Reviews by Hubie Goode: The Life and Times of King David part 5

The Life and 

Times of King

David

part 5

When king David finally learned about his son’s insurrection, it was almost too late. His court had become divided over his leadership and the people had formed a social movement in favor of Absalom. Now aged and an unlikely competitor for the younger man, David was forced to flee his capital, across the Jordan to Mahanaim. Several hundred of his loyal followers went with him as he made his way east. These consisted of his servants, his runners, his soldiers and his household. However, his priests Abiathar and Zadok remained behind to report on Absalom’s actions.

Absalom's Pillar, which he built to himself, still exists.

Once outside the capital, David could then see the mood of the people. An old man assaulted him with rocks and curses. But to many of the people it looked as if David had given up the throne to Absalom. Many of them wept as he passed by, but in Jerusalem, Absalom took the capital without a struggle.

The chief adviser to Absalom recommended an immediate attack on Mahanaim, before David could gather his armies. He had about 12,000 men under his command, more than enough to claim victory if he did indeed act swiftly. But a second adviser told Absalom to mobilize all of Israel against his father. This man, Hushai, had pledged allegiance to Absalom but in reality he was a double agent for David. His suggestion was a play for time as David gathered his forces.

Absalom

“You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and your father is expert in war.” Hushai told Absalom. There was enough truth in that statement to deter the young king long enough, and when he did finally attack, David was ready for him.

The battle was a rout, as the conscripted rookies of Absalom went up against the battle tested veterans of David’s troops. Thousands died in the battle and even though David had requested Absalom be spared, Joab took Absalom out as he hung from a tree by his own hair.

When notified, David went into mourning over his son. He had a great love for his children no matter what they had done to him, and he sequestered himself away in his bedroom. Joab knew that David risked losing his supporter by isolating himself and he confronted the King. “You shame those who love you today,” he told the king. “You make it clear that commanders and servants mean nothing to you as you love those who hate you and hate those who love you. If you don’t go out and speak to your men, then by morning there will be no one left!”

Joab was probably right and when David felt shame by his general’s accusation, he did indeed go out to the people. But before he could return to his capital a new cry of insurrection erupted.  A man named Sheba, a Benjaminite, made one last effort to split the kingdom that was now under one rule. Joab, loyal to a fault, followed Sheba  to the town of Abel, and the people of the town , in an effort to save their own hides, cut off Sheba’s head an threw it over the wall to Joab. Both insurrections and Sheba were now dead.

Adonija, David’s eldest surviving son, was now heir apparent. But at this time there was no precedent for succession to the throne. He was deeply concerned about the influence of Bathsheba, mother to his half brother Solomon. She had the powerful palace clique behind her and David was old and on his last legs. Adonijah had both Joab and the high priest Abiathar on his team, and he decided the time was ripe to strike. He took it upon himself to declare his King ship of Israel, and performed all the required activities for doing so. His supporters gathered for a festive banquet to celebrate.

When Bathsheba heard of this from the prophet Nathan, she went directly to the bedridden King. She told him of his son’s treacherous actions and reminded him of his promise to make Solomon king.

David immediately ordered the appointment of Solomon as King of Israel and gathered all of Solomon’s supporters for his own inauguration. When Adonijah’s followers heard the news, they quickly abandoned him. Adonijah sought sanctuary in the temple and was spared by Solomon. 

Bathsheba presents Solomon to his father the King

By this time, David, former shepherd, had reigned in Jerusalem 33 years. The about the year 960 B.C., he died in a good old age, full of years, riches and honor. He had broadened the borders of Israel, and made her richer with the spoils of  war. He left a golden age for his son Solomon who would succeed him in a time of unprecedented peace. To the world he left the city of Jerusalem, and of course, his beloved psalms.

Reviews by Hubie Goode: The Life and Times of King David part 4



The procession of a King's Death

The Life and Times of

King David

part 4

Saul had created the first standing army in Israel’s history. David then took it and expanded it. The cream of the armed forces were known as the “thirty”. These were the men who had fought by David’s side in his outlaw days. They formed his honorary army council and served as sort of the “congress” of the army. Under Joab they commanded the two separate branches of David’s regular military army. One branch was recruited from the Sea people, Cretans and Aegeans, among others. The second branch was formed entirely from the assimilated Philistines.

Bodyguards for the King and the palace were formed from the men of Gath, or Gittites. These were men who also ran with David during the exile.

The army had some 2,000 well trained regulars,  and there were also territorial contingents who could be called upon as were needed. These men came from the Israelite tribes and came in groups of 10, 50, 100 and 1,000 each and were lead by their own commanders.

The tools of defense were swords, javelins and spears. Armor was a helmet, a breast plate, leg guards and a leather covered wooden shield. Territorial accompaniments had to buy their own equipment. One of which, the two edged sword, was a tool of the wealthy. The rest used Ox goads, rough lances, wooden bows and arrows. Also included: bludgeons, axes and the sling.

With such a force at hand, and the elimination of the Philistine threat, David moved east toward the Jordan river. He launched wars of expansion  which took advantage of the crumbling Babylonian empire. The Hittites were no longer a power in the Near East, and the Hurrians had been destroyed by the Hittites and Assyrians. The Assyrians themselves at this time were not in a position for further military aggression. Internal strife in the Egyptian administration had weakened them  to the point that David would have to be ignored no matter whose toes he stepped on. David’s intel had notified him of all of these advantages  for a free hand in the area and he took swift action to capitalize on the situation.

David’s forces rolled in he area. He defeated one after another, the peoples who were living there: the Ammonites, the Edomites, the Moabites, and then he took out the last of the Amelikites. The latter, for those who do not know, are considered the remaining vestige of the Nephilhelm, those mixed of human and demon descent.

He stretched his kingdom south from Edom, rich in copper mines, to the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea. This gave Israel a potential port. Eventually, Solomon would trade from there with Arabia and Africa. When David conquered the Arameans of eastern Syria, he gained control of all trade routes to the Euphrates river.

David took part in may of those campaigns, but usually it was the brilliant commander Joab who lead the troops while David stayed at the capital. On one such an occasion, when he should have been out leading the troops in battle, David allowed his idleness to get the best of him and create gateway for other problems. Above the city, on his palace roof, he looked down and saw Bathsheba bathing.

Bathsheba enticingly bathed in the open, but for most women
of her day, this was done indoors. Unscented oil was used like cold
cream to remove dirt, then scented oil would follow.

