Reviews by Hubie Goode: Ignoring Israel Part 5

The Arrow

Ignoring Israel

Part 5: Israel Codex

Another fact that separates Israel from the rest of the world, is the annoying consistency of how the nation has always been surrounded by those who would seek her destruction. Israeli science has worked long and hard to develop instruments of defense against these enemy forces. In the books of Nahum and Joel, mention is made of these great “chariots” that have been developed. They are chariots that can leap to a mountain top and fire a missile that explodes and sets everything on fire. The modern Israeli tank is called a “Merkavah”, and it is the same Hebrew word used by those prophets hundreds of years ago.

Jeremiah the prophet once spoke of an instrument that would destroy Babylon, this weapon was called a “bright arrow”. As we know, however, Babylon, or as we know it today as modern Iraq, was never destroyed by a “bright arrow”. A Merkavah has a special rocket projectile that has contained within its shell certain secret abilities. Its name is not so secret, it is called the arrow! The arrow can easily penetrate tanks as well as buildings. During the Gulf War, America provided Israel with certain missile defense systems against those who would fire scud missiles into their country, and Israel added their own tech to the mix of defensive weapons. Today Israel now has a thing called the “Arrow Missile Defense System”.

Ezekiel himself has prophesy that outlines how the nation would no longer be split like the days of old when there was an Israel and a Judah. One could say that the process of all Israelis returning to the land is still in progress, and that is probably true, and will be true for a while yet. Wether or not the whole area of the Middle East will one day hold the descendants of Jacob is a matter for others to debate. Let’s just be honest though, at no other time has Israel been rejoined as one nation as it has today, with the super force that it now has, with the miraculous changes in the desert,  and that is saying something about our day and age.

Ezekiel’s words continue to come true ever since we crossed the 1948 date line. Israel was given re-brith on May 15, 1948, and this is important, for later on it would be found to have been important to the Torah. As with anything in this subject matter, one has to decide where your belief is going to lie. Will you believe God, or someone else? As anyone who has read the book will tell you, The Bible Code can be either an amazing find, or mere fodder for the atheists of the world. However, in the Bible Code, it explains how the entire history of mankind was found encoded within the text of the Book of Genesis. Already there are things predicted in the codes that have proven to be accurate. For instance, the leader of Romania who was killed in 1989, was actually discovered in the code, and also the fall of communism and the return to Israel of the Russian Jews.

The end is written from the beginning in the codes. In much the same way as an old Sherlock Holmes novel was written with the end laid out first, then worked backwards, so is the code of the future. Just as Doyle had his red herrings to throw the way of the reader, so one has to understand the way things are written and history is literally “backed into”, despite our lack of grasp of this process.

Patterns develop when studied at length, and you’ll only see these patterns if they mean anything to your understanding of how the future can be seen in the past. For instance, in the Bible if we look at the genealogy from Adam to Abraham, we see a list of men and their sons. We are given ages at the time of a son’s birth, and when we add the years up, we see patterns develop like a DNA helix under a microscope.

When we add up the years from Adam, the first man, to Abram the first Hebrew, the total is 1,948 years. And it doesn’t stop there, from the birth of Christ to the rebirth of Israel was also 1,948 years. Looking more at the future that involves the nation of Israel, one need only see the nations present at the beginning. Persia (Iran), Libya and Ethiopia are considered to be some of those involved at the end of times. For the first time in history, the nations of the end times are now aligning themselves for the end time battle of the war of Gog and Magog, and this could not have happened before 1948.

When the future becomes one of an Earth where Christ rules the planet from Jerusalem, not just a bunch of small angles playing harps in the clouds, the Feast of Tabernacles will be celebrated by the whole world. At least for those who want rain and seasons. There will need to be a huge accommodation for such crowds of people from the whole Earth. Roads, and plenty of food will need to be in abundance. Keep in mind that during the reign of Christ there is every reason to believe that the electronic needs of our day will be anathema in favor of complete naturalism. No cars, no planes, no cell phones, no TV or internet. (maybe, but it’s a good bet)

Isaiah wrote over 2,600 years ago that a miracle would happen in the land of Israel.

