond towards Zion Square.

The event was organized by Russian immigrant leader Natan Sharansky and the One Jerusalem Forum with representatives from a wide spectrum of Israeli society, as well as Diaspora Jews, invited to participate. A diverse roster of speakers from different Jewish sectors reflected the non-partisan message of the rally.

Each speech and greeting focused on Jerusalem as a central element of Jewish identity, which they "cannot afford to lose," as one participant said. In the words of another, it was "an outpouring of love" for Jerusalem. Most speakers quoted Hebrew Scriptures concerning the revered holy city, and repeated the words of the Psalmist: "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning."

Finally, we see the love for Jerusalem that transcends politics and politicians. God had long past expressed His feelings for this city, and that love is contagious. I was privileged in 1976 to visit Jerusalem. I was crushed initially. My expectations were so high. A pristine city of golden beauty was my expectations. In those days the sewer system was an open ditch that ran down the center of most streets. It turned my stomach in both sight and smell. The stink of all that vile refuge which people produce was terrible. I remember thinking how can God love this place? It was then that a great truth pressed upon my thinking. This is not what God intended. This is what man produced. God sees this city with different eyes. He sees it as it will be some day. He sees His Son, the King of Glory, ruling in perfect righteousness from this place. He sees it in all the purity associated with the perfect God of the Bible Who will be victorious in the end. My eyes were opened, and I too fell in love with this city. Today the Jews are not saved. They are blind to Jesus Christ as their messiah. These things are soon to change. The love for this city which causes so much contention is indicative of the love that will be needed to turn to Christ when the time is right. Men have turned Christ into a vile thing in the mind of most Jews. Soon many of them will see Christ with different eyes. A new Judaism is soon to emerge. "Born Again" Christians will step aside in the soon coming rapture of the real Christian Church leaving behind the monstrous Apostate Christianity. Many Jews after that day will see Jesus as God always intended Him to be seen by the Jewish people. The Savior of lost sinners! The soon coming King of Glory Who will rule from this place - Jerusalem!

Zech 13:6-9
6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.

8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
KJV

Read "This Place" for an historical and Biblical account of the Temple Mount of Jerusalem!

January 11, 2001

Is George W. Bush Saved?

Many years ago I would go door to door in the small towns of Montana. The first question I would ask is are you born again, or do you understand what that means? I was often shocked when I got an affirmative answer because I always followed up with an inquiry into their personal testimony. Typical is the following - I took a group of boys on an overnight as part of our Church group. I told them the evils of smoking and drinking. That night as the sun set I contemplated my own life, and what a hypocrite I was. It was then that I was born again, and I've never smoked or drank since. I remember asking this professing born again Christian where Christ entered into this experience? I asked him if he Biblically repented as a lost sinner giving his heart forever to Jesus as his savior. His answer was you'll have to ask my minister. I don't understand those religious things? This my friends is a "professing Christian" not a "possessing Christian." The old Puritans so wisely recognized that there is a difference. Today, professing is adequate and acceptable! Christ, if present, is on the fringe, and not the center of the testimony. Beware of Christ-less, or Christ- lip service testimonies. Read the following:

USA: "Changed hearts change society"
George Bush became President Elect of the USA on December 13, 2000. He claims to be a confessing Christian: (not a professor, but also not a possessor) "The seed from which my decision to run for President was sown by Billy Graham. He visited us for the weekend, and his words started a process of change in my heart. It was less his words than the power which he exuded, his friendly, loving manner, reflecting Jesus Christ so clearly. I was always a religious person, but gave my heart to Jesus Christ again on that weekend (another mountain top experience that is repeated again and again). I learned the power of prayer, and asked God for wisdom, patience and understanding. I am aware that faith can be wrongly interpreted in the political process. I want to live my faith, not boast of it. Faith changes lives. I know that, because faith changed my life. In order to change our culture, the heart, soul and consciousness must be transformed. The government can give money, but it cannot give hope in our hearts or a reason to live. But changed hearts change society.