She was the wife of a Hittite soldier named Uriah. At the time he was with Joab battling the Ammonites. David, feeling that he was King after all, sent for Bathsheba and they tripped the light fantastic. She did, however, become pregnant by the king.

David immediately called Uriah home to his wife, no doubt believing that the lines between his child and Uriah’s child needed to be blurred as soon as possible for the up and coming date.  Uriah, however, refused to return home. Instead he slept with his buddies at the door of the King’s house. A soldier in battle, kept himself sacramentally clean, and this meant no slap and tickle during war time. David then had to resort to legal murder in order to cover up the impending results of his dalliance. This meant legal murder.  David had Joab send Uriah up front in the upcoming battle and then pull back behind him in order that he may be killed in action.

A clay figurine of the period

Uriah was of course killed, and Bathsheba went into mourning. When the time was over, David married her, and soon after she gave birth to a son. But the Lord was displeased with David’s soap opera movements, and he sent Nathan the prophet, to David.

The story was now well known throughout the country and Nathan addressed the King and said, “ Thus says the God of Israel, I anointed you King over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul; and I gave you your master’s house... and also that of Israel and Judah... and if this were too little I would add to you much more. Why have you done evil in the Lord’s sight?”

David accepted his guilt and confessed to his sin against God. He probably expected Nathan to pronounce a death sentence, but Nathan assured him that he was not to die. However, the child to be born would indeed die, and Nathan left him with that.

The child lay ill for six days and David did all he could to entreat the Lord to change his mind about the fate of the boy. But on the seventh day, the child did die. David, revealing the thoughts of those at the time as to what happens when we die, stated that it was he who would go to the child but the child would never return to him.  Thus David had to live with the results of caving in to his own lust, as a fine officer and his own son, met their ends at his own hands. Bathsehba, however, would be the one to bear his future son, the future King Solomon.

Israel had become rich and secure under David, but as time passed he had become less and less of a favored celebrity. Fat with prosperity, and military superiority, the Israelites resented the taxes they had to pay, and the conscription of troops.  David’s third born son, Absalom, took full advantage of the disgruntled populace.

David’s daughter, Tamar, had been raped by Amnon, David’s oldest son, and Absalom had him killed for it two years later. This was, however, a political move more than an act of vengeance, as Absalom had now been placed in the position  of heir apparent. Tamar, never recovered.

Absalom then ran from what he knew would be David’s anger toward him. With the help of Joab, he managed a reconciliation with David a few years later. Unsatisfied, he then began to plot a rebellion among the people, hoping to gain David’s kingdom.

Absalom started politicking in the public squares and speaking out against his father’s negligence as a judge and telling the people what they wanted to hear from their leadership. He showed off before them with pomp and circumstance  and turned many toward him as they became sold on his campaign.

For four years he campaigned against David while showing himself to be both proud and humble to the populace. Then suddenly he left for Hebron, with 200 of his followers. He told his people, “As soon as you hear the trumpet say: Absalom is King at Hebron!”

The time for open rebellion had come.

.. and ever since David’s dalliance with Bathsheba, strife had never left his home.

more on this next time.    

                      

Reviews by Hubie Goode: The Life and Times of King David part 3

The City of David

The Life and Times of King David

part 3

David, being a man of his word and convictions, would not strike Saul. He loathed the thought of civil war for Israel as well. Thus he left the country and headed for Philistine territory. He returned to Gath with 600 men in his tow. In an attempt to release himself from the pursuit of Saul he offered his services and those of his men to the king.

King Achish no doubt had some problems with the concept, but nevertheless established them in the town of Ziklag. David and his men were then expected to conduct raids on the southern border of Judah.

However, David and his men instead went after the semi nomadic enemies of Judah, and strengthened her borders. The spoils of victory were given to the people of Negeb. Covertly, David was enhancing his position with those he would one day rule.

King Achish knew nothing of David’s duplicity, and was instead concentrating on the plans of the five Philistine overlords of the north. They had come together for an all out assault on Israel. Their first movement was to take the plain of Jezreel. David was asked to join them, but the commanders had a basic lack of trust in David and his men, and he was kept out of it. David was en rout from Jezreel to Negeb when Saul confronted the Philistines at Mount Gilboa.

When David returned to Ziklag, he found that the Amalekites had raided the town. They had looted and pillaged, but had also taken everyone hostage. The Lord told David to head after them, for he would surely catch them and make rescue.

David headed south to the brook of Besor, where 200 of his men collapsed, too exhausted to continue. David and his 400 found the Amalekites spread out over the land. They were having a great feast in celebration of all the spoil they had taken. David attacked at dawn, and recovered all hostages and livestock. He then divided the spoil  among those who had fought and those who had stayed behind.

Saul and his men, poised for battle at Mount Gilboa, were going into battle with an old king. A king who was no longer confident in the Lord’s involvement in his life. Before he went into battle he had consulted with the prophets of God about the coming battle, but the “phone rang off the hook.”

He then went to a witch, or medium for answers. He wanted to conjure up the spirit of Samuel. To everyone’s surprise, even the medium’s, Samuel showed up and predicted Saul’s death and the defeat of Israel.

Distraught and convinced he was headed for his last stand, he fought at Mount Gilboa. Jonathan and his two brothers, Abinadab and Malchishua, were all killed. Saul was seriously wounded by Philistine archers, and apparently when you lose to the Philistines you are subject to anal rape, so Saul fell on his own sword and perished also.

Until David came along, the state of Israelite music
was rather primitive. It typically consisted of instruments
like the "sistrum". This was little more than an elaborate rattle.
David imported skilled Phonecian musicians and added
to his nation's culture.

David received news of the defeat and the deaths of those he had come to know as family. Though he went into mourning he also realized that if he were to take Saul’s place as king, he would have to move quickly. He consulted of God as to where to go now, and was told to go to Hebron.

To Hebron they all went, and there David was anointed King over the house of Judah. The date was about 1000 years before Christ. David now ruled Judah, but Israel was now in division. A nation once unified under Saul, was now led by Ishbosheth, Saul’s youngest son. He ruled the ten tribes who lived in the central and northern areas of the kingdom: Benjamin, Dan, Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali, Gad and the remnant of Rueben which had escaped the Moabite and Ammonite pressure. David ruled over the tribes of Judah and Simeon.  Abner, Saul’s chief general, lead bloody skirmishes against Joab and the armies of David for two years with little results.

