The Millennium and Beyond (Part 1) - by Ron Graff and Lambert Dolphin
The Millennium" means the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ on the earth. It
will begin when He returns from Heaven as "King of Kings" and "Lord of Lords."
It will be a glorious time when all of nature will be restored to an environment
that is so wonderful that it reminds us of the conditions which prevailed in the
Garden of Eden.
Overview of The Millennium
This is such a big subject that whole books have been written on this topic
alone. Here we will simply outline some of the main teachings of God's Word
about it.
Progress of the Kingdom
The Kingdom was PROMISED to the patriarchs
Abraham was given a promise by God that He would make of Abraham a great nation
and give to His descendants the land of Canaan. He was also told that through
his offspring all nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3;
13:14-18; 22:15-18).
The Abrahamic Covenant was reconfirmed to Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 26:3-4,23-24;
28:13-14).
David was told by God that his offspring would be given an eternal throne (2
Samuel 7:8-17, 24, 29; 1 Chronicles 17:7-15).
The Kingdom was ESTABLISHED by Jesus
John the Baptist announced that the Kingdom of God was near (Mark 1:15).
The Kingdom exists now and is in abeyance at the present. Jesus taught much
about the Kingdom of Heaven. It was the theme of His preaching (Matthew 4:17).
The Sermon on the Mount explained the principles of the Kingdom (Matthew
chapters 5-7). His parables were given to explain various aspects of the Kingdom
(Matthew 13). He related His teaching about future things (The Olivet Discourse)
to the Kingdom (Matthew chapters 24-25). And He stated during His trial that His
Kingdom was "not of this world" (John 18:36-38; 19:19).
The Kingdom will be DEMONSTRATED during The Millennium
The Millennium will usher in the beginning of the physical reign of Christ
(Revelation 19:11-20:6).
The Kingdom will be Fully DEVELOPED in the New Heaven/New Earth
The eternal Kingdom will be established when God creates a New Heaven and a New
Earth (Revelation chapters 21-22).
Aspects of The Millennium
Geography
The second coming of Christ--when the Lord stands upon the Mount of Olives--will
be accompanied by a great world wide earthquake so that "the cities of the
nations fell and every island flees away." The topography of the land of Israel
and the rest of the Earth will be drastically altered. The literal meaning of
Isaiah 40:4 will come to pass (Zechariah 14:4).
Jerusalem will rise to become the capital of the Earth (Zechariah 14:9-11).
Ecology
Starting with the Millennium, there will be a removal of the Curse upon the
earth which began with Adam's fall and continues down to the present unabated
(Romans 8:18-23).
The Earth, and especially Eretz Israel (the Land of Israel) will become "like
the Garden of Eden" (Ezekiel 36:35).
The Desert will rejoice and blossom as the rose (Isaiah 35:1), and the parched
ground will become a pool (Isaiah 35:7).
The Trees...shall clap their hands, and instead of thorns there will be trees
(Isaiah 55:12-13). The earth will be fruitful, and there will be no famine
(Ezekiel 34:27-29).
Animals will once again be friendly to one another and to humans. The wolf will
lie down with the lamb, and the leopard with the baby goats. Little children
will be able to play near serpents without fear (Isaiah 11:6-8). Wolves And
lambs will feed together, and even the Lions will eat straw like the bullock
(Isaiah 65:25).
Health
People who live during the Millennium will not die young. A person one hundred
years old will be considered a child, since, presumably, a person could live
throughout the 1000 years in the restored environment (Isaiah 65:20-23).
Sickness will not be a problem because "The sun of righteousness shall arise
with healing in its wings" (Malachi 4:2).
Later yet, after the New Earth is established, the Tree of Life will be
accessible to mankind. Its leaves are "for the healing of the nations"
(Revelation 22:2).
Politics
Jesus Christ will be King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and of the increase of His
government there will be no end (Revelation 19:16; Isaiah 9:6-7),
Jerusalem will be the capital of the World, and all nations will come to
Jerusalem. It will be considered the center of the nations (Isaiah 2:2-4;
Ezekiel 5:5).
David will reign as king over Israel, and presumably, each nation will also have
its godly king who will answer to Jesus Christ, the King of Kings (Ezekiel
34:23-24; 37:24-25).
The church will share with her Lord the rule over the Gentile nations
(Revelation 4:4, 10-11; 20:4, 6).
No sin or rebellion will be allowed, because the Lord will withhold rain and
send plagues on any who would rebel (Zechariah 14:16-19).
Jesus Christ will rule the nations with a rod of iron (Revelation 12:5; 19:15 -
Greek: "shepherdize"). This means a strong central rule to bring prompt justice
and quick control over unruly nations and individuals who revolt against God.
Sinners will be born on the earth during the Millennium. Satan will be chained
and therefore not free to seduce, to tempt, and to deceive, but the flesh will
still manifest itself showing how complete was the original fall of Adam and
Eve. During this 1000 years men can not claim that the devil is responsible for
their sinful failures.
There will be peace everywhere. People will "beat their swords into plowshares"
and there will be war no more (Isaiah 2:2-4).
Worship and Belief
Messiah will build a new (fourth) temple, probably the great temple described in
the final Chapters of Ezekiel. This Temple will be used for Memorial Sacrifices
(Ezekiel 40:39-43).
Salvation during the Millennium will still be by grace through faith in Jesus
Christ because there is "No other name given...whereby we must be saved" (Acts
4:10; Philippians 2:9-10; Revelation 22:4).
The Lord will put a new Spirit within believers whose home is on earth (Ezekiel
11:19).
Israel as a nation will be brought into the New Covenant which Jesus put into
effect at the Last Supper. This covenant, promised to Israel by the prophets,
has been graciously shared with the church during the interim period of Israel's
Diaspora and unbelief.
Everything will be considered sanctified or "holy." Even the bells and pots will
be holy to the Lord (Zechariah 14:20-21).
Unfortunately, some, even with this perfect environment, and the opportunity to
see Christ in person reigning over the Earth, will still fail to believe in Him
and will rebel at the end. They will follow Satan when he is released for a
little while at the end of the Millennium. They will all be destroyed
(Revelation 20:7-10).
The Apostle John's Brief Description of the Millennium
The 20th chapter of the Book of Revelation describes the Millennium. It
immediately follows the Glorious Return of Christ in Revelation 19, which was
discussed above. This short chapter may be considered in three parts:
Preparation for the Period (verses 1-3);Progress during the period (verses 4-6);
and Postscript to the period (verses 7-15).
Preparation for the period
And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and
holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent,
who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him
into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving
the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be
set free for a short time. (Revelation 20:1-3)
At the outset of the Millennium the devil will be cast into the Abyss. The Greek
word abussos means "without depth." In this passage the word is used alone, but
in Revelation 9:1 it is used as an adjective for another Greek word, phrear,
which means "cistern," or "prison." Together, these words are often translated
"bottomless pit."
In this pit Satan will be confined for the entire one thousand years of Christ's
righteous reign on Earth. What happens when he is released is discussed below,
when we look at the "Postscript to the period."
Progress during the period
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge.
And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony
for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or
his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They
came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did
not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first
resurrection.
Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second
death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and
will reign with him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4-6)
The First Resurrection: Raised to eternal life
Those believers and followers of Yeshua who were converted during the
tribulation period, and had been put to death--the martyrs of the tribulation
period--will be raised from the dead (Revelation 20:4). They are those who would
not receive the Mark of the Beast, and will have been put to death for their
faith in Christ. They are raised again as part of the "first resurrection."
Jesus Himself was the "first-fruits" of this first resurrection. At the Rapture
believers of the church age are raised as part of this first resurrection. Now
we see these believers also joining the ranks of this first type of
resurrection.
In Daniel we read that Old Testament Saints are also resurrected to eternal
life.
At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise.
There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of
nations until then. But at that time your people--everyone whose name is found
written in the book--will be delivered.
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting
life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:1-2)
In John Chapter 5, Jesus also spoke of the coming day when the dead would rise
in two separate resurrections, at his command:
I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear
the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has
life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has
given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves
will hear his voice and come out--those who have done good will rise to live,
and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. (John 5:25-29)
This resurrection of the saints of Israel who lived and died before Christ's
First Advent will probably take place at the same time as the resurrection of
the Tribulation martyrs since they are a continuation of believing Israel during
the last "week" of Daniel's "Seventy Weeks."
The Millennium and Beyond (Part
2) - by Ron Graff and Lambert Dolphin
Judgment of Believers
Believers of the Church Age will have already appeared at the Bema Seat Judgment
where whatever was sincerely done for Christ will be the basis of rewards,
which, in turn, are given to Christ to prove our love to Him (1 Corinthians
3:10-15; Revelation 4:10-11).
The exact nature of the judgment of other believers--the Old Testament believers
and Saints of The Tribulation--is not described. It is possible that it will be
similar to the Bema Seat.
The other type of resurrection is explained below where the ungodly are raised
to stand at their judgment.
Postscript to the Period
The last part of Revelation 20 is about Rebellion (verses 7-9) and Retribution
(verses 10-15). Since these events take place after the Millennium is past, they
will be considered later under the heading "The Last War."
