Believers in Jesus Christ should each day find great comfort
when looking at the prophesied signs surrounding them that the
moment of their glorious redemption is almost upon them. Any
day they could be hearing the immortalizing shout of their Saviour
calling them home to their eternal kingdom beyond (I Thessalonians
4:15-18). When they will be hearing this call, only the Lord
knows, but His instructions found in His word to watch and live
in joyous expectancy are to be lived every possible minute.
As is to be expected in these last days, men berate those who herald the incomparable news of Christ’s soon appearing, while uninspired ministers of dead words are pursued in their mission to undermine the blessed hope of the living Church.
We suggest believers reflect their allegiances to these promulgators of mediocrity and instead rise to the heights of expectant faith called for from a supernatural people indwelt by the mighty Holy Spirit of God.
An example of these enemies of God’s prophetic words for these final days can be demonstrated in a December 24, 2000 Denver Post article that headlined “Christians shift stance, back Arabs.” We quote:
“The leading Christian churches here, increasingly assertive and unusually unified, have shifted position over the past three months of violence and are now openly backing Palestinian demands for full sovereignty over Jerusalem’s Old City and its Christian and Muslim holy sites.
With the exception of the Jewish quarter and adopting Western Wall plaza, which are universally expected to remain under Israeli control, senior Christian clerics say the rest of the Old City should be ceded to the Palestinian state.
In a series of recent public statements and pastoral letters, most major Christian faiths here - Greek and Armenian Orthodox, Roman and Greek Catholics, Copts and Syriacs, Lutherans and Anglicans - have called for a negotiated solution adhering to U.N. resolutions that require Israeli withdrawal from territory occupied after the 1967 war.
“Both peoples can then live peacefully side by side, each in their own sovereign state, without being a source of fear for the other,” the patriarchs of the major Jerusalem churches said in one joint statement. “But so long as one people remains the subject of injustice, it will continue to be a constant source of fear and insecurity for its neighbor.”
And while deploring violence, the Christian leaders defended recent Palestinian street protests and severely criticized Israel’s use of military force. The church believes that it is the right as much as duty of an occupied people to struggle against injustice in order to gain their freedom, although it also believes that nonviolent means of struggle remain stronger and far more efficient,” they said in their statement.
The major Christian churches say they now defer to the Palestinian
leadership on borders and sovereignty.”
What a striking example of the falling away from sound doctrine
prophesied for these last days in Chapter 2 of 11 Thessalonians.
Not only do these so-called churches in Israel not believe the
coming of the Lord draws nigh, but they deny the Old Testament
revelation of God that Israel is to possess Jerusalem and the
Temple Mount.
When these heretics in Jerusalem side against God’s people of Israel and display a complete and absolute ignorance or despisement of the prophetic word of God regarding the present negotiations to wrestle away Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, it is time that born-again believers consider their readiness for the appearing of their Lord for them.
For those who have been closely following the developments regarding the fraudulent peace efforts in the Middle East it will not be news to them that Hosni Mubarak, president of Egypt, has been calling the shots as to whether or not any new proposals are accepted by the Palestinians. Mubarak has revealed himself as a false friend to Israel as he has used his position and his Country’s medias to enflame and instigate hatred against Israel.
As a refresher to those aware of Egypt’s prophesied role and for instruction to those who are unable to fully discern what is happening with the peace efforts and where the present situation is headed we will be reviewing our message ‘Covenant with Death being Forged.’
The day of God dealing once more with Israel and all her enemies is almost upon the world. It will be a time of death and destruction, as can be seen by the prophecies found in Chapters 27-34 of the Old Testament Book of Isaiah. As we look at current events, we are awestruck at how close we are to the end of this present age as is revealed by the prophecies, which foretold of these developments.
According to a September 20, 1993, article from the Denver Post titled, “Arafat trying to persuade Arabs to back peace plan.” Prime Minister Yitzhah Rabin arrived in Egypt on September 19th for a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak; the first step toward implementing the peace agreement in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Rabin had also gained Egypt’s help as an ally in bringing other Arab countries toward a similar peace initiatives with Israel...As had been witnessed with the July 25, 1994 Egyptian sponsored Israeli/Jordanian signing of a peace agreement.
Quoting from Isaiah 30:1-3, we read of God’s foreknowledge of this very day, when Israel would put faith in her enemies and His judgement which will come forth because of this rejection of His words of warning. Repeatedly in the Old Testament, God instructs them to rely only upon Him in order to acquire true and lasting peace.