.."Source: George W. Bush in various interviews

My brother-in-law (a Methodist also like Bush) has a similar testimony. He was born again at a Church retreat. When I pressed him on his testimony - that born again experience was just one of many spiritual experiences he's had over the years. Sadly, another professor, another confessing Christian.

Jimmy Carter in his autobiography expressed when he was born again. It was when he came to grips with a parable by Buddha about not giving a man a fish, but teaching him how to fish. Another Christ-less testimony! Another professor! Another confessing Christian!

These are the testimonies of those whom I'm convinced (if true) will be left behind. I realize I do not see the heart so I must judge by testimony. These type testimonies do not meet the Biblical muster. They lack in the center, and that is Christ! The Puritans had it right about who is saved, and who just claims to be saved.

Another reason why the rapture must be close! The testimony of the Church no longer separates the professors from the possessors. A non-judgmental attitude has replaced Biblical discernment. The Church has been lulled to sleep. Those who should be confronted with the truth of their unbiblical salvation for the sake of their souls are left to go into a Christ-less eternity.

Matt 1:21
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
KJV

Acts 2:38
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
KJV

Acts 3:16
16 And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
KJV

Acts 4:7-10
7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,

9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;

10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
KJV

Acts 4:10-12
10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
KJV

January 13. 2001

Alliance that may be Leading to Last Jihad?

ASSAD AND SADDAM FORGING ANTI-ISRAEL ALLIANCE

While recent reports of a sudden lapse in the health of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein may be unfounded, Iraq's decades of ailing relations with Syria appear on the mend under the new boss in Damascus, Bashar al-Assad.

At the start of this week, the press widely reported claims by Iraqi opposition leaders that Saddam had suffered a stroke during a recent huge military parade in Baghdad. But when he appeared fit and trim on Iraqi TV, those rumors seemed less than accurate. One medical expert familiar with the facts explained that Saddam has been treated by Western doctors for years for chronic lower back pains, and if anything had happened, he may have strained his back while repeatedly firing a rifle one-handed while reviewingthe long parade in honor of the Palestinian uprising.

Meanwhile, there are signs of change in the chronic hostility between Iraq and Syria, ever since Syrian dictator Hafez al-Assad died last year and passed on his 30-year mantle of oppression to his son, Bashar. The younger Assad was considered a mild-mannered, Western-educated eye-doctor and Internet enthusiast who was expected to progressively lead Syria into a bold new era of engagement with Israel and the outside world. But he looks headed in a different direction.

According to the UPI, a Middle East intelligence source says Bashar "has definitely embraced" a radically new concept for Syria. He has clearly approved a new strategic doctrine of cooperation with Iraq, Syria's historic regional rival, as well as with Iran, to create a powerful regional block opposed to Israel and the United States.

During Hafez Assad's reign, tensions ran high between him and Saddam Hussein. Aggravations between the two included infighting over the waters of the Euphrates River, support for rival Kurdish factions, and vying for leadership of the Arab world. Hostility between the two peaked when Syria symbolically joined the Allied forces that expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait in the 1991 Gulf War.

But Bashar has demonstrated a radical reversal of the policies of his father and has given the go-ahead for close military cooperation with Iraq. This involves joint planning for a coordinated response in the event of war with Israel. Late last year, Syria and Iraq held secret joint military maneuvers, the first in their modern history. And Iraq has now moved one of its few and precious armored divisions towards the border with Syria, to be able to respond quickly in support of Damascus if hostilities erupt with Israel.

The new spirit of cooperation extends to economic affairs as well. Iraq and Syria hope to reopen a major oil pipeline, unused since 1982, from the northern Iraqi oil fields through Syrian territory to the Lebanese Mediterranean port of Tripoli in the coming months. Already, Syrian and Iraqi technicians are at work on the pipeline. In fact, Iraqi oil is already being refined in the Syrian city of Banias, Middle East sources said.