Previews of The Millennium From The Old Testament
In contrast to the brief description of Revelation 20, the Old Testament has
many lengthy passages which describe details of the Millennium, and of the time
beyond, when there will be a new heaven and a new earth. We will now turn our
attention to some of these Old Testament sections.
Messiah will reign from Jerusalem and the nations will come to pay tribute
Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up
year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the
Feast of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to
Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain. If the
Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD
will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to
celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the
punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of
Tabernacles.
On that day HOLY TO THE LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and
the cooking pots in the LORD's house will be like the sacred bowls in front of
the altar. Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD Almighty,
and all who come to sacrificewill take some of the pots and cook in them. And on
that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD Almighty.
(Zechariah 14:16-21)
The survivors from all the nations that had attacked Jerusalem are the same as
the sheep of Matthew 25:31-46 and the Wheat of Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43.
So Israel will live in safety alone; Jacob's spring is secure in a land of grain
and new wine, where the heavens drop dew.
Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is
your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before
you, and you will trample down their high places." (Deuteronomy 33:28-29)
An enigmatic prophecy about Enoch (who was translated into heaven prior to the
flood of Noah) is recorded in the book of Jude. It has a double fulfillment:
First, at the time of the Flood of Noah to judge the antediluvian world,
destroying probably many billions of earth's inhabitants and delivering eight
persons in the Ark. Then, at the end of the age we now live in Jesus will again
appear "with his ten thousands of holy ones."
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is
coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to
convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly
way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." (Jude
14-15)
A mystery-filled prophecy in Ezekiel clearly relates in part to the end time and
God's judgment of His people Israel:
As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I will rule over you with a
mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath.
I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you
have been scattered--with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with
outpoured wrath I will bring you into the desert of the nations and there, face
to face, I will execute judgment upon you. As I judged your fathers in the
desert of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, declares the Sovereign LORD. I
will take note of you as you pass under my rod, and I will bring you into the
bond of the covenant. (Ezekiel 20:33-37)
The promise to gather Israel from the nations was largely fulfilled during the
past 100 years by the Zionist movement and the formation of the nation of
Israel.
The term "wilderness of the peoples" may refer to Edom, (Southern Jordan, i.e.,
Petra) according to some Bible scholars.
The term "pass under the rod" appears in Leviticus 27 and symbolizes a
separation of the consecrated and the unconsecrated animals of the flock.
The passage continues:
"I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me. Although I will
bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will not enter the
land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
"'As for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Go and
serve your idols, every one of you! But afterward you will surely listen to me
and no longer profane my holy name with your gifts and idols. For on my holy
mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD, there in the
land the entire house of Israel will serve me, and there I will accept them.
There I will require your offerings and your choice gifts, along with all your
holy sacrifices. I will accept you as fragrant incense when I bring you out from
the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, and
I will show myself holy among you in the sight of the nations. Then you will
know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land I
had sworn with uplifted hand to give to your fathers. There you will remember
your conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves, and you
will loathe yourselves for all the evil you have done. You will know that I am
the LORD, when I deal with you for my name's sake and not according to your evil
ways and your corrupt practices, O house of Israel, declares the Sovereign
LORD.'" (Ezekiel 20:38-44)
Zechariah adds:
"And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a
spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have
pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve
bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day the weeping in
Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of
Megiddo." (Zechariah 12:10-11)
Isaiah 11 also contains a mystery concerning the end time:
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear
fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him--the Spirit of wisdom and of
understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and
of the fear of theLORD--and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not
judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give
decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of
his mouth; with the breathof his lips he will slay the wicked.
Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the
calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the
lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the
cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither
harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the
knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the
nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. In that day
the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is
left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush,
from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. He will
raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble
the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. Ephraim's
jealousy will vanish, and Judah's enemies will be cut off; Ephraim will not be
jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim. They will swoop down on the
slopes of Philistia to the west; together they will plunder the people to the
east. They will lay hands on Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be subject to
them. The LORD will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind
he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven
streams so that men can cross over in sandals. There will be a highway for the
remnant of his people that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel when
they came up from Egypt. (Isaiah 11:1-16)
A promise is given that "In that day" [at the end of the tribulation],
"the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant " The
Lord will "assemble the [rest of the] scattered people of Judah from the four
quarters of the earth."
This, and other passages, indicate God's plan to eventually bring all Jews back
to live in the land. At the present time fewer than a third of the Jews in the
world are in Israel, eventually it will evidently be 100%.
That the Lord will destroy the "tongue of the Sea" could be a reference to the
Suez Canal, and the prophecy that He will "wave his hand over the River" is
probably a reference to the Euphrates River (Revelation 16:12).
Isaiah 19:23-25 speaks of the rebuilding of the old "King's Highway" from Egypt
to Assyria and of Israel at this time, Egypt, and Assyria will (by God's grace)
enjoy favored-nation status along with Israel. Isaiah says,
"Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria the workmanship of my hands, and Israel my
heritage" (Isaiah 19:25).
Ezekiel says the following about God's mercy, grace and compassion coming on the
nation of Israel at the close of the age in which we live:
I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the
nations where they had gone.
"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It
is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but
for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where
you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been
profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the
nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show
myself holy through you before their eyes.
"'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the
countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on
you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse youfrom all your impurities and from
all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will
remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will
put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my
laws. (Ezekiel 36:21-27)
What is striking about this passage is that it tells us of God's concern for His
own name, reputation and character. Therefore all people and nations who bear
the name of Yahweh need to understand their responsibility to be faithful to
their high calling. It is for the sake of His own name that he is restoring
Israel, not at all because of their meritorious performance or even their
repentance.
This is an announcement, similar to Jeremiah 30, of God's intention to bring the
people of Israel into the New Covenant which Jesus put into effect with his 11
disciples at the Last Supper. The passage continues:
You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I
will be your God. I will saveyou from all your uncleanness. I will call for the
grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase
the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer
suffer disgrace among the nations because offamine. Then you will remember your
evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and
detestable practices. (Ezekiel 36:28-31)
Here again is mentioned the national repentance spoken of in Zechariah 12:10-14.
Ezekiel then describes Messiah's reign over all the nations, from Jerusalem, and
the millennial prosperity He will bring to all mankind, through Israel:
I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the
Sovereign LORD. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, O house of Israel!
"'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your
sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. The desolate
land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass
through it. They will say, "This land that was laid waste has become like the
garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are
now fortified and inhabited."
Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the LORD have rebuilt
what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the LORD have spoken,
and I will do it.'
"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Once again I will yield to the plea of
the house of Israel and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous
as sheep, as numerous as the flocks for offerings at Jerusalem during her
appointed feasts. So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people.
Then they will know that I am the LORD." (Ezekiel 36:32-38)
Zechariah adds this insight about the Millennium:
On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. It will be a unique day,
without daytime or nighttime--a day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there
will be light. On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem,half to the
eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter. The LORD will
be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name
the only name. The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will
become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up and remain in its place,
from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and
from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. It will be inhabited; never
again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure. (Zechariah 16:6-11)
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You and Me Against the World -
Jack Kinsella -
www.omegaletter.com
The United Nations Security Council failed to adopt a resolution condemning
Israel for blowing up a terrorist training camp located some ten miles outside
Damascus. But it didn't fail because the whole world saw the absurdity of the
resolution. It failed because the United States refused to condemn Israel for
reacting exactly as the US would have under similar circumstances.
Apart from the United States, the global body was unanimous in its condemnation,
with everyone from the Secretary-General of the UN to China and Russia chiming
in.
Statements were also made by the representatives of China, France, Russian
Federation, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Guinea, Mexico, Angola, Chile,
Germany, Pakistan and Spain. The Syrian speaker took the floor a second time to
respond to the statement made by the speaker from Israel.
Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates on Monday joined the official
Arab chorus of condemnation against Israel’s attack.
“This aggression is a provocative act that takes a chance with the peace process
in the region and threatens regional and international security and peace. It is
a serious escalation,” said a Saudi official.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said the attack was an ”aggression on a close
country,” while Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher warned that Israel’s
strike could ”drag the whole region into a circle of violence.”
Israel said it targeted an Islamic Jihad training base. But Islamic Jihad said
it had no bases in Syria, and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa said
Israel hit a civilian target.
He accused Israel of “aggression” and warned that Syria was capable of a
“deterring balance to force Israel to review” its action.
Syria’s representative condemned the air strike, and he tabled a resolution that
would have the Council do the same. He said the act of aggression was a flagrant
violation of the United Nations Charter, of international law, and of the 1974
Disengagement Agreement between Syria and Israel, as well as a clear
manifestation of an Israeli policy based on aggression and lack of respect for
agreements.
Targeting a Syrian village was further proof, said Syria, that the massacres
committed by Israel on the pretext of fighting so-called terrorism reflected a
big lie that Israel used to justify a policy of colonialism and
settlement-building.
The Security Council heard that policy was in violation of all the principles of
peace and security on which the United Nations was founded, and ran counter to
the peace process started in Madrid in 1991.