“Woe to the rebellious children”, says the Lord, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, That they may add sin to sin; Who walk to go down to Egypt, And have not asked My advice, To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, And to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore the strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame, And trust in the shadow of Egypt shall be your humiliation.”
And again we read in Isaiah 31:1-3:
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, And rely on horses,
Who trust in chariots because they are many, And in horsemen
because they are strong, But who do not look to the Holy One
of Israel, Nor seek the Lord! Yet He also is wise and will bring
disaster, And will not call back His words, But will arise against
the house of evildoers, And against the help of those who work
iniquity, Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; And their horses
are flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out His hand,
Both he who helps will fall, And he who is helped will fall down;
They all will perish together.
At the Arab League talks, which were held in Cairo, Egypt while Yitzhah Rabin was visiting, the call continued to go forth for the Jews to give up all land that the Arabs had lost to Israel during their numerous past campaigns to eradicate the tiny Hebrew country. Not only did this call go forth from such vocal aggressors as Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon, but even the new presumed man of peace Yasser Arafat pledged solidarity to force Israel to withdraw from all so-called occupied Arab lands, which includes Jerusalem, the God ordained, eternal capital of Israel.
Turning to God’s prophetic passage, we marvel at God’s greatness as we find all of these countries listed for destruction in the very near future when they break their worthless covenants being forged and join in an effort to destroy Israel. Starting at Isaiah 27:12-13, we find that the destruction will extend from the Euphrates to the Nile rivers and will bring destruction to Egypt and Assyria. Assyria would include present-day northern Iraq and Syria. Isaiah 33:9 makes mention that Lebanon will not go unpunished.
Zephaniah 2:8-11 tell us of Jordan’s future betrayal of the newly forged peace with Israel and how this fast approaching treachery will precipitate the Lord’s return. In this passage, Jordan is recognized by it’s names of Moab and Ammon which is still the present-day capital of Jordan. Prior to this prophecy, we find the Palestinians destruction also listed in verses 4 through 7. The names of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Canaan, the Cherethites, and the Philistines are all names relating to the Palestinians, the Gaza Strip, and nearby areas.
Verses 1 through 3 opens this Chapter of Zephaniah with the
glorious warning that those who are alive to see this very day
that we are now witnessing, should be anticipating the great
day of God Almighty. The Scriptures prophesy very clearly in
Isaiah 28:14-19 and 33:7, that the judgements are the result
of an unholy peace treaty made without God and that the only
true hope for peace would be found in God’s cornerstone.
We now know that this cornerstone which has been rejected is
God ’s only begotten Son Jesus Christ (Luke 20:17-18 and
Psalm 118:22).
It is glorious beyond words to realize that God declares that in the time of the final unholy covenant they should look for His coming in the final years when nation after nation rises up to destroy His people in Jerusalem they should expect Him to fight for them. Then at last will the day described in Isaiah Chapter 35 arrive, when healing shall go forth over the entire earth and justice, righteousness, love and mercy shall rule over the earth from the Lord in Jerusalem.
We plan on being there do you? If not then you can have this promised hope this very moment by showing your love for God by believing in His Son Jesus Christ’s atoning blood sacrifice upon the cross for the complete forgiveness of all of your sins. Time is very short and the reality of God’s power and anger is about to shake this world from it’s foolish smugness and complacency.
An intriguing glimmer of hope is held out to God’s people for an escape from these approaching days of tribulation. Just before this great day of calamity and chaos, we find God speaking in Isaiah 26:19-21. He tells His people to enter their chambers and be hidden for the moment that God punishes the inhabitants of the earth. Turning to John 14:1-3, Jesus tells us that He has gone to heaven to prepare dwelling places for His faithful ones. Perhaps we have one more clue given to us in Isaiah Chapter 26 as to the day that the Lord will remove His beloved ones from these earthly bonds and will shelter her in heavenly chambers until the indignation is passed. Quoting this passage we read:
“Your dead shall live; together with My dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for the dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
Come, My people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors
behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until
the indignation is past. For behold the Lord comes out of His
place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
the earth will also disclose her bloodshed, And will no more
cover her slain.” See also I Thessalonians 4:15-18.
Your brother and friend in Christ,
Jamma
December 31, 2000
The Middle-East in Bible prophecy: www.rapturewatch.com