SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 65D

May 2, 2002

Special Prophecy Update Number 65C should have been dated as May 1, 2002.

Yesterday’s statements by Shtayyeh, the Palestinian spokesman, directly correlate with the 7 steps of a modified 1968 Yigal Allon Plan for the creation of a buffer zone between the Israelis and the Palestinians, which I listed in Special Prophecy Update 65A.  He stated: “Sharon has followed a checklist of destruction.  He has destroyed both our infrastructure and our superstructure.” The “checklist” that Sharon followed, and continues to follow, is basically the listing of the 7 steps on 65A.  The IDF appears to have successfully reached Step 5 of the modified buffer zone plan of 1968, now renamed “Operation Defensive Shield.”  And, if continued, it will close on a new PA State, formed not by an agreement based on political negotiations, but by an enforced iron shield placed around it by the IDF.  This is the creation of a “forced peace,” which I first made reference to in Prophecy Update Number 1 in 2001.  Whether by negotiations or by force, we are approaching a time when the Israelis actually think they can say we have “peace with security” for the first time since the temple was destroyed.  When this becomes their mindset then the following most familiar Scripture, issued by a believing Jew concerning his own people that he said were in unbelief, will be fulfilled.  The Greek word, translated “safety” in this Scripture,  literally  means “security.”

I Thessalonians 5:3,4

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

The IDF currently appears to be actively carrying out Step 5 in Operation Defensive Shield.  This News Analysis by Los Angeles Times Staff Writer Mary Curtis from Ramallah, dated May 2, 2002, in a single statement sums up the present situation within the autonomous PA territory as she writes: “Arafat’s security forces are in disarray.  Israel forces encircle every important West Bank town, and no longer hesitate to enter Palestinian controlled areas to hunt down militants.” (See Step 5 of 65A).  She went on to say: “The Palestinian economy is shattered and many of the trappings of statehood are gone.  Some Palestinian analysts fear that the destruction the Israeli army inflicted by its month-long sweep through the West Bank is so profound, and demoralization so widespread, that Arafat will be unable to rebuild the Palestinian Authority, which was created under the 1993 Oslo Agreement.”

The Israelis want the effects of Operation Defensive Shield to produce speedy negotiations with the Palestinians.  The words spoken yesterday by Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, in regards to the operation, echoed this sentiment for the desired effects of it when he stated its success “depends on the speed in which we’ll enter the political negotiations.  Otherwise, we’ll return to where we were before we began the operation.”

We will probably be late in issuing Prophecy Update Number 66 at the routinely scheduled time.

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 66

WHAT IS THE NATIONALITY OF THE ANTICHRIST?

Part 5

May 3, 2003

Please read Updates 62,63,64, and 65 before reading 66

Micah 5:1-4

[1] Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. [2] But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. [3] Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. [4] And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.

Micah 5:5

[5] And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.

Now, in verse 5, we find that “this man” will himself “be the peace” because He personally brings it in by Himself when he returns to be “great unto the ends of the earth” for 1000 years.  “This man” who brings “the peace” of a thousand years is, of course, Jesus Christ.  He is the primary contextual subject from verses 1 through 5.  What happens to motivate His return to bring in the millennial reign is the movement of the Assyrian into the land of Israel.  It is the final defeat and destruction of “the Assyrian” that will mark Christ’s Second Advent, and the beginning of His millennial reign.

When Micah wrote his prophecies the Assyrians had already driven into the northern Kingdom of Israel, and all that remained of Israel proper was its southern Kingdom of Judah.  So what were the borders of the land of Assyria when Micah wrote the fifth chapter of his book? The borders of the Assyrian territory stretched northward from roughly where Ramallah is located in the West Bank to the present day southern border of   Turkey, and eastward to the Mediterranean Sea to establish its western limits, then westward across the Euphrates River to the Tigris River north of modern Baghdad in Iraq.  Technically, I suppose one might be able to say this future “Assyrian” might come out of southern Turkey, northern Iraq, or Lebanon, but since modern day Syria occupies some 85% of the area covered by the Assyrian empire at the time of Micah’s writings, I am persuaded the Assyrian antichrist will come out of Syria.  The possible argument that Micah 5:5 was fulfilled during the old Assyrian invasion of Micah’s day, is thwarted by the context pattern of the four verses before it all still being unfulfilled at the time they were written, and then being linked contextually to verse 5 by “this man,” and “the peace.”  Additionally, this argument is smashed by the verse that follows it.

Micah 5:6

[6] And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.

From the time of Micah’s writings to the present day, Israel has never “wasted the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof.”  I will exposit specifically on both these locations in Prophecy Update Number 67, Lord willing.

The “Assyrian” of Micah 5:5 is not a European, an American, a Russian, an Eskimo, an Aborigine, an Ethiopian, or a platypus.  He is an Assyrian, who becomes chief prince of the land where    descendants of Meshech and Tubal were dwelling when Ezekiel wrote his prophecies.  I will elaborate on this in future updates, Lord willing.  The expression involving “seven shepherds and eight principal men is, without question, an oft used Hebrew idiom.  It was the Hebrew manner of expressing “more than enough.”  Seven is the Hebrew word for “complete,” implying “enough,” and when “eight” is added to it, the expression means “more than enough.”  When the Assyrian comes into Israel, and treads within its borders north of Beersheba for 1260 days, then Jesus will return to restore peace for 1000 years on this planet.  Christ’s Second Advent is accompanied by some 5/6 of the Assyrian’s armies being destroyed by the brightness of His coming. His destruction of the Assyrian and his false prophet will make whatever force Israel is able to muster up in the Negev for the battle of Armageddon “more than enough.”

When the Assyrian sets on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, as the willful King of the North preparing to launch his final attack on Israel at the battle of Armageddon, he will be beyond all help by men and Satan.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Ezekiel 38:14-16

[14] Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? [15] And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: [16] And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

Zechariah 13:8,9

[8] And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. [9] And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

Revelation 12:6

[6] And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Daniel 11:45

[45] And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

II Thessalonians 2:8

[8] And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Revelation 19:19-21

[19] And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. [20] And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. [21] And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Ezekiel 38:22 to 39:2

[22] And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. [23] Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord. [1] Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: [2] And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:

Micah 5:5,6

[5] And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. [6] And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 66A

May 5, 2002

WHEN A CHURCH SAYS IT HAS SECURITY AND SAFETY IN CHRIST IT MEANS THAT THE LOCAL BODY THINKS OR BELIEVES IT DOES. WHEN THE IDF RECRUITS, IN THE OATH THEY ONCE TOOK AT MASADA, SAID IT WOULD NOT FALL AGAIN, THEY BELIEVED IT TO BE TRUE. WHAT WE SAY, TRULY BELIEVING IT, IS WHAT WE ACTUALLY THINK OR BELIEVE. IT DOES NOT MATTER WHETHER IT IS, OR IS NOT THE TRUTH, WE SAY WHAT WE BELIEVE TO BE THE TRUTH. WHEN ISRAEL TRULY BELIEVES IT HAS PEACE AND SAFETY (SECURITY) THEY WILL THEN BE ATTACKED FROM THE NORTH BY THE ISLAMIC FORCES OF THE ANTICHRIST. FORGET ABOUT A SIGNED PIECE OF PAPER FOR PEACE.  IT IS NOT THE PIECE OF PAPER THAT MARKS THE TIME OF THE ATTACK.  IT IS WHEN ISRAEL ACTUALLY BELIEVES IT HAS A FORM OF SECURITY IT CAN TRUST.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

I HAVE WARNED ABOUT A “FORCED PEACE” IN ISRAEL FOR  THE LAST TWO YEARS.  THE YIGAL ALLON PLAN OF 1968 IS THE BASIS FOR THE MODIFIED VERSION THAT WAS INITIATED ON MARCH 29TH BY ARIEL SHARON.  IF THE PLAN IS NOT HALTED ISRAEL WILL EVENTUALLY SHUT UP THE PALESTINIAN STATE WITHIN A BUFFER ZONE.  IT WILL BE VERY INTERESTING TO SEE THE NEW PEACE PROPOSAL PRESENTED TO THE UNITED STATES BY ARIEL SHARON WHEN HE VISITS PRESIDENT BUSH THIS WEEK.  ANY TYPE OF SIGNED PEACE TREATY MUST LEAD ISRAEL TO THINK IT HAS SECURITY FROM TERRORIST ATTACKS, AND THIS BUFFER ZONE WOULD DO JUST THAT IN THEIR MANNER OF THINKING.  IT WILL LULL THEM INTO A SENSE OF SECURITY FROM TERRORIST ATTACKS FROM THE WEST BANK AND GAZA.  THEN AN ATTACK FROM THE NORTH WILL END THEIR SAFETY (SECURITY).  THE ANTICHRIST WILL KNOW THEY BELIEVE THEMSELVES TO BE AT PEACE WITHIN WHEN HE ATTACKS FROM WITHOUT.

Ezekiel 38:14,15

[14] Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? [15] And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 67

What is the Nationality of the Antichrist?

Part 6

May 10, 2002

Please review Prophecy Updates 62, 63, 64, 65 and 66 before reading 67.

Micah 5:5,6

[5] And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. [6] And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.

I have established, in previous updates, that “this man” of verse 5 is “the peace” himself because he ends the earthly reign of “the Assyrian” at the battle of Armageddon, and then brings in “the peace” that lasts for 1000 years on this present planet.  It is only Jesus Christ himself who has the power to bring such a thing to pass.

I believe verse 6 to be one of the most interesting verses in the Scriptures that have yet to be fulfilled.  Why am I so certain it has never been fulfilled?  Because Israel has not wasted the land of Assyria with the sword, or the land of Nimrod in its entrances thereof, since Micah wrote these prophecies!  At the time he wrote the borders of the expanding Assyrian Empire covered all of modern day Israel north of Ramallah, all of modern Syria, all of modern Lebanon, and all of modern Iraq north of Baghdad.  The historical settling of this area between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers after the flood in Noah’s day is of great value in the interpretation of Micah 5:6.

Genesis 10:1,6,8,22

[1] Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood. [6] And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. [8] And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. [22] The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.

Assyria apparently derived its name from Asshur, the son of Shem.  Later in time Asshur was worshipped as the chief God of the Assyrians.  Asshur went into the northern area of the fertile plain lying between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and his descendants that settled it were eventually called Assyrians.  It is certain that Israel never wasted this area.  Nimrod was the grandson of Ham through Cush.  He founded a great kingdom between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, south of the area of Asshur’s descendants, that extended south to the Persian Gulf.  The “entrances” into it from the east, which is the direction the Israelis would come to “waste” it, were the shallow sections of the Euphrates River that could be waded to gain entrance.  The Euphrates was, and is, perhaps the greatest carrier of top water silt on this planet.  The rapid descent gradient of its waters in the steep mountains of Turkey was able to sustain an enormous quantity of erosion debris cut off the mountain slopes, but when the water came onto the flat plains of modern day Iraq its speed was abruptly lowered, and the silt deposition rapidly built up lees across the Euphrates, making it possible for some areas to be waded.  The long series of dams currently stretching from Turkey, through Syria, and into Iraq have helped to regulate the flow and silt deposition of the Euphrates, but at the time of Micah’s writings there would have been a plurality of wading entrances into the land of Nimrod across the Euphrates.

Now, why have I gone into such detail as to the locations of Assyria and the land of Nimrod?  Because when Israel comes up out of the Negev at the battle of Armageddon, after having been confined there by the Assyrian for 1260 days, it will conquer a specified amount of territory to its north and east.

Revelation 12:6

[6] And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Malachi 4:1

[1] For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

Zechariah 12:6-9

[6] In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. [7] The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. [8] In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. [9] And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Zechariah 14:9

[9] And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.

Micah 5:6

[6] And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.

Israel will claim all the land from the River of Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River, with a northern latitudinal border extending to Hamath (Hama) in Syria, and a southern border extending to Kadesh in the Sinai.  And all this is not by accident, but by design and promise, for it was God’s ancient land grant promise to Abraham and to Israel.  Its periphery is laid out in Genesis and Ezekiel.  Its northern limits were to extend to the latitude of Hamath (Hama) in Syria, and its southern limits to the latitude of Kadesh.  Its longitudinal limits to the west were to extend to the Mediterranean Sea and the River of Egypt, and its eastern longitudinal limits were to extend to the “entrances thereof” of the Euphrates River.  This is the area of Micah 5:6 that Israel will “waste,” and then claim for a thousand years.

Genesis 15:18

[18] In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

Ezekiel 47:17,19

[17] And the border from the sea shall be Hazar-enan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side. [19] And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward.

After Christ has himself, by himself, defeated the Assyrian at the battle of Armageddon to bring in “the peace” of a thousand years, then Israel will roar north out of the Negev to mop up what is left of a demoralized army that is fleeing north.  Israel will take Jerusalem back, then drive north, northeast, and east to claim all the land west of the Euphrates River.

Isaiah 66:15,16

[15] For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. [16] For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.

Zechariah 14:12-14

[12] And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. [13] And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. [14] And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.

Micah 4:6,7

[6] In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; [7] And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 67A

May 11, 2002

A LIKELY ANSWER TO A QUESTION I HAVE PONDERED WITH GREAT CURIOSITY FOR MANY YEARS!

Paul, as a Hebrew of the Hebrews, was so concerned about the salvation of his own people that at one point he wished himself to be accursed from Christ if that would set them free from their unbelief.

Romans 9:2,3

[2] That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. [3] For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

There is no question that he recognized the Jews as being in unbelief before God as a nation.

Romans 11:32

[32] For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

So it is easy to understand that the “they” of Paul’s day in the following verses refers primarily to the Jews as a nation in unbelief, while the “ye” (plural) refers to those that made up the local body to whom it was written, the “brethren” in the church at Thessalonica.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Of course, I freely acknowledge that the “they” of verse 3 could legitimately be applied to all the children of darkness today, but I believe Paul’s main reference is to the unbelief he struggled against throughout his ministry, the unbelief of the Jews.

I always believe what the Scripture says is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  However, many times when I am sure I am interpreting it correctly, I still have difficulty in understanding HOW it will be fulfilled by God.  I am certain that Israel will reach a point in time when it will “say,” that is, “they” will actually believe, that they truly have “peace and safety.”  But one thing that has perplexed me for years is HOW God will bring such a situation to exist.  I knew he would, but had no idea HOW he would do it.  Why was I so baffled as to HOW he would do it?  Simply this – For some 2000 years the Jews, as a nation, have never known “peace and safety” collectively on a worldwide basis.  And collectively, as a nation in their homeland, they have never had anything except the opposite of “peace and safety” for some 54 years.  The most important aspect of verse 3 is that by saying they do, it actually means they truly think they have “peace and safety.”  For 54 years every Israeli Prime Minister has repeatedly stated during all of his or her administration, “WE MUST HAVE PEACE WITH SECURITY.”  But it has never happened!

I believe what began on March 29th in Israel is the answer to the question of HOW that I have pondered over for so long.  Israel will finally truly believe it has a “peace and safety situation” for the first time in its modern day history.  The reason for their fully believing they have it is a simple one – they will create it themselves by building what they believe is a zone of safety between themselves and the Palestinians.  I began to warn about this “forced” peace plan in our first prophecy update of 2001, and have repeatedly referred to it in every increasing detail in numerous prophecy updates in our archives ever since.  The “forced” peace on the Palestinians will be produced by a “buffer zone” of safety between themselves and the Palestinians.  The Israelis will build the zone.  It will probably vary in width from 3 to 10 miles, and will completely enclose the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israeli coastal patrol boats will provide the defensive shield in the waters of the Gaza Strip.  There will be an interwoven series of high barbed wire and chain linked electronic fences, which will be interspersed by electronic and high tech detection devices along its entire periphery enclosure.  All roads passing through it will be constantly and closely monitored by border guard checkpoints.  This defensive shield will provide what Israelis believe will finally give them a “peace with security (safety).”  This is the only way they would ever “say” we have a “peace with security” and truly believe it.

As a whole, Israel has no confidence in its God.  Most of the population is either secular or so non-practicing that it is tantamount to being secular.  I have spent a fair amount of time talking to young men and women in the IDF.  The majority said they do not believe there is a God.  Israel is very much like it was before it was carried into Assyrian, and then Babylonian captivity.  They had lost confidence in their God’s ability to deliver them.  They had confidence in their own ability to defend themselves and in their alliances with other nations.  Today’s generation has confidence in itself and in its alliance with the United States to protect it from harm.

Operation Defensive Shield is a revised version of the Yigal Allon Plan of 1968.  It began on March 29, 2002 and is still continuing.  It will eventually culminate with a defensive buffer zone shield having been created between the Israelis and the Palestinians.  Let’s be realistic about the Middle East.  Think about all the bitter hatred that has been built up between the Palestinians and the Israelis.  The Palestinians have instilled it in their children from birth.  There is no way under heaven the Israelis could ever believe they had an environ of “peace and safety” unless they mechanically created it themselves.  Once this has been accomplished they can negotiate a peace in which they feel secure, but not before it is in place.  This is what is now occurring in Israel.  Believing they have real “peace and safety” is what will cause them to be taken by surprise when a lightning Jihad blitzkrieg from the north fulfills these words: “then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child.”  They will be concentrating so heavily on their internal security and safety that they will lower their guard on the external danger that lurks to their north and northeast.

We are on the verge of a peace in which Israel finally believes it has safety in the security of a buffer zone that will surround the Palestinians.  Once sufficient time has passed for Israel to say and believe “we finally have peace and safety,” then an attack by Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran from the north through the northeast, with the logistical support of six other Arab nations, will drive Israel into the Negev, where it will remain for more than three years, returning after the battle of Armageddon to claim the Abrahamic land grant promise God made to Israel as the seed of Abraham in Genesis 15:18.

Zechariah 13:8,9

[8] And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. [9] And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

Genesis 15:18

[18] In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

 

I Thessalonians 5:3

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

I BELIEVE THE BEGINNING OF THE FULFILLMENT OF THIS PROPHETIC SERIES OF EVENTS IS NOW COMING INTO VIEW ON TODAY’S MIDDLE EAST HORIZON.

THEY – THEM – THEY = ISRAEL IN UNBELIEF

SHALL SAY = THEY SAY WHAT THEY TRULY BELIEVE

PEACE AND SAFETY = WHAT THEY THINK THEY HAVE

SUDDEN DESTRUCTION = A JIHAD FROM THE NORTH

TRAVAIL = SUDDEN AND CONTINUING BIRTH PAINS

SHALL NOT ESCAPE = HORROR OF THE TRIBULATION

WHEN ISRAEL ACTUALLY CONVINCES ITSELF IT HAS PEACE AND SAFETY, A SHORT TIME THEREAFTER THE SERIES OF EVENTS WILL BEGIN TO UNFOLD.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 67B

May 12, 2002

Three intertwined events have become significant in the Middle East when correlated together.  Together they indicate a process that will eventually lead to the creation of a false peace in which Israel will actually believe it has a peace with security, that is, a time when peace and safety from terror can be experienced.

Event Number One – Israel allowed 13 known high profile Arab terrorists to be exiled to foreign destinations, knowing full well that the likelihood of them being tried, sentenced, and punished for their murderous brutality toward Israeli civilians was not a likely possibility.  Additionally, Israel gave safe passage to 26 Arab terrorist underlings to the Gaza Strip, the headquarters of Hamas, the main terrorist group in Israel.  Israel did this fully aware that upon arrival they would be received as heroes, and quartered in the best hotels in Gaza.  Israel now believes she has shattered the power of the terrorist groups in the West Bank by the implementation of a revised Yigal Allon Plan of 1968.  Israel began putting the plan into effect on March 29th and on May 11th seemed to be completing its West Bank terrorist cleanup by an intrusion into Tulkarm in which two Hamas militants, one the wife of a senior Hamas official, were arrested.  The Gaza Strip is so small that Israel believes she can build a buffer zone around it such that terrorist groups within it can be kept out of Israel proper.  So the wiping out of the terrorist groups in Gaza has never ranked high in Israel’s priority for having a “peace with security.”  The great sprawling territory, known as the West Bank, with its many hiding places and a karst limestone cave structure, had to be purged of its terrorist groups before any sort of a negotiated peace could even be considered.  The key word in any peace plan must be “containment,” that is, the containment of terrorist activities again Israel.

Event Number Two – The withdrawal of the IDF surrounding, and poised to strike into, the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the Hamas suicide bombing that killed 15 Israelis last Tuesday.  The Palestinians have been crying, moaning, and whining since March 29th that if the Israelis would stop retaliating for the terrorist attacks, then they would negotiate for peace.  This Gaza withdrawal may be Israel saying to the Palestinians, “This is what you asked for, now let’s see if you mean what you say!”  It is also interesting that Israel is also pulling back out of all the autonomous Palestinian areas to its February positions.  Again, the Palestinians have been screaming out over all the news media they would begin negotiations if the Israelis would pull out of their autonomous zones.  Israel’s current action may be saying to them, did you mean what you say, or is this some more of the phony propaganda you have put out for 54 years?  Some 60,000 peace activists rallied in Tel Aviv to call for an Israeli pullout from the West Bank and Gaza to defuse conflict with the PA.  This was the largest show of force by Israel’s peace camp since the start of the Palestinian uprising some 20 months ago.  For the Palestinians it may be the final ultimatum of Israel, saying simply this: Negotiate now, or we will force a peace on you in which we will determine how much we give you, and will then fence you in that area to provide ourselves with a peace that gives us security from your terrorist attacks.