Isaiah 35:1-2

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as a rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given into it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.

For a desert or wilderness, as they called it, to blossom would indeed be a miracle. In the Hebrew there are certain words that relate to specific areas around Israel, not just any desert or wilderness. The primary word is Midbar, used with another word to give primary location. There is a huge region between Israel and Egypt called the Negev, a term not referred to in the English translation of the Bible. Without getting too technical, for those falling asleep with Hebrew text lessons, the area blossoming is the Aravah.

There are two areas identified as the Aravah. The first is the African-Syrian rift from the Sea of  Galilee to the Dead Sea on either side of the Jordan river. The second region is south of the Dead Sea and travels 120 miles toward the Gulf of Aqaba. This area has long been the most deserted and barren section of all the Holy Land area. There is no rain or underground water to support any sort of vegetation. Or so it would seem.

Not long ago, however, satellite tech revealed a huge underground water source in this very area. Drilling revealed a huge underwater lake! Modern farming tech took over and irrigated the area, and today we have the desert blossoming like a rose! When else in history could man have found this underwater lake in a desert? The Israeli desert.

Farms in this region now produce five times more product than the average American farm. The desert gives up tomatoes, peppers, melons, and dozens of other vegetables. The cows give more milk, about 4,000 gallons a year compared to the average American cow at 2,500.The barren wasteland of 5,800 years has become a bread basket for the Middle East, and only after 1948.

More on this next time

Reviews by Hubie Goode: Ignoring Israel Part 4

Ignoring Israel


Part 4: Israel, Now with Teeth

On that day when Allied soldiers arrived at the death camps and saw the survivors of Hitler’s holocaust, war torn and battle weary men where deeply shocked by the sight of emaciated bodies hanging on to life by a thread. Thousands of people with decimated families were literal walking skeletons.

Ezekiel 37:1-5

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus sayeth the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.

Ezekiel 37:12-14

Therefore prophesy and say unto them, thus sayeth the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, sayeth the Lord.

According to the Hebrew perspective, death and exile are synonymous. Therefore; if death is exile, then restoration, or returning from exile, is resurrection. As soon as the graves are opened, then God brings them back into the land.

Despite the attempt at a “final solution” God brought forth a remnant out of the death of the Holocaust and into the land of Israel just as Ezekiel had predicted. Because of the Holocaust,  the European Jews and also many from around the world, pushed for the re-establishment of a homeland. This is an amazing event that no other nation can make a claim to. Nowhere in the history of mankind.

Two thirds of European Jews were annihilated, and God used the seemingly impossible series of events to work out a way to restore the Promised Land and establish it as the homeland for an Israeli people who had long, long ago become a lost nation. In a place called Palestine, named by the Romans of old, the population consisted of Muslims, Christian Arabs, foreigners, and a handful of Jews. As I have said, Israel as a nation did not exist at that time, but in 1948, the United Nations voted to partition the land of Palestine, (with the Soviet Union casting the deciding vote), and the Jews once again had a nation of their own.

Harry Truman, then United States President, also voiced support for the new nation. There are those who say that Truman believed himself to be a type of “Cyrus”, the ancient King of Media-Persia who paved the way for the Jews to return to Israel from their captivity.

  

In Jeremiah, 30:7, the prophet spoke of a time known as “Jacob’s trouble”, which is believed to be seven years in length. The Holocaust period lasted from 1938 until 1945, a period of seven years, and the resulting environment from this period, was instrumental in the rebirth of the state of Israel.

Traditional Christian eschatology includes a future period of seven years also identified as the tribulation or Jacob’s Trouble. Jacob worked for the daughters of Laban for two separate periods of seven years a piece. This type of future and past equivalence is no great stretch for those used to studying the intricate workings of prophecy.