Commercial air links are also being resumed between Damascus and Baghdad for the first time in nearly 20 years. Iraq has responded by giving Iran permission to enter its air space when sending plane shipments of arms and ammunition to Hizb'Allah in Lebanon via Damascus airport. Bashar, Middle East intelligence sources told UPI, played the key role in brokering this
agreement. Reportedly, this is only the beginning of Bashar's efforts to achieve a rapprochement between historic enemies Iraq and Iran.

Bashar's military and economic bridging efforts with Iraq and Iran place him in a position of direct confrontation with Israel, perhaps much more so than his father, who lost in several wars and skirmishes with Israel and later tried to avoid a direct conflict with the IDF.

Reversing Hafez Assad's historic policies carries risks for Bashar, but it holds major attractions for him as well. The policy of strategic alliance with Iraq is popular with the hawkish Alawite Ba'athists who dominate Syria's army and security services. A strong anti-US and anti-Israel policy is also popular with Syria's Sunni Muslim majority, especially the radical fundamentalists among them who hold particular animosity towards the Assad dynasty after Hafez Assad slaughtered as many as 30,000 in the Muslim Brotherhood stronghold of Hama in 1982.

*****
I am watching the Moslem world, and comparing what is happening to the possible fulfillment of events prophesied in Ezekiel 38 & 39. I believe this could be the Last Jihad, and the end of Islam that leads to the building of the Third Jewish Temple. I clearly understand that Islam must step aside, or be forced to step aside before the Third Jewish Temple can be built in our generation. These changes in attitudes, and these new alliances are intriguing to this view of Ezekiel 38 & 39.

Ezek 39:4-5
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.

5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
KJV

January 14, 2001

What kind of coverage would God get?

This week, while at least a quarter-million Israelis gathered outside the Old City walls in support of Jerusalem, CNN completely downplayed the event -- an act that media watchdogs are calling CNN's worst violation of objectivity in recent memory.

This critique refers both to CNN's earlier and later report on the rally:

It was not just CNN, but all the rest of the news media also. News has to have a political correctness before it is deemed worthy. The world has been screened from some of the great events in the past. The holocaust comes to mind as a starter. The events in Cambodia is a second. It is not that the news media were ignorant. It's just that the importance of such events are purposely ignored.

I wonder if Christ were born in Bethlehem to this news community just how much notice it would get? I'm sure it would remain an event to the shepherds only. When events begin to point to Biblical fulfillment, don't look to the news folks to be reporting the facts. I'm sure it just won't happen!

Ps 12:2-4
2 They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

3 The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:

4 Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
KJV

January 15, 2001

Middle East Madness

By Charles Krauthammer

Washington Post -- Friday, January 12, 2001; Page A25

A lame-duck American president and a dead-duck Israeli prime minister (opposed by three-quarters of his parliament and running 28 points behind in preelection polls) are racing to try to change the Middle East landscape before they are both consigned to political oblivion. There has not been an exercise of diplomacy this irresponsible -- a breathtaking mix of narcissism and self-delusion -- since Munich 1938.

President Clinton and Prime Minister Ehud Barak are leaving the Middle East closer to a violent explosion than at any point in 30 years. Iraq has moved an armored division westward to be ready to join a general Arab war against Israel. Iran has threatened Israel with an "astonishing and unexpected" response (implying ac chemical or biological missile attack) should Israel retaliate against Lebanese guerrillas who have been launching raids into Israel (this after Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon). On Jan. 1, Barak himself advised the Israeli army to begin making preparations for a major war.

Clinton and Barak call this progress, and are now desperate to codify the state of ruin they have brought the region so that their successors cannot escape from it. Except that both Clinton and Barak see not ruin but progress. The new objective, says a State Department official, "is to get a new buoy or anchor" -- some official American statement summarizing the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations -- "that states what we have achieved."