Event Number Three – The three rulers of Syria, Egypt, and Jordan met in Egypt, along with representatives from Saudi Arabia, to discuss the Israeli and Palestinian Conflict.  They all agreed that some sort of negotiated peace must be reached in the Middle East.  The presence of Bashar Assad, the ruler of Syria, was extremely significant in that his country, along with Iran and Iraq, can control terrorist activity in Israel.  It may well be that the Middle East countries, providing the weapons and financial support for terrorist activity, are about to start to reign in the terrorist groups with the promise of a future Jihad again Israel after they have been lulled into a false sense of internal security.

Since our first Prophecy Updates in 2001 I have repeatedly cried out:  WATCH THE TERRORISTS.  When you see their activities in Israel slowly decline, and finally cease, then Katie, bar the door, for after a short period of no internal terrorist activity you will see a vicious, lightning Jihad launched again Israel from the north.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Ezekiel 38:14,15

[14] Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? [15] And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:

Revelation 12:6

[6] And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Zechariah 13:8,9

[8] And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. [9] And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 67C

May 15, 2002

Israeli forces staged a trio of pre-dawn raids into West Bank villages Tuesday, killing two Palestinian intelligence officers and arresting 13 suspected militants, according to the IDF. (From The Israel Daily issued by The Associated Press, 14 May 2002)

On May 14th the IDF entered the small town of Halhul, about 6 miles north of Hebron, where they killed the local intelligence chief Khaled Abu Kharan and his deputy Ahmed Zamaran, and then arrested 3 others suspected of terrorist activities.  The IDF also entered two small villages in the West Bank near the town of Tulkharm, where they arrested a dozen suspected militants.

This trio of events attests to the further implementation of the modified Yigal Allon Plan of 1968, which is now being carried out by Israel under the name “Operation Defensive Shield.”  These three events are visible evidence of Steps 5 and 6 in the plan I said Israel would follow, under its Operation Defensive Shield, in Special Prophecy Update Number 65A (See Archives at top of this update).   The noose is slowly tightening on any terrorists militants left in the West Bank, and a “buffer zone” is being created bit by bit to surround it.  The Gaza Strip is not as big a problem as the West Bank because of its very limited dry land border, which can be “buffer zoned” and patrolled with a much greater efficiency.  The Gaza coastal border can be constantly surveyed visually and with radar by Israeli Naval units.  This quote from the Israel Daily News further confirms that Steps 5 and 6 are now in progress: “Israel’s army last week completed a broad sweep through the West Bank that was aimed at rooting out militants, but continues to make brief, targeted incursions in pursuit of suspected militants.”

Even if the PA comes to Israel for a negotiated rather than a totally “forced” peace, you may rest assured that Israel will still create Allon’s defensive buffer zone between themselves and the Palestinians.  Without it the Israelis could not believe they had a true condition of “peace and safety.”

During the last 20 months there has been more Arab diplomatic capital hopping between Syria, Lebanon, Iran, and Iraq than I have observed since the period before the 1967 Middle East War.  I cannot recall a time in their history when more was being done, in so many governmental areas from military to commercial endeavors, to cooperate and coordinate in all sorts of activities between them.  I am very confident that some of this increased cooperation involves the planning of a future Jihad after Israel believes it finally has secured an environ of “peace and safety.”

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 68A

May 19, 2002

THE POLITICAL FALLOUT ON THE PA AND TERRORIST  GROUPS CAUSED BY OPERATION DEFENSIVE SHIELD!

In Prophecy Update Number 1, our first of 2001, it was stated: “Eventually there will be some form of peace between the Palestinians and Israelis.  It may be a ‘forced’ peace, but the end result will be an enclosed Palestinian State within the borders of Israel.”  Operation Defensive Shield, launched on March 29, 2002, and still continuing precisely as was outlined in Update 65A and pictured in 65C, was the beginning of a revised Yigal Allon Plan of 1968 that is the start of an overall plan to ‘force’ peace on the Palestinians.  In Prophecy Update Number 3 it was stated: “I believe these terrorist groups will soon realize that if they really want to slaughter Jews by the hundreds of thousands, and drive the rest into the Negev, they will have to lull Israel into a brief period of false peace.  When this happens an agreement will be reached between the Palestinians and the State of Israel.  So my advice to those who want to get a feel of when the false peace will come is this: WATCH the terrorist groups.  When their actions drop to zero, and stay there for a while, you may rest assured it has been as a result of meetings behind closed doors between the leaders of the aforementioned nations (Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Sudan) and the terrorist groups they sponsor (Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hizbullah, and the splinter groups off Arafat’s Fatah).”

The recent killing, arresting, and scattering of the terrorists in the West Bank, which is still continuing under Steps 5 and 6 in the Operation Defensive Shield Plan I outlined in Update 65A, has already so severely damaged the terrorist infrastructure in this area that it will never completely recover.

So what are the political ramifications of all this?  The terrorist groups and the Palestinian Authority have been forced into a position from which they are desperately trying to wiggle out! The promise of elections, which may or may not ever come to fruition, has driven them both into a political struggle for power in the Palestinian Authority, and both are going to have to make compromises they would never have made if Ariel Sharon had not launched Operation Defensive Shield.  The terrorist groups, which are influenced strongly by Hamas, must politically move away from their extreme terrorism position in order to present themselves as a viable group with which Ariel Sharon would be willing to negotiate.  Arafat’s PA social infrastructure was in a despicable state before Operation Defensive Shield. Now it is in chaos.  Hamas has broad support among young Palestinians because of its fundamentalist Islamic message, and wide support among both young and old because of its many social welfare programs.  Their establishment of many clinics and schools do indeed shine very bright in contrast to Arafat’s corrupt system, which has spent most of the billions it received in non-civilian related activities.

The advent of Operation Defensive Shield has, and will continue to cause, an even more confusing political upheaval among the Palestinians, terrorists, and all the Islamic nations of the Middle East.  It is impossible to be certain of what will happen on a day  to day basis, especially with operations by splinter Fatah groups such as the Al Aqasa Brigades and the Tanzim.  But, believe it or not, this is the storm before the calm, and that calm will be the false peace of I Thessalonians 5:3,4.  I expect the false peace to come in before the arrival of 2003.  However, the mindset of Israel must be a sure belief that, after some 54 years, they have an environ of “peace and safety,” and that condition will arrive after 2003 begins.  How long after?  I don’t know for sure!  But it will only be a short period of time, and when it does occur then a surprise Jihad will be launched against them by 10 Arab nations, and the final 1260 days of the tribulation period will begin.  When they think they have “peace with security” the one who leads the attack will know it, and the woman Israel will be driven in her war contingency evacuation zone, which is the Negev wilderness south of Beersheva.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Ezekiel 38:14,15

[14] Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? [15] And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:

Revelation 12:6

[6] And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 69

What is the Nationality of the Antichrist?

Part 8

May 24, 2002

Please review Prophecy Updates 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67 and 68 before reading 69.

Micah 5:9

[9]  Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.

The event that will cause all nations to be under the hand of the authority of Israel is the Second Advent of her Messiah and, to a large extent, the devastating destruction He causes in the crust of the earth will result in the destruction of most of Israel’s enemies.

Revelation 16:16-18

[16] And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. [17] And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. [18] And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

Ezekiel 38:18-20 + 39:2

 [18] And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face. [19] For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; [20] So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. [2] And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:

Micah 5:9

[9] Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.

Although the Lord will do most of the destroying of the armies of the Gentiles, He will allow Israel to come out, mop up, and take over the land he promised to them through Abraham.  The setting of the following Scriptures refer to the time during the final battle of Armageddon up to the Second Advent, and into the early stage of Christ’s millennial reign.

Zechariah 12:6-9 + 14:11

[6] In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. [7] The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. [8] In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. [9] And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. [11] And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

Zechariah 14:5,9 + Revelation 11:15

[5] And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. [9] And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one. [15] And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

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

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 70A

June 1, 2002

AND THE PLAN PLAYED ON AND ON AND ON AND ON!

I Thessalonians 5:3,4

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

There is no doubt left in my mind as to what Israel has done, is doing, and will do to finally create its own sweet aroma of a time of “peace and safety.”  I am now certain that they have revived the old Yigal Allon Buffer Zone Plan of 1968, added a few new wrinkles, and are now in the process of fully implementing it with a new name of OPERATION DEFENSIVE SHIELD.  I am certain to some it must seem that I have ridden this horse into the ground since I first referred to it as a “forced peace” in the first prophecy update of 2001.  But this operation is extremely important in what will eventually bring a false peace to the land of the Bible, which is something many believers have been very anxious to see arrive on the prophetic scene.  At first I was not certain this would be the process that caused fulfillment of the false peace prophecy, but when Ariel Sharon launched his IDF Operation Defensive Shield into the West Bank on March 29th my confidence soared.  By April 7th, when we issued Prophecy Update Number 62A, I had gained sufficient confidence to made some predictions based on what I remembered from the original plan of 1968, and wrote:  “The IDF entered Ramallah on March 29th, Qalkilaya on April 1st, and Jenin and Nablus on April 3rd.  Soon they will have accomplished their objectives and withdraw from the Palestinian cities, but do not be surprised if they form a ring on roads around them to tightly monitor all traffic that goes in and out, and they might maintain it longer if they go on to initiate the “forced peace” plan they have discussed, yet never implemented.”  I apologize for constantly hammering away on this “forced” peace through all the Special Prophecy Updates issued up to the present time, but I am not riding a dead horse, and it is very much alive and running.  Finally, I became certain of what Israel was planning, and in Special Prophecy Update Number 65A I outlined, in meticulous detail, future actions that Israel would carry out until it was satisfied a “peace and safety” condition existed that satisfied its requirements for security of the Jewish people.  I have discussed in detail what Israel must have in order for it to satisfy its longing hunger for a “peace with security.”  It has amazed me how they have followed, and are still following, the seven steps of Update 65A, which have as a final objective the diagrammatic picture in 65C.

Please read Special Prophecy Update Number 65A and survey 65C, then consider the following account of what has happened since Operation Defensive Shield began on March 29th.

From March 29th to April 5th Ramallah, Qalkilaya, Turkarem, Beit Jalla, Nablus, Jenin, Tubas, Bethleham, and Hebron were invaded by the IDF.  In each locale terrorists were arrested, killed, or scattered.  Since that time Ramallah, Qalkilaya, Jenin, Turkarem, and Nablus have experienced a series of repetitive out again, in again, gone again visits by the IDF, and on each visit terrorists were arrested, killed, or scattered.  The same pattern has been followed by the IDF in Hebron, Bethlehem, and their environs, but to a lesser extent.  From April 6th to May 31st, while the aforementioned pattern was continuing, the IDF began the same in and out cycle in Yatta, Dura, Arabe, Ashar refugee camp, Selat-Hartia, Balaa, Rijah refugee camp, Burij refugee camp, Netzarim, Qaulancliya, Bani Naim, Shawara, Dehishe refugee camp, Halhoul, Gaza City, and Furik.

Why have I ridden this mule across seven deserts and through eight rivers?  Because it is the most important factor presently functioning inside Israel to fulfill a final prophecy of the long awaited false peace in Israel.  I am now confident that a pattern of arresting, killing, or scattering terrorists, then pulling back to await internal intelligence information, then going back in to arrest, kill, or scatter terrorists, if continued long enough with bull dog tenacity, will give Israel a growing awareness of peace with security.  Israel is now actively engaged in repeating Steps 5 and 6 over and over again.  Please allow me to quote Step 7 as it was written in Special Prophecy Update Number 65A on April 27, 2002.

“Step 7 – Once Steps 5 & 6 have been successfully completed to the degree that a “peace with security” is believed to have been accomplished, then complete what has been envisioned since Step 1.  While Steps 1 through 6 are being accomplished, be in the act of building a “zone of security” that encircles the entire West Bank.  This “defensive shield” would take in as many fringe Jewish settlements in the West Bank as deemed possible to afford “peace and security” according to their location.  Many of the Jewish settlements in the interior of the West Bank would have to be abandoned.  My guess is that between 50 and 70 per cent can be kept inside the “zone of security.”  The zone would be widest on the eastern side of the West Bank and would extend from the foothills of the Samarian Mountains to the Jordan River.  It would be the narrowest on the western side of the West Bank.  I suspect it might be as much as 12 miles wide in some places on the eastern side, and less than 2 miles wide in places on the western side.”

Please keep in mind that I am very pro-Israel, and truly believe God gave all the land from Dan to Beersheva to Israel and that it has every right to keep it, when I tell you that Israel has, in a very cunning manner, already grabbed 42% of the West Bank for illegal settlement activity.  The Palestinians are going to get back a lot less of the West Bank than they are demanding.  Pray tell me who will stop Israel from continuing through Step 7.  Once they get the Palestinians boxed into their little surrounded state, the only ones they can throw rocks at are each other.  All the roads in and our of the rows of barbed wire fences, radar and electronic high tech detection devices, will be monitored so tightly a terrorist field mouse couldn’t get in or out.  And if an occasional katushya rocket flew the coup periodically, the retribution by the Israeli Air Force would be a 50 fold payback, such that the practice would soon cease.  All Air traffic would have to clear through an Air Port immediately on the Israeli side of the buffer zone.  It really doesn’t matter whether you or I think this will bring an internal “peace with security,” it only matters that the Israelis believe it will.  Lord willing in our next Update, I’ll discuss the Jewish settlement problem and how it fits into the prophetic mix.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 70B

June 2, 2002

THE RAW ROPE OF OPERATION DEFENSIVE SHIELD IS A DAILY TIGHTENING NOOSE ON THE NECKS OF ALL WHO THREATEN ISRAEL’S CONSTANT QUEST FOR ITS DREAM OF INTERNAL PEACE AND SAFETY.

This international news article from MSNBC, describing events of yesterday in Israel, gives living proof to what I have placed before you in update after update since 2001, especially since update number 65A.

“Israel Conducts New Incursions Into West Bank

Troops move in an out of Nablus, Bethlehem

MSNBC NEWS SERVICES

June 1 – As new peace diplomacy quietly continued, Israeli troops searched for Palestinians militants in four separate cities and villages in wide-ranging West Bank operations Saturday, making arrests and encountering little resistance.

The almost daily Israeli forays into Palestinian territory have come to resemble police operations – but ones carried out with tanks and armored carriers.

In the latest raid, Israeli troops searched house to house for a second day Saturday in the balata refugee camp, a militant stronghold next to Nablus in the northern West Bank.

Soldiers rounded up Palestinian men ages 15 to 45 on Friday, and after checking identity papers, put about 100 in trucks and drive to a nearby military base, according to some Palestinian witnesses.

The soldiers also patrolled the deserted streets or Nablus, which was under curfew, and made arrests Saturday in a residential area near Al-Najah University where many students live.

Troops also entered the nearby town for Talmoun, about 10 miles northeast of Nablus, using small explosives to break down the the doors of some houses, Palestinians said.  The army said seven suspects were arrested early Saturday.

Soldiers in armored vehicles also entered Bethlehem’s Dheihseh refugee camp before dawn and arrested one suspect before leaving several hours later.

The raid marked the third time in a week the army has gone into biblical Bethlehem, just south of Jerusalem.  In several recent Palestinian suicide bombings, the attacker has come from the Bethlehem area.

Israel troops also briefly went into the town of Tulkarem during the night.

Israeli army spokesman Brig. Ron Kitrey told Army Radio troops were trying to pre-empt suicide bombings in Israel.”

How ironic that Israel is now setting in place what will cause it to produce a scenario that will fulfill I Thessalonians 5:3,4, for when they believe they can honestly say “Peace with security” then, after a short period of false peace with internal security, a sudden external surprise Jihad will be launched against them from the north by 10 Islamic nations, and they shall not escape the last 1260 days of the Tribulation Period.

I Thessalonians 5:34

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Revelation 17:12,13

[12] And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. [13] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

Ezekiel 38:14-16

[14] Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? [15] And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: [16] And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

Zechariah 13:8

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

Revelation 12:6

[6] And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 70C

June 3, 2002

JEWISH SETTLEMENTS IN THE WEST BANK AND GAZA

A FACTOR IN OPERATION DEFENSIVE SHIELD

CAUSING ISRAEL TO BEING IN A “FORCED” PEACE

The Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been a national project that began shortly after the war of 1967, in which Israel took the West Bank from the Jordanians and the Gaza Strip from the Egyptians.  It has existed as an officially recognized government program for more than 30 years.  Its confiscations of land and settlement construction have been real and pursued without letup under every Prime Minister that has held the office since 1967.  But since 1993, when you ask a government official about a new settlement suddenly springing up in a new place, he or she will quickly tell you it is not “new,” but rather “old” because it is based on an “old” decision made before 1993, which was the year of the Oslo Peace Accords.

In the past several months the Israelis have set up some 36 to 40 “new” settlements based on “old” decisions.  The Washington Post reports that the West Bank landscape is “dotted with more water towers, more electrical generators and more moveable homes inhabited by small clusters of armed Jewish settlers under Israeli army guard.”  According to the Washington Post the formal number of designated settlements in the West Bank has stayed at about 120 since the 1993 Oslo Agreement.  So the Israeli government officials say: “See, we are not increasing the number of our settlements,” and on paper that is true.  But they do not tell you the 120 have been spreading horizontally like army ants, and that the Israeli population has increased by more than 70,000 in the West Bank since 1993.  Please bear in mind that I am pro-Israel and believe they have every right to do what they are doing.  I am simply telling you what is going on in order to show one of the factors involved that leaves Israel no option other than to put a “forced” peace on the Palestinians to protect its settlement citizens, as well as all its citizenry.

A Washington Post article of May 31st stated the following: “Such settlement activity is one of the roots of Palestinian frustration with the peace talks that followed the Oslo Accords, Palestinian analysts say.  The creation of settlements required the confiscation of private and communal land and a permanent stationing of Israeli troops to protect settlers from hostile Palestinians, which in turn led to checkpoints and more friction with the Palestinians.  Bypass roads built to segregate Israeli and Palestinian travelers also have meant more confiscations and further division of territory set aside for Palestinian rule under the Oslo Agreements.  This has helped turn Palestinian controlled areas into an archipelago of unconnected islands.

Since conquering the West Bank, Israel has claimed large tracts for settlements and state land preserves.  About 200,000 Israelis live among 2,000,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, in addition to 175,000 who live on the West Bank territory annexed to the Jerusalem municipality after 1967.  In the Gaza Strip, a sandy coastal area, 1,000,000 Palestinians are squeezed on about 60 percent of the land, while 3,000 Jewish pioneers have settled on the rest in heavily guarded communities.

Sharon has vowed never to withdraw from any of the West Bank or Gaza Strip settlements, whether close to the Israeli border or deep inside the territories.  He has spent the better part of his political career pushing their construction, citing the Jew’s biblical roots in what is now called the West Bank.”  I believe his launching of Operation Defensive Shield will finally result in a containment buffer zone very similar to what I drew up and presented diagrammatically in Special Prophecy Update Number 65C.  This will allow Israel to keep about 70 percent of her existing settlements outside the buffer zone.  And the effectiveness of the buffer zone from internal terrorist attacks will allow all Israel outside the zone to say they have a time of “peace and safety.”

Brian Whitaker in Jerusalem, writing for The Guardian, on May 15th wrote: “Israel has secretly grabbed 42 percent of Palestinian land in the West Bank for illegal settlement activity, according to a new report.  Although the many built-up Jewish settlements cover only 1.7 percent of the West Bank, the Israeli authorities have used a variety of ruses since they occupied the territory in 1967 to assign vast areas of extra land to the settlers.  Full details of the seizures have been made public for the first time by the Israeli human rights organization, B’Tselem.  In theory the documentary evidence has always been open for public inspection, but B’Tselem fought a year-long legal battle to get it released.  B’Tselem found that municipal boundaries allocated to the settlements extend far beyond the built-up areas and account for 6.8 percent of the West Bank.  BUT LAND ASSIGNED TO SETTLERS’ REGIONAL COUNCILS ADDS A FURTHER 35.1 PERCENT.

In truth, a genuine lasting peace cannot come in the Middle East until Christ returns.  The only type of peace that can occur at the present time is the “forced” false peace now being installed by Operation Defensive Shield, which will eventually lead to an external Jihad by many Arab nations from the north assisted by an internal breakout Jihad on the part of the Palestinians living inside the buffer zone.

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 71

June 7, 2002

The King of the North – The Antichrist

Part 1

Daniel 11:41

[41] He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.

The initial attack into the glorious land of Israel will be from the north, from Syria and Lebanon, and the first of many countries that will fall before the antichrist will be Israel.  There will be a lightning surprise Jihad blitzkrieg launched by Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and Iraq, with logistical support from Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, and Sudan, and direct internal attack by a new Palestinian state inside Israel.  These are the ten toes of Daniel’s great statue, the ten horns of his fourth beast, and the ten horns on both of John’s beasts.