Assessment:
As noted, apart from the United States, global condemnation of Israel's
retaliatory strike was unanimous. Now let's take a look at the facts. Israeli
warplanes struck what the Syrians call an abandoned civilian target. There were
no deaths or serious injuries on the ground, although the camp was destroyed.
But locals say the camp was a training camp, although they say it had not been
used for years.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command admitted it
was one of their training camps, but also claimed that they abandoned the camp
seven years ago.
So in summary, the Israeli strike caused no casualties. The target was
abandoned, so the property damage was limited to an empty building and created a
bit of a littering problem. It is ludicrous to believe Israel didn't know what
it was targeting or that they didn't know it would be unmanned at the time of
the strike.
The Israeli intelligence service is among the best in the world, and the camp
that they struck was only a matter of miles outside its own borders, further
discrediting any hint they may not have known what they were hitting. It is an
iron-clad certainty that the members of the Security Council are aware of
Israel's intelligence capabilities.
It is also an iron-clad certainty that none of the nations that condemned
Israel's raid had scoped out the target in advance of the strike. None of the
countries that condemned Israel had hard intelligence about the raid or the
target. They didn't send anybody to investigate before they made up their minds
and they didn't wait until somebody did before accepting a Syrian demand for an
emergency meeting.
So they didn't know anything more than you or I about the raid or its target at
the time that they lined up at the microphones to denounce Israel and condemn
this latest 'Israeli aggression'. Now let's look at what the UN diplomats DID
know about the raid as they stood in line waiting to voice their condemnation of
the Israelis.
They DID know that the only damage from the raid was property damage, that the
property in question was abandoned and sitting in a ravine in the Syrian
wilderness. They knew not one single person was killed in the raid.
They know it was a response to a suicide bombing attack in Haifa. They knew that
the Haifa attack wiped two entire Israeli families from the face of the earth.
They knew that the target was a family restaurant with no military significance.
They knew that four children -- three of them toddlers -- were killed and that
five of the dead were Israeli Arabs.
They also knew at the time they condemned Israel's raid on the empty Syrian
target in the desert that the forty wounded survivors, most of whom were
horribly mangled, were all civilian family members observing a Jewish religious
feast day.
While the UN had no hard intelligence about the raid on Syria at the time the UN
decided to condemn the Israelis, there was absolutely no doubt of the carnage
wrought by the bomber on Israeli non-combatants. There was absolutely no doubt
of the bomber's identity. There was no doubt that the Haifa attack was the 103rd
terrorist bombing inflicted on Israel since September 2000 when Arafat rejected
Israel's offer of statehood.
Think of it! When it comes to the deaths of civilians who were targeted by the
terrorists precisely BECAUSE they were civilians, the UN remained utterly
silent. But when it came to an abandoned desert camp being targeted by Israel
because it was a terrorist training camp (and because it was empty and wouldn't
kill anybody) the UN was virtually unanimous in siding with the TERRORISTS.
Only the United States stood with Israel, and even US support was qualified,
lest we give ourselves too much credit. UN Ambassador John Negroponte objected
to the condemnatory resolution because the resolution failed to express any
condemnation of the terrorists, not because the US agreed with Israel over the
necessity of the raid.
As a consequence, from the US perspective, it became a case of 'you and me
against the world, and I'm not too sure about you'.
What has Israel done to so offend the global body that it sees attacking an
abandoned terrorist training base as 'Israeli aggression' worthy of
international condemnation, while Palestinian terrorism doesn't even rate a
ticket for littering?
What is Israel's offense? That is simple enough. It exists.
And it claims its right to exist is a direct grant from God. The world hates
Israel with the same white-hot hatred it has for the Bible and its Author.
Every deity invented by mankind is welcome at the United Nations. The only Deity
unwelcome is the One Who claims to be the Inventor of mankind, rather than being
a product of mankind's invention.
In the final analysis, the two most hated nations on earth are Israel and the
United States. They are also the only two nations to acknowlege a Creator God
under Whose authority they derive their individual and national rights.
The rest of the world derives their right to exist, together with their
individual human rights, from the 1948 United Nations Declaration of Human
Rights.
The UNDHR grants pretty much the same individual rights as are set forth by the
Constitution and by Israel's Basic Law.
The critical difference that puts Washington and Jerusalem on one side and the
rest of the world on the other is that the rights granted by the UNDHR are
granted by the United Nations. What the UN can grant, the UN can rescind.
On the other hand, American and Israeli individual rights are granted by God.
And what God grants, only God can rescind.
The UN hates both the US and Israel for that reason above all others. It
recognizes that it therefore has no binding authority over either nation. The
continued existence and independence of these nations under the God of the Bible
is an offense to the god of this world and a rejection of his apostles at the
UN. It therefore hates Israel and the United States with an unreasoning mindless
hatred that defies natural explanation.
But the supernatural explanation is obvious. "Be sober, be vigilant; because
your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may
devour." (1 Peter 5:8)
"Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters
of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great
wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." (Revelation 12:12)
"And when these things BEGIN to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your
heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." (Luke 21:28)
God's approval ratings skyrocket
- Hal Lindsey -
www.hallindseyoracle.com
According to a recent Opinion Dynamics poll, when asked, more than 91 percent of
Americans believe in God. Some 85 percent of Americans believe in Heaven and an
afterlife, 78 percent believe in Hell and 71 percent believe in the devil.
Interestingly, while America's belief in God has remained more or less steady,
belief in the devil has enjoyed a strong resurgence – up 7 percent in five years
– probably because so many Americans are coming face to face with such pure
evil, they can no longer deny its existence.
The poll found that younger people are much more likely to believe in Hell and
the devil than older people and that Republicans are more likely to believe in
God than Democrats. Interestingly, the poll also found that Democrats are more
likely to believe in astrology, reincarnation, ghosts and UFOs than are
Republicans, by margins of 15 points.
(Hmmm ... there's got to be a message here somewhere – but maybe for another
article.)
Sixty-nine percent of Americans say religion plays too small a role in people's
lives today – probably because only a third of them attend church or synagogue
weekly.
In any case, it would seem pretty clear – if the Opinion Dynamics poll is to be
believed – that virtually all Americans believe in God. From a statistical point
of view, God has much higher approval ratings among the American people than any
president in history. Far more people know who God is than can name the sitting
vice president of the United States, according to other recent polls.
The Supreme Court of the United States is currently hearing a lawsuit brought by
a California atheist named Michael Newdow. The issue now before the court is
whether it is unconstitutional for a teacher to lead students – even if they are
willing – in saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Newdow argues on the grounds that
the "under God" phrase violates the alleged separation of church and state law.
No one seems to note the fact that the phrase, "separation of church and state,"
is not found in the Constitution. It comes from a private letter written by
Thomas Jefferson years later. (In the same letter Thomas Jefferson expresses his
faith in Jesus Christ. Who ever notes that?)
The relevant phrase in the First Amendment being debated by the Court could not
be clearer on its face. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ..." Congress has ultimate
jurisdiction over constitutional matters.
And since nine in 10 Americans believe in God, it should be obvious that
Congress has no cause to consider the matter – no law has been broken.
The Supreme Court is not Congress. Neither is the 9th Circuit Court that
originally heard Newdow's suit and made saying the Pledge of Allegiance illegal
in the nine states under its jurisdiction. If something is illegal, doesn't that
necessarily mean it is against the law? In this case, what law has been broken?
Does anyone remember Congress getting involved in this, which would then make it
a constitutional issue?
Nine out of 10 Americans believe in God already. So what religion is "God"? Does
"God" mean only the God of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph? Does "God" mean only Jesus
Christ? The Bible itself refers to Satan as the "god" of this world. Islam
claims Allah as "god."
The Supreme Court has determined that the practice of Satanism, as a protected
religion, cannot be forbidden to convicts serving in prisons. But ironically, it
is now going to hear a 9th Circuit Court ruling that says that school children
who recite the Pledge of Allegiance are committing a federal crime. Why? Because
the Pledge refers to God without reference to religion? In a nation in which
over 90 percent of the population also believes in God and the Congress has had
no input into the debate whatsoever.
No matter how many times I try and sort it out, it still comes out sounding the
same way. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case because it touches a
constitutional issue that makes no reference to "God"; speaks specifically to
the powers of Congress that are not even an element in this case and, no matter
how it is read, enjoins Congress against passing a law "establishing a
religion."
Here's the part I can't quite get. Maybe I am thick. What "religion" is "God"?
Is it Islam? Judaism? Hinduism? Buddhism? Christianity? Bahai? Satanism? All of
these are religions. None are the same. Yet each one claims some deity it calls
"god."
The first question before the Court should not be whether the Pledge of
Allegiance is unconstitutional. The Court should first establish which religion
is being promoted by the Pledge of Allegiance. Then it needs to figure out what
Congress has to do with it. And after that, the Court needs to carefully read
the rest of the relevant clause.
It says, "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Ninety-one percent of
Americans believe in God. Shall the other 9 percent establish a law that they
cannot express their belief in God? That would be unconstitutional.