The eventual outcome of this analysis would seem to imply that despite the Holocaust and also the restoration to the Israeli lands, Jacob is still not completely joined to the one they truly love. This only happens after the second period of seven years of labor. As I had said in the first installment, the restoration is in the process, as Jews from all over the globe return to the land. And this is still happening. Jeremiah 16:14-15 makes it clear that when this return happens, it will make the exodus from Egypt look like a trivial thing. Ezekiel makes it clear that when they do first re-enter the land, that they will spend many days fighting those who resist  what God has ordained.

Ezekiel 37:10

So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

 

After the first destruction of Jerusalem, and the captivity of Judah, the Jews returned to the land with Nehemiah and Ezra, but they never did assemble a great army. The Maccabees put together a resistance movement against the Greeks in which the Temple was cleansed and re-dedicated. This gave us an historical basis for the Feast of the Dedication or Hanukkah. There are several such Jewish resistance movements, both successful and tragic, down trough the ages. These organized militias however, were hardly considered armies.

Since the nation of Israel has reemerged, however; they have become known for their amazing ability to fight for and defend the land.

Ipso facto:

1) The War of Independence - 1948

2) The War with Egypt  - 1956

3) The War of Liberation - 1967

4) The Yom Kippur War - 1973

5) The War with Lebanon - 1981

Israel survived these wars, and in completing the will of God for Israel, they will continue to  survive future wars. Keeping in mind that they are surrounded by those who would get rid of them, it would be beyond stupid not to be ready and prepared to meet the attacks that will surely come.

One can only hope that leaders like President Obama will come to a better understanding as to why Israel simply cannot just give up land in the nation of Israel.                

More on this next time.

Reviews by Hubie Goode: Ignoring Israel Part 3

Ignoring Israel

Part 3: Israel, Like No Other

Many out there in the world are sure to disagree with the idea that there was a Holocaust. This horrific event is considered by many to have been a Semitic creation, despite war time photos and films that would argue to the contrary. The whole idea that over 6 million Jews were annihilated by the forces of Nazi Germany in war camps, where Jewish citizens, often citizens of Germany herself, were sadistically tortured and killed is dismissed by a large portion of certain parts of the world as nothing more than propaganda.

The problem with this point of view is the resultant historical significance of the Holocaust. For one thing, the United Nations certainly believed there was evidence enough for this tragedy, so much so in fact, that they made it a point to “find reparations” toward the Israeli people by working to re-instate them as a nation. But from a Biblical standpoint, there is also prophetic evidence of this event as seen through the eyes of the prophet Ezekiel some 2,600 years earlier. Jewish historians recognize this idea as fact, and those who of course support Israel don’t have a problem with it either. It would be safe to say, I believe, that the event is either supported or denied based solely on the position one takes on the Jewish state itself.

Painful to Look At

According to Ezekiel, the nation of Israel would be a “valley of dry bones rising out of their graves to live again.” Scholars tell of this prophecy as indicating a time when the nation would be on the point of annihilation, but instead would rise from the grave and return to their land, they would then form a great nation and a mighty army. (Ezekiel 37:10-12) If anyone has ever seen the horrific photos of heaps of human bodies all piled up on one another or of the emaciated living skeletons kept in death camps, it is not difficult to see that the Nazi led Holocaust was no mere minor bump in the road for the Israeli people.

Moses too, warned of severe persecutions for the nation. When the blessing and the curse of the law was established, there was then no getting around a cause and effect for those who belong to the Israeli nation. There would be blessings for following the law, and rotting of those blessings for disobedience. Blessings would make Israel the big gun, the BMOC, if you will. God would indeed show his favor on the nation by covering them with unheard of and seemingly impossible good fortune and blessings if the law was followed. Conversely, if they disobeyed the law, they would have sickness, drought, poverty and captivity. As a result, the nation would be few in number. (Deuteronomy 28:62)

And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shall fear day and night, and thou shall have no assurance of thy life. (Deut 28:66)

Eight hundred years later the Kingdom of Israel was invaded by Assyria. They were exiled and scattered throughout the Earth. Just like Moses had warned them. One hundred and fifty years later the Babylonians came and took Judah away. They destroyed the first temple and looted the land, leaving it open to the sorts of citizens that had at first been cast out by Joshua and his men in the beginning.