Achieved? These two men have taken a situation that was tense but nonetheless stable and torched it. Last July, in a desperate
search for some legacy, Clinton tried to force a peace agreement at Camp David. Clinton was driven by narcissism. Barak was driven by delusion: the belief that if only he could make enough concessions, Yasser Arafat would sign on the dotted line and lie down with lambs.

The problem is that Arafat is no fool. He saw weakness, haste and desperation -- and refused. Barak made astonishing concessions, giving up the Temple Mount, dividing Jerusalem, relinquishing the Jordan Valley, which protects Israel from attack from the east. Arafat not only said no, he never made a counter-offer. Instead, he started a little war to put even greater pressure on Israel.

Yes, this is closer to the truth then the normal reporting. Ego, politics, and force are the elements at work in the land of the Bible. These things will only lead to destruction. God well knew what would happen in the politics of today. He is not caught by surprise. He knows all about the phony peace deals that men will propose. He knows the heart of the peace brokers! He knows the Anti-Christ will sign the greatest phony peace deal of them all with Israel. The world will be told peace, but the truth will be destruction in the end. Man is willingly ignorant of the Bible, and so susceptible to the lie. When Arafat, Barak, and Clinton leave the scene, the Anti-Christ will have learned just how to shape the lie so it works. Don't look for this kind of reporting when the Anti-Christ is center stage. Milk and honey will be what the world wants to hear, and what they will be fed!

Isa 48:22
22 There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.
KJV

Isa 57:20-21
20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
KJV

Jer 6:13-15
13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
KJV

Jer 12:12-15
12 The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.

13 They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD.

14 Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.

15 And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
KJV

Ezek 13:10-11
10 Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter:

11 Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.
KJV

Ezek 13:16
16 To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord GOD.
KJV

Dan 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
KJV

Dan 7:24-26
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
KJV

Dan 9:27
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
KJV

January 17, 2001

Call up of Reserves demanded

secular Jewish Authority wishes the Temple Mount would just go away. They ignore it as best they can. They know should they exercise Jewish Authority over the Mount an Islamic Jihad (Holy War) would be likely. Islam is actively pressing their sovereignty over the site of the Jewish Temple. They will not stop with tunnels. They will not stop with new Mosques being built on the Mount. They will not stop until Israel gives them absolute reign and access. Absolute ownership and authority! The Bible says a Third Jewish Temple will be built on the Temple Mount. The Bible says that Jesus Christ will rule the whole earth as King of the Jews from the Temple Mount. The Bible says Islam will not attain it's present desires over the Temple Mount.

Update January 24, 2001

WAQF STILL CHURNING UP TEMPLE MOUNT

In a serious replay of past "archaeological crimes," the Muslim Waqf on the Temple Mount has once again recklessly dug in areas rich with ancient artifacts, this time on the raised platform around the Dome of the Rock, and Israelis are upset that Prime Minister Ehud Barak refuses to stop it.

Barak's Office recently received reports that, for the first time in hundreds of years, excavations were being carried out on the raised portion of the Mount, in the area of the Dome of the Rock. Public figures and intellectuals from the Left and Right joined leading archaeologists in writing to the prime minister at the weekend, demanding that he take action against the construction work.

The Committee to Prevent Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount accused Barak's government of not doing enough to supervise Mount activities, even of permitting desecration. They also slammed Israeli police authorities for willfully lying to the Antiquities Authority and the public about what is happening on the sacred site.

Subsequently, at Barak's order, the police on Sunday instructed the Waqf to close a ditch, 40 meters long and 70 centimeters deep, that had been dug in the area recently, reportedly to repair a pipe. The Waqf complied, but refused to make any commitments as to future work in the area. The Mufti of Jerusalem, Ekrima Sabri, insists the Temple Mount area contains no remnants related to Jewish history, and refuses to cooperate with Israeli authorities concerning the site.