Abner, however, began to move without the let of his king and took one of Saul’s concubines for his own. The king saw this as treason and a split developed between the two men. Abner then met with David secretly, no doubt feeling that Israel would have a better future under David’s rule, and he discussed the plans for turning over the northern kingdom.

As a show of good faith, Abner returned Michal to David from the town of Gibea. She had been married off to another when David had fled the country. There in David’s harem, she provided a link between Saul’s family and the Kingdom of Judah. This strengthened David’s position as future king of Israel.

Joab however, knowing nothing of the talks between Abner and David, sought revenge for a brother Abner had killed in battle. Abner, not realizing that Joab knew nothing of the secret talks, walked right up to Joab and was quickly disemboweled.

This was bad news for David and his political future, so David called a national day of mourning  in respect for the fallen Abner, this in order to keep his people from retaliation. However, without Abner, his king began to lose courage and the people followed suit.

Two of Ishbosheth’s captains, seeking favor of David, for the future, killed the king in his sleep.  Instead of promoting them, David had them executed for killing Saul’s son, not only their king.  Only Jonathan’s five year old crippled son remained of the house of Saul. Now no one stood between David and the throne of Israel. All of the elders went to Hebron and anointed David their king. With this act, Samuel’s prophecy was fulfilled.

The Philistines, hearing these events, became alarmed. As long as Israel fought amongst itself, they knew that all of Canaan would eventually be theirs to take. A united Israel, however, with warrior King David at its command, was big, big trouble.

They therefore attacked before David would be able to get any help from the northern tribes. They amassed in the valley of Rephaim, hoping to drive a wedge between Israel and Judah before any solidarity could take place. David proved more than a match for them however, and defeated them twice. In fact, David kept rolling until the armies of the Philistines were destroyed.  The Philistines were never heard from again.

Jerusalem, the last city in central Israel was still controlled by the Canaanites. It was built on a high ridge bordered on the east, west and south by steep valleys. It had high walls and lofty springs. David considered this to be the best place for a capitol. It was also on the border between the two nations of Israel and Judah and would also be a great place for political rule.

David then set out to capture the city, only to be mocked by its inhabitants. The Jebusites told him, “The blind and the lame will defend this city against the likes of you.”  David told his men that the first one to smite them would be chief and commander.

Joab led his men through a water tunnel that ran under the city, no doubt a lesson learned from the fall of Babylon. They emerged inside the city and threw the Jebusites into confusion. He then threw open the city gates for the rest of his forces and soon the victory was done.

David would live there. He would call it the City of David. It belonged neither to Israel or to Judah. It was the sole property of David himself. Pretty good for a little shepherd boy from Bethlehem!

David centralized the power of the state in the king, with Jerusalem as the seat of government. Tribal allegiance was forgotten once inside the walls of Jerusalem, one now belonged to the king, not just a confederacy.

David also had the ark of the covenant brought there with the prophet Nathan. David danced before God as the ark was brought into the city. Jerusalem was now not only the City of David, but with the seat of God there, it was also the City of the Lord. Michal, his wife, thinking David silly for his exuberance, rendered herself barren with derisive comments. R.E.S.P.E.C.T.!

Now the whole of political, civil, religious and all other administrations were concentrated in one place with David as its ruler. David then surrounded himself with officers and clerics and created an administration of some of the most famous names in the Old Testament: Joab, Jehoshaphat, Seraiah, Benaiah, Zadok and Abiathar, to name a few.

It was then that he commissioned the collection of the book of Psalms. These hymns were sung by priests and celebrants at the Tent of the Covenant. We still have these books and records of these events to this day, including the existence of Israel, and her people who are historically connected to all of this. The flag of Israel is decorated with the Star of David. Remind your atheist and agnostic friends and co-workers, that it is one thing to disregard an invisible creator, but quite another to ignore Israel and the Jews.

more on all of this next time.

Reviews by Hubie Goode: The Life and Times of King David part 2

"The Lord gave you into my hand in the cave...but I spared you." 1 Samuel 24.10
In an En-gedi cave like this, David spared Saul's life, even though Saul was trying
to kill him. He and his men also hid out in these caves, whose cool recesses
offered shelter not only from men but from the blazing heat of the desert

The Life and Times of King David

part 2

With his great victory, David was now a sports hero so to speak. Now a full fledged leader in the army of the king, his victories mounted and grew.  He had sudden fame and glory and all the women came out of the city singing his praises.

“Saul has slain his thousands, David his tens of thousands!”

Saul had promoted David due to his prowess in battle, and the obvious advantage of having someone with God’s hand on him didn’t hurt either. The public adoration for David didn’t help him in the eyes of the king. Naturally, he began to distrust David’s inner motives. Suspicion of a threat to his throne grew within Saul.

Still suffering from the fits of madness, he twice throws his javelin at David, attempting to impale him. David was younger and more agile and thus able to avoid the javelin. Saul, however, couldn’t admit this advantage over himself and saw it as obvious help from God in David’s ability to avoid certain death. This only added to his suspicions of a threat to the throne. No matter how many times he sent him out to meet the Philistines in battle, they failed to kill the boy. David’s popularity, and obvious favor of God over Saul, began to steam roll in the constituency.

Saul then offered his eldest daughter to David in marriage, if he won even more victories. David never married her however, since Saul abruptly gives her to another. But he tries again with his younger daughter Michal, who had a bad jones for the young hero. The price of marriage? 100 Philistine foreskins. A task I cannot imagine: circumcising 100 dead men and collecting their penis skin. Oh my!

Saul must have thought this impossible if not repulsive and surely David would get himself killed trying such a stunt. Please make sure they are all dead first, or you’ll have quite the fight on your hands! But David brought back 200 foreskins instead. Michal was his, and seemingly David was invincible.

Saul then called on Jonathan to kill David. But Jonathan pleaded David’s case siting his service and record, and Saul relented. They even reconciled for a time, but it was only a temporary respite.

Even Michal got into the act of going against he father for the sake of David. Upon hearing of Saul’s plan to have soldiers bring him to the palace to be slain, she warned him to save his life. She tried to fool the soldiers when they arrived  with the phoney “pillow under the covers routine” and claims that David was ill and couldn’t be moved, but the soldiers didn’t fall for it and discovered the ruse.