Daniel 2:42

[42] And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

Daniel 7:7

[7] After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

Revelation 13:1

[1] And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

Revelation 17:3

[3] So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Many of the countries of Daniel’s day were named for their first descendants as they related to Abraham.  Edom was associated with the descendants of his grandson Esau, with Ammon and Moab being associated with the two sons of his nephew Lot.  In Daniel’s day these three countries were to the immediate east, northeast, and southeast of Israel.  If you will check all maps from B.C. 500 to 700, you will discover that all three of these countries would be entirely engulfed by modern day Jordan.  So why would Jordan escape his wrath?  Its geographical position would have no military, political, or financial value to him, and the occupants of Jordan will certainly not attack him, so he will bypass Jordan on his way to conquer the Suez Canal, which will have all three of these values abundantly.  Jordan will not be a part of the initial Jihad, but after Israel is driven into the Negev it will be 100% in the antichrist’s camp.  Because Egypt and Jordan made peace with Israel they are out of favor with what I call the big three, which are Syria, Iraq, and Iran.  And because Saudi Arabia plays footsies with the United States, it also falls into the non-favored category.  The Arab world simply doesn’t trust Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia enough to include them in the secret planning that will go into the Jihad, and they will be as surprised as Israel when it is launched.  Jordan and Saudi Arabia will support the antichrist after he conquers Egypt, and will to do so for the remainder of the tribulation period.  Lord willing, I will continue with Daniel 11:42 in Prophecy Update Number 71.

Daniel 11:42

[42] He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 71A June 8, 2002

Revelation 12:5,6

Revelation 12:14

Isaiah 11:14

Micah 5:6

Ezekiel 38:13

Daniel 11:42

NATIONAL INTEREST IS WHAT WILL ALLOW A PARTY TO STAY IN OFFICE OR TO GET IN OFFICE.  IT WAS NOT THAT WAY IN THE BEGINNING, BUT THAT’S THE WAY IT IS NOW, AND IT WILL STAY THAT WAY UNTIL JESUS RETURNS.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 71B

June 9, 2002

OPERATION DEFENSIVE SHIELD (YIGAL ALLON 1968)

THE PATTERN OF PROPHECY UPDATE 65A CONTINUES

WITH PLANNED ISRAELI INCURSIONS INTO P.A. CITIES

(1)            Go Into City – Arrest, Kill, and/or Scatter Terrorists

(2)            Go Out of City – Tighten Security Ring Around City

(3)            Keep Repeating (1) & (2) Until Terrorist Activity Is Nil

(4)            Build a Security Buffer Zone Inside the Green Line in Such a Way That the Palestinian Villages Are Separated From Israeli Settlements Sufficiently to Insure Security and Peace for the Settlements

In Prophecy Update 70B I gave a daily listing from March 29th to June 1st of how (1) through (3) was being carried out in many cities across the West Bank.  A daily listing of cities where this procedure was practiced from June 1st to 8th follows:

June 1st – Nablus, Tamoun, and Bethlehem

June 2nd – Nablus

June 3rd – Ain Beit Refugee Camp and Qalqilya

June 4th – Beit Ummar and Hebron

June 5th – Jenin

June 6th – Ramallah  and Beituniya

June 7th – Tulkarem and Jenin

June 8th – Karmei Tsur

I will not be surprised if Ariel Sharon formally asks President Bush to assist in funding a buffer zone security system of fenced protection to help provide the security Israelis are demanding before they return to peace negotiations.  The depth, height, and length of such a buffer zone, with all its high tech electronic and radar detection units, would be enormous.  The Prime Minister and our President are scheduled to meet tomorrow, and I am curious if he will ask for funding for such a structure at that time.

The Palestinians say they will not negotiate until Israel pulls its troops out of their cities, and then will stop negotiations if they don’t stay out during the process of negotiation.

The Israelis say they will not negotiate until all terrorist attacks on its people completely cease, and then will stop negotiations if they start up again during the negotiations.

Since Iran, Iraq, and Syria control the finances of the terrorist groups, it will be interesting to see if they call them off until a false peace can be brought it.

Iran, Iraq, Syria, and the Palestinians all know full well that the final objective of Operation Defensive Shield will eventually lock the Palestinians into an area so tightly encircled that only an ant could squirm out of it.  It cannot eliminate all terrorist acts, but fully implemented I believe it could eliminate some 95 percent of them.  I believe these four Islamic Powers know this and, because of this knowledge, will eventually call off the ones they sponsor long enough to deceive Israel.  But, one way or the other, Israel is headed for a false peace in which it actually thinks it has “peace and safety” to the extent it will “say” so!

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 71C

June 10, 2002

THE ISLAMICS ARE GETTING WISE TO WHAT ISRAEL IS DOING TO BRING IN A FORCED PEACE SETTLEMENT ON THE WEST BANK AND GAZA THROUGH OPERATION DEFENSIVE SHIELD.  THEY NOW SEE THE PURPOSE AS LEADING TO A PHYSICAL SEPARATION BETWEEN THE PALESTINIANS AND ISRAELIS, WHICH THEY ARE NOW CALLING APARTHEID.  THE PLAN BEHIND OPERATION DEFENSIVE SHIELD IS NOW BECOMING A DAY BY DAY STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE BY THE IDF.

The following article by Dr. Azmi Bishara, a member of the Israeli Knesset, titled “Tales of Apartheid,” was published by AMIN last Thursday.  The following quotes leave no doubt that the objectives of Operation Defensive Shield are now clearly visible to the Arab World.

Dr. Bishara states that Israel wants “to wreck havoc on the Palestinians and destroy the human and material infrastructure of their resistance, and to tighten its security grip on Palestinian areas and gather intelligence by interrogating detainees.”  He then went on to say: “More important, Israel wants to set down new rules for UNILATERAL SEPARATION between itself and the Palestinians, A SYSTEM that has ALL the hallmarks of APARTHEID.”

He further stated: “Israel has established a modus operandi for operating an apartheid system that can answer its continually changing needs.  It is besieging and locking off Palestinian areas at will.  It keeps its troops ready to deploy in Palestinian towns at short notice.”  He went on to say that this operation is now “in full swing, and what we have is a new apartheid system that is reshaping Israel’s entire political culture, and is spilling over from the ghettos and cantons of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip into Israel’s own fabric.”

Also, last Wednesday, in AMIN, an article by Khalid Amayreh, makes it plain to me that the Arabs have recognized what Israel has in mind in OPERATION DEFENSIVE SHIELD.  What has amazed me is that it took them more than two months to figure it out, and that they still have not recognized it as a revision of the old Israeli Allon Plan of 1968.  Amayreh titled his article as “Standard Operating Procedures.”  I think a better title would be STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES UNDER THE REVISED YIGAL ALLON PLAN OF 1968.  He writes: “Israeli tanks once again rolled into several Palestinian population centers this week.  Tanks were deployed in Nablus, the largest town in the West Bank, as well as Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Hebron, and Bethlehem, in a show of force that coincided with raids by the Israeli army on a number of refugee camps including Askar, Balata, Ein Beit Al-Ma’a near Nablus, Nur-Shams near the city of Tulkarm, and Dheishe, Ayda, and Azza near Bethlehem.  In Nablus, the Israeli army arrested Essam Abu Bakr, secretary-general of Fatah, along with more than 300 Palestinians who were taken to the notorious Ofer internment center.  At Balata refugee camp, the Israeli army rounded up the entire male population between the ages of 13 to 60, taking the men to the Howwara detention camp.  The number of detainees was in the hundreds, possibly as high as 1000.  The Balata camp suffered more than just the rounding up of its male population.  Israeli soldiers, using explosives, demolished scores of homes by the blasting of holes in the connecting walls.  An IDF spokesman said the army was carrying out a ‘routine operation’ at Balata.”

The Palestinians and their Islamic brethren are now beginning to recognize the implications of a defensive buffer zone, which is the final objective of Operation Defensive Shield.  How will this affect their willingness to negotiate with Israel for a false peace arrangement?  In the short haul, it will make them anxious to get A deal rather than NO deal at all!  And, in order to get this deal they will have to temporarily call off terrorist attacks in Israel.  Will they call them off, with a promise of a future allied Jihad against Israel as the sugar stick?  I am inclined to think they will, but considering the volatility of the Middle East, I am by no means certain!  But of one thing I am certain – a false peace is in the near future, whether it comes in the form of a “forced” peace, a “negotiated” peace, or a combination of both. It will be a “false” peace, which will eventually be terminated by a vicious lightning Jihad attack from the north by confederated Islamic nations that were once a part of the southern flank of the old Roman Empire.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Daniel 7:23-25

[23] Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. [24] And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. [25] And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. (Fourth Beast = Old Roman Empire) (Ten Horns = Islamic Nations) (Eleventh King = The Antichrist) (The Saints = Israel) (Time = 1 Year + Times = 2 Years  +  Dividing of Times  =  ½ year)  (Total = 3 & ½ Prophetic Years of 360 days = 1260 prophetic days)

Revelation 12:6

[6] And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. (1260 prophetic days)

Revelation 17:12,13

[12] And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. [13] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.  (Ten Horns = Ten Islamic Kings of Daniel) (The Beast = Eleventh King of Daniel = The Antichrist)

I believe the four horns directly involved in the attack from the north will be Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon.  One horn that will internally attack Israel will be made of the Palestinians.  The other five horns, which will provide logistical support, will most likely be Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Sudan.  At its maximum extent the Roman Empire extended its rule into parts of the territory now occupied by all these nations.

I am fully aware of a danger of the loss of all credibility suffered by so many preachers of the past in predicting what the timing of end time events would be, but I have, for the last 35 years, believed that this attack from the north by 10 Islamic nations would occur before the dawning of 2008, and everything I have observed in the Middle East, particularly in the last three years, has convinced me the attack will occur at some point in the next six years.  So, in the lyrics of a recent popular tune, “THAT’S MY STORY, AND I’M STICKING TO IT.”

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 71D

June 11, 2002

THE OBJECTIVE OF OPERATION DEFENSIVE SHIELD IS FINALLY PICKED UP BY AN AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER FROM NEWS INTERACTIVE – THE ADVERTISER!

Finally, after numerous Prophecy Updates informing you that the ultimate objective of OPERATION DEFENSIVE SHIELD was to build a buffer zone wall around the entire West Bank as first advocated by the Yigal Allon Plan of 1968, an Australian newspaper, The Advertiser, has picked up Israel’s initial firm announcement of its intent to build it.  If you want to see the steps Israel has taken, is taking, and will continue to take in conjunction with its building, then look back in our archives to Prophecy Update Number 65A.  If you want to see what it will enclose, then look back at Prophecy Update Number 65C.  It is interesting that this came about AFTER Ariel Sharon’s meeting with President Bush.  I am certain that part of their nonpublic meetings involved the discussion of the building of this buffer zone, and suspect that it also involved a request for the U.S. to pay for part of it.

The following article is quoted from the Australian Interactive News Network as reported by The Advertiser Newspaper!

BEGIN QUOTE OF ARTICLE

BREAKING NEWS – ISRAEL TO BUILD WALL – June 11th

JERUSALEM: Israel will start building a controversial wall the length of the border of the West Bank in the next few days, a defense ministry spokesman told AFP.

The construction will start in the next few days before the end of this week or at the start of next week.  The Defense Ministry announced last month that the 350 kilometer defensive barrier (214 miles) along the Green Line would cost more than 200 million dollars, and that it would be finished within six months.

The project is being pursued with the aim of ‘preventing the infiltration from the West Bank into Israeli territory by the terrorists, vehicles, and explosives,’ according to the Defense Ministry.

The continuous barrier will be made up of a combination of fences and ditches, as well as walls in tense areas, and will all be under the watchful eye of sophisticated surveillance.

Similar fences sit on Israel’s borders with Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

Construction already started April 15th on creating buffer zones solely around Jerusalem, which Israel claims in its entirety as its capital, but for the West Bank as a whole it had not yet begun.

Most of the new barrier will be in the sectors of Umm el-Fahm-Me Ami, north of the cities of Jenin, Qalqilya, and Tulkarem in the northwest area of the West Bank, and around all of greater Jerusalem, according to Israeli officials.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon himself last February 21st floated the idea of “security zones” to buffer Israel from attacks after a wave of deadly suicide bombings by militant groups.

END QUOTE OF ARTICLE

I suspect that the final cost of the barrier will end up being closer to 600 million by the time it is completed, and if they make it as deep and encircling as I think they eventually will, it may cost up to 900 million.  When it is completed, for the first time in some 54 years, “They shall say, Peace and safety.”  After a short period of having what they say they have, “then sudden destruction shall come upon them, as travail upon a woman with child.”  “And they shall not escape” the travail of the great tribulation period.  Two thirds of them will perish and one third will escape into the Negev, where they will survive the final 1260 days of the tribulation period.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Zechariah 13:8

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

Revelation 12:6

[6] And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Zechariah 13:9

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

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 71E

SQUEEZING THE GEESE THAT LAY THE GOLDEN EGGS TO PROVIDE FOR TERRORIST ACTIVITIES!

June 12, 2002

OPERATION DEFENSIVE SHIELD IS MAKING THE ARAB NATIONS THAT PAY THE TERRORISTS VERY UNEASY!

For a long time the golden eggs of many of the Islamic nations have kept terrorism alive, thriving, and well!  The price of these golden eggs had the long-range objective of getting the rotten Palestinian eggs out of Arab nests, where they were scattered in the 1948 and 1967 wars.  It is a statistical fact that millions of Palestinian rotten eggs now reside in refugee camps in many of those Islamic nations that sponsor terrorism, and it is no secret they would love to dump them back into the West Bank.  But if the West Bank is completely surrounded by a buffer zone of protection, then the chance of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia ever getting rid of refugees is about as likely as a 30 degree Celsius temperature being reported at the South Pole.

OPERATION DEFENSIVE SHIELD’S FINAL OBJECTIVE HAS ALWAYS BEEN TO BUILD A PROTECTIVE BUFFER ZONE AROUND THE WEST BANK AND GAZA STRIP, AND THIS IS SHAKING UP THE ISLAMIC NATIONS!

President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and President Bush had a genuine falling out last week over the need to IMMEDIATELY begin negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.  Upon Mubarak’s return to Egypt, he immediately phoned Prince Saud al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia, and thereafter a sudden trip, not previously scheduled, was announced as a delegation peace trip led by the Saudi Prince.  This trip is being made to get President Bush to back away from promises he made to Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after Mubarak’s visit.  President Bush promised to delay an international peace conference.  He also promised that America would not set up a schedule for ending Israeli incursions into the West Bank and Gaza Strip to arrest, kill, and/or scatter terrorists.  President Mubarak also quickly called Syrian President Bashar Assad on Monday to discuss the results of his U.S. meeting.  Immediately thereafter, Tishrin, an official Syrian Newspaper, called on President Bush to “cooperate with the Arab States to restart the peace process by putting suitable pressure on Israeli leaders.”

Although most news commentators and their many Middle East analysts think that OPERATION DEFENSIVE SHIELD will be a failure, I DO NOT!  I know that you cannot have zero percent activity with the plan, but it can jolly well reduce it drastically.  Please allow me to illustrate the terrorist bombing patterns in Israel for the last seven plus years.

From 1994 to 2001 the number of terrorist bombings ranged from 1 to as many as 4 per year.

There were 14 bombings in 2001.

So far this year, up to June 12th, there have been 24 bombings.

There were 11 bombings in March (almost ½ of the total).

On March 29th Israel launched Operation Defensive Shield.

There were 4 bombings in both April and May.

There have been 2 in June up to the 12th.

As Operation Defensive Shield continues to operate the number of bombings will erratically decrease.  Once the number drops to less than 4 per year the nations that sponsor terrorism will no longer recognize it as an effective weapon to cause Israel to give back 100 percent of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.  The Islamic nations are getting very nervous!  If President Bush continues to let Israel carry out Operation Defensive Shield until their buffer zone wall is completed, then getting the millions of Palestinian refugees back into the West Bank will not have to be negotiated by the Israelis. This is the main reason that I expect them to call off the terrorists soon for a period of false peace.  I suspect they will probably call them off before this year ends.  The longer they wait to do it, the less of the West Bank the Palestinians are going to get in negotiations.  If you think that buffer zone is going to be built ALONG the Green Line, I have some terrific swampland in South America I would love to sell you!  The buffer zone in most areas will be built INSIDE the Green Line to take in as many Israeli settlements as they think they can provide protection.  I suspect they will try to build it to take in some 70 percent of their settlements.

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 72

June 14, 2002

The King of the North – The Antichrist

Part 2

Daniel 11:42

[42] He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.

In Prophecy Update Number 71 we exposited on verse 41.  We begin this Update with Israel having already lost some 2/3 of its population while being driven into the Negev wilderness by 10 Arab nations led by the antichrist.  Once he has driven Israel into the Negev and secured the northern periphery of it to stop a breakout from it, he will leave Israel trapped in it and proceed to his most important military objective, the Suez Canal.

Zechariah 13:8

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

Revelation 12:6

[6] And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

There is no more important zone in the entire Middle East from a military, political, and economic standpoint than the narrow strip of water known as the Suez Canal.  World shipping passes through it from the south into the Mediterranean Sea on its way to European ports, and to the ports of the northern Atlantic.  It carries southward through its banks the shipping commerce that services the ports of the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal, the Andaman Sea, the Gulf of Siam, the South China Sea, and the vast Pacific Ocean.

The sudden lightning Jihad strike from the north will catch the western world by complete surprise.  The short period of false peace in the Middle East, following a period of no peace since 70 A.D. for the Jewish nation, will lull Israel and those nations that are friendly to her into a false sense of security.  Furthermore, I am convinced that the lengthy chain of worldwide earthquake activity will begin at this time with the occurrence of the first earthquake in the book of Revelation, found in 6:12, and that the worldwide activity will continue until the last earthquake of Revelation, found in conjunction with Armageddon in 16:16-18.

Revelation 6:12 + 16:16-18

[12] And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; [16] And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. [17] And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. [18] And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

This surge of worldwide earthquake activity, acting with the element of surprise, and pushing an already weak economy over the edge, will cause the western world and Europe to be more concerned with their own national interest of survival, than in the survival of Israel.  Besides, I assure you that, immediately upon the antichrist’s conquest of the Suez Canal, the plans will already have been laid to instantly announce that the status quo of the Suez Canal operations will remain unchanged, and that all nations will have free access through it.

I have always believed that the 10 toes of Daniel’s statue and the 10 horns of his fourth beast are the same as the 10 horns found in Chapters 13 and 17 of Revelation.  There is no question in my mind that in the last days of this age the 10 horns were to arise out of the southern flank of the area dominated by the fourth beast of Daniel, which represented the Roman Empire of John’s time.  The Roman Empire, at its maximum expansion, extended into parts of all the nations that I believe will be involved in the support of the antichrist when he drives Israel into the Negev, and then takes over the Suez Canal.  I believe those 10 nations will be Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, and the Palestinians.

Daniel 2:32,33

[32] This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, [33] His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

Daniel 7:23,24

[23] Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. [24] And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

Revelation 13:1

[1] And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

Revelation 17:12,13

[12] And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. [13] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

These 10 Islamic nations will be the nucleus of the antichrist’s kingdom, with the Suez Canal as its focal point.  One could not find a better geopolitical location for a capital of this area than the great city of Cairo.  In Prophecy Update Number 73, which, Lord willing, we will issue as a regular update next Friday, I will lay out some particulars of his stay in Cairo.  Among those particulars will be an exposition concerning the identity of the three kings he is said to subdue in Daniel 7:24, and the role of the two nations said to be “at his steps” in Daniel 11:43.

Daniel 11:43

[43] But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 72A

MSNBC – REUTERS NEWS SERVICE – JUNE 13, 2002

BEGIN QUOTE EXTRACTS

WEST BANK FENCE PLAN ALARMS PALESTINIANS

The Galilee hills of Israel meet those of the West Bank in a harmony so natural the only sign of a frontier is a dusty military checkpoint with its gate firmly shut.  But a visible dividing line will soon appear on the horizon as Israel constructs a fence it hopes will keep Palestinian suicide bombers out of the Jewish state.

Construction teams have already begun hauling tractors and digging equipment to break ground on the fence next to the Salem checkpoint, probably early next week, as part of a plan to set up what Israel calls “security zones.”

There will be obstacles.  In some places fences, some places ditches and some places patrols to make it difficult for terrorists to infiltrate into our cities, said an Israeli official familiar with the project.

A fence will make it almost impossible to cross by foot into Israel as many laborers and construction workers do before dawn every morning, darting behind olive and almond trees to avoid being seen by soldiers guarding against infiltrators.

Many are worried they will be separated from relatives living in Arab villages in Israel only a stone’s throw from the West Bank, and Palestinian land owners are concerned their land will be expropriated to build the fence.

But in the nearby city of Afula, which has been hit by several Palestinian suicide bombings and shooting attacks, the prospect of a fence is a welcome relief.  ‘It will make it harder for terrorists to reach us,’ Yossi, the owner of a falafel restaurant, said.

The fence is part of a plan by Israel to set up barricades, buffer zones, observation equipment, and obstacle courses to divide Israel from the West Bank after the most devastating wave of Palestinian bombings the country has ever seen.

Avi Dichter, the head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service, recently told a parliamentary committee that militants in the Gaza Strip, which is completely sealed off from Israel by a fence, had failed to carry out any suicide bombings.