The Palestinian Paradox - Hal Lindsey
-
www.hallindsey.com
In point of fact, they became so called "Palestinians" about a hundred years ago
when they flooded in from the surrounding impoverished Muslim countries to find
work with the Jewish communities that had fled from persecution in Europe. The
Jews were miraculously reversing two thousand years of neglect and destruction
to the desolate land of Israel. Most of the desolation was caused during the
Muslim's twelve hundred year rule there.
The Jewish pioneers, who bought plots of the desolate land at incredibly
inflated prices became victims of their own success. The more they turned the
desolation into fertile, arable land – the more Muslims came to work for them. I
document all of this from history in my book, The Everlasting Hatred, the Roots
of Jihad.
When it became obvious that the hated Jews were against all odds successfully
turning the land into a flourishing garden, the Muslim clergy began to sound the
alarm. "The Jews are stealing our land," became the battle cry from every
Mosque. They systematically stirred up the "migrant workers" into frenzy.
Suddenly they began to claim that they had lived there "from time immemorial."
Never mind that they had only recently come there from other Arab countries to
get work. Militant Muslim terrorists were sent in to guide the massacre of
Jewish farmers.
Jerusalem, which had rarely ever been visited by Muslims during their twelve
hundred year reign there, now became the passion of the Muslim world.
Interestingly, most of them don't even know it as Jerusalem. They call it Al
Quds.
With the destruction of the Muslim Turkish Ottoman Empire by Great Britain, a
Mandate was issued to Britain by the League of Nations (at the Council of San
Remo, 1920-22) to create a homeland for the Jews in the so called "Palestinian
territories."
The British Foreign Office repeatedly betrayed that Mandate. As originally
granted, the Jewish homeland included all of Judea and Samaria, plus what is now
known as the Kingdom of Jordan. That Mandate continues to be bargained away by
the United Nations and the Western powers because of the ever increasing need
for Arab oil. The Muslims have used "the oil weapon" in an ever more successful
way.
And now in this current "Palestinian crisis," the "Palestinians" are angry
because there is no work – no means of supporting themselves accept to work for
the Israelis. With all the billions of dollars that have been given to the
"Palestinians", they still have no viable economic infrastructure. They are
still dependent on Israeli ingenuity. They have proven over and over again that
they would rather buy weapons than build a commercial work place.
In the eight years since the experiment in Palestinian autonomy began, Arafat
has made no pretense at democracy. There is no system of government. No rule of
law, no free press, no infrastructure of hospitals, courts, public works,
communications or internal economy. The concept of a ‘garbage truck’ is as
foreign to the Palestinian Authority as Jimmy Dean’s Pure Pork Sausage.
When Israel closed the borders to stop Palestinian terrorists that were trying
to destroy Israel, some idiot in the media called it ‘economic terrorism’.
Arafat loved that line, repeating it so often no one remembered that all the
jobs are in Israel and none are in Palestine. Soon everybody forgot that if the
terrorists destroy Israel, there will be no jobs from which to be kept away.
The Muslim world is a religiously-retarded economic disaster. If they didn't
have oil, they would have nothing. The one Muslim country that was truly
becoming a modern economic society was Iran. Then the Ayatollahs returned and
dragged them, head-long back into the seventh century Arabian culture, which is
the sanctified culture model of the Koran.
The Muslim hatred of Israel is mindless and it is real. And now that hatred is
spreading to the whole world. The Bible prophets predicted that in the last
days, the whole world would unite as one force against Israel. Zechariah
predicted specifically that the Muslim furor over Jerusalem would be the fuse of
ARMAGEDDON. All this seemed far-fetched for the last 2500 years since these
things were predicted.
Israel was destroyed and scattered for some 2000 years, just as predicted. And
also as predicted, they have returned and irresistibly fit precisely into the
scenario the prophets foresaw happening just before the Messiah's coming to set
up His kingdom.
Virtually everything is now in place for the Messiah Jesus' return. So focus on
His soon return as you see the predicted perilous times get more perilous.
And There Shall Be Signs in the
Sun . . . - Jack Kinsella -
www.omegaletter.com
The sun erupted three more times in less than 24 hours, bringing the number of
major eruptions to nine in less than two weeks. Scientists have been monitoring
the solar cycles since 1755. There has never been a string of activity like
this.
Early Monday, Paal Brekke, deputy project manager of the SOHO spacecraft, was
still digesting the significance of the three additional outbursts on top of two
back-to-back monster flares Oct. 28 and 29.
"I think the last week will go into the history books as one of the most
dramatic periods of solar activity we have seen in modern time," Brekke told
SPACE.com.
Researchers at the NOAA's Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colo., said the
latest flare produced a radiation event that rated an S3, or strong, designation
on the NOAA's five-level space weather scales. The incident also caused an R4,
or severe, radio blackout.
NOAA forecasters expect the rapidly advancing discharge from the sun to reach
the Earth's magnetic field on Wednesday at about midday, producing a serious
geomagnetic storm that's expected to continue the next few days at varying
levels of intensity.
None of the latest eruptions was aimed directly at Earth, but glancing blows are
expected.
The NOAA warned that an S3 flare like Tuesday's can result in a number of
satellite issues, including noise in imaging systems and reductions in solar
panel efficiency.
Many satellites rely at least partially on solar power for operation. In
addition, the resulting geomagnetic storms could compromise satellite and
low-frequency radio navigation systems and cause surface changes on satellite
components that increase drag on low-Earth-orbit spacecrafts. Some satellites
may also experience orientation problems.
Other potential effects included possible interference with high-frequency
radios, which could affect some of the world's wireless communications networks.
The storms could also trigger false alarms in protection devices that are built
into some of the planet's power systems. Any radio blackout would most likely
affect the sunlit side of the Earth, the NOAA said.
The solar flares are already interfering with high frequency radio
communications in aircraft flying north of the 57th parallel. Air traffic
controllers are having trouble keeping track of them.
Flights that go north of latitude 57 degrees, which runs from northern Scotland
across Hudson Bay to the lower tip of Alaska and across Russia, are required to
stay on specific routes so air traffic controllers could 'see' them.
Assessment:
Scientists now know that sunspots do occur in cycles. An 11-year cycle of
sunspot activity seems to emerge from the detailed records of the 21 sunspot
cycles observed since 1755. The Sun is now experiencing what some scientists
think may be the most active cycle ever, a time of violent solar storms that
promises to be a record-setter in many ways.
But we are three years BEYOND the solar maximum and right now, the sun is in its
minimum activity phase. There should be little to no solar activity until 2012
or later. Instead, scientists say this is one of the most turbulent periods of
solar activity since 1940, during a solar maximum event.
On March 6 the largest, most active sunspot ever seen had solar scientists
around the world poised to warn of impending flare effects on Earth.
The unusual spot created a new, giant flare almost daily, saturating the space
between the Sun and Earth with solar X-rays, gamma rays, and protons, and
creating surging waves in the solar wind that disturbed the Earth's magnetic
field with unprecedented regularity.
Scientists say the sunspot activity is harmless to human beings and that we are
protected from radiation by the atmosphere. The only effects most of us will
notice will be sporadic problems with cell phones, TV reception and a bumpier
internet than usual. In practical terms, it is pretty much an interesting
non-story.
In spiritual terms, its a whole 'nuther ball game.
Richard Willson is a researcher affiliated with NASA's Goddard Institute for
Space Studies and Columbia University's Earth Institute, New York. He authored a
study for the Goddard Space Institute that says;
"Historical records of solar activity indicate that solar radiation has been
increasing since the late 19th century. If a trend, comparable to the one found
in this study, persisted throughout the 20th century, it would have provided a
significant component of the global warming the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change reports to have occurred over the past 100 years."
Jesus gave signs that would signal His soon returm. When He outlined those
signs, He said they would be like 'birth pangs' -- increasing in both frequency
and intensity as the end of the age approached.
He spoke of wars and rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, pestilences and a
climate of deception, on an ever increasing scale. He spoke of Israel as a
literal place in the last days, and foretold Jerusalem's rise to global
prominence at the appointed time. He said Jerusalem would remain in Gentile
hands until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled.
All this is headline news for this generation. And THEN He said;
"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and
upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves
roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things
which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And
then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
And when these things BEGIN to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your
heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." (Luke 21:25-28)
"So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom
of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, THIS GENERATION SHALL NOT PASS
AWAY TILL ALL BE FULFILLED." (Luke 21:31-32)
Can't say it much plainer than that.
The 'Gloom and Doom' Factor - Jack
Kinsella -
www.omegaletter.com
A reader emailed me yesterday saying, "the closer I look at prophecy and
fulfillment, on an every-day basis, the gloomier it all seems. I know I can't be
the only one feeling that - we all must struggle with that. . ."
The prophecies of the Bible for the last days ARE a lot of doom and gloom -- the
very purpose of the Tribulation is to judge a Christ-rejecting world. It is
called the Time of Jacob's Trouble, the Day of Wrath, etc.