Six hundred years later, the Romans did it again. They slaughtered the Jews and burned the second temple. For the next 1900 years the people of Israel existed outside the land, in what is known as the Diaspora, or Galut, meaning “exile” in Hebrew. These are all historical facts, and to doubt the history books on these events, as some do in the case of the Holocaust, is to doubt in the face of recurring events that are germane to the people of Israel. Think about this,  can you see anyone else among the nations of the world with such a history?

Of course, there are those suffering nations that lay at the feet of bigger powers, like those of the Ukraine that suffered beneath the Russian bear, or the Pacific Rim small nations that suffered below the heel of China, but Israel has suffered uniquely in that they have existed as a people without a nation to call their own for an impossibly long time. Surely, they would have disappeared into the genealogy of those nations that they were dispersed into by now. You and I, though we may be from European descent, or South American descent, or Asian descent, may indeed have Jewish blood in our lines and not even be aware of it. Without a place to call home, how can a people continue as a people?

Auschwitz Crematorium

  

Hitler and the Holocaust are not all that far fetched when one considers the long term history of the Jewish nation. I started this post talking about Nostradamus and his prophecies and one thing he does indeed mention is the re-occurrence of seemingly obscure figures who appear from out of nowhere and go on to infamy. One of these persons was indeed Adolph Hitler.  Hitler was so incredibly effective in his persuasion, that a huge portion of the European citizenry was literally brainwashed to believe that the Israelis were sub-human and deserved to be exterminated.

A Jew named Karl Marx was one reason for Hitler’s hatred of the Jews, but the citizenry was already primed for fear and loathing toward them due to the belief that the Jews had been responsible for the defeat of Germany in World War I, and the continued economic crisis that existed just before the onset of World War II.  It didn’t help that the allies of the day were demanding Germany pay up for all the destruction it had caused in the early 1900’s and the resultant economic crisis was one of hyperinflation and loss of value in the German dollar. (Sound familiar, America?) By the time 1923 rolled around, it took 4.2 trillion German marks to buy one American dollar. German paper money was only useful for kindling wood.

The hyperinflation created an atmosphere of doom and desolation that made it easy to finger Jewish bankers as the “Henry F. Potter” who is only motivated by greed and avarice. (The banker in the movie, It’s A Wonderful Life) In a panic mode, the people of Germany were primed for an emotional talker who filled them with hope and focused them all on a common enemy, be he real or imagined.

When Hitler came to power, he made good use of the “them against us” gospel, and included  Communists and Slavs in his chastisement of the Jews. Historians believe that the Reichstag fire of 1933 was actually set by the Nazis but blamed on the Communists. This in much the same way as many feel the 9/11 terrorist attack was an inside job created to fuel the people into a common enemy mode. The fire led to a suspension of civil liberties (sound familiar?) including freedom of speech and of the press. In 1935, Jews were deprived of their rights as citizens.

Hitler was definitely after the nation of Israel and in something called the Crystal Night, he proved it beyond a doubt. That night the Nazis literally attacked the Jewish people, and their property located on German lands. In one single night 91 Jews were murdered and over 25,000 were dragged from their homes, thrown out of the country and placed in concentration camps. Go on Google sometime and look for “secret government camps” that have been built right here in America, which are empty but surrounded by barbed wire. There are some videos on YouTube also. What are those empty camps for?

The Crystal Night also saw the pillaging of thousands of Jewish businesses and homes. This was the marker for the beginning of the elimination of the Jewish influence from German society. This policy then evolved into the “final solution”, for which Hitler is also famous for coining. The estimates are that in the next seven years, the Nazis had killed about 11 million men, women and children by starvation, beatings, shootings and gas chambers, not to mention the human baking ovens of Auschwitz. Two thirds of the Jewish population in Nazi controlled lands, about 6 million Jewish persons, were exterminated over this period. Moses had said it, they were made few in number.