"And the servants of David went out and met the servants
of the son of Saul at the pool of Gibeon.... and the battle
was very fierce that day" 2 Samuel 2.13, 17
The probable scene of this encounter a stair well that leads
down to the water table. This was discovered in 1956 by archeaologists.
It was a circular pit , 37 feet across, cut from solid rock to a depth of 82 feet.
Almost 3,000 tons of limestone had to be removed. Village women would have
to descend the stair and then climb back up with water pots on their heads.
The 79 step climb must have made for some well toned ladies.

David had fled in the night, and ended up in Ramah, a few miles away, in the safety of Samuel the prophet. Saul pursued him there, but God intervened and had the soldiers and Saul himself become overwhelmed with a type of religious dancing in praise of God.

David then secretly met with Jonathan to discuss the problem and asked him just what it was he had done to deserve the wrath of Saul. Jonathan assured David that Saul would have no success at killing him and the two men renewed their friendship.

The feast of the new moon was the next night, and as tradition would have it, David was obligated to be at table with Saul. When he wasn’t there Saul was furious, and Jonathan had to lie to Saul with the excuse that David had been given leave to visit his brothers in Bethlehem.

In the morning, after an evening of near death from his own father’s javelin tossing, Jonathan met with David secretly in the field, and the two  said farewell for the time being. They both knew that David would now be a wandering outlaw in the wilderness until Saul’s death.

David then moved on to Nob, where he received the sword of Goliath which had been left in the care of Ahimelech the priest. No doubt thinking that he would not be found in the Philistine town of Gath, he fled there, only to be seized by the King’s soldiers. When brought to King Achish, David faked madness like a man in a rubber room.

Achish of course, tossed David out, as David had expected. In his day, the insane were thought to be touched by the divine, and therefore inviolable. The Philistines released him and he fled to a cave in Adullam, near the border between the two territories of Judah and the Philistines.

In this area all those who were the outcast, the indebted, the receivers of Saul’s ire, and those considered a rebel, gathered around David. They survived off of the kindness of local shepherds and farmers and kept one step ahead of Saul’s pursuit. In time, the followers of David grew, and became a small army of rebels unto themselves.

David’s army soon encountered the philistines in battle and overran a force at Keliah. With 400 men under his command, he soon demanded tribute from the settlements in the hills. Nabal from  Carmel, a rich man who owed David tribute, refused to pay and David planned to march against the town. Abigail, Nabal’s wife moved quickly however, and brought David tribute on the way from town. Nabal was so incensed that he had a cardiac arrest and died.

Due to the days in which he lived, a King’s power was often measured by how many wives he had in his harem. (That would make someone I know very, very weak!) And David married Abigail in recognition for saving him from something called “blood guilt”. He was loath to avenge himself by his own hand.

Saul, however, had continued his pursuit of David and had killed Ahimelech and his family for the kindness he had shone to David. The priest's son had escaped Saul and warned David to run from the enclosed town of Keilah, and David once again avoided Saul.

David and his men led the life of guerilla fighters in Judah. They offered protection to those who fed them and wrentched provisions from the uncooperative rich. Like Robin Hood, they shared with the poor, all the while harassing king Saul's men. In this rendering, the meal would be lentils and figs with goat's milk. Weapons and water flasks were enough of a burden to carry without the cares of food maintainence. Living on the run required a light travel bag.

Saul followed David and his men to the edge of the Dead Sea. He stopped to “drain the dragon” in a cave that held David and his men in the back, where they were hiding. David got close enough to have killed Saul, but refused to think of such a thing as he still held the King in his position.  Instead, he cut off part of Saul’s garment and then when Saul was a good distance away, he called to him, waving the garment piece, and displaying his innocence of any claim to the throne.

Saul was tearfully repentant upon the realization of what he had done, but still could not rid himself of his hatred for David. Such is the result of physical addiction to internal emotions. Later on David would again sneak into camp where Saul was sleeping, and took his spear. Easily the young King could have killed his tormentor, but instead he continued to hold him in honor.

Once again, David had spared the life of his aggressor.

More on this in the next installment   

Reviews by Hubie Goode: Ignoring Israel Part 11

Shining City on a Hill

Ignoring Israel


Part 11: Israel and the Rest

So what is the beginning of the process for the end of days? It would seem that the appearance of the two witnesses at the beginning of the tribulation is the key to seeing the future of all mankind, and when that happens we’ve got only seven years until life as we all know it is over with. So don’t look for comets, Mayan calendars or mathematical figures and dates. Once this happens, it’s last call, turn out the lights... the party’s over.

Enoch, like Elijah, never died, and this makes him the prime candidate for the second witness. Due to Moses having died and been buried, for the most part, this eliminates him from the position. When God “took” Enoch, he was translated alive into the presence of God. Enoch also gave the first prophecy about the second return of Christ!

Jude 14-15

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, “Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgement upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him”.

Elijah and Enoch are the two olive trees in Zechariah 4. Neither one of them ever died, and yet God has appointed it to all men to die once and then to be present at judgement. Their death has been reserved for this very time of history, when they will appear in Israel and have all the power and ability that the world longs to see for itself, but will only strive against them. When you see someone calling down fire from heaven on the nightly news, it’s not a movie trailer for the next Spielburg film.

They are both instrumental in the final days of Israel, and as a result the whole world. In John the Baptist fashion they are preparing the way for the return of the Messiah. They will  be the real voice of God in the Earth, and it will annoy the hell out of most of mankind. Clearly there will be a third temple of some type when the AntiChrist takes over in the half way mark of the tribulation, and it is these two men who will be promoting the building and protecting the progress of its construction while keeping those who would stop such a thing at an arms distance. It’s not hard to see who the major players in this event will be, if you just realize what has been going on for quite a long time in the history of mankind and its time here on Earth.

New Jerusalem

If anyone is familiar with Christian television, and more specifically for this purpose, the station called Daystar, you know that the preaching of the Gospel in Israel has finally, after much time and struggle, begun to happen. In the past there was strict resistance to hearing the Gospel of Christ in Israel, even to the point of having families split apart over acceptance of the Gospel message. It was simply and “un-Jewish” thing to do and accepting Christ as the Messiah was to give up on Yahweh and his promise of a Messiah to lead Israel into a great time of peace and rule. But there have been many changes, and stations like Daystar are now going full and strong in Jerusalem.

The Israeli Parliament has recently issued legislation which have changed the “Law of Return”. For those who wish to immigrate back to Israel from around the world, it is quite the adjustment. Rabbinical laws state that being Jewish relies upon the mother’s status. One cannot marry a “shiksa” and expect the children to be considered Jewish. They, therefore, cannot return to the land of Israel. Believing in Christ as the Messiah also disqualified one from returning. But the times are a changing, and these restrictions are being modified.