It is the time of God's judgement on the world -- and there isn't much cheering
going on. Three-quarters of the world will die of the plagues and judgements
during this period. (Revelation 6) One third of the trees on earth will burn up,
(Revelation 8:7) a third of all sea life will die, a third part of the ships
will be destroyed in a sea turned one-third to blood.(v.9)
The judgement extends from the earth to the heavens: "And the fourth angel
sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the
moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was
darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise."
(Revelation 8:12)
It isn't a pretty picture to contemplate. Especially in light of the very next
verse:
"And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying
with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of
the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!"
(Revelation 8:13)
No wonder much of the Church prefers the replacement theologian's view that all
prophecy was fulfilled with the Destruction of the Temple in AD 70 and that
Revelation and Daniel are figurative or allegorical rather than predictive.
Sir Isaac Newton is reputed to have observed, "About the time of the end, a body
of men will be raised up who will turn their attention to the prophecies, and
insist upon their literal interpretation, in the midst of much clamour and
opposition."
Now that we live in that time, Newton's observation sounds almost prophetic.
There is a HUGE clamor surrounding the study of Bible prophecy. And any of you
who've read the forum debates over replacement theology knows how strongly they
oppose studying Bible prophecy.
In any case, the prophecies for the last days are so terrifying, many would
rather allegorize them away.
We are not living during the Time of Jacob's Trouble. But our world is preparing
itself for that time as we sit back as astonished eyewitnesses. The chaos that
seizes the planet during the Tribulation has its beginnings during the last days
of the Church Age.
Jesus warned that there would come wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes,
pestilences and so on. He warned that, "All these are the beginning of sorrows."
(Matthew 24:8)
The signs of the times are all around us and they are scary. They are scary even
to many saved Christians who know the signs mean the Day of the Lord is at hand.
They are scary to Christians who believe the Rapture will occur before the
Tribulation begins.
There is nothing in Scripture to suggest that the Church Age will escape bad
things in the last days -- just that it will be removed before the beginning of
the Time of Jacob's Trouble.
Bad things are already happening. The wars. The rumors of wars. Famines.
Earthquakes and pestilences. All on an ever-increasing scale of frequency and
intensity. But Jesus said, "all these things MUST come to pass, but the end is
not yet." (Matthew 24:6) The 'end' He refers to is the 'end of the [Church] age'
(Matthew 24:3), so we know it's going to get uglier.
Assessment:
Those are all good reasons to get depressed with the 'doom and gloom' of Bible
prophecy. It's easy to get caught up in it -- especially when examining the
'nuts and bolts' of how things fit together, and what Scripture says should be
next on the global agenda. Since nothing particularly pleasant is prophesied to
come upon the earth, studying it in detail gets pretty depressing.
And there are all the people we know that are not yet saved -- we know that time
is running out, that they won't listen, and that is even more depressing.
We see all the tiniest details of God's plan being played out before our eyes,
but the details obscure the bigger picture.
This is GOD'S PLAN! Before the world began, God knew exactly how things would
play out. He told us in advance of each event. He told us that fulfilled
prophecy was His Signature;
"Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath
declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the
LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is
none beside me." (Isaiah 45:21)
Also, "Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither
his ear heavy, that it cannot hear" (Isaiah 59:1)
In this generation, we live in an age of miracles. There appears that there is
nothing that science won't be able to accomplish eventually, thanks to the
advent of computers. We can replicate almost any miracle except one.
We cannot predict the future. It simply can't be done. No computer could
calculate every detail of every life in advance, which is what would be
necessary. Should one person do something unexpected then the whole course of
future history would change.
Bible prophecy was given to the Church in the last days for the same reason that
the Apostles were given miracles, signs and wonders following Pentecost.
In both instances, God's Authority is proved by God-given signs.
It was by the Authority of God, authenticated by miracles, that the Apostles
proclaimed the birth of the Church Age at Pentecost.
It is by the Authority of God, authenticated by fulfilled prophecy, that the
Bible proclaims the end of the Church Age in this generation.
Taking into account the bigger picture, Bible prophecy isn't 'doom and gloom' at
all. It is incontrovertible evidence that cannot be shaken by modern scientific
'miracles'.
When the skeptic argues for evolution and random selection, trotting out
fossils, skeletons and diagrams, it seems pretty convincing. Maybe the Bible
isn't all that literal, after all. Maybe science has got something there. . .
maybe. . .(!)
But when one compares the accuracy of the Bible's account of the unknowable
future to the ever-changing scientific 'explanations' for the distant past,
doubts melt away. The skeptic has multiple explanations for static events that
have already happened.
The Bible gives a single explanation for a fluid, changeable series of events
predicted to happen thousands of years in the future -- the events that define
our present day. Which is more convincing?
Bible prophecy proves Jesus was the Son of God, regardless of the latest
scientific, archeological or historical discovery. No matter what else might be
offered as 'evidence' to the contrary, there is no other explanation for Bible
prophecy. It is our generation's unique miracle.
It proves that He remains in charge of the affairs of men. Scripture records His
Promise in all three Gospel accounts, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my
words shall not pass away." (Matthew 24:35. Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33)
"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take
heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the
day star arise in your hearts:" (2 Peter 1:19)
Bible prophecy is proof positive that God remains on the Throne, that His Word
will NOT return to Him void, and that all the chaos and terror of the world
notwithstanding, all continues to go according to His plan.
Given the unbeliever's explanation of uncontrolled chaos, Bible prophecy isn't
all that depressing, after all. What WOULD be depressing would be to be among
the lost, not knowing what this world is coming to, and believing the world is
in a state of uncontrolled chaos.
For the believer, Bible prophecy can be pretty encouraging, which is what the
Lord intended for the last days' Church all along:
"But these things have I told you, that WHEN THE TIME SHALL COME, ye may
remember that I told you of them." (John 16:4)
"The Devil Has Clearly
Entered the Church" - Jack Kinsella -
www.omegaletter.com
“How dare we in this country spend $87 billion on war when 44 million people
have no health insurance? It’s up to the church to lead on some of these moral
issues.” - -Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson
'Leading on moral issues' was, ironically enough, the theme of Gene Robinson's
first sermon as the Espiscopalian Church's gay Bishop of New Hampshire. Robinson
spoke from the pulpit of All Saint's Church, the same church where he married
his wife -- before divorcing her to live openly in a gay relationship. There's
enough irony here to press shirts.
Bishop Robinson also said his ministry would be to bring God's love to 'those on
the margins'. He didn't really identify who, exactly, was on the 'margins' --
care to take a guess?
Conservatives within the US church think they know who lives on the 'margins',
and they've asked the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual head of the
Anglican Church, to authorize a separate Anglican province for them in North
America.
Robinson's also elevation sent shockwaves through the world wide Anglican
Church. On Nov. 3, overseas bishops who said they represented 50 million of the
world’s 77 million Anglicans jointly announced they were in a “state of impaired
communion” with the Episcopal Church — a step short of declaring a full schism.
A statement, issued by Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria "for and on behalf of
the working committee for the Primates of the Global South," said that they were
"appalled" that the Episcopal Church USA "ignored the heartfelt plea of the
Communion not to proceed with the scheduled consecration" and the "clear and
strong warning of its detrimental consequences for the unity of the Communion."
Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi of the Anglican Church of Kenya was equally blunt,
announcing that his church will have nothing to do with Bishop Robinson or any
of the 53 bishops who participated in his consecration, refusing to look upon
them as fellow Anglicans. "We cannot be in the same communion with Robinson, his
diocese and the bishops who were in the consecration."
When pressed about what cutting ties meant, he said that the Kenyans would not
accept any support from the Episcopal Church, including missionaries.
"The devil has clearly entered the church. God cannot be mocked," he said.
According to Archbishop Drexel Gomez of the Province of the West Indies, a
majority of Anglicans would be willing to sacrifice their financial support
rather than accept the consecration of Gene Robinson.
"America does make the largest contribution to the worldwide Anglican Communion.
That's a matter of fact," he said in an interview with the Nassau Guardian. "As
much as we need the money, the gospel must come first. We are prepared to
suffer."
In Rochester, New Hampshire, about half the parishoners walked out mid-service
to protest the dismissal of their interim minister because he opposed Robinson's
elevation. Bishop Douglas Theuner of the Diocese of New Hampshire removed the
Rev. Donald Wilson on Friday for insubordination when Wilson refused to come to
Concord to meet with Theuner on the matter. Robinson will automatically succeed
Theuner when the bishop retires next year.
The American Anglican Council, a national conservative group opposed to
Robinson’s elevation, called on Theuner to restore Wilson.
Assessment:
One place where Robinson's elevation was greeted with almost universal joy was
Great Britain, the seat of the Anglican Church. Dean Colin Slee of Southwark
Cathedral in London said that Anglicans should rejoice that "at last there is an
open and honest consecration of a homosexual bishop within the church. There
have been many before but they have not been honest or open."
"His ministry will inspire lesbian, gay, bisexual and heterosexual Christians
with new confidence that we have a full place at the communion table of our
Lord," said the Rev. Colin Coward, director of Changing Attitude, a British
organization of Anglican bishops, priests and lay people that promotes a more
open attitude in the church.