This view finally convinced the government to step up its fence building plans, which, according to Israeli media, will MORE OR LESS follow the pre-1967 lines which divided Israel from the Jordanian-held West Bank.  The fence is likely to be electrified with a dirt track alongside that soldiers and trackers will patrol.

END QUOTE EXTRACTS

I strongly suspect that in the area of dense Jewish settlements inside the West Bank the fence will be placed well inside the Green Line to allow for a safety margin of protection for the Jewish settlers.  Don’t be surprised if the Israelis keep large chunks of the fringes of the West Bank to preserve up to 70 percent of their settlements.  The sooner the Palestinians and terrorist sponsoring nations decide to call off the terrorists and negotiate, the more land they will get.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 72B

“MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH”

June 15, 2002

The vicious suicide bombings, twenty-four this year up to June 14th, along with the large scale OPERATION DEFENSIVE SHIELD counter offensive by the IDF involving the arresting, killing, and/or scattering of many Palestinian terrorists, have been of such intensity that other events in the Middle East have taken a silent back seat to them.  However, they are of great significance in the surprise launching of a future lightning Jihad blitzkrieg by four Islamic nations coming out of Syria, assisted logistically by six others.  Prophecy Update Number 1, issued early in 2001, had the following heading:

SIGNIFICANT WORLD AND MID-EAST EVENTS

From which the following quotes are taken:

“The beginnings of a pattern of military activity between Syria, Iran and Iraq are now emerging in the Middle East.  Iraq recently conducted maneuvers on the Syria border, reportedly by prior agreement with Syria’s new President, Bashar Assad.  Bashar then made a trip to Iran to hold talks with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.  The talks were described as ‘a strategic dialogue.’  Eventually there will be some form of peace between the Palestinians and Israel.  It may be a ‘forced’ peace, but the end result will be an enclosed Palestinian State within the borders of Israel.  This will create an impossible situation for Israel. There is no worse military position than to have an enemy within while being attacked from without.  I believe it is quite likely that, by the time the year 2003 rolls around, there will have been numerous meetings behind closed doors between the leaders of Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Iraq, and the Palestinians.  I believe these meetings will eventually result in a consolidated plan to lure Israel into a sense of false security.  And, after a short period of false peace, a vicious surprise attack will be launched against Israel from the borders of Syria and Lebanon.”

Throughout the rest of 2001 through February of 2002, Bashar Assad jumped rapidly like a Texas jackrabbit from one Islamic capital to another, and the exchange of the foreign ministers between Islamic capitals for diplomatic discussions of all types pictured ants scurrying back and forth between sugar grains.  If Assad wasn’t visiting with foreign leaders in their capitals, then they were visiting with him in Damascus.

The latest significant occurrence, in all this unification of the Arab nations in purpose, is the Syrian rail length that Iraq is using to smuggle in military hardware.  According to an article by Michael Evans, Defense Editor of World News, dated June 10th, “Saddam Hussein is using a railway network linked with Syria for a smuggling operation that is supplying Baghdad with a vast range of military equipment and parts for weapons of mass destruction, intelligence sources say.

Begin Article Quote

“The link between Monsul, in northern Iraq, and Aleppo, the second largest city in Syria, was opened in August 2000.  Freight transported by rail from Syria to Iraq is covered by the oil-for-food program authorized by the United Nations under which Baghdad is allow to sell a limited amount of oil to raise money for food, medicine, and humanitarian purposes.

However, intelligence reports disclose that Iraq is using the link to import a range of weaponry, including tanks sold by Bulgaria to Syria some years ago and allegedly diverted by Damascus to Baghdad, and air-defense equipment, Scud missile guidance systems and surface-to-air missiles, originally bought by Syria from the Czech Republic.

Improved relations between Syria and Iraq are causing concern because of the perceived risk of banned military or duel-use systems reaching Baghdad under cover.

Some intelligence reports have given warning that Syria has become the main channel for smuggling arms to Iraq through the port of Tartus, from where they are transported along the Aleppo-to-Mosul railway line.  In Iraq, the same line connects with Baghdad and Basra.

To add to western intelligence concerns, another railway line, LINKING IRAN, IRAQ, AND SYRIA, is UNDER construction and could be open NEXT year.  THE NEW LINE WILL RUN FROM TEHRAN TO KHORRAMSHAR, ONE OF THE BIGGEST PORTS IN IRAN, TO BAGHDAD AND AL-QAIM, A TOWN ON THE IRAQ-SYRIAN BORDER, THEN ON TO ALBUKAMAL IN SYRIA AND FINALLY DAMASCUS.”

END QUOTE

I have warned in numerous updates that the surprise Jihad from the north will be preceded by a long period of bringing Iranian and Iraqi troops under cover into the Palmyra fold valleys of the Palmyra Range in southwestern Syria.  Many of them will come in boxcars, and will be dropped off in small groups in the northeastern zone of the Palmyra hills.  Unless a satellite is flying on a northeast to southwest or southwest to northeast path over the Palmyra Hills, it cannot pick up what is in the valleys.  And, during certain late summer to early winter months, the buildup of hydroscopic impurities in the valley bottoms make it impossible for airborne radar to see what is there because of anomalous propagation.  It would be possible for several divisions of Iranian and Iraq troops to slowly be smuggled into these valleys and concealed in a year’s time.

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 73

June 22, 2002

The King of the North – The Antichrist

Part 3

Daniel 11:43

[43] But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.

In Prophecy Updates 71 and 72, Parts 1 and 2 (See Prophecy Archives at top of page), we exposited fully on the entrance of the antichrist into Israel from the north, his conquest of Israel north of Beersheva, his driving of Israel into the Negev, his by-passing Jordan because of a lack of strategic value, the absolute necessity of his conquest of the Suez Canal, and his preparation to enter Egypt for a strategic base of his future activities during the next three plus years.

The antichrist is to be a tactical military genius.  That being the case, he will follow the only logical way to conquer Egypt.  Just what is Egypt geographically?  It is bordered on the west by Libya, on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the south by Sudan, and on the east by the western border of the Gaza Strip, the Negev, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Red Sea.  However, in reality, that is not Egypt.  Egypt, population wise, consists of the narrow strip of coastline (up to three miles inland) touching the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal, the Gulf of Suez, and the Red Sea, plus its major population distribution along and 20 miles either side of the Nile River and its northern delta.  The antichrist will lead a Jihad coalition of 10 Islamic nations, two of which will be Libya and ancient Ethiopia, which now exists as Sudan along the southern border of Egypt.  He will not want either of these nations to share in land acquisition rewards from the conquest of Egypt, but he will use them to make his victory much easier.  He will instruct Libya to mass its troops along its northern coastal border with Egypt, and the Sudan to mass its troops where the Nile River enters Egypt from the south.  This will force Egypt to move some of its troops to these areas in a defensive mode, and, as a result, the antichrist will take Cairo in less than a day.  His troops will move rapidly west along the northern coastline, south along the eastern coastline, and down the Nile River to the Sudanese border.  This will complete his conquest of Egypt.  All the rest of it has less than one percent of the population, and is virtual wasteland.

In his initial conquests only 10 Islamic nations will be involved.  As you may discover in volumes of previous Prophecy Updates, these 10 have been tentatively identified as being made up of the Palestinians, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Sudan.  Those directly involved in the initial Jihad onslaught from the north will be Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, with the Palestinians attacking internally out of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.  Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Sudan will be more involved in the strategic and logistical positional support than in actual combat. However, after quick successes against Israel and Egypt, all the other Islamic nations will immediately jump on his bandwagon, and suddenly all the aspirations of Mohammed, and the Biblical prophecies of a final evil empire, will be fulfilled.  After all the Islamic nations climb on board it will cover as far to the west from Cairo as Daniel’s fourth beast conquered, that is to Morocco, and as far to the east as his second and third beast conquered, that is to India.  I am persuaded it will include the 10 already mentioned, plus Egypt, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates. During the three plus years of antichrist’s reign, most of Europe will come under his control or strong influence, and in the final battle of Armageddon, which closes his reign, all the nations of Europe, Africa, Eurasia, Asia, and the Middle East will join him in a final massive attack again Israel in the Negev.

The antichrist’s empire will be an empire that dominates the known world in the days the prophets wrote from Isaiah and Micah in 700 B.C. to John in A.D. 95.  They wrote to the people of their day and we are meant to understand it the light of how they perceived it.  There is no question that God knew the world as we know it today, but I am convinced He meant for us, in the prophecies relating to the extent of the antichrist’s empire, to interpret it as meaning the world as the prophets knew it.  So, as regards the size of his empire, when they used expressions like “the whole world, all the earth, wherever men dwell, etc.,” it does not refer to the earth as we know it today, but to the earth as it was known by the writers.  These same expressions, when used as pertaining to such things as the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20, do mean the earth as we know it today by implication of the directive.  The believing world today waits for an antichrist that will dominate the whole world as we know it today and, quite frankly, they could be right.  I am prepared for that!  But I am also prepared for an antichrist that dominates the aforementioned areas I have outlined.  There is a distinct possibility of this eventuality.  So watch the Middle East, and if such an empire does arise, then don’t set on your duff waiting for an antichrist to arise out of Europe that will dominate all the world as we know it today.  If I am correct in what I believe as to the size and dominion of his empire, then it will shatter end time teachings that arose in the early nineteenth century, and eventually solidified in the twentieth century. In any case, I am convinced that the next six years will settle the question as to the correct interpretation.

In Prophecy Update Number 74, Part 4, Lord willing, I will try to outline his activities during his stay of some 3 and ½ years in his Cairo command center, and what causes him to head back to Jerusalem when his time on earth is drawing to a close.

From what I have stated in this update, and previous updates, you should be able to surmise what I believe about the following Scriptures.  They outline the antichrist’s reign from his initial attack to his final demise. For better or for worst, I believe his initial attack will be launched before the year 2008.  I do not believe that most of the world has any idea of the horror that is soon to be unleashed in the Middle East.

Revelation 17:12,13

[12] And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. [13] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Daniel 11:41

[41] He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.

Zechariah 13:8

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

Revelation 12:6

[6] And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Daniel 7:24,25

[24] And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. [25] And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

(In Daniel’s day “the saints of the most High” represented the faithful of Israel.  A time equaled 1 year, times 2 years, and half a time ½ year, which, in prophetic years of 360 days, equaled 3 and ½ years, or 42 months, or 1260 days.)

Daniel 11:45

[45] And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

Revelation 16:16

[16] And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

Revelation 19:19-21

]19] And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. [20] And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. [21] And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Daniel 7:11-14 + Revelation 14:14-20

[11] I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. [12] As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. [13] I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. [14] And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. [14] And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. [15] And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. [16] And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. [17] And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. [18] And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. [19] And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. [20] And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 73A

USE OF THE HYPERBOLE IN PROPHECY

June 23, 2002

THE WORD HYPERBOLE COMES FROM THE GREEK – IT MEANS “TO DELIBERATELY THROW OUTSIDE OR INSIDE A MARKED LINE FOR EFFECT, MAKING THE AREA LARGER OR SMALLER THAN IT ACTUALLY IS, EXAGGERATION FOR EFFECT, NOT MEANT TO BE TAKEN LITERALLY, EXAGGERATING OR DIMISHING BEYOND THE FACT, EXCEEDING THE TRUTH.”  IT IS USED AT TIMES IN PROPHECY TO IDENTIFY A SMALL AREA AS ONE THAT IS MUCH LARGER.  IT IS NOT A LIE BECAUSE THE HEARER OR READER IS ACQUAINTED WITH THE USE OF HYPERBOLE AS AN EXAGGERATED STATEMENT.  THE EXPRESSIONS “THE WHOLE EARTH, ALL THE WORLD, WHERESOEVER MEN SHALL DWELL ON THE EARTH, ETC. ARE, AT TIMES, NOT REFERRING TO THE ENTIRE SURFACE OF THE EARTH FROM POLE TO POLE AND AROUND ITS EQUATOR.   I BELIEVE THIS HAS CAUSED MANY TO EXAGGERATE THE SIZE AND STRENGTH OF THE FINAL EMPIRE OF ANTICHRIST.

WE KNOW THAT NONE OF THE FOLLOWING EMPIRES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT EVER DOMINATED WHAT WE IDENTIFY AS THE WORLD OF TODAY.

Daniel 8:5,21,22

[5] And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west ON THE FACE OF THE WHOLE EARTH, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. [21] And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. [22] Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.

Daniel 2:32-34,38,39

[32] This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, [33] His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. [34] Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. [38] And WHERESOEVER THE CHILDREN OF MEN DWELL, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler OVER THEM ALL. Thou art this head of gold. [39] And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule OVER ALL THE EARTH.

Daniel 7:3,23-27,11-14

[3] And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. [23] Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour THE WHOLE EARTH, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. [24] And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. [25] And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. [26] But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. [27] And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom UNDER THE WHOLE HEAVEN, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. [11] I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. [12] As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. [13] I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. [14] And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. (Please note that his millennial empire of Christ will take in everything “UNDER THE WHOLE HEAVEN.”  This expression would include the earth as we know it today.)

I BELIEVE THE SCRIPTURES WHICH FOLLOW CONTAIN HYPERBOLE THAT MEAN THE KNOWN WORLD OF JOHN’S DAY, NOT ALL THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT TODAY.

Revelation 13:1,2,5-12,16,17

[1] And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. [2] And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. [5] And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. [6] And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. [7] And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over ALL kindreds, and tongues, and nations. [8] And ALL THAT DWELL UPON THE EARTH shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. [9] If any man have an ear, let him hear. [10] He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. [11] And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. [12] And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth THE EARTH AND THEM WHICH DWELL THEREIN to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. [16] And he causeth ALL, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: [17] And that NO man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Revelation 17:12-18

[12] And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. [13] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. [14] These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. [15] And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. [16] And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. [17] For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. [18] And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over THE KINGS OF THE EARTH.

AS INDICATED PREVIOUSLY, SCRIPTURES THAT USE THE HEAVENS TO DESCRIBE THE AREA OF THE EARTH INTENDED TO BE CONVEYED TO US, MEAN THE WHOLE EARTH AS WE PRESENTLY KNOW IT.  THESE THREE SCRIPTURES WHICH FOLLOW ARE OF THAT TYPE:

Daniel 7:27 + Matthew 24:31 + Mark 13:27

[27] And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom UNDER THE WHOLE HEAVEN, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. [31] And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, FROM ONE END OF HEAVEN TO THE OTHER. [27] And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the UTTER-MOST PART OF THE EARTH TO THE UTTER-MOST PART OF HEAVEN.

BUT THE FOLLOWING FOUR SCRIPTURES MEAN THE WORLD AS IT WAS KNOWN WHEN JOHN WROTE THE BOOK OF REVELATION.

Romans 1:8 + Colossians 1:5,6 + Acts 19:27 + 24:5

[8]  First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE WORLD. [5] For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; [6] Which is come unto you, as it is IN ALL THE WORLD; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: [27] So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom ALL ASIA AND THE WORLD WORSHIPPETH. [5] For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes:

Revelation 12:9,17

[9] And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth THE WHOLE WORLD: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. [17] And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Daniel 2:39-44

[44] And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule OVER ALL THE EARTH. [40] And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. [41] And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be DIVIDED; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. [42] And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be PARTLY strong, and PARTLY broken. [43] And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall MINGLE themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not CLEAVE one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. [44] And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

The conclusions that I draw from all these Scriptures is as follows:

(1)          The Antichrist will only dominate the known world of John’s day.

(2)          His empire will be weak because of a composition of nations that don’t hold together well.

(3)          When an expression is used referring to the size of his empire in the book of Revelation it is used as a hyperbole, and does not refer to all the world as we know it today.

(4)          I do not believe the mark of the beast will be put on residents of the western world.

(5)          I do believe it will be put on in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Russia, and parts of Asia.

The antichrist will certainly have influence in the nations of the western world, but he will not dominate them.

I am certainly prepared to be wrong in my belief in the size of his empire and in the degree of his domination.  In other words, I know the popular teachings of many men and women on this subject, and I am prepared for their antichrist, but are they prepared for mine?

Most of the believing world is prepared for an antichrist that arises in Europe and dominates the entire world as we know it today.  The area of the size of his empire, as it is taught today, arose in the early 19th century, and was solidified by most writers in the 20th century.  If I am correct about the size and dominion of his empire (See Prophecy Update Number 73 in Archives), then many are going to be shocked when he finally shows up on the scene.  In any case, I am persuaded we are going to find out the literal answer, as to its size, before 2008.  So I am prepared for an empire that dominates the known world of today or one that only extends over the area occupied by the four beasts of Daniel.  In any case, WATCH THE MIDDLE EAST for the answer – I believe we will know within the next six years.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 73B

The Final Addition – The Jordan Valley Buffer Zone

June 24, 2002

Yesterday, the cabinet of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approved the final nail in the buffer zone that I predicted would be built in Prophecy Update Number 65A to bring in the “forced” peace I first outlined in Prophecy Update Number 1 of the year 2001.  Now, for the first time, it is official, and the buffer zone that I pictured in Prophecy Update Number 65C, could be in place as early as the winter season of 2003 & 2004.

The buffer zone includes a 10-mile section around the city of Jerusalem.  The buffer zone section between the foothills of the Samarian Mountains and the Jordan River will consist of a series of obstacles, rather than the high fence in the northern, western, and southern zones of the West Bank.  The first section of the high fenced zone should be completed in April or May of 2003.

The only member of the cabinet voting against it was Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in a 25 to 1 vote.  He objected because he said it amounted to carving up the West Bank into enclaves and incorporating more than 20 percent of it into Israel, which he said would cause Israel to have diplomatic difficulties.  You may remember that I told you Israel might take up to 30 percent of the West Bank by putting the Buffer Zone inside the territory the Palestinians want for their new state.

The building of this buffer zone, whether it is, or is not, ever completed, is definitely having a real effect on the Palestinians, the terrorist groups, and the Arab countries that sponsor them.  It is forcing them to made a decision: Do we want an autonomous Palestinian State inside the State of Israel, or do we want a Palestinian population inside the West Bank governed by the State of Israel?  It is up to them!  They have long demanded that Israel completely withdraw from ALL the West Bank and ALL of the Old City of Jerusalem, and then they would grant them peace.  Well, they are not going to get that wish!  When Ehud Barak offered them most of the Old City and 95 percent of the West Bank they should have taken it without reservations, but they did not!  Last week our forever shifty friend, Yassar Arafat, said he was now, in the interest of peace, willing to accept what Ehud Barak and President Clinton offered him before the peace talks broke down in Egypt.  IT IS TOO LATE, YASSAR!

If the Palestinians, the terrorists, and the Islamic nations that sponsor them, want a truly autonomous Palestinian State inside Israel, then they are going to have to work together to do these four things:

(1)          Announce that all terrorist activity will cease.

(2)          Get the terrorist groups to hold off for a while.

(3)          Come to the negotiating table and get as much as they can of what lies inside the Green Line of the West Bank.

(4)          Drop the demand that all Palestinian refugees be allowed to return to their homeland, and settle for a percentage.

This will being in the “forced” false peace that the Bible indicates will come before Israel is suddenly attacked from the north to begin the last 3 and ½ years of what is known as the tribulation period.  In order to successfully launch such an attack from the north they must have an autonomous partner inside Israel to launch outward in all directions against the IDF.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 73C

PEACE AND SAFETY – HOW COULD IT EVER BE?

June 25, 2002

I Thessalonians 5:3,4

[3] For WHEN they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

WHEN THEY SHALL SAY, PEACE AND SAFETY;

My spiritual man does not doubt the Word of God, and whatever it says, he accepts without reservation.  What it says, he believes, even though he may not have any idea how it could come to pass.  My carnal man is quite the opposite.  He questions everything.  As I have pointed out in previous Prophecy Updates, my spiritual man was certain that a time would come in Israel when the Jews would believe, and in so doing, actually say: We have a “peace with security.”  In fact every historical leader of Israel that held the office of Prime Minister since 1948 has constantly repeated this phrase.  In the Scriptures the word “safety” literally means “security.”  But my spiritual man had no idea how it would come to pass.  I have lived among the descendants of the man Israel, and the descendants of Ishmael, the six sons of Keturah by Abraham, and the two sons of Lot, and am very familiar with their attitudes toward each other.  Because of this, and knowing that Israel would never believe it truly had a condition of “peace and safety” based on promises made to her by the Palestinians, I could not imagine how the condition would ever come to exist in the Middle East.  I knew it would happen because God said so, but HOW was beyond my understanding.  I kept asking myself, HOW WILL Israel ever have confidence in ANY agreement it makes with the Palestinians enough to actually say, we now have “peace and safety.”  Now I think I know “how” they can both believe it, and confidently say it.  They can only do this if they believe they brought it in themselves and can maintain it by themselves.  That is what began on March 29th with the launching of Operation Defensive Shield and what will culminate with the completion of the buffer zone around the West Bank late next year.  If they believe they brought in “peace and safety” by their own power and ingenuity, and believe they can maintain it by the same ingredients, then they will TRULY believe, and say, we finally have a peace with safety.  All future negotiations with the Palestinians and other surrounding Islamic countries will be carried out on this basis.