Matthew 10:22-23

And you shall be hated by all men for my namesake: but he that endures to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee into another: for truthfully I say to you, you shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man comes.

Isaiah 2:3

And many people shall go and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths, for out of Zion will the law go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

The Gospel must indeed go into all the world, much as the blog here has done, and that includes Israel. (Saying hello to those of you in Israel who have begun to read my blog, shalom to you all!)

I do understand that Yehoshua can be a tough thing for the strict Hebrew, seeing as his first coming was Messiah ben Joseph, and not the Messiah ben David, that has been awaited for since then beginning, but just consider how many times we all get just what we want, especially when dealing with a divine creator whose ways are not our ways.

It would have been quite impossible for Christ to return for his people and establish his throne in Israel before the date of May, 1948. We have, however, witnessed the restoration of the land, the city of Jerusalem also, and the return of the people to the Holy City, since then. The Message of Yehoshua is also taking root there as it never has before. Collectively, these things tell of a “time of restoration of all things”, which is headed our way like it never could have in the past.

There will be more and more political upheaval throughout the world. The Middle east will become a literal hotbed and the news networks will being to cover these events with nauseating  frequency. Israel will literally become a pain in the butt to the whole world, and this is because of the real and active enemy that wants to see them wiped from history once and for all, and I am not talking about Iran, or any Arab nation, although they may be a tool toward this end.

EVERYONE, both corporeal and incorporeal sees the changes in Israel, and if you are up on the information involved here, as the enemy surely is, then all attempts to destroy Israel will be taken, even if it means turning all of mankind against this tiny little slip of land in the middle east.

God has promised Israel that she will see her King of Kings.

You will arise and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favor her, the set time has come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and the dust thereof. The heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the Kings of the Earth thy glory. When the Lord builds up Zion, he shall appear in His glory.

Psalm 102:13-16

Jesus Rules

 The Future..... is NOW

Reviews by Hubie Goode: Ignoring Israel Part 10

Ignoring Israel


Part 10: Israel and Temple

How indeed does the new temple get built on the Dome of the Rock? The Golden Mosque of Omar could perhaps be destroyed by an earthquake. The area is known for seismic activity over the centuries, and this would be no surprise. Its been injured by quake activity before, and has always been repaired. If that did happen again, and even if the mosque were destroyed, then the Muslims would of course rebuild the dome. Mosque land is Muslim land forever. Something strong enough to level the whole building would have Israel occupied with the surrounding territory.

Could the Dome of the Rock be moved? Would such a project as dismantling the building and moving it to a location within Muslim territory be even wise monetarily? This would clear the way for a new temple, but its highly unlikely that the logistics would be surmountable, not to mention the politics.

Could the two buildings coexist? Could the temple be located next to the mosque? In the Great tribulation, there is indeed a temple, for its’ measurements are so ordered.

Revelation 11:1-2

And there was given me a reed like unto a rod; and the Angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the gentiles: and the holy city they shall tread under foot for forty two months.

So you see there is definitely a temple by this time in the Revelation record. The area not measured, that given to the Gentiles, may indeed be the area of the Dome of the Rock. And what about the Anti-Christ?

2 Thessalonians 2:4

Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Therefore, if the Anti-Christ is in the temple during the Tribulation, then definitely there is a temple there on the Temple Mount. Is the Anti-Christ a Muslim? Some say so, and his preventing the worship of God and the temple services that have been re-instituted, would seem to lend credence to the concept. Further study shows that the Anti-Christ will set up something in the temple, probably an image of the Beast, which makes the temple desolate. Having run roughshod over the temple and changed the ceremony, those Jewish leaders and followers would have fled the temple in protest, or perhaps abject fear.

There are those who say that scripture referring to this time has to do with the Roman occupation and war with the Jews that occurred before the year 70 A.D.. However, there is no record of the “abomination that made desolate”. Not only that, but the Revelation record is written about 25 years after the temple is destroyed, and John is told to rise and measure the temple, and those that worship in it. This is about 95 A.D..

Considering the work that it would take to re-build the temple, and the holidays that must be observed during the process, it is conceivable that the temple will take about 42 months to re-build. Now, pay attention here! If the first half of the tribulation is 42 months, and the temple will take that period of time, then it is quite conceivable that we can know when we ARE in the tribulation, by the degree of progress that is made in the rebuilding. In Daniel 9:27, it says that the dedication will coincide with the midst of the week. That is also when the Anti-Christ will kill the two witnesses, and take control of the temple, interrupting the dedication process. He will then demand that the image of the beast be worshiped there instead of God himself. One can see how ignoring Israel can be a blind walk in the park, if you are not careful. If the above is true, and it makes good political and religious sense, therefore keeping an eye on the rebuilding of the temple will let you in on the end of the world, not the Mayan calendar.

The first and second temples were situated north of where the Dome of the Rock is located, and it is also quite possible that the third temple could be built there, sharing Mount Moriah for a time with the Muslim temple. The Temple institute in Israel is already in the middle of planning a new temple, with furniture and clothes and they are not far from the spot where the future temple will stand. Keep your eyes peeled, people!

They have also prepared the gold, silver and brass items that were researched for use in the new temple, and these are not just museum pieces. These are the actual items to be used. Using the Torah, ancient carvings and also some historical references, they have created that exact items as described for temple worship.

There is another group that is pushing for the rebuilding of the temple, they are known as the Temple Mount Faithful. Check out their website, and it explains how their main purpose is to liberate the temple mount from Islamic occupation so that it can be consecrated to the name of G-d.

templeinstitute.org
templemountfaithful.org

It is clear from these websites and some other videos that can also be found on You Tube, that the Israeli mind set is very ordered toward a rebuilt temple. If so, then the return of the Messiah cannot be far behind. According to scripture, there will be a temple during the tribulation. It will come at one of the worst times and be met with fierce opposition.

Many of those of you who know the Bible know who the Sanhedrin were. They go back to the time when Moses was ordered to gather seventy men together in order to have the same spirit of God placed upon them as Moses possessed. They all went to the top of the mountain to meet God. They were commissioned with assisting Moses in the governing of the 1.4 million or so Israelites who wandered the desert. They became the Sanhedrin in the second century B. C..