Rev. Frank Griswold, presiding bishop of the US Episcopal Church told the
Seattle Post, "The ordination and consecration of Gene Robinson is an indication
that a majority of Episcopalians, represented by the General Convention, have
come to discern that the fruits of the spirit are alive in men and women who
share affection with members of the same sex. . . The church is truly present in
the lives of these people, and they are truly present in the life of the
church."
There is room for one more quote -- this one from the Apostle Paul.
"For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did
change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the
men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward
another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in
themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did
not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate
mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all
unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of
envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God,
despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable,
unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things
are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do
them." (Romans 1:26-32)
Special Report: A New Form
of Antisemitism . . . - Jack Kinsella
www.omegaletter.com
A pre-dawn fire destroyed part of a suburban Jewish school in what France's
interior minister said was likely an anti-semitic act.
No injuries were reported in Saturday's blaze at the Merkaz Hatorah private
school, located in Gagny in the Seine-Saint-Denis region.
About 100 firefighters were called in to put out the flames, which destroyed
some 32,290 square feet on the school's second floor where work was underway,
officials at the local prefecture said. The area was not being used by students.
The fire started in two separate places, local officials said.
"The criminal origin of the blaze is more than strongly suspected which gives,
for this Jewish school, an anti-Semitic and obviously racist connotation," said
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy during a visit to the fire site.
In Germany, a prominent German member of the opposition Christian Democrats gave
a speech in which he tried to document how Jewish people were responsible for
the atrocities and killings of the Russian revolution - and compared it to the
Holocaust. He was reprimanded by the party, who hoped that would be that.
It wasn't, since this is politics, and eventually, the parliament voted to expel
Martin Hohmann, hoping to put to rest allegations of lingering German
antisemitism.
It didn't work out that way. Although 195 MPs supported his expulsion, 28
opposed it and 16 abstained. Another four spoiled their ballots while five MPs
did not turn up to vote.
"The result makes it quite clear that his position and his views have a certain
support in his party," said Green Party MP Claudia Roth. "It's not enough to
say: Hohmann is expelled and that is the end of the story. I feel that the story
will continue."
Roth's remarks are prescient; the story will continue, not just in Germany, but
globally. The Greek government was forced to distance itself from recent
anti-Semitic comments made by Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis.
"We [the Greeks] are alone, but without the self-awareness and fanaticism the
Jews have. We and the Jews are two peoples who are brotherless in the world.
However, they have fanaticism and succeed in imposing themselves. We can say
today that this small people is at the root of evil, not of good, which means
that too much self-awareness and too much insistence causes harm."
Two Greek government ministers heard the remarks and remained silent.
Yad Vashem (Israel's Holocaust Museum) Chairman Avner Shalev said Theodorakis's
statements "are a symptom of the systematic flooding of Europe with incitement
against the Jewish people and the State of Israel."
Writes Abraham Foxman in his book, "Never Again", "we currently face as great a
threat to the safety and security of the Jewish people as the one we faced in
the 1930s — if not a greater one.” Foxman cited two recent events to make his
case.
The first is last month’s speech by Malaysia’s then-prime minister, Mahathir
Mohammad, who told the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference that
“Jews rule the world by proxy,” and urged the Muslim world to unite to defeat
the Jews.
The second development is a recent poll revealing that more Europeans — about 59
percent — consider Israel the greatest threat to world peace than any other
country.
Under leaders that excuse the anti-Semitism in their midst, Europe — home to a
fast-growing Muslim population — has given rise to extremist political parties
and hate crimes against Jews, Foxman notes. After Mahathir’s speech before the
Organization of the Islamic Conference, “heads of state, kings, potentates stood
on their hind legs and gave him a standing ovation,” Foxman said.
According to Foxman, Israel has few friends.
With the United Nations a bully pulpit for the Palestinian cause, the Jewish
state often finds itself allied only with America, the Marshall Islands and
Micronesia. Israel has become “the Jew of nations,” Foxman told Wolf Blitzer
last week in a CNN interview — shunned, hounded and persecuted.
At a 65th anniversary commemoration of Kristallnacht in Vienna, protestors waved
Palestinian flags and yelled anti-Israel slogans, disrupting the Holocaust
ceremony.
Assessment:
The world hates Israel -- only someone blinded by antisemitism could deny it.
Look at the UN voting record when it comes to condemning Israel. Israel has come
under greater UN condemnation than any single state in history -- and more times
than all the Arab states combined -- and the vote is always four against the
world; Israel, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and, thankfully for Israel, the
United States
The world cannot offer an explanation for its venomous, knee-jerk hatred of
Israel. The Palestinian 'occupation' is an excuse. Israel was just as hated
before it began.
The 'Palestinians' came into existence in 1967 following the third war of
annihilation launched against the Jews in less than twenty years. The
'Palestinian occupation' came to global prominence following yet a fourth effort
by the Arab world to annihilate the Jews in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
In all four of these wars, not a single country lifted a finger to help them.
The Palestinian issue doesn't explain any of that.
Ariel Sharon noted the existence of a 'new kind of antisemitism' at the state
level, in which governments treat Israel the way that individual antisemites
treat Jews. But nobody can explain why.
The Jews have contributed more to global society than any other people on earth.
More Jews have won Nobel Prizes for advances in science than any other
identifiable religious or ethnic group in the world.
Although Jews account for a fraction of a percentage of the earth's population,
they account for 22% of the Nobel Prizes awarded for scientific advancements
since 1901, for example.
So, what explains this new 'antisemitism'? (As if the old kind isn't bad
enough).
The Bible says that Israel would not exist until the last days. Until Israel's
restoration, antisemitism could only be practiced against Jewish individuals.
But Zecharaiah says that the entire world would be gathered against a literal
nation of Israel who would be, at that time, in disputed possession of
Jerusalem.
As we found out, it was impossible to 'gather the whole world together' against
one of the most repressive and brutal dictatorships of the 20th century when
Bush tried to assemble a coalition against Iraq.
But where Israel is concerned, the only holdouts are America, Micronesia and the
Marshall Islands. But nobody can explain why they oppose Israel, apart from the
Palestinian issue, which, as we've seen, is just a convenient excuse.
Daniel says the antichrist will appear to settle the conflict between Israel and
her enemies, a feat so impressive it catapults him to unrestricted global power.
John says he will use his power to launch a holocaust against the Jews so
horrific that Jesus said without His return, 'no flesh would be saved.'
And Jesus told His Jewish audience that the generation that would see the
restoration of the fig tree 'would not pass, until all these things be
fulfilled.'
He told them, "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and
lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."
As close as all this seems to reaching fulfillment before our very eyes, Paul
told the Church that there is first ANOTHER event on God's prophetic calendar:
"For this we say unto you BY THE WORD OF THE LORD, that we which are alive and
remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For
the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
"Wherefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18)
The Greatest Story Seldom Told
- Jack Kinsella -
www.omegaletter.com
The Bible is under attack, as it has been since it was first compiled, but with
a special fervor and intensity unique to this generation. What makes this
generation unique is that the principle attackers are believers themselves.
It is possible to be a believer in the Bible and not be a Christian, although it
doesn't seem so until you think about it.
Personally, I know lots of people who say they believe in God, or believe in the
Bible, but who have never surrendered themselves to Christ. Most other religions
reference it among their sacred texts, from Buddhists to Jews.
And there are 'cultural Christians' as well. Most Americans were raised in a
Christian culture, and identify with Christianity whether they are born-again or
not.
It is actually quite easy to believe in the Bible without even having read it.
Which makes it even easier to attack it. Just turn on A&E and watch some of the
'Mysteries of the Bible' series. After watching a couple of them, you'll
conclude that the most mysterious thing about the Bible is that ANYBODY really
believes it.
If you don't know anything about the Bible except that you believe in it, then
it is pretty easy to plant misconceptions as part of an effort to discover the
'truth' about it.
After all, who doesn't want to know the 'truth' about a Book as mysterious as
the Bible? Especially if it comes packaged as a TV program saving the effort of
having to actually read its ponderous text?
Assessment:
The Scriptures say, "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish
foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians
1:18)
That anyone could attack the Bible escapes me. Especially when one considers
that the Bible isn't one book, but is actually a collection of sixty-six books,
written by forty different human authors. Reading through it, it seems to have
penned by the same individual.
But the Bible's authors were shepherds and kings, intinerant preachers and
traveling salesmen, tax collectors, tent-makers and fishermen, captives and
slaves.
In most instances, the Bible's authors had never met one another and had no
access to each other's works. Ezekiel and Daniel were contemporaries, but Daniel
was held captive in Babylon. Ezekiel lived hundreds of miles away in what
remained of Israel. Each book refers to the other, although neither prophet met
to compare notes.
There were no libraries where each writer of Scripture could cross reference the
other. But each book flows smoothly to the next, some books referencing passages
written by the authors who came before, while others reference books not yet
written for centuries.
It is obvious to any honest seeker of truth that the Bible actually has only one
Author. The alleged 'quests for truth' about the Bible like "Mysteries of the
Bible" are predicated by that fact.