The long awaited speech of President Bush gave a green light to Israel to proceed along its present path.  With the strongest nation in the world backing Israel, and the IDF operations cleaning out the terrorist elements in the West Bank, a “forced” false peace will come to the land of Israel.  The sooner the Palestinians and other Islamic nations meet the Israeli conditions for peace, the more of the West Bank they are going to receive.  I have been stating repeatedly that I expected this “forced” false peace to come in before the dawning of 2003.  I still believe it will.  Timing is always the most difficult part of prophecy and, because of this, I am well aware that I could be wrong.  But I am certain we are on the way toward the false peace, which the Bible indicates will precede the last 3 and ½ years of the Tribulation Period.

After this “forced” false peace is brought in, and Israel’s confidence in what it has done, and is able to maintain, grows, then the Islamic nations and the Palestinians will sense the Israelis are sleeping in their military alertness, and will launch a lightning Jihad from the north.  The one leading it will know they think they have peace, and this will be their downfall.

Ezekiel 38:14,15

[14] Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? [15] And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 73D

A 70 YEAR OLD FROG IN A 21ST CENTURY PUNCH BOWL

June 26, 2002

Had I been born in the 18th or early 19th century, I would have been accepted as a pillar of orthodoxy in prophetic teaching.  In that time period most, and if not most, then many, believed the following:

(1)            That God himself would do the destroying of the earth by His mighty power, not by man’s scientific expertise.

(2)            That the “he” in Daniel 9:27 refers not to the antichrist, but to Messiah the Prince, Jesus Christ, and that Jesus has already fulfilled the first part of Daniel’s 70th week.

(3)            That the empire of antichrist would only affect the areas that were conquered by Daniel’s Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman Empires in his seventh chapter.  In other words, the known world at the time of Daniel and John’s writings in Revelation.

(4)            That the first resurrection, what is commonly referred to today as the “rapture,” would occur on the blowing of the seventh trumpet in the book of Revelation, which they believed to correspond to the “last trump” in First Corinthians.  Others believed it would not occur until the final vial of wrath was poured out at the end of the Tribulation Period.

(5)            That the antichrist would come out of Syria and the countries backing him would come out of the southern flank of the old Roman Empire, and would stretch from Morocco to Iran, which today are Islamic nations.

Since I believe all five of these things, I am about as popular as a frog would be when found floating in a punch bowl at the high school prom.  To some I am a heretic, lunatic, or renegade.  I much prefer to be referred to as a goofy, antiquated, 70 year old frog floating around in a 21st century punch bowl of modern day prophetic teachings.  But regardless of what I am, I honestly believe we are quite likely to find out, probably within the next six years, who is right about their interpretation of prophetic scriptures and who is wrong.

So, since I have already presented my case on these subjects, which may be found in our Prophecy or Birth Pang Archives, with one exception, that being the 7th Trumpet Rapture, you may as well know what the old frog believes about this subject.

Paul, writing to the church at Corinth, indicated he was going to unveil a mystery of the Old Testament that a lot of the Prophets wrote about, but whose writings were to be made clearer to later generations.  Isaiah wrote about it terms that we, now having the New Testament, are able to comprehend more fully.

Isaiah 26:19 + I Corinthians 15:51,52 + I Thessalonians 4:16,17

[19] Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. [51] Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, [52] In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. [16] 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: [17] 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.

Paul “showed” or “clarified” the “mystery,” but John tells us when it will be finished.

I Corinthians 15:51 + Revelation 10:7 + I Corinthians 15:52

[51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, [7] But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the pro-phets. [52] In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

PAUL “SHOWED” THE MYSTERY – JOHN FINISHED IT!

Revelation 10:7

[7] But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

WHEN THE 7TH TRUMPET BLOWS THE SAVED WILL BE CAUGHT UP TO HEAVEN FOR JUDGMENT BY CHRIST, AND ALL THAT MAKE UP HIS SPIRITUAL REALM WILL STRETCH FROM ONE END OF HEAVEN TO THE OTHER.

Revelation 11:15,18

[15] And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. [18] And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

While the nations on earth are angry because of the seven vials of wrath that are being poured out following the blowing of the seventh trumpet, the time of the dead, who have suddenly been resurrected for judgment before Christ, occurs in this heavenly scene of Revelation 11:18.  While the saved are being judged for rewards in heaven, God’s seven vials of wrath are destroying those who are responsible for the destruction of morality on the earth.  However you interpret this scripture it paints a heavenly scene where the resurrected dead are being judged for rewards in heaven, and it follows the blowing of the 7th trumpet.  It has to be what Paul outlined in II Corinthians as describing Christ judging all the saved after the rapture.

II Corinthians 5:2,3,10

 [2] For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: [3] If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. [10] For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

In Revelation 9:13 we read that the sixth trumpet has sounded, so we know that the next trumpet to sound will be the seventh in a series of seven.

Revelation 9:13

[13] And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

 In the first verse of the following chapter we are introduced to a mighty angel from heaven with tremendous authority from heaven.  He is an archangel and may well be the seventh angel who blows the final trumpet in a series of seven.

Revelation 10:1

[1] And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:

He has direct authority from God to speak for Him, and to give an oath in his name.  He then tells the reader that the earthly church age of the Gentiles is about to end.

Revelation 10:5,6

[5] And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, [6] And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:

I cannot tell for sure in the Greek of verse seven whether he is referring to himself, or is merely telling us what will happen when the seventh angel blows his trumpet.  But, in either case, in this verse we are definitely informed that:

(1)            The seventh angel has a voice.

(2)            The seventh angel is soon to blow his trumpet.

(3)            When he blows it the mystery surrounding the rapture of the saved, spoken in the Old and New Testaments by the prophets, will be finished.

Revelation10:7

[7] But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

I believe the voice of the archangel and the trump that is blown in II Thessalonians 4:16 is the same as found in Revelation 10:7 and 11:15.

1 Thessalonians 4:16

[16] 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:

Revelation 11:15

[15] And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

 I also believe that the last trump of I Corinthians 15:52 is the last in a series of seven that is sounded in Revelation 11:15.

I Corinthians 15:52

[53] In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

And I am convinced that the dead in this verse are the dead in Christ who are resurrected to stand before Christ’s judgment seat in heaven to be judged for rewards and/or the lack of them.

Revelation 11:18

[18] And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

I do not anticipate going through the vials of God’s wrath that follow the blowing of the seventh trumpet.

Revelation 16:1

[1] And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

I Thessalonians 5:9

[9] For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

For a long time I kept silent on what I believed on the five things presented at the beginning of this Prophecy Update, and went merrily around the world presenting lectures on the geological upheavals the Bible indicated would occur during the last 3 and ½ years of the Tribulation Period, and the Five Signs of His Coming, and The Antichrist, and From Now to Armageddon.  It was possible for me to do this series of four different lectures without telling people what I really believed on the five subjects at the beginning of this Prophecy Update.  As long as I did this I could present what I believed would happen during the last 3 and ½ years of the Tribulation Period, the signs that would precede it, and what would happen during the blowing of the first six trumpets.  In other words, I could present what I was convinced God’s children would soon experience.  I was prince charming to many attending the lectures.  I truly believe I did was I was supposed to do.  I did not lie to people.  I just did not address directly the five subjects.  Well, old prince charming has done what he was supposed to do and, since passing age 67,  is now completing at age 70 what he believes he is supposed to finish.  In so doing he has been changed from a fast moving young prince into an old frog in a punch bowl.  I know that I must face Christ at His judgment seat, and I would much rather appear there as an old frog who told God’s people what he knew in his heart what was about to happen to them, rather than as a charming young prince who told them just what they wanted to hear.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 73E

WALLS FOR THE PALESTINIANS – NONE FOR ISRAEL!

June 27, 2002

In 2003 the Israelis will begin to say “we have peace and safety” and actually believe it, even though they have no walls around their cities.  But it appears that all the Palestinian cities will be surrounded by a wall by early 2004, with Israelis living outside it.  And the surrounding Islamic nations and the antichrist will know all about the situation, such that when they launch their surprise Jihad into the land of Israel, the Palestinians will come out from behind their buffer zone wall to attack the un-walled cities and villages of the Israelis from all internal directions, while the external Islamic nations are attacking Israel’s villages from the north.  Does all this sound familiar?

I Thessalonians 5:3,4

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Ezekiel 38:10-12

[10]  Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: [11] And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of UNWALLED villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling WITHOUT WALLS, and having neither bars nor gates, [12] To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon THE PEOPLE THAT ARE GATHERED OUT OF THE NATIONS , which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

Ezekiel 38:14-17

[14] Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; IN THAT DAY WHEN MY PEOPLE OF ISRAEL DWELLETH SAFELY, SHALT THOU NOT KNOW IT? [15] And thou shalt come from thy place OUT OF THE NORTH PARTS, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: [16] And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. [17] Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?

I JUST KNEW I HAD HEARD ALL THAT BEFORE!

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 74

June 27, 2002

Daniel 11:43

[43] But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.

We closed Prophecy Update Number 73 with the antichrist in full control of Egypt in verse 43, after having driven the woman Israel into the Negev Wilderness, where she will remain for 3 and ½ prophetic years, or 1260 days.  The woman will be made up of 1/3 of the Israel population (1.7 to 1.9 million) surviving his initial drive to Beersheva.

Zechariah 13:8

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

Revelation 12:6

[6] And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

 While Israel is boxed in the Negev for 3 and ½ years, the city of Cairo will be his capital, and the center of his empire.  He would be a fool to return to his home in Syria.  Cairo is the midpoint of an Islamic world that stretches far to the east from Morocco to India, with a long shoreline extending along the entire southern coastline of the Mediterranean Sea to the southern coastline of the Black Sea, along both sides of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, and eventually to the coastline of India.  The political, economic, and military position of Cairo will meet all his requirements and he will rule his empire from Cairo.  His influence in Europe, Africa, Eurasia, and Asia will be extremely strong, and by the end of his 3 and ½ years in Cairo, all of this area will politically be in his pocket.  It is in this area that I believe the mark of the beast will be readily accepted, particularly in all the Islamic countries.  It is also in this area that I believe the most horrific events of the Tribulation Period will occur.  I believe he will have influence in the western hemisphere, but I do not believe he will rule it (See Prophecy Update 73 and Special Prophecy Update Number 73A).

After 3 and ½ years of dominating the nations of Europe and the eastern hemisphere, he will receive news out of the north and out of the east that troubles him.

Daniel 11:44

[44] But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.

This was written in 600 B.C.  Every time a great leader would arise in the east, his country would be identified as the one the antichrist would go forth to destroy with great fury, and to carry away many.  Genghis Khan, the great Mongol ruler of one of the greatest empires in history, was believed to be the object in the east that was going to trouble the antichrist in A.D. 1200 to 1227.   Attila, king of the Huns, from A.D. 441 to 450 claimed domination from the Alps and the Baltic to the Caspian Sea.  He was labeled the Scourge of God, and was looked upon as being the source of bad news from the north that would trouble the antichrist.  With the advent of the rise of the two great powers, the Soviet Union in the north, and China in the east, it was only natural that expositors would pick them as the culprits causing the bad news from the north and east.  Now, it is supposed to be Russia and China.  I do not doubt that both Russia and China will be among the nations that attack Israel at the final battle of Armageddon, but I do not believe one has to go all the way to Russia and China to find the source of the news that is troubling the antichrist.

Get an atlas with a map that has Cairo, Russia, and China on it and consider how far away the antichrist will be from Russia and China.  Now consider this: the population of Russia is 150 million plus, and the population of China is 1 billion, 300 million plus.  Now, look again at this scripture.

Daniel 11:44

[44] But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.

 If he proceeds forth from Cairo with great fury to attack China and Russia, that’s quite a few folks “to destroy, and to make away many.”

I do not believe you have to look thousands of miles to the east, and thousands of miles to the north, to find the source of the news that troubles the antichrist.  Just look directly east of the city of Cairo and you will see the Negev Wilderness where he left the children of Israel some three years before, and then look to the north and you will see that portion of the Mediterranean Sea extending to the southern shores of Turkey.  Those are the two locations from which the bad news will radiate.  Some three years before the antichrist heavily fortified the zone along the northern border of the Negev north of Beersheva in order to prevent a breakout by the Israelis.  But the narrow zone that is marked today by the Gaza Strip begins to look vulnerable to him because of the news he hears from the north and the east.  The U.S. Navy has a frequent publication titled TRANSITIONS – All the Ships at Sea.  It gives the location of the fleet on a specific date.  You will discover from it that a U.S. carrier, and fighter attack squadron are routinely kept in the Mediterranean between Egypt and Turkey, and that at times it may consist of cruisers, destroyers, attack submarines, frigates, and support ships.  In a recent mission in this area there were some 15,000 sailors and marines on these ships.  During the last 25 years there have been some 18 episodes of U.S. marines conducting joint exercises with the IDF in the Negev.  What the antichrist hears is that the U.S. and the IDF may be planning to cut off his rear flank back to his home country by conducting a military operation in the Gaza Strip.  With the marines conducting an amphibious landing on the south of the Gaza Strip, and the IDF driving northwest to join them, they would do what no military commander wants to happen, that is, have his rear flank cut off from direct access to his major source of land supplies.  The Scripture does not say whether what he hears is true or untrue, merely that what he hears troubles him.  I would imagine it is only a rumor, but apparently he believes it enough to take the appropriate response.  He heads for the city of Jerusalem, super reinforcing the Gaza Strip on his way, and sets himself up to issue a call for all nations to come and help him do what he could not do to Israel some 3 and ½ years before.  He calls for all the nations of Europe, Eurasia, Asia, and Africa to come and help him to “go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many” Israelis in the Negev Wilderness.

Daniel 11:44,45

[44] But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. [45] And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

Lord willing, in Prophecy Update Number 75, I will exposit word for word on verse 45.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 74A

June 29, 2002

HISTORICAL RAPTURE TEACHINGS

As a young man I developed an interest in certain historical eras of time, especially the period of time associated with the castles of ancient England. In December of 1961, after I had traveled for some three years from north to south and east to west across England, the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society published my lengthy discourse on “Forecasting Rain Stratus in the Midlands of England.” During those three years I examined most of the ancient castle earthworks found standing after the rampage of Cromwell across England. England is the land of very old books, and the meticulous maintenance of these books is carried out rigorously at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. So if you really want to know for sure when a particular Biblical interpretation first came into print, these two institutions should be the place to begin your research.

From my earliest days I had an avid interest in all publications that interpreted Biblical passages concerning the second coming of Christ. When I first began lecturing in churches, seminaries, universities, and colleges in 1978, I had no idea that my travels would take me to more than 700 of these institutions, and that I would be in the immediate vicinity of most of the major colleges and universities in the U.S. The vast majority of our institutions of higher learning began as small institutions under the control of a church or churches. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, most of them individually broke away from their sponsoring churches to become the independent centers of higher secular learning today. The majority of books in colleges and universities in early years were religious books, but after they lost the influence of the sponsoring churches they gradually became more and more secular in their teaching and accredited degrees, so they had to decide what to do with their very large volume of religious books. Some were sold, some thrown away, and some placed in specially created archives. I know I am a sixth generation Missionary Baptist because of the material I collected from just such an archive in Kalamazoo College in Michigan. Its archives documented that Henry McElmurry, of whom I am a direct descendant, was the missionary-pastor of three of our early churches in southeastern Missouri from 1834 to 1839. Some of the books in the archives of these colleges are so old and fragile, that they have a designated person to open the pages for you to prevent the book being damaged.

So why have I labored on so long about old books. I wanted to know when various teachings were published concerning when the Lord would come, particularly in reference to what is called the tribulation period, a period of time that ends with the battle of Armageddon. So, as I traveled, I went to these archives and searched for this information. All of the old books I examined were quite definite that the tribulation period would close with the battle of Armageddon. But the time of the beginning of the tribulation, how long it was to last once it started, and when the first resurrection occurred in reference to it, was quite another matter. The first resurrection, which has taken on the popular title “the rapture,” has been one of the most vigorously debated theological subjects in the Word of God for some 215 years. So, because it still is, I intend to present as accurate a documented history as I am able from my research. I will attempt to show when several beliefs concerning this much debated subject first appeared on the scene in published books.

When Johannes Gutenberg invented the first process of printing from separately cast metal types, used for moveable type, the era of book publishing was soon to begin. By 1450 he had a press in Germany financed by Johann Fust. In 1455 Fust had the first printed Bible in history well under way. Slowly the publishing of books by press immerged. Many of the first books published were interpretative expositions of Biblical scriptures, and among those were expositions of scriptures about the first resurrection. After the 1611 KJV was published, expositions on Christ’s second coming started appearing in books based on the interpretation of passages found in it.

The first publication that taught a rapture before the blowing of the seventh trumpet in the book of Revelation was published in 1788. The teaching appeared in a book written by a well-known Baptist preacher of the eighteenth century, Morgan Edwards. It was titled “Two Academic Exercises on Subjects Bearing the Following Titles: Millennial and Last Novelties.” The book was published by Dodson and Lang, Second Street between Market and Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In my archive search to discover the first printings of various positions held on the time of Christ’s coming in relation to the end of the tribulation period, I had only found two published positions prior to the War of 1812. The vast majority of all the publications put Christ’s coming at the end of the tribulation period, and a definite minority placed it at the blowing of the seventh trumpet, just before God’s wrath is poured out on the earth in seven vials. However, Morgan, for the first time in history since books began to be published, taught that a rapture of the saved would occur 3 and ½ years before the end of the tribulation period. There is no record of any book historically published prior to 1788, as far as I have been able to discover, that taught a rapture prior to the last 3 and ½ years before the final battle of Armageddon in the tribulation period.

Dr. Thomas Chalmers, a Presbyterian minister of the Church of Scotland, and the man who first introduced what is known as the “Gap Theory,” had an assistant named Edward Irving. In 1827 Reverend Irving began to teach that Christ would first come for His saints, and then after a period of tribulation, He would come to destroy antichrist and to reign. In 1830 in Port Glasgow, Scotland, a 15-year-old young lady, named Margaret MacDonald, announced that she had received a prophetic vision from God concerning the coming of Christ. Her revelation may be found in a book by Robert Norton entitled “The Restoration of Apostles and Prophets” in the Catholic Apostolic Church, (London, 1861). In his book he declared that from her vision it could be seen that Christians would be taken out before the time of tribulation.

J.N. Darby, a leader among the early Plymouth Brethren, was known to have visited her during the time Margaret was having her visions. The teaching of a 7-year tribulation period came after these visions. The idea of the tribulation period consisting of two 3 and ½ year periods was developed after John Darby began preaching the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory. Prior to that time you will find no publication was ever printed that showed two boxes joined together to form a 7 year period, with the first box representing a period of 3 and ½ years of peace, and the second box representing a period of 3 and ½ years of tribulation. The 7-year theory was developed by proponents of the new Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory. It was developed by letting the “he” in Daniel 9:27 refer to the antichrist rather than to Christ (See Prophecy Updates 55, 56, 57 and 58). Before 1788 they taught that the “he” of Daniel 9:27 was Christ, but in view of the new revelation in 1788, it eventually became necessary to justify it, and by 1832 a series of new Scripture combinations began to appear, and they were used to teach what came to be known as the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Position. It was the joining of the “70^th Week of Daniel” prophecy with the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory that launched the new teaching under a wind filled sail. J.N. Darby taught that the rapture precedes the last 7 years of the prophecy of 490 years found in Daniel 9:24-27. In Volume 3, page 424, of Darby’s letters, he wrote: “Let it be remembered now that we have no date for the rapture of the church – that the dates BEGIN with a week of Daniel 9, and half a week when the sacrifice is made to cease. But this does not affect the general testimony of Matthew 24, which may begin the week, and be carried on among the Gentiles during the great tribulation at Jerusalem.”

J.N. Darby visited America seven times between 1862 and 1877. Cyrus I. Scofield, minister of a Congregational church, became a student of all the writings of J.N. Darby, and then forever popularized his Pre-Tribulation Rapture position by placing it in the Scofield Reference Bible notes of his 1909 publication. Most of the Bible teachers of Scofield’s day did not accept his new found position, but it was so appealing to religious groups that it spread across the country like wildfire as an exciting new revelation, which taught God’s children would never go into the tribulation period. By the time I was saved in 1944, you were often considered a heretic if you believed anything other than a rapture 7 years prior to the end of the tribulation period.

When I wrote my last two books, Tribulation Triad and Birth Pangs from the Bottomless Pit in the late seventies, I was what was known as a “Mid-Tribber.” In the early eighties I changed my position on when the first resurrection occurs in relation to the end of the tribulation period. You may find what I have believed since that time in Special Prophecy Update Number 73D from our Prophecy Archives. Could the Mid-Tribulation Rapture Position be correct? Yes, if God chose to wait some 1788 years after Christ’s birth before letting it first appear in a printed book exposition of Biblical scriptures by a man named Morgan Edwards. Could the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Position be correct? Yes, if God chose to wait some 1830 years after the birth of His Son before letting it first appear in a printed form. To my knowledge, there was never a printed book prior to 1788, which explained the scriptures found in the Bible about Christ’s coming, that advocated a Pre or Mid Tribulation Rapture.