This was the Jewish “Supreme Court”. They also had a Nasi or high priest who led the committee, and this was also the case during the time of Jesus. They got together and debated matters of the law. Once majority was arrived at, the rule became law, and many of those same laws exist with the Jewish people even today!

Their final decision coming in 358 A.D., when the new Jewish math calendar was proffered, instead of the moon sighting calendar, the Sanhedrin dispersed and have not convened until our current day. It has been about 1600 years now since their last meeting, and they are only now in our day coming back to the practice of meeting. In 2004, they were re-formed, believed by some as invalid until the Messiah returns, but never the less, there is a building mental framework of Israelis returning to a once great national position which includes the original position of great nations like the ones ruled by King David and King Solomon.

But who will rebuild this temple? Will Elijah reappear before the great and terrible day of the Lord? Moses? Enoch? They will be able to prevent anyone from holding up the building of the temple. ANYONE.

more on this next time                   

Reviews by Hubie Goode: Ignoring Israel Part 9

Ignoring Israel


Part 9: Israel and Land

It’s nothing new to tell of the controversy surrounding the land of Israel. The conflict over this is a major sticking point in every political center on Earth. Which, if you consider it, says something about the place Israel takes world wide; is there any nation like this, anywhere? People like Osama Bin Laden and other terrorists have made a point of keeping the struggle for land in the public eye in a way that doesn’t exist on the national stage in any other area of the world. According to the Bible, the land we’re talking about  begins at the river of Egypt and goes all the way to the Euphrates. This is the land promised the seed of Abraham. It was reaffirmed time and again with Isaac, then Jacob and his twelve sons, the patriarchs of Israel.

However, if you don’t have any respect for the Bible, if you don’t take it to be the Word of God, then for you this isn’t the case. There are a great many people all over the world who want to see the spiritual situation solved with political moves. The Muslim world believes that Israel is an occupier of their land. “Occupier” being used here in the sense that Hitler “occupied” France and Poland.

Their position is that ever since 1948, their land has been given to those with whom they have struggled for centuries, by a “cow towing” and sympathetic western world. Extremists make sure that the world is aware of the Temple Mount, Jerusalem and Israel in a way that goes contrary to much of everything else in the world. If you are not a person who watches the world news, you would know little of much of the politics of inland China, or perhaps what goes on in the every day streets of Australia, and certainly the Polynesian world of island people don’t come up until there is a destructive storm or some such thing. But EVERYONE knows about the middle east and the struggles that go on there.

In most Muslim mosques around the world, and there are increasing numbers if you pay attention to the world news, it is common to speak of Israel as enemy occupiers of Arab lands. And not just any Muslim lands, but HOLY lands. Israel is an invader who is squatting in the lap of the almighty as far as they are concerned. Quite the situation when one considers that it is the western world’s involvement with Israel that helps to maintain this situation and yet it is the Arab world that feeds the fuel supplies of the western world with it’s over dependence on oil from the UAE.

But here’s the thing, even in the Koran there are verses that teach that the Jews would come back into their land, and that they are also entitled to it.

Sura 5:20-21

"‘O my people, call in remembrance the favor of God unto you, when he produced prophets among you, made you kings, and gave to you what He had not given to any other among the people. O my people, enter the Holy Land which God has assigned unto you, and then turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin.”

According to the Koran, the speaker here is Moses.

If the Koran is inspired by Allah, then why ignore Israel? Why look past what is in their own book? Could it be that they don’t even read their own book? Could it be that they instead listen to the selective preachings in their own mosques at the risk of being mislead by their own radical leaders? It would seem that if the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock were not in Jerusalem, this little slip of land would be of little interest to the comparatively huge land of the oil rich Arab world. So how did this happen?

In 638 A.D., the Islamic caliph, Omar, entered Jerusalem on a white camel in order to accept the surrender of Aelia, the name it had at this time. His chief magistrate, Sophronius, read from the prophecy of Christ, “When you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel....”. Omar cleared the area and built a modest mosque on the Temple Mount. He did, however, build this on the southern part of the mount, over what he believed to be a Christian church foundation. Until this day that mosque still stands.

The golden Dome of the Rock was built in 691 A. D. , and was copied from the plans of a 4th century Christian shrine that stood on the Mount of Olives. It is believed that the Dome sits upon the Foundation Stone, where the Temple of God once stood. And yet it is still taught in the Muslim world that the Jews NEVER had control of the mount and the temple never existed. The name of Jerusalem is never even mentioned in the Koran, but the story of Muhammad’s night journey to the farthest mosque on his winged horse, Barak, (who left an impression in the mosque from one of his hooves) guided by the angel Gabriel, is always included in teachings.

The journey from Mecca to the mosque is said to have brought Mohammed in touch with Moses, Jesus and other prophets before his return to Mecca. Despite his dying in 632 A.D., and the Al-Aqsa mosque being built in 638 A.D., this is held as truth. Of course, the interpretation is bantered about by those who scholar such things. Did the “farthest mosque” really mean the one built on the site in Jerusalem? Scholars say the mosque being mentioned is near the city of Medina, in the time of Muhammad, of course. But if that is true, then Jerusalem is NOT the third holiest site in all of Islam. Neither is Israel,  Islamic land. Why is their still an argument over all of this? Perhaps it has more to do with deep generational family feuding, more so than anyone realizes.

In the Biblical record, King David purchased the mountain from Araunah the Jebusite, making payment in Gold and Silver. Solomon later built the First Temple on the mountain, with complete descriptions in the Bible record of the measurements and how it was built and how much it cost to build it. Some nine hundred years later Jesus was at the site with his Jewish apostles and even the historian Josephus describes the building and its destruction by the Romans.

Muslim authorities to this date refuse to allow excavations that would prove the existence of the temple on this site. It would seem that when they took care of excavations themselves, they were very careful to remove any evidence found. This, despite photos that were taken of remnants of the temple in 1967.

Was there a Jewish Temple or was it all a lie? With all this conflict it is obvious that the Muslim world is worried that the Jews will seize the Mountain once again and rebuilt their Temple over the site where the Muslim mosque now stands. Considering the turmoil in the Muslim world in just this year alone, with all the rebellion and dismounting of the leadership throughout the region, it’s hard to see how things won’t develop in the direction of a single leadership in the Arab world. Once that single leadership is established, it will be easy to surround Jerusalem  with the combined might of the Muslim military, and what would motivate them to attack in this way? This is, of course, conjecture at this point, but that concept of Israel being surrounded is directly related in prophecy.