Apart from this one conciliatory order, Barak has for months denied that any unauthorized work is taking place on the Temple Mount. But Yisrael Caspi, one of the new committee's leaders, says they have irrefutable evidence that the Waqf and the Islamic Movement in Israel are carrying out new excavations. He added the contention that ancient soil being carted away is
garden soil is a pile of nonsense, THE JERUSALEM POST reported.

"The prime minister doesn't know what he is talking about," said archaeologist Dr. Gabi Barkai yesterday. "Large-scale work - some of which was authorized, and most of which was not - has been carried out over the past months in the eastern section of the Temple Mount, along the eastern wall, between King Solomon's Stables and Mercy Gate, together with underground work in various other areas of the Mount."

Referring to the trench dug this past weekend, Barkai said, "This is a tremendous violation of the status quo - the ancient floor, which has not been touched for hundreds of years, has been dug up. All the earthmoving works that the Waqf has carried out until now were... a bit lower down, but yesterday for the first time they started digging up the upper level of the Temple Mount - where the Holy Temple itself stood, according to all archaeologists and rabbis."

The group says that in addition to other serious violations, a tractor fitted with a rock-breaking hammer has been used on the Temple Mount for the first time. The authors of the letter are critical of the authorities failure and they note the construction work at the Temple Mount is being done with the tacit approval of prime minister.

"It is unacceptable that in a culturally enlightened and law abiding country someone can authorize such a serious crime, of such enormous proportions, to carry on for more than a year. This is what has been going on at the Temple Mount for the past 15 months, causing unprecedented damage to the most important archaeological site in the country, and causing irreparable damage to rare archaeological evidence... at one of the rarest cultural legacies in the world."

The signatories also add that "senior security sources" told them the purpose of the work the Waqf is doing is to build more mosques on every available space of the Temple Mount, thus turning the area into one enormous mosque that would preclude any Jewish presence at the site.

An investigation by HA'ARETZ revealed that, since the beginning of the current intifada, the Antiquities Authority has not supervised activities on the Temple Mount. But in the months prior to the violence, the Waqf had severely restricted the work of archaeologists in the area, while some 1,500 tons of earth have been removed from the Temple Mount without first being
examined and hauled by truck to undisclosed sites.

The report also said that the Shin Bet security service has advised the prime minister to keep an eye on Muslim activities, and that the Waqf has long-term plans to start using numerous additional areas on the Mount as mosques, thereby preventing Jews from entering the Mount.

Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein and the Antiquities Authority have also protested to Barak that the Waqf was being allowed to continue its excavation work without supervision and contrary to the law. Barak rejected these protests and authorized the Waqf to carry out paving work at the site.He also prevented the Jerusalem Municipality from sending inspectors to the Temple Mount to investigate alleged infringements of the planning and building laws by the excavations, the report stated.

MK Shaul Yahalom (National Religious Party) yesterday called for a 24-hour-a-day police and security force presence on the Temple Mount and the arrest of members of the Waqf who were "desecrating antiquities at the site in an effort to wipe out the traces of the Jewish nation from its most sacred site."

Isa 11:9-10
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
KJV

Isa 56:7
7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
KJV

Isa 65:11-12
11 But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number.

12 Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.
KJV

Ezek 20:40-41
40 For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.

41 I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.
KJV

Dan 9:16
16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.
KJV

Joel 2:1
2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
KJV

Joel 3:17
17 So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
KJV

Zeph 3:11
11 In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.
KJV

Zech 8:3
3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.
KJV

January 27, 2001

Patriot anti-missile battery deployed to Israel

Middle East Newsline SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COMSaturday, January 27, 2001

WASHINGTON — The United States has sent a Patriot anti-missile defense battery to Israel amid heightened concerns of a Middle East war.

Pentagon sources said the heightened tension in the Middle East prompted a decision to place on alert U.S. forces in Germany and Italy. They said Washington has been concerned about an Iraqi attack on Israel amid reports that several Iraqi divisions have moved close to the Syrian border.