I have read the letters of the early church fathers to see if any such teaching was clearly spelled out in their writings on a Pre-Tribulation rapture. And, in so doing, I have searched hoping to find such a reference, but have not found any reference in context that justified such a position. If you think I didn’t want to find such a reference, you are quite wrong. To not agree with the Pre-Tribulation position only gains you unpopularity with most of the brethren and, being carnal in the flesh, and desiring their acceptance, I certainly hoped to find such a position issued prior to 1788, but found none of which I could honestly state: Yes! This teaches a Pre-Tribulation rapture. Could I be wrong in the position I hold? Certainly! And I will continue to search for the prophetic truth on this subject. I have not changed what I was taught as a youth concerning the doctrines on salvation, baptism, the local church, and its two ordinances, but I have changed my mind about the position of the Lord’s coming in reference to the battle of Armageddon and, quite frankly, will change my mind again if I find a better case than the one you find in Prophecy Update 73D. Any man who is not willing to change his position on the time of Christ’s coming, in relation to the end of the tribulation period, makes it a doctrinal position. There is only one doctrine concerning Christ’s coming – HE IS COMING. When he comes, in relation to the events stated as occurring in the tribulation period, is a matter of opinion, not a matter of doctrine.

So how do all these different positions affect me? They don’t! In our work we have “first of the weekers,” middle of the weekers,” “last of the weekers,” “seventh trumpers,” “split rapturers,” “triple rapturers,” and “progressive rapturers.” It would be ridiculous for me to make what my brethren believe about the rapture a test of fellowship. The doctrine of Christ’s coming is that He is coming. If you don’t believe that you are a heretic, and I don’t want your fellowship. I have a very simple Biblical principle that I follow to be ready when he does come. I know I will be taken because I am saved. So I daily attempt to be faithful to Him in one of His new testament churches, in order that I will be prepared to stand before His judgment seat whenever He comes.

I do not believe we have a full week of seven years left to fulfill in Daniel’s 70 weeks of 490 years (See Prophecy Updates 55, 56, 57 and 58 in our Prophecy Archives). I am persuaded Christ is coming on the blowing of the 7^th trumpet in Revelation 10:7, 11:15, and 11:18, but I live my life like it could be today. I am “watching” daily for that time, whenever it is. I have been told that one cannot do such a thing. Well, just hide and watch me! If it does occur 7 years before the battle of Armageddon, then I will be caught “watching” for His coming (See Prophecy Update Number 73D).

The material contained in this Prophecy Update has been taken from many old books I have perused in the U.S. and overseas during my many years of travel, but a large portion of it came from the research of John L. Bray, a Baptist Minister who was born in 1921 in Macon, Georgia, and was ordained as pastor of a Baptist church in Jacksonville, Florida at the age of 18. He was educated at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, John B. Stetson University in Deland, Florida, and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky and, if he is still living, would be some 81 years in age. By 1990 he had spent 30 years as a pastor of Southern Baptist Churches, and completed 21 years as a full time evangelist. I am indebted to him for the numerous extractions I took from his writings in compiling this update.

In Special Prophecy Update Number 74A, titled “Historical Rapture Teachings,” I gave a lengthy discourse that outlined the long search I have made to discover the truth as to when various teachings on “the rapture” first came into print.  In this long period of invading the musty shelves of ancient religious book archives, I was not only trying to discover rapture teachings, but also books that discussed things concerning the antichrist.  The thing I was most interested in was WHERE the ancient books taught he would arise.  As I perused through many old books, a pattern began to evolve as to HOW the most popular teachings of today probably came into being, and it is a most interesting and revealing series of events that manifest it.

The Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815 with the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo and the signing of the Treaty of Paris.  Before the rise of Napoleon in 1803, I could not find a single book that had the antichrist coming out of Europe.  I AM NOT saying that such a book does not exist.  In fact, I rather suspect that one, or several, do exist, but I could not locate them.  All the books that I encountered brought the antichrist out of the old Syrian Empire that was one of the four divisions made when the vast Empire of Alexander the Great was partitioned.  The majority made the false prophet of Revelation 13:12 represent the Pope of Rome.  It was also apparent to some that the antichrist’s empire was connected with Islam because the conquest of the entire Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal) by their forces in the eighth century, and the fact Islam was not driven out completely until 1492, when Christian forces drove them out, made it easy for the people of 1803 to believe the antichrist would come out of the old Syrian Empire, which was at that time, and is even to the present day, of the Islamic faith.  This natural fear across Europe of an Islamic antichrist, where most of the books were being published following 1455, is easy to understand.  In addition to the Iberian penetration into Europe, part of which was still in place in 1455, there was an Islamic invasion of Europe going on when books began to be printed.  In 1453 Constantinople fell to the great Muhammad II.  The followers of Islam continued to drive into southeastern Europe under Suleyman I, and reached the gates of Vienna in 1529.  During the 1700’s and 1800’s their decaying Ottoman empire fought against Russia, and Greece won its independence.

So how did the focus shift to Europe as the designated place of the antichrist’s rise to power?  When the old Islamic Ottoman       Empire let the Young Turk movement lead them to join with Germany in World War I, and were soundly defeated along with Germany, in a war dominated by great battles in Europe, then the antichrist watchers begin to look toward Europe.  But most Bible teachers continued to bring the antichrist out of the old Syrian (Seleucid) Dynasty until World War II.  The rise of Hitler in Europe, and Mussolini in Italy, gave rise to many new books saying that the antichrist would rise out of Europe, and the false prophet would be the Pope of Rome.  Millions of books were thrown in trashcans when the Axis powers were crushed to powder.  But because two great wars had engulfed mankind in chaos, and both involved Germany and Italy, the fear of a third German uprising made what happened next inevitable.  The end of World War II left Europe in shambles, so the Marshal Plan was implemented to assure their economic growth.  Six nations decided to link together to promote a more rapid economic growth.  In 1957, the countries of West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxemburg signed the Treaty of Rome, and the European Common Market officially came into existence.  It was a foregone conclusion that they would grow in number and reach 10 in a short period of time.  It was at this time that a very well known book was written about them.  It was probably one of the first books in religious book history written by a dynamic writer with a very readable style, and an exciting manner of expression.  Up until World War II religious books were written by old stick-in-the-mud writers like myself, whose style of writing was designed to persuade their peers, rather than to gain the attention of the masses.  But this well known book sold like wildfire, weaving its way into countless numbers of Sunday School classes, and into millions of sermons proclaimed from pulpits across the world.  Today’s younger generation of preachers have no idea what a fantastic impact the book had on prophetic teachings.  The writer indicated the European Common Market, or as it came to be called, “The Six,” would grow to 10 in number and, when this happened, the antichrist would arise in Europe and gradually take control of the entire world, as we know it today.  He taught that these 10 European Common nations were the 10 toes of Daniel’s great statue, the 10 horns of Daniel’s fourth beast, and the 10 horns on each of John’s two beasts in the book of Revelation.  Well, if that was the correct interpretation, then at the present time the statue has 15 toes, and each of the three beasts has 15 horns.  We were also told that West Germany was a part of the old Roman Empire.  Not even a bad historian will tell you that.  In fact Germanic tribes eventually conquered Rome.  Because of the rise in power of the Soviet Union at the same time “The Six” were used to gain prophetic attention, we were given a revised interpretation of the word “chief” in Ezekiel 38:2,3 and 39:1.  We were advised it meant “Russian,” and that “Gog” would be a Russian prince.  There is no way under heaven the Hebrew word “rosh,” translated as “chief” in Ezekiel, could legitimately mean “Russian.”  Because this Hebrew word, when uttered, has the “R” sound of “Russia,” it was used as proof that it meant Gog would be a Russian prince.  That is absurd.  You might as well say that since the “A” in Artic proves Gog will come from his place out of the north, and that this distant northern place is the North Pole where Santa Claus lives.  I agree that Magog is most likely what we call Russia today, but in all three of the previously listed Scriptures it clearly states that Gog is “the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.”  The primary cluster of the descendants of Meshech and Tubal, when Ezekiel wrote, was centered in what we call Lebanon and Syria today.  I make my case concerning the word “rosh” and the location of Meshech and Tubal in Prophecy Updates 27, 28, and 29.  Before the Civil War most expositors taught that there was only one war in the last days of this present age, the war of Gog and Magog, which was to last for 3 and ½ years and end with the final battle of this age, the battle of Armageddon.  However, in order to justify the antichrist coming out of Europe, another war was added out of which he was supposed to arise BEFORE the tribulation period. Please forgive this diversion.  I will now return to the European events that gradually led to what most expositors now believe, that the antichrist will come out of Europe.

Napoleon was supposed to the antichrist.  Kaiser Wilhelm II was supposed to be the antichrist.  Hitler was supposed to be the antichrist.  Stalin was supposed to be the antichrist.  But I do not believe we should ever have changed the teaching he was to come out of the area that we identify as Lebanon and Syria, and since Lebanon is a country on paper only, having been taken over by the 35,000 Syrian troops occupying it, and is now called “greater” Syria by the Syrians, I believe one could simply say that antichrist would come out of Syria (See Prophecy Updates 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, and 69 in our Archives at the top of this Prophecy Update).

The Napoleonic Wars across Europe introduced modern man to new killing machines for battlefield destruction.  World War I accelerated the process, and mass destruction by many more new destructive inventions produced even more widespread battlefield destruction, also allowing the destruction to begin to spread away from the local battlefields to civilian populations.  World War II produced a fantastic arsenal of machines and weapons that terrorized on both land and sea, producing the massive worldwide destruction so well documented on TV.  So, it was only natural that, after the Napoleonic Wars, there would be a gradual change in Biblical teaching as to HOW the Biblical prophecies of horrific events would be fulfilled in the tribulation period. Before 1803 prophetic expositors taught that the events of the tribulation period were God’s unleashing of his power in the form of natural catastrophes in the earth and the heavens.  I am convinced they were right.  This viewpoint persisted as the majority teaching until World War II.  But after the first two drops of A-bombs, it rapidly became a minority viewpoint, and prophetic teaching of the destruction was matched to the new, and still developing, killing technology and scientific expertise of man.

I also believe prophetic expositors have make a great mistake in expanding the antichrist’s empire since it was first described in the book of Daniel (See Special Prophecy Update Number 73A).  As men spread north, south, east, and west across the earth, we expanded the size of the antichrist’s empire to the world we know today.  Did God intend for us to do that?  Possibly, but I seriously doubt it.  I do not believe it will exceed the territory taken by the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans in the age of their maximum expansions.

In very recent times a series of new fictional books have arrived on the scene, and many more will follow.  The 10 most popular of them, by the time you read this prophecy update, will have had more than 36 million copies taken off the shelves, and will continue to sell like hotcakes.  The market is being flooded with them, and new follow up series will soon inundate it.  All have teachings contrary to those prior to the Napoleonic Wars.  They have a 7-year tribulation period, the first part being a 3 and ½ time of peace, and the second 3 and ½ year period filled with tribulation.  They all have the saved caught up to be with the Lord when the 7-year period begins, thereby escaping any part of the tribulation period.

I must confess that I don’t have any surveys to back up what I am going to say next.  So make your own guess on the answer to this question.  How many saved men and women on this earth believe they will be taken out before tribulation begins?  My guess is more than 90 percent of them.  If that turns out to be incorrect, then it may help to understand the two scriptures that follow.  Bearing in mind that the Koine Greek word translated “fables” is “muthous,” which means “fictional tales,” and that most of this last generation is convinced he is coming the hour the 7-week tribulation period begins, please consider the verses that follow.

[2] For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; [4] And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Is that the case?  I DON’T KNOW!  I know I am  saved, so I know I will be taken if He comes 7 years before the battle of Armageddon.  If He comes during the tribulation period I know I will be taken.  If He comes at the end of the tribulation period I know I will be taken.  The most important thing for me, as a believer, is to be living for Him from now until He comes.  We will be giving our opinions on when He will come right up until He comes, but IT IS NOT AN OPINION that HE IS COMING, and that we should be living for Him FROM NOW UNTIL HE COMES.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 74C

[40]  And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. [41] He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be over-thrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.

MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL AND THE 7^TH TRUMPET

We began our expositional series on the antichrist of Daniel in Prophecy Update 71, and then continued the discourse through Prophecy Update Number 75.  We closed Number 75 by giving several Scriptures to show how the antichrist “shall come to his end,” and why “none shall help him.”  Please review Number 75 in our Prophecy Archives before reading this Update.  The KJV translators supplied the Biblical chapter and verse divisions.  It is a continuous narrative from Daniel 11:45 to 12:1.  With that in mind, please consider the following verses.

Daniel 11:45 to 12:1

[45] And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. [1] And at THAT time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

The antichrist will sit in his command post on the Holy Temple Mount in Jerusalem and issue the command for his millions of troops to attack the remnant of Israel in the Negev.  It is “at that time” that Michael stands up for Israel, and the last trump, the 7^th trump of Revelation, sounds to announce the arrival of the 7 vials of God’s wrath.  This is when the first resurrection, the rapture of the saved, occurs (See Prophecy Update Number 73D in our Prophecy Archives).  Those “written in the book” are from “a book of remembrance” found in Malachi 3:16 to 4:3, with 3:16-18 telling the saved they will return to earth, and 4:1-3 advising them what shape the physical earth would be in at the time of their return.

Malachi 3:16-18

[16] Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. [17] And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. [18] Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. [1] For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. [2] But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. [3] And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.

When the antichrist returns to sit on the Temple Mount, as the abomination of desolation, the sixth trumpet will blow to begin the second woe.  The second woe will end with a great quake that drastically affects Jerusalem.  It will cause a reverential fear to sweep across the Israeli remnant in the wilderness, and they will begin to turn to Christ and give glory to his name.

Revelation 11:13,14

[13] And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. [14] The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

The three woes are the blowing of the fifth, sixth, and seventh trumpets.

Revelation 11:14,15

[14] The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. [15] And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

After the rapture of the saved in Revelation 11:15 they are then judged for rewards in heaven in verse 18 while the seven vials of God’s wrath are being poured out on the earth.

Revelation 11:18

[18] And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

While all of the saved are being judged in heaven for rewards, Michael is standing up for the remnant in the Negev, and the vials are being poured out on the antichrist and his followers.  I suspect this time of absolute terror will last more than one month, but less than two.  Believers will not be on this earth when it occurs.

Daniel 11:45 to 12:1

[45] And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. [1] And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

When Michael stands up, the 7^th trumpet sounds, and the saved are delivered up to heaven to be judged for rewards. While they are being judged in heaven, what is happening on the earth in Matthew 24:21,22 corresponds to what is described as the time of trouble that occurs after Michael stands up.

Matthew 24:21,22

[21] For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. [22] And except those days should be shortened, there should NO FLESH be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

By God’s grace He has elected to bring a small Jewish nation through this brief period. It will consist of Israelis that shall come through this terrible time, still alive in the flesh, to begin to rule over the physical section of Christ’s kingdom during His reign of a thousand years.

THE POSSIBILITY OF A “FORCED” PEACE, IN WHICH IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE FOR ISRAEL TO CARVE OUT FOR ITSELF LARGE CHUCKS OF THE WEST BANK, IS NOW APPARENT TO THE PALESTINIANS AND ALL ISLAMIC NATIONS.  IT IS STIRRING THEM TO ACTION TO FORCE ISRAEL BACK TO THE NEGOTIATING TABLE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE IN ORDER TO RECOVER AS MUCH WEST BANK TERRITORY AS POSSIBLE.  OTHERWISE, THE PALESTINIANS WILL FIND THEMSELVES BEHIND TWO BUFFER ZONES, ONE AROUND GAZA, AND THE OTHER AROUND THE WEST BANK, AND THEY WILL BE TOLD THAT IS ALL THEY ARE GOING TO GET.  THEY WILL LOSE BETWEEN 20 AND 30 PERCENT OF ALL THE WEST BANK TERRITORY IF THIS WALL IS COMPLETED, AND ISRAEL WILL SAVE MORE THAN 50 PERCENT OF ITS SETTLEMENTS NOW INSIDE THE GREEN LINE, WHICH MARKS THE 1967 BOUNDRY BETWEEN JORDAN AND ISRAEL.  (SEE PROPHECY UPDATE 65A AND 65C)

A Flurry of Coming and Going Between Nations

In less than a week three Israeli government officials have made visits to Egypt, Parliamentary Speaker Abraham Burg, Israeli Transport Minister Ephraim Sneh, and Israeli Defense Minister Benjamim Ben-Eliezer.  Egypt has traditionally played key roles in all mediations between the Israelis and Palestinians.  This is at least an indication Israel might be interested in negotiations.  Abraham Burg said fresh Egyptian efforts to resolve the Middle East conflict could lead to a new round of peace talks.  The Defense Minister’s meeting with Hosni Mubarak will also lead toward possible future meetings to resolve differences Egypt has with Israel on Yassar Arafat staying or going.

During the last several days Prince Abdullah Iba Abdul Aziz, of Saudi Arabia, has been involved in a flurry of activity that links directly with a solution to the Middle East conflict.  His contacts by phone, or by visit, included the following dignitaries:

President George Bush

King Sheikh Ibn Isa Al Klalifa of Bahrain

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan

Additionally, he sent letters to:

The Emir of Kuwait

Sheikh Zayed Iban Sultan Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates

President Bashar Al Assad of Syria

And, during this same time period, Prince Saud Al Faisal of Saudi Arabia held talks with the leaders of:

Kuwait

The United Arab Emirates

Bahrain

Oman

After visiting these Islamic countries, Prince Saud then went to Egypt and met with President Hosni Mubarak, where a review of the telephone conversation between U.S. President George Bush and Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz was conducted.  He then headed to Damascus where President Bashar Al Assad received him to discuss ways of bringing peace to the Middle East.  He then immediately flew to Annan, where Jordan’s King Abdullah II received him, and they discussed the latest methods to employ in pushing the peace process forward, and to start negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis.

As a result of all this flurry of activity, the Arab nations have come up with a plan that calls for recognition of a Palestinian State, followed by the negotiation of its borders.  What they want first is international recognition of a Palestinian State, followed by a two-year period to work out the final borders.  All this is an attempt to block Israel from making intrusions inside the “green line” of the 1967 borders with its new buffer zone.  I assure you that Israel intends to put most of its settlements, now inside the “green line,” on the outside of a new “green line” they will create with their buffer zone and wall.  Israel will attempt to claim quite a chunk of the West Bank now lying just inside the “green line.”  The Arab nations want their plan to be on the table for the current attempt to revive Mid-east peacemaking by talks between diplomats from the United States, the United Nations, Europe, and Russia, with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan in attendance.

These are the basics of the Arab Plan, which was worked out in conjunction with the Palestinians, during all the aforementioned flurry of political activity:

(1)            Palestinian elections for a new leader and parliament in January as part of a broader reform effort,

(2)            Shortly after the balloting, the Palestinians would seek United Nations recognition for a state based on the borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war.

(3)            If the United Nations recognized a Palestinian State, the Israelis and Palestinians could then begin negotiations on final borders.  There would be a one-year deadline to negotiate an agreement, followed by a second year to implement the deal.

Since Israel is in the driver’s seat, with the United States riding in the back seat, I am of the opinion that Israel will have no part of this without several changes.  The United States will veto any attempts by the Security Council to send U.N. troops into Israel to force it to comply with this plan.  So, regardless of what the rest of the world decides, this thing will only be settled when the Palestinians give in on four issues:

(1)            No State recognition until ALL terrorist activities cease.

(2)            Only a limited number of Palestinian refugees will be allowed to return to the West Bank and Gaza Strip from the Islamic nations to which they scattered in the last three wars.

(3)            Only the southern flank of the Mount of Olives and the extreme southeastern section of Jerusalem can be used by the Palestinians as their capital.

(4)            Some of the land inside the “green line,” where many Jewish settlements now exist, must be ceded to Israel.

The latest terrorist attack on a bus outside a Jewish settlement near Nablus will strengthen, rather than weaken, the resolve of Israel to continue demanding these four issues be met as a part of any negotiated settlement.  This latest terrorist attack will also make it more difficult for Europe, Russia, and the U.N. to put pressure on the U.S. to steer Israel into a settlement that favors the Palestinians.  Sooner or later the Islamic countries, that sponsor and control the terrorist groups from outside the land of Israel, are going to see the futility of continuing all these terrorist activities.  When they finally realize that these terrorist activities will never bring to fruition their desire to eliminate the presence of Israel in the Holy Land, then they will call off their dogs to allow Israel to enjoy a brief period of false peace.  Then a vicious Jihad will be launched again Israel from the north as soon as it has been lulled into a false sense of security.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 76C

July 18, 2002

THE NATIONS BEGIN TO ALLIGN THEMSELVES

The IDF is now combing the hills of the West Bank in a massive manhunt for the Palestinian terrorists who viciously attacked an unarmed civilian bus outside the West Bank Jewish settlement of Emmanuel.  These ungodly Islamic maniacs, dressed in IDF uniforms, blew the bus off the road with a bomb, then machine gunned and grenaded the passengers.  The IDF had been able to prevent such attacks since June 20th, but you cannot completely eliminate such attacks as long as leaks exist in the dike.  This was inside the West Bank.  Once the buffer zone wall is finally completed is will be 100 times harder to carry out such a vicious massacre.  Three Palestinian terrorist groups quickly rushed to claim credit for the Islamic act of horror:  Hamas, the radical Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.