Since the destruction of the Temple, Mount Moriah has become a hot spot for warring factions. The Romans ran rough shod over it twice, and the Byzantines built churches there, then the Muslims, the Crusaders, and so on and so forth over and over again. Muslims under the Ottoman Turks ruled the area for 400 years or so until World War I when the British pushed them out, and they began three decades of British rule. 

Today there is even a publicized planning for an attempt to rebuilt the Temple of Solomon. If you do an internet search, you can see the plans coming to realization, even with designs of the clothing and such. This has the Muslim world worried, and big time. Though many don’t want Jews in Jerusalem, or even in Israel, the Muslim world may have to live with the fact. But a Jewish temple built on the “noble sanctuary” is out of the question for the majority. Scripture,  however, says something quite different about the third Temple, and its future place directly in the spot of the last two temples. Considering that Islam would never permit its mosques to be removed, or that a Jewish presence would be allowed to take root there... how would another temple be built on this spot? How indeed.

More to come on this, unless you are a schlemiel. ;-)  

http://islamic-intelligence.blogspot.com/2010_12_01_archive.html

Reviews by Hubie Goode: Ignoring Israel Part 8

Ignoring Israel


Part 8: Israel and America

There is a fence, a large concrete fence, that runs along the 1948 boundaries between the Israeli peoples and the Palestinians. It has caused an uproar around the world. It is there because of the many terrorist attacks and acts of violence that come from the West Bank and Gaza. Since the inception of Israel as a state, most American Presidents have been supportive of Israel, but they have all, in one way or another urged Israel not to build any kind of wall that would inhibit Palestinian traffic.

Many members of the American government and also some Israeli citizens, have taken offense at the Israeli action of inhibiting Palestinian traffic in and out of the country. Palestinian Authority flags were obvious in the many protests filmed by the news media during the wall’s construction. Their claim, as was also the claim of their supporters, was that they have a right to be able to come in and out of the country to find work and support for their own families and communities.

Many Israeli companies have no problem with the egress of Palestinians, as they are known to be hard workers, and often fill necessary jobs that Israeli citizens refuse to take. The problem, as is all too often the case, is that enemies of the state often use the same reasoning for entrance into Israel in order to launch terror attacks upon the citizenry.

As a person who lives in Southern California, this issue is all too real, and fascinatingly congruent. America also finds herself embroiled in debates about immigration, notably in relation to the building of fences and barriers along the Mexican border. Once again, this is a problem due to the millions of Mexicans who have crossed over into America illegally. They too take jobs many Americans would rather let them have, and many take them, but they also take the non taxed wages earned and send much of it back to their home countries. Many worry that this too increases the crime rate in America, and leaves a big hole of entry for those who would terrorize the nation. 

There are now such things as “Minuet Men” who patrol the border looking to capture and haul back across the border the illegal immigrants who attempt to cross over. It is estimated that there are about 12-14 million illegal immigrants living and working here in America, they were not born here and they take American money and jobs from citizens. With a homeless populace of approximately 300 million Americans, it is not hard to see how such an argument reaches beyond just the constitutional legalities. Also, as had happened in Israel, local Mexicalis could be seen protesting in the streets with large crowds waving the Mexican flag. 

These are only a few instances, as I had also mentioned in the last post, which illustrate what happens when America forgets who Israel is, and pressures her to act in ways that go against the plan of God. I seriously don’t know what more evidence someone could give for recognizing the many points of reality that are being displayed upon the world stage. What happens to  Israel, happens to America, and when it is America that places Israel at risk, she herself is visited by the same consequences Israel endures.

Only a country steeped in atheist education could ignore Israel and the results that come from attempting to manipulate her position. I worry a lot about the current administration and its attempts to have Israel give back land gained in the war of 1967. The Israeli Prime Minister answered in much the fashion as I myself predicted he would. “That simply isn’t going to happen”. It’s a hot topic I do hope that Mr. Obama abandons, but if he doesn’t, watch out folks!

There are those out there who have as their prime directive, the complete destruction of Israel, in fact they want to wipe them off the map. They want Israeli men, women and children slaughtered like cattle. Is it any wonder America suffered 9/11? Now America shares in the targeting by those who want our destruction. Is it because in the past we have supported Israel? Or would it have come anyway due to our capitalist society that is considered the “Great  Satan” of the world? This is hard to say specifically, but the facts of what is our reality due to terrorism, and that which we share with the nation of Israel, are far from merely being open to interpretation.

There are those who feel that the War with Iraq was the blowing of one of the prophetic trumpets of Revelation. This being due to the way the sky was blotted out when Sadam Hussein set fire to 17,000 oil wells in Kuwait. In the Bible, there is a telling of events in Kings that relates heavily to the story of the Gulf War. There is a man named Ben-Hadad who also comes against Israel, and his name means “fierce”. Saddam Hussein’s name actually means “destroyer”, his mother so calling him that, it is reported because of the difficult time she had giving him birth. It is said that there are many similarities between the two events of the Ben-Hadad war with Israel and also America’s war with Iraq. But the thing we need to keep in mind for our day and time is that Iraq is present day Babylon, and the histories of Israel, America and Babylon/Iraq continue to this day to be entwined in events that effect the world.

Yassir Arafat, a leader of the PLO, once met with American President William Jefferson Clinton in the early 1990’s to assuage Muslim forces that assisted in the first Gulf War. Several years later the government used tactics on Israel that it would not employ itself if the positions were reversed and forced Israel to sign a peace treaty with someone they considered a known terrorist. The Madrid Conference of 1991, coerced Israel into peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

Despite his involvement in the Olympics terrorism that saw Israeli athletes snipered to death, America still sought to have Israel make peace with a man who had become an underground gun runner seeking Israeli destruction, and also a supporter of Saddam Hussein during the first War with Iraq. No need to spell out the history of the “Decade from Hell” that has befallen America from 2000 to 2011, and still seems to be continuing today. Arafat himself threw up and died in a Paris hospital in the early part of the decade. The cause of his death is still considered unknown. 

Former President Jimmy Carter met with leaders of Hamas, a known terrorist organization, in the spring of 2008; a year known for its close call re-enactment of the “Great Depression” here in America. The very existence of Hamas is geared toward eradicating the people of Israel from Palestine. Their Prime directive is to “liberate” Jerusalem from its occupiers, an area known to them as al Quds. Jerusalem is the planned site for the capitol of the new Palestinian state.