What escapes A&E is the Identity of the Author, although the Bible clearly
identifies Him. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." (2
Timothy 3:16-17)
The word translated here as 'scripture' comes from the Greek word 'gramma'. This
means a 'letter' -- meaning even the smallest details are from God and are
perfect.
The Bible is not just a body of unrelated religious writings on various
subjects. It is a systematic revelation of history from creation that continues
to unfold before our eyes and continues to outline human history to its ultimate
conclusion.
The entire Bible revolves around only one central theme. The need for man's
salvation and God's provision for it through Jesus Christ.
The Bible is a gift from God to all men -- a 'love letter', some say, from God
to you. I like that synopsis, since that is how I have viewed it for most of my
adult life. A love letter from God, that starts, "Dear Jack: In the beginning .
."
What a God we serve! This Thanksgiving, allow yourself to dwell on the Bible's
magnificence. Meditate on how impossible it would be for the Bible to have come
into being through human effort, apart from God, as is now the popular angle of
attack.
Many have made much of the alleged 'Bible codes' which indeed appear to be real,
although not of any particular value apart from serving as the Signature of God
for a high tech generation.
Jesus said, "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign . . ."
-(Matthew 16:4) and that is what the Bible codes are to this generation. A sign.
But the Bible proves itself by its very existence. The Bible wasn't divided into
chapters until the 13th century by Stephen Langton. It wasn't divided into
individual verses until the 15th and 16th centuries. But its contents have been
debated by the best and brightest of every generation.
The King James Bible contains sixty-six books -- 39 in the Old Testament, and
twenty-seven in the New. There are 31,173 verses, 774,746 words and 3,556,480
letters that make up the entire Bible. In all of that, nobody in all human
history has ever disproved a single word.
Dead center in the middle of the Bible is Psalm 118:8:
"It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man."
Persia Prepares for Armageddon
- Hal Lindsey -
www.hallindsey.com
That’s according to the head of Israel's intelligence service. The threat comes
after an International Atomic Energy Agency report clearly indicated that Iran
has lied about and hidden their nuclear program for 20 years.
But now the IAEA claims they can be trusted. Israel isn’t buying it. Israel’s
defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, was blunt. He told the UN that, "under no
circumstances would Israel be able to tolerate nuclear weapons in Iranian
possession".
He said he was issuing what sources have described as a warning of
"unprecedented severity". Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon also weighed into
the debate during talks last week with the Italian Prime Minister Silvio
Berlusconi in Rome.
Sharon said, "I spoke at length with Berlusconi about the danger posed by Iran,
It’s the number one danger." Sharon called on Italy "to appeal to the rest of
Europe to take a stronger stand against Iran.
I hope that Italy keeps Iran in very close check, because it seems to me that
the European Union position has been lightweight up until now."
Washington also continues to insist that Iran has been hiding a nuclear weapons
program. Like Israel, the White House fears that this week’s IAEA board meeting
will end without the matter being referred to the Security Council.
The Russians immediately endorsed the IAEA report, since it is making billions
from building the reactors in the first place.
The world continues to polarize into five distinct spheres of influence; Europe,
the Muslim Middle East and North Africa, the Far East Asian bloc, the former
Soviet Union and the United States.
The Bible foretold four out of five. Bible Prophets predicted the revival of the
Roman Empire, the Kings of the South, the Kings of the East and the Gog-Magog
alliance.
In Scripture, there is no fifth sphere of global influence in the last days.
This is why the United States must fade from power. North Korea already has
nuclear weapons. So does India and Pakistan. Iran or Persia is very close to
having nuclear weapons.
As I said in 1991, Iran is the most dangerous nation in the world. Iran's
fanatical brand of Islam makes it a far greater threat than anyone else with
nuclear weapons.
They will use them. And today, there is still no nation that has the courage to
take the necessary actions to prevent dangerous nations from getting nuclear
weapons. Only little Israel and America appear to be willing to do so.
And America's resolve will disappear if Liberals get back into the White House.
America and Israel are surrounded by enemies who are increasingly hostile and
ever more deadly. Already, the secular world is predicting the passing of the
superpower torch from America to Europe.
The four spheres of "last day" power predicted in the Bible already exist. And
as predicted, the only common bond they share is hatred of Israel.
This is precisely what the Bible prophets predicted would happen. Give thanks to
God that Christ is coming very soon. Maranatha
Arafat Scuttles Geneva Accord
- Jack Kinsella -
www.omegaletter.com
Four prominent Palestinians who negotiated the so-called Geneva Accords have
decided against attending the signing ceremony in Geneva. They made the decision
after finding out Yasser Arafat wouldn't support the agreement.
They could tell he was unhappy with it after they asked him for a letter of
support, which he refused. They could tell HOW unhappy Arafat was with it when
shots were fired at one of the negotiator's homes.
After that, about 200 Palestinian members of Arafat's Fatah party blocked a road
near a crossing into Egypt and beat and kicked the Palestinian negotiators and
dignitaries as they emerged from their cars. Unarmed Palestinian police had to
restrain the demonstrators to allow the officials to get through.
The officials were traveling to Cairo, and from there were to fly to
Switzerland.
The Al Aqsa Brigades Fatah's 'military wing' also issued a leaflet condemning
the Palestinian negotiators as "collaborators."
Assessment:
That is how things are done in the land that the White House wants to see
achieve statehood. You know, a free and democratic State of Palestine, living
side-by-side at peace with Israel?
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said the reason for scuttling the
agreement is Israel's security fence. Israel is building the fence to prevent
Palestinian terrorists from entering Israel unchecked. The United Nations has
condemned the security fence, calling it a violation of international law.
The deal, reached by former Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, would establish
a Palestinian state and includes unprecedented concessions by both sides,
especially Israel.
Under its terms, Israel must surrender control of Temple Mount to the
Palestinians, plus control of the holy places in East Jerusalem. The deal would
divide Jerusalem in half, with both countries claiming the other half for their
capital.
In exchange, the Palestinians must make the 'unprecedented concessions' of
stopping terrorism and giving up the 'Right of Return' that would turn Israel
into a majority Arab state overnight and end the existence of a Jewish State at
the next election.
The Geneva Accords were negotiated without the involvement of the Israeli
government, who opposes them because they give away too much. But Arafat had
given the deal tacit support -- until last night when he pulled the plug.
The Geneva Accord, to Arafat, was a way of embarrassing the Israelis, whom he
knew would object to being cut out of negotiations over its own future.
But then the agreement began to take on a life of its own, as it occurred to
both sides that it actually might work.
This is an excellent time to remember the thirty-year existence of the Berlin
Wall, since Israel's security fence is now the latest symbol of 'Israeli
oppression.'
The Berlin Wall was built by the Soviets to keep East Berliners in, to keep them
from escaping to freedom. It divided German families down the middle, separating
loved ones and creating two cities -- one rigidly controlled by the Soviets and
mired in poverty, and West Berlin, the most prosperous city in Cold War Europe.
The UN Security Council passed NO resolutions declaring the Berlin Wall a
violation of international law.
Israel's security fence will NOT divide loving families. Israeli Arabs will be
able to pass through checkpoints to visit loved ones. The fence is designed only
to keep Arabs bent on attacking Israel out.
If Arafat can't send terrorists into Israel to launch suicide attacks, then he
is powerless. THAT is why Arafat hates the fence, and it is also the stated
reason why Kofi Annan says the fence is illegal under 'international law.'
(What exactly IS international law? Where is it written down? Who passed it? And
why is Israel's fence illegal, whereas the Security Council remained silent
about the Berlin wall for 28 years?)
"International Law" is whatever the UN declares it to be at any given moment and
Israel appears to be the only nation subject to it. Israel has been condemned by
the UN more times than any other nation in the world and more times than ALL the
Arab states in the world, COMBINED.
There has been NO peace between Israel and the Arab world at any time in
Israel's history, although Israel has extended the olive branch many times.
Israel was attacked five times by the combined armies of the Arab world in wars
of annihilation that the UN failed to condemn as violations of international law
until AFTER Israel won them.
Then Israel was condemned for annexing the territory it won repulsing those
invasions.
Kofi Annan released an eleven-page report in which he called the barrier fence
"a deeply counterproductive act" that had already caused "serious socioeconomic
harm" to the Palestinian people.
What kind of double-speak is this? The "serious socioeconomic harm" to the
Palestinians has been wreaked by Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority. Arafat
tried governing legitimately for a couple of years after Oslo, but found he
could get more concessions through violence than through negotations. That
violence is responsible for the plight of the Palestinians today, not the
still-incomplete security fence.
Israel's Foreign Ministry issued a simple response to Annan's report that spoke
volumes, if anybody was listening.
"There is no alternative to the construction of the security barrier as long as
the Palestinian Authority does not make a real and concentrated effort to face
Palestinian terrorist organizations." The Israeli Foreign Ministry says such
criticism amounts to rewarding all who use terror as a means to realize their
political aims.
Israel says the security barrier is a non-violent, efficient and proven method
of curbing Palestinian terrorism against citizens of the Jewish state.