According to Nostradamus, Hitler was one of three Anti-Christs, and indeed many at the time believed he was THE Anti-Christ. In this, we may find a “leak” of information, as I have referred to before, in that Hitler may have been one type of Anti-Christ. Keep in mind the collapse of the stock market here in America that sent shock waves all around the world. The Great Depression hit Germany especially hard and paved the way for a leader like Hitler. A leader like an Anti-Christ. October 29, 1929 is on the Hebrew calendar as Tishri 25, 5690. A democratic Germany gave dictatorial powers to Hitler on Adar 25, 5693 (March 23, 1933). That’s about three and a half years or forty two months. Sound Biblical? Sound like the Tribulation time line? Can it happen again?  

  

More on this next time.

Reviews by Hubie Goode: Ignoring Israel Part 2

Ignoring Israel


Part 2: Israel Returns

A long time ago, in an era far, far away, the Roman army occupied the Holy Land and the city of Jerusalem. Six hundred years earlier the temple of Solomon had been destroyed and then later the temple was restored by the likes of Ezra, Nehemiah and Haggai. All good Old Testament Prophets.

Centuries later a Gentile ruler named Herod, built huge additions and gates for the temple.  One of these gates was named Huldah, after a female prophetess. This is the same place Jesus and his disciples used to gather for the Jewish feasts.

During many of these feasts, Jesus revealed himself to be the promised Messiah. The disciples, themselves being good little students of the Old Testament, understood that the Messiah, when he came, would rule his Kingdom on Earth from Jerusalem. He would also restore Israel to its spiritual and national grandeur. The twelve tribes of Israel had been scattered ever since the Assyrian invasion in the 7th century B.C., and consequently, when the Messiah appeared, the tribes would return.

Many of Jesus followers understood the direction things were going and this frightened the  Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day, into thinking that all men would follow Jesus and they would lose their state and their place as a nation to the Romans. Even the high priest tried to tell them that it would be better for one man to die for the nation than for them all to be wiped out, thus predicting the history of Christ. In the same breath he spoke of gathering together the nation, as was expected of the coming of the Messiah.

Even the disciples asked Jesus if this was the time when he would restore the nation of Israel. (Acts 1:6) That would have been the litmus test for the Messiah. What they were looking for was a rebellion to be initiated against Rome, and a revolutionary army to repel the occupiers, so that the nation could be restored and a “Throne of David” set up for ruling the nation.

His disciples looked forward to serving at his side in high positions of authority, a few even asked for posts at his right and left hand. They squabbled among themselves as to who was the greatest, no doubt jockeying for position in some future GLOBAL government. This is no real surprise as many of the prophets had told of the time when all Israel would return to the land from the “four corners of the globe.”

Isaiah 11:11

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the Islands of the sea.

Their questions were deferred by Jesus himself who told them “that it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which God the Father has put under his own power.” (Acts 1:7)

Notice this, Christ never said that he had NO PLANS for Israel, nor did he say he was going to replace them with another church. Jesus knew the old prophesies they were waiting expectantly for and he told them flat out that the plan to restore Israel and also the global Messianic Kingdom that was coming was off in the future and under God the Father’s control. In fact, before the visible Kingdom would rule from Jerusalem, the city would again be taken over by  invaders and the people once again scattered to the four winds. Jesus let them know of this by pointing out the white limestone buildings and notifying them that not one stone would be left upon another. (Matthew 24:2)

Indeed Jerusalem was invaded by an army and the Holy Temple was indeed destroyed a second time. The Babylonians had done it the first time, and they carted away everything, literally raping and pillaging the city and its people. It was a national disgrace for such a people, and subsequent generations had to live with the historic shame of their ancestor’s actions. Though they were permitted to return after 70 years, the concept that this would happen again was a big let down to anyone who was proudly Israeli.

There would be a set time for Israel to be established as the home base for the global rule of the Messiah (Psalms 102:13), but it wasn’t going to happen in the disciple’s lifetime.  They would instead become empowered by the Holy Spirit to spread the Good News of God and be a) Proclaimers of God’s message to the world, b) Preachers that the messiah is savior of all mankind, c) A light to the nations, d) An example of God’s love to the poor and the needy.