When Carter was there, an earthquake hit West Salem, Illinois that shook the middle of the country. No need to point out the name Salem, and the name Jerusalem.

But are these events of America’s actions in dealing with Israel and Israel’s enemies truly a cause and effect or are they just events that happen randomly and can be place together by “linking the dots” on the time line grid? It does, of course, make a difference from what perspective you are coming from when considering the events of history.

But the trail of American and Israeli involvement goes back in history like no other. There are those who speculate that the Japan tsunami may have had something to do with Japan insisting on the rebuilding on the West Bank. Japan doesn’t have that historical link, so I am not a believer in any direct cause and effect in this case. The whole Earth is increasing in disasters of this type due to the end times we live in, and I think that this is a better explanation.

But I will say this, that Israel is more and more a burden to America, and the future of her will be intrinsically tied to how the United States deals with Israel in relation to her own Biblical history.

more to come, but not much more ;-)

Reviews by Hubie Goode: Ignoring Israel Part 6

Aravah in Flood Stage Aug 2011

Ignoring Israel

Part 6: Israel Rebirth

The blossoming of Aravah is not the only thing that has happened in the barren desert that was once the promised land. Isaiah also saw a great pool of water surrounded by reeds and rushes and breaking out in the desert as a spring of water. Today this great pool is called “Sapphire”. Out in the desert of Aravah, as I type this post, the desert is in flood stage. Yes, FLOOD stage.

Isaiah also told of the glory of Carmel and how this would be given to the area. The leading packing company in Israel that sends food out to the world is known as the Carmel Packing Company. This prediction of agricultural blessing to the world is also contained in Isaiah:

Isaiah 27:6

He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.

(Hey! That rhymes!)

Isaiah saw the people of Israel returning from all over the world, where their ancestors had been dispersed, and striking the soil. They would take root, as it were, and the land would be blessed, then the people would bless the world with the fruit of their labors. Israel, once surrounded by desert and desolate herself, has become a major exporter of food to the world. The Hebrew word, “turnavah” means “crops”, and the major export company of Israel is called: “Kunavah”. Isaiah predicted this in the Word of God over 2,600 years ago and the fruit of the land blessing the Earth not only applies to the physical food being exported, but also to the fruit of God’s Word being confirmed.

In Zechariah, he speaks of the nations left on the Earth that shall come every year to Israel to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, and pay their good homage to the Lord of Hosts. (Zechariah 14:16) While Isaiah points out that there will be a  road that passes through this area, Zechariah defines the reasons that the road will exist. There is already a great road that passes by the area of the Gulf of Aqaba, a resort area that Israel, Jordan and Egypt share. When you head north, it takes you directly to the Dead sea. This pilgrimage to the Holy City that many will take, will be surrounded by every good and best food that the desert is now producing, in the area once known as the promised land, a land filled with milk and honey. A land once a desert full of nothing but sand and brush.

Isaiah 19:23-24

In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land. 

The King's Highway

Israel is currently drilling through mountains and building super highways that will link them with all the surrounding nations. These prophesies of Isaiah and Zechariah speak of a time when the Messiah will rule from his throne. Rule the whole Earth, that is. And yet, we are seeing the land prepared even in our day.

The implication of the multitude of floods, and fruit production, and highway production in the once desolate area, while meaning perhaps not as much in any other area of the world, speaks volumes of shouts to those who are awaiting the return of the Messiah, whom we all know a Jesus Christ. The ongoing development if Isaiah chapter 35 is a joy to those who know what to look for, those who keep their “lamps burning”, and a dire warning to those who  just won’t see how these developments mean everything when they happen to Israel.

But why is it important that this highway head up into the Dead sea? What could possibly be in the Dead sea, once the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, now cursed with ground ruining salt. You’ll remember that when the Romans destroyed the second temple, they also plowed the land with salt. The idea being to make sure that the land was worthless and not suitable for returning to by the lost inhabitants. So what could possibly come out of the Dead sea?

“Dead Sea” in Hebrew is Yam Ha-Melach, or sea of salt. It is actually a large lake formed by the waters of the Jordan river flowing into it from the north. The south has no outlet. It is 38 miles long and 11 miles wide. It lies between Israel and Jordan. It has so much mineral wealth that it is easily worth about two trillion dollars in minerals, those minerals being the likes of magnesium, calcium chloride, bromide and many others.

It is also the lowest spot on the planet. At about 1,378 feet below sea level it sits in a rift that stretches from Turkey to South Africa. The whole rift stretches about 3,700 miles. It used to be known in Biblical times as Sodom, Gomorrah,  Admah, Zeboiim and Zoar. More than likely, geologist say, the destruction of the area was due to volcanic eruption. In Genesis 19:24, Abraham describes the destruction of these cities as being due to fire and brimstone.

Mineral laden in its makeup, no sea life can exist there. Ezekiel, however, predicted that in the time of the Messiah, men would spread nets and catch fresh fish there. Before 1985, if one had looked out onto the landscape of this sea, they would have wondered how anyone could ever catch fish in such an moribund area.  (Ezekiel 47:8-12)

According to end time prophecy of the Bible, when Christ returns, a Temple will be built in Jerusalem. Fresh water will flow out from under the altar of this temple. It will head out toward the Dead sea and eventually become so deep you could launch boats in it. This fresh water will empty into this salty dead lake, and transform it into fresh water teaming with fish. For some time now, the water level in the Dead sea has been dropping. In the meantime satellite photos have confirmed the existence of TWO bodies of water contained within the Dead sea region. The Dead sea has now divided and is comprised of a northern and southern half. 

The north is bluish and clear, while it is the south part that remains choked with salt. According to Ezekiel, this southern half will not be healed, in fact as time goes by the south sea will become even saltier as the combination of hot weather and lack of an inlet literally evaporate the sea away to nothing. It is the northern half that will be miraculously transformed. Winter rains accumulate in the higher elevations of the mountains and river beds channel this fresh water into the Dead sea after a trip through the surrounding land. From 2,500 feet above sea level, this lowest point is provided with a steady amount of purified water from the sky. 

What has been happening for the last twenty years, of course, is that the waters have been not only evaporating, but they have also been tapped in an effort to sublimate the irrigation of the surrounding land while developing the area of Aravah benefitting from underground springs. But is the addition of the rain water and the runoff of the Jordan enough to do the job described in Ezekiel of transforming the land and the sea? Could it be that the high to low elevation of the land itself can be used for assisting in this transformation?


more on this next time 

The King's Highway thru Jordan