Had this attack not occurred, the three members of the quartet that met on the same day in New York, Europe, Russia, and the United Nations, would have put even more pressure on member number four, the United States, to put greater pressure on the nation of Israel to cave in to Islamic demands that would deal a death blow to the Israelis.  Europe and Russia, along with a vast majority of the United Nations, are lining up more and more with the Palestinians because it serves their national interests to do so.  There is nothing that Israel possesses which can benefit the national interests of these three world entities.  This world is not based on morality, it is based on national interest.  This is a lesson I learned well while serving as a USAF-NSA analyst in the Washington D.C. complex.  Europe is one of three massive industrial complexes on this planet, and Russia would love to be a part of that complex.  An industrial complex needs some kind of fuel to drive its machines that produce the finished product in a manufactured profit revenue item.  The Islamic nations have something Europe and Russia can use – oil.  Israel has nothing they need.

Because of their national interests, Europe, Russia, and the U.N. told the U.S. that they would continue to deal with the habitual liar Yassar Arafat as the legitimate Palestinian leader, and they flatly refused to endorse President Bush’s demand that he be replaced.  In a joint statement, these three quartet members nudged the United States to step up its demands to Israel.  They called on Israel “to take concrete steps to support the emergence of a viable Palestinian state.”

All the nations of the known world of John’s day are now lining up against Israel and Jerusalem.  Eventually a false peace will arrive in the Middle East.  It will be followed by a vicious Jihad attack from the north against Israel by 10 nations.  It will meet with success initially.  Israel will be driven into the Negev south of Beersheva, and the antichrist will possess the land from Dan to Beersheva for some three and one-half years.  During that time all the nations of the known world in John’s day will join with the antichrist.  Near the end of the three and one-half years they will all gather together in Israel to attack the remnant of Israel in the Negev to close this present age with the battle of Armageddon.  But they will be chopped into pieces by God in the greatest geological upheaval ever known to mankind.

Zechariah 12:2,3,9

[2] Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. [3] And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. [9] And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Zechariah 14:3-5

[3] Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. [4] And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. [5] And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

Revelation 16:16-19

[16] And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. [17] And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. [18] And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. [19] And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

(Please Read Special Prophecy Update Number 73A)

To many preachers, pastors, teachers, and Bible expositors this is a very simple question!  And they seem startled that I would even pose such a stupid question.  The answer that I normally receive runs something like this: Brother, when God’s Word says “the whole world” it means “the whole world,” and when it says “all the earth” it means “all the earth.”  What’s the matter with you, don’t you believe God’s Holy Book?

When God gave His Word, to the writers of the Old and New Testaments, expressions like “the whole world, all the earth, and wherever men dwell,” meant the known world of that day.  So how can we be so all fired certain that we have been given God’s authority to enlarge its definition with the passage of time?  Of course, there is no question that God, who made earth, knew its size from the beginning, but where did we get the authority to change the meaning of the way He meant to be understood in the minds of those to whom he initially wrote it?  For better or for worse, I believe modern day expositors have made a serious mistake in expanding the size of the antichrist’s empire as world exploration kept increasing the size of the earth.  In Special Prophecy Update Number 73A, titled “Use of the Hyperbole in Prophecy,” I laid out a case to prove my point linguistically as to how God uses expressions throughout His Word that some think mean the whole world as we know it today, but it reality do not by His use of the hyperbole.  As each new continent, each new land mass, each new island, and each new ice burg was located by exploration, we changed the original meaning of the Scriptures to fit the ever expanding size of the world. I do not believe we were justified in doing this, and that because we have done it, we have expanded the antichrist’s empire into one that rules all men from Pole to Pole and around a 360-degree girth of longitude.  We are now looking for an antichrist that will rule all the men on this present earth.  As a result of this looking for such a man, we are not going to recognize the true antichrist when he does come on the scene.  He will not dominate all the world as we know it today.  He will dominate the world that was in existence through the period of Daniel’s four beasts.

Revelation 13:2

[2] And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

John is looking back some 700 years in time to Daniel’s four beasts, of which three, in Daniel’s day, were still future.  John is writing in the days of Daniel’s fourth beast.  The first beast of Daniel, the Babylonian Lion Empire, was crushed by the Medo-Persian Bear Empire, which was conquered by the Macedonian Leopard Empire, only to suffer the same fate by Daniel’s fourth Roman Empire beast.  The last evil empire on this planet will be that of the antichrist.  His empire will take in all the territory covered during the expansions of the four beast empires.  When the antichrist first attacks Israel he will lead 10 Islamic nations, which were all occupied at times by the old Roman Empire.  I believe the most likely candidates are Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and the PA.  After the antichrist conquers Egypt (Daniel 11:43,44), then Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and all the other Islamic nations to the borders of India, will quickly accept him as their ruler.  Within months Europe will come under his dominating influence.  I fully expect him to rule all the land occupied by the four beasts during their maximum expansions, but I do not believe he will dominate the western hemisphere nations.

I realize that this Prophecy Update, coupled with the Special Prophecy Update Number 73A, does not provide concrete proof that all I have stated, concerning the size of the antichrist’s empire, is unquestionably correct.  However, Lord willing, the Special Prophecy Updates we will release this week, from now until next Friday, will be giving you some additional prophetic scriptures that limit the size of antichrist’s empire. I will not be sending out our usual e-mail notification when we issue a new update on the web site, so check it daily for new updates while I am doing a prophecy meeting in St. Louis, Missouri.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 77A

July 21, 2002

HOW LARGE IS THE ANTICHRIST’S EMPIRE?

(Please read Prophecy Updates 73A and 77)

Revelation 6:1,2

[1] And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. [2] And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

Most expositors identify the rider of this white horse as being the antichrist.  He is identified as a crowned ruler who goes to conquer on this present planet.  Does he conquer all the nations of the earth as we know them today?

Revelation 6:3,4

[3] And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. [4] And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

Most expositors associate this rider with shedding blood across the earth in a great war by the sword given him.  Will he kill with his sword across the entire face of the earth as we know it today?

Revelation 6:5,6

[5] And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. [6] And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

Most expositors associate this rider with a great famine in which a day’s wages will only purchase enough for a very small loaf of wheat bread or three very small loaves of barley bread.  Will he spread this famine and great hunger to all the 200+ nations on the surface of this present earth?

Revelation 6:7,8a

[7] And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. [8] And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.

Most expositors associate this rider with death produced by any deadly infectious disorder, which always runs rampant in the wake of war and famine.  Will this plague of death infest the present earth from one end to the other?

The rider who kills with his sword, the rider who kills with hunger, and the rider who kills with the death of disease, are all supposed to be riding their horses in full stride during the reign of the antichrist as he leads them on his conquering steed.   So how much of the earth does the antichrist conquer and directly affect with his misery?

Revelation 6:8b

[8] And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

The context demands that “them” has to refer to the four riders in the verses immediately preceding it, and it even identifies the last three specifically by the words sword, hunger, and death.

The inspired koine Greek word translated “earth” means just what it says, and one-fourth means one-fourth of the earth.  Some expositors have tried to say that it means one-fourth of today’s total world population.  That is absolutely not true!  The word translated “earth” is “ges.”  In the KJV it is translated as “country” twice, as “earth” 188 times, as “ground” 18 times, as “land” 42 times, and as “world” once.

I believe “the beasts of the earth” in Revelation 6:8 are the same as the “beasts” in Daniel 7:12.

Daniel 7:12

[12] As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.

So, for better, or for worst, I do not believe the antichrist will rule over the whole earth as we know it today.  I believe the one-fourth over which he will rule will include all Islamic nations in North Africa, the Middle East, and as far to the east as India.  It will eventually include many European countries.  The people in this area will be more than willing to take the mark of the beast.

(Please Read Prophecy Updates 73A, 77, and 77A)

Have you ever really looked behind all the teachings that inform us of a great worldwide empire of an antichrist that dominates the more than 200 nations on this present day earth?  Have you really looked at the Scriptures that tell you what countries and areas on this planet he actually conquers?  For instance, most expositors tell us that the willful king of the north in Daniel 11:36-45 is the antichrist.  If that is the case, then we are given an account of his conquering from the time he first attacks the nation of Israel in verse 41 until the end of his life in verse 45.  So what area does he conquer during this time period?

Daniel 11:41-45

[41] He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. [42] He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. [43] But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. [44] But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. [45] And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

Don’t read between the lines!  Here is what it says – He comes into Israel (the land from Dan to Beersheva) and conquers it.  He bypasses Jordan (Ammon, Edom, and Moab).  He then goes to Egypt and conquers it.  Later he returns to Jerusalem and then comes to his end.

I do not question that many other countries of North Africa and the Middle East will be on his side in this initial attack.  Nor do I doubt that after this 10-nation attack all the Islamic nations will join his ranks.  And I am confident that as he operates out of his Cairo Command Center for three and one-half years he will eventually gain control of most of Europe, and large chunks of Eurasia.  But I am convinced this will be the maximum extent of his end time empire.  He will rule the known world that existed when John wrote the book of Revelation.

I have spent a large portion of my life in the Middle East, the Far East, North Africa, and Europe.  I have discussed the Bible with people living in these areas.  I have never met a follower of Islam in these areas who ever heard that the mark of the beast was 666.  Nor have I encountered an Islamic that knew anything about the man we call the antichrist.  With the exception of jolly ole England, and where American bases exist on the European continent, I could not find anyone who knew anything about the book of Revelation.  I realize there are a few who do, but the Catholics, both Orthodox and Roman, do not teach Revelation to their flocks.  Even the unbelievers in the United States can tell you about 666 and other end time prophecies.  It would be extremely difficult to get the population of the western world to accept a mark on their right hand or forehead.  But it would be no problem in North Africa, the Middle East, Eurasia, and the European continent.

Daniel’s description of the 10 nations that make up the initial attacking force does not seem to offer the characteristics many expositors give to a great 200+ nation empire ruled completely by the antichrist.

Daniel 2:42,43

[42] And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. [43] And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

It is rather ironic that we are told the “they,” who make up the 10 toes of the statue, actually “mingle” themselves with the seed of men (mankind).  This may refer to an intermarrying between the seed of Ishmael, Moab, Edom, Moab, and the six sons of the woman Keturah by Abraham.  What is ironic is that the word in Hebrew translated as “mingled” is “Arab.”  By and large, to a great extent, the Jewish people have maintained the integrity of the line of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham.  However, the other lines of Abraham have mingled within themselves and, at times, have mingled to some extent with the seed of Ham, Shem, and Japheth.  I do not see a great 200+ nation empire covering the globe.  I see an Islamic Arab empire ruled by an antichrist that extends his rule outward into Europe, Eurasia, and central Africa.

He will most assuredly do everything that is written concerning his actions in the book of Revelation, but he will do it in the area the people of John’s day identified as “the whole world.”  As the “known” world grew steadily in size we kept on expanding the vastness of the final empire of the antichrist.  I do not believe we were justified in so doing.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 77C

July 25, 2002

THE WORLD

John 14:6 [6]  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

July 27, 2002

HAVE YOU BEEN SHOWN THE MYSTERY?

[51] Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed
(I Corinthians 15:51)

ARE YOU READY FOR THE MYSTERY TO BE FINISHED?

[7] But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
(Revelation 10:7)

ARE YOU READY FOR THE VOICE & TRUMP OF ANGEL 7?

[16] 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:
(I Thessalonians 4:16)

ARE YOU READY FOR HIS KINGDOMS ON THE 7^TH TRUMP?

[15] And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
(Revelation 11:15)

ARE YOU READY FOR THE LAST TRUMP IN A SERIES OF 7?

[52] In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
(I Corinthians 15:52)

ARE YOU READY TO BE JUDGED AFTER THE 7^TH TRUMPET?

[18] And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
(Revelation 11:18)

HIS 7 VIALS OF WRATH COME ON THEM AS WE ARE JUDGED?

[9] For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
(I Thessalonians 5:9)

[1] And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
(Revelation 16:1)

HIS WRATH IS ON EARTH WHILE HE JUDGES US IN HEAVEN!

THE SAVED WILL THEN RETURN TO EARTH AFTER HE HAS JUDGED THEN FOR REWARDS IN HEAVEN.  AS HE DESCENDS TO EARTH HIS ANGELS, WITH A SOUND OF A  GREAT TRUMPET, WILL BE GATHERING TOGETHER ALL THE SAVED FROM ONE END OF HEAVEN TO THE OTHER, AND THEY WILL DESCEND BEHIND HIM TO BE WITH HIM FOR A THOUSAND YEARS ON THIS PRESENT EARTH.

Matthew 24:29-31

[29] Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: [30] And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. [31] And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Zechariah 14:4,5

[4] And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. [5] And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

Jude 14

[14] And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 78B

July 28, 2002

The following article from the Jerusalem Post imparts the significance of the assassination of Hamas Leader Salah Shehadadeh.  The loss of his leadership and expertise in the brutal art of massive acts of mega-terrorism against the Israelis will be sorely missed by his peers. That is the major reason for the unusually loud cry of war crime accusations by the Palestinians, not for the innocent women and children who were killed.  It might seem on the surface that this will further inflame the Middle East situation, but it will not.  You will see more killings on both sides, but the Palestinians, Syria, Iran, and Iraq are seeing the terrorist’s infrastructure lose its organized effectiveness, and as each new Israeli attack further weakens this effectiveness, you will hear the Arabs scream louder and louder. Sooner or later it will become apparent to them that they must call off their terrorist dogs long enough for Israel to be lulled into a false sense of security.  The longer they wait, the less of the West Bank they will receive in any negotiated settlement.  I believe they will be persuaded to call them off before the dawn of 2003.  All the Islamic nations and all the terrorist groups, in varying degrees of desire, want to see Israel driven out of the land and destroyed.  Finally, they are beginning to realize there is only one way that can happen.  They must catch Israel napping in a sense of false security, and they must have a well coordinated surprise attack plan involving several Islamic nations working together for a common cause.

All of the preceding comments represent the opinions of   http://www.tribulationperiod.com  and do not reflect the opinions of the Jerusalem Post or the writer of the following article.

THIS ARTICLE IS BEING SENT TO A LIMITED AUDIENCE AS A NON-PROFITABLE INFORMATIONAL SERVICE.  IT IS FROM THE JERUSALEM POST.

JERUSALEM POST

‘Shehadeh was planning mega-attack’

---

David Rudge

Jul. 26, 2002

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Hamas military wing leader Salah Shehadeh was planning a mega-terror attack with a truck loaded with one ton of explosives aimed at killing hundreds of Israelis, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said yesterday.
Ben-Eliezer said Shehadeh, who was killed in an IAF raid on his home in Gaza City early Tuesday morning along with 16 other people, mostly civilians, was the biggest of the terrorist leaders.
“Since the beginning of the intifada until now, there was nobody bigger, stronger, or more brutal than him. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands wounded [because of Shehadeh],” Ben-Eliezer told members of the Labor Party central committee.
He said Israel had been actively tracking Shehadeh for the past six months, but on as many as eight occasions, the cabinet together with the IDF had deferred assassination missions because “I didn’t receive a clear answer as to whether he was alone or with his wife and daughter.”
“In most of the cases I deferred it because of the element of doubt that his family, one of his wives and his daughter, might be with him,” said Ben-Eliezer.
He said there was information that Shehadeh was planning a mega-attack, but still the operation was deferred at least twice last week on one occasion when planes were already in the air because his daughter was said to be with him.
“I say to those who are asking what happened: We knew that this man was planning a terror attack, perhaps the biggest ever against Israel. We call it in Hebrew a ‘mega-terror attack’ a truck loaded with one ton of explosives the aim of which was to jolt the nation and kill hundreds of people,” said Ben-Eliezer.
He said that on Monday the inner security cabinet had received assurances that Shehadeh was alone with two of his henchmen and approval for the strike was given.
The outcome, however, was not as expected. Shehadeh and his right-hand man were killed, along with his wife and daughter and 13 other people, nine of them children, who were apparently in adjacent buildings which were badly damaged by the blast from the one-ton bomb which destroyed Shehadeh’s home.
Ben-Eliezer stressed that in the war imposed on Israel mistakes could happen and he expressed deep regrets over the civilian casualties. He insisted he didn’t know there were civilians within reach of the missile when he approved the strike.
“We put off the operation [to strike Shehadah] eight times because I didn’t get a clear answer whether he was alone or whether his daughter or wife were with him,” Ben-Eliezer said, adding that on Tuesday, “we had a green light that he was alone with two murderers.”

UNITED NATIONS RESOLUTION TO CONDEMN THIS ATTACK

The United States is holding firm in the U.N. Security Council (where they have a veto power) on key points in a proposed resolution condemning the attack in the preceding article.  They are demanding that such a resolution also contain statements condemning by name the three terrorist groups of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade.  The U.S. is also demanding that there must be an improvement of the security situation as a condition of any call for a withdrawal of the Israeli occupying forces from Palestinian cities, and a cessation of all violence, military actions, and acts of terror.  This action by the U.S. will keep pressure on the Palestinians and terrorist sponsoring Islamic nations to temporarily call off these three  groups the U.S. is demanding be specifically named in the resolution.

This appendage to the preceding article is the opinion of http://www.tribulationperiod.com and is not intended to reflect the opinion of the Jerusalem Post or the writer of its printed article.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 78C

WATCH OUT FOR SYRIA LEADING THE AXIS OF EVIL!

July 29, 2002

Several international newspapers have recently been printed under the banner “Improving Syria-Iraq Relations Worry the West!”  There is good reason for this concern, not only because of increasing cooperation between Syria and Iraq, but because of a growing bond between the other nations of this coalition that President Bush labeled “The Axis of Evil.”

Kim Yong-nan, President of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly Presidium and the Number 2 man in the Pyongyang hierarchy, recently came to the Syrian capital to hold extensive talks with President Bashar Assad.  The collapse of the Soviet Union, the chief ally of both Syria and North Korea, has caused both nations to search for diabolical national and international partners to compensate for the loss of the power block energy of Moscow.  Chief among the nations replacing the communist power void are Iraq and Iran.  Damascus has, in the past two years, established strong political, economic, and security ties with both countries.  Over the last few months Syria has been exchanging visits and promoting cooperation with Cuba, Iraq, Sudan, Iran, and Lebanon in order to confront what Bashar Assad, the Syrian President, called the “tyrannical policies” of the Bush administration.  Just before North Korea’s Number 2 man arrived in Damascus, Assad hosted Ayatollah Mohmoud Haslemi Shahroudi, head of the judiciary in the Iranian Islamic Republic, and one of the most prominent conservatives opposed to any democratic reforms in Iran.  He is opposed to moderates who seek reform under Khatami in Iran.

During the last two years, since border controls between Syria and Iraq were eased, trade is booming.  Syria exports to Iraq were close to a billion dollars last year, and oil analysts say that Syria is importing about 150,000 barrels a day of Iraqi oil in violation of United Nations sanctions.

Lebanon, for all practical purposes, is a geographical country on paper only, having been taken over by the Hezbollah in its south, and by 35,000 Syrian troops stationed within it.  Syria has long called Lebanon “greater Syria.”  Nassil Lahoud, Head of the Democratic Renewal Movement in Lebanon, marked its founding by calling for a strategic partnership with Syria, and denouncing any political action against Iraq and the Palestinian Authority.  The Hezbollah in southern Lebanon is continuously building a massive arsenal with a steady stream of arms from Iran and Syria, according to the Director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.  President Bashar Assad is also procuring military equipment spare parts for Iraq from eastern Europe, according to Dennis Ross.  Ross further asserts that Iran is pushing Hezbollah to cooperate more with Hamas in the war against Israel and to continue the suicide bombings.  Recent efforts by the Palestinian Authority appeared to be making headway until the Hamas leadership received explicit orders from “outside,” with considerable Iranian pressure, to persist with the suicide bombings.  The same was true for the Islamic Jihad, whose leader, Ramadan Shallah, resides in Damascus, and who was equally insistent that the bombings must continue.

Not only has Syria been expanding its influence throughout the lslamic world, it has also been expanding strong economic ties with Europe.  Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara’s visit to Spain last week was accompanied by a hand carried letter from President Bashar Assad to Spanish King Carlos I.  The message related to conditions in the European and Middle East Regions and bilateral relations between Syria and Spain.

The last two years have seen rapidly growing economic and political ties develop between the Islamic nations and Europe.  Israel is steadily declining politically and economically in the eyes of Europe, and an acceleration of anti-Jewish sentiment has been steadily spreading across Europe.

The greatest majority of believers in Lebanon (greater Syria) are Maronite Catholics.  Last month’s gathering of Maronite Catholic personages in Los Angeles appears to have boosted attempts to form a new, largely pro-Syrian, front.  The Qaisar Mouawad, who visited Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfier, told reporters they discussed the Christian’s role in the region, and the need for them to evolve with the Arab and Muslim groups in their environment.

In the coming months you will see developing religious ties grow stronger between the Vatican and Islam.  You will see more sympathy for the Palestinians and less for the Israelis.  And you will see stronger and stronger political and economic bonds develop between the European and Arab nations.