War in the Middle East seems very close as the US is now preparing for the inevitable. Will this be the Last Jihad of Ezekiel 38 & 39? I don't know? Is this leading up to the Last Jihad? That is most probable! Never forget it is the Temple Mount that is center to everything that is happening this time in the Middle East. The same Temple Mount that is so central in the Bible. The news folks have no training in Bible. They will never get it! They can only see the Temple Mount as some superficial element in what is happening. They have no concept that this Temple Mount is the only place on earth that God has claimed for His Personal dwelling place. It is the place from where He intends to rule His future Biblical Kingdom when He fixes the mess this world is in. You can read the Biblical account of what the Temple Mount is all about.

Read "This Place" about the Biblical history (past, present, and future) of the Temple Mount.

Matt 24:6-8
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
KJV

January 28, 2001

Saddam has made two atomic bombs, says Iraqi defector
By Jessica Berry

SADDAM HUSSEIN has two fully operational nuclear bombs and is working to construct others, an Iraqi defector has told The Telegraph.

The defector, a military engineer who fled Iraq a year after United Nations arms inspectors left the country, says that he helped to oversee the completion of the weapons programme. He is currently in hiding in Europe. International nuclear officials are investigating his evidence, which contradicts recent reports that the Iraqi dictator's plans were still at a preparatory stage.

Saddam's efforts to build atomic weapons were delayed by the UN Special Commission (Unscom) inspectors who were forced to leave in November 1998 , but scientists resumed the work immediately after their departure.

According to the defector, who cannot be named for security reasons, bombs are being built in Hemrin in north-eastern Iraq, near the Iranian border. Last week, the defector said: "There are at least two nuclear bombs which are ready for use. Before the UN inspectors came, there were 47 factories involved in the project. Now there are 64." The information has alarmed security experts, who were aware only that the area around Hemrin was well-guarded.

Now we know why the Patriot missiles were sent to Israel. Every rational government is preparing for the worst! The Middle East powder keg is about to explode. The zealot Saddam needs little excuse to fire his missiles. Killing Jews (in mass) is the highest desire this fanatic can still try to achieve. It is a reality the US has taken action to stem. Will the Patriots work? Where is this all leading? The hate for Israel is certainly present! I can almost hear the cheers from that hatred when the Islamic bomb is launched. A phony peace seems to be in the making by the politicians to calm the minds of the gullible. How this will ultimately all play out is in God's hand. The Temple Mount is at the center! The side God will take is clear!

Isa 30:29-32
29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.

30 And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.

31 For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.

32 And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.
KJV

January 29, 2001

BARAK RE-CONNECTS WITH THE TEMPLE MOUNT

In his first official communication with new US President George W. Bush on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak declared that handing over the Temple Mount to the Palestinians would be an act of "betrayal."

"The Temple Mount is the cradle of Jewish history," Barak wrote in a letter to Bush. "And there is no way that I would sign a document transferring sovereignty over the Temple Mount to the hands of the Palestinians. For Israel this would constitute a betrayal of her Holy of Holies." The statements stand in sharp contrast to persistent press reports that the Barak government has recently offered the Palestinians control over the Muslim shrines on the Temple Mount and other parts of the Old City in
Jerusalem.

The first communication from Israel to the new US President is about the Temple Mount. This may well signify what is going to be the single defining issue of the Bush Presidency in its relationship to Israel? Whatever, the Temple Mount is at the front this time in the Middle East crises! The first issue brought forward. How amassing that this is the same piece of land (small as it is) where Abraham was commanded by God in Genesis to bring his only son Isaac for sacrifice so long ago. The Temple Mount is on the same mountain where God so long ago allowed His only son to be crucified. The news folks and politicians have no concept what is happening here. They are blind to the historical signaling of this little piece of property. Soon God will be so center in all taking place at this place that even the blind will be forced to acknowledge there is more here then just the daily news.

Read about the Biblical accounts of this place! This Place - Second Woe - Last Jihad!