In the book written by Jewish historian Josephus called, The War of the Jews, he documents how in just forty years after Christ’s prediction the Roman tenth legion surrounded the city in an attempt to squelch a rebellion. They basically cut them off from entering and exiting, a classic move in those days. Famine ravaged the land as the people began to starve to death. Crime ran rampant. Jew on Jew violence reached beyond levels of some of out worst inner city crime scenes of today. Not only did roving bands of raiders go from house to house looking for food and water, but they began to eat each other. Babies were shaken upside down to see if there was food inside them. Rich citizens would swallow any gold they had to protect their wealth. They then tried to escape the city through underground tunnels only to have the Romans catch them in the act and then rip them open for the gold they had in their bellies.

Romans, of course, loved crucifixion so many of the escapees were crucified on the walls of the city as an example. Dead bodies lay everywhere on the open ground and the putrification that was happening made the Roman generals ill.

The Romans dickered over the fate of the temple itself, whether to destroy it or leave it intact as a monument to the Roman rule. Titus wanted it saved but it was accidentally torched and as it burned down, the gold melted and covered the limestone blocks. Thus the stones were toppled in order to get at the gold that had melted around them. Therefore, not one stone was left upon another.

In this same time before the destruction of the temple there had been many reports of strange happenings and visions that appeared concerning the temple. These things were considered signs of God’s favor with the nation and his anger at Rome, and thus a rebellion was considered an apt response to these “signs and wonders”.

Despite false prophetic words to the contrary, the temple was indeed razed, the walls destroyed, and thousands of the people were killed. The year 70 A.D. marked the end of the city of Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel and also any control of the city that the Jewish people might have hoped for.

For those of you who are looking for the 12 lost tribes of Israel, and maybe you think that the Throne of David is in England, sitting on top of the Joshua stone, having been planted there by Jeremiah and Tia Tephia, the daughter of the last king of Judah, don’t ignore this prophesy from Hosea:

For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without and ephod, and without teraphim. Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their King; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.      Hosea 3:4-5

In 71 A.D., the Romans plowed Jerusalem with salt. They did this as a statement that the city was gone for good. Sixty years later the Emperor Hadrian, designated the site of Jerusalem as a Roman "Polis" and called it  Aelia Capitolina, after the Roman god Jupiter. (Who is Thor to the Scandinavians). Jupiter’s temple was then built on that very site of the former temple.

Israel was then called Palestine, and the land of Jerusalem would change hands every time a new power took over. The Romans were followed by the Byzantines, whose headquarters were located in Constantinople. Then the Muslims took over for 450 years, and then the Crusaders in 1011, then the Turks in 1071, then the Muslims returned in 1187, then the Ottoman Empire took over in 1517 for 400 years. In 1917 the British took over.

In 1948 the British mandate ended and the United Nations divided up the Holy Land and gave the Jews the section that would be called Israel. May 14, 1948 was the rebirth of this nation, and many attribute the Holocaust as the main trigger for this occurrence. This event had been prophesied by the Prophet Ezekiel  some 2,600 years earlier.

More on 

this next time.

Reviews by Hubie Goode: Ignoring Israel

Beautiful Modern Israel

Ignoring
Israel

We’ve all heard a lot of talk recently about the predictions for the Rapture and such, which was supposed to have happened last May according to a preacher in California who had done some mathematical calculations on dates and times while working from a template fixed from the time of Noah and the Ark. As we all know, the Rapture didn’t quite happen, in fact nothing happened and the person responsible for all the billboards and thousands of dollars spent attempting to warn people of the coming doom, now says that the world is coming to an end anyway this October. Which, if you know your stuff, can’t happen until a handful of other events happen that still have to take place.

Ancient Israel as far as photography goes

Personally, I understand where the preacher comes from, and why he says what he says about the coming Armageddon, but I can’t agree with him. It’s not just a matter of those many other things that have to happen first, but it is also a matter of avoiding the “control” button that this sort of thinking desires to have in many of these kinds of situations. We simply DON’T have that kind of control. We can’t know. We can’t be the ones to say to the world, “I told ya so!” And I feel a lot of this sort of thinking is the basis for this line of thought.