Try as I might, I can't find a flaw in that logic, just as I can't find any
logic in blaming an incompleted fence for three years of Palestinian sponsored
violence that has totally wrecked the Palestinian economy and destroyed any
realistic hopes for peace.
Except when viewed through the prism of Bible prophecy for the last days. The
Bible predicted Israel's restoration in the last days. The Bible predicted the
restored Jewish state wouldn't be called "Judah" or "Zion" and that it exist on
the mountains of Israel, 'which had always been waste', and not in Uganda where
the Zionist Council had asked Britain for a homeland in 1897. (The British told
them to set their sights on the southern province of Syria, (modern Israel) then
under the control of the Ottoman Empire)
Having been restored, properly named and properly located, the Bible then
predicted Israel's constant state of war, the intermittent periods of false
peace, and an almost unreasoning global hatred of the Jewish state that will
eventually culminate with the armies of the world meeting on the plains of
Megiddo and the Second Coming of Christ.
Viewed that way, the whole security fence/false peace deals/UN criticism and all
the rest of it make perfect sense. Because these are the last days.
"And when these things BEGIN to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your
heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." (Luke 21:28)
I'm beginning to suffer from neck strain.
Murder,
Inc. - Jack Kinsella -
www.omegaletter.com
In the days leading up to the Invasion of Iraq, Yasser Arafat sent Saddam his
warmest personal regards, hoping that Saddam might continue his practice of
paying bounties to the families of suicide bombers from exile. Alas for poor
Yasser, Saddam is now spending his money on his own suicide bombers.
Yasser Arafat has now given permission for the Geneva Agreement negotiators to
attend the signing ceremony, although he stopped short of issuing the requested
personal letter of endorsement. Arafat dropped his more rigid position after he
realized he was on the same side as Sharon by opposing it. In addition, by
dropping his objections, he was able to extract huge concessions from the United
States.
While deeply engaged in the war on terrorism around the world and in Iraq,
America has been manipulated into sending an official representative to a
ceremony for the non-agreement.
He allowed its Palestinian players to negotiate the proposals up to the draft
stage but forbade them to sign it. He organized and paid Fatah thugs to stage
demonstrations and issue threats of violence against the Palestinian
“collaborators” and “traitors” of Geneva as the launch date approached. Masked
Fatah gunmen shot up the home of senior Palestinian negotiator Yasser Abd Rabbo.
At the last minute, as a gesture to the Egyptian president, Arafat permitted a
group of Palestinians to attend as private individuals led by Jibril Rajoub. But
large numbers opted for the safety of boycott.
Arafat's tame prime minister, Ahmed Queria, has also made it clear that the
Palestinians at Geneva represent neither the PLO nor the PA. Queria has already
said in no uncertain terms that he will not act against Palestinian terror
groups, citing the danger of a civil war.
Recently, US Undersecretary of State William Burns held a reception in Amman,
Jordan, in honor of Qureia. The following week, President Bush called on the
Israelis from London to 'stop humiliating' the Palestinians.
Assessment:
In one of the most bizarre political manuevers of the century, the
administration is throwing its weight behind the unofficial Geneva Accords. The
fact that NEITHER side endorsed them is evidently of no consequence.
The Geneva deal would move Israel back to pre-1967 borders, grant Arafat
authority over the holy places like the Temple Mount and Joseph's Tomb, and
surrenders half of Jerusalem to be capital of a new Palestinian state.
The White House has made statehood for Yasser Arafat the centerpiece of its
Middle East policy. What kind of state will it be?
The hottest-selling toy this year in Ramallah and Gaza is a replica statue of
Osama bin-Laden holding the Pentagon in one hand. The other stretches out toward
a model of the World Trade Center, complete with crashing jets and spouting
flames.
In March, the PA named a square in Jenin after an Iraqi who killed four American
soldiers in a car bomb attack on March 27th.
The PA's chief religious authority, Akrameh Sabri called on all Moslems to
oppose the US, “which has systematically shed innocent blood, ever since the
bombing of Japan… U.S. terrorism against Afghanistan and Iraq must be opposed by
all Moslems.”
There was dancing in the streets at word of the capture of US and British troops
in Iraq, including Jessica Lynch. An official on Palestinian Authority
Television delivered a sermon expressing the hope that, “Americans will drown in
their blood.”
In an article published in the PA newspaper Al Hayat, Al Jadida, a member of the
Palestinian Legislative Council called President George W. Bush and Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld, “Human beings whose ambitions have turned them into
bloodthirsty beasts.”
And who can forget the rousing images of Palestinian sorrow at the murder of
3000 innocents on September 11? Palestinians flooded the streets shouting for
joy and throwing candy to children (a tradition symbol of celebration in the
Middle East).
Statehood for the Palestinians is now official US policy. The president set
forth pre-conditions for a state of Palestine (carved out of Biblical Israel) in
a Rose Garden speech in June, 2002. The Palestinians were to stop suicide
attacks, disarm Hamas and Islamic Jihad, end anti-Semitic/anti-Israel incitement
and unequivocally recognize Israel’s right to exist.
The Palestinian Authority honored those committments with the same zeal they
honored all previous promises. By ignoring them.
Regardless, Bush endorsed the so-called Road Map – putting Israel’s fate in the
hands of the UN, EU, Russia and the US State Department. For Israel, that is the
equivalent of trial by lynch mob.
Preconditions for the Palestinians included electing a leader to replace Arafat
and ending Palestinian violence against Israel. You don't need me to explain how
that turned out.
While in London, the president criticized the Israelis for building their
security fence, humiliating Palestinians by searching them for bombs, and for
not dismantling unauthorized settlements.
This whole 'unauthorized' settlement thing is intriguing. Since the West Bank
and Gaza were captured by Israel following a war of aggression and subsequently
annexed (like we did Texas and California) who would Israel go to for
authorization to settle on territory captured in a war?
Who authorized the American settlements of Houston, Dallas or Los Angeles?
No Israelis danced for joy in the streets of Tel Aviv on September 11. The
Israelis mourned our dead almost as much as we did. There are no rabbis asking
God to drown Americans in their own blood.
A majority of Palestinians (75 percent in an October 7-14, 2003 survey) support
suicide bombings. In a 2002 poll, 51 percent demanded a Palestinian state in
“all of historic Palestinian” (i.e., all of Israel).
Overwhelming majorities support a so-called Palestinian right-of-return, which
would flood Israel with millions of Palestinian “refugees” and their
descendants. Terrorist mastermind Arafat is the beloved leader of the
Palestinian street.
For decades, the Palestinian masses have been nurtured on raw anti-Semitism –
Jews seek global domination. Jews are the enemies of morality. Jews drink the
blood of children, etc., and so on, and so forth, ad nauseum, but for some
inexplicable reason, the White House wants to hand statehood to the masterminds
of the Palestinian Murder, Inc.
It is ludicrous to believe a civilized country like Israel could peacefully
co-exist beside a state run by anti-Israeli terrorists. A state that sanctions
honor killings of Palestinian women for real or perceived infidelity.
The State of Palestine would be run by the men who ordered the destruction of
busloads of women and children, the murder of entire families sitting down to
Passover, ordered the shooting of women and children in their beds in Israeli
settlements, the lynching of unarmed soldiers and the dragging off of two 13
year-old boys, (one of them from Maryland) to be stoned to death in caves.
Of the Israeli dead in the current Israeli/Palestinian war, 77% were
non-combatants. Arafat's promise of a demilitarized state is no better than any
of his previous promises. Remember the Karin A? It was an arms ship intercepted
in the Red Sea, carrying more than fifty tons of armaments headed to the
Palestinian Authority. What would happen if Arafat controlled his own borders?
What is the administration thinking? Not only is granting statehood to Murder,
Inc., idiotic, it also lacks any support from the American people.
In a recenty McLaughlin Group survey, only 13% think Arafat's PA should get
statehood -- 77% of Americans staunchly oppose it. Two-thirds of poll
respondents think that a Palestinian state would be a terrorist state. And three
out of four believe Arafat's long-term goal is the destruction of Israel.
So why would the administration back statehood for the Palestinians? Beats me.
The only one in the administration who thinks this is a good idea is Colin
Powell -- and, evidently George W. Bush.
By and large, Bush's foreign policy has been courageous -- and as the evidence
continues to flow in, it has proved to be sound. But when it comes to Israel and
the Palestinians, he, like his predecessors, has a blind spot. The same blind
spot exists at the United Nations.
Israel lives on the other side of the Looking Glass from the rest of the planet.
As such, Israel is the only country capable of seeing the danger inherent in
turning statehood over to the March Hare.
But, to be fair, that blindness where Israel is concerned is supernaturally
imposed. It can't be explained any other way. Arafat has killed almost as many
Americans over his career, either personally, or at his behest, than has Osama
bin-Laden. The administration hasn't begun stumping to carve a state out of
Afghanistan and turn it over to bin-Laden. The blindness only extends to Israel.
Psalms 44:14 explains; "Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of
the head among the people."
This incredible prophecy was true when the Psalmist penned it, it was true
through every century since, and it remains true today. And it won't change
until the Return of the Lord.
"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they
have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son,
and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his
firstborn." (Zechariah 12:10)