Read Mishpat! It's only the introduction, but explains more about why the Temple Mount is so critical to the Bible!

Isa 57:13-15
13 When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;

14 And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.

15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
KJV

January 31, 2001

Analysis: Giant quakes shook human history

Wednesday, 31 January 2001 9:11 (ET)


Analysis: Giant quakes shook human history
By MARTIN SIEFF, UPI Senior News Analyst

 WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- The death toll from the Gujarat earthquake in
India continues to climb, with fears that it may pass the 100,000 mark,
making it the worst natural disaster the world has seen in nearly 25 years.

 The tragedy is a sobering reminder of the vulnerability of human society
against such cataclysmic events.

 Throughout history, earthquakes and other natural disasters often have
been seen as the wrath of God or signs of divine displeasure on existing
governments. But they have been as good for religion as they have been
disruptive for the state.

 Sandanista rule in Nicaragua in the late 1970s came a few years after a
devastating quake and rampant theft of aid money stolen by senior officials
of the Somoza regime.

 The 1976 Tangshan quake in China, which killed 240,000 people, caused the
largest loss of life in more than 400 years of history. It was widely seen
at the time as an omen that the era of Mao Zedong was over after 28 years
and that a new epoch in Chinese history was about to begin. Sure enough,
within two years, paramount leader Deng Xiaoping would launch his
dramatically successful free-market reforms to enthusiastic popular support.

 Some quakes have been so horrific, they shook the foundations of religious
faith.

 Lisbon, Portugal, was flourishing in a sustained economic boom based on
the development of diamond and gold mines in Brazil when a massive
earthquake struck on the morning of Nov. 1, 1755. It was All Saints Day, and
the churches were packed with worshippers when the first of two shocks
brought the walls crashing down. The temblor killed at least 30,000 people.
The 18th century rationalist philosopher and skeptic Francoise-Marie Arouet
de Voltaire used the disaster to attack the concept of a kindly, beneficial
God watching over a world where everything worked out for the best in his
satirical novel "Candide."

 The Richter scale, on which quakes are measured, is arranged
logarithmically so that an increase in magnitude of one unit represents a
tenfold increase in earthquake size. So, a quake of magnitude 8 is 10,000
times more powerful than one of magnitude 4. The Tanghsan quake registered
7.8 on the Richter scale. By contrast, the Gujarat quake had a magnitude of
7.9.

 If current estimates prove accurate, then last week's quake was by far the
worst India has experienced this century in terms of the casualties it
inflicted.

 The two most destructive earthquakes in human history are believed to have
been the 1556 quake in Shansi Province, China, which killed around 830,000
people, and a medieval quake in Upper Egypt in 1201 that is estimated by
chroniclers at the time to have killed 1 million people.

 The French archaeologist Claude Schaeffer, excavator of the Bronze Age
city of Ugarit in Syria, believed that enormous quakes thousands of years
ago periodically wrecked cities throughout the Near East, bringing to an end
the Early Bronze Age and later disrupting civilization repeatedly.

 Schaeffer, who held the chair of Western Asian archaeology at the College
de France, documented his evidence in his 1948 book, "Stratigraphee Comparee
et Chronologie de l'Asie Occidentale (IIIe et IIe Millenaires)" -
("Comparative Stratigraphy and Chronology of Western Asia in the 3rd and 2nd
Millennia.")

 A massive earthquake in Crete -- still a seismically sensitive zone -- is
believed by many archaeologists to have destroyed the high civilization of
Middle Bronze Age Crete. Half a millennium later, the Minoan civilization of
Crete was devastated again, this time by a volcanic explosion on the island
of Santorini, thought by many to have been the inspiration for the legend of
Atlantis.

 The city of Troy, immortalized by Homer in his Iliad, was found by
archaeologists to have been destroyed by earthquake many times and
repeatedly rebuilt.