That isn’t to say he doesn’t have a small point to make here. Indeed he does! For there are certain signs that ARE here and now that DO lead someone who believes God to see that times and events may already be in action for the Second Coming of Christ, but the remedy is not mathematical formulas.

The remedy is simply to be ready. Do you believe God? Or do you believe someone else as to the truth of our reality? You may have never stepped foot in a garden of Eden, you may have never eaten from a forbidden fruit tree, but God says you are born with an original sin against him and that this is the root of all of mankind’s problems. Do you believe God? Or do you believe someone else? Keeping in mind that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, and only the righteous inherit the Kingdom of God. That is to say, only those who believe God can share in the future universe that will exist without end. That’s what God says, and that should be our main focus. The rest will come by itself.

Speaking of the Garden of Eden and such, and also of the Devil, or Lucifer. No one ever seems to point out that the existence of a devil and his involvement are direct implications of this forever eternity that I speak of here. If there had been another place for Lucifer to go, you would think that he would have, but instead, as the story goes, he wanted to take over God’s universe. This implies that there is NO place else to go, and also is a telling measure of the insanity inherent in the sin of pride, for which a brilliant and powerful angel gave up his position in a failed coo. Thank God, he did not succeed, for every inch of the reality we live in is entwined with the power of God, our creator, and if a non-omniscient, selfish, being tried to take it over and rule, things would become unglued rather quickly. But that’s how crazy Lucifer’s actions are.

Nostradamus

So, having said that, let me just mention something about predictions for the future and the coming end of the world, and then finally Israel, and it’s place in all this, which is actually the body of this blog post. Recently, I went looking into the non-biblical studies of the predictions of Michael Nostradamus. For those of you who don’t know, Michael de Nostredame (14 or 21 December 1503[1] – 2 July 1566), usually Latinised to Nostradamus, was a French apothecary and reputed seer who published collections of prophecies that have since become famous worldwide. He is best known for his book Les Propheties (The Prophecies), the first edition of which appeared in 1555. Since the publication of this book, which has rarely been out of print since his death, Nostradamus has attracted a following that, along with the popular press, credits him with predicting many major world events.

Having read up on a little bit about this, there are a few points to be made here about this sort of prediction. Nostradamus is given credit by some as having predicted Napoleon, and also Hitler; which he calls the first two Anti-Christs. There is a lot to be desired in his writings according to whom you ascribe to in your studies of his work, but there are also some rather startling revelations there that are date and event relevant. However, that is the problem with a lot of this work, some of it is right on and some of it is way off the mark. It’s often weird stuff. But he does predict a comet to hit the Earth in 2069, and then the third world war to begin in 2070. This war is begun by the Muslim world, and the Middle East, according to Nostradamus, is defined by the Muslim world with little mention at all of Israel.

He mentions Israel as a bohemian country. There is even scripture from Corinthians that can be used to support this notion that Israel is the “bohemian”. Anti-Semitic? Indeed it is. And it is Nostradamus’ big mistake. Or is it? Is it a mistake? Consider for a moment the brilliant Lucifer who has access to spiritual goings on that no man sees. He can actually be right about some things but prevented from revealing others. He would indeed ignore Israel, and even hate Israel, as he does all mankind, to be honest. In a reality where God rules everything and that which happens is “allowed” to happen, even those things which are death and destruction have a place in the communique between God and his creation.

God loves his creation and affords it grace and forgiveness that go way beyond what that creation deserves, mostly due to its disobedience and inherent unbelief. This forgiveness was never proffered to Lucifer. And remember what I have said about believing God, and not someone else. Therefore, if anything can be gleaned from Nostradamus’ predictions, it can conceivably be said that certain information may have indeed been allowed to be leaked concerning not only Napoleon and Hitler and World War II, but also our immediate future.

But, I provide this as only a possibility. The key to future events resides in Israel. Israel is God’s time clock, and to ignore her is to ignore the signs of the times. Whatever Nostradamus’ predictions might be worth information wise, they do not include Israel or even God for that matter, for at the end of the book he claims that “The Great Comedian” has won. Mankind is destroyed. And whom do you know who would give us that kind of ending?