Parts of this information have been accumulated over the past week from a wide variety of middle east newspapers and some international news releases, among which were the Daily Star of Lebanon, Arabic News, The Times of India, and the Financial Times.  The conclusions and opinions expressed in this article by http://www.tribulationperiod.com/ do not reflect those of the aforementioned organizations.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 78D

July 31, 2002

“COME INTO MY PARLOR, SAID THE SPIDER TO THE FLY”

In September of 2001, the highest level meeting that had been held between the European Union and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, was held in Brussels.  The two sides discussed proposals for a trade and cooperation agreement.  The Iranian Foreign Minister, Kamal Kharrazi, headed the Iranian delegation.  Mr. Kharrazi’s visit occurred almost in conjunction with the Twin Towers terrorist attack, at a time when the United States regarded Iran as a sponsor of international terrorism, and when the U.S. Congress had just completed the renewing of sanctions against Iran for five years.  The European Union, in stark contrast, felt that engagement with Iran might bring about a positive development, and was willing to discuss improving trade.  Earlier this year (2002) our President, George Bush, included Iran in his “axis of evil.”  Europe’s interest in Iran is MONEY, which fits perfectly in the evil of motivation generated solely by the greed of national interest.  I Timothy 6:10a – “For the love of money is the root of all evil.”  Iran stands to gain much better access for its exports to Europe, when the trade and cooperation agreement they discussed is signed and ratified.  Mr. Kharrazi praised what he called the E.U.’s “pragmatic approach.”  He denied that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons and took the opportunity to blame Israel, which Iran does not recognize, for all of the violence in the Middle East.  If you think that Iran is not frantically trying to develop nuclear weapons, then I have a Platinum Timex watch I would love to sell you.

In February of 2002, a senior European Union official, Chris Patten, the E.U. external affairs commissioner, criticized the United States for an “absolutist and simplistic” foreign policy.  He said in an interview with Britain’s Guardian newspaper that European governments should speak up before the U.S. went into “unilateralist overdrive.”  He went on to say that the European policy of “constructive dialogue’ with Iran was more likely to bring results than the American approach which consisted of “more rhetoric than substance.”  That is the same thing that British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain said his “constructive dialogue” had done when he came back to England with his famed “Peace in our times” treaty he had obtained from Hitler in 1938.  The U.S. policy contrasts sharply with that of the European Union.  Mr. Patten told the newspaper America’s policy undermined the E.U.’s efforts toward Iran and North Korea.  He said “There is more to be said for trying to engage and to draw these societies into the international community than to cut them off.”  He also questioned whether an “axis of evil” actually existed.

In June of 2001 a second meeting in Brussels prompted Iran to say that: “a window of opportunity in relations with the European Union had opened.” During an ongoing visit to Tehran in July, of delegations from the European Union and Russia, the United States received yet another negative answer from the two groups, when they sided with Iran and rejected the U.S. idea of including Iran in an “axis of evil.”

This week the European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said he has had constructive talks with senior officials in Tehran as a part of a visit aimed at improving relations.  European and Iranian newsmen are saying that Mr. Solana’s visit to Tehran is a new part of European efforts towards engagement with Iran – In contrast to Washington’s strategy of trying to isolate the Iranian Islamic republic.  Dancing with the Devil often does produce an engagement that leads to a one-sided marriage.  At the news conference, after meeting Iran’s foreign minister, Mr. Solana credited the reforms of President Mohammad Khatami for improving dialogue between Europe and Tehran, happily pointing out the growing improvement in relations between the E.U. and Iran.  During this week he also had talks with President Khatami, and the chairman of the Iran’s Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Hohsen Mirdamadi.

In the months to come you will see Europe, Russia, and China pulling away from the United States position of support for Israel, while growing  constantly in support for the Palestinians and the Islamic nations.  When Syria eventually leads ten Islamic nations against Israel, these three will surely line up in support for Islam.  They will not participate in the initial attack, but will be very vocal in their support for justifying Syria and the other nations in their attack.  I am very confident this attack will occur well before 2008, and that the next 5 years are going to contain the most sudden, rapidly changing, dynamic, series of events that this old planet has ever seen.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 78E

August 1, 2002

THE MODERATES ARE PUTTING PRESSURE ON TERRORIST GROUPS AND THE ISLAMIC NATIONS THAT SPONSOR THEM TO STOP THE ATTACKS SO THAT THE U.S. PEACE PLAN CAN BE GIVEN A CHANGE TO BRING WHAT WILL AMOUNT TO A FALSE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

From the very first prophecy update in 2001 I have repeatedly cried out: “WATCH THE TERRORISTS,” and clearly stated that they are the key to a false peace coming to the Middle East.  When the nations that supply and control them decide it is the best way to lull Israel into a false sense of security, then they will temporarily call them off by promising a Jihad that will eventually follow the false peace, a time of slaughter that will satisfy the bloodthirsty vengeance that is ingrained in them.  This false peace, the bloodletting that follows, the driving of Israel into the Negev, and the Lord’s restoring of Israel after he defeats its enemies, is found in the Scriptures which follow:

I Thessalonians 5:3,4

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Zechariah 13:8

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

Revelation 12:6

[6] And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Zechariah 14:1,2

[1] Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. [2] For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

Zechariah 13:9

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

The information following is quoted from an article in the Israel Daily this week by the Associated Press, entitled “Arabs Support United States Peace Proposals.”  All the aforementioned conclusions, and Scriptures listed to support them, do not reflect the views of the Associated Press or the Israel Daily, but are those ofhttp://www.tribulationperiod.com.  The following article is distributed to a limited audience as an informational service only, without any connotation of profit.

BEGINNING OF QUOTED ARTICLE

Washington (AP) – Not long ago, moderate Arabs played the princes of pristine, washing their hands of the Israel-Palestine mess and ignoring American entreaties to get involved.  Nowadays, they are the ones stepping out and making the eager phone calls.  Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Thursday, August 1st, has his third Washington meeting scheduled with President Bush this year, hard on the heels of the foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan showing up with bouquets for a U.S. peace plan they once would have trashed.  The King, who is enthusiastic about Bush’s vision of a Palestinian state in three years, will be pressing him to outline a timetable.

What has changed, Arab leaders say, is that their countries are facing restive populations fired up by the Palestinian cause – something rare before the internet and satellite broadcasting.  They cannot afford to ignore the problem.

“We are seeing a new approach in Arab politics,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher said after meeting Bush earlier this month.  He recalled when Arabs preferred to leave the nitty-gritty to the United States and to step in only at the final, smoother stages of a Palestinian-Israeli peace.  “Before Arabs sort of demanded all or nothing and did not do much and usually got nothing,” Muasher said, “But this time it is different.”

Abdullah’s third visit in six months is as many as he made in all of 2000, when the peace process began to unravel.  Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s late 1990’s maximum was once a year – he has been in D.C. twice so far in 2002.  Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Abdullah had never made an official trip to the U.S., deigning to meet President Clinton only on the sidelines of a U.N. conference in New York.  In April, he went to Bush’s Texas ranch.

A few years ago, the best the United States could expect for initiatives was qualified moral support.  Now, Egypt and Jordan have promised personnel to retrain Palestinian security to U.S. specifications.  Saudi Arabia has offered an unqualified Arab peace with Israel much more attractive than the peaceful non-recognition that it once offered and that would have perpetuated the Jewish state’s pariah status.

The rhetoric also has toughened.  Until recently, the moderates tended to evade comment about suicide bombings, condemning “all forms of any extremism” and regretting “all civilian” deaths.  Now, the condemnation is unqualified. “We understand that suicide bombings have to stop and …we are doing something about it,” Muasher said.  They are also now matching their longstanding demands for American toughness with the Jewish State with a new willingness to speak uncomfortable truths to the Palestinians.  “As much as there are American responsibilities to curb Israeli actions, there is also an Arab responsibility,” the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal recently acknowledged.

What makes the Arab eagerness striking is that Bush’s current offer is much narrower than the last plan a president stopped for lack of Arab support in 2000.  Then, Clinton coaxed Israel into offering over 90 of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, along with a state in Jerusalem, and a willingness to discuss the return of the Palestinian Refugees.  Palestinian leader Yassar Arafat turned down the offer – he wanted sovereignty over Jerusalem holy places and a right of unfettered return for refugees – and Clinton and his subordinates made pleading visits to Arab capitals.  The entreaties were met with regrets, with Jordan a reluctant exception.  The region collapsed into violence soon after.  By contrast, Bush is offering a “provisional state” for three years in areas Palestinians controlled before the September 2000 outbreak of violence (less than half of what Clinton proposed), and with no immediate stake in Jerusalem.  Bush refers only briefly to refugees in his plan and wants Arafat out of the picture, a demand that Clinton never made.  Arab leaders acknowledge that Bush’s plan is less than they would like – but it is all they have.  “We have found a way to work together while we don’t agree on all issues,” Muasher said.  It is a conversion driven by self-interest.  “The intifada has come into Arab living rooms via satellite TV,” said David Makovsky, a Washington Institute Near East Policy analyst – “Regimes are now waking up to the domestic consequences.”

Jordan’s King Abdullah and Egypt’s Mubarak have confronted several pro-Palestinian riots and increased political challenges to their moderate politics.  In Saudi Arabia, the regime has been unsettled by substantive support the Palestinian uprising has received in the mosques and in the fund-raisings.  Shibley Telhami, a Bookings Institution scholar analyst of relationships between the Palestinians and the Arab nations, says Arab leaders are making a strategic decision in supporting Bush’s narrower approach.  “It affects stability,” he said.  “They can’t control the flow of information, and their publics care about this issue.”  Bush’s interim plan, if it works, at least would buy quiet and perhaps get the sides to negotiate a permanent peace.

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PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 79

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 79A

August 4, 2002

NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST

The same thing that happened when Israel developed its first nuclear weapon is about to happen in Iran.  Because France owed Israel a favor for its cooperation in the 1956 Suez recovery campaign, it succumbed to an Israeli request for a nuclear reactor.  The United States, at that time, did not want Israel to have the atomic bomb, because we wanted to keep the Middle East nuclear free.  So we pleaded with France not to build a reactor for Israel.  Both Israel and France swore that the reactor would only be used for the generation of commercial electrical power in Israel.  We knew they were both lying, and they knew they were both lying, and so did all the nations on the earth, but there was nothing we could do at that time.  So, in 1957, France began to build an atomic reactor in the Negev at Dimona.  It was completed in 1960, and the French went home, leaving the Israelis with a 24-megawatt reactor.  The dust of the French boots was still on the floor of the reactor building when Israel jacked it up to 150 megawatts to produce its first atomic bomb.  Their first atomic bomb was completed in 1964.  I will not discuss where, or how, it was tested.

I have heard numerous commentators mention that the preemptive strike by Israel was completely out of character in the 1967 War.  I have heard many different reasons given for its decision to do so.  The reason for its “strike first” decision was a very valid one. High altitude over-flights by the Egyptians in May of 1967 caused the preemptive strike in June.  The Israelis were afraid of a three pronged air strike on its nuclear facility at Dimona in the Negev.

In 1968 about 200 tons of German yellowcake (crude uranium) came into Israel off a Liberian tanker, and in 1969 the Israelis developed their first hydrogen bomb.  I will not discuss how, or where, it was tested.  In 1973 Israel was caught napping on Yom Kipper by her Arab neighbors, and was completely surprised, and temporarily in rapid retreat in the Golan and Sinai.  However, they did not use their nuclear weapons because the established national policy is never to launch a nuclear weapon unless one is first launched against them.

Israel now has some 300 nuclear warheads, and an unknown number of chemical and biological warheads.  The majority of them are mounted on Jericho missiles in the Negev wilderness.

The Israelis currently have three German built submarines patrolling the waters of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and they have been modified to conduct subsurface atomic tipped missile launches.

The Iranians, Iraqis, and Syrians are well aware of everything I have discussed in this article.  They know what Israel is capable of launching against them, but they also know they will not launch unless they are first launched against.  The only real advantage the Islamic nations possess is in numbers of fighting bodies.  That is why the next war is going to be a “grunt” war fought with high tech conventional weapons.  So I am not overly concerned about Iran getting nuclear weapons.  Terrorist groups may get “dirty” nuclear weapons, but their ability to launch them by missiles is non-existent.  However, I am very hopeful that somebody will get rid of our ole buddy Saddam.  He is a madman and would sacrifice millions of his own people to get in a solid nuclear lick at Israel.  That is precisely why Israel knocked out his nuclear production potential by an air strike against his development site.  I believe it will be quite a while before he has both the weapon and the ability to launch it by missile.

I believe Iran will soon develop its first atomic bomb, but I do not think it would dare launch one against Israel because of the response it knows it would receive in return.  They already have the ability to mount and to deliver it on their new missile.  The vast superiority of the Israeli and the U.S. nuclear, chemical, and biological arsenal, and their ability to put in accurately on the target, will cause this next war to be a “grunt” war, not a nuclear, chemical, or biological horror.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 79B

August 5, 2002

THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE AXIS OF EVIL!

In Prophecy Update Number 78B the growing ties between Iran and the European Union were discussed, and in Prophecy Update 79A the growth of the Iran nuclear treat was outlined and analyzed.  This update is more or less a continuation of Prophecy Update Number 78B. What follows is mostly from the August 2, 2002 issue of the International Edition of The Jerusalem Post, and was written by Michael Rubin.

European foreign ministers, whose main national and personal interest is fed by greed, recently agreed to fast-track a new trade pack with Iran.  European Union officials, such as External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten, all lobbied hard for the deal, arguing, “There is more to be said for attempting to engage and to draw these societies into the international community that to cut them off,” which was a slap at the identification of Iran as one of the members of the “axis of evil” by U.S. President Bush.  However, it took less than a week for the European Union to have egg on its face when Copenhagen TV2 reported that four Iranian intelligence agents had sought asylum in Denmark.  The four arrived with diplomatic passports traveling on flights from Ankara and Frankfurt.  During their debriefings, the Iranian intelligence agents confessed to Denmark’s Police Surveillance Agency of Iran’s master plan to assassinate the US-based Reza Pahlavi, son of the late shah and leading opposition figure, along with London-based journalist Ali Nourizadeh, plus an unnamed manager of an Iranian opposition site on the internet.  Such threats are certainly no exaggeration, having the evidence of several such assignations being carried out in the past in Europe.  Many European officials like to work under the illusion that the Republic of Islamic Iran is moderating, but that is not the case at the present time.  It will take an internal uprising by the general public to overthrow the present Islamic Cleric regime, and that is unlikely in the near future.

The proponents of critical dialogue with Iran base their optimism upon the lofty rhetoric of officials such as Iranian President Khatami, often labeled a reformer by the Western press.  Much of what Khatami says does sound good, but he is like chameleon in that he changes the color of his rhetoric to match the political beliefs of the audience he is addressing at the moment.  For instance, Khatami, addressing the Italian Parliament in 1999, in the stronghold of Roman Catholicism, declared: “Tolerance and exchange of views are the fruits of cultural richness, creativity, high-mindedness, and harmony. One MUST recognize this opportunity.”  But, like Chairman Yassar Arafat, he changes from white to black, depending on his audience.  Khatami reserves his conciliatory tone for gullible foreign diplomats, parliamentarians, and academics, and peaceniks.  He speaks with a far different voice in Farsi to his domestic audience.  In a televised address in October 24, for example, he declared: “In the Koran, God commanded to kill the wicked and those who do not see the rights of the oppressed… If we abide by human laws, we should mobilize all the Islamic world for a sharp confrontation with the Zionist regime… If we abide by the Koran, all of us should mobilize to kill.”  The latest State Department’s annual Patterns of Global Terrorism labels Iran as “the most active supporter of terrorism.”

Following the Karine-A shipment of weaponry, worth millions of dollars, from Iran to the Palestinian Authority, there is no question that Iran is actively bankrolling Palestinian terrorist groups.  On June 8th, three days after an Islamic Jihad-claimed bombing killed 17 on a public bus near Megiddo junction in Israel, the Iranian government announced a seventy percent increase in allocations for the group. U.S. intelligence officials reported in April that Iran’s annual contribution to a Lebanese based Hizbullah now exceeds 100 million dollars.  Iran continues to host terrorist mastermind Imad Mughniyeh, director of Hizbullah special operations and chief suspect in a series of car bombings, kidnappings, and highjackings that resulted in several hundred deaths in the 1980’s.  While the European Union continues to curiously insist that Hizbullah is not a terror group, Mughniyeh is chief suspect in the 1994 bombing of the Jewish Center in Buenos Aires that killed 92 persons.

From all accounts, the Islamic Republic of Iran is the leading contributor to terrorist groups on the surface of this earth.  Its good to know Iran is using the proceeds of European trade so well.

Most of the contents of this article were taken directly from an article written in the International Jerusalem Post by Michael Ruben in the edition dated August 2, 2002.

COORDINATION MEETINGS FOR FUTURE JIHAD!

In Special Prophecy Update Number 78E I indicated that the moderates, primarily Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan would be putting pressure on the terrorist sponsoring Islamic nations to temporarily call off their terrorist groups in Israel for a short period of time.  They can call off the terrorists for a while if they promise them a Jihad that would eventually follow the period of false peace.  Such a false peace, with no terrorist activity in the country, would lull Israel into a false sense of security, and let a blitzkrieg Jihad attack be successful.  The promise of a Jihad is the only thing that would cause all the terrorist groups to stop their suicide bombings and shootings.  The promise of a massive shedding of Israeli blood on an unprecedented scale in a Jihad is the only thing that would temporarily satisfy the bloodthirsty vengeance that is ingrained in them, and give them a willingness to hold off for a period of time.

The visits of Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and Omani Foreign Minister Youssef bin Alawi in Tehran were advertised as being “to examine ways of bolstering cooperation with the Islamic Republic in all fields as well as discussing all the latest regional and international developments,” according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi, who went on to say, “views were exchanged over the necessity of employing massive capacities of the Islamic countries to halt Israeli crimes.

The major thrust of the meeting was described as “maintaining Islamic unity and strengthening it as the key to stop the Israeli expansionism and the regime’s continued plots to escalate crisis and tensions in the region.”  The meetings were stressed as presenting a common will existing between the Islamic Republic of Iran and littoral states of the Persian Gulf to “deepen their relations and strengthen fraternity and friendship.

Now, after all this Arab rhetoric, let’s get down to the good ole nitty-gritty.  Saudi Arabia is on much, much better terms with Iran than Egypt and Jordan, who are looked upon as traitors because they made peace with Israel.  And as the birthplace of the Prophet Mohammad, and the center of the Islamic faith, it was the logical choice of the three to talk to Iran about calling off the terrorists until a false peace can be brought in, and then maintained for a period of time.  It will be interesting not to be told what came out of these meetings, but to see if Iran, at this time, was willing to go along with it.  As I have stated from the very first Prophecy Update we ever issued on our web pages, WATCH THE TERRORISTS.  When you see them back off, it will be because of external pressure from Iran and Syria.  The suicide and hand planted bombings, as well as many small arm shootouts will continue for awhile.  It is when they cease that one can look upon this occurrence as being the calm before the storm.  I know they must eventually cease because Scriptures in I Thessalonians 5:3,4 and the 38th chapter of Ezekiel indicate it will be so.  The timing of fulfillment is always the most difficult aspect of interpretation, but I still believe the terrorist attacks will end before the dawning of 2003.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 79D

August 9, 2002

PREPARING FOR THE JUSTIFICATION BLAME GAME!

YOU HIT ME FIRST YOU BIG BULLY!

In Prophecy Update Number 74D we covered what the title of 79D means when applied to the situation along the border zone of northern Israel with Syria and Lebanon.  Events of the last two weeks indicate that Syria may be making long range plans for what I indicated would eventually precede a 10 nation push into Israel from the north.  Such a push is not in the immediate future, but this week seems to be setting the groundwork for its eventual occurrence.  At the start of this month, while marking Syrian Army Day, President Bashar Assad said Israel alone was responsible for the stalemate in the Middle East peace process, and his top general announced the country was strengthening its military to defend against Israel.  In a statement released last week in three top military publications Assad said: “The Israeli governments, especially the current one, through their active eagerness for bloodshed and their desire to swallow Arab lands and expand, are solely responsible for foiling all efforts that aim at achieving peace and stability in the region.”

Assad, who took office in July 2000 after the death of his father, outlined the basis of a just, comprehensive peace as being the complete withdrawal of Israel from the Golan Heights strategic plateau, plus the creation of an independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital.  But, in view of the current Israeli  policies, Assad said Syria had decided to remain in the state of  “full alertness and preparedness.”

Syrian Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff General Hassan Turkmany wrote in a Syrian daily last week that he intended to continue to bolster Syria’s defenses.  He said Syrian forces were powerful enough to face challenges, and in decidedly a reference to Israel,  said would “inflict a bitter defeat on any aggressor and foil his expansionist plans.”

Meanwhile, last week in Lebanon, which also celebrated Army Day, and where Syria has some 35,000 troops stationed, plus a Hizbullah army of terrorists stationed in its southern quarter, President Emile Lahoud said Israel’s “terrorist” policy is to blame for instability in the Middle East.

I do not believe that the events of Daniel 11:40,41 are in the very near future, but I do believe them likely to occur before 2007.  I believe that Israel is pictured as the king of the south, and Syria as the king of the north.  Prophecy Update 74D gives my reason for this belief.

Daniel 11:40,41