 One controversial scholar, the late Immanuel Velikovsky, even argued in
1950 in his book "Worlds in Collision" that the 10th Plague of the Exodus in
the Bible -- the death of the first born of Egypt - was in reality a massive
earthquake that ended the Middle Kingdom period. Mainstream scholars almost
universally rejected his theory. But he won the respect of geologist Harry
Hess and of Albert Einstein himself. And his book proved a bestseller for
decades.

 The most physically powerful earthquakes recorded this century registered
8.6 on the Richter scale and occurred in Kashmir in India in 1905, killing
19,000 people, and Valparaiso, Chile, in 1906, killing 1,500 people. The
contrast in casualties reflected the thin population in the Chilean quake
zone.

 However, the most powerful earthquake ever believed to have occurred in
documented history occurred in the continental United States. It was the
1811 New Madrid, Mo., quake, believed to have touched 8.7 on the Richter
scale. It was so powerful, it radically changed the course of the
Mississippi River.

 In those days, the region was lightly populated and so the Indian tribes
there were not exposed to death from collapsing buildings. But if a quake of
that magnitude were to occur in that region today, near St. Louis, hundreds
of thousands would die.

 The Book of Revelations predicted that a dramatic earthquake would shake
the earth before the Second Coming. Accordingly, Christian fundamentalist
groups have always been prone to see earthquakes as signs of divine judgment
or of the imminent return of Jesus.

 In 1923, Tokyo was destroyed by an earthquake that registered 8.3 on the
Richter scale. It is believed to have been the most severe earthquake to
strike a major city in recorded history. Estimates of the death toll vary
from 99,000 to 150,000. It was at least as destructive as the U.S.
firebombing of Tokyo in 1945. Some psychologists and anthropologists have
even theorized that the immense popularity of Godzilla and other monster
movies in Japan in the 1950s and 1960s was in some way a reaction to the
1923 quake and the 1945 fire bombing.

 Earthquakes are testimony not only to the wrath of God and the implacable
power of nature, they also bear witness to the sloppiness and stupidity of
humankind. The huge death tolls in most earthquakes are not caused by the
quakes themselves. They are the result of the collapse of thousands of
buildings in the quake zone.

 In 1923, modern buildings in Tokyo, including a hotel designed by Frank
Lloyd Wright, rode out the shock.

 If a major quake, against all odds, were ever to hit Manhattan, the safest
places to be would probably be the Empire State Building, the Chrysler
Building or the World Trade Center. That is because buildings with modern
stressed steel frameworks move as units when the ground shakes in an
earthquake and do not collapse.

 By contrast, the heavy death toll -- possibly as high as 45,000 -- in last
year's Golkar quake in northwest Turkey was due to the casual abandon with
which so many construction companies had run up apartment buildings,
ignoring existing building codes.

 The colossal death toll in Tangshan 25 years ago was in large part because
planners had allowed coal-mine managers to extend their tunnels beneath the
city. When the quake came, dozens of blocks of apartment buildings literally
collapsed into the tunnels and were swallowed up by the earth. Their
inhabitants were instantly buried alive and entombed hundreds of feet below
the ground.

 A similar fate seems to have befallen Ancient Egypt at the end of the
Middle Kingdom. The Ipuwer Papyrus, now housed in the Heritage Museum in St.
Petersburg, Russia, lamented, "The (royal) residence is overturned in a
minute....The towns are destroyed. Upper Egypt has become waste....All is
ruin."

 These are sentiments with which the people of India's Gujarat region
suddenly became all too familiar over the past week.

--
Copyright 2001 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.

The news folks usually do their best to ignore God. Their best ignoring ploy is to invoke Mother Nature. It is paganism at its' worse, but these highly educated disseminators ignore their own commentary. When they do refer to God, it is usually tongue in cheek. God will not be ignored or mocked either in the events of His creation, or in the events of history under His complete control. Watch the Temple Mount to see what God is about to do! It is the most important piece of property on planet earth according to the Bible.

Matt 27:29
29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
KJV

Edited by DDSrail

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