So why bring this up? Many today who refute the preacher’s predictions of the Rapture would like you to believe that the many disasters that we as a planet have been experiencing are nothing all that new. The earthquakes and the tsunamis are only more prevalent because we have better communications. We have a world wide net to get world wide news from and nothing goes unnoticed anymore. But just like Nostradamus, they ignore Israel. They do so at their own peril, for God himself has said, Israel is his “first son”.

The return of Christ for the church and His appearance to set up the kingdom in Jerusalem could not have occurred before the date of 1948. Israel’s restoration as a nation and its link to the return of the messiah is a link that must not be ignored in a reality that belongs to God. It’s His house people! Things are going to go the way he wants them. Old testament prophets foresaw a future Messianic kingdom with its head in Jerusalem. The King is God himself, and all nations would be subject to his authority. This is not the usual view proposed to the masses, and it may seem unusually focused on the Jewish state, but that’s because it IS focused on the Jewish state. God has long chosen the Israeli people as his nation to spread the knowledge of himself to the world. Jesus himself echoed the laments of God the Father from the Old Testament as to his great disappointment with Israel’s infidelity toward himself. Watching Israel is the key to everything.

In order for the Messiah to return and establish His throne on the Earth, there are five major events that must happen that precede the Second Coming of Christ.

1) Israel must be re-established as a nation on the Earth. (DONE)

2) Jerusalem must become the capitol of the nation. (DONE)

3) The people of God must return from the four corners of the Earth, from the North, South, East and West, and go back to their ancient homeland in Israel. (In the process)

4) The arid, desert regions of Israel must be restored to a fertile and productive land. (In the process, and if you haven’t seen how this is happening, you will be amazed.)

5) The nation of Israel will become a superpower with a great army, surpassing that of many Gentile nations. (Not yet)

Only when these five events begin to occur, and they must be within the same generation, can we say with Biblical certainty that we have the generation that will see the end of all things, and the Rapture and the last world war. Israel is the measure by which we can see the future coming.

In this post, I will be discussing these points and why it is a mistake to ignore Israel when considering the future.

Sorry, Nostradamus.

More on this next time.              

Reviews by Hubie Goode: 12 Must Know Bible Verses to Defeat Satan

12 Must Know Bible 

Verses To Defeat Satan   

by Mark Virkler
 

Satan is always trying to put his thoughts in our minds, but we can identify them and reject them with the Word of God. Below are 12 types of thoughts Satan tries to inflict on us and the Bible verses to keep in your mind to counter Satan's thoughts.

1. I can't... "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me." - Phil. 4:13.

2. I lack... "My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" - Phil. 4:19.

3. I fear... God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind. "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline." - II Tim. 1:7.

4. I don't have faith... God has given to me a measure of faith. "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you." - Rom. 12:3.

5. I'm weak... The Lord is the strength of my life. "The LORD is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid?" - Ps. 27:1.

6. Satan has really got me... Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." - I Jn. 4:4.

7. I'm defeated... God always causes me to triumph in Christ Jesus. "But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ's triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere." - II Cor. 2:14.

8. I don't know what to do... Christ Jesus is made unto me wisdom from God. "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption." - I Cor. 1:30.

9. I expect to get sick once in a while... By His stripes I am healed. "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." - Is. 53:5. Also, Jesus Himself took my infirmities and bore my sicknesses. "This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 'He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.'" - Matt. 8:17.

10. I am so worried and frustrated... I can cast all my cares upon Him, because He cares for me. "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." - I Pet. 5:7.

11. I'm in bondage... Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." - II Cor. 3:17.

12. I feel so condemned... There is no condemnation to me, because I am in Christ Jesus. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," - Rom. 8:1.

The Lord is our strength and His Word has power. Through Him we have the victory!


Mark Virkler is with Christian Leadership University. CLU is a Christian University and Online Bible College offering Christian education including Christian counseling and Christian theology seminaries and offers certificates, undergrad, Masters, and Doctorates in the various Christian colleges of CLU.